Jumped to Royal for the first time

[marktwothousand]

I have only done NCL cruises but decided to jump to Royal for the first time. I’m feeling a little bummed about it because I love NCL. But I was able to get a cabin solo on Symphony of the Seas which has really been my dream ship but way out of my price range until now. I was able to get an interior for $820US. I am also bummed about no drinks package included, but again, symphony was a bucket list ship for me. 

 

Ultimately what did it though, is I am just finding the NCL selection a little lacking this winter. Anyone else feel the same? I was not a fan of the encore, and I really want to leave from MIA/FLL. So it didn’t leave a lot of options. Hope I can find something to come back to NCL in 2022. I got cruise next’s to use and I can’t afford Royal forever 🙂

 

Also, I am not loving the under-12 unvaccinated thing, but whatever, I won’t be around kids much and most of the venues I’ll be in are vaccinated-only

 

anyone else an NCL’er who tried Royal for the first time and if so, what will I notice different?

[2bc cruisers]

I’ve only cruised RCCL one time.  We were trying other lines… then you know…Rona..

anyway.  What I noticed was the main dining room food was delicious.  I liked the appetizer selection, which included escargot. I like NCL foods too, don’t get me wrong.  But seems NCL has been cheapening the main DR selections for years.  I had nothing to compare RCCL to as was my first cruise with them.  
enjoy!  

[SplashOfWater]

I agree about the food. We sailed on Mariner of the Seas in Jan 2020. It wasn't our first time on Royal, but it had been nearly 10 years since we last sailed on one of their ships. We found the dinner buffet to be much better than NCL. Royal had a better selection and the food tasted better. The desserts were better...and they had cookies!!! We will be on Independence of the Seas next month and are bummed that the buffet may not be open for dinner. We're hoping that the dress code in the main dining room will be relaxed.

 

I think Royal offers more complimentary food choices than NCL. They have Cafe Promenade that serves pastries, sandwiches and snacks all day. On some of the ships they have a pizza place. Depending on the class of ship, there may be other complimentary food venues as well. 

 

We were very pleasantly surprised with our return to Royal, and it's opened our eyes to trying out other cruises lines besides NCL.

[BirdTravels]

1 hour ago, marktwothousand said:

Ultimately what did it though, is I am just finding the NCL selection a little lacking this winter. Anyone else feel the same? I was not a fan of the encore, and I really want to leave from MIA/FLL. So it didn’t leave a lot of options. Hope I can find something to come back to NCL in 2022. I got cruise next’s to use and I can’t afford Royal forever 🙂

 

anyone else an NCL’er who tried Royal for the first time and if so, what will I notice different?

You will love the Symphony. She's a beautiful ship. Historically, Royal crew members seem cold and unfriendly compared to NCL's crew (who are trained to greet every passenger). That being said, there has been a significant change to crew interaction on Royal since the restart. 

 

The rooms will be bigger. And, obviously, the ship is a floating city.

 

Like big NCL ships, you need to reserve your shows (theater, ice shows, aqua theater shows, comedy shows). Royal's Cruise Planner is a lot more friendly than NCL's website and allows you to book and cancel reservations on your own. 

 

My Time Dining is similar to Freestyle dining. You can advance book your dining times which will save a bit of wait at the MDR. Royal still focuses on early and late seating (not for us). On a 7-night cruise, there will be two formal nights (which the vast majority of people ignore and wear cruise casual clothing (including shorts)). 

 

Jonny Rockets (like the American Diner) is a specialty restaurant, but serves a complimentary breakfast on the boardwalk. So,,, you can get your free hamburger and eggs for breakfast or pay the cover charge for the same at lunch. 

 

Royal does not hard sell specialty dining as much as NCL. We may go to one specialty dinner, but not as much as we do on NCL. 

 

Right now, the masking rules on Royal are annoying. We have sailed on one NCL cruise and two Royal cruises since the restart. And the unvaxxed kids with poor mask compliance running around is annoying. 

 

We love the variety entertainment on the Symphony (and other Royal big ships). 

 

You can carry your own water onboard and can carry a couple of bottles of wine for private consumption without corkage. 

 

The live post link below was from our 2018 inaugural voyage of the Symphony out of Miami. You can get a an idea of the the ship and what they normally have onboard. 

