Coming back to Carnival after NCL

[ntune]

Yes, we are coming back to Carnival. Thought we would like to try NCL's "freestyle". What a mistake. First of all, the crew was not friendly. It was a very unwelcome feeling. Not what we were used to. Then the dining.... NCL makes their food very unappealing so that you will eat in their pay speciality restaurants. Well, for us, having to make reservations and pay for a decent dinner kind of defeats the purpose of a cruise. The dining room food was lukewarm at best and very little variety. The buffet was just plain not edible. Everything was cold, and I mean everything - breakfast, lunch and dinner. This cruise ended up costing more than our trip on the Liberty last year and we didn't come back with all the fun Carnival gift shop souveniers. In fact, we came back with a magnet from the gift shop. That was it. On our Carnival cruise, we met lots of friendly people. I can only think of one gentleman we met on NCL that I can remember his name or had more than one conversation with. Again, not what we were used to.

 

We felt like maybe we were just having an "off" time, but we read other reviews of the same cruise and found the same comments.

 

We did love the ports - Samana, St Thomas, Tortola and Bahama's. It was still a great vacation for us, but we learned our lesson and will not be sailing on NCL again.

[pe4all]

I, too, am interested in trying something "different". However, upon reading these boards, I always decide to come back to Carnival. And it isn't just the price factor! (though we cruise at expensive times, and rarely get a break- Carnival is still cheaper) Carnival fits our comfort zone. We enjoy each other's company on our vacations, and don't need/use a lot of "extras" many of the other lines offer. And food isn't a major factor for us - I like going in and eating at my assigned time. As long as I don't have to cook, food is food for my family! We cruise mostly for the ports - as long as we keep hitting new ones, I am happy. (though we are starting to "run out" - Carnival needs to spiff these up a bit - unless I start to cruise the Med., which doesn't fit into our work/school schedules yet)

[ntune]

I agree about the ports. That was the definite upside of our NCL cruise. Hopefully Carnival will add some.

 

And we are not picky eaters by any means. We eat early, so we never had lines, but just didn't feel like it was a great deal to have to pay to get good food. The food in the dining room on the Liberty last year was amazing, as good as the specialty restaurants on NCL. Hopefully that has not changed.

 

All in all, a cruise in the tropics is better than a winter day in the midwest and we had a great time. Can't wait to cruise Carnival again next year, though!

[MrPete]

I came SCREAMING back after one 19 years ago, and never returned.

 

And this was BEFORE Freestyle.

[linsue1231]

I have been on 3 NCL cruises out of NYC and loved them all. Met great people on all of them and had the best time at the ports....Loved the freestyle seating and choices.

 

Have been on 1 RCCL cruise out of NJ and also had a blast loved the set seating as well and loads of great people on board.

 

Now I will be going on my first CCL cruise this October and I am sure I will meet great people and have a blast. I am looking forward to this one, as I will be sailing out of Florida, which I have never done...

 

For me I think any cruise line I will sail on will be great, I seem to always have a great time where ever I go...

 

Linda

[jmcdon7230]

..... The buffet was just plain not edible....

 

 

 

Hmmm....what NCL ship was this? That's a pretty broad statement, considering the variety and quality of the buffet lines on the new NCL ships: Pearl, Gem, Jewel etc.

[ntune]

The Dawn.

 

Yes, it is a broad statement and unfortunately very true. And it was not just our feelings. Other reviews of the same cruise said the same thing.

[maxamuus]

Their counter says Norwegian Dawn

[Bunkie103]

Hmmm some of the NCL sailings out of NYC are very tempting to us as they would not involve airfare, but, I am still leery of giving them a try. Thanks for the review.

[nonna5]

I have been on more than 30 cruises on many many different cruise lines (some not still in business). I have platinum status with Carnival and Gold status with NCL. I have to say that I have never had a bad cruise. I believe a cruise is what you make of it. I have encountered a few unfriendly people - yes. After all we can all have a bad day. Even the people who work on cruise lines are human. I have found if you smile and have a friendly word for most people that you receive what you give. Do I prefer the assigned seating - yes. But I have also enjoyed the freestyle seating on port intensive cruises. Especially with ones with overnight stays such as Bermuda and Hawaii. We just returned from the NCL Pride of America a couple of weeks ago and had a wonderful time and the food was excellent. We never ate in any of the specialty restaurants. The service was wonderful. We returned from the Carnival Ecstasy in December and the food was excellent also and the service was wonderful. All that being said I do believe a cruise is what you make of it. After all when I am on a cruise I am on vacation and thus not having to work, cook or clean. So that makes me happy above words.

