Thinking about NCL out of NYC

[VioletNYC]

Hi Everyone! My sister and I (28 and 25) are thinking about trying NCL out of NYC in either May/June. We love Princess and usually cruise with them. But, NCL has some great itineraries! And we rather leave out of NY it's so convenient!

We are thinking either the Spirit to Eastern Caribbean or Dawn to Bermuda. We both absolutely loved Bermuda when we were there. Which would you recommend for two girls, not looking so much to party but to get away from everyone and relax and especially tan!!

Thanks so much!!

[SugarAim2]

Either one will be amazing. I'm 26 and LOVE NCL. We keep recruting friends to go with us. I'll be on the Gem out of NYC on Saturday. Can't wait!

[markf]

The spirit is a smaller older ship-- the Gem brand new

[lukes]

Sailing out of NYC is great. The spirit & Dawn are both really good ships, the Spirit a little smaller. Either cruise will be good, since you have been to Bermuda b4 maybe time to try something different, though you may have been to the ports the spirit offers on your Princess cruises. We love freestyle though it is not for everyone.

 

Sugaraim2 we are also sailing on the Gem Saturday. Check out the roll call. Hope to see you aboard.

[CanadianTwosome]

I WISH we could sail out of NYC. I've been many times myself on business, but my family has never had the opportunity to experience 'The Big Apple'. Unfortunately, the cost of flying there is prohibitive, so we've so far focused on other places. One day, though... One day!! :) So... do I actually have an opinion about the topic of the thread? ha ha ha I pretty much always have the same one... choose the itinerary that appeals to you the most at the price you're willing to pay. All of NCL's excursions are accessible on their website to give you an idea of what's available in any given port, and a visit to the destination boards here will help with that as well.

 

I have no personal experience with either ship, but for me, every ship is a good ship, so that part never makes a difference to me.

[Just call me Goddess]

I love the Spirit its my favorite ship...well until I met the GEM!!

I am 33 love NCL its perfect for you!!!

 

SugarAm2 this saturday? or Jan 5th?? I will be on the Gem 1/5!!

 

KC

[runner15km]

I had the same dilemma, Spirit or Dawn? After reading this board I decided on the Spirit. Different ports for us and one day longer.

[Jack1234]

I love the Spirit its my favorite ship...well until I met the GEM!!

I am 33 love NCL its perfect for you!!!

 

SugarAm2 this saturday? or Jan 5th?? I will be on the Gem 1/5!!

 

KC

 

Please post reviews of your trips. We just signed up for the Gem for 12/20/08. LONG time to wait and already too excited!

Have fun!!

[jp2001]

I'm 28 and been on both ships (24 and 27 at the time). I enjoyed both but my vote goes to the Spirit (although I would love to see Bermuda some day).

[AlCruise256]

Princess is superior to NCL. Especially service and food.

[Grandpaul]

I've been on the Dawn and Spirit several times and I still lean toward the Dawn. A lot of that has to do not so much with the ship but with the good times I had. Just a little bit bette ron the Dawn but the itinerary probably had something to do with that. You can't go wrong with either one. In June you could run into school kids if you go late. I've done Princess too out of NY but it was a bit pricey.

[gemini g]

I don't agree with alcruise256. Sailed Princess 3 times and Sat. the 29th will be my forth on NCL. (Gem out of New York) As they say "different strokes for different folks" I found both about the same.

[MrPete]

BERMUDA! Hands down.

[Baitman19]

Hi Everyone! My sister and I (28 and 25) are thinking about trying NCL out of NYC in either May/June. We love Princess and usually cruise with them. But, NCL has some great itineraries! And we rather leave out of NY it's so convenient!

We are thinking either the Spirit to Eastern Caribbean or Dawn to Bermuda. We both absolutely loved Bermuda when we were there. Which would you recommend for two girls, not looking so much to party but to get away from everyone and relax and especially tan!!

 

Thanks so much!!

