Norwegian Cruise Line Discussions and Sharings

[Boringchap]

This thread is about Norwegian Cruise Line, or NCL for short.

 

 

 

This company is owned by the Genting group, which also owns Star Cruises. For this reason, NCL does not sail to Asia because the sister brands do not want to compete directly. NCL ships sail primarily in the Caribbean, Europe and Hawaii.

 

We have only sailed with NCL once, but found the experience to be quite good. Compared to Royal Caribbean, their older ships are more 'basic' in features and certainly do not have all the 'Wow' factors like a Royal Promenade, Ice-Skating ring etc. However, their newer ships seem to be more exciting. We haven't sailed on the bigger and newer ships, so we don't have first hand experience.

 

When we read the Cruise Critic Boards and other forums on cruising, many people said that NCL itineraries were more port intensive (i.e. fewer sea days) and also the suite life on NCL was superior to most cruise lines.

 

So, when we found a very good deal in a 2-bedroom Penthouse suite, coupled with a good itinerary, we jumped on it. We sailed on the NCL Jade out of Rome late last year. We squeezed the maximum number of pax into the 2 bedroom suite, i.e. 6. A bit of a squeeze, but still fine for us as one big family. Here is the video I made of the suite.

 

 

The best suite perks I felt were the suite-only breakfast and lunch at a speciality restaurant called Cagney's. What do I mean? Suite passengers are entitled to have breakfast and lunch every day at a speciality restaurant on board. The menu is the same every day, but more than adequate for us because we like the type of food they serve. These videos show you what I mean.

 

Cagney's Lunch

 

I will post more videos later.

Edited January 6, 2015 by Boringchap

[Boringchap]

 

Cruise and itinerary (most probably Europe) have not really been decided yet but due to your thread, I've been looking at Norwegians and the prices seem a fair bit lower than some competitors.

 

Also, did you book your cruise directly with Norwegian or through a travel agent (price seems to be slightly lower thru an agent but I'm not sure if there is any risk I should take into account).

 

Another question I have is why Norwegian has such weird pricing strategies - they are charging more on a per pax basis for 3 people than 2 people. Considering 3 people will still only be using one cabin, shouldn't the third person be cheaper?

 

Probably something on this list: http://www.ncl.com/vacations/europe-cruises-5-to-8-days-9-to-14-days-jun-2015?destinations=4294934557&sailmonths=4294925782&duration=8052+8053

 

Ok, let me answer these questions from the other thread. The questions were asked by Kusje.

 

1. We booked our cruise through a US-based travel agent that we have been using for quite some time now. The travel agent is usually able to offer certain extras like additional On-Board-Credit. Also the travel agent monitors prices closely. If the cruise price drops, we can get our fare re-priced, assuming it is before final payment date (70 to 90 days before sailing).

 

2. I am not sure about the Norwegian pricing you are referring to because I have not come across this type of pricing. For our recent cruise, we took it up because the price for the 3rd to 6th pax was extremely cheap. That's how we can afford to stay in a Suite. The price for the first 2 pax was high, but once you take into account 3rd to 6th pax and average it out, the price per pax became affordable. And since we could stay in a suite to enjoy the suite perks, why not?

 

3. The cruises you are looking at are all good. Take note that 2015 is the first year that the Norwegian Epic is sailing out of Europe, hence prices are expected to be higher, also because the Epic won many cruise industry awards in 2012 (when it was new). We are also mulling over whether to sail on the Epic out of Europe this year. Still thinking about it.

 

4. The cruises out that NCL operates in Europe (out of Rome) all travel to very established ports. Therefore, you should be able to go on a private tour or even DIY at these ports without much problems.

 

Hope this is helpful.

[Thaiyotakamli]

nice suite but so crampy, the virgo suite seems to be more spacious

[Boringchap]

As part of the suite perk, we could have breakfast at Cagney's every day, including disembarkation day. Sweet!

 

 

Ok, enough about suites. What about other food and other complimentary options? Compared to Royal, we found the complimentary buffet food to be about the same. Most importantly, the buffet areas on NCL were a lot less crowded than on Royal ships.

 

This is a typical buffet spread. This was lunch during embarkation day.

 

All very good.

nice suite but so crampy, the virgo suite seems to be more spacious

 

I've not sailed on Star Cruises, but I won't be surprised. I think Star Cruises have to ramp up their product and grow the fleet. Royal Caribbean and other cruise lines are eyeing Asia and are already moving into the Asian market.

Edited January 6, 2015 by Boringchap

[Thaiyotakamli]

As part of the suite perk, we could have breakfast at Cagney's every day, including disembarkation day. Sweet!

 

 

Ok, enough about suites. What about other food and other complimentary options? Compared to Royal, we found the complimentary buffet food to be about the same. Most importantly, the buffet areas on NCL were a lot less crowded than on Royal ships.

 

This is a typical buffet spread. This was lunch during embarkation day.

 

All very good.

 

I've not sailed on Star Cruises, but I won't be surprised. I think Star Cruises have to ramp up their product and grow the fleet. Royal Caribbean and other cruise lines are eyeing Asia and are already moving into the Asian market.

yes

 

but any room is tiny in any cruise unless you opt for the junior suite or exec suite which is bigger

 

 

 

I remember the junior suite star cruise has the same size as average 5 star hotel normal room.

