Would like an honest comparison between Carnival and Norwegian

[Socref124]

I found a nice deal on a 2 day cruise to nowhere on the Norwegian Dawn out of my home port in Tampa. It leaves on a Friday afternoon and comes back on Sunday, so minimal vacation days are needed for me to do this. I have booked it for that reason and to try out another line. I am very satisfied with Carnival so far, but I do like to test the waters.

 

What differences can I expect?

 

Thanks!

 

We would join you but will have just returned from our Dream cruise. We really want to try NCL again before our POA cruise in 2015.

[topguy]

I've sailed Carnival and NCL numerous times. I would rate the food about the same in the MDR. I enjoyed the Freestyle part of NCL in that you didn't have to rush to make a preset dining time. I'm on a schedule at work. I don't need another one on vacation.:)

I also like the variety of dining options on the NCL ships, even though they cost a little extra, a brazilian steakhouse, goumet steakhouse, japanese habachi, italian, etc. I also thought that the entertainment on NCL far exceeded Carnival. I don't know if you will really get the same experience on just a short CTN whether it is Carnival or NCL.

[Tampa cruiser1963]

I know i could research and find answer to my question but i will be lazy...what is the date of this ctn?

Nov. 15

[Cindy]

This excellent review has lots of comparisons:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1851647

[Lovefuninthesun]

Looks as if we might be trying NCL for the first time next year.

 

2014 brings our 40th wedding anniversary and we wanted to do something a little more special than our normal cruise. However, Carnival itineraries for October 2014 show little variation.

 

So we are looking at NCL cruise through the Panama Canal (13 days?), leaves from LA and finishes right here in Tampa.

[ScottsSweetie]

We are platinum on Carnival and have sailed on one NCL cruise - Norwegian Pearl. Differences:

 

Rooms a bit smaller on NCL, but that doesn't matter to me at all.

 

Entertainment better on NCL.

 

You will see officers EVERYWHERE on NCL - not so much on Carnival (but maybe not on a CTN).

 

NCL's buffet is 10x better than Carnival - Carnival's dining room food is 10x better than NCL. NCL does do anytime dining very well (we do not care for it on Carnival).

 

We book cruises based on price, homeport and itinerary - would absolutely book and enjoy another NCL cruise!

[AnitaVacation]

However, Carnival itineraries for October 2014 show little variation.

 

 

I agree......I am seeing more and more of the same itineraries from Carnival....Florida, Nassau, Freeport.....Florida, Nassau, Freeport.....some are just Nassau, Freeport.....

 

Honestly....we cruise just for the cruise.....but I do think Carnival needs to step up their game on itineraries .... perhaps they need to step up and buy their own private island so they have better access...(I love private island day)....

[kwbound]

NCL's suite perks are AWESOME. I'm happy they are coming to Houston to give Carnival some more competition. On my 2 NCL cruises it seemed that the passenger demographic was a little older and not as racially diverse as you find on Carnival and that was a bit of a negative.

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

We took a 2-night cruise on the Pearl a couple of years ago.

 

While we would not do that again, I highly recommend giving NCL a try. Do try and follow-up with a longer sailing (can't say enough about the Epic)!

 

Be forewarned - on our Pearl two nighter they placed the debarkation info (luggage tags, customs form, etc) on the bed the very first night. Kind of depressing to come back from dinner and see that! :eek:

 

Tom

[JasonV1]

I like NCL, but it is really easy to overspend with all the pay restaurants. I did the Epic inaugural out of Miami and I blew more money on that cruise than any other to date.

 

Plus now that they avoid Carib. hurricane season (for the most part) I shifted away from them to other lines.

 

I found a nice deal on a 2 day cruise to nowhere on the Norwegian Dawn out of my home port in Tampa. It leaves on a Friday afternoon and comes back on Sunday, so minimal vacation days are needed for me to do this. I have booked it for that reason and to try out another line. I am very satisfied with Carnival so far, but I do like to test the waters.

 

What differences can I expect?

 

Thanks!

