Need Cruise Experts Help

[tmg698]

Have done about 8 cruises with Carnival but I feel I need to try a new cruise line..was looking at NCL Breakaway or Epic and Royal's Oasis. For those that have been on all 3 cruise lines tell me what you thought about these ships.

 

Are their prices for drinks, pictures, pay for food about the same prices as Carnival?

 

Thanks

[Alaskan Joe]

Have done about 8 cruises with Carnival but I feel I need to try a new cruise line..was looking at NCL Breakaway or Epic and Royal's Oasis. For those that have been on all 3 cruise lines tell me what you thought about these ships.

 

Are their prices for drinks, pictures, pay for food about the same prices as Carnival?

 

Thanks

 

I have been on all 3 cruise lines. I was on Royal's Oasis, and NCL's Pearl. Now with that said pound for pound Carnival is the cheapest. So Royal is probably the most expensive, but the MDR food (in our opinion) was the best of all 3 cruise lines, and the shows are definitely better on Royal. Overall, again our opinion Royal is the better cruise line of the 3. We will probably never cruise NCL again, unless it was a price we could not refuse, because we felt like they nickel and dime you around every corner. So in short, we have just as much fun on Carnival as we did RCCL, and the price is better. For example, we looked at a cruise through Alaska on RCCL and Carnival. When pricing was over Carnival was around 10,000 w/air and RCCL was around 8,000 w/air. However Carnival's cruise was a two week 'Journey's Cruise' and RCCL was only one week and it was not round trip (so it would have costed a lot more on airfare), this is just our opinion and it is subjective.

[mdsgu]

Have done all 3 lines -- Carnival, Royal, NCL. A brief synopsis:

 

Carnival -- mass market appeal, lowest fares out of the three. Generally easy to find a port that is close (enough) to you. Larger boats have more bells and whistles. Beverage package pretty reasonably priced.

 

RCL -- of these 3, the most luxurious. A bit more traditional and more service-oriented. Not stuffy. Usually the most expensive out of the group. Very user-unfriendly website. Again, the newer, larger ships have more to offer than the older ones.

 

NCL -- somewhere in the middle. More than Carnival but less than Royal, can usually get free drinks and free specialty dining thrown in as a perk (you still have to pay gratuities). Escape, Breakaway, Getaway have something for everyone. My wife described the decor of Escape as "like a boutique hotel" with (faux) wood paneling and light paint.

[bibbysnow]

First let me say, I have not done NCL.

 

 

 

I've been on RCCL's Oasis and Allure several times each. I love both ships and the shows and spectacular. I prefer the smaller ships.

 

 

I am sailing with Carnival now. The prices are MUCH better and that is important to me!!

[Jerseygirl1416]

So I’ve been on the Breakaway and the Oasis and they happen to be my favorite ship ever(Oasis) and my least favorite ship ever(Breakaway). NCL offers the drink package as a perk with booking, you only pay gratuities but after sailing that ship I really understood the Walmart of the Seas nickname. In my opinion the ship was ugly and cheap dated decor. It was cramped, full of smoking sections and the food terrible. The Oasis on the other hand was beautiful, had so much to offer, was not crowded and had lots of very good food options. RC throws lots of sales on their drink packages. My last cruise on Anthem I paid $40 per day plus gratuities for a truly all inclusive package. You can’t go wrong with Oasis.

[BNBR]

I'll join in with Jerseygirl here. Stay away from NCL!!!

 

If you are comparing Oasis with anything, then just do Oasis class. I would also sail Carnival over anything NCL unless there was such a good deal on the NCL cruise that you couldn't pass it up.

 

Compare all 3 and see which one fits your budget. Even with the drink package being "free" on NCL, you can usually get a Carnival or Royal cruise so much cheaper that you can buy the drink package and STILL save money anyways.

 

The NCL ships are really poorly designed and our NCL cruise had me rethinking if I even like cruising, it was that lousy and "meh".

[beachys]

I love NCL, it's my favorite cruise line, but the Breakaway is my least favorite ship of theirs. Way too crowded and smokey.

[It's a Ship!!!]

I've been on all 3 lines and like them all for different reasons. The Oasis is very different from the others. It's much bigger than any other ship (besides it's own sisters), and has tons of things to do. When you go on that ship, 7 days almost isn't enough to see and do everything.

