Carnival or Norwegian cruise line?

[cruizinmama]

I have already been on Princess Grand & Royal Caribbean Voyager of the Seas and loved both. Any opinions between Carnival & Norwegian? For Carnival I am looking at Destiny or Liberty. For Norwegian I am looking at Dawn,Pearl or Jewel. The people I will be going with,their age's range from 34-40

Thanks:)

[cruizinmama]

Any input on either Norwegian or Carnival?

[nyc1234]

NCL is great if you like to dine whenever, but don't expect the food to be top quality (like Princess). If you really want to try NCL, try the Pearl (as it has a rock climbing wall and a bowling alley).

 

On Carnival, I won't know until I finish my cruise in a few weeks. The only thing that I don't like so far is it's a set dinner time and the same table for the entire cruise. I loved the freedom I had when I took the Princess cruise before.

[Sandi149]

I have been on Carnival but not the Destiny or the Liberty. I have been on the Legend and Miracle. Loved them both. Go onto the Carnival board and ask around. Lots of people will help you over there.

[serene56]

I have sailed carnival and ROyal. TOured the NCL Crown and decided NCL was not for me. For one--the size of the cabins were bitty when comparing to what I have had on past cruises.

 

We enjoyed our Royal but preffered Carnival for their choices of night time activities. Cruising is not just about all the music.

 

The Destiny-- is a differnt type of cruise and cant base a carnival experince for that type of sailing.

The Destiny is port intensive with only 1 sea day-- you need a vacation after your vacation.

 

 

The Liberty does either a 6 day cruise or an 8 day cruise.

 

when looking at your various choices make sure you are comparing same.

(it will make it an easier choice)

[Gunman]

I have cruised on Carnival several times, NCL also, along with Princess, Costa, etc. Not only is each line a little different, but also each ship. Carnival caters more to younger people with children, while Princess (longer cruises) caters to the retired folks. I have enjoyed every cruise (about 25 thus far), although some features on each were not to my liking. The best bet is to visit the various boards and find out what people are saying for specific ships, or destinations.

For instance, in 2005, I sailed with Sapphire Princess from Sydney, AU to Bangkok, and it was the best ever. Later in the same year, I sailed Pacific Princess from Bangkok to South Africa and it was my worst sailing experience. Yet, I am now booked on Sun Princess in September from Seattle to Sydney (30 days).

Whatever yiou choose, enjoy yourself.

[blindrid]

Have done both and enjoyed NCL's freestyle dining. That being said, I would take either one and be satisfied. Do your research on the ship as some are a little older and not laid out as nicely as others.

[rain_bowbrite]

I have already been on Princess Grand & Royal Caribbean Voyager of the Seas and loved both. Any opinions between Carnival & Norwegian? For Carnival I am looking at Destiny or Liberty. For Norwegian I am looking at Dawn,Pearl or Jewel. The people I will be going with,their age's range from 34-40

Thanks:)

 

I haven't been on those particular ships but my guess is that you would have a great time on any of those. Of course every ship, not just the cruise lines has it's quirks.

 

If I were narrowing it down for Carnival I would choose the Liberty over the Destiny. The Destiny itinerary is very port intensive, which you may like but the liberty is a newer ship. A lot of people are also "put off" by the large number of PR locals that sail on the Destiny but I think it would make for more interesting cruise experience! I love diversity and culture!

 

If I were narrowinf it down between the NCL ships it would be the Pearl hands down, it's the newest!

 

The food on my NCL Majesty cruise was very poor in selection and quality but I would love the opportunity to sail on one of the newer ships like the Pearl and hopefully the food selection and quality would be much better.

 

Food is always a big deciding factor on cruise for me and the food on both of my Carnival cruises has been wonderful, better than my RCCL Explorer OTS cruise.

 

Which ever you choose I am sure that you will have a great time:) .

 

Jodie

[2Cruise4Ever]

Been on both. Loved both. But, I prefer NCL because of Freestyle and their level of service is outstanding. Yes, the cabins on Carnival are bigger. But, I found the food and service to be better on NCL (only my own opinion).

 

We recently sailed the NCL Dawn for the second time. It was even better than the first. And, we're going on our 2nd Carnival cruise to nowhere in October. So, we're willing to try just about anything. But, if NCL has the cruise we're looking for, we'll go with them first in a heartbeat!

[ce2000]

I have been on both and much prefer Carnival over NCL. The food and entertainment on Carnival is much better in my opinion. Freestyle dining did not work very well for me and my family, though we did have a good time on the NCL Jewel, it is a very nice ship. We just simply prefer Carnival. In the interest of full disclosure I want to state that Carnival is not my favorite cruise line, Celebrity is. I am not loyal to any line but I have enjoyed each cruise and I have always felt that I got more than my monies worth.

[newmexicoNita]

I have sailed carnival and ROyal. TOured the NCL Crown and decided NCL was not for me. For one--the size of the cabins were bitty when comparing to what I have had on past cruises.

 

We enjoyed our Royal but preffered Carnival for their choices of night time activities. Cruising is not just about all the music.

 

The Destiny-- is a differnt type of cruise and cant base a carnival experince for that type of sailing.

The Destiny is port intensive with only 1 sea day-- you need a vacation after your vacation.

 

 

The Liberty does either a 6 day cruise or an 8 day cruise.

 

when looking at your various choices make sure you are comparing same.

(it will make it an easier choice)

The Crown is hardly representative of the ships the OP is talking about, like the Dawn, Pearl and Jewel. they are as different as night and day.

 

Both lines would work for the age group the op is in.

Nita

[Cruising89143]

Having cruised Carnival 16 times over 11 years and just coming back from my first NCL cruise in 13 years, I would take NCL. I found many things about the Dawn that I liked.

 

First, I love the Freestyle dining concept. I found the service on NCL to be much better than anything that I have experienced on Carnival. Also I found that the Dawn was very clean and well maintained which is an area that I think Carnival does not does a job as they are not consistent here. Again these are my observations from cruising with them over the years.

 

NCL has always been known as having good entertainment and they did not disappoint. IMHO NCL is much closer to Royal than Carnival in all areas. I find Carnival to be a step down from both.

[bakechef]

I have sailed carnival and ROyal. TOured the NCL Crown and decided NCL was not for me. For one--the size of the cabins were bitty when comparing to what I have had on past cruises.

 

We enjoyed our Royal but preffered Carnival for their choices of night time activities. Cruising is not just about all the music.

 

The Destiny-- is a differnt type of cruise and cant base a carnival experince for that type of sailing.

The Destiny is port intensive with only 1 sea day-- you need a vacation after your vacation.

 

 

The Liberty does either a 6 day cruise or an 8 day cruise.

 

when looking at your various choices make sure you are comparing same.

(it will make it an easier choice)

 

The crown is the oldest, smallest in the NCL fleet. It also was not purpose built for NCL. The Majesty wasn't either, so these two ships are unique to the fleet and are not consistent with the product.

 

I do feel that the new ships look very colorful and upbeat, and would probably appeal to the carnival cruisers, because they are not just a sea of brass and glass, like a lot of other ships out there.

 

MAC

[bakechef]

uhhhgggg dupicate!