 

 

 

 

[BirdTravels]

Like NCL, Royal has gone away from paper menus and encourages the use of their app to get online menus. (A sign of the ongoing pandemic). The format of the menus on the Royal app is inferior to NCL, but if you scroll through enough pages, you can get all of the menu items. 

 

Current bar menu prices, MDR menu examples can be found on the following link from a September cruise out of Miami. 

 

[marktwothousand]

OH MY GOD thank you so much this is exactly what I was looking in terms of opinions. I’m really nervous about it all, so thanks. 

[chillyw]

I did Symphony once before the pandemic, my only RCCL cruise. Have done 6 NCL, 3 MSC as well.

 

Pros: Huge, beautiful ship. Neighborhood concept is great, lots to see. Really fast wifi. Awesome sports bar with every NFL game. 

 

Cons: Tons and tons of kids, specialty dining in general wasn't as good as NCL (though there was exceptions), entertainment not as good as NCL, for as big as it was, I felt bored sometimes.  Casino was meh as well, many times they didn't have craps open, and it's just 1x odds for example. Spent a ton of time playing slots to pass the time instead of preferred games.

 

 

I came away with the conclusion that while I loved the concept of the ship, I'm probably not their target audience. I'm back to NCL in December.

 

 

[FLcruisergrl]

We sailed Mariner of the Seas a few weeks ago, as we really wanted to cruise and NCL isn’t going out of Port Canaveral yet. We really liked it, but will ultimately stick with NCL for the Haven/suites. Two things I loved about Royal, though were the specialty dining setup and the Coco Beach Club on CocoCay. While the specialty dining isn’t an included perk (boo!), it is a pay one price and eat as much as you want. We paid $38 pp at Jamie’s and were gluttonous, getting the meat plank, apps, pasta, entrees, and desserts. All under the enabler that was the waiter! The Coco Beach Club, while pricey, was awesome. We use the Silver Cove area on GSC when we cruise NCL and the CBC really gave it a run for its money. While we love the villas, the Beach Club restaurant blows the buffet at Silver Cove out of the water. Plus, the infinity pool is a great option, even though I love the ocean. If NCL would upgrade the Silver Cove dining, it would be perfect.  All in all, we’d definitely plan on sailing RCCL for a short cruise again.

[rebeccac]

While I have not been on any of the huge Royal ships, one of the things they do so much better is the adult only area.  Spice H2O is not my thing with the lack of shade and pathetic "water feature".  On most all Royal ships, they have an adult only Solarium area with an actual pool.  It may not be large, but it is generally much quieter than the main pool.  And I can usually find somewhere to sit that is shaded.  The other place Royal wins hands down (at least in before times) is the buffet.  I always found the NCL buffet to be pretty boring and repetitive.  Royal had more variety, better food and less repetition.  

[redlock]

We love NCL, but due to no sailings out of the UK lately, we spent last week on the Anthem Of The Seas on a five nighter round the UK coast. First time on RRCI and I we enjoyed it. The staff were excellent in all parts of the ship.

I found the app a bit clunky and you could only book shows when connected to the ships guest wi-fi.

The bars were full in the evenings and late afternoons due to distancing and everyone having to be seated. I think we had approx 2200 on board.

 

I think RC does win in the food stakes, we had excellent food every night.

The drinks package was more expensive than NCL but obviously this can be offset if your paying less for the overall cruise.

The ship was spotless and very modern but it did seem a little enclosed and I must admit I feel more at home on an NCL ship.

 

We may try RC again in future, but for now I am (hopefully) looking forward to getting back on the Escape in December

[phillygwm]

7 hours ago, chillyw said:

Casino was meh as well, many times they didn't have craps open, and it's just 1x odds for example. Spent a ton of time playing slots to pass the time instead of preferred games.

 

I've done NCL exclusively since 2010 because CAS usually hooks me up pretty well.  I'm always a solo traveler (even if I'm traveling with friends, I'm in my own room) and I never need to worry about single supplement, for instance.  For those who spend time in the casinos on other lines, how do their offers compare?  I thought about taking a weekend trip on RCCL just to get on their radar but not UNhappy with NCL, just looking for alternatives, so wondering if it's worthwhile.

