Bermuda: RCCL vs NCL?

[holula]

So... For 2015 we are looking at going to Bermuda. By then, we should (hopefully) be living in Florida. We have only ever cruised with DCL, and we are about to complete the grand slam in January. It is just me and soon to be DH, no kids. We want a 7+ night cruise with two overnights in Bermuda.

RCCL doesn't have their 2015 dates for Bermuda yet - but in 2014 they are sailing there on Grandeur of the Seas. It leaves from Baltimore. NCL is sailing Breakaway to Bermuda from NYC. Both of those ports will require a flight. HOWEVER, RCCL has a 10 night out of Fort Lauderdale which may sway us towards RCCL if they do that in 2015. That is on Vision of the Seas. To me, there are way too many classes of ship and I am basically confused.

So talk to me about Grandeur and Vision of the Seas! I want to go on NCL because of the dining options on Breakaway. But for future DH, it is an old persons ship. They are similar in price - and it will probably be our honeymoon - so cost will not really come into it.

 

[Summerl30]

What are your rough ages and what kinds of stuff do you like to do. Dh and I are looking at this itinerary out of NYC. We don't really care which RC ship we take when there are a lot of port days, but for this many sea days we would do voyager class or greater. There are loads of active things to do on those ships and we like to stay active. We have had lots of fun on other classes to, though. It just depends on your interests. We have never cruised ncl. At least not yet.

 

[holula]

We are late 20s/early 30s. Neither of us are big partiers but we like to sit down with a drink in the evening. He is more active than I am, but I don't think either of us would be up for rock climbing etc. the flow rider intrigues me! On DCL we like doing trivia, the cooking classes, and relaxing by the pool.

He is a fairly picky eater. I like to try everything. Royal's pay for dining doesn't seem like it has a lot of choices on it for someone fussy.

 

[sayhello]

We are late 20s/early 30s. Neither of us are big partiers but we like to sit down with a drink in the evening. He is more active than I am, but I don't think either of us would be up for rock climbing etc. the flow rider intrigues me! On DCL we like doing trivia, the cooking classes, and relaxing by the pool.

He is a fairly picky eater. I like to try everything. Royal's pay for dining doesn't seem like it has a lot of choices on it for someone fussy.

But can't you just eat in the Main Dining room, then? They usually have some pretty standard choices in the Main Dining room. The "pay for dining" is for those who want to try something different. It's like Palo & Remy, only there are way more choices of restaurants.

Sayhello

 

[Summerl30]

Then you will like by fine on any ship. If he's picky why don't you stick to mdrs and just order plain stuff either on the menu or off. They will probably try to be accommodating as long as the food is simple.

If you like watching movies in the theatre, not all ships have movie theatres, but I think most do. I don't think there is a flo rider on either of the ships you mentioned, but the bigger the ship, the more activities they offer.

 

[valee]

Grandeur doesn't have a separate movie theatre. The movies were limited to those shown on the pool deck open air screen and shown on rotation on your stateroom tv.

The RCCL food in the MDR was good, and they were able to accommodate a person at my table who had a very restrictive diet. Room service is limited.

Bermuda's great! We spent our full day being driven all over the island by Heidi of Byways Tours. We talked with lots of other passengers who took van or taxi tours , and we definitely had the best tour, by booking directly through her.

 

[holula]

He will eat at Palo, just about. They make him a pizza and he survives because I LOVE Palo. We mainly differ in foot habits because I love to try new things but even on DCL most nights he will eat plain steak.

Bummer that the ships don't have a movie theatre! Although I barely find time for them on DCL.

I'm glad that you have positive things to say about Bermuda! It looks amazing.

 

[darwinsrule]

What you haven't mentioned is Quantum of the Seas. The expectation is that she will go to Bermuda out of NY/NJ replacing Explorer. The problem with Explorer in my mind however is that it does 5 night and you only get 2 days in Bermuda. The issue may be that Bermuda will have to do some major work dredging in the canals leading into the Dockyards for Quantum to fit since the simulations show she will be too big.

We did NCL Dawn in 2012, and have Grandeur booked for next summer (deal was too good to pass up). Since you are doing 2015, wait and see what RCL does then book. We feel in love with Bermuda and plan on going back every few years. Our DD's however both want to sail out of NY so the next time after Grandeur it will either be Breakaway or Quantum. It will probably come down to price to see who we go with.

 

[holula]

What you haven't mentioned is Quantum of the Seas. The expectation is that she will go to Bermuda out of NY/NJ replacing Explorer. The problem with Explorer in my mind however is that it does 5 night and you only get 2 days in Bermuda.

There were a couple of 7 nights but on the whole only 5 - which to me is not enough time in Bermuda!

I didn't know that was a rumor about Quantum. If that does do Bermuda (and the dredge the canals if she doesn't fit) that would probably be my top choice. Thanks for the tip!

 

[Pigletpal40]

Apparently the Quantum is 120 ft. longer than the Explorer but has a draft of
28'. That is 1 ft. less than the Explorers 29. There would be no need to dredge
the dockyard. I'm sure it is close either way, when the Explorer docked on our trip in April, it kicked up a lot of silt from the bottom.

 

[CMDTA]

Never in a million years could I recommend NCL over RCL. I refuse to cruise NCL anymore. We gave them multiethnic shots and they were consistently awful.

I'm been on RCL from Baltimore to Bermuda. The ship is smaller but I really liked its layout.