Jumped to Royal for the first time

[Red-Sol]

When comparing NCL and Royal someone said something once that was short and sweet and stuck with me.

"Royal Ships are better during the day and NCL ships are better at night"

Basically meaning that things like the Solarium, Flow Riders, Hot Tubs, Pools, water/diving shows, etc. on Royal were a real plus....while things like the Specialty Restaurants, shows, bars, casinos, Spice H2O, etc. were also a real plus for NCL Ships.

Personally I have only been on 2 Royal cruises (Oasis and Allure) and I found the ships themselves to be spectacular...on both cruises though there was something definitely missing. As beautiful as the ships were there was also a vibe that was nowhere near as good on those ships as there is on NCL ships...some people have already mentioned that in many cases the crew seemed to not be very friendly (I also witnessed and agree with that) but I would extend that to say that it also carried over to the passengers in that they seemed very aloof and somewhat bored with everything. The Vibe people will see and be a part of on NCL cruises is just way more fun and vibrant...and that's very important to us and the main reason we mostly stick with NCL.

[tinkr2]

Royal is my favorite. I love their big ships and will never forget the first time we boarded an Oasis class, I was breathless by how beautiful it wa. And I was no cruise newbie. The neighborhoods are great. I love the flow rider and will probably break something on it one day as I am terrible. I like the larger variety of specialty and quick restaurants. The main dining room food is far superior imo. I like the free drinks as a  loyalty  perk. Royal has more active things for the day, skating , rock walls, slides, flow rider etc. I also love their big broadway shows and the aqua shows.

However, I am also platinum on NCL and really enjoy them for solo cruising. They excel at get togethers and activities. I think NCL has better trivia and more live music in the bars at night. I like that NCL rewards you with free dinners and discounts. They both are fun. 

I am confused about you always finding them to be more expensive. I find they both both are very close. As far as crew members go, Ive never had unfriendly staff on either. Go on Carnival and you'll really see sweet staff. They put the others to shame.

 

[cruisegirl1976]

I have sailed both NCL and RCCL .. and have to say I do prefer RCCL.. from the drinks to the food to the service.. seems like RCCL beats NCL , well my opinion anyways that they do.. lol

[cooncat_mom]

I’ve sailed all 3 of the mass lines (Carnival was my line for my first few cruises), but have been cruising Royal and NCL. I like both, but would sail Royal more if the price was better and I didn’t have to get to NJ!  Although, I like the convenience of NCL and I like their night vibe better.  
 

 My daughter and I just finished a cruise on the Oasis in September, and we were impressed.  Love the neighborhoods, had some good shopping and have to admit, love that it wasn’t crowded!  The ship is beautiful, the crew was very friendly and happy to be back to work (the passengers were applauded by staff with big grins as we entered the ship!)   and the food was good. I also, being lactose intolerant, very much appreciated that they always had a vegan selection for dinner (and it was good, too!).  We ordered from the menu in the app, but they did have physical menus for those who weren’t into tech.  There weren’t a lot of children on our sailing and we really didn’t see much of them. 
 

There is some segregation - some show times were vacinated pax only and the 3 level  Main Dining Room had one level for unvaccinated. You do also have to wear a mask in most indoor areas (I work in a hospital, that’s not a big deal for me).

 

We’ve sailed on smaller Royal ships - the Enchantment , Explorer and Serenade. Have to admit, the Enchantment was our favorite!

 

 

 

I hope you have a great time on the Symphony!

 

 

Edited November 4, 2021 by cooncat_mom
Added a thought…

[aubreyc1988]

Some of my pros and cons

 

Ships: I prefer NCL ships, altho my husband disagrees. I have not been on Quantum Class, only older ships and Oasis Class.  I feel like RCI ships seem more dated and more inward facing, like a mall, whereas NCL has the Waterfront. I like RCI Solarium, but I would prefer it if it was not enclosed. 

 

Food: NCL wins this for me. I love all the "Free" specialty dining I get, love NCL's buffet food AND their set up.  RCI usually has their buffets set up in pods and it just takes forever to get your food. 

