Convince a Carnival cruiser to try NCL

[Sailing12Away]

6 hours ago, CruizinSusan70 said:

Are you the same you were 35 years ago?   People evolve and change and so do cruise lines.   Check out the Excel Class ships on Carnival and you'll be pleasantly surprised.   The Mardi Gras out of PC, the Celebration out of Miami and a year from now the Jubilee out of Galveston.

I don't put all of my eggs in one basket and currently have bookings on six different lines.  Check out some of the video I attached from Danny at Harr Travel, one of the best YouTubers out there with his review of the Mardi Gras.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aukVBEpaf2U

 

Of course not, but I'm going based on recent photos and videos of the Carnival ships - not my memory of them from when I was 8 years old. Specifically the ship we were looking at based on the sail date we needed was the Liberty, and the video of this room sealed it as a firm 'no' for us. Seafoam green Formica and a skeevy shower curtain... not for us. 

[AstoriaPreppy]

13 hours ago, Sailing12Away said:

Outside of the size, do you feel the rooms themselves are better though? Styling, looks, features, etc.

 

Like I said, we've always been intrigued to give them a try until I watch videos of the actual rooms themselves. Looks like they were made with furniture and bathroom counters cheaper than Ikea quality. Not that we need a 14k gold toilet, but I also don't want to feel like I'm in a college dorm room.

 

I'd say older Carnival staterooms are... less design focused than NCL? As others have pointed out, in the 2000s, the Carnival stateroom color palate was lots of peach, beiges, and browns, with acres of laminate counter space. It was functional: tons of storage space, lots of room to spread out, but certainly not high-end. The newer ships (Vista forward) have really worked hard to go for a much more resort-like blue and cream that I think works a lot better, and is more what you'd expect in 2022. I'd point out the bathrooms are still small, with shower curtains (a deal-breaker for people, which changed on Mardi Gras). 

 

Re: functionality and livability, we've always found the Carnival rooms fine, if not luxe. Having substantial extra space means we've never needed to get creative with the living situation like when sailing in a smaller NCL room. And Carnival does put the extra space to use. We recently sailed in an Oceanview on the Horizon, and our stateroom had the normal bathroom (sink, shower, toilet) and then a second bathroom with a shower/tub combo and sink. And a full sofa in the room. Although just the two of us, it made turnaround time when getting ready for dinner or coming back from a beach day almost effortless. 

[greenie082756]

We have done 1 Disney cruise (this got us wanting to do it again). Princess, we have done 9 sailings with. Last cruise was with Carnival. Next cruise is with NCL and then after that RCL.

 

My hubby retired 1 1/2 years ago and I hopefully will be retired in mid-January. We want to try as many different cruise lines as possible that we can. 

 

Our last cruise with Princess, last April, left us feeling like we were watching reruns on food and entertainment. This pushed us to try others.

 

I have to say that we did try Carnival and we did not feel that it was a good fit. Crowded, loud running children, food selection was "just okay". I do have to say that the fun squad was full of energy and the CD was great. Went to two production shows and again "just okay". 

 

We are looking forward to the NCL cruise out of New Orleans in January. But it too will be under scrutiny as we compare. I am very hopeful that it may be in the top list.

 

Still to be booked: HAL, MSC, Celebrity and I am sure more.

[LandlockedCruiser01]

11 hours ago, cruiseny4life said:

Those servers would be getting some chipper Karen'esque attitude back if they gave me a hard time about procuring a paper menu. The Karen lies in wait for the right moment, but that would force it into the air. 

 

I'd do to them what everybody and their brother does to IT workers: keep being nice to their face, then complain bitterly about them to their manager behind their back.  (I know because I work in IT.)  And maybe remove their gratuities, depending on how snooty they acted. 

 

In the meantime, I'd just look at the MDR menu posted at the entrance, memorize it the best I can, and order something from memory.  Or just ask to look at another diner's phone.

Edited November 30, 2022 by LandlockedCruiser01

[zzdoug]

We have taken several Carnival cruises and 1 NCL over 10 years ago, in addition to many other kinds of vacations, but we are going to try a cruise on the NCL next year.  We used to like Carnival because each cruise was surprisingly a bit idiosyncratic in the entertainment choices and it seemed like the cruise entertainment staff had a bit of flexibility to be creative and put their own stamp on things, and there was stuff going on until very late at night, but now they all seem pretty uniform and corporate-mandated.  For example I really enjoy the standup comedy but it seems like all the comedians are telling variations on the same jokes about eating at the buffets and going to the bathroom.  So, maybe a different cruise line will provide a bit of variety?  Or, maybe not.

