Would you choose Princess or NCL?

[Latteluver]

Hi, my little family are fairly new to cruising. We went on the Norwegian Jade a couple of years ago and the children loved it. We are looking to cruise again but are thinking of going around the Med on the Grand Princess. My dilemma is which is better: NCL or Princess? I would appreciate any comments, thanks.

[Pam in CA]

Hi, my little family are fairly new to cruising. We went on the Norwegian Jade a couple of years ago and the children loved it. We are looking to cruise again but are thinking of going around the Med on the Grand Princess. My dilemma is which is better: NCL or Princess? I would appreciate any comments, thanks.

It all depends on what you and your family like to do or experience. I haven't been on NCL but have friends who love it. Princess is a different cruising experience from NCL. You can have Anytime dining but there is a dress code and formal nights when you are expected to dress up or use one of the alternative restaurants or buffet, including kids. There are more elderly on Princess, particularly on a Med cruise. There are also more countries represented on a Princess Med cruise, i.e., there are more Brits, etc. You'll get beds, food and entertainment on both but it's like the difference between a **-star hotel and a ****-star hotel.

[billie5]

We sail frequently on both lines, and IMO there is very little difference. I would certainly make the decision based on other issues: which has the better price, which has the better itinerary, which departs from a better port both location and cost-wise.

 

NCL offers just freestyle dining for dinner, meaning that you can eat dinner anytime you wish in the main dining rooms (MDR). Princess offers both freestyle MDR and traditional MDR, where in the latter you get assigned seating and time for dinner. Since you are traveling with children, you will probably prefer freestyle, which is available on both. I find the food in MDR slightly better on Princess, but the buffet better on NCL. (Everyone has a different opinion on this) Still, I think the differences between individual ships, crews and even the particular week of the cruise to be a lot greater than the difference between the two cruise lines.

 

For what it is worth, our most memorable cruises have been on Princess's Tahitian Princess, when it sailed in French Polynesia, on Celebrity's Xpedition through the Galapagos Islands, on Oceania's Nautica through the Greek islands, and most interesting of all, on the Sepik Spirit along Papua New Guinea's Sepik River. As you can easily imagine, the cruise line itself made little difference. It was the itinerary which made an immense difference.

 

Bill

[BobT172]

It's a matter of preference I'm sure. All of what others have posted above is true.

 

Wife and I have sailed on NCL twice and have not been impressed either time. She sailed on it with a freind (NCL Dawn) out of NYC to Bermuda and she said it was fine...but we keep coming back to Princess.

 

You didn't say how old the children are but we have had kids and grandkids sail on Princess and they had a great time...they were so enthused with the kids and teens program, they couldn't wait to leave us and get back to it.

 

The Grand Princess is a wonderful ship. We've been on it 3 times. It is about 10 yeras old, but has either recently or is scheduled to go into drydock and a rehab. The Med itinerary is awesome but very port intensive ( alot to see...can be tiring).

[welshcorgie]

We have been on both NCL and Princess many times. Friends of ours went with us on NCL a few years ago and had children from 6 years old to 16 years old, to the western Caribbean. The two younger kids cried when they had to leave their friends and the kid's club to be with the family for dinner. I think that NCL has a better children's program, as there are more children on it. We prefer Princess, but if I were to take my grandchildren we would go on NCL. NCL is also more informal than Princess, and if your kids are like my grandchildren they would rather play than dress up formally. I hope that this helps you out, you'll have a great cruise either way.

[Jennygirl]

I have been on both NCL (the Dawn) and Princess (Grand, Crown and Caribbean). It my groups estimation we liked Princess better but then we are in our early 60's. I clearlly remember liking Princess's food choices better than NCL but then again, it all depends on your families likes and dislikes. Our group liked assigned seat dining so we could get the same waiters every night who got to know exactly what we wanted at dinner. Our iced teas were waiting for us as well as cheese plates and fruit. It made it more personal for us knowing their names and them knowing ours. We didnt care for the freestyle dining but then again, maybe your family would. Both lines have beautiful ships and great staff. Either way you'll be a winner. Enjoy - cruising is awesome!

[Aruba]

I've tried Norwegian twice. Both times the experience was like being on spring break in Cancun in a low-class hotel eating mediocre banquet food -- granted, we can only travel during school vacation weeks so mabe those 2 cruises were not representative of the NCL experience. But IMO, recognizing and respecting that others may disagree, Princess beats Norwegian hands-down in every category. We did eat twice in the specialty French restaurant (and can't now remember its name) on Norwegian and enjoyed it very much. If we ever sailed Norwegian again, we would eat every dinner in the specialty restaurant. It was well worth the cover charge.

