NCL vs Princess

[Rheaya]

This is my first vacation in 4 years and my first on my own with my boyfriend. My parents are very generously giving us a cruise for Christmas. I have narrowed the choices down to Valentine's cruises on either NCL Jewel or Star Princess leaving from Miami and Ft Lauderdale respectively.

 

I was wondering if someone could give me their pros and cons for each of the Cruise Lines. I don't have a lot to compare it to, I cruised with RCCL about 4 years ago, but all I can remember is that it was great. The things I want to know are the about are the tendering process, ship and cabin layout and comfort, ease of ordering shore excursions (i hear Star doesn't have a menu on your TV that you can order excursions or room service, is that as much of a pain in the butt as I think it would be?) Also with freestyle dining, do you set up reservations each day or can you do it the first day for the whole week? Stuff like that would be great and I would really appreciate any hints or advice (but please don't include anything about service because I know that varies! I just am looking for generals!)

 

 

I was also wondering about the airports. Is there really difference in Flying to FLL and getting to the Port, and from MIA to Miami's port, in price? Is it better to buy the transfers from the respective ships or is taxi just as good? Any help or advice you can give me would be greatly appreciated. I won't be going on a vacation for a very long time after this, so I really want my first vacation to be memorable!:D

[ute_fan]

I can only give you my view of the Jewel, as we've never sailed on Princess. We've sailed 4 times on NCL and are big fans of freestyle, but realize that not everyone has the same likes/dislikes that we do.

 

As far as flying in and which airport is cheaper, that depends a great deal on where you're flying from. We fly from SLC, and for us, Miami was cheaper. Some of the other folks on our roll-call found it much cheaper to go to FLL and then take a taxi to the Miami pier (they flew from Denver), so you'll need to figure that one out based on where you live.

 

We stayed overnight in Miami. The taxi fare from the airport to the hotel was around $30 -- probably a little less, and from the hotel to the airport the next morning was a little under $10. I don't know what it would have been if we'd been going directly from the airport to the pier, but probably less than our combined total.

 

The Jewel doesn't have the capability of ordering excursions or room service from your TV either. I have heard that interactive TV is supposed to be coming -- but it's not there as of November. We didn't find it a problem at all, but we only used one NCL excursion, and had no line at the excursion desk when we went to book it. Never tried room service, so can't offer advice on that one.

 

The Jewel is only a year old, and she's a beautiful ship. One of the features we liked best about our room -- outside view, picture window, cat DD (I think) was the setup of the bathroom. When you open the bathroom door, you step right in front of the sink. To your left is the toilet and to your right is the shower. There are two sliding glass doors that separate the bathroom area into 3 sections, so you can close off the toilet area from the sink, or the shower from the sink. My DH wanted to bring the shower home with him. He loved the fact that there was plenty of hot water, and the temperature didn't seem to vary once you got it set.

 

The cabin was adequately sized. There were two twin beds, which I'm pretty sure can be slid together (we didn't bother -- the difference of being an old, married couple :D ), and there was plenty of closet and drawer space. I find NCL's beds very comfortable, but I know lots of people who say they're too hard and request egg-crate mattress pads to put on them.

 

The only tender port for the Jewel is Great Stirrup Cay -- the private island in the Bahamas. Tendering there was very easy. They're using the old tenders from the Norway, and each one holds about 350-400 people, so we didn't have a long wait to get off the ship.

 

If you're interested in dining at the specialty restaurants, you can (and probably should) make your reservations for the entire week after you board the ship. I forget the specifics of where you go to make those reservations, but a search of the NCL board would easily get that information. I don't like to make reservations for the entire week at the beginning of the week, as it seems to defeat the whole idea of "freestyle" to me, but lots of others feel differently.

 

Whatever you decide, have a wonderful cruise!

[98Charlie]

FLL airport to pier is a bit closer than MIA airport to pier. Cab fare is around $25-$30. We usually use a cab for the convenience since we don't have to wait until the cruise line gets a bus full.

