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Royal vs NCL -- I'm feeling tempted


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So I've scaled my goals for a 2020 50th birthday cruise back to whatever I can get out of Bayonne or New York City, still shooting for something actually in January if it can time with my actual birthday. Royal's only option that fits this is an 11-night sailing on Anthem to the "Southern" (really Eastern) Caribbean, but it's not exactly my ideal cruise:

  • Only 5 port days and a whopping six sea days
  • Out of those 5 ports, 3 would be ones I've already been to (St. Kitts, St. Maarten, and San Juan); only St. Lucia and Antigua would be new
  • The pricing is a little steep, between $5,000 for a pair of lower-cost balconies and up to $8,000-ish if I did the much-desired JS with connecting balcony (so wife and I can get the double C&A points and be really close to Platinum status)
  • That pricing is before any drink packages, wifi, specialty dining I might want to get, etc.

And just now I took a look at NCL's site, and their brand-new ship Norwegian Bliss has a pair of 14-night options -- one to the Western Caribbean, which looks really really nice; and one that is similar to the same "Southern" (Eastern) Caribbean offering on Anthem, but has 3 extra port stops to new locations

  • Both itineraries are 8 port days and only 5 sea days; the Western itinerary has one of those sea days after the first two ports, so there's also a little breather in there
  • Western Caribbean option is all new ports, while Eastern is 5 new and 3 repeat
  • Pricing is much higher at the 2-balcony end ($7,600 for Western; $8,000 for "Southern"), but the jump from balcony to Mini-Suite is only a couple hundred dollars more, putting it even with Anthem at the JS+Balcony level
  • NCL has their "Free at Sea" offer, so we'd get the drink package and full specialty dining (wife and me) or specialty dining and wifi (kids) included
  • Only the "Southern" option overlaps my birthday, but I'd be OK with taking the Western option and getting back a few days "early"
  • Obviously no chance to build up loyalty points with Royal, but I also remember the advice of many here and elsewhere to not worry so much about being loyal to a line this early on in my cruising experience, and being open to trying out the various lines and seeing what they're like

I know NCL's ships have a reputation for tiny bathrooms and balconies, but it seems like Bliss is trying to directly compete with Anthem (similar size and capacity; lots of stuff to do on board, including a go-kart track that makes Anthem's bumper cars look downright silly; lot of good specialty dining options that I can see; etc.). Could be that she's been designed to work around some of those shortcomings from the other ships in the line.

I've emailed my TA to ask about her experience with both, but I'd also like to hear from anyone in this group who has also sailed on NCL and can speak to the pros and cons of going with them vs. Royal. Food quality? Staff friendliness / attentiveness? Crowd management? Quality of the onboard shows and entertainment? (I saw Bliss has Jersey Boys showing right now, which I certainly wouldn't mind seeing)

This is most definitely not a "talk me out of this crazy idea" post; I'm seriously considering it, just like @Lovetocruise2002 is trying out MSC Seaside because it seemed like a good chance to try out another cruise line and see how it compares while getting a good deal. I'm still not sure about the latter part of that statement, but I'm not booking anything for 2020 for at least another month and a half yet, when my Bermuda trip is paid off and I've had a billing cycle or two to see how I'm managing.

 

Looking forward to your insight! And thanks in advance!

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Zero personal insight on NCL....however, I do have a friend (who cruises a lot, but unlike me, she is not loyal to any particular line) who has done NCL recently.  She wasn't on the Bliss but the first thing she complained about was the tiny cabin and the tiny washroom for her family of 4.  Also, my parents (again, not loyal to any line), who cruise way more than I ever can, have tried a couple NCL cruises too and they have commented that their food is the worst of all the cruise lines (and they have pretty much cruised all the major ones).  Again, food is subjective, but just sharing their opinion. 

As I type this, I'm reflecting on my own reasons for testing out the Seaside.  The main factor there was pricing.  From your numbers above, are you really saving that much on the Bliss?  Would you consider the JS on Anthem that has the pullman and 1 1/2 bath instead of 2 staterooms?  Would that lower your cost?

