Norwegian vs Carnival

[Markanddonna]

If I were booking last minute, it would definitely be with NCL because of Freestyle dining.

We were on Carnival in Dec and while many aspects were good, we couldn't change from late dining to either early or anytime...we did try. The biggest problem with late dining was that the tables were often seated with just one lonely couple as the others do not show up. We were invited to join another table and had a nice time after that but our original waiters were NOT happy.

 

Carnival was NOT a fun ship- rather grumpy. The crew was great as was the cabin, but they are perhaps the lowest in the entertainment arena.

 

The food was pretty good and we enjoyed the cruise.

 

We are mostly NCL and RCL cruisers. I might jump from NCL if there is one more change!

Edited May 22, 2015 by Markanddonna

[MATHA531]

Carnival has some understanding what their clients prefer. Carnival serves coke products; the real thing. Norwegian sticks its clients with undrinkable pepsi products. When was the last tie anybody asked for a rum and pepsi?

Edited May 22, 2015 by MATHA531

[fergusonvt]

We like both lines. We found them pretty comparable. CCL has the best aft wrap cabins and they are a lot cheaper than an NCL suite. I know there are no perks but the balconies are super duper. Food was pretty comparable also in my opinion. We didn't see any shows on our CCL cruise so I can't compare but NCL has great shows. CCL has faster to the fun which gets you on this ship faster, in your cabin faster and your luggage to you faster. Only $59 per cabin so well worth it in my opinion. We only book suites now on NCL but our CCL cabin was as big as our forward PH this Jan. and bigger than our aft in 2012.

[fergusonvt]

Me! Coke is too sweet in my opinion. Both my DH and I prefer Pepsi when we drink soda.

[dadroy]

I have cruised CCL many times and just returned from my first NCL cruise.

 

As others have said the two lines are very similar if you keep the ships close to each other. In other words, you cannot compare a new NCL ship to a 20 year old CCL ship.

 

Overall I prefer CCL but did find some nice things with NCL. Fresh eggs and omelets available at all buffet stations, so perhaps 6 cooks available. No waiting. On CCL, two guys cooking and you have to take a number so you can come back in 10 minutes to pick up.

 

On CCL most buffet service areas all serve the same food. On NCL there were different items at each station. Also had crepes made to order on NCL. Yummy!

 

DW needs gluten free menus and NCL was TERRIBLE in handling it. I would sail NCL again but will have to sail without DW because she refuses to use the line again due to the lack of gluten free items.

[Quilting_Cruiser]

 

DW needs gluten free menus and NCL was TERRIBLE in handling it. I would sail NCL again but will have to sail without DW because she refuses to use the line again due to the lack of gluten free items.

 

Did she let them know ahead of time that she was GF? I completed the form they request and there was a letter awaiting me that instructed me to go to Guest Services. They called the restaurant manager to come meet with me and he went over the best options for me. At every restaurant, the waiters let me know which items on the menu were safe for me to eat. They had GF bread and pizza dough available. There were several choices at every restaurant. At Tepenyaki, the chef prepared my meal separate from everyone else's and did a great job of making me feel comfortable about it instead of acting like it was a pain (like many land-based restaurants do). I found it much, much easier to dine GF on NCL than on CCL. They made it so easy!

[DaleJr]

Well, we just got off our 1st NCL, so now I am able to have my own opinion too.

 

I agree they are extremely similar overall. I do like the Freestyle dining where you are not tied to a certain time to have a nice sit down (complimentary) dinner. However, it made me feel bad for the servers as they do not get to bond with the same guests each night to develop a nice relationship and perhaps earn an extra generous tip at the end. On CCL, the servers always buttered us up and I wanted to give them one. Of course we still did gratuities but couldn't feel the need to hand an envelope of cash to someone specific. JMO

 

But the food, buffetts, entertainment, casino, shops, salon, etc are very close on the 2 lines.

 

Overall, I give CCL a small edge but truthfully it's like comparing a dollar bill to 4 quarters.