Thomson vs Norwegian Cruise Line

Hi Folks

I promised to do a comparison between Thomson and NCL. So for those interested here goes.

Just to give some background, we have completed 5 cruises. 4 with Thomson (Spirit x2, Destiny and Dream) and 1 with NCL on the Jade completed last week. We love the Thomson package but really wanted to have something to compare with.

For those who do not want to read the whole article we felt that Thomson come out the best for Brits.

Ships

Right lets get the bad news out of the way first. I read last year the excitement of the money Thomson were spending on refurbishment on The Dream followed by the obvious disappointment at the results. I am not being unkind here but realistically the old phrase ‘you cant make a silk purse out of a pigs ear’ comes to mind. These are old ships and whatever money is spent they will still be old ships with blown windows, shabby bathrooms and the occasional rusty hole. The NCL experience makes you realise the difference. The Jade is about 7 years old and looks fresh, clean and very well looked after. There are 14 decks with about 13 bars, a theatre, 2 main dining rooms, a large buffet area, a spa, a gym and many specialty dining options (fee paying). NCL win here hands down.

Cabins

Again NCL come out top. We had 2 inside cabins. They were about the same size as a Thomson cabin, nicely decorated, flat screen tv, good quality hairdryer, good wardrobe space and a nice size bathroom with a large shower that had a sliding door rather than that bloody curtain that sticks to your bottom. Plenty of mirrors ladies. The cabins with balconies were much bigger. Again NCL for me.

Staff

Well like all cruise ships the staff were very good. My daughters steward found out it was her birthday and duly decorated the room for her. The bar staff and the waiters were also friendly however, the staff are more international and we thought overall they were a bit more distant. The staff on NCL also seemed a bit sparse at times despite having a greater ratio to passengers. We felt that the staff on Thomson went that extra mile so Thomson win here.

Entertainment

We thought this was where Thomson really excel. NCL have some excellent singers, duos, pianists and groups but they are on the same venues at the same time every day playing the same songs. There was a lovely theatre with a big stage. The shows were nightly but the first night was a Mamma Mia show. Singers and dancers were poor. Second night was a talented duo he blew bubbles in different styles and was quite funny. His wife did a lasso act. Whilst I watched his act I thought all that soap on the stage will be slippy for any dancers. However, after he had finished they both came on stage and danced around with mops! We all clapped but I realised we had applauded someone cleaning the stage! There was an illusionist and a group of 4 male singers who were good. The final night was dedicated to a show called Elements. This is the best show I have ever seen on a cruise ship with acrobats, illusionist and dancers. The finale was amazing. I wont go into detail in case I spoil it for someone. However overall I was disappointed but I suppose they have to cater for all nationalities but here Thomson win big style.

Food

Well more food than you can shake a stick at on NCL but really aimed at the American market and boy can they eat! Too much fatty food but plenty of choice all day including tea and coffee, cold drinks, ice cream, fruit, salads, burgers, sausages, pizzas, curries, pasta, carvery etc, etc. But as with most big ships hit the buffet at key times and it was manic. Despite the quantity I thought it was pretty much evens here.

Cruise

We set sail from Venice which was beautiful but didn’t get enough time to go ashore as the ship docks just about as far away as possible. We visited Dubrovnik but didn’t dock until 2pm. A whole morning wasted. Admittedly we didn’t set sail until 9pm but I like to be back on ship for dinner and the entertainment. 2nd day at sea. We then visited Athens ( I never know why cruise lines are so keen to visit here) followed by Izmir. Another day at sea! Then visited Split arriving at 11am (Why dock this late?) but had to tender in. Now this was well organised. You collected a ticket in the morning and rather than standing around waiting you were called when you were ready to board. Unfortunately 2 tenders had technical issues and had to be repaired creating a 45 minute hold up. My only concern here was the tenders were our own lifeboats so god help us if this had been an emergency.

