RCI Cruiser looking at a NCL trip....comparison

[Deptacon]

Sure this question is asked a million times but hey....why not...

 

Looking at doing an NCL cruise out of Tampa in FEB/MAR 15 due to the dates lining up perfect on the front/back end of a Disney trip with extended family.

 

I consider myself a RCI cruiser after an awesome trip on Freedom 2 years back and I am doing another short 4 day this Sept with them. Before that I cruised on Carnival and didn't hate it...but didnt' love it either. Liked how RCI was a notch up on quality of ship, people, staff, decor.... and class...and the slighlty higher price point keep the...um...lower class "undesirables" to a minimum. I am a middle class earning guy but don't want half of the back country of west virigina on a cruise with me (no offense to the WV folks...I am from Alabama myself so I believe I am allowed to judge). Felt like thats what I had on Carnival....

 

Will just be wife and I...younger 30's...enjoy a good time and drinking but don't exactly hang from the chandliers anymore like in college....

 

So, will NCL be a good fit/good time? Don't mind kids...but don't want to be a cruise full of them.... don't mind your more "experianced" folk either...you can be a good time...but I am not looking for a Holland America where everyone talks about tommorows bingo game at the bar either :)

 

Anyone who has done both and can compare from a mindset of a 30 something couple with no kids?

Edited July 10, 2014 by Deptacon

[JoJoFace]

I am also from a mid-30's couple with no kids and have cruised both RCI and NCL. To be honest, my preference is RCI, but I'm doing my second NCL cruise this year because the itinerary and dates work better than RCI (which is why I did NCL last year as well). It wasn't quite as fun as RCI and I though the food and entertainment were a little lower quality than RCI, but overall it was a very good cruise experience. Service was excellent and the pool, cabins and other amenities were very similar. There were a few kids and many older couples, but also a number of people our age. Of course, if you're going during spring break, you'll get more families regardless of cruise line. There were no big party animals like I experienced on Carnival years ago.

 

The only other significant difference is freestyle dining. I much prefer a set dinner time and dining with the same people and same waiter night after night. Freestyle can be nice though, if you're tired and want to eat later than normal, or hungry and want to eat earlier. Still my preference is the old-style early/late seating system.

 

If the dates and itinerary work for you, I'd say go for it!

[Deptacon]

I am also from a mid-30's couple with no kids and have cruised both RCI and NCL. To be honest, my preference is RCI, but I'm doing my second NCL cruise this year because the itinerary and dates work better than RCI (which is why I did NCL last year as well). It wasn't quite as fun as RCI and I though the food and entertainment were a little lower quality than RCI, but overall it was a very good cruise experience. Service was excellent and the pool, cabins and other amenities were very similar. There were a few kids and many older couples, but also a number of people our age. Of course, if you're going during spring break, you'll get more families regardless of cruise line. There were no big party animals like I experienced on Carnival years ago.

 

The only other significant difference is freestyle dining. I much prefer a set dinner time and dining with the same people and same waiter night after night. Freestyle can be nice though, if you're tired and want to eat later than normal, or hungry and want to eat earlier. Still my preference is the old-style early/late seating system.

 

If the dates and itinerary work for you, I'd say go for it!

 

great, thanks for the input. dates are perfect...and the stops are better. Wife and I both dive so good diving stops are key.

[graphicguy]

Different perspective, a decade or so older than you, too.

 

I've sailed the best all of the big guys offer.....CCL Breeze, RCCL Allure, Celebrity Sostice, NCL Epic and Breakaway (x2).

 

I find the entertainment on NCL to be the best at sea (and on land in most instances). Blue Man Group (same as the Vegas show), Rock of Ages, Burn the Floor, 2nd City Comedy, Fat Cats, etc....all better than what I've seen on any other cruise line or any other ship.

 

We don't care one way or the other about who our table mates are. We do like the fact that when we're hungry, we go to the restaurant we want to eat at for a meal, whenever we want. So, Freestyle rules for us.

 

All of the ships mentioned above are all equally beautiful, without a doubt.

 

Go with the itinerary and price point that fits, and you won't be disappointed in any of them.

Edited July 10, 2014 by graphicguy

[Deptacon]

How are the bars/nightlife scene on NCL?

[nets33]

I've sailed most of the lines (RCI, Carnival, Princess and NCL). DH and I prefer NCL for the "freestyle" life. No need to dress up for dinner, we can eat when and where we want and simply enjoy the cruise life.

 

We sailed RCI Oasis this past March and while we were impressed by the size of the ship it wasn't our favorite cruise. We did feel that some of the food was a notch above NCL but overall we find the lines to be pretty even. It really depends on what you value most - if the promenade on the RCI Freedom class ships are important you might find NCL older ships not as interesting.

