I’ve worked for NCL and Holland America (HAL). I thought the HAL ship was nicer – better service, better restaurants, better interior. Also, the itinerary was great.

NCL was alright. The ship I was on (Pride of America) was a special case – it was an American ship in American waters. We all had to be members of the merchant marine and the crew had to be ready for inspection night and day (in other words, sober). The morale on the ship always seemed really low – no one ever had any fun.

I wouldn’t say that particular ship accurately represented the experience of working for NCL.

If anything – I found the two cruise lines had more in common than anything else. I think maybe working for one cruise line isn’t much different than working for any of them. I would worry more about the itinerary than the cruise line I guess.

That said – I hear Carnival are the party ships and have a very young, rowdy crew. Princess is supposed to be nice. Disney has a good product, but there are a lot of rules and they have a very limited itinerary.

Doh. I forgot Celebrity. I added it to the poll if you want to vote for it.