Norwegian Spirit or Island Princess to Mediterranean

[Karysa]

Exactly. Al the major cruise lines went to an Anytime option years ago, yet some people still seem to think only NCL does it.

 

However, to be honest, my absolute worst dining experiences concerning wait times and chaos have been with NCL and Princess. I have been choosing Anytime dining since its inception years ago and only on NCL and Princess have I been handed a pager and made to wait 30+ minutes.

 

NCL room service is the worst. There are no hot options on the breakfast menu. At least, not as of last year. Princess' is pretty limited as well, but at least they offer a hot breakfast sandwich.

 

 

Since the OP said that they are saving $1000 pp if they choose NCL over Princess, purchasing the UDP and prebooking restaurants around your port times and avoiding wait times and the banquet feel of the MDR really makes sence since the itinarary on these port intensive cruise are the same.

[KW_Cruisers]

We've enjoyed many cruises on many lines in ports all around the World. Having shared experiences with other cruisers, we have found some who always sail on the same cruise lines. Ambassadors of one or another cruise lines have little to compare. Obviously they enjoy the perks of being valued customers though.

 

Here's what we booked for our upcoming Med cruise for May 2015. At first we booked with Princess, but then found there to be some problems with time in ports and our guides were trying to include all we wanted to see and do, but were faced with time restrictions. When another on our roll call mentioned other options, we checked out some other lines and found various ports, etc. NCL Spirit includes one more port and more time in ports, which our guides appreciated. We never want to be among those standing on the dock, watching the ship leave, no matter what happens. Just to make sure, we're taking those in authority, the wives ;)

 

Now, we're on Norwegian Spirit and plan to enjoy our upcoming cruise, as we have on many other ships and lines through the years. Want details on how they compare? Okay, here's the real scoop - not $2000 difference now, depending how you book your cruise, but we booked early, then compared and changed:

 

Island Princess - $6037.30 USD partially obstructed balcony BY cabin for May 2014 (Venice to Barcelona - 12 nights)

now: $5,588.00 & $300 OBC (online balcony - Nov 29, 2014)

Norwegian Spirit - $4081.87 USD balcony cabin BD for May 2014 (1 added port, port times 1 hour more, Barcelona to Venice - 12 nights)

now: $5,90474 & $50 OBC (online balcony - Nov 29, 2014) (Guess we got good deal)

 

Island Princess -

*Mid-sized ship, so it's fairly intimate

*Golf opportunities onboard and ashore

*Swim-against-the-current pool

Ship Stats

Crew: 900

Launched: 2003

Decks: 16

Tonnage: 92,000

Passengers: 1,970

Registry: Bermuda

CDC Score: 100

 

Norwegian Spirit -

* Lively, friendly vibe

* Ultra-chic Maharini's Lounge & Nightclub

* Fun water park and club facilities for kids and teens

Ship Stats

Crew: 975

Launched: 1998

Decks: 13

Tonnage: 75,338

Passengers: 2,018

Registry: Panama

CDC Score: 97

[SuiteTraveler]

Thank you to everyone who has responded to my question! Although...I am still undecided on what to do. We want to see Barcelona, Rome, Venice, and Athens and I could only find 2 cruises for June 2015 on Norwegian and Princess. We usually cruise on Royal Caribbean out of Florida (our home) but we have used Princess in northern Europe and have been pleased with both cruiselines. I just can't figure out why the Norwegian Balcony room is $1000 less per person than Princess and would it be worth the extra money to sail on Princess???

 

I have sailed on both of these lines. The main differences are the quality of the food in the MDR and buffet with Princess having somewhat better food, traditional dining with 2 seatings and assigned tables or anytime dining in the MDR (Princess) as opposed to Freestyle dining (eat when you want where you want), formal nights (Princess) as opposed to Freestyle - no real formal nights - wear resort casual for the entire cruise if you want (NCL) - to me, this is a HUGE bonus on Med cruises. Honestly, the NCL cabins on this ship are beautiful and very well designed with plenty of storage. The bathrooms are great with separate compartments for toilet and shower enabling up to 3 people to use the bathroom at the same time.

 

 

Now, about that MDR food: Princess has very good food - I would place them very close to Celebrity and better than HAL, NCL, RCCL, Carnival. NCL's MDR food is fully satisfactory. The prime rib was excellent, we also enjoyed a great chicken curry one night and several other meals - there really wasn't anything we didn't like. It's just not quite as good as Princess or Celebrity or the really upscale cruise lines such as Crystal. On NCL I tend to choose things I know they can't screw up. They make an awesome club sandwich, great hot wings, great crab cakes and the specialty restaurants are also great! Very similar in quality to the specialty restaurants on RCCL. The buffet puts out pretzel rolls and fine cheeses in the late afternoon - the perfect snack. Really, if you can't find something good to eat on NCL, then it's really your own fault.

 

 

Med cruises are extremely port intensive. If you plan to go on this cruise to really see the ports and be off the ship all day most every day, then it is not worth the extra money to sail on Princess. On NCL, we always sail in a suite - Penthouse or above. Their suites are wonderful and the food for suite guests for breakfast and lunch is outstanding. We also prefer to dine in the specialty restaurants, although we had satisfactory experiences in the MDR as well. With a suite, you also get concierge service and can make reservations for any restaurant on the ship, even with short notice through the concierge. You also get priority embarkation and priority disembarkation with a suite. There is also a DVD player in your suite - and I typically bring some Movies and TV series on DVD's to watch while overseas. The suite bathrooms, once you get to the 2 Bedroom Family Suite are FANTASTIC - like home with separate tub and walk-in shower. However, none of that may matter to you.

 

 

What does matter is the cost and if you really plan to be spending most of your time on land on this cruise. If you plan to mainly spend time on land, my advice is save the money for your shore excursions which are much more expensive in Europe than in the Caribbean. Also, get on your sailing's Cruise Critic roll call and join up with other people for private excursions which are less expensive than the ship excursions and which will allow you to see so much more and also see the things you are actually interested in seeing - what is meaningful to you. You will find that NCL is more similar to RCCL than different.

 

 

If you decide to sail NCL, buy the dining package and consider it part of the cost of the cruise - that's how I think of this. This will enable you to eat in a specialty restaurant every night of your cruise and saves you some money on this. The best specialty restaurants on NCL are: Cagney's Steakhouse, Le Bistro (French Restaurant), Moderno (Churrascaria) and Teppanyaki. There is also La Cucina, Bamboo (Asian) and a sushi bar. The only specialty restaurant I don't particularly like is La Cucina, but then I was raised on authentic Neopolitan food which is pretty hard to beat. Many other people love La Cucina. There are also 4 complimentary dining rooms.

 

 

If this cruise begins in Barcelona, I recommend Hotel 1889 on Las Ramblas - absolutely fantastic and don't miss the spa grotto (free for hotel guests) in the basement, nor the tapas bar on the roof with panoramic views of Barcelona - only about 5 minutes from the cruise port by taxi.

Edited November 29, 2014 by SuiteTraveler