Norwegian here we come!

[albingirl]

But you don't necessary have to go to the pay restaurants. We found the Asian Fusion and O"Sheehans (like the Blue Lagoon on the Spriti) to be quite good on the NCL Jewel. And the crew were very, very friendly.

Generally, we pay a lot for the cruises, like anyone else, and rarely bother with the pay restaurants. Thanks for letting us know this.

[Mitwif]

We had a booking with HAL for January. Unfortunately we had to cancel due to some unexpected expenses (one car died, the other was totaled in an accident). NCL had a deal I couldn't refuse, and was also in our restricted budget. Soooo...we will also be sailing on the Spirit. We are surprised to feel very excited about it. The folks on the Roll Call seem like a friendly and fun bunch.

 

Our last (and only) NCL cruise was in 2006, and it was ok but not great. It's the right time, I think, to give them another chance.

 

We will be returning to HAL next December :) .

Edited November 21, 2015 by Mitwif

[Cruise_More_Often]

We were on the Pearl last year about this time. Tried the MDR 2x but service was not good and was pretty much the same food as the buffet. Sat in the same section of the buffet every night and received great beverage service from an attendant there. It was also uncomfortable being seated with different people the 2 nights in the MDR. We don't pay extra for the alternative restaurants....we're too cheap. [emoji1]

Your statement that I bolded seems very peculiar to me, because in our lengthy experience of cruising on NCL (and also the comments of almost every person who has talked about this on Cruise Critic), unless you ask to be seated with others in the MDRs, you will be seated by yourself. This is one of the things we most appreciate about NCL -- lots of tables for two. Edited November 21, 2015 by Cruise_More_Often

[LAFFNVEGAS]

Your statement that I bolded seems very peculiar to me, because in our lengthy experience of cruising on NCL (and also the comments of almost every person who has talked about this on Cruise Critic), unless you ask to be seated with others in the MDRs, you will be seated by yourself. This is one of the things we most appreciate about NCL -- lots of tables for two.

I totally agree, there are very few large tables such as HAL has Most are two tops or four tops and the huge difference is there are several feet distance between tables. There is at least 4 to 5 feet between tables and far from crowded in the Main Dining Room.

[Cruise_More_Often]

Lisa, your Live thread convinced us to return to the Jewel for another Mexican Riviera cruise in 2017. Unfortunately, all the Deck 10 aft suites were already taken, so we booked one on Deck 8. After we booked, my husband reminded me we had the exact cabin back in 2008.

[Dr. Cocktail]

I'm sort-of perplexed and intrigued by many people's comments regarding the "pay" restaurants on NCL. I think that one of the main reasons to try another line is to experience what they do best - and NCL provides a fabulous array of specialty restaurants at reasonable prices. The dining packages are not that expensive, especially looking at what you save by booking with them.

 

I used to be "married" to my late seating, table for two where I got to know my waiter. I just as quickly adapted and grew to love the fact that I was able to experience a completely new and different dining experience on nearly every night of my cruise.

 

What's the point of trying something new when you want it to be like what you just left?

 

ps ... that's not what the OP is suggesting!

[utahtea]

janmcn,

 

I clicked on your link in your signature and just wanted to thank you for all the pictures you have posted. I so wanted to do the July 25, 2015 Voyage of the Vikings 35 days but couldn't talk DH into it. I checked out your March 30, 2013 Oosterdam NZ, AU, Pacific Island, HI to Seattle 37 days pictures too because we'll be doing a similar cruise in reverse in Sept. 2016. We're avid RV's too.

 

To the original poster, I'd be interested to hear how the Norwegian cruise line compares to HAL.

[janj01]

Be prepared to rethink that. From everything I read the MDR offerings on NCL are not that great. In order to have a good dining experience it seems necessary to go to the alternative restaurants.

People make me laugh critisizing the food in the MDR on NCL. We cruise with them every year travelling from OZ to Europe. Always eat in the MDR and the food is great. I cant understand why people pay all that extra money to dine in specialty restaurants when MDR is free. I would like to know what these complainers eat when they are at home. One side of the menu is unchanged for the entire cruise which includesgreat steak. Am happy to eat this every second night. The other side of the menu changes every day then after a week repeats. All food is great and often it is hard to choose between entrees so have one instead of starter and the other as entree. We are real food people and love the food in NCL MDR

 

Sent from my SM-N9005 using Tapatalk

[janj01]

We were on the Pearl last year about this time. Tried the MDR 2x but service was not good and was pretty much the same food as the buffet. Sat in the same section of the buffet every night and received great beverage service from an attendant there. It was also uncomfortable being seated with different people the 2 nights in the MDR. We don't pay extra for the alternative restaurants....we're too cheap. [emoji1]

MDR food is nothing like the buffet food. I have never seen steak in the buffet

 

Sent from my SM-N9005 using Tapatalk

[denatravels]

I cant understand why people pay all that extra money to dine in specialty restaurants when MDR is free.

