Which NCL ship is your favorite?

[Grandpaul]

Just completed our 30th NCL cruise and since the Norway is no longer in the running I tend to like the Dawn the most. I usually don't look for the biggest plusses but the least negatives, from my perspective, as far as what makes a good ship. The Dawn seems to top my list for that. But I just did the Jewel and I have to cruise her a couple more times to compare better. Oh well.

[tuffy88]

We have been on 7 NCL ships. The Crown, Wind, Sun(2X), Spirit, Sky, Star, Pearl. Loved them all, but the favorate was the Star. We will be on the Majesty in October. Sure we will like her also.

 

Charles

[coffeebean]

You have to be kidding!

 

NCL is at the VERY bottom of our favorite cruise lines.

 

One cruise was enought to convince us to NEVER go back.

 

We avoid NCL like the flu.

 

We have so far cruised 18 times with 8 different cruise lines. NCL was the ONLY BAD ONE.[/quote]

 

Would you mind being a little more specific??? I have cruised 21 times... mostly on RCCl, once on HAL, once on Celebrity, four times on Carnival, once on Princess and the rest on NCL. Out of all these mass market cruise lines RCCL and NCL are my and DH's favorite cruise lines. We always say the best cruise line for us would have Freestyle dining and all the amenities of the Voyager class ships of RCCL.

 

The Pearl is by far my favorite NCL ship. She is a beauty and her crew was outstanding. Food was superb, especially in the fee restaruants, Le Bistro and Cagney's. My introduction to NCL was the Star five years ago when we cruised the Hawiian islands. WOW. That was DH's first cruise and he was hooked on cruising on NCL Star. I had cruised over thirty years before that and was very pleasantly surprised by NCL.

 

Newbies to NCL...you will have a wonderful time.

 

Happy cruising!!!

[cruizinwithkids]

I think the Majesty for it's size. I absolutely LOVED the Gem while on a recent two day cruise, but I find the size overwhelming.

 

I am SLIGHTLY considering cancelling our Dawn cruise this spring and instead booking a Gem cruise when it comes back to the US from Europe. The Dawn cruise is for our 20th anniversary, so I don't think I really want to postpone the cruise, but the Gem is gorgeous.

[jt1120]

Tough question. Been on three, liked all three. I would probably say the Spirit, only because of the decor. It wasn't as loud as the Jewel, and we were on the Sun so long ago that I can't remember it that well anymore. Ahhh, too many cruises, not enough brain cells...

 

NOTE TO DAGTOKING1 - ITA. No way can NCL be THAT bad.

[coffeebean]

We have cruised Carnival & NCL & enjoyed them all. Prefer free-style but won't stop us from cruising other lines. Went on 1 Royal Car. cruise on an older ship & weren't impressed. Realize this isn't a true representation of the line so will try them again on a newer ship. While NCL is our favorite, we like variety too.

 

You are the voice of reason. Folks shouldn't pass judgement on an entire cruise line by one experience on one ship. You are very wise to realize that an older ship on any cruise line is not a good representation of what the cruise line has to offer.

[ssolomon56]

You have to be kidding!

 

NCL is at the VERY bottom of our favorite cruise lines.

 

One cruise was enought to convince us to NEVER go back.

 

We avoid NCL like the flu.

 

We have so far cruised 18 times with 8 different cruise lines. NCL was the ONLY BAD ONE.

 

I find it pretty interesting that you'd be on this particular thread then. If I hated NCL, I wouldn't even be on it's message board at all - :rolleyes:

[deepnite10]

You have to be kidding!

 

NCL is at the VERY bottom of our favorite cruise lines.

 

One cruise was enought to convince us to NEVER go back.

 

We avoid NCL like the flu.

 

We have so far cruised 18 times with 8 different cruise lines. NCL was the ONLY BAD ONE.

 

Please answer the question..:confused:

[deepnite10]

that song come s to mind..

*if your not with the one you love..

love the one your with* :p

 

this is not be mistaken for relationship s..just that

it can be applied to cruiseship s:D

[mbarnaby99]

My pick would have to be the Jewel. I have done 2 transatlantic sailings and 1 caribbean with the Jewel and keep finding more things I like. But, I haven't found a bad ship yet.

[NorthernNeighbour]

My favorite NCL ship is one I've yet to sail -- the newly minted GEM. My TA just returned, raves about it and the pictures of the ship are awesome.

 

I'm nostalgic about the DREAM -- not because of it being the best ship but because on one particular very long cruise we were on the crew members who served us were fantastic.

 

Don't know what will happen to the DREAM and the other older ships that NCL is phasing out -- but looking forward to all the newer ships and the upgrading of service levels that NCL has planned. Out only problem with the 'upgrades' that are planned is we are not too keen to see NCL go all class-conscious with certain areas of the ship restricted to those in suites and with Platinum membership. But we are not class-conscious enough to object to a separate check-in area for those with suites. Who wants to pay a lot of money to stand in line for a check-in? I digress -- nothing to do with the best ship subject!

[maurick]

Dawm for us

[maurick]

Dawm for us

[maurick]

Dawm for us

[Grandpaul]

There's 3 votes for the Dawm. LOL.

[Cameron Lake]

The one I am on at the time. Our first was the Sun, then the Jewel, then the Pearl for back to back, then back to the Sun. The next is the Jade in Feb. 08. They are all excellent.

[unclepaulie]

Sailed the Dawn 5 times. Spirit once. Spirit had more CLASS. Not that the Dawn did not have CLASS but just had a wee bit less. Spirit was a little more intimate and way less loud. Put me on any ship and I will have a great time.

