Long-time DCL'ers, trying Norwegian

[DisneyConvert]

Wife, son and I are all Platinum, but the attraction of a last-minute cruise out of NYC in a couple of weeks led us to NCL.
(Have already tried RCCL twice, and no thanks.)

Partly, we wanted someplace to go that wasn't a lot of planning or driving or arranging -- a reason we like the floating resort.

Schedule and pricing for NCL was appropriate. Also, we have become curious about going non-Disney to Canada and/or the Med., as alternative itineraries seem attractive.

We are booked for 5-days out-and-back to Bermuda. We've done that on DCL too. Curious, but with some trepidation. Does that make sense?

Three main differences I am guessing:
* Not Disney, which encompasses culture, politeness, training of staff, yes fellow guests.
* DCL is of course way more expensive, but we expect the many $.05's and $.10's on NCL to add up.
* Dozen+ "little things" that may be better on NCL (edgier comedy shows, Sports bar that offers more than ESPN, steak that is grilled? non-watery oatmeal, lower Spa prices). Maybe 2xDozen+ that are worse (Casino?!, more smoking? boozier atmosphere from all-you-can-drink packages? No owned IP => fewer shows and entertainment offered, no Mickey or other characters!?)

Happy to hear your experiences and advice, but we are going either way.

 

[dvcdisney]

My family is also Platinum and choose DCL for most cruises. We've done 2 NCL, 2 RCL and 16 DCL. This past Aug we decided to try the NCL Prima (Europe) since it was new and had a better itinerary than DCL.

It's a beautiful ship but not for us. The food was good and the specialty dining was even better. However, the atmosphere was that of a casino...flashy, lots of things to do, good food, but eh...the service is good, but not the same as DCL. It was good that we went because it made us appreciate what we liked about DCL.

However, I think you need to experience it to know. It wasn't bad, not like RCL, it was just a different experience. We felt it was more chaotic and even though we don't mind having different servers for dining each time, the atmosphere was hectic. Don't get me wrong, we had some wonderful servers which we noted on our survey. They stood out because most were fine, just not what we're used to at DCL.

Plus, I found the guests on the Prima less respectful and courteous.

And, unfortunately, all the activities like the race cart and dart rooms we tried to get was always closed - whether it was the weather or short hours so we didn't really experience a lot of what they were advertising.

We don't go to Casinos or drink in bars or shop in the stores, so that removes a good portion of what we could have done. We used it for accommodations and transport to each port which was great. Even though they cancelled 2 of the ports I was looking forward to visiting, we still enjoyed the ports we did visit. We ended up staying overnight in Reykjavik so we had extra time and I was able to book 2 big excursions. We've only been to Iceland once before with DCL so it was great to visit again.

However, I do think that the Prima would be great for a lot of people. It's a personal choice. There's lots to do, the staterooms are wonderful, much better than the Verandah that we get with DCL, but I think that's because it's a new ship.

In the end, I don't think we will be going on an NCL again anytime soon. I have 3 cruises next year and it's all with DCL.

 

[lklgoodman]

