Royal VS Norwegian?

[VASOXFANN]

I've been on both, if you count NCL-America in Hawaii as NCL. Since they are the same company, I do, although on NCL-A, I believe a certain percentage of the crew is US-based.

Hawaii was wonderful, and it was the trip of a lifetime (I stayed a week after and toured some of the smaller islands) but the cruise experience was abysmal. The ship, the Pride of Aloha, was old and worn down. They have since upgraded ships for their Hawaii cruises, which is a start, but even an old ship would be fine if it was clean and well maintained. There were "skid marks" in the commode when we first entered our "newly cleaned" cabin, the carpet was worn and frayed in many areas of the ship, and it just gave the impression of being an old rust bucket.

As for food, lunch on sea days consisted of "a poolside barbeque" with the same tough, tasteless chicken wings. I can't even remember what breakfast and the dinners were like. Thankfully, the cruise was so port-intensive that we just jumped off the ship and into a rental car shuttle, then spent as much time off the ship as we could (including meals)! Mind you, my travel-mate and I are in no way picky eaters, and are usually perfectly content with pizza, Mickey Ds, or Bucket-O-Chicken from KFC, so we were not the problem food-wise.

So RCI v. NCL, no comparison in my book. RCI wins hands down. Would I ever give NCL another chance? Maybe, for the right price and (very port intensive, no sea days) itinerary.

[SadmanCruiser]

Whilst my opinions are based on smaller ships, here is a copy of my recent post:

Firstly, we are a couple of 50 year olds who enjoy cruising and I am always looking for a bargain.

We have done 25 cruises on Royal Caribbean on the ships listed in my signature. We still work and I would describe us as 'middle income' couple with no kids or mortgage.

The 10 day sailing, 13th February, sailing on the NCL Jade was a very good value cruise so we decided to give them a try.

This is not a review but purely a comparison between the 2 lines, and similar size ships, to help any other 'loyal royals' decide if they too fancy a change.
Our first impression of the Jade was that it seems dark. Maybe due to the amount of 'wood' decor - a bit like the schooner bar, all over the ship. The welcome aboard was warm. The ships decor is a little confused - lots of Hawaii (the ship was originally the Pride of Hawaii) and Venition scenes. We later realised that it was the cruise director who was doing the welcoming. We boarded at 12:30 and were able to go straight to our room. We booked a mid-ship mini suite which I expected to be similar to a junior suite on the Brilliance. I have to say I prefer the junior on Royal. The mini-suite is no wider than a standard balcony on Royal but it is deeper.

The bathroom has toilet, sink/vanity and a tub but lacks storage space. The cabin seemed a little cluttered with and old style tv, coffee maker and mirror light on the vanity. To get to the wardrobe we had to go down the side of the bed to get to the doors where space was limited. The room also had a 'sofa-bed and small table. No lounger on the balcony, only 2 chairs and a table - due to space.

The public spaces inside the ship compared well. The Aloha lounge is light and spacious, large guest services desk, 'pay' restaurant booking desk and a shore excursion desk. Strangely, NCL don't sell cruises onboard - they do offer a 'pay $250 deposit for your next cruise and get $100 credit on current sailing'. We took advantage and paid 3 future deposits towards the end of the cruise and received $300 off our bar bill! At the top of the ship is the Spinnaker lounge - very similar to the viking crown lounge - which was well used for game shows and entertainment. Tankards offers a 'happy hour' between 4 & 6 with all house drinks 2 for 1. The star bar on deck 12 is a very pleasant place for a pre-dinner drink
.
The sports court and pool decks compared well but as the temperatures quite cool were not well used. The promenade deck was not as nice as the brilliance with very few places to sit and smoking on both sides.

The theatre production shows were good quality, with the usual welcome aboard show and staff and crew onstage on the last night. There was also a show called 'Elements' on the last night - a Cirque type show that was in my opinion the best show we have seen on any ship. The entertainers were of a similar quality to Royal which must have been hard to do due to the number of languages onboard. The cruise director, Gary, who has now gone on holiday, was excellent. He always had time for a chat, speaks 8 languages and runs an animal sanctuary in Italy. On big band night he could be seen dancing with anyone who would dance with him.
We did not enjoy the onboard music very much, with the exception of the orchestra. Neither of the 2 groups onboard were very good and the piano man is not our cup of tea. The trivia’s and game shows were the same - including the love and marriage, battle of the sexes and the Quest. Deal or no deal was on a couple of times and must be more of a money-spinner for NCL than the bingo.

