NCL Cruises - any thoughts?

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oldbluefox
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NCL Cruises - any thoughts?

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Post by oldbluefox »

With P&O seemingly opting for bigger ships to 'stack 'em high and sell 'em cheap' we have been looking at other cruise lines. One of my relatives always goes with NCL but from her description I get the impression it is very informal and I really don't fancy dressing up smartly in the evening if others don't bother.
Has anybody any experience of NCL - good and bad?

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Mervyn and Trish
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Re: NCL Cruises - any thoughts?

#2

Post by Mervyn and Trish »

Our friends have been and it was very informal so not for us. I'm not sure their newer ships are much smaller either.


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Re: NCL Cruises - any thoughts?

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oldbluefox wrote: 21 Apr 2019, 19:13
With P&O seemingly opting for bigger ships to 'stack 'em high and sell 'em cheap' we have been looking at other cruise lines. One of my relatives always goes with NCL but from her description I get the impression it is very informal and I really don't fancy dressing up smartly in the evening if others don't bother.
Has anybody any experience of NCL - good and bad?
Most of the newer NCL ships are big 4000+ passengers and 160000+ GT.

They have one Aurora size built about the same time as Aurora.

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towny44
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Re: NCL Cruises - any thoughts?

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Post by towny44 »

daib GC wrote: 21 Apr 2019, 21:45
oldbluefox wrote: 21 Apr 2019, 19:13
With P&O seemingly opting for bigger ships to 'stack 'em high and sell 'em cheap' we have been looking at other cruise lines. One of my relatives always goes with NCL but from her description I get the impression it is very informal and I really don't fancy dressing up smartly in the evening if others don't bother.
Has anybody any experience of NCL - good and bad?
Most of the newer NCL ships are big 4000+ passengers and 160000+ GT.

They have one Aurora size built about the same time as Aurora.
They actually have 10 ships under 100,000 tonnes, 8 of which were built after 2000, the newest launched in 2007.
In fact even RCI and Carnival itself have a number of mid size ships up to 110,000 quite a few which were launched this century.
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david63
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Re: NCL Cruises - any thoughts?

#5

Post by david63 »

oldbluefox wrote: 21 Apr 2019, 19:13
I get the impression it is very informal
NCL certainly had formal nights when we were last on there - but that was quite a few years ago, so it may well have changed.

There was a topic not so long ago about some offers on NCL which made them seen quite attractive.
oldbluefox wrote: 21 Apr 2019, 19:13
With P&O seemingly opting for bigger ships to 'stack 'em high and sell 'em cheap' we have been looking at other cruise lines
I think that some of the NCL ships, such as Norwegian Jade are not that much different in size/passenger capacity than the likes of Arcadia. It would be interesting to hear form anyone who has been on one of the NCL ships of this size how they compare with P&O ships, or any other cruise lines.

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Manoverboard
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Re: NCL Cruises - any thoughts?

#6

Post by Manoverboard »

david63 wrote: 22 Apr 2019, 09:07
…. I think that some of the NCL ships, such as Norwegian Jade are not that much different in size/passenger capacity than the likes of Arcadia. It would be interesting to hear form anyone who has been on one of the NCL ships of this size how they compare with P&O ships, or any other cruise lines.
We have North American chums who cruise with NCL on a regular basis but they are ' smart casual ' and avoid formality as a matter of course.

Picking up on Jade it's tonnage is c 93,000 - built in 2006 - spruced up in 2017.

Don't know if they are all similar but the décor on Jade seems a tad too ' Loud American ' for our stately OBF :lol:
Keep smiling, it's good for your well being

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towny44
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Re: NCL Cruises - any thoughts?

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Post by towny44 »

The major problem with most non UK based cruise lines is that they only do European cruises during the summer season of May-Oct, and any Southampton sailings they have are mainly for Northern European destinations. If you are prepared to fly there are lots of Med and Canary cruises to choose from, as well as lots of destinations further afield; and there are European cruise lines to choose from even over winter in the Med and Canaries, if you can tolerate announcements in multiple languages.
And most cruise lines have large fleets of varying sizes, and ages, giving plenty of choice if you are prepared to fly, if not the choice is much less for guaranteed hot summer sunshine.
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Re: NCL Cruises - any thoughts?

#8

Post by Whynd1 »

Same here obf, Saga are a bit pricey for me as a passenger who pays single supplement,and I know you do get other things included. I have sent for a celebrity brochure to see what they over.

Other than that it will be Arcadia or Aurora for me.

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Re: NCL Cruises - any thoughts?

#9

Post by Midlandslass »

I first sailed NCL around 1998 when they did have formal evenings but they then changed to 'freestyle' cruising which made formal dress optional.
We took 4 cruises with them but after our last one we decided they weren't for us.
Princess still have formal evenings if this is what you want. I took a Midnight Sun / Arctic circle cruise with them 2 or 3 years ago on their small ship Pacific Princess - a very enjoyable cruise,
Cunard sail from the UK but they seem to be cruising mainly in the Far East, Australia and Alaska for the next 2 years. They do do formal and the ships carry around 2000 passengers with some single cabins. Their next ship will be bigger, most cruise lines seem to be going for bigger :(
Having done formal I now prefer the so called 'Country Club casual' of lines such as Oceania and Azamara with their smaller ships.
The choice is there but of course it is dependent on such things as budget, itinerary, whether you want to fly or want a mainly British experience etc.

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