BENHANDEL

On 5/30/2020 at 10:33 AM, AstoriaPreppy said:

 

We've taken three NCL cruises, all on the Jewel class (like Pearl). Here are my big takeaways: 

 

1. NCL staterooms on the Pearl will be *breathtakingly* smaller than what you're used to on Carnival. For example an inside on the Pearl is 138 sq ft, on the Breeze, it's 185. An Oceanview on the Breeze is 220 sq ft, on the Pearl is 161 sq ft. These are major size differences I wasn't mentally prepared for on my first NCL cruise. 
    
2. The lobby/atrium on the NCL ships are generally smaller and less the center of everything. There's no soaring glass elevators with skylights. 
    
3. To put it politely, the Main Dining Room food on NCL is... a mixed bag. You can certainly eat on NCL, but the food is serviceable at best. Carnival tends to be much more adventurous and creative with their food, with bigger, bolder flavors, seasoning, and unique choices. For example, the Sea day Brunch on Carnival has huevos rancheros, avocado toast, steak and eggs, etc etc etc. NCL is much safer with options like "eggs with a choice of sides." 
    
4. The better food on NCL is in the specialty dining restaurants. When we've sailed NCL, we'll usually get the included complimentary dining, and then add on an additional dining package to make up the missing nights so at least we have decent options. On our first NCL cruise we didn't anticipate this, and ended up paying out of pocket to eat at specialty restaurants all other nights of the cruise.
    
5. That said, the specialty dining on NCL can be hit or miss., i.e. on one cruise they kept serving the escargot in Le Bistro with sugar on top. The complimentary Asian restaurant should be avoided. O'Shehans is pretty good bar/comfort food. The sushi is actually kind of good. Sometimes a restaurant that you've enjoyed one time will be awful the next time, and vice versa. It's not very consistent. 
    
6. There is no lobster on NCL, including specialty restaurants. There may be lobster in the Haven restaurant for suite guests,  but I don't remember. 
    
7. The Garden Cafe buffet on the smaller NCL ships doesn't have enough seating. Depending on the passenger mix, it can be quite competitive. 
    
8. NCL's Jewel class features the Great Outdoors, which is a lovely aft seating/bar/buffet dining space, behind the Garden Cafe. It's easily one of the best features of these ships. 
    
9. NCL's Jewel class features the Spinnaker Lounge, a great smaller show venue/observation lounge.
    
10. If you like comedy, there will be one single comedian for your entire voyage on a Jewel class ship. This is unlike Carnival where they have a ton of comedians popping out of the woodwork working multiple sets a night. 
     
11. We've had more service issues on NCL than on any other line.
     
12. The service on NCL seems to be the most disconnected compared to other lines we've sailed. For example, on one of our Carnival cruises, the bartender at the lobby bar learned our names the first day, and ended up creating special cocktails for my husband and I that we could order off menu. On another one of our Carnival cruises, our room steward asked if he could give us a hug at the end of the voyage. We've had the same sort of encounters on Celebrity, Royal Caribbean, Holland America and Princess. This sort of guest interaction doesn't seem to happen for us on NCL. It's not bad service, it just tends to be very functional and utilitarian in comparison to the other lines. There's not a lot of making you feel special, or going the extra mile on NCL. 
     
13. NCL doesn't generally have additional enrichment on their ships. In some cases, this is a major miss. For example, in Alaska NCL doesn't have naturalists on board for the voyage, which all other cruise lines do (including Carnival). On Carnival and Princess, we'd get an announcement from the naturalist on the bridge when whales were spotted, along with an explantation of what we were seeing, the behaviors, other things to look for, etc. On NCL, we'd get the captain going "I think we might have maybe seen something so keep your eyes out." 
     
14. Also for Alaska: NCL seems to have the worst dock space, that sometimes requires a shuttle ride or walk into town. This is especially true in Juneau and Sitka. 
     
15. The vibe on NCL is much more relaxed in the evening. Carnival guests (despite the bad rap) can get quite dressed up for dinner, especially on whatever formal nights are called. NCL is much more t-shirt and shorts everywhere. I think Le Bistro has the strongest dress code, but even there they don't really enforce it. Compare this to dining on other lines where I've been turned away for wearing shorts to dinner. It's much easier to pack for an NCL cruise, because you can toss a few random things in a bag and you're set... the other lines usually require some level of planning.
     
16. The Haven/Suite experience is much more luxe on NCL than Carnival. We've sailed in an NCL suite, and had a butler and concierge, a separate restaurant reserved for breakfast and lunch, private escorts when we went to tender, and a much more exclusive experience than the general NCL voyage (and anything you'd find on Carnival).

 

 

Thank you so much for that thorough compare an contrast! You really hit all the things we have liked about carnival! 

