Royal Diamond Tries NCL and Loved It!

We were avid "loyal to Royal" cruisers, until this cruise with NCL. We just returned to Singapore earlier this week from Rome, after a very good cruise on the Norwegian Jade out of Rome.

Our itinerary was:

Rome

Sea Day

Katakolon, Greece (for Olympia)

Piraeus, Greece (for Athens)

Kusadasi, Turkey (for Ephesus)

Istanbul (overnight)

Sea Day

Sea Day

Naples

Rome

Short video clip of the itinerary -

This is our very first cruise on Norwegian Cruise lines, after many cruises on Royal and one on Celebrity. We chose this cruise because of its itinerary and also because we got a very good price for a 2 bedroom penthouse suite.

We did not know what to expect. We had no reciprocal perks. But we gave NCL a shot, and definitely did not regret it.

Key thoughts.

The Ship

Nothing fanciful or 'wow' about the ship. Royal builds nicer ships. But I found the ship clean, well maintained, and easy to get around. The greatest difference I discovered was that there were hardly any crowds on the Jade.

We could get into elevators very easily, though we often walked up and down the steps.

Garden Cafe (aka Windjammer equivalent)

Compared to the Windjammer, the crowds were very much less. The seating was much more spacious, with much better space between tables. We could always find a seat. I recall many times the bad crowds in the Windjammer.

Freestyle Dining

Now that we have tried it, we are converts. I don't know if we can go back to the formal 1st/2nd seating dining any more.

Quality of Food

I think the quality of complimentary dining food on the NCL Jade was superior to all the food I have had on my recent Royal cruises.

Suite and Suite Perks

To be fair, we haven't sailed on a Royal suite in a long while. The last was on the Legend of the Seas Owners' Suite, before the ship was refurbished. We were blown away with the 2 bedroom penthouse suite. It was a beautiful cabin. The in-suite coffee machine was a great plus indeed.

See this video for our 2bedroom suite -

See this video for the coffee machine -

The Cagney's Perk for breakfast and lunch was absolutely fantastic. We ate there every day for breakfast and many days for lunch too. Even though the menu did not change, we really liked the food!

My on-going review on the NCL boards of cruise critic is here -

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2139138

Will we sail with NCL again? Almost definitely. We are already exploring some sailings on the Epic next year. Will we sail with Royal again? I would think almost definitely too. We do want to try their bigger ships as we have not gone beyond the Voyager class.

But now that we have tried NCL, we know that we like that product very much too, and would want to continue sailing with NCL.

Please do check out my review and have many more great cruises!

Nice! We have been considering NCL as well. We have a number of friends who have moved over to NCL and love it. Have heard fantastic reports of the suite life on NCL.

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Thank you for your review.

I know it could be difficult to answer but, is there a comparison in cost?

Thanks again.

Sea Ya

Great post, and I agree that it is sooo important to try different cruise lines, I love Royal Caribbean, but I also love MSC, and I love Princess. The problem is some people in this forum will tear you apart for giving your opinion, it's terrible if you ask me, but I don't put all my eggs in one basket. Might have to try NCL next, especially now that Jimmy Buffett has partnered up.

It has been a while since last NCL cruise and I wouldn't want to try them again. But I have read some many reviews saying there suite perks were great

Nice! We have been considering NCL as well. We have a number of friends who have moved over to NCL and love it. Have heard fantastic reports of the suite life on NCL.

 

 

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Indeed, the suite life is great. One of the reasons we decided to try was because we managed to snag a suite at what we thought to be a very attractive rate.

Now that we tried NCL suite life, I don't know if I am willing to try NCL non-suite. LoL.

Thank you for your review.

 

I know it could be difficult to answer but, is there a comparison in cost?

 

Thanks again.

 

Sea Ya

I'll be upfront with you.

We book through a US travel agent whom has consistently delivered great service and always managed to grab low prices whenever she sees the opportunities, e.g. price drops.

In total, we paid under US$6,000 for the 6 of us and this includes gratuities and port taxes. We squeezed 6 people in the 2 bedroom cabin. The prices for 3rd to 6th pax were crazy low. The bulk of the cost was borne by 1st and 2nd pax.

Thank you!!!

