Newbie

[camper49]

Have cruised 28 carnival times...princess two times. Time for a change. What do we need to know...is the beverage package a good deal? Speciality dining? Other hints?

[jerseygirl111]

Have cruised 28 carnival times...princess two times. Time for a change. What do we need to know...is the beverage package a good deal? Speciality dining? Other hints?

 

 

The majority of my cruises have been on NCL. I have never sailed on carnival so I can't compare. And I've only been on princess once. I'd say the most important thing is to keep an open mind. Try not to compare to your previous cruises or other cruise lines.

 

The beverage package as a promotion is great. All you have to pay is the 18% gratuity on the cost of the package. I would not pay for the package. If it included specialty coffee and bottled water I may consider purchasing but, in my opinion it's too expensive.

 

I'm sure others will be able to give you some comparisons of the cruise lines.

 

 

Maryanne

 

 

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[Farts]

you are a pro. really, can you help us, lol.

 

if you bought a drink package on CCL, then buy one for NCL. Food/shows on NCL is much better than CCL but not as good as celebrity/princess of course. CCL is more of a party atmosphere. NCL ships are much newer. tipping is automatic...which I don't like as the "help" has a very entitled personality.

 

Can I ask y you not going to CCL anymore?

[hawk/hornfan]

I have cruised on CCL 4 times,HAL,Princess, Celebrity, and RCI once. Honestly the food is all the same -upscale banquet food, except in specialty dining which I rarely do.

[SNJCruisers]

if you bought a drink package on CCL, then buy one for NCL. Food/shows on NCL is much better than CCL but not as good as celebrity/princess of course. CCL is more of a party atmosphere. NCL ships are much newer.

If you bought Cheers, enjoy the 99.54 for the 18% gratuity on the UBP on NCL as your perk. Entertainment on the newer NCL ships is much better than the stuff on Carnival. Howl at the Moon is better than Carnivals Piano Bar. Comedy at Headliners is better than on Carnival because you can make reservations versus having to wait in line. The included lunch time food options on Carnival such as Guys burgers, blue iguana cantina, and Mongolian Wok blow away the lunchtime options on NCL. The only exception being the for pay Food Republic. Both lines have new and old ships, but the newer ones on NCL are bigger than the newer ones on Carnival by 25%.

 

 

you are a pro. really, can you help us, lol.

 

if you bought a drink package on CCL, then buy one for NCL. Food/shows on NCL is much better than CCL but not as good as celebrity/princess of course. CCL is more of a party atmosphere. NCL ships are much newer. tipping is automatic...which I don't like as the "help" has a very entitled personality.

 

Can I ask y you not going to CCL anymore?

 

 

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[Farts]

I have cruised on CCL 4 times,HAL,Princess, Celebrity, and RCI once. Honestly the food is all the same -upscale banquet food, except in specialty dining which I rarely do.

 

That hasn't been my experience. NCL imo has more variety than CCL. But food preference is so subjective; so I'll admit there is such wide variability in opinion.

[garycarla]

Have cruised 28 carnival times...princess two times. Time for a change. What do we need to know...is the beverage package a good deal? Speciality dining? Other hints?

 

 

You are far from a newbie to cruising. Maybe new to NCL.

 

And around enough to know a descriptive subject/title helps so much.

 

 

But...

Beverage package a good deal? You have to run the numbers. And, depending on when/how you book, you might have to include the tip into your numbers. For many, it is a good deal. For some, it makes no sense.

 

Dining? Again, depends on the person. Some folks are totally happy with MDR, Buffet and few other free options. I know some people that do speciality every night.

 

You?

 

HINTS? My best hint for a newbie is scroll through at least two pages of posts. You will answers to things you never even thought of.

[SNJCruisers]

That hasn't been my experience. NCL imo has more variety than CCL. But food preference is so subjective; so I'll admit there is such wide variability in opinion.

NCL has more specialty restaurants than Carnival for dinner if that is what you're implying as more variety. Breakfast is breakfast with most lines, and Carnival blows NCL out of the water at lunch time. NCL has nothing like Blue Iguana Cantina, Guy's Burgers and Mongolian Wok, all included for free and some ships have the for fee Seafood Shack.

[camper49]

you are a pro. really, can you help us, lol.

 

if you bought a drink package on CCL, then buy one for NCL. Food/shows on NCL is much better than CCL but not as good as celebrity/princess of course. CCL is more of a party atmosphere. NCL ships are much newer. tipping is automatic...which I don't like as the "help" has a very entitled personality.

 

Can I ask y you not going to CCL anymore?

No complaints about carnival. We love carnival,just want to try something new/different. NCL's perks are better it seems.

[NH Cruisers]

Overall experience, I prefer NCL over CCL. I did enjoy my Carnival Dream cruise a lot though. As stated earlier, I tend to agree that the food on the different cruise lines in the MDR and Buffets are more similar than not. I could be blind folded and brought to a MDR and I may not realize what cruise line I was on, except till the waiters start singing and dancing like on CCL. The variety of Specialty restaurants is what brings me back to NCL, an the friendly service of the folks on the Dawn is very welcoming. I feel you really can't go wrong regarding what ever cruise line you sail. Perks, price and ports may be a deciding factor for you. My favorite destination is Bermuda, my favorite ship is NCL Dawn, I live 50 miles from port. Loyalty points for your past cruises account for something too.

[beerman2]

No complaints about carnival. We love carnival,just want to try something new/different. NCL's perks are better it seems.

