New to NCL (from RCL). Questions!

[LuckiStac13*Majesty*]

Good Morning,

 

Hoping some of you may be kind enough to answer several questions that I have regarding NCL. We have 35+ cruises with Royal Caribbean, but have decided to try the NCL Dawn, October, 2010. 5 night Western Caribbean. Since we've only sailed with Royal, this is what we're wondering:

 

1) How good is the food? I know this is objective, but we are not planning on trying many of the "freestyle" restaurants. Will most likely eat in the MDR, etc.

 

2) Do they have Vegetarian options?

 

3) How is Blue Lagoon and what do they offer?

 

4) Is there a Calypso band around the pool? Do they play a lot?

 

5) How is the pool area? We are pool rats and spend most of our "At sea" days by the pool.

 

6) How is the crew?

 

7) What does NCL charge for mixed drinks?

 

 

Any help or comparisons from those who have sailed on both would be very helpful.

[DAGVBSB]

Good Morning,

 

Hoping some of you may be kind enough to answer several questions that I have regarding NCL. We have 35+ cruises with Royal Caribbean, but have decided to try the NCL Dawn, October, 2010. 5 night Western Caribbean. Since we've only sailed with Royal, this is what we're wondering:

 

1) How good is the food? I know this is objective, but we are not planning on trying many of the "freestyle" restaurants. Will most likely eat in the MDR, etc.

 

2) Do they have Vegetarian options?

 

3) How is Blue Lagoon and what do they offer?

 

4) Is there a Calypso band around the pool? Do they play a lot?

 

5) How is the pool area? We are pool rats and spend most of our "At sea" days by the pool.

 

6) How is the crew?

 

7) What does NCL charge for mixed drinks?

 

 

Any help or comparisons from those who have sailed on both would be very helpful.

 

My only cruise other than NCL was RCCL on Explorer of the Seas. The Dawn is one of my favorite NCL ships. First, the Dawn is not as large as the Explorer. They do not have an ice rink or a rock climibing wall or inline skating. I found the kids pool on the Dawn to be one of the best on any ship. The kids pool on the Dawn is located on the back end of the ship and has lots for kids to do without worrying about the main pool scene.

 

1.) Food is a very subjective topic. What you like and think is good, I may think is bad and vice versa. As far as the food on NCL, I much prefered it to RCCL. I was told that the food on RCCL would blow me away... I'm still waiting on that to happen...lol. I felt that RCCL's choices were not as varied as NCL's. It seemed that the MDR on RCCL had the same dishes everynight... just called different things. The soups on NCL were far superior. (don't miss the cold fruit soups...mmmm). Service was about the same on both ships in both speed and quality. Desserts seemed to be a better selection on NCL as well.

I also like NCL for the fact that you have no set dining time or tablemates. We had to rush to the dining room one night after a shore excursion ran long without being able to clean up to make our dining time. On NCL, we could have gone to the cabin and freshened up before going to eat. There are also no mandatory formal nights on NCL, but a dress up or not night where the choice becomes yours.

I will say that I much prefered the Windjammer on RCCL to the buffets on NCL. The RCCL buffets was laid out so much better and had a much larger selection and service.

Don't skip the Specialty Restaurants. Give one or two a try. (Impressions of Italy and Cagney's would be my reccommendations.) Great food and great venues. They specialty restaurants on NCL are not as expensive as those on RCCL.

If you go to the specialty restaurants on the Dawn, try to find a maitre'd named "Sonny" from India. He is the best and most wonderful NCL Crew Member that I have ever encountered. Get to know him and he will take good care of you!

 

2.) There is always one vegetarian option each night in the main dining rooms and I believe that each of the Specialty restaurants has at least one vegetarian option as well.

You can also stop by the dining rooms ahead of time and discuss special meal choices with the maitre'd.

 

3.) Blue Lagoon is a wonderful place! It is a diner type operation. They serve quick serve foods like hamburgers, hot dogs, chicken fingers, french fries, potatoe skins, macaroni and cheese, etc. Great for a quick bite. Seating in the area is limited. Blue Lagoon is also a great place to walk through and pick up a quick drink (coffee, tea, milk, iced tea, etc.).

Think Johnny Rockets without the singing, dancing and ice cream. (but Blue Lagoon is free.)

 

4.) Don't know... I don't spend much time around the pool.

 

5.) The pool area on NCL is wide open with hot tubs on one end along with a bar and food stand. In addition to lounge chairs, (some on a tiered deck) they have tables and chairs which are nice to sit at with others to read or play games around the pool. The location of the pool deck is also close to the buffet, so grabbing your meal and carrying your tray out to the tables to enjoy your meal by the pool is nice as well. I already talked about the kids pool.

 

6.) I have found the NCL crews to be the best part of their cruise line. Very personable and friendly. Willing to help. NCL has been known for some weak corporate leadership and poor corporate management, but their ships crews have been what has made them look good.

