Do you prefer sailing on newer or older NCL ships?

[asouthey1]

Always sailed with NCL but its been a few years. Not sure whether to try an older smaller ship or one of their newer ones. Any tips appreciated! 

[Distinctive-Destinations]

Older: better deals typically. Plus they tend to have the kinks worked out.

[debenson0723]

For me it sometimes depends on the itinerary but I do prefer the newer ones. Love that new ship smell!

[RocketMan275]

14 minutes ago, asouthey1 said:

Always sailed with NCL but its been a few years. Not sure whether to try an older smaller ship or one of their newer ones. Any tips appreciated! 

Prefer the Prima class ships.  Then the Breakaway Plus.  Not at all interested in the smaller ships.

 

It would be helpful if you described the things you value on a ship.  And, describe your preferred cabin class.  

Edited April 10 by RocketMan275

[AKR2011]

I love both. Smaller ships have always had a different show the the theater each night with no reservations needed, while bigger ships had fancier shows and also other venues with different entertainment and other bells and whistles. However, now there are cutbacks and entertainment on smaller ships seems to be going down. I don't want my nightly show to be a movie or game show, but that seems to be the direction that NCL is going. And bigger ships seem to be pulling the nicer shows, which makes the other venues get flooded with people. While I am excited for a bigger ship on my next cruise, I worry that the crowds may make ne turn away from NCL completely. It's really sad as I love the product and always have had a great cruise, but other lines are looking pretty nice.

 

To answer your question though, both are great. It all depends on where they are going.

[zqvol]

Prefer older, smaller ships 

[www3traveler]

Love the Dawn and Jewel Class ships-- smaller ships, less passengers, crew seems to be less stressed, very few lines for anything.

[smillerholmes]

I *think* I prefer older ships.  I *know* I prefer less people.  The only way to be sure is to try them all! CAS has made it possible for me to cruise more often - the least I can do is try to take advantage of my good fortune.

 

As for the large(r) ships here's my current done list:

Getaway

Breakaway

Epic

Bliss

 

Older smaller ships:

Pearl

Jewel

Sun 

 

Pending:

Spirit - 04/24

Sun - 05/24

Joy - 09/24

Gem - 12/24

Epic - 03/25

Star - 07/25

Viva - 11/25

 

[BirdTravels]

1 hour ago, asouthey1 said:

Always sailed with NCL but its been a few years. Not sure whether to try an older smaller ship or one of their newer ones. Any tips appreciated! 

We prefer newer, bigger ships because they have a wider range of dining and entertainment options. We have been cruising for several decades and had our fill of older, smaller ships across multiple cruise lines. 

 

We are older (... o.k. we are old), but not stuck on living in the past. NCL has lead the cruise industry on innovating and evolving to meet the desires of the contemporary cruiser. And while we are old, we like to be treated to something new and exciting. 

[9tee2Sea]

• like some others have said, depends on the itinerary.  For Panama Canal, I prefer older ships. Much more interesting passage of the Canal than on the newer bigger ships.  Trans-Atlantic, I would prefer the newer ships.  They seem to have much better technology to minimize the rocking of the ship in open seas.  Alaska, no preference.  It's a slow cruise thru the inside passage, and you are on deck most of the time.

[Laszlo]

If we are staying in the Haven the newer ships by far are better. If in a suite or regular cabin I'll take a Jewel class...... a lot less people and a larger pool deck. First is the itinerary......

[Laszlo]

2 hours ago, Distinctive-Destinations said:

Older: better deals typically. Plus they tend to have the kinks worked out.

Not true all the time. The Joy sailing to Bermuda from NYC is cheaper than the Gem sailing to Bermuda in the same month - week

[Nilbog]

We've been on four NCL cruises so far, 3 on the Pearl and 1 on the Jewel.  Why?  The smaller ships go where we want to go.  That being said, we'll be on the Breakaway in 28 days and are tying a full Haven.  On the smaller ships I won't do Haven again as you get nearly the same benefits from a suite for much less money.  Our cruise after the Breakaway, though, is on the Star.  Again, the smaller ship is going where we want to go.

[ppcox]

I think the itinerary is first for us. Our next cruise is on the Sky because we want to cruise in the Far East. Our previous cruises have been on the newer ships both Viva and Prima and most of the breakaway class ships but also Spirit and Jade.
if both types were on similar itineraries than absolutely the newer ships. For the more choice in dining and entertainment and for the improved cabin/ bathroom design. Our favourite cruise so far is a Panama Canal transit Miami to LA on the Encore.

