Yellowjacket1799

Venues & Events:

I like escape because I think they do the best job of creating a new vibe at each venue. I liked how the casino and O'sheehans were combined into one entire deck. And as a non-smoker, I was surprised I didn't notice the smokers at all; though I didn't spend a lot of time in the casino. I liked the 5 o'clock somewhere bar because it was dedicated to karaoke every night from 7:30 to 12 - this is an area where Carnival has backed off; probably because of John Heald. Although I do believe a few things could be improved on - they use a big screen for the lyrics which if you stand on stage or face the crowd would put your back to the words. For some of us this isn't an issue, but for causual karaoke fans this is a problem. Also, they only have two drinks that you can get frozen and being a Jimmy Buffet themed bar, you would think they would have a larger selection. Carnival does Superstar Live vs. NCL's Bandaoke and Carnival does win this head to head match-up because they incorporate monitors for casual singers. On NCL you get a paper copy of the lyrics for you to use if you need them. Again, they put so much thought and detail into their ship and then cut that one little corner that could really make them shine.

Bingo is pretty expensive to play, epsecially if you plan to play more than once and NCL has "instant winner" scratch offs to entice people. From my observation this was a waste of money. I saw a lot of $1 winners, but if you're paying $40, $60 or $80 to play then you should have more winners. While attending one of the sessions I did some unscientific math based upon a rough count of seats filled vs. the average price and they area easily clearing $20k+ and they payout totals are typically less than $2500. I haven't played on Carnival in so long that I don't recall their prices.

NCL's Glow Party vs. Carnival's White Party - Okay, so this one isn't even in the same league. After all these years of cruising I've never seen anything this wild at sea. NCL did an amazing job at this. For years I've attending white parties on Carnival and at first it seemed like I was the only one dressed in white and as the years went by more people started to join in, but it still is typically only a handful of people here and there. But on the Escape as you enter the tunnel to get to Spice H20, the adults only deck, you can feel the bass pounding as you get closer and see the glow of neon drinks. Once you enter you're surrounded by a sea of white, pun intended. My guess was about 6-800 people all dressed in white - 3 hype men up on stage getting the crowd turned up with a large video screen behind them playing videos to match the music.

Winner: Hands down NCL based on Karaoke and the Glow Party!

I wanted to go back and elaborate a little on why I give Carnival the nod on food vs. NCL. NCL has a lot of cool options but the dollars can add up quick. They also changed Margarittaville to al a carte vs. being free as it originally was and I noticed on the cruise that while I was around that deck I never saw anyone there which is a shame.

Carnival has the mongolian wok which I love!!! But they only do it on certain days and at certain times. :( And their deli has always been a favorite. I also think their pizza was better than NCL. NCL edges them out with 24hr options at O'sheehans - wings, fijitas, burgers and dogs just to name a few. They crush Carnival in that one category, but overall I think Carnival has better food minus O'sheehans and the lido deck. But you won't go wrong with either option.

Food:

So this one gets a little tricky. Right off the bat I noticed some things better and different about NCL. The cafe area on lido felt like it was more segregated from the pool whereas on Carnival I've always felt like they run together - not necessarily a bad thing, just an observation. NCL served fresh pretzel rolls and sticks every day which was very cool. And the cafe food on lido seemed much better than Carnival. With that said, the dinning room food on NCL did not impress me very much. And I noticed that most everything in the dinning room in the evening was being served on lido which could be good if you didn't want to go to the dinning room, but on the flipside took the charm out of wanting to dress up and go into the dinning room. Deserts also seemed a lot better on Carnival. NCL had an interesting twist to the warm chocolate melting cake. They paired it with a scope of ice cream with flakes of chocolate inside and cut strawberries. I liked the change up but the cake was a tad bit smaller which probably isnt a bad thing for my sugar intake... Advantage: Carnival.