 

In March of '15 I see that you would be looking at the NCL Sun. The Sun is an older, smaller ship that many enjoy. DH and I sailed on the Sun this past November and found the ship to be well maintained and the staff (as always) friendly. Not as much entertainment space on the Sun as you might be used to from a larger ship as the RCI Freedom.

 

I've never had a bad cruise - so if the price, itinerary and ship appeal to you it may be worth a try.

[graphicguy]

How are the bars/nightlife scene on NCL?

 

We ended up in Fat Cats (blues bar) every night. Loved that place. "Bigg Poppa" plays there and he's an excellent entertianer.

 

You also have the "White Hot" party, which is fun. In Bliss (disco), we were either their too early or too late, but we heard from others that's a fun place.

 

If you take one of the newer ships, there are lots of outdoor, promenade bars we really enjoyed....especially good to meet new people.

[Deptacon]

I've sailed most of the lines (RCI, Carnival, Princess and NCL). DH and I prefer NCL for the "freestyle" life. No need to dress up for dinner, we can eat when and where we want and simply enjoy the cruise life.

 

We sailed RCI Oasis this past March and while we were impressed by the size of the ship it wasn't our favorite cruise. We did feel that some of the food was a notch above NCL but overall we find the lines to be pretty even. It really depends on what you value most - if the promenade on the RCI Freedom class ships are important you might find NCL older ships not as interesting.

 

In March of '15 I see that you would be looking at the NCL Sun. The Sun is an older, smaller ship that many enjoy. DH and I sailed on the Sun this past November and found the ship to be well maintained and the staff (as always) friendly. Not as much entertainment space on the Sun as you might be used to from a larger ship as the RCI Freedom.

 

I've never had a bad cruise - so if the price, itinerary and ship appeal to you it may be worth a try.

 

Yeah looking at the SUN or something out of Miami/Lauderdale. Just needs to line up with our check-in/check-out at our timeshare with the extended family the first week of march.

 

Going on the enchanment with Royal in Sept...looking forward to it...Not concerned if it is smaller as long as it is well kept and the stops are good and we find some good people to have a good time with. We are divers so we look for cruises with good stops...which the sun has...for dives...time on the ship is for drinking afterwards.

 

honestly...freedom was a little big...didn't even really use the whole ship...LOVED it though....very enjoyable.

[dolita22]

My DH and I are in our early 30s (34 and 33) with no kids. We are like you and your wife, in that we like a good time and drinking, but those hangover are getting to us a bit more now! :p

 

I've sailed RCCL twice and NCL twice. My DH has sailed Azamara once, NCL once and RCCL once. Our most recent cruise was with RCCL this past February for our honeymoon. We loved the itinerary and that it was an 8-day cruise, and our room steward was excellent! The ship (Indy, so same class as the Freedom) was nice, too, but for us did not have a WOW factor that everyone praises RCCL so highly on. Not a big deal, and maybe our expectations were high considering it was our honeymoon and we paid about double what we would have paid for a cruise on NCL for a balcony.

 

For us, we felt nightlife and entertainment options on RCCL were lacking in comparison to the nightlife on our NCL Epic cruise last year. On the Epic, we had Blue Man Group, Cirque du Soleil, Howl and the Moon, Fat Cats, bowling, etc., to choose from at night. On RCCL, if a show wasn't being performed, the only other options for nightlife it seemed to us was to go to a bar and listen to music and drink. Eh, that's all well and good, but not any different than what we could be doing back home. Entertainment/nightlife...hands down NCL. (For what it's worth, I sailed the Sky a couple years ago and enjoyed the nightlife/entertainment more on that cruise as well. I know the Sky and the Epic are probably the furthest from an apples-to-apples comparison, given that the Sky was a 4-day cruise without as many bells and whistles entertainment-wise as the Epic, but still excellent!)

 

I agree with the previous poster who said to go with the itinerary and price point that fits. No cruise is a bad cruise! Happy planning!

[Winnigirl]

We're cruising the Epic this year, and last year we were on the Oasis. I loved the Oasis - everything about it, but I have to admit I was a little disappointed with the food in the main dining room. The restaurants were much better. While many say the food on NCL is not to RCCL level, I disagree. I have never been disappointed in the food on any of the four NCL cruises we've been on. We do prefer the free-style dining. Entertainment has been good on both. I think that both lines are comparable. Like you, I have to admit that we don't "fit in" with the Carnival crowd. I feel comfortable on both RCCL and NCL.