Norwegian?

We never use another cruise line if DCL has a mainstream product on that itinerary: Caribbeans, Bahamas, Alaska, and some of Europe. That said, NCL is an excellent option, and here are the situations where we have used (or will use) it:

Unique itineraries: Hawaii/FP, Croatia/Greece out of Venice, Japan/Asia, and South America

Large family suites: Some can accommodate up to 8 guests

Hotel replacement: Look for some incredible last-minute deals when they need to fill out a ship

Cruise before cruise: Extend or add to your vacation

For one of the big three, NCL's prices are noticeably lower. You can't quite argue with it.
 
We just sailed NCL for the first time last month. It was absolutely wonderful! Food was some of the best I've ever had on a cruise. Service was up there with DCL. They would bend over backwards to make sure you were happy and satisfied. Room was wonderful with lots of space. We had no complaints. On their private island they had tons of lounge chairs, clam shells, music, snorkeling, BBQs, taco trucks, etc. We had a wonderful time.

We signed up for a wine tasting in their French restaurant. No one else signed up or showed up. So, their policy was that you had to have at least 4 people or they have to cancel. My husband and I were completely fine with that - we weren't even remotely upset or disappointed. However, they insisted on giving us our money back and giving us a bottle of wine as an apology. Then, because they had already poured all of the wine they allowed us to sit and taste all of the different wines while they discussed them. So, we got our money refunded, a gifted bottle of wine, and still essentially had the wine tasting all to ourselves. We loved NCL!
 
We signed up for a wine tasting in their French restaurant.

That's awesome!
Which ship were you on? And how did you sign up for the tasting? Do you do it on board? I don't see any options to sign up in advance for our cruise like DCL. Did you notice any other tastings besides wine?
Thanks :)
 
That's awesome!
Which ship were you on? And how did you sign up for the tasting? Do you do it on board? I don't see any options to sign up in advance for our cruise like DCL. Did you notice any other tastings besides wine?
Thanks :)

We were on the Sun. They don’t advertise these and you can’t sign up ahead of time. We saw the sign ups after we were on board. We also attended a whiskey tasting which was a lot of fun and extremely informative.
 


We were on the Sun. They don’t advertise these and you can’t sign up ahead of time. We saw the sign ups after we were on board. We also attended a whiskey tasting which was a lot of fun and extremely informative.
Thanks for the info. I will be looking for those when we sail. Do you recall how much they charged?
 
Haven't yet, but just booked a 7-night Alaskan cruise out of Seattle on the Norwegian Encore for DW and I 30th wedding anniversary in June of 2021. Balcony cabin, free wifi, drinks package, 3 free premium meals, and excursion credits. Big thing for me is that observation lounge and Glacier Bay on the itinerary.
 
We've cruised NCL several times and I find it quite tacky compared to DCL. Our current DCL alternative is Celebrity and we much prefer that line over NCL.
 


Has anyone cruised Norwegian?
My mom and her BFF are trying to talk us into going on one in 2021, we've only done Disney and I really don't know what I think. Thoughts? (And no the trip would not be free for us, we would be paying our own way.)
Yes, we did the Med Cruise on the Norwegian Jade this summer and thought it was absolutely comparable to the Disney Magic ship. Granted, the kids clubs were not great and the shows weren't as cool, but as far as food, service, cabins, pools, amenities, it is completely comparable. I am a luxury vacation type of person so I do not say any of that lightly! Disney prices were double what we paid on NCL for what I think to be a comparable experience. I love Disney, but I won't pay their prices in past few years.
 
In January 2019 I sailed on a 12 day NCL cruise for the first time on the Breakaway from NOLA. I stayed in one of the solo or single staterooms which I hope that DCL and other cruise lines adopt with their future cruise ships. The itinerary and the overall layout of the ship was nice. I didn't care for their MDR food but the buffet had a large selection of items during breakfast and lunch. The specialty dining that I tried was good. The staff was friendly and my stateroom host was the nicest person who learned my patterns very quickly. The live music, dueling pianos and comedy shows where really good. I did enjoy my cruise very much but based on the other cruise lines I have sailed on NCL would be at the second from bottom of my preferred cruise line.
 
