Why try Norwegian

[Turk1]

We have been cruising for a long time. Most of the time we book Princess. Have also done Royal, Holland, Carnival and Celebrity. Have never been on Norwegian but we are considering it now. Would like to know what people like about Norwegian and also do not like. Those that have been on other lines what would you say is similar and what is different? We like Traditional dining but have heard dining is different on Norwegian. Any info you can provide would be greatly appreciated.

[CleverUserNameHere]

We went on the Norwegian Joy in May of this year, and actually found the food in the main dining rooms to be better than some of their so-called "specialty" restaurants. If you still want the traditional dining experience you can definitely get that, but also if you want to try some new venues with some themed menus you can do that as well. The only specialty restaurant that we liked enough to go back to was New Republic which had sushi with a mexican twist. We ate there once with the included dining plan and once a la carte. Good drinks too.

[Diver2014]

We've been on 6 or 7 NCL ships and loved every one of them.  We're signed up for PRIMA next summer.  They're comparable to Royal Caribbean.   We always had good food and we love the Great Outdoors patio area at the stern of the ships.  We were on NCL Pearl twice - absolutely gorgeous inside, especially the entrances to the theater.  Of course, our favorite was the SS Norway but we all know what happened there.......

[pickle11]

NCL set standard with anytime dining and has traditional dining.  Looks like most other cruise lines have adopted to anytime dining too.  What differences have you heard?

[TheycallmeDrew]

I have been on Holland once and a back to back on royal. Most of my cruises have been with NCL. There are many sites that do royal vs ncl comparisons but here are a couple of things I observed. My number one preference is the dining format of unassigned times and seating. Just my preference. Food is comparable but for food allergies my wife found ncl made her feel safer. Shows on ncl seemed better to me. Ship design especially on newer ships has different philosophy. Ncl with waterfront and other things pushes you outside and royal seems to direct you in. 
 

I was happy with both but prefer ncl. Holland age demographic to old for me at this time(I am in my 40s). 

[MotownVoice]

Curious how difficult it was for you to decide to make the leap with the other four cruise lines you've used for the first time.

It's a good idea to get pros and cons, to be sure.  I am not taking any issue with your inquiry. 

 

But for me, it doesn't make any difference what a mob of people tell me about a cruise line.   At the end of the day it's a risk first time around; it's a leap of faith. 

Advice about which stateroom to book, about this package or that package, that kind of research makes more sense to me.  But anyone who says "I hate NCL, I'll never use them again!!" may have their own good reasons for making that statement.  But the statement will be completely irrelevant to someone who's never used them before unless the story behind the disdain was something like corruption, or extortion, or being an advocate for some horrid violation of human rights.

One guy's bad experience on a cruise line should never preclude someone else from using it.  Because of the fingerprint of each experience is never going to be the same.

Loved Princess, liked Royal, never used Celebrity, Carnival, Holland or NCL.  But I'll be diving in to Norwegian this year, and we're looking at taking in some Norwegian fjords with Holland America in 2024.  The reasons, to me, are the obvious ones.  Itinerary, time of year, potential add ons, savings.

Otherwise my decisions are based on nothing else but "this might be fun."

[TominNC]

We've been on Encore (going back in Dec) and Epic.  The ships are nice, the shows are excellent, the food is good.  I liked it much better than Carnival and similar to Royal.

 

There are plenty of bars all around the ship.  On Encore I liked that some of the bars had outdoor seating along the sides of the ship.

[Crazy planning mom]

 

I like Norwegian's thermal spa, freestyle dining, and Norwegian's itineraries.  They have some unique ones.  For example, we sailed on the Pride of America which is the only ship that sails year round around the Hawaiian islands from Honolulu.   I understand the Norwegian Spirit also sails to Tahiti from Hawaii . All the other major cruise lines sail from Los Angeles and Vancouver just a few times a year.

[9tee2Sea]

I don't know if the Buffets are back, but before Covid, NCL had the best choices of Indian food

( vegetarian?) in the buffet. I am not vegetarian, but I really do enjoy good Indian food.  Other cruise lines didn't seem to have that selection.  I just like the feel of NCL compared to the other lines.  Strikes the right balance between orderly, party,relaxed.  I am not a fan of all the pool side shenanigans, no matter what the cruise line.

