RCL vs NCL, comparisons please.

[kernow]

We've done over 20 cruises on various lines but RCL or Celebrity is usually our first choice. We've never tried NCL, mainly because we're not sure about the freestyle dining but are looking for a cruise in Europe for this winter and have spotted some great deals on NCL Jade sailing from Barcelona or Malaga. RCL/X are out of the question as they have little choice in Europe to suit our dates.

I'd really appreciate some opinions from people who've sailed both lines. We're looking at a balcony or minisuite which is not much more expensive, does this compare to a JS?

We have a 17 year old who loves the teen club, so would like to hear how that is.

Also would like to know about food and how the dining works in practice, and anything else you think might be of interest.

 

I'll post on NCL board too.

 

Thanks in advance,

 

Julie

[wingnutphl]

I did not like the "freestyle" dining. To me it was false advertising. They claim to have all these dinner choices but really you only have 3 that a free. The rest you have to pay for. I felt the staff was very unfriendly and there didn't seem to be very many activities compared to RCI or Carnival.

[Paulxyz2004]

I´ve only sailed on NCL once, so my experience is somewhat limited. First let me say it wasn´t a bad cruise but it was probably the one I would rate lowest in my list of cruises.

 

The two major things that stood out to me.

 

The cabins (I had a balcony room) was probably the smallest and worst lay out I´ve ever been in. The only highlight was the shower which had a good size and a real door. unfortunatel the rest of the bathroom was tiny.

 

The other negative was the Freestyle concept which I really hated. Long lines to stand in every night and the majority of venues as pay extra are not my idea of a relaxing vacation.

 

I´m not saying never again, but I will think hard before going again with them.

[green eyed lady]

We are usually loyal to royal but sailed NCL once and didn't like it at all. Didn't care for the freestyle and we thought the staff was not very friendly. That being said, if you are doing a very port intensive itinerary, I would say go with NCL if the price is right for you. You won't be on the ship much anyway. I would do NCL again to cruise the Hawaiian islands if I have the chance :D

[R_i_c_h]

Celebrity is my first choice when it comes to cruiselines. If you like Celebrity because of the service, the closer adherence to tradition, and the somewhat of a more refined ambiance, then you may not be crazy about NCL. With respect to those factors, I think NCL is pretty much the opposite of Celebrity among mass market lines. JMHO. YMMV.

 

Rich

[rolloman]

I agree the NCL older ships having small cabins and limited venues for the Free Style Concept. I can assure you though that the new ships EPIC ,Jade ,Gem, Pearl are all outstanding ships and can hold their own with any ship out there. The Epic especially. Not as crowded as Oasis class,(meaning I never waited on an elevator) tons of activities and entertainment. If you have children, the kids clubs on the ships I mentioned are outstanding. Plenty of eating venues and I might add this whole business of saying most of them are pay restaurants is absolutely no different than what they now have on the new RCL and Celebrity ships. RCL is even going a la cart to make theirs even more expensive. So what I am saying is, apples to apples its all the same game. Go ahead and check out one of the ships above, I am sure you will have a great time.

[LuckiStac13*Majesty*]

We've done over 20 cruises on various lines but RCL or Celebrity is usually our first choice. We've never tried NCL, mainly because we're not sure about the freestyle dining but are looking for a cruise in Europe for this winter and have spotted some great deals on NCL Jade sailing from Barcelona or Malaga. RCL/X are out of the question as they have little choice in Europe to suit our dates.

I'd really appreciate some opinions from people who've sailed both lines. We're looking at a balcony or minisuite which is not much more expensive, does this compare to a JS?

We have a 17 year old who loves the teen club, so would like to hear how that is.

Also would like to know about food and how the dining works in practice, and anything else you think might be of interest.

 

I'll post on NCL board too.

