Norwegian or princess ?

[alspal2]

I have never been on either one , has anyone been on both and can tell me which one they like better and why 

[don't-use-real-name]

In a nutshell -

 

Princess - everything formal - stuff shirt/ think dress code - reservations by the book - dining times exactly every night -

fares perhaps higher - less custom ( butler/concierge) service in top/high end suites

Standard size ships

 

NCL - FreeStyle - easy going/dress code limited - dining time reservations variable optional - fares more medium market -

suites have expected routine butler/concierge services (well more or less recently of dispute here at CC).

Small Medium and huge mega ships

 

Actually for a comparison it is an individual matter and only by taking both cruise lines will you form your own opinion.

Where and when the ship cruises to makes a difference - both ships have parties

 

You are not limited to those two cruise lines:

 

Compare also Royal Caribbean (RCCL) and Celebrity (X)

Noted by your signature having taken Carnival and Disney

 

Your avatar notes you are from Massachusetts - you have ships sailing conveniently from Boston

New York/New Jersey and as far south as Baltimore.

 

Florida has the most of all the cruises.

 

 

Edited July 27, 2019 by don't-use-real-name

[Outerdog]

48 minutes ago, don't-use-real-name said:

Princess - everything formal - stuff shirt/ think dress code - reservations by the book - dining times exactly every night -

 

This isn't really right. Totally inaccurate, actually. Everything is not formal.

 

The Princess target demographic probably isn't the family with 3 kids sub 13 years looking for endless activities.  Everything is definitely NOT formal. They offer a choice of traditional (early or late seating) or anytime dining with your booking. Anytime dining is like it sounds. Show up at the MDR when you please. For dining, dress is resort casual most nights. There are "formal" nights but the dress code for dining is limited to the MDR. Specialty restaurants are not subject to the dress code on those nights. And mostly, the "formal" requirement is pretty relaxed in terms of enforcement these days.

 

You wear what you would wear anywhere else on vacation. Tacky is tacky everywhere.

 

Princess is a wonderful line, targeted at adults mostly, I would say. If you need bouncing mice and talking sponges everywhere all the time, Princess might not be for you.  The decor of the ships do not look like circus tents, more sophisticated with neutral tones.

 

In terms of fare, Princess has consistently come in with lower fares, better promotion and better itineraries for me. I'm sure NCL beats them hands down in other markets/sailings.

 

I used to prefer Norwegian. But they shot the suite pricing through the roof without improving anything. FDR won't get that extra $5 from my wife (or whatever it was he said). Princess offers way more West Coast itineraries, and being from California, this is a big plus for me -- specifically, the Bay Area. Princess sails from SF, and living in a departure port city is a huge plus.

[4774Papa]

1 hour ago, don't-use-real-name said:

In a nutshell -

 

Princess - everything formal - stuff shirt/ think dress code - reservations by the book - dining times exactly every night -

fares perhaps higher - less custom ( butler/concierge) service in top/high end suites

Standard size ships

 

NCL - FreeStyle - easy going/dress code limited - dining time reservations variable optional - fares more medium market -

suites have expected routine butler/concierge services (well more or less recently of dispute here at CC).

Small Medium and huge mega ships

 

Actually for a comparison it is an individual matter and only by taking both cruise lines will you form your own opinion.

Where and when the ship cruises to makes a difference - both ships have parties

 

You are not limited to those two cruise lines:

 

Compare also Royal Caribbean (RCCL) and Celebrity (X)

Noted by your signature having taken Carnival and Disney

 

Your avatar notes you are from Massachusetts - you have ships sailing conveniently from Boston

New York/New Jersey and as far south as Baltimore.

 

Florida has the most of all the cruises.

 

 

We haven't done Princess, but have done a lot on Celebrity and some on Royal Caribbean.

 

Celebrity has the best food

Royal Caribbean excels in entertainment as does NCL.  Royal's dining is better than NCL but not quite as good as Celebrity.

Both Celebrity and Royal have formal nights, like 3 for a 14 day cruise.  Men can do it with a blazer.  Some wear tuxes or business suits.  The rest of the evenings are very much like NCL.  Also, both Celebrity and Royal have the option of any time dining (select dining on Celebrity) that is just like NCL.