We have officially booked on carnival for spring break, on a ship I know and and known port stops. And the price for 2  balconies was still about $800 less than The norwegian pearl with one balcony and an interior. I still want to try norwegian someday but will wait until we can splurge on a flagship offering and/or haven. Thank you!

1 hour ago, mugtech said:

I would say the Horizon was a better structured ship with more choices than the Jewel class ships we have been on, and the lunch choices were a big plus.  The most disappointing aspect of the Horizon was the worst theatre we have been in on any ship plus the entertainment was inferior.  Having someone sing to recorded music in a bad theatre was not entertaining.  NCL entertainment, even on smaller ships, is much better than Horizon's TA choices.

Thanks for that. I loved everything about horizon (especially how well they contained  the smoke from the casino!), but we knew to get to the theater early for good seats. The comedy club was lame compared to their other ships. 

Thanks, all. We are looking back at a carnival ship for spring break (dream, we have been on a sister ship so know it well). The price point made me think it was a good time to try out norwegian, but I should start with a top ship the way I did with carnival horizon to get the fairest comparison. Going from a new/big carnival ship to an older/small ncl ship would not be a fair comparison. I just need to wait for one of my kids to move on with their own lives to fit into one room ncl. Haha!

2 hours ago, brookie848 said:

I have not been on the Pearl and I'm sure someone will be able to give you details on the ship. Please note, however, that the Pearl is one of NCL''s older/smaller ships. It is NOT a megaship and may be missing some of the amenities your kids would enjoy (multiple waterslides, go-karts, ropes course, etc.).

 

If you are looking for those types of activities to keep your kids occupied, then you are going to want to consider ships built after (and including) the Epic. This means Breakaway, Getaway, Escape, Encore, Bliss, and Joy. They have various "fun" features for kids (some free, some with an additional cost). The newer ships also have more restaurants/bars.

 

One pain with the newer ships is that you will need reservations for shows, which you won't need to do on the Pearl.

 

If your kids enjoy just being on a cruise and don't need/expect all the bells and whistles of big ships, then you should be fine. While we've mainly cruised on the larger ships, we have enjoyed our two trips on the Dawn and loved the different show every night.

 

One thing to note about the larger ships -- often the inside cabins are NOT right across the hall from the balcony cabins -- they only appear that way. The door to these cabins is actually within an interior hallway. So if you do look at the larger ships, take that into consideration.

Super helpful. Thank you. We did one "small ship" on ccl and we said "never again," but we already had the "top MN of the line" ship at a comparison. Sounds like we would not be getting a fair sense of NCL if that is where we started. 

I apologize, but I do not have time to thoroughly scan the board to get all my questions answered...I am not a new cruiser, first cruised disney and then 4 on carnival, all with hubby and kids over last 6 years.  I am a researcher, but have limited time do invest before my current "deal" expires (and I assume its like CCL and the next "deal" will be just as good, but still.) 

Looking at the Pearl March 2021. Our kids would be 19, 16, 13, balcony and interior,  9073 and 9074. Would get all 5 "freebies." And OBC. 2:1 deposits.

Compared to carnival (Horizon, breeze, imagination/top, medium, poor), what will surprise us?  What will we/the kids love, what will we miss? What should we know before deciding? What do we need to know about the "freebies?"

Thanks in advance for any info (and avoiding the "you should read everything here before asking" lectures. 🙂

42 minutes ago, fastpitchdad said:

Indian Casino's here in Washington are banning smoking as they reopen. Hopefully NCL will follow suit. 

Please! I save lots of moneys o. Cruises by avoiding smoke. This would be a great excuse to go smoke-free!

23 minutes ago, luv2cruise2thebeach said:

My wife and daughter used Cavetubing.bz in December.  They combined the trip with a zipline adventure, where they got to zipline 5 stations and then cave tube after that.  They enjoyed everything except they were not a fan of the Belizean lunch that they provide.  Other than that, they said the rest of the trip was smooth.

The "bad" reviews for that company are way more than the "bad" reviews for butts up. I generally read the highs and lows, and the lows are scary!

I know this is not necessarily carnival-specific, but we will be on the Breeze and this forum gets so much more activity than the port boards!

Has anyone done the private transportation and tour through buttsup? We will have a group of 9 and the price for our own tour is about what carnival would charge per person. I have communicated with the company, but I wonder if people felt like they got a "good" tour guide and if it was worth the extra money. Thanks in advance!

