How does NCL compare to Carnival and RoyalCaribbean

I am 27 and will be traveling with my husband and our 1 year old daughter. In the past my husband and I have traveled both Royal Caribbean and Carnival and were extremely pleased with both. I know NCL has the freestyle dining, but other than that what differences should I expect? Is NCL a lot more laid back? We aren't exactly big partiers; however we do want some action. Thanks!

I am 27 and will be traveling with my husband and our 1 year old daughter. In the past my husband and I have traveled both Royal Caribbean and Carnival and were extremely pleased with both. I know NCL has the freestyle dining, but other than that what differences should I expect? Is NCL a lot more laid back? We aren't exactly big partiers; however we do want some action. Thanks!

I've done both Royal Caribbean and Carnival as indicated in my signature, and I've done one NCL-America cruise. We also have an infant and I had the choice of all lines and really wanted to give HAL a try. However, with an infant, I personally believe "freestyle" is the way to go. While you can always go to the buffets for a meal, they're not as good as the main restaurants. With freestyle, you can go when its the right time for you daughter. In addition, you can choose to sit with others, or not, which might take some of the stress out of the trip.

Overall, I found the lines more similar than different, although my Carnival cruise was a long time ago. I thought the food was better on Princess, the perks better on RCI, and the entertainment best on NCL. None stood out as necessarily better than the others; all had their own pluses and minuses.

Hope this helps some,

For me, the big difference is the dress code. When I go away with DH, I want the romance of getting dressed up and having a couple of big date nights on a cruise. You can do that on NCL, but it doesn't feel as special as it does on RCCI. On the other hand, I've done two cruises with my mom and sisters and we had pre- and post- days and didn't want to haul a lot of luggage around. NCL was perfect in that we didn't need to take the formal wear and all the shoes and accessories you need with formal wear.

Viv

We've been on all three and like them all. It's all about where you want to go and the freestyle on NCL is nice having a choice of restaurants and open dinning times!:D

Freestyle and the specialty restaurants are the main differences but hey are big differences. The ice show on RCI was really neat though.

As already stated, all mass marketed lines are more alike than different. Yes, freestyle and the dining choices are the main things that set NCL apart from other lines. I would consider NCL very laid back, the dress code issue is something that also is different. As Sally Forth said, getting dressed up for an evening out isn't the same on NCL as so few really do choose the formal dress. In fact many who choose NCL do so because of the relaxed dress code. Other than formal nights you will find the dress code about the same on NCl as the other lines you have cruised. with the new charges for bags on the major airlines the lack of formal nights is probably a good thing. You will have enough luggage just bringing everything you need for a 1 year old.

NCL does offer an active night life, and yet, not as much as Carnival. Traveling with a one year old unless you are bringing someone to help you with the baby sitting will pretty much limit you to no or little night life anyway. Freestyle dining is great when traveling with toddlers. You can choose when you want to eat, fitting it her schedule with yours.

Nita

i have not traveled on ncl for many years. however, i read the cruise critic member reviews of the jade. most of the reviews complained about the number of restaurants which have extra charges, i think there were 7 on that ship.

the reviews made me question whether i would be interested in going on ncl again in the near future.

my favorite ship was adventure of the seas. the ice arena was really great. the conquest was a little hard to navigate. we are going on the carnival freedom in 3 weeks. it is like the conquest and i am not looking forward to the design of the ship. i probably would not have booked this cruise had i known it was like the conquest. i would rather be on royal caribbean, but liked the itenary on the freedom.

madi

i have not traveled on ncl for many years. however, i read the cruise critic member reviews of the jade. most of the reviews complained about the number of restaurants which have extra charges, i think there were 7 on that ship.

 

the reviews made me question whether i would be interested in going on ncl again in the near future.

 

madi

Tell ya what... pretend the pay restaurants are not there and you'll still have more venue choices than any other line. :)

you are right about that. but the overall reviews of the ncl ship were so negative, that i don't think i will try ncl.

i have not traveled on ncl for many years. however, i read the cruise critic member reviews of the jade. most of the reviews complained about the number of restaurants which have extra charges, i think there were 7 on that ship.

 

the reviews made me question whether i would be interested in going on ncl again in the near future.

