Holland Vs Norwegian from San Dirgo

[mcrcruiser]

We are looking into 2026 for a  balcony handicap cabin & saw that the Norwegian Jade was doing the 7 day Mexican Rivera  cruise .when we went to get pricing I was amazed as how high Norwegian  balcony handicap cabins were priced at . Far more than a comperable HAl Handicap balcony cabin  . & the daily tiping is at $40 per couple 

[jlawrence01]

1 hour ago, mcrcruiser said:

We are looking into 2026 for a  balcony handicap cabin & saw that the Norwegian Jade was doing the 7 day Mexican Rivera  cruise .when we went to get pricing I was amazed as how high Norwegian  balcony handicap cabins were priced at . Far more than a comperable HAl Handicap balcony cabin  . & the daily tiping is at $40 per couple 

 

And with Norwegian, the service is mediocre and the entertainment venues are too small for the size of ship.

[Tierun]

Norwegian and Royal have gone bonkers with their pricing. 

[TiogaCruiser]

But being you are so displeased with HAL, (an even left HAL a couple of times) Norwegian would probably be a better choice.

[rodndonna]

Are you comparing an NCL price with Free at Sea (FAS) ?

 

I find after I total everything out - NCL fares are comparable (and sometimes better) than HAL (with HIA) or Princess (with the Plius package). If you are looking for bare bones cruise price with no perks ... hard to get that on NCL unless you are looking last minute (I think they offer the Sailaway rates with no FAS). 

[mcrcruiser]

6 hours ago, TiogaCruiser said:

But being you are so displeased with HAL, (an even left HAL a couple of times) Norwegian would probably be a better choice.

You misunderstand   my opinions . We are not going on another cruise line . Why would we pauymich more for a handicap balcony ?  The food on HAL ships is decent on the MDR & Lido  .The only thing we miss from Celebrity & EDL is the better entertainment . However ,since we no longer can fly *we are 85 each & have disabilities) we take Uber to the SD port & board a HAL ship .We are at the end of our cruising but will say that cruises have taken us all over this world & with out cruises we qould nit have seen what we saw . 

[mcrcruiser]

5 hours ago, rodndonna said:

Are you comparing an NCL price with Free at Sea (FAS) ?

 

I find after I total everything out - NCL fares are comparable (and sometimes better) than HAL (with HIA) or Princess (with the Plius package). If you are looking for bare bones cruise price with no perks ... hard to get that on NCL unless you are looking last minute (I think they offer the Sailaway rates with no FAS). 

  We would not pay $3200 approcimately for a balcony cabin on a 7 day Mexico cruise .This is what the NCL Jade was priced by NCL personel to us . We can sail on HAL for gar less mpney

[chill6x6]

I've been looking at these itineraries....Neptune Suite vs, NCL aft-facing PH suite...PH suite is about $2000 less with their corresponding HIA or Free at Sea.  So it depends on what one is looking for.  Holland America's itinerary is better/more original IMO.  That's the one I'd rather go on but...$2000 is $2000.

[julia]

My sincere advice to you is to stop putting a dollar sign on everything (yes, all of your posts are about the $ and how you can save $$). If your financial situation allows you to cruise, then SPEND IT!  There are no more "rainy days", spend your money like there is no tomorrow... because there might not be.

[jakers]

We had the opportunity this summer to do a back to back on NCL out of Seward. It had been 14 years since we last cruised on NCL and we were curious how things had changed. We are 4 star on HAL. Our overall opinion of NCL was that they do deliver a reasonable cruise experience at a reasonable price. We thought it best for new cruisers who have not yet formed opinions or have  expectations. On the negative side, we disliked the fact that everything seemed to be upgradable for a price. We were underwhelmed by the buffet. On the positive side we enjoyed the diversity and younger ages of the passengers and the different types of entertainment. 

[mcrcruiser]

10 hours ago, julia said:

My sincere advice to you is to stop putting a dollar sign on everything (yes, all of your posts are about the $ and how you can save $$). If your financial situation allows you to cruise, then SPEND IT!  There are no more "rainy days", spend your money like there is no tomorrow... because there might not be.

This could be true or not true depending on ones situation  . The people that do have money are savers  with good investment decisions .since we already have done over 100 cruises ,we have seen & done every thing on our bucket  list  . We are not alcohil drinkers so any thing to do with Alcjol in a cruise lies promotion is not for us . Like  HAL's HIA  ,we just would not get por value from it 'however ,others do get value .Each of us are different & veing different our wants are different .  When we were in our 60s & 70s we traveled all over this globe  & we are in the minority 

[OVgirl]

On 9/22/2024 at 11:29 AM, mcrcruiser said:

We are looking into 2026 for a  balcony handicap cabin & saw that the Norwegian Jade was doing the 7 day Mexican Rivera  cruise .when we went to get pricing I was amazed as how high Norwegian  balcony handicap cabins were priced at . Far more than a comperable HAl Handicap balcony cabin  . & the daily tiping is at $40 per couple 

Don't know if you are aware that you can book the lowest priced non-handicapped balcony and get the first handicapped balcony available for the same price. So there is no penalty because you need a handicapped cabin. 

[mcrcruiser]

44 minutes ago, OVgirl said:

Don't know if you are aware that you can book the lowest priced non-handicapped balcony and get the first handicapped balcony available for the same price. So there is no penalty because you need a handicapped cabin. 

Are you saying this is true of Holland America or NCL or both lines?  

[OVgirl]

45 minutes ago, mcrcruiser said:

Are you saying this is true of Holland America or NCL or both lines?  

We've booked this way on Holland America.

[albingirl]

4 hours ago, mcrcruiser said:

This could be true or not true depending on ones situation  . The people that do have money are savers  with good investment decisions .since we already have done over 100 cruises ,we have seen & done every thing on our bucket  list  . We are not alcohil drinkers so any thing to do with Alcjol in a cruise lies promotion is not for us . Like  HAL's HIA  ,we just would not get por value from it 'however ,others do get value .Each of us are different & veing different our wants are different .  When we were in our 60s & 70s we traveled all over this globe  & we are in the minority 

I just get so confused.  HAL, NCL, Princess, Celebrity, and the beat goes on.

[igraf]

6 hours ago, mcrcruiser said:

This could be true or not true depending on ones situation  . The people that do have money are savers  with good investment decisions .since we already have done over 100 cruises ,we have seen & done every thing on our bucket  list  . We are not alcohil drinkers so any thing to do with Alcjol in a cruise lies promotion is not for us . Like  HAL's HIA  ,we just would not get por value from it 'however ,others do get value .Each of us are different & veing different our wants are different .  When we were in our 60s & 70s we traveled all over this globe  & we are in the minority 

 

Good for you.  We have also travelled extensively and at the same time stayed within our budget.  I rarely felt that this diminished our travels.  We do pay more for an extra level of comfort as we age, but I will still avoid just wasting money.  

 

100+ cruises!!!  I would say that you know what you are doing.

 

igraf