NCL trying to one up the Aquaduck ?

[solfan68]

Anyone else seen this bit on Norwegian's waterpark at sea ?

 

[TXDCLfan]

Anyone else seen this bit on Norwegian's waterpark at sea ?

Wow that would blow the aqua duck out of the watervery cool

 

[kimistry6]

This sounds awesome . I love the idea of "the plank". Not sure I would actually do it but would love to watch someone else.

 

[alaskanabbott]

WOW! Thanks for this! I just read all the articles on the NCL Breakaway, it amazing! We know that our twins senior year we are not going to cruise with DCL, because they will be 18...and honestly there just isn't enough that interests them in the "grown-up" activities. I had been leaning toward RCCL, but I just priced out a fantastic family suite with a window on a 7 night for around $3000!

 

[lark]

Looks like a fun ship with crappy itineraries. I guess there pretty clearly is demand for 7-day cruises from New York, but Canada cruises don't seem to sell and the bahamas is pretty far. The main summer cruises on Breakaway will be a roundtrip with two overnights in Bermuda. Woo hoo! With an itinerary like that, the ship's on-board experience better be great.

 

[FJS961]

Looks like a fun ship with crappy itineraries. I guess there pretty clearly is demand for 7-day cruises from New York, but Canada cruises don't seem to sell and the bahamas is pretty far. The main summer cruises on Breakaway will be a roundtrip with two overnights in Bermuda. Woo hoo! With an itinerary like that, the ship's on-board experience better be great.

speaking of crappy itneraries ....

 

[trimix]

To answer the first question, every cruise line is constantly trying to outdo their competitors. I am surprised it took this long to see an announcement.

 

[jlwhitney]

Honestly I am not impressed. Sounds zoo-y and in all reality on a week cruise how much can you really do the same thing over and over. It doesn't look real attractive either.

Plus the will have Nickelodeon on board, and I personally can't stand anything they put out any more.

Some people will like it, and others won't use most of the features.

 

[ImDMous]

Egads that's ugly! Looks like a habitrail. At least the Aquaduck is clear and doesn't look like a giant pile of pool noodles on the deck.

 

[kcashner]

Not impressed with Norwegian though. 15 restaurants but 12 had upcharges and the "included" ones were not good. The upcharge ones were though! Do I smell a rat?

 

[algae]

Egads that's ugly! Looks like a habitrail. At least the Aquaduck is clear and doesn't look like a giant pile of pool noodles on the deck.

Yikes! I agree with you on that. DCL found a way to meld the ride into the ship and not have the water ride stick out like a sore thumb. That NCL artist's conception looks like a quick Photoshop job putting 2 things together rather than a well thought-out plan. I don't think I'd like to be on the top deck of the NCL ship if it really looked like that.

 

[Tonka's Skipper]

Egads that's ugly! Looks like a habitrail. At least the Aquaduck is clear and doesn't look like a giant pile of pool noodles on the deck.

Agreed 100%.it maybe fun for teens/20 somthings , but thats about it

Not to mention it sticks out like a sore thumb....the same at that black hump/decks on the epic!

AKK

 

[OurDogCisco]

We are going to try Norweign Epic for our Med cruise. Actually, we are going to do 2 cruies: RCCL 7 nights on a Greek route and then, 7 nights on the Epic for the Med ports. The ports are similar to DCL so, we'll see. We jumped ship for 2 reasons, my youngest is at that age where the kid's club will not be appealing to her. Plus, both of my kids can't use the slides on the Magic this time around as they are too tall. So, we wanted to try something new. So, far it is a little cheaper on these lines by $143 a day. Disney would be 12 nights and the other two will be 14 nights. So, the savings is about $2000 but with their upcharge restaurants it might not come out to cheaper. RCCL will only have 2 up charge restaurants and the Epic has a ton. I do like they allow children in the restaurants, etc.. So, my girls will love that. I'll let you know how it goes. On Disney we would have been in Oceanview room but on both the NCL and RCCL we'll have balconies. I doubt we'll leave forever but right now I just think it is ackward for the ages between 12 and 21 years old on Disney. And, I don't think it is Disney's fault either. Just kids at that point in their lives are very catty. So, it takes the right group of kids to make a cruise fun and I just can't count on that. The other cruiselines offer activities that would make the day a little more enjoyable as a family.

