NCL vs Other Cruise Lines

[kruzergal]

Okay, so everybody will probably hate me, but NCL let us down on this last cruise to the Mexican Riviera. Don't get me wrong - we saw some beautiful things, met some incredible people & had fun, but the Star & it's crew just didn't live up to our first cruise on the Spirit.

 

So, here is our dilema....

 

I never give a company only one or two chances, I always go three & go with the third impression if there was a previous tie! Should we go on NCL Dream on the Texarribean cruise in October or try another cruiseline?

 

I've been doing some reading on Carnival & Princess & for the most part, it sounds as if they are also doing the Freestyle thing....do you experienced cruisers believe this to be true?

 

We're in our late 30's, early 40's - married, no children & not "partiers", however we're not ones for going to bed at 10 pm either. We love the comedians, "Broadway" productions & magic shows that were offered on the Star - not to mention our personal favorite, Jeff Trachta's performance.

 

Any guidance? Thanks!!!

 

Tracey

[$40dailycruiser]

kruzergal,

Carnival, all the way.

You guys more or less have our same profile, we have crusied many cruiselines and find Carnival are true to their motto "FUN SHIPS".

If you are considering that particular cruise destination, keep in mind it tends to be one that is continously heavily-discounted, so take my advice, BOOK LAST MINUTE, BOOK LAST MINUTE. sAVE YOURSELF A BUNDLE AND BOOKLAST MINUTE.

happy cruising.

[dmm]

kruzergal,

Carnival, all the way.

You guys more or less have our same profile, we have crusied many cruiselines and find Carnival are true to their motto "FUN SHIPS".

If you are considering that particular cruise destination, keep in mind it tends to be one that is continously heavily-discounted, so take my advice, BOOK LAST MINUTE, BOOK LAST MINUTE. sAVE YOURSELF A BUNDLE AND BOOKLAST MINUTE.

happy cruising.

 

Can't be "Poofed" for that! Jeeeesh $40's you went and had MY thread "Poofed" You must behave yourself! :rolleyes:

[lvtotrvl1]

Carnival does not have freestyle dining. They have restaurants you can pay a surcharge for, but the remaining dining is the same as most cruiselines. I love Carnival, but I do love the freestyle dining NCL has. I am sorry you were not completly happy with your NCL experience.

[DroopySails]

No freestyle on Carnival, just a surcharge restaurant or two. Otherwise, it has regimented dinner times with that boot-camp feeling.

 

Princess, on the other hand, has "anytime" dining, so you can choose either traditional dining in one main dining room or elect to go to dinner anytime you want in a separate main dining room. You must choose one option or the other for the whole cruise, but I believe you can switch your choice once during the cruise (but not switch back).

 

Princess also has surcharge restaurants, but the number of them varies from ship to ship. If you book on a ship with only one specialty restaurant, the main dining room and the buffet, you might not feel very freestylin'. A few of the smaller Princess ships require you to do traditional dining.

 

We plan to try Princess soon, but will be sure to select a ship that has a lot of dining options.

[$40dailycruiser]

Can't be "Poofed" for that! Jeeeesh $40's you went and had MY thread "Poofed" You must behave yourself! :rolleyes:

 

:) Dmm,

I was the sbject of your thread, afterall! LOL :)

kruzergal, as the others said, freestyle dining can have its advantages, IF YOU manage to get a table at the time YOU want. But if dining at set times in not a big issue for you, as I said, consider Carnival.

 

Unlike NCL, on Carnival you can get somnething to eat even late into the nite/early morning. Something is always open that overlaps 24 hours a day when you can get food. Just in case your set-time dinner gets you hungry again at like 2am! lol but true

 

And btw, what's the use of having a freestyle dining experience if THE EXPERIENCE AIN'T SOMETHING YOU WRITE HOME ABOUT.

[$40dailycruiser]

,,,,

[dmm]

,,,,

 

Funny...those little ,,,,,, look like "hooks" Almost as though U'r trying to "lure" a prospective pyromaniac into another brush fire! :rolleyes:

BUT....Naaaah!...U wouldn't do that!

[Hikini]

We have loved every cruise on NCL and will keep coming back again and again because of their service to us. Freestyle is absolutely what it's advertised to be, and as far as we are concerned, there is no other way. And freestyle IS something to write home about.

