I tried NCL any questions?

[sunryz710]

However, the food and the service were TERRIBLE! Unless you want to pay to eat at one of the 10 (yes, 10) "alternative" restaurants on the ship that we were on, the food was the worst that I have ever had on a cruise...by far. I don't even know where to begin with the bad service. Also, all of the usual neat little nooks and crannies that you will usually find on ships were non-existent here...probably because they ate up so much space with all of the extra restaurants. We definitely feel that they wanted the food in the MDR to be subpar so that the passengers would be more inclined to try the pay restaurants...which had amazing food, but you find that in the MDR on other cruise lines without paying an extra $25/night pp.

 

.

 

 

Our thoughts exactly!!

[family cruisers]

We loved the specialty restaurants on the Dawn. We had alot in OBC's and used them to eat !!!

Twice at impressions italian restaurant which was excellent, Once at LeBistro which we always loved on the crown and once at Cagneys , also loved this. One night we ate in the MDR and only once. I had steak that was so tough I honestly couldn't chew the piece in my mouth. The kid at the next table also had it and it was like watching a dog pull on a piece of meat and trying to rip it apart. Poor kid I guess didn't want to say anything, they traveled w/ a large party.

This was the comical part. It was lobster night but not lobster alone or surf and turf. It was made in a seafood dish. I asked if I could have a tail w/ my steak , no problem. Out comes our food and the waiter first serves my BF and he had the lobster dish, then he puts down my dish and says "You get lamb".. I said I didn't order lamb, the waiter says have the lamb. I said " I don't want lamb" He said the chef wouldn't give me the lobster. I said "Ok... give me one order of the steak dinner and one order of the lobster dinner... Thats what I got. What a jerk I thought. The service was horrible throughout the ship. Our room stewards were not friendly BUT in all fairness to NCL this only happened on the Dawn. I do have friends who LOVE that ship so who knows... We're not picky people at all and always make the best out of the worst situation and today we laugh about it.

It didn't ruin our vacation or bermuda , just was different.

 

Not giving up on NCL , just the dawn UNLESS we had to use her to get to BDA again.

 

I think you will like the Pride. I never sailed it but have heard good things.

 

Glad to hear you felt closed in too on the Dawn. :) The food has not changed and the new menus in the MDR do not help.

[slotaddict]

We have sailed NCL many times and never had a problem with service. Food in our earlier sailings was very good, the last three sailings perhaps not so much. I am not crazy about some of the offerings but it is a ship and we were never hungry. I am booked on NCL in February and am looking so forward to this trip.

 

We leave in three days on Carnivals Inspiration, we were contacted by the upsell fairy and went from steerage to a suite (Minisuite?), so we are soooo looking forward to this trip.

 

I can;t say I have a favorite cruiseline but NCL's prices and casual dress tend to draw me to their ships, as well as their players club in the casino.

February's sailing will be a comped cruise (oceanview) which I upgraded to a balcony. If you are a player than NCL should be the line for you.

 

After 16 cruises we finally gave Carnival a try - we sailed the Pride to MR, I was very impressed - absolutley loved the ship - I can;t say the food was awesome, but good to very good. The food we had at Davids Supper Club could be described as awesome.

 

I would not hesitate to sail on any line - I like the variety and try not to do any comparisions - what bothers some may not bother others, so I am willing to give other lines a try. However there is never any excuse for bad service no matter what the line.

 

Counting down to the Inspiration.......

[salty dingo]

I have to weigh in and say that my NCL experience was on par with Carnival's. I tend to pick Carnival over NCL, all other things being equal, while DW prefers NCL and usually grimaces when I mention Carnival. She still cruises with me, though :).

 

With NCL, the newer ships have many more dining options. On Carnival, you have the MDR, the Steakhouse, and that's it (unless you count the buffet or Fish 'n Chips, which is not open for dinner.)

 

Anyway, the food comparison is very subjective. I found the NCL food to be excellent, even in the MDR. You just have to know what to order.

 

If you like the traditional dining, then being in the same dining room every night is probably fine, but more and more people would like to try a different restaurant each night, even if it costs extra. As long as it does not cost a lot extra, we are OK with this, and the MDR is still free if you don't want to try new places.

 

The alcohol policy is very different. NCL tries VERY hard to stop all alcohol except the bottle of wine you can carry on. They think that will lead to greater alcohol sales revenue and better safety. I do not know if it enhances the revenue or safety, but it is a royal pain. People will always be more creative in smuggling than the authorities are in detecting it. That's as certain as death and taxes. So why even bother? I think Carnival has it right in this department.

