Carnival vs NCL ?

[DDMau]

We have never sailed on Carnival but have on NCL. What are the major positives and negatives that we'll notice on the Carnival vs NCL ?

[FLCRUISINGCPL]

We have never sailed on Carnival but have on NCL. What are the major positives and negatives that we'll notice on the Carnival vs NCL ?

 

Look at our cruise history to see we do both lines:

1. Carnival has good food in main dining room

2. Carnival buffet layout is lines vs. stations, slow to get through

3. Carnival offers traditional dining, same time each night if you want it, or you can go with their flexible dining option similar to Freestyle on NCL

4. Carnival rooms are larger

5. Carnival entertainment is nowhere near as good as Jean Ann Ryan Company shows you find on Jewel class ships

6. Carnival ships are decorated in a style we do not like, they always seem too dark to us inside even with the atriums that are 8 stories high

7. If both lines have same itinerary and price we chose NCL, but no problem with Carnival

[albean99]

We're doing b2b cruises this fall on NCL Epic and Carnival Liberty. I'm interested in NCL because of the Freestyle cruising because we like the idea of not being so locked into dinner times and also less formal.

 

We've cruised on Carnival 3 times and last was the Conquest. I particularly enjoyed the Karaoke tryouts for the Legends Show. We watched people all week and then saw the winners at the show. I also liked the night they divided everyone into 3 teams and you did activities and got your card stamped. It was all ages and of course you wanted your team to win. It ended on the Lido deck with line dancing and Mardi Gras beads. It was a lot of fun. Other than that I loved the casual dining choices. I've only cruised on Carnival and RCL but find there's only small differences and it's so dependent on what interests you most. I know there are die hard people that defend their favorite cruise line but I think it's subjective. I always have a good time no matter what the ship.

[zqvol]

We have never sailed on Carnival but have on NCL. What are the major positives and negatives that we'll notice on the Carnival vs NCL ?

 

Carnival has larger cabins and fewer dining options. IN addition, while neither has food that is any better than banquet quality, the food on NCL is better.

 

The rest is pretty much six of one half a dozen of the other.

[Laurab23]

Carnival has larger cabins and fewer dining options. IN addition, while neither has food that is any better than banquet quality, the food on NCL is better.

 

The rest is pretty much six of one half a dozen of the other.

 

Never been on NCL but friends just got back from their first,and last NCL cruise.Said the food in the free dining room was terrible.If you wanted edible food,you had to go to the other dining areas and pay.

 

Laura

[kr8z]

We've only sailed Carnival and will be taking our first NCL next January. I asked the same question LOL Our main focus is the kids' programming as we have 4 little ones. I figured they were more the same than different. I just like the itinerary on the NCL cruise and we got a fantastic price on 2 inside cabins right by the kids area. We typically book 2 outside (6A or 6B) cabins on Carnival. I'm worried about an inside and such a small inside. Until our kids are older though, we have to cruise as economically as we can. Here is the response I received:

 

"ok, kids program, depending on the age of the kids, I think you will be as happy or happier with NCL than Carnival, but both have great kids programs...Yes, the cabins are smaller on NCL. One positive thing about Carnival is the larger cabins.

 

I doubt you will find much differences in the two lines. I honestly think, RCI, NCL and Carnival are very similar, but each has a personality all their own. The kids will enjoy Freesyle..If they are old enough they can just eat whenever they want, to heck with you. One thing lots of people like to do,especially the younger set is eat dinner, then return to the dining room about 9pm for dessert.."

