Anybody switch to Norwegian (or sail Norwegian now more frequently)?

[LAFFNVEGAS]

 

What I considered odd and very rude is to start out a post with "I'm not going to argue with you" when all I did was state my opinion and reasons for it! I replied back nothing to argue about because we are all entitled to our opinion (and we are)!

 

First I want to apologize that you took my comment badly, I think many of the regulars know I how I talk/type :D I said that because I did not mean to make this an argument which some how it still is :o My Questioning you in how long since you were on the Sun was that if it has been more than a Year it truly is not fair to make any judgement about a ship or cruise line. I have been on many cruises and cruise lines Once it has been past a year I have been on a ship my feeling is what happened is totally no longer valid at all. And actually 6 months should be my guideline :D But to state how terrible something was without stating it has been quite a few years is really not a fair comment to others. Trust me the Cruise Industry and ships and cruise lines do change. I can understand not wanting to return and that is your own judgement to make. I have the same feeling about RCI but I also deal with them on business and have other opinions. HAL on the other hand I have been on within the last year and I deal with on a daily basis. They are a wonderful cruise line to deal with probably one of the very best out there. But I will admit I have seen a huge decline on the ships in many areas over the past three years.

My comment about arguing is all about that if one states they do not like a cruise line because of a bad experience they should state how long ago this occurred. Because what happened several years ago does not hold any value with me. That is all I am saying.

NCL has made some DRASTIC changes in food, service and many amenities over the last few years making it in my mind a superior cruise line to my last few experiences on HAL. I can only hope that a few years from now the reverse can happened and we can say that HAL is superior and not at all like it was in 2014.

Edited August 30, 2014 by LAFFNVEGAS

[Copper10-8]

.................... however, due to our experience on the Sun we never booked NCL again. There's a reason for that! Some reasons I stated in my original post! We did not like NCL and did not have a good experience with them! If we did, we would have sailed them again after the Sun!

 

.................................

 

Ain't nothing wrong with that; we had the same experience and conclusion on two Carnival cruises!

 

Btw, excellent post Ma'am! Bravo Zulu :)

[Murray's Pop]

Ain't nothing wrong with that; we had the same experience and conclusion on two Carnival cruises!

 

Btw, excellent post Ma'am! Bravo Zulu :)

 

We drew the same conclusion on Carnival a number of years ago. Have not been back, and don't plan to in the future.

[SteveH2508]

Just a general observation here...

 

Judging a cruise line on the basis of one cruise 9 years ago is probably not good for your breadth of choice. Times change; cruise lines change (for better or for worse).

 

Writing off a whole line due to one bad experience and not considering them at all is just reducing your options.

 

We had a not brilliant experience on a cruise last year, they are now low-down on our list of lines to choose BUT we appreciate that it may have been an atypical experience. We monitor reviews and the CC board to see whether things are improving (or not).

 

Cruise lines vary from ship to ship; sailing to sailing; day to day.

 

If you read reviews carefully, you will find wildly differing reviews of the same sailing. Recent reviews are probably your best source on information. They need treating with caution - discard the 'everything was horrible' and 'everything was brilliant' reviews. Look for the reason why something was not good and ask yourself whether that is important to you. For example: I could not care less about chair hogs as I do not sun bathe around the pool. If a review said that you could not get a drink without a long wait that would be a serious issue to me.

 

It is perfectly understandable to rely on your own previous experience in making a consumer choice - BUT - telling all and sundry that XYZ line/hotel/restaurant is rubbish based on a 9 year old one-off experience is misleading and laying oneself open to attacks from the cheerleaders.

[iancal]

What I notice about the 'cheerleaders', HAL and others, is that if they have a less than satisfactory experience on another cruise line they are very quick to judge that entire line by that experience.

 

Yet if they, or a fellow cheerleader, has a less than satisfactory experience on their respective cruise line of choice they are very quick to dismiss it quietly as a 'one off'. And they are often very quick to explain away other people's experience as outright lies or exaggerations -even if they were not on the same ship at the same time.

 

We have never truly understood this type of loyalty to what is essentially a foreign corporate entity owned by another large foreign conglomerate. Do they feel the same loyalty to their brand of breakfast cereal?

[POA1]

We have never truly understood this type of loyalty to what is essentially a foreign corporate entity owned by another large foreign conglomerate. Do they feel the same loyalty to their brand of breakfast cereal?

 

I know that Miami can seem like a foreign place, and that Seattle is pretty close to Canada, but you're off base on the foreign-foreign thing.

