Princess lover back from NCL

[Host CJSKIDS]

I had posted that I was going on a quick last minute NCL cruise and asked for opinions last week. One poster had asked me to let them know what I thought of it.

 

Well, let's begin by saying, It sure wasn't Princess! We did find ourselves comparing things to Princess over the course of the cruise. Went in with low expectations and I'm happy that I did!

 

I have always said that the crew on Princess is the best. I had no idea just how good they really were. Most crew members on Princess smile, all say hello and interact with guests and seems to really care about those of us cruising. I can say that while this is the norm on Princess, not so much on NCL. I don't think I have met as many crew members that didn't bother smiling, say hello, offering to help or even acknowledge that I was standing in front of them. Many of us on the sailing said the same thing. Most of the crew just seemed like they really didn't want to be there. More than one told us how they were leaving when their contract was up as they didn't care for how senior staff treat them.

 

I brought some wine on, was upfront and told them I needed to pay the corkage fees. Did that and walked on with the wine. First suitcase delivered no problems. Second suitcase did not arrive. On my door was that "you have been called to the "naughty room" come and get your bags. So my first impression of NCL, you have wasted my time and made me wait on another line and get my bag. I was thrilled as I watched my undergarments rummaged through right in front of others. Thrilled when all the dry-cleaned clothes that I paid good money for and carefully packed was somewhat shoved thing back and forth trying to find I don't know what and were now wrinkled. What was in the suitcase, NOTHING BUT CLOTHES! I asked what they possibly could have thought was in there and they had no answer.

 

Food, ate in Cagney's steakhouse which was the same price as the Crown Grill. Not even a close match. You should be able to cut through your filet with a butter knife. My husband had a hard time cutting his meat with a steak knife! Where you can order as many sides as you wish at the Crown Grill, here you got 2 small portions of sides per person and were not allowed more than that. I asked at the Italian restaurant if I could have a 1/2 order of the pasta (it was an entree) for my appetizer and then the entree and was told 'No, sorry one entree per person. The french restaurant was the best out of the bunch.

 

The cabin was not exactly clean. I had to wipe down the back of the bathroom wall when we boarded with hot soapy water. The picture that was hanging had I don't know what all over it. Once again, this was clearly not a princess ship. As I didn't even see our cabin steward until last night which was the last night of our cruise, it was hard to ask for something to be cleaned.

 

Did the pub crawl on the first even gin and the games they played was certainly not something I have ever witnessed on Princess. It involved people on their knees and bananas or guys seated with a bottle of beer with a straw in it between their legs with the girls on their knees in front of them sucking down the beer as fast as they could. Many seemed to enjoy themselves but there were some of us who just watched.

 

Now I don't know if this all holds true for NCL across the board, or it's just on the shorter sailings so hopefully what we experienced isn't the norm.

 

We met some great people, still had a nice cruise and I did enjoy myself. Both hubby and I were fine with the fact that we were getting off the ship this morning. 4 nights on there were enough.

 

Sorry to all of you who love NCL, I have hopefully not insulted you too much.

 

Next time, Princess here we come!!!!

[Keith1010]

Thanks for posting your experience on NCL.

 

Keith

[spingal]

I haven't heard good things about NCL and your experience confirms that! I will be sure to stay away!! I can't believe that beer "game"!! :eek::eek:

[Sanibel*Gal]

Thanks for posting - enjoyed your mini review.....and your comparison between the two. I think we will keep to what we know & luv in cruise lines.;)

[Wormy53]

Thanks for your input. I think that it has a lot to with a short sailing. Those cruises seem to be more tuned to the kind of things that you experienced.

 

We sailed with NCL for a 11-day NE cruise, and the other people onboard were much like we have seen on Princess. However, the food was a deal-breaker for me. We tried the MDR - I would not go back. Ended up at the upsell restaurants everynight. This helped with the food, but pretty much nullified the savings that we got by going with NCL. Noticed that the drinks and wine were higher too.

 

I actually really liked the ship we were on - the Dawn. It was an in-between size and everything seemed handy and the personnel were pleasant.

 

I also liked the dress better on Princess - no sloppiness noted. For me personally, the whole 'Blue Lagoon' kind of place to eat is a waste. I do not want chicken wings, burgers, or chili while on vacation. (I will occasionally eat some of that Princess pizza! ;))

[cnd crsr]

We tried NCL only and decided it wasn't for us. We cruise princess most of the time, with HAL as our second choice.

[Host CJSKIDS]

The drinks were higher priced. They had the same "buy 5 beers and get one free" however their cocktail prices were high.

 

We had some downright awful food. They kept running out of items. At Longboards you could order a spinach dip. On night 3 it got delivered with regular potato chips rather than tortilla chips because the guy couldn't be bothered to go get more for everyone.

