Cruise line comparison

[cruisebunnies]

We have sailed Carnival,Holland America,Royal Cariibbean.As this is our first Norwegian cruise we were wondering if there will be any real differences on this line.We are sailing on the Gem out of NYC IN March.

Thanks in advance:cool::cool:

[fshagan]

Our experience has been that the cruises out of NYC skew a bit older and are more sedate than the ones cruising in the Caribbean. We sailed the Gem out of NYC on a fall cruise, and it was after school was back in session, so that may have affected our cruise quite a bit. You might run into more young adults than we did on that fall cruise.

 

The Gem is a nice ship, well maintained and clean. My advice for anyone trying NCL is to board and go to the main dining room that is open to all guests on embarkation day (unless you really like crowded buffets!) Also visit O'Sheehan's for breakfast or lunch early on; it is one of our favorite spots to get breakfast. At the stern, after the buffet, is the great outdoors, a large outdoor seating area that is pretty nice.

 

If your cruise has a trio doing Celtic music, don't miss them. I have forgotten their name, but they are led by a young woman "fiddler" who gives music history trivia as she brings down the house playing 300 year old "wheels" with her bandmates. At the beginning of the cruise she will be in the lounge area midships, but by the end of the cruise she was doing a main act in the large lounge at the front of the ship. They do a three or four month stint on the GEM most summers, according to one of the musicians we talked to during the trip. I wish I could remember her name ...

[cruisebunnies]

Thanks for the great info,we love Celtic music.:cool:

[spny84]

We have sailed most (Celebrity, Princess, Carnival, NCL, RCCL) about 3 times each. I know many will rave (or complain) about one over the other. To us they are basically all the same. Food is always edible and entertainment is usually decent. The biggest trick IMO is picking a ship size/style you are happy with and Ports of Calls. Haven't had a bad trip yet, just like some things better on some of the ships.

[Zeno]

I have cruised on NCL, HAL, Windstar and a couple of real cheapys that no longer exist.

 

My feelings pretty much are in line with other posters:

ship's size and itinerary are actually more significant than the cruise line. Windstar (our best cruise ever) was the exception but it is a smaller, higher end, unique experience.

We did not find HAL and NCL significantly different.

[macandlucy]

In my experience, the overall service is better on NCL -- in the dining rooms, more professional, less "buddy buddy". It's like HAL service in that way, which I like. And among lines that offer a free drinks package, it's much easier to find a waiter to bring you a drink on NCL. On Celebrity, I think I had waiter service maybe twice in a week. Waiters were far more available on NCL. On CCL, with no drinks package offered, (and before the Cheers package) there were so many waiters asking if I wanted to buy a drink it got really annoying -- it felt like they had been given a sales quota they needed to meet.

 

I didn't notice any difference in stateroom attendants really. I found all of the lines to be about the same in this regard.

 

In many ways, the lines are all very similar, with the exception of, and only to a certain degree, the passengers.

 

Where NCL won us over was the Freestyle concept -- the whole ship is devoted to it, whereas, on other lines, and despite having anytime dining available, it's really just an imitation. We enjoy having a 24 hour table service dining venue in O'Sheehans, and we also liked the free specialty restaurant (The Asian one). We never liked formal nights, but if you like to dress up, go for it -- you will not feel out of place, especially on the Norwegians' Night Out (which are their optional formal nights). Overall, the experience feels less regimented to us, and that's what we are looking for in a vacation.

 

Freestyle extends right down to booking as well -- you can go bare bones, cheapest possible price, with a gurantee cabin or a Canada At Par pricing (and take no freestyle choices) or right up to Haven extravagance.

[Tatka]

We cruise all lines and ones from your list.

Sailed twice on Gem.

NCL isn’t famous for gourmet food. Food variety is inferior to Holland and other premium massmarket, I’d say it is a little bit lower to RCCL too, but closer, but we enjoy many dishes in MDR and buffet. MDR food is completely enough for us, we don’t do specialty restaurants.

Interior rooms on Gem are smaller than on most other massmarket lines ships, but nice and cozy.

 

What we enjoy a lot is a festive atmosphere on NCL ships, mostly great entertainment.

Service is good in all areas. We liked little touches on Gem like being greeted on return to the ship with fruit water and even ice cream.

 

We enjoy NCL much more than Carnival which we probably aren’t going to sail with. We would sail with NCL much more if ships had covered pools and if we weren’t close to getting Diamond status with its perks on RCCL.

 

Somebody above posted about older crowd... I guess it depends on a time of the year. We sailed on Gem for Easter and Thanksgiving weeks (actually 10 and 9 dayers) and families were a large part of pax.

[littlelulu01]

I’ve sailed all those lines and prefer NCL. Ncl senior staff and officers are visible. NCL seems to go out of their way once onboard to help make your vacation special. Meals are more like a land based vacation instead of false pretenses of getting white glove service without the corresponding food quality. I don’t think food is as good as the other lines but it’s certainly not terrible either.

 

I’ve found less annoying announcements for the art auctions... on ncl than they have on the other lines. Sure they still want to sell you extras but doesn’t seem as much in your face as the other lines.

 

Basically, knowing what is /isn’t included and then going from there to compare actual costs. Example- Ncl’s Free beverages attract a 20% gratuity. Their beverage package doesn’t include speciality coffee, canned sodas or water bottles. Water package can be purchased for a relatively decent price. No speciality coffee card. Spas (extra fees) are really nice on ncl’s ships.

 

They really provide a great product at a fair price as long as you adjust your consumption habits to their packages. The speciality dining package is definitely worth while for many as a perk choice (you only pay the tips). They have cut out some of the more expensive menu items but they still have some good food choices in the speciality venues.