From RCI to NCL?? Help!

[Cruisin Around]

Hi Everyone!

 

I’m turning to my Cruise Critic friends for your help again!

 

In the Pittsburgh area today, we had a high of 20 degrees, so after the baby & hubby went to bed, I turned on the internet to kill a little time before turning in myself.

 

We’ve been on 3 cruises so far (1 Celebrity & 2 RCI) and we’ve been hooked. I actually got pregnant on the last one (yay!!) and obviously we haven’t gone since, but this year we are really itching to go again. Since we are repeaters and get the coupon books & small gifts, we’ve always looked at RCI or Celebrity. I’m afraid to fly and it adds a huge hassle and expense, so I keep watching cruises out of Bayonne, but frankly, the prices so far have been less than enticing – especially since I’d be paying third person price for a 2.5 year old. The 3rd person rate is great if you get a suite or balcony, but we are economy insiders and the price for our son would basically be about $100 less than us. Before anyone gets their dander up, yes, yes, I know, he’s a soul, blah, blah, blah. OK, I accept it and I can justify it by saying if we keep going on cruises, once he’s 16 and eating enough for three men, it will have balanced out us paying $700 for probably 5 gallons of milk, 3 bananas and a bowl of mashed potatoes! But that’s beside the point. Here is my question – I “cruised” onto NCL’s site and to my great astonishment, we could take a cruise out of Philly for close to the price of one of us on RCL. Can anyone give me an opinion of NCL and if there was any reason why you wouldn’t “jump ship” to another line? The ship is the Majesty that I was looking at. We are active, but I can definitely live without the rock wall, ice skating and flo riders! I think I would miss the promenade but in this economy, I really can’t justify thousands extra so I can stroll down the middle of the ship and have pizza at midnight.

 

I really know nothing about NCL and plan on doing some research, but I wanted to see what you all thought. I am going to put something on the family threads too, but basically here I just want to know what my fellow RC’ers think of NCL & the ships, the Majesty mostly.

 

Thanks! You guys have been great in the past and I’m sure you will be again!

[robtulipe]

Good friends of ours, whom with we have cruised three times and just return from a Costa Rica vacantion with, went on the NCL Majesty to Bermuda three years back and said they wouldn't ever sail NCL, particularly on that ship, again. They indicated the ship, service and food was not up to what they've experienced on RC. It is NCL's oldest and smallest ship. Below are it's specs.

Ship Statistics

Year Built 1992

Stretched & Refurbished 1999

Refurbished 2004

Tonnage 40,876 tons

Registry Bahamas

Length 680 feet

Beam 90 feet

Passenger Capacity 1,462

Crew Size 653

Total Inside Cabins 250

Total Outside Cabins 479

Cabins & Suites w/ verandas 0

Suites 22

Maximum Occupancy per room 4

Age Restrictions One person must be 21 or older

Dinner Seatings 1

Seating Assignments Open

Dining Hours 5:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m.

Dining Room Dress Code Optional formal nights; no jeans, t-shirts or shorts during dinner.

[slotaddict]

I have cruised both RCL and NCL - I like them both. I think you will too. What ship is cruising out of PHilly - I don;t like to cruise out of Philly - the prices are too high and I believe the reason for this is that it takes them a very long time to get out of the Delaware River into the ocean - so they lose all that revenue with the shops and casinos.

Have you considered sailing out of NY- it will cost you approx 175.00 per wk to park your car on the dock - which is very safe. The newer ships of NCL cruise out of NY - and they have pretty good itinerarys.

Freestyle is different from cruising RCL and X - I enjoy it - we have never had a problem eating when we choose to.

 

The price out of Bayonne seems high to me as well - I don;t know what the rationale is when you can get a cruise out of NYC for less.

[slotaddict]

Good friends of ours, whom we have cruised three times with and just return from a Costa Rica vacantion with, went on the NCL Majesty to Bermuda three years back and said they wouldn't ever sail NCL, particularly on that ship, again. They indicated the ship, service and food was not up to what they've experienced on RC.

