NCL Fan Has Questions.....

[mrtractor]

Our next NCL cruise we will be at the highest level for past passengers. We like the freedom that NCL offers in more aspects than just dining options. No required formal nights, up to 13 different places to dine, no set time for dinner, and especially their flexible disembarkation procedures. Yes, we get some perks for being upper level "Latitude" members. But the overall program is what got us to that level.

 

Our next cruise is on November 10th on the Crown Princess. We have been on the Grand, which I understand is a similar ship. But that was three weeks after 9-11 and honestly, wasn't all that good. Not bad, just not all that good. But some fun people that like Princess and a great itinerary convinced us to give Princess another try.

 

So, for those of you with some experience with both NCL's Freestyle and Princess's Personal Choice, could you tell me what you like about Princess that keeps you coming back? We've got a lot of cruising to do. You never know, before it's all over, we might be superdupergoldplatinumdiamond members of the Captains Circle, too!

 

MrTractor<--------is ready to be convinced............

[Jim and Monika]

Hi MrTractor,

We really like NCL too. We have done mostly Princess. As far as Free Style and Personal Choice, they are pretty much the same. The only difference is that with Personal Choice you have to go to a certain main dining room. You have more options of where to go on NCL. The food is about the same on both. Although by DH loves the pool side BBQ on NCL. To be honest one of the main reasons be don't stray far from Princess is the pools. I can't stand salt water pools. Princess has a great product, but lately it seems a little Ho Hum as far as activities and bands by the pool and in bar/lounges. NCL had them beat the two times we sailed with them. To be fair though we have only been on two NCL cruises and 13 Princess cruises. ( not really a fair comparison) Give Princess a try. They both have a lot to offer.

Monika

[dosi]

and so glad you have recovered from the sting of not winning the Latitudes photo contest:D . My dear MrTractor, I believe you will love Princess. We have sailed NCL and Princess. The pools on the Princess ships are gorgeous and the water is fresh, not salty. The food is very very good and there is tea every afternoon. I cannot really comment on the Freestyle/Anytime thing because we always do early traditional if possible. But I can say that I think the food on Princess is yummy. I hope you and the lovely Mrs Tractor have a great time!!!

 

dosi<----one of the really big reasons to cruise Princess....cuz I might be on the ship.....:p

[Jhawktx]

If you like NCL's Motel-6 approach to cruising, then go for it. I see they have bowling alleys. What is next, tractor pulls or female mud wrestliing?

[sunviking82]

My wife and I are Princess loyalist. We were on the same cruise on the Grand and it was our least favoriate cruise (9 Princess so far, 1 Celebrity, 3 RCL and 1 Disney). I prefer a traditional cruise, but Princess offers the best of both worlds. Never taken NCL, but don't plan to either. I LOVE Princess. The new menu's, the service and the ship layout are amoug the best afloat. I hope you enjoy your Crown Princess cruise. The Grand post 9/11 was just too stresssful for anyone to have fun. :)

[dosi]

If you like NCL's Motel-6 approach to cruising, then go for it. I see they have bowling alleys. What is next, tractor pulls or female mud wrestliing?

 

 

Jhawktx, Your response is kind of harsh. I am sure you didn't mean for it to come across that way. MrTractor is a very nice gentleman who has been a cyber friend of mine for a while. He has come to the Princess board with good intentions just to get a feel for his upcoming cruise. Perhaps there is something nice you might want to say.....if not, well why bother replying???

[sueandkent]

Our next NCL cruise we will be at the highest level for past passengers. We like the freedom that NCL offers in more aspects than just dining options. No required formal nights, up to 13 different places to dine, no set time for dinner, and especially their flexible disembarkation procedures. Yes, we get some perks for being upper level "Latitude" members. But the overall program is what got us to that level.

 

Our next cruise is on November 10th on the Crown Princess. We have been on the Grand, which I understand is a similar ship. But that was three weeks after 9-11 and honestly, wasn't all that good. Not bad, just not all that good. But some fun people that like Princess and a great itinerary convinced us to give Princess another try.

