CCL vs. Norwegian?

[jeast]

I've heard a lot of comparisons between RCCL and Carnival. But how does Norwegian Cruise Lines compare?

 

I have to say, I can't figure out if they are a bargain basement cruise line or a higher amenity cruise line based on prices or advertisements.

 

What do you think?

[Stillfloatin']

I've sailed both and loved them both. It depends on what you're looking for. NCL has freestyle which I really like because I don't have to plan excursions, cocktails, pool time or whatever around my dining room times. But if it's important to you to sit at the same table and make new friends and have the same waiter, you will not like freestyle. Also, it offers one dining room for formal and one for casual so for people who don't want to wear a suit or evening gown (hopefully, not the same person), this is a nice option. The food is slightly better on Carnival, but the alternative restaurants are really good on NCL. Carnival has more sea day activities and deserves its reputation as the fun ship. On the other hand, there are less kids on NCL because their kids program is not as good as CCL. I like both lines, so I base my choice on itinerary and pricing.

[CruiseCATnMACK]

 

I also loved the FreeStyle Dining except for when we were in Port. Seems everyone wanted to eat at the same time and the wait was long. As for the cruise itself I'm not sure if it was indicative of Norwegian or not. It was an 11-day Hawaiian Island cruise with most passengers being over 55.

Because it was a Hawaiian cruise the casino was not open. Seemed to me that the decks rolled up by 11:00pm.

 

 

Did I have a good time? ABSOLUTELY

 

 

[Cotton]

I've been on NCL and Carnival, but the NCL was long ago. I enjoy all my cruises, but I don't believe I would care for the Freestyle dining. Some friends recently returned and did NOT like the lines every single time they wanted to eat.

[jeast]

Freestyle means you can eat whenever you want, yes? Is that the only difference between CCL and NCL??

 

Someone gave me the impression that NCL caters towards an older, more sedentary crowd. Someone else gave me the impression it is bargain basement. Some of the ads make it seem more upscale.

 

Just curious.

[keysjohnson]

I've been on both and loved them both. NCL had a bit of an older crowd, but by older I'm talking 40's and 50's. Not as many young 20somethings. I enjoy the freestyle and I found the food to be very good on the 3 NCL's we've been on. If I had to choose between Carnival and NCL, I would look at price.

[atonal1]

jeast,

 

NCL, CCL, and RCI are all mass market cruise lines serving the same type of clientele. I am not a fan of Freestyle dining, but will be sailing on Pride of Aloha next July as I think NCL has the best Hawaiian cruise format. Now that Pride is American flagged, and has an American crew, they can sail inter-island without an International stop.

 

You can make reservations at one of the alternative restaurants to more resemble fixed dining times. I think (at the time) NCL Star had at least 2 alternative restaurants without a surcharge.

[cruisinqt]

Norwegian is definitely not upscale. They are not a cheap bargain basement type cruise line either. I consider them to be in the same class as RCCL and Carnival. I've noticed that their ships tend to be a little smaller than the others in their price class. But I do love the freestyle dining. It's nice to go eat when I am hungry, not when someone else says it's time to eat. I don't see as many young people and kids on the ship. But the people aren't real old or anything either. It's just a little quieter and more slow paced. Perfect if you want some peace and quiet to just relax and soak up the sun. If you want to stay up late and party then Carnival would be the best choice. If you want something in between, a little partying and some quiet areas to relax in, then RCCL would be your best choice. They are all good cruise lines. I would let price and itinerary make up your mind for you. Another thing I do is look up the size of the ship. Some of the larger ships have lots of extras on them like ice skating rinks and rock climbing walls.

[tpear3]

I also sailed NCL before "free-style". I like Carnival's kids program, but love the layout of the decks on the NCL ships. We were able to have an ocean view cabin just doors down from the jogging track--made for quick escapes to enjoy sunrise, sunset, or just the waves. That said--we just get more exercise walking up and down the stairs on Carnival.

[tracey980]

I have sailed on both Carnival and NCL. I like them both for different reasons. It looks like my next cruise will be with NCL though. One of the NCL ships has a very intriguing itinerary. I loved the Freestyle dining. I am not sure that I can go back to the regular formal dining. I think it is best to try different lines, especially with all the new and improved ships coming into the market.

