Carnival v NCL

[umograd83]

I am straying from Carnival and sailing out of Boston on the Norwegian Dawn next week. If Carnival had a ship out of Boston to Bermuda, I would be on the Carnival ship. Anyway, what didn't you like about NCL compared to Carnival and what did you like? We are going to have a great time! First time to Bermuda.

[Out to sea!]

I am straying from Carnival and sailing out of Boston on the Norwegian Dawn next week. If Carnival had a ship out of Boston to Bermuda, I would be on the Carnival ship. Anyway, what didn't you like about NCL compared to Carnival and what did you like? We are going to have a great time! First time to Bermuda.

 

No dedicated dining time. Crappy pizza. Very little time in the day to get crappy pizza. Much of the deck space dedicated to kids activities. Big screen TV on very few ships and the ones that have it they black the entire aft sea view by putting it back there. MDR food not as good as Carnival. They nickel and dime you for everything. There's more but I think you get the gist of it. IMO, NCL sucks and the only ship of theirs I will ever sail is the POA and that's only because friends are twisting my arm to do it.

Edited August 28, 2015 by Out to sea!

[FigmentFan]

I have sailed on both equally and find them to be more alike than different. There are some things however that I have found to be better on each.

NCL

No assigned dining times and tables are placed farther apart so you don't feel like you are dining with strangers.

Buffet is far superior to Carnival. Better food and more selections. Buffet is arranged more like a food court than a cafeteria.

More restaurant selections if you don't want to dine in MDR.

Staff in buffet excels in keeping tables clear

NCL lets you choose the time you want to leave the ship by going to the lobby the day before the cruise ends and picking a luggage tag that corresponds to the time you wish to disembark.

Carnival

Bigger cabins

Dive in movies

Better MDR food

Cruises are usually a little more economical

More TV channels in cabins

[kpowaza]

We did Norwegian Gem last Thanksgiving and will probably not do it again. Things we did like about NCL: convenience of leaving from NYC and the ports of call. Things we didn't like: food was terrible, MDR food was tasteless and it took forever, we only ate there 2 on a 9 night cruise. Buffet selection was very limited, we end up going to the specialty restaurants and ordering room service. Rooms were smaller, no bathrobes and the service was not as friendly as Carnival.

[umograd83]

I will make sure to let you know what I think about NCL when I come back. Like I said, I'm only sailing with them because they have a ship in Boston, two hours from Maine.

[mommyto2girls]

So many different opinions. We love NCL and would not cruise Carnival ever again. We find the food far superior on NCL and love all the specialty restaurants. Also in our opinion they have the best and friendliest crew at sea. Love free style cruising. We have only cruised Carnival in Suite rooms which are an absloute joke compared to NCL.

I guess this is why there are so many different cruise lines. There is a customer for everything. Enjoy the Dawn I think you will love it.

[chipandsteph]

We went on NCL for the first time a couple of months ago. I found the food to be better than Carnival. Cagney's Steakhouse is a must try! There was no stand up comedian, only an improv show. I enjoyed this, but my husband missed the stand up. This could be based on ship, too. We were on the Gem. There were no robes in the room, and the room was tiny compared to Carnival. My husband is 6'5" and had a hard time with the bathroom in the room. He had to back in to use the toilet because the area for the toilet was so small. For me, overall experience was about the same as Carnival. For him, he won't pay to cruise Norwegian again. Carnival for us from now on!

[PartyAnimal]

I sailed on the Dawn last year and I am a devoted Carnival lover. But......I was so pleasantly surprised and cannot wait to cruise her again. I even bought FCC to make sure. I must add that I had a suite so my experience may have been a little different. But boy was it an experience. They treated us like royalty and made us feel very special. The staff was unbelievably friendly and reminded me of the "old" Carnival. Where they would learn your name the first day and then anytime they saw you would know exactly what you wanted. We also enjoyed the Carribbean music on the LIDO. That always gets me in the mood. The food was very good and I like the fact that if you get hungry late at night they had a 24 hour restaurant that you could go to and order from a menu. The hot wings were the bomb. I am excited for you and I think you will have fun. I will be doing this same ship and cruise in 2017. I am too close to Diamond on Carnival to stop now, plus I do still like them.

[evandbob]

I've sailed NCL Epic twice as a solo, and enjoyed their pricing and the solo studio lounge. NCL gave me a specialty restaurant perk, and I enjoyed a different restaurant every evening. The entertainment, from Blue Man Group to Cirque Dinner, to the dueling pianos and 2nd City comedy was much better than Carnival's. I don't drink booze, but I think anyone who does would prefer getting free unlimited drinks over paying for the Cheers Program.

