At last...my NCL vs. RCI Comparison is Finished!

[DAGVBSB]

Well, I finished my comparison of NCL and RCI! I went over my notes to make sure I hit all the points. As I said, NCL won a few, RCI won a few but I still give the overall edge to NCL. I know, you are saying it is because I'm a fan of Freestyle, but that is only part of it. Besides the "homeless shelter" atmosphere of disembarkation and the traditional dining, the Explorer of the Seas just seemed to be very disorganized. From traffic patterns for the passengers to shore excursion organization to poor elevator set-up, it always seemed to be a mess. As I overheard one person in a crowded elevator say: "Royal Carribbean's motto ought to be 'hurry up and wait' " (and that was not said by a member of my party....)

 

I also did not like the overall rudeness of the other passengers on board. People were always trying to get in front of everyone else and many times they would just push you (or your older parent or younger child) out of the way to get there. There was a mass stampede ("running of the bulls" as we jokingly refered to it) when they opened the doors for 6:00 p.m. dinner as if people were afraid that their assigned table would be gone. Pushing ahead of someone else was going to get them an extra roll I guess. (helllo, you have assigned seating on RCI...why run????) Now, I guess some of the rudeness may be due to the lack of organization and the fact that people were afraid that it would lead to another line, but I really don't blame the rudeness of the passengers on RCI.

 

I will say that there were two areas that were well organized... the immigration line in the dining room when we got to Bar Harbor and the on shore organization of the tours (once you got off the ship.) Of course, those two things were organized by non-RCI people......

 

As I have stated, I do hope to cruise with RCI again in the future mainly to give them another chance to impress me. One experience is not a good thing... the problems could have been isolated to this one ship or cruise so a second sampling might change my opinion. Of course, a couple of RCI supporters on here have already told me to stick with NCL and not cruise RCI. (I'll bet RCI's Reservation Department loves that statement...) But I will not eliminate RCI from my next cruise consideration, but the deal will have to be equal or better than NCL's.

 

Until my next cruise with RCI, I will simply use my experiences on the Explorer to compare with NCL.

 

I started to write a full review and a full comparision. Then I decided to simply do the comparison in a list form and write a review for Cruise Critic.

So my next post on this thread is my comparison list. (and the first part of my comparision review, which I scrapped.) The post after that will be a copy of my full review that I have submitted to Cruise Critic for publication.

[DAGVBSB]

Like I have said, I have only cruised on NCL prior to this cruise. Everyone told me that I would be blown away by the “Awe” and “wow” factors of RCCL. I am still waiting for them to hit….

 

First some notes to share: We were in fog for much of the trip. Our first sea day and the sail into Halifax was obscured by fog. (this made the pools, solarium, rock wall, inline skate track and outdoor bars closed on the sea day.) We were alerted the morning of our St. John stopped that there was a chance we would miss that port due to fog. The fog cleared and we went in. The fog rolled in before we left St. John and it was amazing that in a 20 minute span on the balcony, something just 200 feet away became obscured. We sailed away unable to see the town. The fog cleared in Bar Harbor but was back, obscuring some of the outer islands before we sailed off into it. Portland was clear and once we reached Boston, it was beautiful from then on. (obviously not the fault of RCCL.)

 

Also, there was a severe shortage of porters in Boyonne when we sailed out. Many called in sick or took the day off due to it being July 3. Again, you will see that I take that into consideration in my report.

 

Ok, on to the comparisons:

Embarkation: NCL for Suites; RCI for non-suites

Boarding: NCL (big win – no escorts on RCI)

Cabins: NCL (slightly.. close to tie) (balcony in regular balcony rooms much better on NCL.

Ship Layout: NCL (big win) – too many dead ends on RCI

Shore Excursion Pre-Book: NCL (you don’t pay until you are on board with NCL)

Shore Excursion Execution: RCI (credit probably goes to letting the tour people on shore handle it.)

Tendering Process: RCI

Dining: Buffet: NCL

Food Taste: NCL

Food Selection: NCL

Wait Staff: RCI

Times: NCL

Lounges: RCI (more selection, they don’t pester you to have a drink)

Shows: Tie (although I didn’t take the Ice Show into account which would put RCI ahead)

Cruise Director: NCL – (although I don’t know.. Kieron is with RCI now…)

Activities: RCI (although timing was bad)

Casino: NCL

Bingo: NCL by a hair… better payouts, not as long.

Shops: NCL (less shops, better selection however)

Pool Deck: RCI

Kids Pool: NCL

Disembarkation: HUGE win for NCL (felt like a homeless person on RCI…kicked out of cabin at 8:00!)

Transfers from Airport/Port: RCI

Overall: NCL

 

Embarkation: Edge to NCL for suites; Edge to RCCL for non-suites.

Getting into Boyonne for the cruise was a nightmare. Traffic backed up for several miles. This was not due to the porter shortage as the incoming car/taxi backup was just as bad as we drove out after the cruise. The road system is not good, but it appears that they are working on it.

 

We were on an RCCL transfer bus and busses were brought around once they reached the back point. But busses were held back there and only one could go in at a time to unload. (due to the porter shortage, so this is not RCCL’s fault). When we were leaving, they moved the incoming busses right in.

 

Once you started in, they did the security screening first before check-in. I don’t know who these screeners worked for, but they were the rudest bunch I have ever came across. They basically got mad at you if you didn’t move quick enough or get your stuff off their scanning conveyers quickly. The RCCL people were friendly, these scanner clowns were not.

 

Now is where the difference comes: our friends were not in a suite and so they were directed into the “mass” check-in lines. (we separated from them at this point due to us having a suite.) They report that the check in process was smoother and quicker than NCL’s. You are divided into lines by the deck in which your cabin is on and they moved right through. (more on them later….)