We have done 8 DCL cruises and did a cruise on NCL to Alaska last June. We had done an Alaska cruise on DCL years ago. We have a teen age daughter and wanted to try a different line. We were on the Encore. If you are on the Joy, it is a sister ship of the Encore. The ship is nice. The food in the sit down restaurants was really good, however the service was poor. We would go for dinner as soon as they opened and would still have a long wait, never got drink refills, and at almost every meal they would bring one of us the wrong meal. We never asked for any substitutions, order straight off the menu and still couldn't get our order correct. The servers were friendly, but it always had a feeling of chaos in the restaurants. Cagney's was fabulous, Los Lobos was OK. The buffet was similar to Cabanas. Rarely saw people using the hand washing stations. Other passengers were just as friendly as those on DCL, lots of families. We aren't big drinkers. Definitely saw majority of people always walking around with drinks, however never saw anyone drunk or bad behavior by anyone. I had planned on booking a 7night Bermuda cruise for next summer on NCL before we went on our cruise. But after the cruise we decided to go back to DCL. You didn't ask about cabins, but our's was nice. We had a family club balcony. I was worried about having only one closet for 3 people. There isn't as much hanging space, mostly shelves. My daughter and I used packing cubes so it worked out fine. Also brought some magnetic hooks for bags, hats, etc. The one big bath was really nice. The bed wasn't as comfy as DCL, but was ok. A huge disappointment was our cabin attendant. Have no idea who it was because no one ever came to introduce themselves. First night I had to call at 10pm to ask for the sofa to be changed into a bed for our daughter(we had been out of the cabin from 5pm-10pm). Anytime we needed more towels and toilet paper I had to call for it to be done. When we first entered our cabin we found clothes left behind by the previous cruisers. NCL only services your cabin 1 time each day, which is fine but ours often looked like no one was doing it. And we were never in our cabin, so it wasn't like we were keeping them from entering it. We were mostly disappointed in the lack of activities. We only had entertainment in the large theater 3 nights out of the 7. And it wasn't because of an act having to be canceled, that's all they offered. Choir of Men was fabulous. It was performed 2 nights, but could only get in to see it once. A lot of people in my cruise group couldn't get in to see it. If you want to see any shows, book them as soon as you board the ship. The race cars were also fun, but again hard to get reservations because they were only open for 4 hrs each day so if you don't book as soon as you board you'll miss out. We only had one night of rain and it was when we had laser tag scheduled so it was canceled. The Beatles show was good. They do 3 different shows, only 1 was offered in the large theater. We saw it. Tried to see the other 2 in the Social Club. We went 30 mins before showtime, but couldn't get in. You don't make reservations for it, so may have to get there even earlier. We had 2 comedians 1 night. One of them was pretty bad, I felt bad for him because people started walking out. The other one was better, not as good as acts on DCL, but still ok. The Encore has an enclosed smoking section in their casino. We didn't spend time in the casino, but walked through it a lot and never smelled any smoke from it. Only time I smelled smoke was one time when we walked on deck by a smoking section. There weren't any activities like cooking demos, trivia games, or art activities like on DCL. Pretty much the only thing to do was to stand in the atrium and watch people play Deal or No Deal. We were pretty bored most of the time during the sea days and at night. You can tell the main focus is getting people in the bars to drink with very little thought towards activities or entertainment. If it had been a warm weather cruise, then we would have been able to enjoy the pools. I was surprised they didn't have shuffle board on the ship. If NCL had nightly entertainment and more activities besides going to bars we'd give them another try. I'm glad we tried them and despite what it sounds like, we had a good cruise. The price was half the cost of what DCL's Alaskan cruise would have cost us.

 

[lklgoodman]

My family is also Platinum and choose DCL for most cruises. We've done 2 NCL, 2 RCL and 16 DCL. This past Aug we decided to try the NCL Prima (Europe) since it was new and had a better itinerary than DCL.

It's a beautiful ship but not for us. The food was good and the specialty dining was even better. However, the atmosphere was that of a casino...flashy, lots of things to do, good food, but eh...the service is good, but not the same as DCL. It was good that we went because it made us appreciate what we liked about DCL.

However, I think you need to experience it to know. It wasn't bad, not like RCL, it was just a different experience. We felt it was more chaotic and even though we don't mind having different servers for dining each time, the atmosphere was hectic. Don't get me wrong, we had some wonderful servers which we noted on our survey. They stood out because most were fine, just not what we're used to at DCL.

Plus, I found the guests on the Prima less respectful and courteous.

And, unfortunately, all the activities like the race cart and dart rooms we tried to get was always closed - whether it was the weather or short hours so we didn't really experience a lot of what they were advertising.

We don't go to Casinos or drink in bars or shop in the stores, so that removes a good portion of what we could have done. We used it for accommodations and transport to each port which was great. Even though they cancelled 2 of the ports I was looking forward to visiting, we still enjoyed the ports we did visit. We ended up staying overnight in Reykjavik so we had extra time and I was able to book 2 big excursions. We've only been to Iceland once before with DCL so it was great to visit again.

However, I do think that the Prima would be great for a lot of people. It's a personal choice. There's lots to do, the staterooms are wonderful, much better than the Verandah that we get with DCL, but I think that's because it's a new ship.