 

Carnival is now starting to book longer cruises like the Journeys, Carnival cabins are bigger, and I'm platinum on Carnival so I like those perks. I haven't done a Bermuda cruise yet, but when I do, it will probably be on an NCL or a Celebrity ship.

[Lineaway]

Just got off the NCL Pearl a couple weeks back. 4th NCL cruise. I have also been on the Dream last year, 2nd CCL cruise. Add to that in the last 4 years a couple RCCL cruises and a couple Princess cruises. I am only adding them to make a point. Any farther back and we aren't really comparing a similar cruise experience as they all are cutting back. Hence the cheaper cruises.

 

They are all more alike than different with a few exceptions or maybe you could call them trade offs.

 

NCL had them all beat in food. Kinda surprised me. Carnival Dream had mediocre food in both Buffet and MDR. RCCL wasn't any better. Princess had better food but not to the level of NCL. Princess also seemed to offer far more variety. Basically a trade off here.

 

NCL does nickle and dime but in a more subtle way. For instance, they tend to offer a service or product then have exceptions. More so than Carnival. They also upped the tips pp twice this year. Thought that was tacky.

 

NCL is alot more and I mean alot more casual than other lines in terms of dress code in MDR. I thought it would bother me more than it did. I got used to it.

 

NCL did not have a Lobster night any more. But I would give up my Lobster night to have better overall food offerings the rest of the time.

 

NCL cabins are really small unless you go minisuite or higher. The bathroom was not like any I had encoutered before. Think very narrow closet not a larger square that was more roomey. We had an outside. Side note I will never cruise again without a balcony or higher.

 

The number of kids and families onboard are very similar.

 

The crew, cleanliness and service was the same. I really think you may find more differences if you compare one line against the other if on one you go on their really big new ship vs a smaller older ship on another line.

 

The Dawn is an old ship. Don't expect as much vs their newer larger ships. Just my opinion.

[smyliecruising]

I feel any cruise line would be wonderful if you only have to drive 2 hours! I subscribed so I can hear your report! Have fun!

[sparks1093]

We found the two lines to be more alike than different and decide based on the price. We chose Fascination over the Gem because Fascination came in $800 less (and we really enjoyed the Gem). NCL's entertainment is a bit more robust and we found the food to be about equal.

[Sillyjilly]

We did Norwegian Gem last Thanksgiving and will probably not do it again. Things we did like about NCL: convenience of leaving from NYC and the ports of call. Things we didn't like: food was terrible, MDR food was tasteless and it took forever, we only ate there 2 on a 9 night cruise. Buffet selection was very limited, we end up going to the specialty restaurants and ordering room service. Rooms were smaller, no bathrobes and the service was not as friendly as Carnival.

 

Yup! Worst food and service I ever had. NEVER AGAIN.

[chrisa222]

I rate them pretty equal after 4 on ncl and 4 on carnival.

 

Ncl has much better food in the for fee restaurants but lesser quality in the mdr compared to carnival.

 

Buffets are equally mediocre and both have awful coffee.

 

Ncl has way, way better entertainment. Carnival is severely lacking compared to Epic, Getaway, Breakaway. Not sure about ncl older ships but Ccl shows are as vad bas their coffee.

 

Carnival has bigger cabins with bigger balconies. Ncl offers studios for singles. Ncl also doesn't have the outdated formal nights...wish carnival would follow suit.

[tlreze]

They are more a like than you think....Dawn is my least favorite NCL ship, it is older with no Bliss lounge.

 

Food I think is equal except NCL has a lot of specialty restraunts but Carnival with Guys and Blue Igana are better.

 

NCL Suite perks are amazing - right now Ultimate Drink PKG + Ultimate Dining Pkg + other options like OBC, Wifi.....breakfast and lunch in Cagney's, priority board/tendor, butlers, expanded room service menu (free for Haven's)

 

Entertainment - NCL a lot better - especially new ships Epic, Breakaway, Getaway

 

Rooms - Carnival are bigger unless you can do suites or Havens on NCL then NCL all the way

 

Nickel and dime? Nothing different on NCL than carnival - nothing that I know about

 

Dining - I love the anytime dining and no formal night so NCL all the way on this and no cheesy singer waiters

 

Cost - Carnival is a cheaper line overall

 

I like Carnival, NCL, RCCL and in fact have four cruises under deposit or paid and on all three lines.......Venture out and try different lines, the rewards programs for all of them aren't that great anyways

[petesweet]

NCL is always my last choice for a cruise (I prefer traditional dining), but it has a couple of good things you might be interested in.

 

1. I love that upon initial embarkation, I can go to a regular dining room and be waited on rather than battling the buffet confusion. (Of course, I suppose I could always forgo eating the minute I get on the ship!!:D)

 

2. For those who have a bunch of NECESSARY carryon items, I understand NCL has a place where these can be stashed safely until the cabins are ready. I have never had to use this feature, so I don't know if it is still available. But I see people (especially with little children) hauling so much stuff around while trying to eat in the buffet upon embarkation that I would think this would be a nice feature.