 

We came to the dividing point and I saw a sign that said for “suite guests” but the lady at the point told me I had to go into the main lines. I told her that I had a Royal Family Suite and she had to ask 3 people before someone told her to put us in the suite line.

The Suite line was also for the top levels of RCCL’s loyalty program and the line was extremely LONG. We finally got to the check in agent and he was helpful and quick (almost…see later). BUT, then we had to circle back, cross through the check in line to another long line that lead to the ship card picture taking point and then another line for the ship embarkation photo. At NCL, they take your picture at the check in counter for the ships card.

 

We then met our friends who had gone through the other line. They were waiting on us! (had been for about 10 minutes they said while we weaved through our lines….) NCL wins suite embarkation due to a quicker and less confusing process. Note to RCCL: perhaps two lines… one for suites and one for Crown & Anchor? Or more agents or BOTH?? (and don’t make the picture line cross back over the main line!)

 

 

Entering the Ship: Edge to NCL.

The bus dropped us off right at the gangway and there was a short line but not an issue.

We leave the card scan point and step toward some elevators… no RCCL crew around to direct us or lead us. We get on the elevators and head to our deck. Get off elevators… no one around. Use map to find out that we are on the wrong side of ship and we navigate to our rooms unescorted.

On the NCL ships I have been on there have been crew members at the entrance point to welcome you and direct you to the proper elevators, etc. On each deck a crew member was stationed to help direct you toward your stateroom. From what my parents tell me, on their last NCL cruise (on the Pearl), they were escorted to their room. (non-suite.) I also believe that NCL escorts all upper suite guests to their cabins.

 

Cabins: Slight edge to NCL

For the most part, I will refer this category to my friends opinions since I was in a suite on RCCL but in some areas I will put in my two cents.

Balcony Cabin size is about equal (BA on NCL, D on RCCL). They did not like the balcony on RCCL as well, they set it was cramped and the “enclosed” feel bothered them. (I tended to agree when I went on their balcony.) RCCL did not provide lotion or conditioner to balcony level rooms, just bars of soap and a shampoo dispenser. (we did get shower gel, lotion, shampoo & conditioner tubes in our suite, so we shared with our friends since they restocked ours as soon as we took it.) –(just had to throw that in after the thread running on the NCL Board…lol) The bathroom seemed smaller and the layout was not as good. They were especially disappointed with the small shower after NCL’s larger one.

No difference in their opinion in closet, drawer or cabinet space and the fact that the bed and couch locations are switched between the two lines is really a matter of personal preference, didn’t matter to my friends.

Televisions & ship announcements: maybe this is picky, but our entire party didn’t like this part. On NCL, when they make ship wide announcements, they could also be heard on the “ship” channel on your tv (the one that shows location, temp, etc.). On RCCL, that wasn’t the case. When you heard the PA chime go off, you had to run to the door and open it to hear it….usually missing much of it. (there also was one channel on our tv that was much louder than the others, I called that the “wake-up channel”… turn the TV to that channel to wake up the room…lol)

I’m not going to get into channel selections but I will say that I was disappointed with the ship channel. It seems like it was not real time and was hardly ever updated with anything except current location. It was 81 degrees for 3 days all the time, then 55 degrees for 4 days and then 62 for the rest of the trip. NCL’s information was much better and more helpful.

As far as our suite, it was very nice. The balcony was huge and that was nice on the few days when the weather allowed us to enjoy it. Having the whole family together was great. One bathroom was large and spacious, the other small like our friends cabin. We had the new bedding and it is very nice… I wanted to take it home….lol. Plenty of closet and shelf space. (drawer space limited, but shelf space makes up for it.).

Room Stewards: On RCCL, we had one room steward, on NCL we had two. I just read another review of RCCL that said that the stewards did a good job but not outstanding. I have to agree with that (and my friends in the balcony cabin echo that…different steward.). Our steward was good… beds turned down while at dinner, room made up mid-morning and towel animals every night. (with two bedrooms, we got two different ones almost every night.) Towels and drinking glasses changed twice a day. What more can you ask for… I’m not sure why but it just didn’t seem the same.

[DAGVBSB]

(it will be interesting to compare to the version that they post....)

 

Background: Our "extended" family cruises together a lot. It consists of my parents (upper 70's but active), my mother in law, wife, daughter and a couple around 60 who are good friends of my parents. We have all cruised before, but for all of us except my parents, it was our first time on Royal Caribbean. (RCI) My parents cruised RCI on the Radiance of the Seas in the early 2000's. For the rest of us, our cruise experience has been limited to NCL on which we have loved every cruise.

 

We chose RCI because we wanted to go to Canada and New England and can only travel in the summer due to school and NCL does not offer summer cruises like that. It was also an opportunity to find out if what everyone said about RCI is true. Prior to our leaving, everyone told me that, since my experience had been limited to NCL, I would be blown away by RCI. The "wow" and "awe" factors would win me over.

 

Well, I am still waiting for the wow and awe to hit. Let me say that the cruise wasn't bad, no cruise can be bad. It just wasn't equal to what I had experienced on NCL. So here it goes:

 

Departure: We arranged air through RCI and on the morning of our cruise, we received a very early phone call from Northwest Airlines informing us that our flight to Detroit for our connection had been canceled. Northwest however had transferred our tickets to Continental and we were put on a direct flight to Newark instead of a layover flight. (very nice.) Northwest also notified RCI so that our airport to pier transfer would be taken care of. Great job NW!!

As a result of the flight change, we got to Newark nearly 2 hours early. But the RCI people were waiting in the terminal to meet us. (and others.) The transfer from the airport to the pier was quick. It was at the pier that the waiting began. Our bus was in a long line of traffic, but eventually we were moved to a separate lane. Due to a shortage of porters that day due to the Holiday, they could only allow one bus in to unload at a time. So we waited on the bus about 45 minutes until it was our turn. (this was not RCI's fault....)

