Princess vs NCL

[luvtoswim]

I've cruised on Princess several times and enjoyed it. Thinking about trying NCL. Is it worth it???

Also, Celebrity used to be boring as far as entertainment. Is it any better?

[C&F]

I am a frequent Princess guest as well. I am trying my first NCL cruise on the Gem for New Years. I am looking forward to it and not gonna try to expect Princess. Not to say it can't match or even exceed Princess, but I am looking at it as a new experience. I have heard people knock and praise every cruise line I have been on and found some to be true and some to be false.

I'll try to let you know when I return. Looking very forward to a new ship (to me), and hoping it is just as good or better than all of my other awesome cruises.

Happy cruising,

Freddie

[sjbdtz]

I am a frequent Princess guest as well. I am trying my first NCL cruise on the Gem for New Years. I am looking forward to it and not gonna try to expect Princess. Not to say it can't match or even exceed Princess, but I am looking at it as a new experience. I have heard people knock and praise every cruise line I have been on and found some to be true and some to be false.

I'll try to let you know when I return. Looking very forward to a new ship (to me), and hoping it is just as good or better than all of my other awesome cruises.

Happy cruising,

Freddie

 

That's a good approach. NCL tops Princess in many ways, in my experience.....but no way to know whether our priorities are the same.

 

Have a great cruise.

[Wormy53]

Here's a thread I started that talks about this very thing! Enjoy - HERE

[cynbar]

We are Princess loyalists who cruise NCL when they have an itinerary we want and Princess doesn't offer. In fact, we have a 7 day Adriatic cruise on the Gem booked for next May which will allow us to spend 2 days in Venice pre cruise, and still be away from home a reasonable amount of time. We find the food in the MDR to be much better on Princess, both in selection and quality. We liked the availability of more specialty restaurants on NCL, ate at several of them on our 7 day Gem cruise and were glad to pay the surcharges. NCL does much better with their tables for 2, especially in the Grand Pacific DR where there are 2 rows of true tables for two along the side windows --- just gorgeous. The dress code on the Gem was much more casual than anything we saw on Princess, with one dress up or not night and the rest VERY casual in ambiance. Not sure we liked this --- some diners were downright sloppy -- but it's not a deal breaker, and we didn't miss leaving the formal wear at home. The Gem's decor is much brighter than the subdued shades on Princess, which you may or may not like. Crew has been friendly, service very good for us on both lines. Anway, overall we prefer Princess but don't hesitate to sail NCL when the itinerary fits our plans. Give it a try and see how you feel. Some posters, especially over on the Princes boards, are really negative on NCL but we haven't found their opinions to be valid.

[DMH15]

Cynbar- I have 2 friends at work who are Princess loyalists. They have nothing but good things to say. One just sailed Golden and the other Ruby. Both raved.

 

Hope to try someday. I think I will be as open-minded as you.

 

Do you think some people just like what they tried first or find a line they like and become attached to it? I like NCL (suites especially) but I really like variety. And am just curious too.

 

Thanks for your well-thought out post.

[sunshine nana]

Our first 2 cruises were Princess, then we tried NCL to see Hawaii in only 7 days and liked it! In the last year, we did a 7 day NCL from Barcelona and a 10 day Princess Baltic. Princess had better food in the MDR and we were able to have the same servers at a table for two in the MDR which we liked. Also the service in general on Princess was better (Emerald). But we are taking another NCL from Venice, this time we plan to eat in the specialty dining rooms to get better food. All our stewards have been great! Go with itinerary, dates and price.

[C&F]

Our first cruise was on RCCL and we loved it. We then tried Celebrity and loved it. We booked Princess for our honeymoon for the Personal Choice option. We didn't want to sit with strangers when we could have a table for two every night. We were then sold on Princess. But NCL gives us that option too, so when this great option for our first ever winter cruise out of NYC popped up on the NCL Gem, we decided to go for it. I have heard that some other lines are considering a more flexible dining approach. If that were to happen, we'd give it a try! We actually moved to a higher status on Princess Captain's Circle, so we kept going to accumulate rewards.

It would really take ALOT to make a bad cruise for me.

Enjoy,

Freddie

[alwalaska]

Our first cruise was on RCCL and we loved it. We then tried Celebrity and loved it. We booked Princess for our honeymoon for the Personal Choice option. We didn't want to sit with strangers when we could have a table for two every night. We were then sold on Princess. But NCL gives us that option too, so when this great option for our first ever winter cruise out of NYC popped up on the NCL Gem, we decided to go for it. I have heard that some other lines are considering a more flexible dining approach. If that were to happen, we'd give it a try! We actually moved to a higher status on Princess Captain's Circle, so we kept going to accumulate rewards.

It would really take ALOT to make a bad cruise for me.

Enjoy,

Freddie

 

RCCL now has My Time Dining. Not as flexible as NCL, but you can pick your table size and dining time each day.

[debw4352]

We have previously cruised with NCL. No hassles before or during cruise. In 2 weeks time we are going on Princess and have had nothing but trouble before we even get on the ship. Customer care(In Australia) very very rude. Our cabin allocations are a mess. We were told by Princess when we booked that they had anytime dining in one of the main restuarants. Found out after we booked that that was not true. We have two different dining times even though our cabins were all booked at once. We are very apprehensive now about travelling with Princess. We found Norwegian to be excellent. A true relaxing stress free holiday. I hope all goes well for you.

[LindaKE]

We loved our Princess cruises and found very little difference in NCL. The decor is different, quieter on Princess. Food is subjective. Some we liked better on Princess, others we liked better on NCL. We did enjoy shows on Princess more, but that, too, is subjective. We don't really go for comedy, which NCL does a lot. The 2 lines are more alike than different. If NCL has an itinerary and price that are better than Princess' we go for it. I don't think you would be disappointed in NCL if you like Princess.

