Anyone been on or considered the Norwegian Cruise Line

[Littlelulu01]

Have sailed NCL twice. Once inside and once in a two bedroom HAven villa. NCL haven experience is far superior to any cruise line experience we've had. The separate haven area is also much nicer. The butler who makes sure you have whatever you want inside your stateroom, including breakfast, lunch or dinner delivered from whatever restaurant at the exact time you wish and makes sure your espresso machine is stocked and ready to go. The machines are in your stateroom (they're the fancy several thousand $ kind) . The concierege who whisks you aboard, ashore, checks on you personally throughout the cruise and makes any changes you want. Example if the hot tub is not hot enough he's on it. You want to change times for dinner? Call him on the personal cordless phone they give you to carry around and he picks right up. It's crazy over the top pampering.

The inside stateroom experience was fun too if you take advantage of the spa passes.

I would take the Haven on NCL any day but if deciding on a balcony on NCL or inside/OV on DCL I'd probably pick DCL.

 

[perditax]

I'm really enjoying this thread, thanks for the non-DCL insights.

 

[lizzyb]

Just booked a 7 day cruise out of Miami for next May total cost for 5 of us with the beverage package.... $2800CDN! Fantastic deal!

 

[waggles02673]

I keep getting drawn to the haven Aft Balcony Penthouse. we might have to switch one of our upcoming DCL cruises and give it a shot

 

[cbonebt]

The ny ones are so much more

 

[gilsan]

I keep getting drawn to the haven Aft Balcony Penthouse. we might have to switch one of our upcoming DCL cruises and give it a shot

That is what we booked the room looks great and the verandah is amazing. I was originally going the book a regular Haven Penthouse, then I watched a video of an aft balcony penthouse lol.

This is the room we booked the balcony is huge and so is the bathroom off the bedroom.

 

[TestingH2O]

I'm debating an NCL Western Caribbean next March. The ships we are looking at (Jade or Star) are all older based on dates. Do you think it's worth it to do Haven on Jade or would a suite on Star still give a good feel? The itinerary for that one is a bit more appealing and, to be honest, the decor on Jade looks appalling.

 

[mickeyhereicome]

Love this thread. I was so afraid to book on a different line, we have done 3 DCL and next one is April. We are planning a trip for Feb 2016 and with the current NCL prices, cruising seems like the way to go. I decided that in order to fully enjoy ourselves and not constantly compare DCL to the new line, then we would have to go on the newest ships offered. I ended up booking 3 cruises all for the same week. I booked the brand new NCL Escape. We like port days more than sea days and this one only makes 3 stops and one is Nassau that we really didn't care for. I also booked NCL Getaway. It is the exact same itinerary as our cruise next month on DCL expect we would go to NCL island. I have always felt like I do not want to go back to the same place twice. But I decided to booked, just in case we might. I was told the NCL deal ends at the end of March. I booked balcony rooms with free specialty dining and both are around $3500 for 2 adults and 2 kids. I also booked Carnival Breeze. This is the line I am the most worried about because of all of their issues a few years ago. I do feel it is highly unlikely anything like that would happen. However, this is the line that has the most appealing itinerary to us. It is a 8 day cruise and stops at 4 ports we have never been to. I also booked a balcony, for the 4 of us is $3400. Another thing about Carnival is I am afraid of rowdy drunk people, just the line I think it would happen the most on. But we are not sailing during college spring break and I feel college kids probably try to spend a lot less money, so would most likely be on the older boats which are cheaper. Just my thought, please correct me if I am wrong. Hopefully after our cruise in April I can decide if doing the same ports is worth it or not and cancel at least one of these.

 

[CampbellzSoup]

I too wonder where this nickle and dime nonsense comes from when comparing cruise lines....what exactly is disney giving you for free that other cruises aren't? soda? You without a doubt in my mind pay the difference in other ships beverage package with disneys up charge anyway.

Absolutely nothing is nickle and dimes at all.

 

[momof2n2]

Just booked a 7 day cruise out of Miami for next May total cost for 5 of us with the beverage package.... $2800CDN! Fantastic deal!

Which cruise?

 

[momof2n2]

I too wonder where this nickle and dime nonsense comes from when comparing cruise lines....what exactly is disney giving you for free that other cruises aren't? soda? You without a doubt in my mind pay the difference in other ships beverage package with disneys up charge anyway.

Absolutely nothing is nickle and dimes at all.

I've been trying to figure all the hidden expenses out and there do not seem to be many. I'm genuinely looking forward to trying this out!