On the flip side, doesn't the Bliss have a ton of activities for younger people (like your daughters)?  That might be a deciding factor for you too.

And, I thought I had read somewhere that Meraviglia has a couple of sailings planned for the 2019-2020 winter season from NY.  Have you looked into that?  Their prices are hard to beat for what is included.....

Hope this doesn't complicate things more.

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Joe, I like NCL. Frankly, I find the 2 lines more similar than dissimilar and I would say that if you find a cruise that fits your schedule and budget, go for it.  If it weren’t for the casino benefits related to Royal, I could just as easily be a loyal Norwegian customer as I am loyal to Royal.  

I’m not quite as fond of the MDR concept on NCL as I am with RC but NCL was the originator of specialty dining so they’ve de-emphasized the MDR for some time.  

On the newer ships even the entertainment has improved vastly.  If there’s a reason, I say give NCL a try.

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I wouldn’t be concerned about climbing the crown and anchor ladder.  We are now Diamond after our recent Oasis cruise where we were still emerald but only used the buy one photo, get the second half off coupons.  Emerald embarkation sped things up by a few minutes too.  Others may utilize more of the benefits but not much there for us.   Don’t see much changing now that we are diamond.  Really, really hoping the 3 happy hour drink coupons will be enough to sway us away from the drink packages.  Along with doing most of our drinking in port.  Still have to do the math there.  We have a 2019 Harmony sailing booked but after that we will look into other lines.  

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1 hour ago, JLMoran said:

still shooting for something actually in January if it can time with my actual birthday

Joe,

Here's something to think about. The weather in January sailing out of Bayonne or New York City is going to SUCK big time. Then you will be faced with the open Atlantic Ocean and at that time of the year......not fun. Why not hold off a couple of months (April/May, better weather) and go for it then with Royal or those other folks. Have a nice 50th at home and then go crazy on the cruise without the weather worry. :27_sunglasses:

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14 minutes ago, rjac said:

Joe,

Here's something to think about. The weather in January sailing out of Bayonne or New York City is going to SUCK big time. Then you will be faced with the open Atlantic Ocean and at that time of the year......not fun. Why not hold off a couple of months (April/May, better weather) and go for it then with Royal or those other folks. Have a nice 50th at home and then go crazy on the cruise without the weather worry. :27_sunglasses:

@rjac, depending on when my budget allows me to actually be able to book, that may very well happen. Since I’m trying to book when the kids are (hopefully) available, and I now have one in college who will be on a different break schedule than the new high schooler, start of January seemed like the best time in “shoulder season” to make a go of it. Especially since it would line up well with the actual Big Day. ?

If I can’t swing January, I may go for a CA/NE cruise at the end of August before the school year starts, or in October for a foliage trip if the school calendars work out. Or if I just can’t find a time that lines up, I’ll just book the wife and me and make the kids all jealous. ?

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14 minutes ago, JLMoran said:

Or if I just can’t find a time that lines up, I’ll just book the wife and me and make the kids all jealous. 

This is the best option! ? JK...maybe not...

Here's another thought...maybe hold off for a bit, see what @Matt announces for the 2020 GC and maybe we can finally go on one together and toast your belated bday with sail away margaritas!  Some Insiders are pushing for another NE sailing for 2020....hint hint @Matt ? 

 

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I got a reply from my TA, this is what she had to say, which I would say lines up with the linked comparison that @Lovetocruise2002 so helpfully put here:

Quote

I like to equate NCL to a three star hotel - has everything you need and is comfortable, but it's nothing fancy. No over the top service, etc. I'd equate Royal to a 4 star hotel. A bit nicer, a touch better service, but still not top of the line. 

That being said, the Bliss is changing things. The ship is gorgeous and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend her. There are a ton of new activities on board to keep you occupied during sea days, and the cabins are gorgeous. I can't speak to the service level as I haven't sailed her myself, however on their other ships the service is adequate. One thing I can assume would be the same is that NCL's other ships tend to have a louder more 'party' vibe at the pools (unless you're staying in the Haven, which is phenomenal), so that's something to think about. Some people love it, others, not so much.