 

 

Because the food in the MDR was bland and boring.

I paid $119 for 7 days and I actually went to 8 restaurants (on the first night, I ate dinner at the french restaurant and then went to see the cirque show without eating the dinner there). Given that it included the show, and the upcharge of the lobster at the french restaurant that I had twice, I did not see it as "all that extra money"

[HokiePoq]

Be prepared to rethink that. From everything I read the MDR offerings on NCL are not that great. In order to have a good dining experience it seems necessary to go to the alternative restaurants.

 

Not in my experience. We've never paid for a specialty restaurant. We never order room service so that charge won't apply to us, either. The MDR food is fine although not as good as HAL IMO. You hit the top of their loyalty program at only 75 days. They comp each of us dinner for two with wine in a specialty restaurant. We go twice each cruise.

Problem is we've done almost all of their itineraries.

We like both lines...my two favorites. Now for awful dining room food I've found RCCL to be awful..not what I've read on a board, but what I've tried to eat on two cruises. Actually inedible in some cases. I imagine other of their ships than the two I've been on must be better or they wouldn't get so much business. Yes, I know food is subjective, but when meat is too tough to chew every time you order it, that's bad.

[RMLincoln]

Just back from complex travel itinerary in Europe, including HAL Nieuw Amsterdam 12 nights to eastern Med and NCL Jade transatlantic 16 nights Barcelona to Houston. I will write more soon but I want to say that we cruised NCL last in 2005 and since then have cruised HAL to 3 star level, as well as other lines. HAL seems to have gone downhill some, and NCL seems to have improved since then, just our sense of it.

 

We booked HAL early to ensure that it fit into our itinerary. They did give us a lower fare when prices dropped before final payment, about $200. After final payment they offered us an upsell that we took, +$85pp from large inside K to guaranteed balcony... of which we were assigned a VB so we were happy with that and it was cheaper than our original booking for the K. We could get no OBC which was what I was hoping for because we spent a lot of money on excursions in Greece and Turkey, but glad we did.

 

The NCL cruise was a very good price (repositioning) and fit our itinerary so we gritted our teeth and booked. We had a great experience! Yes there are a few amenities we didn't have that we would have had on HAL (and vice versa) but the food on NCL in their MDR was very good. We didn't eat in the pay-for restaurants. I can't see paying extra for food on a cruise ship but others enjoy it so good for them. The specialty venues on NCL now cost $20 and $30pp plus 18% gratuity. That's $47 and $71 for both us to dine....that's $331 extra if we dined in each venue once. Not a huge amount really but we think that's not worth it to us, others think it is or get discounts or packages.

 

The aft MDR on Jade is elegant, spacious, has a similar dress code to HAL, and the service was on par to HAL. We ate early and always had a two-top by the window, sometimes they put as at a larger table to accommodate our request to dine without other, no issues, very accommodating.

 

In our 16 dinner menus on NCL there was only one night that we felt the choices were not that good but that happens on HAL too when we punt to salmon. In fact on our HAL cruise the choices on "gala" night menus we thought were poor, selections being few and not very premium, plus they didn't offer the "every night" selections so no punting to salmon.

 

NCL is just different. It was fun, very accommodating, the dining experience was very nice and the entertainment was excellent, varied, had multiple options each evening and it was not painfully LOUD as it was on our HAL cruise. I spoke with the NCL cruise director about that and he said they've been making an effort to respond to their guests comments. Nice.

 

We've cruise HAL the most, but also Princess, Carnival, Celebrity and NCL. There's more that's similar in all of these than one might think, especially if one choses similar length itineraries where the demographic and ambiance is similar across lines.

 

I think NCL was a bit more honest about their dining options in that they only served us prime rib once and it was very good, very enjoyable. HAL served it 3 times and it was very good the first time, poor the second time and unchewable the third time... really? unchewable prime rib? It can't have been prime and their sourcing is obviously questionable. Do they think we won't notice? The salmon was great, thankfully it was not a "gala" night.

 

Pinnacle Grill is lovely but extra, just like the extra dinners on NCL. Yes, loyalty members get some discounts on both lines that help offset the costs. HAL had 3 pay for venues, NCL had 6 plus three other venues that were complimentary: Alizar (casual version of MDR), Blue Lagoon (comfort foods) and Jasmin Garden (Asian)--- same sized ships. Plus the buffets of course. It's really hard not to find something enjoyable to eat on either ship, either line. They're just a little different... and I think different if good! Actually I think different is sparkling! I'll write more later, we have company now for the holiday week.

