NCCL or RCCL??

[jkl55us]

Hi all,

 

My DH and I are planning to take our first Western Mediterranean cruise in May 08. We are down to 2 choices:

 

(1) NCCL Jade - 13 Day Barcelona to London

 

(2) RCCL Voyager of The Seas (7 nights)

 

Which one is good for us?? We are mid 30's and like to explore Europe as much as we can in 2 weeks. Thanks a lot!!!!

[songbird2007]

I would think the 13-day cruise will cover more ports than the 7-day one. Since its expensive to fly to Europe, might as well visit as many ports as possible in two weeks. Search the web for Emerald Princess, it has the most extensive coverage on the Mediterranian. It might be physically demanding. But since you are young, should be able to handle the challenge.

[Kindlychap]

Hi all,

 

My DH and I are planning to take our first Western Mediterranean cruise in May 08. We are down to 2 choices:

 

(1) NCCL Jade - 13 Day Barcelona to London

 

(2) RCCL Voyager of The Seas (7 nights)

 

Which one is good for us?? We are mid 30's and like to explore Europe as much as we can in 2 weeks. Thanks a lot!!!!

 

I assume that if you do the RCCL, you'll do a week on land?

 

You can see a very great deal more that way.

 

You need to make a list of what you want to see, in order of preference, and see how that takes you.

 

Easy for me - I'm a one ship man. I'm not that bothered where she goes, as long as I'm on board. But if you're more concerned about destinations, then you need to be analytical.

 

Remember places like Rome aren't easy to do from a cruise - not only is it miles from the port, but you'll need days to see it. That really does go for any significant port - a day just isn't enough.

 

Also - do you want to see a lot of places briefly, or a few in more detail?

 

All things to consider - even before you look at the ships themselves.

 

Matthew

[John&Betty]

Hi,

 

First look at Celebrity's 10 or 12 day cruises from Barcelona to Venice. They are the better cruise line and they have a great itinerary.

 

John.

[aussiecruzer]

We had to make a similar decision - with 2 weeks to spend in Europe, we wanted to make the most of our time as it is a long way to travel from our home in Australia. Our solution was to spend a few days in Paris , then a few days in London before flying to Barcelona to do the 7 night Voyager cruise. We had a fantastic trip - if you're interested this is the link to my reveiw http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=33645

I'm sure you'll have a wonderful trip whichever you choose.

[jkl55us]

Thank you for all your quick response.

 

We cruise once with RCCL to Carribean, we love it. But just wondering is NCL as good as RCCL (foods and board services)??

 

 

Hi Aussiecruzer,

 

That's what I want to do in the first place. But when I find out NCL Jade has this 13 days deal (about $1200 pp) and you can visit Lisbon, Gibraltar & London .... So I am debating should we take NCL or RCCL?? Of course, I would like to visit Pairs also. :p

[agabbymama]

Wow! I thought I was trying to do a lot to see Greece & Italy in 12 days.

You are talking seeing Europe in 12 days. It is a long way to fly, and places are relatively close together in Europe, but still impossible to do in only 2 weeks.

 

My husband and I had a rental car and toured over 3000 miles in 30 days (Germany, Austria, Italy, Switzerland back to Germany). Flights were cheaper into/out of Germany, although our main focus was Italy. I have done 3 weeks in Holland, Belgium & Luxembourg. 3 weeks in Greece (but didn't make it to Santorini & Mykonos). 10 days in Austria & Hungary, then another 10 days in Hungary. 10 days in England, Wales & Scotland.

And I'd still someday like to go to Norway, Denmark & Sweden but that will have to wait.

 

Start a graph chart, put the cruiselines across the top. Put the things/places you want to see and do, budget, cabin type, # of days, etc. down the side. As you research, put an "X" in the conjoining boxes. When you finish, one should have more "Xs" than the others. A cruise is a nice way to see lots of ports, if you really like one, you can always go back and spend extended time there, and you only have to unpack once, and you won't be schlepping your luggage yourself.

 

My travelling friend wanted to see Italy, so we started looking at land tours. Globus & Cosmos are very affordable. Then she came across a cruise for this year that included Italy and Greece. She emailed that she would love to cruise the Med and see both places. I started pricing, and although it will be our most expensive trip yet, we decided to go for it. She is almost 79 years old and thinks this may be her last big trip. So we settled on the Grand Princess from Rome to Monte Carlo to Livorno to Naples to Santorini to Kusadasi to Mykonos to Athens to Olympia to Corfu and ending in Venice. With 2 pre-cruise days in Rome and 2 post-cruise days in Venice. We decided getting 4 countries we are getting the most bang for our bucks.