6 Carnival, 1 RCI, last 2 on NCL.

The perks (SDP and UBP) to us were well worth it on NCL.

The waterfront on NCL's newer ships is a great place to have a drink and just relax.

 

Not a spa type person but we had spa balcony on our last cruise and the Escape Spa was excellent.

 

Carnival has steakhouse for special dining, NCL wins hands down.

 

Carnival has more "free" lunch options.

 

NCL "Howl at the Moon" piano entertainment is much better than CCL.

 

Go enjoy trying a new cruise line, pretty sure you'll enjoy your NCL cruise.

[Cyclops32]

One thing I have not seen anyone talk about in this thread is the Haven. DW and I went on CCL for our honeymoon. Had a great cabin and had fun, but I wanted to try a mega ship so went to NCL and decided it was for us even before our first cruise. Now that we have sailed on NCL it even made that feeling stronger. If you can afford a Haven cabin then it may totally blow away CCL. You have all of the advantages of a mega ship, but then you can also go into a private area of the ship that only a few hundred have access too.. The only lines we ever stood in was getting on the ship the first time, getting off the last time and both of those we were placed at the front of the rest of the ship and when we dropped our kids off at the kids club. All of those times it was still quick and the line kept moving

 

Another thing I like better the CCL is the free Style dining. You could as a 4 person family always get seated pretty quickly at all of the free dining options even without a reservation. When we went on CCL way back when it was always the assigned dining which we did not care for. I read up on how they have changed, but if you want a reserved time on CCL you need to pick one of the two times. On NCL you could reserve your time at different times on different days and more choices then just early or late.

[dublell]

Have cruised 28 carnival times...princess two times. Time for a change. What do we need to know...is the beverage package a good deal? Speciality dining? Other hints?

I'm not sure anyone has really answered your original question. If you have two drinks a day, the UBP is to your advantage.. Any more than two drinks a day, it's all gravy. If you drink, that's the perk for you. I might have a beer for lunch, a couple glasses of wine with dinner and a drink or two at a show or piano bar, so I find ti great. I know there are others that get a lot more from it than that. ;p

 

I think you'll also enjoy the variety in specialty restaurants--steakhouse, French, Italian, Brazilian. But the MDRs are very good too. I usually eat at one or two specialty restaurants on a cruise and the rest of my meals at MDR or O'Sheehans.

Enjoy your cruise.

[camper49]

I'm not sure anyone has really answered your original question. If you have two drinks a day, the UBP is to your advantage.. Any more than two drinks a day, it's all gravy. If you drink, that's the perk for you. I might have a beer for lunch, a couple glasses of wine with dinner and a drink or two at a show or piano bar, so I find ti great. I know there are others that get a lot more from it than that. ;p

 

I think you'll also enjoy the variety in specialty restaurants--steakhouse, French, Italian, Brazilian. But the MDRs are very good too. I usually eat at one or two specialty restaurants on a cruise and the rest of my meals at MDR or O'Sheehans.

Enjoy your cruise.

Is water,juice,soda etc. included in the UBP?

[ColeThornton]

Is water,juice,soda etc. included in the UBP?

 

 

From the NCL website:

 

https://www.ncl.com/terms/ultimate-beverage-package

[sid_9169]

I have cruised an equal amount of times on Carnival and NCL... As a solo traveler, Norwegian has been getting most of my business lately due to the solo cabins and included beverage package. My upcoming cruise on the Vista, in an inside cabin is going to cost vastly more than NCL once I add in the cost of their Cheers beverage package. Also, as mentioned, NCL has a much greater variety of dining options for an added fee, while Carnival has more free options when it comes to breakfast/lunch... I always have a great time on either line, and service is also about equally good on both.

[Bowman1]

We just booked the Epic for June 2018 - it is our second time on NCL (we are mainly RC/CCL cruisers).

 

How active are the NCL roll calls/social media pages?

 

Are there sponsored meet and greets similar to other lines?

 

Any pre-cruise actions we should be taking on the NCL website?

[uneamie]

You are far from a newbie to cruising. Maybe new to NCL.

 

And around enough to know a descriptive subject/title helps so much.

 

 

But...

Beverage package a good deal? You have to run the numbers. And, depending on when/how you book, you might have to include the tip into your numbers. For many, it is a good deal. For some, it makes no sense.

 

Dining? Again, depends on the person. Some folks are totally happy with MDR, Buffet and few other free options. I know some people that do speciality every night.

 

You?

 

HINTS? My best hint for a newbie is scroll through at least two pages of posts. You will answers to things you never even thought of.

I am pretty sure they meant "newbie" to NCL so no descriptive title was all that necessary IMO.

[SNJCruisers]

We just booked the Epic for June 2018 - it is our second time on NCL (we are mainly RC/CCL cruisers).

 

How active are the NCL roll calls/social media pages?

 

Are there sponsored meet and greets similar to other lines?

 

Any pre-cruise actions we should be taking on the NCL website?

 

Yes, there are sponsored roll calls that are attended by the cruise director as well as a handful of senior officers. It is usually set up for day two in the late morning.

Regarding pre-cruise actions, you can make reservations for the MDR, specialty restaurants and main entertainment shows 90 days prior to embarkation on the NCL website. Only a small percentage of the restaurant reservation slots are open at that time. If you don't get spots you like, you can make those reservations as soon as you board on embarkation day as well as any supplementary entertainment reservations such as comedy shows and free supper club shows.

 

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