NCL or Princess for the Mexican Riviera???

[Sexxxy Beast]

I have been doing alot of research into this and find that there isnt really much of a price difference.

 

NCL STAR = $1272

Princess SAPPHIRE=$1648

 

BUT if you consider the manditory $12 per person, per night gratuity that adds 336 for our party of 4 to the price, so NCL really is $1608. Though I havent counted the gratuity on the princess since it isnt manditory I dont imagine paying more then $10-$20 per day for all of us, so the question is is the value you get. To compare the two cruises i first look at port time...

Star

3Cabo San Lucas, Mexico11:00 a.m.6:00 p.m.4Mazatlan, Mexico8:00 a.m.5:00 p.m.5Puerto Vallarta, Mexico8:00 a.m.10:00 p.m.

 

Sapphire:

4Puerto Vallarta, Mexico10:00 a.m.8:00 p.m.5Mazatlan, Mexico7:00 a.m.5:00 p.m.6Cabo San Lucas, Mexico7:00 a.m.2:00 p.m.

 

It seems NCL wins in this respect.

 

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Service

Star **** stars (u'd think because of the name it could do better!)

Sapphire ***** Stars

 

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Room size (were going with the basic interior room)

NCL - 142Sqft

Princess - 168Sqft

 

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Ammenities

Seems that Star has a couple of slides to the pool, that was a plus.

 

but they both seem to be the same.

 

Is it worth it to pay extra for the princess?

[melika091900]

NCL star is a fun ship if you like freestyle dining,

for us it was a pain in the you know what, only because every time we wanted to eat, we had to wait, or everything was booked, we prefer the traditional,

 

as far as tipping thats all up to you if you want to do it like that or not, we usually have them remove it off our account and tip in cash,

for all cruiselines,

 

we went on princess to alaska, different ship, but the service was a little better than NCL, just my opinion though,,

 

have you considered carnival? we went on the pride,that was our favorite ship, great service, good food, great ship !! our daughter loved it .

[Sexxxy Beast]

I definatly considered pride, it has a 5 star review too, but its even more expensive then the holland america ship (its running at $500+ per person, compared to $299). If i can remove the auto gratuity from my account and tip in cash, i definatly would save some cash considering we are a party of 4. That would definatly swing the vote over to NCL for me. Paying $48 per day just in tips is horrible.

 

How much would you say you tip in cash per day on your cruises?

[daisee]

I've done all the ships-the Princess wins hands down. NCL food is only good if you pay for the alternate dining restaraunts, so add $10-$20 per person per day for that.

 

both have good entertainment, but I think Princess does a great job, and a really nice ship.

[Sexxxy Beast]

I've done all the ships-the Princess wins hands down. NCL food is only good if you pay for the alternate dining restaraunts, so add $10-$20 per person per day for that.

 

both have good entertainment, but I think Princess does a great job, and a really nice ship.

 

I agree with you that the Princess would be a better cruise ship then the Star, BUT is the food worth paying that much extra for???

 

I hear that the food on the star is like that of denny's, I like Denny's i think its decent food. I just worry that they will serve me worst quality food then this, i dont want it to be unedible (like jack in the box food is). And as i plan on spending all the time i can off ship, so i'll be eating off ship whenever possible.

 

Our party is a bunch of thrifty spenders, we are deciding on the cheapest rooms on both ships (if your going to spend most your time out of the room why bother?), and choose the mexican riviera over the carribean though i really want to go there! (about $100 less per person then flying to florida for a 5 day carribbean). One of the nicer restarants we frequent is chillis to put things into perspective.

 

So tell me how bad the Stars food is???

[Wavesprite]

Are you saying that you can ask them to remove the service charge from your account on the Star and actually tiip the people who help you directly????

[CaboWabo62]

.Princess gets my vote, Mexican Riviera twice on Princess, great service is food was very good . My only NCL cruise was on an older smaller ship "Pride of Aloha" Service was excellent food was OK :cool: trip was Hawaii Island 10 days ;) more about destination. I prefer the newer larger ships much nicer and more to do. We will be going back to :D Mexico for spring break on Royal Caribbean better deal this year than Princess 2 years ago.

[Sexxxy Beast]

Are you saying that you can ask them to remove the service charge from your account on the Star and actually tiip the people who help you directly????

 

THATS WHAT I WANNA KNOW! How you do it, how much to tip the staff, do they treat you differently or even know your not doing the manditory thing.... this is a very important part of my plan!