I have my eye on 2 NCL cruises. Now that Royal has left NOLA, I'm looking at another NCL on Dawn.

silly question:

does the smaller bedroom have a TV???

Thanks for the review. I'm looking forward to going on the brand new Norwegian Escape in early 2016.

And I have enjoyed all of my NCL cruises in the past including the legendary SS Norway. RIP.

Indeed, the suite life is great. One of the reasons we decided to try was because we managed to snag a suite at what we thought to be a very attractive rate.

 

 

 

Now that we tried NCL suite life, I don't know if I am willing to try NCL non-suite. LoL.

That is how it was for us.. We cruise 2-3 times a year and had our first suite 12 years ago, would be very hard to go back to anything less. Have been on Royal, Princess, Carnival, Regent and Crystal.

Now with a 3 year old Royal is a decent fit but am really interested in NCL.

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This is EXACTLY what I needed to hear....was wanting to book our next cruise and was waffling between Oasis/Allure to NCL.... We have never been on NCL, but I think I will book with them to just try it out!

I agree with the OP, we also like NCL.

Always wondered why people do the same ship/cruiseline over & over?

I like RC, but all the others are worth trying...

We have also cruised with NCL and like them. You are so right about the suite life on NCL. It's much better than RCL.

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We have also cruised with NCL and like them. You are so right about the suite life on NCL. It's much better than RCL.

 

 

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Curious what makes the suite life better on NCL and other lines. Are there additional perks that RC doesn't offer to their suite guests? For instance, do any offer things like free internet and laundry?

We did a penthouse on NCL in 2009 and fell in love with the coffee/tea machine, too. So much so that we bought one for the house, albeit a less expensive model.

The more I cruise, the more I find the various lines more similar than different. While each line has something that I like more than another, there no one stand out. In my opinion, DCL has better entertainment overall including first run movies, NCL has better suite perks, Carnival has better deck food and comedy show, etc. Looking forward to trying Royal again and comparing.

We are diamond ++ or whatever you call it when you are between 350 and 525 sea days and also decided to try NCL for the first time. To be honest we went with very low expectations but I wanted to see what kind of product they offered since we had been on all the mainstream cruise lines except for NCL. What we experienced was very comparable to Royal with some notable things actually better than Royal. We left the ship with a very positive impression of the NCL product and the extremely friendly staff. We will definitely sail with them again.

Of course the one thing I did miss was the concierge lounge staff that I enjoy interacting with on the Royal cruises.

Thank you so much for posting your review. I'm glad you had a great cruise.

We will be Diamond if we sail Royal again. At this point with their current prices and website snafus, we have no desire to book anything on RC. Their sales tactics leave so much to be desired. We are quite interested in seeing what NCL has to offer.

I'm especially excited to see what Virgin Airlines, Richard Branson, builds in 2016! Being as they recruited Tom McAlpin to head their management, a founding member of the Disney Cruise Line launch team who also served as its president, their ships should be quite awesome.

I'm happy to see other options out there and I'm quite excited. :D

Thanks again for taking time to write your review.

And I do not mean this in an ugly manner, it appears there may be a few less in the Diamond Lounge to contend with. Thank you.

Happy sailings to all of you regardless of your cruise line of choice in 2015 and beyond.

One Suite perk we really enjoyed was the Cagney's Lunch and Breakfast.

This video shows you the Cagney's menu and our lunch experience. Be warned though, we had problem with the Smoke Salmon starter. Didn't sit well with our stomachs and caused us to vomit.

But putting that aside, the other food offerings were wonderful. We could dine there again and again.

Cagney's Lunch Video - Norwegian Jade

Curious what makes the suite life better on NCL and other lines. Are there additional perks that RC doesn't offer to their suite guests? For instance, do any offer things like free internet and laundry?

On the NCL Jade, suite guests get breakfast and lunch at a speciality restaurant called Cagney's. See my video on Cagney's lunch.

No free internet and no free laundry perks for suite guests. I had to buy an internet plan at the standard rates and we also did a laundry bag (one bag for USD 27, stuff in as much as you can.).

Guests and just suite guess have special privileges that we get a D+ with RC?

I would guess that the suite guest have better service than just lower level cabins.

Please do not take this as a negative to your thread, a real good comparison.

