What can I expect?

[Ocean_Waves]

Hello,

 

I have cruised multiple times with Carnival and Royal. We have always wanted to venture out to another company. We finally are!! What can we expect with Norwegian that we don't get with Carnival or Royal? Anything to look out for? Extra costs with room service etc etc. Better food? Better Service? Stuff like that! Thanks for your information. We have sometime yet before our cruise, so I will be trying to soak up all the information I can get!:halo::halo::cool::cool:;p

[ColinIllinois]

Hello,

 

I have cruised multiple times with Carnival and Royal. We have always wanted to venture out to another company. We finally are!! What can we expect with Norwegian that we don't get with Carnival or Royal? Anything to look out for? Extra costs with room service etc etc. Better food? Better Service? Stuff like that! Thanks for your information. We have sometime yet before our cruise, so I will be trying to soak up all the information I can get!:halo::halo::cool::cool:;p

 

That's pretty general so what I would recommend since this gets asked a lot is to first, if you haven't already, check out the FAQ's on NCL.com. Good information for newbies about stuff such as room service costs, money issues and beverage/alcohol policies.

 

Next, you'll get better answers if you say which ship you are going on and have more specific questions, like about the individual restaurants or entertainment, etc. Reason that I suggest that is most of the mass market lines have more similarities than differences.

 

I'm sure you will enjoy NCL. Like every other line it has it's good points and it's quirks.

[Ocean_Waves]

Thanks for the reply. We have it narrowed down to two ships and have booked both. One can only stay! The Jade and Dawn. Everyone here has recommended keeping the Jade cruise, but I believe my wife is going to win out and we will keep the Dawn cruise booked. Happy wife, happy life!!!

 

How does the entertainment and dining differ from Carnival / Royal?

Is the food better quality?

Pampered more on Norwegian vs the others?

 

I have heard Norwegian is a really good cruise line, so I am hoping we made a good decision. My first cruise was in 2003 with Carnival. Our last cruise was 2015 with Royal. And between those years and cruises things seemed to change SO MUCH!

[biker@sea]

Thanks for the reply. We have it narrowed down to two ships and have booked both. One can only stay! The Jade and Dawn. Everyone here has recommended keeping the Jade cruise, but I believe my wife is going to win out and we will keep the Dawn cruise booked. Happy wife, happy life!!!

 

How does the entertainment and dining differ from Carnival / Royal?

Is the food better quality?

Pampered more on Norwegian vs the others?

 

I have heard Norwegian is a really good cruise line, so I am hoping we made a good decision. My first cruise was in 2003 with Carnival. Our last cruise was 2015 with Royal. And between those years and cruises things seemed to change SO MUCH!

Go with Jade.

Dawn / Star class are the worst designed ship's in the fleet after NCL removed the deck12 observation lounge.

 

J.M.H.O.

[jdvmd]

What itineraries are you looking at? Are these new destinations? Think NCL will surprise you pleasantly with its total vibe.

[Ocean_Waves]

What itineraries are you looking at? Are these new destinations? Think NCL will surprise you pleasantly with its total vibe.

 

Both leave end of November, next year. Everyone keeps saying go with Jade. But there are ports my wife wants to go to on the Dawn and I don't think I can get her to change her mind....The dawn is port intensive, which is honestly ok with us. We have been to St. Maarten a ton of times, so we would just use that as a "Day at sea", just with most of the ship to ourselves!

 

Jade 11 night cruise:

 

CRUISE PORTSEMBARKMiami (Florida); Cartagena (Colombia);Panama Canal/Gatun Lake(Panama); Colon (Panama); Puerto Limon(Costa Rica); Roatan, Bay Islands (Honduras); Harvest Caye (Belize);Costa Maya (Mexico); DISEMBARKMiami (Florida)

Dawn 11 night cruise:

CRUISE PORTSEMBARKSan Juan (Puerto Rico); Oranjestad (Aruba);Willemstad (Curacao); Kralendijk (Bonaire); St. George's (Grenada);Bridgetown (Barbados); Castries (St. Lucia); Philipsburg(St. Maarten); Tortola (British Virgin Islands); DISEMBARKSan Juan(Puerto Rico)

[CruiseGal999]

Both leave end of November, next year. Everyone keeps saying go with Jade. But there are ports my wife wants to go to on the Dawn and I don't think I can get her to change her mind....The dawn is port intensive, which is honestly ok with us. We have been to St. Maarten a ton of times, so we would just use that as a "Day at sea", just with most of the ship to ourselves!