[fredflint]

I look at the last time it was refurbished, I prefer an older smaller ship but if it has been more than 3 years since it was refurbished they are either going to get rid of the ship or it it going for a major refurb in the next year and they are putting off any repairs or changes.

[dbrown84]

I prefer the bigger/newer ships.  the old ships with the smaller crowds tend to be more boring at night.  

[stinkyharriet]

I have only done the larger ships.  Joy, Getaway, Escape & Prima.  I’d love to try one of the jewel class ships but I’m not willing to fly, and those don’t sail from NYC.  Going up to Boston is a possibility for that.

 

I really like the BA/+ class ships.

[gotscrapz]

Newer for us. I am not opposed to an older ship if the price and itinerary are great. So far I have gone for pretty and new and location.

[gotscrapz]

I should have added that I have been single raising teens and young adults so I have tried to appeal to them. Now that I am thinking about a solo trip and having been working like crazy I may not care as much - just some R&R on the water.

 

That being said I am booked on a 16 day Prima cruise soon lol.

[DominicAUS]

My first NCL cruise was the Gem, in an owners suite and had the best butler and concierge. Next up was the Epic in the Haven, then Encore, Escape and Bliss. I like the bigger ships, more going on and different venues. 
 

For me it would depend on itinerary, price etc. I was looking at an itinerary on the pearl and Prima/Viva. Same itinerary a little more the newer ships of course, I’d try the newer ships. 
 

id say it depends what you value in a cruise and do some research, look up you tube reviews etc and make the informed choice. 
 

Good luck 

[Miss Ellsworth]

Definitely smaller ships. I really want a lido/promenade deck that lets you walk all the way around the ship, fairly near to the water. One of my favorite cruise traditions is to make 4-5 circuits of the ship immediately after dinner. Many of the newer/larger ships have done away with this deck (not sure about all of them). I don't want to walk a circuit on a top deck jogging track or in a straight line back and forth or behind lifeboats on lower decks

 

I also think that the smaller ships may be or feel less crowded. Maybe they're not so heavily booked, or maybe the design doesn't allow facilities to grow at the same rate as passenger capacity. It seems like complaints about lines come disproportionately about larger ships

 

Finally, while the larger ships add lots of clubs and dining options for adults, their biggest change has been the family and kid friendly activities - from race tracks to bigger arcades to laser tag to cool slides to swings and roller coasters and who knows what all. The smaller ships like Jewel class and smaller must look like absolute bores to those looking to book a family event that their kids will love. 

 

Bottom line is that I prefer a quieter and more relaxing cruise. Having a promenade deck and maybe less press of people and fewer kids all contribute to that for me. My favorite cruise by far has been a TA on the Star that was just over half booked. 

 

So there may be a division along the lines of preference, like more action and buzz = larger ships, more laid back = smaller ship. Of course, this isn't mutually exclusive. Lots of clubs and nightlife on smaller ships and definitely quiet corners on larger ships, but I think the premise holds overall

[roger001]

We're older.  Give us the Dawn/Jewel class.  However, if you want the Haven experience, then Breakaway or Bliss type bigger ship a must. 

[JIMESOPUS]

After sailing on every multi-ship class last year, it has to be the Dawn or the Jewel class, just because we had better service, shorter lines, and the crew seemed to be happier.

Sun class is just too old, although the Alaska cruise was fun, the ship creaks more than I do.

Breakaway and Breakaway+ ships seemed to be always overbooked, with long lines and too many entitled PAX and pissed-off crew.

Sadly the Prima class, wished for more but with the ship design geared for warmer climates, once you have cold / rainy weather, everything seems jammed up inside.

 

Edited April 11 by JIMESOPUS

[schmoopie17]

11 hours ago, stinkyharriet said:

 I’d love to try one of the jewel class ships but I’m not willing to fly, and those don’t sail from NYC.  .

 

Not exactly. We're on the Pearl out of NY next April. It's a TA...so maybe not something you'd be into.

[Kayak25]

We have always sailed on the smaller ships so difficult to compare. The reason we have not done any of the larger ships is the smaller ships seem to have better itineraries and we just prefer the smaller number of passengers. We are definitely itinerary first cruise second. Always found there to be plenty of choice of restaurants on the smaller ships and we have always liked the main dining rooms  on the smaller ships. It is worrying that the smaller ships will disappear eventually.