Disney vs Norwegian?

[SnorkelFool]

Anyone done both? How do they compare - food, entertainment, activities, kids' club?

 

We will be traveling with a 4 year old and are trying to determine if DCL is worth the premium or not.

 

Thanks!

[Cruisin from Utah]

I have been on three NCL cruises and one on Disney. I thought just about everything was better on Disney including food, entertainment, service and kids club. The main reason we haven't been back is the price as you are looking at close to double the cost most of the time. If you can afford it then it is well worth it but if money is an issue NCL is better than no cruise at all.

[conandrob240]

Rooms are way better on Disney. Service and food fairly equal with Disney a slight edge. Entertainment is also better on Disney although both are good. For a 4 yr old, the kid's clubs with Disney are completely without compare- they are that much better. Once kids get to be 12+, I think the tween/teen programs are equivalent. If you are only going to cruise once or twice, do Disney now with the 4 yr old. At that age, I do think it is worth the premium.

[sdmike]

Which ships are you considering? We did Disney Magic when my kids were younger, and Norwegian Epic on her maiden western caribbean voyage.

 

Personally, I think Disney is spot on for a 4 year old. The kid's clubs are amazing. Just search for pictures and you'll see what I mean. It's almost like being in an amusement park sometimes. Food is top notch, and of course they cater extensively to kids with their menus. The shows are all Disney quality and generally based on their popular movies. There is no casino on the Disney ships (at least not the first two) and I think they have a family-friendly smoking policy (but you should look that up). The ships are a blend of classic ocean-liner and modern cruise ship. Amazing attention to details, and classic in their use of wrought iron, decorative glass and rich wood. Quite frankly, the ships are stunning and everything revolves around the children.

 

I will give a nod to Norwegian in a couple of areas. First, you clearly are going to get more for your money. You can get a suite with butler service on NCL for what you would spend for a 240 square foot balcony or ocean view room on Disney. If you cruise on the Epic, that suite can also get you access the the amazing Epic Club, Posh, and the haven pools. Your child is likely a little young for the Epic water slides, but they do have a play area for kids. I think the freestyle concept on NCL caters better to children, especially if they're picky. Last I heard, Disney still does set meal times in a rotating restaurant format (you move from restaurant to restaurant, as does your server). Young kids tend to be harder to feed under such a tight regimen, so having NCL's "show up and eat when you want, where you want" approach might be easier for you.

 

Is it worth it?

 

Well, I'm a NCL fan, but I'm SO glad I did Disney at least once. It's a different experience than most other ships/lines. I would say 4-8 is a perfect age for Disney. So...a kid-focused vacation, or an amazing suite with a butler and concierge attending to you. Only you can decide. :)

[JGaleCPA]

Disney exceeds NCL and virtually every other cruise line for entertainment (we saw Jennifer Hudson in the CHORUS of DCL show!)

 

Food was better than NCL and service superior.

 

However, the price was double most other lines.

 

If DCL was same price I would never go on another line, even without kids.

 

However, the price is twice as high as most other lines, and the service isn't twice as good nor the food twice as tasty.

 

If youi want a special occasion, splurge with DCL.

 

You want to go on two cruise for the price of once DCL, Go on NCL.

[VegasChic]

I've been on the Disney Dream (when my daughter was 4) and about 6 on NCL (3 with my daughter) I would say they are very different. If I was cruising for myself - no I would not book disney again. For my daughter - yes.

 

Rooms are bigger and better on Disney - They even supply free phones to use onboard to communicate with each other.

 

I thought the food was better on the EPIC than disney we just didn't care for it.

 

The shows on disney especially "Believe" was the best show I've seen on a cruiseline.

 

The Bars on Disney were just gorgeous as well as the Adults only pool however, no casino (which we love).

 

It was extemely crowded during sea days (lots of kids)!

 

The kids club on Disney is by far best than any other ship I've been on. what I liked is that they allow the parents to go in the club vs. NCL which does not.

 

I found the entertainment and activities on Disney mainly for kids. You get to see all of the disney characters daily.

 

If you can afford it now is the time to do disney. I just booked the Oasis of the seas for the 1st time - my daughter is obsessed with dreamworks. I think this vacation will be great for us she will get her kid stuff and we will get our adult stuff.