 

If you are flying in to MIA for a cruise from Port Lauderdale (or FLL to Port of Miami) the distance is a lot more. We have never done this. But, I believe that the cab fare is well over $60.

 

We book very few excursions. When we do, we book in advance of the cruise. We've never cancelled one but I believe that you can cancel up to 24 hours in advance.

 

With the Star Princess you will tender at Grand Cayman and Princess Cay. I'm not sure about Cozumel as they are rebuilding the docks and I belive that some ships are still tendering there.

 

Charlie

[KKB]

As you can see we will be taking her AGAIN in March we loved her so much!

 

Layout of ship is terrific. We took stairs everywhere for exercise...and elevators can be crowded & slow at peak times (as on Disney, also). Lots of initimate areas. Amalfi dining room (trad. dining) was akwardly placed, and difficult to find restroom from...but that won't affect you. We also have personal choice dining this time...we LOVED traditional, but had no choice, and will be w/ another couple. Have heard that you can make standing ressies at a table each night.

 

We did not tender to Cozumel, Costa Maya or Jamaica (W), nor St. Maarten or St. Thomas (E) on Disney. Apparently Eastern itineraries have less tendering. You do tender to Princess Cays, I believe Gr. Cayman, and Cozumel sometimes these days.

 

We booked excursions online prior to cruise. You can book onboard, but you could not do anything thru TV 2 years ago. We just called room service by phone. No problems getting excursions.

 

Rooms spacious & fine for the 2 of us. We had PLENTY of room & we packed A LOT! We had an outside room. Airplane sized bath, but efficient. Huge hanging area, separate shelves w/ door, floor to ceiling. Desk w/ many drawers, fridge, nightstand. Beds not terribly comfy--ask for egg crate mattress.

 

FLL is always cheaper for us to fly into from midwest. You can fly into FLL or MIA & certainly taxi to other...just add $50 or so pp for that.

 

From reading these boards, I would say most would say Princess is a step above NCL, though certainly there are those who will disagree. My folks have cruised Celebrity, RCI & NCL, and NCL is their distant third fav, but it doesn't keep them from cruising NCL. They are cruising Princess in Feb, I will be curious of their comparison. I don't think they find any HUGE differences between lines. ANY cruise is a good cruise, in their (and my) eyes!:D

 

I don't think you will be disappointed whichever cruise you choose.

[klauer]

I have been on Princess, but not NCL. It is easy to book shore excursions through the Princess website up to 120 days in advance, or you can fill out a form on the cruise ship and drop it in the shore excursion mailbox. The tickets are delivered to your cabin.

 

As far as room service, I think we only used it for breakfast, and filled out a hangtag for the door the night before. I don't think it is a really big deal to pick up the phone and order, though.

[bankerbabe]

We've cruised both Princess and NCL, and we vastly preferred Princess. We are in our early 30s, but somewhat "old" for our age. We preferred the atmosphere on Princess, it seemed a bit classier, and the average passenger age was more 40ish. The NCL cruise was fun, but it was a younger crowd, more bikini-clad bodies. We also enjoyed the food more on Princess, though that is a highly subjective area.

[mr green]

Princess v NCL. Lets put it this way, it took me several years, but I finally gave up on NCL. In fact the travel agency that I deal with, [Canada wide], will not recommend an NCL cruise, they say that the other cruise lines are better. john

[ute_fan]

As I think I mentioned, NCL isn't for everyone. The new ships are beautiful, and in our opinion, freestyle works great on the ships that were designed with that in mind. Will everyone like it? Definitely not -- I wouldn't be happy on HAL, for example, -- but comparing the current NCL ships to your last cruise in 1999 is kind of like comparing apples and oranges.

 

As far as shore excursions for NCL you can book them in advance, just like you can on the other lines. You can either book through the website, call them directly or fax in your excursion request.