 

We cruise all three, but NCL's price bundling of promos that we don't want have pushed us more to Royal or Celebrity.  Royal probably has the best rates.

We dislike NCL's ridiculous value on its promo for drink package ($99 per day) with a 20% gratuity.  Our last NCL cruise we declined the drink packages, brought our own wine, paid the $15 corkage per bottle and spend LESS on alcohol than we would have JUST on the 20% gratuity.

[dpepper64]

I prefer NCL over Princess.   Princess tends to give special treatment to their people who have cruised with them in the past.  More cruises with them more special treatment.   My mother is at about 140 days at sea with them so she loves them  I have taken 2 with them but will stay with NCL or Cel. or RCL

[oncruisecontrol]

Looks like you've cruised a lot on Carnival.  All of my cruises from 2003 until 2013 were on Carnival (and I was Platinum).  But we began to tire of the food on Carnival.  So I took my first Princess cruise on the Crown in 2013.  The food was awesome and so was the entertainment.  We loved the Crown's pool decks. We did dress up most evenings.  After that cruise, we went back to Carnival for 2014 and 2015.  But, to us, the food was so bad that we had to try another line.  Enter NCL.  We cruised on NCL Getaway in 2016 and were blown away by the quality of the food, the entertainment and we really like the ship.  NCL is more casual than Princess, though we were not always dressed up on Princess.  2017 we cruised NCL Escape and loved it, especially since Escape has Food Republic.  But last year in 2018 we sailed Getaway again and we were not happy with the NCL fleet-wide menu changes(I am a bit of a gourmet when it comes to food). Thus our 2018 sailing on Getaway underwhelmed us.  So we are giving Princess another try---We're booked on Regal Princess for our next cruise.  

I am recounting this timeline to illustrate the fact that since it looks like you have cruised a lot on Carnival I think that either Princess or NCL would be a good try for you.    

[chipmaster]

2 hours ago, don't-use-real-name said:

In a nutshell -

 

Princess - everything formal - stuff shirt/ think dress code - reservations by the book - dining times exactly every night -

fares perhaps higher - less custom ( butler/concierge) service in top/high end suites

Standard size ships

 

NCL - FreeStyle - easy going/dress code limited - dining time reservations variable optional - fares more medium market -

suites have expected routine butler/concierge services (well more or less recently of dispute here at CC).

Small Medium and huge mega ships

 

Actually for a comparison it is an individual matter and only by taking both cruise lines will you form your own opinion.

Where and when the ship cruises to makes a difference - both ships have parties

 

You are not limited to those two cruise lines:

 

Compare also Royal Caribbean (RCCL) and Celebrity (X)

Noted by your signature having taken Carnival and Disney

 

Your avatar notes you are from Massachusetts - you have ships sailing conveniently from Boston

New York/New Jersey and as far south as Baltimore.

 

Florida has the most of all the cruises.

 

 

 

Is the cruise experience the priority or the ports?   Sometimes the ship/line make can make the experience better / forgettable if the ports and sailing options have multiple lines to choose from.  Many other times the port lineups by design or exclusion result in the best line up of ports only one choice for the line/ship.

 

Having just sailed NCL for the first time I don't necessarily agree with the characterization of Princess.

 

Entertainment:  Both B,  Carnival also a B Disney is better and perceive RCCL better ( still haven't sailed )

Food:  Disney/Princess A- for standard dining     NCL:  B/C+ for standard dining and A for speciality, Carnival B+ 

Cabin:  NCL A ( partial ) ,  Princess B ( did inside, balcony, partial, suite ), Carnival B+

Service:  NCL:  B+, Princess A-, carnival ( A-, but really don't like their in your face party/fun push )

Dress/Elegance:   They all go with their marketing, but don't feel Princess is stuffy nor that in the dining you can't be comfortable in formal night in slacks and a knit shirt ( you'll be the minority but treated just as nice ) 

 

[CruisingIsBest]

4 hours ago, alspal2 said:

I have never been on either one , has anyone been on both and can tell me which one they like better and why 

Honestly, you're not asking the right question here... What are YOU seeking? Do you have kids going... ages?  Your general age, etc. 

 

This response "Princess - everything formal - stuff shirt/ think dress code - reservations by the book - dining times exactly every night" as someone else noted above... WRONG. Have you even been on Princess... in the last 5 to 10 years??