So I’m not going to rule it out yet, but I’ll definitely have to dig deeper before making any decision. And as @Lovetocruise2002 noted, it might well be wise to wait for the 2020 GC announcements before pulling any triggers.

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Just now, JLMoran said:

I got a reply from my TA, this is what she had to say, which I would say lines up with the linked comparison that @Lovetocruise2002 so helpfully put here:

So I’m not going to rule it out yet, but I’ll definitely have to dig deeper before making any decision. And as @Lovetocruise2002 noted, it might well be wise to wait for the 2020 GC announcements before pulling any triggers.

I'm really hoping he does something July 2020 or after cause I will be there!

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I too have been considering other options. I will be emerald after our september cruise on Oasis, and have only been on one 7 night carnival cruise. The food on carnival was better but I didn't fit in with the person type on board (not much of an obnoxious partier). Even after becoming Diamond and getting the happy hour and drink coupons I can't see my wife and I booking a cruise without the drink package. Not so much because we drink a whole lot but because it's really nice to have drinks paid for months in advance and not have to count dollars with how many drinks we have. So all this time building up crown and anchor points kind of feels like a waste at this point. I might have to venture to the unknown at some point. Royals pay for all the extra food is ridiculous. Carnival has guys burgers which I've heard nothing bad about and royal has sorrentos pizza which no one likes. If your going to have a standalone pizza place it should be really good pizza. If it was a restaurant it would be long out of business.

I say try norwegian just for the new ports of call. We went to grand turk on carnival and it has probably been my favorite port. 

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Not a crazy idea!  I was also comparing Oasis class to NCL to MSC for spring break 2020 this week.  For what I was looking at NCL was actually higher than Oasis and since pools are a huge feature for my family that was quickly axed.  Here are a few of my thoughts since I have no experience:

1.  I compare cruises by price per person per night.  In that case, Anthem balconies would be the cheapest at $113 ppn and the JR suite option would be the highest at 181ppn.  $113 per night per person is very cheap for RC.  NCL is a good deal being about $143 ppn in the balconies with mini suite about $157 ppn.  That gives you a base rate when adding things like drinks, voom, etc.

2.  While there is free wifi in NCL, it is only 250 minutes for both kids for 14 days or 8.9 minutes per day per child.  I can't imagine you won't be paying for more wifi at some point in the cruise.   NCL says the savings is $125 but if you need to buy another 250 minutes for $125 thats pretty close to a voom device for 1 and there is still a limit to the minutes.

3. Now for ports.  Are ALL the NCL ports actually somewhere you want to go? I know Ocho Rios is one and I would imagine the Falls or Blue Hole would be difficult for you because of your knee.  If you won't get off the ship, then that port becomes a wash.  Also when I think of ports, I just think extra expense.  At $50 -$100 per person per excursion more, that can eat up any saving however the experience may be worth it to you.

4.  The go cart track is outside. It may not be able to be used for 2-3 days each way due to weather.  You may be wishing for indoor things to do.

5.  Now this may be different for you but I have to balance my soon to be college daughter's desire to be home to see her friends at home with my desire to be away on a vacation.  Mine wouldn't want to go for 14 days but we could compromise on the shorter cruise.

The beauty of the decision is that you can't go wrong!  Time with the family is the best and becomes more precious when they go to college!

 

 

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20 minutes ago, Jason.H. said:

I too have been considering other options. I will be emerald after our september cruise on Oasis, and have only been on one 7 night carnival cruise. The food on carnival was better but I didn't fit in with the person type on board (not much of an obnoxious partier). Even after becoming Diamond and getting the happy hour and drink coupons I can't see my wife and I booking a cruise without the drink package. Not so much because we drink a whole lot but because it's really nice to have drinks paid for months in advance and not have to count dollars with how many drinks we have. So all this time building up crown and anchor points kind of feels like a waste at this point. I might have to venture to the unknown at some point. Royals pay for all the extra food is ridiculous. Carnival has guys burgers which I've heard nothing bad about and royal has sorrentos pizza which no one likes. If your going to have a standalone pizza place it should be really good pizza. If it was a restaurant it would be long out of business.