 

[KashasMom]

We're doing one of those crappy itineraries on the Magic - a very old ship.

A "fantastic family suite with a window on a 7 night for around $3000!" on a brand new ship is 40% less than what we paid. Heck, we could have gone on the new Fantasy - same category including air - for less than what we paid.

The NYC Magic cruisers really took a beating. This better be some great cruise!!

 

[Raspberry Beret]

Not impressed with Norwegian though. 15 restaurants but 12 had upcharges and the "included" ones were not good. The upcharge ones were though! Do I smell a rat?

Something smells all right! Now what NCL ship was this that YOU sailed on and experienced the "bad" food in the included restaurants?

 

[mlayton14]

Yikes! I agree with you on that. DCL found a way to meld the ride into the ship and not have the water ride stick out like a sore thumb. That NCL artist's conception looks like a quick Photoshop job putting 2 things together rather than a well thought-out plan. I don't think I'd like to be on the top deck of the NCL ship if it really looked like that.

Disney does alot of things right, but a "well thought out plan" for the pool area on these new ships are definitely NOT one of them. I think Disney could learn from other cruise lines about how to lay out outdoor space better (obviously no perfect way to accomodate so many people). I just cant understand why they couldnt widen the beam and spread out the pools so that 4000 people arent shoved like sardines between the 2 funnels on sea days. I get the cosmetic part of what the ships look like is a consideration, but I have read ALOT of complaints about sea days and no where to sit outside - how can this happen on a billion dollar ship?

 

[extechie rbd/wdt]

[SNIP] I get the cosmetic part of what the ships look like is a consideration, but I have read ALOT of complaints about sea days and no where to sit outside - how can this happen on a billion dollar ship?

Imagineers.......

NCL certainly showed the Imagineers and DCL up with their walk the plank activity (would have been great for the teens and 18+ age range and fit right in with the Pirate theme).

Ex Techie

 

[justmestace]

Disney does alot of things right, but a "well thought out plan" for the pool area on these new ships are definitely NOT one of them. I think Disney could learn from other cruise lines about how to lay out outdoor space better (obviously no perfect way to accomodate so many people). I just cant understand why they couldnt widen the beam and spread out the pools so that 4000 people arent shoved like sardines between the 2 funnels on sea days. I get the cosmetic part of what the ships look like is a consideration, but I have read ALOT of complaints about sea days and no where to sit outside - how can this happen on a billion dollar ship?

I totally agree. NCL doesn't need to "try" to outdo the AquaDuck....or the pool areas....and neither does Carnival. Both have much more space, WAY larger adult pool areas, in the aft, and more activities for all ages.


Not quite sure why the thread went off track about food?

But since it WAS mentioned, on our last NCL cruise, aboard the Pearl.....there are TEN places to eat that are included in the cost of the cruise and only five "upsell" restaurants...two of them cost $25 pp, one costs $20, one costs $15 and the last one costs $10.
How many options does DCL have?
Please....these "Everyone" vs DCL debates get old.........

 

[jel0511]

I personally think all of this looks HORRIBLE. Based on the lecture given by one of the imagineers on the Fantasy Maiden, they (the imagineers) think so too. He even referenced the HUGE slide that one of the Carnival ships has, that could be seen from the deck of one of the DCL ships while in Port Canaveral. He did admit it was embarrassing not to have anything like that on a DCL ship, but them being DCL they could come up with a better way and make it look nicer. Saying they had no originality and just went to Slides-R-Us and bolted the thing down on top of the deck. I have to agree with that train of thought.

 

[schimj]

My DW, MIL & I took a cruise on the Epic (actully, this time last year...we were on board the day of the Royal Wedding), and LOVED it. I found the slides on the Epic (which is older than the Disney Dream by about a year) to be better than the AquaDuck. Don't get me wrong, loved the AquaDuck on our Dream cruise, and can't wait to go on it on the Fantasy in one month and a day from today, but the slides on the Epic were more like waterpark slides. I did see the concept pictures for the Breakaway, and the gerbil habitat look of the slides doesn't really bother me. Depending on where it would go and what the rates were, I'd go on it. We love DCL, but we won't rule out other cruise lines. We live in Tampa, so there are cruises out of here (Carnival and Royal Caribbean at least), and we have Miami, Ft Lauderdale, and Canaveral and other cruise ports a short(ish) drive away, so we like to explore our options.