[quincytoo]

THATS WHAT I WANNA KNOW! How you do it, how much to tip the staff, do they treat you differently or even know your not doing the manditory thing.... this is a very important part of my plan!

Yes you can take auto tips off and tip directly BUT the staff is then required to hand back any of those tips into the auto tip pool and they are dispersed out as usual, by removing the auto tip and tipping to each individual staff member does not mean they get to keep of all of that tip:(

 

We auto tip $10.50 a day PP on each cruise then tip over and beyond for the staff members who go out of their way to ensure we have a lovely cruise. These people work so hard and make so little money.

 

LOL also they DO know who removes the auto-tips and I would hate for my room stewart or dining staff to be in close connact with my tooth brush or food knowing I wasn't tipping LOL

 

If I could not afford the auto-tip PP a day I wouldn't cruise. But really $10.50 a day isn't that much we three were just in New York City for a few days and between doormen, bellmen, maid service and all three meals we easily tipped between $50-$100 a day.

 

We did NCL once and hated the food (except for the surcharge restaurants) since I never eat at a Denny's or Chillis I can not compare.

[martinsfo]

Folks, you might want to consider Crystal Symphony for this itinerary. Yes at $2100 per person it is more expensive. But, if you book with a travel consortium, all the gratuities are taken care of. Let's talk positives, smaller ship, around 800 passengers with a 550 person crew. That means great, and I mean really great, service. Food, there is no comparison, you are dealing with food that is much better than you get on land. Alternative restaurants anyone? There's Silk Road by Nobu, one of LA and NYC's hotest Japanesse restaurants. The Italian restaurant is by Valentino's, one of LA's best. Did I mention no back ups at the pool. In fact, whatever time you go there are always chairs available. Oh, and you don't have to pay for any non-alcholic beverage anywhere on the ship, including the fridge that is stocked with beverages in your room. Speaking of state rooms, all are outside and they start at 202 sq ft per room. We were in ports with both Saphire Princess and the NCL ship and we were amazed at the lines for the tenders and the security check points. We just waltzed right back onto our ship. It was more expensive, but presented much higher value.

[quincytoo]

Folks, you might want to consider Crystal Symphony for this itinerary. Yes at $2100 per person it is more expensive. But, if you book with a travel consortium, all the gratuities are taken care of. Let's talk positives, smaller ship, around 800 passengers with a 550 person crew. That means great, and I mean really great, service. Food, there is no comparison, you are dealing with food that is much better than you get on land. Alternative restaurants anyone? There's Silk Road by Nobu, one of LA and NYC's hotest Japanesse restaurants. The Italian restaurant is by Valentino's, one of LA's best. Did I mention no back ups at the pool. In fact, whatever time you go there are always chairs available. Oh, and you don't have to pay for any non-alcholic beverage anywhere on the ship, including the fridge that is stocked with beverages in your room. Speaking of state rooms, all are outside and they start at 202 sq ft per room. We were in ports with both Saphire Princess and the NCL ship and we were amazed at the lines for the tenders and the security check points. We just waltzed right back onto our ship. It was more expensive, but presented much higher value.

 

This is on our list of cruise ships to try :)

 

Actually that is cheaper then doing an All Inclusive, actually our bill at the end of a Princess cruise is usually around $1400 so Crystal is more expensive but not considerably.

[Sexxxy Beast]

Wow thats more then i planned on spending for all 4 of us... Let me ask you, if you had a choice between going on this ship once, or going on the cheap cruises 4 times, which would you choose?

 

My choice is definatly for 4 times, Im young, and i love to travel. i kinda think of the cruise ship as a cheap place to stay in Mexico, or wherever. I think that if i went on a cruise ship for just the cruise, id go for an expensive resort in the USA.

[MSN-Travelers]

Wow thats more then i planned on spending for all 4 of us... Let me ask you, if you had a choice between going on this ship once, or going on the cheap cruises 4 times, which would you choose?

 

My choice is definatly for 4 times, Im young, and i love to travel. i kinda think of the cruise ship as a cheap place to stay in Mexico, or wherever. I think that if i went on a cruise ship for just the cruise, id go for an expensive resort in the USA.

 

If this is your first cruise and you are trying to do it on a shoe string, I suggest you find and take the cheapest one possible. This will give you a baseline for comparison when booking future cruises.

