Thinking of leaving Carnival and trying NCL!?!?!?

[elcuchio24]

We've cruised with NCL a half dozen time, always had great experiences. Love the ships, food layout, rooms, itins. We like CCL as well. RCI not so much. For us it just boils down to what itinerary we want to do, and you has the best prices.

[halos]

We've cruised with NCL a half dozen time, always had great experiences. Love the ships, food layout, rooms, itins. We like CCL as well. RCI not so much. For us it just boils down to what itinerary we want to do, and you has the best prices.

It's all about the feel/fit and thank goodness not everyone likes the same things :)

 

I have the same feelings about my Royal cruise. It wasn't as great as I expected...yet, I would try them again. I had crappy service, I thought the food was not all that great and I expected better for what we paid, but I do realize that it very likely was just bad luck on my part and possibly a bad week for that crew/ship.

 

We thought our Celebrity cruise was a top notch cruise. There was nothing to complain about except that the fit wasn't good for us....it was too stuffy. I would never swear them off though.

 

Every one of the cruise lines fill their ships. How can any of them be awful???? You just have to try them all and find the one(s) that fit best for you...and even then judging by one cruise may be a mistake.

 

When people who have never sailed CCL say they 'absolutely won't' try it, I always ask them if they think the thousands of people who fill CCL ships week in and week out are all purposely booking a crappy cruise.....of course not.

The thing is you don't know until you try it yourself. And you have to go in knowing that one cruise line is not the same as another. People who say they are all similar are doing a disservice. You can't sail Royal and expect Carnival and you can't sail CCL and expect NCL, and so on.

They are all very different.

[luvtheships]

Wondering why they lowered the food quality? (not that I've noticed..)

Maybe it's because y'all don't want to pay the fuel surcharge, now Oil's been over $70/bbl for the last 3 yrs?

 

 

SOMEbody's gonna pay for the fuel

and it sho' isn't going to be the Carnival Corp. or its shareholders! :)

.

yes..everything is more expensive these days...but my family won't suffer and we will still vacation regularly..however, we spend way less in the ports than before..no trinkets..rarely eat a meal there and never drink there...I guess that hurts the local economy there....I guess I can't solve everyone's problems.

[elcuchio24]

It's all about the feel/fit and thank goodness not everyone likes the same things :)

 

I have the same feelings about my Royal cruise. It wasn't as great as I expected...yet, I would try them again. I had crappy service, I thought the food was not all that great and I expected better for what we paid, but I do realize that it very likely was just bad luck on my part and possibly a bad week for that crew/ship.

 

We thought our Celebrity cruise was a top notch cruise. There was nothing to complain about except that the fit wasn't good for us....it was too stuffy. I would never swear them off though.

 

Every one of the cruise lines fill their ships. How can any of them be awful???? You just have to try them all and find the one(s) that fit best for you...and even then judging by one cruise may be a mistake.

 

When people who have never sailed CCL say they 'absolutely won't' try it, I always ask them if they think the thousands of people who fill CCL ships week in and week out are all purposely booking a crappy cruise.....of course not.

The thing is you don't know until you try it yourself. And you have to go in knowing that one cruise line is not the same as another. People who say they are all similar are doing a disservice. You can't sail Royal and expect Carnival and you can't sail CCL and expect NCL, and so on.

They are all very different.

 

Ya, we feel kinda the same way about RCI. Not aweful, but not great. If the price was right though I would certainly cruise them again, and plan on doing either the Allure of Oasis in the next couple years. Hey, it's a cruise. They are more similar than different. Never understand why people defend their favorite cruise line like it's a member of the family:)

[halos]

Ya, we feel kinda the same way about RCI. Not aweful, but not great. If the price was right though I would certainly cruise them again, and plan on doing either the Allure of Oasis in the next couple years. Hey, it's a cruise. They are more similar than different. Never understand why people defend their favorite cruise line like it's a member of the family:)

 

 

Yes...when I do sail RCI again, it will be on one of those ships. I usually steer away from large ships but the reviews on those are FABULOUS.

[saltmom1]

I have sailed on two cruises each on both lines. FWIW, here is my opinion.

 

Carnival Pros

 

larger cabins

fixed dining

warm chocolate melting cake

 

NCL Pros

 

embarkation lunch in the dining room

better (and longer) itineraries

better entertainment

 

Carnival Cons

 

shorter itineraries

no dining room open on embarkation day

 

NCL Cons

 

smaller cabins

no fixed dining

fewer dessert choices

 

 

The rest is pretty much the same.Different itineraries each have their own differences.

[srlafleur]

So many people are soooo picky! Heck, I have to wrack my brain to remember which cruise line I went on for my last cruise and, for sure, I barely remember which ship.

Regarding the MDR, I like freestyle (or my time dining, or whatever it's called on each line), and will choose that option on any line that offers it. Have done on RCL, CCL, HAL and, of course, NCL.

I've had dining selections on every cruise that weren't to my liking, and selections that were awesome on each. If you don't like something, they'll bring you something else, so it's not the end of the world. I usually ended up just moving on to the next course, since it's all really more food than I can eat, anyway, by the end of the meal.

Some buffets have been arranged more to my liking than others, but none would be a deal breaker, and it would be a sorry day, indeed, that I wasn't able to find something that I would like to eat. If it gets to that point, just shove me overboard, please.

I enjoy the entertainment, and it all looks pretty similar to me, though I know some of the newer ships have fancier selections. I haven't been on the newest ships on any line.

I honestly can't say I've had poor service on any line, certainly not across the board from every staff member. An off day for someone? Maybe. But that's the extent of it.

Anyway, that all said, we choose our cruises by a combination of itinerary, price and timing, primarily. The line and, certainly, the ship come way down the list.

[mistshar]

I guess my favorite cruise was on RCCL not by a lot though. Carnival is next. NCL had to best Meet & Greet for Cruise Critics ever but it didn't make up for there downfalls. Some may think I am being picky but when we go back to the room at night we are ready to settle down and get ready for bed. We don't like to have to wait around for them to come tidy up and bring us ice and fresh towels.

 

Also after they came in on us without knocking we were afraid and on edge that they would come in on us at anytime. We found out that this happened to a couple of other people as well. I don't understand why they did this, but I cannot trust them after that. I did send in a complaint about it and I did get an apology with a $100 discount on my next cruise which I will not be using. I did not want anything from them. I just want them to correct the situation which they said they would investigate. I hope they did. The man that was over housing left the ship when we did so I don't know how it went. I just wanted it corrected because it is not a very good feeling. You cannot really relax not knowing if someone is going to come in on you at anytime.