Any loyal Carnival cruisers tried NCL?

[evandbob]

The Escape offers their UBP drinks package as an included perk with any cabin including an inside, you just pay 14.22 per day to cover tips, so for under 100 for the week, you drink for free. If you prefer OV or above cabins, you get two perks such as 3 nights of specialty dining.

 

 

If you can get a drink or specialty dining package along with free gratuities, NCL blows Carnival pricing away. On Carnival, purchasing Cheers can almost double the cruise fare.

 

Alas, I don't drink alcohol, but for those who do.......

[ray98]

It is all basic math. Sure....the UBP is a valuable add on but that does not mean it automatically makes the cruise a better deal. There are similar sailings on both lines with similar itineraries where Carnival is several hundred cheaper per person. So, yes NCL is giving you beverages but the base fare is higher and you are still paying a percentage of the package. You have to add everything up, base fare + package cost + gratuities and see what that comes out to....that is the only way to know.

 

We have taken Carnival cruises where we still came out cheaper even having to purchase Cheers. We have taken NCL cruises which were cheaper overall since the drink package was comped. There is no 100% right answer other than 'it depends'.

[zdcatc12]

I would imagine that, having posted the question in April, the OP has already made her decision. :D That being said, given the choice as a platinum cruiser on both lines, I would pick NCL. Booked my first sailing with them in 2013 (in a suite), and they have gotten most of my travel dollars ever since (including Getaway). Their entertainment is incredible (Legally Blonde, Howl at the Moon, Priscilla Queen of the Desert etc), staff and crew has always been extraordinary, and their ships have no shortage of things to do! Also love the boarding parties at the last port of each cruise. :) My last NCL cruise was on Epic in January - I paid $1000 for 7 nights solo with a drink package included. Loved the ship so much that we're spending 2 weeks on her on a Transatlantic next year.

 

Carnival puts out a fine product, but it just seems a little bare bones to me after sailing NCL for the past few years. It seems they've cut cabin/dining room crew to the minimum, and dining quality has also fallen. We've got 2 Carnival cruises booked, one that lines up perfectly with the date and port we needed for a combo land/sea vacation, and one that was a decent offer from the casino (a Premier cruise). So obviously we still like Carnival, we just fell a little out of love with them. Good thing there are a multitude of cruise lines for everyone's different tastes!

 

I agree with you 100% on this. I am platinum on both and believe that I have just gotten off of my last Carnival ship for a good while. The MDR service was horrible (I have a review on here). The entertainment is nicer on NCL. On the Epic we saw the Blue Man Group and on our TA we saw Tenors of Rock. Both of them are in Vegas now for $75 a ticket.

 

The layout of NCLs buffet is also nicer. Not having to go from one side through hallways to the other side to get something different is nice.

 

At dinner last week on the Legend, my DW said that it was going to be her last Carnival cruise, the service was just that bad!

[meanjean80]

Sailed last summer on a mid-sized NCL for Batics...will be doing the same NCL next year for Greek Isles. A few things I'd noticed...

-Didn't get the drink package in our deal, MAJOR sticker shock on the NCL drinks. If you have a package this doesn't matter so much, but per beverage it was quite an ouch

-O'Sheehans nice, but verrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrryyyyyyyy slow

-The minisuite I shared with my sister and a friend was the same size as a regular Carnival balcony.

-Thought the main dining room/lido food was slightly worse than Carnival, but the specialty restaurants were nicer....however...

-I felt that the way the ships were configured around the specialty restaurants resulted in a lot less public space, made every bar area more crowded.

Granted, this was a mid-sized ship for NCL, so not the full experience, but my thinking at the time was, ship's fine for Europe (port intensive, spending all day touring, few sea days) but not what I'd want to do in the Caribbean.

[Lainy67]

We have cruised NCL a couple of times. Once before Freestyle and the other after. TBH - I don't like the Freestyle dining. My personal opinion. I LOVE having the same waiters, they remember my name, know what we typically want (extra lemons, etc...). It is even better when it is a big group.

 

That being said - if you do not like that, you can eat every night in the same place and let them know you will, and want the same waiter. After three nights in the MDR on our last NCL cruise, we finally found a waitress we liked and asked for her every night thereafter. She got an extra tip BTW. She was awesome.

 

I wouldn't avoid them if they had the PERFECT itinerary. But if I can find it anywhere else, I wouldn't book them just because of that. But if you like Freestyle dining, then I didn't see a huge difference.

[FloridaGram]

We went on the NCL Jade last fall and liked it so much we bought 2 future cruise certificates. I think as it is with CCL food quality must differ depending on the ship. We though the food was very good, better than CCL. We liked the anytime dining but we always made sure we were there pretty close to the time it opened. I know many had to wait if you show up for dinner at 7.

