If you were going to cheat on NCL with another line...

[SoonerDog]

23 hours ago, Travelling2Some said:

Apparently, I am quite the philanderer.  I'm happy to sail on pretty much any ship that is going to places I want to go.  We currently have one each booked on Celebrity, Carnival, Royal and NCL.  Also looking at Princess for Japan and Alaska but will add land trips to those two.  Got to step up the retirement recovery that was short circuited by the shut down.

Have you been on Carnival recently?  My very first cruise some 20 odd years ago was a 4 day affair on the old Carnival Fantasy and it was not a very pleasant experience.  In fact, that trip has caused me to avoid Carnival ever since.  Am I being unfair?  Have their cruises & ships improved?  I do like some of the itineraries they offer, but have been leery of giving them another chance.  

[smillerholmes]

On 1/28/2024 at 7:31 PM, Sailing12Away said:

RCC was just meh on the ship we tried. Again, for a fancy suite with them it's out of the price point we're comfortable with. I also have zero desire to be on a ship with that many passengers, was literally getting anxiety looking at just the deck plans for Icon.

I thought it was just me - thinking about 6,000 people on a ship freaks me out!

[Travelling2Some]

46 minutes ago, SoonerDog said:

Have you been on Carnival recently?  My very first cruise some 20 odd years ago was a 4 day affair on the old Carnival Fantasy and it was not a very pleasant experience.  In fact, that trip has caused me to avoid Carnival ever since.  Am I being unfair?  Have their cruises & ships improved?  I do like some of the itineraries they offer, but have been leery of giving them another chance.  

We were on the Sunshine out of Charleston a couple of years ago.  We had to be there anyway and noticed it was sailing the day after the event we were in town for so it was a "what the heck" thing.  Least favorite ship due to annoying layout and crowded feel but we still had a good time and got what we paid for, so no issues. 

 

We were on the Legend and Triumph years ago (when they were fairly new) and will be on the Mardi Gras the week after next.  Have heard very good things about this class of ship being quite an upgrade from the older Carnival ships so we wanted to try it and are looking forward to it.  Itinerary is no big deal.  I'm not a beach lover but my husband is and we just like to take a break from the NYC winter in February.  I think the Mardi Gras might turn out to be a bit too loud and "party hardy" but I'm open minded.

[Travelling2Some]

1 hour ago, SoonerDog said:

Have you been on Carnival recently?  My very first cruise some 20 odd years ago was a 4 day affair on the old Carnival Fantasy and it was not a very pleasant experience.  In fact, that trip has caused me to avoid Carnival ever since.  Am I being unfair?  Have their cruises & ships improved?  I do like some of the itineraries they offer, but have been leery of giving them another chance.  

Forgot to say . . . I think most people will tell you that any 4 day cruise on an inexpensive line is likely to be a "booze cruise" and may not be representative of the norm.  If you take a longer cruise (especially something more than a week) not during spring break or school vacation you would likely find a very different clientele. 

[Pete Nice]

NCL has made it easy to cheat in our opinion.  We've been on RCL, Carnival, Cunard, MSC, and NCL together.  We were firmly in the RCL camp when we discovered the Free at Sea and determined that NCL was a better value.  Carnival and MSC are very unlikely ever again.  Cunard, for us, is a no-brainer as we travel to Europe each year and it is just a wonderful way to get there.  Fast forward a few years and we became NCL diehards both in the Haven and out due to what we felt was an equal value to RCL, while at a slightly lower price.  So at that point, for anything other than a transatlantic, NCL had our business (and sometimes for transatlantics too).

 

Our last cruise on the Getaway, well, we frankly felt ripped off on a few things.  Foremost was the Thermal Suite Pass where it was so oversold that we finally gave up even trying to go on the second half of the cruise.  That was a lot of money for less than an hour and one actual use.  Worse was on that on the one actual use, there were no robes available.  Did that make the cruise awful?  No, but it did leave a bad taste in our mouth and compliants about it were just brushed aside.  Leaving a customer with a feeling that they were ripped off just leads to defections.  Normally, we would have just brushed it off, but NCL continued to fall just short.  

