We jumped ship to NCL!! How did they do??

[Pens Fan]

Bliss could be spending a few days in NYC for a travel agent tour/meet and greet. Carnival Vista spent a few days there before heading to Miami, then sailed crew only from NYC to MIA.

That makes sense. I know there is the whole issue of getting from NYC to Florida without stopping in a foreign port, so this is probably what's going on. The more I look at that ship, the more it intrigues me. But as we already have a cruise booked for next year (Nova Scotia and Quebec City out of NYC) I guess it will have to wait.

We were looking at some of the NCL Spirit cruises tonight. Tiny, old ship with "interesting" decor, but it has some amazing itineraries in the Med. We definitely have the Med on our agenda in the next few years - maybe 2019. We are especially interested in Italy, Croatia, Slovenia and Montenegro. We are contemplating a land-based trip, but haven't ruled out a cruise. The chief engineer on the NCL Sun was from Split, Croatia. We had a blast talking to him one night. When he found out we were planning on a trip to Croatia in the future he was so thrilled. I guess he doesn't get that a lot.

 

[RedSox68]

Looked at the site and watched the film about the new ship. It's a good size -- slightly less passengers than the Breakaway we did. Gotta say, just my opinion, I don't think the mural on the front of that ship is one of their best

 

[Pens Fan]

Looked at the site and watched the film about the new ship. It's a good size -- slightly less passengers than the Breakaway we did. Gotta say, just my opinion, I don't think the mural on the front of that ship is one of their best

I had the same thought at first, but it's growing on me. It's kind of cool how the whale seems to swim along the entire ship. I think, for me at least, the Escape is a hard act to follow when it comes to hull art. But then my husband and son's dressers are full of Guy Harvey t-shirts, so we may be biased. I tried telling my son that the guy responsible for Bliss's hull art is supposedly a famous Alaskan artist. His reply, "if they don't sell his stuff at T.W.'s (tackle shop of choice for my guys and purveyor of said t-shirts), he's not famous."

I just like the fact that they do have the hull art on all of their ships. I think it adds to the fun.

 

[RedSox68]

I had the same thought at first, but it's growing on me. It's kind of cool how the whale seems to swim along the entire ship. I think, for me at least, the Escape is a hard act to follow when it comes to hull art. But then my husband and son's dressers are full of Guy Harvey t-shirts, so we may be biased. I tried telling my son that the guy responsible for Bliss's hull art is supposedly a famous Alaskan artist. His reply, "if they don't sell his stuff at T.W.'s (tackle shop of choice for my guys and purveyor of said t-shirts), he's not famous."

I just like the fact that they do have the hull art on all of their ships. I think it adds to the fun.

So I guess it was only the Breakaway that had Peter Max art? I loved that design and is one of my favorite next to Pride of Aloha (which is now the Norwegian Sky).

 

[Pens Fan]

So I guess it was only the Breakaway that had Peter Max art? I loved that design and is one of my favorite next to Pride of Aloha.

I'm not sure how often they change artists. I know the Escape was Guy Harvey and the Bliss is by Wyland. I love the Breakaway as well. That's probably my second favorite after the Escape. Though I'll admit a fondness for the Sun art as well. It sounds corny, but it made us smile when we'd come back to port after an excursion and see her sitting there with the bright, cheery sun on the hull. It made the other ships in port look dull by comparison, similar to how we feel when we come back to a Disney ship and see all of the Disney touches.

 

[RedSox68]

I'm not sure how often they change artists. I know the Escape was Guy Harvey and the Bliss is by Wyland. I love the Breakaway as well. That's probably my second favorite after the Escape. Though I'll admit a fondness for the Sun art as well. It sounds corny, but it made us smile when we'd come back to port after an excursion and see her sitting there with the bright, cheery sun on the hull. It made the other ships in port look dull by comparison, similar to how we feel when we come back to a Disney ship and see all of the Disney touches.

We were looking into doing Bermuda again next Spring, but noticed they changed the ship from the Breakaway to the Escape which has (yah) even more passengers.