Carnival does a great job with food allergies. I would even go so far as to say they did better than Disney (which I know was not the contrast in this post, but seen as the "gold standard"). The reason was my 9-year old ordered chicken nuggets, fries, and plain pasta nightly on disney. On carnival, they didnt even present her the "kids menu," encouraged her to try a number of dishes and adapted them to her dairy allergy. She was more adventurous with food than ever at home. Many of the "dairy free" adaptations were far from the original, but they tried, and she had a whole new world open to her outside of chicken nuggets  and fries. We loved horizon following Disney and are booked on the Breeze at Christmas. My kids (16,14, 12) all preferred carnival over disney. 

I am so thankful for your review!

We will be on the Breeze at Christmas..in adjoining cove balconies forward of you. How was the temperature after that initial cool down? Did it stay cool?

What was your perception of the ship's movement? We had a cove on Horizon so I would assume it is similar, but posts on the FB group keep referencing lots of movement. 

We saw DJ Cooch on Imagination in March. He was hilarious!

We are also planning to go to paradise beach! I loved your pictures and was unsure from your snarky writing (which I love!) if you would continue to recommend it? Or just be clear on the pricing? What did you think of the food there?

I am so hoping your Roatan day is going to monkeys and sloths! I just love getting a preview of our trip!

Greetings. We are going on our 3rd CCL voyage at Christmas (Breeze, following Horizon last Christmas). We booked ES with the $50/person deposits, 5 people across 2 cabins. We actually paid $500/cabin to get the amex rebate. We got insurance, this time through "insuremytrip" and "tripAssure."

My FIL was diagnosed with a chronic lung condition (IPF) this year, with a prognosis of 2-7 years. It has been progressing very fast. This weekend he will start on palliative cares, new life expectancy 6-12 months, but the last estimate was optimistically inaccurate...and 6 months brings us to the December cruise...

I am certainly not going to cancel at this time: if he is stable by then, or has passed and life has settled by then, we will still go. 

BUT....I want to better understand logistics and options with my trip I surance so we can make the best decision when the time arrives. I scanned my insurance document, but the legalistic language leaves some of my specific questions unclear:

At what point in his care/passing could we trigger the insurance? The plan has coverage for "family" "death" or "significant illness."  If he is in "hospice" by then, but still with us, would that count? What about if he passes in Nov or December, but we do not feel ready to leave for a celebratory trip by Christmas?

If we decide to cancel before final payment due in October, would insurance cover anything? The pre-paid flights? And if it covers the deposit, is that including the early saver fee?

What else should I think about in this process (other than the obvious-my husband, my family and FIL)?

Note- I have been through this with both of my parents, but this will be the first parent-loss for my husband. And with both of my parents, their illness was severe but we thought we had more time (cancer and a stroke). In both of those cases, we had a trip planned in the near future, talked about cancelling it, but decided to wait until "the last minute." With both of their passings, the family trip a month or two later was an important getaway and restoration point with our own kids. So in this case, I also want to wait as long as possible to make the decision, but will not be willing to travel when he transitions to hospice care. 

Any guidance appreciated,

1 hour ago, purplephenom said:

Are there areas around the Casino that should be avoided if the smell of smoke bothers you?  I dont think I'm allergic, I just end up with a cold/sinus thing if I'm around smoke too much.  

I am as sensitive as they come and I was fine on horizon. So easy to avoid the casino area and I could not smell it in common areas outside of the mid-ship stairwell on the same floor. If I were an elevator user u would not have even encountered that area. And the smoke was not overwhelming to my lungs-could simply "smell" it. I was very pleased! (And nervous about the breeze at Christmas with the open casino area....)

14 minutes ago, Domergirl said:

We split up like this all the time when we travel with our 3 kids.  My husband always gets Drinks on Us in the casino...so he doesn't need Cheers...but I do!!!    You will each keep your regular sign and sail cards that will let you in to the room you're booked in...but then you go to guest services and get a key card for the other room (that you're not booked in).  We make sure that everyone in our family has a key that accesses each room (I want to be able to get into my kids room, and we want the kids to be able to get in to ours.)

 

 

I have NEVER heard of this in 20+ cruises.  I've also NEVER seen anyone take that bottle.  Anyone else ever hear of this????  To me, that feels kind of like stealing the big silver starfish from the table.  I'd love to hear what the staff told you!!!

When we had Cheers on horizon, they automatically put 2 big bottles of water on the table. I think it was for us to use instead of the tap water? Our servers kept the drinks/water bottles flowing. They did this without us asking. They even used our drink plan to get slushy drinks for the kids. It did not even occur to me to ask (I am a rule follower!) But when they did it I was not going to object!

Next cruise will be on breeze, with kids in a different room and one drink package. (Hubby's beer makes it tough to justify the cost). I have wondered if we would have servers as generous with the non-alcoholic drinks with one Cheers guest?

15 hours ago, Jaguar37 said:

I feel your pain. I despise smoke more than just about anything in the world for a list if reasons... health and being able to breathe being one of them.

