Norwegian vs Royal Caribbean

Hello everyone, im sure this has been talked about but looking for very recent comparisons between royal caribbean and norwegian. We enjoyed royals food and service, i have read so many negatives on norwegian but can somone out there tell me what ship they tried epic? and did they try royal caribbean oasis class which we love an how does epic compare , food quality in dining room and buffet, cabins, service and entertainment more recent comparsions please

just nervous to try norwegian but they have a really good promo on right now giving all perks and the suites are only 1600.00 per person for europe

Don't be nervous, sailed Royal a couple of times. Better perks on NCL and their MDR and buffet food are just as good as Royal's.

Read about Epic's quirks and realize that Epic is....unique. No other ship in NCL's fleet is like that.

Thank so much. We sailed on celebrity 2 year ago in europe and ship was so boring and run down we really felt upset about it and this time cannot make the same mistake, looking at princess as well did you try them? how do they compare:D

Have sailed Epic and Allure of The Seas. Found the MDR on Allure to be very good, service and quality. Have to give Epic the edge in entertainment. No comparison in buffet, Epic is much better. As far as specialty restaurants, kind of a toss up, but the steak house on Allure is outstanding compared to Cagney’s on Epic. Epic does have Spice H2O back aft, which is 18 plus. Spice has a small buffet on sea days and also a bar. I am a little biased towards the Epic, having sailed her four times, with a transatlantic booked for next year.

Hello everyone, im sure this has been talked about but looking for very recent comparisons between royal caribbean and norwegian. We enjoyed royals food and service, i have read so many negatives on norwegian but can somone out there tell me what ship they tried epic? and did they try royal caribbean oasis class which we love an how does epic compare , food quality in dining room and buffet, cabins, service and entertainment more recent comparsions please. just nervous to try norwegian but they have a really good promo on right now giving all perks and the suites are only 1600.00 per person for europe

Don't believe everything you read. Just because it is on the internet, it is not true. Don't be nervous. Give it a try.

We have sailed on the Epic 7 times. In March of this year, we sailed on the Allure and a few months earlier on the Anthem.

Now,,, the Epic is equivalent to a Quantum class ship on RCCL. So, it is smaller than an Oasis class ship, but still in the megaship category. Like Quantum and Oasis class ships on RCCL, you will need to book shows and make restaurant reservations on the Epic.

Freestyle cruising is the best way to go on vacation. You dine when you want (like MTD). You take as long/fast as you want for dinner. You can wear shorts to all restaurants (except Le Bistro and the Manhattan Room where any kind of long pants is sufficient).

Because it is a smaller ship, you won't have a Boardwalk or Central Park area.

I find the food on Norwegian superior to RCCL.

On RCCL, I hate going into the Windjammer and continually hearing "if you're done eating, get out so others can eat",,, simply uncool.

Like the Oasis class ships, the main theater has Broadway shows. I think that the selection of shows is better on RCCL, but it is all contracted shows.

Cabins on RCCL are bigger, but we don't spend much time in our cabin. So,,, it is not a high priority. The Epic has ample storage everywhere in the room which we found lacking on the Allure.

If you book a Haven suite on the Epic, the service and the suite experience on the Epic is superior to RCCL. Minisuites on the Epic do NOT qualify for suite service, so you have to book a Haven suite for the full suite experience.

NCL and Royal are more similar than different. I’ll say Oasis-class are our favorite ships, but we’ve sailed as many times on NCL as we have Royal.

Biggest differences are layout and pools - NCL’s ships (Epic & Newer) don’t feel as open and the hallways are a bit narrower, pool deck is no comparison Oasis wins hands-down, but nothing that’s caused a problem for us.

Really enjoy the night life and non-theater entertainment on NCL. NCL is usually much cheaper, especially when you factor in UBP. Food is on par, I think, though NCL’s specialty restaurants are great.

You can’t go wrong with either one. As for Princess, you’ll get a similar experience to what you had on Celebrity.

Hello everyone, im sure this has been talked about but looking for very recent comparisons between royal caribbean and norwegian. We enjoyed royals food and service, i have read so many negatives on norwegian but can somone out there tell me what ship they tried epic? and did they try royal caribbean oasis class which we love an how does epic compare , food quality in dining room and buffet, cabins, service and entertainment more recent comparsions please

 

just nervous to try norwegian but they have a really good promo on right now giving all perks and the suites are only 1600.00 per person for europe

We've been on 3 Oasis class ships and 3 NCL ships. We decided to try NCL after many years on Royal due to lack of new itinerary. I'm not sure what type of suite is $1600pp but we took a lower end suite on a Panama Canal on the Jade and were treated like royalty...the service was impeccable.

The NCL ships don't have the flow rider but most have slides, rope courses and your normal pool activities and nightly parties. You are not going to find HairSpray, Mamma Mia or Cats - broadway calibre musicals but the shows were fine. There were several different types of live music at different venues almost every night.

