Royal Carribean Independence of the Seas or Norwegian Getaway

[JTsquared]

My husband and I are going on a cruise for our anniversary in September. I have been on 4 cruises, but all under the age of 20. He has never been. We booked Independence of the Seas a few months ago (BOGO), but lately I've been second guessing my decision. I did a little research, and I'm wondering if we shouldn't be going on Norwegian instead. We have plenty of time to get our deposit back from RC and make the switch. Here is why I'm leaning towards NCL.

 

1. Norwegian seems to be a little more focused on adults/couples. We love kids, but we're leaving ours at home for a reason! Although in September, I can't imagine there will be many children. But it still seems like RC's ship is designed more for families.

2. NCL is less expensive, when you factor in the drink package. Not by a lot, but this might allow us to get a spa balcony, rather than just a balcony.

3. The Getaway ship is BRAND NEW. Independence was renovated 2 years ago, but still an older ship.

4. I think we might enjoy the freestyle dining a little more than formal seating. We don't mind chatting with others, but this trip is meant to be a romantic getaway from kids, life, and focus on us.

 

Any thoughts, either way, would be appreciated!

[JTsquared]

I should add that the ports on RC are slightly better, but the ports on Norwegian are still great. There is one more day at sea, but honestly, those are my favorite days. And Norwegian goes to St. Thomas, where our son was conceived 4 years ago. Hehe!

[Aquahound]

Just a couple things that might help set your mind at ease...

 

Having cruised both lines several times, I can say with confidence NCL is definitely not more adult oriented than RCI. In terms of adult/family orientation, I'd say Getaway and Indy are the same.

 

On Indy, you do not have to do formal seating. You can choose My Time Dining instead. And with both MTD and traditional seating, you can request a table for 2. Sitting with others is not mandatory.

 

Between these 2 ships, I recommend going with the one whose itinerary is most appealing to you. Both are great ships.

[JTsquared]

Thanks for the insight! I think it's going to come down to price. My travel agent is meeting with her RC rep today, and I already know she is at least going to give us some OBC, plus perhaps a better deal than we have already signed up for. I know she wants to keep us on RC, so hopefully she makes it enticing enough for us to stay. Good to know about dining though. I thought that might be the case.

 

I haven't been on a cruise in almost 15 years. Back then, formal dining was the only option. As a "kid" I didn't mind. But the thought of one-on-one dining with my husband, away from the hustle and bustle of everyday life and kids, is quite exciting.

 

One huge factor in pricing is the beverage package. We aren't huge drinkers, but we do have expensive taste. I'm afraid paying per drink is going to nickle and dime us, and we'd be better off doing the drink package. After all, it's vacation, and I don't want to feel deprived. Thoughts on this would be much appreciated!

[Aquahound]

Thanks for the insight! I think it's going to come down to price. My travel agent is meeting with her RC rep today, and I already know she is at least going to give us some OBC, plus perhaps a better deal than we have already signed up for. I know she wants to keep us on RC, so hopefully she makes it enticing enough for us to stay. Good to know about dining though. I thought that might be the case.

 

I haven't been on a cruise in almost 15 years. Back then, formal dining was the only option. As a "kid" I didn't mind. But the thought of one-on-one dining with my husband, away from the hustle and bustle of everyday life and kids, is quite exciting.

 

One huge factor in pricing is the beverage package. We aren't huge drinkers, but we do have expensive taste. I'm afraid paying per drink is going to nickle and dime us, and we'd be better off doing the drink package. After all, it's vacation, and I don't want to feel deprived. Thoughts on this would be much appreciated!

 

No problem. :) If you do stick with RCI, make sure your TA puts in your request for a table for 2. This can be done with both traditional and MTD. It's not guaranteed you'll get it with traditional, but your chances are really good. With MTD, it's pretty much guaranteed you won't sit with others, especially if you make reservations.

 

About the drink packages, how much do you 2 plan on drinking? On RCI, it is not mandatory for all persons in the room to purchase the packages. If for example your DH drinks more, you may want to consider just purchasing a package for him and paying as you go for your drinks. Just a thought.

 

One other thing, take a good look at the balconies on both ships. I had a really hard time finding a good balcony on Getaway. It seems all the balconies on that ship are either miniscule in size or have no privacy because they are open to the balconies above them.

 

And for what it's worth, please don't take my advice as gospel. I obviously lean toward RCI, mostly because I've had some pretty awful service experiences on NCL.

Edited March 5, 2015 by Aquahound

[JTsquared]

I absolutely want your opinion, so don't hold back. Do you have any thoughts on the spa balconies on the Getaway?