In the end, I don't think we will be going on an NCL again anytime soon. I have 3 cruises next year and it's all with DCL.

We had our first NCL cruise this past June on the Encore. Sounds like your experience was the same as our's. I agree about the dining rooms. Good food but hectic.

 

[jimmymc]

In my experience, the nickels and dimes on NCL don't add up to near the price of an equivalent Disney cruise, so you'll still end up spending less by the end of the trip.

Food on NCL has always been pretty good. The specialty dining restaurants are expensive if you just show up and eat a la carte, but their dining packages are pretty cheap, so get one if you think you'll want to try specialty. None of them I've been to have any type of entertainment like Disney, except the hibachi grill.

Drinks are a bit cheaper than on Disney, and so many fares include the beverage package on NCL that I usually don't need to worry about paying anyway. I don't think you'll need to worry about people getting too drunk on a trip to Bermuda during the school year. Those are more for spring break out of Florida.

The staff I think are great on NCL. You might find somebody having a bad day every now and then, but my wait staff and room stewards have always been great.

NCL was doing pretty well with entertainment until recently, when they cut back some shows. Last year, they had an almost full-length production of Kinky Boots that I saw twice and loved, but that show is now gone from the same ship, along with a lot of the other broadway shows.

The one place I am a bit disappointed in NCL is the daytime entertainment. Everything either seems to revolve around gambling, upselling, or paid activities like laser tag or go karts. I stay by the pool, read, watch movies, or exercise on sea days since there isn't much planned that I like to do.

Smoke pouring out of the casino can be an issue, depending on the ship. On older ones, you sometimes smell it in the main atriums. On newer ships, they do a better job of containing it just to the casino, although you will smell it if you decide to gamble.

 

[Kwami]

Drinks are a bit cheaper than on Disney, and so many fares include the beverage package on NCL that I usually don't need to worry about paying anyway.

When I booked my cruise, it was going to cost two of us $436 for the "free" drinks. They're not really free. And, if you don't drink alcohol, then soft drinks and the like cost more than they do on DCL because they're free on DCL.

NCL was doing pretty well with entertainment until recently, when they cut back some shows. Last year, they had an almost full-length production of Kinky Boots that I saw twice and loved, but that show is now gone from the same ship, along with a lot of the other broadway shows.

The one place I am a bit disappointed in NCL is the daytime entertainment. Everything either seems to revolve around gambling, upselling, or paid activities like laser tag or go karts. I stay by the pool, read, watch movies, or exercise on sea days since there isn't much planned that I like to do.

This is what I'm most worried about for my upcoming NCL cruise.

 

[Dug720]

Smoke pouring out of the casino can be an issue, depending on the ship. On older ones, you sometimes smell it in the main atriums. On newer ships, they do a better job of containing it just to the casino, although you will smell it if you decide to gamble.

I believe I have heard that on the Prima they actually have the smoking area in the casino behind a door - like they did for smoking areas in airports for a while.

 

[jimmymc]

I believe I have heard that on the Prima they actually have the smoking area in the casino behind a door - like they did for smoking areas in airports for a while.

I experienced this on the Encore. You could still smell smoke in the non-smoking parts of the casino from the door opening and closing, but as soon as you left the casino the smell was totally gone.

 

[jimmymc]

When I booked my cruise, it was going to cost two of us $436 for the "free" drinks. They're not really free. And, if you don't drink alcohol, then soft drinks and the like cost more than they do on DCL because they're free on DCL.


This is what I'm most worried about for my upcoming NCL cruise.

Was that just from gratuities? That was also the case with me, I think it was $170 per person, but I can easily drink that much on a week long cruise.

I think they are replacing the stage shows with your typical cruise ship entertainment, but it's definitely made me look elsewhere. I used to love NCL since I travel solo a lot, but now I'd rather pay more and not be bored on sea days.

 

[Dug720]

I experienced this on the Encore. You could still smell smoke in the non-smoking parts of the casino from the door opening and closing, but as soon as you left the casino the smell was totally gone.

