If You Switched Cruiselines To Ncl Then Why?

[refman]

we switched from HAL to NCL for several reasons but the most important to my family was time for a change. after nine(?) cruises on HAL we wanted a different itinerary and NCL offered just that on a cruise out of NYC not to mention alot more ,well alot more of everything according to all of you who kindly take the time to post experiences both positive and not so positive.

thanks for posting

[ddoll]

I'm not sure this answers your question, but we switched just for the itinerary. The cruise we wanted was discontinued.

[johnql]

Freestyle policies - dine when, where and with whom I want. Plus, resort casual dress code.

[refman]

I'm not sure this answers your question, but we switched just for the itinerary. The cruise we wanted was discontinued.

 

any answers will do

[G&L in WPG]

Price and Itinerary.

[lynnemac]

An old RCCL and Princess man here. Just believe in broadening my horizons.

Will not cruise on one line only no matter what. That's not loyalty that's being unwilling to experiment.

 

Mac:):):)

[kontraxed]

We're from Connecticut so we could just drive to NYC and not fly. It might sound hoakey, but I really wanted to experience sailing by the Statue of Liberty and see the NYC skyline - before someone tries to change it for us again. Our only other cruise was with Royal Carib. and that was very pleasant but the "Freestyle" concept sounds nice too. I like nice places and restaurants but I don't need to dress up so that appealed too.

 

Basically, I wanted to try something new and the NCL Dawn sounded pretty good. I guess we'll see on March 1st!

[glen tev]

An old RCCL and Princess man here. Just believe in broadening my horizons.

Will not cruise on one line only no matter what. That's not loyalty that's being unwilling to experiment.

 

Mac:):):)

Same here.After 3 Voyager class cruises on RCCl the wow factor wore off.I also wanted to try freestyle.Traveling with 2 small kids i think it will fit our style better.

[judyf]

I love freestyle. I also will continue to sail different lines if they fit my needs but I seem to keep going back to freestyle just love it.

[cruizinwithkids]

While on a cruise to Bermuda we did not allow enough time to get back to the ship from the beach. When we got back we had about two minutes to get ready for dinner. Yucky sandy hair at dinner sold me on freestyle.

 

Since then we have been on a bunch of NCL cruises primarily because other than an Alaska cruise we have driven to the port from Massachusetts - Boston, NY and even Philly. Those northeast ports have a fuzzy and I will go back to other lines.

 

We are going to Hawaii on NCLA in 2008 - obviously flying there.:D

[osiebosie]

Well, we cruise with several lines. We look at itineraries and pricing and ships. We're not loyal to only one line, so I'm not really sure what that makes us. We are planning on our 30th anniversary, in 2008, to maybe cruise around the horn. I don't think we'll be on NCL for that one, but you never know. We're just waiting on the fall 08 cruises to come out so we can decide!

 

Shay

[MEOWSMURPHY]

Freestyle policies - dine when, where and with whom I want. Plus, resort casual dress code.

I second this...One of the main reasons we picked our upcoming cruise..we've sailed many lines.... Since I have a health problem that necessitates my eating early, freestyle sounds verrrrrrrrrrrrrry appealing. Nothing worse than rushing back to the ship to make a dinner time. This way if we are a little later we arent holding up anyone but ourselves...

[Dolphins]

We also sailed many cruises on HAL and always looked down on NCL. When NCL decided to sail year round out of New York (we hate flying), we decided to give them a try. We were very pleasantly surprised. We loved freestyle dining with a choice of 10 restaurants on the Dawn. We thought the entertainers (Pamala Stanley, Anna Y Los Vientos, Vladimir etc.) were outstanding. After only several cruises on NCL, they showed more appreciation of our patronage than HAL ever did after over 100 days with them. Other cruise lines are now following in NCL's wake sailing out of New York and we would consider all of them but we appreciate NCL setting the standard for us.

[DaninBermuda]

Well, we cruise with several lines. We look at itineraries and pricing and ships. We're not loyal to only one line, so I'm not really sure what that makes us. We are planning on our 30th anniversary, in 2008, to maybe cruise around the horn. I don't think we'll be on NCL for that one, but you never know. We're just waiting on the fall 08 cruises to come out so we can decide!

 

Shay

Hi Shay,

I agree with this theory too. I like checking out all the different lines. I never had a bad cruise. The only line I did not check out is Carnival but that might change this October!!:)

Dan

[osiebosie]

Dan,

 

We did our 25th anniversary cruise on Carnival, the Spirit, from Hawaii to Ensenada for 12 days in October of 03. It was awesome! We've cruised Carnival alot, especially when the kids were young (pricing and itinerary), and I've found that in the Fall, Carnival is mostly an older crowd, not the wild party crowd that everyone thinks of when they hear the name Carnival.

 

We also had a horrible cruise on Carnival, but we eventually forgave them and cruised with them again, again because of itinerary and timing (cruising with friends). Like you, other than that one cruise, we've never had a bad cruise!

