Royal Diamond Tries NCL and Loved It!

[beer1234]

I also am Diamond and had one cruise with NCL. All I can say is when they handed me a beeper at the main dining room of all places I vowed to never again set foot on one of their ships. A BEEPER for petes sake. :mad: I'd expect that at an Outback but not on a cruise. Being only a few nights shy of D+ if I get handed a beeper on an upcoming cruise on Quantum with it's Dynamic Dining I'll be searching for another line.

 

PS. Each time I ate in the MDR it was only able to provide service to half of it's capacity. Once more, never again for me.

Edited December 23, 2014 by beer1234

[Susie51]

Thank you for sharing your review. We were in the same type of suite 3 weeks ago on NCL Jewel and loved it. In March we will be on NOS in a GS. I think I will miss the second bathroom.

 

I do like both NCL and RCI. I'm glad you gave NCL a try.

[Iluvcruising2]

WOW, Your review just keeps delivering the hits!! this is so great you are taking the time to do this.

 

Now I feel like a slacker when I come back and post-it was great.......have any questions!!:o

 

Thanks for your comment. I enjoy taking all these videos and keeping them as a personal record. Glad that they are also helpful to fellow cruisers.

[Iluvcruising2]

We sailed on the EPIC...Its a unique ship with the wavy walls in the staterooms. The food was better and the free style dining is far more imaginative than the standard fixed dining room times. Im on vacation, and want to do what i want when i want. I want to eat when I want and where I want...NCL offers that...I have no problem sailing on them.. they are a good line

 

Thanks for letting us know.

 

We are seriously considering the EPIC in late 2015, out of Europe.

[Iluvcruising2]

I also am Diamond and had one cruise with NCL. All I can say is when they handed me a beeper at the main dining room of all places I vowed to never again set foot on one of their ships. A BEEPER for petes sake. :mad: I'd expect that at an Outback but not on a cruise. Being only a few nights shy of D+ if I get handed a beeper on an upcoming cruise on Quantum with it's Dynamic Dining I'll be searching for another line.

 

PS. Each time I ate in the MDR it was only able to provide service to half of it's capacity. Once more, never again for me.

 

Can you share which cruise and which NCL ship was this?

[beer1234]

Can you share which cruise and which NCL ship was this?

 

Yes indeed. It was a few years ago on a trip to Bermuda on the Gem.

[Dave85]

Can you share which cruise and which NCL ship was this?

 

 

There were restaurant-style beepers on the Breakaway too, but we never ended up getting one and their mere presence in no way affected our cruise.

 

Sent from my iPhone using Cruise Critic Forums mobile app

Edited December 24, 2014 by Dave85

[Iluvcruising2]

Shore Excursions

 

Video of price list for comparison -

 

With all the help from Cruise Critic, we had pre-planned all our excursions so we did not use any of the ship's tours, other than 2 pax going to Pompeii on our Naples port of call.

 

Some highlights from the price list, all in USD.

 

Day 2

Behind the Scenes Tour (minimum 8 years old) - $79

 

Day 3 - Katakolon Greece, Arrival 8am, all aboard 3:30pm

Best of Olympia - 6 hrs - $139.99

Olympia & Archaeological Museum - 4hrs - $89.99

 

Day 4 - Piraeus (Athens), Greece, arrival 7am, All Aboard 4:30pm

Best of Athens and its scenic coast - 8.5hrs - $149.99

The Acropolis and leisure - 6 hrs - $89.99

 

Drinks List

The list is called 'Navigate to your drink'. Very cool.

 

Video -

 

Example

 

Beer & Cider - $5.25 (add an additional 15% gratuity)

Amstel Light, Heineken Light, Bass Pale Ale, Molson Canadian, Beck's, Newcastle Brown Ale, Birra Moretti, Peroni Nastro Azzurro, Buckler (non-alcoholic), Pilsner Urquell, Bud Light Premium, Samuel Adams, Corona Extra, Boston Lager, Corona Light, Stella Artois, Dos Equis Lager, Strongbow cider, Heineken

 

I can't remember the exact prices on Royal, but I think they are in the same ballpark.

 

Wine List

 

Video -

 

Norwegian does not allow you to bring any bottles of wine onboard even for personal consumption, unlike Royal (which allows 2 bottles per cabin). Every bottle has to pay a corkage charge upfront at the time of boarding, which I think is US$15. (not entirely sure, since we didn't bring any wine on board).

 

In this video, I go through the wine list. I noticed they had a house wine called North and South. We ordered one bottle of North and South Merlot by Norwegian, US$30 before gratuities. It turned out to be pretty good! I would drink that again.

[Iluvcruising2]

Silly me just learnt that we could embed videos on these forums, and the feature had been available since Oct 2014.

 

Alright, let me try embedding a few.

