Norwegian vs Carnival

So I've been on 4 Carnival cruises and feel like I pretty well "know the ropes" on that line. We're about to go on our first Norwegian cruise in a couple of days and am very excited.

I'm wondering if anyone has done both cruise lines in the past and what the main differences and similarities are. I know NCL has freestyle dining where you can go whenever you want and sit wherever you want where Carnival typically has a certain time, at the same table, with the same server(s).

Any input would be great, just curious on what to expect. I'm very excited and know it will most definitely be a great time .

We have exclusively done both. We prefer NCL. I love the ships & entertainment. I cannot explain it but we prefer NCL. That being said, I will go exclusive Carnival if NCL has changed through all the recent initiatives.

You can't go wrong if you love the water and look for a relaxing vacation.

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You NEVER have to dress up on NCL. That makes packing super easy. It's great when you come back to the ship tired from an excursion and you just want to have a nice dinner and relax, not get all dolled up. The spa is VERY nice. My favorite restaurants as Cagney's and Le Bistro. Moderno is good, but a lot of meat. Sushi is good. Teppanyaki will be sold out almost every night because it is a smaller restaurant so do book ahead if you want to try it. MDR is good. Buffet: try the pretzel rolls and they put out nice cheese every afternoon around 5pm. The bathrooms are well planned on the Pearl. If you have a balcony or larger up to Penthouse, it is 3 compartments with sliding frosted glass doors which means more than 1 person can use the bathroom at a time. If you have a suite (Penthouse and above)...well, it's just a fantastic experience - Carnival doesn't have anything like it at all. The Haven is like being on a private yacht.

Enjoy! Alaska is a GREAT cruise and there is so much to do you can't help but have a wonderful time.

Thanks guys, this info is helping out a lot!

Have cruised with both. As with any cruise line, the actual vessel that one is on can make all the difference in any cruise.

We most likely won't cruise with CCL any more because of the drastic cut backs especially the evening shows, which on CCL are now generally pathetic. That being said, CCL is still a good value and our last cruise with CCL aboard The Breeze, we were impressed with the ship itself.

We first cruised with NCL aboard The Star on a 17 day Panama Canal transit. Fabulous itinerary, miserable food in the MDR, a not very happy crew and tiny cabins/balconies.Then we cruised on the NCL Sun: fabulous crew members, very good food, wonderful mid-sized ship, larger than expected cabin/balcony, great Southern Caribbean itinerary. Optional dress-up nights, free style dinning, and very well performed evening shows made for a very memorable cruise and we will cruise with NCL again some time. So I think you'll find great similarities between CCL and NCL but maybe it might also depend which ship you're cruising on. Regardless, hope you have a great adventure and smooth seas. :)

I'm platinum on Carnival and sailed with NCL the first time in October and have booked my second NCL cruise for March. They're more similar then they are different. As others have mentioned, probably the biggest difference is the dining. I haven't had assigned dining on Carnival in many years, so that isn't an issue for me as I've enjoyed the flexibility of Your Time Dining for the last several cruises. But, I LOVED the variety of restaurants on the NCL Jade. I purchased the Ultimate Dining Package so I could try several of them and didn't eat in the main dining rooms except for breakfast one day. The food in the specialty restaurants was a cut above what I've experienced on Carnival, but you'd think it would be since you're paying above your fare. Cagney's was good though not as good as the Carnival steakhouses I've eaten in. Le Bistro was by far my favorite restaurant.

I found the service on NCL to be about the same as CCL--no complaints with either. My steward on NCL was great. One of the things I loved about NCL that I've never experienced on Carnival was the party on the pier when returning to ship in port. Many members of the crew were out dancing and welcoming us back and they also had cold drinks and wet towels, which were wonderful on hot days.

I'd sail either line any time, but at this point, NCL will be my first choice Can't wait to board the Epic in 290 days!