 

Who knows who we'll be with on our 30th! There are plenty of lines out there we'd like to try.

 

But you can bet your bottom dollar I'll be doing homework here first!

 

Shay

[weloverunning]

Free cruises on NCL with our NCL credit card and the addition of the topless deck beginning with the Jewel. (Previously, only Carnival had this option) At first we had the mindset that no matter how bad it was, it was free. After two free cruises on the Jewel in 2005 and 2006, we were beginning to second guess ourselves as to whether or not we should discontinue using our NCL cc and switch to a different one. HOWEVER, after sailing on the Pearl last week (free except for the tips, bar, casino, excursions) $1000:eek: , we will gladly keep our cc and continue to sail NCL.

[travellady]

Booked PofAm for spring break because we wanted to go to Hawaii for a change and NCL has the best options for Hawaii cruising. And, we've wanted to try NCL anyway so this will give us a test of what it's like. I realize it's slightly different due to American crew and this being a port intensive cruise.

 

Unless we have an absolutely horrible time, will also try NCL from another port. We are not tied to anyone cruise line as we enjoy most of them. But do like freestyle and anytime dining options as we like to come and go as we please when on vacation.

[DaisyL]

Freestyle dining is the main reason we tend to keep going back to NCL. We prefer dining with friends/family only, resort casual dress code, going to dinner at convenient times, and having dining room choices.

 

Also, we prefer the NCL itineraries out of NY; of the 3 Dawn cruises so far and the 4th this Sept., every itinerary is different. We also limit ourselves to the NY/NJ ports which really gives us a variety of choices.

 

It doesn't hurt that the NCL Dawn is our favorite ship so far. And when she's replaced by the Gem, we'll try her, too.

 

We have found plus/minus for each cruiseline, but have not been on a cruise we haven't loved.

[megessey]

Very Simple: NCL is the only cruiseline that offers 7 day Hawaiian itineraries.

 

to be honest, if RCL or Princess offered a similar cruise, we might have decided to go with them before NCL. But since we booked the PofAM, and started researching the cruiseline, we're thinking of doing the Norwegian Pearl in the fall or winter. We just might be Freestyle kind of people :D

[Zeno]

We had 3 'traditional' cruises before trying NCL.

We chose NCL because:

1. Freestyle Dining - our friend who was travelling with us had some health issues that made her being in control of her dining times important.

2. itinerary

3. Dress Code

4. Price - we got a very good deal on our first NCL cruise.

 

We had considered Princess but did not like the itineraries being offered at the time and (at the time) Princess would have cost considerably more than our NCL cruise did.

[Guest BeckyThane]

I've done two out of four cruises on NCL. Three of the four were out of NYC, so I'd have to say homeporting is the most important reason for sailing NCL -- I hate to fly! -- followed closely by availablily of cruises at the time of year I'd like to go. (We did Crown Princess out of NYC last year, and would have done it again, but it was homeporting out of Miami during my next two sail dates!) This then begs the question, Why not HAL? since HAL sails out of NYC year-round. The reason would have to be the freestyle concept; I don't want to be pinned to a schedule and have to dress up every night.

 

Our next currently scheduled cruise is out of NYC, on the Gem next January. We're also planning to do a 7-day Hawaii on NCL in June '08. We'll be in Hawaii already for my high school reunion; NCL is the obvious choice since they're the only line that homeports in Hawaii.

[Stillfloatin']

1. Freestyle

2. NCL card for free cruises

3. Itineraries

4. Pricing

 

I've found that numbers 1 & 2 trump anything other lines have to offer and numbers 3 & 4 just sweeten the deal. If other lines change to add these, I will be giving them a try.

[GhickfromTN]

We have sailed Carnival, RCCI, and Norwegian. I prefer the Norwegian mostly because of the Freestyle. We prefer eating when we want and in a more intimate setting than a table full of strangers.

I have been on cruises when I loved meeting tablemates, and other times when they were very rude and we must either go to the trouble of changing tables or just eat in the Buffet.

 

Also, our prices out of New York on the Dawn are VERY good and we absolutely love the ship.

[Sheils65]

We switched from Carnival Valor 4/15/07 on a 7 day west carrib. out of Miami. to Norwegian Dawn 4/12/07 west carrib out of NYC. 11 day. We switched because the price would have been the same for me to drive down to miami or fly and cruise for 7 days or to drive to NYC (I live in MA) and cruise for an extra 4 days. I am glad I made the switch!!! Added advantage is that a friend decided to book with us on Norwegian.

 

Happy Cruisin....

[newmexicoNita]

I can't actually say we swiched but we normally look for NCL first, then other lines. The reason or reasons are: freestyle, friendly crew, relaxed atmosphere and itinerary. Of course cost is an issue as well. If there were 3 lines, offering similar prices and similar itineraries we just at the chance to cruise NCL. If the price is much lower on another line, which does happen or if the dates work better for us we will choose HAL or Celebrity. NMNita