 

I am Elite with Princess, last cruise was this past Fall on Regal. Have cruised with them many times. I do not care for the formal nights, dressing up, or any of that. You can be as casual as you like, (within reason in the MDR and specialty restaurants), but you do not have to get all dressed up if you don't want to. They have anytime dining like everyone else if you choose to go whatever time you desire. The buffet (Royal Class ships) is the best at sea. I won't get into all the details, but the rest comes down to you. Princess can be downright BORING. Average age is way up there and if you like a significantly relaxed atmosphere, limited specialty options, standard cruise shows, and a pretty quiet night life, then Princess is good for you. If you like more night life, a different specialty restaurant every night, big water slides, outdoor ropes courses, go karts, and a much more "upbeat and lively" night life, then NCL is a winner for sure. I just simply got bored with Princess and really liked the fun of NCL. There's just so much more to do, and if you have kids of just about any age, NCL for the win!  

 

There's so much more to the decision, but as I first said, it depends on what you want. HAL & Celebrity are closer to Princess, although HAL may even be more laid back than Princess. Royal Caribbean is more like NCL. 

Edited July 27, 2019 by CruisingIsBest

[casofilia]

NCL; the MDR Freestyle dining is far better than anything Princess offers especially the Anytime dining UNLESS you want to eat at the same time each night with the same table mates and the same wait staff.  We do not eat in the Buffet at all so can't compare there.

Princess have a slightly higher requirement for general dress standard in the MDR except of "Formal" nights which are a bit of a pain!!   No "Formal" dining on NCL and there are only 2 or 3 restaurants that want men to wear longs at dinner.

The food is very acceptable on both.

Princess has the not to be missed "Afternoon Tea", nothing comparable on NCL.

 

Personally I find the officers on NCL to be friendlier than on Princess and ore approachable especially if you have attended a M&G and use their direct phones.

 

We tend to do long cruises; NCL have more port visits that Princess especially on 20+ day cruises.  NCL for ports; Princess for sea days!!

[casofilia]

Another thing I thought of, Princess will have a printer in the computer area that you can use yourself; you may need yo buy a Princess Flash Drive though.   NCL has nothing similar on ships I have been on.

[Granny DI]

We are Platinum on both Princess and NCL. Just returned from a Princess Cruise last week. We had another Princess Cruise booked for Jan 2020. We canceled as soon as we arrived home. 

 

It was our first suite on Princess. We always do mini suites because of cost. We book Haven Aft Suites on NCL.

 

There were two FORMAL nights on a 7 day cruise out of Southampton. When I say formal I mean gowns and tuxedos. Formal dress was required in all restaurants. We didn’t bring formal wear because of travel plans after the cruise. We were relegated to pizza and hamburgers at the pool those nights. 

 

The internet was the worst at sea. DH said the coffee wasn’t drinkable. Tea kettle in cabin for instant coffee and tea.

 

There were TWO specialty restaurants. We were given one dinner at the Italian one because of suite status. The other restaurant was part of the buffet area.

 

My favorite cruise was a Princess Cruise 10 years ago....now I have no interest in going back.

 

 

Edited July 28, 2019 by Granny DI

[Outerdog]

10 minutes ago, Granny DI said:

Formal dress was required in all restaurants

 

We were relegated to pizza and hamburgers at the pool those nights. 

 

No. That simply is not true. Formal dress is only required on formal nights in the MDRs. 

 

Formal
When formal nights are held, please observe the dress code in the Traditional Dining and Anytime Dining venues for the enjoyment of all our guests.

 

https://www.princess.com/learn/faq_answer/pre_cruise/bring.jsp

 

For those folks who do not wish to participate in formal night (its really not enforced, slacks/shirts for men; read the Princess boards on this topic), all of the speciality restaurants and the buffet are available; they do not require the "alleged" formal attire.

 

It's fine if you don't want to cruise with Princess again and I'm certainly not here to sell them. I couldn't care less where you sail. But it's nice when folks can stick to facts rather than whatever your post was. Lack of research on your part does not constitute facts for everyone else.

 

[Granny DI]

 

I was just on the cruise. Were you on this cruise with us?  What research? I was on the cruise from Southampton. We were told to respect the attire for the evening. Princess made a big thing out of the formal evenings.