I say try norwegian just for the new ports of call. We went to grand turk on carnival and it has probably been my favorite port. 

I feel the same about the drink package.  But I have to say that just got off of Oasis and thought the pizza at Sorrentos was great! Definitely think they are doing something different now, at least on Oasis.  Completely different pizza than any other cruise that we have been on. 

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while we haven't cruised on NCL yet ( looking into it) , my humble opinion is your 50th birthday is a big deal man!    I'll hit that milestone this year myself.    With that in mind, i would tend to lean more towards having a great time on a familiar line that you're already comfortable with.  This helps to avoid any whoopsies in case NCL just isn't for you.    Save the NCL cruise for another time when it wouldn't be as big of a deal or tarnish the memories of your 50th if something was out of sorts.     

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21 minutes ago, Todd W said:

while we haven't cruised on NCL yet ( looking into it) , my humble opinion is your 50th birthday is a big deal man!    I'll hit that milestone this year myself.    With that in mind, i would tend to lean more towards having a great time on a familiar line that you're already comfortable with.  This helps to avoid any whoopsies in case NCL just isn't for you.    Save the NCL cruise for another time when it wouldn't be as big of a deal or tarnish the memories of your 50th if something was out of sorts.     

Great point!  Would never even have thought of it from that angle!

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It never hurts to consider other options. 

My only NCL experience is so long ago it's not relevant any longer.  When I've looked at NCL in the past, before becoming Loyal2Royal, my research led me to a couple of conclusions. 

By and large the experience is more similar than not.  The devil is in the details.

Free at sea isn't really free, it's bundled into the cost.  Any time I narrowed it down to a specific ship and sailing then compared costs the age old proven rule came to light - nothing in life is free.  That's for me and my purchasing habits.  I'm sure for some people the bundles work out for them.  Once in a while you can find a deal that is an outlier.  It seems people point to these like they are rule but any time I priced out an exact sail date it was never one of those outliers. 

Mini-suites in my research led me to conclude it's just a slightly bigger balcony cabin.  Not really a suite and shouldn't be compared to a JS on Royal. 

When looking at NCL there are great variations from ship to ship.  You really need to focus on one ship and reviews for that ship.  While Royal's fleet has evolved and you can clearly see that evolution from class to class, NCL ships are more random.  In some cases they acquired a ship when another company went broke mid-construction so they started with someone else's design and adapted it to NCL on the fly.  They've also experimented more in design so it isn't an evolution so much as "... and now for something completely different" .   There is nothing wrong with that, but those experiments haven't always worked out so well.  Turns out there is a reason no other cruise line tried some of them.

NCL internet packages don't work for me.  There are many people who love to completely disconnect when cruising.  For those people the internet plans on any line are irrelevant.  I could never work from an NCL ship like I can on Royal.  Like the ship design, internet across the NCL fleet is wildly different from one ship to the next.  The newer ships have decent internet but the older ships have really bad internet.  250 free minutes of really bad internet is just really bad.  They've simply made no attempt to modernize internet across the fleet like Royal did in 2013. 

As far as loyalty programs, for my needs Royal is still tops but that is what I look for in a loyalty program.  I've sailed five lines.  I suppose had I never tried any other line I'd be further ahead compared to where I am now but I am where I am.  In the end it hasn't stunted my advancement in C&A that much.  Competition is a good thing.  It keep Royal in check.  Please sail other lines.  Every time someone doesn't book Royal it lowers demand and causes Royal to lower prices (or keep them from increasing).  That's a good thing and I thank you for taking one for the team.

A cruise is what you make it.  If someone gave me a free cruise on NCL's worst ship I'd still have a great time and not because it was free, rather because I don't do bad cruises.   

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13 minutes ago, twangster said:

 

A cruise is what you make it.  If someone gave me a free cruise on NCL's worst ship I'd still have a great time and not because it was free, rather because I don't do bad cruises.   

Well said!  I completely agree.