 

Ship layouts are good in both the newer Carnival and NCL vessels. On our NCL Alaska cruise, we had an awesome arrangement. We booked a mini-suite, which is another name for a premum balcony cabin. It had an adjoining door to a penthouse suite which my parents booed. They require two bedrooms and that room had that and more. The smaller bedroom had its own full bath and walk-in closet, all in a private area near the front door. There was a big living/dining area and balcony, and a humongous bathroom with floor to ceiling window in the shower. No taking showers in port, though! There was also a master bedroom in that area.

 

So we kept the adjoining door open most of the time and had a 3 bedroom, 3 bath complex, for 4 people. Yeah, baby! My parents got a butler but we did not. The butler would set up a table and serve you anything in the cabin that you could get in the dining rooms. They did that for breakfast most mornings and had one dinner that way. They also had a neat machine that ground coffee beans and brewed excellent coffee or espresso. Plus flat screens in each bedroom and a big one in the living room.

 

So, in the accomodation department NCL has the lead, in my view.

[kyrisong1]

I actually still think I am going to try others.. Royal Caribbean, Celebrity and Princess are lines I want to experience.... even MSC in the Mediteranean is a line I would like to try someday.. I just will not sail NCL again unless it is a deal I can't refuse..

 

I say try another line.. you never know you may be surprised.. I just wanted to let everyone know about my experience on NCL.

 

I spoke to several people on the ship too that sailed Carnival, Royal or Celebrity who had the same experience and opinion as I did about NCL.

You will love Celebrity if you are a nonsmoker. The service is outstanding and the food is very good. I prefer the deserts on Carnival to Celebrity but thats subjective.

We don't do Celebrity anymore because my husband is a smoker and likes to light up on the balcony with our smoke eater ashtray. They do not allow smoking on the balcony anymore so we are back to Carnival.

The dining room attire is also much more formal, they have the formal nights, but there are three levels of dress, casual, formal and another that I can't think of off the top of my head, but it's jacket and tie sorta dress.

So the service outstanding, the other passengers are a bit older and much more sedate (everything is pretty much deserted by midnight and VERY quiet) , food is great, ship is beautiful. Thalasotherapy pool is free on some of the ships. Overall nice experience. You really should try them.

Can't comment on the other ships, but I have to wonder on NCL if the experience of the ship is related to the age of the ship, Dawn isn't a newer one with the bells and whistles. Can't comment cause I haven't been on their ships, but I think I read somewhere on these boards that the newer NCL ships have better overall experiences.

Anyway sorry it wasn't what you preferred but it's always great to go out there and try something new!!!

Cheers, Carole

[carads]

We have cruised with NCL, CCL and RCCL and I would have to agree that NCL has been our least favorite and we like CCL best. All have been fun but for some reason NCL just felt a little less social than the other two. I think a lot of it had to do with the freestyle dining where you tend to be in different dining rooms with different people every meal.

[buckirj1]

I loved my cruise on the Norwegian Spirit. Most of my cruises are on Carnival, but NCL has things I'd like to see Carnival incorporate: an honest-to-goodness outdoor promenade and especially freestyle dining. The more I cruise, the more I dislike assigned dining. I thought the food and service on NCL were on par with Carnival. The edge goes to Carnival on having better inside cabins. The inside cabin bathrooms were a tad better on NCL. Carnival has better pizza, but the Blue Lagoon rules!

[family cruisers]

We loved the blue lagoon too. Chicken wings, tomato soup, fish and chips and hot, fresh made breakfast daily...

I loved my cruise on the Norwegian Spirit. Most of my cruises are on Carnival, but NCL has things I'd like to see Carnival incorporate: an honest-to-goodness outdoor promenade and especially freestyle dining. The more I cruise, the more I dislike assigned dining. I thought the food and service on NCL were on par with Carnival. The edge goes to Carnival on having better inside cabins. The inside cabin bathrooms were a tad better on NCL. Carnival has better pizza, but the Blue Lagoon rules!

[AAAAmerican]

NCL is well from NYC, NY ..older ships..so yes the services and cusine is in definite need of LOTS of Improvements.

 

 

Carnival has set many standards in even the culinary area.

 

They do have different lines which each have attributes.