[windjammerB&C]

these are our opinions only.food and service in mdr goes to carnival hands down.we found that there was not alot of activities on ncl-look in shop or look at pictures,not much more.shows are better on ccl.only made it through one show on ncl.like the ncl ship[pearl] and the icecream was the best. by no means do we have a preferred cruise line:) no matter what cruiseline you choose i am sure that you will enjoy it:D

[ShedQueen77]

We've only sailed Carnival and will be taking our first NCL next January. I asked the same question LOL Our main focus is the kids' programming as we have 4 little ones. I figured they were more the same than different. I just like the itinerary on the NCL cruise and we got a fantastic price on 2 inside cabins right by the kids area. We typically book 2 outside (6A or 6B) cabins on Carnival. I'm worried about an inside and such a small inside. Until our kids are older though, we have to cruise as economically as we can. Here is the response I received:

 

"ok, kids program, depending on the age of the kids, I think you will be as happy or happier with NCL than Carnival, but both have great kids programs...Yes, the cabins are smaller on NCL. One positive thing about Carnival is the larger cabins.

 

I doubt you will find much differences in the two lines. I honestly think, RCI, NCL and Carnival are very similar, but each has a personality all their own. The kids will enjoy Freesyle..If they are old enough they can just eat whenever they want, to heck with you. One thing lots of people like to do,especially the younger set is eat dinner, then return to the dining room about 9pm for dessert.."

 

We're doing our first NCL cruise in January too! Which ship and date are you going on? We're on the Dawn 9 day Southern January 14.

[kr8z]

We're doing our first NCL cruise in January too! Which ship and date are you going on? We're on the Dawn 9 day Southern January 14.

 

The Spirit out of NOLA. We live in El Paso. While I am willing to drive to FL, it takes at least 2 days with kids... 3 if you don't want to go completely insane with them. With 6 of us, we drive rather than fly. NOLA is "only" maybe 15 hours or so. Almost 1000 miles just for us to drive through the state of TX. I would much rather be on the Dawn with that itinerary, trust me :)

[pcrum]

We did NCL Star to Alaska in July last year after doing several Carnival cruises. IMO, the buffet food was better on NCL...lots of choices, especially for breakfast, definitely more than Carnival's buffet. NCL also offers real ice cream that is hand dipped, not just the soft serve machines that Carnival has. The seating for the Star's buffet was long tables, kind of like a school lunch room. We prefer the individual tables Carnival has. However the MDR food on NCL was definitely below Carnival's MDR standards. To get good food for dinner, you had to go to one of the restaurants NCL charges for. On the NCL Star, we enjoyed the Italian restaurant very much, but found the Mexican restaurant horrible (both charge a fee to eat there). As for cabins, we have had balconies on both lines. The NCL cabin was slightly smaller than Carnival's, although NCL does give you a coffee pot in the room. NCL also gives you a welcome aboard glass of champagne. Both had fun piano bars. The NCL Star looked like it had a nice children's pool area, however on the Alaskan cruise, it was not used. They also had an outside beer garden which looked like it would be a fun place to hang out, but it also was closed for the Alaskan cruise. NCL has an enclosed cocktail lounge at the top of the ship with great views, while Carnival does not. All in all, we prefer Carnival because it irks us to have to pay extra for a decent dinner when NCL's cruise fares are already higher than Carnival's. I'm glad to have tried NCL, but don't even look at their ships when planning future cruises now.

[PROCRUISE]

We have never sailed on Carnival but have on NCL. What are the major positives and negatives that we'll notice on the Carnival vs NCL ?

 

As you can see, we've only been on NCL once and the itinerary was fabulous. The NCL STAR was far from fabulous and the food was poor. However that was only one NCL ship, that was acquired and not build for NCL.

 

Go for the itinerary first, then the price, and simply enjoy the cruise! No matter what is said on CC, which is all subjective, we find all ships to be about the same with slight variations which we may or may not like. Bottom line is-we simply like to cruise! So try Carnival if all things are equal and you might like it.

[dande123]

I guess to each their own but the biggest differences I seen on our cruises with NCL and CCL was this:

 

1. CCL's food in MDR was ALOT better...better choices...better taste...etc. If you wanted decent food on NCL you had to pay extra at one of the dining rooms.

 

2. Hated Freestyle Dining...always a wait of 30 minutes or more and one nite it was over an hour wait. We ended up eating at the buffet and it was pretty blah.

 

3. There were not a lot of activities on NCL during sea days. The last cruise on NCL the cruise director must have been new because he was sooooooooooo unorganized. Entertainment...piano bar...etc. basically sucked.