 

Hope you find the perfect trip for YOU. You know your likes/dislikes, where you want to go and what you really want to see. Have a great trip.

[aussiecruzer]

Hi jkl55us,

Having only cruised on Royal Caribbean's Voyager I can't compare food and services on board with NCL, other than to say that we loved the services on Voyager. I had a look at NCL Jade 13 day itinerary and I must say it looks good too. Maybe if you had time you could catch the Eurostar train from London to Paris. I know it is impossible to see everything in a couple of weeks but you have to decide what is important for you. For us, the thought of going to Europe and not seeing Paris was just not right. As it turned out , our few days in Paris were a real highlight of our trip. Anyway, happy decision-making!!:) :)

[John&Betty]

Hi,

 

You are talking about 2 totally different shipboard experiences. RCL has standard 1st and 2nd seating with formal and semi formal nights where you have the same table mates and wait staff all the time. NCL has “Freestyle Dinning” where you go to a different table and/or restaurant every night, most of which you pay extra for. Dress is more casual and you do not need formal wear or even a coat and tie.

 

We have been on RCL twice, Celebrity 6 or 7 times and just got back from a New England cruise on the NCL Spirit. RCL has classier ships and better food and service. Celebrity is a cut above that. I think you would feel you had taken a step down if you go to NCL after having been on RCL.

 

John

[scubacindy]

At first I was not going to make any comments, but I just have to say this. Having been on RCCL once and NCL for 3 cruises and one booked on the Gem Western Med cruise next May, my comments would be these.

 

1-Freestyle does not mean free for all, as in it is not a come as you are thing.

2-They do still have a main dining room with all the class of other ships with dining, it is smart casual and they do have not necessarily the formal nights but they do have a dressier night or two, and most going to the dining room do dress from cocktail to formal attire.

3-In the dining room you can be seated at the same table with table mates or choose to be seated whereever and at the size table you would like. My husband and I prefer tables for two since the cruise is "our time" not a social event.

4-Ah, specialty restaurants, found that most cruise lines are starting to offer these also. But, contrary to what everyone thinks these are not all at an extra cost. (oh, wait on Carnival the one specialty was a charge, sorry I didn't go to it) But, on NCL we have enjoyed the Le Bistro and honestly, I am sure we will enjoy Cagney's from what all I have read.

 

But, I think what it all boils down to, you have to look for what you would like from your cruise. All of the cruise lines are out there to provide their customers with a vacation that provides what you the customer would like.

 

I have never had a cruise that I absolutely did not enjoy. Now, I have been on some family land vacations that I was ever so glad to get back home from, but that is totally different.

 

Travel is an adventure and there are going to be things that we would not encounter at home. I have always felt pampered and given royal treatment on all the cruises I have been on. But, maybe I come from a more simple life so I feel like I am at Cinderella's castle on any cruise.

 

To us we look for an itinerary that will provide us with the most port time and port stops, don't really want to do 7 days and have four days at sea.

That is one reason we have chosen NCL they have long port days and we will make 5 ports. It will be intense to see what we want, but I look at this as one of two things it may be my one and only time to see any of Rome, Pompeii and Florence so I want to do as much as possible and then again who knows it may be just a preview of where we would like to come back to.

 

Whatever you decide sit back and enjoy it for what it is, don't be looking at all of what it is not, that takes all the fun out.

 

Bon Voyage!

Sail on!

[Kindlychap]

That's what I want to do in the first place. But when I find out NCL Jade has this 13 days deal (about $1200 pp) and you can visit Lisbon, Gibraltar & London .... So I am debating should we take NCL or RCCL?? Of course, I would like to visit Pairs also. :p

 

Don't bother with Gibralter. It's a dump.

 

The trouble with a cruise going to Southampton is that you have to cross the Bay of Biscay. In a cruise ship this can be an ugly experience - even in a liner it can be bad!

 

It also takes a lot of time. I prefer sea days to port days, but I'm probably not in the majority - after all, my real preference is transatlantics, which have no port days at all!

 

You've been given some good ideas about how to decide. It's a question of priorities. But of course, as has been said, in two weeks you can barely scratch the surface of the riches in Europe.

 

Matthew

[rebeccalouise]

I concur with doing Celebrity. We did the 12 night cruise Barcelona- Venice and it was fantastic.

