NCL Vs DCL

[irwins0001]

Thanks for all of the great replies. It sounds as if NCL on a new ship (Jewel) is quite nice. I have read some bad reviews about the line (dirty, poor staff attitude, bad food) but I think this might be regarding their older ships. I am cruising over New Yr's with my wife, and 2 sons ages 6 and 2. I am either doing a DCL for 4 nights (already have my deposit down) or NCL out of Miami for 5.
Anymore input is greatly appreciated.

 

[outahere]

Thanks for all of the great replies. It sounds as if NCL on a new ship (Jewel) is quite nice. I have read some bad reviews about the line (dirty, poor staff attitude, bad food) but I think this might be regarding their older ships. I am cruising over New Yr's with my wife, and 2 sons ages 6 and 2. I am either doing a DCL for 4 nights (already have my deposit down) or NCL out of Miami for 5.
Anymore input is greatly appreciated.

Just my humble opinion........

Because of the ages of your children, I think you would have more fun on DCL. It is definitely much more family oriented than NCL. The Jewel class ships on NCL are very nice, but the Disney ships are just as nice (or nicer) and the Disney atmosphere is much more friendly and relaxed.

 

[jw105]

We have cruised on NCL twice with kids. We have gone on the Spirit with a 1 & 3 year old and later that year on the Dawn when they were 2 & 4. Both of the ships were fairly new, not as new as the Jewel. We really enjoyed both of our NCL cruises. The freestyle works really well with kids, we fed them roomservice while we got ready for dinner. Then they would go to the kids activities while we ate in the restaurants. When our youngest was just under two he couldn't do the kids clubs but he had fun with us (we pushed him around in the umbrella stroller in the evenings and to the shows). The second time he was 2 so he do the clubs and really enjoyed the activities. The kids pools and clubs are very good on NCL's (newer) ships. The pools have themes & slides (Spirit/pirateship Dawn/Dinosaurs) and there was even a playground on deck. Along with an indoor jungle gym in the club. The councilors were very good. My son had the same councilor on both ships and she remembered our son right away and gave him a big hug. The food and service were a little better on the Dawn than the Spirit so it just depends on the crew and the ship. You don't get to know your waiters as you do on other lines but the benefit and flexibility of the freestyle was worth it to us, especially with kids. There was no stress in getting to dinner on time. Our NCL experience was very good.
Next week we'll be on the Disney Wonder, so I'll be able to compare them first hand. I'll let you know our pros and cons of both.

 

[MissMet]

We have cruised on NCL twice with kids. We have gone on the Spirit with a 1 & 3 year old and later that year on the Dawn...

We also have gone on the Dawn. I loved it. I'm trying to figure out if it's still the same cruise director as when we went in '04. I don't remember his name but I LOVED him. He was SO funny. By chance do you remember the name of your cruise director on the Dawm? What I remember about ours was he was very tall & very skinny. He wore very FLASHY suits & was quite eccentric & very funny. Thanks.

 

[irwins0001]

JW I am looking forward to your first hand comparision. Thanks for the great input from all of you. I have until Oct to make my decision.

 

[kaykels]

These comparison threads always end up comparing apples to oranges. The OP was asking about an entire cruise line, but you can't begin to compare Jewel and Pearl (brand new ships) with the old fleet from the 80's. Jewel and Pearl are new ship with incredible decor and ammenities. You can't even begin to compare it to the older NCL fleet, as well as the NCAL fleet out of Hawaii with poor service issues.

I am sailing Pearl in 10 weeks. After 4 disney cruises, I decided to try something else, and I was swayed by:
1. price - got a mini suite with conceirge for less than a cat. 11 on DCL
2. brand new ship
3. fresh water pool (yeah, so is Disney) but the pool deck looks nicer with
loungers, tiki torches, etc.
4. 11 restaruants
5. Freestlyle dining
6. Newer ammenities that DCL does not yet offer, such as bowling alley, rock climbing wall, full tennis court, casino,
7. MOST OF ALL.... Bliss Lounge
Have you guys seen pictures of this?? Beds in the nightclub!
8. Decor- wild, fun, bright, amazing
9. More adult entertainment
10. outstanding indoor pool/sauna/steamroom in the spa, nicer gym and
fantastic heated loungers overlooking the ocean

Don't get me wrong, I still love DCL.
But as far as trying something new, Jewel and Pearl have outstanding reviews and are not the same as the Hawaiian fleet or the older ships. Thats like comparing the Carnival Sensation to the Carnival Liberty, or RCCL Majesty of the Seas to RCCL Freedom of the Seas.

Have a great cruise, whatever you decide.

 

[MississippiMom]

We took our (then) 4 & 5 year olds on the NCL Sun earlier this year, just to see if they would even enjoy cruising. If they loved it, we would plan a DCL cruise, and if they didn't care for it, at least we had not spent much money. It was a fabulous experience for all of us. The kids' club had a great variety of activities for the girls to choose from and the counselors were wonderful with them. And we loved the flexibility of freestyle dining, because we weren't desperately trying to get the children to the dining room at a specific time. We are not into buffet dining, so we actually went to the dining rooms as much as possible, and the servers were wonderful with our children.

We have a couple of different dates booked for a DCL cruise in 2008, and I'm positive that it will be a wonderful family vacation, but, it will be very interesting to see if the price difference will really be worth it or not, after all is said and done. We had two connecting inside cabins on NCL for less than it would cost the four of us to book one Cat 12 gty on DCL (during their "Magical Rates").