Norwegian compared to RCI

[smokeesdad]

I agree with you ... lyndamr has bashed NCL on many threads ... she's so pro RCI ... she needs to stay on RCI which she says she going back to ... so many remarks she's made have made some people question their plans for upcoming cruises booked on Breakaway ... we truly loved the Breakaway ... but then again we didn't go on it looking for problems ... we went to enjoy it!

 

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[mianmike]

I agree with you ... lyndamr has bashed NCL on many threads ... she's so pro RCI ... she needs to stay on RCI which she says she going back to ... so many remarks she's made have made some people question their plans for upcoming cruises booked on Breakaway ... we truly loved the Breakaway ... but then again we didn't go on it looking for problems ... we went to enjoy it!

 

We love NCL, the ships, the freestyle, and especially the crew.

 

We have never cruised on other cruise lines and thus have nothing to compare with NCL.

 

I was on the same Breakaway cruise as Lyndamr and after reading her comments it seems we must have been on a different cruise. We had a great cruise. We loved the crew and the shows. We had a blast at Howling at the Moon especially when some of the cast from Rock of Ages sat in with the musicians.

 

Yes there were some minor hiccups, but nothing that would tarnish the overall cruise. One of the hiccups was entirely my fault, which Julie the cruise director promptly fixed for us. While casually talking about unrelated subjects, I mentioned a bone headed mistake I made and Julie picked up her phone, made a call and undid my screw-up. Nice!

 

We are loyal customers of NCL; I just want to see what the other cruise lines have to offer.

[cynbar]

We regularly sail NCL but also Princess and Celebrity (as well as Wind Star this past April), and choose each cruise based on itinerary first, followed by price and cabin availability. In our opinion, all of those lines have pros and cons --- we have never yet found a perfect cruise line. Plus, it's nice to get some variety in menus, entertainment, ambiance, decor and so on. We really try to go into it focusing on the positives of each ship, and not complaining about the rest, especially if it's something we knew about going in such as the dress code. All of the lines above offer a good cruise experience. I hope you enjoy your RCI cruise as a change of pace, even if you decide NCL is still your favorite.

[Jolimont]

Only one cruise with RCI and one with NCL. I'd prefer NCL in the future if the itinerary and price suits me, but both lines are more similar than different in many ways. You can have a great time on either, no problem!

[beachmonkey]

NewMexicoNita- I been cruising at a young age too...but surveys only been giving for the past years (can't recall how far back they started). It usually was the form that was always placed in your cabin, and forms at guest services with a box to place them in, and when you disembark you will also see another box to place your survey/questionnaire/comment cards in. Then cruise lines started to do online comment/questionnaires such as Carnival and RC. The past few years we always received them on Carnival and RC always. This is the first time in years cruising that I haven't gotten one on the ship or online but then again its been few years since my last NCL cruise so perhaps it was never given out. How are the cruise lines going to keep up with their product and services if they don't hear our comments from the passengers? This only shows me that NCL really only cares about the bottom line.:confused:

 

We sailed the Breakaway and they had comment cards (Hero Cards) in the room and general comment cards at the front desk (with the box to put them in). I know that my $0.02 may not carry a great deal of weight, but we made a point of putting in comment cards 2-3 times while on the ship (in addition to the Hero Cards submitted). In past cruises, we have even gotten a response before leaving the ship.

 

Some of your previous comments and "review" of the Breakaway talked about how you received poor service at the reception desk. Seems to me that woul have been a good time to complete a comment card.

 

Based upon your previous posts, I could have written your Breakaway review even before you boarded the ship. I don't think anyone was surprised by your comments upon return.

[newmexicoNita]

We have cruised RC twice, Carnival once, and will soon be on our third NCL cruise. This is just an opinion of course of our pro's and con's.

 

NCL pro's: Freestyle cruising, decor of the ship, buffet choices, entertainment, lively/sporty crowd, Bingo announcements (many)

 

NCL con's: desserts in the MDR, staff not always overly friendly or attentive,

 

RC pro's: personal attention and very friendly/mannerly staff, food choices in the MDR

 

RC con's: decor of ship, dinner seating/times, older/quiet crowd (not a terrible thing of course!)

