NCL fan does Carnival!

[tomsuelaw]

Hello again fellow NCL cruisers, I have missed this board so thought I would post my thoughts after trying CCL.

 

After being NCL loyalists, We recently sailed the Carnival Fascination in Nov, and Carnival Dream in January. Overall, I enjoyed both cruises and found CCL to be very comparable to NCL in many ways. Both cruise lines have their fair share of pros, cons, and ties.

 

NCL pros:

 

Entertainment - NCL offers a better variety of shows while CCL does more of the lame production show thing with cheesy costumes and dancing. This is a big one for us.

 

Buffet - I am not a fan of buffet food on either line but the buffet set up on NCL is way better, much more effecient. CCL buffet lines are long and poorly designed.

 

More subdued ship decor and overall atmosphere - some may call it boring but I would call it more mature and classy.

 

Drinking Water - It may not seem like a big deal but the water on CCL does not taste good. NCL Pearl water tastes good....or like normal tap water.

 

MDR dinner efficiency: seems to me like NCL dinners are a little more effecient. On CCL the mdr holds to a more traditional 2 hour long dinner, even with Anytime Dining. I don't remember dinner taking that long on NCL. Perhaps because NCL has the whole freestyle design to move people thru dining venues faster....or maybe just coincidence of our experiences.

 

Personal Cruise Consultants: better pre cruise customer service on NCL.

 

 

CCL Pros

 

MDR Food - I like ccl's menu selection and food better. Seemed like ther was the same number of everyday items on each line but CCL also had more rotating items each night. I enjoyed almost everything I ate and find NCL food a little more hit or miss.

 

Staff and Service: CCL staff just seemed genuinely happy and more helpful. We love the staff on NCL but on our last 2 NCL cruises the staff seemed tired and over worked. The freestyle concept does not really lend itself to the staff knowing your name etc but on CCL, even with anytime dining, they always addressed us by name...remarkable. Again maybe just coincidence.

 

Pizza: way better on the Dream then on NCL. Fascination pizza was no better then NCL pizza not sure why it is not consistent amongst CCL ships.

 

Water park: it was awesome and they have these on more ccl ships then NCL has.

 

Stateroom size - CCL wins this, they are big rooms for staterooms.

 

Fleet and Itinerary Options:with the largest fleet in the industry, obviously CCL has more to offer if you want choices.

 

Price - for us, CCL usually prices cheaper for similar itinerary and ship quality.

 

Free Lemonade: it tastes delicious and it's included!

 

Bathrobes - they are standard!

 

 

TIE:

 

Both offer a laid back cruise experience.

 

Self serve soft serve - love it.

 

Bed comfort - comfy beds all around.

 

Room storage - love the creativity and use of space.

 

Overall experience - cruises are just fun :D

 

Freestyle and Anytime Dining - ok, props to NCL for inventing the freestyle concept but CCL has done a good job of following suit. And for those of you who prefer to cruise old school, CCL has traditional dining too.

 

 

 

I like both lines a lot. DH gives the edge to NCL for mdr food selection and entertainment. Me, I give slight edge to CCL for price and MDR food, but i did miss ncl entertainment. We both agree that next time it will come down to price and itinerary. Choices, choices....:D

[Alegeeter]

NCL has free lemonade and iced tea now!

 

Also, to each their own but I find the staff on NCL to be much more genuine and friendly when compared to the staff on Carnival. Not that I've ever had any problems with Carnival crew (both lines are worlds better than RCL), there is something about the NCL crew that makes me feel like I am at home on the ship whereas on Carnival I just feel like a well-treated guest.

[camz]

Does CCL offer an option similar to the Blue Lagoon?

[emcelh]

Hello again fellow NCL cruisers, I have missed this board so thought I would post my thoughts after trying CCL.

