how does princess compare to ncl?

[maryivo]

Hello everyone, We are NCL cruisers but thinking of giving Princess a go. We are looking at the Princess Carribean next July. One of the main reasons for the switch is our daughter did not like the kids club on NCL. Our son did, but his age group area was larger than hers. Also, NCL does not have adequate pool space for all passengers. It's a joke really. We enjoyed the cruise as we had a penthouse. However, it was a constant hard sell on board as well. Could anyone offer me some Princess advice? kids clubs? pools? food? service? cabins? The itinery looks awesome 9 days from NYC to the carribean. i just don't know that much about Princess. Any and all advice welcome :D

[fredman]

Hello everyone, We are NCL cruisers but thinking of giving Princess a go. We are looking at the Princess Carribean next July. One of the main reasons for the switch is our daughter did not like the kids club on NCL. Our son did, but his age group area was larger than hers. Also, NCL does not have adequate pool space for all passengers. It's a joke really. We enjoyed the cruise as we had a penthouse. However, it was a constant hard sell on board as well. Could anyone offer me some Princess advice? kids clubs? pools? food? service? cabins? The itinery looks awesome 9 days from NYC to the carribean. i just don't know that much about Princess. Any and all advice welcome :D

 

My wife and I have only cruised on Carnival. I think Carnival and NCL are probably closer in style. Carnival has won many industry awards for their kids programs, Circle C, Club 02 and Camp Carnival. Princess may have a good kids program but haven't read too many accolades and frankly I think their focus is a bit more on the couples "escape completely" demographic.

 

We are trying Princess this coming February. The first thing I have noticed so far is the price. It is more expensive generally. Carnival is a great product and it is a funship not a party ship like a lot of people say. It is a very economical and value driven product. I am really excited because from what I see Princess appears to have more of a refined look and feel. We love Carnival but want to try something different. :D

[Richie2pies]

Princess is much better, but NCL is usually cheaper. Not many kids on Princess, but NCL caters to kids.

[hubofhockey]

Our kids had a great time on our Princess (Eastern Caribbean) cruise on the Crown Princess last April. However, while they enjoyed eveniings in the kids clubs, they weren't crazy about activities during the day. They believe that both Carnival and Royal Caribbean have more things to do on the ship for kids and have more active things for kids to do during the day. They are 10 and 12 now and our next cruise with the kids is scheduled in two years when they are 12 and 14 and it will be on Royal Caribbean because there is more to do for the kids and that makes it easier for the adults to relax. ;)

[Tatka]

Hello everyone, We are NCL cruisers but thinking of giving Princess a go. We are looking at the Princess Carribean next July. One of the main reasons for the switch is our daughter did not like the kids club on NCL. Our son did, but his age group area was larger than hers. Also, NCL does not have adequate pool space for all passengers. It's a joke really. We enjoyed the cruise as we had a penthouse. However, it was a constant hard sell on board as well. Could anyone offer me some Princess advice? kids clubs? pools? food? service? cabins? The itinery looks awesome 9 days from NYC to the carribean. i just don't know that much about Princess. Any and all advice welcome :D

 

I agree with highlighted in bold!!! Princess has the best pool set up out of all companies. On NCL during 8 days we witnessed 2 fights for the chairs. I had to bring a chair from the kids pool, regular chair, not the lounger because ther was NONE left even on the higher deck.:eek:

 

We also found food, especially buffets to be better on Princess. Inlike on NCL (Spirit) we never had to wait till 12 or 1 PM and 9:30 PM for our cabin to be done.

 

We liked NCL shows,but CB had more choices of smaller scale entertainment.

[Clutterlady]

If you enjoyed your NCL cruise, you will love Princess. The 9 day cruise out of NYC on the Caribbean Princess is a fantastic cruise. The pools, service and especially the food on Princess knocks NCL clear out of the water. You won't regret booking......enjoy:)

[kooljamming]

Kids Program - It appears to be hit or miss. It depends on the ship and sailing, very inconsistent. The activities were too craft centered for my 11 years old daughter. The teen center was basically a hang out. Since this is a huge deal breaker for me, I would NOT choose Princess for a family vacation. For a kid centered vacation try Carnival or RCCL. The programs not only entertain kids but engage them in tournaments and group activities outside of the room.

