NCL to Carnival

[misstopgun]

My husband said today that he wants to return to Costa Maya. The problem is, the only Carnival ship that sails there is the Carnival Dream.

 

We have been on the Dream twice and though we did enjoy our cruises, We both agreed it was too big and felt more impersonal for our liking. It seemed you had to wait in line for anything, and in the casino where we spend most of our evenings, we were just another face in the crowd.

 

He noticed NCL also sails to Costa Maya and the pricing is comparable.

 

Can someone tell me who has cruised both lines the pros and cons and differences.

 

We are diamond on Carnival but have also sailed on Princess and Royal. Husband uses a walker for distances.

 

Your input would be greatly appreciated. Tell me about the entertainment, the food, and the service.

 

Thanks so much!

[Warm Breezes]

We have sailed CCL 5x and NCL 2x with a future cruise booked on both. The following is my subjective opinion so take it for what you will:

 

Entertainment: NCL has better nightly entertainment but their Bingo is more expensive if you are into that. The daily activities are similar.

 

Food: NCL has a better buffet and Blue Lagoon has great comfort food. CCL beats NCL in the desert department. MDR food is similar. Speciality Food is similar but NCL has more restaurants to choose from. Freestyle is like Anytime.

 

Service: I found the service to be similar on the 2 lines.

[ldlewis45]

We have sailed CCL 5x and NCL 2x with a future cruise booked on both. The following is my subjective opinion so take it for what you will:

 

Entertainment: NCL has better nightly entertainment but their Bingo is more expensive if you are into that. The daily activities are similar.

 

Food: NCL has a better buffet and Blue Lagoon has great comfort food. CCL beats NCL in the desert department. MDR food is similar. Speciality Food is similar but NCL has more restaurants to choose from. Freestyle is like Anytime.

 

Service: I found the service to be similar on the 2 lines.

Just finished my first cruise with NCL, and my three previous cruises were with Carnival. I agree with everything Warm Breezes said about CCL and NCL. Overall, it's more similar than not, but NCL does beat Carnival hands-down in the buffet food area.

[vols_159]

If you go to costa maya. Book maya chan i absolutly love maya chan! I'd book a cruise to costa maya just to go back to maya chan

[terrydtx]

Just finished my first cruise with NCL, and my three previous cruises were with Carnival. I agree with everything Warm Breezes said about CCL and NCL. Overall, it's more similar than not, but NCL does beat Carnival hands-down in the buffet food area.

 

I have been on CCL, RCI, X and HAL, with our first NCL booked this year. CCL clearly has the worse buffet of any cruise line we have been on, so hearing this about NCL's buffet is good news.

[emcelh]

I would agree with Idlewis and Warmbreezes about food, entertainment, and service. The big difference is that there is no traditional fixed-time dining on NCL and, instead of Elegant Night, NCL has Dress Up or Not night and fewer people dress up. We also enjoy all the dining choices. Although there's a cover charged for all the specialty restaurants on NCL it's nice to have that option.

[dpg9300]

We have sailed CCL 5x and NCL 2x with a future cruise booked on both. The following is my subjective opinion so take it for what you will:

 

Entertainment: NCL has better nightly entertainment but their Bingo is more expensive if you are into that. The daily activities are similar.

 

Food: NCL has a better buffet and Blue Lagoon has great comfort food. CCL beats NCL in the desert department. MDR food is similar. Speciality Food is similar but NCL has more restaurants to choose from. Freestyle is like Anytime.

 

Service: I found the service to be similar on the 2 lines.

 

Agree! The only other differences that come to mind are that on NCL, suite = more space + nice perks, and on Carnival, suite = more space. And eating at odd/late hours was much easier on NCL. Also, NCL went all-out for the CC Meet and Greet: there were many high-level officers there to greet and answer questions; we had snacks and drinks and a very nice meeting spot, as well as a bridge tour offer to all attendees. Carnival's M&G was rather meh. But these are minor things. Overall, I'd be as happy on one line as the other.

[skyfire53]

I have only been on one CCL cruise and 2 NCL ones...I was not particularly impressed with CCL, but it was good enough to get us hooked on cruising...lol...I like the choices for the specialty food better on NCL and it is less expensive. I cant say enough about the staff on NCL....they are incredible!!!! My DD and I have found a home on NCL :)....In fact, we have done the one out of NOL to Costa Maya 2X and love the fact that it has 4 ports instead of just 3 on CCL. I want to run away and be a beach bum on Roatan ;) ...love that itinerary

[jackparts]

My two cents. NCL has real anytime dining, CCL is a close comparision Food is subjective, free food great some nights, terrible next. A lot depends on the moods of yourself and the cooks. I did like the service on NCL more than CCL, have had great room and dining personnel. CCL seemed like a more relaxed, fun line, more smiles that seemed real and willing to help. Either way, Maya Chan has had such GREAT comments that I can't wait to cruise in NOV. Realistically, any cruise can be as good as you want it to be. I just relax and deal with whatever whenever.

[smeyer418]

aren't the CCL cabins in the basic categories bigger?

[emcelh]

aren't the CCL cabins in the basic categories bigger?

