Carnival versus Norwegian

[dweill]

i saw that Norwegian is running a kids sail free sail through september. anyone have any thoughts on this sale versus paying for kids on Carnival? aren't these two cruise lines fairly similar?

[firefly333]

apples and oranges are both fruit but taste different and some like both and some dont.

 

NCL hires Americans and other cruiselines dont. Iv personally heard lots of complaints on NCL enough that I backed off booking them. I was looking at the Dream out of Galveston at the time and even the TA warned me against the ship. Its a stretched ship with bad flow.

 

However, if the price is right, Id do the anytime dining and go. A cruise will be fun, no matter what. How does the overall price you are looking at compare? Im assuming you have a couple of children under 17? that you want in the same cabin.

[S.S.Oceanlover]

apples and oranges are both fruit but taste different and some like both and some dont.

 

NCL hires Americans and other cruiselines dont. Iv personally heard lots of complaints on NCL enough that I backed off booking them. I was looking at the Dream out of Galveston at the time and even the TA warned me against the ship. Its a stretched ship with bad flow.

 

However, if the price is right, Id do the anytime dining and go. A cruise will be fun, no matter what. How does the overall price you are looking at compare? Im assuming you have a couple of children under 17? that you want in the same cabin.

 

Do they hire Americans on all their ships or just the one in Hawaii where it's the law that they have to hire them?

 

Bill

[glrounds]

Do they hire Americans on all their ships or just the one in Hawaii where it's the law that they have to hire them?

 

Bill

 

Its my understanding ONLY the Hawaii cruises to get around the Jones Act. Would make no sense to hire Americans on all their ships and itineraries.

[Cruzman]

Do they hire Americans on all their ships or just the one in Hawaii where it's the law that they have to hire them?

 

Bill

 

Only on their Hawaii based ship. To the OP; lots of differences between NCL and CCL. Once was enough for me when it comes to NCL.

[glrounds]

double post, sorry.

[bakechef]

Just the one remaining Hawaii ship still has an American crew. The rest of their ships are flagged international so it is very similar to what you will see on most other cruise lines.

 

The biggest difference you will see is Freestyle cruising, a different dining experience. There are regular dining rooms, where you can show up anytime during dining hours (peak times may require a wait) and many specialty restaurants some with surcharges and some without.

 

Freestyle goes beyond dining, where you can stay in your cabin until your color is called on the last day for debarkation. They are also introducing Freestyle 2.0 which includes bedding upgrades, "lobster galore", new parties, and some other things.

 

NCL is trying to set themselves apart with Freestyle, many love it, those who love the traditional dining experience are less satisfied.

 

If you get a great deal, go for it, all of their ships (except the Majesty and Dream, which are leaving the fleet soon) are very new, the youngest in the industry, are really nice.

 

hope this helps

 

MAC

[Lovely_Star]

Wow this is the first time that I've heard this as I am still fairly new to the boards . . . why can't or don't cruiselines hire Americans?

[S.S.Oceanlover]

Its my understanding ONLY the Hawaii cruises to get around the Jones Act. Would make no sense to hire Americans on all their ships and itineraries.

 

Thank you. That was the understanding I had too. From reading Fireflys post I got the impression I might be wrong.

 

Just wanted to make sure I had things straight.:)

 

Wow this is the first time that I've heard this as I am still fairly new to the boards . . . why can't or don't cruiselines hire Americans?

 

They can hire Americans but how many Americans do you know that will work 14-16 hours a day, 7 days a week for 6-8 months at a time for $50 a month, room and board, plus tips?

 

Even the ones hired in Hawaii get paid minimum wage and walked off the ships on a regular basis.

 

Bill

[Tapi]

Wow this is the first time that I've heard this as I am still fairly new to the boards . . . why can't or don't cruiselines hire Americans?

 

If a ship is registered in the US with American employees, then they need to abide by the US labor laws and wages. If the ship is registered in a foreign country (like most cruise ships are), then they can hire anybody they want and NOT abide by US labor laws and wages (they can pay them a lot less). For the cruise lines, it's a financially beneficial move not to register their ships in the US.