 

I myself like HAL ( HOLLAND AMERICAN LINE ) best.

 

NCL palls in all/every comparison, but one.

 

The Bermudian Islands are one of if not the nicest island chain to me in the world.

 

That to me is the only advantage of NCL now. :eek:

 

 

 

[Iluvmypuggle]

My first NCL cruise was not my favorite. I think part of the reason was because I was SOOO used to traditional cruising that I didn't like all of the differences. Well, my second NCL cruise was a totally different story! I had the best cruise experience I've ever had.

 

I think this might be the case with others. If you are used to having one waiter who knows your name and fav drink all week, having a new waiter every night might be annoying to you. If you are so set in your ways and want to eat dinner at the same time every night & go to the show immediately after, then doing things at your own leisure might be weird.

 

It took us a little bit of time to get used to the way NCL does things, and it turns out that NCL does provide a great and unique cruise experience.

 

If you plan on trying NCL, please keep an open mind as it is a diff type of cruise experience. There are some fantastic things about NCL & I'll list them below for anyone interested. I've sailed on both the Gem & Dawn out of NY

 

*Longer time in ports

*Ships arrive later at ports so no need to get off the ship at 8:30AM

*Heated pools

*7 night cruises out of NY on newer ships to Caribbean ports

*24 hour snack bar with lots of items on menu - wings, fish/chips, soups, etc. In comparison, Carnival just has pizza at night.

*More of a laid back experience

*I like the NCL lounge chairs by the pool a lot - especially on the Gem.

*Specialty Restaurants- some people have an issue with a surcharge for diff food, but it's nice to have the variety if you don't like the options on the MDR menu.

*Freestyle - I love being able to eat dinner whenever!!!!

 

Don't get me wrong; I'm not a cheerleader for NCL as I'm sailing on Carnival next week, but I don't think it's fair to label NCL as sub-par.

[CorvetteLady]

We sailed on the NCL Spirit two years ago. I would agree with the OP, the food in the MDR was hit and miss at best. We took my in-laws and they also thought Carnival food was better. Did not try the speciality restaurants because in-laws did not want to do that. But I felt that NCL was trying to push those restaurants by having such poor food in the MDR. We did not go to the buffet because my father-in-law could not stand in line.

 

We tried NCL because it sailed out of New Orleans which is a 3 hour drive for us. I booked it and then started reading the NCL threads. Wish I had read them first. Would probably still have booked but would have done a few things differently.

 

We still enjoyed our cruise. Really like the way NCL does debarkation, waiting in your cabin until you are called. Thought the Spirit was a pretty ship but not many things to do at night. The bingo was expensive, not that we ever play more than one game but there were no $20 games. The cabin was smaller, as was the balcony, and it cost more than Carnival. I did like the showroom set up but not sure if it's like that on their other ships. Did not like "freestyle dining", service was only okay.

 

It was also the only cruise that a room steward put their hand out for a tip. I had tipped our room steward and the next thing I know his assistant is at the door telling me how much she helped to clean our cabin too. I think I gave her $10 because it was kinda funny. We did not tip extra in the dining room at all, but did fill out some comment cards for the waiters that were nice. Read on the boards that was more important to them than tips. The last morning on the ship the waitress brought me my hot chocolate with the powder still floating on the top. I knew my cruise was over. :D

 

We will not sail on NCL again. I don't even think a really good price with really good ports would do it, unless it would include enough OBC to eat in the speciality restaurants everynight. ;)

[Karysa]

According to the review that the OP posted the weather was the pits. I am one of those people that craves bright sunny skies so I know that grey, cloudy, windy, rainy days on my much anticipated cruise to the sunny caribbean would put a damper on my vacation.

[TheDINGOateMyBaybay!]

Awww. I LOVE NCL. It was one of the most fun cruises I've had the pleasure to be on. It is the only time I have taken the time to write a really nice letter to the company and mentioned several employees in it.

 

I am a Carnival girl now, as I love CCL too (and I am trying to gain status), but NCL was pretty cool too.

 

Hi Everyone,

I just returned from a cruise on NCL. I have sailed on Carnival 4 times and this was the first time I decided to try another line..

It didn't even come close to Carnival!

 

I just wanted to post here in case anyone was considering NCL who has sailed Carnival.... please feel free to ask me anything .. I will try to answer your questions..

