NCL Dining Vs. Carnival?

[Captain Carnival]

Hello NCL Board,

 

As you can see below I have only sailed on Carnival ships and had a question as to the dining options, times, and costs on the NCL line.

 

For example, I have "heard" that unlike Carnival, where all of you meals are included either via the buffet and/or dining in the main dining rooms at specific times, that you must pay extra $$ to eat (particularly in the dining room) - can anyone confirm?

 

Thanks!

 

BTW: I'm exploring cruise options to Europe (Italy) and also to Hawaii.

[radzer0]

You only pay for specialty resturants. Garden room and windows are both included.

 

NCL has more food options for free over carnival. Atleast the smaller ships. Dont know about the huge carnival ships.

[luddite]

You heard ...wrong.

[STARFISH*4]

if you go to their website (NCL) you will see a list of dining venues for each ship and the cost.

 

both MDRs and buffet and 23 hr (Sports Bar on the Sun-12hrs) are FREE!!!!

[nikimouse]

Ive yet to cruise NCL but I have read that the food is actually good in the free dining venues, and some items are better than on carnival, some not, someone posted a review and said you can help yourself to meat items rather than have someone serve you with tongs at the buffet, they made a joke about the ' bacon police' on carnival that made you feel guilty for asking for more than 2 or 3 slices of bacon at breakfast. im sure you wont go hungry and nor will I ;)

I cruised with disney and the food looked nice but didnt taste as good, carnivals food was way better in my opinion, but I guess as long as im not cooking, or washing up, its all good. Having the option to eat in different resturants is better that only having 1 main dining room and the buffet to choose from and im really not into assigned seating and set times to eat, so im expecting to enjoy NCL more than carnival. I like the free style concept

[sdmike]

The Epic had over 15 places to eat, half of them free and the rest either specialty or a la carte restaurants . I found the food on NCL to be superior to my recent CCL cruise, but food preferences are very subjective.

[Warm Breezes]

NCL has the as many included (no fee) dining venues as CCL. The only difference is that NCL has more specialty (fee) dining venues than CCL, thus giving you more choices.

[akupupule]

Shotojuku, I think you would find very similar free dining options in the NCL main dining rooms and buffets, to CCL. IMO the quality of food in the MDRs and buffets are similar, with NCL holding the edge in the buffets. However, NCL has many more excellent pay venues than the typical CCL ship. Some of the pay restaurants are only $10 per person (for example the Italian restaurant), and some range up to $25 pp (for Cagneys Steakhouse). The types of restaurants range from Tex-Mex, French, Italian, Teppanyaki, Sushi, Oriental fusion, Brazillian, Pizza, Pub type, Pastries, and American. They are a great deal because of the quality of the food, variety, but you can also order multiple items in each course. All for the same low fee. Check out the NCL dot com website: - learn about our cruises- ships- click a ship- whats on board. Then scroll through the various offerings...some even have sample menus. If you are looking for something in Europe, consider the Epic, which not only offers a huge variety of restaurants, but also a large amount of quality free entertainment options. Good luck on your choices and I think you will be pleasantly surprised by the NCL offerings.

[jtdlmc]

Here's the link to the dining flyer which lists all the dining options on each ship. They have more free dining options than the Carnival ship I was on. The NCL ship I'm booked on has 10 free dining venues and 7 extra fee options. My Carnival ship had 4 free dining options and 1 extra fee steak house. My family is really going to appreciate the 23-hour restaurant that serves things like chicken wings, mozza sticks, sandwiches and salads - which I believe is on every ship. We found on Carnival that late night the only choice was room service.

 

http://www2.ncl.com/sites/default/files/Dining_Flyer_062211.pdf

[Captain Carnival]

Thanks one and all for the great info and clarifications!

 

Now all I have to do is decide which cruise I should select for my 30th Wedding Anniversay (Europe) as Carnival will not have any sailings at that time. I see that NCL has three Eurpoean ports however I wanted to see as much of Italy as possible; any new suggestions?

