Celebrity vs Norwegian

[Ghengis Klown]

I've only been on Celebrity cruises in the past. I am now going on a Norwegian cruise thru Alaska. Anyone been on both lines? got any differences worth mentioned? thanks

[Project_gal]

I've only been on Celebrity cruises in the past. I am now going on a Norwegian cruise thru Alaska. Anyone been on both lines? got any differences worth mentioned? thanks

 

If you have booked, I am not sure that you will really want to know what I think. Suffice it to say that, having had one Alaskan cruise on Norwegian Sun, we will never go on NCL again. Just do not expect anything like Celebrity.

 

On the plus side, if you have booked a suite, NCL suite experience could teach Celebrity a great deal and their suite bathrooms are wonderful.

 

Sue

[helpthejuggler]

We have tried both and they are a different experience. NCL pioneered select/freestyle dining to much criticism, but now every line has copied the idea.

 

NCL dropped formal nights, again many looked down on this, but other lines followed to some extent.

 

So NCL try new ideas. Some work, some don't. But at least they offer something different.

 

On the positive side, the entertainment was really good on the jewel, with things like comedians, second city improv, really good shows. The buffet layout is good and similar to S class. The general ship decor is a bright and loud. The style is not as refined as X.

 

NCL pool areas are not as luxurious, but they have more space, but does this matter for Alaska?

 

Similar features....sky lounge - spinnaker lounge, sunset bar - great outdoors. NCL have a wider choice of dining, with smaller surcharges. The mdr food is OK, but there are 2 mdrs with different styles. Plan to mix up your dining and have fun.

 

The maltings bar is good for beer fans and next to the martini bar, but, this is less lively than X.

 

If you can get a suite on NCL, yes they do it well. Your own espresso machine in the room.....:)

 

The extra annoucements become a bore, but X is unusually good for that.

 

The party nights are better than anything on X, really good fun.

 

Different certainly. If you board with a dislike of a change from the X, it will disappoint. Be open minded and enjoy it.

 

We would try NCL again if the right cruise and price comes together.

 

You could get to try something that X will get in 5 years time, like the specialty beer place just copied on Silhouette.

 

Be daring, it can be good for your soul. But the ship is the sideshow....the real treat will be the wonder of Alaska...

[kitty9]

I've cruised both, and would not do NCL again, not even in their suites. While food is subjective, I strongly feel food on NCL is far below that on Celebrity. But the evening entertainment on NCL is much better than X.

[Marytutor]

I am thinking of booking a cruise on one of them and wanted info on larger verandas on deck 7 or 8.

 

Thanks, Mary

[Redtravel]

I sailed on Norwegian once. Never would sail on them again. At the time, the price was good. It was really bad. Everyone in my family agrees to never book Norwegian. Celebrity is so much better. Norwegian is like staying at a dirty Days Inn. If you an cancel, do it. If not, enjoy the sights. Alaska is gorgeous.

[Anthony&David]

We have tried both and they are a different experience...

 

This is just a note of thanks regarding your balanced comments about NCL in relation to Celebrity. It seems that some posters are quick to 'knock' NCL (based on their own experiences and/or what they have heard from others), but we have had three good experiences (for many of the reasons you indicated as positive features of NCL). Granted, we have only sailed in suites, so this may be a leading factor in our enjoyment (especially Cagney's for breakfast and lunch, the coffee/tea machine in the room, the living, bathroom, and balcony spaces, and other suite amenities), but there are many non-suite areas that we enjoyed, such as the entertainment (some of the bigger shows, as well as some of the 'lounge' singers), speciality restaurants (for the food and service, as well as the option of wearing anything from a suit to a pair of jeans with a simple black t-shirt), thermal spa, and gym facilities.

 

The above said, we are going on our first Celebrity cruise this May and we are looking forward to the positive (and different) features we have read about Celebrity. But, we have not abandoned NCL - instead, we already booked our next cruise on NCL.

