16 Carnival Cruises Trying NCL

[lola61]

Needed a get away, priced Carnival, and TA asked if I would try NCL, they have a promotion all inclusive $200 cheaper than Carnival. So NCL here we come. Any words of wisdom? :rolleyes:

[BlueHonu]

We just did our 1st NCL after 8 on Carnival.

Kinda felt like a cruise virgin.

The entertainment is a lot better.

You make dinner and show reservations 90 days b4 sailing.

There r a lot of different dining options.

Dueling pianos r awesome.

Comedy not as good as Carnival from our experience.

 

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G900A using Tapatalk

[stargate fan]

Needed a get away, priced Carnival, and TA asked if I would try NCL, they have a promotion all inclusive $200 cheaper than Carnival. So NCL here we come. Any words of wisdom? :rolleyes:

 

Please report back. I'm very curious as to how you enjoyed NCL.

 

Have a great cruise.

[tallnthensome]

I'm always curious why people, after reading their signatures, sail with the same cruise line all the time. I see some people have been on numerous cruises and have never been on other lines. I see some people have been on the same ship 3, 5,10, 15 times and some even the same cruise 8 times. I'm also taking my first NCL next month on the new Escape. Good to see you venture out. I don't know if people are just content or scared to try other ships. If it's merely a cost thing then that is understandable. Hopefully yours and mine are a lot of fun as I would expect. I try not to do the same line, ship, and even port if I can help it.

[lola61]

I'm always curious why people, after reading their signatures, sail with the same cruise line all the time. I see some people have been on numerous cruises and have never been on other lines. I see some people have been on the same ship 3, 5,10, 15 times and some even the same cruise 8 times. I'm also taking my first NCL next month on the new Escape. Good to see you venture out. I don't know if people are just content or scared to try other ships. If it's merely a cost thing then that is understandable. Hopefully yours and mine are a lot of fun as I would expect. I try not to do the same line, ship, and even port if I can help it.

 

 

Carnival was great for our family. Now the kids are grown, a new adventure :)

[HectorAchilleus]

I'm always curious why people, after reading their signatures, sail with the same cruise line all the time. I see some people have been on numerous cruises and have never been on other lines. I see some people have been on the same ship 3, 5,10, 15 times and some even the same cruise 8 times. I'm also taking my first NCL next month on the new Escape. Good to see you venture out. I don't know if people are just content or scared to try other ships. If it's merely a cost thing then that is understandable. Hopefully yours and mine are a lot of fun as I would expect. I try not to do the same line, ship, and even port if I can help it.

 

I have done 27 Carnival cruises in a row (not counting some river cruises), but I would be willing to try NCL or RC, or any other; but when I do a price search, Carnival is always less. If, like the OP, I found one that was close, I would be willing to try, but so far - no luck.

[evandbob]

Needed a get away, priced Carnival, and TA asked if I would try NCL, they have a promotion all inclusive $200 cheaper than Carnival. So NCL here we come. Any words of wisdom? :rolleyes:

 

I went to the NCL Epic after I was platinum on Carnival and thoroughly enjoyed it. I don't drink (but I can't understand why someone would pay for cheers on Carnival when it's a freebie on NCL or Celebrity), so I opted for the free specialty dining package. I "ate up" the variety of specialty restaurants, Cagney's was the best IMO. Another gem to try is OSheehans, especially on embarkation when everyone runs to the buffet.

 

Epic had Blue Man Group, Cirque Dinner, Rock of Ages, 2nd City comedy, a Blues Club and Dueling Pianos. There was an Ice Bar for those who wanted to pay for a cold drink.

 

I didn't like the smokiness in the casino, and the way it was spread out allowed the smoke into other areas. I didn't do the rock wall or go bowling, but it was available.

 

The CD announcements were more low keyed than the loud incessant spiels on Carnival.

 

I've been on Epic twice and now have the Breakaway booked for a Bermuda cruise as well as a 14 day cruise in January, both out of NYC and very convenient for me.

 

In the meantime, I'll get to Diamond level on the Conquest in June and have Vista booked for a 10 night sail in November.

 

Enjoy your cruise!

[okwriter]

I cruised NCL after 9 times on Carnival. They were comparable in many ways, in my opinion, but I felt Carnival edged out NCL because the beds were much more comfortable. Sleep is important to me. :)

[griz400]

Needed a get away, priced Carnival, and TA asked if I would try NCL, they have a promotion all inclusive $200 cheaper than Carnival. So NCL here we come. Any words of wisdom? :rolleyes:

 

We sailed the NCL Sun, it was nearly the same, the had poolside bbq on seadays, was real good

[S.C.]

Needed a get away, priced Carnival, and TA asked if I would try NCL, they have a promotion all inclusive $200 cheaper than Carnival. So NCL here we come. Any words of wisdom? :rolleyes:

 

(Not mine) here is a really good trip review very detailed.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1851007

Edited March 18, 2016 by S.C.

[cruisingbandmom]

I have 20 cruises with Carnival and we sailed this past February on the Dawn. The price was much better than any Carnival itinerary for the week and we got the beverage package included for only gratuity.

 

From our observations and keeping score, Carnival wins out in MDR, size of rooms, and their comedy shows.

 

NCL the beverage package was unlimited and I could take both cards up and grab drinks. The food on the buffet was much better, more choices and better quality. More choices for live bands and most were very good.

 

Any day on a cruise is better than a day at work and like so many others have said, your vacation is what you make it.

 

We love cruising but are extremely cost driven in our choices so we can cruise more.

 

If the price is right, go and have a wonderful time!

