NCL vs. RCI Cruise Comparison Review

[Daghis]

I recently sailed on sort of back-to-back cruises. First, I went on Norwegian Getaway and then after disembarking from that ship, I spent a night in Fort Lauderdale and then embarked on Allure of the Seas. I wrote “live” threads for each of those cruises (which can be found here (Norwegian Getaway) and here (Allure of the Seas). I want to thank everyone who followed along in the threads.

 

My particular background is that I’m pretty “loyal to Royal” at this point, as you can see evidenced by my cruise history in my signature. As part of this pair of cruises, I thought that it would be a terrific opportunity to do a comparison between the formerly unknown-to-me Norwegian Cruise Line and my old favorite, Royal Caribbean.

 

The choice of ships was more a factor of chance, as I had been previously booked on Allure of the Seas for quite some time for a cruise with a group of friends. The opportunity to sail on NCL came as a promotion from a local casino offering a “free” (well, pay about $300/person for an inside cabin, taxes and fees included), and I thought that if I’m going to try something like this, I should sail on Norwegian’s latest and greatest ship to get the best sense of what NCL has to offer.

 

In preparation for this comparison review, I prepared a set of categories which I’ll be scoring for both cruises. I want to thank those of you who posted in my “Comparison points” threads as I tried to collect a good array of points to score and discuss.

 

I’ll note here that I realized that a comparison between Norwegian Getaway (NCL’s latest ship) and Allure of the Seas (RCI’s latest ship) isn’t exactly a fair comparison since Allure of the Seas is about 50% larger, so I’m actually doing a double comparison, one with Allure of the Seas from my most recent cruise and also with Independence of the Seas, a comparably sized ship that I sailed on in March. Between these two Royal Caribbean ships, it should be possible to estimate how Royal Caribbean International stacks up against Norwegian Cruise Line with their larger ships.

 

I’ve broken down this review into 15 comparison points. I’ll try to give a bit of reasoning for how I came to arrive at the scores for each ship or cruise line.

 

Let’s begin!

 

Entertainment (10 points)

(Broadway/theater shows, comedy, lounge performances)

 

NCL: I thought that Norwegian Getaway offered a great variety of entertainment options. The stage shows were really good and the various live music performances were good as well. A few of the performers were just okay, though, and after a short while, I wanted to leave and do something else.

 

Score: 9

 

RCI: For Allure of the Seas, I really loved Blue Planet and thought that the aqua show was also very good. I didn’t care for Chicago and am glad that they’re replacing it in the future. They generally have a nice variety of shows on Allure. Independence of the Seas has a more limited set of entertainment options.

 

Score: 8 (Allure), 6 (Independence)

 

Activities (10 points)

(Mini-golf, rock climbing, FlowRider, ropes course, waterslides, trivia, etc.)

 

NCL: There is so much to do onboard Norwegian Getaway that I could easily choose something to do whenever I wanted. I loved trying the ropes course, never having done that before. I think her mini-golf course is quite entertaining, more so than on Royal Caribbean ships.

 

Score: 10

 

RCI: Allure of the Seas also has many activities from which to choose including FlowRider, a zip line, ice skating, and more. It’s easy to find something to do, whether it’s active or something more tame like a nice round of trivia.

 

Score: 10 (Allure), 9 (Independence)

 

Dining (10 points)

(Main dining, buffet, specialty restaurants)

 

NCL: Norwegian Getaway has great specialty restaurant choices, but I did have disappointing service one night in Cagney’s. I found the food to be generally good in most venues. I liked the buffet’s choices, although the setup seemed to have more of a cafeteria feel.

 

Score: 8

 

RCI: Allure of the Seas also has much to choose from for specialty restaurant options, and the food in there was generally quite good. Main dining room food was okay (I’ve grown a bit tired of the menu). The buffet was very crowded during peak periods, but had nice selections available. Independence of the Seas only has three specialty restaurants (if you include Johnny Rockets), which are good, but selection is limited.

 

Score: 8 (Allure), 7 (Independence)

 

Public Venues (10 points)

(Adult areas, shops, public places other than bars and lounges)

 

NCL: I was impressed by how Norwegian Getaway arranged the interior venues on decks 6, 7, and 8. It made the ship feel as though it had a “heart”. Also, the Waterfront is a fantastic design, sure to be copied by other cruise lines in the future. Given the layout of the shops on 8, the casino on 7, and the art on 6, it did make it so those thoroughfares were crowded (and smoky, thanks to the casino) at times. There was also lots of noise-bleed from public areas like the Atrium that spilled over into adjacent areas, even on different decks, such as O’Sheehan’s. Spice H2O didn’t do anything for me.

