What is NCL like?

[katiel53]

We did the NCL Star to Alaska two years ago. We had a mini-suite, which to me is considerably smaller than a mini-suite on RCI. I personally liked the idea of freestyle, but the dining room service was the absolute pits. I think it had a lot to do with the tips being added to the onboard charges.

 

Having said that, we went all the other restaurants with the exception of the Teppanyaki restaurant. We had wonderful service and great food. I loved the Italian restaurant and the Mexican one. Those were free. I thought the fish n chips were great in the 24 hours snack bar location.

 

One thing that NCL has that is outstanding is it's romance package. When we sailed it was $79 and included dinner for two in Le Bistro, a bottle of wine, canapés one or two nights and I think a bottle of Sparkling wine on boarding. RCI romance packages are far more expensive and don't include anywhere near as much.

 

I would sail NCL again if it were on a new(er) ship. My husband and I definitely like the freestyle, but the others we sail with, don't like it at all. I'm happy there are other cruise lines and although we love RCI and Celebrity, I still am open to trying something else.

[GrannyMouse]

We were on NCL in January and really enjoyed the cruise. We're doing another in '08 just for the Freestyle. The service and food were both great. We're on RCL the week so I can make a comparison. We did Princess to Alaska in '05. The service was great but not impressed with the food. Someone mentined the prepaid tips on NCL. I thought they were all prepaid.

[sea-cruise]

The itinerary was not to be believed. Greece, Egypt and Turkey.

 

That's the itinerary we did on the Dreamward (before she was stretched). They removed Egypt and substituted Israel because at that time Omar Gadafy had taken tourists hostage in Egypt, so we sat offshore while our Captain awaited word on what to do.

You're right. That area of the world is very interesting.

[ChampionCruiser]

I agree. Never again with NCL. We did the inaugaural season on the Pride of Aloha. It was the worse service we have ever received. The American crew did not know how to treat the passengers. Several of them were quitting and walking off at each port. As a result, everything suffered, food, cleanliness, etc.

We like RCL very much.

 

 

Like a previous poster mentioned, NCL and NCLA are not the same cruise line, so comparing the two would be like comparing RCCL with X (same company, totally different experience)

 

Why don't you post this question on the NCL board? I'm sure you will get way more positive results (believe it or not, some people do prefer NCL over RCCL)

[big al]

I have done 17 cruises,5 RCI,5 Carnival,2 NCL and here's my take:

 

Best food was on the NCL ships BY FAR,not the dining room,but specialty venues that now cost $15-20..

NCL has better production shows..

Cabins smaller on NCL,but OK...

Freedom/Voyager ships are tops (IMO) in cruising

We are booked on the RCI Liberty Nov.10th,Navigator Mar.1,and the NCL Jewel next New Year's Eve,Dec.'08

Love Freestyle concept because I can eat WHEN I want,with WHOM I want,dress like I want,and don't feel compelled to discuss my life with 2 waiters I'll never see again or tablemates,who maybe nice,but also I'll probably never see again...

I know somebody who says his whole life is very structured,both at work & at home,so on his vacation he likes some freedom & variety.That's why he cruises NCL alot...

 

If you try NCL,learn to to do the anytime dining thing.Most do NOT understand it,then hate it.We ate FOUR times in one of 11 restaurants on NCL and all 4 were terrific -in fact they were,and still are,the best 4 meals at sea we've ever had......

 

Big Al

[KKeeganS]

I prefer RCI, but would definitely sale NCL again based on price and itinerary. Any-time dining makes a nice change. On our last cruise, we stuck to basically khakis and capris, didn't "dress up", ate at a table for two every meal and really just relaxed.

 

The food is better on RCI, as is the entertainment. We did love having the specialty restaurants on NCL, where the food and service were excellent. Service is good on both lines, with an edge to RCI. I did notice that the spa on NCL didn't give me the hardcore sales pitch as they do on RCI, which was a nice treat.

 

If the price and itinerary are right, I say go for it!

[emilygrace]

I don't agree with the posters who say that NCL and RCL are similar. I just sailed on NCL in January on a brand new ship (Pearl), and I doubt I would sail with them again unless the price was rock bottom and the itinerary was unique.

 

I have heard others rave about the bathrooms on this class of ship, but maybe it was just our cabin (balcony), but I could barely comb my hair in there! Had to open the sliding doors to the shower and commode to do this. Entire cabin was smaller than the standard balcony cabins on Radiance class ships, which are about the same size overall as the Pearl.

 

And the tips are NOT included in the price of the cruise, but they will automatically be put on your onboard account. No choices there. The service was just ok, lots of mistakes, but I chalked that up to it being a new ship with a lot of new crew. The cabin steward seemed to be VERY overextended, with 32 cabins to take care of.

