Looking for comparisons with NCL...

[Bear3412]

Breakaway prices are crazy high. All new ships are. 90% of the balconies are tiny too. The Dawn sails out of Boston to BDA.

 

[darwinsrule]

Did the Dawn last summer out of Boston. Our girls had a good time. Do they enjoy DCL more? Of course who doesn't. We really enjoyed the 'freestyle' experience for dining. Kids enjoyed the clubs and shows. We all LOVED Bermuda.

Best advice I can give is not to compare it to DCL. And make sure you get a balcony (if 3) or mini-suite (if 4). Balcony is a must for overlooking the dockyards. That and NCLs OV and insides are tiny by DCL standards.

Wouldn't hesitate to book the Dawn again either. Will eventually do Breakaway and Quantum if the Seas as well to go back to Bermuda (yes we loved it that much). We have Grandeur of the Seas booked for Bermuda in 2014.

Now if DCL ever got their act together and did the Bermuda run . . . . .

 

[Dug720]

The NCL Breakaway is supposed to be an amazing new ship that will sail from NYC to Bermuda this spring/summer. The Breakaway departs on its inaugural sailing at 5:00 p.m. Should be interesting to read the reviews. It will have fireworks, water slides, and even an ice bar!

Granted, I'm a Disney fan, but I was FAR more impressed running by the Fantasy when she docked here for her christening than I was running by the Breakaway. Just aesthetically DCL is so much prettier IMHO.

 

[KashasMom]

We did the Magic out of NYC last June and our first NCL in December - the Epic. DCL is a different experience because it is Disney. The shows were good (maybe one was very good) - not Broadway quality as I'd read but my daughter didn't care as long as she got to see the characters. The food and our experience in the MDR were just okay. I was not blown away by either - hated having to be at dinner every night at a certain time and missed the choice of a buffet at night. Liked our room but did think it was a little tired/worn (ready for dry dock). My daughter would not stay in the kids club which was a little disappointing. I thought she would enjoy it. She did love the princesses, who were wonderful with her - probably the best part of the trip. The ports were pretty lame - Nassau, Port Canaveral, and CC (the best of the 3). I didn't find enough to do for adults and really felt that if we didn't spend as much time on line waiting for character photos, we'd not have had a lot to do. The price from NYC - way overpriced. (Our upcoming Fantasy with air - same category - is considerably less expensive than the Magic.)

I loved the Epic. The shows were good - and fun. The food was very good. Enjoyed anytime dining and the option of a very varied buffet at dinner. Room was nice - a little smaller than DCL - but nice (wasn't freaked out by the bathroom). My daughter did go to the kids club - in fact she asked to go frequently. Breakfast with Spongebob and Patrick was quite a lot of fun. Ports were fun (St. Martin, St. Thomas, Nassau). Plenty to do for the adults (including a casino - yay). Loved the pool deck and the live music. I would be hard-pressed to find something that I really did not like about the Epic (maybe smoke in the casino). Price was about 60-70% of the Magic cruise - comparitable category. Were not nickeled and dimed - don't do soda.

I find it ridiculous for people who have not sailed NCL in 10+ years, even 5+ years, to weigh in on this question. Cruisers are very brand-loyal (the Disney cruisers and the Carnival cruisers seem to be the most....uh, "loyal"). Life is about choices. I would definitely give NCL a try. We're going on the brand-new Breakaway in about a month and I CANNOT wait. The choices of shows - and food!!! - look amazing. And oh yes, Spongebob and Patrick will be waiting! I'm really looking forward to Bermuda as well. I'd book on any of the upcoming new NCL ships.

We're also going on the Fantasy in December. Looking forward to that as well. I'll only do DCL as long as my daughter is into it. Won't be worth the $$ after that. Figure we have 1 or 2 more to go with DCL. Just wish they'd get some better itineraries!

Happy Cruising!

 

[KashasMom]

Breakaway prices are crazy high. All new ships are. 90% of the balconies are tiny too. The Dawn sails out of Boston to BDA.

Compared to DCL? No way! Our Breakaway is considerably less than the Magic out of NYC last year. (We book well in advance.)

 

[FJS961]

Compared to DCL? No way! Our Breakaway is considerably less than the Magic out of NYC last year. (We book well in advance.)

I agree. I don't think the new Breakaway with all it has to offer is even a fair comparison to the Magic. You would need to compare to Dream/Fantasy. A Fantasy one bedroom suite for the 5 of us in July would be 20K. A two bedroom villa suite in the Haven on Breakaway in July came in at 12K.

 

[Bear3412]

Breakaway prices are high not compared to DCL but other NCL sailings. But all sails to Bermuda seem higher priced.

 

[KashasMom]

Breakaway prices are high not compared to DCL but other NCL sailings. But all sails to Bermuda seem higher priced.

? New ships are always priced higher whatever line. Allure & Oasis are much higher priced than other RCI sailings - many years later.

 

[Kittylover513]

How old are your kids? We went on NCL Alaska when my kids were pretty little (2 and 5) and it wasn't that great for them...they kids club was not especially compelling and there wasn't a ton else for them to do. I'd go again when they're older (considering forceurope next summer). The one thing that's good is that the dining is open seating, so you can go eat whenever. I thought the food was decent, the specialty restaurants were really good and not a very big surcharge. The kids enjoyed the teppanyaki restaurant. We were on the star. I would like to go on the epic. Now we have gone on DCL yet so I have nothing to compare it to but I'd be happy to go on NCL again.