 

I don't eat breakfast cereal, but I am partial to Benton's bacon. :D

[Cruiser Bruiser]

My first cruise ever was on Westerdam, albeit a charter. I loved the ship and the service. Subsequently, I've sailed on Nieuw Amsterdam (another charter, another great time) and I'm booked on Maasdam in June. Otherwise, I've mostly sailed on Norwegian, and I've had a lovely time. Part of me doesn't want anyone else to know what a wonderful job NCL has been doing over the past five years, because I don't want prices to go up. I'm glad other folks have noticed the similarities between Vista class and Jewel class ships. If only Norwegian ships had covered pools... But the biggest advantage Norwegian has is price. I will pay almost as much for 7 nights on Maasdam in Canada as I did for 12 nights on Spirit sailing from Venice to Barcelona. Same cabin type. Who can afford to pay so much more? I'd rather cruise more.

 

Sent from my HTC One using Forums mobile app

[Copper10-8]

I know that Miami can seem like a foreign place, and that Seattle is pretty close to Canada, but you're off base on the foreign-foreign thing.

 

I don't eat breakfast cereal, but I am partial to Benton's bacon. :D

 

Ever try Count Chocula?

[POA1]

Ever try Count Chocula?

I have. It's got all the chocolate goodness of Cocoa Puffs + marshmallows (which, as we all know, is where the vitamins are.)

[Murray's Pop]

I have. It's got all the chocolate goodness of Cocoa Puffs + marshmallows (which, as we all know, is where the vitamins are.)

 

I'm more into Frankenberry.

[puli]

There are several of us here (probably more than a handful) that were fiercely loyal to HAL that now feel the same way about NCL. I would say those of you that like the vista class would probably like the jewel class IF you keep an open mind. DW and I can't for the life of us figure out why NCL was getting such complaints about dining room food. We think it is great. Plus, they treat suite guests as a pampered lap dog being pet for hours ;)

 

Many people here on the HAL forum talk Norwegian down because of things they have heard, or because Norwegian is a "mass market" line and HAL is holier than thou premium. I will straight up say that I have caught myself comparing Norwegian in the premium bracket more than once. Sure they have rock walls and ropes courses, but in the end it is the SERVICE that counts, and the ability of staff to assist. NCL is becoming the new premium IMHO. I'd rather pay for a good show and enjoy it than sit through a free hatchet job.

 

DW and I are Sailing NCL exclusively now, but still pop in here because I have lots of good memories on HAL.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

 

Ditto for us as well!

 

We are 4 star mariners who have also experienced many different lines in our 30 years of cruising. Our least favorite had been NCL following a cruise on the Norway in 1986.

 

However, we recently so thoroughly enjoyed a Panama Canal cruise on NCL's Pearl ( booked in order to sail with friends) that we have booked 3 more cruises with them..

 

Granted we were and will be in a suite ( and that is certainly a positive experience on any ship including most of our HAL cruises) but we also found the food in both the MDR and in specialty restaurants and the service to be better than what we experienced on our last 3 HAL cruises ( in 2012 and 2103) .

 

In addition, for us, NCL use of the various lounges is a pleasure.....imagine multiple locations to hear string quartets or different types of piano music or trios ... never mind their stage entertainment and dare I mention "no smoking on balconies".

 

So, almost sadly, since we have cruised with HAL since the early 90's, we have decided to sail with NCL for the near future..... still hoping that HAL will wake up and realize that much improvement is needed in order to at least keep up with the other cruise lines never mind regain her place as a leader .

[DeeniEncinitas]

Look at 2016, there will be no Hal ship home ported in SD and there will be less ships stopping in SD for repositioning. There will only be a couple of Hawaii/Tahit cruises, one in the spring . No Hawaii except one from Vancouver. Certainly Alaska and Panama will still be, but not so much with the others.

 

Hi Melodie,

 

I got on the phone with Mariners, ship services, also with corporate administration today and as I figured their 2016 itineraries are not complete, and San Diego is a major HOME PORT. Mexico will still be home and by the end of 2015 you will see more cruise to Mexico, down through Panama, Inca Cruise etc. Thankyou for your insite and I respect your comments. Hope they are not blowing smoke up my you know!:)

Happy Sailing! Enjoy Labor Day!

 

3 STAR MARINER becoming 4 on next cruise

Sailing Nieuw Amsterdam B2B western/eastern Caribbean Cruise 3/15/2015

[iancal]

I still do not understand this business about being 'fiercely loyal' to a cruise line-any cruise line. What is the point?

 

We select on the basis of what ship/cruise line meets our requirements on a particular itinerary or time. It is one thing to have a favourite cruise line, entirely another to be so loyal that one would never consider an alternative option. If only for a change of pace.