 

This being said...hubby and me decided we would not cruise on NCL again. We just did not enjoy it. Like I said to each his/her own.

[kr8z]

The Spirit out of NOLA. We live in El Paso. While I am willing to drive to FL, it takes at least 2 days with kids... 3 if you don't want to go completely insane with them. With 6 of us, we drive rather than fly. NOLA is "only" maybe 15 hours or so. Almost 1000 miles just for us to drive through the state of TX. I would much rather be on the Dawn with that itinerary, trust me :)

 

I ended up canceling the NCL and switching the booking to Carnival. I just hear such bad stuff about the food, small cabins, how they nickel and dime you everywhere. I've decided to stick with Carnival. We'll try NCL one day, just not now. I hope you have a fantastic time.

[dallas52]

NCL offers bathrobes in high room cat. and main dining room is only open for higher room cat. also. no oceanview rooms allowed in dining rooms for breakfast or lunch. didnt like that feature and also the rooms were smaller.

[halos]

Look at our cruise history to see we do both lines:

1. Carnival has good food in main dining room

2. Carnival buffet layout is lines vs. stations, slow to get through

3. Carnival offers traditional dining, same time each night if you want it, or you can go with their flexible dining option similar to Freestyle on NCL

4. Carnival rooms are larger

5. Carnival entertainment is nowhere near as good as Jean Ann Ryan Company shows you find on Jewel class ships

6. Carnival ships are decorated in a style we do not like, they always seem too dark to us inside even with the atriums that are 8 stories high

7. If both lines have same itinerary and price we chose NCL, but no problem with Carnival

 

I pretty much agree with all that.

I tend to lean toward NCL when chosing a favorite. My DH still gives CCL the edge because the food is FAR superior on CCL. I like the dining options on NCL, however and prefer the NCL ships.

 

NCL and CCL both have totally different shows/entertainment. Cruising between the two lines to mix it up works well for us :)

OH, and we have never had an issue of waiting too long for a table on an NCL ship.

[Azure Moon]

My likes of both lines.

 

- NCL -

 

* Less areas of indoor smoking, so we can use more of the entertainment and bar areas. Love this!!!. Thank you NCL!

* Ship decor, inside and out. Awesome hull art, wall murals, famous artist pieces in glass and paintings.

* Buffet. Awesome selection, not greasy, can eat healthier.

* Musical entertainment. Totally blown away by the live music. LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the piano playing, the bands and singers.

* The crew, staff, and officers. Friendly and will approach guests to see how you are doing, just say hello, help you out even if you didn't ask for assistance, stop by your dining table and make a suggestion if something is particularly good that day. PS - you don't even need to be platinum or a VIP for them to be friendly or helpful, and THAT IS VERY COOL!!!

* Cabin bathrooms have shower doors instead of shower curtains.

* Cabins - Not size wise, at least in the insides and balcony cabins we've been in, but in the lighting by the bed(s)(LOVE that the lighting is on the wall rather than on the nightstands), storage areas - closet, shelving, drawers, hanging area.

* The variety of restaurants - Italian, French, Asian (3), Mexican, Steakhouse, 24 hour.

* Activities - Nice shuffleboard court, big chess set, multi-purpose courts,

ping pong, bowling, rock climbing, Wii.

* Movie theater.

* Library and card/game rooms.

* Entertainment - Magician, comedians, jugglers.

 

- Carnival -

 

* Self-serve laundry rooms. So incredibly helpful and handy to have these available!!!!! YAY to Carnival for providing these

* Main dining room food. West Indian Roasted Pumpkin Soup, crab cake, Baked Stuffed White Mushrooms...Y*U.M*M.Y!!!

* Frozen Soft-serve chocolate yogurt.

* Specialty food windows - Pizza, Fish & Chips, Indian, Deli.

* Desserts -Hubby's: Warm Chocolate Melting Cake, Mine: Spa Carnival (diet) cakes in Orange, Coconut, Mango, and Banana flavors. Oh!my!!goodness!!!

