RCI and Carnival cruiser considering NCL

[kwazi07]

Hi everyone. I love Royal and I like Carnival. We are considering a cruise on NCL Getaway, but we are also considering whatever ships leave from Tampa or Port Canaveral. I have a few questions.

How are the ships that leave from Tampa and PC? I know Getaway is wonderful but it is so far from us in St. Pete.

What is freestyle dining like? Do you have to make reservations? Are long waits common?

Any other differences between Royal/Carnival and NCL?

In your experience, what is the best value?

 

Thanks in advance!

 

 

 

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[Hikini]

I can only answer your question about freestyle dining.

 

You don't have to make a reservation for the MDR's, although you can if you really want to. It's like being at a land based restaurant where you walk in, ask for a table for how many you are, and most of the time you are led to a table in just moments.

 

At peak dining times, and depending on the size of your group, you MAY have to wait a few minutes but in our 10 NCL cruises, even with 8 of us once, we haven't had to wait longer than maybe 10 minutes.

 

If you are dining in a specialty restaurant it is highly recommended that you make a reservation, but my DH and I have had plenty meals in the specialties without making a reservation. Just being in the area and decided to give it a try and they were able to seat us. With more than 2 people I'll bet it would be more chance that might not happen.

 

We love NCL for their service and for their freestyle.

 

Enjoy whatever you choose!

[xcell]

What is freestyle dining like? Do you have to make reservations? Are long waits common?

 

- As previous poster said, depends on the time - we have kids so eat early, so never really had to wait for a table BUT I found the service terrible and ended up eating in the buffet a lot

- Tried lunch and they even screwed up nachos... undercooked a seafood burger... just an over all bad experience (based on my experiences with RCCL and Disney)

- When we went to the Breakaway - decided to go for the specialty restaurants and had a better experience.

 

Any other differences between Royal/Carnival and NCL?

 

- they charge a service fee of $5 or something petty to sign up for an internet package

 

In your experience, what is the best value?

 

I'm pretty loyal to royal but if the price is right, I can make most cruises enjoyable...

Edited September 19, 2014 by xcell

[kwazi07]

What is freestyle dining like? Do you have to make reservations? Are long waits common?

 

- As previous poster said, depends on the time - we have kids so eat early, so never really had to wait for a table BUT I found the service terrible and ended up eating in the buffet a lot

- Tried lunch and they even screwed up nachos... undercooked a seafood burger... just an over all bad experience (based on my experiences with RCCL and Disney)

- When we went to the Breakaway - decided to go for the specialty restaurants and had a better experience.

 

Any other differences between Royal/Carnival and NCL?

 

- they charge a service fee of $5 or something petty to sign up for an internet package

 

In your experience, what is the best value?

 

I'm pretty loyal to royal but if the price it right, I can make most cruises enjoyable...

 

 

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Is the food good on NCL? We found the food impeccable on Carnival. It was good on Royal but not as good as CCL.

 

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[xcell]

If you found the food better on CCL then you will hate NCL because I found the food on RCCL better than NCL ...

 

BUT - I like the pub food at o'sheehan bar plus the beer pticher was super cheap (which makes the food always taste better) - LOL.

 

I like the fact there were waterslides on NCL - not much to do on RCCL...

[kcwingwalker]

Is the food good on NCL? We found the food impeccable on Carnival. It was good on Royal but not as good as CCL.

 

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Oh my we are just the opposite! I was unhappy with the food on Carnival but have to admit the potato salad was very good. The chocolate melting cake is over hyped. Have always enjoyed the food on NCL.

 

Food is subjective. I didn't go hungry on Carnival and you won't go hungry on NCL.:)

[rednose83]

Hi everyone. I love Royal and I like Carnival. We are considering a cruise on NCL Getaway, but we are also considering whatever ships leave from Tampa or Port Canaveral. I have a few questions.

How are the ships that leave from Tampa and PC? I know Getaway is wonderful but it is so far from us in St. Pete.

What is freestyle dining like? Do you have to make reservations? Are long waits common?

Any other differences between Royal/Carnival and NCL?

In your experience, what is the best value?

 

Thanks in advance!

 

 

 

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I am originally from Clearwater. The drive from Clearwater (or St.Pete) is super easy!

 

We love the Freestyle dining. It's so nice not to be tied to a certain time/place to eat dinner.

 

My experience on Royal is limited but it felt very "pretentious" to me. I'm hoping that it's different on my cruise next week. Entertainment on NCL is heads and shoulders better than on CCL.