 

 

For food, Carnival has the best free options, and good paid options but only 1 on most ships. NCL has the best paid options, but not great free options, and Royal is decent in free and paid options. NCL is charging A La Carte at most of their specialty restaurants now, which I really don't like. It makes their specialty dining more expensive, but they have a dining package that is a possible free perk that would give you 3 free nights in the specialty restaurants of your choice (with some exceptions that cost extra). Of course tastes are different, but that's just my opinion.

 

 

 

For drinks, Carnival is by far the cheapest. The other two really push their drink packages, so if you don't get them, you will be paying a lot for drinks. NCL has the package as another option for a free perk, but like others have said you still have to pay gratuities on the package, which comes out to about $120 per person for a 7 night cruise. You might want to add in the price of a drink package when you make your comparisons so you're comparing apples to apples.

 

 

 

For shows and entertainment, Oasis is probably best, with Breakaway second, and Carnival last. Not saying I don't enjoy Carnival's entertainment, but the others (especially on those specific ships) are really good. For both the Breakaway and the Oasis, you need to make reservations online for shows, or you may not get in to the ones you want. You can always wait in line, but you run the risk of not getting in

 

 

 

They are all good cruise lines, and none are really better than the other. It just depends on your tastes. For me, factors like itinerary, price, and home port take precedence over which line it is. If everything was equal, I would probably go Royal Caribbean most often, but I would still want to branch out to the others every once in a while to try new things. However, Royal Caribbean tends to be the most expensive, and Norwegian doesn't have a close home port to me, so I end up going Carnival most often.

[riclop]

Hands down Oasis, it will be more $ but it's the best of the 3 followed by Carnival.

[maryred]

Have done about 8 cruises with Carnival but I feel I need to try a new cruise line..was looking at NCL Breakaway or Epic and Royal's Oasis. For those that have been on all 3 cruise lines tell me what you thought about these ships.

 

Are their prices for drinks, pictures, pay for food about the same prices as Carnival?

 

Thanks

 

I have cruised all 3 line (plus Celebrity) and will tell you overall all 3 are just about the same. Each company has its strengths and weaknesses, and to me it balances things out in the long run. Like RCI has superior free food in the MDR but lacks the amount of choices nightly when compared to Carnival or NCL. NCL has more choices of at pay dining but I felt the quality there was lacking when compared to the more limited choices on Carnival or RCI. NCL includes the drink package (if you pick that perk otherwise it's the most expensive of the 3) but it is severely limited on what you can freely choose to drink other than alcohol and sodas, while RCI has no limit on the number of glasses you can have of alcohol it limits what labels you can order, while Carnival limits your number of alcohol drinks but has almost no restriction on what labels you can ask to be poured or mixed in your cocktail. Both Carnival and Royal add in other drinks like bottled water, milkshakes, energy drinks, and specialty coffees. SO always read the details of packages and search out menus from the restaurants.

I can not speak towards the Oasis nor the Epic, but have sailed on the Breakaway. One thing I have found with any cruise line where the pax double occupancy is over 3,600 passengers, is space becomes an issue no matter what. To be able to attract enough passengers to sell out every cruise all 3 of the "popular" market cruise lines have increased the number of venues that cater to different interests &/or tastes but in many cases have shrunk some of the more common areas. NCL likes to tout it's Freestyle cruising but to see the singular main theater show (Rock of Ages) or eat in the free dining venues you need to make your reservations prior to boarding or your stuck on standby status. Additionally the Breakaway has only one pool area that's freely accessible to all. While seeming big it includes a kid's pool and splash area, but the pool itself is no bigger than a pool on a ship that usually carries 2500 passengers. (Sorry not intentionally dumping on the Breakaway it's just the 1 out of the 3 mentioned that I have direct experience with.) If you look at the threads over on RCI you will see similar comments about the Oasis.

MY advice is pick your cruise based on what ports you can easily or affordably access, that is going to ports of call that interest you and has a price that you feel is reasonable. Then if there are multiples, pick a ship that has amenities that interests you directly then verify that those areas meet you expectations by searching out photo, blogs, and reviews of those areas on that specific ship.