 

Lots of people end up with their favorite lines. They do tend to have their own personalities, and not everyone enjoys the same thing. For us, freestyle fits our cruising style perfectly and we've seen no reason to switch.

[mr green]

Last time on NCL was the brand new NCL Sun. john

[ute_fan]

Sorry -- missed that one in your signature line.

 

It's really interesting to hear different viewpoints from different cruisers. For instance, I had a co-worker who took her first cruise last year -- on Princess. She didn't like the atmosphere on board the ship -- claimed the other passengers and crew were unfriendly. Again, that's only her view, and doesn't mean that everyone will feel the same way. The friends they cruised with had previously been on RCCL and NCL and said that they preferred those two lines over Princess. To each their own.

 

We loved the NCL Sun when we were on it. We cruised in June, 2004 to Alaska on the Sun and it was probably our favorite ship. Interestingly enough, my DH was wearing a T-shirt from that cruise when we were on the Jewel in November, and we had several crew members mention to us that it was also their favorite ship to work on.

[flvol77]

This is my first vacation in 4 years and my first on my own with my boyfriend. My parents are very generously giving us a cruise for Christmas. I have narrowed the choices down to Valentine's cruises on either NCL Jewel or Star Princess leaving from Miami and Ft Lauderdale respectively.

 

I was wondering if someone could give me their pros and cons for each of the Cruise Lines. I don't have a lot to compare it to, I cruised with RCCL about 4 years ago, but all I can remember is that it was great. The things I want to know are the about are the tendering process, ship and cabin layout and comfort, ease of ordering shore excursions (i hear Star doesn't have a menu on your TV that you can order excursions or room service, is that as much of a pain in the butt as I think it would be?) Also with freestyle dining, do you set up reservations each day or can you do it the first day for the whole week? Stuff like that would be great and I would really appreciate any hints or advice (but please don't include anything about service because I know that varies! I just am looking for generals!)

 

 

I was also wondering about the airports. Is there really difference in Flying to FLL and getting to the Port, and from MIA to Miami's port, in price? Is it better to buy the transfers from the respective ships or is taxi just as good? Any help or advice you can give me would be greatly appreciated. I won't be going on a vacation for a very long time after this, so I really want my first vacation to be memorable!:D

 

First of all I have been on Both with in the last three months

In Sept aboard the Caribbean Princess (same layout as the star, only the star has 600 less people and one less deck)

In Nov aboard the Jewel -

 

What itineary are you looking at? Because the Jewel will be doing the Eastern Caribbean and the Star will be doing the Western Caribbean. The Jewel leaves on a Sunday from Miami and the Star leaves for Port Everglade on Sat.

 

If you really want an Eastern itinerary you can throw another Princess ship into the mix...The Caribbean Princess does Sun - Sun Eastern Caribbean through the end of April - Nice is that during "peak" months Princess has two ships leaving out of Port Everglade. So I would decide which itinerary you want to take first then decided which Cruise Line.

 

IMO - We enjoy Princess - Reasons -

The food -- Princess main dining rooms (which you have have personal choice which is a lot like freestyle) have very good food, they have better selection, and IMO the service is awesome - BTW they do offer chilled soups almost every night, I am not into them but I know some LOVE them.

 

On NCL they have a lot of alter or specality restaurants that you can eat at, some very good some ok at best...here is my problem with NCL - the food in the main dining rooms was at best ok and I almost think they want people to go to the speciality restaurants so the spend more money while offering an avg meal in the main dining rooms.

 

The buffet - Princess hands down - first of all its 24/7 and you can get salad and fruit at anytime....I like to eat somewhat healthly and on NCL we felt they cooked with way too much oil and grease...NCL will close their buffet down and you are like wait a second and it like they are in a hurry to get the food off the buffet...with princess they close one side and leave the other side open.

 

The ship - The Jewel is nice - But I like a bigger ship - there are two pools and everyone is crowded around them - the star and the caribbean have four pools and a lot more deck chairs. I also think that Princess has more going on - they have an awesome cooking show where you can tour there kitchen and many other things - NCL colors were very loud - Princess are earth tones - IMO a more elegant setting.