Embarkation:

Once we got off the bus, we were directed into the check in facility. I don't know if the people doing the security screenings worked for RCI or not, but they were extremely rude. If you didn't move fast enough to get your belongings off the conveyer after screening, you got yelled at. (my parents are somewhat slow at 79....)

We were then directed to the check in area which is separated by suites, Crown & Anchor and everyone else. Since our friends were not in a suite, they were sent down the main lines. The main lines are divided by the deck on which your cabin is on. They said that the check in process was a breeze for them.

Since we had a Royal Family suite, we were directed into the Suite line. This line also serves the upper level Crown and Anchor people and it was quite long. Once we got to the counter, the check in agent was great and it didn't take long. BUT, we then had to cross back over the main line to get into another line that led to the picture taking for the ship boarding pass. Not an effective set-up. Once we had our boarding pass picture taken, we went toward the bus loading area. (at Cape Liberty, you take shuttles from the terminal to the ship.) Our friends, who had gone through the non suite line were waiting on us. (they had been done for about 10 minutes.) I'm sorry, but I thought suite passengers were supposed to have a shorter wait....

There are plenty of shuttle busses to the ship and there was no wait. In no time at all, we were at the ship and walking up the gangway.

This is where the first difference between NCL & RCI popped up. Once we were on the ship, we found ourselves alone. No one to even direct us which way to go. (On NCL, they escort you to your cabin.) We took the elevators to the 9th Deck and once again, no one was there to direct you. (on NCL, there were people on every elevator landing.) We followed the corridors until we found our cabins.

 

Staterooms - we had a Royal Family Suite for 6 of us and it was huge. The Balcony alone is bigger than any cabin that we had been in. The balcony is great with a table & 4 chairs and 4 lougners. The bedrooms are very nice and there is plenty of closet space. The main bedroom has a closet with plenty of hangers and two other closets with shelves (not for hanging clothes). In addition there is a cupboard above and below the TV in the main bedroom. The main bathroom had a very nice bathtub/shower and plenty of shelf space.

The second bathroom was a standard ship bathroom with a very small shower. (smaller than NCL's) The second bedroom had lots of shelf room but no closet in the room. Those in that room get to use the huge walk in closet across the hall.

The Living room has a fold out couch for two as well as two nice chairs, a table with chairs for 4 and an entertainment system consisting of TV, DVD, VCR and stereo. (as well as more storage cupboards!)

The bed in the main bedroom is a king bed and the bed in the second bedroom can be put together for a queen or separated to be two twins. There are also two pullman beds that hang from the ceiling but completely disappear during the day.

Our friends in the balcony stateroom, compared their room as being very similar to the balcony staterooms on the NCL ships. They said that the bathroom (especially the shower) was smaller than NCL's, but shelf space throughout was equal. They did not like the balcony as well as NCL's. The Explorer's balcony is enclosed, while the NCL balconies that they are used to are more open. (and they love to sit on their balconies..)

One complaint that we all had was about ship board announcements. On NCL, you can turn your TV to the ship information (location, temp, etc.) channel and be able to hear ship announcements. On the Explorer, when you heard the chimes for the PA, you had to run to the door and open it to hear it, missing much of it. Also, the information channel was never really updated except for ships position... it was 55 degrees according to the TV for most of the cruise!! (which we knew wasn't right.)

 

Ship Layout: We didn't like the fact that to get many places on the ship you had to either go up or down a deck. For example, to get from the Main Dining Room on Deck 3 Aft to the theater on Deck 3 forward, you had to go up to Deck 4 and through the casino or up to Deck 5 and through the Promenade and then down again to Deck 3. On the NCL ships, you could walk from one thing to another on the same deck on most of the decks.

There are also less elevator banks than on the NCL ships. Since much of the popular public areas (buffet, dining rooms, photo gallery, purser's desk, ice rink, rock wall, kids club) are aft, the aft elevators were always extremely crowded. One night for dinner, my parents had to wait 20 minutes for an open elevator to take them from Deck 9 to Deck 3. People soon learned that many times you would have to get in an empty elevator going the opposite direction and ride it to the top or bottom and then to where you wanted to go in order to get on one. (my parents finally got in an up elevator, rode it from deck 9 to deck 12 and then down to 3 for dinner. Stopping at most floors with more people wanting on.)

The Promenade is a nice thought and a great place... but the ship stores constantly puts displays of items that they are selling out there. People look and they then they buy right there. This really makes it tough to get through the Promenade in the evening. Our friends had to slip behind a tree to get through that area of the Promenade one night due to the people at the counter. Aren't the display areas in the shops enough??

The several shops on the ship simply do not have the selection that the one shop on the NCL ships have. I was especially disappointed in the Logo merchandise store. They had a great selection of t-shirts and photo albums... that said: "Caribbean cruise" (hello, we are going to Canada...) They did have a selection of two Canada/New England shirts, but those were gone in about two days and they had no more. (one was really nice..had a map of our itinerary...oh well.)

The Promenade has a very nice Cafe that serves free pizza and little sandwiches. It was a great place to stop coming back from a shore excursion for a quick snack. (they also have free coffee and tea....)

You can purchase Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream as well on the Promenade.

