A Carnival junkie sails NCL for the first time

[ShelleyQT]

I copied this from a document I wrote on my iPad. I don't know where all the asterisks came from!

 

We had an awesome cruise experience on the NCL Star from New York City to Bermuda, July 29-Aug. 5. *We have been on 13 cruises before, all of them 7-day cruises on Carnival. *We decided to try NCL because after 10 years of cruising Carnival, we were really noticing cutbacks and it was making it less fun to cruise. *We particularly had noticed cutbacks in Carnival’s entertainment, dining room service (very slow service in the MDR), and reduced menu choices. *We were pleasantly surprised to find that these three areas were much better on NCL.

*

So, we started looking at other lines and when I found this cruise to Bermuda, I was anxious to try it. *Another cruise line and a new (to us) port! *By the way, Bermuda was FANTASTIC! *I can’t wait to go back, and hopefully with NCL! *We just really loved the NCL experience (some of the food wasn’t perfect, but it certainly never is perfect on Carnival, either).

*

I had been really curious about how the two cruiselines would compare, so I thought it would be helpful to others to hear our take on the comparison.

*

The ship itself (NCL Star) is an older ship, so there are some rust spots, peeling paint on the decks, and some other signs of age. *This was to be expected in an older ship, and I could say the same about some of Carnival’s older ships, such as the Triumph. *The layout, however took some getting used to. *There’s no main indoor promenade like on Carnival ships, where we like to sit and people-watch. *Eventually, we found a bar (Gatsby’s) that had a fairly good setup for people-watching in the evening, and we loved to sit at the Bier Garten on the pool deck to watch the daytime festivities. *

*

The pool deck itself is kind of a strange setup, with ugly orange fake palm trees (that are actually cool-looking lit up at night) and the two water slides right in the middle of everything. *The water slides are small and not interesting for adults (Carnival has great water slides on all its newer ships). *To get to the upper levels of the pool area, there are two staircases on one end. *It was inconvenient to not have two staircases on EACH end of the pool area.

*

The show lounge was different from Carnival in that it had movie theater style seating. *Carnival has nice bench seating with tables, so that you can put your drink down, and people can get in an out of the row without others having to step out of the row. *Many of the seats in the show lounge were broken. *

*

The shows themselves, however, were awesome! *We were really blown away by the entertainment. *The singers were excellent (they had lots of singers, too… Carnival always has one male singer and one female singer while the dancers lip-sync to a backtrack). There was a comedy-juggling duo one night that was hilarious, and another night they had an extremely talented couple who did a little bit of modern dance/ballet combined with some death-defying acrobatics while hanging from sashes. *And their shows were really original. *Only one of them was the same-old collections of clips of songs from a bygone era while the cast dances along. *Finally, the last show of the cruise was a real show-stopper with performers coming from everywhere: *above, below, and behind the audience—with wind machines and flying snowflakes. *Amazing.

*

The NCL Star had a terrific show EVERY night. *On Carnival lately, we’ve had two nights with no entertainment at all other than karaoke (not my taste), the duo in the atrium (hit or miss), and Punchliners comedy. *(We’ve found the Punchliners club to be very mediocre. *Not enough seating for everyone, and the comedians we’ve seen were not funny.) And, the production shows that Carnival does have are all very similar in nature (except for the one on the Dream, I think it’s called Taking it to the Streets or something like that, which is different because it has some really cool break dancing and acrobatics).

*

On two of our Carnival cruises, we’ve enjoyed the Piano Bar (once with Ron Pass and once with Marty Gast). *Every other time we’ve found the piano bar to be a dud. *When we boarded the Star, we thought we’d be disappointed without at least the chance that there’d be the Piano Bar (no piano bar on the Star), but instead we found Gatsby’s, where we listened to the terrific Star jazz band one night, and an amazing singer/player every other night who specialized in mo-town but played lots of other fun stuff as well. *(I wish I’d written these performers’ names down!) *

*

Even on the pool deck, the entertainment was better than Carnival. *They had a 3-piece reggae band, and they played a wide variety of music. *Carnival has cut this down to one guy with a machine, and he plays what seems to be the same 3 songs over and over. *On the Star, the singer interacted with the audience and really got people in the mood for fun.

