Is NCL for us??

[Cool seas]

We have sailed Ocean Village 1 & 2 and just returned from Grand Princess. Looking at Jade for the Med next year. We enjoy the relaxed approach to cruising and want to know if anybody has sailed Ocean Village, Princess and NCL and what the main differences are.

 

Thanks:)

[newmexicoNita]

We have not dine the Ocean Village, but have cruised both NCL and Princess.

 

First, I will say what many do everyday, mass marketed lines are more alike than different today.

 

We prefer the way NCL handles flex dining to the way it was handled on Princess last winter. Other than that there isn't a whole lot of difference. Food was a toss up, Princess had better seafood choices but not as much variety in salads and soups. Of course NCL had so many dining options and we thought breakfast on NCL was far superior to Princess. We may have hit 2 bad days, but the dining room breakfast on Princess were pretty bad including the service....

 

The cabins were similar.

 

The entertainment also very much alike with Princess having more choices but NCL having better seating.

 

Casino wise, Princess wins here. Embarkation and debarkation were great on both ships, but I do like being able to stay in my cabin until our color tags are called, Princess does not offer this.

 

I think, if we want to be honest, it is mostly what we have become accustom to that determines our choices. For us, itinerary and price are number one followed closely by why we are cruising. Things being equal we will go with NCL every time. Right now we are scheduled to cruise on the Spirit after Thanksgiving. If itinerary was a consideration we would have chosen another cruise as we have done the gulf so many times I have lost count, but we decided on this cruise because it sails out of NOLA and we will be in Dallas for Thanksgiving, added to that, we have many friends that will be on this ship. I know we will have an awesome time.

 

Nita

[LindaKE]

I can only compare NCL to Princess also. We found them to be very similar. I would give a slight edge to Princess, but not enough to make me choose Princess if NCL has an itinerary that I like at a better price. The only reason I could come up with to explain why I still prefer Princess is that Princess seemed more "refined" and NCL more "fun" oriented. Everything else was virtually identical. We only went to one speciality restaurant on each cruise, so NCL having many choices in that area isn't a factor for us.

[newmexicoNita]

I can only compare NCL to Princess also. We found them to be very similar. I would give a slight edge to Princess, but not enough to make me choose Princess if NCL has an itinerary that I like at a better price. The only reason I could come up with to explain why I still prefer Princess is that Princess seemed more "refined" and NCL more "fun" oriented. Everything else was virtually identical. We only went to one speciality restaurant on each cruise, so NCL having many choices in that area isn't a factor for us.

 

I would agree with you. Princess is a little more refined, NCL more energy, but one thing we did like about Princess, lots of trivia games. btw: we never won, but one night we were at a table with cocky guy who had won that morning. He did preceed to tell us how really good he was: never saw him win again. LOL

 

Nita