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This is a tough call. I have also been very tempted by Norweigan, particularly the Bliss. It seems to be the ship that comes closest to matching Royal Caribbean's Oasis and Quantum classes. After trying out Carnival for the first time on my last cruise I definitely prefer Royal Caribbean over them, but it was still a blast and I don't regret giving them a try. They did a handful of things better than Royal, and now I know what to expect from Carnival in the future. I wouldn't worry too much about what line it is and focus more on the ship features and ports. Since I haven't been on many cruises in general when I am choosing one I try to go on a ship that I have never been on. I don't think you can go wrong in this case because either way you will be experiencing a new ship with new experiences you haven't had before. I think you are choosing between some of the best ships in the industry so you can't go wrong! If it were my decision I would pick the cheaper option and roll the savings into an extra experience like a special shore excursion or something, but that's just me.

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I recently sailed NCL Escape and NCL Getaway (sister and 1/2 sister to Bliss), have not sailed on a Quantum class to provide a direct comparison to Anthem though.

I would say Escape/Bliss are better than Breakaway/Getaway, they added more bar/dining options that turned a good ship (Breakaway class) into a really good ship (Breakaway plus class).

Would also echo the comment that the newer NCL (and Carnival) ships are very very close to the Royal alternatives. They are all new, they all have lots of bells and whistles, etc.

Something to consider would be how much the balcony means to you vs. a larger/better cabin ... we did a cabin called the "Family Oceanview" IIRC that had a lot more space and a much better bathroom configuration .... I sometimes get my ships confused but pretty sure that cabin had two bathrooms .. one with a sink and a shower/bathtub and the other with the toilet, sink and shower. The room was also larger than normal. We found the combination of second bathroom and more floor space to be easily more valuable than the balcony.

Onboard activities on Escape were great ... I would say shows slightly below Royal (although the headliner show is probably pretty close). Comedy club was awesome. We went into it a little skeptical of the whole "no MDR" concept but frankly loved the flexibility.

Assuming price to be roughly even I would take Bliss over everything Freedom class and below on Royal without question. Throwing in the (almost) free at sea promo I would probably take Bliss over Oasis class at even money (IE Bliss+Drinks = O Class).

Happy to try and answer any specific questions you have, keeping in mind Escape and Bliss are similar but not completely identical.

 

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One thing I noticed on Epic (which is the last NCL ship I cruised on) was that the balconies were much smaller (shallower) than any Royal Caribbean ship I have ever sailed on.  I also recognize that the Epic is a horrible ship which nobody really cares for.  I am actually interested in trying one of the newer NCL ships and I appreciate jti's analysis.  Once I get to Florida when I will no longer have to fly to get to a cruise ship, I will probably diversify a bit - just for research purposes, of course !

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Took a look at floorplans to remind myself which ship is which ... NCL Escape did NOT have the second bathroom but did have the tub in Family Oceanview cabin. Cabin was bigger than normal though. Still agree with my own conclusion though but wanted to correct that statement. The twin bathroom configuration is Carnival Vista/Horizon.

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This is all great input, appreciate it! I definitely agree with @Todd W about the importance of the occasion and not wanting to risk a bad experience. And that ties in with @rjac's earlier point about the likelihood of rough seas heading down and coming back; I still remember hearing the account on a recent Cruise Radio podcast about how a woman was on an NCL ship when the nor'easters hit this past winter, and how horrible that experience was as the ship captain didn't seem to be doing a good job of steering around it or at least doing whatever was in his power to mitigate the conditions! Not sure if a Royal ship would have fared any better, though they'd have been more aware with their dedicated meteorologists. But I definitely would be willing to risk that as I'm really coming to hate winters in NJ, and any chance for a break from the bitter cold would be welcome.

If this weren't a Caribbean itinerary I'd consider a non-balcony room, but being able to go out on the balcony and lounge with a drink in privacy while the waves go past is amazing. My whole family agrees that a balcony room is pretty much a "must have" for a cruise.

The comments about the wifi are definitely concerning. But one of JimZim's videos indicated the wifi on Bliss was actually faster than his wifi at home in California, so it certainly sounds like that ship is on some very good O3b or similar. And when I checked just now I saw that NCL does offer an unlimited streaming package, although at $30 per day for one device (lower rate for sailings of 13 nights or longer) it's double the rate of Royal's offering. But the fact they offer that would steer me to the 4-night dining package option for the "Free at Sea", along with the beverage package, rather than 250 minutes of wifi.

