previous carnival cruiser looking to go ncl

[cabn cruser]

i have been on 4 cruises with carnival and have to say i have like everyone of them. but saying that i am wondering if maybe i am missing something. That is why i am looking at ncl. Any info you can give me about ncl would be great. We are from canada and are looking to cruise to the carribean

Bill

[Billymac]

We are from Canada as well. Sailing NCL for the 6th time, all to Alaska. You will enjoy the Freestyle Cruising. What ship are you thinking of?

[FundyGirl]

We've done two Carnival cruises but are hooked on NCL Freestyle.....what type of info are you looking for?

[mskristin]

We just got of NCL spirit and previously were on Carnival triumph. Freestyle is great...but the food is not half as good as it is on the carnival ship. That was on the spirit. Im not sure about the other ones. GO to the reviews. It was nice we liked it, but we probably wont do it again. GOod luck!:)

[luvdale]

I have been on 4 NCL cruises, 1 Disney and 1 Carnival. We did not like Carnival at all. The loud drunks all hours of the night, the saving of chairs by the pool when there is a sign that clearly states, saving of chairs is not permitted. I have never seen a drunk on our hallway on a NCL cruise, the first night on Carnival. We had terrible service in the dining room. There was 5 of us and they sat us at a table with people from Salt Lake City. They were very nice, but kinda strange!!! We are used to sitting by ourselves. It is very hard to make a conversation with people you don't know. We only went 2 times to the dining room. We went to the buffet the other nights. We really enjoy free style dining, and they will only sit you with your group unless you really want to sit with others. I know that you can have bad service at companies at home, but our cruise on Carnival was fun, but we were very disappointed. We are older now and have done the partying thing, we are able to control our drinking now. I will probably never cruise Carnival again. I was very disappointed, we had to beg to order a drink from the bar at dinner, and most of the time you are offered a drink too much. I could not even get a glass of ice tea, and if you wanted extra butter or sour cream, or even extra horseradish, you had to hurry and ask because the waiter would be gone. We have never had service like that on NCL. They bring it out and serve you until you say that is enough. I was very disappointed in Carnival. And No, I was not looking for a bad cruise, I was very excited, I counted the days, had the countdown on my computer at work. I would tell everyone at work how many days I had left till my cruise. I love cruise vacations, and I was very disappointed in Carnival. But you have to make up your own mind on what you want to do. I had bad read very bad reviews on the Norway before I went on that cruise. I was very worried about even going. But we had a wonderful time, a beautiful ship. It was like cruising on a ship before the megaships. I loved that ship and out cabin was wonderful. We had floor to ceiling windows and it was a wonderful cruise. You can't always go on what you read. We live in the US and we all have our opinions. We like the freestyle dining, you dine when it is convenient to you. It was hard going to a 5:45 seating on Carnival. We like to have dinner just a little bit later.

[judyf]

I have sailed both 3 times amd would do either one again.

 

Freestyle is great and one of the main reasons I book NCL.

 

Nightlife is more active on CCL. Food IMO is a tad better also, but many more options on NCL and I like that.

 

All in all for me it would be price, itinerary and the ship and where it's sailing from, AKA airfare.

 

If you do try NCL make sure it's a newer ship that was built for freestyle.

[dsm711]

We are leaving Sunday on our 5th cruise. Fourth on NCL. We went on one Carnival cruise last year because we took my son and his wife for there wedding present because it was known to be more of a party ship. They had a great time. While it wasn't bad, I swore I would never sail Carnival again. (Unless the price was to good to pass up) I thought the food and service both in the dining rooms and cabins were just barely adequate. Also hate having to eat at the same time and with people you don't know. Had absolutely nothing in common with the others at the table. For me, Freestyle is the only way to go.

[luvdale]

We are leaving Sunday on our 5th cruise. Fourth on NCL. We went on one Carnival cruise last year because we took my son and his wife for there wedding present because it was known to be more of a party ship. They had a great time. While it wasn't bad, I swore I would never sail Carnival again. (Unless the price was to good to pass up) I thought the food and service both in the dining rooms and cabins were just barely adequate. Also hate having to eat at the same time and with people you don't know. Had absolutely nothing in common with the others at the table. For me, Freestyle is the only way to go.