[halos]

Personally, I love NCL. The food on my very first NCL cruise (Spirit) was just OK...Service was VERY spotty on that cruise as well, but the over-all rest of the cruise was fabulous enough that we knew we'd book with them again. Our second and thrid NCL cruises were on the Sky and The Star and each of those was far superior to the first NCL cruise (for us)

 

The reasons why I tend to enjoy NCL a little better than CCL these days is the crew is far more accsessible. The activities also FAR outweigh anything CCL offers at night and during the day as well. I have taken short NCL cruises and long NCL cruises and there is nothing repeated on a 15 night voyage. There was a new party theme every night and new activities every day and night. The cruise directors are out there partying with you....I have never experienced that on any other line I have sailed.

I love it.

Not to mention they treat Cruise Critic groups REALLY well.

 

The food however is better on CCL...no doubt, but since CCL has cut back lately, the difference is no longer that vast (imo)

[detwings]

This is based on our experience. Everyone has their preferences based upon what they are used to. We traveled on lots of different cruise lines (Celebrity, Royal, Princess, NCL, Carnival).

 

Just recently we gave Carnival another try after 10 years. We have 4 Carnivals booked in the next 6 months, primarily due to their low price. However, in 2009, we are doing 4 NCL cruises and if the itineraies were identical and the prices were identical, we would choose NCL over Carnival.

 

We have to disagree with your review based upon our experiences. We find the food slightly better on NCL vs Carnival. The buffets on NCL (Jewel Class ships) definetly has more variety than Carnival. IN addition, for ice cream lovers, NCL has free ice cream, not soft serve, but real ice cream in their buffet line. Also, for breakfast and lunch, the dining room food is superior to Carnival.

 

On entertainment, we can also tell you that the Jean Ann Ryan Company singers and dancers are superior to any of the cruise lines we cruised. When it comes to comedians and jugglers, pool bands, and individual entertainers (guitars, pianist, etc), its ship dependent and you cant make a general rule about any cruise line.

 

Dont get us wrong we still like Carnival, but we felt we would give you our opionion about NCL and trying other cruise lines. You need to do your homework when cruising. Also when it comes to dining traditional vs free style, we grew up on traditional (on our 35+ cruises in the last 10 years), and still like traditional dining. However, if you do freestyle dining a few times, you will find that you will get to know different waiters in the dining room thru out your cruise, and you can request their section if you really like them. Otherwise, go to dinner in any restaurant you want, whenever you want, and sit with people youve met on the cruise.

 

bottom line is no cruise or cruise line is bad. They are all what you want to make of them. If you expect them to all be identical, they are not, that is why you have choices. If you really like the product Carnival gives you, keep booking them. We like changing around and seeing how they are different. We dont particularily like the Carnival ship decor especially compared to Royal. Royal based on our experience, has the best ships afloat, they are big ships, such as Freedom, Voyager class are a great experience. It appears Royal is going one step further with the Oasis and NCL is going one step further with the Epic and that is why we are booked on both of these next year. We have researched Carnival Dream, and it doesnt appear that unique, but then again, its all based on personal preferences.

 

We cruise Carnival because of price, didnt have a bad experience, but prefer Royal, NCL and Celebrity if the price were equal.

[boxerdoglady]

I agree NCL mdr food was awful, but the speacialty places were over the top wonderful for both food and service. The IS rooms are very small. We were on the Star - she is a beautiful ship and the crew was awesome in every way. We spent alot of time in the spinaker lounge and really got to know the waiter/barman in there. Well, one night we were running late for the show (comedian i think) and as soon as he saw us walk in, he grabbed us and escorted us through the standing crowd to the front row where he had saved us seats. Once seated he came back w/ our fav drinks. :D We were greeted by our stewards both every morning and every night by our names. So, if the $$ was right I would sail NCL again. Our issue was the extra pay for dinner (personal choice) and the fellow passengers. The latter of which, may no longer be a problem. The sailing we were on was in HI and we were in our early 20s. We received a lot of dirty looks and snide remarks from fellow passengers who were easily 3 sx our age. :( (not NCLs fault)

 

CCL had great fellow passengers (no matter the age), larger rooms, and better MDR food. Although, we never really received the extra special service we saw on NCL and I can't stand the singing waiters.

 

All said, either line has it's benifits.

[lolakat]

I don't consider myself loyal to any particular cruise line. However, I have cruised NCL 3 times in the l2 years since I had my daughter. I found freestyle dining to be easier when dealing with a baby's schedule I agree with the comments about the food in the MDR being sub par to other lines. However, the food in the specialty resturants is better than most MDR food and since NCL overall cruise rates are often cheaper the pp price doesn't bother me as much.