 

As far as the Dream - I don't know about it because I have not been on it, but I think it is one of the older ships. I'm not sure it was designed for freestyle. Someone else could give you better details on that.

 

Have fun!

Hikini:D

[logcabin]

We, too, are NCL loyalists. We have sailed CCL and thought their staff seemed VERY overworked. Our poor room steward looked as if he was going to fall over at any momement, no mater what time of the day or night it was. The ship was fine (Triumph) but a little "over the top" for us. I hated that you had to work through the smokey, crowded casino anytime you went to dinner. I felt the service was lacking and was just under whelmed.

 

We cruised RCCL and enjoyed it more. Smaller ship (Nordic Empress) to Bermuda. Service was OK, etc.

 

Then 3 years ago we sailed on NCL Dawn. We were up-sold to a Penthouse Suite. We were hooked! LOVED going to dinner anytime we wanted. LOVED not having to sit with strangers. LOVED having a choice of 10 different places to eat. LOVED the service, crew and extra pampering that came with the suite. Last year, we booked the Dawn again in the same suite.. LOVED IT AGAIN.. This July 22nd, we're booked on the Spirit in a Penthouse Suite and can't wait.

 

I keep reading all these bad reviews about NCL. I just don't get it sometimes. OK, reviews of ships we haven't siled is one thing. But, to read bad reviews about the Dawn or Spirit is weird to me. We have NEVER had a bad experience with NCL. Always enjoyed our cruises. We'll continue to sail NCL as long as we are happy with our cruises with them. They have been good to us, so we will be loyal to them..

[Redsgj]

Kruzergal, just thought I'd point out that Princess does have anytime dining which we did and it worked fine BUT they do NOT have "freestyle dressing". They have two formal nights in a seven day cruise which you must comply with if you are going to eat in the dining rooms or in the surcharge restaurants. If dressing up is something you enjoy, then Princess could be for you. If not, I think you might want to reconsider NCL (we are thinking about trying it for the first time next year!).

[ute_fan]

It might be hepful if you gave a little more detail about how the Star "let you down" on your last cruise. Without knowing what the issues were, it's going to be really hard for anyone to say whether or not you'd enjoy the Dream.

 

As mentioned, the Dream is one of NCL's older ships. While I've never been on either the Star or the Dream, the Dream won't have the wider variety of alternative restaurants from the Star. What in particular are you looking for that you didn't get on the Star?

[Seabreez]

We have experienced 16 past cruises on Carnival, Princess and Royal Caribbean since 1994. I wanted to try the freestyle experience so we cruised on the Star 4/26 (same date as Kruzergal).

Embarkation/debarkation process - excellent.

Mini-suite cabin - excellent.

Entertainment - Music of the Night (music of Andrew Lloyd Webber) was just plain boring but the 2nd production show It's Fame was better. Enjoyed Stan Sykes and John Pinney, and the Fallon Magic show. Jeff Trachta in Concert

and Cirque Pacific were most enjoyable.

Food - This is where the letdown was. Breakfast in the Versailles each morning was fine and the 1st meal at Versailles the night of the 26th was

excellent. After that the food (and only our opinion) just did not match up to the other 16 cruises. I know we should have made reservations at the pay restaurants but I thought as each nite went by perhaps things would change.

Oh yes, the fish & chips were fine but the macaroni/cheese that was served to us there was horrible. The Market Cafe was loud and it reminded us of a school cafeteria.

You can bash me all you want but part of cruising is enjoying a TASTY dinner at the end of the day and Versailles menu did not accomplish that after the 1st night's menu of prime rib. We never have used the specialty restaurants on other cruise lines and we were expecting NCL to be the same.

[PhilBiker]

I keep reading all these bad reviews about NCL. I just don't get it sometimes. OK, reviews of ships we haven't siled is one thing. But, to read bad reviews about the Dawn or Spirit is weird to me.

I know exactly what you mean. I am researching the Spirit for an upcoming cruise. I just read two reviews of the exact same sailing by two people. One was extremely negative, the next was very positive. Makes me scratch my head. My wife and I are about 98% decided that we're going to be on the Spirit in August floating out of New York. We'll make up our own minds. We only have one cruise experience, 2002 aboard RCCL"Voyager of the Seas" which we liked a whole lot.

