ANyone been on NCL and can give me a comparison

I took a look at this since you mentioned it, it the concept appears to be working better in theory than in practice. There's a thread in the solo cruisers section with complaints that:

* solos that didn't pay for the category that includes lounge access want in because they're solo

* solos who get upgraded to a balcony still want to use the lounge because they're solo

* solos who paid for access letting in solos who didn't pay

* solos who are traveling in a Studio as part of a larger family group bringing in kids who devour the cookies and adult couples who drink the coffee and tea.

 

Since NCL has this "freestyle" dining system I suppose they have to do something for solos. For me however, having to seek out dining companions three times a day is neither cool nor convenient. But to each his/her own. If a solo wants to travel in an accommodation other than this Studio complex they're out of luck.

I can only speak of my own experience as an NCL solo and it was brilliant. I loved the studio lounge and cabins. Yes you have to book a studio cabin for access to the studio lounge but it is available nightly during the singles gathering to anyone.

Personally I found NCL catered to singles probably more than any other cruise line I have sailed, and I've sailed most.

As far as finding dinner mates it was never an issue plus tons of dinner venues for variety. Personally I have no desire to eat every meal with strangers or even new acquaintances. I'm perfectly content eating alone for breakfast and lunch and often times prefer it that way. I do like joining others for dinner and as I stated earlier that was never a problem. If you're one that feels the need to have every meal with others I'm sure after the first night that wouldn't be a problem. Personally I would find the initial small talk that occurs with dining with strangers at breakfast and lunch to be extremely tedious. To each his own.

NCL clearly has a product that delivers a casual, low cost vacation for those so inclined. NCL and Cunard are examples where one person's paradise can be another person's hell.

 

I like the way Cunard "mingles the singles" and takes care of us by seating with couples and other solos. Nobody has to dine alone unless they chose to do so. It's the opposite on NCL where the solos are "ghettoized" and left to fend for themselves. Freestyle is not for me.

I think you have slightly missed the point of the NCL model. Cunard is a small niche cruise line that has three ships and caters for around 6-7000 people at any one time in a particular cultural and historical environment. NCL has fourteen ships and has upwards of 40,000 people with them at any time. They also actually have a range of prices that spread from low cost to high cost. Those who choose the NCL Haven for their cruises have a range of services and facilities that are second to none. The "ship within a ship" concept provides a high quality environment with the ability to enjoy a huge range of other facilities without leaving the ship! The NCL model allows great freedom to choose what type of cruise you want beforehand from the huge range they have made available. Once on their ships you have a really wide range of activities to choose or avoid as you wish. I agree that there are some things that they don't provide because it does not make financial sense for them to have them. NCL are aware that there are fine niche lines like Cunard providing excellent services for their clients and are quite happy to let them corner that small area of the market.

Cunard are in a difficult position because they are aiming at quite a small demographic and need to compete with some very good top quality prestige cruise lines to attract customers. One of their biggest challenges is to find a way to attract the younger people to their product who like enjoyment as well as enrichment on their cruises, without upsetting the older established clientele and yet still make enough profit to survive. The balance between cutting costs to survive and providing what loyal customers still want to buy is a major challenge when you are limited by being a small player.

I like both lines and have had some great cruises and have met some really interesting people on them. Life is full of choices and I hope that I can continue to enjoy the huge range of views of the world I get from both lines.

We are crossing on QM2 in November - coming home from a visit to family in England. Our next is Norwegian Gem in February to escape what is promised to be a tougher winter than last year's. Not our favorite line, by a long shot, but the itinerary - starting from a port less than an hour away from home - is hard to resist.

 

It always is a matter of weighing itinerary against ship and cost. The perfecta has not been matched since HAL stopped their winter sailings south from New York.

I have done both those ships. If you're Haven bound on NCL, that would probably sway me to the Gem. If not, QM2 wins by a landslide.

I don't believe you can compare these lines side by side. I have sailed on both a number of times and know that what I am looking for on Cunard is not what I will find on NCL. The formal nights, traditional dinning, lectures, and etc. I sailed on NCL before and after it was Freestyle and it was a totally different experience before of course. Did a number of crossing on the Norway(old France) and those are still among my favorite sailings. But I can say that in my experience the food on NCL, even in the main dinning rooms is better than the food on Cunard. Can not complain about service on NCL either.