Pools- absolutely gorgeous and stunning...wow!

Food- great buffet but the MDR did not work for me. I chose to eat dinner a few of nights in the buffet. Most of the dishes lacked any kick, spice or flavor.

Service- nothing to complain about really. It met my expectation for the most part.

Cabins - tiny....tiny but a huge walk in closet. Did I say tiny:D

Pricing- It would have been cheaper for us to book 2 inside than a quad. It appears many of the quads are in a higher category so you pay more for having one cabin with 4,than booking 2.

Ship- elegant with much attention to detail.

Aft deck- Amazing view

Poolside activity - very little, NO REGGAE BAND

Beds- Rock solid but they will provide eggcrates to help

Afternoon Tea - Delightful

Live bands - Awesome

Vibe - very realxed and laid back, sometimes edging on boring for a type A personality.

MUTS - Movie Under the Stars. At night it was great with the chill (down righ freezing in Alaska) a blanket with the screen against the darken sky. Blaring during the day, it was annoying.

 

I read if you loved Carnival then Princess would be better. It was not necessarily the case for us. Princess was a very nice change when we tried it without the kids (2/09) but a huge let down on our family vacation (8/09). All our other cruises were on RCCL. Overall, not better, but a wonderful change from the noise, fun and decor of Carnival and the amusement gimmick of RCCL.

 

Here is an album that might help with cabins, pool, deck ect.

http://travel.webshots.com/album/570254128ZwSkkg?start=0

 

Pauline

[cynbar]

There are a couple of things the OP should know in advance, switching from NCL to Carnival. The first is that there will be 2 formal nights on your 9 night cruise, and these are pretty rigidly adhered to. Some posters will say that they dress casually and still go to the MDR, but my experience is that they are few and far between. However, you always have the options of the buffet or the specialty restaurants (always resort casual) if you don't want to dress up. The second is that the dress code is less casual, even on smart casual nights. We have done 2 NCL cruises , and found many passengers in shorts or sweat pants in the MDR at night. On Princess, nice jeans are OK for smart casual, but everyone looks like they made an effort to clean up for dinner. Some people prefer the NCL way, but you should at least be aware of the difference before you cruise. We loved the 9 day Princess itinerary out of NYC, it was a great mix of sea days and port days. The vibe on Princess is more refined than NCL but not stuffy.

[kooljamming]

The first is that there will be 2 formal nights on your 9 night cruise, and these are pretty rigidly adhered to.

 

Not the case on either of our Princess cruises. On Sapphire Princess majority of the people looked lovely but there were several under dressers. I did take a mental note because of the discussions here and not wishing to be on a cruise where the expression rigid existed. Specifically, there were guys in long sleeve shirt or a nice silk shirt but no jacket or tie. I looked on the back of the chair for the missing jacket. I know it's a common place when some gents wish to be comfortable during dinner. Alaska was even less formal overall be it formal or casual night. I am happy to say there was nothing rigid about my Princess experience:D Sailing out of NYC might be different and more rigid than other sailings....maybe?

[davy jones]

NCL has freestyle dining with no set seatings, if that is what you like. I have found their entertainment to be generally good and their ships are nice.

 

However, as freestyle evolved, it has become more and more of a nickel and diming operation. Some say that the food quality in the main dining room has been reduced to encourage passengers to use the ever increasing number of pay restaurants. On their new ship, they are now charging fees for certain theater shows and to get into one of the bars. Additionally, passengers in the garden villas get preferred reservations and seating in the restaurants and showrooms.

 

I fear that their vision is to slowly evolve into an al la carte operation and a return to the old classes of cruising. To me defeats one of the more appealing aspects of cruising.

[Tatka]

We have done 2 NCL cruises , and found many passengers in shorts or sweat pants in the MDR at night.

 

Well we don't usually go to the MDR on any cruise line in shorts, but the only time my DH went (we were in a hurry to go ashore afterwards) he was asked to change. ON NCL! :D Spirit out of NYC.