Around the ship:

The Escape has some very beautiful features. It seems like a lot of thought and attention to detail went into the design. A few things that stuck out to me were 1. using real brick vineers on the walls in the comedy club, whereas Carnival has the drop down screen the comedians stand in front of. 2. the mini golf course had graffiti on the obsticles on the course to give it that skate park "punk" atmosphere. 3. O'sheehan's had dark wood tables and accents, along with 1940's baseball cards and various other pieces of art that gave it that true sports pub vibe. 4. the rooms had an indicator on the outside of the room door that correlated to your key card being inserted for the light. It let the room steward know that you were "home" and you also had a button to select "do not disturb or that your room needs service" which I thought were pretty nice options to have. 5. Touch screen tv's all over the place to allow you to see what was going on based on each category and also find specific cabins easily. 6. The adults only area on the main deck was awesome! I really liked that it had a tunnel feel to it when you enter and then it opens up and has a rock cave with a water run off. Overall IMO Escape is a much cooler ship than Breeze, Magic or Dream. Advantage: NCL

As someone doing the reverse (booking on Carnival after years as a Norwegian customer), this is interesting. We had a very bad experience on the Sensation in 2003 and are just getting round to giving the line a second (final?) chance.

 

We're sailing on the Valor next Sunday.

 

It would be helpful to know what NCL ship you were on.

 

Thanks.

The Escape. I've done the smaller Carnival ships, but the last few years I've stuck to the larger ones. I enjoy all of them, but for the price it just seems better to go with the larger ones these days.

I'll start with pricing and ease of booking. I've always found booking online via Carnival, with your TA or with a PVP easy and Norwegian seems to be just as easy. I will note that I liked Carnival's previous version of their website better as it showed you the price per day for each cruise and I just liked the older layout better, but YMMV. And since I don't have any prior experience with Norwegian's website I would give "website ease of use and booking via site or phone" a tie between the two; not much difference.

As far as pricing goes: I looked at several different cruises on several different dates and Norwegian beat Carnival each time. One of those that I booked even came out cheaper with the all you can drink package vs. just getting the room with Carnival. Wow! For my quick, not so scientific comparison Norwegian won in this category.

Embarkation: Since this was my first time sailing and I've been platinum with Carnival for several years it really isn't a great comparison but I believe I have some good points to call out. First off, I think both Carnival and Norwegian do a great job of getting the long lines moving quickly. When you get in a line a mile long it can be overwelming, but when you find out that it only takes a few minutes to get through then everything is much better. What I didn't like about Norwegian was after you get through the line, you then have to wait in a room to be called by group number to board the ship. This wait wasn't too long, only about 15 minutes. But I don't understand the point - Carnival gets you directly on once you have your keys. Advantage: Carnival

Hello everyone!

After 20 cruises with Carnival I finally decided to try out a different cruise line. I've always said one day I would try Royal Carribean, and never really had much desire to try any others - until recently.

A cruise buddy booked Norwegian for later in the year and peaked my interest so I decided to look into it and compare for an upcoming cruise. The prices with their sale was so much cheaper that I decided to book two cruises, one of which that had the all you can drink package. So now that I've finished the first of two I wanted to take a swing at giving a reivew based upon my point of view.

I have a lot going on over the next few days so I will do my best to complete this in a timely mannor. And let me begin first by saying that I love Carnival - obviously having 109 days at sea over the last 12 years with them doesn't happen if you are "sort of" a fan. But prices have continued to climb up and a lot of things have changed over the last 12 years - a lot for the better and some things not so much.

No johnny walker blue.

 

Only for sale in the fun shop, not at the bars.

That's stupid!!! lol

Thanks for updating us on the JWB Trumpster! I was wondering this myself. I've purchased bottles in the funshop before but never inquired about it at the bar; I just stick to black label when drinking by the glass. But I was considering cheers on my next cruise since they up'ed it to $50 per drink.

Oh well, I figured they didn't. At least Johnny Walker Black is included now because before it was always over the designated cheers limit. :(

Hello everyone, I am hoping you can give me some advice on selecting my next sailing.

I am considering the Magic and the Glory. I've been on the Magic once and the Glory three times; both prior to their respective upgrades. The Glory was my very first cruise in 2004 and I have always loved that ship.

I havent been able to find any recent fun times but on the one I found for Glory it shows karaoke being held in the Ivory Bar on Deck 4. In my past experience it was held on Deck 5, usually in Bar Blue. Does anyone have any experience with it being held on Deck 4? And have they reduced the days/times for karaoke?

Also, can anyone confirm that Quest is held on each ship? I am traveling solo and want to have great time.

Thanks for all your feedback.

I see there is not a lot of selection for AI's. Any suggestions on where the best party atmosphere is while in Roatan?

You are correct. They have slightly increased.

I was considering booking but unfortunately am really on the fence...plus the solo rate sale they had earlier in the year really spoiled me. I'm used to finding booking anywhere between $47 to $65 a day.

This time I can't seem to find one less than $100. :(