So Far Carnival is Winning vs NCL

[firefly333]

I enjoyed my ncl cruises, also my carnival and other brands. I've tried most except msc. Depends how often you cruise too. Sometimes its nice to mix it up and have new menus. I wouldnt say one line is better in all ways. I didnt like that ncl included some things and then there was a gratuity charge for things I wouldn't use. Also seems more tailored to non solos. Yes ncl has some tiny solo cabins, but other than that if small cabins solo arent your thing. 

 

I pushed on royal to get over 340 pts for the solo discount. Other than that solos do seem to not fare as well with lines that offer more all inclusive. I'd book without it even on ncl. Even if I had to wait to book. Like OP dont really want the inclusive ncl package.

[jimbo5544]

8 hours ago, aborgman said:

 

There is never a free lunch - but there are always some passengers subsidizing other passengers.

 

...and one CAN tailor their behavior in ways to make themselves one of those people being subsidized.

 

 

I am not sure I get your point.  Mine was that the way NCL sells it (Del Rio was great at this), the package appears to be a great deal, but the reality is that it is smoke and mirrors, and not a deal at all.

[jimbo5544]

7 hours ago, firefly333 said:

I enjoyed my ncl cruises, also my carnival and other brands. I've tried most except msc. Depends how often you cruise too. Sometimes its nice to mix it up and have new menus. I wouldnt say one line is better in all ways. I didnt like that ncl included some things and then there was a gratuity charge for things I wouldn't use. Also seems more tailored to non solos. Yes ncl has some tiny solo cabins, but other than that if small cabins solo arent your thing. 

 

I pushed on royal to get over 340 pts for the solo discount. Other than that solos do seem to not fare as well with lines that offer more all inclusive. I'd book without it even on ncl. Even if I had to wait to book. Like OP dont really want the inclusive ncl package.

Sometimes, variety is the spice of life

[Illbcruzn4life]

On 3/7/2024 at 10:53 AM, Daruma said:

Hiya, Folks. 

 

First off, my last cruise, which was my second cruise only, was on Disney about 15 years ago, and 10 years prior to that my first cruise on an unrememered cruise line... but we went to St. Marteen and St. Thomas. 

 

I'm definitely a cruising neophyte, lol. 

 

I had originally booked a 7 day cruise in mid April 2025 with NCL on the Escape... but for what I was paying there, (solo balcony... a new category for them), I've been able to instead, (canceled NCL), book a 7 day cruise to the EXACT same itinerary on Carnival Legend in early March 2025, (about 6 weeks earlier and also a balcony), AND a 4 day in September 2024 on Carnival Paradise, albeit an interior room, and with soda package on both, (I don't drink alcohol), AND excursions included on both... and I'm still saving about $800 😲😲

 

So, yes, of course, apples to oranges with regard to the ships, (the Escape is a much larger ship with more to do, maybe more shows, definitely more options for free and paid dining, etc), and NCL has its "Free at Sea" package... but it's NOT actually free, it's obviously built into the cruise fare. Additionally part of what is FAS but actually built into the price is their alcohol package... I don't drink, so to get soda, juice, etc I had to upgrade that package for sbout $34/day... less than $10/day gets me soda and juice on Carnival which is all I need... so no "base" alcohol package with an additional upgrade cost to get soda & juice. 

 

"Free" 150 minutes of WiFi? No thanks, I'll never use it... the whole point of a vacation for me is to disconnect. 

 

Two "free" Specialty Dining options... I'd use them ONLY because I did essentially pay for them... but it's something, that were it separate, I would not get... I'm not a "Foodie" by any stretch of the imagination. 

 

So, all of that adds into the cost difference, most/all of which I don't care about... and as I said, I get TWO cruises and still SAVE money, lol. 

 

Assuming that I take to cruising like a duck to water, I'm not sure I'd ever go on NCL 🤷

 

sounds like you did really well. Tampa and Carnivals older ships have some really good deals. When my wife retires next week you might find us on one of those sailings. Enjoy!