We have done 2 Norwegian cruises. I have to disagree with the previous posters regarding the Hawaii trip. We got to see a little bit of all the islands and it was a great way to sample Hawaii so we knew what we would like to see again. The service and food were fine, equivalent to any other non Disney Cruise we’ve taken. The shows were good and the craft projects were fun. I would highly recommend it if you wanted to do a Hawaii Cruise.

We also did a 7 day to Bermuda on the Dawn from Boston. The general atmosphere of that boat was too party for us, but the food on that boat was the best cruise ship food I have ever had. The teppenyaki was one of the best meals my husband and I ever ate, hands down. There were these pretzel rolls in the buffet restaurant that I still dream about. And, the finale show was the only cruise ship show I have ever done twice. It was phenomenal. Overall, the service was only so so. Because the general atmosphere in the boat wasn’t what we enjoy the most, I wouldn’t do that trip again. But it was only $5K and we had a suite.

This summer we are doing a 10 day Baltic cruise on Norwegian. We have two adjoining verandah cabins with a drink package, dining package and WiFi for $10K. No other cruise line could compete with that price. Disney was double the price for a shorter trip with the kids in an inside cabin. On the port intensive trips where the ship is really just a hotel and a train, I think the cruise line is less important.
 
I would not book NCL again. We have done Disney, Royal, Holland America and recently returned from our first NCL cruise. We cancelled the cruise we had booked with NCL for January 2021 (Panama) due to our recent experience with NCL.

We sailed out of New York and did 8 day on Bliss. The ship its self is nice but the staff are not organized and level of cleaning was very poor. There was food (cereal, etc.) observed under around around furniture and in the hallways and lounges. Staff were not good at getting people to wash their hands prior to entering food establishments and many people on the ship were sick. A few days into the trip the put out hand sanitizer by the elevators and there were barf bags available from a dispenser at the top of the stair way landings.

The casino is supposed to be smoke free (they allegedly have an enclosed smoking room) but we could smell heavy cigarette smoke in the casino and the surrounding area, in the atrium area on that deck as well as deck below and above. We don't frequent casinos but you have to walk through it to get to and from sometimes. They also only have forward and aft elevators, no mid, so the wait for elevators can be very long.

The spa manager did not honour our spa appointment despite the appointment being booked as soon as we got onto the ship in New York. The day before our appointment the Spa Manager called us 3 times within 20 minutes trying to get us to change our time, giving different excuses each time. No one ever did anything about this and we were not able to use our 50.00 per person spa credit.

Tours/adventures started late and were not well run getting off the ship. Disembark was totally disorganized and it took us 2 hr to get off the ship and we had priority status.

The food quality was very poor. I'm not a food snob but I would like my food to be cooked properly, not be overly greasy and of decent quality. The temperature of the food was warm at best. A few examples:
One is what they called called traditional English Trifle. It consisted of cherry jello with cake pieces in the jello served in a tall desert cup with some type of custard/whipped cream on top. It was not traditional trifle.
Two: The bacon appeared to be deep fried and when we ordered eggs and bacon, the food was very greasy. People were asking the staff to not use so much grease when cooking eggs. (The requests did not get honoured)
Three: meat was tough and at times did not appear to be cooked properly. (under done or so overly cooked it had no flavour) The turkey for Christmas was not "real roasted turkey" and looked like Turkey Loaf and was very salty.
Four: the bar tenders did not appear to know how to make beverages. Either certain types of alcohol were forgotten or replaced with other times that would not normally be in the requested beverage.

There are no adult only restaurants.

In my opinion, Disney has a much better standard for sanitation, embark/debark, tours, food and staff.

You get what you pay for and while Disney might be more up front, it does include more beverages, better food, staff that are friendly and helpful, adult areas as well as family areas and the stateroom are quieter.
 
