What makes NCL better than Carnival or RC?

[Ellis1138]

5 hours ago, Oakman58 said:

While I like NCL's Freestyle dining, I much prefer set dining times.  I like having the same waiter and asst waiter every night.  They quickly learn what you like and, in my experience, offer much better service.

 

 

On NCL, you can request to have the same dining time at the MDR each night and even request to have the same waiter. You'll have to move to where the waiter is, though. Or request the same table each night at a specific time, although your waiter will change.

[Oakman58]

4 hours ago, Ellis1138 said:

 

On NCL, you can request to have the same dining time at the MDR each night and even request to have the same waiter. You'll have to move to where the waiter is, though. Or request the same table each night at a specific time, although your waiter will change.

 

Sounds good in theory, but the waiter you request might not be working in any of the MDR's and instead working one of the specialty restaurants.  Requesting the same table probably won't be fulfilled every night either.  I know, I've tried.

[steelersfan4ever]

Here is my opinion - I prefer Carnival.  But I do cruise NCL more often for the beverage package.  If Carnival included a drink package and didn't limit you to 15 a day. I would sail with Carnival more often.  15 drinks might seem like a lot, but if my 75 year old mother could get 14 in a day - a mimosa or 2 at breakfast, a few drinks by the pool, a pre dinner drink..........it all adds up quickly.

[complawyer]

god bless your mother, im 76 and couldnt drink that much. based on your post, i look at it like this (i believe in overkill) say 5 mimosas at breakfast, 5 throughout the day, poolside, and 5 before or after dinner, thats 15, and i cant believe your mother can drink much more than that!

 

that being said, but imho, and this strictly my own opinion, 5 drinks before dinner, would either put me to sleep, or i couldnt taste the meal.

 

on one of our 1st cruises, my wife and i sat at the sushi bar. from   landside experience , i always offer the sushi chefs a glass of sake, and my wife usually has 1 so i ordered the large bottle. my wife didnt want any, and i was advised that it's against ncl policy for the chefs to accept.

 

consequently, i drank the entire bottle. couldnt walk straight after that.

 

so once again, if she indeed can  consume that much liquor per day, god bless her

[Peachypooh]

I have stayed in an owner's suite on NCL and on RCL.

NCL-cleaner room, 1 1/2 baths, more attentive staff,

better food

RCCL-beautiful spacious public areas, instead of a butler

bringing lots of afternoon snacks there is a lounge for drinks

and appetizers, larger pool areas

 

This is comparing Liberty of the seas to the jewel class ships

 

 

[Ellis1138]

My TA friend has me going on a Celebrity cruise in spring 2025 there's already 2 snags that I didn't realize that are other NCL things I will miss.

 

1) NCL has multiple choice versions of the Free at Sea package. Since I don't drink alcohol, I get the Free at Sea with just Dining, Free Wifi Minutes and the $50 Excursion thing. But there are also packages for someone who just wants wifi/excursions, too. Celebrity seems to have all or nothing.

 

2) Celebrity makes me choose a dining time and they were "sold out" of all the early ones, forcing me to choose 8:30 pm. (This presents an issue for me, since I have health issues where I can't have anything but water past 7 pm and the buffet is risky due to food allergies.) I have never had to worry that I won't be able to eat dinner at the time I need to on NCL. Plus side, if I can't eat dinner every night, I'll lose weight on the Silhouette.

[complawyer]

well since you have plenty of time, and there are enough negatives why dont you merely cancel?

[Ellis1138]

16 minutes ago, complawyer said:

well since you have plenty of time, and there are enough negatives why dont you merely cancel?

Just because something has a lot of negatives doesn't mean I should cancel. I'm not sure why some people on these boards immediately go for a knee jerk reaction, but I'm not one. Yeah, I could cancel. I even got the refundable deposit, just in case my health goes south or something happens.

 

I was adding to the "what does NCL have" question. Just because RC/Celebrity does NOT have it doesn't immediately mean I cancel. It means I have to plan. I have to make sure Celebrity knows what I need. If I only depended on what I read in CC threads or in reviews on other places, I would never have been on Pride of America or the Prima. 

 

If this thread is still going in May 2025, I can let you know for sure. 🙂

[nimbex1970]

We have sailed all three.  We are looking to RELAX, so no designated dining times with NCL, never waited more than 10 minutes.  Casual or dress up, you do you. The casino's in NCL have higher standards with regards to not tolerating any drunken BS from pax, compared to CCL and RCL.  We just sailed RCL and were verbally berated by a drunk, which was allowed and ignored by the casino boss.

 

RCL and CCL have too many unruly kiddos, let alone elevator issues that we didn't find on NCL.

 

Food on NCL in specialty restaurants was higher quality than the other two with better service.