*

When we sail Carnival, we always have a standard balcony room. *I like knowing what to expect here… and I knew that the NCL cabins are smaller. *Well, the cabin was definitely smaller, but the balcony seemed a little bigger. *The bathroom had an unusual layout, with a small sink (not much storage), a nice shower with a glass door (gets nice and steamy in there!) and a toilet that has a glass door also. *

*

Overall, we found the cabin adequate for two, but storage was really at a premium, and I had to stack clothes on shelves in plain view instead of using drawers. *I’m really glad we didn’t have our DS with us this time. *There just wouldn’t have been enough storage, and the sofa bed on the Star is a fold-out that sits right next to the bed so we’d all three be right next to each other, and it would block the balcony door. *At least on the newer Carnival ships, the sofa bed is full-size (no fold-out, so it can be set up 24/7 without being in the way), and it is perpendicular to the double bed so there’s at least a little separation.

*

I had been really concerned about dining on the Star, because I’d heard the food was not as good as Carnival’s and that the service was just as slow. I’d worried that we’d have to spend a fortune at a specialty restaurant every night because the food in the MDR wouldn’t be good. I’d also heard that nobody dresses up on NCL and we like to dress up, especially on Formal Night.

*

On our first night, we went to eat at Versailles, which is the fancier of the two MDRs. *At 8:00 line was huge! *We were given a beeper and told to wait 20 minutes, but it was more than 40. *I had worn my jeans shorts because I’d heard we didn’t have to dress up. *I heard a woman comment to her husband, “Oh, so much for not wearing shorts to the dining room.” *I later realized that there is a sign up at Versailles that forbids shorts after 5:00 pm. *Oops. *After that, we always dressed up a bit for dinner, and on two nights we even wore our formal wear on two occasions (like when we went to LeBistro) and didn’t feel out of place because we weren’t the only ones. *I was really pleasantly surprised to see so many people dressing up a bit every night for dinner.

*

That first night in Versailles turned out to be a bit of an adventure. *Our food was pretty good. However, we happened to be seated up a few steps, next to a railing that looked onto a short pathway to a kitchen door. *On the other side of the pathway was a similar railing and a table that contained a group of about 10 kids, ages 7-12, with no adult. *I have no idea why there was no adult there. *At one time, a couple of adults came by and talked to them and then left. *They appeared to maybe be relatives. *The kids kept making loud noises and yelling. *Then one of the older ones would say, “Remember. *Manners. Manners,” and the others would resume making noise.

*

Suddenly the littlest one jumped out of his chair, ran down the pathway past us, into the small kitchen area, throwing up as he ran. *He made it to the kitchen door, leaving a mess all down the carpet and all over the push-door. *Apparently there were no employees in there, because he was in there for several minutes and nobody came out. His sister (or cousin or whatever) tried to explain to a waiter what had happened, but he didn’t seem to understand. *Finally, I said, “A boy is in there, throwing up, in your kitchen, all alone.” *The waiter looked distressed and ran into the kitchen, holding the door open and not realizing what he’d just put his hand into!

*

We decided we were finished with dinner and not hungry for dessert! *The wait staff was so accommodating to us, offering us food to go, or maybe to pack up dessert for us. *They were really amazing. *I just wondered why the kids had been allowed to sit without an adult!

*

After the long wait time at Versailles the first night, we learned not to try to eat so late. *Instead, we always went at 6:00 and were shown a table immediately. *We did continue to see long lines every night outside both main dining rooms from 7:00-9:00, however. *For dinner we tried Aqua (the other MDR) twice, the buffet once, Versailles twice, and LeBistro once. *Le Bistro was a real disappointment. *DH’s steak was overcooked and my dish was just yucky. *My swordfish was pretty flavorless and I guess I just don’t like lentils in gravy. *Our desserts were bland. *(I had crème brulee, which wasn’t as good as the stuff in the Carnival MDR.) *The buffet dinner we had one night was not good at all… very flavorless. *However, all the other dinners we had were fantastic, and those were all in the MDRs. *I especially loved the blue crab cakes and the Penne with Alfredo in Versailles. *And everywhere we went for dinner had really fast, friendly service!

