Hendricks Clan

 

Not yet, we plan to once the ship gets here and we see some reviews.

 

We toured the MSC Opera when it was brand new, what a weird ship, small dining rooms, incredible theater but not my style.

 

They got an incredible deal to come here. Reading in your name and location, love HMS.

 

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If by HMS your mean Hendricks Motorsports, I wished I was related to him...I'd have all kind of money to cruise then!:D

 

 

I'm not sure about NCL, their reviews here and elsewhere are not what I expected. Carnival is predictable for every cruise.

 

See you aboard.

 

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Have you sailed on NCL? I have and they have become my preferred line. Thats not taking anything away from CCL or RCI, but NCL just appeals to me more right now. There product is outstanding since Kevin Sheehan took over and made drastic changes. NCL along with MSC are the two fastest growing lines in the industry right now. NCL is currently also the most profitable.

NCL will be just fine as will the other lines in Houston/Galveston. All the lines offer something different from one another that will appeal to all types of passengers.

There were some posts here that Tortola signed an exclusive arrangement (not sure how long with NCL and Royal (I think).

Explains why NCL will have weekly calls there beginning next year.

Great news for the Palmetto State. Now if NCL would only come back and offer 7-Day Caribbean cruises, that would make my day!

To control costs the cruise lines all have added extra pay options which used to be items covered automatically within the cruise. I understand and have no objection to this practice if it controls costs without changing the quality of my cruise. The problem that arises is that there is limited space on a cruise ship. So if you add seven restaurants that charge entry fee, you by definition: had to get rid of that amount of space that used to contain free items for the customer. When you add to that, that there really isn't any significant decrease in the price for all of these paid options it makes it less desirable. But I'm glad that the option of choosing the Norwegian cruise line exists for you since obviously you enjoyed your Norwegian cruises. I've cruised five times with Norwegian, and the staff were so rude and the cruises over all less than optimal, for the last several of those, so I chose not to cruise with them further. Isn't diversity wonderful! Indeed isn't having a choice of different cruise lines the true meaning of Freestyle Cruising?

 

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Yes diversity is great. Your experience on NCL sound like my last few CCL cruises, just shows that options are great to have.

Personally, I wouldn't choose my cruises based on the loyalty programs. Loyalty programs tend to correlate to prices. If value is most important to you, then Carnival will likely give you the best value. If you prefer to pay more for extras, then look elsewhere. On both Norwegian and Royal Caribbean, you will have more extra fees for food. If you are a gambler, Carnival is probably not your best bet for casino perks. If you are smoker, Carnival is probably your best choice because their smoking policy is more liberal. Each line caters to a different clientele and you need to experience them or do research to figure out which one is the best fit for you.

 

Carnival's loyalty program has been watered down the last few years, but prices have been pretty cheap too. However Carnival's prices do seem to be increasing overall this year.

Its your choice thats what NCL's "Freestyle Cruising," is all about. You have the same free options (if not more) as CCL, but if you want to try something else for a small fee you have that option to. You make it sound as your paying extra for food on NCL and RCI. You can pay for food on CCL too, so there no different than the other lines, CCL just has less options.

I have to disagree with you. I always check all lines when I am researching a cruise. The majority of the time (not all but the majority), after I've narrowed down my choices because of dates, itinerary, embarkation port...it is Carnival that is the lowest price. Now I don't sail only on CCL and I don't always choose the lowest price. I choose the ship that best fits our wants for a price I'm willing to pay....but if a Carnival Ship has a lower price, all other things being equal....more than likely we will be sailing Carnival and it's not to build up loyalty points.

I know for our past several cruises, CCL was equal to or exceeded NCL's price and this includes our cruise to Alaska last year. The only cruise that CCL has been much cheaper than NCL is on our summer cruise on the Getaway, but that's to be expected since your paying for the new ship. I think RCI is more times than not going to be a little more but I disagree with you completely on the pretext that CCL is the cheapest most of the time. At least in our cases they were equal to or higher than NCL on a much older ship.

I was ready to give CCL another try to earn my business back, but i was unwilling to pay roughly $200 more pp than the Epic. If all things were equal price wise I'd still choose Epic over any Conquest class ship as they just simply can't compete with the options Epic offers.

Personally....I cruise because I love cruising, loyalty program is just an added benefit. I cruise Carnival because of the price, not loyalty program.

