Just booked NCL - after previous Celebrity, HAL and RCCL, what should we expect?

[newfarmers]

Hi all

 

Off to the UK later in the year and somehow conversation has ended up with us booking 12 night Baltic Capitals on Sun departing Dover on August 27.

 

So.... after our previous three cruises what should we expect? Looking forward to freestyle dining but what else will surprise/delight us on the Sun? There'll be no disappointments because we'll be on a cruise:D, what could be better:)

 

thanks in advance

 

pete and al

[lambs2]

As 'diversified' cruisers ourselves we have come to enjoy the freedom and wide range of choice an NCL cruise offers, Not having to worry about packing formal attire, unless we CHOOSE to for a special celebration is one thing we truly appreciate about cruising with NCL. We also enjoy the various specialty dining venues and make sure to budget an extra $100. or so so we can enjoy a couple of them each cruise. We also love the staff and crew on the various NCL ships we have been privileged to sail - in fact - we have come to feel like part of the family on each of our Norwegian cruise adventures! :)

[cynbar]

You should expect that NCL is far more casual than the other cruise lines you mention, both in attitude and in dress code. Some people like this, others not so much, but you should at least be ready. We are doing our 2nd Med cruise this summer on the Gem and we find that flexibility and fewer restrictions are great for these port intensive cruises. I'm not sure I would like it as much on a more relaxing Caribbean cruise, but time will\

tell

[hamrag]

You should expect that NCL is far more casual than the other cruise lines you mention, both in attitude and in dress code. Some people like this, others not so much, but you should at least be ready. We are doing our 2nd Med cruise this summer on the Gem and we find that flexibility and fewer restrictions are great for these port intensive cruises.

 

Yes, for us these are also the main positives. The main negative is that the quality and service of food in the MDR is not as good as you have experienced on Celebrity/HAL or RCCL, but this can be mitigated by using one of the speciality restaurants on some or all evenings.

[cruisersflife]

I`m sorry to say with all the cuts ncl has made its getting bad. Yes casual but food took a real dive. Alot of the little extras have gone bi bi too.

[amc40]

I too have booked NCL for the first time after cruising Celebrity and RCCL. I'm a little anxious about what to expect. We're on Spirit out of Boston, an hour drive which is great. I have been considering changing to Summit out of NJ, but we're cruising with friends & family that don't really want to drive to NJ. Has anyone been on Summit, Century or Spirit, any thoughts?

[zqvol]

A good time. NCL is just like all of the other mass market lines, except for free style dining.

[Dolphins]

After sailing on all the cruise lines you mentioned, we tried NCL and were very pleasantly surprised. We really liked freestyle dining and the choice of many dining venues. We liked the musicians in the various lounges, dancing in the Spinakker Lounge (much bigger than the Ocean Bar on HAL). We have also found that NCL treats their repeat cruisers far better than the other cruise lines.

Finally, in the current economic climate, all cruise lines are cutting back, not just NCL.

[FLCRUISINGCPL]

We have sailed the most on Royal Caribbean, then NCL, Celebrity, and Princess. It is interesting that we did not try NCL until October 2007, and in just over 2 years we have selected them 7 times.

 

Differences:

1. Freestyle is different than traditional dining, it will be a transition for you. Do not expect to have the same waiter, table, etc. each night. Table mates are up to you, if you are travelling with friends you have them. If not, you can always go to dinner with people you meet on the ship, or just each as a couple.

2. Ships are smaller than the Mega Royal Caribbean or new Solstice class on Celebrity. However, if you have been on the Millenium class or Radiance class they are similar in size.

3. Decor is more colorful than you find on Royal, but much nicer than anything you find on Carnival.

4. Entertainment is generally superior to anything we find on other cruise lines for production shows. If you have the Jean Ann Ryan Company shows you are in for a treat.

5. Specialty resteraunts are generally quite good and varied (usually 6-8 choices) from Italian, French, Steak, Asian, etc.

6. NCL has lots of events to keep you going, from White Hot Party, Newlywed not so Newlywed, Battle of the Sexes, etc.

7. Cabins are a bit on the small side, but more than adequate. Showers are a big improvement from Royal's little circle, they are rectangular and much larger.

8. Pull tabs, NCL sells these little gambling opportunites before each show in the main theatre. This really bothered us on our first couple of cruises, now we just ignore it.

