Princess vs NCL

[New2cruise1483]

I am looking at a possible Panama Canal cruise in spring of 2018 on either Princess or NCL. Can anybody tell the me some similarities and differences between them as far as service, food, crowding and passenger demographic? We've been on three NCL cruises so far and one RCI. Also, which do you think does a better job with the Panama Canal itinerary? Thanks in advance for any input.

[mugtech]

We did the canal on the NCL Sun in 2015 from Tampa to Vancouver. There were no crowding problems, good information available, and we loved the ports, including Cartegena, Columbia, Costa Rica, Acapulco, and Cabo San Lucas. They were all new ports for us, and currently includes stops in Nicaragua and Guatemala. If you read David McCullough's The Path Between the Seas you will greatly appreciate what went into the history of acquiring and building it. Such long cruises have an older clientele, especially in May. There were 3 children on our cruise, we got no rain. .From what I have read, it would be difficult to age the cruise population of any Princess ship.

[lnuzzo]

Cruise line wise, I can speak t the general feel of the lines, as I have cruised both (but not the itinerary). I have always been a loyal royal. It was my honeymoon and and first anniversary line. For our 20th we cruised with Princess due to the port options, and I do have to say I LOVE LOVED Princess. For us it was an incredible cruise. I am hoping our next cruise is with Princess! The service and food is ever so subtly better, and the ships are gorgeous. No digs to Royal, but I felt like Princess was able to offer so much more in terms of service.

 

NCL for the cruise we spent with them was very upsell-y, everything was additional, extra, not included. I think this is part of their culture, strip,the cruise to the bones, and make you pay a for the extras you want, similar to the flight industry, but I felt less so with Princess and RCCL

 

 

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Edited December 12, 2016 by lnuzzo

[New2cruise1483]

We did the canal on the NCL Sun in 2015 from Tampa to Vancouver. There were no crowding problems, good information available, and we loved the ports, including Cartegena, Columbia, Costa Rica, Acapulco, and Cabo San Lucas. They were all new ports for us, and currently includes stops in Nicaragua and Guatemala. If you read David McCullough's The Path Between the Seas you will greatly appreciate what went into the history of acquiring and building it. Such long cruises have an older clientele, especially in May. There were 3 children on our cruise, we got no rain. .From what I have read, it would be difficult to age the cruise population of any Princess ship.

 

I've read a lot of good things about the Sun, even though she is an older ship. Also, I will try to find that book and read about it. When my Dad was in the Navy, he was stationed in Panama for three years, and part of his duties included giving the ships their routing orders. It's always great listening to his stories from that time :).

[New2cruise1483]

Cruise line wise, I can speak t the general feel of the lines, as I have cruised both (but not the itinerary). I have always been a loyal royal. It was my honeymoon and and first anniversary line. For our 20th we cruised with Princess due to the port options, and I do have to say I LOVE LOVED Princess. For us it was an incredible cruise. I am hoping our next cruise is with Princess! The service and food is ever so subtly better, and the ships are gorgeous. No digs to Royal, but I felt like Princess was able to offer so much more in terms of service.

 

NCL for the cruise we spent with them was very upsell-y, everything was additional, extra, not included. I think this is part of their culture, strip,the cruise to the bones, and make you pay a for the extras you want, similar to the flight industry, but I felt less so with Princess and RCCL

 

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I have to say that I enjoyed my one cruise with Royal more than my others with NCL. I just felt it to be a better quality experience. How was the crowding on Princess? With all the promos the NCL has been doing, I've found the ship to be getting more and more crowded. From the pictures I've seen Princess ships look gorgeous!

[lmcgrail]

I am looking at a possible Panama Canal cruise in spring of 2018 on either Princess or NCL. Can anybody tell the me some similarities and differences between them as far as service, food, crowding and passenger demographic? We've been on three NCL cruises so far and one RCI. Also, which do you think does a better job with the Panama Canal itinerary? Thanks in advance for any input.

 

We were NCL people but with all of the recent changes and exorbitant increases in pricing, we are booked on Princess for Panama Canal for next year. The prices of a suite on NCL was about 3 times as much as Princess for comparable aft suites.

 

We did book when Princess was offering the free drink package. Princess also includes bottled water & specialty coffee in their drink package. You are also not charged an additional gratuity on the drink packages like NCL does (for insides, outsides, balconies, and mini-suites)

 

We are excited to try out Princess after many years on NCL. Check out the Princess boards, someone posted a detailed review of the Panama Canal cruise on the Island Princess from this past October.