[ISABELLA]

I've only been on Celebrity cruises in the past. I am now going on a Norwegian cruise thru Alaska. Anyone been on both lines? got any differences worth mentioned? thanks

 

Not comparable - X is day and NCL is night.

[wednesday]

I haven't been on Celebrity yet, but have been on NCL and I just don't understand all of the totally negative comments.:confused: (dirty days inn??) We had great service, the ship was clean and it was one of our favorite cruises to date. We did book when we got an onboard credit and we used it to eat in the specialty restaurants every night and made the most of the freestyle concept. We also enjoyed the fact that the MDR was open on embarkation day. We were in a mini-suite on the GEM.

[AMAC86]

Norwegian is like staying at a dirty Days Inn.

Does it have a free continental breakfast?

[Project_gal]

I haven't been on Celebrity yet, but have been on NCL and I just don't understand all of the totally negative comments.:confused:

 

OK, I was trying not to sound too negative as the OP has already booked but these are some of the reasons that we will never sail with NCL despite the excellent treatment when you book a suite:

1. I do not appreciate eating lunch surrounded by youths in dripping wet Speedos [and NOTHING else, not even any form of footwear].
   
2. I do not appreciate restaurant staff being rude to me.
   
3. I do not appreciate being refused a glass of champagne at the CHAMPAGNE Bar because they did not have an open bottle [or, more likely, because they wanted to up-sell me a cocktail in a "fancy" plastic glass for which there was an additional charge].
   
4. I do not appreciate extremely poor service and variable quality food in speciality restaurants
   
5. I do not appreciate finding that I am eating both lunch and dinner in the buffet because it was the least bad option [i am just not a buffet person so this means our experienc eof the MDR and speciality restaurants were really bad]
   
6. I do not appreciate a buffet where the food served is apparently random - e.g. only Chinese fried rice to accompany Indian curries, roast beef with no potato option at all, etc.
   

Sue

[Ghengis Klown]

GREAT feedback people. I kinda knew Celebrity was a higher end cruise line. But some of these things u guys are saying has got me nervous. Whats done is done at this point.. and like someone said make the best of it. If it's as horrible as some of you think I'm sure I'll never use the line again. Then most likely I'll come on here and bash with the rest of you. Fingers crossed for the good crew/food/room

[sunshine nana]

We have been on NCL 3 times, Princess 4 times and are trying Celebrity in a few weeks. NCL was not dirty! We had wonderful stewards all three times. We started with NCL for Hawaii because we did not want to spend 5 or more sea days just getting there. It was great. We have also done 2 7 night NCL Med. cruises and both were great partly because we were able to upsell ourselves to a suite for a great price. The only downside to NCL is the MDR for dinner. If you can get a good price on the cabin, spring for the specialties for dinner and you'll be fine.

[helpthejuggler]

My experience was close to that of wednesday, than those problems reported by project gal.

 

We had a mini-suite and a penthouse. Breakfast and lunch at cagneys is close to AQ Blu if only they did lunch in blu...

 

On each 12/13 night trip we had both tsars and azure mdrs around 7 nights and other surcharge dinners for the others.

 

I remember the staff being very friendly, helpful and sociable.

[Cruising89143]

We cruised NCL to Alaska aboard the Star a few years back. It was okay. We were in a suite and NCL does know how to do suites very well. The ship itself was nice but was looking rather worn. Food in the MDR left a lot to be desired. If you dine in the specialty restuarants then you will be fine. The lido was the worst food out of all of my cruises. I would cruise with NCL again but they would not be first on my list of choices to choose from.

[esther e]

I am surprised to hear about NCLs suites. We didn't think they were much at all. HAL and X blows them out of the water, in our opinion. However, last year NCLs Sun was fine; this year it was terrible. The food was not good and we ate in specialty restaurants every night to avoid the MDR. If you want wine at dinner, forget it. No wine stewards.

 

I know I'm being overly-critical, but in our estimation, I'm telling you how we feel. Celebrity is IT.

 

Let me say that the only suites we have experienced on NCL is on the Sun. So, in all fairness I can't speak of suites on their other ships. I should have made that clearer.