 

We have cruised almost 40 times in the last 10 years, and now go on 6-7 cruises per year. We are a retied couple in our mid-50's that have pretty much settled in on Royal Caribbean, NCL, and Celebrity. As you can see from past and future cruises we like NCL and hope you will too.

[Arwenmark]

I too have booked NCL for the first time after cruising Celebrity and RCCL. I'm a little anxious about what to expect. We're on Spirit out of Boston, an hour drive which is great. I have been considering changing to Summit out of NJ, but we're cruising with friends & family that don't really want to drive to NJ. Has anyone been on Summit, Century or Spirit, any thoughts?

 

The Summit is a somewhat bizzare ship in terms of decoration etc. The Spirit is one of the most elegant looking ships in any of the mainstream U.S. cruiselines.

 

They are of course totally different in cruisline culture though. NCL even on the Spirit is very laid back.

[AWEST84532]

My DW and I have been on several cruises inlcuding RCCL and have been very pleased with NCL. Our past three cruises have been on the Star, the Dawn and the first of this month the Spirit.

 

We like the relaxed personality of the line. On the Spirit, we ate at La Trattoria, did the Taste of India and the rest of the time we ate in the MDR's for dinner. All of our meals were very good to excellent. The Taste of India was excellent, the osso bucco in La Trattoria was very good. I tried to find the awful food on the ship, but was unsuccessful. Even the lunches and breakfasts in at the buffet were good to very good, with the exception of a couple of dishes.

[Zeno]

I`m sorry to say with all the cuts ncl has made its getting bad. Yes casual but food took a real dive. Alot of the little extras have gone bi bi too.

 

Having just got back from an NCL cruise ( the Dawn - last week) I disagree. The food was fine and the only "extra" I missed (a little) was the chocolate mint on my pillow. And it was NOT necessary to eat in the specialty restaurants to get a good meal (as a matter of fact the only meal we were not happy with was in a specialty restaurant).

 

However, to OP - food is very subjective so in all honesty I have no idea how you will find it. It isn't gourmet dining (any more than ANY of the mainstream cruiselines can provide a true gourmet dining experience) but I thought it was (for the most part) 'good banquet quality food'.

[Zeno]

I tried to find the awful food on the ship, but was unsuccessful.

 

Same here on the Dawn - never found it. I was on the look-out for the "awful" desserts - never found them. The only dessert I did not care for was the chocolate cake in Salsa's - all the others were actually pretty good.

[swedish weave]

Hi all

 

 

So.... after our previous three cruises what should we expect?

thanks in advance

 

pete and al

 

Expect to have a great cruise, and you will.

 

Expect to have a bad cruise, and you will.

 

The choice is yours !!

 

It is like the father who told his son he had two wolves in his head, one grouchy and mean--the other pleasant and happy. One would live and the other would die.

 

The son asked which would live, and the father said " The one you feed."

[tonit964]

We are going on our first NCL cruise and we are very excited to try a new line. We have sailed Carnival, Princess and RCCL and like them all. We are looking forward to the freestyle dining and will probably just get a table for the two of us.

I am reading as much as I can on this board and I'm not paying attention to the negative comments as I know no cruise is perfect but we really have a great time when we are on a cruise and let the little things slide right on by.:)

Just have a good attitude and you will have a great time.

Toni

[amistad]

I too have booked NCL for the first time after cruising Celebrity and RCCL. I'm a little anxious about what to expect. We're on Spirit out of Boston, an hour drive which is great. I have been considering changing to Summit out of NJ, but we're cruising with friends & family that don't really want to drive to NJ. Has anyone been on Summit, Century or Spirit, any thoughts?

We are Diamond on RCCL and Elite on Celebrity, NCL is different, but not a bad different. To me Celebrity had very good food, but was pretty dressy on the Century and on the old Horizon to Bermuda it was a little more casual, but the food wasn't quite as good. RCCL has great activities, but to me the food is just ok, not great. NCL is kind of in between the two, not as active as RCCL, not as elegant as Celebrity, but still a good vacation, and freestyle is very relaxing. I think you will enjoy the Spirit, it isn't too large, but it still has alot to offer. It kind of reminds me of Grandeaur of the Seas or the Enchantment of the Seas as far as size goes.

[newfarmers]

thankyou everyone who has taken the time to respond.