[weltek]

I like that wanting to dine by ourselves has been the norm for most of our cruising years and the good nightlife. There are usually a number of decent options throughout the night and things are well attended, mostly due to the wide age range and decent quality of offerings. And there's enough daytime activities that suit my interest. I also love the free adults only area, Spice H20, on a lot (but not all) of the ships). Food Republic is on a few ships, and it's awesome (though not free).

Biggest dislike is the pool area on most of the newer ships (smaller area, not as much deck chair real estate) and that it feels more enclosed due to all the kids activity bells and whistles (giant slides, laser tag, car racing). I also wish there were more enrichment programs (e.g, about the ports, or interesting topics in general).

[genealogyfan]

5 hours ago, Turk1 said:

We have been cruising for a long time. Most of the time we book Princess. Have also done Royal, Holland, Carnival and Celebrity. Have never been on Norwegian but we are considering it now. Would like to know what people like about Norwegian and also do not like. Those that have been on other lines what would you say is similar and what is different? We like Traditional dining but have heard dining is different on Norwegian. Any info you can provide would be greatly appreciated.

I picked Norwegian, mainly because of the freestyle dining. I didn't want to have to dress up for dinner (or for any reason while I'm on vacation), I wanted to eat whenever I wanted and where I wanted.  There is a difference between the larger ships and the smaller ships. The smaller ships don't have as nice entertainment as the bigger NCL ships. My expectations of the food is low, so I'm not disappointed, but the specialty restaurants do taste much better then the free sit down restaurants. I don't think the food is that bad in the free restaurants. 

 

When I was on the Pride of America, we met a couple and two teenagers who had cruised alot on a variety of cruiselines. This was the first on NCL.  They didn't like it. They actually liked getting dressed up for dinner, they liked having the same server each night at dinner. I know another couple who don't like Norwegian because they don't like the food, I think the food is fine.

[prov2727]

I've only been on Holland and NCL. I liked Holland well enough to book a cruise immediately upon my return. It just happened to be an NCL cruise. But I really liked NC and have booked the rest of my cruises with them. As a single person, I enjoyed the freestyle dining rather than sitting awkwardly at a table of stranger couples. I want to relax and enjoy myself not try to steer conversations away from religion and politics.

 

And then there's the fact that I am a Mountain Dew drinker. Oh, well. That perk is gone. 😭 I can't decide if that is enough of a reason to check out Carnival.

Edited September 29, 2022 by prov2727

[cruiseny4life]

A lifetime ago (2008 or 2009) I went on a Carnival cruise with some college friends and my grandmother. This experience kept me from cruising for over a decade. In April, my husband and I went on our first Norwegian cruise. We then went on another cruise in September, and have a third booked for March. 

 

Prior to booking we did a lot of research on what cruise line would be best for us. Norwegian made the cut and stood above all the others by a pretty good length of tape measure. Of course every choice is personal. I'll get it out of the way now, that the reasons below are personal to my husband and I. I know some will disagree with me completely (especially on dress code), but this is why we chose Norwegian over other lines. 

 

Lines we considered were Royal Caribbean, Cunard, MSC, Regent Seven Seas, Uncruise, Star Clippers, and Celebrity. Here's why we chose Norwegian and love our current choice!

 

1. This is the single most important consideration for us, and is why we are not considering any other cruise line to cruise at this time. We could change our mind in the future. The dress code is absolutely what we want. We do not ever have to dress up. By dress up, I mean we do not need to put pants on or a button up shirt (or button down, for that matter). We can wear our flippie floppies, t-shirts, and shorts. We know there are some restaurants (Ocean Blue, Manhattan Room) that will not allow us in. That's ok with us. We can enjoy 95% of the ship without dressing up. My husband is not a dressy kind of guy and I have to dress up every day. Neither of us want to do so when relaxing. Yes, I know there are others that do. And kudos to them! They have plenty of choice of cruise lines. I'm glad Norwegian exists to support our lackadaisical approach to dressing. 