IMHO.

 

UNCLE PAULIE!!!!!

[Azure Moon]

Our favorite NCL ship: The Pride of Hawaii.

 

Of course, she's the only one we've been on so far. But I have a feeling she'll remain our favorite because it was our first time on NCL and because of the itinerary, another first for us :) .

 

Also, Pride of Hawaii was the newest ship we'd been on. I thought it was the most beautiful of all the ships we been on, makes me sad to think she'll be moved and changed :( as I would have loved to sail on her again for another round of Hawaii Island jumping.

[jp2001]

I have been on only 2 ships (Dawn when it was 11 month old and Spirit last year). Both were very nice but I prefer the Spirit (probably because of her size/layout and EXCEPTIONAL crew on that last cruise). Two things that I did miss from the Dawn were Salsa free alternative dinning venue for it's great decor and location; the second thing is the art in the stairs and, of course, in Le Bistro. I have 2 more cruises booked on the Spirit for 2008 (last time, it was a 6-night roundtrip NY itinerary, the next is a 7-night W. Carribean roundtrip NOLA and the one after is a 13-night NY-NOLA cruise) can't wait! I'm sure I would love any other ''newer ship'' of the fleet but I'm a little worried about the older ones (Majesty and Crown), I'm not sure they would be for me and there are too much reviews out there saying they had bad smell in the cabin (I think it's what I fear the most), JIMHO.

[ddakrt]

The Jewel will always be my favorite ship from NCL and any other line. It's the first cruise ship I've been on, and I just got back this week for my second trip on her. The Jewel was just as great last week as the first time I set foot on her.

[hollywoodnc]

You have to be kidding!

 

NCL is at the VERY bottom of our favorite cruise lines.

 

One cruise was enought to convince us to NEVER go back.

 

We avoid NCL like the flu.

 

We have so far cruised 18 times with 8 different cruise lines. NCL was the ONLY BAD ONE.

 

Are you unhappy with your cruise on NCL because it rained throughout your whole cruise?

OR

Are you just one of those that is never happy?

OR

You spent way to much?

 

Regardless, I totally enjoyed my first cruise on the SUN.

See: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=675588

 

The SUN had a GREAT itinerary, GREAT food, and a GREAT crew!

I made sure that some of the passengers, with the I don't give a damn attitudes (such as yours), were avoided.

 

Your kind make me sick...so, if you will, do us cruisers who make the best of our trips, a favor...

Stay the hell home.

 

Have a nice day! :)

[tiyana4]

The Gem is the only NCL ship I have cruised on and is indeed a beautiful ship. It is also where I met Bobby Flay.

 

I have to say that my all time favorite ship was the Caribbean Princess but Norwegian's freestyle cruising was very similar to Princess' anytime dining. I found this very accommodating.

 

The cabins are quite a bit smaller than other cruise lines but I don't cruise for the size of the cabins - I cruise because I love to let someone else do the driving:p !

 

Please see my pics of NCL's Gem out of New York below.

 

http://good-times.webshots.com/slideshow/561862874jJihyi;jsessionid=abcv1g6nKSToAhk9JWJCr

[tiyana4]

One thing that I really liked on the Gem was the fact that the room safes were large enough to hold a full size laptop with no problem.

 

This is the first ship that has had a safe large enough for this and other items as well. The bathrooms were unique, too, in that it was separated into three different areas. The commode area has a sliding glass door as did the large shower stall and an open area in the center where the sink and mirror were. Very nice concept.

 

The coffee was also good. I can't wait to sail on the Sun in March.

[coka]

The Leeward: My first NCL cruise…loved the small intimate ship feeling

 

The Wind 2x: She took me to Alaska for the best itinerary ever and I have not had better barbecue spare ribs yet by any pool-side barbecue since…

 

The Sea 2x: I loved her swimming pool

 

The Majesty 2x: The disco memories and fabulous haircuts in the salon

 

The Sky: I remember not liking a lot about it, but dad had just passed away a few weeks earlier

 

The Norway: Her promenade was the best and she was closest to “the olden days of cruising” that I would ever get…

 

The Sun 5x: I entered a contest that helped name her. Four of my best friends today were all met on various sailings. I love her large sized balcony cabins and her itineraries. Freestyle suited me and Suite 8002 rocked!

 

The Spirit: The Asian décor was unique and it was the closest to the Leeward for intimate feeling to it. I liked the nightclub/casino connecting to each other.

 

The Jewel: Although I did not care for her décor, I loved her crew…they were awesome to me!

 

The Dawn: Only did a 2 day cruise to nowhere so I did not get to see much of her…must go back to check out that multi-level pool deck area during nice weather.

 

The Gem: Hooray! A ship that seems like it was built with me in mind. The Gem has replaced the Grand Princess as my all time favorite ship for everything I like about cruising. Only did a 2 day cruise to nowhere…looking forward to spending more time with her!

 

I want to check out the Pearl too!

 

Coka

[packman266]

:) My wife and I have cruised NCL 17 times. I feel the ittinerary is most important. We have cruised on the DREAM 6 times and the best one was thru the Kiel Canal to Northern Europe. Going again on the DREAM in March. We were on the innaugural cruise of the SKY and when we docked at Bergen (captains home town) he whole city came out to see us come and go! We were on the STAR in Hawaii when it rescued the crew of a burned ship that had been drifting for over a week. What excitement! The SUN to Alaska was great! I LOVE FREESTYLE as you don't get stuck with poor tablemates as I did on a transatlantic with RCCL NAVIGATOR last April. DREAM is my choice

.