 

NCL and Princess have the auto-tip feature because they have anytime/freestyle dining options and you will likely have a different dining room wait staff every day. Crew wages come primarily from tips and it would be very difficult to tip staff that make your cruise enjoyable if you only see them once. As others have pointed out, cash tips given to individual crew members (room steward & dining staff) are turned in to the big tip pool. If you have left auto-tip in place, they will be given that money back as an extra tip.

 

Food . . . Since Chilli's and Denny's are your typical dining out experience, any cruise line (at its worst) would serve a better meal. My opinion, everybody's opinion, of ship's food will differ based on what and where we eat in our everyday lives.

 

Carnival is entry level targeted at the young. Crystal is high end and their market is the cruiser trying to recapture the elegance, service and traditions of the Titanic era (and you pay for it). Everybody else is in between. We are big fans of Princess because they offer a product that we enjoy.

 

If you haven't done so, try looking at the things that you can/will do in the various ports and pick the ship/itinerary that best suppports what you want to do ashore.

 

So ... Know what is the maximum you can afford to spend on this vacation. Factor in the cost of on-ship beverages, off-ship excursions & meals and then you will know what you can afford for the basic cost of the cruise itself. This will actually determine which cruise line you can afford to book.

 

Take a cruise, any cruise, and enjoy!

[Eeyoregon]

THATS WHAT I WANNA KNOW! How you do it, how much to tip the staff, do they treat you differently or even know your not doing the manditory thing.... this is a very important part of my plan!

 

NO, NCL will NOT remove the auto-tipping...if it were optional they would call it optional-tipping. If you feel you have had bad service or something was really bad you can go to the desk each day and contest the $12 per person daily charge. The staff will then work to resolve the issue and if you are still not happy with the resolution they may adjust or remove all are part of that days charge.

 

Each day of your cruise your onboard account will be charged the automatic "tipping" charge.

[GeniRich]

NO, NCL will NOT remove the auto-tipping...if it were optional they would call it optional-tipping. If you feel you have had bad service or something was really bad you can go to the desk each day and contest the $12 per person daily charge. The staff will then work to resolve the issue and if you are still not happy with the resolution they may adjust or remove all are part of that days charge.

 

Each day of your cruise your onboard account will be charged the automatic "tipping" charge.

 

Just got off the Star. While checking on something at Reception on the last night a passenger walked up and stated "I do not want to pay the service charge. I only ate in pay restaurants and I tipped them". The staff member tried to explain but to no avail. She went in the back and I asked if the family ate in the buffet or Blue Lagoon. He said yes and I asked how he thought they would be paid. Got a blank stare so I let it go. The staff member returned handed him a form, he answered a few questions and all the services charges were removed.

People should think before they remove charges.

[GeniRich]

How much would you say you tip in cash per day on your cruises?

 

We tip in cash and unless the service is horrible we would never consider tipping less than the recommended amount.

[NEW 2 CRUISIN]

To answer the original question...

 

My vote is for NCL and the STAR!

 

Just sailed her for the first time in October and loved it.

The bonus (as you already pointed out above) is the longer time spent in each port! This will allow you to do more than one excursion if you want to in some of the ports!

 

The price cannot be beat, and for a first cruise, there's no better way to start your soon to be new addiction! :D

[dirtgirl]

Personally, I would go on Royal Caribbean's Mariner of the Seas first. Then I would pick Princess, Carnival, and last, NCL.

 

I don't know when you are planning on going, but the Mariner arrives Feb. 22nd. She has a rock climbing wall, ice skating, inline skating, and mini-golf, all free of charge. There is an inside Promenade as well, and an adult only solarium. The dining rooms are 3-tiered and gorgeous.

 

I have 2 Mariner cruises booked next year, and have gotten price drops on both of them.

[Eeyoregon]

Just got off the Star. While checking on something at Reception on the last night a passenger walked up and stated "I do not want to pay the service charge. I only ate in pay restaurants and I tipped them". The staff member tried to explain but to no avail. She went in the back and I asked if the family ate in the buffet or Blue Lagoon. He said yes and I asked how he thought they would be paid. Got a blank stare so I let it go. The staff member returned handed him a form, he answered a few questions and all the services charges were removed.

People should think before they remove charges.

 

And I suppose these same idiot's cleaned their own staterooms too so no need to tip the stateroom staff?? How sad. I am NOT a fan of auto tipping (simply because I like the personal touch of tipping directly to the staff that has taken care of me) but I can see why it's pretty much a necessity due to folks like the ones you encountered.