Thomson 1 day at sea is just about right. Lets face it these days are designed to get us spending on board and it would be better to give us an extra port call like Thomson do. With Thomson most days you dock early in the morning. Big win here for Thomson.

General

Tipping. I do object to being forced to tip. $15 a day plus 15% surcharge on your drinks plus you can pay more if you want! We do tip on Thomson but decide where and when.

We also enjoy the Thomson experience. We went to Caribbean in Feb handed the cases in at Manchester and the next time we saw them they were outside our cabin.

One big advantage with Thomson is that choose your dates carefully and there are only limited numbers of children on board. I know this is me being a miserable git but I don’t really want kids running havoc around the ship all day. I do have kids of my own and I was one once but there you are.

Conclusion

We thought Thomson give the best overall experience, however, give the Jade to Thomson and that would be a totally unbeatable package. I do think, however, that Thomson need to look at their pricing policy!

Thanks for thet very interesting comparison paulaud. :) Glad you had a good experience and very interesting to read where each ship scored better.

We have actually sailed on the Jade and I agree with your comments. I don't know whether you had a different cabin to us but whilst new and fresh and I agree it had a very nice shower unit, I have a lasting impression of there being little storage (but I hadn't been on Majesty then! :D) It wasn't much of an issue though and after three or four years my memory may be playing tricks on me!:confused:

The main areas we felt it fell down were service (very slow and impersonal especially in the mdr), ambience (or lack of!) and entertainment - big style! The theatre was fantastic but the entertainment very poor - we didn't even have an impressive finale like you so we came away bitterly disappointed in that respect. We enjoyed our cruise because of the weather and destinations both of which were fantastic - and we got a good price too. We would be prepared to go back for the right itinerary at a very good price, but in the knowledge that we would be making a compromise on a number of aspects we find on Thomson and which we value.

However you are quite right, Thomson must watch their price point and not let their best features become diluted or cut back as that's the way to go if they want more regulars trying out their competitors.

Thanks for thet very interesting comparison paulaud. :) Glad you had a good experience and very interesting to read where each ship scored better.

 

We have actually sailed on the Jade and I agree with your comments. I don't know whether you had a different cabin to us but whilst new and fresh and I agree it had a very nice shower unit, I have a lasting impression of there being little storage (but I hadn't been on Majesty then! :D) It wasn't much of an issue though and after three or four years my memory may be playing tricks on me!:confused:

 

The main areas we felt it fell down were service (very slow and impersonal especially in the mdr), ambience (or lack of!) and entertainment - big style! The theatre was fantastic but the entertainment very poor - we didn't even have an impressive finale like you so we came away bitterly disappointed in that respect. We enjoyed our cruise because of the weather and destinations both of which were fantastic - and we got a good price too. We would be prepared to go back for the right itinerary at a very good price, but in the knowledge that we would be making a compromise on a number of aspects we find on Thomson and which we value.

 

However you are quite right, Thomson must watch their price point and not let their best features become diluted or cut back as that's the way to go if they want more regulars trying out their competitors.

The big things for us Kruzseeker is the number of days at sea these cruise lines expect us to endure for the money. Surely the whole point about being on a cruise ship is to visit different ports not to sit on a ship out at sea. I dont like the tipping aspect much preferring to select who I tip and of course the entertainment both on stage and around the ship needs to be of a able quality

The big things for us Kruzseeker is the number of days at sea these cruise lines expect us to endure for the money. Surely the whole point about being on a cruise ship is to visit different ports not to sit on a ship out at sea. I dont like the tipping aspect much preferring to select who I tip and of course the entertainment both on stage and around the ship needs to be of a able quality

Very interesting comparison paulaud :) We felt similarly about the Celebrity Eclipse - a beautiful ship, but just not that friendly.

BTW, you do know that you can go to the Purser's desk when you embark and cancel the automatic tipping and tell them you you wish to tip individually. Unfortunately you can't remove the 15% from drinks :(

Thanks very much, Paulaud for that very interesting comparison.