[EllieinNJ]

When our 14 day Princess cruise in Nov, was cancelled and lifted and shifted to Nov, 22, we decided to do two other cruises, NCL Breakaway in Sept. and RCL Oasis in Oct. because there was no flying for us.

 

NCL was good as always and not having to wear a mask anywhere was an added bonus.  But RCL really blew us away.  As mentioned above the food was so much better and there were more free places to eat.  The entertainment was spectacular.  An aqua show, an ice skating show, a Broadway show, singers, comedians, ventriloquists, Beatle cover bands, lounge singers, etc.

 

The adults only Solarium was a perfect place for those who wanted shade at a pool.  They even had two hot tubs there and their own Bistro that served 3 meals a day.

 

We enjoyed it so  much that we booked another RCL cruise while on board for reduced deposit and increased OBC.  Yes, we did have to wear masks while walking on the ship but could take them off anywhere we sat down and no masks outdoors.  We still love NCL and even bought two more cruise nexts on the Breakaway and hope their 2023 prices come down so we can use them.

[SliderNc]

I've sailed on Mariner (2008) and Freedom (2010), and Breakaway (2015) and Escape (2017).  I will say that the food on RCL is much better than NCL and being a foodie, I found that the specialty dining on RCL to be much better, but food is super subjective for everyone.  Otherwise, I found that both cruiselines do some things really well and some things not as well.  NCL crew was much better than RCL in terms of friendliness though, which is a huge thing for us.  They become a huge part of your vacation and when they are friendly, it just makes it that more special.  I will agree that there is some lack of good ships/sailings right now for NCL, but I'm okay with maybe doing a cruise on a ship I normally wouldn't or repeating an itinerary just to be on a ship.

 

Variety is the spice of life, or something like that, so enjoy your future cruise.

[Sixtytwo]

Thanks to all who commented on the OP's question. We, too, had given some brief thought to doing a "test" cruise on RCL. Based on the comments, we will likely hold off and continue to enjoy NCL. The friendly staff is definitely a draw for us but the big draw is NCL's vaccination policy.  Don't like the thought of many kids running loose who are not vaccinated and likely not wearing masks!

[Sthrngary]

13 hours ago, marktwothousand said:

I have only done NCL cruises but decided to jump to Royal for the first time. I’m feeling a little bummed about it because I love NCL. But I was able to get a cabin solo on Symphony of the Seas which has really been my dream ship but way out of my price range until now. I was able to get an interior for $820US. I am also bummed about no drinks package included, but again, symphony was a bucket list ship for me. 

 

Ultimately what did it though, is I am just finding the NCL selection a little lacking this winter. Anyone else feel the same? I was not a fan of the encore, and I really want to leave from MIA/FLL. So it didn’t leave a lot of options. Hope I can find something to come back to NCL in 2022. I got cruise next’s to use and I can’t afford Royal forever 🙂

 

Also, I am not loving the under-12 unvaccinated thing, but whatever, I won’t be around kids much and most of the venues I’ll be in are vaccinated-only

 

anyone else an NCL’er who tried Royal for the first time and if so, what will I notice different?

Each Mainstream Brand and it sister ship/brands have positives and negatives.  Kind of like Ford and Chevrolet.  The brands are more close then they are apart.  When push comes to shove, your vacation will have a lot more to do with those you meet and engage with then the brand itself.

 

Your choice of a ship is a very nice one.  I am also very happy it was priced right for you.  That is a plus.  On the issues of Vaccinations, every brand took a stand.  Every brand thought their stand was the right one.  Every brand had their own reasons for their stand.  Soon the need to make any vaccination a priority will slowly reduce.  Covid-19 is not going to be gone for good, it will linger.  Our knowledge and the way we protection our selves will have improved. 

 

Have a GREAT TIME and please review the ship and your experience as compared to your NCL experiences.

 

Cruise well.

[Crazy planning mom]

We sail both RCL and NCL and like them both.  Our last cruise was on the Harmony which is a sister to the Symphony.   It was an amazing ship with lots of entertainment and delicious food.    The one thing I miss on Royal is O'Sheehan's\ Local.   The main late nite dining option on Royal is Sorrento's pizza.