 

NCL Jade 2 bedroom penthouse suite

[YOUTUBE]POIy0VzgXGw[/YOUTUBE]

 

NCL Jade Cagney's Breakfast Suite Life

[YOUTUBE]BYgGcK5QUQY[/YOUTUBE]

 

NCL Jade Main Dining Room Food Compilation

[YOUTUBE]xOimIZW3xEw[/YOUTUBE]

 

It works! This is way cool. :):)

[Iluvcruising2]

I have started reviewing the ports, but I created separate threads in the destination forms on cruise critic for them, to facilitate easier search.

 

Here are the links.

 

Katakolon, Greece for Olympia

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2140938

 

Athens, Port of Piraeus

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2141162

 

Kusadasi, Turkey, for Ephesus

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2143687

 

Some videos

 

Katakolon, Greece for Olympia - 2 minute summary

[YOUTUBE]cPcXi0GYUX0[/YOUTUBE]

 

Snippets of our Day in Athens (2 min)

[YOUTUBE]bfABTgvEFRY[/YOUTUBE]

[melbur]

I have to agree with OP - we just got back from the Breakaway in the Haven over Christmas and it was outstanding. Nobody else comes close when you're talking suite perks.

We found the food great in every venue and the entertainment superb.

 

Doesn't stop us from sailing on Royal, but sure gives us options.

[LEtue]

Seems that if you can sail NCL in a suite it makes all the difference - and that isn't in my budget. My one NCL cruise on the Dawn (standard balcony) was definitely not a cruise experience I would want to repeat.

 

I admit that the Jade in the Med has my attention though and I have read many very good reviews. The Epic doesn't work, because of the bathroom setup for my cruise buddy and I. But since I never base anything on a sample of one - I will probably give NCL another try :)

 

I am also waiting to hear about Virgin and what they have to offer!

[Sea3PO]

I have to agree with OP - we just got back from the Breakaway in the Haven over Christmas and it was outstanding. Nobody else comes close when you're talking suite perks.

We found the food great in every venue and the entertainment superb.

 

Doesn't stop us from sailing on Royal, but sure gives us options.

 

Thanks to the OP for the review. Totally agree with the comments above! We cruised on the Getaway in November in the Haven (with a free beverage package courtesy of a Norwegian promotion). EVERYTHING about the experience was first rate.

 

Norwegian is currently offering a Freestyle Choice promotion where you get a free dining package, a free beverage package, and $300 onboard credit for suites and Haven bookings. As a result, we booked a cruise on the Escape in the Haven.

 

We cruise mostly on Royal but find the Norwegian cruise experience to be an excellent and refreshing change.

 

--Steve

[JoePatNYCT]

You make a good point. I have observed that Royal's loyalty perks (Diamond and above) are significantly better than that of NCL.

 

Booking a Balcony or even inside, with Diamond or D+ perk on Royal, is actually a very good deal. On my recent NCL sailing, I most definitely missed the Diamond Club evening cocktail hours.

 

I have given feedback to NCL that they may want to re-look at their loyalty perks, especially for their higher tiers.

 

Thanks for your postings. I have to admit that I've been reluctant to try a new cruise line having gotten used to the loyalty program perks too.

 

But the price of the NCL Jade 10 day Eastern Med cruise was too low to pass up. So, I'm giving them a shot. Your review and comments have eased my mind (even though I'm solo and won't be in the 2 BR suite!). Thanks again.

 

Joe

Edited January 2, 2015 by JoePatNYCT

[Iluvcruising2]

I have to agree with OP - we just got back from the Breakaway in the Haven over Christmas and it was outstanding. Nobody else comes close when you're talking suite perks.

We found the food great in every venue and the entertainment superb.

 

Doesn't stop us from sailing on Royal, but sure gives us options.

 

Thanks for your comments. Hope to be able to try the Breakaway some day, but right now we live too far away.

[Iluvcruising2]

Thanks to the OP for the review. Totally agree with the comments above! We cruised on the Getaway in November in the Haven (with a free beverage package courtesy of a Norwegian promotion). EVERYTHING about the experience was first rate.

 

Norwegian is currently offering a Freestyle Choice promotion where you get a free dining package, a free beverage package, and $300 onboard credit for suites and Haven bookings. As a result, we booked a cruise on the Escape in the Haven.

 

We cruise mostly on Royal but find the Norwegian cruise experience to be an excellent and refreshing change.

 

--Steve

 

Indeed, it is great to have options!

[PathfinderEss]

Thanks for the review.

[Iluvcruising2]

The crew performance was held in the main theatre, on a sea day afternoon.

 

It was pretty good overall. The closing act, which I call the Greek water show, was extremely hilarious. I was laughing non-stop.

 

[YOUTUBE]DFquXmkRYds[/YOUTUBE]

 

PS: I don't recall there being a crew show equivalent on Royal, at least not on the cruises that I have been on.

[Iluvcruising2]

This was during a sea day. Cruise Director and Hotel Director out in force during the poolside party, helping to cook the Paella and serving the guests.

 

Very festive!

 

[YOUTUBE]j2wqHjUlLiM[/YOUTUBE]

[American Bear]

You make a good point. I have observed that Royal's loyalty perks (Diamond and above) are significantly better than that of NCL.

