How Did You Get Hooked on NCL?

We have a Panama Canal Bliss cruise upcoming in November '18 and quite excited to say the least.

We've also done the POA last year but know it's not indicative of the rest of the fleet.

But Pray Tell what got you hooked on NCL?

Is their just one thing they do really well?

IMO - For the price you pay for a suite, they treat their suite passengers better than any of the other comparable cruise lines!

Not having to tote around gowns, shoes, and a tux for formal nights.

I went on my 1st cruise in January 2008 after the death of my husband. I have now completed 37 cruises.

I have met so many interesting people both among staff and passengers. I am still in contact with a number of them.

I could very comfortably live on a cruise ship if I had that kind of money.

For our honeymoon, my aunt upgraded us to a suite. And we have never looked back! However, before that, we enjoyed a few other NCL cruises that impressed us with the fun, flexibility and good cheer of the crew. Joining a roll call and meeting up enhanced those experiences!

Not having to tote around gowns, shoes, and a tux for formal nights.

Come on.... everyone knows that you don't need to dress up for formal nights on either Carnival or Royal anymore.

our first cruise was an industry event, so we didn't get to enjoy the ship. The Pearl's rock wall, convinced me I wanted to celebrate our 10th anniversary on board (2010), sailed RCCL 6 months later and HATED set dining. 5 cruises later we were upgraded to the DOS on the Dawn, 3 more Haven cruises and can't imagine going back.

Took our first cruise in 1998 on Carnival-it was short, but very different for us. Took a 2nd on Carnival that was given to us-2002-7 day cruise, lots of fun, good food, friendly staff. In 2016 we again took a Carnival cruise. Food not great, staff was just ok, aside from the CD and the martini bartender. Still we wanted to cruise again.

I found a great deal for a NCL on an internet travel site so we decided to give it a try. Dec 2017 we sailed on the Escape and LOVED it. Friendly smiling faces, great food, awesome shows. UBP + District Brewhouse= a very happy husband, lol. We felt like we were were treated very well and we had a great time.

When looking again for a cruise I compared prices, ships, amenities, and reviews. I really wanted to try RCCL-the ships look like fun. Still the price I was finding with what was included was better on NCL.

We have a Jan 2019 booked on the Epic-11 day Western Caribbean. UBP, UDP, WIFI, Shore Ex credit all included. $200 OBC. Aft facing balcony-just under $3300 for 2. We also get to see some ports we've not been to before. I think that's a pretty good deal.

Just tried another line , and we felt comfortable. Every cruiseline has positives and negatives, irregardless of the Cheerleaders of each line.

Not having to tote around gowns, shoes, and a tux for formal nights.

Few cruise lines do that any more. Most of them are pretty tolerant of anything in the dining rooms short of trunks and a wife beater. Nearly every cruise line also has anytime dining now too. So a lot of what made NCL unique isn't all that unique any more.

Me, I don't get hooked on any one cruise line. My fav is probably Celebrity. I love the classy ship, the uncrowded feel (and almost no kids), almost no smoking and the food is usually pretty good in comparison to NCL , Royal, Carnival. But the entertainment can suck pretty bad and sometimes (even at 54) I feel like most of the passengers are a decade or more older than me. But the Entertainment, It's the one place NCL kicks but over X.

After Celebrity It's a toss up between NCL and Royal for me. I like the Royal ships better especially the monsters but I still think NCL beats them entertainment wise (foods nearly a tie, I think Royal is just a bit better in the Main Dining rooms and the Buffet). Carnival I will only sail if some friend drags us along.

For us it was the amazing deals that we got when booking through CAS (Casinos at Sea) and although my daughters missed the formal nights for a year or two.....we now embrace the attitude of not having to pack formal wear!

We also have only traveled in Garden Villas and the Haven...which makes a huge difference too! We have sailed in suites on other lines also....but I agree with a previous poster that the "suite" life on NCL is better than most other cruise lines.

We also have had great experiences with the crew - and never found one unwilling to do anything BUT "above and beyond" to make our cruises perfect. Well, maybe there WAS one Concierge or two....but small price to pay for the amazing service of the remainder of the crew!

It was my FIRST!!!! You know what they say that you never get over the first. Seriously, it was the people, the fun, the flexibility, the dress up or not, I could just go on and on.

Frozen hand towels and lemonade or iced tea coming back from shore excursions.

I'm not hooked yet but looking forward to an Alaska cruise on the Pearl in September. We're giving NCL another chance after a Mexican Riviera cruise 10 years ago that was our worst cruise ever (but still had a good time:)). We've been on over a dozen cruises, pretty evenly split between RCI and Princess, with a an NCL and Carnival cruise thrown in. Have enjoyed them all, but we, like everyone, have our preferences. So please tell me what I'm going to love about my NCL Pearl Cruise to Alaska coming up in just a month! Thanks!

Just tried another line , and we felt comfortable. Every cruiseline has positives and negatives, irregardless of the Cheerleaders of each line.

We have been on 6 different cruise lines .All have good and also bad .

My first cruise with NCL was back in late March for my 40th, we were spoilt being in the OS. Got the cruise next vouchers and going on the TA in November and books the Jade for April TA again.

As other have said that every cruise line have their pros and cons. For me, it was NCL crew, tire freestyle crusing, and the suite perks. Celebrity ship was nice but crew were indifferent, RCCL were mediocre. Carnival were ok but wouldn’t go with them any more.

Each cruiser have their different needs from a cruise line and this so why there are many lines offering variety, but for me NCL offer greet value in their suites/Haven, variety of ships and the “free” perks that for me they have me hooked.

Cannot wait for next 2 cruises with them.

LOVE NOT having to dress up, at ALL, even in specialty restaurants. And NOT having assigned seating at dinner. Got real tired being seated with strange people.

After 10 cruises on RCCL DH hated the food and was reduced to eating sliders in main dining rooms every night.

Better prices and free cruises thru CAS.:D

Freestyle dining on NCL when comapred to either Anytime or Traditional on Princess, the two lines we use.

The freestyle dining did for us. When we are on vacation we do not want to be on a schedule. Also each cruise we have had crew member who help make our cruise special aka "our cruise hero". On our last cruise on the getaway it happened to be a bartender named Happy.

We love the night life, the free style dining and the general vibe on NCL.

I chose NCL for our first cruise because of Freestyle dining. And during the cruise we found the relaxed vibe to be just what we wanted. But that culture is starting to change (having to make reservations).

Our first cruise was on Princess (Alaska) and when we wanted to do Hawai'i we changed to NCL so we could do the Pride and not have to do lots of sea days. We loved the Freestyle cruising and have stayed with NCL for most of the time.

Not hooked on NCL but do enjoy it. Have sailed on over 38 cruises on Celebrity, Carnival, NCL, and Princess. Would never be "dedicated" to any one cruise line.

We have another NCL cruise booked (will be our 6th) but we also are going to try out MSC (have 5 cruises booked on MSC). Switching to MCS due to the increase in prices on NCL.

It was about 25 years ago and we got a super deal: our daughters both worked for airlines so we were able to use interline rares. We cruised with our daughter, sil and their 2 girls. AS much as the ship we had such a great time with the family. It was our first time on a truly decent ship. We had sailed o a couple of lines that are no more. Shortly after that sailing "freestyle" was introduced. That was all it took: we just like the relaxed atmosphere and the wonderful crew on NCL ships. I can add since our first NCL cruise we have sailed on a lot of lines.

I wouldn’t say hooked, but originally 10 years ago choose NCL due to combo of price/freestyle. That uniqueness is gone now. If you have kids, the Kids Club is really good IMHO.

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