Found a Great Deal....

[js]

We as a family prefer RCCl , but will be cruising for the first time with NCL in 3 months. For the price of an inside on the splendor in June ( Europe) ,We are sailing a similar itinerary in a mini suite for the same $ and have OBC and free alcohol pkge ...,Who knows we might end up liking and preferring RCCL ...I think RCCl has gotten a high and mighty opinion of themselves

 

I'm like you. My family use to say we love RCCL, well I guess we still do, we had great cruises on all the ships we have sailed. My kids started sailing when they were about 2 and they are both 21 and almost 17. Now we say we love RCCL and RCL (we have sailed other lines but those are our top two).

 

You can dress up or not on NCL. This is a big PLUS for me. I know, I know, some love to dress up. I dress up EVERY day for work, although I still wear long pants or capris at dinner (it's easier to dress up more comfortably as a woman than a man, IMO). My dh, would MUCH prefer to wear nice golf shorts and a golf shirt or button down shirt with nice shorts at dinner than bring a suit jacket on vacation. We usually only eat at specialties on a cruise (or more than half our meals) and love the variety of NCL.

 

BUT, this isn't the NCL boards, so I'll step back. I do have an Indy NYE cruise booked and looking for something for end of next February. I did book RCCL since they have larger ships that are sailing for shorter trips less than a week, so that appeals to me for RCCL for the trip I'm looking to book. But, if NCL had larger ships for shorter periods, I probably would be all over it.

[William W]

We took the Breakaway Feb 2014 thinking the price was good, no air needed, new ship. Boy were we disappointed. Dinners in the MDR were pretty bad. Much worse than the DD on Quantum. The only good food was in the specialty restaurants which were excellent. There is no solarium upstairs. If you have cool weather there is no place to go. There are no nice quiet areas to relax. The library is next to the bowling alley. The entertainment was very good though. We just came off the Quantum of the Seas. They have 2 solariums so you can always relax by the pool no matter the weather. The DD improved towards the end of the cruise but I prefer MDR seating.

 

I agreed MDR is pretty bad on NCL, though NCL non MDR free options such as buffet, or snack area (ie Blue Lagoon, Uptown Grill, etc) is on par or better than RCCL (Park Cafe, Sorento, etc). Besides, with NCL current promo, if one were to choose the Ulitmiate Dinning Plan, this pretty much mitigate the bad NCL's MDR experience.

 

Personally, because of RCCL's recent prices increases and cut backs, I feel NCL is giving cruisers better value.

Edited March 6, 2015 by William W

[Doc Rick]

It's good to hear everyone's point of views on this topic. I just wanted to give a comparison from my experience on NCL vs. RCL - and several posters requested that I give feedback when I returned from the Breakaway cruise.

 

With that said, I'd like to talk briefly about the cabin and housekeeping. Our cabin was mid-ship deck 9. It was spacious with a more European design with shiny,curved, wood laminate. It was clean and fresh and comparable in size to most RC balconies we've stayed in.

 

The bathroom was large with ample room and storage. The sink was very nice - it was a large oval shape with a faucet that you could fill a 10" Champagne glass with water to the top. Much larger than any RC sink I've seen. The water quality was excellent - I'd give it a 10 out of 10 for taste, color, and smell - the best of any ship I've ever been on. I usually don't drink the tap water that much on most RC cruises - mostly bottled water. I did not purchase one bottle of water on this cruise.

 

The shower design was also very good. Somewhat oval in shape, with a curved glass door that all seams were completely sealed when closed - absolutely no water escaped to the floor while showering. I'm 6'2" tall and 240 lbs. and had ample room in the shower.

 

The balcony was a little smaller than most RC balconies I've been on, but was sufficient. Not a highlight.

 

Housekeeping was good, not excellent - but our needs were met to expectations. I'd say it was a little more "relaxed" than most other cruises I've been on, but this relaxed feeling was found in service throughout the ship. It was kind of nice in a way.

 

In summary, I would definitely choose Norwegian again as a cruise choice. It's nice to have another option in cruising, and I'm glad I expanded myself beyond the typical Royal Caribbean cruise I've been used to over the past 15 years. I would recommend everyone try it, or at least before booking your next RC cruise - do a cost comparison between the two and take the added packages such as Ultimate Beverage Package, etc. into consideration.

 

One of the best values we've ever had on any cruise!

 

- Doc

[LadyLion_AP]

Thanks for reporting back!