[Saint Greg]

14 hours ago, jimbo5544 said:

I am not sure I get your point.  Mine was that the way NCL sells it (Del Rio was great at this), the package appears to be a great deal, but the reality is that it is smoke and mirrors, and not a deal at all.

You’re saying free at sea isn’t a deal? I can guarantee you that you’re wrong. We can go through it if you want. Free at sea is a great deal. Cruise first/cruise next certificates are a great deal. And 10% off for veterans is a great deal. I use all of them with NCL. Carnival has no deals unless you get a casino offer.

 

 

Edited March 9 by Saint Greg

[jimbo5544]

1 minute ago, Saint Greg said:

You’re saying free at sea isn’t a deal? I can guarantee you that you’re wrong. We can go through it if you want. Free at sea is a great deal. Cruise first/cruise next certificates are a great deal. And 10% off for veterans is a great deal. I use all of them with NCL. Carnival has no deals unless you get a casino offer.

 

 

I am wrong all the time.  What I am saying is “the deal” is in the marketing. If I was not a drinker, could I get the room cheaper?  I was not referring to discounts for Vets, first responders etc.  It was not a knock on NCL, we could discuss their nickel and diming (they all do it, NCL just lead the way and do it more (actually sat in on a seminar from Del Rio telling TA’s about this).  Future cruise discounts are another discussion.  You and I cruise a lot, the majority not so much.  It offers a discount and handcuffs the purchaser to that cruise line (maybe good, maybe not) but again a different discussion.

 

In terms of Carnival and pricing, there is little doubt, often, they are not the least expensive but may well be the higher end of the market.  We could debate to logic and rationale, but that would be a totally different topic and discussion..

[Saint Greg]

50 minutes ago, jimbo5544 said:

I am wrong all the time.  What I am saying is “the deal” is in the marketing. If I was not a drinker, could I get the room cheaper?  I was not referring to discounts for Vets, first responders etc.  It was not a knock on NCL, we could discuss their nickel and diming (they all do it, NCL just lead the way and do it more (actually sat in on a seminar from Del Rio telling TA’s about this).  Future cruise discounts are another discussion.  You and I cruise a lot, the majority not so much.  It offers a discount and handcuffs the purchaser to that cruise line (maybe good, maybe not) but again a different discussion.

 

If you look at post 20 in this thread I showed you where you can remove the alcohol gratuities and specialty dining gratuities. But that’s all it costs. $156 gratuity gets you most of the alcohol you could want. The only things I drink that aren’t on it is grey goose and Baileys. But I can get Tito’s and Mahoneys.  No 15 drink limit. No 5 minutes between drinks. I order two drinks at a time with them. $11 gratuity gets you two specialty dinners if you want it. No strings to either of those.
 

Now if you want premium beverage. You can get everything… and bundle it with WiFi and another specialty dinner for $300. If I went that far that’s $456 including gratuity. Thats about the same as cheers and you get internet and 3 specialty dinners with it.

 

As for the future cruise certificates yeah you can buy cruise next on the ship. They are good for like three years and they are transferable. I wasn’t ready to commit so I didn’t buy any of those.

 

What I’ve been doing is using cruise first. Those you can buy a $300 certificate for $150 at any time. Then they have specials that are $500 for $250. I caught one of those specials in January.
 

That’s how I do it. I wait until I’m ready to book and buy cruise next. You can only use one per cruise but they have specials where you can double up. I think you have to have a balcony or better to double up. 
 

I think gratuity was more expensive. $20/day and it hit your account every day. That’s the only thing I can think of that wasn’t a better deal. Those were the only charges I had on my account. No nickel and diming.

 

Edited March 9 by Saint Greg

[BlerkOne]

6 hours ago, Saint Greg said:

If you look at post 20 in this thread I showed you where you can remove the alcohol gratuities and specialty dining gratuities. But that’s all it costs. $156 gratuity gets you most of the alcohol you could want. The only things I drink that aren’t on it is grey goose and Baileys. But I can get Tito’s and Mahoneys.  No 15 drink limit. No 5 minutes between drinks. I order two drinks at a time with them. $11 gratuity gets you two specialty dinners if you want it. No strings to either of those.
 

