Returned from NCL cruise

[cruizinator]

This morning returned from 10 day Alaska/Glacier Bay cruise on NCL Pearl. Having been a long time Carnival cruiser...I was looking forward to seeing if the "pasture was indeed greener on the other side".

I had a wonderful cruise and if price and itinerary were right...I would definitely cruise with NCL again. I did notice some differences between CCL and NCL...so here goes:

 

Rooms(balcony): Carnival's are noticeably bigger and beds are more comfortable.

 

MDR: Carnival

Buffet: NCL..more variety

 

Entertainment: Carnival

 

Crew friendliness: NCL

 

Value: NCL..I paid less for the 10 day cruise than CCL's 8 day!

 

So..that's MY opinion..yours may vary. I still love CCL...but NCL ain't too shabby!

Edited May 19, 2014 by cruizinator

[evanAction]

Thanks for the comparison!

[shukapaw]

Thanks for your observations.

 

Brian

[champagne123]

We also recently boarded our first NCL ship and loved it. We have NEVER had a bad cruise on ANY cruise line.

 

I am always baffled when one will only sail the same cruise line. Variety is the spice of life...and you have no idea what you are missing.:D

[WindsorFred]

We also recently boarded our first NCL ship and loved it. We have NEVER had a bad cruise on ANY cruise line.

 

I am always baffled when one will only sail the same cruise line. Variety is the spice of life...and you have no idea what you are missing.:D

 

Our first cruise was on NCL and we loved it. Since then we have booked CCL mostly due to price and dates. Also as CCL is the only line that will open the balcony dividers and we cruise with our best friends and enjoy some quiet time with them enjoying cocktails after a busy day.

[winddawn]

This morning returned from 10 day Alaska/Glacier Bay cruise on NCL Pearl. Having been a long time Carnival cruiser...I was looking forward to seeing if the "pasture was indeed greener on the other side".

I had a wonderful cruise and if price and itinerary were right...I would definitely cruise with NCL again. I did notice some differences between CCL and NCL...so here goes:

 

Rooms(balcony): Carnival's are noticeably bigger and beds are more comfortable.

 

MDR: Carnival

Buffet: NCL..more variety

 

Entertainment: Carnival

 

Crew friendliness: NCL

 

Value: NCL..I paid less for the 10 day cruise than CCL's 8 day!

 

So..that's MY opinion..yours may vary. I still love CCL...but NCL ain't too shabby!

Thanks for sharing with us. I cruised NCL once a few years ago, also to Alaska. I had a junior suite and was amazed that it was so tiny! I agree that Carnival has roomier cabins. Heck, Carnival's lowest category of inside cabin is larger than the junior suite I had on NCL. I enjoyed my NCL cruise though.

[Georgiagolfer]

This morning returned from 10 day Alaska/Glacier Bay cruise on NCL Pearl. Having been a long time Carnival cruiser...I was looking forward to seeing if the "pasture was indeed greener on the other side".

I had a wonderful cruise and if price and itinerary were right...I would definitely cruise with NCL again. I did notice some differences between CCL and NCL...so here goes:

 

Rooms(balcony): Carnival's are noticeably bigger and beds are more comfortable.

 

MDR: Carnival

Buffet: NCL..more variety

Entertainment: Carnival

 

Crew friendliness: NCL

 

Value: NCL..I paid less for the 10 day cruise than CCL's 8 day!

 

So..that's MY opinion..yours may vary. I still love CCL...but NCL ain't too shabby!

 

Now this is really surprising. Our last few CCL cruises, the entertainment has been extremely lacking.

[cruizinator]

Now this is really surprising. Our last few CCL cruises, the entertainment has been extremely lacking.

 

Mike,

I will say that I haven't cruised CCL in the last 1 1/2 years...so I might be in for a rude awakening on my next Carnival cruise!:eek::eek::eek:

[Shaded Lady]

OP thanks for the commentary. We considered a cruise on the Norwegian Epic for this cruise but it involved a flight instead of a drive which was the deciding factor... but one other thing that concerned me was the number of restaurants on NCL that we weren't eligible to eat at (wrong cabin type) or where we had to pay extra... did you find that was more the case than on Carnival?

 

I'm not saying that was a deciding factor, and we'll probably try NCL someday, but it seemed quite a bit more limiting than on Carnival...

[cruizinator]

OP thanks for the commentary. We considered a cruise on the Norwegian Epic for this cruise but it involved a flight instead of a drive which was the deciding factor... but one other thing that concerned me was the number of restaurants on NCL that we weren't eligible to eat at (wrong cabin type) or where we had to pay extra... did you find that was more the case than on Carnival?

 

I'm not saying that was a deciding factor, and we'll probably try NCL someday, but it seemed quite a bit more limiting than on Carnival...