[GirlWriter]

My opinion differs from most of the previous posters'. We have only done 1 of each -- did Disney Dream this past December and Norwegian Jade in 2010. Hands down, we preferred Norwegian. (Our child was 1 1/2 on the Jade and almost 3 on the Dream, so Kids' Clubs weren't in play either time. My opinion might be different if we had used Kids' Clubs, because I did peek into Disney's and it looked awesome!)

 

We found the food on the Dream to be just fine. Not bad in any way, but certainly not spectacular as I had been expecting based on the rave reviews I had heard about it. We thought Norwegian's food was better, primarily because of the huge offerings on the buffet (my family of 4 all has wildly different preferences for food). Also, we "hated" set-time dining. The Disney venues were beautiful and the service was great, but we didn't like having to be there at a particular time, and we didn't like how long it took to have the meal. I ended up having to head back to the room early with the little one one night, as he just was not in the mood (neither was I). For us, set-time dining is very nearly a dealbreaker at this point, and Norwegian's freestyle dining is our clear choice.

 

We thought the entertainment (the little bit of it that we experienced on each) was about equal between the 2 ships.

 

We were in a 2BR suite on the Jade and LOVED our accommodations. It's hard to compare that fairly to the balcony room we had on the Dream. Obviously, the Jade won out over the Dream there, but I don't know if the same would be true if I were comparing apples to apples.

 

I thought the Disney Dream was a more beautiful ship, but that can somewhat be chalked up to (a) its newness, and (b) the time of year we sailed (they had it decorated beautifully for Christmas). Also, we spent more time actually experiencing the Dream than the Jade, just because the Jade itinerary (Mediterranean) was port-intensive and had only 1 sea day.

 

I'm a "Disney Girl" to my heart, so I will always consider another Disney cruise just because it's Disney -- I can't envision a time in my life when I would not want to be near the Mouse -- but just from a pure cruising perspective, Norwegian was better for us.

 

Either way, though, you'll have a great time. :)

Edited June 28, 2012 by GirlWriter

[yoyocruiser]

Did Disney twice. It was okay but i remember crowds and long lines and this ridiculous traipsin from dining room to dining room. NCL was a welcome relief with freestyle. I was not impressed with the kidz club stuff. I did not find the cabin that marvelous. It amazes me people like it so much. We had good cruises. But not as good as recently on NCL. But that is me. I hate the hoopla of all that kid stuff --even when kids were small. I have had only great cruises on both lines. But in comparison i did not find Disney better.

[purrfect007]

We've had two disney cruises that were both outstanding. We are about to try NCL for the first time, and as our kids are now 11 and 12, the flare with kids Disney has isn't quite as important.

 

The truth is for the money, I didn't want to pay what Disney is asking considering kids are half the fare on NCL (and most other lines, I believe).

 

I will be able to give a better perspective once we're back (in a little over a week).

 

I think you cannot possibly go wrong with Disney, if money isn't the limiting factor.

[Nalagh]

DCL does not hold a candle to NCL as far as suites are concerned. No, you will not see fireworks from your suite, but you will pay less for a full suite than you will pay for a balcony on the magic. I was not a fan of the DCL shows, and paid for Shirley Temples on both cruise lines for the kids. I like both kids clubs, but I love NCL's prices. I like going to the casino, not an DCL option. I do not like rotational dining, or being told that I can only eat at Palo's 2x or so during the week. Freestyle is for me, as is Cagney's as much as I want.:D

 

BTW, would still sail Disney if the kids wanted to! They are now 13, 11 and almost 10.

Edited June 28, 2012 by Nalagh

[scottishwee35]

After we had been on Disney cruise with Wonder and Magic for 4 times.

 

I love it and I love Magic and everything was great even two ASL an interpreters, they were marvellous actor, sing and sign on the stage. that was wow, total different from UK.

 

After that I always want go to Freedoms of the Sea and we went last April for my special birthday. We realised that we missed Magic because Freedoms was huge ship but at end we liked it.

 

Hand down is Magic.

 

But we felt that our kids will be 16, 13 and we need to change different ship not go same ship like Magic (of course I will be back at Magic:) if the price are suitable)...

 

We try NCL Spirit next year and hope we like it (I am sure) as it is smaller than Magic.

 

Scottishwee35

[snorkelmom19]

Been on both--the Wonder with a four year old.

