NCL vs Cunard

[bones774]

My I suggest you consider Azamara cruises. They are a luxury line with 3 smaller ships. Hundreds of people not thousands. There are NO formal nights. People are friendly and relaxed. The average age trends toward retirees. The passengers are well traveled people. I loved them with I used them for a Brazil, Uruguay, Argentina cruise. In general they are above my price point so it was a treat.

 

(Azamara is owned by Royal Caribbean.)

 

Thanks for the info, just checked out a quote, with single supplement 6K cost. thanks

[Paul S]

Loved Azamara, loved QM2 (built as an ocean liner not a cruise ship). Have my first NCL cruise this month, and it will be interesting to compare.

[rtcuse]

We have been on 6 NCL cruises and loved each one. I found a good deal for a QM2 Trans Atlantic cruise so we decided to try it. I really did not like the idea of dressing up (I don’t take a jacket on NCL cruises), but it turned out to not bother us at all. It was actually kind of fun dressing up. I would say that about 90% of the men wore tuxedos on the formal nights. On the informal nights men wore jackets and about half did not wear a tie. The ship is the most elegant one we’ve been on. The staff overall is quite friendly as they are on NCL ships. The wait staff was excellent. We were busy all day long and did not have much time to sit and read. We went on an eastbound crossing so we lost an hour on the last 5 days of the cruise. This was great because we did not have Jetlag when we got to the U.K.

 

Btw, the dress code is a little more relaxed now than when we cruised in June. Some people were making threats on the Cunard forum of cancelling their cruises because it wasn’t going to be quite as formal.

 

There were probably 15-20 dogs on our cruise. They were all brought down at the same time for disembarkation.

 

 

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[buggins0402]

Thanks for the info, just checked out a quote, with single supplement 6K cost. thanks

 

Just to let you know, Oceania is generally not kind to solos. They do have specials from time to time...check for solo specials at 1.5X on the website.

[lenquixote66]

I know this is apples to oranges, I've cruised NCL and other mass market lines several times. I was looking over at the Cunard board and thinking about treating myself. I know the ships are different styles but are the people that different? Reading statements over there like " I haven't gone to dinner in over 20 years w/o a tie" and dismissively "they were playing Jazz in the lounge", or "I only wear white tux on southern cruises". I Don't wanna hurt anyones feelings from that board but not what i'm looking for, I guess they say same about me!

 

 

Our first cruise was on a Cunard ship .Suit or sports jacket and tie was mandatory for all dinner meals .

[kathy884]

Our 22 year old would love to sail Cunard (transatlantic actually). That would be his top choice of any line or trip out there. He thinks dressing up and that some of the formality would be so cool and make it feel special -- like being a first class gentleman on the Titanic perhaps (sort of experiencing a bygone era). It's a unique experience he'd love to try if he could talk us into it. He would love the elegance of the ships too. If you do this, you'll be doing one of his dream trips.

 

DH and I, though, are who are footing the bill and paying for vacation (taking him along), and we don't like to dress up on vacation. On top of that too, it's more money than what fits into our typical vacation budget (usually two different week long vacations and maybe an additional four night/three day mini trip a year -- We typically try to do modest enough trips to have that number of getaways and stay within our vacation budget.). And all and all DS is happy enough that he talked us into doing a cruise in the first place (We like cruising well enough, but would not have picked a cruise without him talking it up), and he's thrilled to be cruising period, so all is good.

 

If it sounds fun to you and you have the budget for it, I'd say go for it. Variety is the spice of life. I'd say too to get a better feel as to whether or not you'd like to go for it, ask some questions on the Cunard board too.

Edited August 3, 2018 by kathy884

[kacurl]

Love the QM2 did 2 ta crossings. Many interesting lectures, good entertainment great staff. She is a beautiful ocean liner. I found the other passengers to be just like on any other cruise.

[BabsinTX]

We don't fly, so planning a cruise to Norway required a way to get there. The only cruise line doing eastbound transatlantics at the time we needed was Cunard.

 

We did NOT dress up, though I wore a plain black dress on formal nights and DH wore a polo shirt and khakis. One night I saw a man we'd become friendly with in the buffet in a Speedo and shirt; later he came through in his tux.

