Comparison with NCL

[Garn]

Let me start by saying that as a computer/engineering sort, part of me wants to roll my eyes at the "true believer" attitudes of Disney fans. Some of the posts here and and on other boards give me the urge to shout, "There's no such thing as Pixie Dust! You're a grown up- act like one". BUT then I realized that I AM one of them, and I DO believe in fairies. There's not enough magic in the world, and you have to grab it where you can.

 

Last year, we went on a 4-day Disney cruise. It was great, but very expensive, so we wanted to try another line. We just got back from a 7-day Western Caribbean cruise on the Norwegian Sun (with the kids (11 and 7), and both sets of grandparents).

Here are some thoughts

(particularly comparisons with Disney):

 

- The destinations were awesome (Belize, Honduras, Cozumel, and their

private Bahamian island).

- The ship was nice, mostly functional, but lacked the majesty of Disney

- The food was mixed, some pretty good, some so-so, and the buffet was

very disappointing. On Disney, each night we were frustrated that there were more good choices that people to try them. The NCL restaurants were ok, but lacked the COOL

factor of the Disney ones

- The staff was very friendly, and seemed to intend to be helpful.

However, they were often clueless about things that they should know

about. The Disney staffers were more on the ball.

-Norwegian is "Freestyle", which gives you the flexibility to eat when

and where you'd like, which is nice, but we did really like the

relationship we'd developed with the waiters on Disney

- The adult activities on ship were all "ok", but nothing memorable- the ones on Disney seemed much better.

- The shows were excellent, Broadway-style, and the "big production

numbers" were generally fine for older kids who were used to theater,

but wouldn't have been great for little ones. Disney, of course, had

great shows, all featuring characters- which is great for kids, less

so for adults (but still very entertaining).

- Brian, my 11 year, old loved the kids program, which was very activity-based ("survivor night", etc.) Mae (my 7 year old) enjoyed it, but liked Disney better, mainly because of their much much

better facilities. Disney also had much better hours, and tended to

be easier to drop/pick up kids at any time, while on NCL they'd be in

the middle of an activity. Also, Brian was annoyed that he couldn't

check himself in or out of a program, which he could on Disney.

-7 days was a lot better than 4. You can actually relax before you

have to stress out about leaving. Also, since it takes a couple of

days to get the hang of the ship, you can enjoy it a lot more on a

longer cruise.

 

Norwegian was considerably cheaper. We got a great deal due to NCL

rescheduling their route, and ended up with a balcony room for us and

an inside for the kids, which was nice. And we paid considerably less than we would for one outside cabin on Disney. We had a GREAT time, but it

wasn't "magical". The Disney perfection was missing.

 

Now, some of it is probably that your first cruise is always pretty

amazing. The idea of elevators and theaters at sea is still pretty

impressive to me. And I am sure I'll always think wistfully about

that lovely balcony, watching the water rush by 10 stories down at 30

MPH. But I find that I miss the Disney ship a lot more, even though

as a more experienced cruiser I think I was able to get more out of

what the Norwegian Sun was offering.

 

 

Now, if I were going with a bunch of teens, I might seriously consider

Royal Caribbean, which has more "stuff" on their ships- FlowRiders,

Rock walls, etc (and is more expensive than Carnival or Norwegian).

But traveling with younger kids, Disney becomes worth the extra money.

 

In some ways, it's not fair to do a straight up comparison when the prices on NCL and DCL are so different. How do you compare a PT Cruiser with a BMW? But I drive a PT Cruiser, and love it. The BMW simply isn't worth the extra money to me. But Disney IS worth it to me. I wish it were cheaper, and had more "interesting" ports of call, but even so, it's worth it.

 

Disney really is unique, and I have to admit that I am a "Disney person". Who knew? Could someone pass the pixie dust please?

[mom x4,grandma x4]

Loved your comparrison, sounds like over all both trips had their highlights for you. Thanks for sharing with us.

One item you didnt give a comparrison on was the private islands?

 

How did they measure up for beauty, ease of getting to and from the island, things to do, separate areas for different ages, food, etc...

 

Thanks,

 

mom x4,grandma x4

[Busygirl100]

Great to hear the comparisons. We are scheduled for our fourth Disney cruise this September but felt the need to try something new. We are going on our first NCL cruise in March. We chose it due to the itinerary on the week we had available to sail as well as the cost. We know it will not be the same but are hoping for a chance to see new ports and relax for a while.

[Garn]

I believe that Great Stirrup Cay was the first private island in the industry. We had a great time there. It's pretty much just a large beach- not sectioned into kids and adults areas like CC. There also wasn't a formal kids program area- I think they supposedly had some event at some point, but we never saw it.

 

The snorkeling was good, and the beach was nice- plenty of chairs, and a lot of nicely placed palm trees.