 

My last thing is a totally personal issue, but I thought the decor was horrendous on the Pearl. Not only the color schemes, but the furniture too. For example, in the Bliss Lounge (where the bowling alley is) there are chairs and instead of sofas, there are 4 poster beds!!! What's with that???

[gemsm]

I have been on Carnival, RCI, and NCL.

 

I base my opinions on atmosphere of the ships. I found Carnival to live up to there reputation as "the fun ships" as everyone on board seemed to be most interested in partying. If you are 20 something you will love it. Any older and you won't be able to keep up.

 

I find NCL to be the most relaxed of the 3. Freestyle means no dressing up unless you want to, eat when it is convenient, and do your own thing.

 

RCI has the best food and service but I found them to be the stuffiest of the 3 lines. I enjoy it just as much but feel a little out of my element on RCI as I am much more laid back then the average passenger makeup.

 

I have yet to find a cruise that I didn't like :)

[cruiser82]

I usually cruise NCL and for me the two lines are comparable but NCL has a slight edge. My mother and I travel together and we love the configuration of the AB suite which has the master bedroom and bathroom for her plus an additional smaller bedroom and bathroom for me. This configuration also comes in the form of the A3 suite which as another poster mentioned allows access to the Courtyard which we really enjoy. I know that Royal has the Royal Family Suite which is similar but I think there's a minimum number of guests for that room so we wouldn't be able to book it. We always travel in suites and we feel that NCL provides better perks and service at that level than Royal.

 

I'm pretty easy to please when it comes to food so I can't really give that advantage to one line over the other because I think they're both good (and they both have great caesar salads) but I do love the lemonade on Royal.

 

I will say that one of the main things that gives NCL the edge for me is Freestyle cruising. We like being able to choose when and with whom we eat. We've never had problems getting reservations or waiting long for tables but that could either be because we only needed a table for two or because the concierge pre-arranged it for us. I don't mind dressing for dinner but my mom likes the option of not having to dress up if she doesn't feel like it that day.

 

I also have the NCL mastercard and agree that it's a great card to have. Since I don't have any major bills I don't accumulate points as quickly as most people but since I charge EVERYTHING (gas, groceries, clothes, etc) I'm slowly earning points.

 

I do think that Royal has some great itineraries and fantastic ships. I haven't been on one of the bigger ships but I hope to soon because I would love to see the Royal Promenade, ice skating, etc.

[dizliz]

We have sailed NCL twice. Both times on the Dawn. Don't know if it's fleet wide, but, we found the Dawn very enjoyable and loved the "Free-style" dining. It's like choosing a nice restaurant at home...what do you feel like eating tonite?...Oriental, Steak house, Italian, French, etc. Enjoyed the entertainment and think the bathrooms are great.

 

Katie is right about the Romance Package. In addition it includes chocolate covered strawberries waiting in your stateroom when you board and a party with cake and chanpagne where they take your picture that is also included in the $79. If you do NCL...do the Romance Package, even if you aren't celebrating anything!:)

 

That said...I prefer Royal. Love their ships and I like to dress up. But, I wouldn't hesitate to sail NCL again. It's a different experience and we really enjoyed it. We like trying different lines and ships. Fun to see what all is out there.

 

And...Cruiser82 is right...they both have GREAT ceasar salads.

 

Give NCL a try. It's worth it.

[AZDCruiser]

Like a previous poster mentioned, NCL and NCLA are not the same cruise line, so comparing the two would be like comparing RCCL with X (same company, totally different experience)

 

Why don't you post this question on the NCL board? I'm sure you will get way more positive results (believe it or not, some people do prefer NCL over RCCL)

 

 

I have been on the NCL board, but I posted this question on the RCI board for the purpose of seeing how RCI "loyalists" view NCL. I prefer RCI over Carnival so far, so I wanted to see what "like minded" cruisers think of NCL. That's all.

Someone asked why I was thinking of cruising on NCL since I know I like RCI...I just wanted to see what else is out there..why not? I am interested in the freestyle dining concept and some of the new ships are very pretty (the villas are so neat!) and the itineraries/dates are different too. Just to see what else was out there. Glad I sparked a conversation :p

[cruiser82]

I have been on the NCL board, but I posted this question on the RCI board for the purpose of seeing how RCI "loyalists" view NCL. I prefer RCI over Carnival so far, so I wanted to see what "like minded" cruisers think of NCL. That's all.

