Had to finally book with NCL because Disney wanted me to sell my house... lol

[Danni75]

I find it very interesting as clearly many people are on the same boat (ah ah , pun intended ).
As I totally agree that some lines are way cheaper than Disney, I find it not to be so clear and easy to compare all the time.

In my case, the 3 selling points of Disney are :
1 - the size of the cabins - we book balcony ; we work a lot and definitly need the luxury of having some space, relax in the cabin, enjoy the balcony for breakfast or take in the view with a good book. The separate toilets though not a critical points are clearly a plus (and I msut say one time a life saver when my husband got sick).
2 - the overall "feeling", family orientated ambiance and fellow cruisers. I don't want something with only olders ship companions or party youngsters, and being in Europe I found unfortuantely that many of our fellow Europe cruisers are not polite at all, would to be able to form a queue and simply respect others (and I say that being in one of the targeted nationalities unfortunately). I really do appreciate the Northern american politeness ! Congrats to you British and North American travellers !
3- Entertainment - I really do enjoy the quality of entertianment on Disney and while I think some cruises can put together very good shows apparently it is clearly not the case everywhere

I did some comparisons as well, and found at for my 3 criteria :
- if I want the same size cabin with comparable confort I will need to upgrade to either a mini suite or even a suite in some cases. Needless to say the price difference drop quite a lot.
- If I want to select the types of cruiseships according to my preferences I end up not having that much choice.
- to get the same "all inclusive" level some extra might be required (though not critical it is not very easy to navigate as it is different for each company, or even on each ship).

My conclusion is that with a lot of research, for comparable itineraries, dates and level of confort/service, I would probably be able to find something I woudl enjoy on other cruiseships but the price differenceis not that huge (for my particular case) and I think I still need more info to understand the differences.

Clearly if you are less interested in cabin confort you will find it easier to make a decision.

 

[kaseyC]

I've been known to do full-blown cruise reviews with heavy pics. Any chance you'll be doing one???? Would love to see! Please be sure to report back. I'm dying for all the M/V excitement!

I suck at trip reports/reviews but I will make a point of sharing my thoughts and pictures with you all. With 10 sea days, I hope to have a chance to experience as much as possible. I've already made most of my show reservations and some dining, I'm waiting to book the Supper Club show based on "Dear, John Hughes" until I board since I have a ton of OBC to use.

 

[momof2n2]

I find it very interesting as clearly many people are on the same boat (ah ah , pun intended ).
As I totally agree that some lines are way cheaper than Disney, I find it not to be so clear and easy to compare all the time.

In my case, the 3 selling points of Disney are :
1 - the size of the cabins - we book balcony ; we work a lot and definitly need the luxury of having some space, relax in the cabin, enjoy the balcony for breakfast or take in the view with a good book. The separate toilets though not a critical points are clearly a plus (and I msut say one time a life saver when my husband got sick).
2 - the overall "feeling", family orientated ambiance and fellow cruisers. I don't want something with only olders ship companions or party youngsters, and being in Europe I found unfortuantely that many of our fellow Europe cruisers are not polite at all, would to be able to form a queue and simply respect others (and I say that being in one of the targeted nationalities unfortunately). I really do appreciate the Northern american politeness ! Congrats to you British and North American travellers !
3- Entertainment - I really do enjoy the quality of entertianment on Disney and while I think some cruises can put together very good shows apparently it is clearly not the case everywhere

I did some comparisons as well, and found at for my 3 criteria :
- if I want the same size cabin with comparable confort I will need to upgrade to either a mini suite or even a suite in some cases. Needless to say the price difference drop quite a lot.
- If I want to select the types of cruiseships according to my preferences I end up not having that much choice.
- to get the same "all inclusive" level some extra might be required (though not critical it is not very easy to navigate as it is different for each company, or even on each ship).

My conclusion is that with a lot of research, for comparable itineraries, dates and level of confort/service, I would probably be able to find something I woudl enjoy on other cruiseships but the price differenceis not that huge (for my particular case) and I think I still need more info to understand the differences.

Clearly if you are less interested in cabin confort you will find it easier to make a decision.

This was good to read.
We did find, however, that we could get two adjoining verandah rooms (one a minisuite) on NCL for half as much as two interior on Fantasy on Fantasy's opening day for masses. Yes - we will have to add a soda package x 8 ($300) and magic show (I think $100ish). It will still be volumes less.

I do hope to do DCL again though!