 

So, for those of you with some experience with both NCL's Freestyle and Princess's Personal Choice, could you tell me what you like about Princess that keeps you coming back? We've got a lot of cruising to do. You never know, before it's all over, we might be superdupergoldplatinumdiamond members of the Captains Circle, too!

 

MrTractor<--------is ready to be convinced............

 

A question back for you then. As people only having cruised Princess (and love the line) we're looking at NCLA for 7 day Hawaii. I've checked the NCL boards and there wasn't much nice to say about NCLA over there nor was there here on the Princess boards. As long time NCL cruisers your opinion would be great.

[mrtractor]

NCL has FEMALE MUD WRESTLING????

 

I'm going back to NCL!!!

 

I'm going to ignore one of these posts. It offers no constructive information, only insults.

 

As far as the rest of you, thanks for your considered and helpful insights. I really don't care that much about fresh versus salt pools. We just got back from a cruise and never went in the pool. Even with three full sea days! Hot tub, yes, pool, no. But we swam in the ocean while in port. Does swimming in salt water make me a bad person?

 

The things I remember about our one and only Princess cruise that were good:

New ship

Good food - even in the buffet

Large cabin size

Cool Disco

Beautiful tiled pool area

Great adults only pool and hot tub area at back of ship

Great adults only spa pool

 

The things I remember that weren't so great:

Disembarkation starting at 7:00 am

Sitting in a lounge until my color was called

Couldn't get a seat at the shows in smaller lounges

Long wait for a table doing Personal Choice

Asking for a table for two and getting seated with a group.

Asking for a group table and getting seated at table for two.

Awful production numbers in main theatre

 

NCL's Freestyle built ships are much more efficient at handling the flow of dining than the Grand seem to be. And NCL had Princess beat by a mile in big productions in the theatre.

 

What has Princess done to improve Personal Choice since we last tried it? Seemed like the only people who were in the flow of what was happening on the ship were people doing traditional dining.

 

 

The Crown and the Grand are in the same class. What did Princess do differently in the Crown to improve flow of people to the show rooms? Seems like everytime we finished dinner and tried to see a show in a show room, the only place left to sit was in the hallway. Let's face it, if 3,000 people want to see a show and the show room only seats 1,500, not everybody is getting a seat.

 

I'm not trying to start an argument. We're committed to going on the Crown. I'm just trying to get the most out of the experience. And who better to help me do that than you folks who have travelled Princess as well as other lines.

 

Thanks in advance for your guidance.

 

MrTractor<-------still thinks he had a great picture!!!.......

[mrtractor]

.........that's easy. Check my review under Pride of Hawai'i here on CC. It was the featured review for CC back when I wrote it. Pack a lunch. It's kinda long. NCLA has some unique challenges. It falls short in some respects. But if you go to the islands for the islands and not get caught up in all the little stuff, you'll do fine. I love cruising, but I just couldn't bear to sit on a ship for five days getting there. I'd rather spend the limited time I have on the islands.

 

Feel free to ask questions if you'd like, but I think the review covers most of them.

 

MrTractor<------loved Hawai'i and had a ball on the POH.......

[Jhawktx]

Jhawktx, Your response is kind of harsh. I am sure you didn't mean for it to come across that way. MrTractor is a very nice gentleman

 

Oh, my bad. I stand corrected and hope you can excuse my faux pas. I just assumed he was the typical NCL cruiser. Married to his cousin and lacking one or more upper front teeth. Please accept my apology.

[dosi]

What I can recommend for the Personal Choice issue is have a game plan ahead of time and making reservations for your dining choices on the very first day.....similar to what you would do on NCL. Or, if you are like us and eat early, just get there when the dining room opens. Since we travel with our little son (you know the one in the fabulous-should have won an award-picture with the Griz) we always eat early. That is why we like traditional. But on NCL we always showed up right when the dining rooms opened and never had a wait.