Again, we didn't take the Epic - the bathroom in their standard cabins are in a different formation and I didn't want to stay in a cabin like that. But overall, we thought NCL was in par with Royal.

I have done 43 cruises with most being on RCL, I have done many NCL cruises also. They both have their strong points. They are very similar, however RCL has the best loyalty program. On RCL I am Diamond Plus, on NCL I am Silver close to moving up. Which ever cruise line you choose, enjoy it.

thanks so much for all of your help , how about lobster tail is it served on epic or other ncl?

RCCL over NCL any day.

thanks so much for all of your help , how about lobster tail is it served on epic or other ncl?

Lobster tail ( or TAILS, I usually get 3 or 4 ;) ) is complimentary in the MDR 1 night on 7 night sailings on RCL Oasis class ships. Carnival does not offer it complimentary. NCL, I've only been on Sun, which did not offer it in MDR, but I can't speak for the other NCL ships. I will say though, complimentary food on the Sun was inferior in every way to an Oasis class ship. I know in regards to quality of ship it is comparing apples to oranges, but if the Sun's complimentary food is on-par with other NCL ships, you're going to be disappointed if you're used to complimentary on RCL.

RCCL over NCL any day.

can you expain why rccl over ncl

Just returned from 7 day cruise on NCL Getaway. We will be running back to RCCL. Bad customer service throughout on NCL. Our experience with RCCL has been that they take customer service very seriously. It's truly embedded in their brand.

I was actually planning on posting something like this, as I recently sailed my first RCCL cruise, so thanks for sparking it. I honestly say pick the cruise you want to do, but I know people like opinions and comparisons (and I will admit I read them, too), so..I'm solely writing my take for those that like to read experiences.

You can see in my signature the cruises I've been on. I did several Carnival and eventually switched to NCL (mainly for the perks they've been endlessly running lol). I love NCL. I just did my first RCCL a few months ago. I get my vacations set from work a year in advance, so I choose cruises based on timing, itinerary, and price/deal. I've yet to have a bad cruise *fingers crossed* I say book what you want to book...everyone is going to have a different opinion of different cruise lines. People will be biased here and there. But go and experience it for yourself. For example, I've yet to discover the recent "poor service" on NCL that some people have mentioned. Also, I wasn't blown away by the so-called amazingness that some people tout about RCCL.

I've been on NCL small to big (Jewel, Getaway x2, and Escape), but I've only been on RCCL Jewel OTS.

As far as the ships themselves: the RCCL Jewel OTS was BEAUTIFUL. Apparently, some devout RCCL fans say this class is the best. I loved the ship for sure. It's good for classic cruising with the grand atrium. The Safari Club was probably my favorite place on any ship ever...it was just underutilized. I found this common on RCCL, however, it may have been due to the sailing I was on (out of San Juan). I also love the larger NCL ships. They feel very sleek and modern. And you honestly can't beat Spice at the back of the larger ships.

Regarding food: my first night on RCCL was so terrible, I wanted to cry. But the rest of the week was much better. However, I think NCL wins for me in the MDRs. The buffet was definitely better on RCCL (actually good, TBH), even though it was smaller. I actually said I felt the filet I had in Chops on RCCL was the best I've ever had in my life, but it was also the most recent. I also remember Cagney's being outstanding as well. Honestly, I prefer the freestyle dining on NCL and the specialty restaurants more. Even though I had "my-time dining" on RCCL, I still needed reservations every night in order to not wait and not have to sit with other people. This was not the case on NCL.

Regarding drinks/beverage packages: this is a toss-up for me. I like that almost every alcoholic drink, save for a few expensive cognacs and champagnes, are included with NCL. I don't like that nothing other than alcohol is included. On RCCL, I loved that coffees/water/red bull/etc was included. However, a lot of alcoholic drinks were not. A mat-tai was $1 extra. A MAI-TAI. IT'S A TROPICAL DRINK! Not that $1 is terrible, but I obviously wasn't going to be drinking mai-tais all day. Especially when I had paid so much for it, since it wasn't included on RCCL. I was just shocked at the amount of pay-extra drinks were on menus and not included.

Regarding service: as I said earlier, I've yet to have bad service. My stewards were all amazing, my servers all amazing, my go-to bartenders all amazing. I really think this has to do with the person you are and how you treat people as well. Not to say that there aren't bad eggs here and there...I'm sure there are. I have just been very fortunate. As I mentioned in the food section, my first night at dinner on RCCL was a disaster, including service...but as with the food, the remaining nights were spectacular.