 

like I said in my original post we will have no disappointments as we'll be on a cruise ship. to me, there's no better place to be.

 

as one of the posters said - food is subjective. On Celebrity we found food that ranged from fantastic to fairly ordinary. HAL excellent to good and on Legend most recently, consistently good. We dine out a fair bit and I suppose some would call us foodies but we've never had a meal (apart from steaks of which we've never had a good one) that we'd say was aweful. Maybe we're easily pleaseed foodies:).

 

we're both looking forward to trying out freestyle dining and also to being on a ship with multiple 'other' restaurants. on infinity and rotterdam we had the option of pay specialty restaurants - infinity amazing, rotterdam surprisingly ordinary. so the multiple options we'll have on Sun will be a new experience.

 

I now have a differrent question, specifically related to the Sun possibly. We've taken advantage of a multi category upgrade offer - pay for an H, get an EE. We're actually on a gtd as there are no EEs left. From looking at the deckplans we're not actually that sad cos the EEs are partially obstructed (we hadn't realised that when we booked). An E looks a far nicer option but as I said, we'll be on a cruise ship and any cabin on a cruise ship is a good cabin.

 

Our dilemma now is should we maybe go the extra 600pp and go for a balcony. This is also an upgrade offer so we'd get a BB. On an itinerary such as Baltic Capitals would we miss it or curse it? Balcony on Infinity was small, Rotterdam large enough for a lounger, table and chair but looks like Sun's are small like on Infinity.

 

While the offer is there we're wondering if we should take it.

 

Thanks again everyone for your help

 

pete and al

[Zeno]

The Sun' s EEs are actually hardly obstructed at all - we liked ours so much, we booked it again for the 2nd cruise we had on the Sun.

[deepnite10]

we found the food in MD exceptional on the Star..after being disappointed

the previous year about the quality we gave it another shot and it was a vast improvement..

 

though many find the buffets fine and the specialty restraunts exceptional..we werer ended up eating most of our evening meals in the

MD after the frist night..

 

and you ll find there are fewer organized activities onboard..fewer activities to get you out of your cabin during those sea days..if however you enjoy the gym and spa..they are excellent..

[jjb415]

OP, since you are looking forward to Freestyle Dining, you'll have a great time. IMHO it is a great advantage of NCL and the "additional fee' restaurants are really beautiful with great food.

 

On the other hand, I haven't found that the staff in the buffet areas are as helpful as on Royal Caribbean. Seldom have I been offered drinks or any additional help in the buffet areas of NCL as is customary on Royal Caribbean.

 

You have a great attitude and will certainly have a great trip !! :)

[newfarmers]

we've just snagged a great deal with one of the online agents and saved ourselves $850. although we had an EE gtd an outside is an outside and $850 will pay for a lot of land content. we're now in an FF on Oslo deck, the odd little stairs only deck. are the stairs both up and down from Oslo?

thanks in advance

pete

[JoeWill]

Hi all

 

Off to the UK later in the year and somehow conversation has ended up with us booking 12 night Baltic Capitals on Sun departing Dover on August 27.

 

So.... after our previous three cruises what should we expect? Looking forward to freestyle dining but what else will surprise/delight us on the Sun? There'll be no disappointments because we'll be on a cruise:D, what could be better:)

 

thanks in advance

 

pete and al

 

I can't speak for the Sun, but from my experience you will be very happy with NCL compared to RCCL. We just returned from the Gem and we happened to dock in Tortola right next to RCCL. RCCL's stateroom amenities were clearly inferior with their balconies equiped with lounge chairs and tables equivalent to the equipment we experienced on Antiqua. One of the poorest islands in the Carib.

[larry_s_taco]

I too have booked NCL for the first time after cruising Celebrity and RCCL. I'm a little anxious about what to expect. We're on Spirit out of Boston, an hour drive which is great. I have been considering changing to Summit out of NJ, but we're cruising with friends & family that don't really want to drive to NJ. Has anyone been on Summit, Century or Spirit, any thoughts?

 

I've been on the Summit, Millenium, Zeneth, and Galaxy. They all have their strengths. I'll have to say that the Spirit compared in just about every way, plus you don't have to worry about the formalities. It really makes for a relaxing vacation. If you've been on the other lines, I would recommend you try it. It is a pleasant change.

Larr