[Jldevlin]

• Oh me too !!!!  We got a free cruise on Royal Navigator out of L A for 7 days November 19....first cruise of the season for that ship ...but of course free is not free lol....  We love NCL but I could actually lead a ships tour on Jewel or Jade we have sailed them so often ( and we have 2 weeks booked on Jewel in May )  But I am so excited to try something new ....I wont know where any bars are and will have to  use the map to find things .... Now all cruise ships are basically the same...pool deck...atrium ...but its the little things that are different that will be interesting   Have a great time on your ship !!!!!

[nferr]

I'm doing the Epic transatlantic on April 2, but I'm also on the RCL Anthem Jan 31 for an 11 night southern Caribbean cruise out of NY.  The price pulled me in, $1130 for solo inside but it has that huge virtual balcony thing which is kind of cool.  However, an unlimited drinks package is another $50 a day, plus 18% gratuity, but that package includes just about everything (smoothies,  premium coffees, etc) which NCL's package doesn't. Also added the Unlimited Dining package which is anytime in the specialty restaurants including lunch on sea days, which there's five. That's $23 per day including tips which I think is a really decent price. So you have to weigh everything in. I'll compare the two lines after both cruises. I've been on both lines many times in the past.

[Sailing12Away]

We did our first RCC trip in October on the Jewel of the Seas. Lots of differences between that and NCL, but different doesn't necessarily mean bad. We kept trying to compare it to the Jade rather than the Encore that we were on the month prior as that seemed a more fair comparison.

This may be lengthy, but I took a lot of notes specifically to remind myself of what we did/didn't like for future bookings. So feel free to skim or focus on the things that are more important to you. Stuff that I don't care about may be more important to you, and vice versa.

 

Pre-Booking: NCL wins for us, their website seems much easier to use for mock bookings. After searching for a cruise based on date, itinerary, etc, I can easily right click and open the ones that catch my eye in a new tab. You can't do that with RCC (I haven't found a way if there is), so if the cruise isn't right for me I have to start all over again with my search. Similar to MSC - grrrr, let me open 20 tabs at once and be that crazy person if I choose to. I also kept struggling to get into my account. NCL is easy to see your invoice, what you've booked, what your options are, etc. With RCC I felt like I was always in 2 different areas - one for limited info on my booking itself and the other to sell sell sell. Options for excursions on RCC were slim to none - with NCL there's always 10+ options depending on the port. We only did one RCC excursion and we booked it while on the ship the day before.

 

Boarding: This is post-Covid, and it's a tie. Both (Encore for NCL comparison this year) had fast lines and easy process for Covid testing and boarding. However - I despise the fact that with RCC I didn't have a room key until nearly 2pm when I got on the ship around 11am. I felt so out of place and naked. Also didn't like the fact that RCC held my passport hostage the entire trip - but they claim it was because of the Greek islands we were visiting and that isn't the norm for RCC in general. Not sure if folks on the NCL Greek Isles trip this year had the same thing happen to them.

 

Embarkation Day: NCL wins. There was a lot of confusion on RCC. Our first stop was to go to a bar and at first they refused to serve us. What?? Said they weren't open but when someone else heard them say that, they told their coworker that if guests were on board the ship, the bar was open to serve them. At the buffet they asked for your room key, but we didn't have one obviously. Had to show it coming and going all week long - not sure if that's a Covid thing to keep track of how many people are inside, but it was annoying. Made you feel like you couldn't just pop in for a quick something without big brother knowing how many ice cream bowls you were having each day.

 

Food in general: Tie for me. Tons of options in the buffet on RCC but it isn't self-serve. So that slows things down and unlike NCL they didn't have a mirror image of the offerings, so if you wanted the Thai curry chicken you couldn't just go to the other shorter line - there was no other line, you had to wait. Chefs Table on RCC was awesome, and I'm not a foodie by any stretch of the imagination - I have the palette of a 7 yr old. They convinced us to book it when we got on board by offering it for only $69/pp instead of the normal $100+ and said they could customize the menu for me to remove the seafood and substitute other options. Meal lasted over 4 hours and I drank more wine in that meal than the other days of the trip combined, but it was a good time. Bonus to RCC for having staff in the buffet roll around refrigerated trollies with beer and ice cream to save you from having to get up or juggle multiple things on your way to your seat.

