Apples to Oranges? RCCL vs NCL

[beerman2]

I've only been on the Escape to date but a handful of Royal cruises. Some things we did not like about the Escape was the constant need for reservations ("Freestyle" only if you want to make your dinner plans 3 months in advance), layout of the sundeck and pool areas are bad to terrible and we missed the Promenade space. Food was about neck and neck. MDR service was hit or miss, just like on Royal. The quality and diversity of drink options were far and away better on Escape. The NCL price may seem lower but the extras do quickly add up. We enjoyed our cruise a lot but have no plans to return to NCL.

 

Dinner reservation 3 months out for Specialty yes, others not so much!

[LakeWobegon]

Our cruise consultant told us NCL allows about 1/3 of reservations to be booked online in advance for restaurants. The other 2/3 get quickly booked once passengers are onboard. I downloaded the iconcierge app in advance of getting to the cruise terminal Easter week on Escape. Once there, when everyone was waiting, I walked up to the window next to the ship, picked up the WiFi and could have booked about any restaurant any time for any day of the cruise I wanted. Quickly booked the two we wanted and sat down again. Not sure how long I would have had on the ship to do so.

 

We really liked NCL and rebooked. We did RCCL, 14 years ago! And really liked that too. I would book RCCL again but we found NCL to be less expensive generally, even with all the fees many are complaining about. For instance, we paid about $300 for specialty restaurant and room service fees on this last cruise. But the base fee was $1000 plus less than a comparable room on a RCCL cruise and we got the free drink package, which we would not have on RCCL.

 

Carnival was much cheaper but I don't know if I'd ever try them. We saw several ships in port that were rusty and looked run down on the outside. I'm not snooty generally but I would rather pay a little more if it means things are kept in tip top shape. Others don't care and it works for them. So to each their own.

[danny6514]

We did the Oasis last year and the Escape this year. Oasis was much much better in terms of layout, pools, hot tubs, and crowd control. We never at any point felt like it was crowded. The MDR on the Oasis was much better than the Escape, I found the MDR on the Escape below what I would consider decent. Onto where Escape wins. We loved the ropes course and slides on the Escape. The parties at night, especially the glow party, was pretty awesome. Maybe I just missed it but it felt much more energetic than the "classy" Oasis. Speciality dining, buffet, and O'Sheehans were all pretty good on the Escape. Last but most importantly, drinks package! We just booked another cruise on the Getaway because of the drinks package. Can't imagine sailing without one now...

 

 

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[momofmab]

I've sailed both lines but not the "mega" ships on either line. RCI edges NCL out in ship design for the medium sized ships. I like the atrium/promenade on RCI much better than NCL. RCI has more shops and quick-bite restaurant options (pizza, sandwiches, Johnny Rockets, bakery, Ben & Jerry's, etc.) Also, RCI has more activities on sea days. We get bored on NCL. That said, NCL beats out RCI in suite perks, IMO.

 

It would be interesting to try one of NCL's mega ships and see if they've fixed some of those issues. Not sure if the room layouts on those ships are all like the Epic, but the shower being located out in the room is a head-scratcher for me.

[Oppalopa]

Because we have been on over 40 cruises people ask us which is the best cruises line. I always tell them that cruise lines have a personality, and the line that is best is the one that will fit best with your own.

Great answer and true. :)

[Kfamilycruise]

When I book our cruises I always compare RCCL and NCL. NCL always seems more expensive, by at least $500. So we go with RCCL. We just got burned by them in the whole Empress fiasco, so we are trying NCL.

 

I love reading all of this feedback! Everyone has different lives so their experiences are so different. I quoted this post because I find exact opposite is true for us. Maybe because we have 5 people and always have to look up 2 cabins?

 

For us, I thought NCL had more to do and better food for less money. That's just for us. I loved our Oasis cruise -- it is a fantastic ship. I will have to try the Harmony and see if the slides make a difference for us.

[Jdaniels679]

You guys have brought forward some great points! I also have to say that I'm quite jealous of those of you with all of these lovely cruises in your signature. Sniff. I have sig envy. :rolleyes: One of these days I'll be able to tack on another sailing to mine. Hehe.

 

Again, I'm really enjoying all of the helpful feedback. I'd love to hear if any of you have taken the western Caribbean sailing out of New Orleans? I've sailed from Port Canaveral and Galveston, so this will be a whole new experience all-round. Woo!

[Strangerush]

We did a western out of New Orleans a few years back on Royal. Depending on the time of year (we went in the beginning if February) I think it can be on the colder side the first and last day...at least that is what we found. It was so cool to leave the port and sail through the Mississippi River. We went with my parents on that cruise and throughly enjoyed their balcony to see all the cool sights you don't get leaving from other ports. FYI...I don't think the casino could open until we were in open waters...in this case it was late into the night. Getting out of the Mississippi took around 6-8 hours if I recall correctly.

[Jenjer]

You guys have brought forward some great points! I also have to say that I'm quite jealous of those of you with all of these lovely cruises in your signature. Sniff. I have sig envy. :rolleyes: One of these days I'll be able to tack on another sailing to mine. Hehe.

