NCL Med. or Disney Med.

[Mineu]

I have the first Greek Disney cruise booked-but have a much better deal on hold with NCL. More ports, (includes Istanbul and Venice), and a much better price-but I just can't seem to bring myself to make the switch My children are older, so it's not the kids clubs, we have cruised RCCL in the Med. before Disney started going there, so have done other lines. I'm just too hooked on Disney and need help-how can I make this decision?

 

[johnlatte]

We did the Disney Med cruise last summer and it was a great time. However, if I had to do it over again, I would probably opt to save the extra $$. We simply spent more time exploring the ports than being on the ship. We now look elsewhere for port extensive cruises and come back to Disney for cruises like the 5 day double dip. I would take the savings and put them into private tours etc. NCL is a fine line and we are sailing to Alaska in '13. I saved a lot between DCL and NCL for a better cat room. We will be taking quite a few excursions and doing NCLs dining with the savings.

Have a great trip no matter which you choose!

 

[collectoraholic]

All I can say is my DH and I did one of DCL's Med cruises back in 2007 and after only a day, we vowed that we'd go on DCL in the Med again when our girls would be old enough to appreciate it and try and convince our parents to go along as well. The other cruise lines may be cheaper (and as many have posted, are), but with everything that Disney did above and beyond when we sailed the Med that year, I don't think I could sail on another cruise line when over there. And just to add, I sat next to a woman on our flight back to the states that had been on Royal Caribbean that has sailed with them many, many times and always been happy; needless to say, she said she wished she'd cruised on DCL instead when in the Med b/c Royal Caribbean just didn't live up to their standards that she'd experienced when sailing them out of the US. Again, it was just her 1 review compared to our own Med experience on DCL, but I felt bad for her. And as soon as we got home, we told our parents that we definitely wanted to do that again, with our girls, as well as the 4 of them. We're all booked on the first DCL Venice sailing for 2013.

Sometimes, it's more than just about saving money; it's about the experience and what you'd be getting or not getting, kwim? If it were me, I'd do DCL. Don't know if that helps you or not, but that's my offering.

 

[tajz90]

I've sailed NCL only once and will never again. In fact, I wouldn't take a free cruise with them. I thought maybe I was just picky, but a friend took the Hawaii NCL and didn't like it either. Try a diff line, but stay away from NCL.

We choose Disney because we like the (basically) smoke free ships compared to the other lines. Yes, I know it's not smoke free. We don't like the casinos either. We feel more comfortable letting our kids have more freedom compared to the other lines. We also appreciate their customer service over the other lines we have sailed.

Of course, if that doesn't bother you, save the $$$.

 

[johnlatte]

Try a diff line, but stay away from NCL.

To each his own, I've sailed NCL and had a great time! Its a good line and they do a good job and I wouldn't hesitate to sail with them. In fact have a cruise planned next summer. I did the Med with Disney last summer and I can't say that they went above and beyond on anything. For what you pay you should get above and beyond service from them. I felt for the value, I didn't get anything at all extra that I wouldn't have gotten from any other line sailing in the Med.

 

[tajz90]

I've sailed NCL and had a great time! .

Good for you

 

[braysmommy]

For the savings I would go with NCL and book private tours.

 

[mkmommy]

Look at some you tube videos, there is lots of all the different ships and the videos give you a feel for what the ships are like. I find the more i look at them the more i realize that the ships are not all that different and that for a port intensive cruise I will look at the ports first.

Save the money and do private tours and see all you can, and stumble back on the ship exhausted at the end of the day, eat dinner, go to bed and start all over the next day in another great port. Venice and Istanbul in one cruise is a great cruise.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O8Pbk7ZcHuM&feature=related

 

[gotomu212]

We are booking our NCL med cruises tonight. We were on the b2b dcl doing both Greece and Venice itinaries, but we compared to NCLs 14 day Greece/Turkey/Croatia and the 12 day Venice to Barcelona and for us the iternaries are SO much better with lots of stops in Greece, Istanbul, 2 different Croatia stops, and not repeating the Italian ports. Plus we are getting a balcony on both cruises for HALF the cost of our ocean view rooms.

I know cost isnt everything, but when you hit the $10,000 savings mark it really hits you in the gut. Plus we figure with 20 port stops, we really won't care as much about the ships. The only potential downside is that we're switching ships between the two itinaries so it's not a true b2b but that gives us a day in Venice so not a big minus.

I'm sad about missing out on the Disney extras but really am getting excited about these ports.

 

[KashasMom]

Go with the better itinerary! (Istanbul is fantastic!) I consider a Disney cruise all about the experience on board rather than being all about the ports. For that reason I would never do a port intensive cruise on DCL (Europe, Alaska). Use the savings to buy some great souvenirs!

For each person who says that they hate any particular cruise line, you will find dozens more who love it. But this is still a Disney board so you will find many less people who would admit anything negative about Disney here.

 

[JOANNEL]

When DCL came out with the med I booked. Two cabins one veranda and one inside. Six adults in June. Then DS who is in the Airforce and stationed in Germany realized he would be moving in May not July. So DCL is not going to be there in April when we now need to cruise. June cruise $18K. I almost had heart failure but how many more family vacations will we have before the kids have families of their own. So we booked with NCL same 12 night, same 2 rooms and same 6 adults!!!! $8K!!! What a difference. So we are going to try our hardest not to compare everything and just treat it as a moving hotel. To sleep eat and shower with a few shows thrown in. There are only 2 sea days so there won't be alot of DCL services to miss!! We have also cruise HAL and RCCL and have enjoyed them both. It's not Disney but for the $$ it was still a great vacation!!

