NCL vs. RC

[emily rose]

I'm interested in doing a cruise on the Raidance of the Sea or the Norwegian Jewel. Has anybody been on both boats or either boat? Can you compare or give details on the boats?

[Liz]

You did not mention if you are traveling with someone else or solo. I did the Western Med this summer on NCL as a solo and would not cruise with them again. If you are solo, check the solo boards - most of the issues are with "freestyle" dining. There were other things though, to the point that I renamed it the NO Cruise Line. I've never encountered a staff that was so negative - most questions were answered with a "no" - and they really did not want to find answers to questions unless they were pushed to do so. I've been cruising 30+ years, and this was the first time I filled out a negative comment card. I met people on the NCL cruise who had spent the previous week on RCCL, and they were very disappointed in NCL also.

I believe RCCL's service is superior overall - nicer crew, ship is maintained better and cleaner, and the food on RCCL was better. They just seem to want you to have a good time, too. RCCL cabins are smaller but I do not spend much time in the cabin so that does not matter to me. NCL entertainment was boring - they had a show that was billed "as good as Cirque du Soleil"... I don't know, but it was nowhere near the quality of Cirque!!

The one positive thing I will say - the ship got me where I wanted to go - so it served its purpose. That's about it... for me, anyway.

 

Liz

[cruisingbooboo]

I've been on NCL 3 x and RCL 3 x... I feel like NCL nickles and dimes you a bit more than RCL ( pay to use saunas, fitness classes....)I felt like both lines have beautiful ships, staff was always lovely. I do like freestyle dining more. That is the only difference in my opinion.

I have been on The Jewel and The Pearl on NCL on RCL Voyager, Granduer, Rhapsody.

[NYCRUISR]

We have yet to cruise NCL but a few friends have done a few cruise and have told us they prefer RCCL by far. They said thay had to try it but they didn't like it. Can't be all bad, lots of people cruising NCL.

[Pumbaamd]

We have been on 3 NCL cruises and loved every one. We have been on many more RCL cruises, and they were also very nice. If you are comparing RCL Radiance, vs. NCL . . . the Radiance class ships win, hands down. "Any" of the Radiance class ships(Radiance, Brilliance, Serenade, Jewel) compare very favorably over the NCL ships.

You will love the RCL Radiance class ships with all they have to offer.

Rick and Deirdra

[emily rose]

My friends are considering the ncl jewel vs radiance of the seas.I have been on the mariner and love it.I have never been on the ncl line.they are leaning towards ncl because of price and age.They are early 60.ncl is 200$ less. Any advice would be great.

[Liz]

Your friends might check on the weekly Promowaves to see if there are any Senior discounts available (I can't wait to turn 55!!!). Also, if you do a search on the RCCL website, they ask if anyone in the group is 55+ - there may be some regular discounts available? Finally, if they are working with a good travel agent, he or she can probably find some deals for them. I did not use a travel agent for a long time, but have now found a good one and she helps me alot, and also makes sure I have some type of bon voyage gift when I arrive on board.

I'm a penny pincher, so I can relate to them wanting to save money. I just believe the RCCL treatment is a better value.

Good luck with their search-

 

Liz

[petesweet]

My friends are considering the ncl jewel vs radiance of the seas.I have been on the mariner and love it.I have never been on the ncl line.they are leaning towards ncl because of price and age.They are early 60.ncl is 200$ less. Any advice would be great.

 

Seens to me there are many more opportunities to get free onboard credit with RCCL than with NCL.

[tinker]

I have sailed both lines and do prefer RCI because I think the traditional dining works better than Freestyle, but I do not hesitate to sail NCL if the itinerary and price are right.

 

In fact, NCL is offering much better itineraries lately than RCI for those of us who live in here in the northeast and both of my vacations for 2008 will be on Norwegian.

 

Having sailed RCL, NCL, Carnival and Celebrity I rate them in that order and think the food on Carnival is very good and would not sail Celebrity again.

[Shiraz49]

Our group had read all of the nagatives about NCL and the problems with Freestyle dining .......

 

We throughly loved it and cannot see why other cruise lines fail to adopt something similar ... the number of different people we met was amazing and made the whole cruise more entertaining (and yes there were some we sat with on numerous occasions if we found them, or they found us already in a restaurant.

 

Being with the same dinner group may be OK for a short 4 or 5 day cruise but I can think of nothing worse than being with the same dinner group for 10/14 or 21 days (if you're going to cruise cruise long).

 

That being said there were occasions that we did see lines of people waiting to be seated as soon as any restaurant opened ... as though they thought they may miss out ... we were usually on our way to a cocktail or martini in one of the lounges .... came back at some later time and were always seated immediate with requests to either dine alone or to be seated with a group never being a problem. Nor was having a second or third starter/entree or desert.

 

These 'get in early' diners were usually older (wanting to get to bed??) or had younger children.

 

The staff were all first class ... may not be the case with NCL America who are forced to employee Americans who don't seem to have the same flair for dealing with their customers (again this is hearsay only).

 

Try and judge for yourself, the negatives are a bit like an avalache that continues to gather momentum.

 

At the end of the day regardless of who you cruise with you'll be on a holiday so enjoy it.