My X to Princess to NCL Review/Comparison

[klfhngr]

This is my review of our Sept. 16 – 23 cruise on the NCL Escape to Maine and Canada out of NY
My wife and I cruised with another couple, this is our 20th or so cruise and their 5th.
In the past 2 or so years, we’ve cruise on the Celebrity Equinox, Princess Ruby and now the NCL Escape. I wanted to do a comparison of these 3 cruise lines, but I’ll start with my review of the Escape.

From the very get go, we heard many negative things about NCL, i.e., the food, the crowd, service, etc. Yes, we were slightly concerned, but if we’ve never sailed on NCL, how would we find out for ourselves? So I started researching NCL, the ships, itineraries, etc. While researching, I discovered that this is what we might be looking for! No more dressing up, flexibility in dining, great shows, etc.! So we booked.

So here’s my review: 

Embarkation was a breeze, sailed out of NY. We got there at about 10 or so and were on the ship by 1130 or so. Staff was there to greet us and they were ALL cheerful and nice! Us boys headed to the brew house so that we can join the beer challenge (I came in second place, even though I was unofficially in first place) and the wives headed to the show reservations. One nice touch: While we were waiting to board the ship, they have restaurant staff there so that you can modify/make restaurant reservations! The girls were originally going to go the restaurant rsvp’s once they boarded, but because of this nice feature, were able to get our friends assigned to our tables (they didn’t rsvp online, we did). We had lunch at O’Shea’s, it would become one of our most visited places during the week. The ship looks beautiful and well maintained. Also, the staff we met were continuously hospitable and kind, no matter which part of the ship we were on! This continued during the ENTIRE cruise!

Cabins: They are nice, about average for a cruise ship. Two USB ports, one worked the other died after a few days. TV quality terrible, have they not heard of HD?! Bathrooms are spacious. BTW, we had an angled balcony cabin. The balcony was nice, but we hardly used it. On most cruises, I spend a considerable amount of time on the balcony, but not on this one (colder weather cruise as opposed to our many tropical cruises).

Food: The food was GREAT! After hearing all of the negativity before the cruise, we really had no high hopes of the food being great. How wrong we were! We ate at the Teppanyaki House, Manhattan Dining Room, Brazilian and the Steakhouse. We also visited the buffet for breakfast and some lunches, O’Shea’s, room service amongst others. I can honestly say that we enjoyed ALL of our meals! Ranessa in the Manhattan is the BOMB! Ask for her if you eat there! Service in the Brazilian restaurant was mediocre to slow. I had to finally bring it to the attention of the Maître D. What was happening was that the other people closer to the kitchen were being served first, so by the time they got to us, they would run out of meat! They acknowledged this and starting serving our section of the dining room first. From that point on, service was great! The only employee that we found to be ‘rude’ was Vanessa in the Manhattan Dining Room. Please do NOT confuse here with RANESSA! Room Service food was, well, Room Service food. O’Shea’s wings were really good!

Entertainment: We saw the Rat Pack show and loved it! We saw a few dueling piano shows and the one piano player at the district brew house. They were all great! We had a BLAST dancing out back of the ship one night, but because of the weather being cold, the rest of the parties were held indoors. They were still fun! The bands were good, we all had a great time dancing!

Ports: We sailed to Portland Maine, Bar Harbor Maine, Saint John Canada and Halifax Canada. We loved Bar Harbor and Saint John, the other two ports seemed like a ‘normal’ city to us.

Msc: The quality of the drinks were good, all staff were great and we had no issues with our UBP! The District Brewhouse became our favorite place to chill! Great beers for a cruise ship, I wish all cruise companies would do this! As mentioned, my friend and I entered the beer drinking contest, we came in second and third (unofficially first and second). The staff there was AMAZING! They made us feel like close friends and like we knew each other for years! Maricial, Curly, Brent and Selsa, we miss you guys!!! You guys made our cruise!!! If any of you reviewing this go there, tell them that James and Adolfo said hi!! We were never bored, there’s always something to do. And again, the staff was amazing! When we boarded the ship from our different stops, they were always there to greet us with music, DANCING and drinks, and some great smiles!

Overall: We LOVED NCL! We’ve never considered cruising on her, but I am so glad we did! Our friends loved it too! This was an amazing cruise that we will never forget. We can’t wait to get back on her and do a more tropical cruise!