 

However, with that, also comes some restrictions, like the Jones Act that prevents foreign flagged ships to sail within US domestic ports without first stopping at an international destination (that's why the NCL ship in Hawaii had to be registered in the US so that they could sail within Hawaii). Unfortunately for NCL, this venture was not as profitable as other ships because they had to pay these crewmembers more, plus the ship couldn't have a casino (which is a major source of onboard revenue on other cruise ships)

[loveshack]

I also checked into this, funny thing - on all the sailings I tried to book with 4 people (2 adults and 2 kiddo's) - it would say balcony not available. I figured at first because of the sale, everybody with kids booked up the balcony's, then I went back and just entered 2 adults and it would give me a balcony option.......but, with 4 people you could get an oceanview room, inside room or a suite. Do NCL's balcony cabins not handle 4 people?? Even with an oceanview room for all 4 of us, the Fantasy was the same price as NCL's special for all of us for that sailing date. Actually, fantasy was a few dollars cheaper. :rolleyes:

[vipvinny]

We have sailed twice with NCL. Carnival is better in every way.

[flowerchild]

I liked Freestyle. I think a lot of people do not really understand it fully and only go by what they heard on these boards. The point of Freestyle is to give as many options to the pax as possible. Here are some common misconceptions...

 

1) You can make reservations for the same table, same time, same waiter every nite at the same main dining room, if that is what you like. You can also just walk in when you are hungry, and unless you go at peak times, I've never waited more than 5 minutes.

 

2) Not all the signature restaurants charge a fee. There was an Italian trattoria and a Tex Mex restaurant on the NCL Star and you only had to make reservations. They were awesome! I swear, we ordered every single appetizer on the menu at the Italian place, between 2 couples! We also loved the 24 hour diner, Ble Lagoon, for any time snacks. Fish and Chips, chinese food, mac and cheese, wings, good stuff...We had some really awesome food in the main dining room. Most of the stuff which was just "meh" was from the buffet, which I avoid like the plague, anyways...too many germies...

 

3) Reservations can be made the day before and the day of the day you are trying to reserve. We never had a problem getting reservations. We called the maitre d's the day before we wanted to reserve and although we may not have gotten the exact time we wanted in each case, we were always able to get a table. I found that the restaurants booked up more by the end of the cruise and there were less times available.

 

4) I cannot comment on the disembarkation...we usually stay another day after a cruise (to help adjust to the post-cruise blues) and wait in our cabin, order room service and just hang out until final call. We usually just walk right off, find our luggage right away and avoid that crazy rush. That crazy depressing rush and the muster drill are my least liked parts of a cruise...

 

I think most cruise lines offer the same product but with some minor differences. RCCL has the fancy ships, NCL has Freestyle and Carnival is the "Fun Ship", etc. You may find that you are not as particular about which line you cruise on, like me.

 

In my case, my priorities are itinerary, age of ship and price. If you can get a good price on an itinerary that you like and the ship is something you can live with, I say go for it. Try another line. I've never seen differences so great between the lines I've sailed that would cause my vacation to be ruined. The worst that can happen is that you had a great cruise but will go back to Carnival in the long run.

 

BTW, my next cruise is on Carnival because they offered the best price and an itinerary we were happy with. Carnival before that (Conquest 2003) RCCL before that (Majesty OTS 2003) and NCL before that (Sun, 2002) and a few cruises in the 80's.

[firefly333]

apples and oranges are both fruit but taste different and some like both and some dont.

 

Iv personally heard lots of complaints on NCL enough that I backed off booking them.

 

I've sailed RCCL, Carnival and NCL. I liked Freestyle. I think a lot of people do not really understand it fully and only go by what they heard on these boards.

 

You are quoting me and then saying you believe the problem is folks dont understand how freestyle works. I did anytime dining on Princess twice. The first time I was with a group and paired off with a roomie who wanted it, no choice. Second time no choice again, thats all that was open.

 

I think I do understand how it works, just dont care for it. I want to have the same tablemates every night to have a ongoing conversation of how their day went. I like traditional. I do understand when I said in what you quoted I prefer traditional.

 

I asked the OP which ships they were considering and what the prices were so we could do a better comparison.

[KatSt]

Whenever my DH and I chat with people on our cruises we always like to find out what other cruises and cruise lines they've been on.

 

So far every person we chatted with hasn't had anything good to say about NCL.:( The complaints are mostly about the service. We are hesitant to pay good money for a cruise when we meet so many dissatisfied customers.

[floridacruiser63]

apples and oranges are both fruit but taste different and some like both and some dont.

 

NCL hires Americans and other cruiselines dont. Iv personally heard lots of complaints on NCL enough that I backed off booking them. I was looking at the Dream out of Galveston at the time and even the TA warned me against the ship. Its a stretched ship with bad flow.

 

However, if the price is right, Id do the anytime dining and go. A cruise will be fun, no matter what. How does the overall price you are looking at compare? Im assuming you have a couple of children under 17? that you want in the same cabin.

 

I sail with both Carnival as well as NCL and they are both great.