I definitely have to do all the math on this as part of the cost comparison, just to get things equalized. Will probably take some time for that this weekend, around the girls' graduation party on Saturday.

 

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Oh, and I'm also definitely waiting to hear Matt's announcements on 2020 GC offerings before I pull any triggers. That obviously depends on when Royal releases new itineraries for that year past April, since that's as far as the current offerings go. IF there's going to be a Cape Liberty-based GC, I'd assume that won't be until the summer.

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So this was interesting. I took some time today to do as @melski94 suggested and worked out the prices on a "per person per day" basis -- and NCL won for every cabin class comparison on both of those itineraries.

First, the Anthem 11-night sailing (which currently has a flash sale with a $200 discount on all staterooms I checked):

  • $139.27 pp/pd ($148.36 without the flash sale) for a 3D or 4D deck 7 mid-ship OV Balcony room
    • If I go with deck 9 or higher, that adds $40 pp/pd
    • If I go fore or aft, it's $80.50 less pp/pd
  • $226.27 pp/pd ($235.36 without the flash sale) for a J4 Junior Suite on the deck 7 bump (I'm still considering this since there is one of these and a 4D Balcony right next to it)

Now here's NCL's 14-night Western Caribbean (which is the one I'm leaning more towards; partly because it's a bit less, partly because the first week is New Year's week so the at least my college kid should still be out of school, partly because it's 100% new ports with a sea day after the first couple port days). All prices are with the current "Free at Sea" promo, which ends tomorrow; I expect these prices will change on Tuesday unless they re-up the "Free at Sea" offer and just eliminate the current reduced deposit of $100 pp:

  • $135.64 pp/pd for a regular Balcony room
  • $149.93 pp/pd for a mid-ship Mini-Suite
    • I agree this room category is equivalent to one of Royal's regular OV Balcony rooms, or at most a spacious OV Balcony
    • Using that as the comparison point, this NCL room is $10 more per person per day than the 4D RCI Balcony room
    • Without the current flash sale, the mini-suite is only $1.57 more per day than the RCI 4D balcony
  • $174.21 pp/pd for a Spa Balcony (same as regular balcony for size, but gives cruise-long access to the ship's thermal suite)
  • $184.21 pp/pd for a Spa Mini-Suite (also gives cruise-long access to the thermal spa)

The 14-night Southern (Eastern) Caribbean itinerary on Bliss is $7 - $8 more per person per day than the Western itinerary for the equivalent stateroom.

A key point with these rates -- Since this includes the "Free at Sea" offer, I'm coming out ahead by a pretty decent amount. Assuming I took the drink package and 4-night dining options on one room, and dining with excursion credit on the other room (since the kids would still both be minors and I'd get some lower-end wifi package for them), I'm coming out ahead by $1,456 vs. having to buy a deluxe beverage package for myself, 3 Refreshment Packages for wife and kids, and a 4-night dining package for the four of us on Royal; that ain't chump change! But I do have to get that Free at Sea offer or I'll be buying all beverages a la carte and keeping a close eye on the total tab.

I also should note that unlike Royal's Deluxe or Refreshment packages, none of the drink packages on NCL are described as including specialty coffees, so there's an expense we'd still have to add; and the soda-only package is like Royal's soda-only package, so no mocktails for the kids or my wife without paying.

In addition, Royal comes out somewhere between decently and far ahead on Internet costs -- $561 for a 4-device VOOM Surf and Stream package using the current $51/day rate I see on Anthem, vs paying a minimum of $700 for four of the lowest-end "Social Media" internet packages (which are presumably closer to Surf than Surf and Stream, although that could be enough since we would mostly be using it for messaging, and don't really need to be able to access Netflix or YouTube).