 

AMEN!!!!! We just got back from a Carnival cruise and we had 5 of us, had to sit with other people. The service in the dining room was terrible. We had to beg for a drink from the bar, forget getting ice tea!!! If you did not catch the waiter to ask him to bring you something, you were out of luck!!! And then you only got a tiny tiny serving. We love NCL and like you said, it the price was right maybe another Carnival cruise, but only with a balcony. We loved the balcony, we spent 98% of our time out there. We did have a great room steward. He kept us in ice all week and a very nice clean room. We love the freestyle dining. On the carnival cruise we only went into the dining room 2 times. We had the 5:45 sitting and that was kinda a bad time. I was really looking forward to the cruise, counting the days, I had a good time, but was very disappointed in the pool area with saved chairs every single day, the vulgar language down the hall at 1:00 in the morning, the loud drunk at 1,3, and 5 in the mornings on the balcony. We like NCL, we never have seen drunks down our hall on the very first day of the cruise. I was so glad to get off that ship and get home. That is not me, I dread the last day!!! We are looking forward to next year on NCL!!!!

[suzy671]

we'll my first NCL cruise will be on the Dawn in a minisuite on 7/1/06. I've been on over 30 Carnival cruises and 8 RCCL cruises and I can honestly say that I liked 90% of them.

[CruisinMK]

NCL has an awesome southern caribbean itinerary from NY.

Carnival has a really good 7 day one out of Puerto Rico I did, if you don't mind flying there. They don't use their best ships but it is the best warm itinerary Carnival offers.

 

I think Carnival has better main dining room food than NCL, except for breakfast. The specialty restaurants on NCL are great though.

 

Carnival has really friendly lively people, but also more drunk bozos shouting in the hallway outside your room at 2am.

[SusieS]

Have you thought about trying Princess? We LOVE it!!

[Stillfloatin']

I have cruised NCL and CCL pretty equally, making my decision based on itinerary and ship. There are pros and cons to both, but I haven't had a bad cruise yet. It all depends on attitude and what you are looking for in a cruise. Here are the advantages that I have found for each line.

 

CCL: Better food in the dining rooms. Larger cabins. More active night life for young people. Same waiter for all dining room meals who gets to know your name & eating preferences after the first day.

 

NCL: More alternative restaurants, free-style cruising for those who don't want set meal times and prefer more casual dining. Disembarkation is the best by far: you simply wait comfortably in your cabin until your color is called. Fridges in MOST cabins. Much better suites and accompanying ammenities. More variety of on-board activities.

 

I've enjoyed all my cruises but over-all prefer NCL because freestyle fits me better.

[newmexicoNita]

Bill, being you didn't ask about Princess I would guess most of your comparisons will be between NCL and Carnival. Which to choose? This depends somewhat on what you like to do. NCL will not be quite as busy as Carnival and your cabin will not be as large. Freestyle is a wonderful way to dine, it is more like a resort atmosphere versus the regimentation (spelling) of a ship. Someone mentioned food on Carnival as being much better. I do have a clue as to when they sailed, but every line has cut back on the food, especially the beef in the past 6 months or so. We sailed the Sun a couple of weeks ago, I had not one serious complaint about the food; that being said, it wasn't what we experienced last Sept on the Jewel and certainly not what we were used to 5 or 10 years ago. As I said, we didn't have a serious complaint. NCL offers so much variety, from main dining rooms to the sprots bar or the tapa bars to the specialty restaurants which are less expensive than the specialty restaurant on most Carnival ships.

 

The entertainment, I feel is better on NCL as well as the service. Carnival offers a better choice as far as poolside activities and late night fun.

 

Hope this helps you some. One more thing, generally speaking NCL has a better itinerary.

 

NMNita

[bambilin]

Hi there, have sailed 5X on Carnival and 5X on NCL so far. Have also sailed multiple times on Cunard and Royal Caribbean and have even been on Disney!

Had a great time on all of them. There were pros and cons on all of them, but never had a terrible time, that's for sure.

 

If I were going to choose between CCL and NCL, if it were just my family or a small group, my choice would be NCL.

Obvioulsy I do not actuallly have a problem with Carnival or I wouldn't have sailed 5 times with them. I have often sailed them with a large group (very good for party atmosphere) and have picked them sometimes because of a great rate/itinerary.

 

Have sailed NCL both the old way and with Freestyle. loved them both.

Will be sailing them for the 6th time this month.

 

Hope that was helpful and have a great time whichever line you choose!!!