Now a quick comparison between our last three cruises:

Embarkation: I can say that all 3 lines (NCL, X, Princess) were pretty much even. But because of the restaurant staff being available before boarding, I have to give this to NCL!

Cabins: Our Ruby cabin was ok, but quite cluttered. So it’s between NCL and X. Both are quite similar, both are nice. A few more extras on NCL, but some of these extras didn’t work. Also, the NCL room seemed a little more worn. I have to give this one to X. The rooms seemed clean and updated, and everything seemed to work as designed!

Food: Food is subjective, as we all know. Princess is out of this one, it was ok. I have to say that going into the X cruise, our expectations were high for the food. The food was good, but not great. We enjoyed most of our meals, but the variety was so-so. On NCL, we went in with low expectations, however we were blown away! We enjoyed all of our meals, along with the service. This is a tough one. Based on expectation, NCL takes it. But based on just the quality of the food, this is a tie with X!

Entertainment: The Princess Ruby cruise was the most boring cruise we’ve ever been on! If our group of 20 or so didn’t cruise together, I would have probably jumped ship! And this was the opinion from everyone! Again, Princess is out of this one. X had some good shows, but things seemed to die down at about 10 or so. The crowd was more laid back than on NCL. And no, NCL was not rowdier or full of drunks. It just seemed like those on NCL wanted to do ‘stuff’ vs those on X who seemed to appear that they wanted some slight entertainment but wanted to be left alone. Based on our liking, NCL takes it! From the shows, to the dancing, to the amount of things to do, we were never bored!

Ports: N/A

Overall: The Ruby was our second Princess cruise. We were expecting more from it after our first Princess cruise, but boy were we wrong, the first one was better! The staff was MISERABLE! Out of all the staff that we met, only ONE seemed to be enjoying her time! Our first and only X cruise was fun, we enjoyed it. We had a group of about 15 or so, so we made it fun and enjoyed each other’s company. Before the NCL cruise, I have to say that X was in our top 4 cruises. It’s classy, sort of quiet and a great staff, but not as nice as NCL’s. And the ports were awesome (ABC’s). NCL, well, I have to say she blew us away! As noted above, we really did not have many/any complaints! We came back, talked about it and all came to the conclusion that we LOVED NCL and would definitely cruise on her again! What is stopping us? Price! We are looking at her on her West Coast visit, and boy is it expensive! For 1000k less, we can cruise on the Carnival Panorama. Our next cruise will be in May on RCL’s Symphony of the Seas. After that cruise, I’ll do another comparison. Based on all of the above, I have to say that this NCL cruise has become my second favorite of all time! The first is when my girlfriend at the time (now my wife) went on my second cruise. I really hope to sail on NCL and X again soon so that I can do another comparison (my excuse to cruise again)! I hope you enjoy this, and please don’t flame me, this is MY opinion and MY review!
 

[PTC DAWG]

I have been on the NCL Escape, and I feel the same way you do...

Going on the Equinox next fall, I expect more laid back, but now, you may have me a little concerned.  The Bride and I like the vibe on NCL...drinks, deck parties, etc...the NCL Getaway is much the same, although no District...great drinks in there too, not just beer. 

Escape was a Caribbean sailing, H2O was a blast at night...

Equinox is a 10 day Southern Caribbean next fall...

[fshagan]

Thanks for the great review and comparison of the lines. We agree on your overall rankings even though it's been a while since we cruised Princess. Your experience on P mirrors other open a few years back. We would choose between X and NCL based on price and itinerary.

[klfhngr]

Dawg, X will be quieter, I can assure you of that. It won't be boring though, but the night life will die off around 10ish... Equinox staff is great though and she's a beautiful ship. We too did a 10 day but to the ABC's.

fshagan, we have a deposit down on Princess for May, but we jumped ship and are doing the Symphony. That last Princess cruise really messed us up. Yes, it was an older ship, so MAYBE we'll do a newer one sometime in the future. I'm really looking forward to comparing X to NCL to Royal! And then maybe Carnival Panorama at end of 2019.

[YVRBassElectric]

thanks for the great comparison.