 

Then again, when we were on "Voyager" some of the people at our table thought the food was some of the best they'd ever had (Outback/Applebies/Bennigan's regulars maybe?), I thought the food was adequate, but nowhere near extraordinary. These people were fawning over it.

 

The Freestyle Dining concept is intriguing but I'm not sure it's exactly for us. Our favorite nights on the "Voyager" were the formal nights. We love dressing up, I bought my wife a beautiful dress specifically for the cruise, and I love to wear my tuxedo.

[newmexicoNita]

Okay, so everybody will probably hate me, but NCL let us down on this last cruise to the Mexican Riviera. Don't get me wrong - we saw some beautiful things, met some incredible people & had fun, but the Star & it's crew just didn't live up to our first cruise on the Spirit.

 

So, here is our dilema....

 

I never give a company only one or two chances, I always go three & go with the third impression if there was a previous tie! Should we go on NCL Dream on the Texarribean cruise in October or try another cruiseline?

 

I've been doing some reading on Carnival & Princess & for the most part, it sounds as if they are also doing the Freestyle thing....do you experienced cruisers believe this to be true?

 

We're in our late 30's, early 40's - married, no children & not "partiers", however we're not ones for going to bed at 10 pm either. We love the comedians, "Broadway" productions & magic shows that were offered on the Star - not to mention our personal favorite, Jeff Trachta's performance.

 

Any guidance? Thanks!!!

 

Tracey

I think the issue here probably is, where did NCL let you down? Was it just the crew didn't seem as good as on the Spirit? I think we all judge a line or an experience by our first one. I don't know how many times you have cruised, but obviously the Spirit was your first NCL cruise. Maybe you were expecting a little too much, who knows? That being said, as a TA I will tell you what I tell my clients about the Dream. She is a smaller ship and older. Originally she wasn't designed for freestyle so will not offer the alternative dining options. You will have a few, but nothing like the Spirit or the Star. As for cabin size, I can't comment, but they certainly will not be huge. That being said, the entertainment will should be wonderful, the clientele will be mostly mid western and southwest thus very friendly. (this isn't to say passengers from other parts of the country are not friendly) I am just saying the attitudes will be a little more relaxed. Of course you will not have a balcony if you are accustome to one unless you pay through the nose as they have few balcony cabins.

 

Of course I imagine you are taking the price into consideration. That being said, if it were me and you know what to expect I would give it a try. Do remember it will not be the same experience as you have had in the past. NMNita

[Jett456]

If the main reason you like to cruise is to eat and dress up while on vacation, then do Celebrity. More expensive yes, but there is that element of elegance missing on NCL and Carnival, and the food is better. I had some truly memorable meals on the Horizon. If you want to party and eat decent food then do Carnival. It was lots of fun but I can't remember any dinner that stands out for me. NCL is for those that being casual is more important as well as a nice vacation and decent food to eat. I had some lousy meals but also some good ones. I haven't experienced RCI or Princess (yet):) My next cruise is on the Sun in July and I can't wait!!!

[ADPeterson]

Ok , I’m getting ready to sail on the Star next Week. I have spent the past month trying to research as much information on NCL and Alaska as I can. We sailed the Disney Magic last summer and had a wonderful time. I’m very excited about this cruise and when I get home I will share my positive or negative experience with you all.

If I like it I’ll stick around and book a new cruise with NCL. If I don’t, I will let you know what I didn’t like, after all that is what this forum is all about. What I will not do is stick around posting nonsense, acting like a child, challenging other posters and wasting other peoples time.

$40Cruiser you have spoke your mind. I’m sure I would enjoy Carnival as well. When I decide to sail on a Carnival ship I will head over to that thread and you can tell me all about it. You loose credibility when everything is so negative.

I know, I know. I should just keep my mouth shut. I’m in vacation mode and today alone I have read so much from one person that it is starting to put me in a bad mood.

[kruzergal]

Wow...thanks for all the advice!!