*

Our lunches were sometimes a little disappointing, and a couple of times good. *On embarkation day, we went right to Versailles and I had the fish and chips—DE-lish! *On the last sea day, we did this again and were very disappointed. *The fish was way overcooked. *Twice we went to Blue Lagoon for lunch, which I’d been greatly anticipating…The scenery there is fantastic, but the food wasn’t good there at all and the service was slow. Still, I love the idea of having a casual place for lunch with table service, and as I said, what a view!

*

We had breakfast every day in the buffet. *Now, here NCL really stood out as better than Carnival. *We never had to wait in a long line. *It was just really well organized. *I loved having the omelet stations all in one spot. *On Carnival, if one omelet line is long, you have to wander all over the place to try to find another line just to see if that line is long, too. *The food selections at breakfast were really good and I heard people raving about the French toast. *I loved having link sausage every day. *(Lately, Carnival rarely has link sausage, with some sort of yucky mixture of sausage, onions, and sauce instead.)

*

And, every night the buffet features a dessert crepe station. *We loved this and went there every night. *YUM! *Another fun food thing about the Star was that you could get popcorn all the time in the pub, and they served little rice cracker/snack cracker mix dispensers when you were sitting in Gatsby’s. *

*

Chair hogs were abundant on the Star, just as they are on every Carnival ship I’ve been on except the Splendor. *Prior to the cruise I had read that they were going to use “blue dots” to mark the time I chair was noted to be empty, but they weren’t doing that during our cruise. *We got up at 8:00 the first day and could barely find an empty chair because most of them were occupied with towels and/or flip-flops. *

*

When we did find a chair, I sat there alone for an hour or so, and then a man came and claimed one of his saved chairs. *He sat in the middle of about 8 chairs, by himself for maybe 30 minutes. *Then his wife came and he said, “The early bird gets the worm!” *She left immediately without sitting down. *I was there for maybe 30 more minutes, during which a couple more of his group members came to talk to him and left, without sitting down. *Oh, well—we got enough sun on this trip, with 3 fabulous days in beautiful Bermuda, that I didn’t need to sun myself anymore anyway. *So the next sea days, we slept in.

*

The crew on the Star was above-and-beyond friendly. *They were all so nice, and acted happy to see us. * At the end of every show, the performers would wait outside the show lounge to greet you and take photos and thank you for coming. *As you walked into the casino, there were always a few crewmembers standing there welcoming you. *It was really amazing. *The cruise director was in some of the comedy shows and he was pretty funny. *And, the assistant cruise director staff was very friendly and fun, too, always encouraging guests to get in on the fun.

*

Overall, this was definitely our best cruise ever. *Bermuda itself has now become our very favorite port, and our experience on NCL was awesome. *I don’t expect a cruise to be perfect, and except for a few dishes that I didn’t enjoy, I would say it was just about as close as you can get. *We had a wonderful time!

[S.S.Oceanlover]

I copied this from a document I wrote on my iPad. I don't know where all the asterisks came from!

 

We had an awesome cruise experience on the NCL Star from New York City to Bermuda, July 29-Aug. 5. *We have been on 13 cruises before, all of them 7-day cruises on Carnival. *We decided to try NCL because after 10 years of cruising Carnival, we were really noticing cutbacks and it was making it less fun to cruise. *We particularly had noticed cutbacks in Carnival’s entertainment, dining room service (very slow service in the MDR), and reduced menu choices. *We were pleasantly surprised to find that these three areas were much better on NCL.

*

So, we started looking at other lines and when I found this cruise to Bermuda, I was anxious to try it. *Another cruise line and a new (to us) port! *By the way, Bermuda was FANTASTIC! *I can’t wait to go back, and hopefully with NCL! *We just really loved the NCL experience (some of the food wasn’t perfect, but it certainly never is perfect on Carnival, either).