I have also been shocked at the price of the West Coast cruises - guess NCL has high hopes for the Joy. We have a 2020 cruise booked in the Deluxe Owners Suite - $14k 7 days on Escape out of Miami, 5 days out of LA on Joy was $35k

[jdvmd]

Thanks for your review! Glad you had a good time! Been on the Escape twice and love her! Especially the Brewhouse. Just so much to do if you so choose.

[klfhngr]

YVR, I agree, the prices are HIGH! Hope there are some price drops! If you need a roomie or two, let us know, lol/jk!!!

You're welcome JD... I would love to go on her again, but to different ports.

[sparks1093]

Thanks for your thoughts. We enjoyed our NCL cruises but haven't even considered booking one since Del Rio took over because of the price point. If we found an NCL cruise for a comparable price to the competition we'd book it, but so far it hasn't even been close. 

[newmexicoNita]

On 10/16/2018 at 1:33 PM, klfhngr said:

This is my review of our Sept. 16 – 23 cruise on the NCL Escape to Maine and Canada out of NY
My wife and I cruised with another couple, this is our 20th or so cruise and their 5th.
In the past 2 or so years, we’ve cruise on the Celebrity Equinox, Princess Ruby and now the NCL Escape. I wanted to do a comparison of these 3 cruise lines, but I’ll start with my review of the Escape.

From the very get go, we heard many negative things about NCL, i.e., the food, the crowd, service, etc. Yes, we were slightly concerned, but if we’ve never sailed on NCL, how would we find out for ourselves? So I started researching NCL, the ships, itineraries, etc. While researching, I discovered that this is what we might be looking for! No more dressing up, flexibility in dining, great shows, etc.! So we booked.

So here’s my review: 

Embarkation was a breeze, sailed out of NY. We got there at about 10 or so and were on the ship by 1130 or so. Staff was there to greet us and they were ALL cheerful and nice! Us boys headed to the brew house so that we can join the beer challenge (I came in second place, even though I was unofficially in first place) and the wives headed to the show reservations. One nice touch: While we were waiting to board the ship, they have restaurant staff there so that you can modify/make restaurant reservations! The girls were originally going to go the restaurant rsvp’s once they boarded, but because of this nice feature, were able to get our friends assigned to our tables (they didn’t rsvp online, we did). We had lunch at O’Shea’s, it would become one of our most visited places during the week. The ship looks beautiful and well maintained. Also, the staff we met were continuously hospitable and kind, no matter which part of the ship we were on! This continued during the ENTIRE cruise!

Cabins: They are nice, about average for a cruise ship. Two USB ports, one worked the other died after a few days. TV quality terrible, have they not heard of HD?! Bathrooms are spacious. BTW, we had an angled balcony cabin. The balcony was nice, but we hardly used it. On most cruises, I spend a considerable amount of time on the balcony, but not on this one (colder weather cruise as opposed to our many tropical cruises).

Food: The food was GREAT! After hearing all of the negativity before the cruise, we really had no high hopes of the food being great. How wrong we were! We ate at the Teppanyaki House, Manhattan Dining Room, Brazilian and the Steakhouse. We also visited the buffet for breakfast and some lunches, O’Shea’s, room service amongst others. I can honestly say that we enjoyed ALL of our meals! Ranessa in the Manhattan is the BOMB! Ask for her if you eat there! Service in the Brazilian restaurant was mediocre to slow. I had to finally bring it to the attention of the Maître D. What was happening was that the other people closer to the kitchen were being served first, so by the time they got to us, they would run out of meat! They acknowledged this and starting serving our section of the dining room first. From that point on, service was great! The only employee that we found to be ‘rude’ was Vanessa in the Manhattan Dining Room. Please do NOT confuse here with RANESSA! Room Service food was, well, Room Service food. O’Shea’s wings were really good!

Entertainment: We saw the Rat Pack show and loved it! We saw a few dueling piano shows and the one piano player at the district brew house. They were all great! We had a BLAST dancing out back of the ship one night, but because of the weather being cold, the rest of the parties were held indoors. They were still fun! The bands were good, we all had a great time dancing!

Ports: We sailed to Portland Maine, Bar Harbor Maine, Saint John Canada and Halifax Canada. We loved Bar Harbor and Saint John, the other two ports seemed like a ‘normal’ city to us.