Edited August 31, 2014 by iancal

[HamOp]

We have never truly understood this type of loyalty to what is essentially a foreign corporate entity owned by another large foreign conglomerate. Do they feel the same loyalty to their brand of breakfast cereal?

 

Have you followed the Apple vs. Samsung wars? The debates on those phone boards make HAL (or any line) cheerleaders look like kids play.:eek:

 

Talk about brand loyalty.....Wow!!!

[toyotaford]

I think someone mentioned the brightly painted NCL ships. This was the thing that turned me off about NCL originally. But after trying our first cruise with them we were hooked. 95% of all our cruises are now on NCL. We have cruised HAL, CCL, RCCL & PCL in the past.

[SeagoingMom]

iancal: I am having trouble getting the "quote" function to work, so I am doing a little cutting and pasting:

 

You stated, "I still do not understand this business about being 'fiercely loyal' to a cruise line-any cruise line. What is the point?"

 

This is a question I have also pondered. But I think you answered your own question pretty well when you said, "I think that there are people on certain cruise lines who like to brag and impress people that they are going on what they think is a high end cruise line."

 

In general, I have concluded that folks "cheer lead" for a couple of reasons: 1. They want others to think of their preferred line as being a good one, even the best one, because if others think it is inferior, it means that the cheerleaders themselves must be inferior people to have chosen it, and 2. they are perhaps afraid that if folks diss their favorite line, that line will lose business and either change to something they don't like or disappear entirely. I think this is the fear that was expressed on this thread when someone accused the OP of "recruiting" for another line.

 

In simpler terms, though, really all the wrangling may have to do with the need humans generally have to be "right," which means that anyone who holds a contrary opinion is naturally "wrong," and should be made to see what is right. And I think the fact that CC members generally love cruising so much causes many, and cheerleaders in particular, to respond to negative comments in a way similar to how one might respond to unflattering comments about a family member --they are that emotionally invested in their favorite ships and lines.

 

JMO

[3rdGenCunarder]

iancal: I am having trouble getting the "quote" function to work, so I am doing a little cutting and pasting:

 

You stated, "I still do not understand this business about being 'fiercely loyal' to a cruise line-any cruise line. What is the point?"

 

This is a question I have also pondered. But I think you answered your own question pretty well when you said, "I think that there are people on certain cruise lines who like to brag and impress people that they are going on what they think is a high end cruise line."

 

In general, I have concluded that folks "cheer lead" for a couple of reasons: 1. They want others to think of their preferred line as being a good one, even the best one, because if others think it is inferior, it means that the cheerleaders themselves must be inferior people to have chosen it, and 2. they are perhaps afraid that if folks diss their favorite line, that line will lose business and either change to something they don't like or disappear entirely. I think this is the fear that was expressed on this thread when someone accused the OP of "recruiting" for another line.

 

In simpler terms, though, really all the wrangling may have to do with the need humans generally have to be "right," which means that anyone who holds a contrary opinion is naturally "wrong," and should be made to see what is right. And I think the fact that CC members generally love cruising so much causes many, and cheerleaders in particular, to respond to negative comments in a way similar to how one might respond to unflattering comments about a family member --they are that emotionally invested in their favorite ships and lines.

 

JMO

 

I don't see brand loyalty as being a way to feel better than other people. I see it as a way to be sure of what you're getting.

 

If you know that a certain brand will give you exactly what you want, why risk disappointment elsewhere? Cunard is my favorite brand. It doesn't take a lot of research to see that there's no other line like them. I have tried other lines, and often been disappointed. The most recent experiment was Princess. I liked the ship and had a good first impression of the line. But customer service was appalling and the open deck areas had music blaring all day. Afternoon tea was a shambles. I went running back to Cunard.

 

HAL is my second-favorite line. Not as formal as Cunard, but OK, I know that going in. Nothing like Cunard's lecture series, but nobody has anything like that. HAL is less expensive than Cunard and the itineraries are great.

 

So at this point, I'm happy to have two cruise lines that I know will give me an acceptable voyage. I know what I like and I'm sticking with it.

 

I don't feel superior to anyone because of my lines of choice. I know a lot of people don't like the formality of Cunard. I don't like the informality of NCL. Doesn't make me better, just different. That's the beauty of a varied market. Something for everyone. And when I find my "something" I tend to stick with it.

 

As for being emotionally invested in a ship, I'm certainly guilty of that. QE2 was the love of my traveling life. Yeah, I know people say she was old, out of date, had none of the glitz that newer cruisers want. But she was home. I cried watching her sail out of NYC for the last time. I nearly punched Norway's ship historian when he said QE2 had an ugly superstructure! He loved Norway just as I loved QE2, and we had some interesting conversations about "our" ships.

