|
|
Post by eegram on Sept 7, 2023 8:15:27 GMT -5
Has anyone cruised on NCL? They have some very interesting Mediterranean itineraries that we are considering for a 2025 cruise however I have never cruised with them before. I have only experienced Carnival, Royal Caribbean and of course Disney. We are interested in the Italy/Greece 10 day cruise itineraries. Looking for any feedback from experienced cruisers. The review from the internet are not real promising and the rating from some of the Cruise travel rating agencies is only average.
What are the cabins like?
Are the ships overcrowded?
Is the service good?
Thanks for any feedback.
|
|
|
|
Post by tomandrobin on Sept 7, 2023 11:02:53 GMT -5
Oh oh oh.....I got this one.
We have been one two NCL cruises. First time was 12 years ago to the Greek Isles from Venice. The second was this past May to Alaska.
We had a great time on both cruises. Both we had access to the Haven. The first was thru a backdoor booking aft an Aft cabin, the second was booking a direect Haven Suite in the Aft.
We had great service on both ships.
One ship was new, one was an older class.
We never felt too crowded on either ship.
Going to lunch.....be back
|
|
|
|
Post by BWV Dreamin on Sept 7, 2023 12:06:41 GMT -5
Yes just sailed on NCL Encore in May to Alaska. I would stay with the breakaway plus class ships ( Encore, Joy, Bliss). They are newer and have a pretty good ship layout. The new ships, Viva and Prima, have different dining venues and bigger standard balcony cabins. But the ship is a little more chopped up, and pools small.
That said, once the itineraries are out for 2025, I will be booking a cruise on NCL from the Port of Baltimore. They have Bermuda and Canada/New England coast sailings from there. And for me, I can drive to the port! The NCL Sun is what will be sailing from Baltimore. And older ship, but I know what to expect.
|
|
|
|
Post by eegram on Sept 7, 2023 19:55:29 GMT -5
Yes just sailed on NCL Encore in May to Alaska. I would stay with the breakaway plus class ships ( Encore, Joy, Bliss). They are newer and have a pretty good ship layout. The new ships, Viva and Prima, have different dining venues and bigger standard balcony cabins. But the ship is a little more chopped up, and pools small. That said, once the itineraries are out for 2025, I will be booking a cruise on NCL from the Port of Baltimore. They have Bermuda and Canada/New England coast sailings from there. And for me, I can drive to the port! The NCL Sun is what will be sailing from Baltimore. And older ship, but I know what to expect. Do you use a Travel Agent to book your cruises or do you book directly with the Cruise Line? |
|
|
|
Post by eegram on Sept 7, 2023 20:01:11 GMT -5
Oh oh oh.....I got this one. We have been one two NCL cruises. First time was 12 years ago to the Greek Isles from Venice. The second was this past May to Alaska. We had a great time on both cruises. Both we had access to the Haven. The first was thru a backdoor booking aft an Aft cabin, the second was booking a direect Haven Suite in the Aft. We had great service on both ships. One ship was new, one was an older class. We never felt too crowded on either ship. Going to lunch.....be back I am glad to hear that the service was good. I am just now starting the research into the cruise line so I am not sure about the different categories of cabins yet. I will definitely look into the Haven suite though. We are most likely going to need 2 adjoining cabins and we definitely want a balcony! |
|
|
|
Post by amdev on Sept 8, 2023 6:01:43 GMT -5
We also sailed the NCL Encore to Alaska this summer. We enjoyed it so much we too are looking at NCL European cruise for 2025. The service in the dining/bars was great; our room host was a but lacking but they no longer do turn-down service (unless requested) so we really didn't see much of him.
We had an aft-facing balcony and felt the room was a bit smaller than DCL but it was a nice and comfortable room. The food was great and to us the ship never really felt very crowded. We did use a travel agent. It just seems the safest option if anything were to go wrong.
|
|
|
|
Post by tomandrobin on Sept 8, 2023 9:16:10 GMT -5
Yes just sailed on NCL Encore in May to Alaska. I would stay with the breakaway plus class ships ( Encore, Joy, Bliss). They are newer and have a pretty good ship layout. The new ships, Viva and Prima, have different dining venues and bigger standard balcony cabins. But the ship is a little more chopped up, and pools small. That said, once the itineraries are out for 2025, I will be booking a cruise on NCL from the Port of Baltimore. They have Bermuda and Canada/New England coast sailings from there. And for me, I can drive to the port! The NCL Sun is what will be sailing from Baltimore. And older ship, but I know what to expect. Those new NCL itineraries from Baltimore look great. Only problem is they are on older ships as you already know. I was surprised that the are sailing from Baltimore, but added have two ships with offerings. The one-way sailings really caught my eye, but I don't have the spare vacation time. We are doing a NCL sailing in Feb 2025 that leaves Galveston....Roatan, Belize, Costa Maya, Harvest Caye and Cozumel. We have not been to most of those places and its been on our list to see.
I like the look of the Viva and Prima, but no itineraries currently fit our schedules. I would love to tour the ships, if they ever come available.
