Princess vs. Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL)

[tispwisp]

We have been on both the Coral Princess and the NCL Epic. Two TOTALLY different experiences. Whether or not it's good or bad depends totally on your individual tastes. If you really enjoyed the Coral Princess, you may find the Epic overwhelming, crowded, and over the top.

 

The Coral Princess is our favorite Princess ship and we are looking forward to sailing on her sister the Island next year. We prefer things a little more laid back and relaxing which we like the smaller Royal Caribbean ships, Princess, and now Celebrity. When we want a cruise with a little more kick and activity we prefer the larger Royal Caribbean ships.

 

The only NCL ship we were on is the Epic so I can't compare it with the smaller ships in the NCL line, but you were asking about the Epic so here is our take on it. Both the pros and the cons:

 

+ We were in the suite section on the 15th level. Most comfortable bed we have ever had at sea. Top notch service. It was our first time in a suite and totally enjoyed the private pool, sun deck, gym, and restaurant.

+ The food was actually very very good. Way better than we expected.

+ The entertainment was amazing. Something going on all the time. Finally got to see the Blue Man Group!

 

- Very very crowded. There was 1000 less passengers than the ship could actually accommodate and it was still extremely crowded. Long lines to get into any of the shows and restaurants. If you are in a suite, you get to bypass the lines and be the first to get seats for the shows.

- Very smoky. For some reason, they put the casino in the middle of the ship in an open area. The smoke permeated into all of the restaurants, shows, and hallways. Poor ship design.

- No outdoor promenade like on the Coral. The life boats completely block any view from that level.

- The ship's stores have people standing outside of them and trying to pull you in while walking past. Almost as if you are walking past the jewelry stores in St. Thomas!

 

Overall, the Epic had more of a mall/resort feel and less of a ship feel. Unless you were on the top deck or your balcony you wouldn't even know you were on a ship.

 

Would we sail on it again? Doubtful. And only if we had a suite again. It was the first time we ever had a suite on a cruise and it would be the only way I would ever consider sailing on this ship again. The private pool/restaurant area was a nice escape from the crowds. There are so many other choices out there that we prefer over this.

 

Was it a bad cruise? No. Just not really our cup of tea. We prefer things a little more relaxed, quiet, and less smoky. But there is a line for everyone and I can see how a family with teenagers or younger people would have a blast on this ship. There is literally a TON of things to see and do!!

[LA_FadeAway]

We've sailed with Princess four times and NCL twice (plus a 1 nighter). Honestly, we really enjoy them both; however, we have not tried the Epic yet. Between the two, itinerary and price would determine which we chose. Here are the differences we've noted:

 

Food - Princess MDR food is better than NCL's, but NCL has a great assortment of specialty dining if you don't mind the small fee. We really like having all those choices on NCL. Love Princess' pizza.

 

Entertainment - NCL has much better production shows. We've seen some pretty amature looking shows on Princess, but also a few decent ones.

 

Passangers - NCL seems to attract more people in our age range (41) than Princess although we're slowly creeping into the Princess demographic!

 

Nightlife - NCL has better nightclubs, bowling, etc. The Princess discos are pretty much dead whenever we go in them.

 

Cabins - Princess' cabins are larger, but NCL has better showers (with real doors) and bathroom design (except on Epic?), and their standard balcony cabins have a small sofa.

 

Service - Princess seems to have better all around service to us.

 

Alcohol policy - Both cruise lines allow you to bring wine on board, but Princess only charges you a corkage fee if you bring the wine to the dining room. NCL charges the corkage fee when you bring it on board regardless of where you plan to drink it. Also, you can forget bringing any other undeclared alcohol on an NCL ship. They will confiscate it and call you to the "naughty room", lol. Princess policy does not allow it either, but they never seem to care if you put some in your checked bag. You can pre-order a bar set up on NCL, but they have more than doubled the prices in recent years which makes it not much cheaper than buying your drinks at the bar.