 

With respect to drinking, it's hard to say since we don't drink during the day at home, but I'm sure we will on vacation. It seems like if you are going to have at least 4 drinks a day, the package is worth it. While that seems like a lot, who's to say I won't start the day out with a bloody mary, have a pina coloda by the pool mid afternoon, and two glasses of wine at dinner? Like I said, I don't want to feel deprived. I'd rather have the option to have a drink when I want one, rather than being concerned over the price.

[Aquahound]

I absolutely want your opinion, so don't hold back. Do you have any thoughts on the spa balconies on the Getaway?

 

Sorry, somehow it didn't click with me the first time that you're looking at a Spa Suite. Those rooms are really nice and have a jacuzzi in the room. The balcony is very shallow, but that's not a big deal in this case because the room is wider. If you can book one of these rooms for the price of a standard balcony on Indy, I think it might be the wise choice.

[JTsquared]

It's not the spa suite, just the spa balcony. It might be a tad bit bigger than a regular balcony room, but allows access to the spa. No jacuzzi.

[dolita22]

I'd pick the Getaway, the spa balcony, and the extra sea day. We love sea days and try to pick cruises with more sea days than port days! :) Plus, it's a newer ship and seems to be getting really good reviews.

 

We sailed the Indy last year for our honeymoon, and I sailed the Grandeur in 2010. Although we've never sailed the Getaway, we have sailed with NCL a few times (Sky and Epic), too. When it comes down to it, we prefer NCL and the Freestyle aspect of cruising and, IMO, RCCL's version of that doesn't compare.

 

In addition, we felt the entertainment is better on NCL. On the Indy, we enjoyed the ice show, but felt like they pushed "entertainment" as going to bars and and drinking. We enjoy adult beverages, but much prefer shows over the bar scene.

 

Our family friends were in a spa balcony on the Epic in January and LOVED it. They spent many, many hours there relaxing in the thermal suites and hot tubs there. They said it was well worth the money.

 

Both RCL and NCL are comparable in terms of adults/kids. In September, I'm guessing there will be fewer kids on board.

 

Have fun choosing and planning!

[JTsquared]

Wow, thanks for the info! That definitely gives me some things to think about.

 

PS. I see based on your signature that I'm not the only one who books vacations a million years in advance. We've had this cruise, which is still 6 months out, booked for almost a year!

[Cruzaholic41]

I have been on both ships and I recommend staying with the Independence. Let me tell you about Freestyle - it's the most over-hyped concept in all of cruising. What it basically translates to is - here's your pager, we'll call you in a half hour when a table is ready for you. I have had far more success with the anytime options on all other cruise lines including RCI than I have had with NCL. No cruise line pushes people to its costly specialty restaurants more than NCL. There's a reason most seasoned cruisers refer to NCL as the nickle and dime cruise line.

 

If you want to cancel your IOS cruise, I recommend it only be for upgrading to Oasis or Allure of the Seas, not an NCL ship.

[JTsquared]

Thank you for your response. I was worried about that, that we wouldn't get seated right away with freestyle dining. My husband would not be happy with that. He "does not like to wait for food", lol. If we go to a restaurant and there is a long wait, he leaves.

 

I would LOVE to upgrade to a smaller, nicer ship, but unfortunately it's not in the budget. I really thought Norwegian was a step above, but I'm realizing it's really not. We'll see what the rep comes back with today, but I'm leaning towards staying with RCI right now, and just making sure we request a table for two for dinner.

[dolita22]

Wow, thanks for the info! That definitely gives me some things to think about.

 

PS. I see based on your signature that I'm not the only one who books vacations a million years in advance. We've had this cruise, which is still 6 months out, booked for almost a year!

 

Yes! I told my husband I must have at least one vacation planned, even if it's a year away. We have a couple land-based vacations coming up, but within two weeks of coming home from our Epic cruise in January, we had booked the Escape - two sailings. The first is the inaugural U.S. sailing (3 days), then we'll sail again next January to take in everything we missed the first time! Thankfully, my DH enjoys cruising as much as I do!

 

In regards to the PP who mentioned the pagers and NCL nickel and diming by offering specialty restaurants: On our recent Epic sailing we did have to wait twice to be seated in the MDR - about 20 minutes each time. It was totally fine, and we could see they were quite busy. We did go at a peak time (around 7 or 7:30), but you could go earlier or later and not have to wait. You can also now make reservations for the MDRs on NCL, which IMO defeats the purpose of freestyle cruising, but plenty of people had reservations and were seated when they got to the MDR.

 

The food in the MDR on NCL has been very good, and we have yet to go to a specialty restaurant. We've never felt pushed into going to a specialty, although one of these cruises, we'll try one just because want to.

 

We have also felt no more nickeled and dimed on NCL than we have on RCCL or Carnival. They all give options on how you spend your money, and that's a great thing about cruising.