This isn't really on point, but I'm gonna contribute anyway. I've sailed on Cunard and Princess (both part of Carnival Corp.) and found them to be comparable on many levels. Had a fantastic time on the Queen Mary 2 (one 11-day Caribbean) and a fantastic time (actually three times - one Caribbean and two 26-day cruises) on Princess. More "active" events on Princess and more "cultured" events on Cunard. Fares on both were comparable (per day price) and food, kid's clubs, accommodations were great. I consider both to be mass market lines. Now - before the kid, I sailed exclusively on Regent. Slightly higher in quality but you pay for that.

Just back from a superb cruise on Norwegian jewel. The food and staff were brilliant. The entertainments left a bit to be desired. The anytime dining was great. We will certainly cruise with them again.

well, i am not sure if ncl and cunard can be compared as both are of complete different nature, even the size of the fleet is different, with cunard having 3 ships vs norwegian who possess a dozen vessels

its kind of like comparing a maserati ghibli vs a cadillac cts i suppose

two ships of both line of similar size i've been are the ncl pearl and the Queen Elizabeth

i will admit however that i am biased toward Cunard but ncl is not a bad line either, i just prefer cunard despite my young age, its a matter of taste and personnal experience

both are similar sized around 92000 tone, however ncl can carry at full capacity 2700 passenger vs QE which is 2200 full capacity, and having been on both of them, i could see the difference in crowd, the Qe is also very well designed in crowd dispersion which make an even bigger difference. of course the trade of is that booking a cunard cruise is more expensive

interior design, ncl pearl tend to cram as much room for maximum activities as possible in the ship with a very small main lobby compared to ncl sky which was better looking for its main lobby and the decor tend to be brightly coloured, too much for my taste but its a matter of opinion

also the result of cramming as much content as possible result in a ship that is quite maze like, complex to navigate and i got lost several time unlike Oasis of the seas who despite being the biggest ship is the world has a suprisingly simple layout

Qe decor is art deco and a big tribute to the golden age of transatlantic crossing with the original Queen Elizabeth which started as a troop ship in ww2

there are more bigger open public area, like the main lobby, the queens room and the sweeping stairs with the clock near the golden lion pub

QE layout is simplier as well and and its easier to find my way around

in term of food, ncl rely on freestyle which consist of several main dining room and a number of alternative restaurant with each different theme, if i remember, the pearl at a very least 5 alternative restaurants

the two main dining room are somewhat small, especially the indigo room who always had people queuing to get in there so i was never able to eat there, the second and bigger dining room , the summer palace was easier to sit in but there was still the occasional queue

the buffet on ncl pearl at the top deck is simply too small for the ship and it it was almost always very crowded

QE lido buffet is quite huge and well designed to disperse crowd so i was able to get something to eat at a reasonable time and find a place to sit even at peak times. the only other buffet i saw that could rival this one was the one on the solstice class

Main dining room on QE is quite huge and elegantly decorated in art deco as most of the dining experience rest on its main dining room

there is also a class system, there is the britannia club balcony with a more intimade main dining room, the princess and grill queen for the suites

thought i know that celebrity solstice has its own class system with the blue verandah if i recall the name and some of the bigger ships of ncl has integrated some sort of class system with some of their staterooms

cunard ships like QE has two main alternative restaurant. part of lido buffet is converted into a alternative restaurant that change theme every three nights, i tried the american steakhouse style (wanted to try the asian) but i wasn't available those days

and the top notch restaurant is the Verandah which serve french cuisine where you get a very personalised service.

ncl pearl too has it's fair share of alternative restaurants with personalised services like the cagney steakhouse and the italian one. but personally, i think cunard has superior quality food especially in its main dining room. but that is my opinion

term of activities. well, ncl tend to have more family friendly activities, waterslide.

one thing that annoyed me most on ncl pearl was the forward observation lounge for a quiet spot to rest and drink, suddenly turn into a loud music club and making anyone who want a quiet spot like me flee the room