 

 

Cost cost of the drink package is baked into the fare. Same with diners. You can decline the package to avoid the gratuity, but your fare doesn't go down a nickle.

 

Yes, we know NCL can have better deals for singles than Carnival.

[Saint Greg]

22 minutes ago, BlerkOne said:

Cost cost of the drink package is baked into the fare. Same with diners. You can decline the package to avoid the gratuity, but your fare doesn't go down a nickle.

 

Yes, we know NCL can have better deals for singles than Carnival.

I think their prices are probably better for everyone except casino players. I don’t think most couples enjoy dropping a grand a week for drinks on carnival.

 

[carohs]

6 hours ago, Saint Greg said:

I think their prices are probably better for everyone except casino players. I don’t think most couples enjoy dropping a grand a week for drinks on carnival.

 

Yes but are you comparing prices with an included drink package on both? OP has already provided examples of where Carnival comes out ahead if you have no interest in any drink package. For the most part we don't drink enough to make a package worth it and even when we do it's a nice glass of wine. You're right, we aren't spending the grand, we're bringing our two bottles and supplementing with a drink or two on board, which can be way cheaper than booking on NCL. NCL can also lose value for the customer if for example the customer isn't flying in. When you booked you looked at the total cost for things you would have purchased anyway out of pocket and NCL worked in your favor. But if I'm looking at a few nights, out of a port I can drive to, more likely than not NCL isn't going to be the best deal for me. 

 

You know what would be nice is if my allowed bottle of wine on CCL for a 3 night cruise, would be doubled for a 7 night cruise. Twice the nights, why shouldn't I be able to bring on two bottles? 

[Saint Greg]

26 minutes ago, carohs said:

Yes but are you comparing prices with an included drink package on both? OP has already provided examples of where Carnival comes out ahead if you have no interest in any drink package.

 

You clearly haven’t read all of my posts. I showed you where op was wrong. All he had to do was uncheck a box. See post 20.

 

I also posted this but I’ll do it again just for you. On Carnival I have to pay about 500 a week for a drink package. On NCL I only have to pay 150 for almost everything. If I go up to 450 it gives me all drinks plus internet and an additional (3rd) specialty dinner. On carnival that’s about 650 for the drinks and internet and $23-49 per specialty dinner.

 

Edited March 10 by Saint Greg

[icft]

37 minutes ago, carohs said:

Yes but are you comparing prices with an included drink package on both? OP has already provided examples of where Carnival comes out ahead if you have no interest in any drink package...

 

That's not a comparison I would make. I want to enjoy my cruise... 

[BlerkOne]

29 minutes ago, icft said:

That's not a comparison I would make. I want to enjoy my cruise... 

I want to remember mine...

 

For packages, I prefer Princess that includes gratuities, drinks, Internet and more.

[Saint Greg]

5 minutes ago, BlerkOne said:

I want to remember mine...

No problem…

 

 

[Saint Greg]

13 minutes ago, BlerkOne said:

For packages, I prefer Princess that includes gratuities, drinks, Internet and more.

I want to reiterate that you don’t have to buy a package for alcohol on NCL. The $156 gratuities a week gets you most things…unlimited.
 

But If you are buying the package Princess is nice. It’s $100 more than NCL but you get gratuities paid. You don’t exactly get streakhouse meals included like you do with NCL..but a couple nice lunches. You have the 15 drink limit to deal with but not the 5 minute rule. I ordered two at a time pretty regular. And they will deliver you unopened drinks anywhere on the ship. So on a port day where I wasn’t going to hit my limit, I’d place an order to my room for Coronas or Guinness and fill my fridge for the sea days.

 

Don’t ask me why but Coronas in a glass bottle are much better than the cans on Carnival. NCL and Princes have bottles for some beers.

 

Edited March 10 by Saint Greg

[BlerkOne]

4 minutes ago, Saint Greg said:

I want to reiterate that you don’t have to buy a package for alcohol on NCL. The $156 gratuities a week gets you most things…unlimited.
 