 

I abhor the Casino floor on the Carnival Cruises I have been on... Splendorx2 , Glory, Breeze, Inspiration. The smoke seeps everywhere to the 3rd floor atrium... and just about the entire floor the casino is on and more.

 

To hear that they have somewhat limited it seeping to other floors and areas on the Horizon gives me some comfort. Still I am hesitant to have much hope and basically have to deal with it while my lungs take weeks to recover from the damage.

Horizon casino is glassed in. Completely different than the older ships. Also, the activities (like trivia) on Horizon are not close to the casino. I did not realize what a plus that was until I went on Imagination and realized we could not participate in any of the activities. 

On the Horizon last Christmas, it was about an hour every night. In the Imagination MDR at spring break, 90 minutes was a quick night. I could not figure out the difference?!? I really value a nightly sit down meal, but about an hour is perfect. Hoping Breeze next Christmas is another efficient meal, as my teens were getting pretty antsy by 90 minutes.

4 hours ago, willdra said:

After we left the Beer Co, we went to Fishlips for dinner. There was no wait and we just walked right up to the upstairs deck and chose seats.  I ordered the Mandarin Cosmo, Buffalo Shrimp, and the Shrimp and Lobster Roll. W got the FL Red Lager (guess he liked it after all) and the Angus Burger.  Our food came out really fast, and it was great. The Buffalo Shrimp were cooked to absolute perfection, and so was everything else. We also enjoyed the singer out there. He played a good variety of songs, and he even threw in some Disney for the kids. I’m so glad that we chose Fishlips this time. We will definitely be back!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks for the port Canaveral restaurant reviews! This helps me decide!

Cozumel and GC were warm and beautiful last Christmas. Next year's cruise takes us to that area hoping for similar weather. 

I am so sensitive to smoke. I am allergic to it, have asthma and reactive airway disease. Although I would love to visit a smoke-free casino, I knew going on carnival cruise the casino would not be a option, but I was worried about smoke leaking into to the common areas. I was pleased with that. The only place I could even smell it was when I took the stairs and rounded the landing by the casino entrances. 

Overall, I really enjoyed my time on horizon, enough to try another carnival ship.

Hmmm. We were on horizon at Christmas. We had 5 in a room. I dont remember the exact Mount, but me and hubby were a high price and the 3 kids were cheap in comparison I no longer have the price breakdown....but on my upcoming 2 sailings (imagination this mo th and breeze next christmas) passengers 3 and 4 in the rooms are a significant savings. 

My breeze cruise for next December opened at about the 11 month mark. For my horizon cruise last Christmas, I got fttf in August, but it had shown as sold out prior to that.

Not regret, per se. We can justify that we got our moneys with. We can justify that it was nice to try new things without having to worry about it. BUT we would have been just as happy with a couple bottles of wine brought on board and drinking beer. And we were so focused on "getting our moneys worth" that we stood in lines and made trips back to our room that we otherwise would not have. I think we had many hours wasted on the extra lines and trips back to our room. When we left, we had 6 untouched bottles of beer to share with the steward.

First 2 days were great. But light-home drinkers and moderate-vacay drinkers could not keep up the pace. Next family trip is a 7 day and we do not plan on getting cheers. 

Getting on the ship early and dropping the bags in the room right away are well worth it to me. The shorter line at guest services was an unexpected benefit (not a whiner but we needed it 3 times on a 6 day cruise: electric outlet tripped, dd lost her s&s card and kids ran out of money in their account). 

Jiji was amazing. That restaurant alone will make us look at the newer ships. We were disappointed that the next horizon Christmas cruise had the identical itenerary as last year. Thus we are sailing a ship without Jiji. 

13 hours ago, beachbum53 said:

Perhaps you've experienced something different, but we could not select a check-in time for the terminal until after we had made our final payment. We could do everything else except for that. 

For our past two cruises, the 90 day checkin date was available before the cruise needed to be paid in full. We were able to select our arrival appts and check in before we paid the balance. We just were unable to print the boarding passes until paid. This was for a cruise in December and later this month.

4 hours ago, pacruise804 said:

I would leave the assignment be and get room cards once on board.  A possible advantage of the adults being booked in separate staterooms is if one (but only one) of you wanted the Cheers package.  If you were in the same cabin you would both need to purchase Cheers or both buy drinks a la carte.  With the separate cabin arrangement the heavier drinker can get Cheers and the light/non-drinker can pay as they go for any specialty drinks.

This is our situation. We have adjoining rooms on our next cruise, with one adult in each room. Last cruise we both got cheers, but it was absolutely not worth it for him (only drinks beer) and questionable for me. We thought if we split up, we could have more time to make the decision. We will get extra keys when we board.