[Aruba]

I've tried Norwegian twice. Both times the experience was like being on spring break in Cancun in a low-class hotel eating mediocre banquet food -- granted, we can only travel during school vacation weeks so mabe those 2 cruises were not representative of the NCL experience. But IMO, recognizing and respecting that others may disagree, Princess beats Norwegian hands-down in every category. We did eat twice in the specialty French restaurant (and can't now remember its name) on Norwegian and enjoyed it very much. If we ever sailed Norwegian again, we would eat every dinner in the specialty restaurant. It was well worth the cover charge.

PS - Last time we sailed Norwegian was October 2008 but I just realized I forgot to include it in the list below. Maybe things have improved in the past year and a half.

[jff50]

We prefer Princess, but would select based on price and itinerary. We did the NCL Jade last November based on those criteria. Our cruise sailed from Istanbul to Barcelona, with some great stops in between. This gave us an opportunity to spend extra time in 2 cities that we had a lot of interest in visiting. We sailed with our 9 YO daughter and she enjoyed the kids program. The price differential was huge, to a good extent because Princess' pricing for the 3rd passenger in a room is often far more than other cruise lines. On our November NCL cruise, we paid about $250 for our daughter as the 3rd person in the room. With Princess, we would have paid about $1,700 for her on a comparable cruise. In total, we paid NCL about half of what we would have paid for a comparable Princess cruise. I would be willing to pay some premium to cruise Princess over NCL, but not twice the price.

[Clutterlady]

Having sailed NCL, in my opinion there is a big difference. From decor, service, food and over all ambiance, Princess wins hands down.

 

Would I sail NCL again, perhaps, but not anytime in the near future:)

[Woobstr112G]

I've sailed three in a row on Princess and overall have had a fantastic cruise each time. While I have never sailed on NCL, I've heard more bad than good which makes us as unlikely ever to try them.

 

Bob

[britwelshflorida]

I have just booked my second trip with Princess (for my husband, his first) but we just got back from NCL Dawn (9 day trip) and it was wonderful. The freestyle dining wins hands down. I love NCL, done them 3 times and can't complain about anything and the cruise price was unbeatable. I did Princess with my twin about 5 years ago and they didn't have Anytime dining but we really loved the cruise too. We are due to leave in a week and are looking forward to trying the anytime dining and comparing both cruises for lots of different reasons, entertainment, cruisers, personnel, food, etc.

[nu2cruzin03]

We have sailed on the Norwegian Dawn, Celebrity Zenith, RCL Explorer of the Seas and the Norwegian Gem. We are looking forward to our first Caribbean Princess cruise in six weeks. All of our cruises have been very enjoyable; each special in ite own way. If I were to "rank" the ships/cruises, I would say:

 

1. NCL Gem

2. RCL Explorer of the Seas

3. NCL Dawn

4. Celebrity Zenith

 

I'm sure that the Caribbean Princess will just as nice, if not nicer, than the Gem or Explorer. In a sense, it is unfair to compare the smaller Zenith to the larger ships. We would never cruise without a balcony after our Zenith experience. Our cruise decision is solely based upon itinerary and our schedule/perspective sailing dates, since we realize that we will enjoy any of the larger ships.

 

Rick and Lisa

[financialgrl]

Hi, my little family are fairly new to cruising. We went on the Norwegian Jade a couple of years ago and the children loved it. We are looking to cruise again but are thinking of going around the Med on the Grand Princess. My dilemma is which is better: NCL or Princess? I would appreciate any comments, thanks.

 

I have friends who have about 40 cruises under their belt. They love Princess most and probably about 30 of their cruises are with Princess. However, they've done other lines solely because of the itinerary (NCL for their Bermuda where they are in port for a few days and Royal Caribbean on another itinerary for the same reason. Its up to you - what's more important - do a comparison and see what works best for you!

[Traveling Bob]

Having sailed NCL, in my opinion there is a big difference. From decor, service, food and over all ambiance, Princess wins hands down.

 

Would I sail NCL again, perhaps, but not anytime in the near future:)

 

Exactly. My experience with NCL was great food in the up-grade restaurants but garbage in the main dinning room and buffet. And lines for everything. My NCL cruise was 12/08 and I'm not yet ready to give them another chance.

[LAX2FCO]

Just a note regarding winel. NCL is very strict about any outside wine, it is simply not allowed, ever.

They lost me on that one after an otherwise beautiful Hawaiian cruise with them.

[luvs2travl]

Just a note regarding winel. NCL is very strict about any outside wine, it is simply not allowed, ever.

They lost me on that one after an otherwise beautiful Hawaiian cruise with them.