[karatemom2]

We have been on two NCL cruises and numerous Princess cruises so I will try to offer some comparison from our perspective. We enjoyed our NCL cruises, but overall prefer Princess.

 

We find the food, decor, service and overall ambiance on Princess to be a step above NCL. The food in the main dining rooms on Princess is more comparable to the quality of food you would only get on NCL in one of the surcharged dining venues. It is definitely better than the food in the NCL buffet or standard dining rooms. We find that Princess also offers more varied daily activities and more options that are appealing for our entire family. And the pools on Princess are really very nice. There are no water slides, but other than that they are much nicer than NCL. Our kids did not enjoy the NCL kids program at all. In fact in all of our cruises they probably spent the least amount of time in the kids program on our NCL cruises. However, they generally really enjoy the Princess program for kids and teens. Just a lot better activities and interaction with the staff. One thing I really hate about NCL is the constant feeling of being nickeled and dimed. It really irks me to go to the great shows they have on board only to spend the 15 minutes prior to the show getting a high pressure sales pitch for bingo and those lottery forms they sell. You don't have to deal with that on Princess.

 

There are a couple of areas where I find that NCL excels. I think their production shows by the Jean Ann Ryan company are some of the very best I have seen on any line. And the one exception in the food area where I give NCL the edge is for the great soups they serve. Especially the fruit soups. Just terrific!

 

But given the choice, we would pick Princess for our family.

[uppitycats]

We've been on both NCL and Princess and love them both..but for very different reasons.

 

We don't have kids, so I can't tell you anything about the kid programming. But for other stuff: the Princess has a more "elegant, upscale" feel than NCL, which is more casual and laid-back. The decor is more subdued and "classy", not bright or flashy. The food is more abundant on Princess, and better quality..although you certainly won't go hungry on NCL! We loved the Princess afternoon teas on sea days, and missed those on NCL. People did tend to dress up more on Princess..but we saw enough casually dressed folks too, that dressing up wasn't a big issue. Entertainment seemed equally good. We didn't notice an appreciable difference in cabin size..but we don't get the larger suites or penthouse anyway, so maybe there's a difference there.

 

Princess just feels more elegant to us...more formal, without being stuffy. NCL is definitely casual and informal.

[deppong]

I agree totally with the previous poster uppitycats. We did 2 princess and 2 ncl and 4 rccl cruises. We do like rccl best but princess comes in a very close second. (we have our 3rd princess cruise planned for christmas this year) Ncl was very much of an informal atmosphere and a do whatever feeling. Princess was a little more refined. Kind of like walmart vs. JC Pennys or similar store. Just a little different not in a bad way. NCL does have wonderful fruit soups the best we have ever had. The other food is subjective. We think RCCL has the best. Whatever you choose have a wonderful time. Its better than staying home cooking and cleaning for the family!

[Tatka]

We didn't notice an appreciable difference in cabin size..but we don't get the larger suites or penthouse anyway, so maybe there's a difference there.

 

We haven't been on Dawn and similar sized ships, but on Spirit our inside cabin was really tiny.. and we barely found space to put our closing (3 of us). We never had this problem with any other mass market company.

 

We LOVED ship's decor though, it is not as bright as other NCL ships, has Asian flare and tons of asian handwork masterpieces. Very cozy.

[CrazyCanucks]

My wife and I have cruised twice on NCL, and will be twice on Princess in December.

 

We actually preferred the food of NCL to that of the Grand Princess. My wife was able to find something on the MDR menu every evening on both NCL ships, where on the Grand she had to ask for the "backup chicken dish" several nights. I felt the food on Princess was good, but it seemed to have a flair of "gourmet kraft dinner". (Sorry but hard to explain)

 

Entertainment wise, we love the MUTS on Princess. It is one of our favorite things to do.

 

While we cannot compare the Kids program to NCL (we didn't take our kids on NCL) our son absolutely loved the kids program on the Grand. It was a struggle to get him to spend time with us. (Not that we were complaining). They really treated him well.

