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Thinking about trying something different...


kona_wahine
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I am not the kind of person who really likes change. We want to do Alaska cruise in 2020 and I've been looking at NCL. (Carnival hasn't listed Alaska yet) ncl has a special right now where you can get the drinks for free and $50 a day towards excursions. Looking at carnivals 2019 rates for a balcony room is pretty comparable even with the extras . Not sure why I want to stick with carnival for this cruise other than getting closer to platinum, and I'm curious where people will say on this board. all of our cruises have been on Carnival, and we live close enough to Seattle so will actually be able to drive, which will make it nice. I guess I'm really not sure what I'm asking other than any input someone might have. ( or to be convinced to just book with NCL)

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I am not the kind of person who really likes change. We want to do Alaska cruise in 2020 and I've been looking at NCL. (Carnival hasn't listed Alaska yet) ncl has a special right now where you can get the drinks for free and $50 a day towards excursions. Looking at carnivals 2019 rates for a balcony room is pretty comparable even with the extras . Not sure why I want to stick with carnival for this cruise other than getting closer to platinum, and I'm curious where people will say on this board. all of our cruises have been on Carnival, and we live close enough to Seattle so will actually be able to drive, which will make it nice. I guess I'm really not sure what I'm asking other than any input someone might have. ( or to be convinced to just book with NCL)

 

 

 

I pick my cruises by,

#1 date/itinerary (is it sailing around my Bday or Anniversary etc, is it going to someplace new and different)

 

#2 Price (best bang for my buck, any perks included?)

 

BTW NCL “free” drinks is not really free you still have to pay gratuities on the package and it does not included bottle water or specialty coffee. However unlike Carnival there’s not a per day maximum drink limit.

 

I like cruising different lines instead of sticking with one. Change of shows, atmosphere, ships, food etc. they all have there strengths and weaknesses.

 

Best thing you can do is book NCL since there deposit are only $50pp for inside to mini-suite. Lock in the price and perks. Wait till the other cruise lines post there itinerary and make your decision then since NCL deposit is refundable.

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You asked for different opinions so I will tell you ours. Many will disagree with me as they have in the past. We had sailed on Carnival four times and had fun on every one. We wanted to see Aruba and at the time, Carnival wasn't going there so we went with Royal Caribbean out of San Juan. We did not enjoy that cruise nearly as much as the ones previously on Carnival.

 

The fellow cruisers all seemed like they walked around with their noses in the air. You'd meet someone in the elevators and speak to them and they'd ignore you. Our cabin steward acted like he was doing you a favor by cleaning your cabin.

 

The smoking area was right by the entrance to the buffet. Non smokers would make a big deal out of it by waving their hands in front of their faces and make snide remarks. (It's not the smokers fault that RCI put them there.)

 

I have posted this before and was told that we should try it again because not all cruises are the same. If I touch something that's hot, I'm not going to touch it again to see if it's cooled off. RCI wasn't for us so we went back to Carnival and for our upcoming cruise, we will be Platinum and have enjoyed every one of our cruises on her.

 

I don't want to sway you one way or another. This is just our opinion.

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Hi

 

I would suggest that you try something new if you are so inclined. That way you will be able to speak from personal experience about NCL.

 

I went with Carnival on an 8 day Alaska cruise and had a wonderful time. In that instance price, itinerary, and scheduling favored Carnival, so it wasn't much of a decision.

 

No matter which ship you choose, I am sure you will come away with the same feeling, that the ship is just transportation, it is all about Alaska. What you do off the ship will necessarily be your lasting memories of the trip. What you see from the decks of the ship aren't affected by which ship you are on. These are port intensive trips and after enjoying a long day ashore many people are just happy to come back to a warm shower, good meal, and recoup for the next day's adventure.

 

Don't forget to look at the port of call threads.

 

have a great cruise :)

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What a great topic, I thought about this more than once. Should I branch out. I will tell you, we are planning 2021 Alaska cruise...and I am giving lots of thought to Princess.

But definitely Itinerary is the priority, then ship.

 

I went on the Epic in March and wasn't completely blown away. I think the size wasn't right for me. Food was good.

 

At the end of the day, you'll be in Alaska...be brave, go with your gut!

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A different opinion: Go with Princess or HAL, the lines that have the most experience in Alaska and usually go to Glacier Bay. I think Carnival and NCL can get into Glacier Bay in the less desirable shoulder seasons, when weather can be "Alaskan".