The port talks were far better than Royals shopping rubbish. Gary would talk about the history of the port, what to see and do and even the best way to get around. In Istanbul he told us to leave the ship, turn right, go 200m down to a square, buy tickets for a few lira and use the tram. This is an easy way to get to the Topkapi Palace and Blue Mosque sites. Gary also did a talk on his colourful history in show business which again was well worth listening to.

Finally food. I should note we are not 'foodies' and will never starve on a cruise. The 'garden cafe' buffet breakfast and lunch were very similar to the windjammer. It did seem a little smaller than necessary and it was sometimes difficult to find a table. The food was adequate buffet food with similar choices to Royal. Breakfast and lunch are served in the MDR but we did not use them. At night there are 2 choices for MDR. Alizar seemed very dark and not really what you would expect for a MDR. Grand Pacific is far more like what you would expect for an MDR and was the more popular of the 2. The service was ok as was the food. There is a set menu with 7 starters and mains with a daily menu adding 3 further choices to each. We like to dine at 6:30, and did not experience any waiting; however, there were queues especially at the Grand Pacific, between 7 & 7.30 with waits of 30 - 45 minutes. They give you a bleeper to alert you as to when your table is ready.

We tried 3 of the 'pay' restaurants. On night 1 we dined in Le Bistro. The food and service were of a higher standard and worth the charge. On night 5 we dined in Papas Italian. The food was no better than the MDR and not worth paying for.
On night 8 we dined in Cagney’s steak house. By far the best meal onboard. The food was excellent and cooked to perfection. The service was also top notch.
Next time we do NCL, Italian - no, French - maybe, Cagney’s - definitely!

One thing we did notice is that the staff did not seem as engaging as we have been used to. We always enjoy our conversations with the staff and look forward to meeting them again. Only Walter, in Tankards, seemed to want to stop and talk to us. In the theatre one night I had to go and fetch a waiter as 4 of them seemed more engaged in their conversation than wanting to serve customers. We also had to clear our own table in the garden cafe on numerous occasions. Maybe because the tips (which are not tips they are a service charge) are either all prepaid or added daily to your account there is not the incentive to 'earn' tips - I really hope that with Royals new policy that this does not happen there!

Did we enjoy the cruise as much as RCI - yes, would we cruise NCL again - yes, deposit already paid. The lines are more similar than different.

Sorry for being a bit long winded and I hope MY opinions are of some use to others.

Pete & Wifey.

[B-52]

Originally Posted by Loralie

We are thinking of booking a cruise for 2014. I was just on the Explorer and loved it. We live in the New York area and LOVED the fact that we did not have to fly. I see that Norwegian will have the Breakaway leaving from New York and are thinking of giving that a shot. We have never been on a Norwegian cruise before. How is Norwegian compared to Royal?


Thanks,

Loralie

Like you, we like to cruise from the Northeast where we do not have to fly in the day before our cruise, but drive to the port....
Been on Explorer 5 times, 6th coming up....
Have to admit, it is getting old...same itineraries etc, etc....

We too are very seriously looking to book something different for our 2014 cruise....breakaway looks promising....I like the itineraries they offer, especially the 12 day southern from NY......

I have not read anything different enough NOT to switch to NCL, most statements are minor issues IMO....like food....food has gone downhill on RCI a long time ago...they have not changed their shows in 10 years...and they continue to take away the little perks, penny pinching...

I believe RCI knows this, and the rumors of the Explorer leaving NJ may be true...but they will need to do more than just change the ship.....

[melbur]

We are pretty "loyal to royal" but have done 6 NCL cruises. With the exception of the Pride of Hawaii, all our Norwegian cruises have been excellent.
We enjoyed the entertainment, particularly on the Epic, and the food was the same to me in both MDR. The Garden Cafe on NCL though is far better than the Windjammer.
We enjoy specialty restaurants on any cruise line, so paying extra for that is not an issue.
But food is such a personal thing . . . we always heard for example food on princess was great - we just completed 19 days on the Grand Princess and had to be the worst food I've ever had!

BUT . . . the Haven suite experience is unlike anything else. Royal can't come close to the suite experience I'm afraid.

