Help me compare Carnival to NCL?

[cdaystravel]

Looking for positive feedback about Carnival. Trying to choose a ship with a 7-10 day Eastern Caribbbean itinerary. Used to NCL Freestyle.:)

[hawaiideb]

otherwise, we really enjoyed our cruise on Carnival Spirit to Alaska in '01. We cruised NCL in Hawaii, and also had a great cruise. To me, and cruise is a whole lot better than working!!! We picked main dining times because we have a child and found in Alaska she liked to eat in our room and then go to Camp Carnival while we went to dinner.We are now planning on eating a few meals with her in the main dining room since we discovered on our NCL cruise she likes eating with us every once in a while. On NCL she would order an appetizer like fruit, a salad and then an entree off the kids menu, and almost always finish with ice cream. Freestyle was great for this, because when she wanted to eat with us we would time it so we could still see the early show.

 

We found the entertainment to be similar,but we don't gamble or drink, so don't know those compare. Crew on both lines were wonderful.

 

I think you will find many things about Carnival that you like. We are cruising on the Glory in June, eastern 7 day. We liked the idea of sailing out of Port Canaveral with it's proximity to Orlando (using up a few days of Disney parkhoppers) and my hometown of New Smyrna Beach, which means I can visit a few friends. Miami is nice, but sooooo busy, I prefer a port that's not quite as busy! We picked Eastern Caribbean over western simply since we sailed western on our very 1st cruise, a NCL 4 night way back in '97, and don't really enjoy Key West and Mexico.

 

Sorry this was sooo long, my DH says I talk way to much......

 

Debbie

[coachj]

I have been on 2 ncl and 4 carnival cruises. The ncl crowd is a little older but I have found both lines to be very friendly. NCL is very prompt to help with problems and carnival it seems sometimes just wants to placate you, not fix the problem. The entertainment on carnival is much better in terms of production shows and the cabins are usually larger then NCL. I have enjoyed all my cruises with both companies.

[Anni_M]

I usually just lurk here - but can certainly add my 2 cents on this topic! we returned Thursday from our first NCL cruise - the Norwegian Dawn out of New York. I was leery at first untill I saw all the positive feedback. The main reason we chose that particular cruise was because it sailed from New york.

A few comparisons - Carnival much larger rooms, better room set-up

NCL better bathroom set-up

Casinos - the same

Kids camp - Carnival has it all over NCL - BUT - NCL was still great and the kids loved it

Food - Carnival, better soup NCL better salad

NCL better buffet

Carnival get to know your servers, and lots of fun in the dining room

NCL many dining rooms to chose from

Carnival overall better food

NCL horrid coffee

NCL awesome poolside bar-b-que

Entertainment - both great

NCL guest talent show is a contest - if you win you could win a cruise

NCL indoor pool at the spa

Outside pools - same

Things to do - both the same

Guests - found more seniors on NCL, but it was also a 12 day cruise

The main difference is the freestyle dining thing, which we enjoyed - but mainly because we could take our kids to eat wherever, drop them off at kids camp and then go eat where we wanted. Carnival kids camp took them to dinner, so we got nice dinners alone there as well.

Hope this helps!

Anni

[cdaystravel]

You are all such a help. Thanks Anni for your two cents!

[melika091900]

we just returned off the NCL star, and i would say it was nice, but i still think carnival is our favorite ,,, weve sailed on NCL , celebrity and carnival and there are a few things i liked about carnival better than the other ships

the entertainment !!! better shows,, adult comedy !!!!!

the nightclub, always fun,

and the atmosphere, everyone seemed friendlier on carnival.

and I like it that you can see your room charges on your Tv. that was a plus

but we also did like freestyle dining.... that was nice choosing where and when we ate,, but it also left too many options, we ate at the buffet most of the time, since we didnt want to wait to eat...

as far as service celebrity was #1 but carnival was definetley # 2...

i would say ,,, its kinda a toss up... but we are sailing carnival again, same iten as on the star, but on carnival pride,,,

happy cruising

melissa

melissaofoia@sbcglobal.net

[mamagina]

Been on both quite a few times. I agree with all of the above! Carnival bigger rooms & better entertaiment and kids program. Have had a great time on both lines (sadly, can't say the same about Disney!) We found food about the same on both NCL & Carnival--yes awesome barbeque! My only two cents-- when a Freestyle dining ship is full (holiday weeks or just sold out) the Freestyle doesn't work as well. Frustrating waits if you want to eat in a dining room when everyone else does-- like when everyone comes back on board after being in port-2+ hour waits! You wind up resorting to the buffet. When you have your assigned seat you always have the option of being served and only have to eat in the buffet when you choose to. Freestyle works when the ship is not too full.

[MrPete]

carnival it seems sometimes just wants to placate you, not fix the problem.

 

Can you give some examples? My on board experience has been the opposite.

 

To the OP, if you're looking for FUN, you'll find in on Carnival. Plus good food, entertainment, and nice size rooms.