Carnival Cruiser - What's different about NCL?

[maywell]

We have previously sailed Carnival Splendor and are taking our first cruise on the Breakaway this June. My first impression is that room sizes for the Breakaway are so much smaller than on the Splendor. We almost always opt for a balcony when we cruise because we love sitting outside the room in the early morning and late evening hours. We didn't do a balcony this time because those on the Breakaway are so tiny and cramped. The Breakaway has no public laundry facilities (don't know about other NCL ships.) This is a minor point, but when we sailed previously, we had a large family group with teens who needed to change clothes several times a day and refused to wear anything twice. It was nice to know we could do a load of laundry. It is very expensive to have laundry done on the ships.

We were disappointed in the overall service by the staff on Splendor (except the dining wait staff, who were wonderful and got a very large extra tip at the end of the cruise). We never saw our room steward and most of the staff we saw were cold to downright rude. Sanitation was not a big priority. Guests were not required or even encouraged to use hand sanitizers before entering the dining room. In fact, most of the hand sanitizing stations were not working. Food was sometimes served on dirty and broken dishes.

The party atmosphere on the Splendor was over the top. For people who like to drink, this is probably the best part of the cruise experience. (We drink, but not that much, so it was a little too much for us.)

I am looking forward to our Breakaway cruise. I've talked to so many people who loved the ship.

You're going to like Breakaway - its too has a party atmosphere but its restricted to like 2 parts of the ship that you easily avoid and 1 of those happen at different time compare to Splendor where it party almost everywhere (Atruim most times and Spice in the evening). There's alot of quiet places on the Breakaway to just relax and/or have chat without too much noise.

 

 

When it comes to complimentary places to eat and sit down at any time; there plenty of choices on Breakaway compare to Splendor where it s only the Lido Aft Buffet and MDR (where its not open for breakfast/lunch on port days). Regarding service, the only hit or miss I had was mostly in the MDR in the evening, where it matter of waiting about 20-40 minutes between finishing courses (the maitre made it up to people with free wines). Otherwise, service was good even with the staff in buffets picking up dishes from people hands or tables since there not really a dropoff spot for dishes compare to Splendor where it piles for while and overall looks bad.

 

Another personal obversation- most passengers and crew on Breakaway were more MYOB, friendlier, calmer and read the moods of others better. Completely different on Splendor's where some passengers were just too nosy to the point of asking stupid rhetoric questions, had nasty attitudes if someone(s) was looking for place to sit down and/or eat. Instead of saying 'Are you okay?' to a person that clearly in pain/hurt, they say 'You should smile more', 'You're on vacation' You should be happy', etc. And in the case of crew, the problem was more with the MDR where they couldn't take 'No' for an answer the 1st 3 times regarding more food so they ask another 3-5 times if I wanted - the answer was still 'No'(I think 2 appetizers, 1 main, 1 dessert, coffee, water and maybe a glass wine/mixed drink / or ginger ale is more than enough for my heavy self, thank you).

 

Trust me your going to enjoy it - its completely different and pleasant change of pace on the Breakaway. It may go to the same ports most of time but more than makes up for it with the atmosphere and amenities (free and/or the pay extras)

 

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[Markanddonna]

We took our first last minute cruise on carnival and we couldn't get them to change us for late dining to either early or flexible dining. Eating at 8:30 isn't for us and the dining room had so many large tables with just one lonely couple. Freestyle dining is ideal for last minute bookings.

 

Food and service was similar but incl has far better entertainment.

[nets33]

Platinum carnival cruiser going on our first Ncl.. Hope it measures up. Never had a bad carnival cruise. Not excited about having to plan my dining times ahead on Ncl tho. But, will be a nice change to try something different

 

DH and I only make reservations for the speciality restaurants. If you're eating at the MDR or any other included food venue you can simply walk up to the host stand just like any land based restaurants.

 

NCL is offering reservations for some ships MDR but IMO you don't need to do that. Just go when you want to. That's the beauty of NCL.

[westcoastman]

What's different with NCL when you get on the ship? There is typical embarkation meal and registration for kid's club, waiting for luggage, etc. but anything else such a reservation that needs to be made when you board?

[nets33]

What's different with NCL when you get on the ship? There is typical embarkation meal and registration for kid's club, waiting for luggage, etc. but anything else such a reservation that needs to be made when you board?

 

 

If you want to eat at Teppanaki during a peak time or enjoy Chef's Table then you can make reservations once you embark. There will also be table to purchase a wine or drink package (if you haven't already purchased one).

 

The new ships such as Breakaway and Getaway will also sell limited passes to Vibe.

 

Enjoy!