 

There are 3 things that will likely bring me back to NCL in the future.

 

1. The suite perks are great. Cagney's is open for breakfast and lunch for suite passengers only (free) and the food is GREAT. The suite layouts are better than any others I have seen. The private courtyard pool area on the Gem/Jewel/Pearl is something that is not available on any other line. It is like a luxury cruise experience on a mass market line.

 

2. The casino as sea program gives amazing discounts to those who gamble. We get comped or significantly discounted cruises. No other line has offered us that even for the same level of play.

 

3. Infants cruise for free except port charges/taxes. I find paying a full 3rd passanger rate for an infant who can't use any facilities silly. Only NCL and DCL let infants go "free" When we have our next child we will likely go back to NCL.

 

 

All that being said the next two cruises I have booked are not with NCL. I don't think the mass market lines are that different IMO. I will try CCL for the first time in Jan then DCL next year. I might throw a RCCL in between when my DD is old enough for their kid's club. Isn't it wonderful to have so many choices.

[salty dingo]

The Bermudian Islands are one of if not the nicest island chain to me in the world.

I agree. I wonder how many people who are used to sailing to the third-world Caribbean would be surprised at how advanced Bermuda is. It's sort of like Europe.

 

This is another area Carnival is sorely lacking in. I can find only two cruises, one per year, which call on Bermuda. Both are from NYC (not an appealing departure port for me) and are only six days: Thursday - Wednesday. What's up with that? Destroying the bulk of two workweeks for a 6 day cruise? Are they nuts?

 

Why not have one ship continuously serving Bermuda all season? Does Carnival not think people would want to go? It's really the perfect destination, and you can spend DAYS there, not just 8am - 5pm like the typical Caribbean port.

[family cruisers]

I too am a huge fan of Bermuda, the Island and the wonderful people who get to call it home.

We've sailed there the last three years on NCL and call Bermuda "Our Island" as it is our favorite.

The Island is sooooooo clean, no poverty as you see in caribbean islands. You can walk through the locals streets and never feel scared or unsafe.

When in Bermuda we walk for miles checking it all out. We've had locals ask us if we needed directions! Super friendly people.

 

Carnival definetly has missed the boat so to speak on this itinerary.

The ship would sail full each cruise I'm sure.

 

Carnival... are you listening?

 

I'd prefer a smaller ship that can sail / dock in all three Bermuda ports, Hamilton, St.George & Kings Wharf.

They each offer something special .

 

I agree. I wonder how many people who are used to sailing to the third-world Caribbean would be surprised at how advanced Bermuda is. It's sort of like Europe.

 

This is another area Carnival is sorely lacking in. I can find only two cruises, one per year, which call on Bermuda. Both are from NYC (not an appealing departure port for me) and are only six days: Thursday - Wednesday. What's up with that? Destroying the bulk of two workweeks for a 6 day cruise? Are they nuts?

 

Why not have one ship continuously serving Bermuda all season? Does Carnival not think people would want to go? It's really the perfect destination, and you can spend DAYS there, not just 8am - 5pm like the typical Caribbean port.

[MrPete]

I agree. I wonder how many people who are used to sailing to the third-world Caribbean would be surprised at how advanced Bermuda is. It's sort of like Europe.

 

This is another area Carnival is sorely lacking in. I can find only two cruises, one per year, which call on Bermuda. Both are from NYC (not an appealing departure port for me) and are only six days: Thursday - Wednesday. What's up with that? Destroying the bulk of two workweeks for a 6 day cruise? Are they nuts?

 

Why not have one ship continuously serving Bermuda all season? Does Carnival not think people would want to go? It's really the perfect destination, and you can spend DAYS there, not just 8am - 5pm like the typical Caribbean port.

 

Never heard Bermuda refered to as a chain (although there are many islands that make up this island paradise), that it is not in the Caribbean, but I did ask JH not to long ago about Carnival lacking presence here.

 

He got a response form someone in the know:

 

MrPete Asked:

Submitted on 2009/08/07 at 12:08pm

John…..

RSVP

Why are there not MORE Carnival Bermuda itineraries? Why is there only one, and that is WAY too early in the season? Why was the Pride allowed to go all summer long back in 2003, and then bust.