 

I have the best time on NCL, so I consider them the best value, then CCL, the Royal. Frankly some of the prices that I see for some of the Royal cruises (and I don't mean only Oasis/Allure) are simply astounding.

[kwazi07]

I am originally from Clearwater. The drive from Clearwater (or St.Pete) is super easy!

 

We love the Freestyle dining. It's so nice not to be tied to a certain time/place to eat dinner.

 

My experience on Royal is limited but it felt very "pretentious" to me. I'm hoping that it's different on my cruise next week. Entertainment on NCL is heads and shoulders better than on CCL.

 

I have the best time on NCL, so I consider them the best value, then CCL, the Royal. Frankly some of the prices that I see for some of the Royal cruises (and I don't mean only Oasis/Allure) are simply astounding.

Do you think the drive from St. pete to Miami can be done in the same day as the cruise? We stayed two nights in PC before our Royal cruise and we found it not necessary.

 

 

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[kwazi07]

Is the food good on NCL? We found the food impeccable on Carnival. It was good on Royal but not as good as CCL.

 

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

 

Oh my we are just the opposite! I was unhappy with the food on Carnival but have to admit the potato salad was very good. The chocolate melting cake is over hyped. Have always enjoyed the food on NCL.

 

Food is subjective. I didn't go hungry on Carnival and you won't go hungry on NCL.:)

I really agree, WCMC is over hyped.

 

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[rednose83]

Do you think the drive from St. pete to Miami can be done in the same day as the cruise? We stayed two nights in PC before our Royal cruise and we found it not necessary.

 

 

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Yes, we have done it a few times. We have also driven to Naples and then stayed one night and finished the rest the next day.

[rednose83]

Drive 266 miles, 3 h 47 min

 

 

This route has tolls.

 

St Petersburg, FL

Continue to I-375 W

0.5 mi / 2 min

Take I-275 S and I-75 S to NE 2nd Ave in Miami. Take exit 2D from I-95 S

264 mi / 3 h 42 min

Continue on NE 2nd Ave. Take Port Blvd to N America Way

1.6 mi / 4 min

 

Merge onto NE 2nd Ave

0.4 mi

 

Turn left onto NE 5th St

0.1 mi

 

Continue straight onto Port Blvd

0.8 mi

 

Slight right onto Caribbean Way

171 ft

 

Turn right to stay on Caribbean Way

164 ft

 

Turn right to stay on Caribbean Way

0.1 mi

 

Take the 1st right onto N American Way

200 ft

 

Turn right onto N America Way

Destination will be on the left

220 ft

 

Dante B. Fascell Port of Miami

1015 N America Way, Miami, FL 33132

[kwazi07]

Drive 266 miles, 3 h 47 min

 

 

This route has tolls.

 

St Petersburg, FL

Continue to I-375 W

0.5 mi / 2 min

Take I-275 S and I-75 S to NE 2nd Ave in Miami. Take exit 2D from I-95 S

264 mi / 3 h 42 min

Continue on NE 2nd Ave. Take Port Blvd to N America Way

1.6 mi / 4 min

 

Merge onto NE 2nd Ave

0.4 mi

 

Turn left onto NE 5th St

0.1 mi

 

Continue straight onto Port Blvd

0.8 mi

 

Slight right onto Caribbean Way

171 ft

 

Turn right to stay on Caribbean Way

164 ft

 

Turn right to stay on Caribbean Way

0.1 mi

 

Take the 1st right onto N American Way

200 ft

 

Turn right onto N America Way

Destination will be on the left

220 ft

 

Dante B. Fascell Port of Miami

1015 N America Way, Miami, FL 33132

Hmm. I would be worried about traffic but 4hrs isn't bad.

 

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[rhinomike]

We don care for RCL.

 

Probably get slammed here on the NCL forum. Lol.

 

But we like Carnival better than NCL. Better food. Better entertainment. We also like traditional dining.

 

But we have been sailing on NCL quite a bit lately. This is due to better itineraries. Seems like NCL has better ports and more Ports. Carnival has more sea days. We like Ports.

 

If itinerary is important to you like it is to us we give NCL the overall advantage.

[rednose83]

We don care for RCL.

 

Probably get slammed here on the NCL forum. Lol.

 

But we like Carnival better than NCL. Better food. Better entertainment.