[shookdm]

I seem to be the dissenting opinion here. We did the Norwegian Wind in Hawaii, and will never sail NCL again. The Freestyle arrangement on our ship lead to 30-50 min wait for tables every night (everyone wanted to eat at the same time- and we changed times each night). The 2 days sailing to Fanning Island were intolerable, since there was nothing to do but bingo, horseracing or watching the 2 movie channels (can't sunbath much - redheads burn too easily). Satellite TV does not reach the middle of the Pacific where we sailed, and the board games they provided were missing pieces. We ended up playing cards the whole time.

 

The service was substandard compared to what I've recieved in the past on Carnival, Costa and Royal Carribbean - probably due to the pooling of tips rather than individual tips. Never saw our cabin steward. Dining rooms service was only good if you sat at tables of 6 or 8; everytime we sat at a smaller table we were practically ignored. Several times we saw the wine steward only once during dinner - right when we were seated - so we didn't order drinks when we didn't know what we were ordering yet. Quality of food was so-so. The reservations only restaurant kept us waiting 30-40 min between courses because our waiters were called to the theater for a "thankyou for serviing us" exhibition. We missed the 2nd show because of this, and ended up getting there in time only to see all the waiters walk into the theater.

 

The passengers, for the most part, were nice, but there were only a handful of couples that weren't retirement age. Not exactly party animals. We had the disco pretty much to ourselves. And because we were younger, the staff picked us for every silly little game they had scheduled - postivite or negative, depending on how you look at it. When we asked for recommendations on excursions, the desk people were non-committal, either they didn't know or didn't care. We found that when we had problems with our excursions, the shore liason was downright rude.

 

OH, and no one told us that the casinos wouldn't be open because Hawaii doesn't allow gambling equipment on board. Bummer all around. So, back to Carnival!!

[ulmo]

I've heard a lot of comparisons between RCCL and Carnival. But how does Norwegian Cruise Lines compare?

 

I have to say, I can't figure out if they are a bargain basement cruise line or a higher amenity cruise line based on prices or advertisements.

 

What do you think?

NCL can trend towards bargain basement or nicer depending on what ship you book. NCL has like five new, big ships that are very nice. They also have about five medium sized, older ships that are more the bargain basement variety. And you'll see the difference reflected in the price.

 

That said there's not a huge difference between the two lines. I'd suggest booking the one with the itinerary, dates, and price that you want.

[halos]

I seem to be the dissenting opinion here. We did the Norwegian Wind in Hawaii, and will never sail NCL again. The Freestyle arrangement on our ship lead to 30-50 min wait for tables every night (everyone wanted to eat at the same time- and we changed times each night).

 

 

Isn't it funny that people choose NCL for fresstyle dining because they insist they don't want a 'set' dinner time or for 'someone to tell them when to eat', yet they all eat at the same time anyway?????

[KsDiver]

The 2 days sailing to Fanning Island were intolerable,

 

OH, and no one told us that the casinos wouldn't be open because Hawaii doesn't allow gambling equipment on board. Bummer all around. So, back to Carnival!!

 

 

I am not defending NCL because I actually perfer Carnival, but with just a little homework you would have known about Fanning Island and no casinos. These facts are readily available on your itinerary, the NCL brochure or on these boards. I am suprised how many people complain about the trip to Fanning, as if they were unaware they were going there.

 

I am mid-50's, but even I did not like the more subdued atmosphere and the majority of retirement couples on the Norwegian Star out of Hawaii. There were just less smiles on the passengers faces. I am not sure if this is NCL or the Hawaiian itinerary, but it was definitely an older crowd than any of our Carnival cruises. (I am still young at heart!)

[judyf]

I have sailed on both and loved the free style dining. We never waited more then a 5 minutes to be seated. Maybe we went at off times, I don't know but we loved free style and prefer to cruise a line that has that option.

 

We were on a 14 day cruise so the passengers were a little older but not all and we had a great time and fun in the bars at night.