[CruizinSusan70]

14 hours ago, Sailing12Away said:

Of course not, but I'm going based on recent photos and videos of the Carnival ships - not my memory of them from when I was 8 years old. Specifically the ship we were looking at based on the sail date we needed was the Liberty, and the video of this room sealed it as a firm 'no' for us. Seafoam green Formica and a skeevy shower curtain... not for us. 

You obviously did not look at the YouTube video I posted regarding the MG. I compare an apple to an apple.  Sailed on the MG for 28 nights, sailed on the Prima for 11 and have another 14 booked.  Also have 33 booked on the Celebration in 2023 & 2024.  When you only cruise on the newest ships that various lines offer, you don't have to worry about antiquated accomodations.  

[CruizinSusan70]

3 hours ago, LandlockedCruiser01 said:

In the meantime, I'd just look at the MDR menu posted at the entrance, memorize it the best I can, and order something from memory.  

Didn't help too much on our recent Prima cruise.  On disembarkation morning I was looking forward to something that they did not have at the buffet but was listed on the posted menu outside Hudson's, waffles.  Sat down, was handed paper menus and low and behold, no waffles.  Very frustrated.  So basically there was nothing on the MDR breakfast menu except for grapefruit and orange segments that you couldn't get at the buffet.

[Sailing12Away]

8 hours ago, CruizinSusan70 said:

You obviously did not look at the YouTube video I posted regarding the MG. I compare an apple to an apple.  Sailed on the MG for 28 nights, sailed on the Prima for 11 and have another 14 booked.  Also have 33 booked on the Celebration in 2023 & 2024.  When you only cruise on the newest ships that various lines offer, you don't have to worry about antiquated accomodations.  

Stop making assumptions. I did look at it. I don't need a tour of the ship itself, I'm concerned about the interior of the staterooms which he didn't cover in that video (full disclosure, didn't watch the whole thing, kept skipping ahead to see where he was headed next and never saw rooms).

 

And again, for the particular sailing that I was interested in booking - based on sail date, length of cruise, embarkation, etc, that was my option (Liberty or Conquest would fit the bill, but they're nearly identical from what I can see in room photos). Why on earth would I waste my time looking into booking the latest and greatest ship when the reason I was looking in the first place was for a particular sail date and length of cruise - which that ship didn't offer?

 

Some people like to lease a car because they need the latest and greatest, some of us find more value in owning. 

[flarad]

19 hours ago, greenie082756 said:

We have done 1 Disney cruise (this got us wanting to do it again). Princess, we have done 9 sailings with. Last cruise was with Carnival. Next cruise is with NCL and then after that RCL.

 

My hubby retired 1 1/2 years ago and I hopefully will be retired in mid-January. We want to try as many different cruise lines as possible that we can. 

 

Our last cruise with Princess, last April, left us feeling like we were watching reruns on food and entertainment. This pushed us to try others.

 

I have to say that we did try Carnival and we did not feel that it was a good fit. Crowded, loud running children, food selection was "just okay". I do have to say that the fun squad was full of energy and the CD was great. Went to two production shows and again "just okay". 

 

We are looking forward to the NCL cruise out of New Orleans in January. But it too will be under scrutiny as we compare. I am very hopeful that it may be in the top list.

 

Still to be booked: HAL, MSC, Celebrity and I am sure more.

You need to try Celebrity quickly. Our two favorites are Celebrity and NCL.

[kyrisong1]

So I'm Platinum on CCL and have cruised many times on NCL, once on Princess, 3 times on Celebrity.