 

Those two were "one of a kind" ships. Now, more than 10 years after I almost decked NCL's Derek, there are so many ships out there that cruisers are unlikely to cruise on the same one more than once. And so many are the same as their sisters--think of all the Vistas out there. The cruise nuts on CC (and I mean that affectionately, um... kindly and gently) pay more attention to that than the average cruiser. People have told me they're taking a cruise and when I ask what ship or what line they shrug and say "I don't know. To the Caribbean." With the wide array of similar ships and experiences, I wonder if younger passengers will develop the kind of brand loyalty someone old like me has.

[rafinmd]

Kathy, you really sound like someone who should try Crystal. I'm not sur how often you travel solo, but if you do the price might not be as bad as you might think.

 

Roy

[jimmy2x]

"I don't see brand loyalty as being a way to feel better than other people. I see it as a way to be sure of what you're getting.

 

If you know that a certain brand will give you exactly what you want, why risk disappointment elsewhere?"

 

Exactly. Compared to the general population we have cruised a bunch of times and I am often asked for recommendations. It is something I avoid doing, as what meets some folks desires has little or nothing to do with what makes US happy.

Edited September 2, 2014 by jimmy2x

[3rdGenCunarder]

Kathy, you really sound like someone who should try Crystal. I'm not sur how often you travel solo, but if you do the price might not be as bad as you might think.

 

Roy

 

I've had that recommendation before, and one of these days might try them.

 

I don't travel solo. I guess I say "I" rather than "we" in posts because I do the travel booking. DH likes to cruise, but doesn't love it the way I do. Bless him, he indulges my love of the sea!

[SeagoingMom]

I don't see brand loyalty as being a way to feel better than other people. I see it as a way to be sure of what you're getting.

 

If you know that a certain brand will give you exactly what you want, why risk disappointment elsewhere? Cunard is my favorite brand. It doesn't take a lot of research to see that there's no other line like them. I have tried other lines, and often been disappointed. The most recent experiment was Princess. I liked the ship and had a good first impression of the line. But customer service was appalling and the open deck areas had music blaring all day. Afternoon tea was a shambles. I went running back to Cunard.

 

HAL is my second-favorite line. Not as formal as Cunard, but OK, I know that going in. Nothing like Cunard's lecture series, but nobody has anything like that. HAL is less expensive than Cunard and the itineraries are great.

 

So at this point, I'm happy to have two cruise lines that I know will give me an acceptable voyage. I know what I like and I'm sticking with it.

 

I don't feel superior to anyone because of my lines of choice. I know a lot of people don't like the formality of Cunard. I don't like the informality of NCL. Doesn't make me better, just different. That's the beauty of a varied market. Something for everyone. And when I find my "something" I tend to stick with it.

 

As for being emotionally invested in a ship, I'm certainly guilty of that. QE2 was the love of my traveling life. Yeah, I know people say she was old, out of date, had none of the glitz that newer cruisers want. But she was home. I cried watching her sail out of NYC for the last time. I nearly punched Norway's ship historian when he said QE2 had an ugly superstructure! He loved Norway just as I loved QE2, and we had some interesting conversations about "our" ships.

 

Those two were "one of a kind" ships. Now, more than 10 years after I almost decked NCL's Derek, there are so many ships out there that cruisers are unlikely to cruise on the same one more than once. And so many are the same as their sisters--think of all the Vistas out there. The cruise nuts on CC (and I mean that affectionately, um... kindly and gently) pay more attention to that than the average cruiser. People have told me they're taking a cruise and when I ask what ship or what line they shrug and say "I don't know. To the Caribbean." With the wide array of similar ships and experiences, I wonder if younger passengers will develop the kind of brand loyalty someone old like me has.

I think you have misunderstood my use of the terms "cheer lead" and "cheerleaders". I am certainly not suggesting that brand loyalty is the issue in this discussion. It is the fanatical "my cruise line is the only good cruise line and you had better not say one word against it or I will attack" mentality that I am referring to. Certainly not all folks who have found a brand they like and stick with it have this attitude. Most are enthusiastic and reasonable, not fanatical and argumentative. "Cheerleaders" are those who get defensive (and then often, very offensive) whenever they hear any small criticism of their favorite line. They are those who resort to insults and personal attacks whenever their favorite line is critiqued in anything but glowing terms. "Brand loyalists" become "cheerleaders" when they feel threatened by others' less-than-positive views.