[sailfirst]

I think they are pretty close rooms are larger on Carnival entertainment better on NCL. I have been on 20+ cruises different lines only one I was a little disappointed with and I think the crew were having a bad week it was on ccl right after a hurricane. I cruised that same ship before and after that and it was fine so you never know. Been on the Dawn nice ship like the spirit class on ccl

[In2why]

Food on Carnival is better. There were a few meals I couldn't even eat because the only taste they had was salt. I think it also depends on which ships you are comparing. An older ship on one line will not compare to a much larger and newer ship on another line.

[tootsiescurly]

NCL's suite perks are AWESOME. I'm happy they are coming to Houston to give Carnival some more competition. On my 2 NCL cruises it seemed that the passenger demographic was a little older and not as racially diverse as you find on Carnival and that was a bit of a negative.

The butler was niec but we did not use him very often. The one important we asked the concierge to do, he screwed up big time. Did enjoy the 2 bedroom suite and the pillow selection. The private pool was outstanding. The food was so-so. We have decided our next new cruise adventure will be Celebrity, HAL, Princess, Oceana or Regent.

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

...We have decided our next new cruise adventure will be Celebrity, HAL, Princess, Oceana or Regent.

 

Celebrity - Solstice class ship... that'd be my vote! :D

 

Tom

[kwbound]

The butler was niec but we did not use him very often. The one important we asked the concierge to do, he screwed up big time. Did enjoy the 2 bedroom suite and the pillow selection. The private pool was outstanding. The food was so-so. We have decided our next new cruise adventure will be Celebrity, HAL, Princess, Oceana or Regent.

 

The suite perks we likes best were priority embarkation and debarkation. It was great to be escorted down to the front of the lines. The afternoon snacks were nice too.

[stormynow]

20+ cruises on both and after a few drinks wouldn't know which one I'm on. So to say very much the same.

[marym933]

Food on Carnival is better. There were a few meals I couldn't even eat because the only taste they had was salt. I think it also depends on which ships you are comparing. An older ship on one line will not compare to a much larger and newer ship on another line.

 

Totally agree with you about the food. It wasn't so bad the first 2 days but got worse each and every day.

 

We decided to try NCL Dawn from Tampa since the itinerary was a little different from the Legend, plus we had been on the Legend twice and Miracle once.

 

We really didn't like Freestyle dining. The saunas and steam rooms cost extra. The cabins are a lot smaller. The entertainment was just okay. The Deal or No Deal show cost $19.99 to participate. They played it twice on our 7 day cruise. Of course, I did win an 8X10 photo, which cost about the same.

 

For the poster that wants to try a NCL cruise before going on the POA, they are totally different. We loved the POA!

[dna529]

I believe that they are more alike than not. We enjoy the Freestyle Dining concept on NCL. I think the rooms are bigger on CCL as well. I haven't been on a CCL cruise in almost 10 years, but I would have to agree that the food was slightly better than NCL. I will know for sure next month when I try CCL again! I would not hesitate to book with either cruiseline.:)

[LOVECRUISING100%]

We've sailed both...and they are pretty even in the 'bargain for your buck' sorta way....

 

Here are some of my observations...

 

As previously stated by another poster...food is subjective....we have never had a meal that was 'bad' on either cruiseline

 

Carnival has larger/more spacious cabins...better layout? NCL cabins can be tiny, especially on the older ships, so watch what you are booking...

 

NCL wins hands-down in the entertainment category....Carnivals entertainment seems more 'passenger participant' (karaoke, triva, etc), whereas NCL seems to put on more 'shows'

 

I agree with the above poster regarding concierge...uselsss....just another pocket to tip...

 

I loved our cruise on the EPIC.....my husband was not a fan of the cabin layout...

 

Carnivals decor borders on gaudy....especially in the mdr

 

NCL's muster drill was quick and painless....usually held in an indoor venue...Our Carnival experience is usually standing outside, waiting, waiting, waiting....

 

We love the capability of bringing wine onboard with Carnival....and also that we can order bottle(s) of liquor in our cabin...it is a little pricey, but not nearly as pricey as ordering liquor on NCL

 

I think NCL has a better 'points' program for returning customers...I'm already platnium....

 

I really like booking with Carnival's 'early saver' program...NCL does not offer this (yet) and it can be a hassle to get a credit if the price of your cabin drops....but you can take an upgrade if you want...