That would still be better than the smoking and non-smoking "sides" because smoke doesn't know boundaries.

 

[Kwami]

Was that just from gratuities? That was also the case with me, I think it was $170 per person, but I can easily drink that much on a week long cruise.

Yes, that's the cost for the "gratuities" on the "free" drinks. I don't drink alcohol, so the drinks package doesn't work for me. For some reason, they don't let adults downgrade to a free soft drink package instead.

 

[wide awake]

I used to love NCL because I cruise solo a lot. Up until recently the service was on par with DCL. My last NCL cruise was 9/22 and my stateroom steward and all restaurant staff were wonderful. I've since read that they've cut down on staff with the result that the service has suffered across the board. I too am unhappy about the downgrade in entertainment as the shows used to be great and really differentiated the line. Go to the Social once you're onboard and reserve any show you're interested in or as the posters above stated you won't get in.
I like the dining on NCL much better as you're not tied to a specific time and place. Sometimes I don't mind that but other times I want a relaxing evening. The Local is nice for 24 hour diner type food.
I've found NCL attracts a lot of people who really enjoy traveling...they're on the ship to get to point A and don't care as much about the daytime entertainment.
Food has always been good on NCL, I love the Italian and French restaurants. If you're on the Joy you'll love the Observation Lounge...I don't know when you're on, I do know it has been slated to be reduced but I imagine it will still be nice. It's on the 15th floor and there is a bar, a Starbucks, a small buffet and wonderful chairs and couches to watch the world go by.

 

[DisneyConvert]

This is so helpful you all. Thanks.
Familiar with some of these issues, but also some great suggestions.
Appreciate the DCL-passenger viewpoint. very much.

I think we are on the "Escape" . . Capacity for 4,200 but probably fewer as there were plenty of the Balcony and Club Suite cabins left 3 weeks prior.
Yes, we'll do the soda package and bring the tablet loaded with movies.
My wife plans to amortize the cost of the Spa by using it for many hours and that will be her daytime "entertainment".
Bermuda is Bermuda and we have been there many times, so we know what we like.

 

[tvguy]

? boozier atmosphere from all-you-can-drink packages?

Happy to hear your experiences and advice, but we are going either way.

No Disney characters, and a casino are going to be the big differences. Booziest cruise I have been on was DISNEY.
Cruised Paquet, NCL, RCCL,HAL, Disney, NCL America, and Celebrity. All great trips. NCL America was a notch lower, but that really isn't a cruise, it's a floating hotel. You overnight in two ports, no sea days and you are sleeping most of the time the ship is in motion.

 

[lklgoodman]

The Escape doesn't have the race cars or laser tag, but it has a rope course and mini golf. Spending time in the spa is a good idea. The Encore has a spa where you can get services like massages. And they also have an additional area called the Thermal suite that has heated lounges, salt room, hot tubs, etc. Of course it costs more, but from what I've heard it is well worth the money. Had I known there wasn't anything else to do on the ship, I would have gotten the weekly pass. You have to buy them before your cruise, so if your wife is interested she should get it now. Not sure what all the Escape's spa has, but it's probably similar. I had joined a lot of fb pages for NCL while waiting for our Encore cruise. Everyone always said really good things about the Escape.

 

[DisneyConvert]

The Escape doesn't have the race cars or laser tag, but it has a rope course and mini golf. Spending time in the spa is a good idea. The Encore has a spa where you can get services like massages. And they also have an additional area called the Thermal suite that has heated lounges, salt room, hot tubs, etc. Of course it costs more, but from what I've heard it is well worth the money. Had I known there wasn't anything else to do on the ship, I would have gotten the weekly pass. You have to buy them before your cruise, so if your wife is interested she should get it now. Not sure what all the Escape's spa has, but it's probably similar. I had joined a lot of fb pages for NCL while waiting for our Encore cruise. Everyone always said really good things about the Escape.

Thanks. Very helpful.
She's all over the fb and the heated lounges. I actually think this will be a plus over what DCL Spa-$ell has become.

I am too old/heavy for the race cars, but 20yrs ago, it would have been a lot of fun.

