NCL vs. RCCL

[cruise1199]

Could someone please help me make a decision? I have previously cruised with RCCL 9 times, Carnival only once, and Princess one time. I have been gaining interest in NCL due to the freestyle cruising but know nothing about it. I am looking at a cruise leaving 10-31 thur 11-5 Just a short inexpensive get away wuth friend befor the holidays. This is on the ship "Spirit". Has anyone been on this ship or can offer me any advise I would appreciate it much. Thanks- Could you e-mail me at cruise1199@hotmail.com

[captainvideo]

We have sailed both RCI & NCL.

 

The big difference as you know is freestyle dining. You go to dinner when you want & sit w/ whoever you want -- alone or you can ask for a table to share. If you chose to you can sit w/ the same people every night or new people or w/ your own group. It is just like dining out on land. You get a differnent waiter but you can request the same one. You can eat in different restaurants or the same one. It's your choice.

 

There is more physical activity on the RCL ships -- rock climbing, ice skating etc. There are also more organized group activities: Quest, games by the pool etc. We hated those things so like NCL better.

 

Enjoy.

[Jeconk]

The question that you have to answer is "Is freestyle o.k for me?" Many people who don't like NCL, don't like them because they don't like Freestyle. It is different than traditional.

 

Here are the differences:

1.) Dining: as Captain Video said, you have no set time to eat and no set tablemates. You pick the time you eat and you pick the people (if any) that you sit with. You can ask for the same waiter each night or different ones. There are also several different restaurants to choose from depending on the ship. The Star has 10 restaurants for example. (5 of those are specialty restaurants requiring a "cover-charge" of usually $10-$15 per person.) There is a "cafeteria" style buffet on all ships that is open for all meals as well. (The Star's was wonderful, the Aloha's terrible)

2.) Formal Attire: There is no required formal attire required at any time. There is an optional formal night on the ships but you can still go to the restaurants even if you don't dress up. "Resort Casual" is the dress code, which simply means no shorts, cut-offs or jeans in the main restaurants after 5:00 p.m. I have never even taken a tie on any of my NCL cruises.

3.) Disembarkation: You can stay in your cabin until your "color" is called.(Colors are assigned for disembarkation order) You don't have to wait in a public area to leave like on other ships. (unless you get a huffy puffy steward and security officer like my parents had on the Star. Our disembarkation from the Aloha was great.)

4.) Tipping/Service Charge: Currently on the NCL ships (except the Aloha), you are charged $10 a day per person to your onboard account for a gratuity which is then distributed to the crew. This amount is adjustable up or down based upon your desires. No further tipping is necessary, no need for envelopes the last night, etc. You are welcome to give more to individual crew, but you aren't expected to.

Currently on the Pride of Aloha and begining next May on all NCL ships, the Service Charge becomes mandatory. You can't have it removed or reduced as you can now. In NCL's own printed literature, they state that this service charge "is not a gratuity." On the Aloha it is used to pay for crew vacation time. I am not sure what they plan to do with it on the other ships. Again, NCL says you do not have to tip above the service charge. This issue is being debated on several threads on this board if you want to hear the details.

 

As Captain Video says, there are no rock walls or ice skating rinks. The pools tend to be smaller. (but adequate in my opinion) The Star and Dawn I know have fantastic kids pools. The Kids Club seems geared more to the younger groups and one of the complaints that you hear often is that since the 9-12 year olds are combined with the 6-8 year olds, the older kids get bored and don't enjoy kids club. I have not had experience with the Teen Club/Activities.

 

I found the Entertainment in the evenings to be good for the most part. With any ship, there are some good shows and some bad. On board activities I have found to be varied. The Dawn and Star have Cinemas.

 

Let me make a comment about the dining and the wait times. Yes, the wait times on the Aloha are running up to an hour to get seated and then 2 and a half to 3 hours to get through you meal, BUT on the other NCL ships, the wait times are minimal and the service is quicker. (We never waited more than 5-10 minutes on the Star for a table). Why is the Aloha so slow right now? The reasons have been debated. The Aloha crew is all-American, they are new to cruise service, the Aloha is not fully staffed, etc.