 

My recommendation. Try Princess. If you like it great, if not there's always NCL or one of the other lines.

 

One thing I do know is that nothing is better than a cruise vacation!

[welshcorgie]

We've been on the NCL Dawn twice, and also several other NCL ships. We were on Dawn this last Nov. and it still, IMO, has the best shows with the Jean Ann Ryan crew. NCL has an awsome kids program, and the food is good. The whole ship is much more casual, although the majority of folks do dress formal for the Captain's night. Poolside lounge chairs are usually more difficult to get unless you are out early in the a.m., and there are alot of empty chairs that are "saved".

We have also been on Princess several times and have found the entertainment not as good as NCL, but adequate. We enjoy karaoke and were pleasantly suprised on the Sea Princess they had up to date songs along with the oldies and drew a much bigger crowd than on NCL. NCL has only had the oldies songs and not a very large draw because of this. There aren't many children on Princess that we have seen. The attire is more upscale and the service is excellent on Princess. You can 'almost' always find a poolside chair, and the pools are freshwater, not salt. We have found the food on Princess to be quite good and have never had any complaints. Our preference is Princess, but do enjoy both.

[musicgirl63]

Crown Princess

NCL Dawn

Caribbean Princess (just off)

 

Dining-Princess has a choice of Traditional vs Anytime. NCL only anytime. We hated anytime dining. With only 3 and sometimes only 2 when our son wasn't with us at dinner, we were told we were not allowed to make reservations because we would always be able to be seated right away......NOT!!! I am not talking about the special restaurants with fees. We were told every night at various times that we would have to wait. Not my idea of "anytime" dining. Anytime should be my anytime!

 

NCL waitstaff in the dining room was terrible. If they couldn't sell you alcohol, they brushed us off. Once the entree' came, they rarely returned. Most nights they didn't offer us the dessert menu.

 

Too many fee restaurants on NCL.

 

Disembarkment-NCL is a nightmare unless they have changed.

Princess has changed to sending you to different venues through out the ship depending on transportation issues and at different times. This way there was not the entire ship lurking near the exit at the same time. Worked well.

 

The NCL was a good cruise though, but for us there was definitely something lacking.

[1 HappyCruiser]

Crown Princess

NCL Dawn

Caribbean Princess (just off)

 

Dining-Princess has a choice of Traditional vs Anytime. NCL only anytime. We hated anytime dining. With only 3 and sometimes only 2 when our son wasn't with us at dinner, we were told we were not allowed to make reservations because we would always be able to be seated right away......NOT!!! I am not talking about the special restaurants with fees. We were told every night at various times that we would have to wait. Not my idea of "anytime" dining. Anytime should be my anytime!

 

 

What time on NCL were you showing up at the DR door for dinner? It sounds like it was at a peak time each night. Did you try going a little earlier or later to avoid the main crowd?

[AFT_LOVER]

Having taken a vacation from Princess after 10 cruises (Platinum level) to try out RCCL, Celebrity, NCL and we loved NCL with the Freestyle system of casual dressing for the cruise. Perfect for folks like us who are carry on when we fly. Our last cruise they had axed the FREE cappucino, espresso & Latte & the coffeemakers in the staterooms.

 

Dawn & Jewel are our favorites as both seem identical but the Captain on Jewel goes out of his way for everyone onboard. But if you are boarding in NYC or Miami be prepared to wait for an hour to check in. Then til 2:30PM to get into your stateroom. All day in shorts & Tshirts or halter tops to go on excursion or just stay onboard to swim in pools that our ours to enjoy with no one else. But dinner time is long pants with a nice top. We dine at 5:30PM as we do at home, and are seated for 2 immediately in the dining room. We won a specialty restaurant to try out & found out that it was no better than the MDR.