 

Thanks in advance,

 

Julie

 

Hi Julie,

 

We had only sailed with Royal (35+ cruises with them) but last year decided to try NCL, so I will give my opinion:

 

We sailed on the NCL Dawn from Miami to the Western Caribbean. The Dawn was a good ship and a favorite of NCL's cruisers. I have to say that it was more similar to Royal than not, with some differences, of course. I was afraid I was going to not enjoy it as much, but I was wrong. I had a great time.

 

I still believe that RCI has the best/prettiest/cleanest ships. There is also a certain feeling, or ambience, on their ships that the Dawn did not have. But remember that I am very used to Royal Caribbean.

 

I like the polished "look" of Royal's ships, whereas NCL's ships don't look as nice. The Dawn's pool deck was very tired-looking and dumpy, imo.

 

We had an AFT balcony stateroom on Deck 9. A little smaller, but we loved the bathroom with the sliding glass shower door and the separate (though small) area for the toilet. We had 3 in the room and managed just fine.

 

Crew/Service was definitely not as friendly/good as Royal, but no bad experiences there, just my opinion.

 

Food....we actually thought the food was better quality in a lot of ways. There are 3 main places to dine that are included (2 dining room, one buffet) but the menus are really not that great. They have one side that stays the same the entire length of the cruise, and the other changes daily. Just not a lot of options and by day 3 you are looking for other places to eat. Their buffet food (Garden Cafe) trumps the Windjammer, I think. Huge selection. Lots of specialty restaurants on their ships as well.

 

Room service: food was not good like it is on Royal.

 

Desserts: horrible, every single one was gelatin-based. Very disappointed in that.

 

Organization-wise: Wins over RCI hands-down. They have embarkation/debarkation/tendering down pat. Not one single issue all week, like we seem to have on Royal (very disorganized, IMO).

 

That's all I can think of right now...we had a great time, but really prefer Royal Caribbean. They're just more polished and a step above NCL, we thought. Though I have never had a bad cruise! If you have more specific questions, let me know!

[wingnutphl]

Plenty of eating venues and I might add this whole business of saying most of them are pay restaurants is absolutely no different than what they now have on the new RCL and Celebrity ships. RCL is even going a la cart to make theirs even more expensive. So what I am saying is, apples to apples its all the same game.

 

I'm going to have to disagree with your there. With RCI and Celebrity, you can choose MTD or traditional. There are 2 seatings for traditional so half the people are going to the dining room at the seating times. With NCL, you have a lot more people heading to the free dining room at the same time. It was crowded, rushed and not a pleasant experience. We had 5 in our group so it usually took at least 1/2 hour to be seated. We did this 2 times before we all sucked it up and made reservations for the pay restaurants.

[LuckiStac13*Majesty*]

We are usually loyal to royal but sailed NCL once and didn't like it at all. Didn't care for the freestyle and we thought the staff was not very friendly. That being said, if you are doing a very port intensive itinerary, I would say go with NCL if the price is right for you. You won't be on the ship much anyway. I would do NCL again to cruise the Hawaiian islands if I have the chance :D

 

That's something I forgot to say. We definitely prefer Royal, but if the price is right...I agree, go for it. They tend to be less-expensive. Just stay (as rolloman suggested) with one of their newer ships.

[asiacruiser1]

I've done RCI about 10 years ago and loved it. There were so many on-board activities that I couldn't do them all. I liked the dining (but didn't know any other kind at the time) especially dinner -- there were so many options on the menu. I didn't like that we were seated with other people. In fact that ruined our meal more than once (rude guests). I didn't like that we had to rush and be there by 6pm (sometimes we just got back from the port and had to "get there").

 

As for NCL - we did it just two months ago - and we enjoyed it but there were definite downsides. We had a port everyday so we didn't need too many onboard activities but I perused the list and there were very few that I would have attended and very few compared to RCI. I liked the freestyle dining because we could go whenever we wanted and still got "the white tablecloth experience." The lines didn't bother me too much since there were only 20 people in front of us ever. The 10pm buffet line was ridiculously long but the RCI (midnight) one was long too.