So far the pricing on NCL is definitely competitive for this sailing, including the initial deposit ($1,000 instead of $1,800 for the Anthem trip). If the prices don't go up too much over the next couple of months and they offer another Free at Sea promo when I'm available to book, I may well snag this one on a refundable rate if Matt hasn't posted anything about 2020 group cruises yet. I'd prefer if I could get another reduced deposit promo as well, so I could just put down $400 instead of $1,000, but even $1,000 is still a lot better than Royal's required $1,800. I know Royal has also offered reduced deposits once or twice a year for certain bookings, but I'm not going to wait on either one once I have the window to book.

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I have been on Norwegian to Alaska six times. I like NCL. The food is excellent. NCL was one of the first to bring sushi to their buffet. I went to the chocolate buffet, it was amazing. They have a lot of specialty restaurants. I have been on Cunard, Princess, Holland, Carnival, Royal and Greek cruise lines. It is always good to be able to compare cruise lines for yourself.

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My experience echoes your pricing exercise, I typically see slightly cheaper but generally comparable fares on NCL , but then you throw in the Free at Sea promos and you have a pretty substantial savings.

In regards to dining, if you are a sit down at 5.30 every night and get to know your waitstaff then you will be disappointed with NCL. If you aren't worried about that you wont have any issues. Our first NCL (Escape) we just winged it, ended up in a mix of MDR and O'Sheehans for the most part, both with minimal wait times and decent food. I think we paid to do the steakhouse one night (only because we had a steakhouse junky with us and she needed a fix). The second time (Getaway) we (I) planned much more and made reservations ahead of time since we had the free specialty dining option along with the free beverage option. We did the Steakhouse, Seafood , Brazilian Steakhouse and the Dinner and a Show Cirque du Soleil type show. MDR for thanksgiving itself and free options/buffets to fill in the rest. 

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I’ve personally never cruised with them before, however my parents who have been on 30+ cruises with various companies say as others have said above - tiny balcony and bathroom plus poor food compared to others. My brother and his family have also gone with NCL, but many years back and prefers RCI. I am tempted with the new ship Bliss, but I keep thinking about the cruise credits I’d miss out on which would take me to Diamond.

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This really has been interesting to read.  I truly am wanting to try something new ships but the royal ships seem to be following me (2x freedom, 2 times vision after next summer)!  I'm slowly reaching the conclusion, though, that my road to diamond free drinks shouldn't be only with that goal in mind.  If another line seems good, I will go for it because I will likely never cruise enough for diamond plus etc.   Right now though, I'm not really tempted except for someday I will try Disney in hurricane season so I can afford it.  Itinerary is going to be the huge deciding factor though, since that is the most important to my husband.  I would love to see a 2020 group cruise at the end of July so we could go!!!  Anyway none of this really helps you Joe, just letting you know that whatever you decide, you will have a great trip!  50 is a great milestone (my husband will celebrate his this year on our France Viking River Cruise)! 

   I feel the family time crunch too... Last year my 2 college kids had 2 different spring break, while we at home had a 3rd.  We finally decided that the college kids were out of luck and we crossed without them.  It was weird, and we missed them, but not enough to stay home!  Jane

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9 hours ago, mom2mybugs said:

 Right now though, I'm not really tempted except for someday I will try Disney in hurricane season so I can afford it.  Itinerary is going to be the huge deciding factor though, since that is the most important to my husband.  

Jane, I know you are a huge Disney fan, but the Disney cruises are really over-rated and overpriced.  Even at hurricane season!  We cruise them 3 times. Twice at the end of August (hurricane season) and once at the beginning of December.  The price was crazy all three times!  The two times we cruise them in August, I could have probably sailed in a CLS with RC for the same price.  The time in December was equivalent to the price of a GS.  All three times we were in a standard balcony in DCL.

Even activity wise, unless you are a kid, it is not the same as going to Disney world.

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Hurricane season isn't any cheaper.  June, July and August are peak because school is out and its the summer.  In September and October there is often a dip in price but it isn't because of hurricane season, it's because school is back in after Labor Day which lowers demand.  Same for a few weeks between US Thanksgiving and Christmas.  It's often cheaper because demand is lower with everyone focused on the holidays coming up.  

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5 minutes ago, twangster said:

Hurricane season isn't any cheaper.