 

On Carnival...at least on MOST ships...you've got the MDR, the buffet and the Steakhouse. Thats it... and good enough for me. On NCL Pearl 2 MDR(same menu) the buffet and 8 dining venues that charged 15$-$30 per person.

I didn't eat at the pay venues but many did. Really enjoyed the buffet...had eggs benedict or omelets daily. Desserts were ok but ice cream was...really good. Especially the hard packed..which was open about 5:00pm to 9:00pm. Also ..crepe station is open approx. the same time. The lemon sorbet in MDR was amazing!

Overall...I enjoyed the food. Probably would've really enjoyed it ..if I ate at the pay venues. But...I came home a few pounds heavier and had an absolute wonderful cruise.

[erby2283]

We also recently boarded our first NCL ship and loved it. We have NEVER had a bad cruise on ANY cruise line.

 

I am always baffled when one will only sail the same cruise line. Variety is the spice of life...and you have no idea what you are missing.:D

 

Agree 100% - I've been on NCL, Carnival, Princess and RCCL and have enjoyed them all. Price is my deciding factor. :)

[Shaded Lady]

On Carnival...at least on MOST ships...you've got the MDR, the buffet and the Steakhouse. Thats it... and good enough for me. On NCL Pearl 2 MDR(same menu) the buffet and 8 dining venues that charged 15$-$30 per person.

I didn't eat at the pay venues but many did. Really enjoyed the buffet...had eggs benedict or omelets daily. Desserts were ok but ice cream was...really good. Especially the hard packed..which was open about 5:00pm to 9:00pm. Also ..crepe station is open approx. the same time. The lemon sorbet in MDR was amazing!

Overall...I enjoyed the food. Probably would've really enjoyed it ..if I ate at the pay venues. But...I came home a few pounds heavier and had an absolute wonderful cruise.

 

Thanks! Good to hear...

[Crusin6]

Now this is really surprising. Our last few CCL cruises, the entertainment has been extremely lacking.

 

I agree. The entertainment on Ncl is incredible!! A live bands and music all over the place.

 

The main showroom is always above par too

[CrusieToy]

This morning returned from 10 day Alaska/Glacier Bay cruise on NCL Pearl. Having been a long time Carnival cruiser...I was looking forward to seeing if the "pasture was indeed greener on the other side".

I had a wonderful cruise and if price and itinerary were right...I would definitely cruise with NCL again. I did notice some differences between CCL and NCL...so here goes:

 

Rooms(balcony): Carnival's are noticeably bigger and beds are more comfortable.

 

MDR: Carnival

Buffet: NCL..more variety

 

Entertainment: Carnival

 

Crew friendliness: NCL

 

Value: NCL..I paid less for the 10 day cruise than CCL's 8 day!

 

So..that's MY opinion..yours may vary. I still love CCL...but NCL ain't too shabby!

 

thanks for the info. We are doing Alaska next yr. and we are considering that

same 10 day itinerary on NCL

[Linda the Book Lover]

OP thanks for the commentary. We considered a cruise on the Norwegian Epic for this cruise but it involved a flight instead of a drive which was the deciding factor... but one other thing that concerned me was the number of restaurants on NCL that we weren't eligible to eat at (wrong cabin type) or where we had to pay extra... did you find that was more the case than on Carnival?

 

I'm not saying that was a deciding factor, and we'll probably try NCL someday, but it seemed quite a bit more limiting than on Carnival...

 

Another poster gave you the best information on dining choices. Only suite passengers may dine in Cagney's for breakfast and lunch which is one of the suite perks. We loved the Pearl and have enjoyed our time on other cruise lines as well.

[cruizinator]

thanks for the info. We are doing Alaska next yr. and we are considering that

same 10 day itinerary on NCL

 

We enjoyed it so much....that if the price is right...we're gonna do it again next year! This was our first visit to Hoonah(Icy Strait) & Sitka. We liked Hoonah...but absolutely loved Sitka. In fact... we won't go on another Alaska cruise...unless it stops in Sitka!

[SASA13]

We feel the same way, and cruise both lines. When the price is right, we go NCL, but our hearts belong to CCL

[pe4all]

We have recently begun "wandering" to different lines. I found the entertainment on NCL Breakaway far above that on CCL. I also swore I'd never try freestyle cruising, or pay for dining experiences. We did the 3 restaurant deal on Breakaway, and loved it! We enjoyed our cruise so much that we booked the Gem and Epic, and will try their 7 restaurant deal on the Gem. ($119 pp - not too bad, imho). If we like it there, we'll book it for Epic. We are paying less for those cruises than we would on a CCL cruise- even with the ultimate dining plan added on. I am now at the point where I'll try any and all lines. (though I was not impressed with RCCL. Besides their outstanding entertainment, our only "highlight" was our Grand Suite, and we paid thru the nose for that!