[momofmeg]

Celebrity is much nicer. NCL is okay and it is a good value for the money-but it is true that "you get what you pay for," however if you lower your expectations and do not expect a Celebrity experience, you can still have a good time.

[momofmeg]

I am surprised to hear about NCLs suites. We didn't think they were much at all. HAL and X blows them out of the water, in our opinion. However, last year NCLs Sun was fine; this year it was terrible. The food was not good and we ate in specialty restaurants every night to avoid the MDR. If you want wine at dinner, forget it. No wine stewards.

 

I know I'm being overly-critical, but in our estimation, I'm telling you how we feel. Celebrity is IT.

 

Esther we really liked the Pearl, but I personally did not care much for the Sun at all. It had the lido restaurant with the terrible flow like the Sky. At least we booked a better balcony room on the Sun-the one we had on the sky was way too small for 3 adults.

 

We enjoyed our 5 day on Jewel of the Seas much better than our 7 day Sun. I do have to be fair though and say I HATED Guatemala. I wish I had stayed on ship for that port. Still I would book a shorter cruise on the Jewel of the Seas over the NCL Sun.

 

Since we usually cruise with our daughter and she works in the school system, I won't say we will never cruise NCL again, but we would only pick NCL over Carnival. Still, for the right ports, we would even do Carnival. (Bermuda from Charleston, SC)

 

I will say this, on the 3 NCL cruises we did, the ships were clean (unlike what the one poster said); except for the preteen and early teens/brats who kept throwing food on the stairs of the Sky near the Lido. It seemed the crew gave up on trying to keep the stairs clean the last day. There were also brats running down the stateroom hallways late at night. We had to call security twice. Once we did though, the problem was taken care of-I must say NEVER take a short cruise in the summer-NEVER!!!!!!!!!

 

Another plus for the Jewel of the Seas. They had a curfew for children/ teens. They were only allowed out with parents or in the teen club after 11 pm.

[NLH Arizona]

GREAT feedback people. I kinda knew Celebrity was a higher end cruise line. But some of these things u guys are saying has got me nervous. Whats done is done at this point.. and like someone said make the best of it. If it's as horrible as some of you think I'm sure I'll never use the line again. Then most likely I'll come on here and bash with the rest of you. Fingers crossed for the good crew/food/room

I'm doing my first NCL this month (through Harrahs, just too good of a deal to pass on), I've previously cruised on Celebrity (I have a Celebrity cruise booked for later on in the year). I've read reviews and the one thing that worried me was the food in the MDR, so I've booked speciality restaurants (you can do this online 45 days out) for 6 out of the 7 days. On just about every review I've read, they rave about the crew, so my expecations are high there. Even though I enjoy dressing up, I won't have to bring all the evening clothes that I'll bring when I cruise on Celebrity, it will be a good change of pace. Unless something totally unexpected goes down, I think you will enjoy your cruise.

[RhondaC]

Most of the posts here are bashing NCL. I don't really want to bash them, because they do have some positive points. As others have said, the suites are nice. Depending on your ship, they have good spas and relaxation rooms in them (extra charge).

 

I know food is subjective, but in the few NCL cruises we've been on, we've never ordered anything in the MDR that was outstanding. In fact, usually after the first night or two, we give up and just eat dinner in the buffet.

 

NCL makes a great burger and fries! And, we love the sports bar with wings and chili during the days. We always joke and call them the "fast food" of cruising. Not that there's anything wrong with that -- because they are definitely cheaper than Celebrity, and most of the time, than RCCL too. So, you get what you pay for.

 

You will have a good time because you're in Alaska, on a cruise! Just don't expect the level of quality or service that you would get on other cruiselines, unfortunately.

[wednesday]

OK, I was trying not to sound too negative as the OP has already booked but these are some of the reasons that we will never sail with NCL despite the excellent treatment when you book a suite:

1. I do not appreciate eating lunch surrounded by youths in dripping wet Speedos [and NOTHING else, not even any form of footwear].
   