But If you are buying the package Princess is nice. It’s $100 more than NCL but you get gratuities paid. You don’t exactly get streakhouse meals included like you do with NCL..but a couple nice lunches. You have the 15 drink limit to deal with but not the 5 minute rule. I ordered two at a time pretty regular. And they will deliver you unopened drinks anywhere on the ship. So on a port day where I wasn’t going to hit my limit, I’d place an order to my room for Coronas or Guinness and fill my fridge for the sea days.

or for the premium package, you get the 2 paid meals, the photo package, unlimited lunches, reserve theater section, multiple internet connections,... But I like the sounds of a streakhouse.

[Saint Greg]

32 minutes ago, BlerkOne said:

or for the premium package, you get the 2 paid meals, the photo package, unlimited lunches, reserve theater section, multiple internet connections,... But I like the sounds of a streakhouse.

And that depends on the person. I wouldn’t use a photo package. Unlimited lunches on regal at least, would be too much. I’m not a sushi guy and I ate at Alfredo’s three times.
 

Unlike Carnival, NCL and PCL have the dining room open for lunch. And for buffet people ( I am not one) the Princess buffet is not to be missed. I went through it one day. It’s as big as carnival’s but every station was in use and they were all unique. The options were incomparable.

 

Multiple internet connections. Nice but not a big deal for a solo like me.

 

 

[jimbo5544]

21 hours ago, Saint Greg said:

If you look at post 20 in this thread I showed you where you can remove the alcohol gratuities and specialty dining gratuities. But that’s all it costs. $156 gratuity gets you most of the alcohol you could want. The only things I drink that aren’t on it is grey goose and Baileys. But I can get Tito’s and Mahoneys.  No 15 drink limit. No 5 minutes between drinks. I order two drinks at a time with them. $11 gratuity gets you two specialty dinners if you want it. No strings to either of those.
 

Now if you want premium beverage. You can get everything… and bundle it with WiFi and another specialty dinner for $300. If I went that far that’s $456 including gratuity. Thats about the same as cheers and you get internet and 3 specialty dinners with it.

 

As for the future cruise certificates yeah you can buy cruise next on the ship. They are good for like three years and they are transferable. I wasn’t ready to commit so I didn’t buy any of those.

 

What I’ve been doing is using cruise first. Those you can buy a $300 certificate for $150 at any time. Then they have specials that are $500 for $250. I caught one of those specials in January.
 

That’s how I do it. I wait until I’m ready to book and buy cruise next. You can only use one per cruise but they have specials where you can double up. I think you have to have a balcony or better to double up. 
 

I think gratuity was more expensive. $20/day and it hit your account every day. That’s the only thing I can think of that wasn’t a better deal. Those were the only charges I had on my account. No nickel and diming.

 

I was not comparing the two lines, just the fact of how they price it on NCL.  You understand how to use it for your benefit (as everybody should do).  The majority (vast) do not…don’t care either, they can spend their money how they want.  The way NCL wants it I might add, occasional light drinkers thinking they are getting drinks for free and getting a few a day.  The winner there is NCL (or any other line)  The nickel and diming I talked to was in the area of for pay opportunities.  NCL led the way in this area and while I do not have the desire t proof it out, believe they still do.  All cruise lines now do it.  Not a dig either, they changes cruising for a lot of us, freestyle dining as an example.

 

Future cruise certs have been tried and used on all lines, some still do (NCL and RCCL as example), Carnival dropped out of that, do not know why, not really important why either.  Last night I talked to an old friend I ran into who just got their first Princess cruise.  Do not what Princess calls it and cannot remember what CCL used to call it, but the early flight check in and your bags leave outside your door and show up at Baggage Claim at home airport).  They loved it, and are big Celebrity cruisers.  I can’t remember why Carnival dropped it (probably git over used, bu the point is everybody has their swizzle, all aimed at retraining and getting customers.   

[Saint Greg]

3 hours ago, jimbo5544 said:

 The way NCL wants it I might add, occasional light drinkers thinking they are getting drinks for free and getting a few a day.  The winner there is NCL (or any other line)  

Just for the $156 pp gratuity you get unlimited stuff on the left. And anyone who goes with that in your eyes is an “occasional light drinker” and naive for thinking they’re getting those drinks for free? You’re ridiculous.