 

I have never seen disembarkation start as early as 7 although I do think that perhaps non citizens have to show up someplace very early for their immigration stuff. We have always had to be ready around 8 or half 8 I think.

 

I really believe that Princess is trying very hard to get away from traditional dining. To that end, on our last two PCL cruises I heard very few issues from fellow pax concerning long waits etc. I will be on the Golden at the end of the month and will try to check out how things flow.

 

MrT I know you will have a great time!!:)

 

dosi<-------- thinks MrTractor would have a great time in a rubber raft in the middle of Lake Minnetonka if that is what was on the agenda

[dosi]

Oh, my bad. I stand corrected and hope you can excuse my faux pas. I just assumed he was the typical NCL cruiser. Married to his cousin and lacking one or more upper front teeth. Please accept my apology.

 

 

Ouch....you must be having a really bad day.....I hope it gets better and you are able to return to the land of the happy and kind.

[The Big Booper]

Oh, my bad. I stand corrected and hope you can excuse my faux pas. I just assumed he was the typical NCL cruiser. Married to his cousin and lacking one or more upper front teeth. Please accept my apology.

 

Yee-Haw:D :) :D .

 

BTW the theater on the 3050+ pax Crown/Caribbean/Emerald seats 800 people.:eek:

 

If that is important to the OP.

[mrtractor]

.....of info, Big Booper. But surprisingly, we never had a problem getting into the main theatre. Possibly because the quality of the shows was just not that good. I'm mainly talking about the smaller lounges. I would guess they seat even less. My wife and I would wait for 20-30 minutes for dinner, get served in a decent, but not particularly brisk pace and when we get to the show room before a magic show or hypnotist or band starts their performance - there are no seats. One time we had to sit in separate seats 20 seats apart because they were the only seats left in the house. Isn't that romantic on your anniversary? You just can't get 20lbs of potatoes in a 10lb bag.

 

I was not even aware that you could make dinner reservations in the dining rooms with PC. I think I'm learning something here. How does that work? Who would I call? How far in advance can I make a reservation? Is there any restriction on the number of folks you can make a reservation for? Our roll call is over 100 now and just the folks we've cruised with before is around 40. How's that for a challenge to PC?!?! :eek:

 

Did anybody hear a noise? Sounds like an axe grinding, doesn't it?

 

MrTractor<-------is sure that dosi's son is a handsome fellow and takes a fine picture, but his photo of the NaPali coast from a helicopter was exceptionally qualified to win........

[NOT my real name]

tractor,

Has NCL opened up any tattoo parlors yet to go along with their bowling alleys?

 

You mentioned NCL's "anything goes" dining. If you are going to dress like the rest of the NCL diners in bib overalls for formal night, please at least try to pick your pair with the fewest number of holes in them.

[spongerob]

So, for those of you with some experience with both NCL's Freestyle and Princess's Personal Choice, could you tell me what you like about Princess that keeps you coming back? We've got a lot of cruising to do. You never know, before it's all over, we might be superdupergoldplatinumdiamond members of the Captains Circle, too!

........

Honestly, the thing that has helped us book so many Princess cruises is their Future Cruise Credits (Open Bookings). You purchase these on board from the future cruise office, and all you need to do is fill in the form listing the names and how many credits you want. They cost $100 each, but allow you to book any cruise, with any agency, up to 4 years from date of purchase. The FCC is your deposit; you don't pay any additional deposit when you book. Then, you get all, part, and sometimes more, back in on board credits. The value of the credit is based on the length of the cruise you book and the category of cabin, with a maximum of $150. They are combinable with any other promotions.

 

We are traditional fixed seating patrons, and rarely do shows, so can't help you there.

