Princess vs. NCL

[Monte]

I wanted some opinions about both cruise lines and which you prefer. I have sailed w/NCL and loved it, but my family wants to do a Princess cruise to Alaska. Any tips/advice concerning these lines would be appreciated. Thanks.

[willysgrandma]

This thread can probably answer your questions:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=563560

 

We've sailed both and while I loved the informality on NCL, Princess hands down has it over NCL for service and the ships themselves.

 

We chose Princess because we liked the Freestyle Dining on NCL and we weren't disappointed. Princess is MUCH nicer.

[barbarah33]

I have sailed on both lines and had an excellent time on both lines. My preference is Princess by far. As the other poster said Princess has much better service, I prefer their food - though they don't have the wide variety of like 9 restaurants to chose from like the newer NCL ships, and their ships. They focus more on a classic feel which I like when cruising: service and style are important to them. I also give Princess the edge when it comes to cabins; Princess has very well laid out cabins.

 

Give Princess a try hopefully you'll love. Whatever you decide, have a wonderful vacation!

[Monte]

Are their amenities about the same, as far as fitness center, spa, etc? Do you have to get dressed up to dine in their restaurants...suit, dress, hose?

[Poconolady]

We have sailed both, and prefer Princess, because of the service and the general feeling that Princess is a more "upscale" experience.

The Anytime Dining on Princess actually works, whereas our experience with NCL "Freedom" dining was that there was always a wait for a table for two sometimes as long as two hours. Our longest wait on the Golden Princess was about 5 minutes, and that was for a table for two during the peak of the dinner hour. We generally made advance reservations and never had to wait then. The buffet lines are comparable on each, that is to say,a confused mess. We have experienced "Norwalk proceedures" in the buffet on both lines, and actually find that that set up works better than the general buffet service. (A side note--Norwalk proceedures, namely hand washing and using the hand sanitizers is more strongly stressed on NCL than Princess).

We have sailed NCL numerous times and Princess once, but we will return to Princess. The activities. public areas, staterooms. etc are just more geared to our personal taste. Yes, it is a little older crowd, but then again we are nearing that "older" level ourselves, there were very few children on our Princess cruise and that suited us just fine, it was truly a get away from reality, and after all, isn't that why we all cruise?

[CruiseQueen13]

We've sailed both - once on NCL and 3x on Princess - guess that speaks for itself. Hands down - Princess has it. Great service, great crew, beautiful ship, etc. NCL Dawn was my most dissapointing & expensive cruise.

[Poconolady]

Monte,

The fitness area and the spa are comparable on both lines (and of course that actually depends on the individual ship). There were more classes, educational activites and adult oriented (pottery sessions,scrapbooking, naturalist lectures, computer classes, cooking demos, galley tours) on Princess. There are more active activites (pool games, drinking contests, childrens programs, more of an emphasis on Bingo etc)on NCL. The casino on the Golden Princess was very large and seemed to have a more varied assortment of machines (.01, .02, .05. .25, $1, $5 slots) and a whole assortment of table games, poker, etc (we dont play those so I can't vouch for what is there exactly) The casino on Princess was hardly ever crowded, even at night.

The dining dress code is about the same, but we found that the Princess cruisers dressed up a bit more on a general level. There are two formal nights on Princess and on the whole most people adhered to the suggested dress code. We witnessed more tuxes on Princess than on RCL or HAL , however, there were many men dressed in suits and sportscoats, casually clad people were definately in the minority. On "Smart Casual nights most men wore long sleeved shirts and dresss pants, ladies wore a whole range of different outfits. Hose are always an option. NCL is a more casual line and formal nights are optional.

Since there is a more varied choice of alternative dining areas on NCL (generally only two on Princess) that is hard to compare. The food in the dining room is so good on Princess (and large size portions,too) that we did not find it necessary to dine (and pay extra) anywhere except the dining room. The selections and variety of lunch and dinner options is wider on Princes, the only area that I feel that NCL excells in is breakfast, in both the dining room and the buffet. There were no omelet stations in the buffet on Princess,(however, if you could catch the chefs eye they would make you one in the kitchen on Princess) and the breakfast dining room menu is more extensive on NCL.

Cabin service was much better on Princess, and things like egg crate mattress pads and robes that we requested from the cabin steward appeared in our room within minutes. We constantly had to keep asking for ice on Princess, but our steward explained that this is because of "Norwalk precautions". In the end we got in the habit of going to the buffet for our own ice, it was only one floor up from our cabin, but for others who weren't situated as close it could be a minor inconvence.

If the itinerarys are the same and the price is comparable, then by all means I would go with Princess.

[gambit57]

This is a Princess section, so obviously you're gonna get a lot more Princess fans.

 

That said, for Alaska, you want Princess or HAL if you can help it. Those are the two 800 pound gorillas in Alaska.

