Why should I switch to Norwegian?

Hubby and I are thinking or giving Norwegian a try. We have only done 2 previous cruises, both on Royal Caribbean. We did the Liberty back in 2008 and the Explorer in March of this year.

Can someone that has done both cruise lines before tell me the pros and cons comparing them?

"Why should I switch to Norwegian?"

Just for a change.

We've been on all six major mass market lines and find our preference as follows:

1 - Princess

2 - Holland America

3 - Celebrity

4 - NCL

5 - Royal Caribbean

6 - Carnival

I would suggest you choose on itinerary and price, since there are pluses and minuses on each of the lines and since you didn't really describe much about yourself or your likes and dislikes it's pretty hard to give advice.

I guess my question to you is, why not??

Try them all, then decide which one (or two or three) suit you best.

:)

When I first started cruising I tried all the main stream lines. You will find one or two that suit you best. I have noticed in these tough times with so many new ships to fill, there is less price differential between the lines . A good time to try several.

I sailed Royal, x3, Celebrity x10, Carnival x4 and NCL x12, it is still my favorite cruise line, for price, value and Freestyle.....give it a try you might like it....:)

Hubby and I are thinking or giving Norwegian a try. We have only done 2 previous cruises, both on Royal Caribbean. We did the Liberty back in 2008 and the Explorer in March of this year.

 

Can someone that has done both cruise lines before tell me the pros and cons comparing them?

Try it, you'll like it!

Worst that can happen is RCCL is your first choice and NCL is your second. Lots of people sail both lines and are perfectly happy. Many make their choice by $$$ and itinerary and are not loyal to any cruise line.

I know I could be very loyal to Cunard but those darn $$$ keep getting in the way.

The main thing for me is freestyle dining

I usually travel alone and on RC i would constantly be sat with other people for dinner although i insisted i wanted to sit alone and i do not like that

Nothing is better than freestyle NCL DOES IT BEST!!!!!!!!that being said we did RCL in between our last Ncl cruise now back on Ncl in 6 days and we won't miss RCL one tiny bit:D:D:D

On any given night, you can dine at 5:30 or 8:30 or whenever you feel the urge at several free venues, including a 24 hour restaurant, or at probably 10 other specialty restaurants at minimum for about $20 pp. You can eat in a different venue every night and never see them all.

You can dress up or not depending on how you feel. You can go to the Martini Tasting in the afternoon and then take a nap;) without worrying about missing your 5:30 seating. No more enduring the Chinese water torture of dining with the same set of strangers every night. You can dine with your own party, or with any of your new friends.

After dinner, NCl entertainment is IMO the best out there, especially the new ships, Epic, Breakaway and Getaway. There is something different going on every night and entertainment all over the ship, not just in the main theatre.

Senior staff are very accessible. Be sure to attend your Cruise Critic Meet and Greet. We have always had great customer service. We have cruised all the mainstream lines, and NCL is at the top in our book.

And if you book a suite, there is no comparison. NCL suite perks can't be beat.

Yep. Relaxing freestyle is the way to go. Love it!

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Try it you might like it.

If you are expecting traditional cruising....set dining times and formal nights then switching to freestyle could be difficult

On the other hand if you can adapt to choosing the way you want to cruise you will have a great time

The scuttlebutt from other cruise line boards is NCL nickels and dimes everyone or pushes people to the extra pay restaurants by serving poor quality food in included restaurants. I don't find that to be true. You can pay extra if you want or not. You won't starve either way. There is just as many included restaurants on NCL ships as there are on other cruise lines ships

I thought - why not try NCL even though many reviews not great ....booked and paid and havent even stepped foot on the ship and must say so disappointed in my dealings with NCL. Tried booking others for part of our B2B - basically got the " what for" for booking through the 1800 number - told should have booked with the certain staff however could not reach her - here I'm appolgizing for bringing business to them. Disapponted communications - no one can give you a local to call - outbound lines vs other numbers - staff cant call.out - i have been disconnected - have waited 30 min while staff waiting to talk to help desk. Sent email - that didnt count when huge price drop - but told if i had a called i would have been given a upgrade etc. Poor communications and poor process. If this just a glimpse of what is in store - - i would say stay with what has been a proven positive experience. Holiday dollars ahould not be spent on frustrating and difficult booking experiences . I have cruised close to.20.times with celibrity rcl holland msc and have yet to.feel the need to.react with a negative.post. will move forward with positive and lowered expectations for this cruise to ensure fun times. Holidays are for fun - will not let the ncl.phone systems and staff stand in way

You guys sure do make a good pitch!