 

Another thing I like about NCL is the assortment of reasonably priced suites and the ability to upgrade on an "upsell" if available and they call you. Princess doesn't really do this. We got a great upsell from a balcony to a Penthouse for $500 on a nine night cruise. Can't beat that!!

 

All this being said, I think we still generally prefer Princess over NCL for some reason. Maybe it's just the overall vibe and not feeling quite as nickeled and dimed. It's hard to describe really.

[jff50]

Hi,

 

We just finished our first cruise ever on the Coral Princess to Alaska. We are considering doing a cruise on the NCL Epic. I was wondering what are the differences between Princess and NCL. We really enjoyed the Coral Princess and the Princess way of doing things.

 

Thanks for the information.

I've done about 25 Princess cruises and 3 Norwegian (including one on the EPIC. Princess is my favorite, but I'd have no qualms about taking NCL--if the price and itinerary were good. The Epic is much different than any of the Princess ships. Much bigger than the Coral (or any of the other Princess ships)--it will have twice as many people. Lots more dining choices than Princess but most of them come with a surcharge. Loved the Churascarria (sp?). NCL doesn't even have traditional dining (only choice is anytime). The entertainment on the EPIC was great, and unlike any other ship that I am aware of--Blue Man Group, Legends in Concert, Cirque Dreams, Second City. Much better buffet (I think Princess is relatively weak in this area.

 

Since you've only been on one cruise, I'd give NCL a shot. I'd try the EPIC, as well as another NCL ship--since the EPIC is unique and different than any of the other NCL ships. I'd also try some other lines to see how they fit you.

[Sapphire723]

If you are planning on sailing NCL, I would recommend budgeting for a pay restaurant every dinner. I was not a fan of the MDR, and I'm not a super picky eater.

[Princess Patches]

Princess is more elegant and subdued. The decor and the food are superior. I think the entertainment is also better. I had not sailed on NCL for many years until last year when I took the POA Hawaii cruise for the itinerary. Not much had changed over the years on NCL. The decor was loud and the atmosphere lacked sophistication. The food was not nearly as good as Princess with one exception, the buffet. I was surprised by the excellent quality of the food at the buffet on the Pride of America. I would only sail NCL if they offered an itinerary no other cruiseline was offering (like their Hawaii cruise).

[Bobbi Roth]

You will get alot of opinions on both lines. However, you mentioned the Epic. I suggest you look online at NCL website and look at the cabin layouts. The toilet is in one corner of the room and the shower in the other. The sink is right by the bed. Its the most screwball design I can imagine. Now, you probably think there is some sort of divider between and that I may be stretching things a bit. So, go on youtube and type in epic cabin and see the video of the cabin interior.

 

We almost booked the Epic until I was warned about the cabins. It was a deal breaker. I have been on three NCL and have my first Princess cruise booked for Jan.

 

The Epic is the worst ship I have ever been on. Had a balcony room (very small) and two people coulnot go in the same direction at one time.

[victoriaj]

With having had 27 cruises on Princess and 5 on NCL you can guess my preference. Atmosphere and attitude of the staff was what "killed" NCL for me. I felt the spaces were rather "chopped up" with few places you could just sit without being bugged to buy something. The one and only time during 48 cruises to be told "No" by staff on two different ocassions for two not unreasonable requests was the last straw. No smile no explanation to first my inquiry if I could get toast (this was at breakfast time) one word answer NO MDR request if I could possible have the sauce served on the side instead of over the meat dish again the answer was NO. Princess would have bent over backwards to accomodate my request. Tried NCL again in 2008 to see if anything had improved, it hadn't, surly staff and even the new ships had jigs and jogs that didn't flow easily around the ship and they were constantly bombarding us to buy something. We were quickly back on Princess. We have also cruised Celebrity and Holland America Princess #1 Celebrity #2 !!

Happy cruisin'

[gsmiles4u]

Never again on NCL. The Norwegian Dawn was a lovely ship; HOWEVER, we waited for a seat in the dining room every night for at least 45 minutes. The menu never changed if you stayed in the same dining room. It was only slightly different in the second dining room. It was an attempt to bore you so much that you would be forced to go to their restaurants for an additional fee. The quality of the food was not as good as Princess.

