Convince us to try NCL again

[mac66]

Our first cruise was on NCL in 1979. We sailed them again in 1989.  Then did a Hawaii cruise in 2007 and again in 2017.  The first two cruises were 3 & 4 day cruises. The second 2 were 7 nighters around the Hawaiian islands. The ship (Pride of America) in Hawaii was relatively small and was pretty worn by the time we sailed her again in 2017.  Service and food were marginal as well but that kind of goes with the port heavy itinerary. We weren't on board very much except to sleep.

 

In the mean time we pretty much switched to Royal and Celebrity and are at levels to get perks. But....we are a long way from the next levels and are considering at trying NCL again.  They have an early December cruise at a good price and interesting itinerary on the Escape. 

 

So...tell me about the Escape and tell be why I should try NCL again? Comparisons between Royal and NCL would help.

[hallux]

The Escape is loved by many here.  It was the first of the Breakaway+ class of ship.  I've sailed on two ships in that class (most recently last week) and have had a great time, but I haven't been on the Escape personally.  The Escape has the ropes course that was replaced on the later ships with a go-kart track, but it's also missing the enclosed/isolated smoking section in the casino and the amazing Observation Lounge that the later ships in the class have.

 

If the itinerary is calling you, I'm sure many here will tell you it's a good choice of ship as well.

 

I wouldn't judge NCL solely on the POA, you may have been on right before a dry-dock, and she was just through another during the pandemic.  That ship is also unique in the scope of major cruise lines as it's US-flagged and staffed.

[oteixeira]

I am not sure we can.   :)  Tell us what it is you like to do when cruising, it can help us to determine if NCL is a fit for what you like to do.  Escape is my favorite ship, and it's mainly because the crew on her is the best I have found.  She is the first with the brew house (which I love), but is still pre go-carts and laser tag (which are not things I would do).   She is also the only ship in the entire fleet with Pincho Tapas which is a pay to eat but great IMHO.

[Hutcha]

Definitely worth giving Escape a try. I prefer RC for kids, but it doesn't sound like that's an issue here. The food and entertainment is on par with RC. I feel like NCL tries to squeeze more money out of you vs Royal, but it's manageable. 

[bkrickles1]

37 minutes ago, mac66 said:

Our first cruise was on NCL in 1979. We sailed them again in 1989.  Then did a Hawaii cruise in 2007 and again in 2017.  The first two cruises were 3 & 4 day cruises. The second 2 were 7 nighters around the Hawaiian islands. The ship (Pride of America) in Hawaii was relatively small and was pretty worn by the time we sailed her again in 2017.  Service and food were marginal as well but that kind of goes with the port heavy itinerary. We weren't on board very much except to sleep.

 

In the mean time we pretty much switched to Royal and Celebrity and are at levels to get perks. But....we are a long way from the next levels and are considering at trying NCL again.  They have an early December cruise at a good price and interesting itinerary on the Escape. 

 

So...tell me about the Escape and tell be why I should try NCL again? Comparisons between Royal and NCL would help.

My last 2 sailings were on the Escape and Encore and both were terrific, with the Escape getting the edge for me. 

Spice H2O is a great area on Escape while the lack of observation lounge is a negative, there are so many great venues and the entertainment is outstanding. We especially loved Choir of Man. 

I've sailed the most on Royal and have sailed celebrity a few times too. Royal and ncl are very similar with ncl being more casual. I found the food and entertainment to be pretty equal too. 

Celebrity food is better but they can't match ncl for entertainment. 

I've enjoyed ncl so much that we just booked a sailing on Joy for late June and can't wait. 

I'll switch around in the future to other lines but I wouldn't view royal and celebrity as a cut above. I've loved my ncl sailings and Escape is a great choice. 

[tallnthensome]

With NCL having the worst pricing to value right now versus other lines  I wouldn't book NCL right now. 

[Yesimapirate]

Here's my feeling:

 

If you have to ask strangers on the internet to convince you to take a cruise line, you probably shouldn't. 

