LIVE Comparison: NCL Star 12-21-18 VS Royal Princess 4-06-19

[HBCcruiser]

1 hour ago, Gershep said:

Planning on going on the Star next year. Enjoyed your review.

 

Glad you liked it. Great ship and staff!❤️

[CruisingNole]

13 hours ago, HBCcruiser said:

 

 

 Interesting development; Princess has rolled out a new and improved WiFi system called MedallionNet. It is SO MUCH CHEAPER than NCL! It is reported to be ultra fast too! It’s only costing me $59.99 for the entire week for unlimited access! 

 

NCL internet is by far the worst and most expensive at sea. Every time I board, it baffles me as to why they are unable to compete with the competition. RCI internet 9 years ago was superior to what NCL offers in 2019. 

[HBCcruiser]

 
NCL internet is by far the worst and most expensive at sea. Every time I board, it baffles me as to why they are unable to compete with the competition. RCI internet 9 years ago was superior to what NCL offers in 2019. 

I agree! It’s never worked well for me, even with Premium. Waste of money.

[HBCcruiser]

The second cruise to this thread (Royal Princess) is about to set sail in about one week!

 

When I first started this comparison review, the price difference between NCL and Princess was pretty close. Now, though, NCL has raised the price on Haven and suites. The Haven MR cruises now seem to run between $4,000.00 to $6,000 per person. The Joy and Bliss are sailing the Mexican Rivera which are a little larger than the Royal and have a lot of activities for families.

 

I will be traveling with my mom this time, so we will be trying out mostly the adult only experiences. Princess may have NCL beat in this area. We are hoping to score Sanctuary loungers and plan on using the adult only pool/bar area.  NCL does not have anything like this, except for VIBE, which is much smaller, and does not have a pool.

 

The other new and exciting thing about Princess, is the new OceanMedallion and OceanNet.  OceanNet, their new WiFi, is reported to be very fast and efficient. I can’t wait to try that out! If you would like to follow my LIVE From thread, follow this link:

Happy Cruising! I’ll be back on NCL next year sailing the POA in Hawaii.  

[AF-1]

HBCruiser,   have fun with your mom.  I loved this review of the Star.  You cover everything so much and love all the pics.  You are going to love the medallion program and medallion net; the blazing fast wifi.  We could stream Netflix without any buffering.  So cool.  Princess has some nice suite perks.  I have stayed in both family suite and Aft Penthouse suite.  Both were very nice; and we felt pampered by the staff.  Hope you experience all the perks the Princess has to offer

[HBCcruiser]

Count Down. Another Work Day Over! Tomorrow’s going to be a loooong one. Night time work function...😫

[Hope221]

On 12/13/2018 at 4:48 PM, HBCcruiser said:

Why sail the same itinerary you ask?  

 

Well first, I love to cruise! I usually cruise with my mom and will be for the Royal Princess cruise. I am trying to make as many memories as I can with family. Life is way too short! The first cruise on the Star, though, will be with my DH and 2 DDs. Yup, I think they caught the cruise bug from me! LOL! Mom will be staying home for cruise #1 (her choice) to visit with other family members.  

 

Second, we live close to this port, so it is an easy on and off for us. We have done this itinerary before on Disney and RCL and enjoy it. Seriously, just being on a cruise going anywhere is good with me! I work hard so I like to play hard and enjoy all aspects of cruising. I am not really "married" to any particular cruise line. I have sailed NCL, Disney, RCL, Princess and HAL. There are things about each line that I like, and some that I do not like. I tend to prefer mid-size ships because I want to have plenty of things to do - bars/restaurants/clubs onboard to enjoy, yet don't want a ton of crowds.

 

During these two LIVE reviews I plan on comparing everything I can - cabins, food, drinks, staff, ship layout and decor, excursions, internet quality...whatever you want! Both ships, IMHO, are rather similar. The Star holds 2,348 passengers, while the Royal holds 3,560. Both ships were, or will be, refurbished in 2018. The cost for each cruise is pretty similar, however, NCL allows bidding for upgrades to better suites. On the Star we are in the SJ category, which is a family suite with no balcony. It is the lowest category of suites. If we are able to upgrade to a suite with a balcony we will. All other suites were sold out when we purchased our cabin, in fact, the cruise has been sold out for weeks, so the chance of an upgrade is pretty slim.

 

On the Royal Princess we are in the S4 penthouse suite category. This suite has a balcony. We do not want a different suite (my mom does not like aft cabins due to soot issues and prefers to be more mid-ship) so we will not go for an upgrade even if offered.

 

The onboard "extras" appear to be cheaper on the Royal Princess. For example, it costs $114.00 to pre-purchase a bottle of Veuve Clicquot on the NCL Star, but only $102.35 on the Royal Princess. The best beverage package (UBP) on the Star costs $831.00 per person ($99.00 per day plus fees), yet on the Royal it is $482.93 or $68.99 per day. Please note that the UPB was included when we purchased the cruise on NCL, as was the 3-day specialty dining. We had to purchase the beverage package on the Royal and the specialty dining (except for one night which is included in the suite package.) The specialty dining on the Star for three nights costs $94.80 per person. The Royal charges $29.00 per person per night or $87.00 per person for three nights.

 

The last thing I will share is the cost of the premium internet. On the Star the cost is $206.50 per week while on the Royal it is $199.00. Each cruise line offers freebees with the suite purchase, so I will be comparing those, once onboard, as well. If you want me to check anything out while onboard either ship, let me know and I will do my best. Sometimes the internet is spotty onboard, and CC has been having some growing pains, but I will try!

How is the Santuary on the Royal? We want to reserve for the day while in Glacier Bay. 

[HBCcruiser]

3 minutes ago, Hope221 said:

How is the Santuary on the Royal? We want to reserve for the day while in Glacier Bay. 

 

Absolutely AMAZING! You have attentive servers who will bring you food and drinks, tea in the afternoon, comfy loungers and a nice quiet place to relax. We also rented a cabana for half a day which was great too! Here is a video link and some pics.

 

 

[TheTides]

On 12/29/2018 at 9:51 PM, HBCcruiser said:

Food: We thought the food was good to great. Much of it is just preference, but no complaints. We never ate in the buffet - Garden Cafe (I have a thing about everyone touching the serving spoons and have gotten Noro before). We did eat in the MD rooms Versailles for lunch and Aqua for dinner. Both were very good - no complaints about food service. We made all reservations ahead of time, which did help. The main dining room menus changed daily. The specialty dining menus did not change. All menus were available for viewing daily by the buffet entrance.  I have posted many of the menus throughout this thread. Let me know if you have questions. 

 

Breakfast buffet in Moderno:

 

 

First of all, great review!  Thanks so much for taking the time to post this for us!  This maybe a dumb question, but is Modernos open for breakfast every morning for everyone, or is only for suite guests as well?

[HBCcruiser]

3 minutes ago, TheTides said:

First of all, great review!  Thanks so much for taking the time to post this for us!  This maybe a dumb question, but is Modernos open for breakfast every morning for everyone, or is only for suite guests as well?

 

Not a dumb question. The Moderno breakfast is only available to suite passengers. Same with Cagneys for lunch. It’s a perk NCL gives to suites, kind-of in place of the Haven Restaurant. 

[AF-1]

Great pics of the sanctuary