 

We were constantly harassed to spend extra money with frequent loudspeaker interruptions to advertise Bingo: "Ladies and Gentlemen, be excitied, be VERY EXCITED, because you know what time it is? It's BINGO time!" grr... and other activities that cost extra money, in contrast to the classy noon announcement from the bridge normally once a day on Princess.

 

I would say that the musical and theater entertainment was better on the Dawn than I've found on Princess, but not enough to lead us to ever set foot on another NCL ship.

[trojangirl90066]

DH and I cruised on NCL Star in a suite which was fantastic but the food is not great except in the pay restaurants. Plus, the constant announcements offering BINGO, jewelry sales, t-shirt sales, loud blaring music at the pool and in the common areas - it was just too much. We stayed on our balcony for most of the time because you could relax. The breakfast & lunch in Cagneys for suite passengers was really great but I have booked a Princess cruise for FEb. 2013 as I know it will be so much more relaxing.

[Layla]

She was on an Alaska cruise with her family and one night in the MDR, her brother ordered the roast turkey and got deli turkey (you know, the rolled stuff that doesn't look anything like turkey). That was enough for us. That was a long time ago and she may have just been unlucky, but it was enough for us to put NCL lower on the list of cruiselines to try.

 

I had this experience on an NCL cruise one year over Thanksgiving. The "turkey" dinner on Thanksgiving night was the rolled/pressed turkey - yuck!

[LA_FadeAway]

We were constantly harassed to spend extra money with frequent loudspeaker interruptions to advertise Bingo: "Ladies and Gentlemen, be excitied, be VERY EXCITED, because you know what time it is? It's BINGO time!" grr...

 

Oh goodness, I completely forgot about this when giving my comparison. Maybe I had repressed the memories, lol. That is a huge advantage for Princess. Those bingo and other announcements on NCL are super annoying! :eek:

[DeRon]

We just got back from our 1st NCL cruise...I wondered if we would like it or not. We've been on 12 cruises now, and so far our favorite line has been Princess. But guess what?? Not any more! NCL was FANTASTIC!!!!

 

Now, I will say that we had a Penthouse suite which came with Butler and Concierge...ha! But for the money, apples to apples...we thought the cruise was unbeatable and even better than our wonderful experiences on Princess!

[mr green]

We just got back from our 1st NCL cruise...I wondered if we would like it or not. We've been on 12 cruises now, and so far our favorite line has been Princess. But guess what?? Not any more! NCL was FANTASTIC!!!!

 

Now, I will say that we had a Penthouse suite which came with Butler and Concierge...ha! But for the money, apples to apples...we thought the cruise was unbeatable and even better than our wonderful experiences on Princess!

 

Just a thought. 'Did you ever try for a similar suite with Princess, with or without a butler?'

 

john

[Richie2pies]

Just a thought. 'Did you ever try for a similar suite with Princess, with or without a butler?'

 

 

john

 

 

Suites are much more expensive on Princess.

[Tucson Jim]

How wonderful! Princess really needs this on their ships. It's so frustrating getting stuck behind a family of 4 waddling alongside each other, totally clueless about what's going on around them...

 

I agree that they should probably walk two abreast, but you really should cut them some slack. They probably speak French and may mistakenly believe that Promenade means walk. Just politely explain to them that if they want to enjoy a leisurely stroll on deck, they should take themselves up to the jogging track on the sports deck where they belong.

 

Yes, that's right. One of my pet peeves is people who think the Promenade Deck is a race track and run everybody down shouting left, left, left (leaving you to guess which way that means you should duck) and then make nasty remarks if you don't get out of their way fast enough. I wonder why Princess spent all that extra money creating a jogging track, anyway?

 

promenade Noun, feminine (a) walk, stroll on foot, drive, ride, in the car, sail on a boat, ride on a bicycle; seafront promenade

 

courir Verb, intransitive (a) to run; to race;