* Cabin size (We've been in: Inside and Ocean view)

* Theater production shows.

* Theater seating on the main floor - love the tables to set drinks on.

* Supper club/Steakhouse - d*e*l*i*c*i*o*u*s filet mignon, lobster bisque, crab cake, and chocolate sampler platter!!!!!!! Y.U.M.M.Y

* Crew

* Seaside Theater. Love watching movies outside with the nice sea breeze and stars. Like being at a drive-in movie, only better.

* Lemonade that is available in the self-serve drink stations.

 

(LOL, have a sense of Deja Vu? It's because you have seen this post before :D:p. My batteries are wearing down so I copied a post I'd made on another thread. Next cruise can't come soon enough!!! :)

[spacewoman]

This is the same question I asked of many people when we first started to cruise. Our first 2 were CCL, next 2 were NCL, a Princess, then 2 on CCL's Miracle. There's really no definitive answer, it's more a person's preference and we're all different.

 

Our first two were aboard the Pride and Legend. Both only a few years old. We then did NCL's Dawn - for the ship not the itinerary. We wanted to do a different ship than the Legend so chose ship over itinerary. We rather enjoyed anytime dining as we didn't want to be dictated by a fixed time like we did on CCL. We missed several shows because we had the late seat dining on one of our CCL's. DH loved eating at La Trattoria on the Dawn only inconvenience was we had to make a reservation we couldn't do "anytime" with that. Sushi lover me enjoyed paying a mere $10 for the Asian restaurant and they fed me 'till I couldn't move. Chef even asked what I liked and made them fresh for me. Personally, I would give a slight edge to the shows on the Dawn over CCL. Just slight. NCL gives you beer in glass bottles, neither CCL or Princess do that (if that matters to anyone) An apple martini on NCL was $10.75 (that's back in 2005 and 2006), CCL was around $8.75 (2008 & 2009) and Princess (in 2007) was $6.50. I can't compare specialty restaurants well because DH is world's fussiest eater. Did Nick and Nora's 2008 and 2009 and thought it was great. Princess we did Sabattini's for $20 - best deal out there, they fed us until we had to unbutton our pants:D

 

CCL larger rooms over NCL, especially on NCL's Spirit. Great cruise but that ship was made for no one over 4'8". It was a running joke among passengers that everyone had bruised knees from trying to sit on the toilet wherein your knees smacked the wall:o

 

Cabin size versus Crown Princess I thought similar cabin size. NCL is very good at enforcing washing hands before you pick up food trays, CCL no. For me on the food I give Princess a one up over the others. Comparing between CCL and NCL let's say I didn't starve.

 

One thing to consider is the larger the ships the larger the passenger count, the longer the lines.

 

To close, never had a "bad" cruise. We pick based on where we want to go.

[scchasgal]

NCL offers bathrobes in high room cat. and main dining room is only open for higher room cat. also. no oceanview rooms allowed in dining rooms for breakfast or lunch. didnt like that feature and also the rooms were smaller.

 

I have about 50/50 split NCL/CCL and your statements are incorrect. I just got off an NCL and bathrobes are in each cabins category and all cabins categories can eat in the MDR for all meals. Balcony and above also get coffee makers in the cabins.

 

I agree the inside, oceanview and regular balcony cabins are a bit smaller than CCL but you can't beat the suite perks and size of suites on NCL. CCL suites are small in comparison and don't have any perks except for VIP embarkation/debarkation.

 

I have to agree with others about the food though. NCL has gone downhill in the past year in the MDR's they just recently changed the menus and not for the better. CCL we have never had any issues with the food, just the lines for the buffets as they aren't laid out very well for flow, set up like a school cafeteria.

[CRUISALOT]

I ended up canceling the NCL and switching the booking to Carnival. I just hear such bad stuff about the food, small cabins, how they nickel and dime you everywhere. I've decided to stick with Carnival. We'll try NCL one day, just not now. I hope you have a fantastic time.

