Convince me....RCI over NCL

[top of the world]

Thank you everyone. THat is exactly what I keep telling myself...it will be a different experience and worth it...regardless of room type.

 

I also just confirmed that NCL Jewel doesn't start sailing from Galveston until fall 2014...so we wouldn't have that option anyways. We live in austin so I wanted to save on airfare for 5 and sail from galveston on the spring break cruise...our only options are disney (not for us...only because we like casinos), carnival magic (done that twice now), carnival triumph (did once...never again)...so RCI it is...here we come!

 

Princess cruise line also has cruises out of Houston, Texas. They have a 7-day cruise to the Western Caribbean. We took that cruise last year and really enjoyed it. They have a choice of traditional dining or anytime dining, so you can choose what suits you better. If you have not cruised with Princess before I would give them a try. We really like everything about them: good food, excellent service, clean ships, great entertainment, etc. For you, it would mean that you would not have to fly and you would save the airfare for 5. They also have an excellent program for children and teens. They are usually cheaper than Royal Caribbean, but don't have as many "exciting" things to do like climbing walls, ice skating and simulated surfing!

Good luck and enjoy your cruise whatever you decide to do.

Lise

[Cruisercl]

All of this advice from everyone here are really good examples that cruise line choice is subjective. Not all cruise lines are for everyone; 'viva la difference'.

 

We have cruised for over 30 years and yes cruising has greatly changed; lost are the days of upscale dining and formality. IMO this is not necessarily a bad thing; again IMO. I also believe one cruise does not a cruise line make, as has been mentioned. Also, IMO the food has become less and less extravagant, on all cruise lines, because cruising is now cheaper to allow for more people to be able to afford a cruise.

 

We cruised RCCL quite a bit but left and tried NCL because (IOO) the ships were run down, the food was tasteless and the service was very poor....lots of attitude for some reason. Also, the set dining times were often very stressful to make when you are wrapped up in doing something very fun! :)

 

That said we are trying RCCL again; not because NCL is bad in fact we liked it (especially the Breakaway), but IMO every cruise line has their good and bad points and we enjoy mixing it up!

 

Go with what looks good for your taste in a cruise and have a great time!

 

Happy and safe cruising all! :D

[mamaza]

Cruisercl has it right.

 

The question is sort of like asking a Horse racing fan why a Nascar fan should change his race of preference, or of asking a football fan to stop watching football and instead watch tennis. Different strokes for different folks.

[aloesch]

I have one of each of the "big 3" (carnival, royal, ncl) under my belt and honestly, overall, royal was my least favorite of the 3. But the opportunity came up to sail the jewel with friends in a couple months and my philosophy is any day I'm cruising is a good day. So we'll be giving royal another try and I'm very optimistic about it!

 

My biggest royal turnoff was the pressure to make reservations for MTD. To me, the whole point of my time dining is to dine on my own time. I thought it might have been a fluke on our cruise that the maitre'd was so pushy but reading reviews seems like I'm not alone. I have zero problem waiting for a table with whatever staff is available. I just don't want the pressure of making a certain reservation time. personal choice! Lol

 

I hope you do go on your royal cruise and love it! I'll be reporting back on mine in January! :-)

[cruisenuts4life]

Why, when someone doesn't like a cruiseline, do people suggest they try it again? The poster did not say "We had a rude steward" or "The weather was awful" or "We hated the ports". Those would be items you could excuse and say that maybe they didn't get the best possible experience and it's not entirely the cruise line fault, etc.

 

But if they simply didn't care for the overall product, why throw away more hard earned money to "try again" when they can go back to a product they know, trust, and like? :confused:

 

Actually, the poster didn't really say one way or the other what it was that turned them off; but still, I stand by my point.

 

I went on Breakaway thinking it is a big new ship how can it be bad.But the second day I was ready to come home and have NEVER said that about a cruise.Room steward was one of the best,the food was bad we actually went from dining room to buffet to find something good. I lived on cheesecake(that is pretty bad).In MDR it would take forever to get your food,I don't mind waiting if it was worth waiting for but it wasn't.The pools were a joke too small for such a big ship.I could go on and on,I am just upset that I wasted my money.We were the second people in line to get off ship coming home.And I will not waste my money on ncl again.Oh and the smoke from casino was bad ,you could smell it when you got off elevaors,I was in casino 10 minutes and had to leave.