 

Room: RCC wins - to an extent. We had an Owners Suite on RCC, and on the Jade had the DOS. Tons more room in the RCC room, although I think the square footage is similar. It must just be the layout, but with RCC it was a big open floor plan with tons of space and a giant deck. DOS on the Jade was a bit cramped feeling, too much furniture in the middle of the room, and although there was 2 decks there was no dining table - just loungers. With RCC we had 2 loungers and a table with 2 chairs, plus room to spare. The room on RCC was also exactly mid-ship. Get out of the elevator and you're at your room in 5 seconds; whereas with NCL it was always a bit of a walk (not far by any stretch of the imagination, but when you're drunk or tired you (I) want to be lazy). The bathroom on RCC puts NCL to shame with the space in there. Or more specifically the space around the toilet. Bathrooms in the Haven are nice and large, we've had many tours of our room end up in there chatting with folks - but the toilet is always closed off in a tight little airplane potty-sized box. Why? Plenty of room to sit on the toilet comfortably and wipe your tush on RCC and they even had a bidet too. Downside with RCC though was the balcony. We love to sit out there at night listening to the ocean and looking at the stars. Couldn't do that on this ship - there was a large overhang above us that completely blocked the view straight up - we could only look out at the horizon. No lights at all on the balcony either, so if we wanted to play a game of cards, we couldn't. 

 

Drinks: Tie, but NCL has a lot more options for wine - or at least ones they advertise and tell you about. For wines that were included in the drink package, I think RCC only had about 5 total. When I said something to the wine bartender he said "oh, we have others, what were you looking for?". So they have cheaper wines, but they want you to pay the extra $1-2 and order the one on the menu instead. Drink menu doesn't change on RCC from bar to bar - whereas with NCL it does. That's good and bad - with NCL I've had bartenders tell me "no" if I asked for something off menu even if they had the items to make the drink (had to go to the martini bar to get a martini). With RCC you could get anything from anywhere, but part of the fun with NCL (to us) is the bar crawl sampling different things in different areas. Why bother going to all 5+ bars if the drinks are the same? Haven bar and Concierge bar on RCC will make anything you want, no questions asked - so those are the same, but Haven bar is open nearly 24/7 and the Concierge bar was only open from 5 - 9pm. So plus one for NCL on that end. But a plus one for RCC as they give you a refillable large soda mug if you have the drink package. Hubby likes to get a soda or two at the end of the night to have in the room, with the RCC tumbler it was easy. On NCL he has to balance two opened cups filled with soda on the walk back to the room, with the RCC mug it was a sealed tumbler so no spilling at all.

 

App: Uggg, don't get me started on this nonsense. RCC relies on it WAY TOO MUCH. No paper menus at all. If you don't have their wifi package (we didn't), it's a pain in the neck to get connected between airplane mode and wifi on but connected to the app. I hate the app. RCC one annoys me more because you HAVE to use their app to do things, whereas with NCL if you never use it you can still get by.

 

Entertainment: NCL wins for us. With RCC, it was the first cruise where we felt bored at times. We're not big trivia folks, but we went to trivia or name that tune nearly every day as we had nothing else to do. The headliners didn't blow us away on RCC and no true Broadway-style show. They had an acrobat act which was good, but the comedic relief and banter in between stunts had me rolling my eyes. The participation in other scheduled events is way better with NCL too. Maybe because it was a super reduced sailing with RCC? Maybe because most folks on board were from the UK and the entertainment was too low brow for them? Who knows... but I found it funny that both ships have nearly the same Newlywed type game - on the Encore there were 10+ couples vying for a spot to play, on RCC they had to beg just to get 2 couples, and one dropped out halfway through the game. The guests on NCL were more social too, we often would sit in the Haven lounge (Encore - post Covid) drinking and chatting for hours - no one really wanted to talk to us on RCC. I guess we were scary, or ugly, or smelly, or something...

 

Minor stuff: The keycard is a tap and go on NCL, but a swipe on RCC. It's nice to keep my key in my wallet and just tap and go, but on RCC I had to take it out, let them swipe it, then juggle to get it back in my wallet and back in my bag/pocket. Minor like I said, but a small annoyance that builds up over the week. And the tv.... similar to NCL the first 8 or so channels is advertisement for the cruise, but a nice touch on NCL is the dedicated movie channels. Not that we go on a cruise to watch tv, but it's nice at the end of the night to just veg out a bit before bed. NCL had a channel for action movies, family movies, drama movies... same movies throughout the week, but still, something for nearly all tastes. On RCC we spent a lot of time watching rugby... maybe it was just our particular sailing and the predominance of UK passengers, but outside of a few news outlets the movie/tv channel options was slim to none.

