Royal Vs NCL

[Casavecchia]

We have done NCL a lot. We are looking at other options. Can someone with experience with both give me some pro and cons of the two?

 

Thank you!

[sparks1093]

Not yet, but am following along to hear the experiences of others.

[gbcruise]

We sail both. Diamond on RCL, Gold on NCL. NCL is competing fiercely with RCL. They have more restaurants with the same quality food and speciality restaurants are better. Comedy clubs are better then RCL but no the theatre shows. On NCL Drink Package comes with our balcony room as well as 3 free speciality restaurants as we chose them as a perk where we get free drinks only during happy hour on RCL. Ships rooms and itinerary compare the same as well as staff. We chose now based on newer ships, then cost, then itinerary.

[Clarea]

Another Royal vs NCL thread:

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2595086-rccl-v-ncl/?do=findComment&comment=55973498

 

 

[Lupush]

Just off my first RCL cruise on Independence of the Seas today, and have to say it was not even close to the experience I have on NCL.  Food quality especially.  Specialty restaurants with the exception of the sushi restaurant were awful.  The Flowrider is a neat attraction, and the kids pool on RCL seemed a bit better than all of the NCL ships I was on.  For me I'd do RCL again for a 3 or 4 night run, if I'm going for more than that I'm doing NCL.

[lizzy911]

I have sailed on both. Norwegian Escape (7 night) and Brilliance of Seas (4 nights), so totally different ship class. I am going on the Anthem this month so will have more to compare.

 

I am a drinker (not HUGE but a bit) so the promos NCL is always running appeal to me in terms of value. I found the food significantly better on NCL, particularly the specialty dining vs the MDR on Royal which isn't fair (but once again, NCL runs "free" specialty dining package perks for the same price as MDR in Royal).

 

I found NCL to have more to do in the evening.

 

Royal had much better options for lounging by the pool, but that may be ship specific.

 

Overall to me it would come down to overall price (including anticipated alcohol consumption) and itinerary but right now I give a slight edge to NCL.

[rimmit]

On NCL the entertainment requires a lot of planning.   You really need to be at venue 30 min prior to get a seat for pretty much anything.  This includes trivia and normal daily activities.  The big ships do not have a large lounge of any kind.  NCL has chosen to use most of their space for restaurants and bars.  

 

The food old is definitely better on NCL.  More options and even the free restaurants are better imo.  We found the evening entertainment great.  The main issue is the venues are way to small for the number of pax.  The ship feels very crowded.  On the Breakaway class ships the interior cabins have a total lack of storage.   There is literally no place to put anything.

 

overall it is very similar to RCL and very different in some aspects.   

[cementhands]

Ncl Epic, Spirit, Spirit, Dawn to Bermuda Twice and Dawn repositioning 14 night. 

Food on Spirit was excellent. Round trip out of NYC for 11 nights was cool. Tons of fun activities. The chicken wings and tomato soup and comfort food in the Blue Lagoon open 24 hours was great. Fun activities. Comedy of second city was great.

Blue lagoon gone replaced by Oshehanns pub similar food. Second city comedy gone. Night time parties are true party. The whole back of ship is a white night dance party. Very cool show Blue man group. Dedicated jazz venue.

RCL Anthem,Visions Twice, Grandeur Twice, Explorer twice, rhapsody, adventure, many others. We’ve been loyal to RCL recently. Visions of the Seas transatlantic last October was fantastic. Excellent AD Talita made it great. Just got off the Grandeur February and food and service great but activities not.

Anthem was very enjoyable with activities and Ifly. Seaplex. Shows were excellent for a Nap. Food on Anthem not to good.

Bottom line we’ve enjoyed Princess for a while. Loved celebrity to the point of being Elite separately from RCL. One Holland America and will return when older. Same thing with celebrity.

Quite a few Carnival early in our cruise experience.

RCL closing in on diamond plus. The drinks at night are enough for me and my wife doesn’t drink. NCL drinking packages really cost us an extra $1,000.00 a trip as without it room is significant cheaper. 

Ncl buffet is excellent. RCL not. Celebrity food and service great but not great activities. Princess was great with Zumba and comics very great.

Personal opinions of active age 60’s couple. 

We have enjoyed the different feeling of cruise from Boston vs New Jersey vs New York City vs Baltimore vs Florida and gavelston tx, Seattle and Los Angeles and Puerto Rico and Barcelona. Wonderful way to experience different groups of people. Often times the people make the cruise!

[3shar]

Following....We have done NCL Escape, Breakaway and Getaway traveling in The Haven . Love NCL but wanted to try something new. We are trying Allure in Star Class suite so will be interested to see how it compares

[mjkacmom]

1 hour ago, rimmit said:

On NCL the entertainment requires a lot of planning.   You really need to be at venue 30 min prior to get a seat for pretty much anything.  This includes trivia and normal daily activities.  The big ships do not have a large lounge of any kind.  NCL has chosen to use most of their space for restaurants and bars.  

 

The food old is definitely better on NCL.  More options and even the free restaurants are better imo.  We found the evening entertainment great.  The main issue is the venues are way to small for the number of pax.  The ship feels very crowded.  On the Breakaway class ships the interior cabins have a total lack of storage.   There is literally no place to put anything.

 

overall it is very similar to RCL and very different in some aspects.   

On the big ships yes, on the smaller ships you can show up a minute before shows start and easily grab a seat.

[LadyShiva]

NCL: has heated tile loungers with the lovely view and better Poker tournaments. We also cruise happier in the Haven than in the RCI Suites Lounges dominated by Pinnacles.  Haven cabins suit us better, with the 2 bedrooms and aft H6 both having 2 bathrooms.  Crown Lofts are nice, but are missing the privacy of a real door.  We have sailed on Getaway multiple times.  Asian food options are better on NCL, from buffet foot to the Noodle bar.

RCI: Ship designs are more appealing, and the kids areas are not intended to make you go deaf.  We prefer the bigger RCI ships like Symphony/Allure, etc.  We don't tend to pay for the unappealing food on RCI, whereas we enjoy NCL specialty restaurants.

 

Edited March 4, 2019 by LadyShiva