 

BTW We are in our late 20's - we love Princess so much and can't wait to go back in 44 days - I doubt I would ever go back to NCL - I will try other lines so we can visit different places - but we will always cruise Princess as our main cruiseline.

 

Sorry I can't comment about Miami and Ft Lauderdale and flying in...we are about an hour and a half away from both ports - if you have any other questions please feel free to ask....oh here is the menu for the Caribbean Princess - I was told the Star uses the same menus....this is an awesome web site with tons of info

 

http://www.cruisingthecaribbeanprincess.com/

[ute_fan]

Hi Flvol77 -- Nice to see you around on the boards. I'd read your review and knew you weren't terribly happy with NCL. By the way, did you know they changed the menus the week or two after we sailed? It will be interesting to hear how people are liking the changes in the next few weeks.

 

One of your comments made me laugh, and think again how everyone has their own likes and dislikes. You said you like a bigger ship -- for me, the Jewel borders on being too big. I did think the pool areas were a little small for the size of the ship -- but we don't spend a whole lot of time there, so it's not important to us.

 

Hope you enjoy your future cruising experiences :) .

[flvol77]

Hi Flvol77 -- Nice to see you around on the boards. I'd read your review and knew you weren't terribly happy with NCL. By the way, did you know they changed the menus the week or two after we sailed? It will be interesting to hear how people are liking the changes in the next few weeks.

 

One of your comments made me laugh, and think again how everyone has their own likes and dislikes. You said you like a bigger ship -- for me, the Jewel borders on being too big. I did think the pool areas were a little small for the size of the ship -- but we don't spend a whole lot of time there, so it's not important to us.

 

Hope you enjoy your future cruising experiences :) .

 

I thought about you when I read about the Chilled soups on Princess - I don't care about them, but my wife was like don't you remember Princess has them a lot :o .......... I heard they changed the menus... It will be interesting to see the feedback from them -

 

Also something else Princess has freshwater pools - and IMO I feel that Princess web site is more user friendly - NCL did an upgrade and its better but still a ways behind. Very easy to set up "my princess" and pre order your spa treatments and book excursions - which I wouldn't recommend doing ship excursions - You have a wealth of information at your finger tips here at cruise critic, use it and book your own excursions, spend less money, have more time to enjoy the excursion and buy yourself and drink after you get back on the ship and laugh about the great time you had while you hear everyone complain about their ship excursion.

[ute_fan]

Yeah, the chilled soups are back on NCL on the new menus. I'm still kind of bummed that those menus weren't implemented on our sailing :( , but I guess it's a good excuse to book another cruise :D . I'm just jealous that you live so close to the ports. That's one real problem with living in Utah!

 

We have friends who have sailed NCL quite a bit in the past. Their last sailing was on Celebrity and they're going on Princess in January. It will be interesting to hear their comparisons when they get back. They tend to prefer traditional dining, so I'm expecting that they'll be quite pleased with Princess.

 

I will admit that I'm not a big fan of NCL's website. I don't think the new one is fully functional yet, so it will be interesting to see what additional changes they make to it.

[Rheaya]

Its so funny that everytime I read a positive review for Princess I sway to Princess and then I read one for the Jewel and I sway towards the Jewels and then I hear a negitive one and I sway back! lol

 

My parents are the ones who are paying for us to go on the cruise so I almost hope they make this decision for me!

[flvol77]

Yeah, the chilled soups are back on NCL on the new menus. I'm still kind of bummed that those menus weren't implemented on our sailing :( , but I guess it's a good excuse to book another cruise :D . I'm just jealous that you live so close to the ports. That's one real problem with living in Utah!

 

We have friends who have sailed NCL quite a bit in the past. Their last sailing was on Celebrity and they're going on Princess in January. It will be interesting to hear their comparisons when they get back. They tend to prefer traditional dining, so I'm expecting that they'll be quite pleased with Princess.