[penguinmad]

Interesting to read this. About to go on our first NCL trip and hope against hope that it's not anywhere near as awful as our first (and last!) Princess trip. The staff were rude, the food was poor, there was smoke everywhere and we were reminded yet again why we no longer holiday at Butlins. We nicknamed it "Butlins at Sea".

[kruzkid]

I've sailed NCL and princess both, and I like NCL better though they are much more alike than different. NCL has freestyle dinning down better than princess' anytime dinning. and NCL did more for me in the food department, especially the ice cream and desserts. NCL is a bit more livley, and princess is a bit more cozy, but hey, a cruise is a cruise!

[luckycruisers2]

We have sailed both Princess, RCCI and NCL. All have their plusses and minuses (sp) as far as we are concerned. For this post - what we like on NCL - there's more dancing for us. We love to go to the Spinnaker lounge for dancing in the evening. Usually there's a great group - 70's, 80's 90's music, lots of dancing. The pools on NCL are spectacular. I feel the Princess pools are a little old school - just like the old swimming baths in the UK. We probably are moving more towards RCCI now they have a more flexible dining option and because their ships are spectacular. We loved the piano bars on RCCI and Princess, although there are more dining options on NCL. NCL falls a little short as far as the initial boarding experience is concerned - but who lives in the atrium!

 

We have had wonderful experiences on all three cruise lines with 12 trips under our belt. Try them all then make your own mind up:)

[mmceachn]

I have done NCL and Princess and like them both for different reasons,

 

When I cruise on NCL I always do the specialty restaurants at least four times during the week.I just budget it in and and pay for it because I don't care for the quality of the food in the main dining room any more. It used to be noticably better. Some prople are fine with it. I guess it depends on the ship and sailing.

Freestyle means no mandatory formal nights. Resort casual only

I also find the push, push, push to sell alcohol annoying.

The NCL shows and music are outstanding IMHO, and the atmosphere is fun.

The casino's are big and not too smokey, and the cabins are very nice.

We always got towel animals on NCL...ok it's silly but I like it

 

I like the food on Princess much more. The newer Princess ships have three pools, Pizza is delicous. Lots of fresh fruit at the buffet.

Drink waiters are available but not overly aggressive.

Show's on Princess not as well produced as the Jean Ann Ryan productions on NCL IMHO.

Nice cabins. Two formal nights on Princess, and most people dressed up for the dining room. Festive atmosphere

[LSauls7537]

I am a frequent Princess guest as well. I am trying my first NCL cruise on the Gem for New Years. I am looking forward to it and not gonna try to expect Princess. Not to say it can't match or even exceed Princess, but I am looking at it as a new experience. I have heard people knock and praise every cruise line I have been on and found some to be true and some to be false.

I'll try to let you know when I return. Looking very forward to a new ship (to me), and hoping it is just as good or better than all of my other awesome cruises.

Happy cruising,

Freddie

 

We returned yesterday from the Jewel, our 28 cruise but first on NCL. the entertainment was top notch and was Cirque Bijou, quite a presentation with acrobats, bungee jumpers. They had a ventriloquist with his "girlfriend" Matilde that packed the theatre for all three shows and a band called Cat's Pajamas, acapello group. Only princess has had some entertainment that would equal what we had on NCL. We loved the freestyle, took us 15 min to board and loved that WE chose the time to get off the ship. This is the first cruise that has ever said "take it easy", "sleep late", "join us for a drink"..normally I feel like cattle being herded on the last day. New beds are REALLY comfortable also. We liked the choices of restaurants and frankly, don't mind paying. Liked Lebistro and Mamas.

 

Captain took a group of us to the bridge for a tour; he was all over that ship as was Hue the cruise director. Good was good, not excellent, but have found that over the years that's become common on the cruiselines. Celebrity was not better than the rest and food is so subjective, I hate to comment. The only 2 really minor things were the cabin, though we had a balcony cabin IS small and don't know why but regular dinner salads aren't on the menu. I just ordered and it was brought however.

 

Keep an open mind, we did and weren't sorry

[alwalaska]

We returned yesterday from the Jewel, our 28 cruise but first on NCL. the entertainment was top notch and was Cirque Bijou, quite a presentation with acrobats, bungee jumpers. They had a ventriloquist with his "girlfriend" Matilde that packed the theatre for all three shows and a band called Cat's Pajamas, acapello group. Only princess has had some entertainment that would equal what we had on NCL. We loved the freestyle, took us 15 min to board and loved that WE chose the time to get off the ship. This is the first cruise that has ever said "take it easy", "sleep late", "join us for a drink"..normally I feel like cattle being herded on the last day. New beds are REALLY comfortable also. We liked the choices of restaurants and frankly, don't mind paying. Liked Lebistro and Mamas.

 

Captain took a group of us to the bridge for a tour; he was all over that ship as was Hue the cruise director. Good was good, not excellent, but have found that over the years that's become common on the cruiselines. Celebrity was not better than the rest and food is so subjective, I hate to comment. The only 2 really minor things were the cabin, though we had a balcony cabin IS small and don't know why but regular dinner salads aren't on the menu. I just ordered and it was brought however.

 

Keep an open mind, we did and weren't sorry

Glad to hear you enjoyed your cruise. How on earth did you get a bridge tour? Usually that is reserved for those who pay $50 for an insiders tour, Suite passengers, who people who have sailed NCL a lot.

[missm54]

Princess is always our first choice, but have been happy on NCL when it has a better itenerary or a better price. Each have some good points.

Princess you can carry on wine, has laundry rooms for longer voyages, daily service charge a little less.

NCL, love freestyle dining, no formal clothes needed, good entertainment.

Food seems to be about the same, as we always find plenty to eat.