*

I had been really curious about how the two cruiselines would compare, so I thought it would be helpful to others to hear our take on the comparison.

*

The ship itself (NCL Star) is an older ship, so there are some rust spots, peeling paint on the decks, and some other signs of age. *This was to be expected in an older ship, and I could say the same about some of Carnival’s older ships, such as the Triumph. *The layout, however took some getting used to. *There’s no main indoor promenade like on Carnival ships, where we like to sit and people-watch. *Eventually, we found a bar (Gatsby’s) that had a fairly good setup for people-watching in the evening, and we loved to sit at the Bier Garten on the pool deck to watch the daytime festivities. *

*

The pool deck itself is kind of a strange setup, with ugly orange fake palm trees (that are actually cool-looking lit up at night) and the two water slides right in the middle of everything. *The water slides are small and not interesting for adults (Carnival has great water slides on all its newer ships). *To get to the upper levels of the pool area, there are two staircases on one end. *It was inconvenient to not have two staircases on EACH end of the pool area.

*

The show lounge was different from Carnival in that it had movie theater style seating. *Carnival has nice bench seating with tables, so that you can put your drink down, and people can get in an out of the row without others having to step out of the row. *Many of the seats in the show lounge were broken. *

*

The shows themselves, however, were awesome! *We were really blown away by the entertainment. *The singers were excellent (they had lots of singers, too… Carnival always has one male singer and one female singer while the dancers lip-sync to a backtrack). There was a comedy-juggling duo one night that was hilarious, and another night they had an extremely talented couple who did a little bit of modern dance/ballet combined with some death-defying acrobatics while hanging from sashes. *And their shows were really original. *Only one of them was the same-old collections of clips of songs from a bygone era while the cast dances along. *Finally, the last show of the cruise was a real show-stopper with performers coming from everywhere: *above, below, and behind the audience—with wind machines and flying snowflakes. *Amazing.

*

The NCL Star had a terrific show EVERY night. *On Carnival lately, we’ve had two nights with no entertainment at all other than karaoke (not my taste), the duo in the atrium (hit or miss), and Punchliners comedy. *(We’ve found the Punchliners club to be very mediocre. *Not enough seating for everyone, and the comedians we’ve seen were not funny.) And, the production shows that Carnival does have are all very similar in nature (except for the one on the Dream, I think it’s called Taking it to the Streets or something like that, which is different because it has some really cool break dancing and acrobatics).

*

On two of our Carnival cruises, we’ve enjoyed the Piano Bar (once with Ron Pass and once with Marty Gast). *Every other time we’ve found the piano bar to be a dud. *When we boarded the Star, we thought we’d be disappointed without at least the chance that there’d be the Piano Bar (no piano bar on the Star), but instead we found Gatsby’s, where we listened to the terrific Star jazz band one night, and an amazing singer/player every other night who specialized in mo-town but played lots of other fun stuff as well. *(I wish I’d written these performers’ names down!) *

*

Even on the pool deck, the entertainment was better than Carnival. *They had a 3-piece reggae band, and they played a wide variety of music. *Carnival has cut this down to one guy with a machine, and he plays what seems to be the same 3 songs over and over. *On the Star, the singer interacted with the audience and really got people in the mood for fun.

*

When we sail Carnival, we always have a standard balcony room. *I like knowing what to expect here… and I knew that the NCL cabins are smaller. *Well, the cabin was definitely smaller, but the balcony seemed a little bigger. *The bathroom had an unusual layout, with a small sink (not much storage), a nice shower with a glass door (gets nice and steamy in there!) and a toilet that has a glass door also. *

*

Overall, we found the cabin adequate for two, but storage was really at a premium, and I had to stack clothes on shelves in plain view instead of using drawers. *I’m really glad we didn’t have our DS with us this time. *There just wouldn’t have been enough storage, and the sofa bed on the Star is a fold-out that sits right next to the bed so we’d all three be right next to each other, and it would block the balcony door. *At least on the newer Carnival ships, the sofa bed is full-size (no fold-out, so it can be set up 24/7 without being in the way), and it is perpendicular to the double bed so there’s at least a little separation.