[BNBR]

I have cruised all 3 line (plus Celebrity) and will tell you overall all 3 are just about the same. Each company has its strengths and weaknesses, and to me it balances things out in the long run. Like RCI has superior free food in the MDR but lacks the amount of choices nightly when compared to Carnival or NCL. NCL has more choices of at pay dining but I felt the quality there was lacking when compared to the more limited choices on Carnival or RCI. NCL includes the drink package (if you pick that perk otherwise it's the most expensive of the 3) but it is severely limited on what you can freely choose to drink other than alcohol and sodas, while RCI has no limit on the number of glasses you can have of alcohol it limits what labels you can order, while Carnival limits your number of alcohol drinks but has almost no restriction on what labels you can ask to be poured or mixed in your cocktail. Both Carnival and Royal add in other drinks like bottled water, milkshakes, energy drinks, and specialty coffees. SO always read the details of packages and search out menus from the restaurants.

I can not speak towards the Oasis nor the Epic, but have sailed on the Breakaway. One thing I have found with any cruise line where the pax double occupancy is over 3,600 passengers, is space becomes an issue no matter what. To be able to attract enough passengers to sell out every cruise all 3 of the "popular" market cruise lines have increased the number of venues that cater to different interests &/or tastes but in many cases have shrunk some of the more common areas. NCL likes to tout it's Freestyle cruising but to see the singular main theater show (Rock of Ages) or eat in the free dining venues you need to make your reservations prior to boarding or your stuck on standby status. Additionally the Breakaway has only one pool area that's freely accessible to all. While seeming big it includes a kid's pool and splash area, but the pool itself is no bigger than a pool on a ship that usually carries 2500 passengers. (Sorry not intentionally dumping on the Breakaway it's just the 1 out of the 3 mentioned that I have direct experience with.) If you look at the threads over on RCI you will see similar comments about the Oasis.

MY advice is pick your cruise based on what ports you can easily or affordably access, that is going to ports of call that interest you and has a price that you feel is reasonable. Then if there are multiples, pick a ship that has amenities that interests you directly then verify that those areas meet you expectations by searching out photo, blogs, and reviews of those areas on that specific ship.

 

Curious what you meant by "similar comments about Oasis". You admitted you never sailed Oasis but went on about larger capacity ships having not enough pool space and shrinking venues. Then seemingly lumped Oasis in to this? I haven't seen a single comment on the RCI forums suggesting such a thing. If you sailed Oasis, you would understand how silly it is to lump that ship in like you are. It's probably the least crowded mass market ship there is, with several pools and large, soaring venues.

 

"Space becomes an issue no matter what on ships over 3,600 passengers"... Ummm, wrong.

[S.S.Oceanlover]

Curious what you meant by "similar comments about Oasis". You admitted you never sailed Oasis but went on about larger capacity ships having not enough pool space and shrinking venues. Then seemingly lumped Oasis in to this? I haven't seen a single comment on the RCI forums suggesting such a thing. If you sailed Oasis, you would understand how silly it is to lump that ship in like you are. It's probably the least crowded mass market ship there is, with several pools and large, soaring venues.

 

"Space becomes an issue no matter what on ships over 3,600 passengers"... Ummm, wrong.

 

I have to agree with this 100%. I have been on Oasis twice and Allure once. I prefer Allure.

 

With 6000 pax onboard the Oasis class ships there are times when you look around and wonder where everybody is.

 

Oasis class also has about 5 pools. I prefer the solarium pool.

 

Bill

[Alaskan Joe]

Curious what you meant by "similar comments about Oasis". You admitted you never sailed Oasis but went on about larger capacity ships having not enough pool space and shrinking venues. Then seemingly lumped Oasis in to this? I haven't seen a single comment on the RCI forums suggesting such a thing. If you sailed Oasis, you would understand how silly it is to lump that ship in like you are. It's probably the least crowded mass market ship there is, with several pools and large, soaring venues.

 

"Space becomes an issue no matter what on ships over 3,600 passengers"... Ummm, wrong.

 

I have been on the Oasis and this is completely a true statement. My DW and I thought it was going to be crowded, however it was not like that at all we were very impressed. The only times we felt crowded was in the atrium twice. First time was some kind of opening show where this sphere opened up and the Senior Officers/CD came out and introduced them self and then some what of a party.

 

Second time was when they did a parade down the middle of the atruim.

 

Other then that we did not feel crowded what so ever.