 

2. The Haven - we have only cruised in the Haven. We might consider a non-Haven room in the future, but the Haven is right for us at this time in our life. We enjoy the restaurant - endless shrimp, filet, crab cake eggs benedict. How could you not love this? The courtyard is generally quiet with a hot tub that has no one else in it. The sundeck isn't crowded. Service is stellar (except drink service). We get to truly know the staff and have interesting conversations about their life on board/at home. We appreciate the priority tendering. 

 

3. Thermal Suite - ok, so we're booked on the NCL Joy in March. We'll see how much no thermal suite impacts our enjoyment. The thermal suite is amazing and, from what I can tell, is better than nearly all (if not all) other lines thermal suite. Warm, soothing water, bubbles, extremely dry air, warm loungers...what can't you like about this? 

 

4. The food - as mentioned above, the Haven Restaurant, is amazing! Not the best in the world, but certainly very, very scrumptious! Other than the buffet, the food options on NCL are very good. I don't remember this from my Carnival experience. Noodle bars, main dining room are both complimentary and good. I tried a few dishes in the main dining room on my previous cruise, and while not large, they were cooked well. Service was meh, but that's ok. It wasn't awful, but they didn't really care about me as a customer. The specialty dining seems to be hit and miss. La Cucina was very good, Teppanyaki is good, and Cagney's is blah. At least NCL gives us the opportunity try this through the Free at Sea. 

 

5. Entertainment - this one isn't too important to me. It's alright and seems like it's probably better than the other lines, especially RSSC and Celebrity. Of course on Star Clippers and Uncruise there would be no real entertainment, so that's a mute point. Anyway, entertainment is alright.

 

6. Convenient departure port - Manhattan Cruise Terminal is very convenient for us as it's about a four hour drive from Central NY to NYC. This is helpful, but I do wish NCL had more options than Bermuda, Canada, Canada, Canada, and Canada. Thankfully we did find a nine day down to the Bahamas this month. In March, we will be flying to Miami for our western Caribbean cruise. 

 

7. Options on board - there's basketball, arcades, VR, go-karts, laser tag. We love all of this! Other lines have some of these, but it doesn't seem that they all have this. We're really looking forward to the VR area of the NCL Joy, the go-karts, and laser tag! Especially laser tag! We don't need the Flow Rider, definitely don't need, desire, or want on board speakers (lectures, etc.). 

 

8. COCA-COLA!!!!!!!!!!! This is a new positive, but we love it! 

 

I am sure I could find some more reasons, but these are the primary ones we chose NCL over other lines. Sure, we'd likely have a good time on any cruise, but we both believe NCL is the right cruise line for us.. I'm loving this thread and look forward to a bunch of other opinions! 

[JamieLogical]

I have only sailed NCL and Celebrity. I have my first Princess cruise coming up in December. I loved NCL right up until the minute I didn't, which had to do with their shoreside customer service , not anything to do with the onboard experience. After the restart and swearing off NCL, I have sailed Celerity seven times and I find that I prefer their included food and small venue entertainment to NCLs. NCL wins in the specialty dining and large-scale entertainment categories. I like that there are far fewer kids on Celebrity and no deck space wasted on kid activities. I like that NCL is more casual overall. I love the Thermal Spa on NCL, but it is an big upcharge, whereas toe Solarium is free on Celebrity. I LOVE that specialty coffee, the treats at the coffee shop, and bottled water are included in Celebrity's drink package.

 

There are pros and cons to every line and I think you are only going to have a bad cruise if you go in with the mindset that it will be a bad cruise.

[SimplyAlbert]

We've sailed Celebrity, HAL, Princess, Royal, Carnival, and Norwegian.

 

Our preferred line is Norwegian.  We love freestyle dining, and the free at sea promo (I realize we pay for it, just like the all-inclusive feel).  We tend to sail with a variety of ages and it seems like they offer something for everyone.   Our last cruise was on Royal, and while we liked the ship and itinerary, we found that the food in the main dining room and buffet was not as good as NCL.  We also though the food in NCL's specialty restaurants was better too.

 

[Ken the cruiser]

We’re getting ready to go on a 38 day NCL cruise starting in Nov on the Jade. But since we’ve only been on one 7 day NCL cruise before this, but plenty on others (see below), it will be a new experience for us as well. 
 