When we sailed in the Med, we were on the Jade (part of the jewel class) Its a medium size ship and its layout and amenities are decent, just not over the top like the new ships.
|
|
|
|
Post by tomandrobin on Sept 8, 2023 9:23:20 GMT -5
I am glad to hear that the service was good. I am just now starting the research into the cruise line so I am not sure about the different categories of cabins yet. I will definitely look into the Haven suite though. We are most likely going to need 2 adjoining cabins and we definitely want a balcony! For the Med, a balcony is a must. We preferred the Aft Cabin so that we can see both sides of whatever port we are in or sailing near. Plus the balconies tend to be deeper and wider. On the older NCL ships, some of the AFT cabins are slightly larger then the rest and qualify for Haven status. For the extra cost, you get some nice upgrades like for on/off the ship, butler, dedicated concierge, private dining for breakfast and lunch, upgraded dining, etc. Some of these may not seem like a big deal. But on our Med cruise, a few of the ports required tenders. As a Haven guest we got off first. Even though we didn't want the Butler on our Med cruise, he actually came in handy a few times. The Med sailings are smoother then open ocean cruises, so cabin location is not as important of a factor.
|
|
|
|
Post by BWV Dreamin on Sept 8, 2023 10:11:11 GMT -5
Yes just sailed on NCL Encore in May to Alaska. I would stay with the breakaway plus class ships ( Encore, Joy, Bliss). They are newer and have a pretty good ship layout. The new ships, Viva and Prima, have different dining venues and bigger standard balcony cabins. But the ship is a little more chopped up, and pools small. That said, once the itineraries are out for 2025, I will be booking a cruise on NCL from the Port of Baltimore. They have Bermuda and Canada/New England coast sailings from there. And for me, I can drive to the port! The NCL Sun is what will be sailing from Baltimore. And older ship, but I know what to expect. Those new NCL itineraries from Baltimore look great. Only problem is they are on older ships as you already know. I was surprised that the are sailing from Baltimore, but added have two ships with offerings. The one-way sailings really caught my eye, but I don't have the spare vacation time. We are doing a NCL sailing in Feb 2025 that leaves Galveston....Roatan, Belize, Costa Maya, Harvest Caye and Cozumel. We have not been to most of those places and its been on our list to see.
I like the look of the Viva and Prima, but no itineraries currently fit our schedules. I would love to tour the ships, if they ever come available.
When we sailed in the Med, we were on the Jade (part of the jewel class) Its a medium size ship and its layout and amenities are decent, just not over the top like the new ships.
What ship are you sailing out of Galveston? I have never been to those ports either. Just a FYI, if you’re stopping at Harvest Cay ( think that’s the name) you can’t use the drink package on that island. We are booked on the Celebrity Reflection ( Solstice class ship) in Jan 2025 to the ABC islands. Have never been to those islands. Got a great deal on this cruise, but after booking this cruise, Celebrity has cut back on a lot of things as well as increasing their prices. Will probably be the only Celebrity cruise we sail in the future. |
|
|
|
Post by tomandrobin on Sept 9, 2023 7:06:52 GMT -5
What ship are you sailing out of Galveston? I have never been to those ports either. Just a FYI, if you’re stopping at Harvest Cay ( think that’s the name) you can’t use the drink package on that island. We are booked on the Celebrity Reflection ( Solstice class ship) in Jan 2025 to the ABC islands. Have never been to those islands. Got a great deal on this cruise, but after booking this cruise, Celebrity has cut back on a lot of things as well as increasing their prices. Will probably be the only Celebrity cruise we sail in the future. We will be on the NCL Escape, the first Breakaway Plus ship (built in 20150. Yes, we are aware of the upcharges on Harvest Caye, most cruise line's private islands have them.
The Reflection is a really nice ship. We have only been on one Celebrity ship and that is when we did our Southern Caribbean cruise. Ironically, that cruise did not include any of the ABC islands. We have been to Aruba twice and that island was very nice. Two things I will say about our Celebrity cruise - 1) The food and service was outstanding. By far the best of the cruises we have sailed. 2) The overall age of the cruisers were older then us, which was fine. But there was almost no night life on the ship after 8:30pm......like everyone went to bed. I can recall several evenings sitting in the lounges with our travel buddies and no one was there except us four at 9pm.
|
|
|
|
Post by BWV Dreamin on Sept 9, 2023 7:17:42 GMT -5
What ship are you sailing out of Galveston? I have never been to those ports either. Just a FYI, if you’re stopping at Harvest Cay ( think that’s the name) you can’t use the drink package on that island. We are booked on the Celebrity Reflection ( Solstice class ship) in Jan 2025 to the ABC islands. Have never been to those islands. Got a great deal on this cruise, but after booking this cruise, Celebrity has cut back on a lot of things as well as increasing their prices. Will probably be the only Celebrity cruise we sail in the future. We will be on the NCL Escape, the first Breakaway Plus ship (built in 20150. Yes, we are aware of the upcharges on Harvest Caye, most cruise line's private islands have them.
The Reflection is a really nice ship. We have only been on one Celebrity ship and that is when we did our Southern Caribbean cruise. Ironically, that cruise did not include any of the ABC islands. We have been to Aruba twice and that island was very nice. Two things I will say about our Celebrity cruise - 1) The food and service was outstanding. By far the best of the cruises we have sailed. 2) The overall age of the cruisers were older then us, which was fine. But there was almost no night life on the ship after 8:30pm......like everyone went to bed. I can recall several evenings sitting in the lounges with our travel buddies and no one was there except us four at 9pm.
I am hoping that has changed. We found this to also be true on HAL. But the newer ships are attracting a younger crowd, and the activities are changing as well. We shall see! The Beyond and Ascent are Celebrity’s newest ships. I hate the infinity balconies so will not be looking at those ships anytime soon. I am excited to sail NCL out of Baltimore. Hoping they release the 2025 sailings soon. |
|