You NEVER have to dress up on NCL. That makes packing super easy. It's great when you come back to the ship tired from an excursion and you just want to have a nice dinner and relax, not get all dolled up. The spa is VERY nice. My favorite restaurants as Cagney's and Le Bistro. Moderno is good, but a lot of meat. Sushi is good. Teppanyaki will be sold out almost every night because it is a smaller restaurant so do book ahead if you want to try it. MDR is good. Buffet: try the pretzel rolls and they put out nice cheese every afternoon around 5pm. The bathrooms are well planned on the Pearl. If you have a balcony or larger up to Penthouse, it is 3 compartments with sliding frosted glass doors which means more than 1 person can use the bathroom at a time. If you have a suite (Penthouse and above)...well, it's just a fantastic experience - Carnival doesn't have anything like it at all. The Haven is like being on a private yacht.

 

Enjoy! Alaska is a GREAT cruise and there is so much to do you can't help but have a wonderful time.

What exactly would you wear on a typical night in the dining room on NCL?

Bill

What exactly would you wear on a typical night in the dining room on NCL?

 

Bill

A pair of pants for guys in the main dining room. Otherwise it is cruise casual, look clean and decent is all that is required at NCL.

I have done 2 CCL cruises and 3 NCL. We prefer NCL because their shows are some of the best I have seen at sea. Carnival shows are lacking and mostly done with their staff and repeats often. Service is the same for both. Mostly the difference I have seen is the type of people. Hate to sound stuck up or uppedy, but the class of people I have noticed on CCL is different and unfortunately seen a lot of people that have no class nor their kids. Of course that is my observation only. We pay for what we feel will make our vacation the best as possible.

We do both as well, we do prefer for several reasons Carnival, had the best cruise ever on the Breeze a few weeks ago, but are planning on an NCL cruise next year. Despite all the changes since we booked in fees and some IMO silly policies, we might consider changing but Carnival has no cruise the same week of interest. So we may just stay put.

For us the biggest change between the two lines is eating, we like set dining times, for the kids schedule, and NCL does not have that, but since we did all specialty dining that really is not a big deal as we pre booked anyway. NCL excels at dining choices, some were good...some great...some excellent.

And suites NCL rocks at!

PS: Don't like NCL's kids club hours and policies as much, not as parent user friendly, the kids had a blast though.

We sail both.....each has it's good points...

Carnival used to have bigger cabins, but with all the new ships coming into service, NCL's standard cabin is about the same as Carnival (except on some of the older ships) The very first cabin I cruised (with NCL) was a 104 sf oceanview....some of their cabins are still only 144 sf...the newer ships are now closer to 190 sf....Most of Carnival's standard cabins are 185 sf...

Norwegian wins hands down on entertainment....I find Carnival's activities and entertainment to be mostly 'guest involved'...ie: daily trivia, daily karaoke, etc...whereas Norwegian has some pretty awesome stage shows...

Food was a pretty equal draw....never really had a bad meal on either....but lately, the buffet on Norwegian has been less than stellar....so, we will stick to the dining rooms...

We will continue to sail both lines....maybe even an RCCL if the deal is right...prices have gone up on both lines, but still a great deal for a vacation...I do miss the Champagne greeting (neither line does this anymore)...

Sailed with both lines.

The only advantages of Carnival for us were larger insides and better robes (I do not think NCL provides robes in insides)

Otherwise - atmosphere, decor, entertainment are more to our liking for us.

Food is very subjective, none of the above lines have particularly good food, although overall we like more NCL's (and it is different from vessel to vessel. Worst was on Spirit in 2008, best was on Breakaway last year)

About decor... Well both lines have let's say bright decor (except for the latest NCL pair Breakaway and Getaway), but Carnival's is to gaudy and too cheesy for us.

Our favorite Carnival's vessel was Miracle due to better design and less bottlenecks as a result... but this

?!?!?!

Although since Joe Farcus has stopped "decoring" CCL ships people say that they have became saner. :)

My most recent cruise on Carnival Pride was so disappointing. I was with two first-time cruisers and even they mentioned a few cons... I would probably sail Carnival again if it were free or very inexpensive! The staff on NCL is the most friendly I've seen! Washy, washy, Happy, happy!!!