 

Booking a Balcony or even inside, with Diamond or D+ perk on Royal, is actually a very good deal. On my recent NCL sailing, I most definitely missed the Diamond Club evening cocktail hours.

 

I have given feedback to NCL that they may want to re-look at their loyalty perks, especially for their higher tiers.

 

 

We would disagree with you slightly,,,,,

We took a B2B in May, and since we live in Florida, any port was good with us, but we wanted 2 different itineraries for the B2B, which left us with several Carnival, the MSC Divina, RCL Freedom, and the floating mall ships-Oasis/Allure!

We threw out the Oasis/Allure because they offered only 6 ports while the others offered 7!

We then did a comparison of balcony prices, and this is what we came up with for 2 weeks total,,

MSC Divina $2300.

Carnival Conquest/Glory $2900.

RCL Freedom $3400.

We chose the Divina, $1100. savings:D even with D+ benes. was just too big a difference! And we had a great time on a beautiful ship!:D

So our opinion is RCL needs to rethink their current pricing, cause cruisers will wake up eventually and go to other cruise lines!

BTW we are Carnival and NCL Plat. also! Loyalty only goes so far!:eek:

[American Bear]

I agree!

Your may attain top tier loyalty status faster by staying exclusively loyal to one line, but as has been pointed out by other's above, you will miss out on many different things that you might enjoy more on other lines....

 

That said, NCL's 'Latitudes' loyalty program top tier ("Platinum"), can be reached faster than any other that I am aware of...only 75 days (or credits), with double triple or quadruple credits, can be done in as little as two longer cruises! See:

http://www.ncl.com/latitudes-rewards/rewards-points-and-benefits

The perks are pretty decent too....especially if you combine those with what you get in their suites...;)

 

 

Try looking at the MSC loyalty program, they do something unique, they give you an extra loyalty point for every $200. on board spending that includes gratuities, excursions, drink pkges., etc., and you only need 100 points to reach their top level, which gives you 20% off each cruise you purchase! Money in your pocket sounds like a great bene.!:D

PS they got the best drink pkges/prices at sea!

Edited January 11, 2015 by American Bear

[Iluvcruising2]

We would disagree with you slightly,,,,,

We took a B2B in May, and since we live in Florida, any port was good with us, but we wanted 2 different itineraries for the B2B, which left us with several Carnival, the MSC Divina, RCL Freedom, and the floating mall ships-Oasis/Allure!

We threw out the Oasis/Allure because they offered only 6 ports while the others offered 7!

We then did a comparison of balcony prices, and this is what we came up with for 2 weeks total,,

MSC Divina $2300.

Carnival Conquest/Glory $2900.

RCL Freedom $3400.

We chose the Divina, $1100. savings:D even with D+ benes. was just too big a difference! And we had a great time on a beautiful ship!:D

So our opinion is RCL needs to rethink their current pricing, cause cruisers will wake up eventually and go to other cruise lines!

BTW we are Carnival and NCL Plat. also! Loyalty only goes so far!:eek:

 

Thanks for this. So the above prices are for the entire cabin right? (i.e. not per pax).

 

I must say that I have no experience with MSC cruise line. A quick google has informed me that they do have quite a number of ships, including larger ships.

 

Hopefully I can get to try MSC lines some day.

[Iluvcruising2]

Try looking at the MSC loyalty program, they do something unique, they give you an extra loyalty point for every $200. on board spending that includes gratuities, excursions, drink pkges., etc., and you only need 100 points to reach their top level, which gives you 20% off each cruise you purchase! Money in your pocket sounds like a great bene.!:D

PS they got the best drink pkges/prices at sea!

 

This is very interesting. Ok, we'll start looking out for them, to see what interesting cruises they may offer.

[John&LaLa]

I also am Diamond and had one cruise with NCL. All I can say is when they handed me a beeper at the main dining room of all places I vowed to never again set foot on one of their ships. A BEEPER for petes sake. :mad: I'd expect that at an Outback but not on a cruise. Being only a few nights shy of D+ if I get handed a beeper on an upcoming cruise on Quantum with it's Dynamic Dining I'll be searching for another line.

 

PS. Each time I ate in the MDR it was only able to provide service to half of it's capacity. Once more, never again for me.

 

So would you rather stand in line 45 minutes and do nothing. :confused:

[American Bear]

Thanks for this. So the above prices are for the entire cabin right? (i.e. not per pax).

 

I must say that I have no experience with MSC cruise line. A quick google has informed me that they do have quite a number of ships, including larger ships.

 

Hopefully I can get to try MSC lines some day.

 

 

The prices I quoted you were the total for 2, for our B2B May cruise in the Caribbean! I can't speak of any knowledge of Asia cruises!

All the cruise lines are increasing their numbers in the next 4-5 years, with many of the new ships in the (+,-) range of 140,000-160,000 tons, so hopefully cruise prices will flat line, or even come down!:D