I think if Thomson value and retain the things that they excel at then they will retain customers like us.

Thanks Paulad. Your comment about what would happen if Thomson could do everything that they do but on a newer ship to be a very interesting one. I think they would leap from being looked down on by some to being market leader if they could pull that one off. Once again thank you for the time you spent to share this with us.

Another comparison that might be interesting would be how Thomson fared against Fred Olson.

Thanks for the great comparison! We've been looking at NCL for next year on the same cruise as you, but doing two back-to-back 7 night itineraries so we actually get a proper day in Venice. Something I don't understand is why these liners always start in the main port on a cruise, Venice, Rome etc. I suppose as they are international liners, the passengers that come from America will want to stay in that port for a few days before joining the ship maybe?

Your review has proved once again that Thomson excel on entertainment, staff, itineraries (regarding sea days and port variety) and ambience. But, it shows that the hardware needs upgrading significantly, particularly considering the prices they now charge. As you say, the Thomson product with a new ship would be brilliant.

Fantastic information. Many thanks for this feedback. We too are considering broadening our cruise experience. As part of our research into "jumping ship" a common message across various cruise lines is that "things are not as good as they used to be". As efficiencies are sought to maintain profit it means comparisons are more difficult over time. What you get in one year may not be what you get the following year. Unless the reviews are close together in terms of sailing dates it is difficult to compare and of course we all have different likes & dislikes.

On our Thomson Crimean Discoveries cruise in June 2013 we thought the entertainment, service, atmosphere, food & times ashore at ports had all gone down hill compared to previous years Thomson cruises.

A final point is to compare total costs between ships fully for your own cruise i.e.all costs including tips, drinks, excursions, cabins, parking, flights, dog kennel costs!!! etc. etc.

Thanks once again paulaud for your feedback. We nearly ended up on the Norwegian Jade in September 2013 but alas did not make it!

Len

Thanks Paulad, that's very informative.

I also think Thomson come out on top by trying to keep the sea days to as few as possible.

The big things for us Kruzseeker is the number of days at sea these cruise lines expect us to endure for the money. Surely the whole point about being on a cruise ship is to visit different ports not to sit on a ship out at sea. I dont like the tipping aspect much preferring to select who I tip and of course the entertainment both on stage and around the ship needs to be of a able quality

I love the days at sea. We actually love them so much we are thinking about booking the 14 night Norwegian Epic Transatlantic crossing from Barcelona to Miami in 2014. 10 days total at sea. Very relaxing.

We sailed on the Norwegian Jewel from New York a couple of years ago and pretty much agree with the OP's comments. The ship was clean and modern and there was plenty of room on board. The entertainment was good but geared towards the Amercian market which is no surprise as around 95% of people on board were Americans. It did amuse us as to how excited the Americans got at some of the shows!

The food was nowhere near as good as Thomsons, however, and we felt that they were pushing you to use the "extra fee" restaurants a little too much. That said, we did eat at one of these and I have to say it was one of the best Chinese meals I've ever had! We also felt the cabin crew were not as friendly and helpful as Thomson's.

We sailed on the Norwegian Jewel from New York a couple of years ago and pretty much agree with the OP's comments. The ship was clean and modern and there was plenty of room on board. The entertainment was good but geared towards the Amercian market which is no surprise as around 95% of people on board were Americans. It did amuse us as to how excited the Americans got at some of the shows!

The food was nowhere near as good as Thomsons, however, and we felt that they were pushing you to use the "extra fee" restaurants a little too much. That said, we did eat at one of these and I have to say it was one of the best Chinese meals I've ever had! We also felt the cabin crew were not as friendly and helpful as Thomson's.

Yes we found this too. :D The first night I had a rather sinking feeling when an 'opera' singer rather in the mould of Paul Potts (though not even as good!:eek:) was given a standing ovation by the largely American audience! :eek: Needless to say we didn't stand and I had serious reservations about the entertainment at that point. Nothing we saw/heard from there on changed our opinion! At the end of one show when we were giving some polite applause the lady sitting next to me said 'Oh dear, we're used to Thomson entertainment!' I knew just where she was coming from but as you say the American audience seemed to be very impressed.