 

On Board Activities: The Explorer offers a myriad of activities all day long. Some are permanent like the rock climbing wall, miniature golf, inline skating and ice skating. (our use of the outdoor activities like the rock wall and inline track was limited by the poor, wet weather and fog. But we were finally able to use those areas the last two days. Again, not RCI's fault..they have to err on the side of caution!) The free ice skating was never crowded... I think that many people may overlook that on board. The main pool was nice and never seemed very crowded. There always seemed to be an ample supply of deck chairs. (that was true on the few days when people could lay out on deck.) The Solarium just seemed stuffy so I didn't go there. My daughter was not impressed by the Kids Pool at all. She said that there was no supervision and kids ran wild. (of course, she is used to the much larger kids pools on the Dawn & Star.)

As far as non athletic activities, there seemed to be plenty to choose from in the Daily. Many trivia contests and other activities. The timing of some of the activities were questionable however. Several of the things that I wanted to do were at 6:00 p.m.... my assigned dining time, and so I couldn't do them.

Bingo: my parents and their friends are big bingo enthusiasts, but after the second session, I think they went to Bingo once. They felt that the prize amounts were extremely low, especially for the number of participants. (they thought NCL's payouts were low, but as our friend put it, "NCL's payouts looked like winning the lottery compared to the Explorer's.") They felt that bingo took twice as long as it should have because the crew was trying to put on "a show" instead of an activity. They ranked the Explorer's bingo sessions, the worst of any cruise that they have been on.

 

Entertainment: The production shows were similar to the ones that I have seen on NCL but the other variety of entertainment (comedians, juggler, ice show, game shows) surpassed NCL. If you cruise on the Explorer (or her sister ships), make sure to make time to see the Ice Show. It really is fantastic and since the venue is small, you are very close to the action. We went to the early show on the last day of the cruise (second day of performances) and the theater was only about 3/4 full. Well worth the time! A highlight of the cruise.

 

Cruise Director/Port Consultant/Cruise Consultant: The Cruise Consultant was what I like in one, low key and made announcements and put flyers out and that was it. She did not attempt to make contact with every guest and try to sell them on cruises. She did not appear at every major event and try to sell cruises. Great job.

The Port Consultant was ok. He had one talk early in the cruise about our first 3 stops but the port talk for the other ports was broadcast on TV. He didn't seem to really know what he was talking about. He basically read from a script every time. (as a teacher of public speaking, I would have told him to better prepare and practice ahead of time. Appearing as if you are reading turns off many listeners.) The shopping options on this cruise were extremely limited, in fact on several of the port fact sheets, they just listed history and docking information... no map and no shops listed.

Prior to the Port Talk early in the week, they put out a coupon with our daily sheet that said: "Bring this coupon to the Port Talk and receive a free tool kit." Since I was going to the port talk anyhow, I decided to take the coupon for the heck of it. When we got there and presented the coupon, we all got different answers. The person I was checking in with said: "hold that till the end." My mother-in-law was told: "oh that simply gets you an extra ticket for the raffle" (which they gave her, took the coupon and threw it away.) and our friend got: "I don't know anything about that, ask after the presentation."

After the presentation, they were passing out more stuff at the door and I again presented my coupon. (as did another lady ahead of me in line.) The guy passing the stuff out said: "you already got your tool kit." We looked at each other with blank stares.... The guy continued: "it is all of the maps and port information that you got." WHAT??? I'm sorry, maps may be helpful and shop information may be nice, but they are not what most people think of when they hear "tool kit." Besides... everyone who attended got a "tool kit" then, so what was the purpose of the coupons other than to try and mislead people into attending to get free stuff?? It really irks me when people lie or mislead to lure people to something...

Cruise Director: I may be spoiled because I have sailed with Kieron Buffery, the best CD on the seven seas, but I did not care for our Cruise Director Dave. It's antics just seemed childish and stupid. There is funny and there is stupid... Dave's actions falls to the stupid side. His morning show on the ship channel was lame. He sat in his office, drank the drink of the day and READ the daily activities. It generally appeared as if he put no preparation into the show. Just read the sheet (which we can all do), drink the drink and be silly. On other cruises, the morning show is well prepared and is generally done from locations around the ship and goes into more depth than the written Daily's.

Dining:

Buffet: The Windjammer Buffet is huge. Plenty of seating. Never had to wait for a seat. (sometimes you do on NCL.) As soon as you sat down, the staff descended on you asking what you wanted to drink. Very attentive buffet staff at getting drinks and clearing tables. The food was ok. Nothing outstanding. The selection was not as good as on NCL (or on RCI previously according to my parents.) They have 6 lines for breakfast, but basically, they have the same stuff on each one, no real variety. The bread and pastry selection was the same each morning. They were ALWAYS out of ice in the mornings. I would get juice and it would be warm, I would ask for ice. "we are temporarily out of ice" was the reply almost every morning.

Johnny Rockets: Loved this place. Ate here twice. We have a JR in our town and I have enjoyed eating there and the food at this one on the ship is just as good as on land. The entertainment is always fun at Johnny Rockets. When my daughter didn't have a nickel for the jukebox (and I don't carry coins on board...), the waiter gave her one. They automatically put down a plate of fries and rings when you sit down and keep it refilled the whole time. The food comes out quick. There is a $3.95 a person surcharge, but it is well worth it. One note: Shakes and Root Beer floats cost extra (in addition to the $3.95). Shakes were $4.50 plus the 15% service charge. Skip the shake, drink water and then get the FREE oreo sundae for dessert. It is much larger anyhow. Also: there is no 15% added to the $3.95, but there is a place on your bill to add an "additional tip." Make sure to do that since these waiters/waitresses are phenomenal.