 

Then back to Princess with our Signature VISA giving us a nice offer of $100 PP off cruise rate & $200 OBC. Free hotel night at Hampton North Coast made for a great sleep before the cruise. Platinum members are welcomed to their own area to check in & be in your stateroom in under 15 minutes. But meals on FORMAL night are only for folks dressed FORMAL. So you get pizza, burger or hot dogs by the pool, or pay to eat in a specialty restaurant. We understood they have anytime dining & took it for FREESTYLE also. As retirees we are no longer formal folks. We enjoy our balcony so we save on the rest. We enjoy the secrets of Princess, as favorites like escargot that is not on the menu but you can have it nightly. Coffee is syrup to serve 10,000 cups a day and that is made by Starbucks so it is premium coffee. As the Matre D tells us the wait for a cup of coffee if brewed from beans would be a lower service time & watered down. The computer mixes the syrup with the boiled water for a perfect cup of coffee & I agreed that the flavor of just black was like a $5 cup at a coffee house. I add a few drops of cream to it & it was wonderful. Be sure to order your meal they way you want it like NO SALT, NO SUGAR for diabetics, etc. You will get it.

 

RCCL wins for kids with plenty to do with their clubs. Princess has very few & we appreciate it with no kids to deal with since we have none at home. NCL would be #2 including toddlers with the Nickelodean club.

[TracieABD]

Love Princess, but I do not love the syrup-based coffee...

[tiyana4]

Love Princess, but I do not love the syrup-based coffee...

LOL...I have to agree. Princess has the worst coffee of any line I have sailed. However, they do have a more elegant atmosphere where you are more inclined to dress up. With NCL, this is an option that can be exercised although it is not required.

 

Aside from price (NCL is usually the lesser of the two lines), the biggest difference the OP will find between the lines are the level of suite amenities. There will be no butler service on Princess (concierge only)or access to the private courtyard area. On NCL dining at Cagney's specialty restaurant is included for breakfast and lunch. I believe Princess only includes the concierge lounge (I may be mistaken). The in-cabin dining options, complimentary dry cleaning/laundry, mini-bar setup, internet, priority embarkation/debarkation and tender service are standard on both. Mini-suite level amenities are more in line between the two lines.

 

Both lines have their version of Anytime/Freestyle dining which we really enjoy. We are not overly fond of forced dinner times or being seated with strangers for a week or more. Sometimes we just want to have a nice meal without the awkward silences in polite conversation, and the disadvantage of waiting for others to finish their starters or entrees before the rest of the table is served the next course. When we choose a cruise, we look to see if the flexible dining choice is offered.

 

With regard to the kids club, IMO NCL caters to children moreso than Princess. On NCL, there is a separate dining area for children in the restaurants and front row seats (off-center) at the shows. While DD has enjoyed the teen club on both lines, she still talks about and keeps in touch with the counselors from the NCL Sky.

 

We have enjoyed our cruises on both lines and will continue to sail both in the future. They both have great itineraries and on occasion, we may find the pricing comparable. We really enjoy MUTS and miss this when we sail on NCL. However, we also enjoy the nightlife and round the clock dining options, which are very limited on Princess. Both lines are great; just know that there are some noticeable differences.

[musicgirl63]

What time on NCL were you showing up at the DR door for dinner? It sounds like it was at a peak time each night. Did you try going a little earlier or later to avoid the main crowd?

 

 

As mentioned, we went at a variety of times.

[boating girl]

No comparison between NCL and Princess. I personally would always choose Princess over NCL. The quality of everything I have experienced is much better on Princess.

However, if the itinerary and price was right, I might cruise NCL again. It is my least favorite of all of the lines I have cruised on (Princess, NCL, RCL, Carnival, Crown).

My expectations would be set lower and I would still have a good time on NCL.

[Iamcruzin]

NCL has freestyle dining with no set seatings, if that is what you like. I have found their entertainment to be generally good and their ships are nice.

 

However, as freestyle evolved, it has become more and more of a nickel and diming operation. Some say that the food quality in the main dining room has been reduced to encourage passengers to use the ever increasing number of pay restaurants. On their new ship, they are now charging fees for certain theater shows and to get into one of the bars. Additionally, passengers in the garden villas get preferred reservations and seating in the restaurants and showrooms.

 

I fear that their vision is to slowly evolve into an al la carte operation and a return to the old classes of cruising. To me defeats one of the more appealing aspects of cruising.

 

So I gather "Freestyle" isn't really Free.