 

Good objective posting. Thanks and I would agree about the dining room staff. if there is a true downer on NCL it is the inconsistency of the wait staff, but we found it much worse on Princess. There is was awful. Our last 12 day cruise we didn't have a single wait person i would have wanted to have again. Oh, I take that back, we did one night. I didn't even like the wait people in one of the two specialty dining rooms on Princess. We have always been happy with NCLs specialty dining rooms. Of course food is very subjective as we know, but I actually give the food quality to NCL, maybe not choices, but quality. Of course you didn't say quality, you did say choices.

[newmexicoNita]

We sailed the Breakaway and they had comment cards (Hero Cards) in the room and general comment cards at the front desk (with the box to put them in). I know that my $0.02 may not carry a great deal of weight, but we made a point of putting in comment cards 2-3 times while on the ship (in addition to the Hero Cards submitted). In past cruises, we have even gotten a response before leaving the ship.

 

Some of your previous comments and "review" of the Breakaway talked about how you received poor service at the reception desk. Seems to me that woul have been a good time to complete a comment card.

 

Based upon your previous posts, I could have written your Breakaway review even before you boarded the ship. I don't think anyone was surprised by your comments upon return.

 

I had forgotten about the Hero Cards, though they may not be quite the same as surveys they do serve a purpose. Some people do go expecting problems, they are so loyal to one product they have to find fault with all others, and they will only be happy bashing the competition. ,

[AlbertaCruisers]

Its funny, the pros for one person are not the same for another. Everyone is different. I actually do not like free style dining at all unless you are in a suite (i.e. concierge to make sure you have a table waiting so you don't have to wait in line!). Our first NCL cruise we were in a regular room, and nearly every night we went to dinner (which was usually 7:30 or later as we are used to late seating in traditional dining) we had to wait in line to eat. I don't consider that freestyle, we decided when we wanted to eat then waited in line, not my idea of cruising or vacation. I don't even like waiting in line to eat at home, we usually go elsewhere if there is a line. I really love traditional dinning, you don't have to "plan" you know when you eat, you go there at that time, walk in and sit and you talk to your servers who get to know you and your preferences etc. (such as having a glass of milk waiting for my husband each night). I also don't find the food or service as good on NCL as Royal. We only go on NCL now when we are meeting up with good friends (that we met on a previous cruise) and it has to be a suite!! :D

 

We don't book suites on any other lines - NCL suites are amazing. We had a suite on Carnival and the amenities are non-existent.

 

No cruise is a bad cruise, it is just better if you know what to expect going in. We now know what NCL is like and know what to expect before hand. Our first NCL cruise we went expecting it to be more like our previous cruises, and because of that expectation we were very disappointment. We tried NCL the second time because of a very great deal on a repo (we a really cheap upgrade to a DOS at the last minute) and then we met great friends so we are going back for #3!

 

We don't have kids though, I think "Freestyle" and the NCL cruise in general would be great with kids, much more laid back.

[realtorlady42]

NCL Sun, Jewel, Dawn. All terrific.

 

Big difference between Epic/Breakaway and the rest of the fleet.

 

glad to see this comment. We sailed NCL first time last Feb on Epic. I had planned to do western Carrib but everyone was raving about Epic so much we changed to it. I was not thrilled with the ship..or the ports. Would not sail on her again (2nd cruise, first was on Princess) or do an Eastern Carrib again. However I liked the idea of NCL enough, freestyle cruising, lots of dining choices etc that we booked on the Jewel for Jan 2014 out of New Orleans. The itinerary I was wanting to do last year. I suspect I will enjoy this ship and itinerary a lot more than on the Epic.

NCL is very different than Princess, which is comporable to RCL. It is 2 very different cruising expereinces, and we like both lines, for different reasons. If you are wanting to save a bit of money so you can go on more holidays...go with NCL, but choose one of the Jewel class ships, they rarely have bad reviews.