[Aquahound]

Originally Posted by 04cruises

We just got off the NCL Dawn on Sunday and it will be our last NCL cruise on their older smaller ships.

Originally Posted by abridalmaven

We did the Dawn a few years back. Never again. The freestyle dining in my opinion sucks because of the show schedules.

Agreed. I cruised the Dawn in December and I will never set foot on that ship again. Service was not on par with RCI and I think Freestyle is one of the most over-hyped cruising concepts I have ever seen. In my experience, Freestyle = 30 minute waits to get a dinner table. Plus, they converted their lounge, Spinnaker, to suites and moved Spinnaker to a small, clausterphobic area that was way too crowded. Also, a trend I saw on both Dawn and Sky is that NCL does not maintain their ships nearly as well as RCI. Examples were decking falling apart, excessive rust on railings, dirty balconies, etc.

[debbs0723]

Loralie,

Do you mind if I ask you what date you are referring to on that cruise? We are from the Houston area also. This would be a great opotion for us.

Debbie

[Jenjer]

After 5 RCCL my kids wanted slides and NCL markets to kids a lot. So we went on the EPIC. It was a amazing ship and had lots of features that made it a great cruise.

Food....As others have said the MDR on NCL is not great. We knew that going in and planned on eating in the specialty restraunts. IMO they do it on purpose there are very few choices and the food is not great in the MDR. The specialties are all amazing we had some of the best meals ever in them. I also liked that they allow, encourage kids to come they are free if they order off the kids menu or 1/2 price if they order off the normal menu. our kids loved that.

I also think thier buffett is better than RCCL. Nutello crepes in the evening...ahhh heaven

Entertainment was top notch, IMO better than RCCL.

Ship design........RCCL wins this hand down. The decor is awsome the storage was easy and plentiful like in RCCL. What I missed was the Royal Promanade to cross the ship. On Epic you had to go thru the casino, were they allow smoking. My DS refused and would go up or down a floor to avoid it. RCCL food in promanade Cafe wins hands down over NCL O'sheehans. NCL felt more closed in and not as open as RCCL ships do.

I found the service to be top notch on both ships. Some of the sports staff new my kids names the first day and called them by name all week long. After a very cool face painting my DD got a chemical burn on her face that looked like a red tribal tattoo. Not thier fault she has very sensative skin. Being a preteen she was embarrassed and tried to hide behind dark glasses and a big hat. One of the guys saw her and after the shock of red swirls he told her she looked cool. Like she was getting a tattoo and her mom stopped her. :-) It really helped her feel better about it. Yes it all healed and she is okay now. A preteen in a bad mood can ruin a whole day and his attention really helped. Cause mom and dad saying it ment nothing but a cool hot guy..well he knows. :-)


I have thought about Breakway she does look great and maybe we will go on her sometime. I love the idea of the a Bermuda cruise too.

[Luv06012012]

I sailed NCL for the first time this past summer and I have no want to ever do it again. Their customer service both over the phone and on the ship left a lot to be desired. I had several incidents of being extremely dissatisified. Their policies, food and entertainment fall below RCCL in many ways. Me and my family will stick with RCCL for every trip we take from now on. Like they say....if it's not broke why fix it?

By the way, we sailed on the Gem. Here area few points of our aggrivation:

-When calling custmer service about whether or not my daughter needed certain paperwork I got different answers every time I called w/attitude.

-When embarking, we said we wanted to open our account w/cash. We were told the person at the cash only desk was not working yet and we would have no choice but to register a cc which we did not want to do. They said later on the ship we could switch everything over to cash. When the time came, we went to the cs service desk and they gave us all kinds of problems as to why this was an issue and shouldn't be done even though we followed their instructions to begin with.

-our safe in our room wouldn't work. We called to inform them and they said they would send someone up to replace it. We had lots of cash on us and didn't want to walk around with it all day. Two people came and messed with it for a while (also they told us we had to be in the room while this took place...I don't know why...the safe was empty at this point). Long story short they didn't have all the material they needed and said they would come back. Still sitting in our room, we later got a call that they wouldn't be able to come back until the next day with a whole new safe.