 

After being NCL loyalists, We recently sailed the Carnival Fascination in Nov, and Carnival Dream in January. Overall, I enjoyed both cruises and found CCL to be very comparable to NCL in many ways. Both cruise lines have their fair share of pros, cons, and ties.

 

NCL pros:

 

Entertainment - NCL offers a better variety of shows while CCL does more of the lame production show thing with cheesy costumes and dancing. This is a big one for us.

 

Buffet - I am not a fan of buffet food on either line but the buffet set up on NCL is way better, much more effecient. CCL buffet lines are long and poorly designed.

 

More subdued ship decor and overall atmosphere - some may call it boring but I would call it more mature and classy.

 

Drinking Water - It may not seem like a big deal but the water on CCL does not taste good. NCL Pearl water tastes good....or like normal tap water.

 

MDR dinner efficiency: seems to me like NCL dinners are a little more effecient. On CCL the mdr holds to a more traditional 2 hour long dinner, even with Anytime Dining. I don't remember dinner taking that long on NCL. Perhaps because NCL has the whole freestyle design to move people thru dining venues faster....or maybe just coincidence of our experiences.

 

Personal Cruise Consultants: better pre cruise customer service on NCL.

 

 

CCL Pros

 

MDR Food - I like ccl's menu selection and food better. Seemed like ther was the same number of everyday items on each line but CCL also had more rotating items each night. I enjoyed almost everything I ate and find NCL food a little more hit or miss.

 

Staff and Service: CCL staff just seemed genuinely happy and more helpful. We love the staff on NCL but on our last 2 NCL cruises the staff seemed tired and over worked. The freestyle concept does not really lend itself to the staff knowing your name etc but on CCL, even with anytime dining, they always addressed us by name...remarkable. Again maybe just coincidence.

 

Pizza: way better on the Dream then on NCL. Fascination pizza was no better then NCL pizza not sure why it is not consistent amongst CCL ships.

 

Water park: it was awesome and they have these on more ccl ships then NCL has.

 

Stateroom size - CCL wins this, they are big rooms for staterooms.

 

Fleet and Itinerary Options:with the largest fleet in the industry, obviously CCL has more to offer if you want choices.

 

Price - for us, CCL usually prices cheaper for similar itinerary and ship quality.

 

Free Lemonade: it tastes delicious and it's included!

 

Bathrobes - they are standard!

 

 

TIE:

 

Both offer a laid back cruise experience.

 

Self serve soft serve - love it.

 

Bed comfort - comfy beds all around.

 

Room storage - love the creativity and use of space.

 

Overall experience - cruises are just fun :D

 

Freestyle and Anytime Dining - ok, props to NCL for inventing the freestyle concept but CCL has done a good job of following suit. And for those of you who prefer to cruise old school, CCL has traditional dining too.

 

 

 

I like both lines a lot. DH gives the edge to NCL for mdr food selection and entertainment. Me, I give slight edge to CCL for price and MDR food, but i did miss ncl entertainment. We both agree that next time it will come down to price and itinerary. Choices, choices....:D

 

I have only 1 Carnival cruise for comparison but I agree with most of what you observed. Did you find much of a difference (except for the obvious considering the size and age of the 2 ships) between the Facination and the Dream? While I enjoyed our cruise on the Fascination, I didn't find the food any better in the MDR and I really missed the alternative dining options.

 

In addition to finding more free beverages on NCL, you'll also find the pizza much improved.

[sdmike]

NCL has free lemonade and iced tea now!

 

 

And other flavored waters that rotate in the dispensers

 

[jdvmd]

NCL has free lemonade and iced tea now!

 

Also, to each their own but I find the staff on NCL to be much more genuine and friendly when compared to the staff on Carnival. Not that I've ever had any problems with Carnival crew (both lines are worlds better than RCL), there is something about the NCL crew that makes me feel like I am at home on the ship whereas on Carnival I just feel like a well-treated guest.

 

Completely agree with this!

[tomsuelaw]

Does CCL offer an option similar to the Blue Lagoon?