Msc: The quality of the drinks were good, all staff were great and we had no issues with our UBP! The District Brewhouse became our favorite place to chill! Great beers for a cruise ship, I wish all cruise companies would do this! As mentioned, my friend and I entered the beer drinking contest, we came in second and third (unofficially first and second). The staff there was AMAZING! They made us feel like close friends and like we knew each other for years! Maricial, Curly, Brent and Selsa, we miss you guys!!! You guys made our cruise!!! If any of you reviewing this go there, tell them that James and Adolfo said hi!! We were never bored, there’s always something to do. And again, the staff was amazing! When we boarded the ship from our different stops, they were always there to greet us with music, DANCING and drinks, and some great smiles!

Overall: We LOVED NCL! We’ve never considered cruising on her, but I am so glad we did! Our friends loved it too! This was an amazing cruise that we will never forget. We can’t wait to get back on her and do a more tropical cruise!

Now a quick comparison between our last three cruises:

Embarkation: I can say that all 3 lines (NCL, X, Princess) were pretty much even. But because of the restaurant staff being available before boarding, I have to give this to NCL!

Cabins: Our Ruby cabin was ok, but quite cluttered. So it’s between NCL and X. Both are quite similar, both are nice. A few more extras on NCL, but some of these extras didn’t work. Also, the NCL room seemed a little more worn. I have to give this one to X. The rooms seemed clean and updated, and everything seemed to work as designed!

Food: Food is subjective, as we all know. Princess is out of this one, it was ok. I have to say that going into the X cruise, our expectations were high for the food. The food was good, but not great. We enjoyed most of our meals, but the variety was so-so. On NCL, we went in with low expectations, however we were blown away! We enjoyed all of our meals, along with the service. This is a tough one. Based on expectation, NCL takes it. But based on just the quality of the food, this is a tie with X!

Entertainment: The Princess Ruby cruise was the most boring cruise we’ve ever been on! If our group of 20 or so didn’t cruise together, I would have probably jumped ship! And this was the opinion from everyone! Again, Princess is out of this one. X had some good shows, but things seemed to die down at about 10 or so. The crowd was more laid back than on NCL. And no, NCL was not rowdier or full of drunks. It just seemed like those on NCL wanted to do ‘stuff’ vs those on X who seemed to appear that they wanted some slight entertainment but wanted to be left alone. Based on our liking, NCL takes it! From the shows, to the dancing, to the amount of things to do, we were never bored!

Ports: N/A

Overall: The Ruby was our second Princess cruise. We were expecting more from it after our first Princess cruise, but boy were we wrong, the first one was better! The staff was MISERABLE! Out of all the staff that we met, only ONE seemed to be enjoying her time! Our first and only X cruise was fun, we enjoyed it. We had a group of about 15 or so, so we made it fun and enjoyed each other’s company. Before the NCL cruise, I have to say that X was in our top 4 cruises. It’s classy, sort of quiet and a great staff, but not as nice as NCL’s. And the ports were awesome (ABC’s). NCL, well, I have to say she blew us away! As noted above, we really did not have many/any complaints! We came back, talked about it and all came to the conclusion that we LOVED NCL and would definitely cruise on her again! What is stopping us? Price! We are looking at her on her West Coast visit, and boy is it expensive! For 1000k less, we can cruise on the Carnival Panorama. Our next cruise will be in May on RCL’s Symphony of the Seas. After that cruise, I’ll do another comparison. Based on all of the above, I have to say that this NCL cruise has become my second favorite of all time! The first is when my girlfriend at the time (now my wife) went on my second cruise. I really hope to sail on NCL and X again soon so that I can do another comparison (my excuse to cruise again)! I hope you enjoy this, and please don’t flame me, this is MY opinion and MY review!
 

Been on all the mass marketed limes and a few lines that have gone to heaven or some strange place. For us, NCL answered our needs the most: Princess, the least. I do like Celebrity but their pricing is higher. though we are at the age level with some health issues that may cause us to put cruising on the shelf, I am glad we have had the chance to cruise so much and yes, for any remaining cruises it will be NCL> Let me also add, the guest are NCL, overall seem to be the most fun. 