-Everybody's accounts were shut down the night before disembarking. We felt like orphans left with nothing. I had money left on my account so I went to ask for my refund back. They said "we don't do that...it's our policy to mail a check to your home" ***???? Who does that? Thank God I only had a little money on there, but what if I had alot? Nobody ever notified us that this would be the case. What if it was our taxi money or something ya know? To make matters worse....nobody in our party got our refunds for weeks after being home. We all had to call and request our money back. They never even thanked us for all of the interest they earned on our behalf!!!!

-Lastly, RCCL offers the cruise in review dvd. Well on this trip with NCL, DH and I participated in the newlywed show. We asked if we could get a copy and they said, no...you would need all the participants to give their permission. Well we had befriended them at this point so as we saw them around the ship we asked if they wanted copies too. We all approached as a group to make our request and then we were given the excuse that we would need everyone's permission including the "audience" that participated and that would be impossible. What???? This is insanity.

Goodbye NCL.....I won't submit to your rediculousness, lack of customer service or robbery ever again!

RCCL gal foreverrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr..............

[ConnieG]

I like RCL and NCL pretty much equally well. I think some RCL people who are intensely loyal are because of their Diamond and Diamond plus status. How I envy them and someday I may join you.

I am an easy to please person who eats the vast majority of the time in the MDR and enjoy RCL when the tablemates are nice folk. On NCL, we are usually seated quickly at a table for 2. I would occasionally like to eat with others and may request that on our next cruise at times. What torture it would be to be seated at a table on a RCL cruise and they turn out to be horrible or don't even show up! I was at a table for 10 on a 16 night TA where one couple NEVER showed up and weren't replaced. The seating dynamics were always awkward.

I've never had horrible food on either cruise line.

[cruisingabuela]

1st experience on NCL was excellent.
2nd experience on NCL not so good.
Trying out the Allure. After my last NCL cruise I was thinking of not cruising anymore. The overcrowding was too much. Paid for a suite and still felt that way. I think I picked the wrong week to cruise. I am hoping I don't feel that way on the Allure.

[klingoncruiser]

Diamond + on RCL and Elite on NCL. Both cruise lines are just fine.

Edge goes to RCL for ship design and ease of use.

Edge goes to RCL for Main Dining.


Edge goes to NCL for buffet area.

Edge goes to NCL for pricing usually.

Edge goes to NCL for port line up often.

Edge goes to NCL for alternative dining options.


Service is fine on both.

I will be on NCL out of NOLA next week. I will be on NCL b to b out of Vancouver this summer. And will be on RCL spring break next year.

Don't worry about it. Go out and find out for yourself what other lines have to offer.

[HappyCruiser54]

I have done 2 NCL cruises and 3 RCCL cruises. Last NCL was on the Jewel. Nice ship, food was fine, but I really prefer traditional dining. We had a group of 8 for dinner, had to wait most nights for 20-30 minutes for a table. DIfferent servers most night, they were good, but I still missed having the same servers each night. It was a good cruise, had a lot of fun, probably would not go NCL again except for the Breakaway. I say go for it with the mindset that it will be a little different, but good.

[Arzeena]

Book both!

[katiel53]

We have sailed Royal Caribbean as well as NCL. We did Alaska cruises on NCL and if we were ever to go there again, we would book NCL.

I love the NCL ships and I do the same for RCCL. I would book NCL in a minute with this caveat. Their food in the MDR, based on our experiences, and haven't been on there ships for 5 years, so things might have changed, is the worst food we have ever had and the dining room service was worse than that.

We were constantly reminded by the staff that there were other options than the MDR for dinner. In all the cruises we have taken, we have never heard that and it wasn't just the one time on NCL, it was both times.

If we were to sail NCL again, and it could be a possibility, we would only do it IF, and it's a big IF, if we would NOT go to the MDR with perhaps the exception of lobster night, and eat all our dinners in the specialty restaurants where the food is really good. I think NCL is going the way most cruise lines will eventually go, but haven't gotten there yet. Cheap food in the MDR so we spend more in other venues.

Entertainment was more enjoyable than on other lines and I have to say the cabins are smaller than Royal. The JS on NCL was about the size of a D1 on Freedom of the Seas as an example.

I liked the casual atmosphere, especially when flying to Seattle for an Alaska cruise. Even if we did an NCL cruise from FL, DH's being able to wear shorts every night to dinner would make it a positive experience.

Enjoy!

