Long time NCL trying first time Princess

[Lisa&Neb]

My wife and I have been on NCL 4 or 5 times recently (and loved every minute) but in MArch 2010 we are going to take our first princess crusie. From people who have done both, what should we expect, what is the same, what is different?

 

Are the Shows as good? What about the food? the decore, the "other" activites (trivia, games, contests)

 

Thanks for anything you can provide.

[crossstitcher]

You will LOVE Princess!! My husband and I sometimes have had trouble choosing which venues to go to at night because there are so many choices for entertainment. Never dull. Service is outstanding. The decor is soothing and tasteful. The decor is the ONE MAJOR REASON I will not sail with NCL. The bold colors in our room, as well as the rest of the ship, looked like someone threw up every color you can imagine. I think you will be hooked on Princess after your first cruise.

[jacketwatch]

I would be interested to hear your impressions though of course that is a long way off. Have you decided on traditional or anytime dining? Overall I think you will find Princess much better in terms of food and service. I confess I haven't done NCL. However as an active member of three travel boards as well as speaking to several who have tried NCL there is one consistency and that is the below average impressions of food and service on NCL. Some yrs. ago the passenger reviews here on CC for NCL were well below average. I mean really bad. They have improved to be sure but I don't think that NCL overall has reached the same level as the other mass market lines. At least not yet. I think if you like NCL you will love Princess. Cheers, Larry. BTW what ship will you be on?

[kendon]

Let's just say....you will never go back to NCL after Princess. Once was enough for me.

[cynbar]

We are Princess loyalists who have also enjoyed NCL, including our Gem cruise last summer. I think you will enjoy Princess, but you should be ready for some differences. The main one is that Princess does observe formal nights, 2 on a 7 day cruise. Most everyone who eats in the MDR will be dressed up--- some posters here say they go in casual dress, but that is absolutely not the norm. However, you have good options if you choose not to dress formally. The 2 specialty restaurants only require smart casual, the buffet is always casual, and Princess offers an Ultimate Balcony Dinner if you have a balcony cabin which costs $100/couple but people just rave about it. Another difference is that Princess allows reservations in the MDRs (although not between 6:00 and 8:00), although you can certainly just walk up like you do on NCL (you get a pager if they don't have a table right away.) Also, there are 2 specialty reataurants, not multiple ones like on NCL. But I think that Princess has a lot of pluses. The food in the MDRs seems much better to us, with fancier choices and more fish and seafood. The buffet food also seems better (subjective, of course), and most ships have themed dinner buffets which are really quite good. Princess has 24 hr buffets as well as a fresh grill and pizzeria open til 11 pm, so we find better availability of food after a long tour or late breakfast. The decor is more subdued and elegant. Pools are freshwater, and open most of the time. Movies under the Stars is available on some ships and is a big hit with most people. Some of the ships have a cold seafood buffet on embarkation day which is great for a full dinner or just appetizers. And, Princess has a more comfortable liquor policy, allowing you to carry on bottles of wine and order pints of hard liquor from room service as needed for a reasonable price. Anyway, if you can appreciate the pluses of each line, you should have a great cruise. We will sail either line, depending on price and itinerary, but we do look at Princess first.

 

PS --- Looking back I see now that you will be on the Caribbean Princess, so you should have all the amenities described above such as MUTS.

[uppitycats]

I've cruised on both NCL and Princess, and would cruise on either again! :)

 

But they are a different experience. These are my impressions: Princess "feels" more upscale, more elegant, both in it's decor, and in what "counts" --the food, service, attention to guests. NCL is more "casual, laid-back". The decor is more "out there" (but the person who complained about this apparently hasn't cruised on Carnival, where the decor is downright gaudy! That's one cruise line we won't cruise on, again!)

 

Entertainment on both lines seemed similar to us, but frankly we don't pay a whole lot of attention to it, as we usually spend our evenings with a drink, listening to an individual, like someone at the piano, or a string quartet, or something like that.

 

Food is always a big draw. We found the food on Princess to be quite lovely, and particularly enjoyed the afternoon tea (included in your cruise fare), which we missed on NCL. There aren't as many specialty restaurants on Princess, but there are ample food choices in the dining venues that are there. If you like the NCL Freestyle Dining, then be sure to sign up for the anytime dining with Princess.

 

The staff seemed equally attentive to us on both lines, just more formal on Princess, more casual on NCL.

 

Take the best of both..I think you'll have a lovely cruise, and be able to add a second cruise line to your repertoire! :)

[Lisa&Neb]

I would be interested to hear your impressions though of course that is a long way off. Have you decided on traditional or anytime dining? Overall I think you will find Princess much better in terms of food and service. I confess I haven't done NCL. However as an active member of three travel boards as well as speaking to several who have tried NCL there is one consistency and that is the below average impressions of food and service on NCL. Some yrs. ago the passenger reviews here on CC for NCL were well below average. I mean really bad. They have improved to be sure but I don't think that NCL overall has reached the same level as the other mass market lines. At least not yet. I think if you like NCL you will love Princess. Cheers, Larry. BTW what ship will you be on?

 

We actually have enjoyed the food and had good service on NCL. We took anytime dining. I do not like being told when to eat or where. I am also not sure about the dressing up...

[NowVoyager908]

I just sailed on Princess again after sailing with NCL the last couple of years. I chose Princess mainly because of the itinerary and the fact that it was a longer cruise (9 nights).

 

Being a fan of freestyle, I signed up for anytime. I also do not enjoy being told when and with whom to eat. I found the food selections and preparation to be comparable. Although I felt the buffet offerings on NCL were perhaps a little more interesting, at least for breakfast. Oddly enough, while I rarely had to wait to be seated for dinner on NCL, there was a bit of a wait on Princess. Nothing to complain about, just an observation.