[klfhngr]

4 hours ago, newmexicoNita said:

Been on all the mass marketed limes and a few lines that have gone to heaven or some strange place. For us, NCL answered our needs the most: Princess, the least. I do like Celebrity but their pricing is higher. though we are at the age level with some health issues that may cause us to put cruising on the shelf, I am glad we have had the chance to cruise so much and yes, for any remaining cruises it will be NCL> Let me also add, the guest are NCL, overall seem to be the most fun. 

I agree 100% with you! The only thing that I've noticed, is that sometimes NCL's prices are higher than X. I guess it all depends on the season, ports, newer ship, etc. We want to do the NCL Joy when it visits the west coast, but for the same cruise, we can do the Carnival Panorama for 1000K LESS! I know that CCL will be home based here, so I figure that has a lot to do with the pricing, vs the Joy just visiting for a month or so....

We might be adding MSC to our list, even though we've heard MANY negative things about them! But we heard many bad things about NCL and love it! We'll see! 

[newmexicoNita]

11 minutes ago, klfhngr said:

I agree 100% with you! The only thing that I've noticed, is that sometimes NCL's prices are higher than X. I guess it all depends on the season, ports, newer ship, etc. We want to do the NCL Joy when it visits the west coast, but for the same cruise, we can do the Carnival Panorama for 1000K LESS! I know that CCL will be home based here, so I figure that has a lot to do with the pricing, vs the Joy just visiting for a month or so....

We might be adding MSC to our list, even though we've heard MANY negative things about them! But we heard many bad things about NCL and love it! We'll see! 

Yes, MSC seems to be gaining in popularity but yes, we have also heard more negatives than positives. When I was still a TA I put a few people on MSC. They ll said the only pro was the ships are super pretty. Our daughter is a TA now and tried the line as she does all lines. Again, she said it isn't the line for Americans as much as it is very European. That was out problem with Costa. We also have friends from church that are easy to please and were not at all happy with MSC. It made us stay away but as you said, you can hear negatives and end up being very pleasantly surprised. 

[stormynow]

But with the percs on NCL  UBP, UDP. etc the price point is very competitive.  Maybe even lower than the other main stream cruise line, except for the west coast.  Stormy

[sparks1093]

1 hour ago, stormynow said:

But with the percs on NCL  UBP, UDP. etc the price point is very competitive.  Maybe even lower than the other main stream cruise line, except for the west coast.  Stormy

It depends a lot on when you are booking, from where you are sailing, when you are sailing, how long the sailing is and other factors. When I priced our April cruise Royal came in at $1770 and NCL was $3600 (I think Carnival was $2200) and those were for a balcony cabin on a ship sailing from the northeast. Even factoring in the "freebies" Royal was the better deal (because I can buy only what I'm actually going to use). It could be that now that the cruise is less than 6 months away NCL is more competitive. (Just checked and the sailaway rate is $2056, so it's closer. If one wanted the perks it would be $2756.)

Edited October 18, 2018 by sparks1093

[TFLG]

On ‎10‎/‎16‎/‎2018 at 1:10 PM, YVRBassElectric said:

thanks for the great comparison.

I have also been shocked at the price of the West Coast cruises - guess NCL has high hopes for the Joy. We have a 2020 cruise booked in the Deluxe Owners Suite - $14k 7 days on Escape out of Miami, 5 days out of LA on Joy was $35k

 

Seems like they are smoking the dream pipe on those 2019/20 west coast prices.  The new Carinval ship will also be based in LA and that should put some pressure on those prices. The carnival prices are about 60% of the NCL price based on the Joy vs the Panorama in similar cabins.  Even factoring in buying the bevy package on Carnival it's still quite a bit less. I'm on the Bliss in a week and that one was about 3X the cost of a similar cruise on the Star a few years ago (but that cruise sucked, ship and food were terrible). Being local tho we might just wait till last minute and get a reasonable deal that way.  But even Celebrities prices have gone way up in the last year on many of thier itinerarys.  It's sure going to be nice having more ships sailing from LA.

[klfhngr]

I have to say that MSC is tempting, very beautiful ships! But then I'm hearing many negative things. But that applied to NCL too!

Agree that with UBP and Specialty Dining perks, the prices are not to bad on NCL. Again, it all depends where and when.

I miss the Mariner being our here on the west coast, but maybe the Panorama will be our go to ship for future local cruises.

