Ncl?

[beachgoddess]

We've been on Royal Caribbean & Carnival since 1995. Thinking of trying the Norwegian Escape in April 2017 due to an offer I received in the mail.

Just wondering what to expect. Is the entertainment better? Bigger cabin? Is NCL gearing up to attract more families?

Husband & I are in our 50s so I hope we're not the youngest ones on the ship. 😉

Thank you in advance!

[Clarea]

We've been on Royal Caribbean & Carnival since 1995. Thinking of trying the Norwegian Escape in April 2017 due to an offer I received in the mail.

Just wondering what to expect. Is the entertainment better? Bigger cabin? Is NCL gearing up to attract more families?

Husband & I are in our 50s so I hope we're not the youngest ones on the ship. 😉

Thank you in advance!

You might also want to post this on the NCL forum:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=107

[Keith1010]

I too would ask on the NCL Board.

 

Keith

[beachgoddess]

Never mind. My travel agent just informed me it's a step down from Carnival.

[Husky61]

Never mind. My travel agent just informed me it's a step down from Carnival.

 

Having cruised on NCL I would disagree with what your TA told you.

[Nic6318]

Never mind. My travel agent just informed me it's a step down from Carnival.

 

hi there

 

This is very funny. There are a lot of people on this site that refer to Carnival as the "Walmart of cruiselines". I know a lot of those have never sailed on Carnival but they think it is the bottom of the barrel. :)

 

have a great cruise

[luddite]

Never mind. My travel agent just informed me it's a step down from Carnival.

 

Your TA.......

ummmm.....

uhhhhhhh......

well.....

hmmmmmmm....

yeah. They lied to you.

[Langley Cruisers]

Never mind. My travel agent just informed me it's a step down from Carnival.

 

Why don't you decide for yourself? Nothing wrong with spreading the love around and trying other lines. I suggest you read the NCL board and get a feel for what people seem to like and dislike, go to the website and check things out, ask around in real time. Your TA doesn't decide these things for you, does s/he? :p

[Quilting_Cruiser]

Never mind. My travel agent just informed me it's a step down from Carnival.

 

I'm platinum on Carnival and have sailed twice on NCL as well as on Princess. My third NCL cruise is booked. I don't know what your TA is basing his or her assessment on (I would guess the commission is lower from NCL so your TA may try to dissuade customers from NCL to get a higher commission), but I couldn't disagree more! My NCL cruises have been great. I've enjoyed all of my cruises no matter the line, but for now, I'll stick with NCL. :D

 

You would not be the oldest people on the ship by any stretch! The longer cruises do have more older passengers, but that will be true of any line. The larger ships typically have great entertainment and a wide variety of dining.

 

As others have said, visit the NCL board if you have specific questions.

[sfaaa]

OP, since you've already made up your mind about NCL, you shouldn't go.

[samiam0403]

Never mind. My travel agent just informed me it's a step down from Carnival.

 

Having cruised both Carnival and NCL, I think your travel agent is not even remotely accurate in that statement. I feel that after 20 cruises on Carnival, I can fairly state that I made a fantastic decision in switching to NCL as my cruiseline of choice. It's absolutely been a step up in every aspect, and the entertainment is not even close to being in the same league. I agree with the other posters here who suggest you try NCL for yourself before ruling it out on someone's word who likely has never sailed on NCL or the Escape. :)

Edited April 23, 2016 by samiam0403

[beachgoddess]

Because I've dealt with my TA for over 20 years, & who has never steered me wrong, I'm going to trust her on this one. And being a travel agent, she has been on all cruise lines.

BTW she is a long time family friend who doesn't charge me a commission.

Thank you all for your advice! I appreciate it!

Edited April 23, 2016 by beachgoddess

[Musigurl]

I've done Carnival, Norwegian, Royal Caribbean, Holland America and Celebrity.

 

Carnival ranks the absolute lowest. I would rate Norwegian on the same level as Royal Caribbean.

[Bonnie J.]

We do not like NCL! Hadn't been on her in a while so decided to try her again last year. We still don't like her. Hate having to wait for a table in the dining room. Once we had to wait 40 minutes, twice asked to share a table and were given a table for the two of us.