 

Happy sails.:)

 

Kathy

[declansdad]

We sailed on the Dawn to Bermuda in July 2014 and all I can say is we are happy to going back to Carnival this year. We did enjoy ourselves because I think a cruise is what you make it to be but we found NCL to the worst of the three lines we cruised with.

 

MDR food was mediocre and service was terrible. We only used one of the pay restaurants (Teppanyaki) where the chefs were entertaining but the woman who was the server never as much as cracked a smile. The buffet was terrible, always the same and not very tasty. We made reservations instead of any time dining. There was very little space for people to wait if they were using any time dining.

 

There was limited evening space for entertainment, one pub and one lounge that had late night entertainment. If you weren't in the lounge before the main show in the theatre ended, you weren't getting in.

 

The ship itself was nice but a bit dated. The cabin was good for two of us but if our son had been with us it would have been cramped. The cabin steward was the best we have ever had.

[lido deck larry]

NCL is great with no dedicated dining times. They have amazing pizza that everyone loves. Great kids activities on deck, perfect for families. The big screen TV'S are awesome too. The MDR food is just as good as Carnival ' s, and there is about the same amount of nickel and diming. There's more, but I think you get the gist of it. IMO, NCL is a great cruise line, although I prefer Carnival.

 

Sent from my SM-G386T using Tapatalk

[ja_martin]

I have sailed on both equally and find them to be more alike than different. There are some things however that I have found to be better on each.

NCL

No assigned dining times and tables are placed farther apart so you don't feel like you are dining with strangers.

Buffet is far superior to Carnival. Better food and more selections. Buffet is arranged more like a food court than a cafeteria.

More restaurant selections if you don't want to dine in MDR.

Staff in buffet excels in keeping tables clear

NCL lets you choose the time you want to leave the ship by going to the lobby the day before the cruise ends and picking a luggage tag that corresponds to the time you wish to disembark.

Carnival

Bigger cabins

Dive in movies

Better MDR food

Cruises are usually a little more economical

More TV channels in cabins

 

I've done alot of cruises on both, and I really love both. I totally agree with the above.

 

MDR food on Carnival is superior. NCL, not very good.

 

Specialty Dining is very good on both.

 

NCL has a much superior buffet, as well as more hours of open buffet. There is hardly a time when you can't find something on an NCL buffet. Buffet food, whether breakfast, lunch, dinner, or snacks, is just so much better on NCL.

 

Mongolian on CCL is my favorite. Wished NCL had one.

 

Crew on both are top notch.

[ja_martin]

I will make sure to let you know what I think about NCL when I come back. Like I said, I'm only sailing with them because they have a ship in Boston, two hours from Maine.

 

Spent three weeks on The Dawn for winter of 2014. Got to know the wonderful crew very well. Had the time of our lives. Go with an open mind. Do what you like doing. Don't go with the thought that you're just doing the cruise because it's conveniently located. It will be what you make of it. Enjoy!

[Out to sea!]

NCL is great with no dedicated dining times. They have amazing pizza that everyone loves. Great kids activities on deck, perfect for families. The big screen TV'S are awesome too. The MDR food is just as good as Carnival ' s, and there is about the same amount of nickel and diming. There's more, but I think you get the gist of it. IMO, NCL is a great cruise line, although I prefer Carnival.

 

Sent from my SM-G386T using Tapatalk

 

If you had read post two, you would know this statement to be false. :rolleyes:

[kingoftheicedragons]

I know I did a somewhat longer review of the Norwegian Dawn compared to Carnival back after our Dawn cruise, but I'm too lazy to go look for it and post a link to it right now.

 

Keep in mind--everything is subjective. Things one person like could drive others crazy.

 

In a nutshell, like others have said, the two lines are very similar.

 

Cabins (interior, at least), and even corridors seemed to be a little cramped on the Dawn. With anytime dining and upgrade dining choices, almost everywhere you go on Dawn, you will see screens with the restaurants and how busy each one is going to be at any particular time for that evening. The whole cruise seems to revolve around this issue which NCL seems to be very proud of. The MDR food was okay, but I think Carnivals MDR food is a little better. Carnival has a much better Lido experience IMHO with the various restaurants you find there...NCL's is 100% total buffet style food, including burgers and slices of pizza, and in my opinion the Lido food isn't anywhere near as good as it is on Carnival.

 

Staff on NCL seemed a little friendlier, and you will get to recognize some of the senior leaders going around making sure that things are perfect...something that I don't notice on Carnival.

 

I think NCL Dawn does an amazing job with the entertainment, much better than Carnival.