Loyal RCI Fans Trying Something New.. NCL Star

[GeniRich]

Well it looks like we will be broadening our horizons by giving NCL a shot. We are looking forward to sailing the Mexican Riviera in Nov. aboard the Star. We sailed this itinerary back in 04 with RCI. I have been reading these boards and the NCL website trying to soak up as much as possible. I am sure there is much more to learn so I am hoping folks can provide some insight. Other than the Freestyle are there any major differences we should know about? Suggestions? For anyone who has cruised both lines how does the dining, shows and service compare? Thanks for your help.

[grangermom]

We are huge RCI fans and just returned from the Pearl. My DH and I are 46 and took our two sons, ages 16 & 18. We loved the ship. It is beautiful, and the public spaces are very interesting and comfortable. We also loved freestyle dining. The food was just okay, but the advantage of freestyle outweighed the quality of food. Since we were in Alaska, we were in jeans every day. It was great to come back, hang out for awhile or go on deck to play shuffleboard, and just head to dinner whenever we felt like it. Since we were just a party of four, we had no wait for dinner at the non-pay restaurants. We had to make a reservation for the Mexican restaurant (also no-fee), where we dined twice, but I reserved a day in advance and was able to get in at 6:30 on both nights. We decided that if we knew people who were cruising for the first time, we would probably steer them toward RCI or any other ship with traditional dining. There's something fun about getting to know your waiters and tablemates, and watching the great Baked Alaska show on the last night. However, we have cruised several times and have seen enough of all that. We kind of missed it, but again, just loved the flexibility of freestyle dining. We definitely missed the Royal Promenade of the Navigator and Voyager, and felt that those ships have more activities for the older teens. Good luck, and have a great time!

[98Charlie]

Well it looks like we will be broadening our horizons by giving NCL a shot. We are looking forward to sailing the Mexican Riviera in Nov. aboard the Star. We sailed this itinerary back in 04 with RCI. I have been reading these boards and the NCL website trying to soak up as much as possible. I am sure there is much more to learn so I am hoping folks can provide some insight. Other than the Freestyle are there any major differences we should know about? Suggestions? For anyone who has cruised both lines how does the dining, shows and service compare? Thanks for your help.

 

DH & I will embark on our 10th NCL cruise this Sept. with #11 coming up in November. Not sure exactly what info you are looking for regarding NCL or the Star but here's some thoughts.

 

We have sailed the Star 3 times, twice to Mex. Riv. and once to Alaska. We had an aft balcony on our Alaskan cruise and have to say that is probably our all time favorite cruise to this point in 20 cruises so far (have sailed RCI, Princess, Carnival and Celebrity as well).

 

Our 3 Star cruises were taken one a year over a 3 year period. On each of our cruises we found all of the staff to be very helpful and friendly and we love the lay out of the ship.

 

We feel the Freestyle dining concept works best for us on both the Mex. Riv. and Alaskan cruises as our port times on these cruises is often very exhausting and the freestyle concept lets us dine when we want with no rushing to dinner to meet up with tablemates.

 

With NCL's new 2.0 freestyle cruise program rolling in to the ships this summer there's many changes happening -- changes both DH & I are looking forward to but haven't experienced as yet. Many of those changes are just some extra little touches, others involve food stations in different dining venues. You can read about those on the NCL website.

 

Can tell you that Endless Summer has been one of our favorite restaurants on the Star. Specially loved the rib dinners and the salsa and chips.

 

I feel the food served in Blue Lagoon (24/7 diner style restaurant) on the Star was superior to the same items we ate on the Spirit last November. It was always hard to pass through the Blue Lagoon without snatching one of the warm cookies or pieces of rich pound cake just sitting there ready for the snatching -- even when we weren't hungry at all.:eek:

 

One of our favorite spots on sea days during Mex. Riviera cruises was the Bier Garten. The entire atmosphere there is just great for a warm weather cruise.