 

The disney staterooms (balcony) were very nice. Ship beautiful and production shows great. Food was disappointing to us. We were not able to switch from late dining, which was an issue with us. There was no evening buffet or really food available except the dining rooms after 4pm, so it was room service or nothing. Buffets IMHO for lunch and breakfast were poor. We had issues with someone signing items to our room and it took a lot of time at guest services to get it resolved. We were not impressed with Castaway Cay--too crowded and no sea life. We like Sirrup Cay better--though haven't been back since the changes.

 

NCL freestyle works well for our family, and there are lots of options at all times of the day. Kids club was good on both.

 

Personally, I would book a 2 bedroom SC on NCL for the price of Disney. Those suites are spectacular and we really enjoyed having one for our last trip.

[monicajay]

Kids club was awesome on Disney. Overall, cruise was better BUT not 2 times better in my opinion, and often prices are double.

[LadyShiva]

I like booking 2 bedroom Haven suites on NCL to booking mid-grade balconies on Disney. We went 3 times on Disney (Magic and Wonder), and have been on NCL twice. My husband and I can't justify the cost of Disney any more.

 

The rotational dining on Disney didn't fit our family. We've found the multiple choices for dinner on NCL to work best for us... we get to choose date night, sushi night, whatever! On Disney, DH had to order the plain steak option each dinner for the next night... it got old for him to pay those rates and have so few options.

 

The Disney kids club was absolute chaos for 5 year olds, whereas I felt like my daughter had more individualized attention and more FUN on NCL. I had 2 Disney cruises where the same lunch lady yelling at the kindergarteners to finish eating their plain white bread and lunch meat sandwiches with juice boxes and potato chips appeared... soooo not Disney to me! Compare that to NCL, where the kids weren't yelled at, because there was no need to scream above the ambient noise level!

 

I think Castaway Cay is gorgeous, but it's only one day of the cruise, normally.

 

My daughter liked the small splash area on the DCL ships and prefers swimming in the fresh water to the salt water pools in NCL. Bear in mind, though, cruise pools are small and full of the best germ carriers in the world! ;)

 

I hope that helps! I keep pricing the DCL Fantasy (I love the look of that ship!), but between the prices demanded and the mixed experiences we had on Magic and Wonder, we probably won't be back.

[crystalaziza]

Just came back from Disney's 2 day cruise to nowhere (Magic). It was our 5th Disney cruise..............On day one.........Lunch............there were mounds of grilled shrimp at the buffet that were big enough to carry off a small child....... well may not without the help of a few friends. I told my son.............you don't see this on NCL...............My son loves the free soda. (for as free as free can be) .Now dinner..........hummmmmmmmmmm. I'm still full from lunch.......Dinner @5:45, I know I won't be able to eat much.............Cabin..........Queen size bed & a sofa sleeper (inside) lots more room than NCL..............Now weighing all this I can say I took a 7 day NCL to Jamaica this past Feb. for only $200.00 more than it cost me for a 2 day on Disney...........Been on many, many NCL cruises & they have got my vote.........Yes, Disney does it better.............but I don't necessarily need better..............................to each their own...........NCL's got our vote. Oh & by the way, did I mention that my last name is NOT trump !!! :D

[BurtonRiderT6]

Disney has gratuities which turn out to be around $12 a day per person. NCL's is $12 a day per person.

 

Disney has 10 ports of call in the Caribbean compared to NCL's 27. So your options are limited for new places to visit.

 

Disney has set dining and no specialty restaurants where NCL has freestyle and 9 specialty restaurants.

 

Disney has no casino where NCL has a casino.

 

Those are just a few comparisons I have on an excel sheet I maintain documenting all my cruise information.

 

I think you should ask what there is for the adults to do while the kids are at their respective "club"

[conandrob240]

To comment on the last point, I think the adult areas on the DCL ships (especially Dream and Fantasy) are awesome. Unlike most NCL ships, DCL actually has an entire pool area for adults only and it is very relaxing. The bars/clubs on DCL were great for adults. Very well-done. Other than the casino being missing, I really do think there are plenty of things for adults to do on the DCL including some great evening events and musicians and the bars are just gorgeous with excellent drinks (priced cheaper than NCL if I remeber correctly althogh not by too much)

[mjkacmom]

Disney has gratuities which turn out to be around $12 a day per person. NCL's is $12 a day per person.