 

We sail with whichever line offers us the deal we are looking for....

Ditto what she said .. : ) either way .. its no cooking no cleaning.. sounds like a win win situation.. Have a great time !!

[LOVECRUISING100%]

My nephew works on the NCL - Pride of America .. I've taken him on 2 Carnival Cruises and when I asked him what he thought about the difference between the two cruise lines, he said not much other than his ship doesn't have a casino and a liquor store..

[tootsiescurly]

Celebrity - Solstice class ship... that'd be my vote! :D

 

Tom

Actually, we were thinking Celebrity. Just not as impressed with the Epic as you were. The concierge everyone loves screwed up the one important thing we asked him to do. We actually did not use him much. Loved the suite and the pool. Epic Club was nice too. The Eastern Caribbean is no where close to being as nice as the western.

[Socref124]

We are platinum on Carnival and have sailed on one NCL cruise - Norwegian Pearl. Differences:

 

Rooms a bit smaller on NCL, but that doesn't matter to me at all.

 

Entertainment better on NCL.

 

You will see officers EVERYWHERE on NCL - not so much on Carnival (but maybe not on a CTN).

 

NCL's buffet is 10x better than Carnival - Carnival's dining room food is 10x better than NCL. NCL does do anytime dining very well (we do not care for it on Carnival).

 

We book cruises based on price, homeport and itinerary - would absolutely book and enjoy another NCL cruise!

 

I am curious as to why you don't care for Carnival's Anytime Dinning? We have only done ATD on Princess and Carnival and haven't experienced any problems so far.

We thought the exact opposite on food, but that was 10 years ago. We thought NCL's main Dinning Room food was far superior and Carnival's buffet was far superior. If NCL still does the Chocolate Buffet the way they did it 10 years ago, it's the best we have ever seen. The entire MDR had every chocolate display imaginable. So much chocolate you couldn't have one piece of everything. It was unbelievable.

[Socref124]

My nephew works on the NCL - Pride of America .. I've taken him on 2 Carnival Cruises and when I asked him what he thought about the difference between the two cruise lines, he said not much other than his ship doesn't have a casino and a liquor store..

 

Doesn't get much more honest than that. What does your nephew do on POA? If he is still there in 2015, and we remember, we can say hi to him.:D

I have been saqying for years that CCL, NCL and RCCL are more alike than different. With NCL's and Royal's newer ships that might not be the case. I don't know because we haven't been on one yet. We would love to try Epic or Breakawy and Oasis or Allure one of these days.

[bdklein]

Milk was not available at every meal, unless you asked

 

So it is available every meal!!!

Edited June 13, 2013 by bdklein

[halos]

20+ cruises on both and after a few drinks wouldn't know which one I'm on. So to say very much the same.

 

:)

It's just a matter of perspective I guess.

 

This is one example of what NCL is like.

On our last cruise, we booked the Chef's Dinner.

yes, it was more $$$ than CCL's. It was $89 pp. The dinner and wine pairings were as any Chef's Dinner, exquisite. The Chef was amazing. One of the dinner guests was speaking to this chef who was Indian and asked if he'd at some point during the cruise, cook us an Indian dinner. He immediately agreed. So the 12 of us gathered again a few nights later and were taken back to the same room and had another magnificnet meal as a group. We also were given a behind the scenes tour...much more extensive than the regular galley tour.

 

I've posted this one before....On our very first NCL cruise during the crew talent show, one of the social hostesses did a belly dance. She was amazing. When we were hanging out with her one night during one of the deck parties (I think it was a Pirate theme that night), we told her she should do a belly dance class. She turned to the CD who was right next to us and asked if she could put it in the schedule, he immediately agreed and two days later it was in the schedule. About 30-40 of us showed up and had a blast. Their schedule is not set in stone. Carnival's seems to be..no movement or changes. On our last CCL sailing, we had rough seas...shows cancelled and no plan B. Considering we were in the Pacific where rough seas are totally the norm, there should very well have been a plan B.

 

Unless you require or ask for somethign totally insane, NCL seems to provide you with whatever you want.

This is the difference and it is not a small one...but it costs them NOTHING.

All cruise lines should work like this.

Edited June 13, 2013 by halos