 

[momof2n2]

Love this thread. I was so afraid to book on a different line, we have done 3 DCL and next one is April. We are planning a trip for Feb 2016 and with the current NCL prices, cruising seems like the way to go. I decided that in order to fully enjoy ourselves and not constantly compare DCL to the new line, then we would have to go on the newest ships offered. I ended up booking 3 cruises all for the same week. I booked the brand new NCL Escape. We like port days more than sea days and this one only makes 3 stops and one is Nassau that we really didn't care for. I also booked NCL Getaway. It is the exact same itinerary as our cruise next month on DCL expect we would go to NCL island. I have always felt like I do not want to go back to the same place twice. But I decided to booked, just in case we might. I was told the NCL deal ends at the end of March. I booked balcony rooms with free specialty dining and both are around $3500 for 2 adults and 2 kids. I also booked Carnival Breeze. This is the line I am the most worried about because of all of their issues a few years ago. I do feel it is highly unlikely anything like that would happen. However, this is the line that has the most appealing itinerary to us. It is a 8 day cruise and stops at 4 ports we have never been to. I also booked a balcony, for the 4 of us is $3400. Another thing about Carnival is I am afraid of rowdy drunk people, just the line I think it would happen the most on. But we are not sailing during college spring break and I feel college kids probably try to spend a lot less money, so would most likely be on the older boats which are cheaper. Just my thought, please correct me if I am wrong. Hopefully after our cruise in April I can decide if doing the same ports is worth it or not and cancel at least one of these.

That's a LOT of cruises!!!

 

[EuropeOrBust]

I have cruised 2x with NCL. Once in an inside room (many many many moons ago) and then in a balcony (still many moons ago). Even without many of the bells and whistles NCL has now we loved our cruises. I have been waiting patiently for DCL to release their 2016 summer schedule to look into a MED cruise. However with the current deal that NCL is running I pretty much had to jump on it. I booked a 2 bedroom Haven Suite for my family of 4 for $400 more then my porthole room with Disney which I booked on opening day last year. That included $450 in OBC, dining package, drink package and gratuities paid for 2 people...plus it is the Haven, practically every parents dream. The deal was so good I booked an additional cruise through the Canary Islands. My family will do DCL again perhaps. We might just do WDW or perhaps a cruise out of FL for DCL, but in regards to Europe I doubt it. Definitely don't be afraid of NCL to try.

 

[sweetpee_1993]

I too wonder where this nickle and dime nonsense comes from when comparing cruise lines....what exactly is disney giving you for free that other cruises aren't? soda? You without a doubt in my mind pay the difference in other ships beverage package with disneys up charge anyway.

Absolutely nothing is nickle and dimes at all.

When we sailed Royal Caribbean we didn't feel nickel & dimed at all. None of the upcharge things are required. It's optional. So for me it was a vast array of more options. You only pay for what you want. I'm happy just to have the options available!

 

[lizzyb]

Which cruise?

Escape 7 day carribean

 

[Tasmen]

Have sailed NCL twice. Once inside and once in a two bedroom HAven villa. NCL haven experience is far superior to any cruise line experience we've had. The separate haven area is also much nicer. The butler who makes sure you have whatever you want inside your stateroom, including breakfast, lunch or dinner delivered from whatever restaurant at the exact time you wish and makes sure your espresso machine is stocked and ready to go. The machines are in your stateroom (they're the fancy several thousand $ kind) . The concierege who whisks you aboard, ashore, checks on you personally throughout the cruise and makes any changes you want. Example if the hot tub is not hot enough he's on it. You want to change times for dinner? Call him on the personal cordless phone they give you to carry around and he picks right up. It's crazy over the top pampering.

I am SO happy to hear this. I won't lie, the idea of the butler got me really excited. And how was the pillow menu? Of all the things, that probably has me the giddiest. Did you travel Haven with children? We are going with a huge group of people (43!!!!) and the three of us that have haven rooms will have a total of 5 children 7 and under. Curious how it was in the private Haven areas with small ones.

Escape 7 day carribean

Same one we booked. East Caribbean.

 

[momof2n2]

Escape 7 day carribean

Ah... We're doing Getaway in May.