[newmexicoNita]

glad to see this comment. We sailed NCL first time last Feb on Epic. I had planned to do western Carrib but everyone was raving about Epic so much we changed to it. I was not thrilled with the ship..or the ports. Would not sail on her again (2nd cruise, first was on Princess) or do an Eastern Carrib again. However I liked the idea of NCL enough, freestyle cruising, lots of dining choices etc that we booked on the Jewel for Jan 2014 out of New Orleans. The itinerary I was wanting to do last year. I suspect I will enjoy this ship and itinerary a lot more than on the Epic.

NCL is very different than Princess, which is comporable to RCL. It is 2 very different cruising expereinces, and we like both lines, for different reasons. If you are wanting to save a bit of money so you can go on more holidays...go with NCL, but choose one of the Jewel class ships, they rarely have bad reviews.

 

again, subjectivity enters the picture: depending on the ship class, I do not think Princess and RCI are anything alike. I think RCI and NCL are more alike. Even the demographic are closer on RCI and NCL. But again, everything is subjective. I have found people on RCI and NCL much more down to earth than on Princess and I don't even like Princess food as well, not the MDRs nor the specialty ones and certainly not the buffets. The only plus I would give to Princess would be the choice of entertainment. There is more going on, day and night.

[DMH15]

glad to see this comment. We sailed NCL first time last Feb on Epic. I had planned to do western Carrib but everyone was raving about Epic so much we changed to it. I was not thrilled with the ship..or the ports. Would not sail on her again (2nd cruise, first was on Princess) or do an Eastern Carrib again. However I liked the idea of NCL enough, freestyle cruising, lots of dining choices etc that we booked on the Jewel for Jan 2014 out of New Orleans. The itinerary I was wanting to do last year. I suspect I will enjoy this ship and itinerary a lot more than on the Epic.

NCL is very different than Princess, which is comporable to RCL. It is 2 very different cruising expereinces, and we like both lines, for different reasons. If you are wanting to save a bit of money so you can go on more holidays...go with NCL, but choose one of the Jewel class ships, they rarely have bad reviews.

 

I am thrilled the Jewel is coming to Texas. Looking at 2015. My niece wants a "graduation cruise" like her brother got.

[debache]

I have only been on 1 Ncl cruise and doing my second next month. I have to be honest, I do not read reviews, I experience the ship for myself. I could only compare the Sky to the Majesty and to tell you the truth they were very similar and I had a great time on both. (i can tons of perks being on RCI, so I booked the owner's suite on NCL). I just don't get why people put down other lines, especially the people who go on 1 cruise with a line and think they know everything about that line, silly really. With all the different class of ships within a cruise line, comparing the Breakaway with the Majesty of the Seas or the Oasis with the Sky is just plain silly. Even within NCL and RCCL there are people who hate one class over the other class....

[36kruzes]

Re NCL -- I say go for it. Give it a try. I've sailed on 36+ cruises now and am going back to NCL after a three year break from cruising at all. Most recent cruises were all on RCI but frankly, I got very sick of their routine -- nothing wrong with it but it just got a little boring. I knew what they were going to say or do before they did it.

 

What I always loved about NCL was the Norwegian officers -- that may have changed now but I am of Norwegian heritage and got a kick out of those Norwegians.

 

I was on old beat-up tubs and fancy new ships from many cruise lines and sometimes I had the most fun on the old tubs.

 

My favorite all-time cruise was on an ancient thing called the Carla C. -- A Costa ship -- 1988. The hallways smelled and there were NO amenities but what a great dining room and ambiance! Loved the sounds of the creaking ship, the fun-loving passengers and crew, and the wonderful ports of call.

 

A highlight was an overnight from San Juan through a major thunderstorm and wild seas down to the port for Caracas, Venezuela. Wow. If I could replicate that cruise, I would.

 

These days I think most ships/cruise lines are pretty homogenous so I am going to try NCL again after years of sailing only on RCI. RCI is very nice, yes, but there's just something I loved about NCL. What I did NOT like was Princess -- just not my style. I think if you enjoyed Costa you will be absolutely fine with NCL.