 

We can put up with some of the cutbacks related to food, as former restaurateurs we certainly get it.  Yes, the food quality was down a bit, but overall we reamined fairly pleased.  However, on the service front it was frankly unacceptable.  Ordering a drink from a bartender and the person just disappears, or, another example, at one dinner I had to get up from the table and walk to another bar to get refills.  Later in the cruise a bartender told us we couldn't get a rum and coke and that we would have to go back inside for that one.  Another time a bartender wouldn't make my wife a non-alcoholic cocktail.  Finally, for the first time ever on a cruise we had staff that we would simply describe as rude.  That simply just can't happen. 

 

Making matters worse, we also simply had one of the worst meals we have ever had, and easily the worst at sea.  That said, that was just one night, every other night was pleasant, but as a restauranteur the subtle changes were noticable and are impacting the overall quality enough to look at other options.  Again, we recognize that is likely the case industry wide, but it was enough for us along with some cutbacks in the Premium Plus package to look at other options.

 

So for the first time in a while, we decided not to purchase any Cruise Next certificates and began the process of looking for alternatives and have booked on Celebrity.  Frankly, after all of the various NCL add-ons and upgrades, we felt like Celebrity represented a slightly better value. 

 

In the interest of full transparency, our primary areas of importance are food, service, and drinks.  We just see a bit of a slip in these areas, but remain optimistic as we prepare for an upcoming 14 night on the Jade.  Will it be our last NCL cruise?  Time will tell, but it's going to be Celebrity's ball to drop unless we see some major changes at NCL.  Barring a turnaround, we are not likely to purchase additional Cruise Next certificates and will exhuast what we have as we transition to Celebrity or some other alternative.    

[MagnoliaBlossom]

We are Diamond on NCL, we did a 7 day on the Regal Princess in December and it was the best cruise we’ve done in many years.   Als we are Diamond, we have found the services on NCL to be declining.  We got an offer for a  balcony cabin at an incredible rate and booked it.   The experience was beyond wonderful, it reminded me of why we fell in love with cruising so many years  ago.  It’s hard to walk away from NCL Diamond perks but the experience was superior to what we have received lately from NCL, at a similar price. But I think when cruising in the future, I’m going to look at Princess vs NCL

Edited January 31 by MagnoliaBlossom

[KeepCalmBearOn]

On 1/28/2024 at 10:46 AM, Monica887 said:

What cruise line would you go? Which is your favorite of the mainstream commercial cruise lines, and why? And how do YOU think they compare to NCL when it comes to food and service etc?

 

Planning an extended family trip and trying to decide or see if there's anything I'm missing before I go back to NCL as my default.

 

I am thinking a lot of people did not read your entire post, or else I don't think they'd have recommended HAL or Virgin.

 

I'd start by looking at Disney, yes expensive, but worth every penny to us. We've taken the grand kids on Royal, NCL, Disney and Princess. Disney was the favorite, Princess the least, NCL ships like the Bliss are so close to the RCCL ships like the Oasis and Symphony, it is hard to distinguish between them; same level of food and service and entertainment. Even the RCCl Navigator or Quantum ships would be good.

 

If it was just adults, I'd say Celebrity and Princess, then HAL.

 

I wish everyone could do a Cunard transatlantic cruise at least once. The only thing cooler than a picture of your teen sons dressed in a tuxedo for dinner is a picture of your teen grandsons dressed in a tuxedo for dinner.

[ugminer]

2 hours ago, MagnoliaBlossom said:

We are Diamond on NCL, we did a 7 day on the Regal Princess in December and it was the best cruise we’ve done in many years.   Als we are Diamond, we have found the services on NCL to be declining.  We got an offer for a  balcony cabin at an incredible rate and booked it.   The experience was beyond wonderful, it reminded me of why we fell in love with cruising so many years  ago.  It’s hard to walk away from NCL Diamond perks but the experience was superior to what we have received lately from NCL, at a similar price. But I think when cruising in the future, I’m going to look at Princess vs NCL

I went on the Bliss as my first NCL. They were the first cruiseline I saw to lift the covid restrictions so I booked. I ended up buying the 8 cruise credits and took the cash discount offered to pay 50%. To date I have used 4 and gave the last four to family which is gonna be used toward a family cruise. So with those accounted for I'm ready to return to Princess. I just found over the years that they were a good fit for my tastes. But I enjoyed NCL and fully intend to enjoy this cruise to its fullest also

[Nola26]

On 1/29/2024 at 2:07 PM, JGmf said:

Regularly cheating, call it an 'affair', with Princess. 

