NCL vs Carnival vs Royal Caribbean

[bibbysnow]

I am platinum on Carnival and Diamond Plus on Royal Caribbean and thinking about trying Norwegian. What are the differences and what are the similarities?

[ColinIllinois]

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2013789

[graphicguy]

Out of all the cruise lines you mentioned, I consider CCL and RCCL to be the most similar. GIve a nod to RCCL for entertainment, and give the nod to CCL for food, so kind of a wash. They both have beautiful ships, especially their newer ones (having sailed RCCL's Allure and CCL's Breeze).

 

NCL is the most different from either of them. First, forget about all the arguments for dressing up on fromal nights. There are no formal nights on NCL. There's "Dress up or not" nights, but they're exactly that. No hand wringing about packing/wearing suits, or tuxes, or ties, or gowns, or cocktail dresses, etc. If you want to wear those modes of dress, you certainly can. If you don't, no one will think twice. One of the MDRs is a more casual than the other, allowing shorts. The other requires long pants, button shirts, sun dresses, etc....no shorrs. It works quite well.

 

Plus, you can eat where and when you want. You don't have to sign up for specific dining times, or even dining venues...just show up when you fell like it. O'Sheehans is NCL's pub, open 24 hours, serving drinks and good pub food. That is unique to newer NCL ships.

 

Food seemed to me to be fresher on NCL than other cruise lines I've tried.

 

The outside areas of the Breakaway/Getaway are great. If there was one "ding" I had on the Allure when I sailed her, was the attempt RCCL made to try to convince you that you weren't on a ship, at all. You had to work a little bit around this ship to find you were sailing.

 

Not so on the NCL ships. The Waterfront (that's what they call it) is open with several restarants and bars you can sit at outside, or inside. Pretty cool concept.

 

The specialty restaurants are similar to what you'll find on newer RCCL and CCL ships, both in quality, taste and dining types.

 

Entertainment is where the Epic and Breakaway shine (the two recent NCL ships I've sailed). Hands down, without a doubt, no question, NCL does entertainment better than RCCL and espeically CCL. I've seen Blue MAn Group, both in Vegas and on the Epic. They were the same quality of show, and both great. Except, I paid $100/ticket in Vegas. It was included on the Epic.

 

ROck of AGes on Breakaway was every bit as good as the local touring group I saw in my city. Burn the Floor was awsome.

 

Slam Allen, while no longer playing on the Breakaway, was an outstanding blues act. It's my hope that they book someone who is equally as good when I sail the Breakaway this simmer.

 

All-in-all, you can't really go wrong with any of these newer ships, regardless of cruise line. I've enjoyed them all.

 

But, seems recently, NCL is making a push to lure CCL and RCCL cruisers away. For example, we booked a Haven Suite on the Breakaway, with a $300 OBC, and their Ultimae Dining and Beverage packages thrown in for free. The fare was less than a plain old balcony on RCCL's Oasis. Carnival was close, but NCL has the best Suites and service over the others, by a pretty good margin. So, sailing her again.

 

Good luck with whatever you choose.

[bibbysnow]

Thanks!! You were very informative!! I've done Allure and Breeze as well. Loved them both. I like the smaller ships on Royal, but not so much on Carnival.

[dolita22]

I've sailed all three lines, and NCL is my favorite (and now my husband's favorite), mainly because of the Freestyle concept and especially when it comes to Freestyle dining. We sailed the NCL Epic in January 2013 and the RCCL Indy in February of this year. Carnival and Royal's Your Time/MyTime Dining options didn't seem as streamlined as Freestyle dining, at least to us. I can imagine it's challenging with the traditional dining mixed in, but we much prefer Freestyle dining of eating when you want without having to make a reservation at the MDR -- unlike what we had to do with MTD on RCCL in February. I'm not sure why a reservation was needed for MTD, but they had us make them on RCCL. Plus, we like dressing more casual for dinner (shorts/Hawaiian shirt for my husband, sundresses for me), and on RCCL, we felt like that was too casual.

 

Enjoyed the entertainment on NCL more than on Carnival and Royal.

 

Enjoyed the food more on NCL. Subjective, but we aren't picky eaters and for once neither gained weight on our Royal cruise in February. :-)

 

Rooms are comparable in size/amenities on all three, I'd say -- except for the bathroom setup on the Epic, and that didn't bother us. We've been in balconies on Royal and NCL (and I've been in insides and oceanviews on Carnival). Have heard the "suite life" is best on NCL, and we will try it someday!

 

Staff on all three were friendly. Everyone we encountered on cruises has generally been nice and helpful.

 

Hope that helps! Give NCL a try. No cruise is a bad cruise. :-)

[bibbysnow]

I've sailed all three lines, and NCL is my favorite (and now my husband's favorite), mainly because of the Freestyle concept and especially when it comes to Freestyle dining. We sailed the NCL Epic in January 2013 and the RCCL Indy in February of this year. Carnival and Royal's Your Time/MyTime Dining options didn't seem as streamlined as Freestyle dining, at least to us. I can imagine it's challenging with the traditional dining mixed in, but we much prefer Freestyle dining of eating when you want without having to make a reservation at the MDR -- unlike what we had to do with MTD on RCCL in February. I'm not sure why a reservation was needed for MTD, but they had us make them on RCCL. Plus, we like dressing more casual for dinner (shorts/Hawaiian shirt for my husband, sundresses for me), and on RCCL, we felt like that was too casual.

 

Enjoyed the entertainment on NCL more than on Carnival and Royal.

 

Enjoyed the food more on NCL. Subjective, but we aren't picky eaters and for once neither gained weight on our Royal cruise in February. :-)

 

Rooms are comparable in size/amenities on all three, I'd say -- except for the bathroom setup on the Epic, and that didn't bother us. We've been in balconies on Royal and NCL (and I've been in insides and oceanviews on Carnival). Have heard the "suite life" is best on NCL, and we will try it someday!

 

Staff on all three were friendly. Everyone we encountered on cruises has generally been nice and helpful.

 

Hope that helps! Give NCL a try. No cruise is a bad cruise. :-)

 

Thanks!! Totally agree!!

[mizLORInj]

I agree it's best to try it out for yourself!

The only major difference I found was no set dining times but we got used to it and it's fine with us.

What is the NCL ship you're considering?

[cod]

I think all the food is good...I don't have to shop for it, cook it and clean up afterwards!

 

I enjoy the shows on NCL and I like the fact that they still have 2 shows almost every evening.

 

On our last couple of CCL cruises (and they will be our "last") they've had only one evening show which was kind of late for us early diners. No doubt they're hoping you will spend that interim drinking or gambling..and they are probably right! But then the show was usually sorely lacking..perhaps a so-so comedian or their troupe performing. Or if you are really lucky, the CD will set the stage with a couple of chairs and a rubber plant so that he can 'interview' several passengers who go on to 'perform' something-or-other!! Please, no flaming! I have nothing against passenger talent shows but never should they be the 'main event'!!

 

It's been several years since we've been on an RCCL cruise but on the few we were on, the talent was out-standing. Some name acts and just really excellent shows. Perhaps they too have scaled down and that may not be the case anymore. Hopefully I'll get to find out in the future!

Edited March 26, 2014 by cod

[bibbysnow]

I agree it's best to try it out for yourself!

 

The only major difference I found was no set dining times but we got used to it and it's fine with us.

 

What is the NCL ship you're considering?

 

I'm not sure yet. Are the older ships nice? Are there any I should avoid? What was your favorite and least favorite?