QE on the other hand has designed a dedicated night and music dance club two rooms away from the commodore lounge. so if one want loud music and dance, they just go to the yatch club and those who want a quiet time goes to the commodore

term of activities. cunard tend to be activities that combine lecture such as navy history (in my cruise) the golden lion pub will have sport match like rugby available to those who want to follow their sports

the theathers show and other shows delivered in the hall and queen rooms are delivered by onboard musician with their full set of musical instruments. there would be some trivia as well. i even saw fencing lesson at one point in the cruise but i missed it unfortunately

however their is no waterslide or things like that on cunard ships. the open deck consist of some pools with classic sport decks to play sports like tennis and althought the ships has a good programs for kids, they are unapologetic ships for adult

for solo, i might be wrong but considering the freestyle nature of ncl and the fact that there seem to be no traditional sitting. they dont feel like solo friendly. but i can't say for sure since i wasn't sailing solo on ncl pearl

both qm2 and qe are suprisingly solo friendly, i tried the solo cabin on qe and althought they are not exactly cheap, they are well designed and conveniently placed on the ship's center and close to the main lobby allowing and they had me sit with other solo cruiser on the main dining hall and other guest are suprisingly easy to talk to despite my shy nature. by the end of my last cruise, i had 5 group of people i would converse with when i met them

clientele wize, ncl tend to attact more multi generaltional group while cunard attract usually a more older but well travell crowd that enjoy travelling with a fair share of ship buff. but there is still some young people, my last cruise saw a suprising number of people my age on QE

well, i guess that is all for my analysis of Queen Elizabeth vs Norwegian pearl, two ships i have sailed with

I think you have slightly missed the point of the NCL model. Cunard is a small niche cruise line that has three ships and caters for around 6-7000 people at any one time in a particular cultural and historical environment. NCL has fourteen ships and has upwards of 40,000 people with them at any time. They also actually have a range of prices that spread from low cost to high cost. Those who choose the NCL Haven for their cruises have a range of services and facilities that are second to none. The "ship within a ship" concept provides a high quality environment with the ability to enjoy a huge range of other facilities without leaving the ship! The NCL model allows great freedom to choose what type of cruise you want beforehand from the huge range they have made available. Once on their ships you have a really wide range of activities to choose or avoid as you wish. I agree that there are some things that they don't provide because it does not make financial sense for them to have them. NCL are aware that there are fine niche lines like Cunard providing excellent services for their clients and are quite happy to let them corner that small area of the market.

 

Cunard are in a difficult position because they are aiming at quite a small demographic and need to compete with some very good top quality prestige cruise lines to attract customers. One of their biggest challenges is to find a way to attract the younger people to their product who like enjoyment as well as enrichment on their cruises, without upsetting the older established clientele and yet still make enough profit to survive. The balance between cutting costs to survive and providing what loyal customers still want to buy is a major challenge when you are limited by being a small player.

 

I like both lines and have had some great cruises and have met some really interesting people on them. Life is full of choices and I hope that I can continue to enjoy the huge range of views of the world I get from both lines.

I have to respectfully disagree on people who compare the Grills and the Haven - I did not find them at all comparable; I only sailed NCL twice, once because I wanted to see both the South Pacific and Hawaii (crossing the equator) in one trip.

Each line does offer something completely different though - so being in the Haven on a ship whose style you don't like does not make up for the lack of formality - if that is what you prefer. Some people who like casual vacations might despise dressing for dinner every night or listening to a British diplomat give insight into Churchill and the world he lived in, but I like it. I would also miss afternoon tea and fresh flowers all over the whole ship. But I am also well under the Cunard average age demographic of 60+, as is my husband; they caught me just after my 30th birthday and I have been a loyal Cunarder now for 10 years. So it can be done - there are a few more people my age on board each time I sail, so Cunard is slowly getting younger people on board. Not all of the young cruising crowd wants party cruising. I am glad there is another choice for those of us out there who missed the First Golden Age of travel. And we are not even close to retirement so I have to agree with those who would not sail even for free on NCL - I would be using up my valuable vacation time!