 

I will admit that I'm not a big fan of NCL's website. I don't think the new one is fully functional yet, so it will be interesting to see what additional changes they make to it.

 

 

You know Princess offers both? Traditional and anytime dining? Plus they have two speciality restaurants and up until the last night of our last Princess cruise we haven't even tried as of yet. Sterlings Steakhouse is very good...they had two sizes of fillets a 6 and 9 oz...wow it was cooked to prefection.

 

It is nice living near port - When I started thinking about our next cruise and looking at where to go, we have 4 ports with in 2 hours or less ... Tampa, Port Carnaval (sp?) Port Everglade, and Port of Miami....that gives us a lot of choices....

 

with that being said I think we are going to try Carnival out of Tampa...Belize, Cozumel, Costa Maya and Grand Cayman - IMO that is an awesome itinerary.

[ute_fan]

I do know that Princess offers both -- and if we decide to try another line in the future, that would be a big positive for Princess. I'm still not fond of their dress code -- maybe if they relax that I'll have even more incentive to try them.

 

We honestly don't even eat at the specialty restaurants. I've decided I must not be terribly picky, because we've always thought the food in the main dining rooms on NCL was just fine. Our first experience at one of the specialty restaurants was with Fran and Cellar Dwellar at Le Bistro this last trip. It was very good, but I just don't like paying more to eat there. I don't like the NCL buffets particularly well -- but we don't choose to eat at buffets while we're cruising, with the possible exception of once in a while for a quick breakfast, so that isn't particularly important to me. We wouldn't eat in a buffet on any other line either -- except if that I probably would have trouble conforming to the dress code on "formal night" and might be forced to eat there if I wanted food on formal night :D .

[flvol77]

The nice thing about Princess on Formal night (the caribbean princess only) they offer Cafe Caribe, which is part of the buffet but its upscale and they offer beef wellington, lobster claws etc - and that is on one of the Formal nights. Cafe Caribe is open every night - and offers something different from the buffet every night - if you want more info let me know - I will try to find some more info.

[ute_fan]

I'll keep your offer in mind if we decide we want to try Princess in the future. Right now, with the points we're earning on the NCL Mastercard, I have little or no incentive to switch.

 

Happy cruising!

[Tmeister]

I've been on 3 Princess cruises since 2001 and just took my first on NCL in February. I really like Princess, but I was pleasantly surprised by NCL, having been told by a lot of past NCL passengers that I wouldn't like it. I still think I would prefer Princess in almost every category: food, entertainment, service, cabins, etc., but there wasn't anything on NCL that I was really dissatisfied with. Of the items that you asked about, I would give the edge to Princess for accommodations and comfort. I found Princess's website much easier to use for both registration and excursions. We had no problem making dinner reservations on NCL; we even found a waiter that we liked and were able to be seated at one of his tables for the rest of the cruise. On Princess, we generally try to get assigned seating; our one experience with Anytime Dining was fairly good, except for one night when we got stuck with a bad waiter, but that can happen anywhere. Entertainment will be more consistently good on Princess; we found it to run from mediocre to excellent on NCL. Food quality and variety is better on Princess, both in dining rooms and buffets, but I was amazed by NCL's ability to keep hot food hot and cold food cold, much better than any other cruise line. I didn't think I'd like the relative informality of NCL's Freestyle dining, but I thought we had a very pleasant upscale dining experience even without a formal night or two, and we were able to pack much lighter because we didn't need formal clothing.

 

FLL is a much more user-friendly airport than Miami, and we find that fares are lower to FLL, at least from our area. FLL to Port Everglades is a very short cab ride; don't bother with using the cruise line's bus. Miami Airport to Port of Miami is a little longer, but probably still worth taking the cab. If you're going from FLL to Port of Miami or Miami Airport to Port Everglades, take the bus.