 

Finally, the biggest problems for NCL revolve around their corporate operations. They admit that not everything they print in their brochures are accurate. (I have found that out on two seperate issues on two seperate cruises) Customer Service can be terrible with long waits to talk to someone (especially if you have something they don't want to deal with), Customer Service agents are known for telling you what you want to hear and that is why you can talk to three people and get three different answers. Everything the Customer Service agents tell you is not always true. (even if you get written confirmation) and they have all kind of excuses when you try to use coupons issued by their own company. On board the ship, prepare to be nickel and dimed to death. They had service charges AND gratuities to most bills onboard, they keep pestering you to buy alcohol, soda and bottled water on board, their shore excursions are greatly overpriced, etc.

 

Hope this helps as I have tried to show both the positives and negatives of NCL. Like I have said many times, I love their ships, the Freestyle concept and their itineraries. I just hate NCL's corporate office and way of doing business which I feel is deceitful.

[cnmiranda]

Well I guess it's always good to try a different cruise line but I guess overall I've been the happiest with RCI. The food to me is the best of the lines I've experienced (RCI, Princess, NCL). Service on RCI has always been very friendly - really got to know our waiters/cabin attendant. NCL's entertainment has been the best so far of my cruises howerver their food was also least enjoyable. Now mind you, I have only sailed NCL once before, so take my comments as you will. Hopefully some of the heavyweights will check in here and help you with your decision! Since you are sailing before the end of the year you won't have to worry about the new, questionable mandatory service fees. Looking forward to insight from other travelers. Have a great time.

[newmexicoNita]

This is simply a matter of taste. We have sailed NCL 5 or 6 times and RCI twice. There were a few food items on RCL we liked better than NCL, but overall prefer NCL. Actually we have cruised almost all the mass marketed lines and the food is pretty much the same. NCL has better buffets, not that any of them have great ones, the veggies are better on RCI. yes, there are more organized activities on RCI, but there is always plenty to do on NCL and being most of their ships spend almost everyday in port you don't have lots of time for activities. They do have the trivia games, TV games, etc just like any ship afloat. No matter what you may read from a handful of cruiseres, freestyle is just that. yes, if you are a group of 6 or more and you do want to eat at 7pm to 8pm you will have to wait; we have done freestyle 3 times and never waited more than 2 mintures. We eat as early as 5:50 or as late as 6:45. We also love to try at least one specialty restaurant each cruise. Cabin size, well both RCI ships we were on were older and the cabins were smaller than the NCL Sea, which is going some. Most of the postings for the Spirit have been good. I am sure you will have a good time regardless of what you decide.

 

NMNita

[Luanne]

I have been on RCI and NCL and found that both cruiselines will nickle and dime you equally, in fact, all cruiselines charge for photos, bingo, drinks, pop, gift shop purchases etc. That is not just an NCL fault. The same goes with trying to push things on you. We have been on 3 NCL cruises and out side of a bartender occasionally asking if you want a drink, we have never gotten the "pushy" treatment. People have always complained about the announcements, but on the newer ships, unless you have the tv going on a certain channel, you don't here them unless they are emergency messages.

 

Luanne

[S.S.Oceanlover]

do they have different foods on the menu daily or is it the same menu every day? I was reading a review about POA and they said they have the same thing every day. Is this fleet wide or just on POA?

 

Bill

[mikefast]

I think it pretty much depends on the individual ship. Here in the Houston area, we have the NCL Sea, and the RCCL Rhapsody of the Sea. I have cruised both lines twice, and much prefer the Rhapsody for several reasons. The Sea's buffet is much smaller, and isn't arranged nearly as good as the Rhapsody, and they don't have the variety of food that the Rhapsody has. I also think the dinners in the restaurant were better on the Rhapsody. But, the Rhapsody is a newer and larger ship too. If you would compare ships of the same age and size, they would probably be pretty close

[zimmerjulie]

I think the Spirit is a beautiful ship.

 

Here is a link to a slide show.