The big things for us Kruzseeker is the number of days at sea these cruise lines expect us to endure for the money. Surely the whole point about being on a cruise ship is to visit different ports not to sit on a ship out at sea. I dont like the tipping aspect much preferring to select who I tip and of course the entertainment both on stage and around the ship needs to be of a able quality

We cruised Jade from Venice 2 years ago and did 4 ports on a 7 day cruise. Going on Spirit to Norway 3rd August with 4 ports in 7 days. Considering distances to travel how can you expect more ports?

We cruised Jade from Venice 2 years ago and did 4 ports on a 7 day cruise. Going on Spirit to Norway 3rd August with 4 ports in 7 days. Considering distances to travel how can you expect more ports?

It all depends on the itinerary. If you are going to Norway you will have two sea days (one there and one back) as a minimum on whichever cruise line as you can't get across the North Sea in less. However a cruise involving Venice theoretically could have no sea days depending on the port of departure and which ports are visited as many of the Adriatic ports are close together. Even leaving from Corfu Thomson's Adriatic cruises manage to have 6 port days in a 7 day cruise. I don't think these two itineraries are sufficiently comparable to draw conclusions.

It all depends on the itinerary. If you are going to Norway you will have two sea days (one there and one back) as a minimum on whichever cruise line as you can't get across the North Sea in less. However a cruise involving Venice theoretically could have no sea days depending on the port of departure and which ports are visited as many of the Adriatic ports are close together. Even leaving from Corfu Thomson's Adriatic cruises manage to have 6 port days in a 7 day cruise. I don't think these two itineraries are sufficiently comparable to draw conclusions.

Correct Kruzseeka! If you trawl the cruise websites and look at the various itinerary's you do find that generally Thomson give the very best in numbers of ports visited. Not only that but look at the proposed in port times. Generally no later than 8am docking and normally 5pm earliest sailing, now compare this with NCL. In Dubrovnik we didn't dock until 2pm. Ok so we sailed at 9pm but really I want to be in port early so I can spend the day in the place we are visiting. We had the same problem when we docked in Split arriving at 11am then having to tender in. I am not moaning, honest, the cruise was really good but I am just making the point that we go on cruises to see a different place each day not to spend time in the sea looking at distant islands. If Thomson can do it why cant the others. I notice that Celebrity cruises also manage only 1 day at sea it sailing the Caribbean from Puerto Rico!

Correct Kruzseeka! If you trawl the cruise websites and look at the various itinerary's you do find that generally Thomson give the very best in numbers of ports visited. Not only that but look at the proposed in port times. Generally no later than 8am docking and normally 5pm earliest sailing, now compare this with NCL. In Dubrovnik we didn't dock until 2pm. Ok so we sailed at 9pm but really I want to be in port early so I can spend the day in the place we are visiting. We had the same problem when we docked in Split arriving at 11am then having to tender in. I am not moaning, honest, the cruise was really good but I am just making the point that we go on cruises to see a different place each day not to spend time in the sea looking at distant islands. If Thomson can do it why cant the others. I notice that Celebrity cruises also manage only 1 day at sea it sailing the Caribbean from Puerto Rico!

It's all part of the weighing-up process when you select a cruise and cruise line. To some people it won't matter if they're not bothered about getting ashore much or prefer DiY options (more difficult with short port times) but like you, I'd much perfer to be ashore quite early, make the most of the day and get back for the evening meal. An 8 pm departure's neither here nor there - not late enough for you to really enjoy the ambience of the port in the evening, or choose to have an evening meal ashore.

I know you're not moaning - just making a legitimate point which is worth people checking out prior to booking as it could make the difference in terms of whether the cruise is delivering what you want or prefer.