 

We had inside cabins on both of our Mex. Riviera cruises as we knew there would be ample places out on deck to find a lounge chair and relax -- although those spaces were not directly around the pool. Having a chair by the pool is not that important to us -- but finding a lounge chair to soak up some rays is and we never had a problem finding chairs to kick back, enjoy the sun and relax.

 

We never had a bad meal in the dining rooms and ate breakfast, lunch and dinner in the main dining rooms on most days (lunch is not served in main dining rooms on port days).

 

Frankly, we have always found the food on NCL ships to be better than what we've been served on RCI, but then that's a matter of personal taste.

 

Hope I've answered a few of your questions.

 

If I can be of more help, just ask and I'll try to find the answer.

 

Dianne

[GeniRich]

DH & I will embark on our 10th NCL cruise this Sept. with #11 coming up in November. Not sure exactly what info you are looking for regarding NCL or the Star but here's some thoughts.

 

We have sailed the Star 3 times, twice to Mex. Riv. and once to Alaska. We had an aft balcony on our Alaskan cruise and have to say that is probably our all time favorite cruise to this point in 20 cruises so far (have sailed RCI, Princess, Carnival and Celebrity as well). Are the aft balconies larger? On RCI they normally are.

 

Our 3 Star cruises were taken one a year over a 3 year period. On each of our cruises we found all of the staff to be very helpful and friendly and we love the lay out of the ship.

 

We feel the Freestyle dining concept works best for us on both the Mex. Riv. and Alaskan cruises as our port times on these cruises is often very exhausting and the freestyle concept lets us dine when we want with no rushing to dinner to meet up with tablemates. We are looking forward to trying freestyle but we will miss having table mates so I guess its a trade off.

 

With NCL's new 2.0 freestyle cruise program rolling in to the ships this summer there's many changes happening -- changes both DH & I are looking forward to but haven't experienced as yet. Many of those changes are just some extra little touches, others involve food stations in different dining venues. You can read about those on the NCL website. Reading about 2.0 played a big part in our decision.

 

Can tell you that Endless Summer has been one of our favorite restaurants on the Star. Specially loved the rib dinners and the salsa and chips. This is great to hear love ribs and chips and salsa. Can you order extra ribs?

 

I feel the food served in Blue Lagoon (24/7 diner style restaurant) on the Star was superior to the same items we ate on the Spirit last November. It was always hard to pass through the Blue Lagoon without snatching one of the warm cookies or pieces of rich pound cake just sitting there ready for the snatching -- even when we weren't hungry at all.:eek: Did you say warm cookies? Not sure I could snatch just one.

 

One of our favorite spots on sea days during Mex. Riviera cruises was the Bier Garten. The entire atmosphere there is just great for a warm weather cruise.

 

We had inside cabins on both of our Mex. Riviera cruises as we knew there would be ample places out on deck to find a lounge chair and relax -- although those spaces were not directly around the pool. Having a chair by the pool is not that important to us -- but finding a lounge chair to soak up some rays is and we never had a problem finding chairs to kick back, enjoy the sun and relax.

 

We never had a bad meal in the dining rooms and ate breakfast, lunch and dinner in the main dining rooms on most days (lunch is not served in main dining rooms on port days).

 

Frankly, we have always found the food on NCL ships to be better than what we've been served on RCI, but then that's a matter of personal taste. I agree food is all about personal choice. We are not picky eaters so I am sure we will do just fine.

 

Hope I've answered a few of your questions.

 

If I can be of more help, just ask and I'll try to find the answer.

 

Dianne

 

Thanks for the help.

[98Charlie]

To be honest, don't know the true size of the aft balconies but am assuming those balconies are deeper than side balconies as they are located dead center over the wake with the Romance Suits and wrap suits on either side.

 

I know our aft balcony was as deep as the Romance Suit beside us but if I remember right the Romance Suit balcony may have been a big wider?

