This diamond just returned from an ncl cruise

[USA41018]

Yes, I'm a traitor but it's my daughter's fault. She chose it. Basically there is no comparison. Carnival won hands up. The major thing I missed was my Diamond perks: free laundry, priority embark/debark, priority tender, and so much more. NCL prices were more for phone home, bingo, drinks, etc. Carnival had an edge on food, larger cabins, more activities. Didn't see any of the evening shows. Casino was good to me . Didn't win much but didnt lose much after hours and hours in the Casino. It is what it is when it comes to gambling. BTW I was on the Dawn. Next cruise is May 23 on the Carnival Breeze, home again. Any questions

[Rottweiler Puppy]

What ship was it? I sailed on the Getaway last November and it was a great ship and cruise. I would venture to say I prefer it to Carnival, but I still like Carnival as well.

[reerun25]

BTW I was on the Dawn.

 

See above for ship they wereon...

Edited April 13, 2015 by reerun25

[USA41018]

Sorry for not mentioning, our wait staff in the dining room was amazing, especially Leo. Our cabin steward was also great...ice, towel animals. We tipped extra for both. Didn't bring on wine. There is no limit but you must pay on embark $15 or $30 depending on size. If you are like me, that's more than I pay for the bottle of wine. Daughter took a large cooler filled with sodas, juice and water, no problem. Just checked it.

[USA41018]

Norwegian Dawn

[Rottweiler Puppy]

See above for ship they wereon...

 

LOL. Sometimes I wonder if my brain actually engages before reading lol. Thanks

[CAnative1]

Yes, I'm a traitor but it's my daughter's fault. She chose it. Basically there is no comparison. Carnival won hands up. The major thing I missed was my Diamond perks: free laundry, priority embark/debark, priority tender, and so much more. NCL prices were more for phone home, bingo, drinks, etc. Carnival had an edge on food, larger cabins, more activities. Didn't see any of the evening shows. Casino was good to me . Didn't win much but didnt lose much after hours and hours in the Casino. It is what it is when it comes to gambling. BTW I was on the Dawn. Next cruise is May 23 on the Carnival Breeze, home again. Any questions

 

I am a relative noob when it comes to cruising... as such, I do not get perks so that does not matter to me personally at this point (I hope to get to a point where it will).

 

Anyhow, I am going on my first NCL cruise in Nov, and the rooms and food is what will interest me in terms of comparison. What type of room were you in on NCL? Did you try Osheehans or whatever it is? Also... did you try any of their specialty restaurants, and if so, what did you think of them? I will most likely be going to the MDR for the majority of the dinners, but I would like to try at least one of the specialty restaurants when I go. Also, did you sail with any of their current promos that they have been offering?

[winddawn]

I've only sailed on Norwegian once, and that was to Alaska, but the mini suite I booked on NCL was absolutely tiny. Even smaller than the 1As I've booked on Carnival. I think both lines have their strengths. Sticking with one line helps to earn you those extra perks.

[Tapi]

Sticking with one line helps to earn you those extra perks.

 

 

True, and I do enjoy my Platinum perks on both Carnival and Royal. But sailing on Princess and Holland America for the first time the last two years opened my eyes to how unimportant loyalty to one cruise line can be, and how insignificant past guest perks can be when compared to the standard ones that other cruise lines offer, even to first time cruisers.

Edited April 14, 2015 by Tapi

[BigB0882]

I have a question! We just went on the Dream with a friend who had cruised once on the Dawn. The entire cruise he spent comparing Dream to Dawn and it was almost 100% in favor of the Dawn. It got old after a while but I just figured it was because the Dawn was his first cruise and our first cruise is always special and hard to live up to.

 

Some of the specifics:

 

He said the buffet on the Dawn was much better, Dream didn't even compare. I wouldn't be surprised by this, actually. I think the buffet on Carnival leaves a lot to be desired and the fact that it has very specific hours, leaving hours where there is nothing to eat but pizza, is aggravating. Did you find their buffet to be better, as he did? Hours, options, efficiency? He said the lines went much more quickly.

 

I am trying to think of all the other things he compared/complained about but I can't recall them now. In the end he liked Carnival and is going back with us in June because he got a bounce back offer but he wants us to try NCL badly. We have nothing against trying other lines but Carnival keeps offering me Pack and Play and other rates, no way am I paying full price for any cruise until Carnival stops those offers and I hope that is not any time soon!

[dioxide45]

Not sure it is necessarily fair to compare frequent cruiser benefits you receive on one line that you have status on as compared to another cruise line where you don't. Status benefits aside is where the comparisons should be made. If you got up to higher status on NCL, it might be more comparable?

 

Sure, priority this and that and free this and that will usually always win out to back of the line and paying full freight.

[USA41018]

First of all, I didn't use my loyalty perks as a basis of comparison. I just said I missed them. Secondly, the crew was amazing. The ship was in great shape. The ports were beautiful. All in all it was a great cruise. But, I found that prices for phone home, drinks, bingo, laundry, were more than Carnival. There was no lacking in food choices with all the specialty restaurants. In my opinion, which is subjective, the food on Carnival was a bit better. Not majorly but I preferred Carnival. Also the cabin is larger on Carnival but NCL's bathroom had Carnival beat. I loved the glassed in shower compared to Carnival's shower curtain. Activities were another area that NCL lacked in. I do not enjoy lying in the hot sun all day. This is certainly my choice. So instead I enjoy trivia and other games that Carnival offers. NCL does not offer many trivia games (3 a day) and those were at meal times. I like name that tune type of games as well as scattegories and the hasbro games that Carnival has. The casino was good to me. I didn't lose. I actually won a few bucks and by a few I mean maybe $40-$50. Not a lot but I played probably 15-20 hours during the week and that's a lot of entertainment. I don't care for NCL's ticket cash out, much prefer Carnivals casino account on your sail and sign card.

 

Another area that NCL shines is in it's lack of photographers. You can actually enjoy the ship without photographers trying to capture your every move at dinner, on elegant night and when arriving in the ports. They are not in your face.

 

All in all, it's basically what you enjoy doing on a cruise. That is the comparison between ships. Also, after 32 cruises on Carnival, I know exactly what to expect. A newbie on NCL is clueless. There are probably hundreds that prefer NCL to my one that doesn't.

[framboesa]

This made me laugh...when we cruise in carnival we always say that we are traitors :D

We sailed in one NCL ship too, but it was the Epic...when we sail in diferent companies we try to sail in similar ships, thats the only way that we can compare ;) untill now our favourites are carnival (the 2.0 ships) and Royal caribbean ;) We liked NCL,specially the shows, but we didnt love it.:)

[theriac]

 

This is how I feel. I've enjoyed all my sailings on every line, but I'll always pick Carnival If they keep offering me free or close to free cabins.

 

The only time I wouldn't is if I wanted a certain itinerary that wasn't being offered.

[clackey]

We sailed CCL, RCCL, and NCL last year. NCL had the best shows that we have seen after 15 cruises. If you stayed in the casino you missed some excellent entertainment.

[Seany527]

What's one thing you enjoyed about NCL that you wish Carnival did?

[framboesa]

What's one thing you enjoyed about NCL that you wish Carnival did?

 

Better shows and "outside tournments" (shufflboard and things like that)...I believe that is the only thing that I dont like carnival that much:the shows are not so spetacular like in other cruiselines and there are several indoor games (bingo, trivial...) that I love, but almost no outside tournments. But this is only my opinion, of course;) I love carnival :)