[Kezg1]

Nice....Thanks for sharing

[Boringchap]

yes

 

but any room is tiny in any cruise unless you opt for the junior suite or exec suite which is bigger

 

 

 

I remember the junior suite star cruise has the same size as average 5 star hotel normal room.

 

Most definitely true. Space is a premium on a ship, so the cabins are all smaller, generally speaking. If you are a person that likes large spaces and large rooms, then a cruise may not be that suitable because you would have to pay a premium for the very cabins on board.

[Boringchap]

Some more videos of the Norwegian Jade.

 

This was dinner at a buffet.

 

Now, the main dining room food is very important because this is the complimentary place to have dinner. Norwegian prides itself for Freestyle cruising. They have a few complimentary options on board but they also have many speciality restaurants that have an up-charge, between US$15 to US$30 cover charge per person.

 

Prior to this NCL cruise, we had no idea what the quality of the complimentary food would be like. Some people said that the 'free' food was poor in quality, so that the cruise line will attract you to eat at the paid restaurants. After all, they have so many paid restaurants that they needed to fill! The argument sounded logical. Still, we decided to try one NCL cruise, fully prepared that we would have to eat the speciality restaurants if the complimentary options were really bad.

 

It turned out that the complimentary options (i.e. main dining room and buffets) were as good as Royal Caribbean, which was our benchmark. We were told that NCL Jade had just upgraded her main dining room menus about 2 months ago, so the food we were having was really quite new, even to the crew This was great. Cruise lines typically change their Main Dining Room menus only every 5 years!

 

I made a long and detailed video of the Main Dining Room food, to convince some other 'die-hard' Royal fans that NCL food was just as good. This is the product of my work. Sorry it was quite dark. The lights in the Main Dining Room were not very conducive for making videos!

 

NCL Jade Main Dining Room Experience

[Boringchap]

The Norwegian Jade cruise ship was docked in Piraeus, Athens. We had returned from our day in port and I was up on deck taking this video. Then I noticed all the Greek warships. They were there to celebrate St Nicholas Day.

 

The Norwegian Jade cruise ship was docked in Istanbul, Turkey. I was doing some ferry watching from the balcony of our cabin.

[Kusje]

 

 

Ok, let me answer these questions from the other thread. The questions were asked by Kusje.

 

1. We booked our cruise through a US-based travel agent that we have been using for quite some time now. The travel agent is usually able to offer certain extras like additional On-Board-Credit. Also the travel agent monitors prices closely. If the cruise price drops, we can get our fare re-priced, assuming it is before final payment date (70 to 90 days before sailing).

 

2. I am not sure about the Norwegian pricing you are referring to because I have not come across this type of pricing. For our recent cruise, we took it up because the price for the 3rd to 6th pax was extremely cheap. That's how we can afford to stay in a Suite. The price for the first 2 pax was high, but once you take into account 3rd to 6th pax and average it out, the price per pax became affordable. And since we could stay in a suite to enjoy the suite perks, why not?

 

3. The cruises you are looking at are all good. Take note that 2015 is the first year that the Norwegian Epic is sailing out of Europe, hence prices are expected to be higher, also because the Epic won many cruise industry awards in 2012 (when it was new). We are also mulling over whether to sail on the Epic out of Europe this year. Still thinking about it.

 

4. The cruises out that NCL operates in Europe (out of Rome) all travel to very established ports. Therefore, you should be able to go on a private tour or even DIY at these ports without much problems.

 

Hope this is helpful.

 

 

Thank you so much for your detailed reply and wonderful reviews which must have taken you a lot of effort and time.

 

Just one last query before I think I will be well equipped to plan my own trip:

 

I've noticed that the prices for Norwegian (and other cruises in general) are much cheaper when you buy the tickets from their website or from an online travel agent like Expedia - the price from a Singapore travel agent seems much more expensive and doesn't come with the usual perks like onboard credit and free dining packages. Unfortunately, these prices seem to be only applicable to US and Canadian citizens so I was wondering if you encounter the same problem with your US-based travel agent and how you get past it.

 

If possible, I would appreciate if you could direct me to the travel agent that you use.

 

Cheers!

[Boringchap]

More videos. Day 2 was a sea day and I took this from various parts of the ship. We sailed pass Mt Stromboli, an active volcano which juts out in the middle of the sea.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=foD3JKRBbME

 

Navigate to your Drink, drinks list.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VTmcon-0JVk

Edited January 8, 2015 by Boringchap

[Boringchap]

 

 

If possible, I would appreciate if you could direct me to the travel agent that you use.

 

Cheers!

 

Pls check your private message. Cheers.

[Boringchap]

The Norwegian Jade crew put up a hilarious crew performance. I call this segment the Greek Water Show. Very hilarious.

 

[Boringchap]

In this video, it was a poolside party on a sea day. The Cruise Director and Hotel Director were out on deck, helping the chefs prepare two large pans of paella, and then serving the passengers. Cool stuff. The paella tasted pretty good too.