An NCL Fan looking at carnival

[sesasheep]

I am a big fan of NCL, having cruised on them many times in the past. We are now looking at a cruise for April, and seeing many carnival cruises come up with good port of call and excellent prices. We went on one carnival cruise 6 years ago from NYC, but hear the line has changed significantly from then. For people who have been on/know NCL, would I be happy on carnival? How do you compare the quality of the lines?

 

Thanks so much for your help

 

-sesasheep

[mizLORInj]

Hi; they are more similar than different. Carnival's regular cabins are a bit larger than NCL, but NCL unique bathroom layout takes up a little more cabin space; Carnival's bathroom smaller and cabin appears larger.

Carnival you can have assigned dining times or not. Fewer upcharge restaurants but the one they have is very good (Steakhouse)

Shows very comparable.

Have fun. We sail both and like those and others.

[quintess02]

Well I have never sailed NCL, but my husband had only been on NCL until we booked a cruise for our wedding. We compared CCL, NCL and RC basically for price and an itinerary we wanted as well as some onboard features. We went with CCL because the cruise we wanted on there compared to our choice with NCL was enough less in price to make it more affordable for some family/friends to go.

 

He was at first refusing CCL because he thought they made you do everything at a specific time although I insisted you could do whatever you chose, at that time only some ships had anytime dining, didn't have to eat in mdr. So we booked CCL and he was thinking there may be more to do on NCL onboard although I'm not sure how he could have that opinion as he didn't really want to do a lot of the things onboard besides the shows. Was a pretty port intensive trip and we were both pretty tired out with all the prep beforehand since were getting married onboard though and then we did a lot in port.

 

To get to my point we have booked another cruise in March 2012 and it is on CCL and he didn't even say he would rather do NCL when we again looked at those 3 lines to decide what we wanted to do. Hope this helps!

[mommyto2girls]

If you are cruising for itinerary then it really does not matter. We are doing Carnival out of San Juan in January because we liked the ports, we booked a suite because we like the extra room. There are no perks but we do not care. Dining is subjective, I can eat at the lido buffet at night and I am fine. We are sailing NCL again in May because they have an amazing "suite life" we have done 2 courtyard villas cruises and we are going for a Deluxe Owners Suite next. The perks on NCL are amazing and we find the crew to be wonderful. We have never had a bad experience on either but we cruise them for different reasons. Whichever you do it is a cruise just relax...

[VUCruiser]

Our last 3 have been on NCL and we love freestyle and the price and NYC was easy for us. Our next will be on Carnival, though. We found on our last Carnival trip that we enjoyed it as well. Food comparable, atmosphere similar, and fellow passengers friendly. I find both lines very similar and if you like NCL, Carnival is an easy move. I do find a difference with HAL, but it has been a while since we have gone that route. good luck!

[MagnoliaBlossom]

We are platinum on both NCL and CCL. We prefer NCL due to freestyle dining. CCL now has an anytime dining option but we have not tried it.

 

There are things I prefer about each of the lines and would not hesitate to recommend either of them. Although, all things being equal I'm an NCL'er because I just hate the singing waiters interrupting my dessert and coffee. But, it obviously isn't a deal breaker.

 

Go and enjoy.

[cherbear4000]

Carnival is actually my family's favorite line. We have also cruised NCL, RC, Celebrity, and Costa. We most recently cruised NCL to Bermuda this past July. Although we enjoyed our cruise, we all wished we were cruising with Carnival.

[Name Of The Game]

Carnival is actually my family's favorite line. We have also cruised NCL, RC, Celebrity, and Costa. We most recently cruised NCL to Bermuda this past July. Although we enjoyed our cruise, we all wished we were cruising with Carnival.

 

We were thinking of trying NCL. What did you like least about NCL?

[Topo Gigio]

I found the buffet on Norwegian wayyy better and much more choices too! NCL ships are classier too. Other things more or less equal.

 

Both cruise lines are the worst in the industry when it comes to nickle and diming.

[cruisecrazyk]

I am a fan of both lines. CCL is less expensive and has more choice on home ports. I tried anytime dining with CCL last January and liked it as well as Freestyle. CCL does not have the dinner choices that NCL has but a lot of different lunch options. Staff and food great on both lines. No cruise critic gathering with staff on CCL like they have on NCL. I have never tried any suites on either line so I cannot give any feedback there but I have heard that NCL has them beat in that area. As you can see from my signature I go back and forth depending on ports I want to visit or ships I want to experience. I would give CCL a try. :)

[skylock]

I like Carnival and I have sailed Carnival the most because of a full time ship at my closest ports, but I prefer NCL handsdown and will choose the NCL ship if it is in my home port when I want to go. We always cruise NCL for our Thanksgiving family vacation.