I so missed the grill up on the top deck along with the pizza.

 

I will say that the bartender in The Plantation Club was amazing. He was friendly and fun. Interacted with everyone. You could give him the "base" of your cocktail and say whether or not you want sweet, something packing a wallop, sour, etc and he would come up with some kind of drink for you. That was fun. He was about it. The bartender at Longboards was about as unfriendly as they came. No wonder there wasn't ever anyone enjoying cocktails back there.

 

Oh yea, forgot to add that while at the sail away party up on deck, there was a couple having sex right in the hot tub in broad daylight. Needless to say, we didn't step foot in any of the pools!

 

On the last night, the comedian had to stop his show as some loud, drunk, extremely obnoxious man kept running around the area shouting at the comedian. It was a sight to behold. Security finally came but long after he was gone.

 

The one thing that I did like was being able to dress casually. That was indeed an nice change of pace and made it that we really didn't need to pack much.

[JWJs]

Thanks for the comparison between NCL and Princess. I would have been very distressed over the one suitcase being held and the search of that suitcase in the naughty room! What a bummer!

We will stick with Princess, Holland America and Celebrity. :)

[philly50's]

We've been on Princess and NCL both quite a few times. We prefer Princess but have to say that we've never seen or heard of that beer game. We've always found the staff on NCL to be friendly and hard working and the ships we've sailed have been in great condition.

 

Most of the time we book based in itinerary and then price. Princess is our favorite line but we wouldn't hesitate to take NCL again. It really is a personal choice I guess.

[Host CJSKIDS]

We've been on Princess and NCL both quite a few times. We prefer Princess but have to say that we've never seen or heard of that beer game. We've always found the staff on NCL to be friendly and hard working and the ships we've sailed have been in great condition.

 

Most of the time we book based in itinerary and then price. Princess is our favorite line but we wouldn't hesitate to take NCL again. It really is a personal choice I guess.

 

I'm wondering if it was this ship, The Sky that is used for the 3 and 4 night. I'm sure that doing these short cruises can burn anyone out.

 

Hopefully I don't offend anyone by telling the game story on here.

 

The first game played in the bar hop was passing the orange under the chin. They split up the groups into men and women for this. The second was with the banana. For this one the line up was girl, boy, etc. The girls had to put the banana between their legs while the guys had to go on their knees, grab the banana with their mouths and then place it between the legs of the next girl. The last game was 4 guys sitting on a chair, bottles of beer placed between their legs with straws in them. The girls then had to go on their knees and suck all the beer as quickly as possible. Of course the guy leading the group whispered to the men to push down on the girls heads while they drank.

 

Just wanted to put a warning out there for anyone who may do this pub crawl that may be sensitive or bothered by watching this. Some older couples that were in the venue were none too happy when this all started.

 

I wonder if they only do the pub crawl on these shorter cruises.

 

I'm not saying that I didn't have a nice time. We really met some great people and there were a few crew members who were exceptional. I just think that with the short cruises they tend to burn out much more easily.

Possibly it was just the short sailing. I'm sure the longer sailings are very different. It's great to hear that you enjoy NCL and would sail with them again.

[Mom33]

Thanks for the review.It is always good to get opinions from those who have experienced more than one cruise line. :D

[MFoerstel]

You must not cruise very much. NCL rocks! The crew on the Jewel was spectacular on a recent cruise I was on. Much better than Princess. I would never go back to Princess. Different strokes for different folks, eh?

[Woobstr112G]

OP;

Thank you for taking the time to post your thoughts. Very much appreciated. I know there are many out there who like NCL, but for me it's Princess for the time being.....:):):)

Bob

[Host CJSKIDS]

You must not cruise very much. NCL rocks! The crew on the Jewel was spectacular on a recent cruise I was on. Much better than Princess. I would never go back to Princess. Different strokes for different folks, eh?

 

Yes, that's why it great that there are choices out there!

 

As you work or worked for Princess, guess there is no love there!

[lovevacadays]

Thank you for your review. I do like reading comparisons between lines. One of my other cruise critic friends did an NCL cruise and said it was the worst cruise she ever took!

 

But, there most be loyal NCL folks because the line is still in business. My theory is that they haven't sailed Princess or Royal Caribbean so don't know better.:D

[RMM34667]

Thanks OP for you review. I did an NCL cruise ONCE.. Considered NCL a few time since. But always had that nagging feeling.. What if I'm disappointed again.. It was my one and only cruise where I was let down time and time again.. I might try them again sometime.. If the price is really really cheap.. Like the $399 11 day Med cruise recently advertised on that zoo email.. I might have gone for that if I hadn't just booked my 10 day Princess cruise.

[swedish weave]

I have sailed both lines and find it impossible to form an opinion of any cruise line by making one cruise. Each line has several ships and many different lengths of cruises, so my experiences are different on each ship.