 

 

Edited March 10 by Saint Greg

[LatinaInTexas]

On 3/9/2024 at 6:51 AM, Saint Greg said:

You’re saying free at sea isn’t a deal? I can guarantee you that you’re wrong. We can go through it if you want. Free at sea is a great deal. Cruise first/cruise next certificates are a great deal. And 10% off for veterans is a great deal. I use all of them with NCL. Carnival has no deals unless you get a casino offer.

 

 

I agree, the certificates and the Veterans discount are great deals that Carnival doesn't offer. Also there have been times when even using a casino deal didn't save me much over NCL, I'm talking about maybe a $50- $100 savings and I would have had to sail on an older and smaller ship. The drink package on NCL really works out for us compared to Carnivals. We are not big drinkers, just want something basic no extras needed so paying over a $1000 for Carnivals is of no value to us. Free at Sea has been a great deal for me also, I really like things bundled and so far haven't noticed any astronomical price differences over Carnival for it not to be a great deal.

[Saint Greg]

2 hours ago, LatinaInTexas said:

I agree, the certificates and the Veterans discount are great deals that Carnival doesn't offer. Also there have been times when even using a casino deal didn't save me much over NCL, I'm talking about maybe a $50- $100 savings and I would have had to sail on an older and smaller ship. The drink package on NCL really works out for us compared to Carnivals. We are not big drinkers, just want something basic no extras needed so paying over a $1000 for Carnivals is of no value to us. Free at Sea has been a great deal for me also, I really like things bundled and so far haven't noticed any astronomical price differences over Carnival for it not to be a great deal.

Next time I’m going to re-evaluate the difference between the $300 upgrade and just buying internet alone. Last time all I drank from the right side of the menu was Bailey’s and Starbucks. Probably Grey Goose but I’d be fine with Tito’s.

 

I think beer, Tito’s, Jameson, fireball, Bacardi, Capt Morgan, Malibu, Kahlua, pretty much covers me. I can live with a mahoneys substitute for Bailey’s.

 

If I’m in the solo area they have those fancy coffee machines I wouldn’t mind trying. In video tours I’ve usually seen orange juice in there in the morning. It would be really convenient to be able to get my coffee and screwdrivers right there. I’d just have to stash some shots of Tito’s in the room.

 

[jimbo5544]

3 hours ago, Saint Greg said:

Just for the $156 pp gratuity you get unlimited stuff on the left. And anyone who goes with that in your eyes is an “occasional light drinker” and naive for thinking they’re getting those drinks for free? You’re ridiculous.

 

 

I will make sure I tell them they are ridiculous.  😏

Edited March 10 by jimbo5544

[jimbo5544]

1 minute ago, jimbo5544 said:

I will make sure I tell them they are ridiculous.  😏

Trust me they really do think they are free.  

[Saint Greg]

8 minutes ago, jimbo5544 said:

I will make sure I tell them they are ridiculous.  😏

I know you’ll never cruise NCL. I don’t care about that. I do care about you posting baloney sandwich misinformation about it that may impact other people’s decisions. 

[LatinaInTexas]

1 hour ago, Saint Greg said:

Next time I’m going to re-evaluate the difference between the $300 upgrade and just buying internet alone. Last time all I drank from the right side of the menu was Bailey’s and Starbucks. Probably Grey Goose but I’d be fine with Tito’s.

 

I think beer, Tito’s, Jameson, fireball, Bacardi, Capt Morgan, Malibu, Kahlua, pretty much covers me. I can live with a mahoneys substitute for Bailey’s.

 

If I’m in the solo area they have those fancy coffee machines I wouldn’t mind trying. In video tours I’ve usually seen orange juice in there in the morning. It would be really convenient to be able to get my coffee and screwdrivers right there. I’d just have to stash some shots of Tito’s in the room.

 

Stashing shots won't be difficult on NCL since you can get 2 drinks at once and no pesky cut off after 15 drinks. Hard to dispute the value of that😁