For the most part, most of the previous posts were my take on the comparison between Carnival and NCL (we are Platinum with Carnival and Gold with NCL). If you are on the Pearl and "Oh What a Night" is still one of the show options - DO NOT MISS IT !!! It was fantastic !!! I sailed on the Pearl twice and saw it every opportunity I could :)

One thing I haven't seen mentioned is the availability of dining room service on embarkation day. They will have a small public venue available where you can "check" your carry-on and then go to one of the dining rooms for lunch, skipping the hassle of the buffet. They do not advertise this and the staff will try to direct you to the buffet. Do not be deterred. It is MUCH nicer to have a sit down meal on embarkation day :) Have fun !!!!

We have sailed twice on Carnival and once on Norweigan. While we did enjoy ourselves on the NCL Dawn we found it lacking in terms of the Carnival cruises.

The service in the MDRs was terrible and the food was average, same with the buffet.

Many people have posted they preferred NCL's entertainment but we thought them to be very similar, they both have good and bad singers, dancers and actors. Other entertainment activities were also very similar.

On the NCL Dawn there wasn't a lot of space in the evenings. There was a small pub which had karaoke every night and the lounge had very limited seating.

The cabins were similar but a bit smaller on the Dawn. We did like the bathroom set up better on the Dawn.

A pair of pants for guys in the main dining room. Otherwise it is cruise casual, look clean and decent is all that is required at NCL.

 

I have done 2 CCL cruises and 3 NCL. We prefer NCL because their shows are some of the best I have seen at sea. Carnival shows are lacking and mostly done with their staff and repeats often. Service is the same for both. Mostly the difference I have seen is the type of people. Hate to sound stuck up or uppedy, but the class of people I have noticed on CCL is different and unfortunately seen a lot of people that have no class nor their kids. Of course that is my observation only. We pay for what we feel will make our vacation the best as possible.

I hear people make comments like that all the time, but usually they've never been on a Carnival ship, so I ignore them. Sorry that's been your experience on Carnival. I've done only one NCL cruise, but I didn't notice any difference in the way the passengers behaved compared to Carnival. There were just as many rude, mannerless people on NCL! LOL. It was even worse on my one cruise with Princess. I never understand what goes on inside of some people that they feel it's fine to treat others so classlessly. I try very hard to not allow it to impact my vacation. :)

Great reading!! We are also taking our first NCL after several Carnival and a Disney. We were looking for a cruise closer to home and had a choice between NCL in NYC or Carnival in Baltimore and the Breakaway just looked far more interesting, cant wait to try NCL :D I already like

their lower deposit requirements!

I am platinum on both cruise lines and for me that is where they differ

NCL free specialty dining in Le Bistro w a comp bottle of wine

1 bag of laundry comp for a 7 day cruise on NCL

(carnival gives 3 bags)

Carnival gives a gift each time

Ex. Nice Cosmetic bag

Boarding Carnival is much more pleasant and FAST for platinum with a designated waiting area,

on NCL there is one part where platinum have their own line but it made no difference in the overall boarding

Carnival has a specific line at the service desk on board for platinum , Ncl does not

NCL delivers chocolate covered strawberries one evening

Carnival gives a comp

bottle of water and a comp drink coupon

All that being said both have pros and cons, I love cruising

I will stay between these two lines for said perks

(

Like most have said..they are more similar than different. I used to sail on CCL only..but CCL doesn't always have the lowest prices. I just returned from a 10 day Alaskan cruise on the Sun. I paid $2270 total(for 2) for an 8th deck balcony of my choosing. The same balcony cabin on the Carnival Legend..would have cost me $3300...for an 8 day cruise. I enjoy CCL..but not for $1100 more..and 2 days less. I sailed on the NCL Pearl last May..and the Legend was $1200 more.I thoroughly enjoyed both NCL cruises..and saved a lot of money in the process.

We mainly sail NCL, but have squeezed in a 2013 Carnival (our first Carnival) on the Dream and then just went on the Pride last month.

There's really more similarities than not in my opinion.

Yes, you have freestyle dining, but then again Carnival offers any time dining, which is basically the same.

I find the food to be about the same in the MDR's but I think (IMO) the buffets are better on NCL.