 

[Pens Fan]

We were looking into doing Bermuda again next Spring, but noticed they changed the ship from the Breakaway to the Escape which has (yah) even more passengers.

It's a monster, for sure.

I've read several trip reports on CC, though, and it seems that people really enjoy the Escape. There are a couple of great ones by a guy call theDougOut that are a hoot. Now his cruising style is very different than our family's, but I can appreciate the fun he has. He just finished the second review recently, but the original one is the best. Grab a cup of coffee, sit back and be prepared to laugh!!

 

[RedSox68]

It's a monster, for sure.

I've read several trip reports on CC, though, and it seems that people really enjoy the Escape. There are a couple of great ones by a guy call theDougOut that are a hoot. Now his cruising style is very different than our family's, but I can appreciate the fun he has. He just finished the second review recently, but the original one is the best. Grab a cup of coffee, sit back and be prepared to laugh!!

Thanks, I'll check his review out. I was disappointed to see that the Escape didn't have the shows we loved on the Breakaway -- "Burn the Floor" and the Cirque dinner show. But I guess they can't do the same thing on every ship.

 

[cruiser21]

I'm not sure how often they change artists. I know the Escape was Guy Harvey and the Bliss is by Wyland. I love the Breakaway as well. That's probably my second favorite after the Escape. Though I'll admit a fondness for the Sun art as well. It sounds corny, but it made us smile when we'd come back to port after an excursion and see her sitting there with the bright, cheery sun on the hull. It made the other ships in port look dull by comparison, similar to how we feel when we come back to a Disney ship and see all of the Disney touches.

I actually love the hull art on the Bliss. I grew up in Southern California where Wyland is very popular.

 

[jenf22]

You guys have me all excited about Bliss now. I just need some 2019 dates to be released...

 

[2Bnºoºt2B]

Just read your great review ... thanks! Our upcoming Halloween Panama Canal Cruise aboard the Wonder will be our fourth in a row that we have cruised with Disney ... just the two of us ... and it has been great. We introduced my DW's sister to cruising for the first time two years ago ... and we chose to do it through DCL aboard the Fantasy (love pairing WDW / Universal with a Disney cruise) It was a lot of fun - especially Castaway Cay.

We've gone on NCL, Holland, Carnival, Princess and Celebrity ... have yet to try RCL for some reason ... but we will eventually. I do agree with your assessment of dining ... food is ok on Disney ... but can be limited when compared to Celebrity for example ... dining in Blu for Aquaclass guests is so wonderful ... and the buffet ... boy, Celebrity wins it hands down for us. And having almost no big options available on Disney for after dinner "snacking" I find is a bit too restricting for myself.

So I truly do think that people can miss out if they only cruise with just one line... We still plan on cruising with Disney in the future when their new ships come online ... but in the meantime ... lol ... we already booked a cruise aboard the new Celebrity Edge that is still being built, for early 2019.

 

[deanimal]

It's funny that your experience almost exactly mirrors ours, except with a 5 and 7 year old. We got a one bedroom Haven suite for the same price as a 5A for the week we wanted and felt we got so much more for the price! Ship was just as nice, service was excellent, food was better with way more options and the suite perks were amazing. And to top it off the kids liked the NCL clubs more than Disney! We also agreed that the only thing better on Disney was the kid-orientated entertainment. We also found that Disney's private island was way better than NCL's but obviously that wasn't a factor for your cruise. We've also jumped ship for sure.

 

[Pens Fan]

It's funny that your experience almost exactly mirrors ours, except with a 5 and 7 year old. We got a one bedroom Haven suite for the same price as a 5A for the week we wanted and felt we got so much more for the price! Ship was just as nice, service was excellent, food was better with way more options and the suite perks were amazing. And to top it off the kids liked the NCL clubs more than Disney! We also agreed that the only thing better on Disney was the kid-orientated entertainment. We also found that Disney's private island was way better than NCL's but obviously that wasn't a factor for your cruise. We've also jumped ship for sure.