 

I really didn't worry about the size of that aft balcony we had as it was on our first Alaskan cruise and it was our first balcony. What made that cabin and balcony so great was our journey up to and back from Alaska. On our way home from Alaska we spent our evenings out on that balcony with nothing but the Big Dipper in the deep blue sky above us and the white waters of the ship's wake in the dark sea below us.:D

 

Regarding missing tablemates, we feel that pain on some NCL cruises as well. It's nice to have others to dine with at night and talk about your day's experiences. But that's why we mix our NCL cruises up around cruises on other lines that have set seating. Plus, since we eat breakfast in the dining room each morning instead of the buffet, we almost always have new people to meet since we're seated at large tables. We often get to dine with other couples on sea days when we eat lunch in the dining room as well.

 

I'm sure you could order extra ribs at Endless Summer if you ask. We've never tried it because we truthfully are so full by the second or third day of a cruise that we're lucky to just get through a normal portion.

 

Dianne

[terrymtex01]

98Charlie..One thing I wanted to correct you on, minor, but still wanted to make sure the OP had the correct info. We have cruised on the NCL Star twice and both times had the Aft corner AE suite 9232. That is not a Romance Suite, but just a Penthouse. I believe the only Romance Suites on the Aft section are on deck 10. Unfortunately those suites do not have a wrap around balcony. There is a wrap around section there, but it is blocked off for some reason. Penthouse suites on decks 8 and 9 do have the wrap around balconies.

 

That is the smallest suite we have ever had, and the balcony is not very deep, but the wrap around is nice.

 

As far as RCCL vs. NCL, I am just a big of a fan of RCCL as I am NCL. Like others have said, I too miss having the same waiters every night and getting to know people at our same table, but the freedom of Freestyle makes up for it. From our experience, NCL does have the best perks for suite guest, if you are looking into a suite.

 

The staff of the Star in our opinion can not be beat. They are very friendly, helpful and you can see a pride in them .. in their work.. and the pride they have in their ship.

[danfiveoh]

Been on both lines numerous times. Hard to compare because both have pluses and minuses. RCI is much more consistent tho from ship to ship. Food quality and service vary from good to poor on NCL ships.

[98Charlie]

98Charlie..One thing I wanted to correct you on, minor, but still wanted to make sure the OP had the correct info. We have cruised on the NCL Star twice and both times had the Aft corner AE suite 9232. That is not a Romance Suite, but just a Penthouse. I believe the only Romance Suites on the Aft section are on deck 10. Unfortunately those suites do not have a wrap around balcony. There is a wrap around section there, but it is blocked off for some reason. Penthouse suites on decks 8 and 9 do have the wrap around balconies.

 

That is the smallest suite we have ever had, and the balcony is not very deep, but the wrap around is nice.

 

As far as RCCL vs. NCL, I am just a big of a fan of RCCL as I am NCL. Like others have said, I too miss having the same waiters every night and getting to know people at our same table, but the freedom of Freestyle makes up for it. From our experience, NCL does have the best perks for suite guest, if you are looking into a suite.

 

The staff of the Star in our opinion can not be beat. They are very friendly, helpful and you can see a pride in them .. in their work.. and the pride they have in their ship.

Were were in 10730 so the cabins to our port side were romance suites. Starboard of us was one other BA and then 2 more Romance Suites. You are correct that decks 9 & 8 are the ones with the wraps.

 

Charlie

[GeniRich]

Thanks to all that have responded you have been very helpful. I am sure I will have more questions as time goes on.

 

Rich

[newmexicoNita]

Been on both lines numerous times. Hard to compare because both have pluses and minuses. RCI is much more consistent tho from ship to ship. Food quality and service vary from good to poor on NCL ships.

Golly, I think I would disagree on the food quality being consistant. We have found it varies on RCI as well. We have had good food and not so good, never bad though. I agree it is hard to compare, even though most mass marketed lines are more similar than different. The cabins (class being equal) are going to be similar, I think the entertainment is a tad better on NCL but RCI does have the wonderful Promenades. With the addition of 2.0 it will be interesting to see how the lines differ. In November we will experience 2.0 on the Spirit.

 

I think it is important for everyone to keep an open mind when trying a new line and try not to compare. I know, that is easier said than done.

 

Nita