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Best Cruise Line for the Canal - Princess or NCL?


DaMom
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We've narrowed it down as we want to cruise from the East Coast to Los Angeles next Winter, 2019. The two choices that won't break our bank are NCL and Princess. I sailed Princess for the first time last year and loved it, but NCL has a better itinerary...we can get a Suite for the price of a Princess mini-suite on NCL (on the Star) but it's starting to look like the Star has some grim reviews.

 

So - your thoughts??

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We've narrowed it down as we want to cruise from the East Coast to Los Angeles next Winter, 2019. The two choices that won't break our bank are NCL and Princess. I sailed Princess for the first time last year and loved it, but NCL has a better itinerary...we can get a Suite for the price of a Princess mini-suite on NCL (on the Star) but it's starting to look like the Star has some grim reviews.

 

So - your thoughts??

 

My biggest concern about NCL is based on information that was told to me... in other words no direct knowledge. NCL did not provide any destination lecturers for their Canal cruise. They did provide for one of the Canal's lecturers to give commentary on the day of the transit which included some history as well as a description of the operations. Princess on the other hand in the past has provided for destination lecturers as well as provided for commentary during the transit.

 

A destination lecturer won't absolutely make or break a cruise, but they certainly can add to it. There are no doubt some good ones and then you have the ... meh!

 

Difficult decision, IMO on major cruises I would tend to go with what I know and test the waters on shorter cruises. I'm sure it will be enjoyable with either decision.

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I would choose Princess because of the wrap around outside decks which are not available on NCL Star. Your balcony will be fine for cruising, but when transiting the canal, you will miss 75-80% of the scene if you stay on your balcony and do not move all around the ship. Since you are doing a full transit, your options will be Coral Princess or Island Princess. Coral is much preferred because of the full wraparound Promenade, plus aft viewing areas on other decks. Island was modified to add more cabins and suites, eliminating the aft viewing areas the aft portion of wraparound deck. EM

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We did a full transit of the Canal last year (Miami to LA) on NCL -- it was fabulous, BUT it was on the NCL Jewel. We are NCL veterans and I have pretty much zero desire to sail on the Star, which lacks a forward-facing observation lounge (NCL removed it a few years ago to put in glassed-in suites), and also does not have the wonderful aft-facing Great Outdoors of the Jewel class ships. To be clear -- we haven't sailed the Star, I'm just explaining why it's not high on my list of ships that I'd pick for a cruise. Perhaps what I consider shortcomings aren't important to you and you'd enjoy the Star; NCL certainly does the "suite life" very well.

 

We've never sailed Princess, so I can't opine on that as a choice.

 

I hope you find enough info on the NCL and Princess boards to help with your decision.

 

PS: In case it's of any help to you in your NCL/Canal decision, here's my detailed review of our Canal cruise. (Sorry you can no longer see most of the photos; you can thank Photobucket for that.)

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2456255

Edited by Turtles06
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I did a 'coast to coast' (Florida to California) on the Coral Princess and I loved it. The daily lectures (on the canal and other topics) were great and repeated on the tv system. The commentary through the canal was super.

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We did a full transit of the Canal last year (Miami to LA) on NCL -- it was fabulous, BUT it was on the NCL Jewel. We are NCL veterans and I have pretty much zero desire to sail on the Star, which lacks a forward-facing observation lounge (NCL removed it a few years ago to put in glassed-in suites), and also does not have the wonderful aft-facing Great Outdoors of the Jewel class ships. To be clear -- we haven't sailed the Star, I'm just explaining why it's not high on my list of ships that I'd pick for a cruise. Perhaps what I consider shortcomings aren't important to you and you'd enjoy the Star; NCL certainly does the "suite life" very well.

 

We've never sailed Princess, so I can't opine on that as a choice.

 

I hope you find enough info on the NCL and Princess boards to help with your decision.

 

PS: In case it's of any help to you in your NCL/Canal decision, here's my detailed review of our Canal cruise. (Sorry you can no longer see most of the photos; you can thank Photobucket for that.)

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2456255

 

Turtles06, there is a fix for your photos, if they are still on Photobucket. Google 'photobucket embed fix' and choose the browser you use. I use Chrome and it worked for me. Photobucket keeps trying to get me back, but I'm with Shutterfly now. EM

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Turtles06, there is a fix for your photos, if they are still on Photobucket. Google 'photobucket embed fix' and choose the browser you use. I use Chrome and it worked for me. Photobucket keeps trying to get me back, but I'm with Shutterfly now. EM

 

Thanks very much for that info! Am I correct that this would only display the photo to the individual person trying to see it? (In other words, each person trying to see a photo would have to take the appropriate steps for her browser?)

 

I too switched to Shutterfly back when Photobucket did this.

 

So while we're at it, here for the OP (via Shutterfly) is the Island Princess going through the Gatun Locks; taken from the NCL Jewel:

 

enhance

 

(photo by turtles06)

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Anyone looking at this thread will see it. They do not need to have downloaded the fix. By the way, lovely picture. EM

 

Thanks on all counts!

 

So I just did that fix, and I can now see all my photos on my Canal cruise review thread (link below). Can you see them? (Apologies to the OP for the thread drift, but this has been a major problem here on CC for so many of us since Photobucket has blocked our photos)

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2456255

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Thanks on all counts!

 

So I just did that fix, and I can now see all my photos on my Canal cruise review thread (link below). Can you see them? (Apologies to the OP for the thread drift, but this has been a major problem here on CC for so many of us since Photobucket has blocked our photos)

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2456255

 

Turtles06, Can only see some pics on post #14, but all the others on page one just have a PB graphic.

 

"Drift" is good... after we are speaking about ships water etc.;)

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Turtles06, Can only see some pics on post #14, but all the others on page one just have a PB graphic.

 

"Drift" is good... after we are speaking about ships water etc.;)

 

Thanks Bill. The pics on post 14 were posted by someone else. Looks like I'm still the only one who can see my pics.. Are you using Chrome? (Perhaps that makes a difference, since I used Chrome for the "fix.")

 

Thanks again for checking.

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We were on the Star last August and though it was an Alaskan cruise, I don't think the ship has changed that much ;p

Just by way of information, there were wonderful aft viewing areas...and open forward deck on 15. We stood on it to go under Lion's Gate Bridge... I don't really understand where the negative feedback is coming concerning her. She had a little wear and tear in areas, but nothing glaring...and certainly nothing that I would consider worthy of 'not sailing on her'....

 

Just my humble opinion on the ship... I'd sail Panama Canal on her in a heartbeat but so far haven't seen the sailings...(I'm Panama Canal 'shopping'....) All I'm seeing are Coral and Island...and actually, Coral sailings are few and far between (not too excited about Island...)

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OK....I just realized the OP was referring to the NCL Star. I was talking about the Star Princess....not the same ship! ha!

We loved the Star Princess...but know nothing about NCL Star.

Embarrassed and offering my apologies. :o:o

Happy Sailing!!

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