 

NewMexicoNita, we agree with you....we were thinking that since our first cruise was so great (on the Spirit) perhaps we did have those same expectations on the Star. How were we let down? Well, on a daily basis - something new happened - the shore excursions overbooked by NCL in Acapulco & we don't have seats on the bus & end up being taken somewhere in a privately owned pick up w/somebody we don't know, attempting to order room service only to be put on automatic callback & watching an entire movie prior to the callback being made, answering & having the phone go dead when you're "next in line" hence making room service nonexistent, or something as simple as getting a glass of iced tea at the buffet during the afternoon of sailing & there is no ice or the tea machines are out. This is a sampling of the little things that just didn't happen on our first cruise - they are little, but when we had several of these little things happen on a daily basis - well, you know...it adds up. :(

 

We are simple people - we actually clean up after ourselves in the buffet, make our own bed on the ship, don't expect too much from those working & actually left an extra tip for our room stewards. We're not big dress up people, not high maintenance at all - pretty much down to earth, so I don't think we have overly high expectations of anybody....simply, we just had a bad cruise *for us* & that's why we never judge something based on once or twice.

 

I never DREAMED I wouldn't be smiling ear to ear after a cruise & in fact, often wondered about people who weren't completely relaxed, happy & content after returning from their vacations. Now I understand.

 

I guess we'll see what happens if we go on the Dream in October! (It is soooo reasonably priced & does have some beautiful ports!! I've always wanted to go to Belize!!)

 

Thanks again everybody for your ideas & please keep them coming!!!

 

Tracey

[BILLP1]

I would choose NCL but after saying that ,we would probably not sail again on either cruise line.

 

If you care about food quality ,look at the higher end cruise lines. If it is a family vacation and you don't care what they serve you and you usually eat at chain restaurants at home then stick with NCL.

 

NCL can be very expensive for drinks on board .

[Hikini]

kruzergal - you sound just like our kind of people. We are simple, down to earth and just like to relax and have fun. Our first cruise with NCL was on the Sky (now the Pride of Aloha) and we had such a fabulous experience, we booked another NCL cruise months later on the Star. We had an even better experience on the Star. Same thing when we went on the Spirit. Fabulous, personal service, and we have always felt the food was good to very good and excellent at times.

 

We are going on the Star again in a month and I'm SO looking forward to it.

 

I'm sure that you're not being overly picky or anything of the sort, and I don't doubt that you have had the experiences that you speak of. I'm just happy to say, that at least for now, we are thrilled with everything about NCL. I'm hoping this next cruise is just as good as the rest. I would say 'even better' but I don't know how they could get much better than the last cruises have been!

 

Everyone has their own ideas of what the perfect vacation is, and I'm convinced that no matter how perfect it is, some people will NEVER have a good time. (I'm not speaking about you, kruzergal - just some of the negative reviews we've read in the past.)

 

Have fun!

Hikini:D

[newmexicoNita]

If the main reason you like to cruise is to eat and dress up while on vacation, then do Celebrity. More expensive yes, but there is that element of elegance missing on NCL and Carnival, and the food is better. I had some truly memorable meals on the Horizon. If you want to party and eat decent food then do Carnival. It was lots of fun but I can't remember any dinner that stands out for me. NCL is for those that being casual is more important as well as a nice vacation and decent food to eat. I had some lousy meals but also some good ones. I haven't experienced RCI or Princess (yet):) My next cruise is on the Sun in July and I can't wait!!!

you are right about the formality of Celebrity which is our second favorite line but as for price: we actually sailed them the first time as the price was lower for a balcony than NCL and the food on our first Celebrity cruise was much better, but our experience in Dec was a bit different. I think the meats were the best I have had on a cruise, but the rest was just like any other line. Food has gone down hill in the past 5 years, big time in the past 8 months. We have cruised 3 times since Sept; each time we have experienced just ok food. Certainly some has been wonderful and none really awful with a couple of exceptions, but 4 or 5 star NO WAY. NMNita

[newmexicoNita]

Wow...thanks for all the advice!!