Main Dining Rooms: This was my first experience with traditional dining and, outside of the dress code, I have no problems with it. We were a group of 8 and so we had a table at first seating for just us. We had a great location next to the Captain's table in the lowest level of the dining room so we could see the whole thing. Our waiter and assistant waiter were fantastic and the interaction with them was great. Our waiter took a special interest in my mom's dietary problems and always made suggestions as to what she could eat and changes that could be made in the meals to meet her needs. When one meal came out wrong for her, he looked at it and looked at her and said: "I'll be back..." He never served the food to her because it wasn't right and he was back quickly with a new order. Our Assistant waiter always kept our drinks refilled and kept us supplied with bread. So, I will say that service in the dining room was excellent.

Food: I was extremely disappointed with the food choices and taste. Going into this cruise, that was probably the number one comment that I had heard from previous RCI cruisers (including my parents). The food is fantastic. So many choices and such flavor. Well, I can't say that. The food was mostly bland. For example: I love Hollandaise sauce, but the sauce that I had didn't have any flavor. My mother can not normally eat Cesar Salad due to the kick of the dressing... guess what, she could eat RCI's bland Cesar dressing. The selections were the same things over and over each night, just prepared differently. No Beef Wellington (my favorite cruise meal), no Creme` Brulee (my daughters favorite), no Ma hi, ma hi, (my wife's favorite). One night, they said that tomorrow would be the great "Italian dinner." Our friends and myself love Italian... so our mouths were watering all day long. The Italian was basically an Italian salad and pasta with Marinara sauce. No Chicken or veal parmesan, no lasagna, not even spaghetti! Just poor selections all week long. The food was probably the most disappointing thing of the cruise.

Dress Code: What dress code? As a crew member told me, the Dress code is now just a suggested dress code. There were people in shorts in the main dining room all week and on formal nights, there were people in polo shirts and open collared, button down shirts. (of course, there were also those who looked funny because they were overdressed trying to impress who knows who...)

Also, why would you put a formal night on a late port? Our second formal night was the night that we were in Boston. Our tour got back at 5:30 p.m.... we had to rush to our room and rush to get dressed to go to dinner that night and I feel that that also led to the lower dress level on that night.

Let us not forget to mention the "running of the bulls" as we began to jokingly call it. That time at 6:00 p.m. when they open the doors and people were literally running and pushing people out of the way to get in the dining room and get to their tables! It was like their assigned seat would be gone or they might not get waited on. I always thought that traditional dining meant a more formal experience... those fools running and pushing certainly destroyed that idea....

Dining Times: It seems that everything is geared to those on the second dining seating. Many activities were scheduled during the 6:00 p.m. time. This included many of the sailaways. Since your dining time was limited, we missed many of these traditional activities due to assigned dining times. The Captain also chose to dine BOTH formal nights at the later dining time. (which was a disappointment to my daughter who wanted to see him at his table.) With two formal nights, why not dine one night at each time slot?

The Captain was pretty much invisible the entire week. He didn't show up for any of the traditional appearances that the Captain has made on other cruises that I have been on. (Returning Guests reception, Suite Guests reception, Farewell from Crew show, etc.) Even when he did appear for the obligatory pictures with the Captain, he seemed aloof and like it pained him to be there.

 

Disembarkation: After having been on NCL where you can stay in your cabin until called to disembark, this part worried me. I thought we would probably have to be out of our cabins by 9:00 a.m., so you can imagine the shock at having to be out by 8:00 a.m.! On NCL you can have a nice breakfast and then go back to your cabin and relax. (you can even sleep in).

So at 8:00 a.m., we trudged down to the elevator banks to wait with everyone else for an elevator. We had planned to go to Deck 4 and wait in the balcony of the Theater. So that is where we ended up. After setting up our camp, I decided to do some more exploring. As I walked the Promenade and the lounges, it looked more like the Homeless section of my town than a cruise ship! People sitting everywhere (including stairwells) with their belongings. Some laying down, others with a glassy look in their eyes. (and don't try to go down to Deck 3 near Studio B.... wall to wall people.

Disembarkation was to start at 9:00 a.m., it was 9:45 before the first people were called to get off. Sitting in the theater is a good place, because the Cruise Director gets advanced calls as to who can leave and you get a head start. Since we had a later flight, we decided to trade our first off tickets (suite) for a later color so that we could sit on the air conditioned ship instead of the hot terminal or the airport. So we were near the end. It was 11:15 when we were called to get off the ship. Our plan had been to leave the balcony and walk the outside walkway on Deck 4 to the aft elevators and go down to deck 1 to get off. Well, we leave the theater and find that they have closed the outside walkways! WHY???? who knows. So we and all of our carry on luggage, had to go up to Deck 5, cross the Promenade and go down the elevator to Deck 1 to get off. (of course knowing that no deck below 4 goes all the way across the ship.) By the time we left, the line was short.

Now for the good part: we got off the ship and got right on a shuttle bus to the terminal. There was another bus waiting behind us, so no waits to get to the terminal. We got to the terminal and went in and found our luggage right away. We got a porter. I STONGLY RECCOMMEND THIS. The porter was great at leading us to where we had to go and getting us through quickly. The porter loaded all of our stuff and said: "stay with me." He then took us through customs, extremely quickly and then asked what our transportation was and I told him "RCI" to the airport. He again said: "follow me" and away we went around all kinds of people looking lost in the terminal. We were soon outside of the terminal and talking to the RCI rep who pointed us toward our bus. The porter took the luggage to the bus, helped load it and left, but not before we gave him a LARGE tip. Without that porter, we would have been wandering around that terminal for a long time!

The RCI bus took us right to the airport and in fact, dropped us off right in front of our terminal. He had the luggage sorted by airline, so in spite of the fact that there was several airlines being served by that bus, each stop was short because he knew which luggage to pull.

RCI's airport to port and port to airport transfers are great! We were checking in for our flight over 2 hours before it was scheduled to leave.

 

Ports & Shore Excursions: Much of our cruise was spent in the fog....again, not the fault of RCI, but it did limit the outside activities. We also were not sure that we were going to get into St. John due to the fog. The Captain made the decision about an hour before docking time to do ahead and go in.