 

Comparing both, I would say the meals on RCI were MUCH better than on NCL but again I am comparing 10 years ago when the financial crisis didn't make cutbacks de rigeur.

 

As for kids club, I was trully disappointed in NCL's kids club. I can only compare it to Carnival - which my kids loved and is much more kid-friendly. I know my kids aren't angels BUT they are always praised for their behavior at school, daycare, gym classes, music classes, etc. And they are very well-behaved in social settings. But on two different occasions at the NCL kids' club my boys were reprimanded by the male staff on NCL. I was also told if they misbehave again they would be banned from the club. My kids have never been banned from anything. And the reason was some vague "they weren't listening." One of my sons swore up and down (to the point of tears) that he didn't do anything wrong. I think the male staff just wasn't the right kind of people to be in charge of children. And I have to insert that it probably isn't a great idea to have male staff taking care of young children. JMO

[rolloman]

I'm going to have to disagree with your there. With RCI and Celebrity, you can choose MTD or traditional. There are 2 seatings for traditional so half the people are going to the dining room at the seating times. With NCL, you have a lot more people heading to the free dining room at the same time. It was crowded, rushed and not a pleasant experience. We had 5 in our group so it usually took at least 1/2 hour to be seated. We did this 2 times before we all sucked it up and made reservations for the pay restaurants.

You were also on the Dawn, not one of the new ships I specifically pointed out above and based my opinions on. I would never even think about sailing the NCL Dawn. The OP pointed out considering the Jade the 2nd newest ship in the NCL Fleet, so to try and compare older ships to that one is a waste of time.

[Paulxyz2004]

I agree the NCL older ships having small cabins and limited venues for the Free Style Concept. I can assure you though that the new ships EPIC ,Jade ,Gem, Pearl are all outstanding ships and can hold their own with any ship out there. The Epic especially. Not as crowded as Oasis class,(meaning I never waited on an elevator) tons of activities and entertainment. If you have children, the kids clubs on the ships I mentioned are outstanding. Plenty of eating venues and I might add this whole business of saying most of them are pay restaurants is absolutely no different than what they now have on the new RCL and Celebrity ships. RCL is even going a la cart to make theirs even more expensive. So what I am saying is, apples to apples its all the same game. Go ahead and check out one of the ships above, I am sure you will have a great time.

 

I agree with you that RCI and X have pay for venues onboard as well and that the number is increasing, however my onboard experience was still different. On NCL the free Dining rooms could nowhere hold the number of passengers onboard and they had no ability to accomodate the numbers they needed to. Thus it resulted in looong waits to get seated, being given pagers or even being sent away to try at other places :eek: after already waiting in line for 45 minutes:eek:. That has never happened to me on any other line doing Anytime, MyTime or whatever the line calls it.

 

I agree with one other thing with you. The Epic can hold her own with any other ship out there, only I don´t mean that in an even remotely positive way:eek:.

[rolloman]

I agree with you that RCI and X have pay for venues onboard as well and that the number is increasing, however my onboard experience was still different. On NCL the free Dining rooms could nowhere hold the number of passengers onboard and they had no ability to accomodate the numbers they needed to. Thus it resulted in looong waits to get seated, being given pagers or even being sent away to try at other places :eek: after already waiting in line for 45 minutes:eek:. That has never happened to me on any other line doing Anytime, MyTime or whatever the line calls it.

 

I agree with one other thing with you. The Epic can hold her own with any other ship out there, only I don´t mean that in an even remotely positive way:eek:.

Never waited on a newer class ship on NCL to eat, ever. I guess if you have 8 or more in your party that may be different but for a 4 top, no issues ever out of multiple sailings. Matter of fact on the EPIC in a July sailing the free restuarants were so empty I was amazed. For you to discredit the Epic you have just lost all credibility going forward. There is nothing over the top wrong with that ship and I have been on every new build that has came out the past 2 years on RCL, Celebrity, NCL and Disney.