I just got off a 14 day Panama from Carnival Dream and found the food SERIOUSLY lacking. I am a self admitted foodie. I don't eat big portions but I want GOOD food. For Canival it was always the food was good. Even if the perks were not lovely. Rooms large and I'm an a diva so I'm happy with good food and a balcony cabin, don't need perks. However this last cruise was kinda a deal breaker, I don't think I'll sail with CCL again. The food was not good. They have a pasta dish that is supposed to be and has always been filled with seafood, calamari, shrimp, scallops, mussels. This time we found one shrimp and one mussel, otherwise all pasta and sauce. The Chefs table was terrible, they are now doing strip steak instead of filet and let me tell you, it was TOUGH, the duck and lamb both too tough to eat, so disappointing to pay so much for a upgraded experience and get that!! I've done every chefs table menu, but this was terrible. I totally understand that food is expensive now, and maybe it's just the nature of the beast. My husband and I will be getting on the Breakaway out of NOLA Sunday for a 7 day cruise. I will be interested to see what the food quality is. I love Le Bistro and it will break my heart if it is less than wonderful. I think CCL does have bigger rooms, but NCL has more organized areas. I love that the ships I've been on have chargers next to each bed and just the way things are set up there are lots of nooks and crannies. I usually recieve a bottle of sparkling wine in my room (I think everyone does after their first cruise) on NCL. On CCL I had to go to different areas and ASK for my Platinum gifts, just not fun I guess to me. The staff still works so hard on both lines. I just wish CCL would get the food thing together and the perks to mean something. Otherwise I'll stick with NCL. I love the freestyle cruise concept, no reservations, mostly come as you are (as long as it's not nekkid or in bathing suites. I like the perks even a little old gold like me gets. Love the idea of drink package and dining perks as well as excursion perks. For me NCL works!! Also I've had my free laundry perks for CCL for a while. Twice had light colors stained because of being washed with other peoples clothing with no regards to light and dark colors. Many times get it back stained or wrinkled. At NCL It's EXPENSIVE send laundry to be done, but have always gotten it back in perfect shape and done very well. Whatever you find, you will enjoy the cruise and make up your own mind on it. Enjoy!!!

[kyrisong1]

On 11/29/2022 at 8:23 AM, AstoriaPreppy said:

 

I'd say older Carnival staterooms are... less design focused than NCL? As others have pointed out, in the 2000s, the Carnival stateroom color palate was lots of peach, beiges, and browns, with acres of laminate counter space. It was functional: tons of storage space, lots of room to spread out, but certainly not high-end. The newer ships (Vista forward) have really worked hard to go for a much more resort-like blue and cream that I think works a lot better, and is more what you'd expect in 2022. I'd point out the bathrooms are still small, with shower curtains (a deal-breaker for people, which changed on Mardi Gras). 

 

Re: functionality and livability, we've always found the Carnival rooms fine, if not luxe. Having substantial extra space means we've never needed to get creative with the living situation like when sailing in a smaller NCL room. And Carnival does put the extra space to use. We recently sailed in an Oceanview on the Horizon, and our stateroom had the normal bathroom (sink, shower, toilet) and then a second bathroom with a shower/tub combo and sink. And a full sofa in the room. Although just the two of us, it made turnaround time when getting ready for dinner or coming back from a beach day almost effortless. 

My friend and I had this on our last cruise, it was great cause we could both get ready at the same time. However I really missed the balcony!! It's a great option though!!

[CruizinSusan70]

3 hours ago, Sailing12Away said:

Some people like to lease a car because they need the latest and greatest, some of us find more value in owning. 

No idea where you're going with this analogy.  Have owned a car for 37/40 years with a 3 year lease once.  Has nothing to do with the fact that we've cruised on the Celebrity Apex, Discovery Princess, Carnival Mardi Gras and NCL Prima in a 10 month period, all of them the newest jewels of their respective fleets.

Choosing to instead cruise on a rust bucket would not coincide with owning a car.  I've owned one for over 90% of my driving history yet we prefer to cruise on new ships for the most part.

[cruiseny4life]

9 minutes ago, CruizinSusan70 said:

No idea where you're going with this analogy.  Have owned a car for 37/40 years with a 3 year lease once.  Has nothing to do with the fact that we've cruised on the Celebrity Apex, Discovery Princess, Carnival Mardi Gras and NCL Prima in a 10 month period, all of them the newest jewels of their respective fleets.

Choosing to instead cruise on a rust bucket would not coincide with owning a car.  I've owned one for over 90% of my driving history yet we prefer to cruise on new ships for the most part.

I'm pretty sure I know where @Sailing12Away was going. They don't desire the newest ships - hence sailing on ships with Garden Villas (I'd love the villa, I'd hate the ship - but am glad they're appreciated by others). 

 

12 hours ago, CruizinSusan70 said:

When you only cruise on the newest ships that various lines offer, you don't have to worry about antiquated accomodations.  

Here's where the analogy is being made. You discussed antiquated accommodations, then compared those ships to rust buckets/owning a car.

 

4 hours ago, Sailing12Away said:

Some people like to lease a car because they need the latest and greatest, some of us find more value in owning. 

 

Sailing mentioned owning vs. leasing as some (my husband) would rather own, while I enjoy bells and whistles, so I lease. I might be done with leasing after my current experience. Time will tell. 