Regards….

Pete

John Says:

Hello Pete

Occasionally along will come a question that I cannot answer and so I look to my friends at Carnival to help. In this case I went to our Senior Vice president of ..ummmm….lots of stuff…….our good friend Mr. Terry Thornton and here is his honest reply to your question.

Our ships can only dock at Kings Wharf due to their size. The Bermuda Government has long term contracts with two other cruise lines that provide them with preferential berthing rights. We can only get a berth when those other companies are not using it. From April through October, there are not many options for us to get a berth.

The Carnival Pride visited Bermuda, but it required the cruises to operate from New York on a Wednesday. We were able to get a Bermuda berth on the weekends. The Wednesday departures were not preferred by our guests and the cruises did not perform as well as some of our other itinerary choices.

While we would like to offer more Bermuda cruises, our 4,5,7 and 8 day itineraries from New York and Baltimore are very popular with our guests. Plus, we think these cruises generate more favorable results for us.

Bermuda is a good destination. However, with the restrictions on the guest experience for several days (shops and casino closed; entertainment limited) and the very high guest port tax, there are some drawbacks to be considered.

Terry

Thanks Terry. We appreciate you taking the time to reply and it seems that those are some excellent reasons as to why we don’t see the Carnival smoke stack off the shores of Bermuda that often.

Pete – if you have a follow up please let me know

Best wishes

John

[family cruisers]

Last october while in Bermuda they were working on more piers for ships to dock at in Kings wharf. Also I know they were doing some kind of work to their hamilton port.

Anyone have any current up to date info on this?

 

Theres more room for carnival ships now....

[MrPete]

Last october while in Bermuda they were working on more piers for ships to dock at in Kings wharf. Also I know they were doing some kind of work to their hamilton port.

Anyone have any current up to date info on this?

 

Theres more room for carnival ships now....

 

It was completed, and both are now in use.

 

MrPete Asked:

John…

RSVP

I appreciate your research regarding my Bermuda question that Mr. Terry Thornton answered, but I do have one follow up.

I was half expecting that due to Bermuda building a second dock at Kings Wharf, this would have really opened the possibilities of Carnivals return. I watched it being built last year on my visit on one of the Envious of the Seas.

Did the other lines scoop that second berth all summer long?

John Says:

Hello Mr. Pete

I am glad you appreciated the answer from Terry Thornton our SVP of……stuff. He is a very busy man and I am honored that he is such a big supporter of the blog thingy. Terry is currently on vacation. Now, I think I know the answer to your question but just to make sure I will ask “the man” when he gets back and post his answer to you here on the blog thingy.

Best wishes

John

 

 

No response yet.

[family cruisers]

By who ? Next year NCL will not be doing the NYC / Bermuda runs after I think the first week of sept. I know Holland America will take that over. Celebrity goes a little but who else?

Rccl explorer has a stop there but not solid days as norwegian had.

[airlink diva]

Thanks for the thread!

I mainly cruise with either Carnival or HAL. I want to try some of the other major cruiselines. I've come across some great pricing with NCL, but the reviews from people that I know are mixed.

I might try them,but likey just as a three day cruise only

[newistcruiseaddict]

We recently tried NCL and I have to admit...we prefer Carnival.

 

BUT, we still had a wonderful time on NCL.

 

3 positives:

 

Itinerary: As much as I love carnival I don't feel they go out of their way to provide the best ports. Our 9N NCL cruise stopped at the Dominican Republic, Antigua, Barbados, Tortola, and St Lucia.

 

Service: We really did get a smiling face wherever we went. Service was A+ all the way...but then again we feel for the most part, the same way about Carnival.

 

Shows: we especially appreciated the Cirque type show and ad lib comedy show. They also offered more after hours adult forums than I remember with carnival.

 

3 negatives:

 

Freestyle dining: tho we enjoyed just about everything we ate in terms of quality and we didn't bristle at having to pay per diem fees..we just MISSED having our same wait crew every night. Carnival is like cheers...everybody knows your name.

 

Price: though we got a stellar deal for an aft mini suite on a 9n cruise, I could have gotten 2 cruises on carnival for that price. So maybe I wouldn't have had a balcony but I'll bet at least OV.

 

Onboard activities: So I hate bingo but I love all the other over the top kitsch entertainment that Carnival offers. There was virtually nothing offered before 10am on NCL that we wanted to do. Where's a hairy chest contest when you need one?