 

Drinks: Hands down NCL. I had such a bad time with RCI drinks/barservice. Quality of drinks and service was poor, PLUS I found their offerings to be expensive, especially the drink package. 

 

Entertainment: I used to prefer RCI and probably still lean that way. I love the ice skating show on Royal as well as their broadway productions and cirque shows. 

 

Vibe: I prefer the laidback NCL vibe for sure

 

I usually book NCL because I feel like they are generally on par with RCI and have a lot more included items, as well as some good loyalty perks which we have earned. And I wouldn't sail with RCI during this pandemic as  they are allowing unvaccinated kids onboard.  No offense to any kiddos. Soon you will be able to vaccinated 🙂

Edited November 4, 2021 by aubreyc1988

[aubreyc1988]

14 hours ago, Red-Sol said:

When comparing NCL and Royal someone said something once that was short and sweet and stuck with me.

"Royal Ships are better during the day and NCL ships are better at night"

Basically meaning that things like the Solarium, Flow Riders, Hot Tubs, Pools, water/diving shows, etc. on Royal were a real plus....while things like the Specialty Restaurants, shows, bars, casinos, Spice H2O, etc. were also a real plus for NCL Ships.

Personally I have only been on 2 Royal cruises (Oasis and Allure) and I found the ships themselves to be spectacular...on both cruises though there was something definitely missing. As beautiful as the ships were there was also a vibe that was nowhere near as good on those ships as there is on NCL ships...some people have already mentioned that in many cases the crew seemed to not be very friendly (I also witnessed and agree with that) but I would extend that to say that it also carried over to the passengers in that they seemed very aloof and somewhat bored with everything. The Vibe people will see and be a part of on NCL cruises is just way more fun and vibrant...and that's very important to us and the main reason we mostly stick with NCL.

YES to this...the vibe on NCL is much more...ALIVE 

[PTC DAWG]

I've sailed both lines...I find them much more alike than different.  

 

You really go wrong...both lines have different types of ships aimed at different cruisers..

 

Royal and their mask requirements rule me out for the near future. 

[tinkr2]

2 hours ago, aubreyc1988 said:

YES to this...the vibe on NCL is much more...ALIVE 

Yes I agree that NCL bars are better at night . I think RCCL isn't as lively other big ships bc they have so many big shows going on to put people in. Sometimes there are 3 in the same timeframe. I love shows so that is a huge plus for me. I can watch ice skating show, aquatic show, broadway show and comedy.

[tinkr2]

20 minutes ago, PTC DAWG said:

I've sailed both lines...I find them much more alike than different.  

 

You really go wrong...both lines have different types of ships aimed at different cruisers..

 

Royal and their mask requirements rule me out for the near future. 

Funny, Ive been on 4 cruises recently and it was no big deal. You just do not spend that much time inside on a ship without a drink or food. And my 2 NCL were Europe so masks were required there also. 

[marktwothousand]

I am LOVING the opinions on this board. Thank you for them all. The takeaway opinions I am getting that would affect me are:

- NCL has better nightlife. That’s gonna suck for me because I am definitely more of a night person on cruises, I’ve had many a 4 AM+ night or simply just wait for the first breakfast outdoors before I go to bed on NCL LOL. I will have to adjust to this on Royal, especially because capacity is down, I am assuming there will be way less “partiers”

- NCL people seem to be more loyal to the brand. Royal people prefer Royal but are willing to cruise on, and have cruised on, other lines.

- more restaurants included on NCL will be an adjustment for me

- the consensus is that the scale and glamour of royal ships seems to be a little better than NCL. As a comparison, I am

going on the symphony and have been on the encore. These are basically the biggest, latest and greatest ships from both lines currently in North America (excluding odyssey) and I was not impressed with the encore whatsoever. What were they thinking with topping the ship off with a laser tag area and race track all in prime locations? Gross. 
- masks, I would prefer no masks, but I wanted to see the symphony of the seas as it is the biggest in the world. 
 

all-tolled the sailing was about $1300 US solo INCLUDING drinks which is on par with an NCL studio package

[billslowsky]

On 11/3/2021 at 7:47 PM, BirdTravels said:

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

So does variety and change.