*

I had been really concerned about dining on the Star, because I’d heard the food was not as good as Carnival’s and that the service was just as slow. I’d worried that we’d have to spend a fortune at a specialty restaurant every night because the food in the MDR wouldn’t be good. I’d also heard that nobody dresses up on NCL and we like to dress up, especially on Formal Night.

*

On our first night, we went to eat at Versailles, which is the fancier of the two MDRs. *At 8:00 line was huge! *We were given a beeper and told to wait 20 minutes, but it was more than 40. *I had worn my jeans shorts because I’d heard we didn’t have to dress up. *I heard a woman comment to her husband, “Oh, so much for not wearing shorts to the dining room.” *I later realized that there is a sign up at Versailles that forbids shorts after 5:00 pm. *Oops. *After that, we always dressed up a bit for dinner, and on two nights we even wore our formal wear on two occasions (like when we went to LeBistro) and didn’t feel out of place because we weren’t the only ones. *I was really pleasantly surprised to see so many people dressing up a bit every night for dinner.

*

That first night in Versailles turned out to be a bit of an adventure. *Our food was pretty good. However, we happened to be seated up a few steps, next to a railing that looked onto a short pathway to a kitchen door. *On the other side of the pathway was a similar railing and a table that contained a group of about 10 kids, ages 7-12, with no adult. *I have no idea why there was no adult there. *At one time, a couple of adults came by and talked to them and then left. *They appeared to maybe be relatives. *The kids kept making loud noises and yelling. *Then one of the older ones would say, “Remember. *Manners. Manners,” and the others would resume making noise.

*

Suddenly the littlest one jumped out of his chair, ran down the pathway past us, into the small kitchen area, throwing up as he ran. *He made it to the kitchen door, leaving a mess all down the carpet and all over the push-door. *Apparently there were no employees in there, because he was in there for several minutes and nobody came out. His sister (or cousin or whatever) tried to explain to a waiter what had happened, but he didn’t seem to understand. *Finally, I said, “A boy is in there, throwing up, in your kitchen, all alone.” *The waiter looked distressed and ran into the kitchen, holding the door open and not realizing what he’d just put his hand into!

*

We decided we were finished with dinner and not hungry for dessert! *The wait staff was so accommodating to us, offering us food to go, or maybe to pack up dessert for us. *They were really amazing. *I just wondered why the kids had been allowed to sit without an adult!

*

After the long wait time at Versailles the first night, we learned not to try to eat so late. *Instead, we always went at 6:00 and were shown a table immediately. *We did continue to see long lines every night outside both main dining rooms from 7:00-9:00, however. *For dinner we tried Aqua (the other MDR) twice, the buffet once, Versailles twice, and LeBistro once. *Le Bistro was a real disappointment. *DH’s steak was overcooked and my dish was just yucky. *My swordfish was pretty flavorless and I guess I just don’t like lentils in gravy. *Our desserts were bland. *(I had crème brulee, which wasn’t as good as the stuff in the Carnival MDR.) *The buffet dinner we had one night was not good at all… very flavorless. *However, all the other dinners we had were fantastic, and those were all in the MDRs. *I especially loved the blue crab cakes and the Penne with Alfredo in Versailles. *And everywhere we went for dinner had really fast, friendly service!

*

Our lunches were sometimes a little disappointing, and a couple of times good. *On embarkation day, we went right to Versailles and I had the fish and chips—DE-lish! *On the last sea day, we did this again and were very disappointed. *The fish was way overcooked. *Twice we went to Blue Lagoon for lunch, which I’d been greatly anticipating…The scenery there is fantastic, but the food wasn’t good there at all and the service was slow. Still, I love the idea of having a casual place for lunch with table service, and as I said, what a view!