 

I am more with you though. I prefer the newer ships. It's great others would prefer to sail on the older ships, or our fares would go sky high if they scrapped ships after five to ten years.

[Schoifmom]

I completely understand @groundloop's question.  I just put an 11 day NCL British Isles cruise on hold for 2024.  We have always cruised Carnival, but I just couldn't find a British Isles itinerary that I like with CCL.  I am always reluctant to jump into unfamiliar waters (pun intended) and feel that I (like Groundloop) need a little reassurance that the differences between NCL and CCL will be worth the additional cost.

[bruce85]

If you are a drinker NCL drink package is truly unlimited. No 15 drink limit. Dine anytime is great, dress is relaxed, ships are beautiful. I sailed 5 on carnival when I started cruising, since I tried NCL never went back. 

[CruizinSusan70]

1 hour ago, bruce85 said:

If you are a drinker NCL drink package is truly unlimited. No 15 drink limit. 

My DH and I only imbibe while on vacation, but do you honestly need more than 15 drinks over the course of a day?  A hard core 20-30 something beer drinker maybe, but most alcohol or wine drinkers don't come close to averaging over 100 drinks over the course of a 7 day cruise.

[CruizinSusan70]

2 hours ago, Schoifmom said:

I completely understand @groundloop's question.  I just put an 11 day NCL British Isles cruise on hold for 2024.  We have always cruised Carnival, but I just couldn't find a British Isles itinerary that I like with CCL.  I am always reluctant to jump into unfamiliar waters (pun intended) and feel that I (like Groundloop) need a little reassurance that the differences between NCL and CCL will be worth the additional cost.

If ports are what matters, enjoy your British Isles cruise.  If the ship does matter, I would choose the Dawn over the Star since they are the two choices.  In general NCL, Carnival, MSC and Royal have more similarities than differences.

[sunkey1]

On 11/28/2022 at 6:37 PM, AstoriaPreppy said:

Separately, Carnival's staterooms are *massive* compared to NCL.

That is the case on many of Carnival's older ships. While the cabins on the Mardi Gras were beautifully decorated we did find them rather tight in some areas. They seemed narrower than many balconies that we've stayed in previously.

[Smq123]

My husband & I are relatively new to cruising compared to many seasoned cruisers on CC.  In the past 5 yrs, excluding 1.5 yrs of non-cruising due to Covid-19, we’ve been on 26 cruises. Full disclosure my husband is retired FDNY, I can work remotely, and we’re gamblers which means we get really great rates. We started on NCL & have done 19 cruises with them. Our friends are very loyal to Royal so we’ve been on 4 Royal cruises and we’ve done 1 Carnival cruise. I personally think your question is very hard to answer because most things differ from cruise line to cruise line, ship to ship on the same cruise line, and the time of year you pick to cruise and the itinerary. That being said, try NCL! Personally it’s my favorite but there’s tons of things I loved about RCCL. We were on the Carnival Magic when they had the infamous brawl in the night club in the early hours before disembarkation. But we have an upcoming cruise on Carnival Luminosa in September 2023. It’s a B2B so we’ll be on that ship for 40 days. IMHO, it’s fun seeing what other cruise lines offer and how they differ amongst their competition. The entertainment, if that’s your thing, is great on both NCL & RCCL. But the funniest comedians I’ve seen were on Carnival where overall I didn’t think the entertainment was that great. The size of the ship matters too if you want all the bells & whistles. As far as food, I’ve had great food & horrible food on all the forementioned cruise lines. What’s definitely the most obvious is that for all cruise lines I’ve mentioned the quality of food & the potion sizes have constantly decreased in the short amount of time we have been cruising. So if food is your thing, most definitely consider purchasing a dining package. Try NCL I think you’ll really enjoy it. If you’re looking for a cruise that has a very active cruise director and an opportunity to meet people that you’ll continue to run into a mid-size ship or smaller is the best bet. The one thing that I didn’t like about Carnival was kids & teenagers having no curfew & entertaining themselves by running up & down the hallways typically after midnight & banging on cabin doors. Whatever decision you make enjoy your next cruise. 