 

Blessings to all, and a happy Thanksgiving celebration to my US friends, m--

[chill6x6]

I will come back here. Spirit. Not too large a ship. All kinds of perks and OBC to book....easy decision. No pricing games that I could figure. So very tired of that.

 

I've been on the Spirit... It was a great crew then....I don't know about now. I stayed in a balcony cabin that was small than it's Carnival counterpart both cabin and balcony being a good bit smaller.

 

The shows will probably be very good!

 

Enjoy your cruise...

[Cruiser Bruiser]

I just finished booking a Norwegian cruise in the Caribbean for this coming February. I'll let you know how it works out. We've not sailed with them for a decade, but I'm pretty excited to go with them again. Canceled my HAL cruise.

Tired of all the early booking nonsense and rebooking.....on and on it goes. We know. It happens with them all but this was a huge cruise and they wouldn't budge an inch whereas they did last year when the price dropped significantly. Not this year. Not a penny.

 

After a period of sailing exclusively with Norwegian, I've been adding some other brands into the mix, especially HAL. I had a brilliant week on Maasdam last June, and I will have a fortnight on NA in the Caribbean the first two weeks of February. (I can't wait!! :D) I trust you will have a lovely time on Spirit. She is a smaller Norwegian ship, and she has a proper atrium. She also has a very Asian décor. The only space that compares unfavorably, I think, with HAL is the forward observation lounge. But, I think the entertainment offerings are generally superior.

 

Let us know how you fared. And keep an eye out on price and promotion. NCL will generally negotiate your deal, sometimes even after final payment is due. That's one of the aspects of Norwegian's operation I really like, especially in comparison with Carnival-owned brands.

[coaster]

Spirit would be my top pick on NCL. The Asian interior she has from her days with Star Cruises is a plus. NCL's newer builds like Epic with no promenade deck and hideous outward appearance make the Spirit a wise choice. The newer NCL ships waste so much public space on upcharge restaurants. Who needs 10 to 20 dining areas on a cruise?

 

Disclaimer - I am always biased towards the oldest ships in a cruise lines' fleet.

Edited November 22, 2015 by coaster

[albingirl]

After a period of sailing exclusively with Norwegian, I've been adding some other brands into the mix, especially HAL. I had a brilliant week on Maasdam last June, and I will have a fortnight on NA in the Caribbean the first two weeks of February. (I can't wait!! :D) I trust you will have a lovely time on Spirit. She is a smaller Norwegian ship, and she has a proper atrium. She also has a very Asian décor. The only space that compares unfavorably, I think, with HAL is the forward observation lounge. But, I think the entertainment offerings are generally superior.

 

Let us know how you fared. And keep an eye out on price and promotion. NCL will generally negotiate your deal, sometimes even after final payment is due. That's one of the aspects of Norwegian's operation I really like, especially in comparison with Carnival-owned brands.

 

Very kind remarks. Thank you.

[albingirl]

Spirit would be my top pick on NCL. The Asian interior she has from her days with Star Cruises is a plus. NCL's newer builds like Epic with no promenade deck and hideous outward appearance make the Spirit a wise choice. The newer NCL ships waste so much public space on upcharge restaurants. Who needs 10 to 20 dining areas on a cruise?

 

Disclaimer - I am always biased towards the oldest ships in a cruise lines' fleet.

 

Great. Yes, me too, always liking the older ships. Maasdam, in particular.

[albingirl]

Interestingly, I received an email, tonite, from my HAL PCC, obviously automated, asking me to contact her should I wish to book a cruise. Even though I canceled a very big one Friday. Hmmm.

[buckirj1]

I usually don't pay much attention to decor and such, but the NCL Spirit is the loveliest I've sailed. Everything about that cruise was just about perfect. I hope your experience is the same.

[albingirl]

I usually don't pay much attention to decor and such, but the NCL Spirit is the loveliest I've sailed. Everything about that cruise was just about perfect. I hope your experience is the same.

 

Thank you.

[luv2travel06]

Your statement that I bolded seems very peculiar to me, because in our lengthy experience of cruising on NCL (and also the comments of almost every person who has talked about this on Cruise Critic), unless you ask to be seated with others in the MDRs, you will be seated by yourself. This is one of the things we most appreciate about NCL -- lots of tables for two.

 

 

At the times we went, it was either wait for a table for two or immediate seating at a shared table. We chose not to wait. When the service disappointed, we chose the buffet thereafter, where we very much enjoyed our dining experience (even though steak was not on the menu there).

 

The Pearl was one of our most enjoyable cruises.