 

Score: 6

 

RCI: Allure of the Seas wins this with their neighborhood design. The Boardwalk (Allure only), Central Park (Allure only), and the Royal Promenade (both) all have their own unique feel. The Solarium is a better designed adults-only area (and actually includes a pool).

 

Score: 9 (Allure), 8 (Independence)

 

Bars & Lounges (10 points)

(Variety, service)

 

NCL: There’s an okay variety of bars and lounges including some nice outdoor seating on the Waterfront. The outdoor seating suffers from the adjacent smoking. Many of the indoor venues are open to the main thoroughfares instead of feeling truly separate. Service was good, but not great.

 

Score: 6

 

RCI: Allure of the Seas has a wonderful array of lounges, many with their own unique feel. Some of the venues on Independence of the Seas are also thoroughfares, leading to extra noise during high traffic times. Service on both ships has been very good. I have fond memories of the service I’ve received during these cruises.

 

Score: 10 (Allure), 7 (Independence)

 

Embarkation (5 points)

 

NCL: I had a negative experience for embarkation. Although I arrived at the port early and was about 10th in line, I found myself waiting for 15 minutes for someone to collect the corkage fee for the wine we brought, and then another 10 minutes at the front of the CAS check-in line, waiting for a single person checking in CAS guests, before being taken by another NCL person to the regular check-in line where I was checked in promptly. The waiting area is slightly disorganized with just using group numbers for boarding and everyone otherwise spread out there.

 

Score: 3

 

RCI: Allure of the Seas has incredibly easy embarkation. Independence of the Seas had decent embarkation, but the terminal isn’t quite as cruiser-friendly as Allure’s Terminal 18. I prefer Royal Caribbean’s prioritized boarding by Crown & Anchor level, but I admit that’s because I’m Diamond with them.

 

Score: 5 (Allure), 4 (Independence)

 

Disembarkation (5 points)

 

NCL: We had a very easy disembarkation. It was a little hard to find our bags among so many with our luggage tag color.

 

Score: 5

 

RCI: Contrary to getting on the ship being so easy and relatively pleasant, disembarkation was rough. We were delayed, there were long lines, and customs was slow (not RCI’s fault, but lumped in here since it was part of the overall experience).

 

Score: 3 (Allure), 3 (Independence)

 

Pre-cruise Services (5 points)

(Web site, customer service on the phone)

 

NCL: The web site was very functional and offered a great pre-cruise experience. Talking to people on the phone was also a positive experience.

 

Score: 5

 

RCI: Royal Caribbean’s web site can be challenging (and that’s putting it nicely). Sometimes there were long hold times to get to speak to a person.

 

Score: 3 (Allure), 3 (Independence)

 

Helpfulness/Friendliness of Staff (5 points)

 

NCL: Everyone we ran into seemed to be smiling and they were very helpful!

 

Score: 5

 

RCI: Staff were generally quite helpful, but not as personally engaging as NCL.

 

Score: 4 (Allure), 4 (Independence)

 

Cabin (5 points)

 

NCL: The interior cabin we had (13651, category IA) was smaller than I’m used to on Royal Caribbean ships (except for Sovereign class ships like Majesty of the Seas). The storage was fair (we were accustomed to more shelves). I did like the make-up-room/do-not-disturb lights.

 

Score: 3

 

RCI: The cabin was excellent (11329, category B1 - Boardwalk Balcony) with plenty of room and good storage. We seemed to recall that Independence of the Seas had slightly better storage.

 

Score: 5 (Allure), 5 (Independence)

 

Ease of Getting Around (5 points)

 

NCL: Decks 6, 7, and 8 are great to get from forward to aft, but can be crowded through the casino (7) and around the shops (8). The Waterfront was an enjoyable way to get around on deck 8. The open area at 6-7-8 Place is very attractive and provides another place to go between decks. Outside decks 15 and 16 are a bit of an obstacle course with all of the loungers around.

 

Score: 4

 

RCI: Allure of the Seas has lots of ways to get from place to place including decks 4, 5, 8, 15, and 16, although you are dodging slot machines and table games through the casino (4). Independence of the Seas is similar, missing Central Park.