 

My next cruise I hope to be on NCL Aloha to Hawaii due to going woth first time cruisers and they would like free style better and IMO this is the best ship to see Hawaii.

[fhowell2]

We are looking forward to our first NCL cruise in 11/04. One comment re older passengers, we were on a 15-day Hawaii cruise on Princess and the crowd was mostly elderly and was the grumpiest bunch of people I have ever seen on a cruise.

I hope the crowd on NCL complains less, but we will still enjoy the cruise.

We are looking forward to our Panama cruise aboard on the Paradise in September(15 day repositioning). Can't wait.

[Riviera Deck Randy]

stillfloatin did a good job of explaining but they could have included that NCL ships are classier. carnival is brass and neon real bright with a more party atmospher where ncl is more relaxed feel to their decor. like all cruiselines the have their good ships and thier bad. but a cruise is what you make of it no matter the ship or the line. NCL I like for the freestyle dininng you dont have to cut your shore time short to make it to dinner you just show up between 5:30 and 10 and you eat. I like on the Sky they walked us to our room and it was not a suite we were KK cat. and the choice of fresh or salt water pools were nice. so it all depends on what you are looking for. Hope any of this helps.

[halos]

From what I have been reading...bits and pieces here and there, it seems that the longer cruises, which would obviously attract an older crowd (and not families/children) seem to be full of 'boring' people.

 

Is there a longer cruise out there that has little to no kids, but FUN passengers????

Would I be asking too much to have a 15 day Panama Canal cruise with fun, middle aged people??? Is it possible to get this????

[shookdm]

I am not defending NCL because I actually perfer Carnival, but with just a little homework you would have known about Fanning Island and no casinos.

 

I didn't mind going to Fanning Island, what I objected to was the lack of activities on board while we were sailing there. Other than the morning hawaiian culture event, there was very little to do. Bingo and sunbathing were pretty much all they had to offer, neither one interested us.

 

As for the Casinos, since the TA didn't mention it, and it never occurred to us that a cruise ship wouldn't have a casino - so why would we do homework on it? From now on I will ask.

[shookdm]

Halos, best bet is to organize a group cruise yourself.

[halos]

So unless I organize a large group...no matter what line I sail, it will be like a Voyage from HAL??????

[CruiseCATnMACK]

On our cruise the Fanning port stop was cancelled due to a medical emergency; we were less than 200 miles away. For us the four sea days were wonderful.

 

 

Halos,

We were on the Fascination for the Millennium and I have to tell you those folks knew how to party. It was an 11-day out of San Juan into the canal and back out. The crowd was younger, which I think is the norm for Carnival. Sounds like you are just the right person to start a CC group canal cruise. We would love to join you but at this point we have vacation plans booked through December 2005. Then again PJnVA and I don’t have our yearly sister cruise booked yet. :D

[ulmo]

From what I have been reading...bits and pieces here and there, it seems that the longer cruises, which would obviously attract an older crowd (and not families/children) seem to be full of 'boring' people.

 

Is there a longer cruise out there that has little to no kids, but FUN passengers????

Would I be asking too much to have a 15 day Panama Canal cruise with fun, middle aged people??? Is it possible to get this????

well the hard truth is that its really hard for people to get more than two weeks off of work in one fell swoop. I think that's the main reason why the longer cruises usually have retirees that don't have to worry about being hopelessly behind at work.

[CruiseCATnMACK]

So unless I organize a large group...no matter what line I sail, it will be like a Voyage from HAL??????

:D

 

LOL

 

Careful Halos, you don't want to upset the HAL folks.

[halos]

Cat,

Since this Panama cruise I am dreaming of is 2 1/2 years off (I am planning for the winter of '07 after my youngest leaves the nest...YIKES! too far away!!) I'll have to be patient and see which ships are doing Canal voyages that winter. You know how they move ships around all the time!!

I hope Carnival does have a ship doing a winter Panama full crossing. It will be my first choice if they offer something when I am ready to go. Maybe I will attempt to organize a CC group!!!

I would like to try other lines, but for a 15 day, I don't want to be stuck on a ship where the lights go out at midnight and the passengers are too quiet.