Looking for comparisons with NCL...

[FJS961]

I don't even drink soda but I think it is way cool that DCL offers free soda. It sends a message that "we are not trying to milk you of every penny we can"

It send that message yet they are already milking you for up to double the cruise fare in some cases. It is genius.

 

[Rogillio]

Unless you order that soda from a bar on DCL - then it's the same $2.50. At least on other lines once I pay for my soda card, I can get a "free" soda anywhere - everywhere - on the ship.

But you are mixing logic with emotion/perception. You are right of course but people don't see that. What they see is simply "wow! Free Cokes!" That's why I say it is PR genius.

 

[cleophus12]

We cruised Pride of America last summer, and while I wouldn't agree that the service was horrid, it was better than good for the most part. Our room steward was great, and the dining room staff was fairly good. We did get a great waiter one night and asked for her again the next night. We had to wait for a table in her section, but it was worth waiting for her to get great service. I agree that NCL seems to really push their "signature" restaurants because the food in the MDRs was less that mediocre. I don't know what their MDRs are like on other ships. For the price of the Hawaii cruise, I don't feel inclined to pay extra for dinner every night. They could do better in that regard. However, if the price difference for an NCL cruise was significantly lower, I would cruise NCL again. And it is absolutely the best way to see Hawaii.

 

[Rogillio]

It send that message yet they are already milking you for up to double the cruise fare in some cases. It is genius.

It really is.

OTOH, people would paid double for DCL even before they gave free Coke. DCL is a unique experience indeed.

 

[FJS961]

We cruised Pride of America last summer, and while I wouldn't agree that the service was horrid, it was better than good for the most part. Our room steward was great, and the dining room staff was fairly good. We did get a great waiter one night and asked for her again the next night. We had to wait for a table in her section, but it was worth waiting for her to get great service. I agree that NCL seems to really push their "signature" restaurants because the food in the MDRs was less that mediocre. I don't know what their MDRs are like on other ships. For the price of the Hawaii cruise, I don't feel inclined to pay extra for dinner every night. They could do better in that regard. However, if the price difference for an NCL cruise was significantly lower, I would cruise NCL again. And it is absolutely the best way to see Hawaii.

I agree, and the POA is expensive. They have a monopoly on that inter island route. Despite the premium / high price of our Breakaway cruise coming up, the POA was actually more expensive for comparable cabin category.

We only ate once in the MDR and the food was at least as good as in MDR on DCL and I am very picky when it comes to dining.

 

[Rogillio]

I agree, and the POA is expensive. They have a monopoly on that inter island route. Despite the premium / high price of our Breakaway cruise coming up, the POA was actually more expensive for comparable cabin category.

We only ate once in the MDR and the food was at least as good as in MDR on DCL and I am very picky when it comes to dining.

I found POA Hawaii really cheap compared to DCL cruises. It was far inferior to a DLC cruise but I highly recommend it!

 

[ECH37]

My wife and I have been on two disney cruises (soon to be on our third a month from now) as well as one NCL cruise. We actually did the Boston to Bermuda cruise.

I enjoyed the NCL boat, but felt Disney seemed just a bit nicer over all, almost would say Disney has prettier ships, if that makes sense. The rooms on Disney are certainly much better, where on NCL we were crammed in with just the two of us (all rooms have been inside). I am biased towards the entertainment on Disney since I would rather the themed shows on Disney rather than random variety acts. I would put the food on Disney ahead of NCL as well and NCL dining rooms lacked the character that Disney has. Also, NCL up-charges in many areas Disney does not, such as sodas, more additional cost restaurants on NCL (though they were nothing great) and you are not "allowed" to bring your own drinks on NCL. Kids would certainly enjoy Disney more than NCL.

With that said, NCL has its pros as well. Its a LOT cheaper. If you live near Boston you will save so much on airfare and lodging. Burmuda is beautiful, Horseshoe Bay is my favorite beach I have ever been too (even more than our favorite Cape beaches).

Overall, due to cost, I would certainly take the Boston to Bermuda cruise on NCL as you have it for free. The advantages Disney has over NCL is not so great that its worth passing up a nearly free cruise. I would still be very excited if we had another NCL cruise to Bermuda planned right now!

PS - on a side note, the waters in the nothern Atlantic can be rough at times as compared to those in the Carribean. So if you are prone to seasickness, you may want to take that into consideration as well

 

[OrangeCountyCommuter]

If the head waiter won't do anything, who is his supervisor? I would take it up the food chain.