However, we have learned a couple of things before this cruise that caught us by surprise. 
 

1. If you choose to accept the Free Beverage perk when you book your cruise, be prepared to pay the maximum gratuities charge of close to $20 per person per day, regardless of the amount of alcoholic beverages you drink. But don’t worry, you pay that upfront when you book your cruise, so you’ll know about it and can opt out of that “optional”perk. 
 

2. You cannot use nonrefundable OBC posted to your shipboard account to pay your daily per person discretionary service charge (aka gratuities). So if you book your cruise using a TA that gives you nonrefundable OBC as a booking perk, just be aware you can’t use it to pay the DSC. BTW the DSC is not included in any NCL booking package we’ve seen unlike most other cruise lines we’ve sailed with. 

 

When we learned about the above, our TA said they would give us a rebate check instead of the OBC and we declined the beverage package, as $20 per person per day adds to a pretty big number in a 38 day B2B cruise.  😂

[casofilia]

One main difference; Freestyle Dining rather than Princess' Traditional; we far prefer NCL

 

One other; Loss of free WiFi soured things for us with Princess.   We were about the same level in both and the changes in "perks" in the last 2/3 years mean NCL not Princess.

[Sailing12Away]

It would be helpful to hear a bit more about what you enjoy most about cruising and what is important to you. There's lots of different ships to pick from, and the experience will vary a bit between them if things like certain activities or specialty areas are important to you.

 

We've sailed with NCL on 90% of our trips. As someone said earlier, it just matches our vacation motto and preferences. We like being able to wear a t-shirt and shorts everywhere we go at all times of day/night. If we want to look fancy, he'll throw on a polo and me a sundress. But there's no pressure to have to do so, or odd looks from fellow passengers if we choose not to. For folks that want the pomp & circumstance of a traditional formal night(s) - you'll find that lacking a bit with NCL as it's much more laid back (which suits us perfectly fine).

 

Also depends on whether you like a few cocktails during your cruise or not. Hubby is a big drinker (go find our recent live trip review from the Joy for a visual dance among all the cocktails consumed). With the 'free' at sea drink package, if we drink 3 cocktails each a day we're ahead of the game than if we had paid as we go. When we sailed with RCC, they charged us $59/day each - so the equivalent of 6 drinks a day just to get even if you didn't want to have to think about each drink and whether it was 'worth it' to get one. So again, for our preferences, NCL has always come out ahead in this department.

 

If you enjoy sailing in suites, NCL is one of the best. RCC has some fancy rooms - but outside of your room I haven't seen any great extra perks that come with that hefty price tag they charge for the Star class suites. With NCL, in addition to your great room, you get (depending on the ship) a private restaurant, private bar (or even 2 on some ships), private pool & sun deck. Celebrity has something similar with their Retreat on some ships, but we haven't been able to try it out yet as their price always comes up higher than NCL for the itineraries we're interested in and the perks we want.

 

Food again is subjective, but what we were missing on RCC was a simple place for a burger and fries. Again, we're not fancy folks. I don't want foi gras and poached anything. Burger & fries some nights with chicken wings to share is all we need. NCL has lots of options for free food to satisfy simple tastes to more fancy stuff. Our one cruise on RCC felt much more limited, although some of that was due to Covid as we sailed very shortly after reopening cruises. Lots of great ethnic food if you're adventurous in the buffet where you can sample a small bit and if you don't like it - no harm done, go grab anything else. 

 

Entertainment - again, subjective, but we like having the option to see some big headliner broadway style shows. There's always live music at various bars or venues around the ship, plus the standard daily activities for those who like bingo and such. A little something for everyone, and several quieter places for those who just want a good drink and to chat with new friends. 

 

For us it's always about the itinerary first, price next (with all things important to us considered, ie drink package), and it nearly all instances NCL has come out as the winner for us.