 

I wanted to add that anytime dining improved how much I like CCL, but I book on short notice and with Anytime dining getting more popular, I am having to do assigned dining mostly now, which I hate.

[CapsR1]

We would like to try NCL someday and wish they would put a ship in Baltimore!!!

[xitappers2bx]

I am a big fan of NCL, having cruised on them many times in the past. We are now looking at a cruise for April, and seeing many carnival cruises come up with good port of call and excellent prices. We went on one carnival cruise 6 years ago from NYC, but hear the line has changed significantly from then. For people who have been on/know NCL, would I be happy on carnival? How do you compare the quality of the lines?

 

Thanks so much for your help

 

-sesasheep

 

I think a lot of it is personal choice... my good friend and her husband sail exclusively on NCL... they got a really good deal on a last minute Carnival and absolutely hated it, yes they enjoyed their time on the ship, but she said they decided they'd rather have stayed home. i travel exclusively on Carnival, but I am a totally different audience, single mom, youngish kid. carnival makes the DD happy, and i get to eat dinner with other adults, not with the seven year old. they are close to 30 married couple, no children, and like to eat at a table for two never in the same place twice in a row. i love ccl she loves ncl.

[iluvdoxies]

We just returned from a NCL cruise, fabulous !

 

Stick with NCL, Carnival has REALLY declined in the last 6 years.

[sparks1093]

We just returned from a NCL cruise, fabulous !

 

Stick with NCL, Carnival has REALLY declined in the last 6 years.

 

I understand what you are saying and do appreciate your pov, but NCL has also declined over the past few years. I think both lines have had to make changes in order to survive in a lousy economy and have tried to keep their fares low in the process. But I can see a long time NCL cruiser advising someone "stick with Carnival, NCL has really declined in the past 6 years".

[H82seaUgo]

unless you are a suite cruiser, the two lines are more alike than different, except for the embarrassing mistake, epic.

 

carnival now seems to be using ncl as their business model, even stealing their "freestyle 2.0" rejuvination for a kickstart.

[kingoftheicedragons]

I would say that if you liked Carnival six years ago, you will still like Carnival now. We started cruising in February of 2007 and have seen very few changes over the years since then. Yes, some things do change, but I wouldn't say there has been a decline in terms of quality or service on any of the ships we have been on.

[iluvdoxies]

I would say that if you liked Carnival six years ago, you will still like Carnival now. We started cruising in February of 2007 and have seen very few changes over the years since then. Yes, some things do change, but I wouldn't say there has been a decline in terms of quality or service on any of the ships we have been on.

 

I beg to differ.

 

2 examples

 

no more NY strip steak, replaced with a tough flavorless skirt type. bleah !

 

really cheap champagne and wine at past guest party - couldnt even drink it

[readytotravel44]

We did the Hawaiian cruise with NCL. Though we LOVED the ports of call (who can complain about Hawaii!) we were disappointed with NCL. We did not feel the food was as good (unless you constantly upgraded to specialty restaurants) or the staff was as attentive. Of the three lines we have sailed, Disney is #1, Carnival #2 and NCL a distant #3. Eager to try RCCL sometime!

 

*We do realize this was just ONE NCL cruise. We would certainly give them another chance before writing them off!

[Cruzaholic41]

I am a big fan of NCL, having cruised on them many times in the past. We are now looking at a cruise for April, and seeing many carnival cruises come up with good port of call and excellent prices. We went on one carnival cruise 6 years ago from NYC, but hear the line has changed significantly from then. For people who have been on/know NCL, would I be happy on carnival? How do you compare the quality of the lines?

 

Aside from NCL's Freestyle concept, NCL and CCL are probably the 2 most similar major cruise lines out there. In most cases, folks happy with one are usually happy with the other. That is, as long as they are not nitpicking minor details like one particular food dish.

[cherbear4000]

We were thinking of trying NCL. What did you like least about NCL?

 

My least favorite aspect of NCL was the freestyle dining. It sounds great in theory, but it didn't work for us. We had to make reservations for the MDR a day in advance, otherwise the wait for a table every time we were there was over a hour. That defeats the whole concept of freestyle dining. Dinner service was so slow, since the waiters have many tables, all at different points of their dinner.

 

The first night, we did not make a reservation for the MDR and it took almost 2 hours to get a table. We were given a pager that worked anywhere on the ship. We were going to give up and eat at the buffet, but they were serving lobster in the MDR. The lobster was a joke, so we should have just eaten in the buffet. Also, the dinner itself lasted 2 hours and we left before dessert. We wasted 4 hours on dinner, couldn't see any show. We wise up and make reservations the next night. Still takes over 30 minutes to get a table. Again, dinner service was super slow and dinner took 2 hours. The MDR was like this the whole cruise. We only were able to see shows the night we went to the buffet.