2. I do not appreciate restaurant staff being rude to me.
   
3. I do not appreciate being refused a glass of champagne at the CHAMPAGNE Bar because they did not have an open bottle [or, more likely, because they wanted to up-sell me a cocktail in a "fancy" plastic glass for which there was an additional charge].
   
4. I do not appreciate extremely poor service and variable quality food in speciality restaurants
   
5. I do not appreciate finding that I am eating both lunch and dinner in the buffet because it was the least bad option [i am just not a buffet person so this means our experienc eof the MDR and speciality restaurants were really bad]
   
6. I do not appreciate a buffet where the food served is apparently random - e.g. only Chinese fried rice to accompany Indian curries, roast beef with no potato option at all, etc.
   

Sue

 

I don't drink so I can't comment on the bar but as for the rest, I experienced nothing like this. The staff on our sailing was wonderful (better than what we experienced on the RCCL Navigator) We were in a mini-suite which in terms of service would be like sailing in a standard cabin. The food was as good as we have had on any other cruise, the only issue we really had was the layout of the buffet (made it a little crowded.)

 

To the OP, I hope you can go into it with an open mind despite the negative responses. You never know you may have an experience similar to mine (you are travelling on a sister ship of the one I was on) and if so you will have a great time. :)

[Ghengis Klown]

I'm doing my first NCL this month (through Harrahs, just too good of a deal to pass on), I've previously cruised on Celebrity (I have a Celebrity cruise booked for later on in the year). I've read reviews and the one thing that worried me was the food in the MDR, so I've booked speciality restaurants (you can do this online 45 days out) for 6 out of the 7 days. On just about every review I've read, they rave about the crew, so my expecations are high there. Even though I enjoy dressing up, I won't have to bring all the evening clothes that I'll bring when I cruise on Celebrity, it will be a good change of pace. Unless something totally unexpected goes down, I think you will enjoy your cruise.

 

thanks for the heads up on the booking specialty restaurants before I go. I'll have to do this for a few of the nights.

[fridaythe13th]

GREAT feedback people. I kinda knew Celebrity was a higher end cruise line. But some of these things u guys are saying has got me nervous. Whats done is done at this point.. and like someone said make the best of it. If it's as horrible as some of you think I'm sure I'll never use the line again. Then most likely I'll come on here and bash with the rest of you. Fingers crossed for the good crew/food/room

 

Did you ask this same question on the NCL forum? I've been on NCL several times and just about to go on our second X cruise. We fell in love with X but will be on NCL again next summer. Never had any issues with NCL, but then again I'm not looking to pick things apart. I'm sure someone has posted things they didn't like about X because everyone doesn't necessarily like the same thing. Have a great time on your Alaskan cruise!!

[Ghengis Klown]

I did post on both.. I figured different kind of people would respond to both. I am getting great feedback. This is really a good community.

[Brad1185]

OK, I was trying not to sound too negative as the OP has already booked but these are some of the reasons that we will never sail with NCL despite the excellent treatment when you book a suite:

1. I do not appreciate eating lunch surrounded by youths in dripping wet Speedos [and NOTHING else, not even any form of footwear].
   
2. I do not appreciate restaurant staff being rude to me.
   
3. I do not appreciate being refused a glass of champagne at the CHAMPAGNE Bar because they did not have an open bottle [or, more likely, because they wanted to up-sell me a cocktail in a "fancy" plastic glass for which there was an additional charge].
   
4. I do not appreciate extremely poor service and variable quality food in speciality restaurants
   
5. I do not appreciate finding that I am eating both lunch and dinner in the buffet because it was the least bad option [i am just not a buffet person so this means our experienc eof the MDR and speciality restaurants were really bad]
   
6. I do not appreciate a buffet where the food served is apparently random - e.g. only Chinese fried rice to accompany Indian curries, roast beef with no potato option at all, etc.
   

Sue

 

Wow, we must have been on the same cruise. To us NCL is best described as a joke.