[JamieLogical]

Some of these posts have reminded me of a few things I prefer about Celebrity vs. NCL. Celebrity's "Always Included" includes unlimited wifi (though to be fair it is the equivalent of 90's dial-up), tips, and drinks. Because tips are included, you don't pay a gratuity on the drink package like you do with NCL. Also, to upgrade from the included drink package to the premium on Celebrity is only $12 additional per day, versus NCL's $30 per day. And since the basic drink package doesn't have the $20/gratuity, $12 feels well worth it. Also, as I mentioned before, the included drink package includes premium coffee from their coffee shop and bottles water, which are not included with NCL's basic package. Also, I have found that NCL's excursion costs are inflated because of the $50 per port credit. A simple bus tour on NCL costs ~$100/person, whereas on Celebrity, it costs ~$60/person.

 

Finally, another area in which Celebrity is vastly superior is the spending of onboard credit. You can use your onboard credit to pre-purchase things through the Celebrity Cruise Planner site, but on NCL, you can't spend your OBC until you are physically onboard. Which leads to stupid processes like booking an excursion, paying with a credit card, cancelling that excursion as soon as you are onboard and then rebooking it with your OBC.

[Colorado Buffalo]

For me I fell in love with 'The Waterfront' which I believe is deck 8.

It's a great outdoor promenade area with outdoor eating & bars as well as

some comfy seating where one can curl up and read a book.

 

If I'm not mistaken The Waterfront is on all Breakaway Class ships and newer.

[cruiseny4life]

52 minutes ago, Colorado Buffalo said:

For me I fell in love with 'The Waterfront' which I believe is deck 8.

It's a great outdoor promenade area with outdoor eating & bars as well as

some comfy seating where one can curl up and read a book.

 

If I'm not mistaken The Waterfront is on all Breakaway Class ships and newer.

Oh! How could I forget the Waterfront. I love that place! The outdoor Sugarcane is the best bar on board and is outside, rather than inside the steel tube. 

[JamieLogical]

1 hour ago, Colorado Buffalo said:

For me I fell in love with 'The Waterfront' which I believe is deck 8.

It's a great outdoor promenade area with outdoor eating & bars as well as

some comfy seating where one can curl up and read a book.

 

If I'm not mistaken The Waterfront is on all Breakaway Class ships and newer.

 

Definitely agree that the Waterfront on the Breakaway and Breakaway Plus class ships is a great space!

[Crazy planning mom]

6 hours ago, JamieLogical said:

I have only sailed NCL and Celebrity. I have my first Princess cruise coming up in December. I loved NCL right up until the minute I didn't, which had to do with their shoreside customer service , not anything to do with the onboard experience. After the restart and swearing off NCL, I have sailed Celerity seven times and I find that I prefer their included food and small venue entertainment to NCLs. NCL wins in the specialty dining and large-scale entertainment categories. I like that there are far fewer kids on Celebrity and no deck space wasted on kid activities. I like that NCL is more casual overall. I love the Thermal Spa on NCL, but it is an big upcharge, whereas toe Solarium is free on Celebrity. I LOVE that specialty coffee, the treats at the coffee shop, and bottled water are included in Celebrity's drink package.

 

There are pros and cons to every line and I think you are only going to have a bad cruise if you go in with the mindset that it will be a   cruise.

Not everyone thinks deck space for kids is a waste.  Lots of people like taking their kids/grandkids/nephews on cruises . Not to mention there are plenty of adults who like the thrill activities.  My husband would love the go karts.  When we sailed the Harmony, my husband tried the flowrider and the ultimate abyss slide.

[JamieLogical]

34 minutes ago, Crazy planning mom said:

Not everyone thinks deck space for kids is a waste.  Lots of people like taking their kids/grandkids/nephews on cruises . Not to mention there are plenty of adults who like the thrill activities.  My husband would love the go karts.  When we sailed the Harmony, my husband tried the flowrider and the ultimate abyss slide.

 

Yep. That's why I said there are pros and cons to every line. Everyone has to find the best combination of what they value in a cruise. I enjoyed the go karts and laser tag as well, but to me they weren't worth the loss of deck space. Once I paid the upcharge to do them a couple of times, the novelty wore off and I wished the rest of the ship didn't feel so crowded due to the space they took up.

[Crazy planning mom]

I don't agree that the excursion prices are always higher.  I sail RCL and sometimes they are cheaper on NCL plus the free at sea includes excursion credit.  

Edited September 30, 2022 by Crazy planning mom