 

 I wrote a letter to Princess about it. We used to wear formal wear but travel plans after the cruise prevented it this time. There wasn’t much of a dress code the other evenings but we dressed in country club casual.

 

 

Edited July 28, 2019 by Granny DI

[casofilia]

Here is what Princess.com says for formal wear.

 

Formal
When formal nights are held, please observe the dress code in the Traditional Dining and Anytime Dining venues for the enjoyment of all our guests.

• Evening gowns and cocktail dresses for women
• Tuxedos, dinner jackets or dark suits with a tie for men

We did a Round Australia cruise on Princess 12 months ago and while that was the stated requirement it certainly wasn't adhered to, not by a long way.

 

Granny Di must have been very "unlucky" or, I suppose "lucky" depending on your view, if this was strictly enforced.   She must tell us what the staff did to those males who turned up without a jacket or without a tie; wearing jeans, however dressy, or with brown shoes with their dark suits!!   What about those who actually took off their jackets during the meal?

[casofilia]

A thought!!

 

I bet the ladies looked really weird and were really hot wearing "Evening gowns and cocktail dresses"    At least the men could get away with wearing more than one of any of the three items not multiples of all three.

 

But then Princess, like many cruise lines, refuses to employ proof readers for whom English is their first language!!!

[GUT2407]

I liked them both.

[casofilia]

Surely if we are to be in a formal situation we are "Ladies" and "Gentlemen" and not "women" and "men"!!!

[don't-use-real-name]

6 hours ago, Outerdog said:

 

This isn't really right. Totally inaccurate, actually. Everything is not formal.

/s/ snip

 

This isn't really right. Totally inaccurate, actually. Everything is not formal.

 

Certainly NOT TOTALLY INACCURATE (100%)

And True everything is not formal but sure leans in that direction

 

Maybe a degree of hyperbole - exaggeration but essentially the major difference

between NCL and Princess

 

The difference between FREESTYLE and FORMAL - cruise casual and country club casual

 

This has started a rather good ole discussion (posting) of the differences between the

cruise lines for the OP to take note

 

 

[casofilia]

Another thing I have come across.

Some Princess ships have free standing machines that you can swipe your room card and get a print-out of your folio (when they work properly!!).

On the NCL ships I have cruised on you have to ask at the Guest Services for a print-out.  I believe that some NCL ships do have a method of seeing your folio "Online" but not one I have been on.

[don't-use-real-name]

33 minutes ago, casofilia said:

Another thing I have come across.

Some Princess ships have free standing machines that you can swipe your room card and get a print-out of your folio (when they work properly!!).

On the NCL ships I have cruised on you have to ask at the Guest Services for a print-out.  I believe that some NCL ships do have a method of seeing your folio "Online" but not one I have been on.

 

Most NCL ships have your account folio for viewing on the incabin TV as well as booking other features.

This screen feature no doubts goes blank on the last night of the cruise while your invoice is prepared.

I haven't seen anything yet about seeing the last final bill on a cell phone apt.

The best thing to do is the night before cruise end visit the guest services and request the print out even though

a few hours later one maybe delivered to or under your cabin door.

Getting the print out the night before would be best to check and contest any charges instead of trying to do it in

the morning wasting time with any walk-off effort or catching a shuttle timely.

When boarding the ship some departments restaurants bars are closed and charges maybe lumped together

at another venue i.e. purchase the Viva Vino package and it appears on the MDR invoice

Taxes on drinks don't appear on a bar bill - but again on that MDR.

Challenge any misapplied credits or billing right there instead of waiting eons by email or snail mail with NCL.

[casofilia]

@don't-use-real-name

 

Most NCL ships have your account folio for viewing on the incabin TV as well as booking other features.

 

I agree that some NCL ships have that facility but we spent 54 days on 3 different ships in March and April this year and none had it.

[newmexicoNita]

15 hours ago, alspal2 said:

I have never been on either one , has anyone been on both and can tell me which one they like better and why 

This same question was asked about a week ago. Here is my take and I have been on both lines more than once.

 

NCL pros and cons:

 

great food selection

outstanding and very friendly crew

good entertainment

better open dining set up

 

Not so good pools: small and crowded pool area

tight cansinos

just so/so customer service on land.

