Norwegian VS. Princess

[cmalibu1]

Hi,

I suddenly stumbled upon possibly taking a norwegian cruise. I was almost ready to book one on princess for our honeymoon, but now I am not so sure.

 

We are 23/33 and want to have a fun and romantic time. Always stay busy with a fun nightlife, but it could also be classy and have good down time for the two of us. We were possibly going to be on the Jewel.

 

Can anyone compare these two lines? Food, activites, nightlife, pools..ect?!

We would be traveling under the freestyle 2.0.

 

I would just like to know a little more about this line. I had never considered cruising with NCL, as we have only done carnival in the past.

 

Thanks for your help!

Chelsea

[cmalibu1]

*I tried to search this topic, but it didnt work.

[BeachBumMama]

I've always felt the only differences in the mass market lines is mainly the dining style. NCL Freestyle offers many restaurants to choose from, some with a surcharge and some that just require reservations because they are smaller venues. Princess does have alternative dining but I believe its one main dining room designated for that so its a little different.

 

You don't say what ship you are considering or when you would be sailing. If you scour the boards, you'll find all kinds of info on the particular ship you're looking at. Take reviews with a grain of salt and go and form your own opinions.:) Have fun whatever you decide.

[flacity49]

Not sure how they match up, as we are going on our 1st NCL in June. We have went on 2 Princess Cruises and loved the Caribbean Princess, but hated Coral Princess to Panama Canal. The Caribbean Princess had lots to do. Something going on all the time. The Coral Princess is mostly older people and it shuts down after 5 o'clock. The only thing to do casino and the shows. Everyone just went to bed at 9'oclock. Where do you want to go?

[cmalibu1]

I was looking at 'Norwegian Jewel'. The ports of call would be

Samana

Tortola

Antigua

Barbados

St.Lucia

I have never been to any of these places~

The other one would be a 12nt cruise on the Jewel with 6 days at sea, which make me wonder how much is there to do on this ship? I know some ships have mini golf, Princess has Movies Under the Stars, ect.. I just want to make sure that we will be entertained, and enjoy all of our time on our honeymoon...

 

Thanks for your help!

[garycarla]

Most people do very well with time at sea. We have done a transatlantic and loved it. Some want to get off and tour themselves to death in each port. We sometimes do not take any tours. Everyone has a different take on it.

 

The mass market lines are somewhat similar. They all have positive reviews and negative reviews. We tend to go with NCL because of the freedom in when we want to eat. Some like that, others like the early or late seating arrangement.

 

Here is a list of FAQs for NCL Cruisers. Click here.

[elron]

What ship are you considering on Princess and what will be the length of all your choices? What time of year?

 

We were on Star Princess to New England and we had the same experience as Flacity49. Almost everyone slept through most of the cruise. Daytime/nighttime!

 

Longer cruises can tend to have less younger people!

 

Time of year can affect the crowd on your cruise also!

[cmalibu1]

:rolleyes:

Not sure how they match up, as we are going on our 1st NCL in June. We have went on 2 Princess Cruises and loved the Caribbean Princess, but hated Coral Princess to Panama Canal. The Caribbean Princess had lots to do. Something going on all the time. The Coral Princess is mostly older people and it shuts down after 5 o'clock. The only thing to do casino and the shows. Everyone just went to bed at 9'oclock. Where do you want to go?

 

Our Princess cruise would be a similar itinerary. We were considering the panama, but heard the same thing you mentioned. So if we did that we would go with Royal Caribbean.

The Princess ship we were looking at was Emerald, with various/similar stops in the southern caribbean.

What you mentioned about 'the ship shutting down after 5' is really my biggest concern with Princess, but I have heard that if you go to the caribbean the crowd is different!?

 

Thats where my main curiousity lies with NCL as well. The crowd and nightlife but also the ship. I was reading some of the reviews and people either loved it or hated it...hard to interpret.

 

Thanks for all your help!