To touch on the rooms: again, a toss-up. On RCCL, I felt the room and balcony were bigger and the bathroom smaller. (However, we did have a superior balcony room, which probably accounts for the larger balcony itself). On NCL, the opposite...smaller room but larger bathroom. Storage space was comparable. The one thing I hated on RCCL was the bottom of the beds were curved, essentially cutting off perfectly good mattress space on the corners (which is valuable for those over 6' like me!). I definitely like the lighting/AC/room status controls on NCL better. RCCL was very dated on this, which I'm sure is improved on the newer ships.

And for entertainment: This one is tough. Honestly nothing beats the GLOW party and other parties on NCL. The entertainment staff is legit. However, the silent disco on RCCL was pretty awesome and gave NCL a run for it's money. Comedy was lacking on RCCL...definitely give this to NCL. And the shows are a toss-up for me. I think they are all hit or miss, with good and bad on both.

And finally, the cruisers themselves: this opinion is likely biased. RCCL was definitely MUCH older than NCL. And no, this was not one of the (usually) more expensive RCCL cruises. I actually chose this one because it was cheaper. But yes, much older crowd. However, I was told the cruise I was on specifically was full of a lot of Diamond/Diamond Plus members, as it was nearing the TA cruise to Europe. Apparently, a lot of them will get on for a few weeks at a time during these trips. NCL is very much varied, and tends to have a younger crowd. The nightlife was definitely much more apparent on NCL. We often wandered around on RCCL looking for where everyone was at and couldn't find anyone. The white party was nonexistent, compared to the ridiculously packed and crazy Glow party on NCL.

I think I hit most of the areas that one would look at when booking a cruise. But like I said, pick the cruise based on what YOU want and not what others say. You'll have the best time that way, rather than sacrificing some of your priorities solely based on what some strangers (and some likely trolls) say online behind a screen. Happy cruising~*~

:cool:Zack

We have done 6 NCL cruises, 10 on Celebrity and 1 on RCI (recent).

We still check prices and itinerary on all three before we book. We don't do Caribbean cruises since we did one.

The Epic was our least favorite NCL ship. We felt crowded all the time in public places. The small pool area was unusable.

NCL does have better entertainment than Celebrity, but so does RCI. We loved the ice shows on RCI. I think the entertainment overall was best on RCI.

Celebrity is still our favorite. The atmosphere is great, with no sales announcements or being pushed to buy something onboard.

Dining is best on Celebrity.

NCL does have a great variety of specialty restaurants, but if you just dine at the MDR or buffet, Celebrity is the best. Also, service is best on Celebrity.

Still, we look at the best value and that includes the price. Our last cruise was with RCI because NCL didn't have a similar cruise and RCI's price beat Celebrity's hands down. Also, RCI has a fantastic Diamond (same as Elite on X) happy hour. We did't buy a single alcoholic drink for 23 days on Explorer of the Seas.

Nothing compares to Oasis-class, so get that comparison out of your head. You will be sorely disappointed with anything else you sail if you are expecting something even remotely comparable.

The entertainment on Oasis is substantially better than anything else at sea. Besides that, you will find food, customer service, etc all fairly similar across the major cruise lines. As long as you aren't expecting Oasis, then I think you'll have a very nice time on Epic. Go for it.

I think the lines are pretty comparable as far as food and service (both of which are extremely subjective - for every post about how horrible the food is on a given line, you'll find another post raving about it).

Royal Caribbean has the edge on the "Wow" factor on their mega-ships.

My kids will always choose Royal over NCL for having more things for them to do.

NCL has Royal beat by a mile for suite perks & service.

For a smaller ship, I like Royal's Freedom class better than comparable NCL ships (for layout & design).

The weird bathroom set up on Epic would keep me from ever sailing on her in a regular cabin but raves about the Epic Haven could convince me to try it.

NCL has Royal beat by a mile for suite perks & service.

Other than the courtyard, what does NCL offer in their suites that Royal does not? I don't think NCL even has a comparable product to Royals Star Class, either.

Other than the courtyard, what does NCL offer in their suites that Royal does not? I don't think NCL even has a comparable product to Royals Star Class, either.

All suites come with butlers. On Royal only Star class has the Genie.

NCL offers alcohol packages and dining packages “included” to their low end suites, where on RCL that’s an add-on.

Most Havens have an outdoor dining area.

Star Class is more all-inclusive, but also more expensive. The rooms are also much larger than NCL.

Considering the pool decks on Royal are larger with better pools, I’d say the courtyard is a huge bonus.

In general, I prefer NCL’s Suite class, but Royal’s is great too. NCL is generally cheaper for suites.

All suites come with butlers. On Royal only Star class has the Genie.

 

NCL offers alcohol packages and dining packages “included” to their low end suites, where on RCL that’s an add-on.

 

Most Havens have an outdoor dining area.

 

Star Class is more all-inclusive, but also more expensive. The rooms are also much larger than NCL.

 

Considering the pool decks on Royal are larger with better pools, I’d say the courtyard is a huge bonus.

