How does NCL Jewel class compare to Carnival?

[DMH15]

My inlaws said the same thing about their Pride of America cruise from several years ago, but loved their trip on the Epic and Jewel the last few years.

 

Things change

 

Things change.

 

People don't.

 

There are 2 cruise lines I did not care for as much as NCL. Funny, I never find myself on their forums. Much less posting negatives. I would rather focus on the positives in life. I will live longer. :)

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk - now Free

[PaperSniper4]

It couldn't have changed enough to make it worth paying any $$$ for. It was the worst of ALL our cruises, and you can see that we are not newbies. They would have to pay me to even think about a cruise on their line!

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

 

 

Great! Reports help keep the rates down on the NCL cruises. Thanks. :cool:

[Bobug]

I just sailed CCL Freedom in August and NCL Jewel in October. It was our 2nd time on both ships. Both in balcony rooms. We had a 2nd connecting balcony room on Freedom for the kids. We had an adults only cruise on the Jewel. Here is my Subjective Comparison:

 

Rooms: NCL is smaller and bathroom more cramped. I enjoyed the chair that reclined on the balcony on CCL and definately missed it NCL.

 

Service: Very similar. The main difference I noticed was our room steward on CCL called us by name as soon as we met him and throughout our cruise when we saw him. Our NCL room steward never called us by name and never introduced himself to us....never the less our room was kept clean and he did his job well. NCL is the king of "Washy Washy"...you can't get into a restaurant with out getting your hands disinfected.

 

Entertainment: NCL wins hands down. While I found the entertainment on the Freedom to be the best we have seen on a CCL ship, NCL's production shows, comedians, magician, and piano player were just better.

 

Food: MDR has similar taste (when I found something I wanted on NCL), but for me CCL's MDR had more choices that appealed to me. DH said he preferred the food on CCL. NCL loses in the dessert department. There were only a couple of desserts that I liked, one being the brownie sundae served only at lunch at the Blue Lagoon. Loved the the Blue Lagoon on NCL. But I similarly loved the Fish & Chips and Deli on CCL. NCL has more choices when it comes to Specialty Restaurants. We loved Moderno and did not like Mama's (La Cacina). I personnally find a bitter taste to NCL's pasta sauces that doesn't appeal to me. We did not try the Steak House on CCL. Anytime was similar to Freesyle except with Freestyle you have the choice to go elegant or not on any day based on the restaurant you went to. Anytime the Elegant night had a higher dress code in all restuarants (except the buffet) with a lowering of the dress code in all restaurants on casual nights. We did not have a wait on either ship.

 

We did not see any adults only areas on the Jewel (except the casino and late night shows and clubs), but there were very few kids on our cruise. It was definately the oldest demographics we have ever sailed with.

 

Each cruise had it's positive and negatives. The basics were the same. On a cost basis CCL was about $30 less pp per day. NCL's itinerary included an embarkation port and 3 destination ports that were new to us as well as one of our favorite Caribbean ports in Cozumel so we were willing to pay the higher price for that cruise. CCL's itinerary had one new port for us, one we enjoyed before and one port that we ended up staying on the ship for....but it fit into our schedule for a vacation with the kids and was extremely inexpensive. We had a great time on both cruises and will likely sail both again in the future.

 

The bathrooms are SMALLER on NCL than Carnival? Yikes...LOL

[jonbgd]

Look forward to NCL coming to Houston more options means better pricing on all cruiselines

 

 

 

 

I personally prefer CCL over NCL but Id rather be on a cruise than working

[WaldosPepper]

Things change.

 

People don't.

 

There are 2 cruise lines I did not care for as much as NCL. Funny, I never find myself on their forums. Much less posting negatives. I would rather focus on the positives in life. I will live longer. :)

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk - now Free

 

You understood my point exactly, Donna!

 

The sad part is, that poster thought I was upset... little did she know I was highly amused by her post! :p

 

:)

[Waterloomarc]

I've been on 6 carnival and only one NCL, the Star to Bermuda. We're booked on the Jewel in April from NOLA. I've enjoyed our Carnival cruises and still have 2 more booked so I'm definitely not a 'hater'. But to me (us) NCL was just better. Not really any one thing that blew CCL away but rather just small edges over a broad range of things. With one exception: entertainment. NCL absolutely are carnival's lunch and stuffed them in a locker!

 

Regarding the spa, that was very disappointing to me. I've grown used to the free steam rooms and saunas on CCL. Those are pay items on NCL. So definitely a tick for CCL there.

 

I'm definitely in the minority here but I prefer NCL's desserts. I like that they're not as cloyingly sweet as CCL but I realize I'm definitely outnumbered here.

 

I, of course, enjoyed the decor on NCL much more than Carnival. But the cabins are definitely smaller (balconies). On the Star I thought the bathroom was actually bigger but perhaps it's just better laid out.

 

Variety is the spice of life. Try it. If not it's only one vacation and who can be miserable on a cruise? If I could make their itineraries work i'd sail NCL (or anyone else for that matter) more often.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[aprylstar]

If you check my posts you'll find my review of the Jewel from march 2013. We had previously sailed carnival but preferred NCL for several reasons. I still loved our carnival cruise and am booked on both royal Caribbean and carnival in the next year and a half. Hoping to do NCL again in late 2015 or early 2016 ;-)

 

Sent from my SGH-I717D using Forums mobile app

[PaperSniper4]

..........On the [ed. NCL]Star I thought the bathroom was actually bigger but perhaps it's just better laid out.

 

 

I agree, I think the heads are much better designed on NCL than most other ships. I also like the enclosed shower over those on most other cruise lines' use of shower curtains. :cool:

Edited November 15, 2013 by PaperSniper4

[Barb Nahoumi]

This wasn't our experience at all - & I've cruised all the lines you have (minus Disney plus a couple more). DH disliked Carnival the most (on Conquest) while my least favorite was the Grand Princess.

 

We will be sailing the Jewel over Christmas out of NOLA, and again over Thanksgiving 2014 out of Houston. We love the flow of NCL. A couple of things not in NCL's favor would be desserts and the cabins are slightly smaller.

 

My fave dessert is icecream, and NCL always has plenty of that.