We are Diamond on Carnival, Platinum on Princess, another line we really like ,and RCCL is OK. Costa was good until the Europeans discovered she was sailing the Caribbean ( menus come in 5 languages) .Celebrity is too country club for us.

However ,try NCL and decide for yourself.

[goodshiplollipop]

Carnival twice and never again. Love NCL and your TA must get a nice kickback from Carnival.

[mjkacmom]

We do not like NCL! Hadn't been on her in a while so decided to try her again last year. We still don't like her. Hate having to wait for a table in the dining room. Once we had to wait 40 minutes, twice asked to share a table and were given a table for the two of us.

We are Diamond on Carnival, Platinum on Princess, another line we really like ,and RCCL is OK. Costa was good until the Europeans discovered she was sailing the Caribbean ( menus come in 5 languages) .Celebrity is too country club for us.

However ,try NCL and decide for yourself.

 

We are a family of 7, and never waited for a table. Asking to dine with others on NCL is like asking to dine with others on land - most people don't wish to dine with others.

[beachgoddess]

Carnival twice and never again. Love NCL and your TA must get a nice kickback from Carnival.

 

Not sure if she gets a kickback from Carnival or not as she doesn't always recommend them. But if she does, I'm sure she's not the only one getting a kickback.

She is very familiar wih our likes & dislikes, how much we're willing to spend, etc so if she says she doesn't think we'd like NCL, I'm ok with that. And based on some reviews of them, she's not alone in her thinking.

[AdoraBelle]

Not sure if she gets a kickback from Carnival or not as she doesn't always recommend them. But if she does, I'm sure she's not the only one getting a kickback.

She is very familiar wih our likes & dislikes, how much we're willing to spend, etc so if she says she doesn't think we'd like NCL, I'm ok with that. And based on some reviews of them, she's not alone in her thinking.

 

 

If you only let your TA friend tell you where to vacation, why did you ask for input from people online?

[Quilting_Cruiser]

Because I've dealt with my TA for over 20 years, & who has never steered me wrong, I'm going to trust her on this one. And being a travel agent, she has been on all cruise lines.

BTW she is a long time family friend who doesn't charge me a commission.

Thank you all for your advice! I appreciate it!

 

Not sure if she gets a kickback from Carnival or not as she doesn't always recommend them. But if she does, I'm sure she's not the only one getting a kickback.

She is very familiar wih our likes & dislikes, how much we're willing to spend, etc so if she says she doesn't think we'd like NCL, I'm ok with that. And based on some reviews of them, she's not alone in her thinking.

 

 

You wouldn't know if she gets a commission. She doesn't charge you for it; the cruise line pays it to her. So, she may get a higher commission from other lines. She does get a "kick back"--that's her commission--from any line she books. She doesn't work for free. She doesn't charge you for her services, but she does get paid for them.

 

I would ask her when was the last time she sailed NCL and what ship? I know people who haven't sailed NCL in several years and since it's been years only on the older ships. My ex-husband is one of those. So when I tried NCL a couple years ago after we'd divorced I had very low expectations and was very pleasantly surprised.

 

Not that it matters. You've clearly decided NCL isn't for you based on what your TA has said. You mention that based on "some" reviews she's not alone. Well, of course not! Name the cruise line and you'll find people who trash it. There isn't a line in existence that doesn't have some negative reviews.

 

To each his own...

[GeezerCouple]

If you only let your TA friend tell you where to vacation, why did you ask for input from people online?

 

This ^^^

 

Why ask here, and thus take the time/effort of a number of people who are trying to help you, from their own first-hand experiences... if you are only going to do what your TA tells you?

 

I can't imagine the experiences (and not just cruises) if you only let a particular other person make your decisions.

But that's your choice, and if you are happy with that, fine.

 

But back to the comment above... why ask us here if you are going to totally disregard/dismiss all of the responses because you only trust your Travel Agent anyway?

 

:confused:

[Bonnie J.]

We hate NCL! Tried her again last year and still don't like her at all.