[Paulxyz2004]

Never waited on a newer class ship on NCL to eat, ever. I guess if you have 8 or more in your party that may be different but for a 4 top, no issues ever out of multiple sailings. Matter of fact on the EPIC in a July sailing the free restuarants were so empty I was amazed. For you to discredit the Epic you have just lost all credibility going forward. There is nothing over the top wrong with that ship and I have been on every new build that has came out the past 2 years on RCL, Celebrity, NCL and Disney.

 

FWIW we were a party of two.

 

Different strikes for different folks. A major point to me is cabin design and the wave cabins on Epic are a complete no go to me.

[kernow]

Wow, thanks very much for all the quick replies. I posted straight after on the NCL board and have not had one, another reason I love RCL, the fellow passengers are so helpful:)

 

I think the replies are kind of what I was expecting, but we are leaning to booking just because there is not much else that suits us.

We have cruised both Carnival and Costa previously, both lines that alot of people don't seem to like, but we have always managed to enjoy ourselves and I'm sure we'd go into this with the same attitude.

 

As so many of you have mentioned queues, I do have a question about the MDR. Is it possible to prebook the same table, same time for every night or do we have to just turn up and wait. Do we get a choice to sit alone or with others, we've always enjoyed having table mates.

Also how do the majority dress for dinner. I'm the kind of person who dresses smartly even on casual nights, will I be surrounded by people in shorts and baseball caps?

 

Thanks again,

 

Julie

[rolloman]

Wow, thanks very much for all the quick replies. I posted straight after on the NCL board and have not had one, another reason I love RCL, the fellow passengers are so helpful:)

 

I think the replies are kind of what I was expecting, but we are leaning to booking just because there is not much else that suits us.

We have cruised both Carnival and Costa previously, both lines that alot of people don't seem to like, but we have always managed to enjoy ourselves and I'm sure we'd go into this with the same attitude.

 

As so many of you have mentioned queues, I do have a question about the MDR. Is it possible to prebook the same table, same time for every night or do we have to just turn up and wait. Do we get a choice to sit alone or with others, we've always enjoyed having table mates.

Also how do the majority dress for dinner. I'm the kind of person who dresses smartly even on casual nights, will I be surrounded by people in shorts and baseball caps?

 

Thanks again,

 

Julie

You could ask for the same table each night, I would say a good chance this would be accomodated. It was for us on EPIC. Dress you will find to be smart casual and you will find this to be 95% of what will be around you. On EPIC they have a smart casual restaurant and a shorts and ballcap free restuarant. Keep in mind each cruise and cruise crowd are different so no guarantees. Basically in the scheme of things this should rank extremely low in the list of items to be concerned about.

[LuckiStac13*Majesty*]

Wow, thanks very much for all the quick replies. I posted straight after on the NCL board and have not had one, another reason I love RCL, the fellow passengers are so helpful:)

 

I think the replies are kind of what I was expecting, but we are leaning to booking just because there is not much else that suits us.

We have cruised both Carnival and Costa previously, both lines that alot of people don't seem to like, but we have always managed to enjoy ourselves and I'm sure we'd go into this with the same attitude.

 

As so many of you have mentioned queues, I do have a question about the MDR. Is it possible to prebook the same table, same time for every night or do we have to just turn up and wait. Do we get a choice to sit alone or with others, we've always enjoyed having table mates.

Also how do the majority dress for dinner. I'm the kind of person who dresses smartly even on casual nights, will I be surrounded by people in shorts and baseball caps?

 

Thanks again,

 

Julie

 

I can answer one thing...this is actually a drawback that I forgot to mention. The passengers were definitely dressed extremely casual at all times, including dinner. We're like you--even casual nights are "smart casual" for us, but there really were not many people at all dressed "nicely." It was a bit disappointing, but what can you do, ya know? So basically, yes...shorts, t-shirts, tank tops, baseball hats for dinner. At least in our experience.

[LuckiStac13*Majesty*]

Julie--here's my Dawn review from back in October...take a look if you're interested, it's long!