 

[perditax]

Love this thread. I was so afraid to book on a different line, we have done 3 DCL and next one is April. We are planning a trip for Feb 2016 and with the current NCL prices, cruising seems like the way to go. I decided that in order to fully enjoy ourselves and not constantly compare DCL to the new line, then we would have to go on the newest ships offered. I ended up booking 3 cruises all for the same week. I booked the brand new NCL Escape. We like port days more than sea days and this one only makes 3 stops and one is Nassau that we really didn't care for. I also booked NCL Getaway. It is the exact same itinerary as our cruise next month on DCL expect we would go to NCL island. I have always felt like I do not want to go back to the same place twice. But I decided to booked, just in case we might. I was told the NCL deal ends at the end of March. I booked balcony rooms with free specialty dining and both are around $3500 for 2 adults and 2 kids. I also booked Carnival Breeze. This is the line I am the most worried about because of all of their issues a few years ago. I do feel it is highly unlikely anything like that would happen. However, this is the line that has the most appealing itinerary to us. It is a 8 day cruise and stops at 4 ports we have never been to. I also booked a balcony, for the 4 of us is $3400. Another thing about Carnival is I am afraid of rowdy drunk people, just the line I think it would happen the most on. But we are not sailing during college spring break and I feel college kids probably try to spend a lot less money, so would most likely be on the older boats which are cheaper. Just my thought, please correct me if I am wrong. Hopefully after our cruise in April I can decide if doing the same ports is worth it or not and cancel at least one of these.

I have never cruised at all so this is based only on a lot of reading:

--I think the carnival "booze cruise" atmosphere is probably more prevalent on shorter itineraries. In fact, I think there's a trip report on cruise critic somewhat recently about a DCL addict really enjoying carnival, maybe even the breeze?

--regarding the engine failure a few years ago, I actually spent a few hours recently reading the cruise critic thead about the event as it was happening. As it turned out, conditions on board were way overblown by the media, the crew apparently worked very very hard to keep everyone in good spirits (and got lots of praise afterwards), and there were very good reasons, having to do with maritime law, to leave the passengers safely aboard and tow the ship. (Rather than something crazy like evacuating them by twos via helicopter, etc.)

I had the same attitude towards carnival a lot of people do, and I actually came away with a higher opinion of them after I read a bit about the line.

 

[alldiz]

Love this thread. I was so afraid to book on a different line, we have done 3 DCL and next one is April. We are planning a trip for Feb 2016 and with the current NCL prices, cruising seems like the way to go. I decided that in order to fully enjoy ourselves and not constantly compare DCL to the new line, then we would have to go on the newest ships offered. I ended up booking 3 cruises all for the same week. I booked the brand new NCL Escape. We like port days more than sea days and this one only makes 3 stops and one is Nassau that we really didn't care for. I also booked NCL Getaway. It is the exact same itinerary as our cruise next month on DCL expect we would go to NCL island. I have always felt like I do not want to go back to the same place twice. But I decided to booked, just in case we might. I was told the NCL deal ends at the end of March. I booked balcony rooms with free specialty dining and both are around $3500 for 2 adults and 2 kids. I also booked Carnival Breeze. This is the line I am the most worried about because of all of their issues a few years ago. I do feel it is highly unlikely anything like that would happen. However, this is the line that has the most appealing itinerary to us. It is a 8 day cruise and stops at 4 ports we have never been to. I also booked a balcony, for the 4 of us is $3400. Another thing about Carnival is I am afraid of rowdy drunk people, just the line I think it would happen the most on. But we are not sailing during college spring break and I feel college kids probably try to spend a lot less money, so would most likely be on the older boats which are cheaper. Just my thought, please correct me if I am wrong. Hopefully after our cruise in April I can decide if doing the same ports is worth it or not and cancel at least one of these.

I have a land/sea tour booked in the Mediterranean this summer on the Epic.... Very excited.
I have had many great cruises on Carnival. I haven't seen the rowdy drunks..... However I am in my cabin by midnight so if it happened late I wouldn't know. Never had any issues with neighbors or loud balcony partying.
Give it a try... Pick a new ship
Kerri

 

[Ofinn]

OP!
This thread encouraged me to check out NCL and... We booked for next May!!

Two verandah rooms. Connecting. One "Family Mini Suite" & one "Family Balcony" for the eight of us for $4500. Plus we got Ultimate Dining.

Thanks OP!!!

OMG!!! That is such a awesome price for a family of 8. Congrats!!! In fact it's the same price I'm paying for the Fantasy in September for my family of four. My kids are begging to go on the Wonder next Feb because their friend that they met on a previous cruise in going to be on it. Now I may have to switch to the Dream in September, but I'm going to go check out those NCl prices first... but geez I'm so close to being platinum it's hard to change. I have gotten some great prices on DCL, but it's always been last minute, and it has required my dh to rebid his vacation dates. I wish DCL would offer some discounts ahead of time like the other cruise lines.