 

We ate in the buffet every night and lots of other people did, too. The food was much better than NCL's, and I had one of the best chocolate cakes of my life in the buffet.

 

The passengers and staff were lovely and we played trivia with a couple from England and two ladies from New York. And the library is amazing, both in size and content.

 

We did have some very rough seas but you could barely feel them. I think the QM2 is wider than most cruise ships, so very stable.

 

We had a "sheltered balcony" cabin (i.e., a hull balcony) which was very comfortable.

 

We enjoyed our cruise so much that we purchased future cruise credits and look forward to our next crossing!

[Granny DI]

We have never cruised with Cunard either, but what one can surmise, they are quite formal.

 

Not my style.

 

 

We spent 24 days on Cunard...NYC Round trip via the North Cape in Norway. Seventeen of the days were FORMAL! The other nights required Coat and Tie. We were in steerage and it was the most expensive cabin we’ve sailed in 50 cruises. The attitude on the QM2 matched the dress code. Every night was like the junior prom...ugh. We haven’t been back to Cunard.....we enjoy the atmosphere on the NCL ships.

[bones774]

Just read post 34 & 35, can you get much more of a differing opinion?

[GA Dave]

Just read post 34 & 35, can you get much more of a differing opinion?

 

I am more of a #35 than a #34. I have to dress for work. When on vacation, I may do one night in a suit for my DW if it is something special (like our upcoming 30th anniversary). The rest of the time, khakis and a polo are as dressed up as I get. Most times it is jeans and a polo/tee shirt, or shorts and a polo/tee shirt. Vacations are my time to de-stress from my job, and, after 35+ years of work, dressing up just brings that stress level up naturally. Kind of like Pavlov's dogs! :')

[old nutter]

Done both. Our first one was in Grills on QM to Norway. There were two formal nights so I bought a new (larger!) DJ suit for the trip. Only issue turned out to be that when I got dressed for dinner I found that I had packed the old one! No problem because the buffet was very good and I was by no means alone either.

 

The main difference we found was that Cunard goes much more for enrichment rather than tinsel. We had several very interesting speakers and there was also a fantastic 3-D film concert one evening in the Planetarium as well as an informed star gazing session in there one night. Having said that we have also seen some wonderful shows on NCL and really enjoy the likes of "Burn the Floor".

 

We always dress reasonably for dinner on holiday (even when we have been on Safari in Africa) with open-neck collar and slacks for me and what I call a "nice" dress for my OH, so that is probably why we do not feel uncomfortable on either line. If you know what to expect in both cases, and wear you choice with confidence you will enjoy the differences rather than feeling threatened. It's more a matter of being confident in your surroundings and if you can only do that in tee shirts and scruffy jeans, stick to NCL and do not worry if you are the only one looking scruffy.

[newmexicoNita]

My I suggest you consider Azamara cruises. They are a luxury line with 3 smaller ships. Hundreds of people not thousands. There are NO formal nights. People are friendly and relaxed. The average age trends toward retirees. The passengers are well traveled people. I loved them with I used them for a Brazil, Uruguay, Argentina cruise. In general they are above my price point so it was a treat.

 

(Azamara is owned by Royal Caribbean.)

I would agree 100% that or Oceania. They are very similar and will give that "special" feeling but are not nearly as formal.

[bones774]

I would agree 100% that or Oceania. They are very similar and will give that "special" feeling but are not nearly as formal.

 

 

Sailing out of NY is easy for me so Oceania might be a good option, don't know if I've seen Azamara out of NY.

Thanks

[buggins0402]

Sailing out of NY is easy for me so Oceania might be a good option, don't know if I've seen Azamara out of NY.

Thanks

 

If it is the 7 day Insignia Bermuda Bliss itineraries for 2019 that interest you, you probably shouldn’t wait too long. That itinerary seems to be selling better than this years 10 day east coast/ Bermuda did.

[bones774]

If it is the 7 day Insignia Bermuda Bliss itineraries for 2019 that interest you, you probably shouldn’t wait too long. That itinerary seems to be selling better than this years 10 day east coast/ Bermuda did.

 

I just now started looking. I'm the OP and started out as a Cunard question that now morphed into Oceania, but I don't mind. Looking for all info. thanks