Thanks so much for chiming in! So many folks on this board have small children and I'm no help at all when it comes to that experience. It's nice to hear someone with children the age your's are had a good time.

 

[wgeo]

Thanks for your review. We have kids that would be young teens when we want to do Alaska so it looks like we'll have to pay attention to the kids clubs on the different ships.

The other thing you said that really interested me was about the nature talks. Those are something my husband and I would really like. You said there were less of them on NCL, or was it the same amount roughly but they just weren't as good?

It is so helpful when people take the time to compare things like this -thanks!

 

[Pens Fan]

Thanks for your review. We have kids that would be young teens when we want to do Alaska so it looks like we'll have to pay attention to the kids clubs on the different ships.

The other thing you said that really interested me was about the nature talks. Those are something my husband and I would really like. You said there were less of them on NCL, or was it the same amount roughly but they just weren't as good?

It is so helpful when people take the time to compare things like this -thanks!

The only nature talk that I remember seeing in the Daily was one on glaciers (we didn't go, so I don't know what it was like). They had a NPS ranger on board and giving commentary throughout the ship during the entire time we were in Glacier Bay. That was really interesting from what I could hear. We stayed out on our balcony and could really couldn't hear her unless we went in the cabin. Other than that I don't recall that they had a lot of those kinds of talks. Disney does a great job with that in my opinion and I wished that NCL had more. It wouldn't make or break the cruise for us, but it was something we noticed.

 

[disneydreamer781]

Interesting review! I was seriously considering the NCL Sun to Alaska but next year she is no longer sailing that route and it looks like the Jewel will be taking her place, so now I'm back to choosing again. I swear that only reason why I haven't sailed to Alaska yet is become I can't for the life of me make up my mind.

 

[DisneyDreamin1]

Great review. We sailed the NCL Sun last summer and loved it. We did the reverse direction from Seward to Vancouver.

I agree with all your points. The freestyle dining, specialty restaurants and food in general are much better on NCL. We've always thought the food on DCL was just average. It looks great, but lacks in taste. I've always chalked this up as "kid friendly" - nothing too spicy or exotic. I really dislike the set dining times (especially eating dinner at 8:15 pm) and sharing tables with others.

I love that NCL really puts on a deck party with large BBQ's and chefs cooking chicken, ribs, and burgers right in front of you. Nothing comes out of a hot warmer pan. I also like the hard ice cream options instead of the soft serve.

Disney wins in the entertainment, first run movies, character interactions, and Castaway Cay.

 

[disneydreamer781]

Well, I'm leaning towards NCL Jewel with Northbound itinerary of Glacier Bay and Hubbard Glacier. I really wanted to do DCL Wonder but with the price I would have paid on the Wonder where I would have had a Oceanview on Deck 1 or 2 with small portholes and for even a bit less than that price on the Jewel I can book a balcony. Don't care much about a balcony on most cruises but with Alaska and at my age and my DH (60-62), this may be a once in a lifetime trip so I went with the balcony and the combination of Glacier Bay and Hubbard.

 

[Pens Fan]

Well, I'm leaning towards NCL Jewel with Northbound itinerary of Glacier Bay and Hubbard Glacier. I really wanted to do DCL Wonder but with the price I would have paid on the Wonder where I would have had a Oceanview on Deck 1 or 2 with small portholes and for even a bit less than that price on the Jewel I can book a balcony. Don't care much about a balcony on most cruises but with Alaska and at my age and my DH (60-62), this may be a once in a lifetime trip so I went with the balcony and the combination of Glacier Bay and Hubbard.

Seeing both Glacier Bay and Hubbard on the same cruise was just amazing. I think the Jewel would be great for Alaska. We are on one of it's sister ships, the Gem, next year and are really looking forward to it.

 

[Erintx7]

Haven pricing has gone insane on NCL. Because of demand.

I'm not a TA, but I work in marketing and understanding spending trends is important to what I do. All US travel destinations are "up"... especially Alaska. People have been less willing to travel to European destinations as they have in past years due to some safety concerns, so there has been a noticeable surge in domestic travel.