[Jett456]

I have cruised on Celebrity once, Carnival once and NCL twice. In July will be #3 on NCL. Celebrity had the best food but the ship wasn't as up to date as Carnival's Legend or the Dawn. Carnival had a lot of activity going on - silly games by the pool and defintely more drunk people. Their food was a bit better than NCL. Chair hogs on all the lines. I pay no attention and just sit where I want. I like NCL the best because I don't want to bother with getting dressed up and set dinner times. Sometimes you just aren't hungry when its time to eat. My husband though likes sitting with other people if we are vacationing alone. On NCL there aren't that many tables where they put large groups unless you request. At least that is how it was on the Dawn last year.

[judyf]

I had a good time, but was very disappointed in the pool area with saved chairs every single day, the vulgar language down the hall at 1:00 in the morning, the loud drunk at 1,3, and 5 in the mornings on the balcony.

 

I've read this statement a few times and I must say I've never had this problem on any of the ships I've sailed. As you can tell from my signature, I sail most of the time during spring break, Easter week.

 

This doesn't depend on the line it depends on time of cruise, length of cruise departure port, etc. NOT the cruise line.

 

As a matter of fact of all the ships I sailed the most drinking I saw was on NCL Dawn out of NYC. I just guessed it was cause of Easter break and the NYC crowd, we seem to be into the nightlife a little more then others. The city that never sleeps. LOL

 

I just wanted to post my observations cause I hate to see CCL get the rep of a drunk crowd cause I haven't seen it. My mother who is 68 and a non- drinker perfers CCL of all the lines we have sailed. I don't care what line I'm on as long as I'm on a ship going somewhere warm.

 

The most non drinking cruise I was on was RCCL. Older crowd lots of wheel chairs does this mean all their sailings are like this. I don't think so and yes, I would sail any of the metion lines again.

[palmtre2]

We also do our sailing during the Easter break and this year we did CCL's Liberty.

I did NOT see alot of drunks (okay 2 on the first nite, those same people were rather sedate the rest of the week) the food was excellent in the main dining room, including the beef (filet melted in your mouth) and I didn't see a whole lot of nite life. It seemed that the decks rolled up at 1am. We are booked for the Dawn 4/1/07 and know we will have a great cruise (no cruise is a bad cruise). I do like the idea of a certain seating for dinner - it stops the "I dunno where do you want to go's". I don't like what I'm hearing that the main dining room food on NCL has gone downhill - I don't like being pushed toward the pay for venues. I also don't like that if I wanted a balcony cabin and had a family of 4, I'm forced into a suite or 2 cabins. The main reason we are even trying NCL is because CCL doesn't have a ship out of a NE port in April.

[newmexicoNita]

I've read this statement a few times and I must say I've never had this problem on any of the ships I've sailed. As you can tell from my signature, I sail most of the time during spring break, Easter week.

 

This doesn't depend on the line it depends on time of cruise, length of cruise departure port, etc. NOT the cruise line.

 

As a matter of fact of all the ships I sailed the most drinking I saw was on NCL Dawn out of NYC. I just guessed it was cause of Easter break and the NYC crowd, we seem to be into the nightlife a little more then others. The city that never sleeps. LOL

 

I just wanted to post my observations cause I hate to see CCL get the rep of a drunk crowd cause I haven't seen it. My mother who is 68 and a non- drinker perfers CCL of all the lines we have sailed. I don't care what line I'm on as long as I'm on a ship going somewhere warm.

 

The most non drinking cruise I was on was RCCL. Older crowd lots of wheel chairs does this mean all their sailings are like this. I don't think so and yes, I would sail any of the metion lines again.

Much of the drinking does depend on the time of year, length of cruise and intinerary, but I have seen more drinking on Carnival; perhaps because of the overall younger cruising age. For us second was a 4 dayer on RCI out of LA, right after colleges let out for the summer. That being said, I have yet to be on a cruise where there were lots of drunks; maybe I just go to bed too early or don't visit the right bars. LOL

[cabn cruser]

thanks for all the responces. by the looks of it ncl will for sure be a good choice. one of the other reasons we are looking at ncl is that they sail out of new york in the winter and it is only a 6 hr drive for us compared to flying down to miami. we are not huge partiers but do like to sit back and enjoy a nice cocktail. it seems everyone likes the freestyle so i cant wait to try it out