Norwegian vs RCCL

[kellyrie]

I have been on the Dawn twice, once of out of NY and once out of Boston. I love her! Although I thought our stewards out of NY were a bit better than the ones we had in Boston, the Boston crew was a bit less pushy on the "sell". Living in ME, cruising out of Boston was great but NY isn't too bad either.

 

We are going on the Explorer in 14 days!!! and it will be our first RCI cruise but I'm not expecting it to be much different than NCL.

 

We really enjoy each other's company and generally do not wish to meet and friend other cruisers. We are sure most are fabulous but we do not have alot of time to spend with each other on a daily basis so we choose cruising for "us" time. Because of that we really enjoy freestyle cruising. I do think that My Time Dining will work out to be just as good for us on Royal too.

 

I'm sure you will enjoy whichever cruise you decide on!

[Karter]

After many years of cruising on RCCL I decided to try NCL just see what it was like. I went with low expectations and was pleasantly surprised it wasn't bad at all. Like all other cruise lines there are some things they did better and some things they didn't excel at but overall a very good cruising experience. Unfortunately for other cruise lines RCCL marking has done their job and it's really hard giving up the D+ benefits and going back to being a nobody. I looked at their loyalty program and did not think it compared to RCCL's.

[TheAcreys]

I have been on the Dawn twice, once of out of NY and once out of Boston. I love her! Although I thought our stewards out of NY were a bit better than the ones we had in Boston, the Boston crew was a bit less pushy on the "sell". Living in ME, cruising out of Boston was great but NY isn't too bad either.

 

We are going on the Explorer in 14 days!!! and it will be our first RCI cruise but I'm not expecting it to be much different than NCL.

 

We really enjoy each other's company and generally do not wish to meet and friend other cruisers. We are sure most are fabulous but we do not have alot of time to spend with each other on a daily basis so we choose cruising for "us" time. Because of that we really enjoy freestyle cruising. I do think that My Time Dining will work out to be just as good for us on Royal too.

 

I'm sure you will enjoy whichever cruise you decide on!

kellyrie, my wife and I are the same way. When possible, we like having the 2 person tables at main dining. Because of both of our hectic work schedules, we book a cruise solely to be able to turn our phones off and enjoy time together. Good points.

 

While reading these, I notice a few people comment about Norwegian's good comedy. My wife and I love stand up comedy, in fact we are going to see Ron White tonight! But is it THAT much better on NCL???? Any stand up comedian fans that have done RCL and NCL, shoot me some feedback! Thanks!

 

Brad and Heather

[bmlovell]

Thanks everyone for the input. We are looking at Dawn out of BOS or Explorer out of Cape Lib to Bermuda. From what I can see Dawn is more comprable to the Majesty. We've done Voyager class before, but not Explorer. Port in BOS for Norwegian is closer, but that's not such a driving force.

 

We have been on both ships and prefer the Gem Much nicer embarkation port #1 The great outdoors outdoor dining loved that on Gem Dawn does not have#2 Much better layout #3 Courtyard Villa private pool dawn does not have both ships nice but gem our fav:D

[bschmitt]

We've traveled on both NCL and RCL many time. On the Star this past November. Quality wise RCL is much better. It appears that NCL is trying to push the speciality dining, which we did most nights. A group of 8 ages 18 to 66. Main dining room food really didn't have much going for it. NCL is more casual, if that's what you prefer. Booked on the Dawn in December 2012. If I didn't already have it booked and taking grandkids I won't be going on NCL again.

[windjamming]

After many years of cruising on RCCL I decided to try NCL just see what it was like. I went with low expectations and was pleasantly surprised it wasn't bad at all. Like all other cruise lines there are some things they did better and some things they didn't excel at but overall a very good cruising experience. Unfortunately for other cruise lines RCCL marking has done their job and it's really hard giving up the D+ benefits and going back to being a nobody. I looked at their loyalty program and did not think it compared to RCCL's.

 

This was almost our exact experience and sentiment after trying NCL Gem for the first time last year.

 

As first-timers to Freestyle cruising, we found the Gem cruise very casual and "unscheduled" compared to what we were accustomed to on RCL. Eat when you want, where you want, and dressed in whatever way you want. And yes, jeans are fine at dinner!

 

We liked the differences and will very likely sail NCL again, when we are looking for a break from more structured cruising.

[smeck]

Sailed both lines and I agree more similar than different. I do like the fact you don't feel pressured to get dressed to the nines for dinner on NCL.

[toocruisin2]

Like others have said, the experience on NCL will be different than on RCCL, (not necessarily better or worse) and we wouldn't hesitate to book either line; we generally give greater value to the itinerary than the cruise line or the ship when we book a cruise.

 

One thing that I don't think was mentioned: in general we have found that the RCCL ships (e.g. Vision class) offer more glass and panoramic views than the two NCL ships we were on, especially in the MDRs, and we like the enclosed pool in the solarium. If you are traveling in cooler weather, that might be something to consider, and is ship specific.

 

Paul

[windjamming]

One thing that I don't think was mentioned: in general we have found that the RCCL ships (e.g. Vision class) offer more glass and panoramic views than the two NCL ships we were on' date=' especially in the MDRs, and we like the enclosed pool in the solarium. If you are traveling in cooler weather, that might be something to consider, and is ship specific.

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We thought the same about NCL Gem. While we enjoyed the cruise itself, we found the ship dark and enclosed. The dining rooms, in particular, felt claustrophobic at first, after being accustomed to the multi-deck MDRs on RCCL.

[nyyhoneybee]

I will be trying NCL for the first time in Aug and M looking forward to it. My TA said if it was anything but the Epic I wouldn't enjoy it as much coming from RCL and I trust him.

[Cruising89143]

Cruised on NCL twice over the last couple of years and I think that they are a good cruise line but IMHO the only place that NCL beats RCI are the suite perks. They have the best that I have found so far.

 

We found the lido dining on NCL as the worst ever experienced of any cruise line. The MDR food was also not good but their specialty dining ranged from good to very good.

 

The ships are nice but they just cannot match that of RCI. We have not tried the Epic and have no interest in it for several reasons. We may look at one of their new builds under contstruction at some point as we like stepping away from RCI from time to time.

[klingoncruiser]

I am Diamond+ on RCI. However... my last 10 cruises have been on NCL. I kind of like their dining thingy. I still vastly prefer the food on RCI, but have NEVER starved on NCL. Go try other lines, is is always good.

 

NCL prices now pretty well beat most other cruise line and they have some very tasty port line ups. (4 on a 7 day instead of 3 on RCI)