NCL vs Royal Caribbean Hawaii Cruise

[lengel71]

I'm planning an anniversary cruise for 2022.  Those that have been on BOTH NCL & Royal Caribbean, which did you like the best and why?

[jakeil7]

First, are you talking about cruises from the mainland only or NCLA’s Hawaiian only cruises?  NCLA is special as it is a US flagged ship. 
 

I have been on one of the old NCLA cruises although it has been sometime 

[$hip$hape]

12 minutes ago, jakeil7 said:

First, are you talking about cruises from the mainland only or NCLA’s Hawaiian only cruises?  NCLA is special as it is a US flagged ship. 
 

I have been on one of the old NCLA cruises although it has been sometime 

What does NCLA stand for ?

[Clarea]

6 minutes ago, $hip$hape said:

What does NCLA stand for ?

 

NCL America.  It is a US flagged cruise line that can cruise from island to island without having to visit any foreign ports.

[jakeil7]

4 minutes ago, Host Clarea said:

 

NCL America.  It is a US flagged cruise line that can cruise from island to island without having to visit any foreign ports.

Right. The critical thing is that it is not exactly the same product as what you find on NCL ships which is why I am asking the OP about which company/ship we are comparing it to. 

[lengel71]

29 minutes ago, jakeil7 said:

First, are you talking about cruises from the mainland only or NCLA’s Hawaiian only cruises?  NCLA is special as it is a US flagged ship. 
 

I have been on one of the old NCLA cruises although it has been sometime 

I am talking about the NCL's Hawaii cruise on Pride of America that just goes around Hawaii.  

[jakeil7]

OK. First:  it’s been a while since I took the trip, but bypassing the complications:

 

The NCLA iteniary is awesome if you like a port intensive trip. but because it is a US flagged ship it will be much more expensive and the service will not match your expectations versus typical non-US ships. 
 

The Royal trips are mostly at sea as they are Transpacific.  However, you will see better service. Time wise, it is about the same as the flight to and from Hawaii will chew up 2 days itself. 

[dani negreanu]

 

I’m not a fan of Pride of America, but I think that if, like us, u want to make the most of Hawaii, their itinerary, with 2 overnights — one in Maui and the other in Kauai — is best.

The itinerary made me “compromise” with the ship.... otherwise, no NCL for me.

 

[jakeil7]

10 minutes ago, dani negreanu said:

 

, no NCL for me.

 

Out of curiosity, have you taken any non-Hawai’i trips on NCL?  Curious as I am considering it. 

[$hip$hape]

22 minutes ago, lengel71 said:

I am talking about the NCL's Hawaii cruise on Pride of America that just goes around Hawaii.  

Right.

WE have been on the POA.

As far as i'm concerned it's the way to go,

but please extend your Hawaiian adventure, since you have to travel this far. 

[jakeil7]

8 minutes ago, $hip$hape said:

Right.

WE have been on the POA.

As far as i'm concerned it's the way to go,

but please extend your Hawaiian adventure, since you have to travel this far. 

Totally agree with this if you have never been to Hawai’i before. There is a lot of interesting stuff on Oahu. 

[Cindy]

1 hour ago, lengel71 said:

I'm planning an anniversary cruise for 2022.  Those that have been on BOTH NCL & Royal Caribbean, which did you like the best and why?

 

I haven't been on NCL yet, but we're going on the POA in April and I'd be happy to report back if you're still trying to decide.

 

My husband and I wanted to be able to maximize our time on the islands without the many sea days that are required on all the other Hawaii itineraries. I don't expect this to be a typical cruise experience -- we're looking at it as our floating hotel that changes locations every couple days! I feel a little lost because NCL seems so different than my usual cruises, but I'm very excited. The itinerary is awesome with overnights in Maui and Kauai. We added a couple nights in Honolulu, and I think it's going to be a wonderful trip.

[mugtech]

Visit the USS Missouri, check out the crowded inside cabins.  When they ask you why the mighty Mo was so narrow, the correct answer is "to fit through the Panama Canal."

Edited December 10, 2019 by mugtech

[Armac]

I agree that POA is the way to go especially if you can extend the stay before or after. It is a different flavor than most cruises, the ship is basically your floating hotel you will be on shore more than any other cruise. If it is your first time to Hawaii it will give you an excellent overview of the islands.     

[dani negreanu]

23 minutes ago, jakeil7 said:

Out of curiosity, have you taken any non-Hawai’i trips on NCL?  Curious as I am considering it. 

 

No, and don’t intend to. As I’ve mentioned before, I “compromised” being on this ship/company because the itinerary is very good, and, traveling from Israel, it’s all the vacation time we could afford.

Usually we cruise once a year, involving long flights, and I prefer not to “gamble” with my choice of the cruise company.... standing in a long check in line (almost 2 hours) for POA made me appreciate the benefits of being loyal to one cruise line, for example.

[Tatka]

44 minutes ago, jakeil7 said:

OK. First:  it’s been a while since I took the trip, but bypassing the complications:

 

The NCLA iteniary is awesome if you like a port intensive trip. but because it is a US flagged ship it will be much more expensive and the service will not match your expectations versus typical non-US ships. 
 