 

Score: 5 (Allure), 4 (Independence)

 

Beverage Packages (5 points)

 

NCL: There seemed to be a reasonable set of packages available, but you do have to buy for everyone in the cabin.

 

Score: 4

 

RCI: There also seemed to be a reasonable set of packages available. You can buy for just one person in the cabin.

 

Score: 5 (Allure), 5 (Independence)

 

Onboard Informational Services (5 points)

(Internet access, smartphone/tablet app, interactive TV, TV channels)

 

NCL: Internet worked okay, but was somewhat slow and only offered by per-minute pricing. The iConcierge app was nice and very useful, but didn’t show pre-reserved items, so it wasn’t useful as a personal calendar. The interactive TV worked reasonably well. TV channels were rather limited.

 

Score: 4

 

RCI: Good internet access with unlimited packages available. I was able to use Skype with video. Great interactive TV including pulling up a personal calendar of reservations. Good array of TV channels including both onboard and satellite programming. RCI (currently) has no mobile device integration with your own device.

 

Score: 4 (Allure), 4 (Independence)

 

Excursions (5 points)

 

NCL: There seemed to be a reasonable selection of excursions available. Staff at the excursions desk were very friendly and helpful. It was a little odd that onboard, excursions are priced $0.99 higher ($124.99 for the Atlantis Aquaventure excursion versus paying $124.00 on the web site in advance.)

 

Score: 4

 

RCI: I’ll cheat here and say “Ditto” as my comments for NCL apply to RCI as well.

 

Score: 4 (Allure), 4 (Independence)

 

Pools and Hot Tubs (5 points)

 

NCL: Given the space on the upper deck taken up for various activities, the remaining space seemed limited and quite crowded. There’s no pool in Spice H2O.

 

Score: 3

 

RCI: Allure of the Seas has a great selection of pools and hot tubs. Independence of the Seas has a good selection, but obviously not as much as Allure. The Solarium has a pool. The cantilevered hot tubs are a lot of fun.

 

Score: 5 (Allure), 4 (Independence)

 

Final Scores

 

NCL: 79

 

RCI - Allure of the Seas: 88

RCI - Independence of the Seas: 77

 

Conclusion

 

Ultimately, these are my opinions based on my own experiences. As you can see, when comparing comparably sized ships, the scores are also comparable. Allure of the Seas “wins”, but she has an unfair advantage, being so much larger and offering much more.

 

I think that Norwegian Cruise Line has a strong contender with Norwegian Getaway and I believe that she’ll serve her passengers well. There’s a lot there for others to emulate in the years ahead.

 

Royal Caribbean has a lot more to offer in terms of more, and bigger, ships. Still, they could learn a lot from NCL, especially with respect to IT stuff. :D

 

I’m very glad that I had a chance to try NCL and especially Norwegian Getaway. She’s a beautiful ship and holds much promise for the future.

 

Looking at my future cruises, though, I see that I’m going to continue to be “loyal to Royal” for now.

[Steeler Nation At Sea]

Thank you for doing this comparison review. I'm glad that you were able to remain unbiased despite your loyal to Royal admission and to provide a fair and balanced review.

 

Personally, I agree with most of your assessment! I would reverse the dining score based on my preference for Royal's MDR menus and the bar/lounge scores based on service experiences. Otherwise, I think you are spot on!

 

I have no issues that would prevent me from sailing on either line in the future. I find them to be more alike than different. [emoji3]

 

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk

[OCruisers]

Thanks so much for your time to do this comparison! :)

Which Specialty Restaurant (either cruise line) did you like best of all?

[Daghis]

Which Specialty Restaurant (either cruise line) did you like best of all?

My favorite of the ones we had during these two cruises was Samba Grill on Allure of the Seas. The meat was very good and the dessert there was fantastic. I may or may not have had seconds on the dessert. :o :D

 

Second place would be a tie between Le Bistro (Norwegian Getaway) and Giovanni's Table (Allure of the Seas).

[Yorkvillain]

This is great Marc. Thanks. The Oasis is my favorite class however I am very much looking forward to trying the Getaway or Breakaway one day soon.

[seahawkfan]

My wife and I just got off of the Breakaway a few weeks ago, and we felt like the Oasis blew it out of the water.

 

 

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[Finabear]

Can you talk a little more about RCI's internet capabilities and shortcomings?