 

Jade 11 night cruise:

 

CRUISE PORTSEMBARKMiami (Florida); Cartagena (Colombia);Panama Canal/Gatun Lake(Panama); Colon (Panama); Puerto Limon(Costa Rica); Roatan, Bay Islands (Honduras); Harvest Caye (Belize);Costa Maya (Mexico); DISEMBARKMiami (Florida)

Dawn 11 night cruise:

CRUISE PORTSEMBARKSan Juan (Puerto Rico); Oranjestad (Aruba);Willemstad (Curacao); Kralendijk (Bonaire); St. George's (Grenada);Bridgetown (Barbados); Castries (St. Lucia); Philipsburg(St. Maarten); Tortola (British Virgin Islands); DISEMBARKSan Juan(Puerto Rico)

 

I don't know the differences in ships but I like the Dawn itinerary better. I have been to St. Maarten many times, but I would still go ashore. Used to own a timeshare there with 2 weeks back to back ... LOVE St. Maarten.

[jdvmd]

Haven't been on the Jade yet but we had a wonderful time on the Dawn to Bermuda. Both itineraries are unique but I would vote for the straight Caribbean and leave the Panama Canal trip for another time.

[cb at sea]

I think you will find the experience to be more similar than different. All are "mass-market" cruise lines. The ships are different, of course....layout, room sizes, etc....and the menus will be different than either RCI or Carnival...but about the same quality. Don't worry about "comparisons"...each vacation is different....but they are still vacations! Go and enjoy!

[Skubi]

I can't speak for Royal. We did Carrnival Glory after 3 NCL (Dawn & Star), the ships were about the same size. We travel in balconies, so can't speak on things like Suites or perks for higher up the ladder.

 

I only notice a couple of differences. IMO NCL definately gets the + on freestyle dining over your time dining on Carnival. I found your time dining on Carnival was a bit unorganized compared to NCL. Your greeting back to the ship at ports from the crew, again NCL gets a + there. I did like Guy's burgers on the pool deck on Carnival, wish NCL would have something like that on all their ships.

Other than that, I really could have sailed either line and easily have forgotten which line I was sailing, they were that similar.

[negn]

We are Platinum Plus and have been on many of the ships,large and small. Our favorite is the Dawn. In fact,we are booked on that 11 day out of San Juan that you are considering. Very port intensive and many of those you will not normally see on a cruise.

[pektusin]

If you're sailing from Puerto Rico, perhaps you will be surprised by the loud super active crowd of Latin people not speaking English. We are just back from a cruise to South Caribbeans, and it was not relaxing experience at all.

Initially we booked our cruise on a low season in hope to enjoy less crowds aboard, but the cruise was fully booked.

It was hard to find seats in the Garden cafe most of the time, Aqua or Venetian were very busy too at some times, so we had to wake up earlier to avoid crowds.

Comparing to our other two NCL cruises, food on that one was noticeably more basic and limited in terms of variety.

 

Overall impression is that it was a bad value this time not worth extra money we paid. Previously it was much better, so it either depends on the itinerary or the company started saving money.

[k&johio]

If you're sailing from Puerto Rico, perhaps you will be surprised by the loud super active crowd of Latin people not speaking English. We are just back from a cruise to South Caribbeans, and it was not relaxing experience at all.

 

Initially we booked our cruise on a low season in hope to enjoy less crowds aboard, but the cruise was fully booked.

 

It was hard to find seats in the Garden cafe most of the time, Aqua or Venetian were very busy too at some times, so we had to wake up earlier to avoid crowds.

 

Comparing to our other two NCL cruises, food on that one was noticeably more basic and limited in terms of variety.

