Dreams Unlimited Travel Podcast: Vacationing with Norwegian Cruise Line

[hertamaniac]

You can transfer an existing cruise to Dreams Unlimited Travel and get our Shipboard Credit BUT there are certain criteria that must be met for RCCL to allow the transfer.

Send me an email at John@DreamsUnlimitedTravel.com and we will see if it qualifies.

If it doesn't we could always reprice it for you and if we can get the same/lower price you can cancel and rebook with Dreams and get our Shipboard Credit.

Edited: I just e-mailed you.

We are already booked on one NCL cruise this December and are looking at just booked another in April of 2022 both out of Canaveral.

 

[mufasa0505]

This was a great episode. I love DCL but they are starting to price me out and I've been exploring the idea of NCL and RC lately.

 

[hertamaniac]

It appears that NCL is sending non-essential employees back to their home countries (repatriated). This is audio only from the Captain, but could be telling of a little more delay before returning to cruising operations.

 

[OKW Lover]

This was a great episode. I love DCL but they are starting to price me out and I've been exploring the idea of NCL and RC lately.

Haven't yet watched the episode but wanted to respond to the DCL pricing you out of the market part. We've pretty much switched to RCL for that exact reason. We can get a Suite on RCL for perhaps half what a concierge room on DCL would be for essentially the same cruise itinerary.

 

[hertamaniac]

Haven't yet watched the episode but wanted to respond to the DCL pricing you out of the market part. We've pretty much switched to RCL for that exact reason. We can get a Suite on RCL for perhaps half what a concierge room on DCL would be for essentially the same cruise itinerary.

We have wanted to do a DCL cruise for a few years, but the cost delta is just too high for our justification. I am sure the experience/quality/service is outstanding, however I am not sure it is ~3X more outstanding.

 

[CampbellzSoup]

JOHN WHEN CAN WE CRUISE AGAIN

 

[rchristiansen]

We have wanted to do a DCL cruise for a few years, but the cost delta is just too high for our justification. I am sure the experience/quality/service is outstanding, however I am not sure it is ~3X more outstanding.

I actually prefer NCL to DCL. There is so much more to do on NCL. I thought the service was the same on both. I think you’re just paying for the “brand label”.

 

[rchristiansen]

This is a great video that gives perspective of what an NCL ship is like:

She's got videos of a few of the decks

 

[Pens Fan]

We also have switched to NCL due to the price of DCL. We've loved the three NCL cruises (Alaska, New England/Canada and Eastern Med) we've taken and look forward to the one we have scheduled for next summer in Northern Europe. Sadly our April Pacific Coastal was just cancelled, but that was to be expected.

Don't get me wrong, we love DCL but we have had a blast on NCL for less money. As someone up above mentioned you can often sail in a suite on NCL for about what you'd pay for a regular balcony on DCL. Add in that drinks and specialty dining are often included and the savings are very real. We tend to cruise for the destinations and spending less on the cruise itself has allowed us to have some amazing experiences in port.

We've had wonderful service on NCL and find the food to be better than DCL. We also love that there are no set dining times and we don't have to share a table with strangers. I'm sure we will be back on DCL someday - looking at a transatlantic some time - but there are plenty of other cruising options out there if DCL has priced you out.

 

[mcd2745]

For those of you that have done Norwegian, any thoughts on them for kids (kids program, etc)

We've done one Disney cruise and while we liked it, it wasn't, um, cheap - and the kids have indicated they would like to do another cruise some day (whenever that can happen).

They see the Royal Caribbean commercials and get excited with the stuff the show on the ship and on their island, so they are on my radar, but curious about Norwegian as well

We've done a couple of NCL in the last 4 years and are Gold on DCL (and have a few RCCL cruises under our belts as well). If you're talking about younger kids and the kids clubs, obviously no other line compares to DCL. That said, my kids always enjoyed the kids clubs when they were in them on NCL or RCCL, so it was not a matter of the quality of the kids club/programs or the staff . The big difference, IMO is that on NCL and RCCL the kids clubs are not open continuously throughout the day like DCL. This really bothered us. The club would be open from 9am-Noon, close from Noon-2pm, open again from 2-5pm, and then close 5-7pm. They re-open again at 7pm and stay open until 1 or 2 am with a per-hour charge starting at 10pm, which we really didn't mind. That schedule may not be big deal to some - especially if you are early risers and have early/first seating for dinner - but it didn't work for us at all. On sea days, we usually sleep later and are rushing to get to breakfast just before they shut it down (usually 11am). So if we finish breakfast around 11:30am no point in taking the kids to the club at that juncture, where on DCL it doesn't matter because they are open all day. Now we have to wait 2 hours for them to re-open. Then, they close again at 5pm for two hours during the time it would have been good for the kid(s) to be in the club while Mom & Dad are getting ready for dinner (we always have later seating).