 

 

ditto. For our first family cruise I put a deposit down on Ncl Pride and ended up canceling for Carnival Legend. I didnt like all the bad things I heard about Ncl and didnt want to take the kids on a cruise line I had never been on. I already knew what to expect on Carnival. But I do plan to book a 3-5 with just dh and I just to try it out before taking the kids.

[martini_guy]

NCL has much better dining choices for the "extra fee" restaurants, but their buffet is atrocious compared to Carnival (I would rate NCL's buffet a 3 out of 10 and Carnival's a 7 out of 10). If you only do the extra fee restaurants than you're better off with NCL.

 

Rooms on Carnival are bigger and better.

I've found service on Carnival is generally better overall.

Price on Carnival is better, although I would still choose Carnival if it was the same price (or more) than NCL.

 

NCL ship layouts are generally more logical and straightforward (at least to me).

 

NCL is abit less pushy about selling "extra's".

 

Overall, most cruises are about 80% the same so it all doesn't add up to a big difference in the end other than the food.

[ShedQueen77]

I ended up canceling the NCL and switching the booking to Carnival. I just hear such bad stuff about the food, small cabins, how they nickel and dime you everywhere. I've decided to stick with Carnival. We'll try NCL one day, just not now. I hope you have a fantastic time.

 

Oh wow! Hope you enjoy your cruise, too!

[EmmasNana]

I have been on 4 cruises.

 

NCLA - Hawaii Best food ever

Too busy during the day, so too tired to see shows

Balcony room was wonderful

 

 

Sky NCL Food in buffet sucked but the MDR food was wonderful!!!

Shows were ok

Balcony was good...periodic sewer smell

 

Carnival Conquest Food in buffet, not so great...MDR not so great

 

 

Oh, by the way...we actually prefer NCL but tried Carnival because we don't need to fly(trying to save money)

 

Shows were OK

Balcony was good...periodic sewer smell

 

Carnival Triumph Food in buffet was OK, never got to MDR except for lunch once and it was very good

Never got to see any shows because of the times that were offered.

[EmmasNana]

I think I screwed up my last post.

 

I will still and am booked on both cruise lines. I just decide itinerery price(including air fare) and will go with my best decision.

 

I had planned on going to Europe on NCL next year, but have changed to CCL

[frankhouse]

Never been on NCL but friends just got back from their first,and last NCL cruise.Said the food in the free dining room was terrible.If you wanted edible food,you had to go to the other dining areas and pay.

 

Laura

 

I had 2 different friends say the exact same thing last year, both say they will never cruise with them again. I cruised on NCL 3 times in the 80's and they were great. The cabins were smaller than Carnivals but the food was excellent as were the shows. The cruise directors were always great with a lot to do on the ship. They are why I'm hooked on cruising now. I haven't cruised with them since but plan to. I hope to some day to cruise all the lines. Money is always an issue so thats why we mostly use Carnival. It's a great vacation for the money.:D I'd like to make it to Platinum on carnival and NCL.:cool:

[dznymom]

I like both lines, but definitely prefer NCL.

 

Long (I mean really, really long) lines for the breakfast & lunch buffet on Carnival, and the breakfast buffets are boring and not very appetizing.

 

I love the buffets on NCL's Jewel class, to the point that I sometimes choose to have dinner there! The made to order crepes and the Italian station are my favorites, and there are enough omelet stations at breakfast that I rarely wait more than a couple of minutes.

 

Carnival's MDR is better, and I will be trying Anytime dining next week, so I will see how that compares to Freestyle.

 

Carnival's comedians are funnier & naughtier if that matters :p

 

As previously stated, NCL's suites & suite perks blow away Carnival's.

 

Although some of NCL's staterooms are smaller than Carnivals, I have found that the layout makes up for the loss of space. I definitely prefer NCL's bathrooms.

 

Carnival seems to have more unique staterooms that offer far more value than the class they are in, so with some flexibility you can often really score a deal.

 

NCL's Casino at Sea program is terrific.

 

Carnival has Half Moon Cay, which is perfect in every way.