The Royal trips are mostly at sea as they are Transpacific.  However, you will see better service. Time wise, it is about the same as the flight to and from Hawaii will chew up 2 days itself. 

 

My parents took this cruise. Previously they did Adventure of the Seas and several Princess cruises. They have not noticed any downsides in service or overall quality. They loved this cruise. It also was not very expensive.

[Tatka]

3 minutes ago, dani negreanu said:

 

No, and don’t intend to. As I’ve mentioned before, I “compromised” being on this ship/company because the itinerary is very good, and, traveling from Israel, it’s all the vacation time we could afford.

Usually we cruise once a year, involving long flights, and I prefer not to “gamble” with my choice of the cruise company.... standing in a long check in line (almost 2 hours) for POA made me appreciate the benefits of being loyal to one cruise line, for example.

 

    Overall we prefer Royal and have 15 cruises with them over 9 cruises with NCL. Royal is definitely for sailing from Northeast for example as many ships have indoor pools and some amazing solariums. However lines can happen on any cruise lines including premium ones line Celebrity, Holland etc.

[$hip$hape]

30 minutes ago, Cindy said:

 

I haven't been on NCL yet, but we're going on the POA in April and I'd be happy to report back if you're still trying to decide.

 

My husband and I wanted to be able to maximize our time on the islands without the many sea days that are required on all the other Hawaii itineraries.

I don't expect this to be a typical cruise experience -- we're looking at it as our floating hotel that changes locations every couple days!

I feel a little lost because NCL seems so different than my usual cruises, but I'm very excited.

The itinerary is awesome with overnights in Maui and Kauai.

We added a couple nights in Honolulu, and I think it's going to be a wonderful trip.

We've been on this "wonderful trip".

Enjoy!

Edited December 10, 2019 by $hip$hape

[CORKY_Q]

We are almost "Loyal To Royal," but we have strayed a few times.  We have done a few cruises on NCL, and were not disappointed.  We took one cruise on the Pride of Hawaii about 10 years ago.  That cruise was because we did not want to spend so much time at sea as we would have with RCI. 

 

The biggest difference we noted was with the crew.  Being an American flagged ship, the majority of the crew were US citizens raised in the American culture.  The crew was not as "servile" as you have grown to experience.

 

That being said, the cruise itself is wonderful.  Your ship is, as has been noted before, becomes a floating hotel which takes you from one island to another.

 

We do encourage you to take a couple of extra days in Hawaii.  Oahu has a tremendous amount to offer.  We rented a car and went on a couple of day trips of discovery.

 

We wish you well,

Sea Ya

 

 

[$hip$hape]

1 hour ago, lengel71 said:

I'm planning an anniversary cruise for 2022.  Those that have been on BOTH NCL & Royal Caribbean, which did you like the best and why?

cruise for 2022... ? 

Me hopes only to live that long. LOL

 

Edited December 10, 2019 by $hip$hape

[dani negreanu]

45 minutes ago, Tatka said:

 

   However lines can happen on any cruise lines including premium ones line Celebrity, Holland etc.

 

Indeed it can. BUT, the check in line for NCL’s equivalent to Diamond/Elite was practically non existent... The moment someone with a “status” showed up, they took precedence... When I got nearer the check in stands, I saw that they were very disorganized too.... To paraphrase Seinfeld’s “Soup Nazi” — “no more NCL for me”😎

[Tatka]

Your choice, but it was never the case on our cruises, not sure how representative this is of NCL.

 

And as I mentioned I did not sail on POA, but my parents did. First time, but haven’t mentioned this problem. They were with high guests (friends) from home county and I’d think if this problem stood out they would mentioned it to me.

[jakeil7]

3 minutes ago, dani negreanu said:

 

Indeed it can. BUT, the check in line for NCL’s equivalent to Diamond/Elite was practically non existent... The moment someone with a “status” showed up, they took precedence... When I got nearer the check in stands, I saw that they were very disorganized too.... To paraphrase Seinfeld’s “Soup Nazi” — “no more NCL for me”😎

I wonder how much of this is a function of the Port as well. Honolulu is doing on average 1 ship a week. Terminal A in Miami is doing...7?  It’s easier to do when you have a lot of practice I’m thinking. Comparing this with departures from San Juan and Cape Liberty which have a moderate number of people. 

[Crazy planning mom]

I did the Pride of America with my husband and son.   This was the favorite trip out of all of them.

Hawaii is amazing and the Pride of America itinerary is the best one along with some land time before or afterward.

The Pride of America is fine.   It does not compare to Royal's top ships but you are going on for the itinerary!

[dani negreanu]

23 minutes ago, jakeil7 said:

I wonder how much of this is a function of the Port as well. Honolulu is doing on average 1 ship a week. Terminal A in Miami is doing...7?  It’s easier to do when you have a lot of practice I’m thinking. Comparing this with departures from San Juan and Cape Liberty which have a moderate number of people. 

 

You’ve got a point 😁 Nevertheless, it HELPS when there are 25-30 check in counters manned versus 12, when every minute one is leaving in order to ask/check with a superviser....

I’ve been fortunate enough to sail from SJ as well as from Bayonne, while still “gold” — nowhere near almost 2 hours in line.