*

We had breakfast every day in the buffet. *Now, here NCL really stood out as better than Carnival. *We never had to wait in a long line. *It was just really well organized. *I loved having the omelet stations all in one spot. *On Carnival, if one omelet line is long, you have to wander all over the place to try to find another line just to see if that line is long, too. *The food selections at breakfast were really good and I heard people raving about the French toast. *I loved having link sausage every day. *(Lately, Carnival rarely has link sausage, with some sort of yucky mixture of sausage, onions, and sauce instead.)

*

And, every night the buffet features a dessert crepe station. *We loved this and went there every night. *YUM! *Another fun food thing about the Star was that you could get popcorn all the time in the pub, and they served little rice cracker/snack cracker mix dispensers when you were sitting in Gatsby’s. *

*

Chair hogs were abundant on the Star, just as they are on every Carnival ship I’ve been on except the Splendor. *Prior to the cruise I had read that they were going to use “blue dots” to mark the time I chair was noted to be empty, but they weren’t doing that during our cruise. *We got up at 8:00 the first day and could barely find an empty chair because most of them were occupied with towels and/or flip-flops. *

*

When we did find a chair, I sat there alone for an hour or so, and then a man came and claimed one of his saved chairs. *He sat in the middle of about 8 chairs, by himself for maybe 30 minutes. *Then his wife came and he said, “The early bird gets the worm!” *She left immediately without sitting down. *I was there for maybe 30 more minutes, during which a couple more of his group members came to talk to him and left, without sitting down. *Oh, well—we got enough sun on this trip, with 3 fabulous days in beautiful Bermuda, that I didn’t need to sun myself anymore anyway. *So the next sea days, we slept in.

*

The crew on the Star was above-and-beyond friendly. *They were all so nice, and acted happy to see us. * At the end of every show, the performers would wait outside the show lounge to greet you and take photos and thank you for coming. *As you walked into the casino, there were always a few crewmembers standing there welcoming you. *It was really amazing. *The cruise director was in some of the comedy shows and he was pretty funny. *And, the assistant cruise director staff was very friendly and fun, too, always encouraging guests to get in on the fun.

*

Overall, this was definitely our best cruise ever. *Bermuda itself has now become our very favorite port, and our experience on NCL was awesome. *I don’t expect a cruise to be perfect, and except for a few dishes that I didn’t enjoy, I would say it was just about as close as you can get. *We had a wonderful time!

 

I posted pretty much the same thing. We have crews 12 times with caramel with no plans to cruise them in the future for a while for many of the same reasons you mentioned.

 

As a matter of fact you were on the same sailing as I was to Bermuda.

 

Bill

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[CoCoNut Willie]

Nice review and comparison. We're thinking of the Star from NOLA this winter. Our Magic cruise this Oct. will be our 20th Carnival, but like you we've seen a lot of cutbacks. We've sailed NCL before but it's been several years, may be time to try them again.

[misstopgun]

Thanks so much for your camparison review. We are looking at a cruise on the NCL Star for spring. We too are Carnival junkies having sailed with them 21 times with the 22nd coming up, but are just not happy with the quality and cutbacks as of late. (and other little issues that have made us feel they don't appreciate our loyalty)

 

I would really love to experience the more exciting entertainment options. Cruise food is cruise food. In researching, it looks like some of the pay for choices on the Star are less than what you would spend for the steakhouse on Carnival. I would love to try the Brazillian steakhouse!

 

The comments about breakfast were also encouraging. It used to be the egg station was more convienient on Carnival. Now, either your eggs will be cold or you sides will be cold because of the seperate lines.

 

Since the rooms are smaller, if we normally get a extended balcony, would it be better to get a suite? Also, since the shower is enclosed in glass, do you think it is a comfortable size for larger people?