 

RCL, WOS, holy hell, had nothing but issues getting a drink on pool deck, a huge change from prior experience, on CCL and NCL, we get fabulous bar service where I don't have to get up and get my own drinky poo. 

 

RCL couldn't get into specialty dinning with maxed casino points, NCL pit boss, got us in every night where we wanted.  NCL, even showing up to specialty dining, they found a way to get us in if we didn't use casino host, fabulous.

 

CCL, sigh, the pot, the fights, the crowd, the pax... I don't know whats going on, but we won't cruise with them again... the pax seem unrulty, wearing pj's to lunch it's just a new demographic which I can't understand as prices are similar. They don't seem as good as crowd control, which is weird with the drink limit, we found more unruly drunks on CCL recently and it's a bummer. So we aren't booking with them again.

 

For those that gable, like us, RCL is better as it's point based differently and we got better offers through them, but we are booking both, yet prefer NCL for the itinerary.  RCL just seems more of the same ole ones.  We just did a repo from san juan to Lisbon, and now booked a tampa to whittier AK with NCl.  Through RCL, booked the same ole eastern route for december.

 

Likely to choose NCL for more over the other two despite better casino offers through RCL.

[swmichigan cruiser]

On 8/19/2024 at 10:54 AM, 9tee2Sea said:

Its not the ships per se ( they are all pretty much the sam these days), it's the feel.  I like the feel on NCL.  Feel more comfortable, feel like there is more to do.  Of course, if one is doing the Luxury Part of the ship, the feel is totally different.

Pretty much the same for us. We are Diamond on NCL and Diamond Plus on Royal and did 7 cruises on Carnival a long time ago. For me it is the staff that makes the difference. We have done about 30 cruises on Royal and I can only remember the name of one hotel director and he is a good friend but other than him no one stands out but on NCL many stand out from GM's to down to asst Maitre'Ds. 

[complawyer]

hey ellis 138, it just sounded like you were disappointed in the cruise you booked, and the only positive was a potential weight loss. it wasnt a knee jerk reaction, if there are things you dont like, it was merely a suggestion, to cancel and book with ncl for things you do like.

 

personally, i have checked out celebrity on numerous occasions and find that the prices for similar cabins are much higher than ncl, and oftentimes square footage wise, the cabins were slightly smaller for the extra $$$.

 

this may not be across the board, but it was on the cabins and prices i was researching.

 

plus, i believe ncl offers much more choices in the way of itineraries, and length of cruise

 

 

[Ellis1138]

4 hours ago, complawyer said:

hey ellis 138, it just sounded like you were disappointed in the cruise you booked, and the only positive was a potential weight loss. it wasnt a knee jerk reaction, if there are things you dont like, it was merely a suggestion, to cancel and book with ncl for things you do like.

 

personally, i have checked out celebrity on numerous occasions and find that the prices for similar cabins are much higher than ncl, and oftentimes square footage wise, the cabins were slightly smaller for the extra $$$.

 

this may not be across the board, but it was on the cabins and prices i was researching.

 

plus, i believe ncl offers much more choices in the way of itineraries, and length of cruise

 

 

 

Sorry if I made it sound more dire than it is. Basically, NCL is the cruise line that has everything for me: Studio cabins, decent pricing, great response to allergies, freedom to dine when/where and no formal stuff. But I was curious about Celebrity and my friend got me a veranda for 1 person for $1500 for a 10 day repo cruise, so... why not.

[saltyskipper284]

Just hopping in on this convo. My buddy, a totally pretentious RCL Crown and Anchor is trying to convince me to switch to RCL after having amazing voyages with NCL. NCL is fresh air upon boarding. The crew, ship layouts, dining, deck space...fab. I hopped back on here to see the reviews of "Icon of the Seas" and needless to say...I am sticking with NCL. I saw someone is doing a 15 Day Carnival itinerary-I think I would rather go through 2020 all over again. KIDDING. (...) We also charter sailing catamarans in the BVI and have done that twice now, hence we haven't cruised in a bit. But it is time. We are looking at the Norwegian Prima and are rather excited to be back with our NCL fam. Every NCL cruise, we have met incredible people. Young, old, conservative, liberal, and that one thing has happened each time...cruise depression the night before disembarkation. Smooth seas lovelies! 

[complawyer]

well, ellis, i concede $1500 for a 10 day cruise is a great deal. that being said, however, and to make sure we aren't comparing apples to oranges, what is the sq footage  of your cabin, what perks (if any) are you getting, what are the ports and when is the sailing? have you looked at anything comparable on ncl. 

 

while it's certainly not in the same ballpark, this nov we booked a 21 day cruise from barcelona to capetown, in a 2 bedroom suite (3 people) on the dawn, for $9900, with all the bells, whistles and perks attached to a suite. this past april, we booked a 17 day cruise with a 2 bedroom suite on the star for under $7,000. rio to lisbon.

