Why Norwegian is "Just Right".

I have cruised on Carnival, Royal Caribbean, Princess and Norwegian. I wrote a short blog post about why Norwegian is my favorite. You can read it below:

http://www.joyfuljourneyist.com/blog/goldilocks-and-the-3-cruise-lines

Enjoyed your perspective! We've only just sailed RCL (except for one wonderful luxury cruise on the Oceania for our 30th and my 60th bd) and have decided to give NCL a try based on the exact analysis you've shared. My TA suggested Celebrity but I think they might be "too soft" for us, too. Hopefully in a few weeks, we'll say that NCL was "just right" too! (Although we have totally enjoyed RCL, we want to try something new, and the ports that the Getaway go to are new to us) (except Cozumel).

Enjoyed your perspective! We've only just sailed RCL (except for one wonderful luxury cruise on the Oceania for our 30th and my 60th bd) and have decided to give NCL a try based on the exact analysis you've shared. My TA suggested Celebrity but I think they might be "too soft" for us, too. Hopefully in a few weeks, we'll say that NCL was "just right" too! (Although we have totally enjoyed RCL, we want to try something new, and the ports that the Getaway go to are new to us) (except Cozumel).

Thanks for your feedback! We are actually booked on a RCL in Sept to the Bahamas (short 4 night cruise). Can't wait to see how they compare. We signed up for the "My Time Dining" and I booked our nightly dinner for 5:30. We like to eat dinner early so we can enjoy all the evening entertainment. I have a feeling that RCL will be similar to NCL. I know we will enjoy the cruise no matter what!

Cruisers tend to find there sweet spot for cruising and have a favorite cruise line. We have done 10 Celebrity 6 NCL and 1 on Royal Caribbean.

There are things that we like about each line and only a few things that we are neutral or dislike.

Pricing- We went with Royal C. when booking a cruise of New Zealand and then a TransPacific because Celebrity's price was much higher for both cruises (In fact the bundled Celebrity Solstice price of the NZ cruise was almost double the RC price) NCL did not have the cruises that we wanted in at all. I didn't see any TransPacific cruises for NCL. We had a great cruise on Explorer of the Seas and because we were elite on Celebrity, we were Diamond on Royal and loved the happy hour free drinks from 4:30 to 8. In fact, since we could order wine in the MDR, we never spent a single penny on alcohol for the 23 day cruise.

The NZ cruise was cancelled due to a problem with one of the azirpods (NCL had an embarrassing problem in Australia with both azirpods going out on a ship).

Celebrity's pricing is now bundled with promos that inflate the prices and include drink packages that inspire 8-10 drinks a day. We drink mainly wine and drink about half that much. This is now our biggest problem in cruising with Celebrity, since only repo or transatlantic or transpacific cruises don't include bundled pricing.

NCL also has the bundled pricing, but generally keeps its prices down more. Also, I can take my own wine onboard and pay the $15 a bottle for corkage.

Royal has the best entertainment (love those ice shows), but NCL is close behind. Celebrity is very good, but not quite on par with the other two.

Celebrity has the best food in the MDR and buffet, but NCL has many more choices for specialty restaurants with lower prices than Celebrity. We rarely dine in the specialty restaurants on Celebrity. Royal's buffet is inferior to both Celebrity and NCL, but its MDR is better than NCL and close to Celebrity.

Celebrity and Royal both have cheaper prices for excursions than NCL, however, we generally take private tours anyway.

We will likely continue to cruise all three lines by comparing prices, itineraries, etc.

Cruisers tend to find there sweet spot for cruising and have a favorite cruise line. We have done 10 Celebrity 6 NCL and 1 on Royal Caribbean.

 

There are things that we like about each line and only a few things that we are neutral or dislike.

 

Pricing- We went with Royal C. when booking a cruise of New Zealand and then a TransPacific because Celebrity's price was much higher for both cruises (In fact the bundled Celebrity Solstice price of the NZ cruise was almost double the RC price) NCL did not have the cruises that we wanted in at all. I didn't see any TransPacific cruises for NCL. We had a great cruise on Explorer of the Seas and because we were elite on Celebrity, we were Diamond on Royal and loved the happy hour free drinks from 4:30 to 8. In fact, since we could order wine in the MDR, we never spent a single penny on alcohol for the 23 day cruise.

