NCL Star Or CCL to Mexico 7 Day? (First Timer)

[Sexxxy Beast]

I am planning my first cruise, its for a family of 4, none of us are under 18 and thought the NCL 7 Nighter to the mexican riviera in January was too good of a deal to pass up. I read some of the people comments that they prefer NCL to Carnival, but in the member reviews section, they give carnival a 5 and give the NCL a 4.

 

What people seem to complain about most is the food. Like having to pay extra for soda, and that the "free" drinks like juice and tea are watered down to make it horrible to drink. (I prefer juice and tea to soda anyway).

 

Another point was that the staff was rude, and service sucked.

 

BUT some poeple who wrote reviews (some on the exact same cruise as bad reviews) give them a 4-5+ So I wonder, what do people think about these ships.

 

We are planning on going Jan 17th and are spending $1500 for 4 people (inner stateroom).

[melika091900]

go for carnival, the pride is a great ship!!

you can see my pics in my webshots link under mexico cruise 2/24/08

email me anytime with any questions !!!

 

 

melissa

[andynapril]

We haven't sailed NCL yet, but are partial to Carnival. We love them. That said since you are a first timer you will be happy with either one. Some of the comments folks make stating "rude staff" etc are folks that are comparing one cruise to another. Go for whichever one saves you some money. Cruising is a awesome way to travel, and in the future you will be able to compare one to the other! Happy sailing! :D

[pppiglet]

I have to agree, Carnival Pride was a great cruise. I've never been on NCL, but it just hasn't appealed to me to try it.

[ehogan]

We were on the Pride last January and were absolutely wowed by the food - the best we have had on any ship and we have sailed on a lot of them.

 

Maybe we hit it lucky but it was great.

 

We have also been on the NCL Star and it was also pretty good, but we do not like anytime dining.

[AZ Karaoke Girl]

You probably will like either one. I haven't sailed on the Star but I did sail NCL in Hawaii and most people complained about horrible service. It was next to impossible to eat at a restaurant at a decent hour. I could only make reservations for the following night and I would go the pursers desk first thing in the morning to make dinner reservations for the next night and the earliest they had was 9pm. Way too late for me to eat and I'm usually in karaoke by then. We ate at the buffet every night and the food in the buffet was pretty good. Comparing with my Carnival Spirit cruise to the Mexican Riviera I gotta say I prefered eating in the dining room at a set time. I also loved the food in the dining room. The buffet food not so good IMO. Service of the staff and room stewards on CCL far better than NCL. Ships are nice whichever you choose. I also had the dilemma of deciding to sail this Feb on CCL Pride or NCL Star and I decided on CCL. The main reason was the cabin size and set up for the quad cabin. All 4 of us are in one cabin & beleive me the extra space is needed. I saw a picture of a quad set up on NCL and it was wall to wall beds and nowhere to move around. With CCL, there is room to walk all around the beds without climbing over people.