 

consequently, we'll stick with ncl. remember the old adage, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it"

 

regardless, enjoy you cruise, i hope you can report back afterwards, and let us all know what you thought

 

 

 

 

[ChiefMateJRK]

On 8/20/2024 at 6:14 AM, Oakman58 said:

I like having the same waiter and asst waiter every night.  They quickly learn what you like

Please explain.  What is it that you "like" that a waiter can quickly learn?  Surely you don't want the same food every meal.  Favorite cocktail?  I suppose that could be nice if they have it waiting for you.  What else?

 

To answer the OP's question:  What makes NCL better?  The Chief only sails NCL, so your only chance of having a drink with him at the bar is by sailing NCL.  I'll allow my many fans to comment on the advantage of this.😎

[Oakman58]

6 hours ago, ChiefMateJRK said:

Please explain.  What is it that you "like" that a waiter can quickly learn?  Surely you don't want the same food every meal.  Favorite cocktail?  I suppose that could be nice if they have it waiting for you.  What else?

 

To answer the OP's question:  What makes NCL better?  The Chief only sails NCL, so your only chance of having a drink with him at the bar is by sailing NCL.  I'll allow my many fans to comment on the advantage of this.😎

 

Yes, I don’t have to wait for someone to take my order for a glass of wine. It will show up shortly after being seated.  I’ve had meals on NCL where I was done with the appetizer and halfway through the entrée before my glass of wine showed up.  Also if I order steak, when it is deliver he will wait around to be sure it’s cooked properly.  I also enjoy having a cup of coffee with my dessert, after the first night the coffee will be brought without asking before the dessert arrives.  You develop a relationship with the waiter and assistant.  I enjoy having the waiter greet me by my name every night.

 

Because tables are assigned, I also like walking directly to my table without waiting for someone to show me where my table will be that night.

 

Since you say you only cruise with NCL, I would suggest you spread your wings and experience the food, entertainment, and service that other cruise lines offer.

[BeeBerry]

On 8/19/2024 at 3:32 PM, putermomy said:

I am thinking of NCL, however I think Carnival is a hit or miss, Royal is ok, but tell me what you love about NCL!

 

NCL has become our favourite cruiseline over the past few years (with Princess a close second). As other people have said, the itineraries are varied, especially in Europe, and we like the longer 9-12 day sailings.  We feel like this attracts more travelled people. 

We think the food is generally very good, lots of choice in the MDRs and buffets, we also love having the option of O'Sheehans/The Local. The Specialties are really good value, seeing as we pay less than half sometimes for Free at Sea than for most other cruiselines drinks package alone. We hit Platinum last year and the added 2 specialties is a fab perk.  

 

For context, we started cruising 15 years ago on Royal Caribbean and made it to Diamond, then sailed Carnival quite a bit too. Since covid we've sailed Royal Caribbean twice and Carnival once and can't see sailing either any time soon.  Royal, the food has gone so downhill, variety and quality is dire, the drinks packages are crazy money. Carnival, we still liked the food and the huge choice of venues on the new ships, but so many passengers were loud and obnoxious.  We've never had that on NCL, only the odd one or two. 😂

[KKB]

On 8/19/2024 at 9:32 AM, putermomy said:

I am thinking of NCL, however I think Carnival is a hit or miss, Royal is ok, but tell me what you love about NCL!

Uh, I wouldn't say any are better than the other--FAR more alike than different.

IMO, Carnival has best comedians & casual dining.(now, I have only been on 2 ships, 14 days on Miracle & 20 days on Splendor, so both smaller, older ships)

NCL: Syd Norman's is the best non-production show at sea & EVERY ship should have a Waterfront. 

The cutting of the Broadway shows from RCCL & NCL are a mistake, imo. That was 2 things that set them apart. 

MDRs on all lines is average. Specialty dining on all lines is quite good. 

Both NCL & RCCL have all the top deck "bells & whistles"--not our thing, even the kids have never been overly drawn to those things.

 

We are ONLY sailing Carnival as they keep throwing us free casino cruises.

We prefer the all-inclusive pricing of Princess, Celebrity & NCL (tho only Princess includes tips).

Once you factor in tips, wifi & drink packages, Carnival & RCCL never compete.

Now, if you don't get drink packages, the playing field is slightly more even.

But when I go price compare base fares across lines for a date/itinerary we are looking for, RCCL & Carnival are nearly always quite a bit higher. I really don't get it.

 

[KKB]

On 8/19/2024 at 11:23 AM, putermomy said:

Thanks everyone...it says free excursions and free open bar.....there has to be a catch??

no...and yes...

--open bar does not include specialty coffees, canned sodas or bottled water

  --also, you must pay about $20pp/day gratuities for that drink package (still a helluva deal if you 

    drink even a few drinks/day); if you don't drink alcohol, I would turn that one down

--NOT free excursions (usually)--but $50 off a shore excursion at each port. 1/cabin.