 

my favorite ship was adventure of the seas. the ice arena was really great. the conquest was a little hard to navigate. we are going on the carnival freedom in 3 weeks. it is like the conquest and i am not looking forward to the design of the ship. i probably would not have booked this cruise had i known it was like the conquest. i would rather be on royal caribbean, but liked the itenary on the freedom.

 

madi

First of all, I don't think there are 7, I think it is 6 but regardles: you still have the 2 main dining rooms, the buffet, and Blue Lagoon plus maybe another one. How many restaurants do you have on other lines? NCL offers the same number of or maybe more restaurants with no charges, as any other line plus the huge number of specialty dining rooms.

You can find negative reviews about any line or any ship, even RCI beleive it or not, normally there are more positives than negatives: that certainly is the case with the newer NCL ships.

Nita

Sounds like you have made up your mind not to cruise NCL. That's fine. An increased number of specialty restaurants is a good thing not a bad thing. The number of free restaurants does not decrease. RCI Adventure Of The Seas has only 1 specialty retaurant and no more free ones than NCL.

I just don't understand why so many people complain about the specialty restaurants when it does not change the number of free options they have or the quality of food in the free venues.

I have been reading NCL reviews for a long time and I would say the positive outweight the negative by a bunch.

Whichever ship you choose, happy cruising! :)

I just got back from my first Carnival cruise after sailing NCL the past 2 times. I think that NCL offers much better dining choices with FreeStyle cruising. Not only can you eat when you want, but you have a choice of restaurants (not just main restaurant or buffet). Sure you might have an extra charge for some of the specialty restaurants but at least you have that option to choose.

One thing that really surprised me - NCL is almost obessessive about hand cleaning. When you board, when reboarding at each port, at every dining facility, there are hand sanitizers everywhere (which I think is a good thing). Carnival Victory had none. I couldn't believe it.

I didn't plan this last cruise; my next one will be back on NCL.

you are right about that. but the overall reviews of the ncl ship were so negative, that i don't think i will try ncl.

So why are you on the NCL board? Just curious.

I have never been on any other lines but NCL therefore I have no need to visit their boards.

Freestyle all the way - your own pace - great cruises!!

My DW & I have tried other cruise lines and I must say "FOR US" it is NCL.

You might find that other lines are good for you.

Hope you have fun and I'll see you on NCL someday.:D

I am 27 and will be traveling with my husband and our 1 year old daughter. In the past my husband and I have traveled both Royal Caribbean and Carnival and were extremely pleased with both. I know NCL has the freestyle dining, but other than that what differences should I expect? Is NCL a lot more laid back? We aren't exactly big partiers; however we do want some action. Thanks!

I was afraid to try NCL...read too many 'bad' things (all on the other boards)

Got a deal we couldn't pass up...went with minimal expectation and we were so surprised at what a great time we had.

I have so far, only sailed NCL that one time (it was a 15 day cruise though) but we do have another booked.

It is different than Carnival but not better or worse...just different.

Personally I've decided that I like the variety.

SO< I have a CCL booked for this Nov...my second NCL booked for next March and my first RCI booked for next Oct.

As for activity on board, for the cruise we took on the Spirit, I have to say that we had the MOST fun, with the most activities available every day than any other cruise we had previously taken. There was always something fun to do. We came home from that cruise totally exhausted.

I say be open to the change and give NCL a try. :)

Sounds like you have made up your mind not to cruise NCL. That's fine. An increased number of specialty restaurants is a good thing not a bad thing. The number of free restaurants does not decrease. RCI Adventure Of The Seas has only 1 specialty retaurant and no more free ones than NCL.

 

I just don't understand why so many people complain about the specialty restaurants when it does not change the number of free options they have or the quality of food in the free venues.

 

I have been reading NCL reviews for a long time and I would say the positive outweight the negative by a bunch.

 

Whichever ship you choose, happy cruising! :)

If they didn't complain about that, they would complain about something else. These are the same kinds of people who's co-workers hate being around, etc because all they do is find the negative.. And then they wonder why they are never invited to lunch with every one else, etc.

you are right about that. but the overall reviews of the ncl ship were so negative, that i don't think i will try ncl.

There are actually more postive reviews then negative ones, so why are you putting so much stock in them? If you want to read an honest review, from a 1st time NCL cruiser, then check my link below to my review.