Then you haven't really been checking prices of the other lines. I keep hearing people say, "We cruise CCL because of price," yet most don't even bother to check the rates of other lines...they just assume CCL is the cheapest and book. Our cruise Sunday on Epic was $200 cheaper for a balcony than on any 7-Day CCL Western Caribbean itinerary and that's even factoring in the interline employee discount CCL offers to airline employees. Picking between Epic or the Glory, Legend, or Conquest...I'm choosing Epic every single time, but for it to be $200'pp cheaper is the icing on the cake.

To the OP, yes the CCL loyalty program isn't what it used to be. If loyalty is important to you look at NCL or RCI. Both offer decent benefits and ways to earn double and triple points. Also NCL offers discounts on pictures and on board purchases...the discount depends on your level.

I am surprised that CArnival does not have you change time. We always have on RC and NCL.

That's one thing I don't understand about CCL. On NCL you always get the thing on your bed with your Freestyle Daily reminding you to fall back or spring forward before going to sleep that night.

Your right, but have you ever checked out what other countries warn their citizens about the US?

 

A few I looked up.

 

http://smartraveller.gov.au/zw-cgi/view/Advice/United_States_of_America

 

http://abcnews.go.com/Travel/odd-things-countries-warn-travel-usa/story?id=22912284

All that does is advise Aussie's to be "normal," and to watch and keep updated with DHS, terror warnings. The US issues similar warnings, but according to the UN, Honduras does indeed have the highest murder rate in the world.

Yes indeed there are travel warnings to Honduras http://travel.state.gov/content/passports/english/alertswarnings/honduras-travel-warning.html

We've cruised to Alaska twice now and both times we have taken Amtrak from Seattle to Vancouver. Its not much higher than any other transportation method to get there, but the views along the coast are unbeatable. I highly recommend the Amtrak Cascades route.

We were loyal Platinum cruisers on CCL...that was until 2012 when we discovered NCL and "Freestlye Cruising," after getting tired of what seemed like continuous cutbacks and degrading of the product from CCL. We also tried and RCCL in 2012, but really didn't like the experience. Since out first cruise on NCL, we were hooked and new we found the line for us. Everything about NCL simply blew us away. You will enjoy NCL, trust me!

How is the food on NCL buffets? And Is it overcrowded like RC?

 

 

Royal~FreedomOfTheSeas 2014

Carnival Glory 2012

Disney Magic 2011

Carnival Triumph 2010

Carnival Victory 2009

Disney Magic 2008

Carnival Inspiration 2008

Carnival Victory 2007

Carnival Triumph 2002

We were loyal CCL Platinum cruisers who ventured over to RCI and NCL back in 2012. Since then we have sailed exclusively on NCL. We much prefer the "Freestlye Cruising," aspect that NCL offers. IMHO the food on NCL is better and you have a lot more to chose from.

I always like seeing people use pricing as the reason for cruising CCL over the others. We just booked a last minute NCL cruise on the Epic sailing on 4/13. Our Balcony was $499pp where as a 7 day western Caribbean cruise on CCL for a balcony was $600pp (that includes my discount for being an airline employee). Given the choice of going on the Glory, Legend, Conquest, or Epic for roughly the same price...I'm going with the Epic and NCL every time. Granted our July cruise on the Getaway was roughly $250-300 more pp than a similar itinerary on CCL but thats the price you pay when going on a brand new ship.

What a small world we live in! As someone who lives in Clemson, its nice to see someone from the same town on here...however...Go Gamecocks!

To the OP, try other lines. You will never know whats out there unless you try. We got tired of all the cutbacks on CCL, and ventured to other lines. We sailed Allure on RCCL and the Star on NCL. Since then, we have exclusively chosen NCL every time. I feel their product and service is more on our scale right now. We booked the Epic today for a cruise leaving on 4/13. I priced all the lines to see what the deals were before deciding and this even included CCL as I wasn't sure what rooms would be available on such short notice. Even with my interline/airline employee discount with CCL, we got a balcony on the Epic for less than we could get on Conquest, Glory, Liberty which are a good bit older than Epic and have no where near the features that Epic offers. We may eventually swing back over to CCL for something here and there, but branch out, the grass may be greener for your taste on the other side.

With the Breakaway and Quantum, I think you can bet large sums of money it will be sent to the NYC metro area.

We mostly fly into MIA, but thats mainly due to the fact we exclusively fly AA so that makes it an easy choice for us.

Could I get the French Onion Soup Recipe???Thanks for doing this!