[jonbgd]

If you like anytime dining than NCL is great as they have it down

 

Ncl product is pretty good

I always say cruisers need to try other lines

If I find price the same between NCL and CCL NCl has some great freebies perks that CCL wont

I do agree with CCL MDR is better

and NCL buffet is better

[Tapi]

I have done 27 Carnival cruises in a row (not counting some river cruises), but I would be willing to try NCL or RC, or any other; but when I do a price search, Carnival is always less. If, like the OP, I found one that was close, I would be willing to try, but so far - no luck.

 

 

We did 9 Carnival cruises in a row mostly because, like you said, they were always less. But that changed about 5 years ago. Since then, we have consistently found lower prices on other cruise lines so we've been bouncing around from Holland America to Royal to Princess to MSC to Royal again.

 

It does take some flexibility and willingness to think outside the box to find some of these deals, but they are definitely out there.

Edited March 18, 2016 by Tapi

[S.S.Oceanlover]

Needed a get away, priced Carnival, and TA asked if I would try NCL, they have a promotion all inclusive $200 cheaper than Carnival. So NCL here we come. Any words of wisdom? :rolleyes:

 

You should have a very good time. Since you are on the all inclusive ship I don't think you have any worries about them jacking up the prices for things or changing free things to venues you have to pay for.

 

You also may get different entertainment then what was advertised when you booked. At the end of the day once you get onboard all that is behind you and you'll have a great cruise.:)

 

Bill

[Keith1010]

Always good to try another line.

 

In the end you might like the other line the same or better or you might find you appreciate Carnival more than you thought.

 

Keith

[ready2cruzagain]

OP, we are also trying out the Epic this year, doing a b2b. Haven't sailed on NCL in over 10 years but could not pass up the beverage package that is included, just have to pay grats., for $499 pp for an inside for 7 days. No way Carnival could touch that. Of course, the price of our cruises have gone up since we booked.

 

We are looking forward to the Epic!

[pe4all]

We have started inter-mixing NCL with Carnival for the changes in dining and entertainment. Even the new playlist shows and American table dining on CCL got "old" after 2-3x. We found we enjoy the free-style dining/specialty restaurants, O'Sheehan's, Howl at the Moon dueling piano bar, and buffet better than CCL. We have sailed on NCL's newer, larger ships for the most part (Breakaway, Epic, Getaway, Gem - a "smaller" ship than the others) and only the smaller cabin/balcony size bothers us a bit. We are looking forward to our 2nd sailing on Getaway in June, thanks to a casino promo they sent me!!

[RuthlessBoss]

You should have a very good time. Since you are on the all inclusive ship I don't think you have any worries about them jacking up the prices for things or changing free things to venues you have to pay for.

 

You also may get different entertainment then what was advertised when you booked. At the end of the day once you get onboard all that is behind you and you'll have a great cruise.:)

 

Bill

 

I don't see how that ship could be $200 cheaper unless many were going or they are in higher category cabin area. Sky is their drinking ship, their trial ship with the drinks included. Since the drinks became included in January, prices have taken a leap up.

[ryanpatricksmom]

We sail on NCL in a couple of weeks. We've primarily sailed on Carnival because she sails out of Baltimore and I could essentially take a dinghy to her if I chose to, and because most of our cruises are free thru the casino.

I had previously sailed NCL many years ago in a 2BR Penthouse Suite and loved the room, hated the food. After looking at the offers with the included beverage package, and reading reviews that indicated that the food was much improved, we've decided to sail out of NY for 10 days on the Gem. We originally booked in a mini-suite because the size of their balcony cabins is much smaller than we're used to. Fortunately, I was able to snag a great price on an upsell to a 2BR Penthouse Suite, so even though it's just DH and I, we will have a "snoring room" and 2 bathrooms, which is always a plus. I'm looking forward to experiencing the differences after so many Carnival cruises in a row. We will be back for a (free) B2B on the Pride though, in September.

[NIATPAC29]

Is price the biggest or only factor in the cruises you guys decide to go on ?

[splintz]

i was planning an Alaskan cruise this summer and really wanted to book on carnival as it would be my platinum cruise. but since i knew the cruise would be one of the most expensive cruises that we would ever take i decided to price out every cruise ship that did Alaska cruises. after doing some research they all seemed to be priced around the same. but NCL was running specials that gave us the unlimited drink package and 4 nights in a specialty restaurant included free(just had to pay the 15% gratuity on the drink package). so it was an easy decision i went with NCL because of the extra perks.

[ma_t_gus]

Is price the biggest or only factor in the cruises you guys decide to go on ?

 

for me it's all about timing.

 

with family -

First- it's about when my family can go. Depends on my kids school breaks.

Then it is the price.

Then it is the port leaving from.

Then it is the cruiseline.

 

with friends -

what ever is the cheapest.

[ScottsSweetie]

The entertainment on NCL is great.

 

The buffets are great, except for the "smiley-smiley, washy-washy" people who will TACKLE you if you try to walk by them.

 

Main Dining room food was not good our first time (NCL Pearl), but better the 2nd time (NCL Sky).

 

Specific to the Sky, those rooms are TINY! We laughed when we "slid" into our interior room.

 

I suspect that this is a real party boat now since drinks are included and they only do short cruises.

 

I would definitely do NCL again if price and itinerary are desirable.

[zqvol]

Needed a get away, priced Carnival, and TA asked if I would try NCL, they have a promotion all inclusive $200 cheaper than Carnival. So NCL here we come. Any words of wisdom? :rolleyes:

 

 

You will love it!

[lola61]

Thanks for all the information. I am so excited :)