I honestly don't understand how you can base whether or not you are going to try a particular cruise line on what other people say when you have no idea what type of person they are. They may have a legitimate complaint but then again, they may be chronic complainers. Reviews are something to read and find out some basic information and then form your own opinion, not to be taken as gospel.

I have been on all three and I loved NCL. The thing I liked the most was the fact you don't have to dress up for dinner. Being I have to dress for work 5 days a week, vacation is a time when I can just relax without worrying about the extras. Not to mention there is less to pack. We also liked the extra dining options. We took advantage of our coupons with dining on the first day in a speciality restaurant. DH and I still love RCL. We decided that we will be cruiseing between the two.

I have been on all three and I loved NCL. The thing I liked the most was the fact you don't have to dress up for dinner. Being I have to dress for work 5 days a week, vacation is a time when I can just relax without worrying about the extras. Not to mention there is less to pack. We also liked the extra dining options. We took advantage of our coupons with dining on the first day in a speciality restaurant. DH and I still love RCL. We decided that we will be cruiseing between the two.

Hey Brigett, did that NCL Primer I wrote on the Roll Call help? :)

Do Royal Carribean! Honestly, after this past week I don't think I'll ever set foot on another NCL ship again. I was really surprised though, the Spirit had been fine a couple years ago.

Do tell ... what happened? What was your experience

Horrible service...People looked/spoke to you like you were bothering them if you asked for something. I hate sounding like a whiney *beep*, but when I pay what it cost me to go on this vacation, and then all the 15% gratuities with every drink and so on and so forth, I guess I expected to feel like I was actually ON a vacation, and a little pampering would have been much appreciated.

Also...Freestyle Dining??? HA! In the menus it says on the top "Doesn't it feel good to eat where you want when you want and with whom you want?" or something like that. And it honestly seemed like they were just mocking you. They tell you you don't need reservations. But then what happens is everyone tries to go for dinner around the same time (7ish) in order to fit the shows into their schedules. So what you end up with is a mob sceneish line and a waiting list which was over an hour at some points.

The straw that broke the camel's back though was when after my friend and I came in late for the Murder Mystery dinner (we had just gotten back on the ship, so were wearing shorts and still had our towels in our hands) we asked if we'd be able to run back to our room to change real quick. The staff member leading the event said not to worry about it.

We then go to the dining room. Where literally 4 waiters tag teamed us to say something about the fact we were wearing shorts. And this wasn't a polite approach, either. I literally had a woman yelling DRESS CODE MADAME, PLEASE RESPECT THE DRESS CODE from 5 ft away, and certainly loud enough for other diners to hear. And yes, it was pretty embarrassing since I never would have entered a dining room dressed like that had I not been told not to worry about it.

But then of course the next night, I was seated next to a table of shorts wearing diners.

The Chocolate buffet was a joke. There's another thread about that I chimed in on as well.

I really feel a lot of this has to do with the automatic tipping they've instated. I ended up going to the front desk the day before disembarking and had them take off a VERY large amount of that.

I hate being one of those people who complains complains complains about their cruise. I just felt like they didn't care. Or try. Or anything. I could go on but I'd rather not. LoL.

(of course there were a few exceptions to this general commentary)

We are trying NCL for the first time in October, we have been on many RCL cruises, over 25, so this will be quite a change for us. We have also been on other lines, but RCL is our favorite

Reading some of the posts, the dining sounds like a nightmare, with long lines at the free restaurants. I sure hope that isn't true.But we don't go on a cruise to eat... so we will manage. DH likes to dress up and I don't, so I won't miss that.

Will let you know how the 2 compare when we return.

I hoping it excedes my expectations, which are very low.

donna

Interesting your both from NY... different areas but NY. As a former NY'er from LI we hold our food in high regard. I was on a TA for 14 days and lost 4 pnds....

The food to me was inferior to anything i ever had on a cruise ship... and for me RCCL knows how to do fun much better. For me it was the whole ambience of NCL that I didn't care for... waiting to get into the "anytime" main dining rooms. We were handed a buzzer and my husband nearly had that buzzer in the maitre d's butt...:D I'll go to TGIF at home if I want to be handed a buzzer to eat. We really just didn't care for the experience at all.

I'm a TA and I don't book NCL much... only upon request. I just think if you go in w/ low expectations you may be pleasantly surprised.