 

Princess

Prettier ships

better laid out ships

a mixture of formal and casual: where NCL is pretty much pure casual.

less expensive bar prices

 

unfriendly passengers

on ship reception desk can be very rude

food is so/so but specialty restaurants are a little cheaper I think.

entertainment is not very good

 

We do prefer NCL but Princess is ok if the price is right. How they are rated in the premium class will always be a mystery to me.  

[newmexicoNita]

14 hours ago, Outerdog said:

 

This isn't really right. Totally inaccurate, actually. Everything is not formal.

 

The Princess target demographic probably isn't the family with 3 kids sub 13 years looking for endless activities.  Everything is definitely NOT formal. They offer a choice of traditional (early or late seating) or anytime dining with your booking. Anytime dining is like it sounds. Show up at the MDR when you please. For dining, dress is resort casual most nights. There are "formal" nights but the dress code for dining is limited to the MDR. Specialty restaurants are not subject to the dress code on those nights. And mostly, the "formal" requirement is pretty relaxed in terms of enforcement these days.

 

You wear what you would wear anywhere else on vacation. Tacky is tacky everywhere.

 

Princess is a wonderful line, targeted at adults mostly, I would say. If you need bouncing mice and talking sponges everywhere all the time, Princess might not be for you.  The decor of the ships do not look like circus tents, more sophisticated with neutral tones.

 

In terms of fare, Princess has consistently come in with lower fares, better promotion and better itineraries for me. I'm sure NCL beats them hands down in other markets/sailings.

 

I used to prefer Norwegian. But they shot the suite pricing through the roof without improving anything. FDR won't get that extra $5 from my wife (or whatever it was he said). Princess offers way more West Coast itineraries, and being from California, this is a big plus for me -- specifically, the Bay Area. Princess sails from SF, and living in a departure port city is a huge plus.

You are basing the two lines are things like itineraries on the west coast but that is not something that makes one line better than another: it is strictly a personal preference. 

 

As for freestyle and formality: Princess does not have a good hand on the freestyle cruising like NCL and it is much more formal. yes, like all lines, they are not as formal as in years past, but certainly are more formal than some lines. On formal optional nights if you are not dressed pretty formally you would be a bit embarrassed to wander around or go to dinner in your casual dress. No, formal not required but expected. BTW I am not talking classless dress versus formal dress; I do not enjoy seeing slobs anywhere, but there are ways to feel comfortable and still be classy.  I have to say, your overall review of the 2 lines is not terribly objective. 

[Georgia_Peaches]

I have never been on a Princess cruise so can't compare them with NCL.  But my parents LOVE Princess...dad especially.  In fact, dad will only sail Princess so he has no comparison.  But I took my mother on Breakaway in June and she loved NCL.  She wished my dad was with us so that he could see the difference.  One of the things she noted was the much younger clientele on NCL.  Mom and Dad are both 72 and said they were the young ones on their last Princess cruise.  The jokingly remarked that they felt like they were on a geriatric cruise and were out of place because they didn't have a scooter or a walker.  (their words...not mine).  Mom said NCL has a leg up on Princess when it comes to the suite experience (and they only sail in suites).  And the drink package is more relaxed on NCL than Princess in that there is no limit of drinks in a 24 hour period and you can get 2 at a time on a single key card (on NCL).

One thing that I like about Princess that I think NCL could take note of is the fact that Princess honors its Vets with additional OBC and the more one cruises with them, the greater the Veteran OBC (according to dad).  As dad is a vet, he enjoys that perk and recognition.

 

[mugtech]

We took a 10 day out of Singapore on Princess in 2018 and and a 12 day on NCL Jewel out of Singapore this year.  We had taken 5 cruises through 2016 on NCL Gem, so we found the layout of the ship very familiar.  The Princess ship was also well planned, no edge to either line here.  We found the food on the Jewel to be the best we have had on any cruise Princess was nothing special.  The entertainment was much better on NCL, Princess was so last century.  We ate in the buffet on formal nights, did not want to be part of that scene.  The staff on Princess was not as friendly as NCL, not that they did not provide good service, they just did not seem happy to be there.  The Princess cruise we took is now twice as expensive.  We would need a great itinerary at a great price to even consider cruising on Princess again.