 

 

I Have never been on the Majesty but I am assuming it is an older ship. With NCL I would stick to the new ships -

[Cruisin Around]

We've gone out of Baltimore once and Bayonne twice, but Philly or Baltimore is closer to get for us and I just thought that would be easiest (especially Baltimore). I've been comparing leaving from Bayonne on RCI and the prices are still just too high.

[slotaddict]

Gina - what NCL ship sails from Philly???

[Cruisin Around]

Norwegian Majesty

[klfhngr]

We travel with family and friends, have sailed Carnival, RCL, Princess and Commodore. 2 years ago, I couldn't travel, but I sent my mother and aunt and a few of their friends on NCL. My aunt said NEVER, EVER, EVER again! My mother said it was ok. Whenever we sail RCL, they are both like, 'OMG, this is beautiful, we had a blast', yada yada yada. Not with NCL. I haven't been on NCL, so I can't compare......

[slotaddict]

The Majesty is an older ship = I would not book it - the older ships are not really set up for freestyle dining - apparantly from what I have read it causes alot of frustration and wasted time. Trying to be honest with you, since I do like NCL and would not hesitate to sail one of their ships.

[klfhngr]

The Majesty is an older ship = I would not book it - the older ships are not really set up for freestyle dining - apparantly from what I have read it causes alot of frustration and wasted time. Trying to be honest with you, since I do like NCL and would not hesitate to sail one of their ships.

 

Some of the older RCI ships looks a lot nicer than newer ships from other lines... I went on the Vision last year, I would've never guessed her age having not known what ship I was on. I wouldn't knock a ship over her age, try doing that to a woman ;)

[ma3]

I personally do not like NCL. Sailed on them once and never again. I do understand money is a factor. I would rather save up a little more money and sail RCI. Did not like the food, we ate in the specialty resturants every night and it cost us a lot of unplanned money.

[Got2Cruise]

I think you should crunch the numbers for the NCL Gem. Maybe you would have to drive to NY but it is a gorgeous new freestyle ship with all the speciality restaurants and bowling alley, lounges etc. The Majesty I would book if the price was very cheap and the itinerary was what I was looking for.

The Majesty is an older ship = I would not book it - the older ships are not really set up for freestyle dining - apparantly from what I have read it causes alot of frustration and wasted time. Trying to be honest with you, since I do like NCL and would not hesitate to sail one of their ships.

[wrp96]

What I would do is look for some of the Live from threads by Radio as I know he has done at least one Live From thread of Norwegian Majesty complete with pictures. He usually gives fair, in depth, commentary and you would be able to see for yourself. In fact, here's his latest thread http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=908129

[grand isle joe]

I personally do not like NCL. Sailed on them once and never again. I do understand money is a factor. I would rather save up a little more money and sail RCI. Did not like the food, we ate in the specialty resturants every night and it cost us a lot of unplanned money.

We feel the same way. Once was enough for us. NCL never again!

[madforcruising]

I´ve only sailed NCL once and that was on the (at that time) brand new NCL Dawn, especially designed for Freestyle.

 

It wasn´t a bad cruise and I never had a bad cruise, but it was my least favorable cruise from my list of cruises.

 

One of the gripes I had was Freestyle cruising, which I hated and which was a desaster. I don´t even want to imagine how much worse it must be on a ship not designed for it.

 

I´m not saying never again like many others, but as long as there are alternatives - no thank you. NCL is just way down my list and looked at only once everything else has failed.

[slotaddict]

Some of the older RCI ships looks a lot nicer than newer ships from other lines... I went on the Vision last year, I would've never guessed her age having not known what ship I was on. I wouldn't knock a ship over her age, try doing that to a woman ;)

 

My last two cruises were on older ships and they both were beautiful - All I was saying is that NCL's older ships are not set up for freestyle.

 

I see you are cruising the Mariner at the end of April - I am going the first week of May - save some booze for me.:D

[gxchan]

Norwegian Majesty

 

I wouldn't sail on NCL's Majesty again if they paid me! Majesty wasn't just old, it was dirty and in serious disrepair. The fare was cheap and it was definitely a "you get what you pay for" situation.

[klfhngr]

My last two cruises were on older ships and they both were beautiful - All I was saying is that NCL's older ships are not set up for freestyle.

