What is different about Norwegian?

[ashmac8]

Have taken cruises with Royal, Carnival, and Celebrity. Considering a cruise this fall on the Gem.

 

What will be different? We are a couple in our early 30s with a 7 year old son. We usually book based on price and ports.

 

Appreciate any insight.

[roquejo]

The one major difference of NCL is their freestyle cruising concept.

 

You basically eat anytime you want.

 

Though cruise lines like RCCL has adopted a my time dining concept... you still need to inform them what time you are having dinner.

 

No need for formal wear as well.

[swedish weave]

NCL ships have hull art !!!!

[ashmac8]

thanks so far...

I do like the idea of no formal wear.

 

how is the entertainment onboard? Live bands? Shows decent?

[swedish weave]

thanks so far...

I do like the idea of no formal wear.

 

how is the entertainment onboard? Live bands? Shows decent?

 

My recent cruise on the Star had a live band on the pool deck and combos at some other locations.

 

The shows are varied and very good. Elements is my favorite !!!

[trish1c]

The entertain is great.

 

Our favorite difference for NCL is the bathroom design. It's set up so multiple people can use it without bumping into each other.

 

The Gem has bowling & a water slide your 7 year old might enjoy.

[GSLMOM]

I would say the biggest difference Is that it's very laid back! (Of course, that's probably because of freestyle.)

[Crusin6]

thanks so far...

I do like the idea of no formal wear.

 

how is the entertainment onboard? Live bands? Shows decent?

 

The best entertainment I have seen. I have done carnival Ncl and princess. And Ncl is best

 

Dcl is in its own category but lived their entertainment too

[Crusin6]

The entertain is great.

 

Our favorite difference for NCL is the bathroom design. It's set up so multiple people can use it without bumping into each other.

 

The Gem has bowling & a water slide your 7 year old might enjoy.

 

On the gem? Not all cabins but maybe on the higher end ones

[jeannep]

I would say the biggest difference Is that it's very laid back! (Of course, that's probably because of freestyle.)

 

I agree. They have so much to do or nothing to do. Going to dinner when you want dressed resort casual is the best. The other cruise lines have anytime dining but it is still in the same dining room all the time. NCL has at least 2 main dining rooms, and a 24 hour place and a buffet and many others (with a small fee). The only problem is trying to decide where and when to go.

[PROCRUISE]

Have to agree that perhaps the biggest difference, on NCL, is the "laid-back" atmosphere. We just came off The NCL Sun in mid January and found this ship and crew to be outstanding. Shows were good, MDR food very good to excellent and service aboard the whole vessel was excellent. They did require long pants and no ball caps allowed in The Seven Seas MDR for the evening meal, which we appreciated. On the two evenings when one could dress up, if desired, we did see some tuxedos and evening gowns but VERY few. Dress up if you want on NCL might mean a shirt and tie for men, at the most, and even then most men simply worn slacks and a nice polo shirt. The Sun gets VERY high ratings on CC reviews so I cannot speak for any other NCL ship except The Star which we cruised on a number of years ago, and did not enjoy.

[RDC1]

The one major difference of NCL is their freestyle cruising concept.

 

You basically eat anytime you want.

 

Though cruise lines like RCCL has adopted a my time dining concept... you still need to inform them what time you are having dinner.

 

No need for formal wear as well.

 

No, with anytime dining on Princess, RCCL, Celebrity you just show up whenever you want to eat. The difference is that with NCL you do not have an option for traditional. Also with NCL a lot of the inside of the ship is taken up by different specialty restaurants (most for fee). The other cruise lines have a couple of specialty dining options, but are smaller venues.

 

From the times I have been on NCL (have also been on Princess, Celebrity, RCCL, HAL) the demographic tends to be younger. The background music tends to be little louder and a little more omnipresent in more areas of the ship.

 

The one negative I came away with from my last NCL cruise was that the CD could not make an announcement with out including Freestyle in every other sentence. Was quite annoying by the time the cruise ended. Over branding to say the least.

[swedish weave]

No, with anytime dining on Princess, RCCL, Celebrity you just show up whenever you want to eat. The difference is that with NCL you do not have an option for traditional. Also with NCL a lot of the inside of the ship is taken up by different specialty restaurants (most for fee). The other cruise lines have a couple of specialty dining options, but are smaller venues.

 

From the times I have been on NCL (have also been on Princess, Celebrity, RCCL, HAL) the demographic tends to be younger. The background music tends to be little louder and a little more omnipresent in more areas of the ship.

 

The one negative I came away with from my last NCL cruise was that the CD could not make an announcement with out including Freestyle in every other sentence. Was quite annoying by the time the cruise ended. Over branding to say the least.

 

It is very clear that you don't like freestyle, but there are many more who do like it and NCL handles this concept much better than the other lines who copied from NCL in order to try to recapture the market share they lost to NCL.

 

The music on NCL ships is much less intrusive than I have experienced on Carnival.

 

NCL has much better entertainment than I have experienced on Carnival and Princess.

[biker@sea]

Have taken cruises with Royal, Carnival, and Celebrity. Considering a cruise this fall on the Gem.

 

What will be different? We are a couple in our early 30s with a 7 year old son. We usually book based on price and ports.