[cruzeluver]

Sorry your NCL cruise was a disappointment.

 

We have cruised twice with NCL and have a third booked. Never had a problem with them. Personal preference certainly comes into play with what people prefer.

 

Sounds like Carnival is a better fit for you. While we enjoyed our Carnival cruise and would come back to Carnival, all else being equal we prefer NCL.

[scperk]

I'm with the OP we just sailed a 14 night on the Pearl and it probaly was my last NCL....The service was bad even in the specialties reataurants, we only ate twice in the dining room, went by and looked at the menu and ended up eating at the buffet.....we had a good time anyway and met some great people but it's back to Carnival for me..........Dennis

[hncg57c]

We weren't too impressed with NCL when we went on the Pride of Hawaii, especially their freestyle dining. There were two or three times we had to wait at least 30 minutes or more before we were seated for dinner, which defeats the purpose of eating anytime you want. Also, service was really slow. It could just be due to the ship being an American flagged ship.

 

However, we went on the cruise not expecting the best, so we enjoyed our cruise. We went with NCL for our Hawaiian cruise because they had the best itinerary.

[cruisinsly]

When we were tossing around different ideas for our next vacation, NCL came up. DH told me that he was happy with Carnival. He asked me, "Why would I go somewhere else when I had everything I could possibly want on Carnival?". Kinda hard to talk him into another cruise line. OP, your comments make me think that we made a right decision to go on Carnival again.

[jimswims]

We are trying Carnival again after an 18 year hiatus.

 

We have been on 5 NCL ships with a 6th booked in May and think it is time to try another line.

 

Freestyle dining really worked well for us. We will have to get used to the assigned dining. We have never had a bad cruise so we are looking forward to the Miracle.

[popsec]

We got a last minute cruise deal with military discount on NCL Spirit ...11 days for only $55 per person in a balcony cabin! A deal at that price but not a deal if you had to pay their normal prices. Food in buffet was almost inedible (and I'm not picky at all!). The only crew we found to be unfriendly were the casino dealers. The only way I'd ever try NCL again is if we ran across another deal like that

[scperk]

I was not impressed with the casino staff either...The guys at the rock climbing wall were a blast and they also ran the bowling alley. I had a great time climbing and bowling against them.....Dennis

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Huh?

[NCTribeFan]

We are trying Carnival again after an 18 year hiatus.

 

We have been on 5 NCL ships with a 6th booked in May and think it is time to try another line.

 

Freestyle dining really worked well for us. We will have to get used to the assigned dining. We have never had a bad cruise so we are looking forward to the Miracle.

 

Really enjoyed the Miracle. Word of advice, though. If you like steaks, you'll probably be disappointed. I don't eat much beef, but always seem to order it in the dining rooms. After having gloriously delicious steaks on the Elation in December, 2006, I was very disappointed in the quality on the Miracle. Many recent reviews on other ships has noted the same problem. Overcooked and tough. Since I eat mine very rare, I wouldn't be happy even if they were reasonably tender!

 

The filet was dreadful, the strip was inedible. The prime rib was decent, and the Beef Wellington was very good.

 

Items other than beef were all quite nice. I don't eat at the buffet other than breakfast (be sure to have George make you an omelet) and the deli (and the same George makes the best deli sandwiches).

 

The comment from the OP about the quality of food being a means to get more people to pay to dine in the supper club is probably something that's going to happen across the industry, at least in the mass-market lines. Still, I don't cruise just so I can have all-I-can-eat, so I'm not sure the dining would ever be the deciding factor in what line I chose. Itinerary, price, ship are the top three on my list of importance.

[Djptcp]

DH and I loved NCL when we first started cruising (before "freestyle"), but it only took one "freestyle" cruise to say never on NCL again. We hated it.....the crew was unfriendly, especially the wait staff, there were long lines for the dining room at popular times, and we just didn't like the atmosphere overall. We made the best of the cruise because we love cruising, but would not recommend NCL to anyone. Friends of ours tried it and they agreed about the lack of great service and having to make reservations. Who wants to be bothered with that on vacation?