 

Also, on NCL there are so many pay restaurants taking up so much space. On Carnival, there is so much more public areas. It seemed liked there is much more to do on Carnival.

 

There were many aspects of NCL we did like. In general though, we like Carnival better. We would sail NCL again, but only if we couldn't find the itinerary/ dates we want on Carnival. I personally think that everyone should try all the major lines at least once.

[groo]

My least favorite aspect of NCL was the freestyle dining. It sounds great in theory, but it didn't work for us. We had to make reservations for the MDR a day in advance, otherwise the wait for a table every time we were there was over a hour. That defeats the whole concept of freestyle dining. Dinner service was so slow, since the waiters have many tables, all at different points of their dinner.

 

The first night, we did not make a reservation for the MDR and it took almost 2 hours to get a table. We were given a pager that worked anywhere on the ship. We were going to give up and eat at the buffet, but they were serving lobster in the MDR. The lobster was a joke, so we should have just eaten in the buffet. Also, the dinner itself lasted 2 hours and we left before dessert. We wasted 4 hours on dinner, couldn't see any show. We wise up and make reservations the next night. Still takes over 30 minutes to get a table. Again, dinner service was super slow and dinner took 2 hours. The MDR was like this the whole cruise. We only were able to see shows the night we went to the buffet.

 

There were some aspects of NCL we did like. In general though, we like Carnival better. We would sail NCL again, but only if we couldn't find the itinerary/ dates we want on Carnival. I personally think that everyone should try all the major lines at least once.

 

 

I wouldn't have cared much for those wait times myself. We've been fortunate that in our many dinners on NCL in the MDR we've never needed a reservation, except when we were with a large group, and never waited more than 15 minutes and usually less than 5 minutes for a table. Anymore than 30 minutes and I head to the buffet or Blue Lagoon.

 

we were recently on the Carnival Fascination and tried Anytime Dining. We had different waiters most nights, but they take your cabin number when you check in and the waiter gets a print out so they know your names. I noticed toward the end of the cruise our waiter seemed to know that our grand daughter had been getting chicken fingers every meal, so they may make note of your preferences as well. The waiters did a great job and were very attentive to us. I think you will enjoy a Carnival cruise.

[halos]

I am a big fan of NCL, having cruised on them many times in the past. We are now looking at a cruise for April, and seeing many carnival cruises come up with good port of call and excellent prices. We went on one carnival cruise 6 years ago from NYC, but hear the line has changed significantly from then. For people who have been on/know NCL, would I be happy on carnival? How do you compare the quality of the lines?

 

Thanks so much for your help

 

-sesasheep

 

Personally I prefer NCL, however, I am a big fan of variety. If you've done most of your sailing on NCL, a little change could do you good. :)

Unlike the posters who say the lines are very similar, I don't think they are similar at all...I find them very different. But like I said, variety is good. :)

The ONLY way you will know if you like a certain cruise line is to try it for yourself...at LEAST once.

[lillian marie]

We sail CCL most often but have sailed most of the lines with US ports. We prefer the food on CCL over NCL and RCCL. Princess and Cunard have superior service in our opinion, my all time favorite cruise was on Cunard, but the price on CCL is just a better bargain. I haven't cruised HAL for several years now but friends recently did and it still offers a wonderful cruise product too. CCL just offers a great cruise vacation product as a incredible bargain price in my opinion. It is hard to beat. We also like the freestyle cruise option and anytime dining on CCL gives us that option. We've done anytime dining on our 4 last cruises and never had to wait to be seated. It was great.

[cv322]

I am a big fan of NCL, having cruised on them many times in the past. We are now looking at a cruise for April, and seeing many carnival cruises come up with good port of call and excellent prices. We went on one carnival cruise 6 years ago from NYC, but hear the line has changed significantly from then. For people who have been on/know NCL, would I be happy on carnival? How do you compare the quality of the lines?

 

Thanks so much for your help

 

-sesasheep

 

I've cruised NCL 3 times & Carnival, HAL & Celebrity...and I think NCL & Carnival are very similar. The cabins are slightly larger on Carnival, but the bathrooms are better on NCL. The entertainment is equal one to the other. The food in the MDR's (a very subjective subject lol) IMHO ;) is better on Carnival, while the diversity of specialty restaurants on NCL is very nice. The crew on all of my Carnival cruises have been great...as were the crews on the NCL Majesty & NCL Gem.

 

If the itinerary on your proposed Carnival cruise interests you, I say go for it!