In particular, will I be able to use my ipad? I will need to use the Blackboard Collaborate app on my cruise next month.

[Clarea]

Can you talk a little more about RCI's internet capabilities and shortcomings?

In particular, will I be able to use my ipad? I will need to use the Blackboard Collaborate app on my cruise next month.

iPads can use the WiFi, however if your app requires high bandwidth and/or low latency, you may have issues with functionality.

Edited October 16, 2014 by clarea

[big al]

Nice review..I disagree about specialty dining though..I thought Le Bistro was fantastic ( escargots & fruit fondue for dessert AMAZING!!), and Teppanyaki not only was also fantastic food, but lots of fun...also liked Cagney 's & Moderno's and LOVED O'Sheehan's fish & chips for free..I wish RCI ( I'm Diamond) would do something like that...also the Waterfront concept is soo cool..BIG advantage over the non-ocean viewing Oasis/ Allure ships where there really is no place to sit & dine & see the ocean....thought the dinner/ magic show Illusionarium was awesome..I, too, didn't like Chicago, much preferred Hairspray ( rock n' roll boy here..)..also didn't care for Spice H20..thought the live music on the Getaway was better-Grammy & Blues club was very good....nothing like the Cirque Of Dreams diving show on RCI, but I thought the Getaway ( and Breakaway) certainly kept you busy with loads of shows & dining options..BTW, also agree MDR menu is boring on RCI, and MDR food is MDR food..that's why I like options..also like the UDP on NCL-where you can dine 7 nights in different restaurants for only $119 PP - that's $17 pp for great venues...

 

Big Al

[big al]

My wife and I just got off of the Breakaway a few weeks ago, and we felt like the Oasis blew it out of the water.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

Interesting..my friends went on the Breakaway last year & said the opposite- they said both dining ( they went 5 nights to specialty-all were A+) and entertainment were much better on the Breakaway than any RCI ship they had done ( 7 cruises including Oasis)...just got off the AOS & said food & shows were mediocre to terrible...they had NO COMPLAINTS WHATSOEVER on the Breakaway...funny how people see things differently...

[jdurant1981]

thanks for your comparison, really enjoyed both live from series's

[Daghis]

Can you talk a little more about RCI's internet capabilities and shortcomings?

In particular, will I be able to use my ipad? I will need to use the Blackboard Collaborate app on my cruise next month.

Internet worked rather decently on my recent Royal Caribbean cruises. I was able to use it for pretty much anything on my iPad. FaceTime was blocked, but Skype (including video) worked well.

 

I'm not familiar with that app, but I would expect it to work just fine as I doubt that it would have anything that Royal Caribbean would choose to block.

 

One does need patience, though. The latency is very high, so things take longer to load.

[SadmanCruiser]

What an excellent comparison - we experienced the same, not quite up to par, service in Cagney's.

 

The only thing I would add is the walking/jogging track on Getaway was rubbish, too much in the way on a short track. Oasis track far better.

 

Pete

[Daghis]

The only thing I would add is the walking/jogging track on Getaway was rubbish, too much in the way on a short track. Oasis track far better.

 

 

I'm not the kind of guy to make use of a running track, but I have to agree with you. Norwegian Getaway's track going though part of the Flamingo Grill seating area was definitely a bit odd. I guess that's why they limit the running track's hours.

[Cruisingthesuitelife]

Thank you for providing such a comprehensive overview, it must have taken you a considerable time to do, so it is very much appreciated.

 

I think you raised some really interesting points and factors that a lot of people may not have even considered.

 

Thanks again

[A Pisces]

Thank you for doing this comparison! I have always wanted to try NCL, but then I would hear negative comments, and decide to just forget about it. After reading your comments, I think I may give NCL a try. Yes, I am fairly loyal to royal, but sometimes a change can be good for you! ;)

[George C]

Thanks for comparison, but there is no way I will sail on NCL again

[Aquahound]

Op, I think that's a pretty fair comparison. Thanks for taking the time to be so detailed. You were a little nicer to NCL than I was after my last cruise with them but then again, I have not yet been on Getaway.

[Daghis]

Op, I think that's a pretty fair comparison. Thanks for taking the time to be so detailed. You were a little nicer to NCL than I was after my last cruise with them but then again, I have not yet been on Getaway.

