Carnival Cruiser's 1st Norwegian Cruise: A Comparison

[Loving My Life]

Hi everyone. I've sailed with Carnival 5 times in the past, and just took my first Norwegian cruise to the Mediterranean (3 days in Paris, 2 days in Barcelona, 12 night cruise, 2 nights in Venice = 19 AMAZING days). The reason I went with Norwegian is that Carnival didn't have any ships in the Med in 2015. I posted a lengthy review with pictures on the Norwegian board, but thought I'd post the end part of my review - a short comparison between Carnival and Norwegian - for those thinking of giving NCL a try.

 

MY Carnival and Norwegian Comparison:

 

To start, I’d like to say that the two lines are more similar than different, but here are some things that each line does better than the other.

 

Embarkation: Both lines are equivalent.

 

Cabin: Carnival’s balcony cabins are bigger than Norwegian’s, but both have comfy beds and plenty of closet space. Slight edge to Carnival for their size.

 

Bathroom: LOVE Norwegian’s sliding shower door! Carnival has a shower curtain that constantly gets stuck on wet bodies. Carnival, however, has much more shelf space for toiletries and cosmetics than Norwegian, so bring an over-the-door shoe organizer. Edge to Norwegian for the shower door.

 

Food: In my opinion, the food in the free dining room(s) is better on Carnival, hands down. However, I loved having the UDP and eating in specialty restaurants every night. I also loved the fact that Norwegian has multiple specialty restaurants to choose from. I cannot review or rate the buffet on either line because I avoid them at all costs. Edge to Carnival for better food in the free dining venues. Edge to Norwegian for the number of specialty restaurants and the quality of the food in them.

 

Entertainment: The production shows are MUCH better on Norwegian than on Carnival. Really, there is no comparison. However, what is sorely lacking on Norwegian was comedians. Carnival really does this well with the Punchline Comedy Club. With the exception of one or two, we enjoy going to the comedy club almost every night on Carnival. I would love to see Norwegian add comedians to their evening entertainment. So, edge to Norwegian for theater shows, and big edge to Carnival for the comedy club.

 

Drinks: I found the prices and quality the same on both lines. However, Norwegian makes amazing mojitos, especially pineapple, coconut, and strawberry mojitos so an edge to Norwegian.

 

Announcements: There were far more announcements on Norwegian than we’ve experienced on Carnival, and each announcement was made in 3 languages, so a definite edge to Carnival.

 

Spa: I visited the spa once during the cruise. The room was warm, the lights were dimmed, and soft instrumental music was playing. The esthetician remained quiet throughout the treatment, so it was calming and relaxing. I’ve visited the spa a few times on Carnival, and although the room is warm and dark, the esthetician spoke throughout each treatment, trying to sell me $300 worth of products. Definite edge to Norwegian here.

 

Meet and Greet: Norwegian definitely shines here! The staff that helped me organize it was professional and prompt. The free (!) spread that they provided was beautiful, tasty, and varied. The directors of all the departments came and said a few words. They provided us with phone #s for each department in case we had special requests or complaints. Carnival does…well, nothing…for M&Gs. In fact, you have to pay if you want drinks or nibbles. Kudos, and a HUGE edge, to Norwegian for M&Gs!

 

Disembarkation: Equivalent on both lines, although it was really nice to have the concierge walk us off the ship to our luggage at disembarkation.

 

Conclusion: I enjoy both cruise lines and would sail with either one for the right itinerary, ship, and price. However, all of these things being equal, I think I’d choose Norwegian over Carnival. Hubby agrees (which is quite unusual :p).

 

There is a link to the full review in my signature if anyone is interested.

Edited June 10, 2015 by Loving My Life

[evandbob]

I agree with most of your comments, ty for posting! My last NCL I got the Ultimate Dining Package as a perk with my studio cabin, very nice. On the Epic we had 2nd City Comedians, and the shows were SRO only.

 

I'm looking at an NCL from NY to Bermuda late spring, early summer next year.

[love my grandkids]

Very interesting and very honest review. Thanks

[bjinouno]

Very well written, I have done both lines and comparrison is pretty on spot, Nothing like on NCL to have concierge help with dinner reservations and walk off, Carnival FTTF is nice though on those tendor lines and desk lines. I will continue using both depending on where their going and the price, NCL has a different standing when u hear of them to Carnival that so many think is just a drunk cruise. but what I like best about Carnival is the AFT adult pools and Aft wraps that are afordable.

[cantthinkofanythingfun]

If you travel on NCL's newer ships the differences become more dramatic. At that point, NCL's entertainment is light years better than Carnival. You get real Broadway shows, dueling pianos, great blues bands, and they do have Second City comedy shows. Even the various solo performers in the different lounges are amazing.

 

I'm not a foodie, but I do like the variety of NCL's specialty restaurants, but I also think Carnival's steakhouse is great and am interested in trying some of the new offerings next month on a ship with the 2.0 upgrades. I never eat in the MDR.

 

One other thing I like about NCL is that they aren't strict at all on their drink package. They will frequently give you more than one drink at a time. They will suggest better liquors so you get more value. For drinks that marginally go over the ten dollar limit, they charge less to make it work. I even bought drinks for someone else on a cruise and told them to charge me and they just put it on the package. Not that I really hit the limit, but they don't have a 15 drink limit. With me, Carnival has always been incredibly strict with the drink package. Sometimes I like to order a drink and a shot. With Carnival you need to wait 15 minutes.

 

All of that said, Carnival still provides a great vacation. They sail close to my home and they are a few hundred less than NCL. I'll continue to give business to both.

[detroitlions]

NCL has a huge edge because of there free offerings I had the Free adult Beverage pkg for me and DW and DS recieved the kids version it saved me alot of money and the dining package was cheap so no waiting all day to eat dinner which I cant stand. Carnival I like the bars and pool area better and if they offered a cheap cruise where I did the math and it was cheaper i might think about it but right now NCL has the edge.

[legion3]

Sailed both and pretty much agree.

 

Did a fantastic cruise on Breeze this year, almost perfect.

 

Doing a cruise next year on Escape - hoping it at least can match Breeze.

 

A few things I like Carnival on, including size of cabins, food in MDR and a more user friendly and parent friendly kids camp.

 

We will do both, usually NCL is more $ but not a whole lot. In this case we got a minisuite with large balcony on NCL with the older UDP (the current version is not for everyone in the cabin) for about the same price as a Spa Balcony on Breeze. NCL will likely be more $ overall but ES drops helped the Breeze cost.

 

Now if I could just get a RCCL cruise in the same price range.

[Loving My Life]

NCL has a huge edge because of there free offerings I had the Free adult Beverage pkg for me and DW and DS recieved the kids version it saved me alot of money and the dining package was cheap so no waiting all day to eat dinner which I cant stand. Carnival I like the bars and pool area better and if they offered a cheap cruise where I did the math and it was cheaper i might think about it but right now NCL has the edge.

 

We booked when NCL was offering 3 promotions for Europe. We chose the dining package, the beverage package, and on board credit. It was so nice to eat and drink wherever and whenever we wanted for free!!

[bonniemari]

Sailed both lines & I agree too. One other thing I like about NCL is they have a main dining room open for lunch on embarkation day.

[RuthlessBoss]

My NCL cruise was on Getaway. The 3 language announcements was because it was a Mediterranean cruise and not standard.

 

As for our M&G via Cruise Critic, we got the same except later in the day we got a dish of huge chocolate dipped strawberries delivered to the cabin.