 

Have you been on Carnival lately? Because the entertainment is now the passengers in most cases :cool: I'm not knocking CCL because you can tell by my signature that I have sailed them many times and have one more scheduled but I can't imagine their current entertainment being better than anyone's except maybe the local elementary school :D which is sad really because they used to have decent shows.

[rednose83]

Hmm. I would be worried about traffic but 4hrs isn't bad.

 

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The only place we've ever run into traffic is in Miami. We leave early in the morning like 6:30-7am. But we once traveled with family who left at 9 am and they made it in plenty of time....I'd be worried sick.

[rhinomike]

Have you been on Carnival lately? Because the entertainment is now the passengers in most cases :cool: I'm not knocking CCL because you can tell by my signature that I have sailed them many times and have one more scheduled but I can't imagine their current entertainment being better than anyone's except maybe the local elementary school :D which is sad really because they used to have decent shows.

 

Yes. We cruise in CCL frequently. We like the entertainment.

 

Our last cruise on the Spirit. The entertainment was not great. It was just ok. Cheesie magician and boring shows.

[rednose83]

Yes. We cruise in CCL frequently. We like the entertainment.

 

Our last cruise on the Spirit. The entertainment was not great. It was just ok. Cheesie magician and boring shows.

 

 

Maybe that's the difference. My last cruise was on the Breakaway and Burn the Floor and Rock of Ages blew the Breeze's Hasbro and Legends out of the water :D

 

I do like CCL's comedy better.

Edited September 20, 2014 by rednose83

[rhinomike]

Maybe that's the difference. My last cruise was on the Breakaway and Burn the Floor and Rock of Ages blew the Breeze's Hasbro and Legends out of the water :D

 

I do like CCL's comedy better.

 

Yes. I have not been on any of the newer larger ships.

[mizLORInj]

I suggest you try Norwegian to see for yourself. I'm very glad I did!

[JayinAZ]

IMO, the 3 major lines are very similar (CCL, RCCL, NCL). If you like any one of them, you'll probably like the other 2. They all have their version of freestyle so don't expect anything magical even though NCL came up with it first. There can be huge price differences for reasons I can't explain so pick the ship, itinerary, and price that fits you best.

Any cruise is a good cruise!

[Siora7777]

I thought the food was better on NCL then RCL overall because of all the variety. The food was different all the time where RCL was repetitive and limited. NCL has more options in the buffet for every meal. Both MDR's were good, RCL's MDR food was better quality.

[MaryL31]

Just got off the Sun on Monday...first NCL cruise, but have cruised with RCI 5 times...NOS and FOS. I found that opinions on food varied greatly before our recent cruise, and this thread is no different. My thoughts on NCL's food compared to RCI: NCL is better, overall. However, I found the selection in the MDR is rather boring. Specialty restaurants were good. I like the choices in RCI's MDR better, and can actually take or leave Chops and Portofino on RCI. The Sun's staff made embarkation/debarkation and port days on and off ship painless; much more organized than RCI, but to be fair, the Sun is a much smaller ship than NOS or FOS.

[carsaw]

Me and my husband have sailed on Royal, Carnival and NCL. The best food in the dining room is on Carnival, then Royal and last NCL. We went to the dining room once on the Breakaway. I have never seen anyone do that to a filet mignon in my life, it was so dried out and tastless. I also have never seen servers delivering food to the wrong tables and standing there laughing about it on any cruise. After that we went to Le Bistro, Cagneys and La Cucina (Cagneys and Le Bistro excellent!) As far as buffets, Royal is the best, then NCL last Carnival. The freestyle concept is nice on NCL and we really enjoyed OSheehans but if we ever go on NCL again we will buy the dining package, well worth the money.

[ivanrocko]

Do you think the drive from St. pete to Miami can be done in the same day as the cruise? We stayed two nights in PC before our Royal cruise and we found it not necessary.

 

Yes, it can be done, but it's better to arrive the day before cruise. Also try to go without tolls via Road 60 from Brandon to Vero Beach, and then south on I-95 to Ft Lauderdale or Miami and enjoy new NCL Getaway, or RC Oasis Class or Freedom Class.

 

Sadly, Tampa doesn't have any new cruises. Their Port can not accommodate the new bigger cruises.

 

 

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[Tatka]

We sailed on all lines. This year we sailed on Breakaway, which is a sister to Getaway. We thought food was Much better than on our other NCL cruises and better than on CCL, but we are not big fans of CCL. Entertainment is better on Norwegian.