Comparison between cruise lines

[BURNSMN]

Far more similarities than differences. I've been on Carnival, RCL, Costa, with the last 3 on Princess (and another upcoming), following 3 in a row in NCL.

 

As far as vibe and demographic goes, RCL and CCL are both loud, high energy, rah rah rah... let's get the party started vibe. Lots of announcements and very little of anything subdued. Both lines offer vastly more poolside/family activities and I'd put the mean age at about 10-15 years less than NCL and Princess.

 

I find the vibe and demographic on NCL and Princess to be very similar. I've not noticed much, if any price difference between NCL and Princess. According to DW, Princess has better deserts than all the other lines. I find the MDR to be somewhat underwhelming on both lines. The NCL Pearl had the finest buffet I've experienced at sea. No question, Princess pizza is very good (best would be reserved for Costa). NCL's production shows are typically excellent, whereas Princess' I'd rate as marginal, but Princess does have very good second string entertainment in the lounges.

 

Just put me on a ship and I'm going to be happy...

Michigan Tim would be the closest of any posts so far to my thoughts.

We just cruised on the NCL Dawn for spring break after three straight years on Princess. My comparisons follow:

 

Itinerary: Most important for my DW and myself. The Dawn did a 9 day Southern Caribbean out of Miami which included Samana, Tortola, Antigua, Barbados, and St. Kitts. The weather was great and we truly enjoyed the extra two days over our 7 day Princess Cruises.

 

Ship: The Dawn is smaller than our Princess Ships and is due to be refurbished. Basically the layout is the same as a scaled down Crown or Caribbean Princess. It is from an older generation of ships and the Princess ships are definitely a step up in quality.

 

Cabins: We have always stayed in Oceanview or Balcony Rooms and Princess wins in every way except the size of the shower.

 

Food: Princess wins again. The buffet offerings on NCL do not compare to that on Princess but part of that might be our smaller NCL ship. Desserts are much superior on Princess. MDR food is comparable however and we did enjoy the steaks better on NCL. Better coffee on NCL.

 

Entertainment: This is the only area where I would say NCL excels over Princess. NCL had production shows, comedians, magicians, jugglers, hypnotists, Second City performers, and many other musicians that we thought were much better than Princess. Our NCL Cruise Director was the best we have ever had.

 

Service: We found this to be pretty equal. We have always had good service on Princess and found NCL to be about the same.

 

Price: Our per day costs ended up being almost identical on NCL as they had been on Princess.

 

Summary: If the beauty of the ship, rooms, and food are most important to you then Princess wins hands down. If entertainment is key you'll be happy with NCL. For us it is the itinerary. We love Princess but will cruise again on NCL if it works best with our schedule.

[molly2kit]

I would agree with other people, I have cruised Holland, Celebrity, RCCL, Princess and NCL. NCL was the lowest in my opinion. BUT, if the itinerary fit my window I would probably go with them again. I have had good and not so good things on every cruise. NCL was weighted in the not so good category.

 

Seeing new places is always an adventure!

[oratheeexplorer]

I have a friend that has been on a lot of cruises......they always go with a group of 8 couples.......they have been on NCL once and she said that for the whole week, all 8 couples hated the food.....so that's not just one person's opinion......that's 16 people on the same cruise.......

[RDC1]

Out of the cruiselines I have sailed on Celebrity, RCL, Holland America, Princess and NCL, I would rank NCL at the bottom and is the only one I probably will not repeat.

 

The food is pretty good, not much difference in the main dining room then others. The buffet also had good choices. However, there is not fixed dining it is all open and we tend to prefer fixed dining. Also large volumes of the ship are taken up by specialty dining of one kind or another. Of the ones we tried we though the food in the main dining room to be better.

 

Service was good and the rooms were fine.

 

Did not care for the music selection that seemed to be almost impossible to escape on the ship.

 

By the time I got off I never, ever wanted to hear the term free style again. Talk about over branding. They used that term everywhere in just about every announcement.

 

Seemed to be much more of a drinking/party crowd on the NCL cruises I have been on.

[Wormy53]

I think you will be fine with NCL as a choice. We have sailed on both (and then some). Just know that it will be a little different. If you get a suite, then it may be the best line for that. We went on the Dawn to NE when a great price came up. Here is my comparison: NCL vs Princess

 

Have a great trip!

[addicted2cruizin]

While I have not been on Princess yet (3 months to go), I have been on NCL, RCL and CCL. We had a good time on all three lines. We are flexible, go-with-the-flow kind of folks and are not hard to please.

 

NCL Spirit was our last cruise (during spring break). We did not feel bombarded by children/teens.

It was our first time for "anytime/freestyle dining". It was efficient and we never had to wait more than a few minutes for a table during prime dining times. I did not think the food was of the same caliber as RCL, but it was not horrible.

 

There were two things about the cruise I did not care for. These are probably not exclusive to NCL, however I have not personally experienced these things on the other cruise lines.

 

1. Tendering in Belize was a nightmare. Passengers that did not book an excursion via NCL had to obtain a tender ticket in a lounge. People were in the lounge several hours prior to the start time with multiple lines going in different directions. It was mass chaos. Needless to say, we had to wait almost an hour for our number to be called and missed our independent excursion. I did not lose any money, but was disappointed and at a loss.

 

2. Upselling of "scratch off" tickets at every event (bingo, before & after shows) By the end of the cruise this got really old.

 

Would we cruise NCL again? Maybe a port intensive cruise such as Hawaii or Europe.

[NewPennCruiser]

Until our last cruise in March, I had only cruised with Princess. I like the product and itineraries for the most part so we just didn’t have a reason to change. However we wanted to cruise the Mediterranean more off season and we weren’t overly impressed with what Princess was offering there so we took a chance with NCL and just got back from a 12 day Eastern Med cruise on the Jade a few weeks ago. I read the boards frequently and even though friends said we would enjoy it, I wasn’t expecting much. I know everyone has their opinion and those opinions can be very subjective but when you read “I will never cruise NLC again” a few times you start to believe that they must really be bad even if you’ve never stepped on one of their ships.

 

To sum up our experience, I can just say we were greatly surprised at how nice it was and how much we enjoyed the cruise. And when I say that, I’m not just referring to the ports and itinerary; I’m also including how much we enjoyed the ship, the crew and general atmosphere on board. The food across the board was very good to excellent and the options just blew away anything being offered by Princess right now. The buffet was expansive and much easier to navigate then most others and the dining room service and food was on par with anything we’ve experienced with Princess. We prefer anytime dining with Princess so the whole freestyle approach with the various dining options certainly worked for us. I did miss the International Café and Princess’ pizza, but dinner on the Jade in Le Bistro was one of the best meals I have ever had on a cruise ship period.

 

The crew was about as friendly as any we have ever met on a cruise; while activities and entertainment were on par with anything Princess offers. Embarkation and disembarkation at all ports was a breeze, the ship was spotless and the general vibe on board was comfortable and unpretentious. We're very laid back and really don't care much about formal nights anymore or assigned dining so I can certainly see where those of you who prefer "traditional" cruising will prefer Princess since they still offer this.

 

It all added up to one of the best vacations we have ever taken. One of the things we really took away from this was that in reality it seemed at least to us that Princess and NCL are more alike then they are different. There are certainly many things that Princess does that I like better, but I came away with an appreciation for what NCL is offering and would not hesitate to cruise on them again. If I looked at exact itineraries on both lines and had to choose between the two, I’d probably pick Princess, but not by much. Having options is good. If you're thinking of trying out NCL, go for it. Like us, you might be pleasantly surprised. Dave