 

The staterooms are much smaller, we had to have the beds separated in our oceanview room because there was no space to get out of one side of the bed around the desk. After we did that we felt like we had plenty of room for the 2 of us.

 

I do have to say that the shows were incredible! No comparison to most of CCL shows. I liked the fact that O'Sheehans was open for 24 hours, creating more dining options if you wanted a late night snack. Evidently it is quite popular after the clubs close at 2 AM.

 

All in all we liked NCL and plan to return to them. I also want to point out that drinks cost more on NCL so if you don't have the drink package that may be a consideration for you.

[zdcatc12]

We went on the NCL Jade last fall...I liked the fact that O'Sheehans was open for 24 hours

 

Except when it isn't!! we were on a TA on the Jade in 2015 and twice we went for lunch and they were "closed", supposedly due to crew change. I complained to one of the senior dining crew and she said that should not have happened and we got free chocolate covered strawberries and a bottle of sparkling wine for our trouble!!!

[Computer Nerd]

The Escape offers their UBP drinks package as an included perk with any cabin including an inside, you just pay 14.22 per day to cover tips, so for under 100 for the week, you drink for free. If you prefer OV or above cabins, you get two perks such as 3 nights of specialty dining.

 

Stating that one must pay to drink for free is an oxymoron.

 

One does not drink for free on NCL. One does have the ability to drink at a reduced price in some instances.

[SNJCruisers]

Stating that one must pay to drink for free is an oxymoron.

 

One does not drink for free on NCL. One does have the ability to drink at a reduced price in some instances.

 

You are drinking for free since NCL is providing the liquor to you at no charge. To receive this perk, you pay the servers an 18% gratuity. Of course you do have the option to pay Carnival 49.95 per day for Cheers and an additional 7.50 per day for gratuity. So, would you like to pay 57.45 on Carnival or 14.22 on NCL?

 

Sent from my XT1254 using Forums mobile app

[tallnthensome]

You are drinking for free since NCL is providing the liquor to you at no charge. To receive this perk, you pay the servers an 18% gratuity. Of course you do have the option to pay Carnival 49.95 per day for Cheers and an additional 7.50 per day for gratuity. So, would you like to pay 57.45 on Carnival or 14.22 on NCL?

 

Sent from my XT1254 using Forums mobile app

This is spot on! We had the free UBP on the Escape last year when there was no service fee. We paid $900 for Cheers on Vista out of pocket. No freebies ever like this on CCL. My 15 DAY Panama Canal cruise for 2019 cost me only $400 for the service charge for the UBP promo for 15 days on the new upcoming Bliss. I priced Carnival for the Panama canal cruise and Cheers was around $1800! Screw that! Even the cruise itself for 15 days on the new NCL Bliss was exactly the same price as Carnivals 14 day on the older Freedom. NCL blew Carnival away when comparing apples to apples in this case. We won't be on Carnival again for a long time.

[sparks1093]

You are drinking for free since NCL is providing the liquor to you at no charge. To receive this perk, you pay the servers an 18% gratuity. Of course you do have the option to pay Carnival 49.95 per day for Cheers and an additional 7.50 per day for gratuity. So, would you like to pay 57.45 on Carnival or 14.22 on NCL?

 

Sent from my XT1254 using Forums mobile app

 

You aren't drinking for free on NCL because it's included in your cruise fare. It's a marketing gimmick, pure and simple. Every time that I have compared CCL and NCL, CCL has been hundred's less than NCL, enough that I could buy Cheers and still save money over NCL. There are deals to be had on NCL to be sure, but so far I have not seen them when pricing a cruise we were going to be taking.

[sparks1093]

This is spot on! We had the free UBP on the Escape last year when there was no service fee. We paid $900 for Cheers on Vista out of pocket. No freebies ever like this on CCL. My 15 DAY Panama Canal cruise for 2019 cost me only $400 for the service charge for the UBP promo for 15 days on the new upcoming Bliss. I priced Carnival for the Panama canal cruise and Cheers was around $1800! Screw that! Even the cruise itself for 15 days on the new NCL Bliss was exactly the same price as Carnivals 14 day on the older Freedom. NCL blew Carnival away when comparing apples to apples in this case. We won't be on Carnival again for a long time.

 

For that cruise sure, NCL was less expensive and good on ya but if you stop comparison shopping because of it then you are falling right into the marketers' hands. No matter how good my last cruise was I always comparison shop for the next one (which means that I would have found this deal if we were looking to book a Panama Canal cruise:)). Heck, I just priced an Alaska cruise and Princess won the fare race on that one (and I only wish we could book it now:().