 

(Er, "Princess" could make be a plausible side partner name....)

 

Pros: Princess has more generous and transparent casino comps, broader range of alcohol brands included in their base drink package, coffee/water included in drink package, excellent pizza on Lido deck, better and longer hours operating buffet, includes the International Cafe for snacks, and have more, deeper and bigger pools.  There are generally fewer kids b/c no go-karts or waterslides.  The Medallion RFID thing app eliminates need to carry key card...and the adult crowd is not much older than NCL.

 

Cons:staged entertainment a smidge not as good at NCL (but NCL falling off the cliff lately anyway); website booking not as easy as NCL; fewer sailing options out of NYC.

If you're sailing as a guest of the NCL casino water is included as a comp beverage through the casino. We order water when we order a beverage and have them for the room or to take into port. I think The Local is NCL's option rather than International Cafe. 

[SoonerDog]

2 hours ago, Travelling2Some said:

Forgot to say . . . I think most people will tell you that any 4 day cruise on an inexpensive line is likely to be a "booze cruise" and may not be representative of the norm.  If you take a longer cruise (especially something more than a week) not during spring break or school vacation you would likely find a very different clientele. 

Thanks for the response.  Your assessment of the 4 night trips makes perfect sense, although I hadn't really thought of that aspect.  Just a long weekend party cruise so to speak.  

 

Our favorite line thus far has been Celebrity & we've done 2 trips with them-  One Mediterranean, the other Eastern Caribbean.  Both were great.  We've also done 1 Princess cruise (Golden Princess, Transatlantic), but that was several years ago.  We're thinking of taking a 7 nighter out of Galveston within the next 4 to 6 weeks & might take another look at Carnival.  I'll watch for your post-cruise comments on the Mardi Gras!  Hope it's a great trip!  

[CptBoatface]

Ran around on NCL with her sister, Oceania. Appreciated it a lot and will shamelessly do it again.  The Admiral is fond of the cruise next deals and we keep orbiting NCL. Debated Seabourn for some specialized itineraries, but  dining times there are pushing my bedtime. 😄

[Sailing12Away]

15 hours ago, oteixeira said:

Was this "Mary" cute, and did she have an upside down pineapple on her door?  LOL

I have zero interest in getting to know Mary that well enough to find out. My luck with cooties on September trips is 0% so I'm staying very clear of her and her pineapples.

 

11 hours ago, scottca075 said:

I wish everyone could do a Cunard transatlantic cruise at least once. The only thing cooler than a picture of your teen sons dressed in a tuxedo for dinner is a picture of your teen grandsons dressed in a tuxedo for dinner.

Funny - this is the exact reason why we would never ever sail a Cunard trip. Hubby has zero desire to try and pack a suite (let alone a tux) into a suitcase for one night of wear. Not our style at all, not our preference for vacations at all, not something we find joy in doing. So for us, that's one of the primary reasons we keep going back to NCL because folks that want to do that stuff can and we will compliment them each night we see them, but we'll be fine in our flippy floppies and shorts.

[gymbomb]

I also really like Princess. The biggest downsides to me are packing "real" clothes for dinner, and that they don't sail from my closest/most convenience departure ports.

[wolft927]

3 minutes ago, gymbomb said:

I also really like Princess. The biggest downsides to me are packing "real" clothes for dinner, and that they don't sail from my closest/most convenience departure ports.

I do like Princess as well. the downside for me is there drink package. It sets a limit of 15 per day. Now I know that is a lot for some people, but on a sea day where i start will bloody marys in the monring and up until 11 or 12 at night we have run out before. 

[gymbomb]

Just now, wolft927 said:

I do like Princess as well. the downside for me is there drink package. It sets a limit of 15 per day. Now I know that is a lot for some people, but on a sea day where i start will bloody marys in the monring and up until 11 or 12 at night we have run out before. 