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1306219

[rolloman]

FWIW we were a party of two.

 

Different strikes for different folks. A major point to me is cabin design and the wave cabins on Epic are a complete no go to me.

Some of the smaller balcony cabins are different. Some like them some don't. I will state the storage areas of those wave cabins are awesome. Anyway If one does their homework in advance they very easily can pick out a room that will suit their needs. EPIC suites are incredible. No one and I mean no one has the upscale 3 bedroom design they offer with private ammenities. No one has the single cabin area EPIC offers either. So again, on EPIC do your research if you are concerned about cabin space.

[kernow]

Stacy,

 

thanks for the link, I enjoyed the review and it was good to read some of the comments.

 

I haven't done much research on the Jade yet so don't know if its the same but I really like the idea that there is food available outside near the pool. Thats the one thing that I really miss on RCL compared to all the other ships we've sailed.

 

Julie

[LuckiStac13*Majesty*]

Stacy,

 

thanks for the link, I enjoyed the review and it was good to read some of the comments.

 

I haven't done much research on the Jade yet so don't know if its the same but I really like the idea that there is food available outside near the pool. Thats the one thing that I really miss on RCL compared to all the other ships we've sailed.

 

Julie

 

Definitely...it was very nice. There was food everywhere! I think you'll enjoy it if you choose to go that route...you'll have pros and cons with anything and like I said, they're more similar than not, we think.

[crusinmama06]

Julie, I have been OVER-researching this very same question. And although RCI has always been my usual choice, my next cruise is on NCL Gem. :D

 

I cancelled my RCI cruise for November and rebooked on NCL for October because the cost was less than half for my fam of 4. (It was a Kids sail Free promo)

 

I have been reading everything I can get my grubby hands on about freestyle. And I think I have prepared myself enough not to encounter the long waits that others have complained about. It seems like if you go earlier - there are no wait times. Which is good because we like to eat early.

 

I am sure it will be something different. But I can't wait to try it. ;)

[brianabrad]

I will be on my first RCL cruise later this month but my first cruise was with NCL. We enjoyed it and thought the ship was nice but had nothing to compare too. Our NCL ship, can't remember the name, was smaller and only did a trip to the Bahamas.

 

The ship was nice. Eating options were good but they don't have a MDR or anything like what RCL does. They have a WJ / buffet style area to eat and a few other options. I think its a good place for first time cruisers but maybe not a seasoned vetern like yourself. I'm sure when I step foot on the RCL boat I will think wow . . NCL has nothing on this ship.

 

Our room was nice and larger than we expected. However, we went in ecpecting a small prison sized cell. :)

 

The boat was decent but not much to do. They had one small pool and two small hot tubs always both full of kids. Errr!

 

I will say the private island for the cruise line was wonderful! We heard several people say it was much nicer than other cruise lines private islands in the Bahamas.

 

Hope this info helps.

 

Have fun!

[Shak]

We did a cruise on NCL last year and while the cruise was OK I didn't like the Freestyle part at all. While the Freestyle is highly touted as best thing on earth in reality most people choose to dine at the standard hours of set dining. Because the dining options are so spread out between pay and main dining space can be limited and you may have to wait from time to time during those peak hours. There were two main dining rooms on the NCL ship I was on both were one floor. We always felt rushed in the main dining rooms because of there intent to turn tables as fast as possible because of the lines. There was also no personal attention I got used to on RCL in the dining room. If I need more water for instance I had to first get the attention of the server and ask for a refill. One thing I really did like about dining on NCL is that they have from time to time BBQ cookouts poolside at lunch time with real charcoal cookers.

 

As I said the cruise and rooms were fine and the price of most NCL ships are very reasonable. I would say if NCL is going where you want to go at the price you like then go for it.

 

Shak

[Bookish Angel]

Traditional early seating dining is too early for us and late seating is too late. With Freestyle, we never had to wait more than 5 minutes for a table and often we could dine at a table for 2, our preference.