 

So way more info than you probably wanted to read about, but keep an open mind and recognize the differences.

[Sailing12Away]

O'Sheehans! In all of my ramblings I forgot about O'Sheehans (or the Local on new ships). There's no equivalent on the smaller RCC ships. They have a garden cafe area that has "snacks" (pizza slices, small sandwiches), but it's not even close to being the same. On our sailing the only option for dinner was the main dining room or specialty restaurants. No buffet. No place to get a small dinner, or just some bar food. We desperately missed having the option of an O'Sheehans for some wings and burgers without the pomp & circumstance of a formal sit down dinner.

[luckyinpa]

just did my first royal on oasis.   first thing you will notice is you get the MDR and coastal kitchen menus on your app 2 weeks in advance and they are accurate. NCL cannot even put the menus on the app the same day. not even on your tv! it's nuts. we asked at the desk why not. she said there could be changes. lame

 

you dont have the big shows like rock of ages on royal but you do have aqua 80 which is THE reason to book any ship that has it. i saw it 2x i loved it so much. also the internet was SO much better on royal than NCL. i was on both ships within 3 weeks so the difference was very noticeable. 

 

i hated that there was no dinner buffet on royal but strangely enough when i went on NCL last week, i never even went to one. hmm.  and the lunch and bfast were barely warm on NCL but the food on royal was cooked better. 

 

i didnt eat in any specialty restaurants but i did buy the soda pack  on royal and got my cup filled a few times but the guys have to serve you now vs self serve. there's plenty of indoor space for you to hide in when theres bad weather because the ship is so big. i didnt find as many activities on oasis as the breakaway. while i hate the tiny atrium on breakaway it always seems like theres something on. on oasis there was really no 'place that you pass' that you find a show/skit going on. 

 

getting on oasis was so much easier than the BA to bermuda. no 3 hour wait for testing..win to royal

 

you didnt book a suite but there are nice bennies there , free booze, concierge etc. i hope one day you can book one. 

 

shorts are ok on NCL the 1st nite even in le bistro and MDR but dont you dare try to get in the manhattan room with shorts after that!  however even on a formal night royal is ok with you wearing shorts while you gf wears a stunning dress. just hide behind her and eat behind a pole. it's private and wonderful! 

 

another thing we just noticed was on NCL every crew member is friendly and outgoing. my gf noticed it right away. she thought the BA was a friendly and better organized ship for events and the staff. even though we were almost 1 to 1 ratio on oasis i wouldnt say the staff there was as cordial. however our steward and her assistant were super friendly. 

Edited November 3, 2021 by luckyinpa

[BirdTravels]

Yeah,,, Royal lacks for late night munchies. Cafe Promenade has sandwiches 24/7. And Sorentos is open late for pizza (which is what we usually resort to,,, but it's not good pizza,,, just something to eat late at night). We do miss The Local when on Royal ships. 

[billslowsky]

I don't limit myself to a cruise line and obsess over it.  They're more similar than they are different and a change of pace gives me so many more options and opportunities for bargains in travel.

 

NCL and Royal are as close as they can be.  Carnival isn't exactly elegant, but so what, just enjoy what's there instead of what's not.  Celebrity gave us quieter experiences.

[steveknj]

I've done two RCL ships, the Anthem out of NJ and Freedom out of PR.  I've also done two Carnival cruises.  I find Carnival is more for partying, and Royal is much more subdued and I find NCL hits the sweetspot between the two.   Royal after a few days was kind of boring, but, I never sailed on one of the giant mega ships like Symphony so that might be a bit different. 

[BirdTravels]

12 hours ago, billslowsky said:

I don't limit myself to a cruise line and obsess over it.  They're more similar than they are different and a change of pace gives me so many more options and opportunities for bargains in travel. NCL and Royal are as close as they can be.  Carnival isn't exactly elegant, but so what, just enjoy what's there instead of what's not.  Celebrity gave us quieter experiences.

Like most things travel,,,, loyalty has it's perks/privileges.