 

We don't even get the "free" drink package on NCL because we don't drink enough to come out ahead paying the gratuities on the package, so this is definitely not a problem for us 🙂

[KeepCalmBearOn]

3 hours ago, Sailing12Away said:

Funny - this is the exact reason why we would never ever sail a Cunard trip. Hubby has zero desire to try and pack a suite (let alone a tux) into a suitcase for one night of wear. Not our style at all, not our preference for vacations at all, not something we find joy in doing. So for us, that's one of the primary reasons we keep going back to NCL because folks that want to do that stuff can and we will compliment them each night we see them, but we'll be fine in our flippy floppies and shorts.

 

I am a born and bred beach boy, raised on the beaches of Hawaii and So Cal. I hate wearing suits, which I do every day for work, and I am not all that fond of socks, let alone shoes. When i am not working, I am in shorts every day, even in Winter, such as it is here in So Cal. I like being casual, but I do like to dress, when appropriate.

 

I raised three boys at the beach in So Cal and now have five grandsons being raised at the beach. Seeing them in something besides a wetsuit and bathing suits is a more joyous event then I ever imagined. More important, having them understand that there is a time and place to abandon wetsuits and bathing suits and dress-up is a lesson well learned. My DW was very happy none of our boys got married in bathing suits, but chose traditional.

 

If you've never done a transatlantic with seven days at sea, dressing up is something great to break-up the day and seeing everyone in their finest is nice.

[cruiseny4life]

53 minutes ago, scottca075 said:

If you've never done a transatlantic with seven days at sea, dressing up is something great to break-up the day and seeing everyone in their finest is nice.

Thankfully my Transatlantic was on NCL where my husband and I were able to don our finest sneakers, athletic shorts, and t-shirts for dinner. We purposely don't go to Le Bistro, because of the upscale dress code (I know, it's just pants and a shirt). But, that's because we have jobs where we are dressed up every day. No way are we going to spend our vacation time in the same clothes as we work in. 

 

At our wedding, we were dressed in shorts (not athletic haha) and short sleeve casual button up shirts. Same as our guests. Since, we've attended weddings - in jeans, sneakers and a button up. We are not dress up people, unless it's absolutely required (and then I'll do anything I can to get out of whatever event it is). We had a Christmas party a couple years ago at work at a fancy private club in the city. I stayed for exactly 15 minutes which was the exact amount of time it took for my boss to see you. I peaced out and went home to my dogs and husband. 

 

But hey, if you enjoy dressing up, then have at it! It's NCL. And they won't say anything at all about you. I'll dress up when I go on Cunard, by the way. We do plan to take a Queen's Grill suite at some point in our life and I'll be finding the most ostentatious way to be within the dress code. I'm sure more than a few will stare at my top hat, monocle, and cane accessories. Might even get the ole pocket watch out of wherever it is in the house. 

[bkrickles1]

2 hours ago, wolft927 said:

I do like Princess as well. the downside for me is there drink package. It sets a limit of 15 per day. Now I know that is a lot for some people, but on a sea day where i start will bloody marys in the monring and up until 11 or 12 at night we have run out before. 

A person after my own heart!

I, too, start with bloody mary's in the morning, switch to beer in the afternoon and then G&T's in the evening sprinkled with beer. Lmao!!

15 drink limit is for light weights!!  Lmao, just kidding. To each his own!!

[Travelling2Some]

Back when I was young and glamorous, I enjoyed dressing up.  I'd pack matching shoes and jewelry for every outfit and bring two formal gowns.  We could only take short cruises back then because of work and children so any vacation time we managed to get was very special.  Times (and airline baggage fees) have changed.  Now we are retired, the kids are grownups and we take month-long trips that usually "sandwich" a cruise between two land trips.  No way are we dragging very limited use clothing through train stations in Europe and Asia.  Color coordinated and carry-on only are now our watchwords.

[Russiamomm]

Have been an NCL cheerleader for years.  But I’m not married to the line.  In the last 18 months we’ve done Virgin three times, one Carnival and one RCL.  Will never set foot on another Carnival ship.  RCL of the price is right (i.e. a casino comp).  I could live on a Virgin ship.  Love everything about it. We’re also booked on Cunard and Oceania this summer.  Anxious to try both.  But our “Go To” continues to be NCL. Always feel at home on an NCL ship.  