[cynbar]

Hi, Mr. and Mrs. Tractor!! My family and I will be joining you on the FOMT cruise in November. We have enjoyed our NCL cruises, but I have to say we prefer Princess, mainly for the freshwater pools and 24 hr dining. We always do anytime because we like to vary our dining times according to our schedule for the day -- it's much more manageable when you know the ins and outs. You can definitely make reservations, although not between the popular hours of 7-8 pm. There will be a clearly marked button on your cabin phone, just call before about 4:00 pm and tell them what time and what size table. You can also reserve ahead for the whole week or as many nights as you choose --- we do this if we find a table or waiter we particularly like early in the week, but you can also reserve if you want a large table for a group just one or two nights. Reservations are a good idea on formal nights even if you forego them the other nights.There is really no reason not to do this as you can always cancel at the last minute with no penalty. The main shows are designed around the traditional dining times, so just tell your waiter if you're trying to make a show -- you do have to get there a few minutes early, but we've never found this too inconvenient. The Crown Grill and Sabatini's are also great, we did both on our Crown cruise in 2006 and will probably do so again -- for those specialty restaurants, we picked our nights and reserved on embarkation afternoon, at the restaurant entrances. The Crown has some nice improvements over the Grand --- MUTS, Caribe Cafe with themed lunch and dinner buffets in addtion to Horizon Court, entertainment in the atrium, and (best of all) the International Cafe in the atrium with sandwiches, salads and fresh cookies throughout the day. Looking forward to meeting all the FOMTs -- I hope this Princess cruise is more successful than your last!

[jff50]

Oh, my bad. I stand corrected and hope you can excuse my faux pas. I just assumed he was the typical NCL cruiser. Married to his cousin and lacking one or more upper front teeth. Please accept my apology.

What a jerk.

[jff50]

tractor,

Has NCL opened up any tattoo parlors yet to go along with their bowling alleys?

 

You mentioned NCL's "anything goes" dining. If you are going to dress like the rest of the NCL diners in bib overalls for formal night, please at least try to pick your pair with the fewest number of holes in them.

Another one. Are you related to Jhawktx?

[jff50]

The things I remember that weren't so great:

Disembarkation starting at 7:00 am

Sitting in a lounge until my color was called

Couldn't get a seat at the shows in smaller lounges

Long wait for a table doing Personal Choice

Asking for a table for two and getting seated with a group.

Asking for a group table and getting seated at table for two.

Awful production numbers in main theatre

 

While my first choice of cruise lines is Princess--I really enjoyed the Hawaii cruise we took on the Norwegian Star. Would not hesitate to try NCL again.

 

I'm not sure you will find Princess handling the things you didn't like on the Grand any better on the Crown. One of the big differences between the Grand and the Crown is that the Crown (as well as the Caribbean and the Emerald) added another deck (I think about 500 passengers) without increasing the common areas--theatre, pools, etc. If you had significant issues with traffic flow on the Grand, I think you will have similar issues with the Crown.

 

Regarding the production numbers--Princess doesn't change them often. You may see the same ones you didn't like before.

 

I've never had much success making reservations for anytime dining, but never had to wait more than about 15 minutes to be seated--we generally eat around 7:15.

 

By the way, the "superdupergoldplatinumdiamond members" status is called elite--and has some nice perqs associated with it.

 

Regarding the people that post rude replies, some people need to put others down in order to feel good about themselves. I hear that counseling can help with that.

[dosi]

MrTractor, I think that usually you make your dining reservations the day you board. However, with a group as large as yours you might be able to contact your TA and have them contact guest services for the ship you will be sailing on. I honestly have never traveled with so many people, but I would think that if you wanted to all have dinner in one of the dining venues at the same time PCL might be able to accomodate you with some advance notice. It would be worth a shot!!!

 

dosi<------wants to sail with MrTractor some day so he will take an award winning pic of her adorable and incredibly photogenic child. With MrTractor's camera skills and Timmy's superduper cuteness how could the picture not be a winner????:D

[mrtractor]

We look forward to meeting you, too. Thanks for your thoughts on this. We are still trying to get our minds around how to navigate through the Personal Choice concept. We've gotten pretty adept at getting the dining times we want and doing the shows and activities we want to do on NCL's Freestyle. I'm just not sure if I have it straight yet. As I understand it, the shows are pretty much still set up for the traditional seating folks. That is, either you eat early and go to the show late or you go to the show first and then go eat. I know that a lot of folks like to eat early. But we generally eat later and 6:30 is just too early. We like to get back from shore or an excursion, get a nap, shower and relax a little before we rush off to dinner. If this is the case, then would we be better off to take a late traditional dining format? I'm still not quite clear on what to do??!?!