New London, Connecticut: The people of New London are really great. Those who went into town on the free shuttle were greeted by the mayor and everyone went out of their way to welcome them. The town, according to the report from our friends, has great little shops. For the rest of us, we went to the Submarine Museum, Aquarium and Mystic Village. The Sub museum was not as exciting as I thought it might be. Climbing through the U.S. Nautilus's tight corridors is interesting however.... I have been to a lot of great Aquariums in my life, but the Mystic one is one of the best. They had a wider variety of sea life than I have seen before AND you can actually get closer to them. Great place. I also liked Olde Mystic Village. There are some great shops there. We had about 90 minutes to look around and I wish we had had more!

 

Halifax, Nova Scotia: My favorite port. We went to Peggy's Cove and the Double Decker Bus Trip. Peggy's Cove is really neat, long drive, but well worth the time. Once back, we could get on the Double Decker Bus. This is another great tour idea. This is more like a tourist bus service. Each bus has a guide that tells you about what you are seeing and the stops. At each of the 14 stops, you have the option to get off the bus and stay there. You then simply hop on the next bus when you are ready to continue. The busses run every 15-20 minutes and it is a great way to create a do it yourself tour.

Back at the ship, don't miss Pier 22... which is basically an indoor market with booths selling everything from t-shirts and souvenirs to crystal figurines. There is also the Harbor Walk nearby which is a walkway along the waterfront with shops.

My wife, daughter, and mother in law went sea kayaking. My daughter is only 10 and this was the only sea kayak adventure that took kids that young. They all had a great time and thoroughly enjoyed the experience.

 

St John, New Brunswick: One of my least favorite ports and the one we almost missed due to fog. Since we were late getting in, getting off the ship was a mess as they tried to sort those on RCI sponsored tours from everyone else... didn't work.

We took the Best of St. John's Tour. Another excellent tour with a great guide. There is a great Community Market in the Center of town. Again, we only had 15 minutes there and it wasn't nearly enough time. But the rest of the tour was very nice. (even seeing the ship from the fort tower shrouded in fog...lol)

We sailed at 5:00 p.m. (only a 6 hour stay) and by the time we sailed, the fog had rolled back in and the town was obscured!

 

Bar Harbor, Maine: This is the only tender port on this itinerary. RCI does a much better job of the actual tendering procedure than NCL. NCL uses their own lifeboats as tenders while RCI contracts with the local tourism boats to provide larger and faster tenders. Of course getting to the tenders was another screw up by the unorganized RCI Ship and Shore Excursion department. I heard one person in St. John remark that after the messed up way of getting off the ship in St. John, they were worried about how much RCI would screw up the tendering... he was not disappointed.

Since Bar Harbor was our first stop back in the US, we had to go through Immigration. Since the US Immigration service organized this part, it went great. We went down about 8:15 and found a long line wrapping through the Columbus dining room and halfway down the Promenade. But this line moved incredibly fast and was very efficient. Quick and easy. BUT, since they won't clear the ship to allow people back on until ALL passengers have reported to immigration, those who were cleared and then went ashore were not allowed back on the ship until after 1:00 p.m. My parents and their friends concluded their tour about 11:30 a.m. and then had to wait in the heat on the dock for the ship to be cleared. This is not the fault of RCI or the US Immigration service, but instead due to a few lazy, inconsiderate slobs who did not get out of bed until noon and then had to be found and brought to immigration so that people could return.

As far as the tendering for tours, all tours were to meet in Studio B. Great place to wait, btw. But then when it came time to call for tours, instead of calling one at a time, the crew member called 8 at one time. People jumped up and crammed the hallways and no one could move. She then changed her mind and decided to call less tours. ("oh good", someone next to me said, "one at a time is the smart way to do it.") Nope, this is unorganized chaos on RCI, she called 4 tours and the same melee ensued but people did file out and to the stairwell, where we again had to wait to go down the 2 flights of stairs. (with some more rude people pushing their way through the line to cut ahead of others.....)

Once we got off the ship and on the tender, it was a great ride. The guide on the tender boat (a whale watching boat normally) was very informative and gave some great ideas of places to eat and shop in Bar Harbor. Quick trip to pier and up the ramp and on the bus for our "Best of Bar Harbor Tour." This is a great tour because not only do you get to see all of the sites in Arcadia National Park, but also other stops around Bar Harbor and a stop to meet a Lobsterman who gives a great interactive presentation on the lobster industry and how lobsters are caught and tagged. (kids even get to put the bands on Lobsters!)

We had some time after our tour to walk around the town. Great town to look around and the prices in the shops were very reasonable. Again a quick tender ride back to the ship. (we were forced to float around near the ship for about 15 minutes because, as the tender Captain said: "the ship's crew can't figure out what to do." (they were waiting for a docked tender to fill up before sending it to shore... while our tender was waiting to dock... helloooo, another tender is here to take people to shore too)

 

Portland, Maine: My second favorite port after Halifax. (a CLOSE second.) There is so much to walk to right from the pier, that you could probably make your own tour. We did the Portland Highlights and Kennebunkport tour. It was a great "quick" introduction to the city and we learned a lot on our way to Kennebunkport. Our guide was great. We saw the Bush estate and then had 2.5 hours in Kennebunkport and that wasn't nearly enough time! I will return to that area again soon.

No major problems getting on or off the ship in this port and the tour organization was great. (probably because RCI wasn't running it.) One thing was curious to me, we had to go through metal detectors and have our bags checked TWICE in this port. First by Portland Security Officials in the terminal and then again as we boarded the ship. It didn't slow us down much, but was just interesting that Portland did that but no other port.