Edited January 31 by Russiamomm

[bkrickles1]

22 minutes ago, cruiseny4life said:

Thankfully my Transatlantic was on NCL where my husband and I were able to don our finest sneakers, athletic shorts, and t-shirts for dinner. We purposely don't go to Le Bistro, because of the upscale dress code (I know, it's just pants and a shirt). But, that's because we have jobs where we are dressed up every day. No way are we going to spend our vacation time in the same clothes as we work in. 

 

At our wedding, we were dressed in shorts (not athletic haha) and short sleeve casual button up shirts. Same as our guests. Since, we've attended weddings - in jeans, sneakers and a button up. We are not dress up people, unless it's absolutely required (and then I'll do anything I can to get out of whatever event it is). We had a Christmas party a couple years ago at work at a fancy private club in the city. I stayed for exactly 15 minutes which was the exact amount of time it took for my boss to see you. I peaced out and went home to my dogs and husband. 

 

But hey, if you enjoy dressing up, then have at it! It's NCL. And they won't say anything at all about you. I'll dress up when I go on Cunard, by the way. We do plan to take a Queen's Grill suite at some point in our life and I'll be finding the most ostentatious way to be within the dress code. I'm sure more than a few will stare at my top hat, monocle, and cane accessories. Might even get the ole pocket watch out of wherever it is in the house. 

I did the dress up thing for many years on cruises, as required back then.

Have the pictures to prove it. Lmao 🤣

We, as a family, decided to make the switch to NCL to get away from the dressing up and the fixed dining, which was also starting to get on our nerves.

Did a whole cruise back in 2020 without pants. Shorts, deck shoes and casual button down shirts.

I started bringing jeans after that as I'm getting older and colder. Lol!

Very happy with our decision. 

[Jetswdo]

I like NCL best for food choices and entertainment.  I like Princess best for having self service laundry on board--I used to really like Celebrity for their food choices, but they closed my favorite venues  and I don't like their entertainment of late----I like RC for their soda machines convenience----- I don't like NCL if you really are booking for specific ports and itinerary- Princess has been the most reliable with overall enough time at each port.  But their food is inconsistent from ship to ship and sailing to sailing.

I will be on a really bad itinerary for a future Alaska cruise, because for that cruise I just wanted to try out NCL Bliss.  It is only a week, so I can manage without self service laundry, I just want great food, great shows, and the Haven experience (although we booked the cheapest Haven cabin we could find.

It was only a short flight for us, so NCL was the way to go for that.     We found the best itinerary for a New England/Canada cruise for us on a Princess ship-- where the food is not going to be very good, according to reviews.  But the itinerary is most important for us for that cruise and no way was I going to leave it in the hands of NCL.  The itinerary will be pretty secure, I can pack reasonably light since every few days I can run a quick wash and dry on board. Don't care about entertainment on that ship.

Will eat off the ship as much as possible to make it work.

 

[KeepCalmBearOn]

Gotta love New Yorkers.

 

Many years ago when I was staying at the Mayfair Regent, Le Cirque was the in house restaurant and Daniel Boulud was its executive chef. At breakfast I was sent back to my room to get my suit coat because they refused to seat me without it; suit bottom, dress shirt and tie wasn't enough.

 

I don't like getting dressed up since I do it every day for work, but I'd never consider wearing shorts at the Met.

[zqvol]

If I’m not on NCL, then I’m on one of the luxury lines

[oteixeira]

6 hours ago, scottca075 said:

I like being casual, but I do like to dress, when appropriate.

 

 

If you've never done a transatlantic with seven days at sea, dressing up is something great to break-up the day and seeing everyone in their finest is nice.

Left in the important bits (on quoting you). Different strokes for different folks for us as well.  When I started in my industry I was forced to wear 3 piece suits even though I was working under raised floors and in computer cabinets all day.  I own a nice tux, it fits me well, I hate to wear it.  My goal in life is mainly to be comfy and never dress up if I can avoid it.  Like I said, we have different thoughts on it, so no worries, but this is exactly why I would never sail Cunard.  I want to do a transatlantic, but they need to accept me and my shorts or we won't have a nice time.

 

:D  

I am glad their are lines for both of us!  That is what is great about cruising, there is a line for everyone, we just need to seek them out.