 

I'm Diamond on Carnival and enjoy its cruises, even have 2 booked in the next couple of months. But I also have an MSC Seaside, 2 NCL cruises including a TA, and a Celebrity sailing scheduled through the next year. We now book according to the ship, itinerary and price rather than loyalty.

 

While there are many similarities between cruise lines, there are also significant differences, right down to having more choices on excursions and dining options. Have fun choosing!

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I am not the kind of person who really likes change. We want to do Alaska cruise in 2020 and I've been looking at NCL. (Carnival hasn't listed Alaska yet) ncl has a special right now where you can get the drinks for free and $50 a day towards excursions. Looking at carnivals 2019 rates for a balcony room is pretty comparable even with the extras . Not sure why I want to stick with carnival for this cruise other than getting closer to platinum, and I'm curious where people will say on this board. all of our cruises have been on Carnival, and we live close enough to Seattle so will actually be able to drive, which will make it nice. I guess I'm really not sure what I'm asking other than any input someone might have. ( or to be convinced to just book with NCL)

 

We cruised NCL for Alaska and thoroughly enjoyed it. The crowd is completely different on an Alaskan cruise than a Caribbean cruise. People were more excursion oriented than cruise fun oriented. I honestly have not noticed much different between the cruise lines except that Carnival IS more party oriented and that's a good thing, if you are in the mood for that. I enjoy Carnival better with my sisters because we get wild and crazy. My husband does not enjoy cruising but he did enjoy our Alaskan cruise.

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We are platinum on Carnival. We have actually done Alaska with NCL because friends of ours booked a cruise and we decided to join them. We loved Alaska but we didn't like NCL. They did go to Glacier Bay so I agree that that's important but we really didn't like the fact that for us the only good food was in their specialty restaurants for which you needed to make reservations each day.

It would have been nicer if we enjoyed the food in the MDR or in the buffet which we absolutely hated! Since everyone's taste buds are different you will have to just try it and decide for yourself.

To the person who thought Royal Caribbean had snobby people, I am quite surprised at that! It is not known for that sort of attitude and we've enjoyed one cruise with them very much!! It is true that different weeks you'll find a different atmosphere depending on who's aboard.

As you can see we are also trying Princess for the Panama Canal and Oceania for Cuba so we are moving around a bit based on itinerary these days.

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I’ve also heard, and I’m not sure if it’s true, that other lines have better excursion’s than Carnival as per their contracts with the vendors. Anyone have experience with this? We will definitely look for Glacier Bay in the itinerary. That is #1 on my list. Thanks for the advice so far!

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Ive done Princess a few times and it wasnt for me. Ive done NCL also and maybe it was just the change in food, but I really enjoyed the lunchs in the mdr and the food in general on NCL.

 

That being said my cruise to Alaska on Carnival was probably my best ever cruise on Carnival. They have a naturalist on board who will tell you the night before what to watch for and times. Like be up at 7 am as we go into the channel to see whales, and all the old people had chairs lined up in the buffet to watch the whales lol. (I did see some whaltes) and then we sailed right up to some big Ice forget the name that only Carnival sails up to. It was a grand glorious sunny day to see a glacier.

 

The next day we went to the town where another glacier was, and it poured rain. I decided what the heck and walked to the water fall in a poncho and Im sure looked like a elephant, i had my leather pouch with my tablet and my purse and everything else under it, but it was so worth it even in the rain. There is a $5 bus each way that will take you to the national park way cheaper than the carnival excursion, and you can stay as long as you want. instead of a hour with the carnival excursions for like $57

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I think a lot depends on what you want this cruise to "feel" like. If you want the same Funship experience, stick with Carnival.

 

Personally, we chose Princess for Alaska as they are considered the leaders in that market. These cruises have a more relaxed, elegant, classic cruise feel about them - which for us fit well with the natural surroundings. You cruise slowly through almost still waters for much of the cruise (assuming good weather). There is a naturalist on board who not only gives lectures but also is often on the bridge and will make wildlife sighting announcements. We also booked a ship which had a Carib deck - which means a regular balcony room charge but it comes with a 9'x9' balcony - half of which is covered (great if misting/raining as it often does in Alaska) and half of which was open. Even though our sons were in a room across the hall, we had plenty of room for them to join us on the balcony any time. It is so large it had at least 3 chairs and a table.

 

Alaska is a fantastic cruise so really I would look at the general feel of the cruise you are looking for. I had a similar experience on RCI as the other poster and have no desire to try cruising with them again when I have had great experiences on both Carnival and Princess.