 

http://164.109.173.140/spirit_slideshow/

[newmexicoNita]

do they have different foods on the menu daily or is it the same menu every day? I was reading a review about POA and they said they have the same thing every day. Is this fleet wide or just on POA?

 

Bill

I can assure you every day the menus are different. You may see Steak on 2 or 3 nights as a choice; even then they will be different kinds of steak.

 

NMNita

 

ps you do need to compare the ships for size, age, etc. as that will be as different as night and day. A ship 3 years old with 1/2 the outside cabins having balconies can't be compare with a ship 12 years old with no balconies. This doesn't mean the older ship won't be as much fun, but it won't be as glitzy for certain.

[woodz]

We are RCCL fans (Platinium and counting) but have also cruised with HAL, Princess and NCL. We are taking an Alaskan cruise 9/18 on the Spirit and have talked several family members to go with us. We had a very positive experience on the Star a few years ago and really enjoyed the freestyle concept. I think most of your enjoyment comes from who you are spending your time with. Our RCCL's NOS last year was the the best cruise we had ever taken, due to the fact that we had fun family with us. Our teenagers are go, go, go but when we started out a few years ago shuffleboard and ping-pong were just fine for them on the Vision. Now it's rock walls, ice skating, in-line skating and parades. The itinerary also is a big consideration. Alaska is all about the scenery. We have always found something good to eat and the more we cruise the more we realize that it's not about the food, it's about spending time with our family. If you are interested I will let you know how the Spirit compares with our RCCL experiences.

[gardencat]

woodz

I am going to apologize in advance for what I say next because I don't mean to jump on you personally, but I have heard so many comments like

 

it's not about the food, it's about spending time with our family.

In my opinion when someone pays for a cruise they have a right to expect a little more than just " spending time with their family". If time with your family is really all that matters there is a nice Motel 6 on Superstition Hwy. in the Mesa area, that can put you up for $35.99 per night, in a room that will house 2 adults and 2 children under 17. That is $35.99 for the room ,not per person. If you want to go somewhere else, a motel 6 in Albany will give a similar deal for $65.99 per night. Think of all the money you would save over the cruise price!

 

You should know I am being facetious about this, but my point is that a cruise even if meant to be a vacation with family should (in my opinion ) provide a lot more for the money spent.

[newmexicoNita]

We are RCCL fans (Platinium and counting) but have also cruised with HAL, Princess and NCL. We are taking an Alaskan cruise 9/18 on the Spirit and have talked several family members to go with us. We had a very positive experience on the Star a few years ago and really enjoyed the freestyle concept. I think most of your enjoyment comes from who you are spending your time with. Our RCCL's NOS last year was the the best cruise we had ever taken, due to the fact that we had fun family with us. Our teenagers are go, go, go but when we started out a few years ago shuffleboard and ping-pong were just fine for them on the Vision. Now it's rock walls, ice skating, in-line skating and parades. The itinerary also is a big consideration. Alaska is all about the scenery. We have always found something good to eat and the more we cruise the more we realize that it's not about the food, it's about spending time with our family. If you are interested I will let you know how the Spirit compares with our RCCL experiences.

 

Boy are you a person after my own heart. The best cruise we even had was on the Sea, then the Seaward, Why? because it was the first time our 2 grand daughters, then about 11 and 14, now both in college had ever cruised. Just to watch them for a week, living in a totally different world made us enjoy every minute. I too agree the itinerary is important. As for food, of course we want decent food, but after cruising 15 times I have come to the conclusion: the food is very similar on all mass marketed lines. Some may have a better buffet, some a better selection etc, but it's still food prepared for 2000 plus people. The fun with the dining is not having to clean the kitchen afterwards. We will soon sail the Sea out of Houston. Does the ship compare with Celebrity or the newer, larger NCL ships? Of course not, will we have a wonderful time? Of course, we are cruising with 2 others couples who we have known for 40 years. Being with family and friends is 1/2 of the enjoyment, the rest is the overall experience. Baring horrible weather, terrible conditions or a personal problem a cruise is always worth the price. Of course for some, there are many personal problems. NMNita