NCL has an American Crew on the Hawaiian ships only. (American Flagged ships, which they now only have one). All other ships have international crews. Very friendly, very helpful. Carnival also has excellent crew members.;)

[floridacruiser63]

Do they hire Americans on all their ships or just the one in Hawaii where it's the law that they have to hire them?

 

Bill

 

As far as I know, and I have sailed with them twice on International flagged ships, they do not hire americans for these cruises. Only for the American flagged ships out of Hawaii (only one left as of right now, as the Pride of Aloha is on its way to its new HomePort of Miami to undergo renovations before it starts sailing in July, out of Miami as the Norwegian Sky).

[floridacruiser63]

I also checked into this, funny thing - on all the sailings I tried to book with 4 people (2 adults and 2 kiddo's) - it would say balcony not available. I figured at first because of the sale, everybody with kids booked up the balcony's, then I went back and just entered 2 adults and it would give me a balcony option.......but, with 4 people you could get an oceanview room, inside room or a suite. Do NCL's balcony cabins not handle 4 people?? Even with an oceanview room for all 4 of us, the Fantasy was the same price as NCL's special for all of us for that sailing date. Actually, fantasy was a few dollars cheaper. :rolleyes:

 

Some balconies on NCL fit 4 people, others three and others only two. We are booked on the Norwegian Jewel for the Southern Caribbean in a category BA (Top balcony available) and it does fit four people. The reason we did not book Carnival this time around, even if we like Carnival and are Platinum members, is because we wanted the Southern Caribbean Route this time and it was only available out of San Juan Puerto Rico, making it a lot more expensive because we (4 people) had to fly to San Juan. Norwegian leaves on a 9 day Southern Caribbean out of the Port of Miami.

[Kellismom]

I have sailed both CCL and NCL and I love them both. The both have good things about them. I would sail either again in a heartbeat.

[bakechef]

Whenever my DH and I chat with people on our cruises we always like to find out what other cruises and cruise lines they've been on.

 

So far every person we chatted with hasn't had anything good to say about NCL.:( The complaints are mostly about the service. We are hesitant to pay good money for a cruise when we meet so many dissatisfied customers.

 

I am sure that there are instances where the service is bad on NCL, or any cruise line (my last RCI we had a horrible waiter). I think with the freestyle concept, people are not getting the attention that they expect from traditional lines, having a different wait staff, every night, no rapport is built and the waitstaff can seem distant. My only cruise on NCL was on the oldest smallest ship, the Majesty, the staff was outstanding, we found a wait team that we loved and requested them most nights, without a problem.

 

MAC

[nurseapple]

I'm interested in seeing the difference for myself. We've sailed NCL twice-once to Alaska (NCL Star) and once to the Western Caribbean (NCL Sea-our first cruise). We loved it both times!!! I even hesitated to book Carnival this time around. We'll be sailing the Destiny in June and will see for ourselves.

:)

[halos]

The kids sail free promotion is only good for certain sailings on the NCL Sky which was just brought back into the fleet. Kids up to age 17 can sail free on these sailings.

 

I only sailed NCL once. I still prefer traditional dining...BUT I loved my NCL cruise enough to book another.

Other than dining there is not much difference between CCL and NCL. Both lines are full of activity and I have had a ton of fun on both...actually to be honest, I probably had more fun on NCL. The Social hosts on that cruise (NCL Spirit last November) were more fun than any crew I've had the pleasure to sail with.

[mafig]

I've been on both Carnival and NCL and like them both.

 

I did book Sky for this July for a short (4 day) getaway.

 

There are not many cruiselines doing these short cruises that have balconies--Norwegian Sky does. She is also getting a 5-week wetdock before doing these cruises, so she should be in good shape.

 

We are looking forward to this cruise (we do look forward to all our cruises, whatever line we sail).:)

[floatingaway2525]

I'm interested in seeing the difference for myself. We've sailed NCL twice-once to Alaska (NCL Star) and once to the Western Caribbean (NCL Sea-our first cruise). We loved it both times!!! I even hesitated to book Carnival this time around. We'll be sailing the Destiny in June and will see for ourselves.

:)

 

Have a great cruise, and please come back and tell us what you think!! :)

[DEcruiser1]

For me, Carnival is just more fun. I sailed Pride of Hawaii (now the "Noweigean Jade") The american crew was great. Had a great Hawaiian cruise. But somehow the "fun" just seemed a little, well, contrived. I can't explain why it felt different. The freestyle concept is great, yet I don't feel that it was enough to choose NCL over Carnival. I always have a great time on Carnival. Whatever you choose, enjoy!