There was a lot about NCL that we did like. If I could create what I would consider the perfect cruise line, it would take different elements from DCL, RCCL, NCL, and even Carnival. I really liked the "Freestyle" approach to dining on NCL (which I know is blasphemous to die-hard DCL loyalists) and no formal nights. They also had some really good specialty restaurants like their Brazilian Steakhouse, Mexican, and BBQ restaurants. They also have a cool 24-hour Irish Pub-style venue that we enjoyed. On the negative side, we felt the service was a step down from the other lines in a few areas - particularly the stateroom stewards. Also, service in the MDRs tended to be rather slow.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

We've done a couple of NCL in the last 4 years and are Gold on DCL (and have a few RCCL cruises under our belts as well). If you're talking about younger kids and the kids clubs, obviously no other line compares to DCL. That said, my kids always enjoyed the kids clubs when they were in them on NCL or RCCL, so it was not a matter of the quality of the kids club/programs or the staff . The big difference, IMO is that on NCL and RCCL the kids clubs are not open continuously throughout the day like DCL. This really bothered us. The club would be open from 9am-Noon, close from Noon-2pm, open again from 2-5pm, and then close 5-7pm. They re-open again at 7pm and stay open until 1 or 2 am with a per-hour charge starting at 10pm, which we really didn't mind. That schedule may not be big deal to some - especially if you are early risers and have early/first seating for dinner - but it didn't work for us at all. On sea days, we usually sleep later and are rushing to get to breakfast just before they shut it down (usually 11am). So if we finish breakfast around 11:30am no point in taking the kids to the club at that juncture, where on DCL it doesn't matter because they are open all day. Now we have to wait 2 hours for them to re-open. Then, they close again at 5pm for two hours during the time it would have been good for the kid(s) to be in the club while Mom & Dad are getting ready for dinner (we always have later seating).

There was a lot about NCL that we did like. If I could create what I would consider the perfect cruise line, it would take different elements from DCL, RCCL, NCL, and even Carnival. I really liked the "Freestyle" approach to dining on NCL (which I know is blasphemous to die-hard DCL loyalists) and no formal nights. They also had some really good specialty restaurants like their Brazilian Steakhouse, Mexican, and BBQ restaurants. They also have a cool 24-hour Irish Pub-style venue that we enjoyed. On the negative side, we felt the service was a step down from the other lines in a few areas - particularly the stateroom stewards. Also, service in the MDRs tended to be rather slow.

You had be at 24 hour Irish pub

This is really good information- thank you. Two of my kids spent like every hour they could in the kids club - but they are getting older and I think could adjust

My youngest (third kid) is only 6 but in a few years I definitely could see doing a RCCL or NCL

Thanks again!

 

[mcd2745]

You had be at 24 hour Irish pub

This is really good information- thank you. Two of my kids spent like every hour they could in the kids club - but they are getting older and I think could adjust

My youngest (third kid) is only 6 but in a few years I definitely could see doing a RCCL or NCL

Thanks again!

Your welcome. We were on two of their newer ships (Getaway & Bliss), so it's probable the older ships don't have the 24-hr pub venue. There were even big differences for that venue between the two ships. The one on Getaway ("O'Sheehan's" - which was the last name of their former CEO) was far better. It had darts, pool & air hockey tables, skee ball, mini-bowling...so a real fun area to hang out. The one on the Bliss ("The Local" - because O'Sheehan was gone as CEO) didn't have all the games, just the mini-bowling and the rest were unfortunately replaced with claw-type and other prize games. It was disappointing.

I found NCL, since they are almost always offering the drink package and a few specialty dining meals for "free" is a great option when traveling with a big group. We tend to hang out at the bars and drink a lot more when traveling with a group. When it's just me, the wife, and kids we drink far less - and prefer DCL. However, pricing can't be ignored - especially with the kids older (18 & 15 presently) - so DCL vacations may become much more few and far between.