 

[Carohs]

Overall NCL didn't nickel and dime anymore than DCL. If anything my onboard account is much lower because I'm not tempted to purchase any souvenirs. Biggest differences are

• casinos
• more bars, more prevalent
• vibe. Just not the same amount of joy or "magic"
• engaging family-friendly entertainment is virtually non-existent
• the live bands are pretty good
• the evening shows can be good on NCL. nice change of pace.
• Dining has no set time. I like having the same server on DCL, with the same table #. I found the food and level of service to be much better on specialty dining. It's worth it and still keeps the total package cost less than DCL

 

[KKKKCS]

My wife and I, both platinum, just got off our first NCL cruise, a 7 night Alaska. We had high hopes for NCL and were really looking forward to trying them out. Some things we loved, others we were disappointed by. Loved the verandah cabin, very spacious and a nearly full size shower. The two specialty restaurants we tried, Cagney's and Teppanyaki, were great. Jersey Boys was amazing. Having a separate enclosed area in the casino for smokers so the entire casino deck and the ones above and below didn't reek of smoke. And we absolutely loved getting the daily paper "Navigator" delivered to the room.

Our biggest disappointment by far was the nearly universally mediocre customer service. Cagney's, Teppanyaki, and the Manhattan Room were the only exceptions. Every other restaurant/bar we went to the staff was aloof and indifferent. If you order a burger and fries, you would think ketchup and mustard would be a given. Nope. After the food was delivered it took at least 5-10 minutes to catch our server's attention to ask for condiments, then another at least 20 minutes to get it. We got really tired of eating ice cold food. Same with salt, pepper, malt vinegar, sour cream, etc. when ordering anything else lunch or dinner. Our theory for this is the "freestyle" dining does not allow you to build a relationship with your servers. And, with the 20% "service charge" on EVERYTHING, that is used to "tip" the staff (we asked), there is no incentive to provide great service. Good service, bad service, mediocre service, they still get paid the same. But, maybe we just had a crew that was nearing the end of their contract and just wanted to go home. We have been told by other NCL cruisers that they had a very different service experience.

NCL touts their amazing phone app that allows your to text and talk to other guests on the ship who are using the app. We tried for several days to get it to work and finally went to the customer service desk to get some help. We were told, and I quote, "Yeah, we advertise that but it doesn't work. Just buy an internet package." Every other guest we talked to had the same problems with the app.

Other disappointments were having to get a reservation for everything. The shows in the theater, go carts (which were only open one day), laser tag (never open). And the 20% service charge on EVERYTHING. Even the drinks we prepaid for with the drink package we purchased. When given the option, and given good service, I am a very generous tipper. I know that cruise staff work very hard, and very long hours, for low pay. I'm just not a fan of forced tipping regardless of the quality of the service.

Your experience may vary.

Oh, forgot to mention The Beatles Experience. Fantastic Beatles cover band from Argentina. Incredible. Went to every performance but one because it conflicted with one of our specialty dining reservations.

 

[Pens Fan]

In my experience, the nickels and dimes on NCL don't add up to near the price of an equivalent Disney cruise, so you'll still end up spending less by the end of the trip.

Food on NCL has always been pretty good. The specialty dining restaurants are expensive if you just show up and eat a la carte, but their dining packages are pretty cheap, so get one if you think you'll want to try specialty. None of them I've been to have any type of entertainment like Disney, except the hibachi grill.

Drinks are a bit cheaper than on Disney, and so many fares include the beverage package on NCL that I usually don't need to worry about paying anyway. I don't think you'll need to worry about people getting too drunk on a trip to Bermuda during the school year. Those are more for spring break out of Florida.

The staff I think are great on NCL. You might find somebody having a bad day every now and then, but my wait staff and room stewards have always been great.

NCL was doing pretty well with entertainment until recently, when they cut back some shows. Last year, they had an almost full-length production of Kinky Boots that I saw twice and loved, but that show is now gone from the same ship, along with a lot of the other broadway shows.

The one place I am a bit disappointed in NCL is the daytime entertainment. Everything either seems to revolve around gambling, upselling, or paid activities like laser tag or go karts. I stay by the pool, read, watch movies, or exercise on sea days since there isn't much planned that I like to do.

