Norwegian vs. Disney? Will I be disappointed?

[rboyz]

Me, DH, and 4 kids, took a 4-day Wonder cruise in February. We LOVED it, said we'd be back in 2 years.

After talking to friends and family, we decided to take a longer cruise out of New York, where we are all from. It will be a large group, consisting of families with kids and some without.
We want to go in February or March (maybe very early April) in 2006.

It seems the only cruise is the Norwegian Dawn. Although the itinery looks fantastic, I feel like I might be disappointed with everything else. I feel like I took the best (Disney) and anything else will pale in comparison.

Has anyone else done a disney cruise and also a Norwegian?
Any information would be appreciated.

Thanks.

 

[mmouse37]

The water in February leaving from New York will be much rougher than than the Caribbean waters.....

Have not been on the Norwegian Dawn so I cannot compare. Just remember that the first day or so onboard the Dawn I doubt you would be able to go outside much to enjoy the outdoor decks due to cold weather until you reached warmer areas.

We have sailed DCL 10 times already and are leaving out of NYC on the Carnival Legend next summer.

MJ

 

[CamColt]

Im going on the Norwegian Majesty out of Boston in about a month. My family has done this cruise quite a few times and really enjoy it, but this is our first time joining them. My mother knows what a Disney fan I am and she keeps reminding me to "remember, its not Disney", LOL! While I know it is older and smaller than Disney, I cant imagine any cruise being a bad one so Im looking forward to a great time. Plus we did take a tour of it a couple years ago and I didnt see anything bad on it while we were there.

With that said, isnt the Dawn, the newer one thats supposed to be really nice? I dont think it could be too bad at all.

 

[markmyboy]

We have been on both & in our opinion the Dawn DID pale in comparison to DCL!! BUT....we had an AWESOME time on the Dawn!!??!!

DCL was our first & having kids (6 &2) it is THE best, BUT we just cannot afford Disney cruises every year AND we would like to try all the other cruise lines (that are kid appropriate), so....we have been on Carnival & Norwegian so far, with RCCL scheduled this fall.

We sailed the Dawn out of New York in November & yes, it was chilly that first night, but nothing TOO uncomfortable (you will be wearing jackets & winter clothes going to the port that day anyway!!)...the views departing & arriving in New York are unbelievable. By the next morning we were out on deck enjoying ourselves (plenty warm, but not quite the tropics!!) & only saw children in the pools, (with chattering teeth, but...you know...kids...) The day after that, nice warm temps. We stopped in Port Canaveral, Miami, Nassau & NCL's private island. We stayed onboard in PC & pretty much had the pools to ourselves....DO NOT let the kids miss the kids area in the back of the ship....there are slides, a small pool, a hot tub.....even a see saw & a bouncy ride thing.....It was great!! We got off at the other ports & had a great time. I forget the name of the private island right now....but it was nice (not castaway cay...but nice) We stayed right on the beach & in the water ....we didn't really explore at all. Snorkelling was fun for a scaredy cat like myself!! The beach got pretty crowded, but nothing we aren't used to (being from the jersey shore!!) My son (5 at the time) met a bunch of kids around his age & they had a blast!!

SO....the ship itself is beautiful, we ended up getting upgraded to a penthouse suite (not sure HOW that happened) & that room was spectacular, but my mother & sisters were in a regular balcony staterrom & it was quite comparable to DCL's.....just a smidge smaller!! The food was great & the service was hit or miss. We LOVED the hibachi restaurant & hubby & I enjoyed a VERY romantic meal at the "french" type restaurant. We never got to the mexican restaurant, but EVERYONE we met was raving about it. The buffet was a buffet, more variety than DCL's but pretty much the same stuff! I wish I could remeber the names of the main restaurants right now, but we found the two smaller ones to be MUCH better. We had quite poor service in the Largest main restaurant. We also liked the atmosphere in the smaller main restaurants, the one that is said to have the all female waitstaff was our favorite. They had a chocolate buffet which was awesome.

must run...will post more in a bit....

 

[markmyboy]

ok...wow...didn't realize how long that was!! I really like talking (writing) about my cruise experiences!!

Anyway...The freestyle dining worked out good for us on everynight except for formal night. We tend to eat early, so we would be at the dining room when they opened & were seated immediately. On formal night there was a HUGE line & people kept walking to the front saying they had reservations...which you cannot book for the main dining rooms!!?? Anyway We did enjoy a few of the "alternative" restaurants & did feel they were worth the extra money

We found the shows not to be suitable for our kids (5 &1 at the time of the cruise), and just typically not the kind of thing we personally enjoy, we only caught the beginnings of the first two shows they put on, not bad by any stretch, just not our cup of tea!! There was one show where they do a lot of acrobatics & that show was supposed to be great, but we totally missed that one!! We spent our typical $20 in the casino (a roll of quarters each for hubby & I) on the slots & we actually left with $50....so that was cool. We live near Atlantic City & can gamble whenever we want ( I think we have gone twice!!) so it is not a real draw on the cruise ship for us, but it was actually a neat space, the hallway outside of the casino has really cool art!!

My son loved the kids club there. We went the week of NJ's teacher convention & there were a TON of kids onboard. All of the staff were saying that was the largest group of kids they EVER had on the ship, but my son still managed to have a good time in the club. It did have funky hours & there would be lines when it would open up in the afternoon. The area itself does not compare to the Oceaneers Club & Lab, but like I said, my son had a great time there!!

Overall this was a great cruise for our family. The feeling that my husband & I left with was that it would be a great cruise without the kids, but we are not really into that.....YET!!!

It was nice not having to fly, but be warned that the terminal in New York is NOTHING like Disney's terminal!!! It is pretty much a big gray concrete block....there was mass confusion when we arrived, there is no real waiting area, at least not one large enough for the amount of people waiting, no one was sure if there was a line to check in & then once we realized there was one, it was winding around the entire terminal. BUT...once they opened the doors to the check in area it went VERY smoothly & then we were on the ship & forgot all about the scary terminal. We lucked out on the way back having the suite, because we got to disembark first & our bags were all in one small area & we were out of there before the crowds started, but have read that disembarking is usually horrible.

We have since reccomended this cruise to lots of friends & family. I really think you will have a great time. My husband tends to be the one who compares every little thing with our Disney cruises, but I think he still had a good time despite himself. You really do have to go into it excited about the new experience & it is just grand, but nothing is like the first cruise...especially if it is Disney. All that said....we did book a 3 night Disney cruise when we got home.....we were afraid the memory was fading (it had been 2 years since our last DCL cruise!!)!!! Returning to the Wonder was like going home again!!