 

[Lolo579]

We are on Celebrity Solstice to Alaska in September. The cruise is 11 nights for less money, than the 7 night DCL I had booked for June. But so far there is one other child in our roll call, and there is a lot of anti-kid sentiment on Celebrity boards...I plan to post a comparison review when I return.

DH and I are booked on Celebrity to Alaska next September for our anniversary. It will be our first non-DCL cruise, but without DS (6). I understand your concerns about lack of children's activities. I have noticed that few cruise lines, other than DCL and RCCL offer much info about their kids programs. We have booked an Aqua Class room with free beverage package, $400 OBC, and gratuity included for less than DCL. On the other hand, we are currently less than 90 days away from our Disney Fantasy Eastern Caribbean (family) adventure and absolutely cannot wait!! I think we have a bit of an advantage as Florida residents since we can easily hold out for GTY rates and don't have to account for travel time to and from port.

 

[kaseyC]

The NCL Escape was floated out this morning at Meyerwerft Papenburg. Link to time lapse video from YouTube. I absolutely love seeing the ships floated out... from any cruise line.

 

[sweetpee_1993]

Thanks @kaseyC ! That's one biiiiig girl! Looking forward to sailing her next spring!

 

[momof2n2]

SWEEEEEEEEEEET!
While on Getaway in May I hope to book one on Escape for the next year.

 

[TXDCLfan]

The NCL Escape was floated out this morning at Meyerwerft Papenburg. Link to time lapse video from YouTube. I absolutely love seeing the ships floated out... from any cruise line.

So looking forward to sailing on her at least once if not twice next year!

 

[squirk]

I struggle with the RCCL or NCL decision over DCL. I am a fierce brand loyalist, though I like to think I am not blindly loyal. Disney has not let my family down since we started going to the parks in '09, and given how precious our vacation time is (I travel a lot for work), I am hesitant to make a switch from what's been working so well and given us so much satisfaction.

I am fully aware that that is exactly the sentiment that Disney is (literally) banking on when they set their pricing. So I don't have blinders on.

It is hard to quantify stuff like this, but if I feel that I will enjoy RCCL only 75% as much as DCL, and the RCCL fare is 75% of what Disney charges, then it's kind of a wash. Six one way, half-dozen the other. And in that case, I'm gonna stick with what I know works.

But as DCL raises rates faster than the competition, and I see an RCCL cruise that is 50% less than DCL for a comparable reservation, well, then I feel like I have to take a closer look.

 

[momof2n2]

This was good to read.
We did find, however, that we could get two adjoining verandah rooms (one a minisuite) on NCL for half as much as two interior on Fantasy on Fantasy's opening day for masses. Yes - we will have to add a soda package x 8 ($300) and magic show (I think $100ish). It will still be volumes less.

I do hope to do DCL again though!

I struggle with the RCCL or NCL decision over DCL. I am a fierce brand loyalist, though I like to think I am not blindly loyal. Disney has not let my family down since we started going to the parks in '09, and given how precious our vacation time is (I travel a lot for work), I am hesitant to make a switch from what's been working so well and given us so much satisfaction.

I am fully aware that that is exactly the sentiment that Disney is (literally) banking on when they set their pricing. So I don't have blinders on.

It is hard to quantify stuff like this, but if I feel that I will enjoy RCCL only 75% as much as DCL, and the RCCL fare is 75% of what Disney charges, then it's kind of a wash. Six one way, half-dozen the other. And in that case, I'm gonna stick with what I know works.

But as DCL raises rates faster than the competition, and I see an RCCL cruise that is 50% less than DCL for a comparable reservation, well, then I feel like I have to take a closer look.

Ours is going to end up very close to 50% for the week we wanted. We could have afforded the Fantasy - but then that's it. Now we get Kissimmee x 8 nights with 5-6 days WDW plus a Caribbean cruise. We couldn't say no.

 

[sweetpee_1993]

We did it! Booked our first NCL cruise in the Getaway for 9/19! I looked yesterday and there had been a price drop so we took the plunge. Sweet! Can't wait!

 

[momof2n2]

We did it! Booked our first NCL cruise in the Getaway for 9/19! I looked yesterday and there had been a price drop so we took the plunge. Sweet! Can't wait!

Oh my goodness. That's almost here.
So awesome!! Report back both good and bad.

 

[sweetpee_1993]

Oh my goodness. That's almost here.
So awesome!! Report back both good and bad.

I will report back! Will be just the hubby & me. Celebrating our 22nd anniversary (it's on 9/18). I'm trying to wade thru the cumbersome NCL planning pages to book shows, dining, etc. I'm just loving all this freedom with our time. No assigned dining time. I feel like a little hippie set free to run nekkid thru the forest! LOL!