 

Appreciate any insight.

 

Norwegians are very friendly.

Join your Roll-call.

 

Go to your Meet and Greet Your 7 year old will probable remember the sight of all the officers forever .

He may meet the captain .

C.C. members sometime get special perks from NCL staff for attending . Chocolate covered strawberries, cheese plates , canapés may appear at your cabin . Behind the scene tours and or bridge tours are not uncommon .I can't promise though .

Edited February 2, 2014 by biker@sea

[SteveH2508]

NCL does have more speciality (for fee) restaurants but you have so much more choice than other lines. Steak House; French; Italian; Asian; Hibachi grill; Sushi; Brazilian meats etc..

 

Also you can get food 23 hours a day - RCCL seemed to shut about 9pm:eek:.

 

The main difference I have found is the atmosphere - NCL is friendly but laid-back (they cannot do enough to help in my experience) and they always want to make it right if something goes wrong. I found Princess to be good but did not quite have that certain something - RCCL I found to be 'baseline' - they do the basics but didn't generally do that extra bit and certainly not with a smile. (just my experience - YMMV)

[ashmac8]

Great insight gang. We are pretty easy to please and have enjoyed each cruise we have been on. Not at work or school so that's a plus :)

 

Now to convince my other half that we "Need" to book a 3rd cruise this year

[xcell]

Never a "need" to cruise...just do it.

 

 

 

Sent from my SGH-I337M using Forums mobile app

[gypsylady]

When we first cruised we went with HAL and thought that it was so elegant. Then we tried RCCL and thought it was more to our liking. Then we found Princess and loved it. Then we finally tried NCL and will be going on our 3rd NCL voyage in 2 years. They are all good and any differences are attributed to personal taste and in what you are looking for during your vacation. Personally, I love the casual feel of NCL. The entertainment on the Epic was outstanding and now with the variety of accommodations, you can have it all or enjoy just what you need. Whatever you choose, enjoy the experience. We personally choose based on the itinerary and if one cruise line better meets the need, we go for it. A day at sea is so much better than a day shovelling snow.

[RDC1]

It is very clear that you don't like freestyle, but there are many more who do like it and NCL handles this concept much better than the other lines who copied from NCL in order to try to recapture the market share they lost to NCL.

 

The music on NCL ships is much less intrusive than I have experienced on Carnival.

 

NCL has much better entertainment than I have experienced on Carnival and Princess.

 

would not know about Carnival, never have done them, it does seem to be more intrusive then Princess, Celebrity, HAL and RCCL however.

[toyotaford]

We have cruised CCL, Hal, RCCL and Princess. Once we discovered NCL we were hooked. We have only traveled the other lines since then when going with a group already booked on another line. We love the relaxed atmosphere. We love not having to dress for dinner. There is always a dining room you can go to with shorts if you decide to. The entertainment is the best of the lines we have tried. We recently cruised on NCL with friends who had previously cruised CCL and Princess. He commented several times how clean the ship was. Not that the other ships were dirty but this ship was noticeably cleaner. We are definitely NCL cheerleaders and feel it is the best bang for our buck.

[ashmac8]

You guys were extremely helpful in helping me decide....

 

Now wondering if you can help me with ensuring I am actually booked. Went through all the steps and got the final page. When I went to click away to see excursions It threw an error page

"We're sorry but we are unable to display your Reservation and/or Payment Information. Please do not re-book or re-pay or it could result in double-booking. Please keep this Session ID number -------------------- to help our team in identifying the issue."

 

Popped over to my credit card online which shows a pending charge. I called the number and they wanted to route me back to start the booking all over again. The room I attempted to book is now showing as unavailable which seems to be a good sign.

 

I definitely don't want to double book. How long should it take for me to get an email confirmation?

 

Any help is appreciated!

[hockeygirl14]

thanks so far...

I do like the idea of no formal wear.

 

how is the entertainment onboard? Live bands? Shows decent?

 

 

Entertainment varies ship to ship - have cruised on the Pearl and Epic , going on the Getaway in a little over a week. The Epic had more "Vegas" style entertainment but the Pearl's was still good - we enjoyed second city, jersey boys and various other shows...miles and miles ahead of carnivals entertainment.

 

We love the food on the ships - freestyle suits our families cruising style perfectly. We choose to eat at upcharge restaurants but the food in the MDR is still good and has a decent selection (especially on the epic).

[ashmac8]

You guys were extremely helpful in helping me decide....

 

Now wondering if you can help me with ensuring I am actually booked. Went through all the steps and got the final page. When I went to click away to see excursions It threw an error page

"We're sorry but we are unable to display your Reservation and/or Payment Information. Please do not re-book or re-pay or it could result in double-booking. Please keep this Session ID number -------------------- to help our team in identifying the issue."

 

Popped over to my credit card online which shows a pending charge. I called the number and they wanted to route me back to start the booking all over again. The room I attempted to book is now showing as unavailable which seems to be a good sign.

 

I definitely don't want to double book. How long should it take for me to get an email confirmation?

 

Any help is appreciated!

 

spoke to soon. answered my own question. thanks anyhow gang

[johnsak123]

You dont have to eat with strangers at your table

You can dine alone or with family and friends of your choice