 

I see you are cruising the Mariner at the end of April - I am going the first week of May - save some booze for me.:D

 

Understood.... Will do, lol! That's if those before me save some, lots of crazies going that week, I tried to change but couldn't!

[PEGLEG]

Go for it. NCL will fit your budget, and that is better than sitting at home.

[hoytarchery999]

have you looked at going out of baltimore on carnival they start i think this summer and you can take a 7 day on carnival for less than the grandeurs 5 day bermuda.

[internetwhiz]

The ONLY way we would sail on NCL again is if it was really, really cheap. It wasn't horrible, but after being on Royal Caribbean and Celebrity, you could see all the corners they cut, from food to entertainment...just everywhere.

 

We did like the variety of tiny free restaurants they had throughout the ship, but did not like the freestyle in the main dining room for evening meal. They kept sticking us at a table of two and we have always enjoyed getting to know others on board ship.

 

Again, um, if it was $199 for a week and flights were cheap, sure, it wasn't terrible, but I just got used to RCI (and we like them better than Celebrity).

[mickeysgal]

I would ask the question about the Majesty on the NCL board.

 

We've sailed Disney, RCCL, and Carnival. This next cruise we'll be on the NCL Gem. It's a very intensive port itinerary and the last thing we wanted is structured dining. In this case, freestyle anytime dining was the right solution for us. Or at least I hope it will be. :)

 

I'm surprised by those that say they didn't like pay for specialty dining. Specialty dining and their surcharges are present on all cruise lines, yet somehow NCL gets kicked extra hard for some reason on this issue. They do provide several no-charge restaurants and a handful of surcharge restaurants.

[mikepmcm]

I really know nothing about NCL and plan on doing some research, but I wanted to see what you all thought. I am going to put something on the family threads too, but basically here I just want to know what my fellow RC’ers think of NCL & the ships, the Majesty mostly.

 

Wev sailed the NCL Majesty on September 2006. Back then they were saying that 06 was the last year that the Majesty would sail under the NCL flag. Well the planned sale failed and they had not invested any money because of the planned sale. Read the Majesty reviews and you'll see very few satisfied passengers. The ship has finally been sold and will leave the fleet this year (unless this sales fails too) and they have not invested in needed repairs.

 

My thoughts on our cruise was that all rooms were extremely small, the ship rolled even in fairly calm seas (no stabilizers). Food was very mediocre in all venues including LeBistro (extra cost restaurant that only seats maybe 30). Buffet was like eating in a cafeteria. Smallest pool I've ever seen on a ship, which would feel crowded with more that four people. Entertainment was almost non-existant on a small 20-ft stage, mainly commedians, jugglers, talent shows and lots and lots of bingo. Small smoke -filled casino and lots of smoking on the left side of the ship deck (smoke always seemed to blow towards the non-smoking side.) I'm trying hard but the only bright spot on this cruise was the Island of Bermuda.

 

I know there are better ships in the NCL Fleet than the Majesty, do your own research and you'll see a common complaint in the mediocre quality in the main dining rooms. And many reviewers will state that they believe it is intentional to force you into the extra-charge dining to get a decent meal. The loyal NCL Posters, will defend the food saying that they have more restaurant choices than other lines, which if you factor in the extra costs per person will negate the savings.

 

The Cruise Critic Polls have placed Carnival and Royal Caribbean over NCL in both food and over-all value. That said I'd look at Carnival before you look at NCL if you're trying to save money.

[Cruising89143]

I feel a little different than others on here as NCL is not a bad cruise line BUT I would stay away from the Majesty. She is an older ship that was not designed for the NCL Freestyle product. She is also due to leave the fleet.

 

I would stick with one of the newer ships. I liked the Freestyle product. Service was good. RCI is still my favorite line and I do feel that overall, RCI offers a better product. I have found no one that can match their ship designs.

[cruiseawaits]

Please, please.....please do not sail on that old bag(The Majesty). She is extremely old and antiquated. My sisters and their husbands sailed on her last year to Bermuda. They wanted to jump ship. Seriously, they looked into making reservations at a hotel in Bermuda and then flying home. Keep the search going for something better.