 

[kaseyC]

I will report back! Will be just the hubby & me. Celebrating our 22nd anniversary (it's on 9/18). I'm trying to wade thru the cumbersome NCL planning pages to book shows, dining, etc. I'm just loving all this freedom with our time. No assigned dining time. I feel like a little hippie set free to run nekkid thru the forest! LOL!

Their website and planning pages can be a pain in the butt. It is so nice not to have a set dining time sometimes. Make sure you book the comedy club, the Getaway doesn't have Second City like the Breakaway and Epic but they usually have 2 or 3 rotating stand up comedians on board.

 

[sweetpee_1993]

Their website and planning pages can be a pain in the butt. It is so nice not to have a set dining time sometimes. Make sure you book the comedy club, the Getaway doesn't have Second City like the Breakaway and Epic but they usually have 2 or 3 rotating stand up comedians on board.

I don't see any comedy club offerings to reserve? The Wine thing is all. I don't see Howl either. That's one I don't want to miss. Are they somewhere not obvious?

 

[kaseyC]

I don't see any comedy club offerings to reserve? The Wine thing is all. I don't see Howl either. That's one I don't want to miss. Are they somewhere not obvious?

I'm sorry, I forgot they ended the pre-reserving of the complimentary shows this past March. There's always early and late shows so you should have no problem getting in.

 

[sweetpee_1993]

I'm sorry, I forgot they ended the pre-reserving of the complimentary shows this past March. There's always early and late shows so you should have no problem getting in.

Okay! I was getting worried! The comedy and Howl will be solid staples for us, I'm sure. On the WBPC on the Wonder in May they had a show (I think we thought it was adult but maybe it wasn't?) that was an Elton John tribute. That man played the piano like an ace, sang, and it was definitely a sing-along type thing. I **loved** it!!!! I love piano music to begin with but then requests, singing along, and dueling pianos??? OMGoodness!!!! I'm IN! Standup comedy is another solid YES for us, too.

We decided to pass on pre-reserving Illusionarium. We typically don't really enjoy magicians/illusinists unless comedy is intertwined. The illusions in themselves we're not that into. I think we want to see how we feel about it when we get there and go from there.

 

[TXDCLfan]

We did it! Booked our first NCL cruise in the Getaway for 9/19! I looked yesterday and there had been a price drop so we took the plunge. Sweet! Can't wait!

GREAT!!!!! We will be on the same cruise. If you like lobster rolls they are offered on sea days for a nominal fee of $7.95. Also the steak house and Teppanyaki are to die for. This big kid rode the water slide 21 times in a row..you have to give them a try. PM me with any questions. If you are looking for a nice place to stay pre cruise the Crowne Plaza has some great rates right now.

Robert

 

[OrcaPorkka]

We are on Celebrity Solstice to Alaska in September. The cruise is 11 nights for less money, than the 7 night DCL I had booked for June. But so far there is one other child in our roll call, and there is a lot of anti-kid sentiment on Celebrity boards...I plan to post a comparison review when I return.

I did a Celebrity cruise when my oldest was 2. I didn't feel any "anti-kid sentiment" but it was very, very obvious that it wasn't designed for kids (safety stuff like open outlets, big spaces between the railings at the top of the ship, etc) and we felt very alone. I think there were maybe 20 kids on the whole ship. It was okay, though. We still got to see everything we wanted to see.

 

[perditax]

Okay! I was getting worried! The comedy and Howl will be solid staples for us, I'm sure. On the WBPC on the Wonder in May they had a show (I think we thought it was adult but maybe it wasn't?) that was an Elton John tribute. That man played the piano like an ace, sang, and it was definitely a sing-along type thing. I **loved** it!!!! I love piano music to begin with but then requests, singing along, and dueling pianos??? OMGoodness!!!! I'm IN! Standup comedy is another solid YES for us, too.

We decided to pass on pre-reserving Illusionarium. We typically don't really enjoy magicians/illusinists unless comedy is intertwined. The illusions in themselves we're not that into. I think we want to see how we feel about it when we get there and go from there.

There was a guy doing Elton John on GA as well (I didn't see him).

Illusionarium is kind of cool--it's not exactly comedy, but it's a nicely themed space, almost to Disney levels, and the magic tricks are interwoven with a decently coherent backstory. I think it should probably be a little cheaper than it is, but I really enjoyed it, including the food, except for the part where I got pulled up on stage for audience participation. (Kill me now.)