 

Yes, but the cabins on most NCL ships are so well designed that storage has never been an issue. I like the bathrooms better too.

[fergusonvt]

I loved both my NCL cruises and loved my CCL cruise in Feb. I wouldn't hesitate to switch back and forth between the lines. My thoughts were (my opinion only) that the MDR's were comparable although CCL's WCMC beats anything that NCL has for dessert. The buffets were better on NCL with more choices at lunch and dinner although the CCL salad bar rocked. We didn't see any shows on CCL but I love the shows on NCL. Go for it. I don't think you will be sorry.

[HarpHarp]

Our last cruise was in the Med on the Breeze last year, our 2nd CCL cruise, after several NCL trips. Here is what we found.

The food is about equal, though I did prefer the buffet on NCL. The grill , especially the bratwurst on a pretzel roll on NCL is great but I think Carnival generally has better desserts. Guy's burgers are ok but the fries are outstanding. Hate the singing waiters though:rolleyes:

Carnival's cabins are bigger, but the bathrooms are smaller. Never ran into storage problems on either line. The Breeze's decor is lovely, and I really like the lanai hot tubs. They were never crowded, & the one area became my sea day hang out.

 

The entertainment on NCL has been outstanding on evey one of our NCL cruises. We loved Vladimr, Fabrizio, Bernie Martini, Jan Searl, Kenny the Human Jukebox, & Dave Heenan. We hope to see Fire & Ice again on the Breakaway. The entertainment on Carnival, except for the occasional fly in or ship band is bad & WAY TOO LOUD. We had an extra sea day on each of our last cruises. Had a ball on NCL & was bored to tears on Carnival.

[misstopgun]

Thanks everyone so much for your replies. This is very encouraging. It looks like we will be looking for our spring cruise with NCL in mind.

 

I agree about the shows on Carnival. We don't go anymore. I would look forward to better variety on the buffet as well.

 

And dining room food as someone mentioned can be good or just okay depending on the chef on the ship.

 

Don't misunderstand me, we love Carnival. We just want to go back to Costa Maya without sailing on our least favorite ship.

 

I did notice there are many classes of suites on NCL. What in comparable to a balcony, Ocean Suite, or Grand Suite on Carnival? Thanks again for your feedback!

[Sauer-kraut]

I did notice there are many classes of suites on NCL. What in comparable to a balcony, Ocean Suite, or Grand Suite on Carnival? Thanks again for your feedback!

 

The mini-suite isn't a suite, more deluxe balcony so there are no suite amenities for this class of cabin.

 

The real suites offer butler service and goes up from there to one grade that will give you en suite spirits of your choice 3 bottles and mixers and garnish.

[mizLORInj]

They are very comparable. Note Carnival's cabins are larger. So a balcony cabin on Carnival is more like a minisuite on NCL.

IMO service is similar, entertainment and food better on NCL.

Still, I sail both (and others!).

[ManyMore]

I have sailed both line and most recently NCL in June. I found the food less tan desirable on NCL on all their cruises but food is subjective. The smaller cabin was also very noticable to us on NCL. We had to step over the corner of the bed on one side to get on the side of the bed and the other side was up against the wall.

[texast518]

My husband said today that he wants to return to Costa Maya. The problem is, the only Carnival ship that sails there is the Carnival Dream.

 

We have been on the Dream twice and though we did enjoy our cruises, We both agreed it was too big and felt more impersonal for our liking. It seemed you had to wait in line for anything, and in the casino where we spend most of our evenings, we were just another face in the crowd.

 

He noticed NCL also sails to Costa Maya and the pricing is comparable.

 

Can someone tell me who has cruised both lines the pros and cons and differences.

 

We are diamond on Carnival but have also sailed on Princess and Royal. Husband uses a walker for distances.

 

Your input would be greatly appreciated. Tell me about the entertainment, the food, and the service.

 

Thanks so much!

 

Really like NCL suites, staff, @ smaller ships. Did Costa Maya 3 times last yr out of NOLA doing again in Oct on Jewel. Aft penthouse suite, we enjoy on Jewell & 4 ports.

[ShelleyQT]

After 13 Carnival cruises (including the Dream), we finally tried NCL last year and loved it! We now have two more NCL cruises booked for the coming year.

 

On our NCL cruise we had:

~Much better service, especially in the dining room.

~Friendly greetings from every crew member all day long!

~Some delicious food, some not so good (just like Carnival)

~TINY balcony room. The layout was particularly bad with barely any room to walk past the bed to get to the bathroom. We always have balcony cabins on Carnival and were used to more space. Contrary to a previous post on this thread, storage, if not a PROBLEM, was definitely a challenge.

~Really, really fun nightly entertainment. Never a dull moment. Carnival leaves us bored 2-3 nights per 7 night cruise (this wasn't always the case, but with cutbacks...)

~Same chair hogs as Carnival

 

Really, I'd say the only thing NCL didn't do better (or at least as well) as Carnival is the standard balcony room. Not a big deal because we are not big people.

 

Overall, we came away loving the NCL product and we can't wait to go again!