 

Boston: As a teacher, I was anxiously looking forward to my first visit to one of the U.S's #1 historical cities. We did the Freedom Trail walk in the morning....that was great, although we didn't have much time to look at the gift shops. We were all over town and the time just flew...the 3 mile walk was easy for us (including by 10 year old daughter). It is a great way to get closer to history. In the afternoon, we did the Trail of Presidents which included visits to the Adams House and President Kennedy Library. We did the Adams house first and it was a great visit. (escorted by a National Parks Service Ranger) Since you are not right at the Adams Visitors Center (which is 3 blocks away from the house), there is not much opportunity for souvenirs or books. Then we went to the Kennedy Museum and Library. I have been to several Presidential Libraries and Museums and I have to rate the Kennedy one near the bottom. It seemed to be the same stuff over and over. It was more about the cultural aspects of "Camelot" and the Kennedy family than it was about President Kennedy's accomplishments as President. (this is not a fault of the tour operator or RCI, although it was still interesting, I was disappointed.)

On our return to the ship, we got stuck in a terrible traffic jam going back into the city, but our driver knew a shortcut and very soon, we were back at the dock... 5 minutes before all aboard!

 

I can't say enough about the tour operators in all of the ports. They did a great job at organizing the groups, getting you on the proper busses and the guides were all excellent. Overall, it was the best collection of guides that I have experienced on a cruise. If you eliminated RCI's on board organization, the shore excursions were the best that I have ever taken on a cruise.

 

 

 

Conclusion: Although, you can't have a bad cruise, I must say that I was disappointed in Royal Caribbean. Everything that I had heard ahead of time, from my own family, friends and people on CC, told me that I would be blown away by RCI and their service and their food. I would be "awed" and the "wow" factor would grab me. While it was a very nice cruise, it is not at the top of my list of completed cruises. I am also not writing RCI off for a future cruise. At some point in the future, I would like to give RCI another chance to "wow" and "awe" me.

[Cruise_More_Often]

I loved it, DAGVBSB! This was a wonderful read and so informative. Thank you!

[CastawayCruiser]

This was a very informative and balanced review. I really appreciate the comparison because having sailed NCL for a few years now I sometimes think that I may be missing something on another line. It is great to know that you are still happy with the NCL product. Also I am glad you enjoyed my home town Halifax! Thank you.

[newmexicoNita]

Balanced and good review. I really enjoy the detailed account of everything. This is the only way cruisers who want to know how to decide can get a feeling for both lines.

 

Details are much more informative then simply saying things like: the food was better on one line or cabins were bigger, etc.

 

Nita

[dustyroad]

your reveiw has helped me alot with my upcoming alaska cruise. i am torn between ncl, rci or princess. i have never been on either so i am really at a loss for comparisons. cost, itinery and ports will determine my choice. also reveiws like yours will help. thanks.

[Zeno]

I second Nita! This is the kind of review I enjoy - lots of useful details and I thought the comparison well-done.

[snorklinbarb]

This was just great to read! You gave so much info and details to back up your opinions and preferences on both sides. Excellent!

 

Curious whether they serve lobster in the main DR's anymore as I've read on the bds that RCI discontinued this. Under freestyle 2.0, it's back and served twice during a 7 nt cruise now (2nd time as part of a surf and more surf linguini dish). What did you experience?

 

Could you tell us a little more about your meals? You mentioned the blandness and the hollandaise. How were the meats? Quality and presentation of food? Glad you had excellent service.

 

For some reason I thought the Dawn had some NE/Can cruises but maybe not before school?

 

Thanks again! What's your next cruise? Back to NCL?

[deepnite10]

we enjoy taking alot of 3 and 4 day cruise s out of san pedro while

waiting on our 7+dayer s..

 

too bad NCL doe s not have such an iteniary..so i have sail d the

Monarch several time s..the overall experience of the Star is unbeatable..

however,the Monarch serve s up the best french fry s i ve ever had

at sea and equal to any fresh made on land..

[cynbar]

Thanks for your very thorough comparison. We too were not blown away by RCCL after being told we would be. I wouldn't rule out another try, but we have always found a cruise that seems more appealing. To each his own, I guess ......

[LOWTYD]

Wow, great comparison and very detailed. I have never cruised RCCL and maybe it was fear of those ginormous ships. I love NCL and have never had a bad experience and I like the Freestyle thing. If RCCL had a intinerary I might want to try at least I have some knoweldge of what I would be getting into when I boarded.

Thanks for taking the time to do all this. I hope making notes of all this take away from enjoying your cruise :) .

Sandy

[DAGVBSB]

I submitted my review around lunchtime on Monday. It is now Wednesday night and the review board says it takes 48 hours for reviews to post.

 

Maybe they have decided not to post it. Maybe it is because RCI doesn't want it posted and they are somehow related to who controls CC??? Just thinking out loud.

[TennesseeTeachers]

thank you for your review

 

I am sailing on NCL for the first time in October after 5 RCL cruises. It looks as if I will enjoy NCL also. I had nothing to compare, so you were very helpful. Thank you for your time.

 

Darrell Duncan

[MM40]

Thank you for your review DAGVBSB. I noticed you were on several NCL ships and was wondering which one you had in mind when you reviewed it against the Explorer of the Seas? I'm just curious because I recently (May '08) completed my very first cruise ever and it was on EOS. I'm booked on NCL's Spirit in August '08. I'm very interested in NCL vs. RCI comparisons so I know what to expect on my next cruise. Thanks again for your review!

[DAGVBSB]

Well the review is posted, BUT, they did not put a title on it on the review page so there is no way for anyone to access it to read it!! I have reported this problem, let's see if they fix it, or leave it so people can't get to it.