I'm completely baffled by this freestyle concept. On Royal, we chose either early or late seating in the dining room. Or we could go to the buffet, or get pizza and sandwiches in the café. And there were a few pay to go eateries.

What is freestyle all about?

I found the best way to find out about different cruiselines is to try them for myself.

Haven't had a bad cruise yet on any ship or cruiseline and I'm glad I tried them out.

ENJOY!! :)

You guys sure do make a good pitch!

 

I'm completely baffled by this freestyle concept. On Royal, we chose either early or late seating in the dining room. Or we could go to the buffet, or get pizza and sandwiches in the café. And there were a few pay to go eateries.

 

What is freestyle all about?

No set dining times offers a lot of flexibility - no rushing to get ready for dinner after a day in port - tops on my list.

Really looking forward to my first NCL cruise. Something tells me it won't be my last ;)

I thought - why not try NCL even though many reviews not great ....booked and paid and havent even stepped foot on the ship and must say so disappointed in my dealings with NCL. Tried booking others for part of our B2B - basically got the " what for" for booking through the 1800 number - told should have booked with the certain staff however could not reach her - here I'm appolgizing for bringing business to them. Disapponted communications - no one can give you a local to call - outbound lines vs other numbers - staff cant call.out - i have been disconnected - have waited 30 min while staff waiting to talk to help desk. Sent email - that didnt count when huge price drop - but told if i had a called i would have been given a upgrade etc. Poor communications and poor process. If this just a glimpse of what is in store - - i would say stay with what has been a proven positive experience. Holiday dollars ahould not be spent on frustrating and difficult booking experiences . I have cruised close to.20.times with celibrity rcl holland msc and have yet to.feel the need to.react with a negative.post. will move forward with positive and lowered expectations for this cruise to ensure fun times. Holidays are for fun - will not let the ncl.phone systems and staff stand in way

I'm sorry things are not going well for you. Not at all what I would expect from NCL.

Do you have a Personal Cruise Consultant? Here's a link to get you started http://www.ncl.co.uk/personal-cruise-consultants/

Really do hope things can be worked out. Seems like you are off to a rocky staff. But a good PCC can turn things around and FAST.

good luck!

I thought - why not try NCL even though many reviews not great ....booked and paid and havent even stepped foot on the ship and must say so disappointed in my dealings with NCL. Tried booking others for part of our B2B - basically got the " what for" for booking through the 1800 number - told should have booked with the certain staff however could not reach her - here I'm appolgizing for bringing business to them. Disapponted communications - no one can give you a local to call - outbound lines vs other numbers - staff cant call.out - i have been disconnected - have waited 30 min while staff waiting to talk to help desk. Sent email - that didnt count when huge price drop - but told if i had a called i would have been given a upgrade etc. Poor communications and poor process. If this just a glimpse of what is in store - - i would say stay with what has been a proven positive experience. Holiday dollars ahould not be spent on frustrating and difficult booking experiences . I have cruised close to.20.times with celibrity rcl holland msc and have yet to.feel the need to.react with a negative.post. will move forward with positive and lowered expectations for this cruise to ensure fun times. Holidays are for fun - will not let the ncl.phone systems and staff stand in way

I have booked a few cruises with Diane Rizzo, an NCL pcc. She has given us excellent service each time that we dealt with her. Her NCL e-mail address is drizzo@ncl.com.

You are right----holidays are for fun.

You guys sure do make a good pitch!