[tafawke]

This will be my first NCL (Breakaway Dec 19 out of New Orleans) but I have had a couple of RC (Spectrum and Navigator) as well as a P&O out of Southampton and P&O Aust out of Perth, a MSC out of Dubai and way back as my very first cruise ever, a weekender on Superstar Leo out of Brisbane... (I been working as an expat for last 13 years so a new country means a new port)... I have always loved RC - Spectrum was unbelievable - I was on my own and had a solo balcony - perfect size and a huge balcony (was a diagonal so had heaps of space)... it was out of Shanghai in 2019 so almost new and a target market of Chinese folk... I think out of the 4000 odd guests there were 200 non Chinese - the crew always took their time with us, because of the language barrier (we could chat back to them and had different expectations), the food was spectacular I ate in the MDR and whilst I didn't have assigned seating I tended to eat at the same time with my same new friends and with the same waiters (we would walk in and unless we were significantly late, we ended up at the same table - hence same wait staff). It made tipping at the end easier as there were fewer people involved. As we were waiting to disembark in Tokyo we started chatting to the Financial Controller and discovered it was her birthday - we brought her back a little gift and we ended up being comped a specialty 'birthday' dinner for with her in the Teppanyaki Restaurant - there were three of us and all the other guests were cruise officers - it was fabulous... The shows were Chinese focused but having lived in China it wasn't a disappointment - some of the other non-Chinese found it a little too much. The magic show/silk ribbon acrobats were incredible (the male acrobat was very easy to look at). The bionic bar was my favourite - as a non drinker I would get crazy fruit punch mixes and I was able to treat my drinking buddies who didn't have a drink package as there was no one to prevent me ordering drinks for them (you were limited to 2 every 30 mins I think) I could watch the robot mixing drinks all night... What I did miss was the soft serve ice-cream machine that was on the Navigator - never saw one on any cruise after that one... :(...  Needless the say, I was impressed and hoping NCL rises to the challenge as my new home is Canada so I have plenty of opportunity to cruise out of NY, Florida etc ...

 

 

[marktwothousand]

Thank you again to everyone who provided input. I am back from Symphony and here is my review compared to NCL:

 

Ship: there is nothing like it. I have been on all the top NCL ships and I didn’t realize what I was missing. I can’t express the feelings I have about this ship, it’s pure glamour and opulence from top to bottom. So much to do and the venues feel like you’re in first class all the time. Glass and lights and open spaces shiny and new, everywhere, all the time. Sweeping open atriums of 15 storeys high elevators with massive artwork and windows. And no massive areas taken over by things like “race tracks”.

 

entertainment: again, RCCL wins here but not by as much as above. NCL’s shows were mostly good (except the fluffy filler stuff like burn the floor) but Royal just has more OF it…the headliner show hairspray was excellent, but the Ice show and FLIGHT were far from slackers… I do not know how an ice skater lady can do like 10 costume changes in 5 minutes simply by jumping through hoops, or how they could suspend a manned-airplane above the crowd in the theatre…not to mention the diving show, oh my LAN😱

 

music: Royal wins here again, but the problem was, there were so many good performers it was hard to know where to be. For example, one night I saw a live band doing covers of all the cruise ship line dances, but I was too late to make it so I missed it all. Another time, I again caught the tail-end of a dixieland jazz band that I would have loved to have seen the whole thing 

 

nightlife: unfortunately a bust on Royal. They had one party mid week which was very well done. But NO sailaway and NO anything else. TWO night club nights were eaten up by “silent disco” (ew and boring). NONE of the events are hosted, and there is no dancing performances. The open DJ “in da klurb” sometimes wasn’t scheduled until MIDNIGHT.  A real bust.

 

food: forget scheduled dining, HATED it. I never once went to my assigned table. I always met new travelers and ate where and when I wanted. The sad part was the food was BLECH compared to NCL. Most of the time I couldn’t finish my mains. The apps were mostly gross too. Selection in the buffet was not as good as NCL. limited Indian and international section. At least the buffet was edible. I don’t understand, How can they not even do hot dogs and pizza right?