Chelsea

[flacity49]

Tortola is wonderful. We flew there and was sitting on the balcony of the hotel and watching all the cruise ships. We had never taken a cruise before and decided then that it was time. I think the Caribbean is a lot of fun. On the Coral Princess, our stewart told us that there is always a lot of older passengers and the longer cruises.

[flacity49]

Congratulations on graduation!!!:)

[newmexicoNita]

We did the NCL Star and the Golden Princess just a few months apart. Both were built in 2001, similar in size and itinerary. With the expection of the food in the main dining rooms we much prefer NCL. We thought our service was better, there were more dining choices and the demographics were more to our liking on NCL. Princess had a slightly older crowd. The bathrooms were better on NCL and the entertainment as well, but here there wasn't much difference.

 

Basically it is the dining that separates most mass marketed lines. We prefer "freestyle" to "personal choice".

 

We did think the Princess ship was very pretty. Another slight difference which is in Princess' favor: drinks are a little cheper but you can not really buy a bar set up with Princess.

 

If the itinerary is the same and I had the choice, depending on price of course, I think I would take NCL.

 

Nita

[NYJean]

hi all

 

I am also thinking about the Princess/ncl problem.. currently we are booked on Caribbean Princess for Canada/NE on 8/31 when I found out that the NCL DAwn has the exact same itinerary I started doing some research and found that we can get a mini-suite for 200 more than our BA cabin (with extended balcony) on Caribbean. The parking in Manhattan vs Brooklyn would add probably another 100.. Is it a good idea to switch?? What are the differences between these ships?? I have been on NCL spirit to bahamas and wasn't crazy about it mostly due to the other passengers being a little wild for our tastes and went on the Crown Princess to Caribbean last year and really enjoyed it, but these are different ships! Looking for advice thanks!

[NYJean]

hi all

 

I am also thinking about the Princess/ncl problem.. currently we are booked on Caribbean Princess for Canada/NE on 8/31 when I found out that the NCL DAwn has the exact same itinerary I started doing some research and found that we can get a mini-suite for 200 more than our BA cabin (with extended balcony) on Caribbean. The parking in Manhattan vs Brooklyn would add probably another 100.. Is it a good idea to switch?? What are the differences between these ships?? I have been on NCL spirit to bahamas and wasn't crazy about it mostly due to the other passengers being a little wild for our tastes and went on the Crown Princess to Caribbean last year and really enjoyed it, but these are different ships! Looking for advice thanks!

[cmalibu1]

Congratulations on graduation!!!:)

 

Thank you! I am pretty excited!

[elron]

hi all

 

I am also thinking about the Princess/ncl problem.. currently we are booked on Caribbean Princess for Canada/NE on 8/31 I have been on NCL spirit to bahamas and wasn't crazy about it mostly due to the other passengers being a little wild for our tastes and went on the Crown Princess to Caribbean last year and really enjoyed it, Looking for advice thanks!

 

You should have a more reserved time going to N.E. at that time of year!

[sunsurf]

Hi,

I suddenly stumbled upon possibly taking a norwegian cruise. I was almost ready to book one on princess for our honeymoon, but now I am not so sure.

 

We are 23/33 and want to have a fun and romantic time. Always stay busy with a fun nightlife, but it could also be classy and have good down time for the two of us. We were possibly going to be on the Jewel.

 

Can anyone compare these two lines? Food, activites, nightlife, pools..ect?!

We would be traveling under the freestyle 2.0.

 

I would just like to know a little more about this line. I had never considered cruising with NCL, as we have only done carnival in the past.

 

Thanks for your help!

Chelsea

 

I'm in the same boat! :eek: We were ready to book our honeymoon tomorrow on the Emerald for next Feb, but came across NCL and really took a liking to the intineray. We've sailed the Caribbean Princess last April and most recently the Crown in December. We loved the Crown and its itinerary and are looking for something similar ( tortola, Barbados, Antigua) but don't want to sail the same ship twice. We would also like to try and experience a different line, but I'm not sure a honeymoon would be the best time to do it. I'll be calling my TA in the morning for her suggestions/ opinions.