 

We sailed the Dawn 9 times and hope to sail her to Bermuda next fall.

 

There's nothing wrong with the service on the Dawn, believe me!

 

You don't sail one ship 9 times and the service is bad?

 

Bermuda is our favorite place to see and the Dawn is our favoirte ship. The two are great together.

 

Go for it.

 

Happy Cruising

[musicgirl63]

Just my 2 cents.....

 

I think for some girls looking relaxation and sun, the Dawn would be a great choice. The beaches in Bermuda are unbelievably beautiful. And with staying in port you won't have to worry about all the hustle and bustle of getting off the ship and making in back in time to sail. On the Dawn, you won't have to worry about that since it docks overnight.

 

Just a few reasons why we're going on the Dawn in June.

[VioletNYC]

Thanks so much for all of your help!! You are all so nice. In regards to service and food, it's like service schmervice to us lol. It's all the same. We are not big eaters, I can have one bite of the appetizer and be full for the night (I'm sure the drinking has a lot to do with that). We did Princess out of Brooklyn last summer and we ended up getting a really great crowd all about our age. It ended up being a 9 day party with no sleep and a very nice tan lol.

I think we are leaning towards Bermuda, we absolutely loved it last summer and one day there from 9-5 was definitely not enough time.

[musicgirl63]

When did you go last summer? We were on the Crown Princess June 17 for 9 nights and loved it!!!!

[VioletNYC]

We were right before you!! June 8th-17th! We loved it also!! I wish they were doing better cruises this summer!! :(

 

So, we are thinking of switching it up to NCL!

[musicgirl63]

There are very few cruises in the Caribbean from any cruise line. I actually thought about doing the same Princess cruise out of Brooklyn for 9 nights again but we've been to St. Thomas twice, we didn't like San Juan at all (it must have been 100 degrees), not enough time in Bermuda. We also loved Grand Turk. That is now my new happy place!!! I'm guessing you went to Margaritaville???

[coka]

You sound like my kind of cruiser! The Spirit has more an Asian theme regarding decor and the Dawn is larger in size, therefore having more sun deck to tan! You can not go wrong with either! Have a great time!

Coka

[VioletNYC]

Princess out of BK seems so much more expensive this year! I loved St. Thomas also, we went to Sapphire Beach. Yes- we were at Margarativille at 7am as soon as the ship docked lol.

I liked San Juan-we actually got a day pass to the Marriott in Condado and hung out there. It was definetly around 100 degrees, but I loved it lol.

When are you going on the Dawn? We are looking at either 5/25, 6/1 or 6/8..not sure yet!

[musicgirl63]

It looks like we may end up the week after you again!! We'll be on 6-15-08!!!

[herb]

Last summer we sailed on the Crown Princess out of Brooklyn and had a great time. We thought the service was very good, but I thought the ship was way too crowded no matter where we went.

 

We've sailed many times out of NYC and it's a plus for us since we live in NY and save $$ by avoiding flight costs to other ports. And it's always a special treat sailing past the NY skyline.

 

We've decided to go on NCL Dawn this coming August to Bermuda. We've also been to Bermuda twice before but don't mind visiting this beautiful island once again. We plan on having a relaxing vacation enjoying the beaches Bermuda has to offer.

 

Thankfully the NCL Dawn has, for the most part, received very good reviews with many passengers having sailed on that ship numerous times. This is good news for us, since our last cruise with NCL in 2002 was on the Norwegian Sea, and we didn't care for that ship.

 

Hopefully we'll be as happy with the Dawn as so many previous posters have claimed they were.

 

Good luck and have fun deciding which cruise to take.

[tinker]

I had to chime in and say I am on the Spirit to the Bahamas in May, which my daughter and I also did last year, and also have the Dawn booked to Bermuda for October 08.

 

The decision to sail the Spirit again to Florida and Bahamas was most based on the great price.

 

My advice would be to book the Dawn to Bermuda and spend 3 glorious days on the most beautiful beaches I have ever seen.