 

housekeeping and service: excellent but so is NCL. my housekeeper unpacked for me and I also received an upgrade from interior to balcony, so like, wow? Internet service was also excellent and WAY cheaper than NCL, which I simply can’t usually even afford and have never gotten. 

 

sports and activities: never an issue finding space in a hot tub. The solarium is much nicer than spice H2O but the glass does limit how much sun you get. The zip line was wonderful and basketball court was always available. I fell off the rock climbing wall. Large smoking area with friendly people (this is always a good spot to socialize). The casino has decent minimums but the machines are mostly boring. I participated in 3 slot pulls and somehow was the lucky spinner in each one, we walked away with $100 each in the last one. 

 

I was so tired from the size and scale of everything that I crashed hard the last two days and missed a lot. it is definitely going to be hard to go back to NCL in January on the getaway but I am looking forward to the parties and events

[luckyinpa]

didnt know they unpacked you in a balcony on royal. i know haven will do it but you have to be in the room watching them. 

[MrMarc]

I've taken a lot of cruises on RCCL, a few on Carnival and a few less on NCL.  To be totally honest, I think when you average everything(price, amenities, cabin, entertainment, casino, free food, payed food, etc.) there really is no huge difference.  To me, the difference is the amount of things on the mega ships vs. smaller ships.  Each has their advantages and disadvantages, the key is keeping you expectations realistic.

[SE fla]

Thanks Mark great review. The Allure and Symphony are my favorites. 

[DrSea]

On 11/1/2021 at 9:59 PM, 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?

I am seeing that RCI is much cheaper than NCL. They have a lot of sales right now. I am able to get balconies for 100/night including taxes, port fees, and tips. I can't say the same for NCL unless I pack 4 ppl in a balcony room. 

 

Disclaimer: RCI offer firefighter/EMT discounts, which NCL doesn't. It knocks down like 10-30% off on some sailings, which is quite a bit for me.

[DrSea]

18 minutes ago, MrMarc said:

I've taken a lot of cruises on RCCL, a few on Carnival and a few less on NCL.  To be totally honest, I think when you average everything(price, amenities, cabin, entertainment, casino, free food, payed food, etc.) there really is no huge difference.  To me, the difference is the amount of things on the mega ships vs. smaller ships.  Each has their advantages and disadvantages, the key is keeping you expectations realistic.

I 100% agree. They are more similar then they are different. It's all +/-, except carnival's food is worst imho. 

[SE fla]

1 hour ago, marktwothousand said:

Thank you again to everyone who provided input. I am back from Symphony and here is my review compared to NCL:

 

Ship: there is nothing like it. I have been on all the top NCL ships and I didn’t realize what I was missing. I can’t express the feelings I have about this ship, it’s pure glamour and opulence from top to bottom. So much to do and the venues feel like you’re in first class all the time. Glass and lights and open spaces shiny and new, everywhere, all the time. Sweeping open atriums of 15 storeys high elevators with massive artwork and windows. And no massive areas taken over by things like “race tracks”.

 

entertainment: again, RCCL wins here but not by as much as above. NCL’s shows were mostly good (except the fluffy filler stuff like burn the floor) but Royal just has more OF it…the headliner show hairspray was excellent, but the Ice show and FLIGHT were far from slackers… I do not know how an ice skater lady can do like 10 costume changes in 5 minutes simply by jumping through hoops, or how they could suspend a manned-airplane above the crowd in the theatre…not to mention the diving show, oh my LAN😱

 

music: Royal wins here again, but the problem was, there were so many good performers it was hard to know where to be. For example, one night I saw a live band doing covers of all the cruise ship line dances, but I was too late to make it so I missed it all. Another time, I again caught the tail-end of a dixieland jazz band that I would have loved to have seen the whole thing 

 

nightlife: unfortunately a bust on Royal. They had one party mid week which was very well done. But NO sailaway and NO anything else. TWO night club nights were eaten up by “silent disco” (ew and boring). NONE of the events are hosted, and there is no dancing performances. The open DJ “in da klurb” sometimes wasn’t scheduled until MIDNIGHT.  A real bust.