 

[KashasMom]

How old are your kids? We went on NCL Alaska when my kids were pretty little (2 and 5) and it wasn't that great for them...they kids club was not especially compelling and there wasn't a ton else for them to do. I'd go again when they're older (considering forceurope next summer). The one thing that's good is that the dining is open seating, so you can go eat whenever. I thought the food was decent, the specialty restaurants were really good and not a very big surcharge. The kids enjoyed the teppanyaki restaurant. We were on the star. I would like to go on the epic. Now we have gone on DCL yet so I have nothing to compare it to but I'd be happy to go on NCL again.

My daughter turned 3 on our Disney cruise and was 3 1/2 on the Epic.

 

[MillauFr]

I have been on the Disney Wonder and NCL Pearl to Alaska. The Pearl had a better itinerary, a nicer ship, and better food. The service was much better on Disney though.

 

[antmaril]

I haven't read all the posts and on I haven't been on NCL since 1982, but I am wondering if you have the option to cruise on the new NCL Breakaway to Bermuda. I have seen pictures of that new ship and it looks phenomenal. Is that a possibility?

 

[Jillscabanastories]

Love Bermuda, it was a really lovely island. We sailed with Ncl to Bermuda. Really was not fond of NFL, but Bermuda was wonderful.

 

[ldo]

We went on the Fantasy with 11,11,16 yr olds at Easter, going on the Epic in Europe this summer. I will post back with my comparisons in Aug. FWIW, our family sort of ran out of things to do on the Fantasy on the seas days. We went on the Dream for 4 days 2 years ago and that was jammed packed perfection. My tweens did not like the Edge as much as they have liked other kids clubs. They will still be in the 10-12 "kids" age range for the Epic (one reason we picked it). We are doing RCCL for Bermuda next summer. We have sailed 4X on RCCL and find them to be just fine. Breakaway is too $$$ for us.

 

[eyenerd]

We have cruised Princess, DCL and NCL.

We will never cruise NCL again due to a poor experience. Things may have gotten better, but they just left a bad taste in our mouth.

We will continue with DCL and others. We are not only DCL cruisers, and we will certainly give others a chance...just no more NCL for us.

 

[Disney Fool]

My humble opinion may not matter but I have sailed on 4 DCL cruises, and was on NCL's Pride of America in Hawaii 2010. Here are my observations: we felt nickel and dimed by NCL. Pay for soft drinks, pay for a 'decent' meal (the free restaurants had dreadful food.). so we wound up paying $15-$25 per evening meal to get a better meal. We bought liquor at a winery which was confiscated when we returned to ship. We were informed that we'd get it back at disembarkation --NOT!!! Somehow the entire crew developed amnesia as to where to collect it on disembarkation day. Disembarkation process was a nightmare. The crew often acted very unprofessionally even to the point of making a fellow crew member race from the dining area in tears! Servers did way too much fooling around with each other and some serious 'flirting' with guests, not paying attention to detail. Granted it was only one sailing with NCL, but it was enough to sour me on more travel with this company. NCL's policies may have improved since 2010, but I'm not willing to waste vacation money to find out.

 

[jdb in AZ]

We have cruised Princess, DCL and NCL.

We will never cruise NCL again due to a poor experience. Things may have gotten better, but they just left a bad taste in our mouth.

We will continue with DCL and others. We are not only DCL cruisers, and we will certainly give others a chance...just no more NCL for us.

Agreed. Our travel agent, who was recommended in Conde Naste, refuses to book NCL, and has encouraged several other TA's to stop booking them as well. I think that speaks volumes.

 

[ldo]

I think the newer ship might be different. My very picky friend (50), who has cruised on Princess, RCCL, etc. 10X said their Easter family cruise on the Epic was the best ever. I also have a 27 year old co-worker who raved about the Epic. I'll let you know soon!

 

[KashasMom]

My humble opinion may not matter but I have sailed on 4 DCL cruises, and was on NCL's Pride of America in Hawaii 2010. Here are my observations: we felt nickel and dimed by NCL. Pay for soft drinks, pay for a 'decent' meal (the free restaurants had dreadful food.). so we wound up paying $15-$25 per evening meal to get a better meal. We bought liquor at a winery which was confiscated when we returned to ship. We were informed that we'd get it back at disembarkation --NOT!!! Somehow the entire crew developed amnesia as to where to collect it on disembarkation day. Disembarkation process was a nightmare. The crew often acted very unprofessionally even to the point of making a fellow crew member race from the dining area in tears! Servers did way too much fooling around with each other and some serious 'flirting' with guests, not paying attention to detail. Granted it was only one sailing with NCL, but it was enough to sour me on more travel with this company. NCL's policies may have improved since 2010, but I'm not willing to waste vacation money to find out.

I believe the Pride has an American crew. The only reason anyone goes on the Pride is because it's the only Hawaii cruise that doesn't require a 2 week cruise - spending half of that time GETTING to Hawaii. I've heard that the American crew is horrible. I don't think that experience is common across NCL.

 

[KashasMom]

Agreed. Our travel agent, who was recommended in Conde Naste, refuses to book NCL, and has encouraged several other TA's to stop booking them as well. I think that speaks volumes.

If your TA books CCL and doesn't book NCL, Conde Naste or not, I'd get a new TA! CCL is horrid.