[melika091900]

NO, NCL will NOT remove the auto-tipping...if it were optional they would call it optional-tipping. If you feel you have had bad service or something was really bad you can go to the desk each day and contest the $12 per person daily charge. The staff will then work to resolve the issue and if you are still not happy with the resolution they may adjust or remove all are part of that days charge.

 

Each day of your cruise your onboard account will be charged the automatic "tipping" charge.

 

 

we went on NCL 2 times and had it removed, no problem, we had to do it 2 days before the cruise ended i believe

the only reason we did this is because we wanted to use cash instead of having it charged,

we also did it on carnival, princess and celebrity, no one ever questioned it at all, we just ask for envelopes and we put the cash in, id rather hand it to them with a little note inside,

[Family Man]

Personally, I would go on Royal Caribbean's Mariner of the Seas first. Then I would pick Princess,

What she said! :D

[nini]

We really enjoyed the Golden Princess; flexible dining and auto tip. MY DH loved that it was on our final tab and he did not need to fret over putting cash in small envelopes on the last night. It was easy and made sense when you consider the breakdown of what you would normally spend when going out to eat if you were home. I know with a party of 4, the auto tip adds up. (We are footing our bill for a family of four quite soon). But please consider what you would be tipping for a party of 4 for three meals out each day, someone to clean up after you each day, bring you room service, attend a show each evening, and more. I think when you do the mathematical breakdown, you will see what I mean. As far as I know, most cruise lines, when asked to eliminate their auto tip, then require the staff to turn all cash tips into a pool. Of course, you can keep the auto tip in place, and reward in cash those who extend to you over and above service. I was also tempted to remove the auto tip, but do not want to "punish" the behind the scenes staff who work so hard.

 

When you go out to a restaurant, do you not tip? It is a cost of the meal. I have been in the sevice industry and worked my way through school. The gratuities are the true earnings. IMO, if you are worried about the tipping aspect of the cruise, then maybe you can't reaaly afford it. Sorry.

[Sexxxy Beast]

We really enjoyed the Golden Princess; flexible dining and auto tip. MY DH loved that it was on our final tab and he did not need to fret over putting cash in small envelopes on the last night. It was easy and made sense when you consider the breakdown of what you would normally spend when going out to eat if you were home. I know with a party of 4, the auto tip adds up. (We are footing our bill for a family of four quite soon). But please consider what you would be tipping for a party of 4 for three meals out each day, someone to clean up after you each day, bring you room service, attend a show each evening, and more. I think when you do the mathematical breakdown, you will see what I mean. As far as I know, most cruise lines, when asked to eliminate their auto tip, then require the staff to turn all cash tips into a pool. Of course, you can keep the auto tip in place, and reward in cash those who extend to you over and above service. I was also tempted to remove the auto tip, but do not want to "punish" the behind the scenes staff who work so hard.

 

When you go out to a restaurant, do you not tip? It is a cost of the meal. I have been in the sevice industry and worked my way through school. The gratuities are the true earnings. IMO, if you are worried about the tipping aspect of the cruise, then maybe you can't reaaly afford it. Sorry.

 

I definatly wouldnt say were messy people, I am in the service industry too and appreciate when a customer helps me get my job done. The only thing my room steward would have to do is make the beds, we dont make a mess at the dining table, we stack our own plates for the watress to take away, etc. But thats not the reason why i think we shouldnt pay $12 per day per person, I think atleast the tips of $12 per day should be emposed on the first 2 passengers, and the last 2 should have a reduced amount.

 

Anyway, we were looking into someones suggestion on here about a site where TA's compete for your business, (the name was deleted), so i wont say it here, but i did a bit of digging. Purchased through them, im ON DECK 9, 4 people for only $1250 TOTAL for a 7 night cruise (they originally quoted me $1203 on a lower deck)! In the end i couldnt pass up such a good deal as the NCL Star, it had longer time in port, cheaper cellphone coverage ($2.50 min vs $4.99min), I was going to have to tip anyway on either cruise, and it was $266 cheaper, thats almost a whole excursion day for all of us... depending on what you do!

 

On a side note, i almost went on the Carnival Elation, but it only went to cabo and Ensenada, but that cruise was only $900 bucks for 5 nights!

 

So in a few weeks ill be a cruiser like all of you all!