 

The NZ cruise was cancelled due to a problem with one of the azirpods (NCL had an embarrassing problem in Australia with both azirpods going out on a ship).

 

Celebrity's pricing is now bundled with promos that inflate the prices and include drink packages that inspire 8-10 drinks a day. We drink mainly wine and drink about half that much. This is now our biggest problem in cruising with Celebrity, since only repo or transatlantic or transpacific cruises don't include bundled pricing.

 

NCL also has the bundled pricing, but generally keeps its prices down more. Also, I can take my own wine onboard and pay the $15 a bottle for corkage.

 

Royal has the best entertainment (love those ice shows), but NCL is close behind. Celebrity is very good, but not quite on par with the other two.

Celebrity has the best food in the MDR and buffet, but NCL has many more choices for specialty restaurants with lower prices than Celebrity. We rarely dine in the specialty restaurants on Celebrity. Royal's buffet is inferior to both Celebrity and NCL, but its MDR is better than NCL and close to Celebrity.

 

Celebrity and Royal both have cheaper prices for excursions than NCL, however, we generally take private tours anyway.

 

We will likely continue to cruise all three lines by comparing prices, itineraries, etc.

Thanks for your input! I am looking forward to our Royal Caribbean cruise and seeing how they compare with Princess. We booked them because they had a great deal on the 4 day Bahamas cruise and we have never been to the Bahamas (except for the Private Island owned by Princess).

Thanks for sharing your thoughts! I quite enjoyed your perspective, as well as the perspectives of the others who have replied on here. I've only ever sailed NCL, so I'm always interested in hearing peoples' opinions on how all of the cruise lines compare with each other.

Thanks for your input! I am looking forward to our Royal Caribbean cruise and seeing how they compare with Princess. We booked them because they had a great deal on the 4 day Bahamas cruise and we have never been to the Bahamas (except for the Private Island owned by Princess).

We cruised with NCL and RCL.

What we liked better on RCL:

- Shows (aquashow and ice show)

- Pools (more and bigger so less crowded)

- Excursions

What we liked better on NCL:

- Friendliness of staff

- Waterwalk (we can sit at a bar and be very close to the ocean)

- Buffet (went once on RCL and was well enough) and sitting outside to eat

There is on each cruise line everything for everyone. My parents prefer HAL over Norwegian... depends on the mood.

I have cruised on Carnival, Royal Caribbean, Princess and Norwegian. I wrote a short blog post about why Norwegian is my favorite. You can read it below:

 

http://www.joyfuljourneyist.com/blog/goldilocks-and-the-3-cruise-lines

very well written, very interesting and pretty much how we feel. I will add we are in our 80s and have been cruising for close to 40 years. We too have cruised many lines. NCL fits our bill perfectly. It is a great multi generational line, good entertainment, good food and best of all, for us, a great staff . Add to that truly nice cruisers as a rule. They are generally very down to earth. We spent years dealing with the politics of work and dealing with real jerks who thought they were one step above others. It is fun to meet and mingle with people that are not there to put on a show or on vacation to impress others.

Great Comparison & Point of View!

We choose our cruises based on itinerary, value (not price) & whim...

We will happily cruise NCL, Celebrity & Princess -- Celebrity would be our preferred -- but again, itinerary is our top priority! Our upcoming cruise is on NCL Jewel Vancouver to Tokyo... We head to Vancouver in 56 Days :cool::cool::cool:

Great Comparison & Point of View!

 

We choose our cruises based on itinerary, value (not price) & whim...

 

We will happily cruise NCL, Celebrity & Princess -- Celebrity would be our preferred -- but again, itinerary is our top priority! Our upcoming cruise is on NCL Jewel Vancouver to Tokyo... We head to Vancouver in 56 Days :cool::cool::cool:

Wow! Vancouver to Tokyo, that sounds amazing! Enjoy!

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I have cruised on Carnival, Royal Caribbean, Princess and Norwegian. I wrote a short blog post about why Norwegian is my favorite. You can read it below:

 

http://www.joyfuljourneyist.com/blog/goldilocks-and-the-3-cruise-lines

I enjoyed reading your blog post very much!! But it's from May of 2013. Why post this now?