[Monkey30]

My family and I are recently off the Carnival Breeze; we did the 12 day Mediterranean Cruise. We had always liked sailing Carnival, though we have also sailed (and enjoyed) other lines too. The Breeze is a beautiful ship and we had a great time seeing great sights, but I doubt we will be sailing Carnival again any time soon. The cutbacks are just too evident. Entertainment is a joke (except for the comedy club, there are NO jokes to be had there :rolleyes:) The menus are lacking and the service was very slow (and many time wrong). The best times we had on the ship were when we were in the Red Frog Pub. The servers in there were incredible (especially Linden - who was getting off the ship the same day we did... he will be going to the Magic in October.. a real gem!!) We went to the steakhouse one night and the Cucina del Capitano two nights just to get away from the main dining room. I really hope Carnival gets its act together soon because I would love to be able to sail them again, but, as of now, we'll be heading to other lines for future cruises.

[halos]

I'm glad you enjoyed NCL!!

[JinxyB]

Thanks for the review! I'm trying NCL for the first time in Dec and am excited! I have 2 upcoming Carnival cruises to make platinum and then I think I am done with Carnival. I'm willing to pay more money for a better cruise experience, and will probably lean towards the lines that ban smoking on balconies.

[ShelleyQT]

Since the rooms are smaller, if we normally get a extended balcony, would it be better to get a suite? Also, since the shower is enclosed in glass, do you think it is a comfortable size for larger people?

 

I haven't seen the suites. I can tell you that our cabin could be crowded when trying to walk from the bathroom to the other side of the bed. There's a two-foot-wide span between the vanity and the corner of the bed. So if I stood in front of the mirror brushing my hair, DH couldn't get around unless I moved a few steps back toward the bathroom. We were ok walking around each other for a week. Like I said, I wouldn't want a third person!

 

The shower was a nice size, bigger than a Carnival shower. I think the greater issue would be the toilet stall, which is pretty cramped. I'm quite petite, and I noticed the size. I'm sure it's big enough, but not exactly luxurious. You don't have to close the glass door, though. The whole bathroom is a contained, private unit.

[doitallWMB]

Thanks for the review! I'm trying NCL for the first time in Dec and am excited! I have 2 upcoming Carnival cruises to make platinum and then I think I am done with Carnival. I'm willing to pay more money for a better cruise experience, and will probably lean towards the lines that ban smoking on balconies.

 

 

We've said this before, "Norwegian controls only 10% of the cruise market and they know it, thus try harder. CCL is number one and has gotten complacent. This is a natural process.

[chill6x6]

Your cruise pretty much mimics the cruise I had on the NCL Spirit Oct 2011. I've been saying this OVER and OVER....but the CREW was absolutely over the top in every way....and it started the MOMENT you stepped foot on the ship until you stepped off. And yes...the entertainment IS great! We met most of the officers time and again after and during the shows. Only cruise I've been on yet were the crew actually acted like they really ENJOYED their job!

 

NCL probably should have a new ship or two in the works 'cause they are gonna need it when word gets out!

 

OH...BTW...enjoyed reading your review!

[nybumpkin]

ShelleyQT - Aside from entertainment, is there any other advantage of NCL over CCL? We're not big show fans, and it doesn't sound like food was a make-or-break issue. (Our neighbors are diehard NCL fans.) Thanks!

[doitallWMB]

ShelleyQT - Aside from entertainment, is there any other advantage of NCL over CCL? We're not big show fans, and it doesn't sound like food was a make-or-break issue. (Our neighbors are diehard NCL fans.) Thanks!

 

It looks like your experience is pretty narrow. There is another world out there. We cruise them all. Don't be loyal to a corporation who knows you as a profit point. Enjoy the world. :)

[NYcruzzer]

I am Platinum on Carnival and NCL and was on the Star the same dates as you. After 15 cruises on NCL I got off the ship saying this was one of the best cruises we went on. Mainly because of the entertainment and staff. Three different times including once in Moderno the Brazilian Steakhouse Pedro the C.D. stopped by our table to see if we were having a good time. Everywhere you went staff went out of their way to accomodate. Hopefully Carnival will read these boards and realize it is time to upgrade their entertainment. I was going to sail on the Miracle this Winter our of NYC, but decided 9 days to San Juan, St Thomas, St Martin, and Semana DR beats 8 days in Nassua, Freeport, and Port Canaveral.