 

Again, I'm really enjoying all of the helpful feedback. I'd love to hear if any of you have taken the western Caribbean sailing out of New Orleans? I've sailed from Port Canaveral and Galveston, so this will be a whole new experience all-round. Woo!

 

I have a small funny story. My DH and I where on our honeymoon on Voyager 16 years ago. It was my first cruise and my DH 2nd, he did a very boring one as a kid. We met these 2 boys at lunch one day they where about 10 and 12. They had been on something like 15 cruises. :eek: We where blown away but now we have those kids okay not quite that many but they are going on their 9th in 2 months..

 

On our last cruise my DD met a boy (14) who had been on around 40!!!!! I could not believe it but mom was a travel agent and they went on at least 3 a year. There are always people with more cruises and people who are experiencing cruising for the first time.

 

For us its our family vacation of choice, its easy, exciting, and fun.

[TNCruzer56]

Entertainment easily goes to RCL.

Food quality and options easily to NCL (RCL is horrid)

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It was being able to climb outta bed and pour that cup of java and sit on your balcony, before facing the unwashed masses. Yep that made me a NCL fan.

[LakeWobegon]

When we booked our second cruise in two years this past week, my wife was joking about how it was a bit much but I said there are people who go every year, sometimes twice. lol. Also, I was looking at the new Harmony of the Seas today. I like the looks of that ship. Does anyone know if they have tube slides. You can't really tell from the website. Looks like you go without tubes. Maybe a question for the RCCL forum. I priced it out and its about 700 more for the week than the Escape then but without the UBP. So that adds too. But you get free gratuities, so that subtracts a little. Hope they give those workers gratuities still.

 

Again, the deciding factor for my wife and kids is that big blue slide you ride down on a tube on Escape. They don't want to hear about another ship if it doesn't have a comparable slide. lol

Edited April 5, 2016 by LakeWobegon

[travelncruiseguy]

Hello all!

 

I just thought I'd get feedback from my cruising experts. I've cruised on RCCL in the past but have an upcoming NCL cruise later this year. I thought I'd ask those of you that have cruised on both lines before, how do they compare? I've only seen NCL ships at port and thought the insider feedback would be helpful.

 

Thanks for your time and your insight! :cool:

 

Hi- I suppose the first thing is it all depends on what size of ship you are going on. On the whole I find that they are similar in a lot of ways with a few differences:

Exterior- The most noticable being RCCL's classier livery compared to the very colourful NCL ships. In general expect NCL to be way more colourful inside than RCCL even on the inside.

Interior- Aside from the explosion of colour that NCL's ships tend to be, the larger and newer ships of NCL (and those like Gem which have undergone refit) have really good quality finishes- from simply looking at the virtual tours on NCL's websites some of their ships look a little dated/tired. RCCL are desperately trying to increase the amount of cabins in their ships as you may know so out goes nightclubs etc. and extra decks put on but their ships still tend to have impressive atriums and main dining rooms. NCL by contrast have largely already fitted in as many cabins as they can so you won't find an atrium in a lot of their ships bigger than 2 decks high. MDR's on NCL tend to be one deck high although on Epic, Getaway, Breakaway and Escape they have a central dance floor that reaches two decks high in between Cagneys and Moderno speciality restaurants on the deck above.

Food & Drink- NCL Bars and MDR Restaurants all have very similar menus to the MDR's of RCCL- and the food has always been very good on both. One thing NCL does a lot better than RCCL is the buffet restaurants (both selection and quality) and that NCL has better 24hr food options with the likes of O'Sheehans. NCL also have an MDR open on embarkation day. As for speciality restaurants- NCL have one for free which is the Pan-Asian/Oriental restaurants and I've never had a bad meal in one. Where Royal do perform better is that their MDR's are slightly more classy, you tend to get the same wait staff even with MyTime Dining I find which is nice and you still get the one complimentary lobster night on cruises leaving the US. You don't get that on NCL- Lobster is always an extra price. I think NCL ships for their size pack a lot in and so there's way more choice than on RCCL.

Entertainment- I have personally found Royal to have way more of the 'wow' factor thats already included in the price of your vacation- crew shows, demonstrations, ice shows, atrium entertainment etc. On NCL the larger ships do have the likes of a acrobatics show but it comes as an extra you have to pay for. However NCL do really good sail aways, white hot parties and in general Bliss night club tends to be very good. They still do some demonstrations but it tends to be towel arrangements and teppanyaki on either of the two cruises I've done with them.

Pools- they are 24 hrs on RCCL as you know but they are not on NCL.

Spas- Hands down NCL's spa's tend to be far superior than RCCL when it comes to thermal suites

Customer Service- NCL is very good but I do definitely think RCCL is superior in this field- there's just a little more attention to detail. However saying that I find the NCL staff seem to be happier in general than RCCL- There's less whinging and unsubtle hints looking for tips.

Daily Activities- RCCL in my experience would put on lectures and slightly more games/activities than NCL. NCL do have lots of trivia but not the same level of pool games/activities as RCCL.