 

One thing is don't do an excursion every day. I only did two on my 12 night. The rest of the time I just explored the towns on my own.

[Schmuppie's Mom]

Since the original poster asked about NCL, I want to share my experience. I have recently sailed the NCL Gem (7 nights out of Barcelona, 10/21) which was extremely port intensive. I have also sailed other cruise lines (mostly Carnival) in the Caribbean.

 

When we sailed on Carnival (which was port intensive), we found ourselves rushing back from the ports to make the 5:30 seating (we were traveling with children) and truthfully, that stunk. We hated that!

 

On the NCL Gem, we got back at 8:00 on some nights, and we could go to the Main Dining Room whenever we wanted, the buffet (which was very good for a ship's buffet) or the specialty restaurants. Usually, we booked reservations at the specialty restaurants in advance, and not all of them have an upcharge (La Cucina was especially good... we ate there twice). One night, we ate at a specialty restaurant (Cagney's), then saw that they were serving pumpkin soup (my favorite) down in the Main dining room, and went down there afterwards just to have the soup... it was wonderful!

 

My point is that freestyle cruising might be better suited for port intensive itineraries. It truly does give you the freedom to do what you want, and you don't have to worry about missing your dinner if you want to stay in a port longer. Given that you don't get all THAT much time in the ports, I was glad I didn't have to rush back for dinner.

 

I have no idea if RCCL offers something similar, and I know they have wonderful ships, but I wouldn't hesitate to do NCL.

[want2cruiseagain]

We cruised NCL last summer for 7 days and really wished we had more time to enjoy the ship. We had excursions everyday and some were all day. By the time we got back, we were pooped and just wanted to chill in the cabin or at the Great Outdoors in the back of the ship. We didn't really get to eat at all the restaurants we wanted to, but then that's another reason to go again, right?

 

We thought the food in the specialy restaurants were wonderful. No complaints. Buffet was OK. Kinda typical if you know what I mean.

 

After we got back to BCN, we flew back to Rome to visit with friends, so we were gone a total of two weeks. We visited places we wanted to see on the cruise, then our friends took us to some places around the area where they lived. It was wonderful!

[NAS-KARR]

We sailed NCL once and will NEVER EVER EVER AGAIN for several reasons. Enough said.

 

 

Happy Sailing e CIAO,

[Schmuppie's Mom]

We sailed NCL once and will NEVER EVER EVER AGAIN for several reasons. Enough said.

 

Do you have a thread already established you can send the OP to, so she can see your reasons? Otherwise, I assume she should just trust your word for the heck of it.

 

I don't know this poster's reasons for hating NCL, but I think every cruise line has a ship or aspect that won't please people. We went on the Carnival Fascination on Dec. 2004 and absolutely hated it... swore I'd never sail on Carnival again. Then, my inlaws decided to take the whole family on a Carnival cruise this summer... DH and I were extremely leery, but decided to make the best of it and went in with very low expectations, and it turns out we had a great time.

 

So whatever went wrong on Pride of Hawaii for this poster is not necessarily going to be a problem on the NCL Gem. We had a wonderful time, and wouldn't hesitate to go on NCL again.

[threeofus]

Many people feel that when you are sailing the caribbean the ship is as much the destination as the ports so the cruiseline and ship are very important.

 

Sailing the Med. is totally different. IMHO this is where freestyle really comes in handy. That's how we felt when we sailed NCL in Hawaii. Lots of touring, lots of activities and the last thing you want to do is rush back for a specific seating. Or sit around waiting for the late seating when you have to get up early for another long day of sightseeing.

 

Having said that we are sailing RCL in June because of the itinerery - but I would much prefer freestyle or personal choice dining.

 

The service on NCL was not as good as RCL - but that freestyle really shines. It's like being at a resort with lots of restaurants.

[gf42]

Definately NCL. We did the NCL Jewel , two summers ago and it was fabulous. The service and food was terrific. It is great on this itinerary, to have the "Freestyle dining " Certain days depending upon your daytime plans, you will appreciate the flexibility in your dinner time and having all the different restaurants are great. It was also nice not to have to dress formally if you didn't want to.

[nocjck]

We have done two cruises on both lines. I enjoyed all of them. But I think if you compare the prices, NCL does have better value. Pride of Hawaii has an excellent itinary for Hawaii. No cruise line can beat its price. Their food and service are very good. Dine any time you want is a great plus. I am not really eager to chat with the same group of people as oppose to meeting new people every nite. Our recent cruise to Europe with Norweigian Jewel exceeded all our expectations.