[welldone60]

We sailed on the Star when it was new. One the best things I liked about the Star was the size with only about 2200 passengers. The only time we felt crowded was when the shows let out, but once you moved away from the show it was fine. We liked the theater seating, plus no poles. We had 10 in our group and going to freestyle dinner was a headache, we tried it two nights and it would take an hour to get a table. We gave up and just broke up the group to smaller tables.

[S.S.Oceanlover]

Thanks for the review! I'm trying NCL for the first time in Dec and am excited! I have 2 upcoming Carnival cruises to make platinum and then I think I am done with Carnival. I'm willing to pay more money for a better cruise experience, and will probably lean towards the lines that ban smoking on balconies.

 

So you will be leaning more towards Royal Caribbean and celebrity?

 

Not sure about Holland America is a banned smoking on the balcony too?

 

Bill

[RRLLAL]

Doesn't this belong on the ncl board?

 

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[NYcruzzer]

Doesn't this belong on the ncl board?

 

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Since OP is comparing Carnival and NCL I guess it does belong here.

[nealstuber]

Doesn't this belong on the ncl board?

 

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No. It belongs where Carnival will see it and hopefully make a course correction.

 

NCL changed out its CEO about 4 or 5 years ago and has been headed in the right direction. CCL - just the opposite.

[JinxyB]

So you will be leaning more towards Royal Caribbean and celebrity?

 

I believe Princess and Celebrity are the two that ban smoking on balconies now. Someone correct me if I am wrong. I'm not interested in sailing Holland America as the age demographic is too old for me.

[DGP1111]

A Carnival junkie sails NCL for the first time

 

*Overall, this was definitely our best cruise ever. *Bermuda itself has now become our very favorite port, and our experience on NCL was awesome. *I don’t expect a cruise to be perfect, and except for a few dishes that I didn’t enjoy, I would say it was just about as close as you can get. *We had a wonderful time!

 

Thanks for sharing.

Glad to read that your experience on that line was as positive as mine are being. :)

 

.

Doesn't this belong on the ncl board?

 

Nope.

 

.

[glorialagos]

I am partial to NCL but do Carnival also depending on itinerary and price.

 

I am happy to hear that you loved Bermuda. I am not sure I will like the one stop only and the overnights. However, we are going to try it - and we are trying it on the new NCL Breakaway. I am very excited for both experiences.

 

I am sorry you did not enjoy Blue Lagoon food. This is the first time I have EVER heard that remark. I absolutely love ALL the Blue Lagoon food - especially the wings and fries and the wonton soup. I have never had a disappointing meal at Blue Lagoon.

 

I am also anxious to try the Brazilian steakhouse. We have sailed NCL for 3 different 7 night cruises and have never tried a pay extra restaurant so that will be our first.

 

We will continue to cruise on both NCL and Carnival and just may have to try Royal Caribbean or another one too!!

[luvmysox1]

I am a huge fan of Carnival but i loved Royal!! We'll definitely go back to them but pricing will always pull me to Carnival. Plus, I will soon be platinum and love the free laundry.

 

RCCl and NCl has better entertainment staff.

[misstopgun]

Thanks for the review! I'm trying NCL for the first time in Dec and am excited! I have 2 upcoming Carnival cruises to make platinum and then I think I am done with Carnival. I'm willing to pay more money for a better cruise experience, and will probably lean towards the lines that ban smoking on balconies.

I could be wrong but I think NCL allows smoking on the balconies.

[RRLLAL]

Since OP is comparing Carnival and NCL I guess it does belong here.

 

Lol. I would think a review of an ncl cruise would ne found on the rcl board. It doesn't belong here but I see the Carnival haters are chiming in. So this is just another of THOSE threads. Useless.

 

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[VillaHappy]

I loved reading your review. We are considering Norwegian Gem or Carnival Pride in the spring of 2014. I was leaning towards Carnival, but now NCL is back in the running thanks to you! :D:D