Someone asked why I was thinking of cruising on NCL since I know I like RCI...I just wanted to see what else is out there..why not? I am interested in the freestyle dining concept and some of the new ships are very pretty (the villas are so neat!) and the itineraries/dates are different too. Just to see what else was out there. Glad I sparked a conversation :p

 

The villas are really great. I've never stayed in the Garden Villa (our Courtyard Suite was big enough for two of us, the GV would have been too much!) but a couple from our roll call was kind enough to host a party there and it was beautiful. The courtyard really does create a private ship within a ship experience and is great for when you want to relax away from the crowds (and not fight the chair hogs!) The only "problem" with it is that the private pool is tiny but it wasn't a problem for me since I didn't use it. I hope you give NCL a try! :)

[SA Traveler]

We take our ten year old grandchildren on a trip of their choosing. Out last ten year old was two years ago and she wanted to go to Hawaii. Since NCL is the only line that goes there in school vacation time we went on the Pride of Aloha. While we prefer RCI we have no complaints about that cruise. She was allowed in the specialty restaurants and loved the Italian one. We couldn't have done that on RCI because of the age limit.

[DiamondPlusCruiser]

NCL was a great line back in the 80's.. but the "new" NCL is horrible.

The ships are decorated horribly-- picture a whore house furnished by IKEA :eek:

 

Their food, especially in the buffet and main dining room resembles some of the items served on Fear Factor.. their crew is not happy and that shows when it comes to service... actually a lot of NCL/Star cruises staff have abandoned ship and now work on RCI ships.

 

I hate Carnival, but would gladly sail CCL over NCL.

[Retired not Expired]

NCL was a great line back in the 80's.. but the "new" NCL is horrible.

The ships are decorated horribly-- picture a whore house furnished by IKEA :eek:

 

Their food, especially in the buffet and main dining room resembles some of the items served on Fear Factor.. their crew is not happy and that shows when it comes to service... actually a lot of NCL/Star cruises staff have abandoned ship and now work on RCI ships.

 

I hate Carnival, but would gladly sail CCL over NCL.

 

Since I've never seen a whore house, I'll leave that to you people that know what one looks like.

 

As far as the food and service, I find NCL and RCI to be comparable. I'll keep looking for all those unhappy crew members. I haven't found one yet but if you say they are there, I'll keep looking.:rolleyes:

[rolloman]

NCL was a great line back in the 80's.. but the "new" NCL is horrible.

The ships are decorated horribly-- picture a whore house furnished by IKEA :eek:

 

Their food, especially in the buffet and main dining room resembles some of the items served on Fear Factor.. their crew is not happy and that shows when it comes to service... actually a lot of NCL/Star cruises staff have abandoned ship and now work on RCI ships.

 

I hate Carnival, but would gladly sail CCL over NCL.

 

You must have had a bad marriage with an NCL employee. I can tell the OP straight up, if you try NCL go on one of the new jewel glass ships, like Pearl, Jewel or Gem. The food IMO blew away anything RCCL has. But that is no big secret, RCCL food rates worse than all of the lines, and that includes Carnival.

The ship has every ammenity you can think of except the ice rink, they replace that with a place called the Bliss lounge which is unique, it has a 4 lane bowling alley. IMO there is no way anyone can say with a straight face that the new NCL Jewel class ships rate lower than any other line. The differences are really not measureable.

[ILoveScotland]

So far I've been on 2 NCL cruises and 1 RCCL. The first was more or less accidental as I was looking for our first traditional ship cruise and found the Norwegian Majesty sailing out of Charleston and, thus, in driving distance. Last summer DH and were on the Dawn. And I was on the Brilliance in the fall.

 

To me it's a matter of itinerary as much as anything. And I do like freestyle but not enough for it to sway me to only go NCL. Right now we're booked on the Celebrity Galaxy, Serenade of the Seas and the Norwegian Jade which is currently the Pride of Hawaii. All have to do with itinerary. Maybe with more cruises I'll develop a strong affinity to one line.

[Travelitis]

For us NCL and RCI are equals. Everything varies ship to ship, but when it's line to line, Princess is a little above RCI and NCL to us, and Carnival was great for families but decor and entertainment were a step below. We had better food on Carnival than on RCI and NCL, but Carnival's cabins are roomier. RCI is not noted for cabin space. The only cabin we've had that was more cramped than RCI was on the Norway which was from the really old days of cruising. Our cabin was probably steerage, even though it had a porthole.

 

Mainstream lines are exactly that, mainstream. There's not a big difference between them, although they'd all like to carve out unique identities. Experiences will differ from ship to ship and week to week on the same ship. It's like comparing hotels or restaurants. Which is better: Marriot or Sheraton, Super 8 or Comfort Inn, Applebee's or Friday's, Chili's or Don Pablo's? There's a certain amount of inconsistency regardless of brand name. If you're comparing NCL and RCI, go for the best looking ship with the best itinerary and rate in the best cabin for the money, regardless of brand.

[ChampionCruiser]

I have been on the NCL board, but I posted this question on the RCI board for the purpose of seeing how RCI "loyalists" view NCL. I prefer RCI over Carnival so far, so I wanted to see what "like minded" cruisers think of NCL. That's all.