It was only a 4 night cruise...

Night one we thought it was just the first night confusion
Night two was actually worse Complained after night two
Night three was no improvement
Night four was Palo (with OUTSTANDING service)

So I didn't complain any more. There was not an "excellent rating" however LOL!

 

[kaseyC]

I don't have much to add because we've always enjoyed our DCL and NCL cruises. As a matter of fact, we've never had a bad cruise on any line and we have cruised most of them.

In a few days though, I'll be sailing on the Disney Magic's 14 night EBTA followed by a NCL Star Baltics cruise. To me at least, the best of both worlds!!

 

[woody73]

. . . In a few days though, I'll be sailing on the Disney Magic's 14 night EBTA followed by a NCL Star Baltics cruise. To me at least, the best of both worlds!!

Completely agree.

Woody

 

[CanuckTraveller]

We are probably the opposite of most cruisers on this forum, in that our usual line is NCL, with the occasional DCL cruise thrown in
I spent our DCL cruise lamenting about how we couldn't eat when we wanted, where we wanted, and felt guilty for being 10 minutes late for dinner because we were having fun in port . My boys hated the kids club (they never went back after the open house) and there were way too many kids on the ship for our liking. Freestyle works much better for us, and I appreciate being able to pay for services that I use, rather than the all-inclusive approach of DCL. Don't get me wrong, we did enjoy our DCL cruise. DH loved the free pop, the boys loved meeting characters and the multiple child-friendly activities, and the ship was beautiful. However, the "excellent service" speeches got old quickly and I could do without the gratuitous small talk at dinner (we did mention it to our servers, but felt like we were antisocial when we just wanted to enjoy each others company...)
I view DCL as a 5+ star experience whereas NCL is a solid 4 star. If we want to vacation every year, then it's the 4 star experience as that's what we can afford. I just booked a haven penthouse suite on Breakaway, and expect this is going to bridge the divide between the regular NCL experience and the DCL experience. I'll let you know in March .
(DS2 loves the dancing banana, so he insisted it be added! )

 

[FJS961]

We are probably the opposite of most cruisers on this forum, in that our usual line is NCL, with the occasional DCL cruise thrown in
I spent our DCL cruise lamenting about how we couldn't eat when we wanted, where we wanted, and felt guilty for being 10 minutes late for dinner because we were having fun in port . My boys hated the kids club (they never went back after the open house) and there were way too many kids on the ship for our liking. Freestyle works much better for us, and I appreciate being able to pay for services that I use, rather than the all-inclusive approach of DCL. Don't get me wrong, we did enjoy our DCL cruise. DH loved the free pop, the boys loved meeting characters and the multiple child-friendly activities, and the ship was beautiful. However, the "excellent service" speeches got old quickly and I could do without the gratuitous small talk at dinner (we did mention it to our servers, but felt like we were antisocial when we just wanted to enjoy each others company...)
I view DCL as a 5+ star experience whereas NCL is a solid 4 star. If we want to vacation every year, then it's the 4 star experience as that's what we can afford. I just booked a haven penthouse suite on Breakaway, and expect this is going to bridge the divide between the regular NCL experience and the DCL experience. I'll let you know in March .
(DS2 loves the dancing banana, so he insisted it be added! )

Eagerly awaiting Breakaway Haven feedback.

The initial passenger reviews on cruise critic from the TA sailing are pretty bad. There was one glowing one from a Haven guest so there is hope.

 

[FLDisneyMom]

We took our first DCL cruise last year after being mostly NCL cruisers in the past (a few RCCL). We took a cruise on the NCL Epic this past Spring Break and found ourselves missing Disney and very much looking forward to our upcoming Fantasy cruise. We preferred the staterooms (we had connecting balconies on both ships) on Disney. We also found the crew to be friendlier on Disney. There were many times on the Epic when I was in the buffet juggling kids, plates and cups while looking for a place to sit and most of the crew ignored me or just vaguely pointed to an area where more seating was. On the Magic the crew would take my plate and escort me to an open table. We had cruised NCL in the past because of my DHs love for Freestyle Dining. After being on the Magic I found that on the Epic I missed having dinner at a set time. It was the one thing about our day that was predictable and we could work our schedule around it. We will probably cruise both DCL and NCL again (although not the Epic) but I don't think think NCL will be quite as high on our list as it once was. The one area that NCL does excel in is their suites and the perks you get with them.