 

We've seen sailed on Royal Caribbean and Holland America -- loved them both, but Carnival seems to suit us and the ships are convenient to where we live in North Florida (Tampa, Jacksonville, and Port Canaveral), so we don't have to bother going to Sourth Florida to cruise.

[jimswims]

Really enjoyed the Miracle. Word of advice, though. If you like steaks, you'll probably be disappointed. I don't eat much beef, but always seem to order it in the dining rooms. After having gloriously delicious steaks on the Elation in December, 2006, I was very disappointed in the quality on the Miracle. Many recent reviews on other ships has noted the same problem. Overcooked and tough. Since I eat mine very rare, I wouldn't be happy even if they were reasonably tender!

 

The filet was dreadful, the strip was inedible. The prime rib was decent, and the Beef Wellington was very good.

 

Items other than beef were all quite nice. I don't eat at the buffet other than breakfast (be sure to have George make you an omelet) and the deli (and the same George makes the best deli sandwiches).

 

The comment from the OP about the quality of food being a means to get more people to pay to dine in the supper club is probably something that's going to happen across the industry, at least in the mass-market lines. Still, I don't cruise just so I can have all-I-can-eat, so I'm not sure the dining would ever be the deciding factor in what line I chose. Itinerary, price, ship are the top three on my list of importance.

 

Thank you for the advice.

 

I do like a nice steak but have not been very impressed with the beef in the main dining rooms of any cruise line (NCL, RCCL, Cunard) so I will keep this in mind when I order.

 

We did not like the steaks at Cagney's (the steak house on NCL). We have heard others think that it is the best steak that they have ever had. The only exception has been the filet at LeBistro (Speciality restaurant) on the Spirit and again on the Dawn. It was superb and well worth the 15.00 cover charge.

 

I also feel the same way about having lobster on a cruise. I am from New England and do not expect the Lobster to be anything like I get at home.

 

We like to try some different foods when we are on a cruise. I am sure that there will be plenty of new things to try. We have never left a meal hungry in 11 cruises :D !

 

We are planning on going to the supper club one night when we are on the Miracle.

 

I also choose cruises based on price, itinerary, and ship. We are looking forward to going on the Miracle.

[Socref124]

Yes, we are coming back to Carnival. Thought we would like to try NCL's "freestyle". What a mistake. First of all, the crew was not friendly. It was a very unwelcome feeling. Not what we were used to. Then the dining.... NCL makes their food very unappealing so that you will eat in their pay speciality restaurants. Well, for us, having to make reservations and pay for a decent dinner kind of defeats the purpose of a cruise. The dining room food was lukewarm at best and very little variety. The buffet was just plain not edible. Everything was cold, and I mean everything - breakfast, lunch and dinner. I can only think of one gentleman we met on NCL that I can remember his name or had more than one conversation with. Again, not what we were used to.

 

we learned our lesson and will not be sailing on NCL again.

 

I'm so sorry you had a bad cruise on NCL. I'll bet it was a lot better than being at work though. DW and I cruised NCL Star four years ago and although the food was good on the Star, the service was horrible:( . The other passengers were great and the chocolate extravaganza was out of this world. Freestyle cruising sux though, imho. We walked up to a restaurant and they asked if we had reservations, when I said no they wanted to give me reservations for an hour later. I looked at the hostess and laughed because the restaurant was half empty:o . We had problems with our shore excursions, the pursers desk and our room steward, but the food was very good and always hot. The poolside waiter was also fabulous. He got our name and what we drank on the first day of the cruise and we never had to wait or ask for a drink again. Alex was the best poolside waiter we have had so far:) . The service got so bad that my wife and I started laughing half way through the cruise every time they would screw up. We would look at each other and say this is better than being at home or at work. We were always hoping that the crew was just having a bad day, seven days in a row. While we don't rule out NCL for future cruises, we are extremely pleased with Carnival.:D

[Texas_firefighter]

My DW tried NCL with her mom and sisters and had to wait outside restaurants with numerous open tables, and were told there were not enough waiters. It would take a special itenerary to get us to go on NCL.

[scperk]

That's exactly what happened to us in the Italian restaurant on the Pearl..They asked us to come back in 30 minutes and half the tables were empty..and when we came back had the slowest service that I had ever expierenced...45 minute wait from appetizer till main course...Of course we were told they had transferred a lot of crew to the Jewel.......Dennis