 

If you take the traditional, do you sit with the same people every night or are you simply assigned a time and dining room?

 

If you choose traditional and want to go to the two alternatives, how will that effect your waiter and assistant's tip? Will this just leave your dining companions without company?

 

So, If I take PC, then I should make reservations when I get on the boat for the whole week? Or is that just if you want a specific time, place and number of people? Seems like it negates the freedom of PC if you have to tell them who, what, when and where the first day, doesn't it?

 

I'm trying to figure out which nights will be formal. That way I can make a reservation for those nights. On the Southern Caribbean 7 day cruise there is only one sea day - the last day. On most cruises we've been on, it's been the first sea day. But we don't have one until the end. I'm guessing that on this Sat. to Sat. Cruise that Thursday night would be the second formal night. Does anybody know when the first one will be? And which dining rooms are designated as formal?

 

That Future Cruise credit program sounds pretty good. Sort of the monkey in the rice jar, though. NCL has a similar program. If you are planning on doing another Princess cruise anytime soon, then it's a good deal! Is there any restriction on how soon you have to use them?

 

Sorry for all the questions. Thanks again!

 

MrTractor<-------all he needs is a good subject like Timmy and he can win the photo contest!!!......

[jff50]

We look forward to meeting you, too. Thanks for your thoughts on this. We are still trying to get our minds around how to navigate through the Personal Choice concept. We've gotten pretty adept at getting the dining times we want and doing the shows and activities we want to do on NCL's Freestyle. I'm just not sure if I have it straight yet. As I understand it, the shows are pretty much still set up for the traditional seating folks. That is, either you eat early and go to the show late or you go to the show first and then go eat. I know that a lot of folks like to eat early. But we generally eat later and 6:30 is just too early. We like to get back from shore or an excursion, get a nap, shower and relax a little before we rush off to dinner. If this is the case, then would we be better off to take a late traditional dining format? I'm still not quite clear on what to do??!?!

 

If you take the traditional, do you sit with the same people every night or are you simply assigned a time and dining room?

 

If you choose traditional and want to go to the two alternatives, how will that effect your waiter and assistant's tip? Will this just leave your dining companions without company?

 

So, If I take PC, then I should make reservations when I get on the boat for the whole week? Or is that just if you want a specific time, place and number of people? Seems like it negates the freedom of PC if you have to tell them who, what, when and where the first day, doesn't it?

 

I'm trying to figure out which nights will be formal. That way I can make a reservation for those nights. On the Southern Caribbean 7 day cruise there is only one sea day - the last day. On most cruises we've been on, it's been the first sea day. But we don't have one until the end. I'm guessing that on this Sat. to Sat. Cruise that Thursday night would be the second formal night. Does anybody know when the first one will be? And which dining rooms are designated as formal?

 

That Future Cruise credit program sounds pretty good. Sort of the monkey in the rice jar, though. NCL has a similar program. If you are planning on doing another Princess cruise anytime soon, then it's a good deal! Is there any restriction on how soon you have to use them?

 

Sorry for all the questions. Thanks again!

 

MrTractor<-------all he needs is a good subject like Timmy and he can win the photo contest!!!......

Given the fact that you like freestyle on NCL, I would not go with traditional on Princess. You will be seated at the same time, same table with the same waiters and other passengers each night. You will be able to go to the pay restaurants (Sabatini's or the steakhouse), but probably won't be able to dine at the anytime dining rooms. If you select anytime dining, you can show up anytime you want without reservations--but the Maitre'd may show a little dissatisfaction if you show up with a large party, no reservations, and ask to be seated together. I've never made reservations for the whole week on boarding (the only reservations that we have made in advance are for the specialty dining). As I noted, never had to wait more than about 15 minutes to sit alone at a table for 2 or 4.