Edited December 12, 2016 by lmcgrail

[Aquahound]

I have to say that I enjoyed my one cruise with Royal more than my others with NCL. I just felt it to be a better quality experience. How was the crowding on Princess? With all the promos the NCL has been doing, I've found the ship to be getting more and more crowded. From the pictures I've seen Princess ships look gorgeous!

 

I've cruised NCL, Princess and RCI, several times on each. IMO, Princess is a lot more like RCI than NCL.

 

All the lines try to upsell you and nickel-and-dime you on things, but NCL is the worst at it.

 

Based on the things you've said, I recommend Coral Princess for you.

[OCruisers]

We prefer Princess to NCL ... and especially for the Panama Canal. :)

[Clay Clayton]

I will have to go against the opinions you are getting from most of the previous posters. We have sailed primarily with Norwegian but have done one Princess cruise and a couple on X. I believe all - ships, service, food are more alike than different. As on of the PP stated,there are subtle differences - X has great ice cream, Princess has some interesting very large balconies on some of their ships.

 

For us, what we like about Norwegian is what they initially built their business on - Freestyle Cruising. Deciding when, where and with whom I want to eat my meals is a major plus to me rather than having a set time no matter when I ate lunch or a set table with folks I may find out I don't enjoy. I think all lines now offer some form of this flexibility - "My Time Dining" on Princess I think it is called, but at least with them, it is not as seamless as it is on Norwegian. I always felt like a second class passenger with them. Also, while we have tuxedos and suits, neither of us particularly like lugging them or having to wear while on vacation....so again Norwegian is a better fit for us. Thankfully there are lots of choices and everyone can find "their" home.

 

Have a great time in the canal - it is one of our favorites!

[lnuzzo]

I have to say that I enjoyed my one cruise with Royal more than my others with NCL. I just felt it to be a better quality experience. How was the crowding on Princess? With all the promos the NCL has been doing, I've found the ship to be getting more and more crowded. From the pictures I've seen Princess ships look gorgeous!

 

 

The only place that Princess felt crowded was the Horizon Court Buffet, but then I felt crowded on Royal and NCL as well. The Horizon court is set up in an oval, and flow wise it was not optimal, with cruisers having to move in and out of lines, which were not always easy to find the end of. Seating however was never an issue, and there were always staff to assist if you needed help finding a table. The rest of the boat was easily maneuvered and not at all crowded

 

 

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Edited December 12, 2016 by lnuzzo

[WYTinman]

I am looking at a possible Panama Canal cruise in spring of 2018 on either Princess or NCL. Can anybody tell the me some similarities and differences between them as far as service, food, crowding and passenger demographic? We've been on three NCL cruises so far and one RCI. Also, which do you think does a better job with the Panama Canal itinerary? Thanks in advance for any input.

 

Here is the biggest difference I've found between the two lines.

 

For a full Panama Canal transit in an aft suite:

 

NCL:

 

 

 

 

Princess:

 

 

These price differences are a little more than a few "Nickels and Dimes"

 

$12,000 per person on NCL compared to $4,700 per person on Princess

Edited December 12, 2016 by WYTinman

[Loonbeam]

Before I get started, suites and suite services on NCL are very different on most ships than Princess, usually including the haven, butler service, etc (Princess is moving this way but not close yet).

 

That said, taking suites out of the conversation, the better comparison would be ship to ship. For example, the Coral, one of the Princess ships uses for the Canal, old locks, is one of the best ships in all fleets for passenger space ratios (important for a scenic and longer cruise) and if the comparison is to something like the NCL Gem I would go with her as the amenities are similar.

 

But if you are looking at new lock cruises where bigger ships may be available, I might lean NCL because their mid-size large ships tend to have more amenities than Princess.

 

You WILL find a canal cruise to skew older than Caribbean on average, and Princess will skew a bit older than NCL in general, so do take that into account as a pro or con.

 

Everything else, food, entertainment, etc is pretty subjective and should be based on your own preferences.

[New2cruise1483]

Thank you everyone for all the helpful responses. I am leaning heavily toward Princess for this cruise. Especially after reading such great things about the Coral :)

[Loonbeam]

We did the partial on the Island (sister ship to the Coral but which has received some very poorly received 'upgrades' that people hated so much they didn't change the Coral) and it still ranks as one of our best cruises.

 

Unsolicited tip, if you do Cartegena and want to do a Private or small group tour, contact Lee Miles (Mr. Emerald). He knows all the good guides and will arrange whatever you need...

 

Thank you everyone for all the helpful responses. I am leaning heavily toward Princess for this cruise. Especially after reading such great things about the Coral :)