Wow! Vancouver to Tokyo, that sounds amazing! Enjoy!

 

 

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Thanks... in 51 Days we head to Vancouver :cool::cool::cool:

Interesting read...I have only sailed Princess of those 3 so far, (DCL, RCCL & Celebrity)

Princess is our fav line--we loved the endless activities day & night and found their bands better than any other line. BUT that was 10 years ago. Only Caribbean 7 day cruises. Our December cruise had a definitively older demographic, but the activities were still plentiful.

Allure was our fav ship (and Mariner our least fav)--large ship means MANY activity offerings!

Celebrity Constellation was a little quieter, even over spring break--smaller ship certainly didn't help. But Celebrity continues to give us the best value these days with extra perks.

All this being said we find all the lines we have sailed to be more alike than different; we have never felt anything was bad overall. Oh, there have certainly been shows or dishes we didn't care for, but that is anywhere. Service has been superb on every cruise.

We currently have NCL booked for a New Years 2019 family cruise; it was the best price (extra perks) for that expensive holiday period. DS23 said he & his friends felt it is a tick below the other lines (as do my parents) but would still cruise it again!

I loved your review! Although we have only cruised Carnival and NCL I have to agree that NCL is "just right".

Our first 3 cruises were on Carnival-they were all very nice. The 2nd one was especially nice since it was a cruise that was given to us by someone who couldn't go. Our last one though wasn't as great and we thought, meh maybe not again.

I started looking at other lines and got a really good deal on NCL Escape for last December. We ended up with some OBC, paid gratuities, the UBP and UDP. We knew what Carnival charged for their drink package and thought that even paying the gratuity on NCL's UBP wasn't bad at all. We were so impressed. The different dining options were so good we bought 3 extra meals before every getting on board. The shows, the smiling crew members, all of it was just awesome.

We have 2 more NCL cruises booked. No matter how I try-and believe me I love looking for cruises-I just can't seem to match the deals I'm able to get with NCL. I read here all the time about the high pricing and maybe it's the time's or ships I'm looking at, but I just don't see much difference in NCL. Our 11 day January cruise on the Epic is right at $3300 for an aft facing balcony includes UBP, UDP, wifi, and the shore excursions credits. We also get $200 OBC and the latitudes extra point a night. I think that's an amazing deal!

NCL is perfectly RIGHT for us solo travelers. I also agree that the shows and food do compare to RCI.

I did just cruise on the Carnival Vista and they have a nice middle level deck at the pool. Many places to sit in the shade and lots of people do watch movies at night - more than any other cruise line I have been on. The ship had great shows and very nice comfy mattresses. Buffet at night was wonderful with many interesting choices like Cauliflower steaks and interesting 4 layer cakes at lunch time. yum.....

Not so good was their oddly arranged main theater that kept changing floor layout. And if you like to drink hot tea, they only have plain. NCL and RCI have much bigger selection. I also liked that fact that the Vista has grilled burgers and taco/burrito stand near the pools outside the Lido area. No precooked drowning in juices hamburgers. Burrito bar was open for breakfast too.

Only cruise line I was disappointed in was Celebrity. Issues with shower and a/c and food was just okay.

Photographers are mean on the ship if you try to catch a photo of captain or the port sign getting off ship. Never got scolded before by any photographer on any ship. Learned from Guest services that they were lying to folks too about policies.

HAL has interesting itineraries but they close down things early and entertainment is also just okay.

Thanks for your feedback! We are actually booked on a RCL in Sept to the Bahamas (short 4 night cruise). Can't wait to see how they compare. We signed up for the "My Time Dining" and I booked our nightly dinner for 5:30. We like to eat dinner early so we can enjoy all the evening entertainment. I have a feeling that RCL will be similar to NCL. I know we will enjoy the cruise no matter what!

We cruised with RCL once, and loved the service, entertainment, and food. The only thing that RCL lacked, was not opening the MDR for lunch on embarkation day. We hated to go to the crowded buffet, wait for a table to empty, and get our own food.

Other that that. RCL was ok.