[JWGrayson]

Hi klfhngr, Interesting and entertaining review!

 

Two years ago we booked the brand new Carnival Horizon for a 10 day Med cruise, followed by a TA back to the US. After booking her, I realized that we could take a ship over since the Horizon was coming back in the Spring. So, I booked the NCL Epic for a TA and 7 day Med cruise. We liked the Epic so much that we now have 4 NCL cruises booked over the next 14 months.  BTW, I am also a fan of the wings at O'Sheehans.

 

The day after you got off of the Escape, we boarded the Adventure of the Seas for a similar cruise, only we continued past Halifax to Quebec City. It was a great cruise, but Adv. of the Seas made us appreciate NCL that much more.

 

John

[klfhngr]

Wow John, great to hear! But now you got me worried about our upcoming Symphony of the Seas cruise! NCL did set the bar high, to my surprising! 

[TFLG]

2 hours ago, klfhngr said:

I have to say that MSC is tempting, very beautiful ships! But then I'm hearing many negative things. But that applied to NCL too!

Agree that with UBP and Specialty Dining perks, the prices are not to bad on NCL. Again, it all depends where and when.

I miss the Mariner being our here on the west coast, but maybe the Panorama will be our go to ship for future local cruises.

 

We just had some friends get back from an MSC cruise and they were not impressed.  I keep reading about MSC here in CC and it seems people sailing in the Yacht Club on MSC love it so maybe that's the key on MSC, book a suite.  But 8 days till we board the Bliss😜.  Better schedule the liver transplant

[JWGrayson]

17 hours ago, klfhngr said:

Wow John, great to hear! But now you got me worried about our upcoming Symphony of the Seas cruise! NCL did set the bar high, to my surprising! 

We had the fastest embarkation ever getting on the Adv. of the Seas, but that created an almost unbearable crowd at the elevators and Windjammer Cafe (lunch buffet.) On port mornings it was hard to find a place to sit in the Windjammer and navigating around the tables was maddening. It was just too crowded in there, but only in that area. Most other places were fine. The entertainment was great. Our cabin location was likely the best we have ever encountered.

 

Having the unlimited drink package on NCL made a huge difference. Also, the number of dinning venues far exceeded what they had on the Adv. RCL had Johnny Rockets, but charged $11+ for a hamburger, while on Carnival Guy's is free.  A fountain coke in a glass full of ice was $3.84, but you can order a 6-pack of cokes from room service for $14.18 (both prices included gratuities.)

 

Any cruise is what you make of it and your expectations play a big part. So, you should be fine on the Symphony.

 

John

[klfhngr]

14 hours ago, JWGrayson said:

We had the fastest embarkation ever getting on the Adv. of the Seas, but that created an almost unbearable crowd at the elevators and Windjammer Cafe (lunch buffet.) On port mornings it was hard to find a place to sit in the Windjammer and navigating around the tables was maddening. It was just too crowded in there, but only in that area. Most other places were fine. The entertainment was great. Our cabin location was likely the best we have ever encountered.

 

Having the unlimited drink package on NCL made a huge difference. Also, the number of dinning venues far exceeded what they had on the Adv. RCL had Johnny Rockets, but charged $11+ for a hamburger, while on Carnival Guy's is free.  A fountain coke in a glass full of ice was $3.84, but you can order a 6-pack of cokes from room service for $14.18 (both prices included gratuities.)

 

Any cruise is what you make of it and your expectations play a big part. So, you should be fine on the Symphony.

 

John

Thanks John ! Anything beats being at work!

[ready2cruzagain]

On 10/19/2018 at 1:12 PM, klfhngr said:

I have to say that MSC is tempting, very beautiful ships! But then I'm hearing many negative things. But that applied to NCL too!

Agree that with UBP and Specialty Dining perks, the prices are not to bad on NCL. Again, it all depends where and when.

I miss the Mariner being our here on the west coast, but maybe the Panorama will be our go to ship for future local cruises.

Thanks for your review.  We just love NCL, have also sailed Princess, Celebrity and Carnival and NCL is our favorite by far. 

 

We decided to try MSC this December on the Divina to the Caribbean.  We are booked on a b2b2b for 32 days.  I won't do a long review butwill give our experience on her.  Hoping we like it since we already booked 21 days on MSC Seaside next year 😀