Celebrity vs Princess vs HAL vs Norwegian vs Royal vs Carnival vs MSc vs Costa

[drsel]

Can anyone  do a comparison of the pros and cons of some or all of these mass-market Cruise lines?

 

How would you rank them based on quality of entertainment, shows, activities, food in the main dining room and buffet, state room, crew service and other facilities. Thanks!

[cr8tiv1]

I have been on:  Carnival, NCL, Holland America, Celebrity, and Princess (ranked order from least favorite to current cruise line of choice).  

 

Carnival:  Too much of a party ship.  Didn't care for Hairy Chest Contest

NCL:  In all fairness, it was on Pride of Aloha.  Itinerary was great.  Did not like anytime dining (requested a more traditional time/seating).  Nickeled and dimed.  Service was fair to poor because of American staff.  Activities were very limited due to port intensive.

Holland America:  Food was good.  Not enough activities.  Shows were not memorable.  Didn't care for the Indonesian tea service.

Celebrity:  Impressed with two story dining room and elegant Sunday buffet in the dining room.  No place to really dance.  More like Princess than not.  Buffet on Lido was themed.  Good but you had to stand in multiple lines for different foods.

Princess:  Food is good.  Crew is outstanding.  Entertainment is good to great.  No place to dance anymore.  Scones during tea time are wonderful. Lots of venues to find alternative (free) dining.  Ships are getting too big for my taste.  

[tanyaewa]

I have cruised:

Disney - Alaska Disney Wonder

entertainment - 7 shows - 7 activities - 10 food in the main dining room 10+ and buffet - 9  state room - 8 crew service - 10 and other facilities 10+ 
** loved that we could bring on our own alcohol and there was no casino

NCL - Mexico Bliss, Caribbean Getaway

entertainment - 7 shows - 10 activities - 7 food in the main dining room - 9 and buffet - 10+ my favourite at sea  state room - 9 (modern decor) crew - 8 service 8  and other facilities - water slides, racetracks, amazing dining venues.  NCL has my favourite style and decor on both ships we sailed.  My kids loved the ships. so much to do.  The Bliss was a stunning ship. 
 

RCCL - Freedom of the seas Caribbean 

similar to  NCL with all the fun adventure bells and whistles like climbing walls and flow riders.  Dreamworks characters in costume and parades. Dining rooms great, buffet good, interesting interior “mall” area.  Decks during sea days are like Spring Break in Florida.  Hate that

 

Carnival - Alaska Splendor, Mexico Wonder

my husband swears Carnival has the best food in the dining rooms, buffet ok, entertainment - best comedy at sea! , shows - ok, pools and decks - busy and tacky, great theme events like sea day brunch. Rooms - nice, Great value but busy and crowded 

 

Princess - Alaska Sapphire, Coastal Emerald, Sea, Mediterranean Crown

entertainment - 7 shows - 6 activities - 8 food in the main dining room - 9 and buffet - 6 state room - 8 crew service - 9 and other facilities - nice well appointed common areas, relatively calm decks and outdoors areas, never super busy. I like the itineraries 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited February 28, 2021 by tanyaewa

[moobear67]

I've been on Princess, Carnival, Disney, Royal Caribbean, and Norwegian. Since I have not been on Princess since 1993, I can't say much about how it compares to the others more recently. (I do remember the food being fantastic on Princess back in '93, and having a wonderful time in general).  So, I'll comment ofnthe other 4 cruise lines. The best food of the other 4 has been on Carnival. I've had great food on all 4 lines, but Carnival has been more consistently good with their food. Even high priced Disney did not have as good consistency with their food...very hit or miss from meal to meal. (I must say, however, that their specialty dining is superb!!!). I would say the same for Royal Caribbean and Norwegian. Hit or miss for each meal or even from cruise to cruise.  Entertainment-wise, I would say that Disney and Royal Caribbean are tops. Of course, the Disney ship has all Disney shows, so you won't get the variety of entertainment that you get on Royal Caribbean. I do like Carnival's Comedy Club, so if you like comedy, you get more comedy shows on Carnival than on other lines. If you want a casino, Disney does not have casinos. As for activities, Carnival and Norwegian tend to have more of a quantity and variety of (free/included) things to do. I have been sadly disappointed in the number of daily activities on my Royal Caribbean cruises, including ones that were cancelled without any sort of announcement. As for nightlife/activities past 10-11 pm, Carnival and Norwegian are good for that.  Crew service was outstanding on ALL of the ships. I have been on 14 cruises (with 2 more in the pipeline), and have always had wonderful service, from the room stewards, to the wait staff, etc. As for facilities, it really depends on which ship you are on. Smaller, older ships tend not have as many "bells and whistles" as the bigger, newer ships, but that is not necessarily a bad thing. I have been on older, smaller ships up to a larger, newer ship. I don't think that having a new, big ship with more "bling" is necessarily a better experience. The smaller ships are certainly easier to navigate, and you don't have to "fight for" (or reserve ahead of time) seats at shows, etc. Anyway, I love cruising in general, so I just enjoy myself and make the best of what each cruise I am on has to offer!

Edited February 28, 2021 by moobear67

[mtnesterz]

The only rating that matters is the rating you give them.

Each cruise line caters to a demographic.  Where do you fit in? Which line sails where you want to go, or embarks from a convenient port near your home?  Which line's CC posters make you want to have chat with them over dinner?

For ratings, find Berlitz's "Cruising and Cruise Ships."  There is a 2020 edition.

 

 

[wowzz]

10 minutes ago, mtnesterz said:

The only rating that matters is the rating you give them.

Each cruise line caters to a demographic.  Where do you fit in? Which line sails where you want to go, or embarks from a convenient port near your home?  Which line's CC posters make you want to have chat with them over dinner?

