About to book First Time Cruise!! HELP!

[t247]

Hi Everyone!

I'm planning on booking a surprise cruise for my husband for his 40th. He usually plans all our holiday (I do the packing :-D) I would like to book to see Norweigen Fjords. If it was just us 2 I would fly us to Norway and book Hurtigen...but we will be taking our 7 and 8 year old children. I've read loads of posts and threads and have price compared on different sites...and I am at that anxious point of committing!! I was just about to book NCL with balcony but thought I'd search here once last time and discovered someone comparing NCL to the McDonalds of cruising!!! I have found a Princess (on Crown Princess) cruise offering a similar cruise at a significantly cheaper price. Which do I book?? I'd like to also be adding drink and possibly wifi options...are these worth it and when do you do these? At the time of booking or can I add later? So many questions!!! Thanks:)

[paul929207]

Since you are looking for opinions, you will get them some favoring Princess others NCL. Personally, we prefer Princess. We have taken 2 cruises on NCL and are about to leave for our 38th on Princess (on the Crown Princess). We just think the product is much better on Princess. If Princess is cheaper, grab it.

[Moondogy]

We cannot compare NCL to Princess as we have never done NCL. We do also Love Princess. As for internet, it looks like if you buy package in advance you get bonus minutes. Be advised internet is slower on ships then on land. We get some free minutes on Princess and I didn't even use them all cause I couldn't stand it....:eek: We have never done the all inclusive drinks because we don't drink enough booze to justify it for us, we do get the soda package though. Good luck on the first cruise...warning you may become addicted....and welcome to cruise critic. :D

[Floridiana]

If Princess is cheaper for a balcony cabin, take it! I like Princess better anyway. My first cruise was on NCL, put me off cruising for years, but that was an old ship with lots of drunken passengers out of New York City.

 

We never add drink and wifi packages. Drink packages are too expensive for the little alcohol and soda we drink and wifi is too slow on ships. Is there anybody with whom you absolutely have to stay in contact? There is probably wifi in the ports.

[preschool teacher]

I too like Princess better...NCL was our least favorite.....we still had fun though...I would for sure go on Princess if it cheaper....good luck!

[sochon75]

Princess all the way.

 

 

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[t247]

Thank for your replies...I'm so close to booking. The thing pulling me to NCL at the mo is that cruise stops at a couple of ports I've been reading about and there's an included drinks package...we do like to have a drink in the evening when on holiday...but are not massive drinkers (and travelling with our children!!) ..so is it worth it?

What's drawing me to Princess is your recommendations...it's coming out £500 cheaper AND I'll get £120 cash back via Quidco (so surely that cash back would more than cover drinks we might have on board!!)...just going to read up on tipping as when I was looking at celebrity cruises there was an option to pay up front for most tipping...I like the idea of this (but the cruise dates are no good to us). Thanks for all your helpful insights:D

[Cuizer2]

Hi Everyone!

I'm planning on booking a surprise cruise for my husband for his 40th. He usually plans all our holiday (I do the packing :-D) I would like to book to see Norweigen Fjords. If it was just us 2 I would fly us to Norway and book Hurtigen...but we will be taking our 7 and 8 year old children. I've read loads of posts and threads and have price compared on different sites...and I am at that anxious point of committing!! I was just about to book NCL with balcony but thought I'd search here once last time and discovered someone comparing NCL to the McDonalds of cruising!!! I have found a Princess (on Crown Princess) cruise offering a similar cruise at a significantly cheaper price. Which do I book?? I'd like to also be adding drink and possibly wifi options...are these worth it and when do you do these? At the time of booking or can I add later? So many questions!!! Thanks:)

 

Norwegian has more that will be of interest to your children than Princess does. I don't know how much is a significantly cheaper price. You'll have to compare the price savings to the potential boredom of your children. Yes both NCL and Princess have good children's programs and both have pools. But that is it for Princess. NCL will also have water slides and possibly other distractions for your children (you don't mention the name of the ship).

 

I have been on two NCL cruises and three Princess cruises. My next cruise is on NCL and the two after that are on Princess. I enjoy both, but they are very different because although Princess does a good job with children, Princess is not as family friendly as NCL. So NCL has more energy than Princess.

 

Princess has both a set dining time & place set up and a flexible dining time set up (which frankly does not work very smoothly because Princess allows people who have chosen the set time and place to join the Anytime dining, which basically means that those people are taking up two chairs and creating longer lines for the Anytime passengers).

 

NCL's dining is 100% flexible (Freestyle). Also, NCL has more optional extra cost restaurants than Princess has.

 

As to reviews, you will find people are more likely to post a review if they had a bad experience than if they have a good experience. Someone posted a review of the NCL Star about one week prior to my first NCL cruise on the Star, saying he would not cruise again on NCL if it was free. I enjoyed my cruise. People complain about Princess also.

 

If you want more information, here is a link to my last NCL cruise and my last Princess cruise. My NCL cruise is long because it was a 13 night cruise (the Crown Princes was only a four night cruise). Also, I had my NCL photographs on Webshots and Webshots changed owners and thus my link to those photographs no longer works. I set up new links, but they are limited to the first 50 photographs each. The Crown Princess cruise was earlier this year and I had a better camera. All the photographs are hosted on Photobucket and all the links should work.