My first "free" cruise offer from my local casino was going to be used on Norwegian Spirit. It had an interesting itinerary at the time (I think it included Belize and Roatan). We ended up canceling that cruise and going on Freedom of the Seas instead thanks to a discount from Club Royale (RCI's casino program). In retrospect, I'm very happy that we switched because I would have likely been rather miserable on such an older ship. I much prefer the newer, larger ships.

 

I'm guessing your previous NCL cruise was on Norwegian Dawn (assuming I read your signature correctly). Given that she's so much smaller than Norwegian Getaway with less to offer in terms of activities and such, I think you'd probably have had a better chance to have a more favorable opinion of NCL if Getaway had been an option for you instead.

Edited October 16, 2014 by Daghis

[PuterMonkey]

I really appreciate this review. I've been debating between Breakaway and Anthem for our next cruise and this underscores to me how much of the experience is probably personal preference rather than one line being 'better'.

 

One little thing was that I felt your cabin comparison wasn't really fair...an interior vs a balcony is a no-brainer. But you can hardly be expected to upgrade just for purposes of a review!

 

I'm curious how the pricing onboard ended up comparing and whether you felt the 'true' cost to cruise either line was similar.

[Aquahound]

I'm guessing your previous NCL cruise was on Norwegian Dawn (assuming I read your signature correctly). Given that she's so much smaller than Norwegian Getaway with less to offer in terms of activities and such, I think you'd probably have had a better chance to have a more favorable opinion of NCL if Getaway had been an option for you instead.

 

Yes, it was the Dawn and you're probably right. I'm booked on Getaway in Feb, so I'm hoping and expecting a better cruise. Thanks again for your review. :)

[Daghis]

One little thing was that I felt your cabin comparison wasn't really fair...an interior vs a balcony is a no-brainer. But you can hardly be expected to upgrade just for purposes of a review!

Actually, I did consider this as part of my rating (and I did give some thought to upgrading to give a more comparable comparison between Getaway and Allure :)). The interior stateroom that I had on Getaway is 135 sq. ft. A comparable stateroom on Independence of the Seas is 150 sq. ft., or about 11% larger. That's not completely insignificant. Although the room on Getaway did seem small, we were more affected by the lack of place to put our stuff as conveniently as we've been able to do on Independence of the Seas.

 

I'm curious how the pricing onboard ended up comparing and whether you felt the 'true' cost to cruise either line was similar.

Oh, good point.

 

I don't have any specific examples handy, but I did find that the prices of the drinks in the bar menus did seem to be higher on Norwegian Getaway than on Allure of the Seas. I saw more drinks priced in the $8-9 range on Getaway, whereas on Allure, I saw plenty of drinks priced $7-8. This was more of a gut feeling than any specific analysis, though.

 

Other than that, pricing onboard seemed comparable (specialty dining, soda packages, onboard shops). One place where NCL kicked Royal Caribbean's butt was on the photo prices*. Getaway offered 10 prints for $129, plus for an extra $20, we got JPEG copies on an NCL ship USB drive as well. Royal Caribbean's closest package, if I'm remembering correctly, was $200 for 10 digital prints (no hardcopies).

 

Because of the quality of some of the posed photos I had taken onboard, we did end up buying the package as it made sense. I'm very happy that we did as I really like the photos we got.

 

* To be fair, the photo departments on both NCL and Royal Caribbean are outsourced to different companies, so I'm not sure how much influence the cruise line has in the photo package pricing.

Edited October 16, 2014 by Daghis

[Jenjer]

Having sailed both I think it is a fair assessment. They are more alike than they are different IMO.

 

Funny we also had a service issue in Cagneys they defiantly do not have their act together. sad because the food is good.

 

The staterooms may not be a fair comparison. On NCL we always cruise in a Minisuite and find them priced like a regular balcony on RCCL and much less then a RCCL Mini but I think Rccl Minis are bigger than NCL's. Getaway's mini bathroom was amazing with lots of space for a family of 4 (again we are not suite cruisers)

 

On our Getaway cruise we had no issues of smoke and trusty me my DS make a issue of it on Epic, we had to cross on weird floors to avoid it. I think it al depends on the amount of smokers that are present.

[tgnorton]

Thanks for taking the time to do this!! Helpful, insightful, balanced!!!

[peanutter]

I appreciate the time and effort you put into doing this comparison. We have never sailed with NCL but after reading this and following Radio's current "live from" thread, I'm getting tempted :)