 

Now, for my extremely biased opinion which you're free to take with a grain of salt: NCL has no advantage over Princess in any real way, particulary in Alaska. NCL's only real claim to fame is Freestyle dining. That advantage is taken away with Princess' Anytime dining. Princess pulls ahead in the food dept cuz the NCL rips you off by making the regular free dining worse than the pay specialty ones in service and quality of food. Princess has great food and service in their free dining rooms and buffets.

 

For Alaska, Princess gets preferred access and docks to many places than NCL. They also have a naturalist on board to explain what you're seeing as you're seeing them.

 

So, unless you get a screaming deal, there's really no reason to choose NCL over Princess. Actually, my parents recently got back from the NCL Pearl where they did get a screaming deal (and they're all about the deals). They said they wouldn't go back to NCL, even with the deal. I'm sure if it were their first cruise ever, they would go back. However, they've a few lines under their belt and have been tainted by how much better cruising on other lines can be.

[Monte]

I appreciate all the advice and probably will choose Princess this time out. We are looking to book a cruise for July now not June, apparently the weather is better during the month of July. Thanks again for your help..

[tigerlilycruiser12]

Hi Monte

 

A very fimiliar name from NCL rolls. :) I have been on 13 cruises all but 1 on NCL. I then tried Princess last Sept. and then back to NCL last April. I feel Princess has it over NCL by far. I know it is two different cruise experiences and I enjoyed them both in different ways. I feel NCL is not the old NCL I knew a while back. Yes there menus are a little better now but still not like before. Princess food is much better as is the selection. IMO personal choice works well for the NCL cruiser. There on board activites are better on Princes as there was more of them. I do miss the maragrita clinics on Ncl. though.:(

 

I will be sailing Princess again in Sept. I will also sail NCl in feb. However, if Princes had a ship going out of NY all year around I would sail Princes. I hate to fly so that limits my choices.

 

OK after all that...I enjoy Princess much more and feel it is a better product for the money.

 

Marie

[cruise182]

I wanted some opinions about both cruise lines and which you prefer. I have sailed w/NCL and loved it, but my family wants to do a Princess cruise to Alaska. Any tips/advice concerning these lines would be appreciated. Thanks.

 

What NCL ships? I sailed on the Dawn. I loved the freestyle. princess can't touch that. I enjoyed eating at the Japanese restaurant, the sushi bar, the Mexican restaurant, the French bistro and a few others. Loved going when and how I like to. That said, I also enjoy having the same wait staff. Unfortunately, NCL just doesn't seem to have the right itinerary and ship when I am booking. Reason why I book other cruises. If you like NCL for the freestyle, you will have a hard time with other ships. No comparison.:)

[Monte]

Well I'm not sure which ships cruise to Alaska on either lines...I cruised on NCL Sky to Alaska many years ago and had a blast. I did work with NCL on the POA, which use to be the Sky, so I really don't have alot of experience with other ships. I'm sure that for the most part, the lines are similar with amenities and such....I just have to read more about Princess. It sounds lovely.

[mookie13]

I just was on the Crown Princess and it was the least favorite of my 7 cruises. The service and cabins were excellent, but that is about it.

 

1 - The food was extremely bland. It had as much spice as hospital or nursing home food.

 

2 - There were hardly any chicken dishes on the dinner menus.

 

3 - Other than the muffins, the breakfast pastries were awful.

 

4 - They actually found ice cream I do not like. The free ice cream dished out at 3:30 was awful. This was the first time in my life that I left ice cream in the bowl. I assume they had better ice cream at the ice cream bar (which is an additional cost) but ice cream should be a free amenity onthe ship and I refuse to get nickled and dimed.

 

5 - Between the ice cream and the bland food, I assume they are trying to push me into their specialty restaurants and ice cream parlor. I found this disappointing.

 

6 - Too much cigarette smoke in the casino. From now on I will only take a smoke free cruise. I could not even enjoy my balcony becasue of the stench of cigar smoke.

 

7 - Not enough activities. Where are the nightly or semi-nightly pool parties? This ship was as dead. I was never so bored in my life.

 

I have been on NCL 3 times the most and loved it. I have been on Carnival twice. While Carnival leaves a lot to be desired, at least I had fun. Even the dealers in the casino said this was one of the deadest groups they ever saw.

 

If you are 65 and over, Princess is for you!

[Clutterlady]

mookie13 had the same experience as you, but in reverse!!

 

Sailed the NCL Dawn last year and came home 5 pounds lighter (not a bad thing!) The food in the dining room and buffet were sub par, some actually...slop. The pay venues were very good, but had to pay for decent food. The service was very spotty, never saw my room steward, bar tenders were very sullen.

 

The ship lacked any ambiance what so ever, and was dead after 9:00 pm!! Can't wait to get back to Princess next year. Yes, we are trying Carnival this year, but mainly for the itinerary.

 

We try and make our own fun and enjoy most of our cruises despite some of the things we don't like. Would I try NCL again, perhaps, if the price and itinerary were right;)