RCCL or NCL

I'm trying to decide between RCCL Vision of the Seas and NCL Getaway for Baltics cruise. The dates I want to cruise have narrowed the search to these two options.

Pluses for RCCL: two day(s) longer itinerary and the Solarium.

Pluses for NCL: drink package $200 (taxes), can book as a solo in case roommate deserts me, balcony pp cheaper....

Can folks who have cruised on either help me decide? Positive comments only please.....

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Vision is a much older ship than Getaway.

Or, since you want only positive comments, Getaway is a much younger ship than Vision. ;)

RCI won't nickel&dime you like NCL.

Service on RCI is 15%, same as most cruise lines. On NCL it's 18%

RCI has the same limitations as most cruise lines on taking your own drink aboard - you can take aboard two bottles of wine per cabin (recent change of policy - you can drink that wine anywhere on the ship, including the dining rooms, without a corkage charge), and you can take aboard your own soft drinks & water, but you can't take aboard beers or hard liquor. ON NCL you can take aboard only wine (unlimited) if you pay a corkage charge of (?) $15 per bottle, but no other alcohol or soft drinks or even your own bottled water.

I believe that with their "free" drinks packages, NCL add to your on-board account 18% of the standard package price for service. So "free" will cost about $85, and since cruise lines bulk-buy & pay no duty they're actually making a profit from your "free" package. (is the $200 tax that you mention actually that service charge, or tax on top?)

RCI included meals are much better - NCL tends to push its many many premium-pay restaurants. Very good, but surprisingly expensive. And, trivial though this may be, there's an 18% service charge on premium-pay dining - so with the daily service charge as well, you're effectively paying a double service charge.

On Vision you'll not get hounded to buy, buy, buy anything like as much as on Getaway.

So all-in-all Getaway will cost you a big chunk more than you were expecting, so allow for that in your comparisons.

Getaway's single cabins & shared lounge are a big bonus for singles. But if you need to consider whether your room-mate will let you down you really need to be more careful about choosing which room-mate rather than which ship.

Both ships are lively, Getaway perhaps has more glitz.

I think Getaway the better ship, but only if you can hack the extra costs.

JB :)

Hello JohnBull,

Not sure what Vision sailing you are looking at, but if it is the August 11th from Copenhagen, I will give you the reasons I booked on that sailing.

After much research, I wanted an itinerary that will give me at least 2 days in St Petersburg, a visit to Tallinn and Helsinki, which were on my must see list, as well as several ports in other countries, from the expected (Stockholm), to the lesser visited (Lithuania, Latvia).

Although Vision is an older ship, it is well maintained and has been refurbished, and it is a good size for visiting European ports. You will be hard pressed to see anyone say much negative about it over on the RCL boards, and people always compliment its crew.

I felt like for such a port intensive and weighty itinerary, I needed the ship to be nice, clean, and have good staff and good food, but I did not need a lot of fluffing. Vision fit the bill.

If you book this trip, please pop over to our Roll Call, as we have been quite active for a while, and there are some tours in the port you can join. Would love to have you on my 2 day St Petersburg small group tour!

Best to you in making the decision.

Thanks John, Terry and Mike!

Ive sailed the GA several times and love the ship, but the exclusion of an indoor pool (not a spa fan) on the GA is a major negative for me, since it will be cool on deck. Not that I'm a big swimmer, but its a little something different to do on those sea days.

Ive not sailed the GA since January, and by then, the nickel diming had begun, which is unfortunate since I loved the speciality restaurants, which used to be free. I had a great cruise consultant with NCL, too, but now I'm working with a new one. I mention that because Ive always been able to work my way up from a studio to a solo balcony as prices dropped. Ive not cruised RCCL in about 4 years, so I feel like a newbie.

Last year, I cruised Princess to the Brit Isles, and I loved the way they did anytime dining. They asked if you'd like to share a table, and the guests were all lovely. Many people choose NCL cuz the dont want to share a table, but I'm now ok dining alone.

But, a major reason I chose that cruise was because there was a fellow CC member who organized independent tours at each port, and as hoped, they were wonderful and a fraction of the price. That's why an active roll call could tip the scales. Ill check out your roll call, Terry, even though I'm looking at the cruise before yours that begins in July.

The itineraries are almost identical as is the pricing, so that's no help.....

Thanks so much for your help. I appreciate your advice, wisdom and perspective!

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mrobstad, I just noticed that I started my post with Hello JohnBull rather than with Hello mrobstad. Sorry for that, was just into my first cup of coffee and everything wasn't clicking into place properly! Good thing you were a bit sharper and noticed it was for you.

Best, Terry