Carnival pricing vs NCL - why?

[halos]

When you compare services - you get what you pay for - CCL is the worst for services / food - .

 

 

That's your opinion. Many don't share it.

[Kurbanfan]

Yes, go now expecting to eat now then getting a table an hour later if you choose a popular dining time.

 

So you don't get to eat when you want to which is what anytime dining is supposed to be.

 

It means you can go to dinner anytime. Pretty clear to me:rolleyes: Some people like it some people don't. Do what is best for you. We prefer to go on our own time so it works for us. If I wanted to eat right now I would just go to the buffet.:D

[Kurbanfan]

On any cruiseline with set dining times you go and get served at your dining time.

 

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That is not necessarily true. It really is the cruiselines dining times, you just get to choose one of their times that they offer:D Anytime is..... well basically anytime:D

[flowerchild]

I have been on RCCL, Carnival and NCL.

 

On my last cruise, we ended up on the NCL Star after much research. While researching our next cruise, we went with the Carnival Valor.

 

I find that all cruise lines are offering a similar product, with differences in the way the product is marketed:

 

Carnival is marketed as the "Fun Ship" and has a more "party" ambiance and offers livelier onboard activities. They also have more children on board and younger cruisers in general. They offer a great kids program. They offer set dining times as well as a signature restaurant (for a fee) on many ships. Carnival has a reputation of having many drunk and disorderly passengers but I find that if you cruise in non-spring break and summer vacation months, you do not encounter that. Spring break on any cruise line can be a nightmare.

 

NCL boasts Freestyle Dining. You can dine when you want, at what dining room you want, by yourself or with others. They offer dining in signature restaurants that charge a "fee" and offer some for free. We dined in an Italian bistro and a tex mex restaurant on the Star for free and they were wonderful. For those that like a set dining time, you CAN speak to the Maitre'D and reserve the same table every nite at the same time. NCL also has a great kids program and has an older cruiser demographic so you will see comments that the ambiance is quieter. NCL has "optional" formal nites, you can dress up or you can just wear resort casual. They just lifted the "no jeans" policy on NCL, also.

 

RCCL has wonderfully large ships and offer passengers rock climbing, ice skating, flow riding...I found RCCL to offer a similar product as Carnival with the set dining times and a signature "fee" restaurant.

 

When I shop for a cruise I usually start with itinerary and timeframe, then price. On our Alaska cruise, NCL offered us the best price for a roundtrip 7 day out of Seattle for a balcony. This time, the Valor was the best priced for a 7 day for the timeframe we wanted. Cruises go up in price in the summer and to stay in our budget, we needed to choose something as late in the season as possible before my kid went back to school. If I could have waited another week, I could have saved $600 for 4 pax. I usually use cruises.com to help me find all the available cruises offered.

 

Once I have narrowed down my choices (based on itinerary, timeframe and price) I research the ships themselves. With a little research, you can determine how much square footage the cabins are, how old the ships are, ship features, etc. Will Freestyle dining be a better fit or do you prefer a set waiter, table and time? Freestyle worked brilliantly when it was just my husband and myself (we never encountered long lines and a wait of more than 5 minutes), but a set dining time works best for us when we cruise with our 8 yr old. If food is a big issue, you can find fleetwide menus for each of the cruise lines to get an idea and help you decide which menus suit you best.

 

Don't let other's opinions affect you too much when deciding. Many people have misconceptions of the different cruise lines and people will always have differing opinions. Your best bet is to research all your choices, keep an open mind and decide what works best for YOU. An educated decision is best when purchasing a vacation.

 

And above all, have a great time cruising. Don't sweat the small stuff. You will have fun on whatever cruise line you choose.