The deserts are decent on Carnival (at least what we have had) and on NCL...well...they just can't seem to get things right and a lot of people complain that they are tasteless and I have to agree.

Now the entertainment...hands down NCL without a doubt. Their shows are pretty amazing, especially if you are on a ship that has the elements show or on one of the newer ships that have the paid shows like the Cirque (there's only a charge because it's a "dinner" show).

I love the outdoor screens on Carnival and them showing the movies with popcorn and such. NCL only has the screens on the newer ships.

They call Carnival the "Fun Ship" because...well I find it pretty fun with all the dancing and stuff they have to do...not to mention the ships with the 2.0 or the Dream class. You will only find this on the newer ships with NCL.

I find the staff on NCL to be awesome and very friendly. They are always saying hello no matter where you pass them. Carnival, we found our room steward to be like this, but not all staff members. Does it make or break our cruise if someone doesn't speak each time we pass? Absolutely not!

I love both cruise lines and will continue to cruise with both. :)

You NEVER have to dress up on NCL. That makes packing super easy. It's great when you come back to the ship tired from an excursion and you just want to have a nice dinner and relax, not get all dolled up. The spa is VERY nice. My favorite restaurants as Cagney's and Le Bistro. Moderno is good, but a lot of meat. Sushi is good. Teppanyaki will be sold out almost every night because it is a smaller restaurant so do book ahead if you want to try it. MDR is good. Buffet: try the pretzel rolls and they put out nice cheese every afternoon around 5pm. The bathrooms are well planned on the Pearl. If you have a balcony or larger up to Penthouse, it is 3 compartments with sliding frosted glass doors which means more than 1 person can use the bathroom at a time. If you have a suite (Penthouse and above)...well, it's just a fantastic experience - Carnival doesn't have anything like it at all. The Haven is like being on a private yacht.

 

Enjoy! Alaska is a GREAT cruise and there is so much to do you can't help but have a wonderful time.

Gotting dolled up on Carnival is putting on a pair of khakis and a polo, the same thing you have to wear in the fancy mdr or le bistro I think it is.

No need to pack suits or tuxes on Carnival unless you choose to.

That is for 2 nights and the other 5 I wear shorts just like on NCL.

Bill

Dressing up is not a problem. Believe me Carnival is not Cunard, or even Celelebrity. We've seen plenty of people who thought they were dressed up. :) In jeans and baseball heats.

Dressing up is not a problem. Believe me Carnival is not Cunard, or even Celelebrity. We've seen plenty of people who thought they were dressed up. :) In jeans and baseball heats.

I know what you mean. I was just yhrowing that out there as Suitelife was alluding to the clothing needed to differentiate between the 2 lines when there really isnt.

Msybe last time they cruised CCL there was but not anymore.

Bill

So I've been on 4 Carnival cruises and feel like I pretty well "know the ropes" on that line. We're about to go on our first Norwegian cruise in a couple of days and am very excited.

 

I'm wondering if anyone has done both cruise lines in the past and what the main differences and similarities are. I know NCL has freestyle dining where you can go whenever you want and sit wherever you want where Carnival typically has a certain time, at the same table, with the same server(s).

 

Any input would be great, just curious on what to expect. I'm very excited and know it will most definitely be a great time .

Expect to pay a 7.95 fee every time you use room service. Your also not allowed to bring food back to your cabin anymore thanks to the new CEO. Do yourself a favor and stick with Carnival, at least for now. If you like being policed on a cruise like a child then go with NCL.

We have done both, and will choose CCL over NCL any time. NCL had good shows, a fun casino... and I have nothing else good to say about my experience with them. I always thought that I would try a newer ship like the Breakaway or Getaway, but with the new changes that are just plain silly, I just cannot come up with a good reason to do so. Who knows if it will ever happen again or not.

Food was edible, and that was it. However, there sure is a lot of public space used for all those extra dining venues.

I was on a ship, so life was not horrible... but I just think that NCL is not for me.

Have cruised on both and enjoyed both, but at present I believe NCL is being managed by disreputable people and unless I see some changes in the way they treat their passengers I will not book another cruise with them.