 

You can bring wine on NCL but you MUST pay the corkerage fee up front for each bottle you bring. It is put on your ship's card at boarding, (we paid $15.00), and a sticker is placed on the bottle to show it has been paid for. I know because we did this on NCL in December. We were given a last minute "Bon Voyage" gift and had no place to leave it other than in a trash can.

 

We met a man in the elevator who had a whole CASE on a rolling cart - he was definitely NOT a happy camper - said it was his first & last time on NCL. Evidently it was quite expensive wine, 'cause he said "If I hadn't paid out the *% for this stuff, I would've left it on the #*!* ing pier!" Yikes!!!! It was our first & last time on NCL as well, but for many other reasons beside the wine policy. ;)

[Feelin' Nauti']

Princess hands down.

Heard the food is awful on Norwegian

[blondietoo]

Sorry to say but we have a number of friends and family who have warned us off NCL mainly due to the sub par food . It is Princess for us.....never had a complaint after 5 Princess cruises and 2 more coming up this year.

[Commodore]

I'm a retired TA, I've cruised the whole range of cruiseships from 6 stars to buckets but never on NCL and I've never sold it, probably because of bad reports from other TA's . So it is Princess for me mainly because of food,service ,itineraries and price:):):):)

[Smellytoes]

I have just booked my second trip with Princess (for my husband, his first) but we just got back from NCL Dawn (9 day trip) and it was wonderful. The freestyle dining wins hands down. I love NCL, done them 3 times and can't complain about anything and the cruise price was unbeatable. I did Princess with my twin about 5 years ago and they didn't have Anytime dining but we really loved the cruise too. We are due to leave in a week and are looking forward to trying the anytime dining and comparing both cruises for lots of different reasons, entertainment, cruisers, personnel, food, etc.

 

Please come back and give us a comparison between the two. I've sailed NCL 9 times and I'm about to give Princess a try this summer and I'd love your opinion.

[britwelshflorida]

Please come back and give us a comparison between the two. I've sailed NCL 9 times and I'm about to give Princess a try this summer and I'd love your opinion.

I certainly will give you an update on our return with all the comparisons. The itinery is different and only 7 days as apposed to 9 but it should be enough to discern each. I always go with an open mind and believe it is sometimes what you make of your vacation including bumps along the way. Getting excited!

[billie5]

The postings here by cruisers who have never actually been on NCL are amusing, to say the least -- especially the ex-TA who thinks it maybe, probably must have been rumors from other TAs as to why he never sold NCL. :confused:

 

Our experience is that up until NCL changed their menus (phased in a year ago, perhaps), Princess' MDR and buffet were mostly a shade better than NCL, but there were certainly cruises where Princess was not as good. With the new menus on NCL, I would say very firmly that Princess' MDR gives you substantially more choices and larger servings (not that one needs more food), and that NCL's buffet is decidedly better than Princess'. However, I am partial to Indian curries, of which there are always a number in the NCL buffet for both lunch and dinner, and I am sure that fact colors my views of the buffet, as personal tastes are bound to do for everyone. I have had an occasional poorly made meal, or one not at all to my taste, on both lines, but not IMO more often on one than on the other.

 

As someone pointed out, it is notable that NCL enforces their corkage charges far more rigorously than Princess - a definite disadvantage to NCL if you wish to bring your own wine in quantity. On the other hand, if something sufficiently bad happens to an NCL cruise, they are famous for being more generous than other lines. For example, they returned 75% of the fare (plus a 50% credit on the next cruise) when the NCL Spirit lost power returning from a Caribbean cruise -- even though the cruise had already visited all of its scheduled ports. Now, when we sail NCL, we keep hoping the cruise will go adrift - on the last day. :)

 

Bill

[luv2travel2beaches]

We sailed NCL Wind on the first cruise. It was nice. Then moved to Star Princess. We LOVED Princess. It is a great fit for us. We find Princess to be a great combination of ages, young and old. Good food, beautiful ships. No complaints with NCL except the Wind is fairly old and a bit more worn. Also it was a longer cruise and older clientele. Both offer anytime type dining if you choose it on Princess. I wouldn't hesitate to cruise with either...but our first choice is Princess.

[JudithLynne]

This is an interesting thread for me. My husband and I are elite with Princess and absolutely love this cruise line, although we have sailed with others. HAL is a close second.

 

We recently completed our second Princess Hawaii cruise, RT from LA. Because Princess eliminated Kona, one only gets to 4 ports. We love the sea days, but would like more time in Hawaii.

 

We kept noticing the NCL ship (POA) at various ports. They, in our opinion, have a great 7 day itinerary with 2 overnight ports. We have discussed trying this cruise, but have been scared away by reviews of NCL.

 

We are wondering if it would still be worth it to try this cruise simply for the itinerary. Any comments?

 

Judith