 

Disney has 10 ports of call in the Caribbean compared to NCL's 27. So your options are limited for new places to visit.

 

Disney has set dining and no specialty restaurants where NCL has freestyle and 9 specialty restaurants.

 

Disney has no casino where NCL has a casino.

 

Those are just a few comparisons I have on an excel sheet I maintain documenting all my cruise information.

 

I think you should ask what there is for the adults to do while the kids are at their respective "club"

 

To be fair, DCL has Palo, which really beats all of NCL's specialty restaurants. That said, my oldest were 9 and 11 when we did DCL, and hated the kids club. I didn't like the set dining time (rushing to get ready after getting back on the ship at ports), and found NCL's buffet to be better. DCL does beat NCL in some areas, but not nearly enough to justify the cost.

[Arzeena]

Disney vs NCL is somewhat equivalent to Expensive vs Affordable.

[dexddd]

To clarify a couple other things, Palo (all ships) and Remy (Dream and Fantasy only) are adults only.

 

Also, the buffet on the Dream (and I would suspect is identical on Fantasy) is way improved over what was on Magic and Wonder and Dream's buffet IMO is better than any buffet I've seen on NCL although I haven't been on Epic.

[conandrob240]

I agree than 8-12 is the age where kids begin to dislike the DCL kids clubs depending on their interests. Their tween & teen programs are NOT great.

 

Remy is remarkable and puts most restaurants on land to shame.

[darwinsrule]

We have done 3 cruises with DCL so far (2 on the Dream, 1 on the Wonder). We have the Fantasy and the Dream booked for next year. We are weeks away from doing our first NCL cruise and the reason is destination (Dawn to Bermuda).

 

The options with DCL are limited (how many times do you want to visit Nassau???). There are other places we want to see. Think of it this way. DCL is all about the journey (we are happy to never get off the ship - except for Castaway Cay which is probably the most incredible beach/island ever - and I am not a beach/island person). NCL (and others) for us is all about the destination.

[conandrob240]

Pefectlt stated, darwinsrule!

[Another ship trip]

No doubt that Disney is great for the kids but it lacks the adult CASINO which I happen to love. That alone makes it very different to me!

[travelexplore3]

I've done 4 disney cruises, one of those was in an AFT Suite. I must admit it was amazing. The suite was huge with 2 full bathromms, living room seperate from full dining room with cupboards, a library in the living room, a double balcony that wrapped around to back of ship, a bedroom with a huge walk in closet. Amazing...yes. Worth what we paid at the time... uh no. I'm glad we could afford it at the time, but by no means would I ever do it again. We paid $3,890 for 2 adults and one child who was 9 at the time for a 4 night bahama disney cruise. Insane.... I know. But it was wonderful, the butler brought us fruit baskets daily, water bottles, truffles, candies, cookies, cakes, choc covered strawberries, and on the last night they gave us a limited edition lilo and stitch disney cruise line lithograph we now have framed in our dining room. This cruise was on the wonder in 2008. We have taken 2 cruises on Disney magic and 2 on Disney Wonder. We love disney. However...... the prices have become absurd. Instead of comparing pricing here's some apples to apples comparisons:

We discovered NCL in 2009, we are on our 5th cruise with NCL currently.

Food: We are not big foodies, however i'm vegetarian and both cruiseline cater to my requests. My husband and son LOVE meat, so there is always plenty of options for them. Disney's food is the best overall, but... we have never had a bad meal on NCL. There is more variety at the main dining room on disney, for seafood lovers it can be found almost nightly on disney. The buffets are all the same to me, only Disney has sea food included, but both ships have decent buffets.

Dining times: As others have noted, it is a strict dining rotation and you are going to be seated with random people, and those people will sit with you every night the remainder of the cruise, sometimes this can be good, and other times depending on the people it will be very awkward every night. ( that has happened to us on 2 cruises) On NCL you have freestyle, you can go where you want when you want and get a table for 2 or 3, or 4, or 10. Basically a table just for your party. You can eat whenever you want. Make it a date night or family dinner.