 

NCL Jade - Panama Canal - Feb 2008 ...

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=728733

 

Crown Princess - Sandy Eggo and Ensenada - Feb 2016 ...

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2316257

[Sauer-kraut]

Check the sailing you are looking at, NCL is offering free gratuities (Daily Service Charge) so you have the potential to save $13.50 per person per day + the length of the cruise.

[jocap]

If you're sailing from the UK, then it will be NCL Jade? We've been on her twice, and enjoyed her as much as Princess.

Crown Princess is a very popular style of ship; extremely large with many facilities. There's quite a few copies of this ship under Carnival's umbrella, including two for P&O.

Check the prices of both, including gratuities- on some American ships children have to pay the same grats as adults; also check the automatic tipping on bar sales and whether you can buy a drinks package for the children as well as adults, for soft drinks/pop.

If, as quoted, NCL is offering gratuities, that's something to add to your list. ;)

If you're going in the summer holidays, then the pools might be useful, but much earlier in Norway it might be a little chilly, although they will be heated ( think northern Scotland!)

Enjoy planning! :cool:

[Pudgesmom]

I wouldn't count on using any outdoor swimming pools or slides on a fjords cruise on any cruise line. We were there in the warmest days of the summer this August. it was not close to warm enough to swim in the unheated water of a cruise ship pool.

[1980dory]

Since you are looking for opinions, you will get them some favoring Princess others NCL. Personally, we prefer Princess. We have taken 2 cruises on NCL and are about to leave for our 38th on Princess (on the Crown Princess). We just think the product is much better on Princess. If Princess is cheaper, grab it.

 

Another Paul for Princess! I think you're trying to compare a Mini Cooper to a Rolls Royce and the RR is being offered at a lower price!

I've been on both and Princess is much more refined. Better grab it quick before it goes away. However, if this is your first cruise, it will spoil you hereafter for anything less. That's the only drawback. :)

[Flatbush Flyer]

Hi Everyone!

 

I'm planning on booking a surprise cruise for my husband for his 40th. He usually plans all our holiday (I do the packing :-D) I would like to book to see Norweigen Fjords. If it was just us 2 I would fly us to Norway and book Hurtigen...but we will be taking our 7 and 8 year old children. I've read loads of posts and threads and have price compared on different sites...and I am at that anxious point of committing!! I was just about to book NCL with balcony but thought I'd search here once last time and discovered someone comparing NCL to the McDonalds of cruising!!! I have found a Princess (on Crown Princess) cruise offering a similar cruise at a significantly cheaper price. Which do I book?? I'd like to also be adding drink and possibly wifi options...are these worth it and when do you do these? At the time of booking or can I add later? So many questions!!! Thanks:)

 

 

Consider Oceania. At first, the cabin price may seem "expensive" relative to the mass market lines. But, when you look at the "net daily rate" for your vacation, you'll find that Oceania's included airfare, internet, beverages, specialty restaurants and choice of excursions or alcohol or OBC makes it a terrific value (and then there's the excellent food, service, cabin amenities, etc. depending on time of year and cruise length you'll also find other families onboard.

[Krozulo]

If you don't drink 6-8 beverages (alcoholic, coffee, pop, bottles of water) per day including port days, the Princess All Inclusive Beverage Package will probably not be worth it to you. There is a Drink Evaluator that you can download and it'll calculate if it's a good deal or not. You just enter what you would probably drink every day. It's post #205 http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2038576&page=11

 

The cost is $56.35 (USD) per person per day. I like to drink most days, but I just couldn't see how to make the AIBP work for me. So what I'll do instead is put $845 aside (or prepurchase on board credit) and not worry about what I order or how much. That's for a 15 day cruise. If I use up that money, well I put it aside. If not, I saved money.

[t247]

I can't believe how much there is to weigh up and consider! We usually do plan your own holidays...book a crossing or flight and make it up as we go along. As this is my first time planning a trip without OH's input I thought booking a cruise would eradicate decision making for me:o SOooooo wrong!!!:D

We've done one all inclusive hotel holiday before with the kids and to be honest we didn't make use of any of the shows or facilities...except for the pool!!! So I'm starting to think that if we go in colder weather (which is when I originally planned to go) we wouldn't be using the pool...so I've started thinking Hurtigruten voyage and excursions out is more suitable for the winter. I am busting to discuss it with my husband :eek: So thanks for the input on here as it's stopping me from spoiling the surprise!!! Thanks everyone...I'll let you know what I end up booking... when I finally commit!!!

[jocap]

Check flights for your nearest airport... my friend has been with Hurtigruten before from her nearest one, which meant no overnight stay and a short flight, but this time she was booking for four people quite late, and had to drive to Aberdeen the day before, and stay- the same for their return.

The line are building three new ships, and they did say that they might call into the UK with one- here's hoping!

We will only sail to Norway on a ship with an indoor pool, after a bleak experience on one built for the Caribbean, so that limits us, but we are considering Hurtigruten.