 

The itinerary,  price, convince from your home, entertainment,  food, etc should be able to convince you.   If they don't then you're probably better off taking a different vacation. 

 

The entire point of vacation is to do something different than your everyday life.  We don't get that many opportunities.   Invest your time and money in a vacation you're sure will make you happy.

[Starry Eyes]

I think you should disregard your POA experiences; it differs enough from the rest of NCL to merit separate discussion.

We are Sapphire on NCL and D+ on RCL; obviously we like both. Royal has the better loyalty program for us, but we sail for the joy of cruising not for loyalty rewards. We change up lines for the variety…different venues, different menus, different shows, different vibe.  NCL is a laidback, fun cruise line.  Try not to compare too much; let it be what it is and enjoy each line’s own flavor if you can.  If you like to splurge, NCL is known for their Haven suite experience; consider it if that is something you like to spring for even now and then…if suites are not your thing or not in budget, skip it, of course.  I rarely choose a cruise just for the itinerary, as those can change (weather, port covid restrictions, any old thing); think carefully will you be unhappy if this itinerary changes (this goes for any cruise, any line).

[karmamule]

In your shoes I would ask myself why you want to try NCL again if you're enjoying Royal Caribbean or Celebrity? Is there something lacking in either of those 2 lines, or is it just idle curiosity?

 

So far we've been on 1 NCL cruise on the Escape in 2017 and have 2 more coming up: the Joy in May of this year and the Prima in January of 2023. In the interim we've been on several MSC cruises and our first RCL cruise. All of those were fun, but here's why we're going on NCL again based on our Escape experience:

 

• Their specialty restaurants are still our favorites, with Food Republic and Le Bistro being standouts.
• We loved District Brewhouse and haven't seen its equivalent on the other ships we've been on.
• We love having a 24/7 restaurant (the Local) available. You always know where you can go for a quick bite if you're restless and wandering the ship in the wee hours of the morning. No wondering if it's open or not.
• While all cruise lines have become less formal, NCL is the most thoroughly casual and we love casual.
• They had some surprisingly delicious snacks and mini sandwiches off to the side in their casino. Sometimes it's the little things that make an impression.
• The waterfront on deck 8 with lots of outdoor seating was very enjoyable for us. Other ships have similar areas but we loved the abundance of small seating areas along the water that never felt crowded and were great places to relax.

 

[ppcox]

3 hours ago, mac66 said:

Our first cruise was on NCL in 1979. We sailed them again in 1989.  Then did a Hawaii cruise in 2007 and again in 2017.  The first two cruises were 3 & 4 day cruises. The second 2 were 7 nighters around the Hawaiian islands. The ship (Pride of America) in Hawaii was relatively small and was pretty worn by the time we sailed her again in 2017.  Service and food were marginal as well but that kind of goes with the port heavy itinerary. We weren't on board very much except to sleep.

 

In the mean time we pretty much switched to Royal and Celebrity and are at levels to get perks. But....we are a long way from the next levels and are considering at trying NCL again.  They have an early December cruise at a good price and interesting itinerary on the Escape. 

 

So...tell me about the Escape and tell be why I should try NCL again? Comparisons between Royal and NCL would help.

I think its difficult without knowing your preferences. I can just tell you what we love about NCL and the Escape. We did a Royal cruise early 2020 and there were things we really preferred on NCL. I’ll list the ones that come to mind

• NCL provides a lot of choices where to eat and drink. Very different types of restaurants and bars with different atmospheres, different types of live music can always find something you enjoy. You can go with what you feel like.
• Have dinner in the one of the 3 dinning rooms ( comp) and sit on a table the size of your party (2)no sharing the table and have to seat with strangers.
• same for breakfast if you go to the restaurant you get a table for 2 no waiting to fill the large table up with strangers and waiting ages for the order to be taken.
• NCLs entertainment is in a different class. Brilliant broadway standard shows, comedy , variety of music genres from Beatles tribute to jazz
• Lots to do like quiz’s or try the rope course or spend time at the pool or buy spa passes and relax in the thermal pool and read a book on a heated lounger with amazing views.
• Love NCLs speciality restaurants even better when you get some with a “Free at Sea offer”

We did think the food in the complimentary restaurants was slightly better on the Royal than NCL but it didn’t compensate for the table sharing issue. They called it anytime dinning but really it wasn’t we were kept waiting an hour with NCL you choose where and when you eat or book if you want too. We book our speciality restaurants and leave the other nights to account for how we feel. 

Brand loyalty with cruising is tough to break, we never have had a bad cruise vacation so if the dates, itinerary and price suits you go for it. The Escape is big and beautiful.You may not have the recognition from the same staff as you are probably used too with Free style cruising and lots of choices you could be in a different bar / restaurant every night but that’s up to you. Hope this helps.

[Oceansaway17]

the Escape has a wonderful Spice H20, and a really good SPA with a big sized Thallosophy pool.

The Escape won't have the noisy race cars in the back either.

And the artwork on the hull is really interesting especially up close.

 

I think NCL does the best in the industry for Solo rooms with dedicated inner hallway and lounge.

Many times I have seen a grandparent of Aunt or Uncle have their own room whilst the rest of the family is elsewhere. 

 

ESCAPE IS A GREAT SHIP.  just book it and you will be glad.  Oh and the Bliss is nice too. Bigger observation room in front than Escape.

[mac66]

Thanks for the replies. Keep em coming...

 

We like Royal and Celebrity (X) and because of the loyalty perks pretty much stay with them but we are at a point where it's long jump to the next level up i.e decades away at 2-3 cruises a year, so why not try somewhere else?

 

We've had no problem getting a table for two in the dining room on either Royal or Celebrity. In some cases we miss sitting at tables with others, Have made great friends that way.  The last two X cruises we were on we struck up conversation with the couple who were adjacent to us at a two person table and ended up hanging out with them in both cases. Dining is not really an issue with us.

 

We are however intrigued with the layout and configuration the Escape class ships. We are open to see how NCL does things. As they say, variety is the spice of life.

[karmamule]

1 hour ago, mac66 said:

Thanks for the replies. Keep em coming...

 

We like Royal and Celebrity (X) and because of the loyalty perks pretty much stay with them but we are at a point where it's long jump to the next level up i.e decades away at 2-3 cruises a year, so why not try somewhere else?

 

We've had no problem getting a table for two in the dining room on either Royal or Celebrity. In some cases we miss sitting at tables with others, Have made great friends that way.  The last two X cruises we were on we struck up conversation with the couple who were adjacent to us at a two person table and ended up hanging out with them in both cases. Dining is not really an issue with us.

 

We are however intrigued with the layout and configuration the Escape class ships. We are open to see how NCL does things. As they say, variety is the spice of life.

 

I totally get the 'variety is the spice of life' argument! It's why we've already tried RCL for the first time recently and will be trying Carnival then Virgin Voyages for the first time later this year and early next. 

Edited March 28, 2022 by karmamule

[mac66]

19 minutes ago, karmamule said:

 

I totally get the 'variety is the spice of life' argument! It's why we've already tried RCL for the first time recently and will be trying Carnival then Virgin Voyages for the first time later this year and early next. 

 

Yeah, after awhile the dining, bars, entertainment is all the same on every ship of the same cruise line. That's kinda why we switch back and forth between Royal and X and between the giant Oasis class Royal ships and some the smaller ones.  Consistency in quality and experience is nice but a little variety never hurts.

 

PS. We've been on Carnival twice for high school senior trips. They were fun cruises but Royal and NCL is a step up from them.

[BermudaBound2014]

5 hours ago, mac66 said:

Our first cruise was on NCL in 1979. We sailed them again in 1989.  Then did a Hawaii cruise in 2007 and again in 2017.  The first two cruises were 3 & 4 day cruises. The second 2 were 7 nighters around the Hawaiian islands. The ship (Pride of America) in Hawaii was relatively small and was pretty worn by the time we sailed her again in 2017.  Service and food were marginal as well but that kind of goes with the port heavy itinerary. We weren't on board very much except to sleep.

 

In the mean time we pretty much switched to Royal and Celebrity and are at levels to get perks. But....we are a long way from the next levels and are considering at trying NCL again.  They have an early December cruise at a good price and interesting itinerary on the Escape. 

 

So...tell me about the Escape and tell be why I should try NCL again? Comparisons between Royal and NCL would help.

 

As cruise lines expand their fleet I've found that it's difficult to make comparisons between lines, and much more accurate to make direct comparisons between each ship.

 

Example: If you are comparing Rhapsody of the Seas with Escape, it's a no brainer. But if you are comparing an Oasis class with Escape, you will find that the Escape has a much higher space ratio (it will feel more crowded). 

 

A few things to note about Escape which may be of interest:

1) The waterfront. It's really a great use of space and opens the ship up to the sea.

2) O'Sheehans blows away Sorrento. I haven't found a cruise line offering anything similar and we do enjoy O'sheehans after a bar night.

3) District brew house is a great venue for a bear lover.

4) We enjoy the varied entertainment on NCL a bit better overall.

 

With all that said, I have zero brand loyalty. I believe that when it's all said and done they have much more in common than different (especially if you are comparing similar age/size ships). Of the mainstream lines my personal preference is Celebrity, but DH prefers NCL (primarily for the district brew hous and O'Sheehan's lol). 

 

Hope that helps in some small way. Best to you 🙂

 

[mac66]

2 minutes ago, BermudaBound2014 said:

 

As cruise lines expand their fleet I've found that it's difficult to make comparisons between lines, and much more accurate to make direct comparisons between each ship.

 

Example: If you are comparing Rhapsody of the Seas with Escape, it's a no brainer. But if you are comparing an Oasis class with Escape, you will find that the Escape has a much higher space ratio (it will feel more crowded). 

 

A few things to note about Escape which may be of interest:

1) The waterfront. It's really a great use of space and opens the ship up to the sea.

2) O'Sheehans blows away Sorrento. I haven't found a cruise line offering anything similar and we do enjoy O'sheehans after a bar night.

3) District brew house is a great venue for a bear lover.

4) We enjoy the varied entertainment on NCL a bit better overall.

 

With all that said, I have zero brand loyalty. I believe that when it's all said and done they have much more in common than different (especially if you are comparing similar age/size ships). Of the mainstream lines my personal preference is Celebrity, but DH prefers NCL (primarily for the district brew hous and O'Sheehan's lol). 

 

Hope that helps in some small way. Best to you 🙂

 

 

Those 4 things you mentioned are note worthy. Besides I love bears 😁

[BermudaBound2014]

10 minutes ago, mac66 said:

 

Those 4 things you mentioned are note worthy. Besides I love bears 😁

 

HAHAHAH... me too!!

 

My auto correct is consistently drunk :), couple that with flying fingers and I can't tell you the number of times I've made hilarious mistakes :). 🙂 🙂 

[scorpioncrawl]

Sail the Encore!! It will change your mind!!!! Best. Ship. Ever.

[hallux]

7 minutes ago, scorpioncrawl said:

Sail the Encore!! It will change your mind!!!! Best. Ship. Ever.

We'll need to agree to disagree on this. I haven't sailed her (and unless you've forgotten to update your signature you haven't either), but as someone not willing to pay extra just to find some space on deck some of the design choices give me pause.  But, this thread isn't about the Encore.

[karmamule]

5 hours ago, mac66 said:

 

Yeah, after awhile the dining, bars, entertainment is all the same on every ship of the same cruise line. That's kinda why we switch back and forth between Royal and X and between the giant Oasis class Royal ships and some the smaller ones.  Consistency in quality and experience is nice but a little variety never hurts.

 

PS. We've been on Carnival twice for high school senior trips. They were fun cruises but Royal and NCL is a step up from them.

Normally we wouldn’t bother with Carnival but we’re going on the Mardi Gras and that looks like  a nice ship.

[Broons77]

Interesting thread, as we're kind of in the same spot - we've only sailed Royal but are taking our first NCL cruise on the Pearl out of Boston in May.  We love Royal, but at the end of the day both lines are doing the same thing in much the same way.  I'm looking forward to seeing how NCL goes about it and am unlikely to complain about much.  I'm pretty sure on both ships I can expect to go someplace sunny and warm, expect to not have to make my bed, and to not have to walk more than 5 minutes before finding a glass or a fork in my hand.  I've read that the food on Royal is marginally better as is the service experience on NCL, so that's as good a place as any to start my comparisons.

 

One thing I can say for sure is that I've found NCL really does seem to be the more expensive of the mass market lines, especially out of the Northeast.  Even with the Free at Sea promos against paying for these things on Royal, some of the sailings were 10 - 20% more.  Hopefully that will work itself out as they get back to full operations.

[mac66]

Without getting in too much detail about our cruising habits I will say that after 25+ cruises over the course of 40 years we are pretty easy to please. While we've done suites on Royal and like balconies we are as likely to do a inside as well. Last December we booked 4 balcony cabins on Royal with our kids and their spouses but our last two Celebrity cruises were booked insides. Though we were upgraded to a balcony on our last due to the ship being 2/3 full. 

 

We are booked on an inside on our Celebrity Iceland/Greenland cruise in August. Those are/were all make up cruises from 2020 & 2021.  We tend to try and weigh the cost of a suite vs. the cost of more cruises. A suite on Celebrity is sometimes 2 or 3 times the cost of an inside.   Sometimes we are just looking for the cheapest cabin, just to go.    So... either go big or go more?

 

  We typically don't do spas, or specialty dining or buy the other ups that are offered. We don't gamble or use our phones or the internet.  We don't usually get drink packages since we get a certain number of "free" drinks on Royal at our level. Most Celebrity cruises has the All In perks included in the fare.  We typically book our own shore excursions except with the covid protocols in place pretty much stuck to ship excursions this year.  We usually end up with a zero balance on our account at the end of a cruise.   We are not the kind of cruisers the cruise companies wring their hands in glee over. 😉

 

So bottom line is that we cruise to pretty much just chill and visit interesting places. 

Edited March 29, 2022 by mac66

[scorpioncrawl]

Recently off the Encore...signature not updated, but thank you for noticing...seriously?! And so agree with the prior post of, if you have to ask strangers to convince you to cruise??? Then you shouldn't

Edited March 29, 2022 by scorpioncrawl

[steveknj]

I've sailed on RCL, Carnival and NCL, which is our go to.   I haven't been on the Encore, but I echo alot of what's been said.  I like NCL because I find that they are kind of midway between staid and fun.  Carnival is all about fun, and if you like all those activities and parties, that's the line for you.  RCL is more staid, in that there seems to be a lot more "old school' feel to their cruises (full disclosure I haven't been on an RCL "Megaship" like the Oasis, but have been on the Anthem and one of the smaller "midsized" ships).  NCL for me gives you both fun, if you like that sort of thing, but it's not as "crazy" as Carnival.   But for us, it usually comes down to price / itinerary / home port and right now, sailing out of NYC is important, until covid is completely over and flying become less restrictive/cost prohibitive.  

[ziggyuk]

On 3/28/2022 at 7:41 PM, mac66 said:

We like Royal and Celebrity (X) and because of the loyalty perks pretty much stay with them but we are at a point where it's long jump to the next level up i.e decades away at 2-3 cruises a year, so why not try somewhere else?

 

Why not try MSC? They are the only cruise line that will match your current status with Royal/celebrity.
You will be starting with a good level of perks.