CARNIVAL VS NORWEGIAN (HELP!) Looking for some feedback.?

Question

I have been on 2 crusies CELEBRITY and CARNIVAL. And what a major difference! CELEBRITY, is more for the elderly. The food was AWESOME, shows were like VEGAS, nightlife...SUCKED! CARNIVAL, nightclub "Starry Night" was AWESOME, but other then that?? The food was GARBAGE, and the entertainment was BORING and didn't exist! (not enough to do) So that being said...I'm looking for some feedback about NORWEGIAN? Please help! Do I suffer and go back on CARNIVAL, just for the Nightclub??? Does NORWEGIAN even have a nightclub, like CARNIVAL'S that stays open til 4am!?!? Literally, that nightclub is the only reason I stayed sane throughout the trip...SEA DAYS were more like SLEEP DAYS, until 11pm and it was time to party at "Starry Night!"

Answer 1

NCL generally sucks and is overpriced for what you get.

In particular, stay away from any of the "NCL America" ships that do Hawaii. Extremely poor service...

They are losing money and their parent Star Cruises is distancing themselves. I wouldn't be surprised if NCL isn't put up for sale in another year or two.

So, IMHO, I'd try another Carnival trip.

But, that said, be advised your experience can vary from ship to ship on the same line or even between trips on the same ship. Don't expect it to be exactly the same.

Answer 2

Carnival is a mainstream line. Think of it as three stars. Celebrity is a premium line. Think of it as four stars.

As you noticed, Carnival attracts a younger group of passengers than Celebrity does.

Norwegian is closer to Carnival than it is to Celebrity. Norwegian can be though of as three stars. And like Carnival, Norwegian attracts a younger group of passengers.

The major difference with Norwegian is that Norwegian has what it calls Freestyle dining. That means there are no set dinner time like there are on Carnival and Celebrity. The ships have several different restaurants. There are the main restaurants that are free and don't take reservations. There are the specialty restaurants that are free and do require reservations. And there are the extra cost restaurants that cost extra, require reservations, and offer a higher level of food and service.

The nightlife on Norwegian will be similar to that of Carnival's. There is a nigh club on the Norwegian ships. The name of the club will be different for each ship.

Here is a photo of the pool area on the Norwegian Star. As you can see, it was designed for fun. You will not find water slides on any of the Celebrity ships ...

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b103/ZefH/NCL%20Star/Starpool.jpg

Perhaps if you looked at the Freestyle Daily (the ship's newspaper - like the Carnival Capers) you can see the different activities offered by Norwegian. Below are a couple links to two different Freestyle Dailies (just click on the different pages to see what is being offered - a second click on the page will make it bigger and easier to read) ...

From an April 2007 cruise on the Norwegian Pearl ...
http://www.cruisedailies.com/portal/CruiseLines/Norwegian/NorwegianPearl/482007WesternCaribbean/tabid/435/Default.aspx

From a March 2007 cruise on the Norwegian Star ...
http://www.cruisedailies.com/portal/CruiseLines/Norwegian/NorwegianStar/3302007MexicanRiviera/tabid/434/Default.aspx

Answer 3

Some people love NCL, others hate it. I've read that the food is not good at all on NCL. Celebrity IS awesome and not "for the elderly" - it's just more relaxed and sophisticated. Carnival is OK, but the food quality has gone downhill over the years. I know someone who likes Carnival a lot and decided to try NCL - they were very disappointed.

Go to CruiseCritic.com and click on "Boards" at the top of the page, then go the boards of the different cruise lines; you'll find comparisons there. If you click on "Reviews", you can read reviews from pros and past passengers.

Answer 4

You are not going to get the same service that you got on Celebrity on Carnival or NCL. Celebrity leans towards the Premium end of the spectrum. Both Carnival and NCL are for the mass market. Having said that, they are both primarily the same as far as service is concerned, with the exception of the NCL Hawaii itinerary. This itinerary is notorious for its bad service. Both line have similar entertainment. Carnival does have a better gambling program. NCL does have its anytime dining which is a huge hit among passengers. Carnival is known to be more of a party line as there are a lot more hunger passengers traveling on this line.

Answer 5

we had done the carnival thing and ncl, and we liked the ncl. Cruise better. carnival is more of a party boat and it was OK, we (my hubby and i ) went the June on ncl. to Hawaii and it was Nice . , each boat was different . when we went to the Bahamas they had a chocolate buffet but on the one this yr. they did not. they had no ice carving and no midnight buffet . i do know they did have shows and the people are friendly on the boats. over all the food was nice and so are the rooms. check the website of ncl. www.nck.com they show you the rooms and things on the boat also check for www. orbits.com they sometimes show more about the boat than ncl. but ncl. gives you a sample menu.

Answer 6

Royal Caribbean was great! We went on "Mariner of the Sea" and there was tons to do!! and the service was good.(rock climbing wall, ice skating, full gym, etc...)the night clubs rocked! They also had all the normal "cruise activity" stuff. I have been on several cruises with different cruise lines and honestly Princess was the only one that I liked the food (they had a midnight buffet) however, Princess didn't have all the amenities that Royal Caribbean offers.

Answer 7

Try royal caribbean. The food and nightlife are good. The ships have lots of activities and high quality shows. Also the price is reasonable and they have really good ports of call.