 

I find Princess and NCL very much alike in food and service.

 

Of course if your opinions are influenced by brand loyalty, you will find things you don't like.

 

I particularly noticed the comments about the crew. On my last Princess cruise, I met two wonderful young ladies who worked for NCL a few years ago. They haven't changed one bit. They are just as pleasant on Princess as they were on NCL.

[Coral]

. On my door was that "you have been called to the "naughty room" come and get your bags.

 

OK - I have heard about the "naughty room" but I never knew what line they were referring to. Did the note really use the term "naughty room" or did they use a different term like "report to this Lounge A to retrieve luggage"? Sorry if ignorant here.

 

Thanks for your review. I think you just saved me some money in the future.

[nepacruisers]

Thank you for not bashing NCL, but giving a review of your experiences. I am a fan of the NCL product, being platinum with their line. I have typically enjoyed excellent service from all of our cabin stewards. Dining is different with the freestyle concept. You don't get as personal with the wait staff, this tends to lend itself to faster turn around in the MDR. We like trying the different venues and rarely go to the pay restaurants (we do love the French restaurant and that is a complimentary dinner for platinums) We have usually found the staff to be exceptionally friendly and courteous. We do feel the entertainment on NCL is among the best out there. But, out of all my NCL cruises, my least favorite was on the Sky. It is a big party cruise and not like my other NCL cruises. Different itineraries can have a much different feel.

 

I am also emerald on Royal Caribbean and do enjoy their product as well. They are different experiences. We have done both traditional dining and anytime dining, it depends on what we feel like, itinerary etc. All in all, we feel that we have received excellent service from RC as well.

 

I am looking forward to my first cruise on Princess next month, Coral Princess Panama Canal. I expect to have a wonderful time and to compare products for myself, as many times it is truly different strokes for different folks.

[Astro Flyer]

Thanks OP...I've enjoyed your informative objective posts previously & thanks for posting one about your experiences sailing NCL.

[rdsqrl]

. . . Oh yea, forgot to add that while at the sail away party up on deck, there was a couple having sex right in the hot tub in broad daylight. . .

Well, NCL is known for their live entertainment . . .

 

Your review is very similar to what I experienced on NCL. Or, as I call them, Never Cruise w/Them Again Lines.

[pris993]

Thanks for your review.

 

We have crusied NCL years ago, 10+ years ago, on the Star but a 7 day cruise. Nothing like you describe.

 

We are going on the Jade for a 11 night Eastern Mediterranean next year. We have done the same cruise on Princess, Celebrity, HAL and Cunard. So I will let you know what are experience is on a long Mediterranean cruise.

We liked Cunard, HAL and Princess the best. Celebrity we feel is more hype.

 

I have seen the "orange game" played either on Princess, Celebrity or HAL before, generally late at night in the disco, I think it was on Halloween.

 

The banana game sounds a bit much, I would have left.

 

Last spring we were on Celebrity, went to the disco one evening for dancing, they had a "dance with the officer" evening going on... we were not interested in dancing with an officer, we went to dance together.. so we left. Sometimes cruise lines line have these games ... people buy drinks and get silly. When sat down the waiter approached us and said are your ready to drink and get crazy? Should have realized right then, something was not right for us.

 

When we cruised NCL before we thought the food was just okay, not great, we ended up eating the same thing for 7 nights in the MDR, which we special ordered. Will see how the speciality restrauants are now when we go on the Jade.

 

Will write a comparison when we return...

[Nebr.cruiser]

We've cruised on Princess 8 times and NCL only once, but we did enjoy our cruise on the Jewel--staff, food, cleanliness was all quite good and the entertainment was fantastic. I was expecting something of much lower quality.

 

However, this was a Transatlantic, not a 3 day cruise. I would be very leery of most short cruises as we are not the party-hardy type, no matter what cruise line.

 

I would be one of those who find those kind of 'games' crude and distasteful, but maybe I'm an old fogey.

[OCruisers]

Thanks for taking the time to do this review. Very fair and balanced!

 

While Princess is the Best Fit for us, we enjoy going on other cruise lines from time to time -- keeps cruising new.

 

~~~~

[smtcan]

We have cruised on several lines although Celebrity remains our favourite. We usually choose by itinerary and price and cruised on Norwegian Jewel earlier this year. We quite enjoyed the informal atmosphere for a change, and found the food acceptable although not exciting. We were on a seven day cruise, and our only real complaint was the noise around the ship. We like entertainment in bars, but even the bars without live entertainment had the music piped in from other venues, so conversation was virtually impossible. We had an excellent cabin steward, but our friends who were in the next door cabin had a different steward and were not at all satisfied with the service they received. We would sail NCL again if the price was right, but if all things were equal we would choose Celebrity, Princess or HAL.