For us who are lucky just to book a balcony and are happy with that, along with the perks for Diamond and above, booking with out perks can seriously raise the price of the cruise

Having said that, I have been looking at other cruise lines because of price and especially itinerary

Great post, and I agree that it is sooo important to try different cruise lines, I love Royal Caribbean, but I also love MSC, and I love Princess. The problem is some people in this forum will tear you apart for giving your opinion, it's terrible if you ask me, but I don't put all my eggs in one basket. Might have to try NCL next, especially now that Jimmy Buffett has partnered up.

Nobody tears ME up...variety is the spice of life..would you keep going to the same restaurant chain ( Outback, Chili's, etc..) and NEVER try another? Same hotel chain? I prefer Marriotts & Sheratons because O have points with them, but I will try others...actually going on only the same line, same ships, same itineraries is pretty lame IMO...as an agent, I have cruised RCI ( Diamond), Carnival ( 6x), NCL ( 5x) Disney ( 2x), and once on HAL, Princess, Celebrity, and Celebration..ALL have pluses & minuses..if you only cruise RCI, then you miss out on:Le Bistro ( French) & Teppanyaki ( Japanese Steakhouse) on NCL, both are TERRIFIC..Palo's for adults on Disney..both dinner, but especially their BRUNCH, will put you in Food Heaven coma,LOL..also the Disney private island, Castaway Cay, along with HAL's Half Moon Cay BLOW away both Labadee & Coco Cay IMO...Pub lunch in Princess's Wheelhouse Bar is also wonderful...Disney musicals in the main theater are simply awesome, even if you hate Disney, you can't help but be impressed by the singers & dancers..cabins ( , buffets, service

How did the OP get to Diamond after only 7 cruises? Maybe they took all transatlantics in suites? Does that get you there?

Saying you like NCL is fine. Everyone has their likes and dislikes.

Great post, and I agree that it is sooo important to try different cruise lines, I love Royal Caribbean, but I also love MSC, and I love Princess. The problem is some people in this forum will tear you apart for giving your opinion, it's terrible if you ask me, but I don't put all my eggs in one basket. Might have to try NCL next, especially now that Jimmy Buffett has partnered up.

Nobody tears ME up...variety is the spice of life..would you keep going to the same restaurant chain ( Outback, Chili's, etc..) and NEVER try another? Same hotel chain? I prefer Marriotts & Sheratons because I have points with them, but I will try others...actually going on only the same line, same ships, same itineraries is pretty lame IMO...as an agent, I have cruised RCI ( Diamond), Carnival ( 6x), NCL ( 5x) Disney ( 2x), and once on HAL, Princess, Celebrity, and Celebration..ALL have pluses & minuses..if you only cruise RCI, then you miss out on:Le Bistro ( French) & Teppanyaki ( Japanese Steakhouse) on NCL, both are TERRIFIC..Palo's for adults on Disney..both dinner, but especially their BRUNCH, will put you in Food Heaven coma,LOL..also the Disney private island, Castaway Cay, along with HAL's Half Moon Cay BLOW away both Labadee & Coco Cay IMO...Pub lunch in Princess's Wheelhouse Bar is also wonderful...Disney musicals in the main theater are simply awesome, even if you hate Disney, you can't help but be impressed by the singers & dancers..cabins ( TWO bathrooms in most cabins!!) buffets, service, beds, MDR food, are simply the best on Disney IMO of the mainstream lines...the new NCL ships Breakaway & Getaway are loaded with dining options & shows that will not disappoint... I, on the other hand will RIP OTHER people when they tell me they won't/ don't want to try other cruise lines..they WILL lose the argument with Big Al.. and that's because since I've cruised on so many different ships & lines, I can make comparisons & suggestions while others can do neither..don't forget that one of the biggest complaints we see here on CC, is that RCI goes to the same ports of call over & over..now with Carnival opening Amber Cove in the Dominican Rep.,and NCL opening up Belize next year, and Tortola getting a new port w/ Disney & others, many cruisers will no doubt be trying new ports..I know we will....

Big Al

How did the OP get to Diamond after only 7 cruises? Maybe they took all transatlantics in suites? Does that get you there?

 

Saying you like NCL is fine. Everyone has their likes and dislikes.

Remember if you book any suite from JS & up, you get double points & more, so yes, that's how you get to Diamond on only 7 cruises..