I enjoy talking to crew members and finding out about them and their home countries. It is amazing as to what I have learned about other cultures from the ships crews.

The crew on RCCL was also very nice as well, but our room steward on the Explorer wasn't as personable or friendly as our NCL stewards have been. (btw: you will have two room stewards on the Dawn, they work in pairs.)

 

7.) Don't drink, so I can't answer that one either.

 

Please ask any other questions that you may have.

[martinchem]

You won't find much difference at all, except a mint on your piilow and a coffee pot in your room.

[cruisendave]

We had cruised Royal before and tried NCL for the first time this past summer. We thought that the food was very good, but not as good as what Royal had to offer. However, the rest of the cruise had better options than Royal. We absolutely loved the dine anytime option and the freedom of doing whatever, whenever. The cruise also seemed more family friendly. We are planning on cruising again this summer, and it will be NCL!:D

[LuckiStac13*Majesty*]

My only cruise other than NCL was RCCL on Explorer of the Seas. The Dawn is one of my favorite NCL ships. First, the Dawn is not as large as the Explorer. They do not have an ice rink or a rock climibing wall or inline skating. I found the kids pool on the Dawn to be one of the best on any ship. The kids pool on the Dawn is located on the back end of the ship and has lots for kids to do without worrying about the main pool scene.

 

1.) Food is a very subjective topic. What you like and think is good, I may think is bad and vice versa. As far as the food on NCL, I much prefered it to RCCL. I was told that the food on RCCL would blow me away... I'm still waiting on that to happen...lol. I felt that RCCL's choices were not as varied as NCL's. It seemed that the MDR on RCCL had the same dishes everynight... just called different things. The soups on NCL were far superior. (don't miss the cold fruit soups...mmmm). Service was about the same on both ships in both speed and quality. Desserts seemed to be a better selection on NCL as well.

I also like NCL for the fact that you have no set dining time or tablemates. We had to rush to the dining room one night after a shore excursion ran long without being able to clean up to make our dining time. On NCL, we could have gone to the cabin and freshened up before going to eat. There are also no mandatory formal nights on NCL, but a dress up or not night where the choice becomes yours.

I will say that I much prefered the Windjammer on RCCL to the buffets on NCL. The RCCL buffets was laid out so much better and had a much larger selection and service.

Don't skip the Specialty Restaurants. Give one or two a try. (Impressions of Italy and Cagney's would be my reccommendations.) Great food and great venues. They specialty restaurants on NCL are not as expensive as those on RCCL.

If you go to the specialty restaurants on the Dawn, try to find a maitre'd named "Sonny" from India. He is the best and most wonderful NCL Crew Member that I have ever encountered. Get to know him and he will take good care of you!

 

2.) There is always one vegetarian option each night in the main dining rooms and I believe that each of the Specialty restaurants has at least one vegetarian option as well.

You can also stop by the dining rooms ahead of time and discuss special meal choices with the maitre'd.

 

3.) Blue Lagoon is a wonderful place! It is a diner type operation. They serve quick serve foods like hamburgers, hot dogs, chicken fingers, french fries, potatoe skins, macaroni and cheese, etc. Great for a quick bite. Seating in the area is limited. Blue Lagoon is also a great place to walk through and pick up a quick drink (coffee, tea, milk, iced tea, etc.).

Think Johnny Rockets without the singing, dancing and ice cream. (but Blue Lagoon is free.)

 

4.) Don't know... I don't spend much time around the pool.

 

5.) The pool area on NCL is wide open with hot tubs on one end along with a bar and food stand. In addition to lounge chairs, (some on a tiered deck) they have tables and chairs which are nice to sit at with others to read or play games around the pool. The location of the pool deck is also close to the buffet, so grabbing your meal and carrying your tray out to the tables to enjoy your meal by the pool is nice as well. I already talked about the kids pool.

 

6.) I have found the NCL crews to be the best part of their cruise line. Very personable and friendly. Willing to help. NCL has been known for some weak corporate leadership and poor corporate management, but their ships crews have been what has made them look good.

I enjoy talking to crew members and finding out about them and their home countries. It is amazing as to what I have learned about other cultures from the ships crews.

The crew on RCCL was also very nice as well, but our room steward on the Explorer wasn't as personable or friendly as our NCL stewards have been. (btw: you will have two room stewards on the Dawn, they work in pairs.)

 

7.) Don't drink, so I can't answer that one either.

 

Please ask any other questions that you may have.

 

 

Thank you so much!! Your answers helped so much! Sounds great.

 

One more q...is there a place to get pizza? Does Blue Lagoon offer that, or is that room service?

 

Thanks again to all.

[dark star]

q4 yep!! the same bob marley/ reggae/ calypso band every line seems to clone them.

[LuckiStac13*Majesty*]

q4 yep!! the same bob marley/ reggae/ calypso band every line seems to clone them.

 

Thanks :)