[quickrate]

You aren't drinking for free on NCL because it's included in your cruise fare. It's a marketing gimmick, pure and simple. Every time that I have compared CCL and NCL, CCL has been hundred's less than NCL, enough that I could buy Cheers and still save money over NCL. There are deals to be had on NCL to be sure, but so far I have not seen them when pricing a cruise we were going to be taking.

Actually, we are doing a TA on NCL next April and it is much cheaper than the TA we are doing on Carnival coming back. I realize there is a difference in ships, one older, one brand new but the difference in price is huge,

Pat

[sparks1093]

Actually, we are doing a TA on NCL next April and it is much cheaper than the TA we are doing on Carnival coming back. I realize there is a difference in ships, one older, one brand new but the difference in price is huge,

Pat

 

As I said there are deals to be had and you got one. But NCL like any other company cannot give things away all of the time and expect to stay in business.

[SNJCruisers]

You aren't drinking for free on NCL because it's included in your cruise fare. It's a marketing gimmick, pure and simple.

That marketing gimmick must be pretty popular since Celebrity, NCL, Princess and MSC all have it in one form or another. Only Carnival and RCI don't include it and you must purchase their drinks packages if you wish to imbibe with value. Please do a inside cabin comparison for me on comparable cruises on the Escape with the UBP perk versus the Vista with purchasing Cheers. Show me in black and white that Vista with paying for Cheers is cheaper, and I will believe your point. Until then, you're blowing smoke.

[SNJCruisers]

Even the cruise itself for 15 days on the new NCL Bliss was exactly the same price as Carnivals 14 day on the older Freedom. NCL blew Carnival away when comparing apples to apples in this case. We won't be on Carnival again for a long time.

The apple comparison would be a nice shiny one straight from the crate (Bliss) versus a week old one with a few blemishes (Freedom). An extra day and a drinks package to boot is major icing on the cake that the Carnival myopic crew will hate.

[jimbo5544]

That marketing gimmick must be pretty popular since Celebrity, NCL, Princess and MSC all have it in one form or another. Only Carnival and RCI don't include it and you must purchase their drinks packages if you wish to imbibe with value. Please do a inside cabin comparison for me on comparable cruises on the Escape with the UBP perk versus the Vista with purchasing Cheers. Show me in black and white that Vista with paying for Cheers is cheaper, and I will believe your point. Until then, you're blowing smoke.

 

 

 

 

The reason that CCL and RCI don't offer it is pretty obvious. They don't have to in order to fill ships. I do love how you give home work assignments tho lol.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[SNJCruisers]

The reason that CCL and RCI don't offer it is pretty obvious. They don't have to in order to fill ships. I do love how you give home work assignments tho lol.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Been lucky enough to have sailed on Carnival 18 times over the years and I'm looking forward to our Horizon cruises because of the Havana area, but at the same time, cruise lines need to evolve and Carnival hasn't been as innovative as some of the other lines. They can't rely on the mantra of being the cheapest and just hope that the newbies keep coming on board. They were my line of choice for many years, but I have taken the rose colored glasses off and I am no longer myopic. Other posters would be wise to do the same, but just like over on the Royal boards, you can take a cruiser to a bar to try a new cocktail, but you can't make them sample it if all they want is a beer and a shot.

[jimbo5544]

Been lucky enough to have sailed on Carnival 18 times over the years and I'm looking forward to our Horizon cruises because of the Havana area, but at the same time, cruise lines need to evolve and Carnival hasn't been as innovative as some of the other lines. They can't rely on the mantra of being the cheapest and just hope that the newbies keep coming on board. They were my line of choice for many years, but I have taken the rose colored glasses off and I am no longer myopic. Other posters would be wise to do the same, but just like over on the Royal boards, you can take a cruiser to a bar to try a new cocktail, but you can't make them sample it if all they want is a beer and a shot.

 

 

 

 

I would agree that cruising is evolving. I am not so sure that the offerings of free drinks and other add on perks is part of that, but it is debatable. I also agree that an informed cruiser is a smart cruiser. I have seen the best that most lines have to offer and as of now, Carnival is our best bet. I will stick with my previous comment that there is no free lunch. Ncl has grown significantly and is having to find ways to fill rooms. Celebrity is hurting trying to do the same thing. The people that love these lines will argue but it is a fact.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[tallnthensome]

The apple comparison would be a nice shiny one straight from the crate (Bliss) versus a week old one with a few blemishes (Freedom). An extra day and a drinks package to boot is major icing on the cake that the Carnival myopic crew will hate.