For ratings, find Berlitz's "Cruising and Cruise Ships."  There is a 2020 edition.

 

 

That's a great response.

If the OP tells us what is important,  then we can help.

The original question is meaningless, because there are no parameters.

 

[Treasure Hunter]

We have been on Princess (35 cruises), Celebrity (5) NCL (4 ) , RCCL (8) and then 4 Oceania and 2 Regent. Obviously we LOVE Princess. The Staff is the nicest, friendliest best trained of all the lines. The CD's staff are terrific and there is much to do on a sea day. We only go on RCCL if we have our grandchildren with us. RCCL has the best Broadway type shows, ice skating, Cirque type shows but the crowds really turn me off. The two new RCCL ships Symphony and Harmony are beautiful. We found that they are much nicer than the older ships. NCL also has great shows and really good comedy and specialty acts like Choir of Man ( fantastic) but I would not go on NCL ( too Spring Break for me)  unless I stayed in the Haven. Celebrity is elegant has a smoke free casino ( plus!) and can be a nice cruise as they have an indoor pool that can be used by everyone and the food is really good. However, their entertainment is not good and if you've seen one of their strange theater shows you never go back. Celebrity and Princess are the most similar as far as the type and age of people they attract but we have been all over the world on Princess from Iceland to New Zeeland to Tahiti  to the Baltic and the  Mediterranean and their excursions and itineraries are the best.

[drsel]

4 hours ago, wowzz said:

That's a great response.

If the OP tells us what is important,  then we can help.

The original question is meaningless, because there are no parameters.

 

For me, shows entertainment and activities are the most important

[tanyaewa]

2 hours ago, drsel said:

For me, shows entertainment and activities are the most important

NCL Bliss had 2 Broadway style shows in Dec 2019. Jersey boys and Six. They were exceptional.  A few comedy nights, a silent disco plus amazing themed dining and venues.  Their outside “waterfront” area in unrivalled for lounge areas to eta, drink and just enjoy the view. I would highly recommend it for an itinerary like Alaska where you didn’t have the spring break all you can drink feel in the main pool areas. But to be honest it left a lot of ship less busy during sea days which was great.  Their observation lounge is stunning 

[drsel]

39 minutes ago, tanyaewa said:

NCL Bliss had 2 Broadway style shows in Dec 2019. Jersey boys and Six. They were exceptional.  A few comedy nights, a silent disco plus amazing themed dining and venues.  Their outside “waterfront” area in unrivalled for lounge areas to eta, drink and just enjoy the view. I would highly recommend it for an itinerary like Alaska where you didn’t have the spring break all you can drink feel in the main pool areas. But to be honest it left a lot of ship less busy during sea days which was great.  Their observation lounge is stunning 

thanks, but now Norwegian has priced themselves out of the market.

I wonder how they will manage to fill all the cabins at these high prices.

There should be a lot of last minute price drops.

[moobear67]

I agree that if you want a lot of activities AND good shows, NCL is best, with Royal second best IF you go on a bigger, newer ship (smaller, older ships lack a lot of activities) but I also agree that NCL is pricing themselves out of the market. I have one more NCL cruise planned because we have unused cruise credit from a past cancelled cruise, but after that, I'm not sure I would cruise them again at their current prices. 

[KruzPrincess]

Of the cruise lines you’ve listed, I’ve been on all but MSC. I haven’t been on Royal Caribbean or Costa in many years. Princess and NCL are currently my favorites. I’ve been on Princess the most. My friends love NCL, so I tried them and I enjoyed.

 

I think Princess does pretty good all around. It’s a good cruise experience.

 

NCL is probably not for everyone, but it’s still very good. Let me preface this by saying that I‘ve only been on the big new ships.  I love their big entertainment shows (Jersey Boys,  Choir of Man, etc). You do have to plan in advance and make reservations for shows. I love their choices in specialty restaurants and you usually get some free specialty dining with their amenities package. You can pre-purchase dining packages, as well. The regular dining rooms are completely acceptable. It is a good idea to make reservations for dining, too. The drawback of NCL is limited pool seating and crowded pool areas. I’m not a pool person, so this never affected me. I prefer NCL cabins. I must say that bad weather can make the indoors crowded which would happen on other cruise lines, too. The Haven is a great experience if you can afford it. I’m too cheap to spend the money on it, but my friends are not and I was happy to visit.

 

Princess is still my first choice, but NCL is also good for some. 

[tanyaewa]

I’m always happy with the offerings when I cruise Princess.  It’s comfortable and very accommodating.  I can’t imagine going on a cruise like the Med or our upcoming Baltic one on a ship with water slides and race tracks.  I am excited to go on the Enchanted as they have updated some decor, restaurants and most happily the buffet 

[teacherman]

To me, it depends on what you want to get out of your cruise.  All ships have dining rooms and buffets (food is very subjective).  All ships have "entertainment" (some love the pool games but others prefer the singers/dancers).  Some love meeting new people, but others seek a quiet spot to read a book. Some want a 7 day party break from work, while others want to see new ports.  A person's enjoyment will depend upon if they received what they were expecting.  I always advise that the first time on a ship, you should begin at the top deck and do a quick walk through of each deck from top to bottom(except for decks with all cabins).  See which areas look like your type of area.  Then you have a better chance of getting what you are looking for.  

[Renmar]

On 2/27/2021 at 8:07 PM, drsel said:

Can anyone  do a comparison of the pros and cons of some or all of these mass-market Cruise lines?

 

How would you rank them based on quality of entertainment, shows, activities, food in the main dining room and buffet, state room, crew service and other facilities. Thanks!

Be prepared for any answer you can imagen from the respective cruisers depending on which cruise line is their favorite.

 

Theo