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PS go to the dollar store and buy a poncho, they only cost $1 and worth it if it rains.

 

But that Carnival cruise was my favorite ever cruise, and ive done other lines, but alaska was that best. if i lived close enough to drive id do it more than once.

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I am not the kind of person who really likes change. We want to do Alaska cruise in 2020 and I've been looking at NCL. (Carnival hasn't listed Alaska yet) ncl has a special right now where you can get the drinks for free and $50 a day towards excursions. Looking at carnivals 2019 rates for a balcony room is pretty comparable even with the extras . Not sure why I want to stick with carnival for this cruise other than getting closer to platinum, and I'm curious where people will say on this board. all of our cruises have been on Carnival, and we live close enough to Seattle so will actually be able to drive, which will make it nice. I guess I'm really not sure what I'm asking other than any input someone might have. ( or to be convinced to just book with NCL)

 

 

 

My brother did Alaska on NCL and had a fabulous time, and this was before they started adding the perks. I’m sure he ran up a pretty big bar bill, too, as he is a big drinker.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

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Just to clarify a couple of points:

 

As others have said, the drink package is free, but the gratuities (18%) are charged. I am generally OK with it. If I get a coupon for a free dinner, I still tip the server. I see no difference.

 

The $50 shore excursion credit is a little misleading. You get a $50 credit per cabin for each port. It must be used on a NCL excursion and the credits are not OBC, nor are they combinable. It is a use it or lose it promotion.

 

With that said, we've been on both NCL and Carnival. In general I feel all the major lines are MUCH more similar than they are different. They each have things they do better and things they do worse but overall I think the experience is pretty similar.

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[quote name=R

Good answer. Book, and then wait to see what else is offered. That’s what I’d do. Let me add that although I have 2 Carnival cruises booked, I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE NCL’s Freestyle Cruising concept! Eat wherever and whenever you want! Much better than being constrained to one large MDR for YTD!

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

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we went to alaska this summer on princess. we were going to go on ncl till we noticed the port stops were shorter than on all the other cruise lines. now that may not matter to you nor be true when you want to go. it mattered to us since we had multiple ideas of what to do in each port, so the longer the visit the better. . only princess and ncl had dates that worked for us at the time.

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I've been to Alaska on NCL. It was fantastic. No problems getting to Glacier Bay the day we were there. I've sailed on NCL more than once and I thought the food was great. Never ate specialty. NCL's buffet was better than Carnival's. I've sailed HAL also and loved it. I'd honestly choose one of those over Carnival, simply because they seemed a little nicer/fancier overall, but that is just personal preference. (We always have a good time on Carnival, too.)

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I also agree... the drinks package is not 'free'. When researching our cruise for next year the price for Carnival + drinks package was comparable to NCL with 'free' drinks package. This was for similar bookings... IE: Balcony, July, 7 or 8 night.

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I chose NCL for Alaska. When I added the value of the perks, NCL was at least $1000 cheaper. I can still cancel and I may. For two reasons that likely seem crazy to others. NCL does Pepsi products only. I am a diet coke addict and I really hate Pepsi. Just thinking about the migraine I will have from caffiene withdrawal makes me cringe. And you can't bring soda on board. There is also only one extremely inconvenient smoking area on the huge ship. Those two things alone have me worried. And as a previous poster said, watch the port times. They seem very short or at crazy times on NCL. But with $25 deposits, there is really no reason not to book while you think about it.

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I am not the kind of person who really likes change. We want to do Alaska cruise in 2020 and I've been looking at NCL. (Carnival hasn't listed Alaska yet) ncl has a special right now where you can get the drinks for free and $50 a day towards excursions. Looking at carnivals 2019 rates for a balcony room is pretty comparable even with the extras . Not sure why I want to stick with carnival for this cruise other than getting closer to platinum, and I'm curious where people will say on this board. all of our cruises have been on Carnival, and we live close enough to Seattle so will actually be able to drive, which will make it nice. I guess I'm really not sure what I'm asking other than any input someone might have. ( or to be convinced to just book with NCL)

 

 

I just did an Alaskan cruise with Carnival on 8/21/18--the Carnival Legend.

 

I LOVED it. The naturalist was great. There was another show with a guy from Skagway that was very informative and funny.

 

The ports were great and we did some excursions and some on our own.

 

I am mostly loyal to Carnival, but have tried RCI once, last year. I was not impressed with them at all (did the Allure). I prefer just about everything with Carnival, although RCI definitely has more professional shows.

 

Good luck and have fun planning. Whatever you do, it will be great

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