Someone asked why I was thinking of cruising on NCL since I know I like RCI...I just wanted to see what else is out there..why not? I am interested in the freestyle dining concept and some of the new ships are very pretty (the villas are so neat!) and the itineraries/dates are different too. Just to see what else was out there. Glad I sparked a conversation :p

 

Sorry, I didn't realize that you only wanted the opinion of die hard RCCL fans (even though I was surprised to read that many posters liked, if not favored, NCL)

 

By the way, I absolutly agree with your view of cruising (why not try something new, even if you like something already? There actually might be something better!) As you can see, I will be cruising for the first time w/ RCCL next summer, not because I have disliked any of my previous cruises (I have LOVED every one of them, especially NCL and Princess) but because I don't know if I will like RCCL better.

 

I like all cruise lines, but am loyal to none!:)

[sgttami]

NCL was a great line back in the 80's.. but the "new" NCL is horrible.

The ships are decorated horribly-- picture a whore house furnished by IKEA :eek:

 

Their food, especially in the buffet and main dining room resembles some of the items served on Fear Factor.. their crew is not happy and that shows when it comes to service... actually a lot of NCL/Star cruises staff have abandoned ship and now work on RCI ships.

 

I hate Carnival, but would gladly sail CCL over NCL.

 

 

We just found the ship (Spirit) to be gaudy, small, small, small cabins..(We had a balcony on Deck 11)..

 

The dining room food was terrible..and honestly, I'm not a complainer of food.!!

 

I was taken aback by the freestyle concept when you still had to book places that you chose to dine...and you had to book fast or they were sold out.

 

I don't know on Sunday where I "might" want to eat on Friday so the whole freestyle thing to me made no sense!!

 

And it was weird that formal was optional...I found it uncomfortable to be "formally" dressed on a formal night and sitting next to someone in jeans in Cagney's!!! (The food there was very good)..Eliminate formal and it might make more sense and that would be fine....

 

 

Pam

[Host Kewlguy]

Sorry, I didn't realize that you only wanted the opinion of die hard RCCL fans (even though I was surprised to read that many posters liked, if not favored, NCL)

 

By the way, I absolutly agree with your view of cruising (why not try something new, even if you like something already? There actually might be something better!) As you can see, I will be cruising for the first time w/ RCCL next summer, not because I have disliked any of my previous cruises (I have LOVED every one of them, especially NCL and Princess) but because I don't know if I will like RCCL better.

 

I like all cruise lines, but am loyal to none!:)

 

That's the right attitude. Try as many as you can and then decide which one you like best. You can't find two cruise lines more different than Celebrity and NCL yet we wouldn't hesitate to sail with either one. If the price and itinerary were right.

[AZDCruiser]

NCLPrincess, I'll be on the Mariner this December and I see you are going next summer -- I'll be sure to write up a review for you!

 

I don't know if I ONLY wanted "diehard RCI loyalists"..but I did want people who preferred RCI, like I do (so far atleast). I'm very surprised at the amount of cruisers here who did say nice things about NCL. I'm really considering it more.

 

I'm not too picky about food at all, so that isn't the biggest issue. I usually am partial to decor, layout, and service. Someone said the decor was horrible, but from what I've seen on the website it just seems to be very trendy..like a lot of the upscale bars downtown, etc.. Of cousre, I first choose based on the itinerary and dates of course!

 

Thanks everyone for your help....now comes the tough part...making the decision for next year's cruise..oh woe is me...:rolleyes:

[cs]

I'm going on my first RCI cruise in October so I can't compare RCI to NCL. But I can compare NCL & CCL.

 

Food - CCL wins, no doubt

Entertainment - CCL again

Orginization (shore excursions, etc.) - NCL

Cabin size - CCL

Suite perks - NCL (CCL has none)

Decor - tie - they're both tacky (lol)

 

But you can take this a step further by ship. Dawn vs. Spirit - Dawn wins. Miracle vs. Victory - Miracle wins.

 

I think you can find good and not so good on every cruise line. I'm not going to stop looking until I try them all - lol!

[sea-cruise]

We've tried 8 different cruiselines, and we really enjoyed each company and all of our cruises. Sure, there were a few blips along the way that bothered us, like the time we got blasted with black flakes of soot from the twin stacks of the Regent Sea, leaving NY harbor...:eek:... but no company is absolutely perfect. :)

[Sally Forth]

I LOVE RCI, have gone on one Carnival ship (not really my cup of tea), so I'm wondering where NCL falls? Is it more like Carnival or RCI? They have some pretty good deals on their website...

Just wondering what fellow Royal Caribbean travelers think of this line..?:rolleyes:

I've been on both. I prefer RCI. I don't mind Freestyle, as long as it's on a ship with a lot of specialty restaurants. However, it's not fun to wait in line for dinner, especially if you prefer a smaller table, and after port days, everyone seems to arrive for dinner at the same time.

 

Viv