 

No, they do not. I like the idea of blue lagoon but on the e pearl last time, service in blue lagoon was slow and food arrived cold every time. Again, I am sure it is circumstantial. I have had good blue lagoon food on previous cruise.

[readytogo2]

NCL has free lemonade and iced tea now!

 

Also, to each their own but I find the staff on NCL to be much more genuine and friendly when compared to the staff on Carnival. Not that I've ever had any problems with Carnival crew (both lines are worlds better than RCL), there is something about the NCL crew that makes me feel like I am at home on the ship whereas on Carnival I just feel like a well-treated guest.

 

So glad they offer lemonade. I have sailed on various cruise lines and have never come across a bad crew...maybe I'm lucky. I am so looking forward to my first NCL cruise.

[tomsuelaw]

NCL has free lemonade and iced tea now!

 

Also, to each their own but I find the staff on NCL to be much more genuine and friendly when compared to the staff on Carnival. Not that I've ever had any problems with Carnival crew (both lines are worlds better than RCL), there is something about the NCL crew that makes me feel like I am at home on the ship whereas on Carnival I just feel like a well-treated guest.

 

Awesome about the lemonade!!!

 

Just to be clear, I always like NCL staff...but we always try to get to know staff and connect with them. On that level staff are great and equally good but on our last NCL cruise the staff were over worked and they admitted it, but this varies from ship to ship I am sure on any cruise line.

[tomsuelaw]

I have only 1 Carnival cruise for comparison but I agree with most of what you observed. Did you find much of a difference (except for the obvious considering the size and age of the 2 ships) between the Facination and the Dream? While I enjoyed our cruise on the Fascination, I didn't find the food any better in the MDR and I really missed the alternative dining options.

 

In addition to finding more free beverages on NCL, you'll also find the pizza much improved.

 

I liked both ships, I like the feel and atmosphere of the fascination. The dream had better entertainment and a better water park. I would sail both class of ships again for sure.

 

So glad to hear about the pizza too :D

 

I didn't miss the alternative dining venues...not a fan of paying extra, although we have tried them and thought they were a fair value...just prefer to stick with what is included.

[SMSACE6]

Thanks for the comparisons between Carnival and NCL. After having done five Carnival cruises, Im looking forward to a change, and am going on the Epic later this year. I still like Carnival and will sail on them again some day, but for now I feel like I need a change. Im confident that I will love my cruise on the Epic, but sometimes it is reassuring to hear that things will be comparabale to what Im used to.:)

[tomsuelaw]

Thanks for the comparisons between Carnival and NCL. After having done five Carnival cruises, Im looking forward to a change, and am going on the Epic later this year. I still like Carnival and will sail on them again some day, but for now I feel like I need a change. Im confident that I will love my cruise on the Epic, but sometimes it is reassuring to hear that things will be comparabale to what Im used to.:)

 

That is exactly how I felt about leaving NCL this year for CCL, just needed a change. Glad I did, and will enjoy going back to NCL too.

 

Hope to go on both lines again. I think you will like NCL if you like CCL.

[04cruises]

Having done several lines in the last 4 years,I really think a lot of things are depending on the age and sze of the ships. However there was a definite difference in the crew attitudes.Not so good on our NCL last year. But a cruise is what you make of it.If one line was perfect there would only be one.

[buckirj1]

Does CCL offer an option similar to the Blue Lagoon?

 

Sort of. I'll use the Carnival Glory as an example because that's one of the ships I'm considering if Carnival's solo pricing once again approaches sanity.

 

The Glory has a fish and chips place, a burger place, a deli place, and an Asian place. I'm not sure if there's a place you can get wings. What I'm trying to say is that you can get most of the stuff offered by the Blue Lagoon, but not in one place. That doesn't bother me as a solo cruiser, but I can see the advantage of a family going for a snack without having to run all over the ship.

[gelo7]

Thanks for the report.