Stateroooms- RCCL have turned rather mean and some ships now only give a bar of soap as the only toiletry on offer and have shower curtains (Vision class for example). Staterooms on NCL's newer ships I personnally find to be nicer than even the new ships of NCL however this is just a personal taste issue. What I can say is that RCCL will give you a seating area whereas you only get that in NCL on Balcony staterooms and above. Both cruiselines have always been meticulous in their cleaning of staterooms however.

 

I think both are great lines- I've loved all my vacations on both line's ships and found really excellent staff on both. Maybe just expect to pay for slightly more things while on board with NCL- RCCL have more included in the price but their price is more. A good example will be outside of the buffet you'll struggle to get complimentary coffee/tea on NCL whereas on RCCL you have Park Cafe/ Cafe Promenade. NCL have a lavazza coffee bar/ Java Cafe in the Atrium but this is comparible with Cafe Latitudes/ Starbucks on RCCL.

My top tip- go with an open mind and you'll have a great time.

 

Hope this helps!

[Sand and Seas]

 

I'd love to hear if any of you have taken the western Caribbean sailing out of New Orleans? I've sailed from Port Canaveral and Galveston, so this will be a whole new experience all-round. Woo!

 

We cruise out of NOLA at least once a year. Love the city and having a cruise out of there is a great reason to visit for a couple of days before and/or after:cool: Many hotels close to the port. We walk over to the cruise port and then after cruise roll our bags back to the hotel. Very easy!

[PaulInPGH]

You guys have brought forward some great points! I also have to say that I'm quite jealous of those of you with all of these lovely cruises in your signature. Sniff. I have sig envy. :rolleyes: One of these days I'll be able to tack on another sailing to mine. Hehe.

 

Again, I'm really enjoying all of the helpful feedback. I'd love to hear if any of you have taken the western Caribbean sailing out of New Orleans? I've sailed from Port Canaveral and Galveston, so this will be a whole new experience all-round. Woo!

 

Love, love New Orleans. We cruised Serenade from New Orleans a couple years ago and had a great time. You can check out my signature line for my New Orleans cruise review which has a lot of fun stuff to do in New Orleans if you've never been. We'll be doing the Western Caribbean on the Dawn this December, soley because we get to do a few days in New Orleans post-cruise.

 

Regarding the NCL v. RCI debate, my wife and I (early 30s, no kids) have really enjoyed both lines. Our cruise on Getaway last October was my favorite cruise yet, though we've yet to try any Oasis or Quantom class RCI ships. We're pretty cost-conscious, so NCL has been more appealing recently, especially with the free drink package promotion. We found that RCI really won in the pool/adults only area department. Other than that, we found the food and entertainment to be far superior on our only NCL cruise. Service was pretty similar on both lines and I certainly wouldn't hesitate to sail on either line.

 

Cheers.

[zqvol]

Hello all!

 

I just thought I'd get feedback from my cruising experts. I've cruised on RCCL in the past but have an upcoming NCL cruise later this year. I thought I'd ask those of you that have cruised on both lines before, how do they compare? I've only seen NCL ships at port and thought the insider feedback would be helpful.

 

Thanks for your time and your insight! :cool:

 

 

You are comparing apples to apples. You will find that they are more alike than different. You will find that the food on NCL is head and shoulders above what you get on RCCL. The rest of the things people think about when cruising , ie cabins, entertainment, etc, are pretty much the same.

[Jdaniels679]

Thanks again to all of you who have been kind enough to share your views on this thread. It really is helpful!!

[Jim The Lizard]

You guys have brought forward some great points! I also have to say that I'm quite jealous of those of you with all of these lovely cruises in your signature. Sniff. I have sig envy. :rolleyes: One of these days I'll be able to tack on another sailing to mine. Hehe.

 

 

 

Again, I'm really enjoying all of the helpful feedback. I'd love to hear if any of you have taken the western Caribbean sailing out of New Orleans? I've sailed from Port Canaveral and Galveston, so this will be a whole new experience all-round. Woo!

 

 

We went on Grandeur out of New Orleans during Mardi Gras a few years ago. What a crazy cruise!. We were on with 2500 crazy Cajuns who want OUT of New Orleans during Mardi Gras!. My liver has still not recovered... We met so many fun people on that specific cruise!.

[Jdaniels679]

Haha! I wonder if anyone attempted a cruise pub crawl? Lol

 

 

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[FunintheSunFL]

I just tried Norwegian for the first time on the escape after sailing on the oasis, and the allure. I was only loyal to Royal Caribbean for years and only ended up on this cruise because Royal Caribbean cancelled our cruise on the empress, and couldn't seem to accommodate our schedule and budget (found that out after being given the run around for hours after the cancellation) In my opinion it was a blessing in disguise. Norwegian offered great service, not unlike that of Royal Caribbean, but they gave me more for my money. The specially dining on Norwegian blows the Royal Caribbean restaurants out of the water! And ultimately I felt there was more enjoyable activities on the Norwegian ship. I will take a Norwegian ship first in the future.

[eyecantwait]

I'm glad to hear this as we were also cancelled on the Empress and decided to give NCL a try.

We have sailed NCL once before back in 2000 on the Dream for a Scandinavian trip. It was great.

Looking forward to trying the Sky to the Bahamas.

Angela