  That's a better deal for a solo traveler--I do occasionally get a "free" excursion. And it's nice if 

   you are getting an excursion anyway. BUT overall I find their excursions VERY overpriced...

   probably because every cabin gets $50 off!!!

--wifi is minutes--150 min/pp for 7 days. Works for some, not for others.

--specialty dining is a nice perk. you will have to pay $10pp/meal gratuities

[KKB]

On 8/19/2024 at 11:30 AM, drew69 said:

RCCL and NCL are of comparable level, vibe, feeling, etc.  Have sailed both and it comes down to itinerary, price, and particular preference on the ship(s) and amenities.

 

Carnival is more the lower end of the cruise line spectrum in terms of quality, vibe, etc.  It is basically Walmart of the Seas.

Have you sailed Carnival, particularly longer cruises?

We sailed them for the 1st time last year, 14 days to Hawaii & LOVED it (after being told by many we would hate it after sailing mostly Celebrity & Princess, plus RCCL, NCL & DCL).

Crew said the key to Carnival is don't take those short booze cruises to Caribbean or MX.

Again, we find them VERY comparable to RCCL & NCL.

IMO Carnival has the best quality casual meals at sea & the best comedians. (everyone else is VERY hit & miss...miss more often than not it seems)

Now my experience is small, only 2 older ships, but 14 & 20 days.

[KKB]

On 8/19/2024 at 12:31 PM, Ellis1138 said:

What I love about NCL over the others:

1) Their Access Desk response to my medical issues. They make sure I have what I need.

2) The food allergy response after I fill out the form. Other lines and land restaurants tell me what I can and can't have. NCL will make me a special version of what I want out of anything they make from scratch as long as they have 24 hours notice.

3) Freestyle and casual. No formal nights, no set dining times. 

 

Princess was fantastic w/ my Dad's medical issues. 

 

That was NOT my experience w/ a gluten sensitivity on NCL. I was being told simply what I could not have. I wanted the sauces at Teppenyaki & they simply said no. I finally had to have the gluten note taken off my account & let me monitor it myself (I am not celiac) I appreciate for someone with a true allergy would not have to worry, but there was NO effort to accommodate me in anyway, simply told me what I could not have.

 

Anymore, most lines have anytime dining, formal is optional & dress codes are pretty lax.

[KKB]

On 8/19/2024 at 3:31 PM, schmoopie17 said:

$250 refundable deposits.

10% Veterans discount.

THIS--I think NCL might be the only line left w/ refundable deposits. That's a BIG plus, IMO.

 

(well, some have them if you pay more...which makes no sense. So it's $500 more to book refundable...but if I book NR & cancel, I lose my $500 deposit...the math doesn't make sense to do it!)

[KKB]

I addressed several posts--but I want to clarify.

Have sailed Celebrity, Princess, Carnival, RCCL, NCL, DCL & MSC.

Would sail them again--probably not DCL for price (MIL paid) & MSC I said no...but trying again next week. It was FREE (didn't even charge me port taxes & fees 🤷‍♀️--worth a try I guess)

 

We find ALL these lines more alike than different.

Honestly, we have things we like on various ships more than lines.

So we choose who we sail with based on itinerary we want, dates we want at a price we want.

Sometimes a deal comes along that we snatch up just to get away--always happy to just be on a ship, have someone make my bed & clean my bathroom, make my meals & entertain me!

[Ellis1138]

4 hours ago, KKB said:

Princess was fantastic w/ my Dad's medical issues. 

 

That was NOT my experience w/ a gluten sensitivity on NCL. I was being told simply what I could not have. I wanted the sauces at Teppenyaki & they simply said no. I finally had to have the gluten note taken off my account & let me monitor it myself (I am not celiac) I appreciate for someone with a true allergy would not have to worry, but there was NO effort to accommodate me in anyway, simply told me what I could not have.

 

Anymore, most lines have anytime dining, formal is optional & dress codes are pretty lax.

 

It's probable that the NCL chefs don't make the Teppanyaki stuff from scratch. Anything that comes "from outside", they not only can't alter it, but they don't know what's in it and they're being cautious for you. I would assume it would be the same on any cruise line. Maybe Princess makes more things from scratch on board.

[KKB]

6 minutes ago, Ellis1138 said:

 

It's probable that the NCL chefs don't make the Teppanyaki stuff from scratch. Anything that comes "from outside", they not only can't alter it, but they don't know what's in it and they're being cautious for you. I would assume it would be the same on any cruise line. Maybe Princess makes more things from scratch on board.

You may be right--Princess is FANTASTIC regarding gluten free, but they don't try to police me if I choose to have a sauce with gluten in it (I don't seem to have issues with small amounts...it's large amounts/frequency that are the issue)