Suite life Celebrity vs NCL

[janet_t1]

We are thinking of trying Celebrity Constellation cruise in February 2014.

We have always cruised with NCL in their suites, how would a Sky or Royal suite compare ? Does Celebrity do OBC credit promotions often?

[Anthony&David]

We are thinking of trying Celebrity Constellation cruise in February 2014. We have always cruised with NCL in their suites, how would a Sky or Royal suite compare ?

 

We had cruised three times with NCL, each time in a suite, and then we cruised with Celebrity in a Sky Suite (6146 on the Summit, which is one of the larger Sky Suites adjacent to the Penthouse). We enjoyed the cruise, and the cabin (including the larger balcony and bathroom) was quite nice, but on Celebrity we missed not having the following: Cagney's for breakfast and lunch, in-cabin coffee/tea maker, a full-size in-cabin dining table, and priority debarkation (and to a lesser extent, a fresh flower display in the cabin), as well as some added ammeneties associated with Haven suites, such as reserved seating in the theatre and invitations to things like a bridge tour. We knew this all going into the cruise and we set our expectations accordingly, but we found we missed them and that the added expense of a suite was not worth it for us. For our next NCL cruise we are back in a suite. But, for our next Celebrity cruise we are trying Aqua Class.

[njhorseman]

We've cruised in suites on both Celebrity and NCL and agree with the comments made by the previous poster. The NCL suite experience is superior.

[janet_t1]

Thank you so much for your honest comments. I would hate to spend the extra $$$ and not have the services we have become so use to on NCL.

We really wanted to try Celebrity, but maybe not a short cruise in the Royal Suite.

[DCT61]

I agree...suite life on NCL is superior to Celebrity

[need2bespoiled]

I agree that suite life on NCL is superior to Celebrity, but I don't know if I could be comfortable in a 180 sf cabin with a small balcony. We DEFINITELY missed lunch in Cagney's or Le Bistro. We didn't miss breakfast as much as our butler brought us anything we requested. That being said, overall we enjoyed Celebrity very much and they have some great, longer itineraries, and on our recent 14 day December cruise, children were virtually non existent. You can get specialty coffee delivered to your cabin, but those suite coffee makers are sweet.

 

If I was able to snag an AQ cabin on the hump with a larger balcony or maybe one of the FV that are sometimes available to couples, it would be worth it.

 

If you are both Elite and in a suite, the combination of benefits will come closer to NCL. Also, on Celebrity, different suites on different ships come with different benefits, like on NCL. Some suites on NCL have a butler but not Haven access, S1/S2 will not have quite the benefits and service of a Royal or Penthouse...and on Reflection don't have access to Blue. A CS and above on an M Class ship has more benefits than S1/S2 like access to blue, since Blue is so much smaller.

 

In the end, I sort of give the nod for the ship, all be it a very small difference to NCL overall, while my partner (who is older and cares less about night life) gives it to Celebrity. If include itineraries, we like the Celebrity ones better.

[gskimmel]

On NCL, we will only do suite and on Celebrity, we are happy with Aqua Class. Now that the Reflection has Aqua Suites, we may book one of those. For us, Blu is a great perk (we actually prefer the Blu perk over the Cagney's breakfast/lunch perk). I wonder if Celebrity will covert some of the Sky suites on their other ships into Aqua Suites.

[Gonzo70]

Keep in mind you would likely receive considerably more perks if you book a Royal Suite than a Sky Suite. A Sky Suite is just a larger than normal stateroom with some extra perks. A Royal Suite is MUCH larger (only two staterooms on the entire ship are larger) and often comes with lots of extra perks, some guaranteed (i.e. a fifth of liquor) and other discretionary, but often awarded (dinner at the Captain's table and Elite benefits such as some free laundry, some free internet time, evening cocktail hour etc.).