 

If you want the direct link, here it is: http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=44559.

[retiredAF]

Great review DAGVBSB! We are considering another line just for a future cruise because the friends we are traveling with swear by that line but, we are a bit leary.. Two of our favorite things about NCL are the free style dining and easy disembarkation.. I think they have everyone beat there!

Appreciate all of the details.. It really helps.

[Bennett'sCruise]

Kieron Buffery[/b]' date=' the best CD on the seven seas, .[/quote']

 

Yeppers! We second that!!

He's CD on the NV/Seas now ... maybe you should jump on over and do a short Caribbean cruise .... :) We sure miss him on NCL ...

~dianne

[Ms belp]

That's all I really care about.:o

[Sundagger]

I submitted my review around lunchtime on Monday. It is now Wednesday night and the review board says it takes 48 hours for reviews to post.

 

Maybe they have decided not to post it. Maybe it is because RCI doesn't want it posted and they are somehow related to who controls CC??? Just thinking out loud.

 

Since this was a review/comparison of an RCI ship, I was looking for it on the RCI board. Will it be posted there as well as here?

[big al]

Thanks for your very thorough comparison. We too were not blown away by RCCL after being told we would be. I wouldn't rule out another try, but we have always found a cruise that seems more appealing. To each his own, I guess ......

 

IF you were on the Voyager or even better-the Freedom class ships,and we're NOT blown away,it's time for an MRI....I love NCL,but their ships DO NOT even compare to the big RCI ships-no way,no how...some go on the smaller older ships and say,"what's so great about RCI?"....JUST the canti-levered hot tubson the Freedom class that are 112 ft up from the sea that stick out 12 ft over the sides are worth the cruise,not to mention the terrific must see ice-skating shows and the awe-inspiring Royal Promenade make these ships so unique.I'm booked on the Sky for Labor Day weekend and after reading all the problems,I'm paralyzed with fear-hope they fix their mess ASAP....a ship having A/C and toilet problems on it's FIRST cruise out after 6 weeks of dry dock is unacceptable .......

 

Big Al

[debshomespun]

DAGVBSB--Sorry you didn't feel the WOW factor on RCCL. As you can see, it is our preferred cruiseline, but we have tried others as well. We are taking the NCL Dawn to Bermuda for various reasons. First, RCCL doesn't offer a 7 night sailing to Bermuda, only the 5 day (on Grandeur or Explorer) and the price is not very comparable. Also, I have the NCL MC, and almost 1,000 points!

 

I am looking forward to the Freestyle dining. It was a great way to go when we experienced it on the NCL Pearl. We loved the Pearl too. We didn't eat in any of the pay restaurants while on the Pearl, and thought the food was great. The Blue Lagoon had great snacks. On the Voyager & Freedom class RCCL ships, they have the Royal Promenade, and Johnny Rockets that are great food too. As a previous poster said, the Freedom class ships definitely have the WOW factor. The Ice Show, as you had stated, is one of the best at sea. I have seen many of the, and the are the greatest. On the Freedom, the Magic show was pheonominal. The Magician and his wife are from Columbus, Ohio. I can't remenber their name off hand, but they were so very good. We had seen them previously on the Navigator too. :D

 

We are going on the RCCL Jewel 10 night Panama cruise this Nov., and we are trying their "Any time dining" Hoping it will be as pleasant at NCL Freestyle. Traditional Early dining is too early, but Late dining is too late, so hopefully, this anytime will work for us. :D

 

Hope you will try RCCL again, maybe the Freedom class of ships. I am not sure about the Genesis class, I think they may be way to large for me. :eek:

 

Always great to see fellow Ohioans enjoying cruising! Keep it up! Our daughter lives in Dublin right now, and looking to buy a house in the Hilliard area. She just got married this june.

[DocJohnB]

What a great review. Thanks for the time and effort put into it.

 

I especially liked the comparisons. I thought they were well balanced.

 

I have sailed on both the EOS and Dawn. While there are many areas that I would completely concur with, there are many that I would compare just the opposite.

 

But this is your review, your opinions and your comparisons.

 

Again. Thanks.

[DocJohnB]

(it will be interesting to compare to the version that they post....)

 

As I suspected it would be . . . . . looks like it is word for word.

[michigan tim]

IF you were on the Voyager or even better-the Freedom class ships,and we're NOT blown away,it's time for an MRI....I love NCL,but their ships DO NOT even compare to the big RCI ships-no way,no how...some go on the smaller older ships and say,"what's so great about RCI?"....JUST the canti-levered hot tubson the Freedom class that are 112 ft up from the sea that stick out 12 ft over the sides are worth the cruise,not to mention the terrific must see ice-skating shows and the awe-inspiring Royal Promenade make these ships so unique.I'm booked on the Sky for Labor Day weekend and after reading all the problems,I'm paralyzed with fear-hope they fix their mess ASAP....a ship having A/C and toilet problems on it's FIRST cruise out after 6 weeks of dry dock is unacceptable .......

 

Big Al

 

 

We took the AOS southern route in April and the Dawn to Bermuda in June. I recently booked the Dawn again for next April. Both ships are beautiful and kept sparkling. I did enjoy Freestyle dining more than traditional. The AOS has more pool deck activities and the ice skating show was by far the best show I've seen on a ship. The Dawn's theater was very cramped (very tight seating) and often had people sitting in the aisles, but the shows were very enjoyable. The theater was really the only negative thing on this ship. I also enjoyed the RCL Grandeur on a western route from New Orleans a couple years ago. If itinerary and price were the same I'd probably pick a Voyager or Freedom class RCL ship, but as you see above, I chose NCL for our next cruise, and if my experience on the Dawn is typical of the rest of the fleet I'll have no problems choosing NCL again.