 

THANKS!!! :D

[newmexicoNita]

Hello NCL Board,

 

As you can see below I have only sailed on Carnival ships and had a question as to the dining options, times, and costs on the NCL line.

 

For example, I have "heard" that unlike Carnival, where all of you meals are included either via the buffet and/or dining in the main dining rooms at specific times, that you must pay extra $$ to eat (particularly in the dining room) - can anyone confirm?

 

Thanks!

 

BTW: I'm exploring cruise options to Europe (Italy) and also to Hawaii.

 

I am not trying to put you down, but I am having trouble believing you actually think this is true...Of course you do not pay to eat in the MDRs. In fact NCL has more dining options, free and sur charge than any other line or I think they do. You have 2 MDRs, the buffet, the outside grill, Blue Lagoon (which is comfort food) and like all lines, room service. The specialty dining rooms do have a charge but they are no more expensive than Carnival and in some cases less.

 

Nita

[Captain Carnival]

...I am not trying to put you down, but I am having trouble believing you actually think this is true...

Nita

 

 

No need to try, you just did and I hope you have no trouble in believing that as well. :rolleyes:

[akupupule]

Thanks one and all for the great info and clarifications!

 

Now all I have to do is decide which cruise I should select for my 30th Wedding Anniversay (Europe) as Carnival will not have any sailings at that time. I see that NCL has three Eurpoean ports however I wanted to see as much of Italy as possible; any new suggestions?

 

THANKS!!! :D

 

I don't know what your budget is but if you want to concentrate on Italian ports, check out Costa Cruise Lines . the Luminosa has a sailing on May 14 , 2012 with several stops in Italian ports. That is an Italian line with Italian spoken primarily, I believe with a few English speaking guests. Also check out the Azamara Quest, sailing an 11 day cruise beginning Oct 12, 2012. Great 2 day stop in Sorrento which is perfect for exploring the picturesque Amalfi coast. This is an upscale offshoot of RCI sailing nice little R Class ships which can get into the smaller ports. Try Cruise dot com and play with the options. Good luck and Happy Anniversary!

[BearClaw28]

Based on the one Carnival Cruise and one NCL cruise that I've been on:

 

Carnival has better "free" food but fewer options throughout the ship. I guess that's the difference between Freestyle. The buffet on NCL is decent but it rarely changes and it gets tiring after a couple of days. The buffet on Carnival includes choices from the MDR which I thought was great since it allows people to try those options if they can't make it to the MDR. The best thing I've ever eaten on a cruise ship was the duck breast on Carnival. I tried it around 5pm in the buffet for a snack and then ordered it again at the late seating in the MDR.

 

Don't get me wrong, NCL has good food. Plus it's plentiful and it's served all day long. For comparison's sake though, I found Carnival to have slightly better quality food. But like another poster said, it's all subjective. Maybe when I come back from the Epic in a couple weeks I'll have a different answer.

[Freckles_51]

I cruised with Carnival in 2008 and 2009, and with NCL in 2010.

 

Carnival wins hands down in the Main dining room - food and service were excellent. NCL main dining room was not awful, just not as good as Carnival, food was not as well presented and I personally found that NCL uses too much salt in their MDR food.

 

NCL wins in variety of "extra fee" options - the food was excellent in those dining areas. We did not eat in Carnival's specialty restaurant so cannot compare.

 

NCL wins in the breakfast buffet, lots more options including smoked salmon, eggs Benedict/Hollandaise etc. Carnival did not have anything like that in their breakfast buffet, but maybe available in MDR at breakfast time.

 

In general though I have to say that we preferred Carnival food overall, but of course it may have changed over the last few years.

 

I know you didn't ask about staff but while we're comparing we found NCL senior management to be always available, even the captain who would come to the breakfast buffet every morning and stand around the coffee dispensers and chat to passengers. Other senior staff were very visible and approachable as well. On the other hand I couldn't tell you who was who on Carnival.

 

We would sail with either line again. The itinerary would make the difference.

[Captain Carnival]

Thanks again for the additional info on my initial food question and of course for the "Italy" cruise question too!! :)