This is true and it kills some on here to admit there is better value elsewhere even when given specific examples. They're in denial. I don't dislike Carnival. I loved the Vista. The food was just ok..... simple as that. I've sailed multiple lines, many on here have not. I'll bet you 75% of Carnival's cruisers haven't cruised NCL and have no idea of the Free at Sea choices. Yes, Carnival fills ships. How many of them are on CC and really really do their homework and weigh all options on all lines before booking on Carnival? I'd guess a very small number as many Carnival cruisers only know Carnival. Again, NCL Escape family balcony 2016 seven day with drink package $3200. 2017 Vista Spa Inside 8 day $3600 plus $900 for Cheers. The deal and cabin was better with NCL hands down. I'm stating the obvious here and have no loyalty to any line as I sail Royal, NCL, Carnival, Princess, and Holland America.

[sparks1093]

That marketing gimmick must be pretty popular since Celebrity, NCL, Princess and MSC all have it in one form or another. Only Carnival and RCI don't include it and you must purchase their drinks packages if you wish to imbibe with value. Please do a inside cabin comparison for me on comparable cruises on the Escape with the UBP perk versus the Vista with purchasing Cheers. Show me in black and white that Vista with paying for Cheers is cheaper, and I will believe your point. Until then, you're blowing smoke.

 

I don't sail on the newer ships for several reasons and one of those reasons is that they are usually more expensive than on an older ship. I also don't price insides because we only sail balconies. I am aware that I could sail on an inside with a perk cheaper on another line versus a balcony on CCL. As I said, I have not found NCL to be a good value versus CCL when I have looked to book a cruise meeting my needs (most recent example was our Fascination sailing out of San Juan, the Gem came in $900 more than Fascination at the time I booked that cruise. Obviously I'm not that concerned about the age of the ship when I book.). I did price an Alaska cruise recently just for grins and Princess came in lowest at $2800 with NCL being $3600. Even if I wanted to have a drink package included I would have chosen Celebrity at $3300. And finally, just because a marketing gimmick is popular doesn't make it any less of a gimmick.

[tallnthensome]

And finally, just because a marketing gimmick is popular doesn't make it any less of a gimmick.

...: and Carnivals different (special) sales they have every day of the week pretending they are deals isn't Carnival's version of a gimmick? Even paying for Cheers is a gimmick but I'll take NCL's drink package deal at the cost of a only service charge any day.

[sparks1093]

That marketing gimmick must be pretty popular since Celebrity, NCL, Princess and MSC all have it in one form or another. Only Carnival and RCI don't include it and you must purchase their drinks packages if you wish to imbibe with value. Please do a inside cabin comparison for me on comparable cruises on the Escape with the UBP perk versus the Vista with purchasing Cheers. Show me in black and white that Vista with paying for Cheers is cheaper, and I will believe your point. Until then, you're blowing smoke.

 

Okay, just for grins I checked. NCL Escape out of NYC 4/7/19 7 nights to the Bahamas balcony cabin with UDP and UBP prices out at $3435 (that includes the UBP tips).

 

CCL Vista out of Galveston 4/7/19 6 nights to Western Caribbean cove balcony $1677.

 

For me NY is drivable whereas I'd have to fly to Texas but I can usually get flights for around $500 so I'd still be saving over NCL and even though I'm losing 1 night I am on a more desirable (to me) itinerary. But we do like to drive to the port if we can so I looked down the coast and found:

 

CCL Pride out of Baltimore 4/7/19 7 nights to the Bahamas (including HMC) balcony cabin $2132.

 

As I've said, I do see where NCL can be a great deal at times for some passengers. I have not personally seen it any time that I've booked a cruise using the criteria that is important to me and given that criteria looking at the data above I'd book the Pride (after checking the other lines' rates, of course).

[sparks1093]

...: and Carnivals different (special) sales they have every day of the week pretending they are deals isn't Carnival's version of a gimmick? Even paying for Cheers is a gimmick but I'll take NCL's drink package deal at the cost of a only service charge any day.

 

I've never said that CCL doesn't use gimmicks, virtually every company in the US uses them. A smart consumer is aware of them and takes them into account when doing business. For me it's all dollars and cents. If I find an NCL cruise that is close in price to CCL I'd take it, just as I would RCI, Princess or whoever. My loyalty is to my wallet and my family.

[jimbo5544]

I've never said that CCL doesn't use gimmicks, virtually every company in the US uses them. A smart consumer is aware of them and takes them into account when doing business. For me it's all dollars and cents. If I find an NCL cruise that is close in price to CCL I'd take it, just as I would RCI, Princess or whoever. My loyalty is to my wallet and my family.

 

 

 

They have many different names: sales, gimmicks (apparently only on carnival, huh go figure) bogo, 3 free whatever, in the end it comes down to value despite al the hoopla. When I view all the options, for me, most of the time it means Carnival (although we are sailing Azamara next month in Europe). That said, I won't go argue the points over on the ncl or any other cruise line threads but that's just me, other opinions may vary.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums