RCCL Cruiser booked NCL, what could possibly go wrong...

[SPacificbound]

We have been cruising with Royal Caribbean, Celebrity and Cunard for 10 years. 

 

I decided to mix it up and book NCL Prima cruise out of Galveston for next November.

 

In reading in this sub-forum I've been trying to get a feel for the differences between Royal and NCL. Any Royal and NCL cruisers, I welcome your comments.

[MSUjohn]

i have been on a dozen NCL cruises and royal Carribean cruises.
honestly, they are not radically different (i have never been on the oasis class royal ships).
royal has a more active "vibe" and ncl a more relaxed "vibe", by the "vibes" perceived. in reality the two lines are very similar. 

[European_CruiseGirl]

Pre cruise it is good to know that NCL does not do the same kind of discounts on shore excursions, dinners, wifi packages etc through their app like RCCL does. The price is what it is and the only way for the price is up (happens usually but not limited to beginning of the year). So if you see a shore excursion or wifi package or whatever that you want just buy it. It won’t go on sale - ever.
 

Another difference is that even if you have the dining package (as part of free at sea or if you have purchased extra dining credits through the app) you can make reservations in advance for the restaurants of your choice. Reservations open 130-120 days before your cruise depending on your cabin class and past passenger program status. If you are 3, book a table for 4. If you are 5 book a table for 6 etc. NCL reservation systems do not understand odd numbers 😄
 

Shows…NCL used to have better/more big production shows available. Now it’s 1(-2) bigger shows so definitely less than on the big RCCL ships. If you love the RCCL production shows you will be disappointed. 
 

Main dining room. Unless you are a big group there is no need to reserve a table in beforehand at NCL. They know how to handle anytime dining whereas RCCL my time dining is usually a complete mess. 
 

Edited December 8, 2023 by European_CruiseGirl

[cruiser2015]

2 hours ago, SPacificbound said:

We have been cruising with Royal Caribbean, Celebrity and Cunard for 10 years. 

 

I decided to mix it up and book NCL Prima cruise out of Galveston for next November.

 

In reading in this sub-forum I've been trying to get a feel for the differences between Royal and NCL. Any Royal and NCL cruisers, I welcome your comments.

We did a Costa waaay back and a Princess; plus several each on NCL & Royal.

The later two are my favorites.

Now, we haven't sailed since before Covid. Overall, the two have a lot of the same feel.

As others have written on these boards, things have been changing, like cutting back on the big shows. RCCL has the most outrageous ships, in my opinion.  I did bumper cars on Anthem. Looking forward to the go karts on Bliss.

11 months to go...long wait; I think you will enjoy it.

[kitkat343]

As a general rule, the mainstream cruise lines are more similar than different.

 

If you are sailing on NCL, it is extremely important to check the cancellation policies for private tours before you book.  On my last cruise NCL cancelled a port and the morning of another after final payment to help the environment and continued to advertise the original itinerary with the cancelled ports for the entire month until we sailed.  They didn't let anyone cancel, including people who booked directly with them after the cancellations but were not notified.  

 

 

 

So when I found an amazing itinerary visiting Norway and Iceland on the Prima last summer, I was extremely hesitant to book and finally chose not to.  There were some  issues on the Prima last summer with the Iceland itinerary.  My best advise to you would be to read the recent Prima reviews on cruise critic to see if there are any issues with your itinerary or on the ship recently (the problems in Iceland will hopefully be lessened after the port construction in Isafjordur is completed).  If you are traveling with people with disabilities or small children, please research whichever backup ports they sometimes go to if they have been cancelling ports on your specific itinerary (for me it was researching GSK and Nassau since there was a possibility one of them would be substituted, but on my specific sailing we instead just got an extra sea day)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[wolft927]

So Cruising Royal many times as well as NCL many times I would say Unless you are sailing one of the Oasis Class ships they are very similar! I will give NCL Freestyle dining a huge edge when comparing to anytime dining on RCCL. Whenever we have done Anytime on RCCL we always have a long wait, especially on the Oasis Class Ships. 

 

[Two Wheels Only]

4 hours ago, kitkat343 said:

As a general rule, the mainstream cruise lines are more similar than different.

 

I agree.

 

Unfortunately, what happens far too often is that people trying a new (to them) cruise line will focus on the differences and the review will be filled with "...but I like how our usual cruise line does things.." and the review will be negative.

 

No cruise line is perfect. No ship is perfect. No cruise is perfect. If people decide to spend their vacation looking for things to complain about, things will easily be found.

 

You'll probably find that more people prefer NCL to RCCL when on the NCL forum. You'll probably find that more people prefer RCCL to NCL when on the RCCL forum. The 2 lines are more the same than different.

 

Celebrity and Cunard are generally an older demographic (empty nester types) but RCCL and NCL will generally have younger people, parents with young children, and possibly the grandparents who get suckered into babysitting. 😁

[cruiser2015]

4 hours ago, kitkat343 said:

As a general rule, the mainstream cruise lines are more similar than different.

 

If you are sailing on NCL, it is extremely important to check the cancellation policies for private tours before you book.  On my last cruise NCL cancelled a port and the morning of another after final payment to help the environment and continued to advertise the original itinerary with the cancelled ports for the entire month until we sailed.  They didn't let anyone cancel, including people who booked directly with them after the cancellations but were not notified.  

 

 

 

So when I found an amazing itinerary visiting Norway and Iceland on the Prima last summer, I was extremely hesitant to book and finally chose not to.  There were some  issues on the Prima last summer with the Iceland itinerary.  My best advise to you would be to read the recent Prima reviews on cruise critic to see if there are any issues with your itinerary or on the ship recently (the problems in Iceland will hopefully be lessened after the port construction in Isafjordur is completed).  If you are traveling with people with disabilities or small children, please research whichever backup ports they sometimes go to if they have been cancelling ports on your specific itinerary (for me it was researching GSK and Nassau since there was a possibility one of them would be substituted, but on my specific sailing we instead just got an extra sea day)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sadly, another reason that private tours are a risk.

But why do you call out NCL specifically?  Sure you had a bad experience.

But, port cancellations happen with every cruise line.

[mjkacmom]

24 minutes ago, cruiser2015 said:

Sadly, another reason that private tours are a risk.

But why do you call out NCL specifically?  Sure you had a bad experience.

But, port cancellations happen with every cruise line.

This post had been copied and pasted dozens of times on all types of different threads, someone needs to get over it.

[Liljo22]

6 hours ago, kitkat343 said:

As a general rule, the mainstream cruise lines are more similar than different.

 

If you are sailing on NCL, it is extremely important to check the cancellation policies for private tours before you book.  On my last cruise NCL cancelled a port and the morning of another after final payment to help the environment and continued to advertise the original itinerary with the cancelled ports for the entire month until we sailed.  They didn't let anyone cancel, including people who booked directly with them after the cancellations but were not notified.  

 

 

 

So when I found an amazing itinerary visiting Norway and Iceland on the Prima last summer, I was extremely hesitant to book and finally chose not to.  There were some  issues on the Prima last summer with the Iceland itinerary.  My best advise to you would be to read the recent Prima reviews on cruise critic to see if there are any issues with your itinerary or on the ship recently (the problems in Iceland will hopefully be lessened after the port construction in Isafjordur is completed).  If you are traveling with people with disabilities or small children, please research whichever backup ports they sometimes go to if they have been cancelling ports on your specific itinerary (for me it was researching GSK and Nassau since there was a possibility one of them would be substituted, but on my specific sailing we instead just got an extra sea day)

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Galveston cruises go to Cozumel, Costa Maya, Roatan and their private island in Belize.  Those are standard Caribbean ports out of Galveston/New Orleans.  NCL is not cancelling those ports for environmental reason.  The only reason one of ports would be cancelled is if the weather is too bad to dock that day.  

Edited December 8, 2023 by Liljo22

[European_CruiseGirl]

10 minutes ago, Liljo22 said:

The Galveston cruises go to Cozumel, Costa Maya, Roatan and their private island in Belize.  Those are standard Caribbean ports out of Galveston/New Orleans.  NCL is not cancelling those ports for environmental reason.  The only reason one of ports would be cancelled is if the weather is too bad to dock that day.  

Cancel no. Change times - yes. Funnily enough we just two days ago received NCL info that our cruise - to those exact ports - have new timings 🤣 They were not big changes but changes nonetheless. For example at Cozumel we leave at 5PM instead of 6PM. That could potentially screw someones private tour to Tulum or Xcaret. The reason for the changes:

 

”As we optimize itineraries for fuel efficiencies, we have modified Norwegian Joy's itinerary as shown below.”

 

🤣

Edited December 8, 2023 by European_CruiseGirl

[graphicguy]

10 hours ago, SPacificbound said:

We have been cruising with Royal Caribbean, Celebrity and Cunard for 10 years. 

 

I decided to mix it up and book NCL Prima cruise out of Galveston for next November.

 

In reading in this sub-forum I've been trying to get a feel for the differences between Royal and NCL. Any Royal and NCL cruisers, I welcome your comments.

Diamond on Royal.

Sapphire on NCL.

 

Entertainment on Prima....

 

-DONNA...Donna Summer musical that seems to have rave reviews.  I don't know as I've not seen it yet, but will when I sail in a couple of months

-Syd Norman's....House Band....outstanding.  I have seen the Syd Norman band shows on other ships.  Simply put, they are the best house band I've ever seen on ANY ship on ANY line.  Fleetwodd Mac Rumours show and Prom Nite are particularly good

-Typical trivia and dance lessons in the main atrium

-Guitar and piano players in the different lounges throughout the ship.

 

Free at Sea (FAS) the ubiquitous perk package consists of some internet minutes, a $50 credit for excursions, drink package (only pay for tips) and Specialty Dining (again, only pay for tips).  Unless you book a bare bones cruise package and reject the perks, you'll get these.  As such, the drinks are WAY cheaper than the packages on Royal.  Specialty Dining is similar, but again WAY cheaper as you're only paying for the tips.  Cagney's is the steak house that's similar to Chops.  Onda is the Italian restaurant (have not dined but heard it's quite good), Palomar is seafood, Nama is sushi, Los Lobos is Mexican, Food Republic is the World Cuisine Restaurant, Hasuki is the Benihana type restaurant, and Le Bistro is the French specialty dining restaurant.  For FAS sailing 7 days, you get to pick from 2 of the above.  Or, you can buy another package (another 2 additional Specialty Restaurants) which I think is ~$85 pp for the 2.  

 

No charge restaurants....

 

The newer concept, Indulge, is a complimentary diner type of restaurant where you pick and choose from a tablet dishes that feature different cuisines to choose from.   There's Hudsons, the traditional MDR, the Buffet, and The Local, which is open 20-21 hours and features burgers, hotdogs, sandwiches, fries, and complete breakfast and dinner menus depending on the time of day.

 

All dining options are part of the "freestyle" concept.  You don't have to make reservations.  Just walk up to one you want to dine.  You may have a wait, but I've never waited more than 10-15 minutes.

 

Dress...casual.  There are no formal nites, per se. There is a nite where there will be a lot of photographers milling about if you want to dress up for pictures, but that's it.  LeBistro does require long pants to dine there, unless you dine outside (which I HIGHLY recommend) so you can wear shorts.

 

The pics of the cabins are wonderful.  They look big and airy, even the inside cabins, with large bathrooms.

 

Overall, while Royal likes to focus on the interior of the ship, NCL is the opposite.  They have a what they call the Waterfront, which features many bars and restaurant dining outdoors. It also features many couches and chairs overlooking the water outside to read, have conversations and/or relax.  The Observation Lounge is an area similar to 270 on Royal.  No acrobatic type of entertainment like 270, but it has large floor to ceiling windows with a 270º view with piano players and singing at nite.  It's also a great place for breakfast and lunch snacks/sandwiches/bagels/fruit, etc.  And, theres a full bar.

 

Royal does pools better.  NCL's pools are small, but there are loungers above the pool area for sunning and overlooking the water.  Personally, I never even use the pools on cruises any more.  Not worth the crowds.

 

That's the Reader's Digest answer to your question.

 

 

[schmoopie17]

"What could possibly go wrong?"

 

Two words...hash browns.

[graphicguy]

2 hours ago, European_CruiseGirl said:

Cancel no. Change times - yes. Funnily enough we just two days ago received NCL info that our cruise - to those exact ports - have new timings 🤣 They were not big changes but changes nonetheless. For example at Cozumel we leave at 5PM instead of 6PM. That could potentially screw someones private tour to Tulum or Xcaret. The reason for the changes:

 

”As we optimize itineraries for fuel efficiencies, we have modified Norwegian Joy's itinerary as shown below.”

 

🤣

3rd party excursions in Cancun or Cozumel aren't something I'd book again.  If they're that tight in getting you back to the ship, I don't think I'd book one.  Cancun/Cozumel 3rd party tours can range from good to abysmal.  Problem, you never know which is which.

 

Have had a bus break down on a 3rd party excursion...another time had an argument break out between two competing tour operators as to who was taking us on a tour.  Had another that simply didn't show up at the pick up site/time and had to find a taxi at the last minute take us back to the ship (at extra cost).  Had to get my charge card customer service to reverse the charges but was still stuck with the Taxi charge.

 

In brief, go with the ship's excursions so you have some protection.  

 

Not saying you can't find a good tour operator in either place.  Just saying you'll easily find poor ones, too.

[SPacificbound]

Thank you to all who responded!

 

Graphic Guy, thank you the Readers Digest edition!!

[AstoriaPreppy]

As someone who has done both lines multiple times, I'd say that much of what people say here is correct. I'd note that NCL allows you to wear shorts/t shirts in almost all formal dining spaces at dinner time, which is something Royal Caribbean still suggests isn't okay. 

 

One thing I'd say is that we've found NCL's service to be efficient, but less personalized and friendly, especially with bars. When a huge percentage of your passengers have a beverage package included with booking, the bars on NCL can get frantic. It's the only line we've ever sailed on that has installed rope and stanchions to queue people up for beverage service. That said, NCL allows you to order two drinks at a time per-person, which is something we appreciate. 

 

The other thing I'd note is that NCL's customer service onboard can be... odd? When issues happen, NCL will often approach a situation from a "you are wrong" perspective instead of a "solving problems" perspective, more than other lines we've sailed. For example, we've had poor shore excursion experiences on both lines, and while Royal/Celebrity has investigated and offered partial refunds (even post sailing!), NCL's approach is often eye-rolling and shrugs, with no resolution.

 

This is completely anecdotal, but we've always felt like the culture at NCL doesn't empower all of their staff to resolve things, where Royal takes a more customer-oriented approach for all crew onboard... it's hard to describe, but we have noticed it a bunch of times over the years. 

[cooncat_mom]

We’ve done all 3 mainstream lines, with Carnival Venezia as our latest cruise. (Our first time on Carnival in 10 years.) We’ve decided that we weren’t fond of Carnival and are more suited to NCL because it’s more casual, there’s a coffee package, we’ve enjoyed the entertainment more and there’s no formal night - or - RCCL because it’s got some interesting shows, and a good Vegan menu (I’m very lactose intolerant and having an actual vegan menu means choosing food is much easier for me…plus they had some really good dishes!) and we really enjoy the Promenade rooms on the mid-size ships and the Central Park and Boardwalk balcony cabins on the Oasis size ships. We also like the cabanas (RCCL) and villas (NCL) on the private islands. Carnival’s island and cabanas didn’t impress us at all. In all honesty, we did enjoy our Carnival cruise even though it’s not our favorite atmosphere.  Give us a ship, a balcony and someone who feeds us and we’re good! If you go with a happy vacation mindset, it will be fine.

[graphicguy]

The issues I've had with Royal's Central Park and Promenade facing cabins is others can see inside your cabin and balcony.... cabins facing your from both the balconies of others with inter facing balconies and those walking on the Promenade and the Park areas.  I don't want that.

 

All of NCL's Prima balcony cabins face the water.  Unless you're  docked close to another ship, or someone has some sort of telescope pointing at your particular cabin from afar, NCL's balcony cabins are much more private.

 

 

To get a water facing balcony cabin on Royal, you have to pay a higher fare.

Edited December 9, 2023 by graphicguy

[AstoriaPreppy]

1 hour ago, graphicguy said:

The issues I've had with Royal's Central Park and Promenade facing cabins is others can see inside your cabin and balcony.... cabins facing your from both the balconies of others with inter facing balconies and those walking on the Promenade and the Park areas.  I don't want that.

 

Our single time in a promenade-view cabin, we saw almost zero passengers using/looking out their windows onto the promenade. The only person who ever looked or made eye contact with us was the server at Izumi (where we dined early on in the cruise), who would frantically wave each time he spotted us looking out the window, while he was busy trying to rope people into the specialty restaurant each evening.

[graphicguy]

Those cabins look at each other and others can look in...

[graphicguy]

Oasis class....again, the balconies face each other so people can see in, plus people can see your balcony activities from below...

[European_CruiseGirl]

I love those cabins as I like to people watch - not other people inside their cabins or balconies but the Boardwalk or Central Park area. I see the ocean each and every day from my window and balcony at home. I have zero interest in looking at the ocean from my balcony while on a cruise (there apparently can be such a thing as too much seaview) but still a window/balcony is nice. So those for me are my favourite cabins ☺️

Edited December 9, 2023 by European_CruiseGirl

[MSUjohn]

On 12/8/2023 at 11:13 AM, schmoopie17 said:

"What could possibly go wrong?"

 

Two words...hash browns.

i WILL give you the hash browns. the fast-food hash browns are ugh

[SPacificbound]

I appreciate all of the responses!

 

One thing for certain, I have never booked any cabin that did not have a real balcony where the ocean is. For Prima I have, for the first time ever, booked a forward facing suite.

[graphicguy]

13 hours ago, SPacificbound said:

I appreciate all of the responses!

 

One thing for certain, I have never booked any cabin that did not have a real balcony where the ocean is. For Prima I have, for the first time ever, booked a forward facing suite.

Feel the same....if what you want to do is people watch only when on vacation, just book a hotel in an amusement park or mall (which is what those inward facing balcony cabins remind of on Royal).   What's the purpose of being on a cruise ship otherwise?

 

And NO...you can never have too much of an ocean view and smells and sitting on a balcony overlooking the deep blue sea.  I enjoy having coffee in the a.m. on my balcony, a drink/nightcap at night on my ocean facing balcony, and sometimes just sit on my balcony to watch the pier runners after returning after a day of frivolity in port.

Edited December 10, 2023 by graphicguy