 

 

 

Overall impression is that it was a bad value this time not worth extra money we paid. Previously it was much better, so it either depends on the itinerary or the company started saving money.

 

 

 

Did you sail on the dawn out of San Juan? We sail on the dawn Dec 17 for 11 days. We are worried about the crowds/food availability to cater the ship after the hurricane impact. We have heard many locals are cruising to escape power disruptions and sanitary issues in PR. Can’t blame them, I would too. Just not sure it sets up our family of 5 for a relaxing cruise???

 

 

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[pektusin]

Did you sail on the dawn out of San Juan?

 

Yes, NCL Dawn from San Juan, Nov26th - Dec3rd.

I googled a bit and found out, that NCL provided some big discounts to locals, this explains the crowd. I'm all for helping PR and did it myself too, but when it comes to a cruise, I'd rather pick another one if I knew...

[riclop]

Hello,

 

I have cruised multiple times with Carnival and Royal. We have always wanted to venture out to another company. We finally are!! What can we expect with Norwegian that we don't get with Carnival or Royal? Anything to look out for? Extra costs with room service etc etc. Better food? Better Service? Stuff like that! Thanks for your information. We have sometime yet before our cruise, so I will be trying to soak up all the information I can get!:halo::halo::cool::cool:;p

You will be nickled and dimed to death.

[nednrom]

Both leave end of November, next year. Everyone keeps saying go with Jade. But there are ports my wife wants to go to on the Dawn and I don't think I can get her to change her mind....The dawn is port intensive, which is honestly ok with us. We have been to St. Maarten a ton of times, so we would just use that as a "Day at sea", just with most of the ship to ourselves!

 

Jade 11 night cruise:

 

CRUISE PORTSEMBARKMiami (Florida); Cartagena (Colombia);Panama Canal/Gatun Lake(Panama); Colon (Panama); Puerto Limon(Costa Rica); Roatan, Bay Islands (Honduras); Harvest Caye (Belize);Costa Maya (Mexico); DISEMBARKMiami (Florida)

Dawn 11 night cruise:

CRUISE PORTSEMBARKSan Juan (Puerto Rico); Oranjestad (Aruba);Willemstad (Curacao); Kralendijk (Bonaire); St. George's (Grenada);Bridgetown (Barbados); Castries (St. Lucia); Philipsburg(St. Maarten); Tortola (British Virgin Islands); DISEMBARKSan Juan(Puerto Rico)

 

We just got back from the 11 night Panama Canal itinerary on the Jade. Jade was newly refurbished this year and looked brand new. We are also longtime Royal cruisers but have done a couple of Carnival cruises. We selected Jade because Panama was on our bucket list and we could not have been happier. I would do it again in a heartbeat. We really enjoyed the NCL cruise, the service was very good, the free eating options were varied. We had the alcohol and dinner package. Since it was 11 nights, there were maybe 20 kids so the pools were accessible and activities and shows were decent. As with Royal or any other cruise line, you are nickel and dimed if you allow yourself to be -- as seasoned travelers we've learned to avoid that. If you need any information about excursions etc., let me know.

 

From what I know, Dawn is an older ship but if you're going just for the ports, it should not make a difference. We scheduled out Grenada/Barbados/St Lucia sailing for next Nov on the Jade canceling the 14 day Carnival which we thought was the only cruise that sailed out of Miami going to those islands.Jade will do a very similar caribbean itinerary from Miami on Nov 6th 2018 before the Panama canal sailing.

Edited December 5, 2017 by nednrom

[billslowsky]

If you're sailing from Puerto Rico, perhaps you will be surprised by the loud super active crowd of Latin people not speaking English. We are just back from a cruise to South Caribbeans, and it was not relaxing experience at all.

 

This was unfortunately also true on a Royal Carib cruise we took based from San Juan. The spanish-speaking crew members also appeared to cater more to these people; we simply gave up on some activities.

 

I have sailed out of NYC, Bayonne, Fort Lauderdale, Miami, Honolulu, and Los Angeles, but the San Juan crowd was not pleasant.