 

In general, I prefer NCL’s Suite class, but Royal’s is great too. NCL is generally cheaper for suites.

Note that my comment was in regard to a post that said "NCL beats Royal by a mile in perks and service"

As you know, Star Class is far beyond what NCL offers in perks and service (it's just more expensive). And isn't it telling that the main benefit that separates the offerings is the Courtyard, which you only need because the ship is so poorly designed to begin with? The Solarium is better than the courtyard anyways. Coastal Kitchen changes the menu whereas Haven restaurant is the same small menu all week. Though I did enjoy the outdoor dining at the Haven restaurant.

But yeah, both are good products that offer a variety of perks and benefits that will appeal to different people. Point is, NCL most definitely doesn't beat Royals perks and service offerings by a mile, they just offer a different product that may appeal to some but not others.

Note that my comment was in regard to a post that said "NCL beats Royal by a mile in perks and service"

 

As you know, Star Class is far beyond what NCL offers in perks and service (it's just more expensive). And isn't it telling that the main benefit that separates the offerings is the Courtyard, which you only need because the ship is so poorly designed to begin with? The Solarium is better than the courtyard anyways. Coastal Kitchen changes the menu whereas Haven restaurant is the same small menu all week. Though I did enjoy the outdoor dining at the Haven restaurant.

 

But yeah, both are good products that offer a variety of perks and benefits that will appeal to different people. Point is, NCL most definitely doesn't beat Royals perks and service offerings by a mile, they just offer a different product that may appeal to some but not others.

If you are like most people in a balcony and like many, Diamond on Royal and Platinum on NCL, Royal's perks and bennies far exceed NCL's. I am talking about not buy the ridiculously expensive drink packages. On our last Royal 23 day TransPacific cruise we had free happy hour drinks from 4:30 until 8 and ordered wine in the MDR. We didn't pay a nickel for alcohol the entire trip. Also, had nice lattes for breakfast in the Diamond Lounge and picked up free water.

NCL give you free laundry bag and free dinner at a specialty restaurant with bottle of wine. That's it.

If you are like most people in a balcony and like many, Diamond on Royal and Platinum on NCL, Royal's perks and bennies far exceed NCL's. I am talking about not buy the ridiculously expensive drink packages. On our last Royal 23 day TransPacific cruise we had free happy hour drinks from 4:30 until 8 and ordered wine in the MDR. We didn't pay a nickel for alcohol the entire trip. Also, had nice lattes for breakfast in the Diamond Lounge and picked up free water.

NCL give you free laundry bag and free dinner at a specialty restaurant with bottle of wine. That's it.

To be fair, NCL has the neverending free at sea promotions which can make the drink package free. Though when comparing prices, you may find ncl higher due to these "free" promotions being hidden in the fare.

Drink package is a must for me so that is something I consider. Free happy hour drinks doesn't cut it for me, though it's an awesome perk for many others.

Note that my comment was in regard to a post that said "NCL beats Royal by a mile in perks and service"

 

As you know, Star Class is far beyond what NCL offers in perks and service (it's just more expensive). And isn't it telling that the main benefit that separates the offerings is the Courtyard, which you only need because the ship is so poorly designed to begin with? The Solarium is better than the courtyard anyways. Coastal Kitchen changes the menu whereas Haven restaurant is the same small menu all week. Though I did enjoy the outdoor dining at the Haven restaurant.

 

But yeah, both are good products that offer a variety of perks and benefits that will appeal to different people. Point is, NCL most definitely doesn't beat Royals perks and service offerings by a mile, they just offer a different product that may appeal to some but not others.

Agreed. We sail both regularly, and in suites (or sometimes Junior Suites on Royal). We switch depending on itinerary, price, ship, etc. Just took a 9-night Anthem in a JS at the end of May, hopping on the Getaway in a Spa Haven (just got notified of our winning bid today!) this weekend.

Hello everyone, im sure this has been talked about but looking for very recent comparisons between royal caribbean and norwegian. We enjoyed royals food and service, i have read so many negatives on norwegian but can somone out there tell me what ship they tried epic? and did they try royal caribbean oasis class which we love an how does epic compare , food quality in dining room and buffet, cabins, service and entertainment more recent comparsions please

 

just nervous to try norwegian but they have a really good promo on right now giving all perks and the suites are only 1600.00 per person for europe

Have sailed Epic in the Med & Harmony in the Caribbean. We had a great time on both ships.

I would give the edge to Harmony. Loved the Central Park and Boardwalk areas.

However, when you are in Europe the cruise is port -intensive, the ship isnt as important as say sailing in Caribbean. We had a wonderful time on the Epic and I wouldn't hesitate to sail her again.

The specialty restaurants on the Epic are great. Enjoyed having breakfast in Taste. Definitely check out the spa on the sea day. I got a thermal spa pass on the Epic and enjoyed it.