To expand on this...for DCL at least, this is 100% correct.  From September 2017-August 2018, our cruising calendar was wide open for the first time ever.  We knew we wanted to do a large family cruise on DCL.  As soon as schedules were released, my sisters and I combed through every single sailing for that time period and the lowest rate we found was actually the first week of December.  I was slightly surprised at the time as I had long thought that September/October was going to be our best bet.  After booking for early December (we booked a year and a half out when schedules were first released), I continued to monitor prices and September/October rates never dropped below our December rate.

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19 hours ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

Jane, I know you are a huge Disney fan, but the Disney cruises are really over-rated and overpriced.  Even at hurricane season!  We cruise them 3 times. Twice at the end of August (hurricane season) and once at the beginning of December.  The price was crazy all three times!  The two times we cruise them in August, I could have probably sailed in a CLS with RC for the same price.  The time in December was equivalent to the price of a GS.  All three times we were in a standard balcony in DCL.

Even activity wise, unless you are a kid, it is not the same as going to Disney world.

I know...it would have to be the off season and a very rich relative would have to leave me a ton of money lol!  It really would have to be a tremendous deal.  Right now with Europe planned for next summer (vision) and the river cruise this summer we are really going budget.  I think the oasis for 2020 just turned into rhapsody... It was literally almost half the price and I will just wait on the oasis class for a couple years until my youngest is in college and we aren't paying for her too!  Jane

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33 minutes ago, princevaliantus said:

Note: BEWARE as NCL's "Free at Sea" offer for free wifi is for 250 mins ONLY!!  PLEASE read the fine print and if it does not say "unlimited wifi", then after the free 250 mins, you are going to pay a per minute rate. Do not get caught out there like so many do.

Since I am in the 'stay connected while cruising' camp, this was a major factor in my decision to stay loyal with Royal.  I used to buy the minute plans on Carnival before they offered whole voyage plans and it is such a PITA.  You can go through your bucket of minutes pretty quickly and you have to be diligent about signing out or before you know it you've emptied your bucket.  In the line at guest services there was always someone who was arguing they DID sign out but all their minutes were gone.

I'll add to this that on some NCL ships this is painfully slow internet, like worse than dial up slow.  When it takes 1 - 2 minutes to load a single web page you can burn through your allotted minutes very quickly.  It may be "free" but you get what you pay for. 

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2 hours ago, princevaliantus said:

Note: BEWARE as NCL's "Free at Sea" offer for free wifi is for 250 mins ONLY!!  PLEASE read the fine print and if it does not say "unlimited wifi", then after the free 250 mins, you are going to pay a per minute rate. Do not get caught out there like so many do.

Yes, saw that and already figured if I went with that I would do the beverage and dining package options. Their wifi packages for full-trip ain't cheap, at least for their fastest speed options that allow access to any site (which would be needed for live blogging here), but as noted above when I did a cost breakdown, the savings on drink and dining package vs royal along with the near-equal base fare works out well enough that buying the Internet package isn't as painful as it might otherwise be.

The real question for me, after thinking about it some more, would be how much excursions on a total of eight ports would run me. I always forget to include this when I'm thinking about initial budgets, and that's definitely something I need to keep in mind before I pull any triggers on either of these options.

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4 hours ago, twangster said:

Since I am in the 'stay connected while cruising' camp, this was a major factor in my decision to stay loyal with Royal.

Since I am right along in this camp as well, I can also add in that this is a huge draw for me with Royal.  IMO, Royal trumps all the others (even if VOOM isn't the greatest on some ships) for Internet simply because it is unlimited once purchased.  Hopefully that doesn't not change.  Even with MSC, which we just purchased Wi-Fi for yesterday, their package is generous but we will still have to keep an eye on our usage and turn off background refresh etc.  I hate to having to watch usage while on vacation so this is where RC has everyone else beat (for now).

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Also beware on NCL that "Free at Sea" still will add several hundreds of dollars to your cruise fare if you choose drink package and specialty dining.  It may still come out even because you have to get the drink package on Royal but I just wanted to point it out.

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