 

Cabins are about the same, although the showers are miniscule on Princess by comparison. One of the comedians did a joke about soaping the walls of the shower and twirling around to get clean. He wasn't far off. LOL.

 

Entertainment is about the same, although I might give a slight edge to NCL, at least as far as the production numbers are concerned.

 

I also missed the casual dress all the time. Personally, I don't do jeans or shorts (just not my thing), so that wasn't the issue. To me, dressing formally doesn't make an occasion any more special (really, what could be more special than vacationing with friends and/or family), it just makes the occasion more fussy. And I vacation to get away from fussy. :rolleyes:

 

What I found I loved on Princess (Grand class anyway) more than NCL is the pool deck layout. There are more pools in total which seem to spread the crowds out a bit more. So, if it was too noisy by the main pool or the MUTS pool, I could wander back to the adults only pool. Of course, the Grand class ships are larger than either of the two NCL ships I've sailed on, allowing for more deck space. But beyond the question of space, I just felt that the layout on Princess led to a better passenger flow.

 

Bottom line, I'd sail on either Princess or NCL again. And I'm sure you'll find plenty to enjoy whatever ship you choose.

[Clutterlady]

If you really enjoy sailing NCL and like their food and service, then you will love Princess. Although very subjective, my take is that the food and service on Princess is heads above NCL. We enjoyed our NCL cruise but have found that Princess is our comfort zone right now! Entertainment on the NCL Dawn was very good and you will find Princess is very similar. Both lines have the same activities during the day. The 4 fresh water pools on the CB are great and anytime dining works the same as freestyle. If you want to avoid dressing for formal night, make reservations at one of the two pay venues where casual dress is accepted. Try the Cafe Caribe for dinner also. Wonderful themed dinners, be sure to check your Patters.

 

I know you will enjoy your Princess cruise:)

[lel5344]

After 5 on NCL. Our principal reason for switching was because of a horrible customer service experience with NCL.

 

As you can see, we're booked on Princess again. We did anytime dining and we're so impressed with our servers (very early in the cruise) that we made a standing reservation for the same table at the same time for each night.

 

Some of our observed differences:

 

Announcements - none to speak of on Princess as opposed to NCL which seems to be obsessive with their announcements.

 

Space: Perhaps it was because the Star Princess was the biggest ship on which we've cruised, but we always felt less crowded aboard Princess. We also appreciated the extra closet space in our level of stateroom (outside view, no balcony).

 

We loved such Princess details as International Cafe and High Tea.

 

Service seemd more "sophisticated" on Princess. Our waiters always seemed to have excellent information regarding the meals.

 

We liked the theatre type seats in the Princess theatre much more than sitting at cocktail tables on NCL.

 

The piazza is a wonderful idea on Princess - wonderful daytime entertainment and a wonderful area in which to enjoy a cup of coffee and a pastry.

 

We will not return to NCL, primarily because of that customer service issue, but we feel we have found a more-than-adequate alternative in Princess.

 

BTW, we have also cruised Carnival and Celebrity.

[jacketwatch]

We actually have enjoyed the food and had good service on NCL. We took anytime dining. I do not like being told when to eat or where. I am also not sure about the dressing up...

 

Typically for a 7 day cruise its two formal nights. The rest of the time is resort casual, no shorts in the dining room, just nice pants and collared shirts or a nice polo. You will see the dress "guidelines" streched a bit. Thats the trend these days. What ship will you be on? :)

[Clinker1]

I agree with a previous statement...Once you sail Princess, you will never go back to NCL.

[kooljamming]

In February we booked NCL then switched to Princess after reading some of the glowing reports. Some lived up to our expectation, others did not. Two factors for going with Princess over NCL was formal night and better food. The first met our expectation because majority of the cruisers decked out for the occasion. The food fell far below what I expected. Most dishes I ordered were swimming or buried in sauce. It was almost impossible to know what I ordered from looking at it. This could be my unfortunate choice in dishes. A few of the nights I went to the buffet because it was not worth the effort going to the MDR. Aside from the the food and having a live band by the pool, it was a wonderful, unforgettable vacation. We have done RCCL and Carnival so far and sail in 12 days on Golden Princess. We are thinking RCCL or Carnival for our next year but would like to try NCL. All my crusies have been good, some were just different, which I love. Mmmmmmmmm, so may choices, so little vacation time:D

 

Enjoy!

[Lisa&Neb]

Typically for a 7 day cruise its two formal nights. The rest of the time is resort casual, no shorts in the dining room, just nice pants and collared shirts or a nice polo. You will see the dress "guidelines" streched a bit. Thats the trend these days. What ship will you be on? :)

 

 

The Car. Princess out of San Jaun doing the Southern 7 night!

[Richie2pies]

If you're a pizza lover, the pizza on Princess is great. On NCL, it's among the worst I've ever eaten. Princess is a better experience (IMHO) but NCL is usually cheaper, so you pay your money and take your choice.

[ute_fan]

I'm chuckling at this thread. We're also long-time NCL cruisers who have just booked our 7th NCL cruise, along with a one-night Princess to get us from Seattle to Vancouver. We were booked on a Princess Mexican Riviera last April that we had to cancel, and I'm curious to see what the Princess ship is like.

 

In response to the person who posted about the NCL ships being too colorful -- one of my friends from CC has been on Princess and complains that the Princess ships have boring decor. Different strokes for different folks, I guess.

[jacketwatch]

The Car. Princess out of San Jaun doing the Southern 7 night!

Wow! I luv that route. If you can try to stay in SJ a few days too. There is a ton to see and do. You will have a ball. :)

[CrusinAgain]

Everything is better about Princess than NCL. Once you try Princess you won't want to go back to NCL. I will never step foot again on one even if its free.