 

We haven't used a TA in years. We usually book on line 1st thing in the AM- often before 6am! We have seen prices go up as many as three times, for the same cabin, in the same day. We are also Diamond on Carnival so have a phone number just for Diamonds so we have called this number to change cabins or to book. Carnival is also know for bigger cabins-186 sq. ft. for most.

Carnival agents working for Carnival do not get paid a commission. They are salaried. It is probably the same for all cruise lines when you book directly with them.

(We have 100++ cruises since 1984, been on 5 cruise lines that no longer exists, 6 current lines.)

You didn't say what Carnival ship you're thinking of. The Fantasy class ships are the oldest & smallest- 2100 passengers. I'd go on any newer Carnival ship.

[Quilting_Cruiser]

We do not like NCL! Hadn't been on her in a while so decided to try her again last year. We still don't like her.

 

We hate NCL! Tried her again last year and still don't like her at all.

 

 

Tell us how you really feel about NCL, Bonnie. :p

[SuiteTraveler]

Because I've dealt with my TA for over 20 years, & who has never steered me wrong, I'm going to trust her on this one. And being a travel agent, she has been on all cruise lines.

BTW she is a long time family friend who doesn't charge me a commission.

Thank you all for your advice! I appreciate it!

 

I'm sorry to tell you this, but your TA is flat out wrong, even clueless about NCL's newer ships. NCL's newer ships (Epic, Getaway, Breakaway and Escape) are a huge step up from Carnival and more similar to RCCL's mega ships, Oasis, Harmony and Allure. In fact NCL and RCCL are direct competitors. The age range on NCL skews younger - more families with kids and lots of very active people and fewer elderly. Having cruised on all of these lines, I would compare RCCL to being similar to being in a theme park and NCL as being like a new Las Vegas Casino and Hotel with a water park. In fact, NCL's newest ships remind me a great deal of Aria in design and arrangement. If you are in a suite on NCL, penthouse, or above, you get butler and concierge service and a private pool, restaurant and bar and it's just a fantastic experience - better than the suite experience on most other lines with the exception of MSC. In fact, we're sailing on the Breakaway next week in a The Haven Spa Suite - which includes access to the fabulous thermal suite on the ship - the BEST at sea and I've been on many ships on ALL of the cruise lines and tried their thermal suites and there's just no comparison. NCL's newest ships are all about luxury and going to a different restaurant for dinner every night and not being forced to sit at a table with strangers. The suite experience is among the best at sea - I'd rank it #2 after MSC. (MSC is all inclusive for suite guests.) Carnival doesn't even have a ship that is comparable to NCL's newest ships. The closest is the Vista and it's not even comparable. And yes, I've been on the newest Carnival ships and even the thermal suite on Carnival is NOT comparable to the thermal suite on NCL.

[Bonnie J.]

Guess our biggest hate is for the freestyle dining. Once we had to wait 40 minutes for a table, twice we asked to share a a table and were given a table for 2 - twice! We don't want to eat at 6 or even 7 so have always had to wait for a table. Then its a new waiter and we have to repeat every night, milk with dinner, need the bar waiter, don't want coffee, etc., etc.

We like eating with the same people every night. We met our cruise buddies on a Princess cruise in 2006. We were table mates. We have cruised together every year since 2006 and they have driven, 3 times, from Flint, MI to our house on the NC coast. Then we drive together to our ship.

We have gone to Clearwater, FL, Lancaster, PA and even Windsor, Ontario, Canada to see tablemates. And we email others. If we had only eaten with them one night we never would have become friends.

Another words, we really hate freestyle dining/any time dining or what ever they call it.

And the crew wasn't great either. We did like NCL before Freestyle though!

[electro]

Costa was good until the Europeans discovered she was sailing the Caribbean ( menus come in 5 languages)

 

So you sail on a European (Italian) cruise line but don't want Europeans on it and they should not have menus in languages that Europeans speak?

There should only be Amercians and everything should only be in English.:confused:

That makes sense, it must be an awful cruise line for allowing Europeans to sail on it. :rolleyes:

 

This probably wins the prize for the most ridiculous complaint I've ever read on CC.

Edited April 23, 2016 by electro