 

food: forget scheduled dining, HATED it. I never once went to my assigned table. I always met new travelers and ate where and when I wanted. The sad part was the food was BLECH compared to NCL. Most of the time I couldn’t finish my mains. The apps were mostly gross too. Selection in the buffet was not as good as NCL. limited Indian and international section. At least the buffet was edible. I don’t understand, How can they not even do hot dogs and pizza right?

 

housekeeping and service: excellent but so is NCL. my housekeeper unpacked for me and I also received an upgrade from interior to balcony, so like, wow? Internet service was also excellent and WAY cheaper than NCL, which I simply can’t usually even afford and have never gotten. 

 

sports and activities: never an issue finding space in a hot tub. The solarium is much nicer than spice H2O but the glass does limit how much sun you get. The zip line was wonderful and basketball court was always available. I fell off the rock climbing wall. Large smoking area with friendly people (this is always a good spot to socialize). The casino has decent minimums but the machines are mostly boring. I participated in 3 slot pulls and somehow was the lucky spinner in each one, we walked away with $100 each in the last one. 

 

I was so tired from the size and scale of everything that I crashed hard the last two days and missed a lot. it is definitely going to be hard to go back to NCL in January on the getaway but I am looking forward to the parties and events

 

[SE fla]

1 hour ago, marktwothousand said:

Thank you again to everyone who provided input. I am back from Symphony and here is my review compared to NCL:

 

Ship: there is nothing like it. I have been on all the top NCL ships and I didn’t realize what I was missing. I can’t express the feelings I have about this ship, it’s pure glamour and opulence from top to bottom. So much to do and the venues feel like you’re in first class all the time. Glass and lights and open spaces shiny and new, everywhere, all the time. Sweeping open atriums of 15 storeys high elevators with massive artwork and windows. And no massive areas taken over by things like “race tracks”.

 

entertainment: again, RCCL wins here but not by as much as above. NCL’s shows were mostly good (except the fluffy filler stuff like burn the floor) but Royal just has more OF it…the headliner show hairspray was excellent, but the Ice show and FLIGHT were far from slackers… I do not know how an ice skater lady can do like 10 costume changes in 5 minutes simply by jumping through hoops, or how they could suspend a manned-airplane above the crowd in the theatre…not to mention the diving show, oh my LAN😱

 

music: Royal wins here again, but the problem was, there were so many good performers it was hard to know where to be. For example, one night I saw a live band doing covers of all the cruise ship line dances, but I was too late to make it so I missed it all. Another time, I again caught the tail-end of a dixieland jazz band that I would have loved to have seen the whole thing 

 

nightlife: unfortunately a bust on Royal. They had one party mid week which was very well done. But NO sailaway and NO anything else. TWO night club nights were eaten up by “silent disco” (ew and boring). NONE of the events are hosted, and there is no dancing performances. The open DJ “in da klurb” sometimes wasn’t scheduled until MIDNIGHT.  A real bust.

 

food: forget scheduled dining, HATED it. I never once went to my assigned table. I always met new travelers and ate where and when I wanted. The sad part was the food was BLECH compared to NCL. Most of the time I couldn’t finish my mains. The apps were mostly gross too. Selection in the buffet was not as good as NCL. limited Indian and international section. At least the buffet was edible. I don’t understand, How can they not even do hot dogs and pizza right?

 

housekeeping and service: excellent but so is NCL. my housekeeper unpacked for me and I also received an upgrade from interior to balcony, so like, wow? Internet service was also excellent and WAY cheaper than NCL, which I simply can’t usually even afford and have never gotten. 

 

sports and activities: never an issue finding space in a hot tub. The solarium is much nicer than spice H2O but the glass does limit how much sun you get. The zip line was wonderful and basketball court was always available. I fell off the rock climbing wall. Large smoking area with friendly people (this is always a good spot to socialize). The casino has decent minimums but the machines are mostly boring. I participated in 3 slot pulls and somehow was the lucky spinner in each one, we walked away with $100 each in the last one. 