 

I'm completely baffled by this freestyle concept. On Royal, we chose either early or late seating in the dining room. Or we could go to the buffet, or get pizza and sandwiches in the café. And there were a few pay to go eateries.

 

What is freestyle all about?

I chose NCL for my first cruise because of freestyle dining. I didn't know what time I was going to be hungry so had no desire to have to pick a particular time to eat! I never eat the same time each day at home so wasn't going to do it on vacation either.

Worked great for us. We ate when we were hungry, not at a particular time of day. Somedays that might have been 6pm. Other days it wasn't until after the late show. Could take a nap if I was tired and not have to set an alarm because I had to be at dinner at a certain time. Some nights we ate the MDR and other nights we would grab a late night dinner at the Blue Lagoon.

We enjoy the freestyle concept of NCL. Dine when we're hungry, and with whom we choose. As a group of 3 couples, we usually have our own table.

Also the resort casual dress codes are fine for us. There is no checking for the "suggested or required" costume of the evening. Formal night is listed as Dress up or Not Night, meaning you can leave the suite,tux and gown at home if you so choose.

We do try other lines but NCL is our fave.

Thank you - I will try to call this recommended person. Thanks -.

You guys sure do make a good pitch!

 

I'm completely baffled by this freestyle concept. On Royal, we chose either early or late seating in the dining room. Or we could go to the buffet, or get pizza and sandwiches in the café. And there were a few pay to go eateries.

 

What is freestyle all about?

Royal Caribbean also has anytime dining, which is the same thing as NCL's freestyle. You eat when you want, and with whom you want.

Just got off the Pearl this am from my first NCL cruise (4 previous on Carnival). ...actually sitting in the Alaska airlines lounge waiting for my flight home typing this. So my NCL experience is fresh. I loved the freestyle concept. No set dining times was/is wonderful. I already have a Baltic cruise booked in May and did the reduced deposit deal for a future cruise on this one. (Thinking Epic for my birthday in Jan:D ). Maybe it was the fact that it was an Alaska cruise but it seamed a little less "in your face" and less "forced" fun than Carnival. (That probably didn't come across right, but, Carnival always just seamed to try and force "fun" while NCL seems to let it grow organically. if that makes sense)

I can't understand the big deal about "FREESTYLE", all of the cruise lines offer anytime dining, eat when and with whom you want. RCCL calls it My Time Dining. As to casual dress, no one is required to dress up anymore on any of the lines. The days of suits and tuxedos disappeared a decade ago. If you like, you can dress up on any of the lines including NCL but I just don't see "FREESTYLE" as a reason to book NCL. I book on itinerary, price and ship.

I will give NCL credit for beginning the trend 10 years ago, but the other lines quickly followed suit.

. (That probably didn't come across right, but, Carnival always just seamed to try and force "fun" while NCL seems to let it grow organically. if that makes sense)

It makes perfect sense to me. I do get it!!!!! And, I agree 100% :)

I can't understand the big deal about "FREESTYLE", all of the cruise lines offer anytime dining, eat when and with whom you want. RCCL calls it My Time Dining. As to casual dress, no one is required to dress up anymore on any of the lines. The days of suits and tuxedos disappeared a decade ago. If you like, you can dress up on any of the lines including NCL but I just don't see "FREESTYLE" as a reason to book NCL. I book on itinerary, price and ship.

 

 

 

I will give NCL credit for beginning the trend 10 years ago, but the other lines quickly followed suit.

NCL does it better than other lines...just the number of dining options alone is far above the rest.

NCL started the move toward "Freestyle". The other cruise lines have had to follow suit out of necessity, not because they wanted to.

I have witnessed RCCI's "Anytime Dining" on the Allure. It looked like a madhouse with all the people trying to eat at once. The entrance to the main dining room looked like a run on the bank.

I have found "Freestyle" to be very relaxed, just like a restaurant on land.

Walk up and ask for a table for two. I have found that you are usually seated immediately or maybe have a short wait. What is the big deal about immediate seating anyway? You are on vacation. Chill Out!