 

[mdvlprof]

I love DCL. But if another line has a better itinerary, and saves you $$, GO. As long as you manage expectations, you'll have a great time.

Been on NCL before, don't prefer them. Their freestyle dining is just not us. But got a great deal on a good Canada itinerary, so I'm giving them another shot.

 

[Rogillio]

When you go to WDW do you stay at a WDW resort or one of the cheap hotels in Kissimmee? It's really about where you want to live for a week.....a cruise ship or Disney. You will spend 75% of your time ON THE SHIP not on land. If the money is really important to you, then go with the lowest bidder. If you want to go with a company you know and trust and don't want to gamble with an 'unknown' then go with what you know.

 

[KashasMom]

When you go to WDW do you stay at a WDW resort or one of the cheap hotels in Kissimmee? It's really about where you want to live for a week.....a cruise ship or Disney. You will spend 75% of your time ON THE SHIP not on land. If the money is really important to you, then go with the lowest bidder. If you want to go with a company you know and trust and don't want to gamble with an 'unknown' then go with what you know.

I haven't checked a particular itinerary but I'd be surprised if you spent more hours AWAKE on the ship than on land (on a port day). At least, I know I wouldn't after an exhausting day in port!

 

[gotomu212]

When you go to WDW do you stay at a WDW resort or one of the cheap hotels in Kissimmee? It's really about where you want to live for a week.....a cruise ship or Disney. You will spend 75% of your time ON THE SHIP not on land. If the money is really important to you, then go with the lowest bidder. If you want to go with a company you know and trust and don't want to gamble with an 'unknown' then go with what you know.

I don't know if that's a fair comparison. NCL is a well known brand, not Bob's cheap discount Kissimmee hotel. It may not be at the same level as Disney, especially for Disney fans but I would think a better analogy would be staying on resort at WDW or staying at the Holiday Inn in Kissimmee. Yeah service is probably better and the experience more magical on resort, but if it's twice the expense, maybe the Holiday Inn fits better with your vacation plans.

 

[tajz90]

My experience with NCL was tainted before I ever stepped foot on a Disney Cruise. We loved the ports we visited on our NCL trip, but the ship experience was a nightmare. Sure, bad things can happen on Disney, but the way the line handles it makes the difference.

 

[Rogillio]

I haven't checked a particular itinerary but I'd be surprised if you spent more hours AWAKE on the ship than on land (on a port day). At least, I know I wouldn't after an exhausting day in port!

I didn't say awake hours. You are living on a ship so you will sleep, shower, eat breakfast and dinner and relax in the evening on the ship. You will also likely have a sea day or two where you spend 100% of your time on ship.

I've made ports of call in the Carribean, Med, Baltic, Hawaii and Canada on cruise ships and with just a few exceptions, we seldom spend more than 8 hrs on shore. So, if you sleep 8 hrs, you'd spend 1/2 of your waking time on the ship. Average in there the sea days.....add 3 and carry the 5 and you come out to 74.86%.....I rounded to 75%. ;-)

 

[Rogillio]

I don't know if that's a fair comparison. NCL is a well known brand, not Bob's cheap discount Kissimmee hotel. It may not be at the same level as Disney, especially for Disney fans but I would think a better analogy would be staying on resort at WDW or staying at the Holiday Inn in Kissimmee. Yeah service is probably better and the experience more magical on resort, but if it's twice the expense, maybe the Holiday Inn fits better with your vacation plans.

I agree, the Holiday Inn would be a fair comparrison. But have your priced hotels in Kissimme? Even the more upscale hotels there are cheap (compared to WDW resorts). Point being, the reason DCL commands a higher price is because people know and love and trust the brand and they are in high demand.

 

[lilpooh108]

My experience with NCL was tainted before I ever stepped foot on a Disney Cruise. We loved the ports we visited on our NCL trip, but the ship experience was a nightmare. Sure, bad things can happen on Disney, but the way the line handles it makes the difference.

What was so bad about NCL?

I know the NCL Epic is sailing next summer in the Med, and we had considered it but vetoed due to our great experiences with DCL.

Just curious though, we're not opposed to cruising NCL in the future...

TIA!

 

[tajz90]

Our one and only NCL cruise had electrical issues. The lights would just stop working or there would be big power surges which blew up hair dryers, curling irons, anything plugged in. Dangerous. NCL obviously did not cause this, but the fact they did nothing to rectify it was very shocking. 1/2 way thru the cruise, the air condition stopped working. Thank goodness we were sailing a Canadian cruise or we would have melted, but the room got very stuffy by the end of the cruise. This particular cruise ship was stranded the next sailing because of a fire.

The handle on our bathroom sink broke off and NCL never sent anyone to fix it. So, we had to use the shower faucet to do what we needed the bathroom sink to do.

Big issues!!! The smaller issues, freestyle dining is bad and I wasn't a huge fan of the food, nor was the entertainment up to par.

We have cruised 15 times on different lines and that experience was the worst. If NCL would have tried to make it a more comfortable cruise, I might have considered giving them another shot, but it was basically "they already had my money, what did they care?!"