 

I was so tired from the size and scale of everything that I crashed hard the last two days and missed a lot. it is definitely going to be hard to go back to NCL in January on the getaway but I am looking forward to the parties and events

 

[SE fla]

1 hour ago, marktwothousand said:

Thank you again to everyone who provided input. I am back from Symphony and here is my review compared to NCL:

 

Ship: there is nothing like it. I have been on all the top NCL ships and I didn’t realize what I was missing. I can’t express the feelings I have about this ship, it’s pure glamour and opulence from top to bottom. So much to do and the venues feel like you’re in first class all the time. Glass and lights and open spaces shiny and new, everywhere, all the time. Sweeping open atriums of 15 storeys high elevators with massive artwork and windows. And no massive areas taken over by things like “race tracks”.

 

entertainment: again, RCCL wins here but not by as much as above. NCL’s shows were mostly good (except the fluffy filler stuff like burn the floor) but Royal just has more OF it…the headliner show hairspray was excellent, but the Ice show and FLIGHT were far from slackers… I do not know how an ice skater lady can do like 10 costume changes in 5 minutes simply by jumping through hoops, or how they could suspend a manned-airplane above the crowd in the theatre…not to mention the diving show, oh my LAN😱

 

music: Royal wins here again, but the problem was, there were so many good performers it was hard to know where to be. For example, one night I saw a live band doing covers of all the cruise ship line dances, but I was too late to make it so I missed it all. Another time, I again caught the tail-end of a dixieland jazz band that I would have loved to have seen the whole thing 

 

nightlife: unfortunately a bust on Royal. They had one party mid week which was very well done. But NO sailaway and NO anything else. TWO night club nights were eaten up by “silent disco” (ew and boring). NONE of the events are hosted, and there is no dancing performances. The open DJ “in da klurb” sometimes wasn’t scheduled until MIDNIGHT.  A real bust.

 

food: forget scheduled dining, HATED it. I never once went to my assigned table. I always met new travelers and ate where and when I wanted. The sad part was the food was BLECH compared to NCL. Most of the time I couldn’t finish my mains. The apps were mostly gross too. Selection in the buffet was not as good as NCL. limited Indian and international section. At least the buffet was edible. I don’t understand, How can they not even do hot dogs and pizza right?

 

housekeeping and service: excellent but so is NCL. my housekeeper unpacked for me and I also received an upgrade from interior to balcony, so like, wow? Internet service was also excellent and WAY cheaper than NCL, which I simply can’t usually even afford and have never gotten. 

 

sports and activities: never an issue finding space in a hot tub. The solarium is much nicer than spice H2O but the glass does limit how much sun you get. The zip line was wonderful and basketball court was always available. I fell off the rock climbing wall. Large smoking area with friendly people (this is always a good spot to socialize). The casino has decent minimums but the machines are mostly boring. I participated in 3 slot pulls and somehow was the lucky spinner in each one, we walked away with $100 each in the last one. 

 

I was so tired from the size and scale of everything that I crashed hard the last two days and missed a lot. it is definitely going to be hard to go back to NCL in January on the getaway but I am looking forward to the parties and events

 

[marktwothousand]

@SE flaGood lord that scene in flight was quite something!!! Anyone who has not seen it, click the movie link above!!!

[ShelleyQT]

Did they ask you before unpacking for you?  I would be very unhappy if I came back to find my stuff unpacked without my permission.

[marktwothousand]

10 minutes ago, ShelleyQT said:

Did they ask you before unpacking for you?  I would be very unhappy if I came back to find my stuff unpacked without my permission.

It was just a light unpack. The stuff that had partially been taken out of the suitcase was put into drawers for me and the stuff still in it was neatly folded back into my suitcase. I gave him $10

[marktwothousand]

I guess the big question for all of us is, if we like RCCL so much, why do we still cruise NCL?