 

NewMexicoNita, we agree with you....we were thinking that since our first cruise was so great (on the Spirit) perhaps we did have those same expectations on the Star. How were we let down? Well, on a daily basis - something new happened - the shore excursions overbooked by NCL in Acapulco & we don't have seats on the bus & end up being taken somewhere in a privately owned pick up w/somebody we don't know, attempting to order room service only to be put on automatic callback & watching an entire movie prior to the callback being made, answering & having the phone go dead when you're "next in line" hence making room service nonexistent, or something as simple as getting a glass of iced tea at the buffet during the afternoon of sailing & there is no ice or the tea machines are out. This is a sampling of the little things that just didn't happen on our first cruise - they are little, but when we had several of these little things happen on a daily basis - well, you know...it adds up. :(

 

We are simple people - we actually clean up after ourselves in the buffet, make our own bed on the ship, don't expect too much from those working & actually left an extra tip for our room stewards. We're not big dress up people, not high maintenance at all - pretty much down to earth, so I don't think we have overly high expectations of anybody....simply, we just had a bad cruise *for us* & that's why we never judge something based on once or twice.

 

I never DREAMED I wouldn't be smiling ear to ear after a cruise & in fact, often wondered about people who weren't completely relaxed, happy & content after returning from their vacations. Now I understand.

 

I guess we'll see what happens if we go on the Dream in October! (It is soooo reasonably priced & does have some beautiful ports!! I've always wanted to go to Belize!!)

 

Thanks again everybody for your ideas & please keep them coming!!!

 

Tracey

Little things do make a big difference and your attitude is right on. Never let one bad experience sour you, but certainly if you had another I would agree, find another line. There are reasons why so many cruise companies are sailing full or close to it. For each person there is a cruise line or a particular ship. BTW, I have clients sailing on the Dream in October.

This will be their second time on her. Even with a less than perfect situation last year they loved the ship so much they decided to try again. good luck. I don't think anyone will hate you for giving your honest opinion. It's those who rant and rave on forever with negative everything that get blasted on the threads. NMNita

[ute_fan]

Kruzergal -- Sorry your experience on the Star wasn't what you expected. I was just wondering, as the majority who sailed on her (at least in Mexico) have seemed to enjoy it.

 

While I haven't been on the Dream, we did the "old" Texaribbean itinerary twice on the Sea. The Sea is probably fairly comparable to the Dream, as it was the oldest ship in the NCL fleet at the time, and wasn't designed for freestyle cruising. We had a blast -- as evidenced by our return trip. Belize is probably our favorite port -- but if you read through the message boards, there are several people who don't like it either. We've also been on the Sun, which is a little older and smaller than the Star, but designed for freestyle. We enjoyed it too, but my son actually made the comment after going on the Sun first, and then the Sea, that he thought he preferred the Sea. A little smaller, less people, even though the ship itself wasn't as fancy. Now, admittedly, neither of these is the Dream or the Star, but it can provide a comparison to the older/newer ships of the NCL fleet.

 

I think a lot of it depends on the crew that you happen to get. We've been lucky, so far, and had wonderful service on all 3 of our cruises. To be honest, I think we found the crew on the Sea to be a little more friendly and outgoing than the crew on the Sun, but the Sun was good too. Our 3rd cruise, 2nd on the Sea, was probably the best service. Excellent cabin steward and great dining room staff.

 

As NMNita says, there seem to be a lot more complaints about the food lately, but I've read several posts on the boards of other lines with similar complaints. We have friends who cruised one week apart on the Dream in January. The first couple didn't like the changes to the menus at all. The second couple thought the food was wonderful as usual. Who's right and who's wrong? Hard to state when it's a matter of opinion.

 

Personally, I'd have no qualms about trying the Dream. I'm a little unhappy that Roatan has been dropped from the itinerary, but these things happen. Good luck on your planning!

[ebayer3030]

kruzergal,

Carnival, all the way.

You guys more or less have our same profile, we have crusied many cruiselines and find Carnival are true to their motto "FUN SHIPS".

If you are considering that particular cruise destination, keep in mind it tends to be one that is continously heavily-discounted, so take my advice, BOOK LAST MINUTE, BOOK LAST MINUTE. sAVE YOURSELF A BUNDLE AND BOOKLAST MINUTE.

happy cruising.

 

$40, how do you find last minute deals? I live in Canada, so I would need at least 12 hours to get to NYC, is that enough time?