 

Regarding tips, Princess has an autotip pool. They will charge $10/passenger/day to your card, and you do not have to worry about tipping unless you want to tip extra for exceptional service.

 

My experience is that formal nights are generally 2nd night and next to last night (might vary a day based on sea days). I wouldn't bother to make reservations on formal nights. However, all the restaurants (speciality, traditional, anytime dining rooms) all follow the formal dress code. Personally I'd like to see them designate one of the anytime dining rooms as casual on formal nights--but they don't do that yet. The options on formal night are the buffet or room service. If you have a balcony, Princess also has what it calls ultimate balcony dining. They will set a table for you on your balcony, and serve you in courses. All the comments I've seen on it indicate that it is worth the price. It's $100 for 2 people. I haven't done it yet, but plan on it for my next cruise. You can get input on it by doing a search for UBD or utlimate balcony dining.

[NthernLgts]

tractor,

Has NCL opened up any tattoo parlors yet to go along with their bowling alleys?

 

You mentioned NCL's "anything goes" dining. If you are going to dress like the rest of the NCL diners in bib overalls for formal night, please at least try to pick your pair with the fewest number of holes in them.

 

Hey NOT my real name, great to see you chiming in. I see you & Jhawk are your usual welcoming selves. Kinda reminds me of the smoking thread ....and why it got shut down:rolleyes: .

[Clutterlady]

We look forward to meeting you, too. Thanks for your thoughts on this. We are still trying to get our minds around how to navigate through the Personal Choice concept. We've gotten pretty adept at getting the dining times we want and doing the shows and activities we want to do on NCL's Freestyle. I'm just not sure if I have it straight yet. As I understand it, the shows are pretty much still set up for the traditional seating folks. That is, either you eat early and go to the show late or you go to the show first and then go eat. I know that a lot of folks like to eat early. But we generally eat later and 6:30 is just too early. We like to get back from shore or an excursion, get a nap, shower and relax a little before we rush off to dinner. If this is the case, then would we be better off to take a late traditional dining format? I'm still not quite clear on what to do??!?! Since you're used to freestyle, you would be better off with personal choice!

 

If you take the traditional, do you sit with the same people every night or are you simply assigned a time and dining room? Yep, you sit with the same people every night!

 

If you choose traditional and want to go to the two alternatives, how will that effect your waiter and assistant's tip? Will this just leave your dining companions without company? Be sure to tell your waiter so they know not to wait for you.

 

So, If I take PC, then I should make reservations when I get on the boat for the whole week? Or is that just if you want a specific time, place and number of people? Seems like it negates the freedom of PC if you have to tell them who, what, when and where the first day, doesn't it? Not any different then having to make reservations on NCL for venues other than the dining room!!

 

I'm trying to figure out which nights will be formal. That way I can make a reservation for those nights. On the Southern Caribbean 7 day cruise there is only one sea day - the last day. On most cruises we've been on, it's been the first sea day. But we don't have one until the end. I'm guessing that on this Sat. to Sat. Cruise that Thursday night would be the second formal night. Does anybody know when the first one will be? And which dining rooms are designated as formal? All dining rooms are formal on formal night.

 

That Future Cruise credit program sounds pretty good. Sort of the monkey in the rice jar, though. NCL has a similar program. If you are planning on doing another Princess cruise anytime soon, then it's a good deal! Is there any restriction on how soon you have to use them? You have 4 years to use your FCC, it you decide not to use it, you get your money back:)

 

Sorry for all the questions. Thanks again!

 

MrTractor<-------all he needs is a good subject like Timmy and he can win the photo contest!!!......

 

You will love Princess.....different from NCL but our personal favorite. Hope you have a great cruise....let us know how you make out.