Kids Clubs: O.k. hands down Disney takes the cake in this comparison.... but wait..... my son actually enjoys NCL more. Hmmm, upon getting involved we learned Disney may in fact have a better kids club, but the activities for ages 8-12 are very kiddish, and the staff is very strict with the kids, they are not as patient as there isn't enough staff per kids. One night we counted over 45 kids in there with 3 counselors and they all looked real pissy. On NCL the staff the kid ratio is great, like 1 staff member per 5 kids, there has never been a packed kids club on NCL, but my son enjoys the activities, and the counselors a lot more. (For the record my son was age 8,9,and 10 when we did disney)

Entertainment: Disney is amazing the first time around, then we found ourselves skipping the shows on the next 3 cruises because they are all the exact same. They are very good, some of the best at sea, but 4 times?? same shows.... they need to switch it up with the prices they charge, each ship should offer different shows. NCL: on all 5 cruises... only saw 1 repeat. That's it. The shows are good, they had a cirque show that was just as good if not better than a disney cruise show. It was our favorite by far. (this was on the STAR) They incorporate stuff for kids, and stuff for adults so you get a nice mix, instead of all disney all the time.

Movies: this is a biggie with me, on sea days I love to watch movies in my room. So on DIsney it's ALL DISNEY all the time, they do have a movie theater that plays ONLY DISNEY movies. On NCL: You get everything including first run movies in your room for free. NCL wins this one.

Overall look of the ship: Disney wins hands down.

Pools: NCL gives disney a run for their money....Ncl has all the fancy slides, whereas the new disney ships offer some cool new slide as well, but NCL offers a great pool area for kids with slides for them too. I'd say NCL wins this one too.

Recreation: they both have jogging trails, shuffleboard, basketball area's, vollyball etc. This is a tie.

UPCHARGE restraunts: Disney has PALO at $15 per person, and REMY at $75 per person. (I have never tried REMY) Palo I have eaten at everytime.

o.k. at $15 per person it is 18 and over which meant my kid couldn't go. The food was amazing and better than any food we can get here in California at a land restraunt. AMAZING FOOD!!!! But you cannot book more than 2 times on a 7 night cruise. Whereas NCL has numerous upcharge places that offer steakhouse, brazillian steakhouse, mexican, italian, sushi, chinese, french etc. And there is no age limit and prices vary between $10 - $25 per person depending on the restraunt. And usually kids are half price of that cover charge. Sure we do date night a few nights, but there are nights we take our son with us, he loves a good meal. The food on NCL upcharge places are amazing. I'd say due to the above stated, NCL WINS in this catagory as well.

Staterooms: O.k. I cannot compare suite to suite, I've only done a suite on DIsney. But We always book balconies or mini suites on NCL. Minisuite is very comparable to Disney's balcony rooms, both have bathtub/shower combo, both have queen bed, and fold out couch and privacy curtain room divider, both have same size balcony. NCL has more drawers, and closet shelves. I'd say it's a tie if you are comparing Disney Balcony room to NCL Minisuite. NCL balcony room is smaller than disney's, and will only offer a shower, and no privacy curtain.. room is smaller and will feel a little cramped ( at least it did for 3 of us).

Nightclubs: Don't know, can't really compare. We have walked thru them and they all seem the same, we don't really go clubbing.

Bars: All the same, alcohol is alcohol. LOL

Casino's: None on Disney and always one on NCL

All ships do art auctions, health seminars, golf putt tourny's, etc.

Welcome aboard party: Disney wins hands down, you can't beat the characters on the outdoor stage. The outdoor Dumbotrom movie theater by the pool is amazing as well.

***Disney's pirate night BEATS NCL White hot party BY FARRRRR!!!! Fireworks at sea need I say more.

$$$$$MONEY talks: Dcl is $1,000 plus more than an NCL cruise, comparing apples to apples an NCL 4 night bahama cruise is $1400 for 3 in a balcony room, same room on disney is $3700 for their 4 night bahama. You can do a 7 or 9 night NCL for the price of disney. I even tried to justify the unlimited soda for everyone on disney, but even still on NCL it's $6.25 per person per day. So even that kepps NCL a lot cheaper than Disney.

Hope I helped. It's all up to you in the end. I wouldn't trade any of my Disney cruises, I just won't book anymore because the price is ridiculous. We have enjoyed some AMAZING itineraries on NCL, we have done a 7 night Mediteranean, 7 night Alaska, 7 night Exotic caribbean, 4 night bahama's, and about to takee a 12 night Southern Caribbean. On DIsney we did 7 night Western Caribbean (we did this 2 times), 7 night eastern caribbean, and a 4 night bahamas. Happy cruising!