 

There's a nice path you can walk- it's about 2 miles to a lighthouse, and you can see a gorgeous bay on the other side of the island, as well as some lizards along the way, but not much else. The also had a few boats to rent, but I never checked it out.

 

For me, the highlight was when the Reggae band was setting up, and I was walking with my 11 year old (who plays piano and is learning the drums). He was fascinated, watching with rapt attention. I joked to the drummer that "He's a drummer too." The next thing we knew, the drummer invited him up, and gave him a 10 minute reggae drumming lesson- the high point being when the rest of the band played a few bars with him.

 

So, it was a very good day overall. I'd give it 4 out of 5, compared to 5 out of 5 for CC.

 

I should also point out for Busygirl, that NCL is rolling out "Freestyle 2.0" by the end of May, which will address a lot of the negatives (better food, longer kids club hours, more "enrichment", etc.).

[mom x4,grandma x4]

Thankyou, sounds like a very nice place,

 

mom x4,grandma x4

[Host Mick]

Let me start by saying that as a computer/engineering sort, part of me wants to roll my eyes at the "true believer" attitudes of Disney fans. Some of the posts here and and on other boards give me the urge to shout, "There's no such thing as Pixie Dust! You're a grown up- act like one". BUT then I realized that I AM one of them, and I DO believe in fairies. There's not enough magic in the world, and you have to grab it where you can.

 

...

 

Disney really is unique, and I have to admit that I am a "Disney person". Who knew? Could someone pass the pixie dust please?

 

I had to laugh.

I've been an engineer since I was 14. I have a bachelor's degree in engineering and a PE in CA. I spend my days designing and programming automation systems for commercial and industrial buildings and process systems.

But I've felt pixie dust and it's sort of the opposite of engineering. I like the balance. Don't tell anyone but I have some Disney tunes on my iPod. Nothing improves your mood on the way home from work like a few Disney Classics or a float-through of Pirates of the Caribbean.

[poncho1973]

I'm also in the engineering field... and I also have several Disney tunes on my iPod. I feel like I'm in something-anonymous...

[Garn]

I'm sure most of us techie types would happily give a kidney to get a job as a Disney Imagineer.

 

A friend of mine applied out of college, and posted his rejection letter on the wall- even though the answer was no, it's pretty cool having Mickey in the wizard hat on the rejection...

[dathy]

I've done NCL, Carnival, RCCL, Disney and Princess - NCL Pearl new years eve Dec 07-Jan 08 and Dis wonder two weeks ago. My young daughter has also done all of these ships as well.

 

I did not like NCL. As of Jan 2, NCL changed their policy re minisuites. We had a minisuite which entitled us to concierge dining. NCL extended their policy until we got off the ship. In fact the only reason we knew the policy changed is because when we came back from lunch one afternoon, we saw that the word "concierge" had been removed from our phone. Concierge dining is a must unless you like calling a phone number every morning at 7 and hoping that you get a dinner reservation. And I mean hoping. We talked to some people on the last day who told us that out of the previous 8 nites they ate in the buffet for five of them. If you're okay with before 530 pm or after 9 pm then no problem. We only cruise during peak season, holiday and summer when the ships are the fullest.

 

As of Jan 2, you have to have a suite or better to get a concierge. We were told on our ship that NCL concentrates on the "top 34 or 24 or whatever number it is." This is the top suites on the ship. The service varied greatly. We talked to people who had insides who never saw their room steward. We definitely saw our room steward.

 

On the last two days we had strong sea days to the point where deck 4, the pools as well as the top sports deck were completely shut down. When I tell you there was nothing to do, except for the internet, there was nothing to do. I remember sitting in the lobby atrium staring at the big screen which was totally unused. On the screen, rather than show a movie or something else, we watched slides of sculptures that kept repeating over and over. My daughter does not really like going to kids clubs, so she hung out with me. These two days were very boring.

 

I can tell you that with all of the cruises we have taken, RCCL voyager and freedom class ships are the absolute best. We were never, ever bored. And this includes Disney. (We were on the ship that couldn't stop at Castaway Cay.)

 

I thought NCL would be cool with the bowling alley. It's $5/game. The funniest thing is they only had one 10-lb ball. And of course, there were so many kids trying to bowl. Each kid had to wait for the ball to return. The worst part is the bowling alley, if you can believe it, shuts down at 9pm for the nightclub thing. Which I will admit was pretty cool, but for 21 and over only, once again leaving kids with nothing to do at nite. And the bowling was pretty bad. Of course with the ship rocking the ball kept going to one side which was actually pretty funny. :) I think I bowled a 25 or something like that.:eek:

 

We usually take the time during disembarkation to try and walk around. We were allowed access into a lot of the suites and they were absolutely gorgeous.

 

We decided that the ship was perfect for not very active people who get a suite and like to eat. The food selection every night was truly amazing. The spa was beautiful. We prefer much more active ships.

 

Hope i've answered your question.