I was on the Joy in October...
  • it's not Disney
  • go-karts was so cool
  • there's VR entertainment, not cheap when you spend hours there
  • Mr. Sexy legs was an eyeful
  • they have great programs for solo cruisers
  • love the Waterfront promenade. The wide and bright promenade was so inviting compared to other ships
  • the evening shows at over 90 minutes long may be too long for the kids (Footloose & Elements).
They say the new mega NCL ships offer a much different positive experience than the older smaller ships.


Was NCL perfect?
  • Someone did not check the tide charts... the ship was unable to exit Vancouver in time to make it to Victoria... the port was skipped.
  • Someone thought it would be a great idea to do a fire drill in the middle of custom's debarkation in San Francisco... a lot of cruisers were upset their full day in San Francisco became a few hours with the additional custom delays.
 
Last edited:
I haven't yet, but I do have one booked. We are sailing to Alaska in a Haven Deluxe Owner's Suite. After sailing DCL, the price seemed so reasonable. I booked for itinerary. I wanted a one-way that went to Glacier Bay. That really limits your options. I am not hesitant at all to try it.
 
We switched to NCL in 2017. Our first cruise was in a veranda stateroom, the last 2 have been in the Haven. We won't sail outside of the Haven again. The only thing we miss from DCL is Castaway Cay. While my DD, 12 now, missed the kids club on DCL, which are far superior, even she now prefers NCL. My DD, 16, preferred NCL from our first cruise as there was more for him to do. We love pretty much everything about NCL, again as Haven guests. Our room steward is always great as is the butler. Concierge has always gotten us whatever reservations we needed. I don't care for either of the NCL private islands, but I honestly don't think I could step on a cruise ship without a Haven at this point. ;) For me, Disney is no longer worth the cost, but we'll see when the new ships come out. I have only cruise DCL and NCL. A cruise is what you make of it. The last Disney cruise we took was such a major disappointment, we went to NCL, but I would never tell someone to avoid them just because I had one bad cruise. You will find plenty of cruisers who love, hate or are indifferent to each and every cruise line. The best thing to do is give it a try.
 
We/ve done 42 DCL and 30 NCL. Every cruise is different and there have been cruises where I never wanted to cruise the line again. There are things I like and dislike about both. For frequent cruisers like we are NCL provides a more relaxed cruise with the freestyle concept and more variety in their food, shows and itineraries. Disney has the best Island but we prefer the food and entertainment on NCL. If you have any specific questions just ask. We did the spa room a few years ago on the Breakaway. Loved it.
 
We have done 2 NCL cruises. Epic and Breakaway. We loved it. Only time I did not feel sad about not being on Disney. We are trying out the Haven on Breakaway this spring. Shows are awesome. Six the Musical is fantastic! Many more food choices than Disney. I hope the new Disney ships have more specialty dining. Only thing missing on Disney is food variety.
 
We have done 2 NCL cruises. Epic and Breakaway. We loved it. Only time I did not feel sad about not being on Disney. We are trying out the Haven on Breakaway this spring. Shows are awesome. Six the Musical is fantastic! Many more food choices than Disney. I hope the new Disney ships have more specialty dining. Only thing missing on Disney is food variety.

Sailing on the Breakaway in April. I see Velvet and Burn the Floor available for pre-booking, but not Six. Were you able to pre-book it?
 
We've been on Epic, Breakaway, Getaway, and Bliss. We much prefer RC Oasis class. Pools on NCL are small and few (similar to Disney) and we missed having family friendly entertainment every night. We went on the Bliss because it was an extended family trip and one of my relatives loves NCL. After that one, I said no more NCL. Just doesn't work for our family.
 

GET A DISNEY VACATION QUOTE

Dreams Unlimited Travel is committed to providing you with the very best vacation planning experience possible. Our Vacation Planners are experts and will share their honest advice to help you have a magical vacation.

Let us help you with your next Disney Vacation!


GET UP TO A $1000 SHIPBOARD CREDIT AND AN EXCLUSIVE GIFT!

If you make your Disney Cruise Line reservation with Dreams Unlimited Travel you’ll receive these incredible shipboard credits to spend on your cruise!





Latest posts











facebook twitter
Top