[HokiePoq]

Originally Posted by Pack My Bags

Everyone has a different opinion & there are many that would not DARE go on NCL. My signature says a lot -- But here's my 2 cents. My 3 key points. Food, entertainment & ease of ship navigation.

My absolute favorite line is Royal for the 3 reasons above. On Royal I always have FUN, find peace & quiet & enjoy my dining experiences. I went on NCL 11 yrs ago when they first introduced freestyle dining. I was not given the personalized experience or service I expected. The MDR food was appalling. Now everyone offers a "freestyle" option. My parents just came off the NCL Gem last month & were pleased.

However... I would give the Breakaway a chance. It's a new ship & I am sure they have ironed out a lot. Now, many of the mainstreamed lines have contracted with entertainment & food conglomerates & things are much better throughout the cruise industry. NCL now offers more to do.

To me, the biggest difference is the food. IMHO NCL has much weaker main dining room quality food because of their inclination to steer people towards specialty dining. NCL ships have LOTS of surcharge restaurants. The food is absolutely better there than in the MDR. Their bistro & steakhouses are superb -- I pay enough to cruise & don't want to spend $20-$40 a day extra on food.

The Explorer OTS (part of the Voyager Class which also includes the Navigator, Mariner, Adventure & Voyager OTS) are beautiful large ships, which are now around 10 yrs old, and offer the MDR & 1-2 specialty restaurants. Royal just launched their new menus in the MDR & I am eager to try them. I enjoy Royal's MDR experience & 1-2 specialties in a 7 day cruise is fine by me! Royal's newer class ships: Freedom, Oasis & upcoming Sunshine have a much bigger selection of specialty dining options. So they are following suit -- Its nice to have options, though.

As for ship navigation I LOVE the ease of Royal ships. NCL had too many floors that were only accessible if you go to this elevator bank, this entrance is accessible from that floor, etc. The floor plans wind too much for my taste. Some CCL ships have the same issues.

Soooooooooooo....That being said... It has been a long time & really..... ANY cruise is better than sitting in the office!
Ultimately we will choose Royal whenever possible. We love it. I am a diamond member with Royal & enjoy my perks at this stage, but I would not turn away the opportunity to sail on a new ship. If the itinerary, price & opportunity are available, I will revisit NCL on the Breakaway. I too enjoy the ease of sailing out if NY, but wouldn't do it for the tropics unless its a 8-9 nighter or longer.

Whichever you choose, I am sure you will enjoy it!

Yes, I think they would enjoy either line. I believe MDR food on NCL has improved. We have never been displeased with the regular MDR and buffet food. (Specialties are nice but we rarely spend the $$ to eat in one on any line we cruise.) We are going to go on our second RCCL cruise next month. I am really hoping the MDR food is better than on our first. Some food was inedible....I read people saying that about things I find just fine...but I literally could not chew the beef on more than one occasion on JOTS last April. Several sent dishes back and complained to the head waiter. I enjoyed the cruise other than the main dining room food and noise. On NCL I like being able to eat when and with whom I choose.
I'd suggest making the decision on reasons other than food. I want to try the Breakaway but am waiting for rates to go down. Enjoy whichever you choose.

[tntornadox]

Originally Posted by VABeach

Totally different. NCL doesn't have Rock Climbing Walls and Ice Rinks and all that kind of stuff, what they DO have is a totally laid back My Time Attitude.

Just to point out, the newer NCL ships do in fact have rock climbing walls.

[Sequim88]

Booked 14nt Transatlantic this afternoon on NCL Star. This thread is great - a wealth of info. Near as I can tell Star seems to be on par size wise with Radiance class, which we really like. At first we were looking at $1,027 for a HC balcony but our agent called later and said that there was a two class upgrade deal and they booked us into Oceanview at the regular price of $867 for that and moved us to the original balcony we had selected - so over $300 saved betwen the two of us.

We like RCI but the decision was totally itinerary driven. Miami to Copenhagen and we had already been contemplating a trip to Sweden. So we'll go to airport, rent a car and the bridge to Sweden in right there. We'll be looking for graveyards with some of wife's ancestors.

We want to travel very light so skipping formal wear is a huge plus.

So next year we will see what the differences are.

[Rochesterboatingdotcom]

Casino and casino comps much better on NCL. Free cruises very easy to earn if you are a gambler, along with free drinks, comped dinners and OBC at the end of the cruise.