Smoke pouring out of the casino can be an issue, depending on the ship. On older ones, you sometimes smell it in the main atriums. On newer ships, they do a better job of containing it just to the casino, although you will smell it if you decide to gamble.

I could have written this. We've been on 4 cruises on NCL and loved every one of them, but I think you have summarized the experience and comparison to DCL perfectly.

We definitely prefer NCL for food due to the flexibility, variety and quality. We've also always had fantastic service on NCL - just as good as DCL. I think entertainment is where NCL can do a better job. I'm disappointed that they have scaled back on the nightly broadway entertainment as that used to be a big plus for us. Though I do think NCL does a better job with live music offerings throughout the ship. I think they offer a wider range of choices that we prefer vs DCL. We really enjoy finding a bar in the evenings and relaxing and listening to music.

Overall we prefer NCL to DCL for port intensive cruises where the location is the draw. NCL has more ships, thus better itineraries and is less expensive. But I prefer DCL when the ship is the draw. We have the Dream booked for the May transatlantic, and I wouldn't even have considered doing that on NCL. We don't gamble or smoke, so the casino is a miss for us though I do appreciate that the gamblers are basically subsidizing my cruise fare . We've only sailed on one ship (Joy) that had the separate smoking casino sealed off from the main one and that actually was a huge improvement. You could walk through that area and not be inundated with smoke.

Overall we have gone back and forth between DCL and NCL and will continue to do so. They are different products, but we enjoy them equally.

 

[jimmymc]

My wife and I, both platinum, just got off our first NCL cruise, a 7 night Alaska. We had high hopes for NCL and were really looking forward to trying them out. Some things we loved, others we were disappointed by. Loved the verandah cabin, very spacious and a nearly full size shower. The two specialty restaurants we tried, Cagney's and Teppanyaki, were great. Jersey Boys was amazing. Having a separate enclosed area in the casino for smokers so the entire casino deck and the ones above and below didn't reek of smoke. And we absolutely loved getting the daily paper "Navigator" delivered to the room.

Our biggest disappointment by far was the nearly universally mediocre customer service. Cagney's, Teppanyaki, and the Manhattan Room were the only exceptions. Every other restaurant/bar we went to the staff was aloof and indifferent. If you order a burger and fries, you would think ketchup and mustard would be a given. Nope. After the food was delivered it took at least 5-10 minutes to catch our server's attention to ask for condiments, then another at least 20 minutes to get it. We got really tired of eating ice cold food. Same with salt, pepper, malt vinegar, sour cream, etc. when ordering anything else lunch or dinner. Our theory for this is the "freestyle" dining does not allow you to build a relationship with your servers. And, with the 20% "service charge" on EVERYTHING, that is used to "tip" the staff (we asked), there is no incentive to provide great service. Good service, bad service, mediocre service, they still get paid the same. But, maybe we just had a crew that was nearing the end of their contract and just wanted to go home. We have been told by other NCL cruisers that they had a very different service experience.

NCL touts their amazing phone app that allows your to text and talk to other guests on the ship who are using the app. We tried for several days to get it to work and finally went to the customer service desk to get some help. We were told, and I quote, "Yeah, we advertise that but it doesn't work. Just buy an internet package." Every other guest we talked to had the same problems with the app.

Other disappointments were having to get a reservation for everything. The shows in the theater, go carts (which were only open one day), laser tag (never open). And the 20% service charge on EVERYTHING. Even the drinks we prepaid for with the drink package we purchased. When given the option, and given good service, I am a very generous tipper. I know that cruise staff work very hard, and very long hours, for low pay. I'm just not a fan of forced tipping regardless of the quality of the service.

Your experience may vary.

Oh, forgot to mention The Beatles Experience. Fantastic Beatles cover band from Argentina. Incredible. Went to every performance but one because it conflicted with one of our specialty dining reservations.

The Beatles Experience are fantastic. I highly recommend, and get there early.

That's disappointing with the other food venues. I usually stick to the buffet for breakfast and lunch, so I don't really have those service failures, but I'd believe it based on a lot of the recent cuts.