[CruizinSusan70]

26 minutes ago, Smq123 said:

My husband & I are relatively new to cruising compared to many seasoned cruisers on CC.  In the past 5 yrs, excluding 1.5 yrs of non-cruising due to Covid-19, we’ve been on 26 cruises. Full disclosure my husband is retired FDNY, I can work remotely, and we’re gamblers which means we get really great rates. We started on NCL & have done 19 cruises with them. Our friends are very loyal to Royal so we’ve been on 4 Royal cruises and we’ve done 1 Carnival cruise. I personally think your question is very hard to answer because most things differ from cruise line to cruise line, ship to ship on the same cruise line, and the time of year you pick to cruise and the itinerary. That being said, try NCL! Personally it’s my favorite but there’s tons of things I loved about RCCL. We were on the Carnival Magic when they had the infamous brawl in the night club in the early hours before disembarkation. But we have an upcoming cruise on Carnival Luminosa in September 2023. It’s a B2B so we’ll be on that ship for 40 days. IMHO, it’s fun seeing what other cruise lines offer and how they differ amongst their competition. The entertainment, if that’s your thing, is great on both NCL & RCCL. But the funniest comedians I’ve seen were on Carnival where overall I didn’t think the entertainment was that great. The size of the ship matters too if you want all the bells & whistles. As far as food, I’ve had great food & horrible food on all the forementioned cruise lines. What’s definitely the most obvious is that for all cruise lines I’ve mentioned the quality of food & the potion sizes have constantly decreased in the short amount of time we have been cruising. So if food is your thing, most definitely consider purchasing a dining package. Try NCL I think you’ll really enjoy it. If you’re looking for a cruise that has a very active cruise director and an opportunity to meet people that you’ll continue to run into a mid-size ship or smaller is the best bet. The one thing that I didn’t like about Carnival was kids & teenagers having no curfew & entertaining themselves by running up & down the hallways typically after midnight & banging on cabin doors. Whatever decision you make enjoy your next cruise. 

Since you've only done 1 Carnival cruise I just wanted to let you know that kids now have a curfew on Carnival and the Excel Class on Carnival is totally different from the rest of the fleet and is more similar to the newer builds of RCI and NCL.  There's the Mardi Gras out of PC, the Celebration out of Miami and a year from now the Jubilee out of Galveston.

[Smq123]

Thank you @CruizinSusan70 for your helpful suggestions and information. I very much appreciate it. One bad cruise on a cruise line would never make me totally rule out ever trying that cruise line again. There’s so many people that absolutely love & rave about Carnival so I’m guessing we just hit bad luck with the cruise we picked. I loved the comedians & the comedy venture and I met tons of lovely people on board that said the cruise we were on was very usual to their prior experiences. 

[CruizinSusan70]

8 minutes ago, Smq123 said:

Thank you @CruizinSusan70 for your helpful suggestions and information. I very much appreciate it. One bad cruise on a cruise line would never make me totally rule out ever trying that cruise line again. There’s so many people that absolutely love & rave about Carnival so I’m guessing we just hit bad luck with the cruise we picked. I loved the comedians & the comedy venture and I met tons of lovely people on board that said the cruise we were on was very usual to their prior experiences. 

On the Excel Class there are two separate comedy venues, one for PG shows and one for adult shows.  There are also two or three late night shows in the big theater with 2 comedians.  In total about 40 shows over the course of the week.

[YangtzeCruiser]

Haven't cruised Norwegian post-Covid yet (we're booked on the Sky Jan 3), but did do three Carnival cruises earlier this year. We've always booked inside staterooms - Carnival's are noticeably larger. Carnival still serves lobster with no upcharge in the MDR on the first formal night. Norwegian's desserts on the buffet were much better than Carnival's. Carnival has more complementary restaurants. Norwegian has better entertainment and more diverse onboard activities. For us, the differences pretty much balance out, and it comes down to itinerary and price.

[AnitaVacation]

We are Platinum on both lines (or whatever the equivelent is now)...

We used to answer this question with: Norwegian for the entertainment, Carnival for the cabins.... but in the last few years, those things have leveled out... Norwegian increased the size of their cabins and Carnival upped their game in entertainment.  

So then we started choosing by who gave us the bigger 'bang for the buck'.... 

But, we are fresh off a 10 day cruise on the Getaway and I honestly think that was our last NCL cruise. Prices up, services down... 

Even with the upcharge dining, you have to pay an additional $25 for a lobster tail.

The food was mediocre at best (I never usually complain about the food, it's usually adequate or above)

The bed was not the comfy cloud that I was so looking forward to

There were a lot of little things that just added up to disappointment.

The staff was fantastic and we met some really nice people...

but in the end, NCL failed

(ps... How to speak Croation? that was an actual 30 min activity in the atrium...lame?)