Good by Celebrity, and hello NCL.

[richstowe]

You remind me of the little boy who took his ball and went home. :p

... and then got another one and told everyone how much better the new one is.;)

[travelberlin]

I am glad you like NCL. May be I will try them one day. Until then I am still liking Celebrity but I choose my cruiseline based on the itinerary. So next cruises for me are with Arosa, MSC, RCI, Crystal and next year with Celebrity again :)

[north29]

I am glad you like NCL. May be I will try them one day. Until then I am still liking Celebrity but I choose my cruiseline based on the itinerary. So next cruises for me are with Arosa, MSC, RCI, Crystal and next year with Celebrity again :)

 

Especially with itinerary, but my problem is that if I book with another line, my bar bill would be more than the cruise LOL. Perks keep my happy, but a deal on any other cruise line to a area/itinerary we have not been, is booked.

I have found little differences in service or food on any other line, some times it is better, some times not as good, never bad, all depends on the ships captain, and other issues. I have been on the same ships and each time they are different, for better or worse.

So why worry be happy.

[richsea]

It's great to have choices. Enjoy your future cruises. We sailed on the Breakaway with family & had a great time, despite the fact that our room was the first room where there was no place to sit, & the food in the MDR was terrible. But the specialty dining was good.

[hartwickds]

I began my first cruise with Celebrity 15 years ago... Then switched to NCL for the next 6 cruises.. After a horrible experience on NCL Pearl last year I will never ever cruise NCl again... So I am back full circle to where I began... looking forward to my upcoming cruise on the Solstice in November.

 

My story goes like this... Cruised the NCL Pearl on. Panama Canal repositioning last October... 1/2 way through the cruise I was eating in one of the specialty restaurants and took a bite out of my desert and bit into shards of glass in my food! My mouth was cut which to be honest was minor... The major issue was that while biting into the pudding and biting into the shards of glass my right lower tooth cracked and fell out. I had to have a cap put in my tooth which cost me $1400. I promptly reported the incident to the Maitre D and an incident report was filed. I received a call from the head chef and he apologized profusely. I even went so far as reporting the incident to the cruise director, and front desk manager. NCL wanted to charge me money to be seen by the ships doctor, which I refused as it was their fault. I complained and wS bullied by the security staff... My remainder cruise was essentially ruined as I had pain in my tooth. Upon return I visited my dentist dentist and my tooth was fixed and cap was put on. I submitted a detailed repot to NCL claims and requested reimbursement for my out of pocket expenses which was the dentist bill.. My claim was denied and I did not receive so much as an apology or voucher from the corporate office. I will never cruise with NCL again and after relaying my story to my friends and family all have agreed to boycott NCL.

[jocelysue]

Question of curiosity: Why do people rarely compare Celelbrity to HAL?

 

As for us, although we have cruised on Cunard, Princess, RCI & HAL, we have cruised on HAL most frequently simply because they have full baths in outside staterooms which we find useful when we cruise for more than 15 days at a time. We have never cruised NCL nor Carnival because we tend to enjoy a modicum of formality but we have contributed to our children's sailing on these lines and even encouraged them to use them because we believed they would be a better fit for kids and adolescents. Apparently, we weren't wrong because both our children and grandchildren enjoyed them very much with the exception that they found the kids'menus were dumbed down too much (mac & cheese, chicken fingers, hot dogs, hamburgers...,mostly) so ended up bringing even the youngsters to dine with them in the MDR. But they loved the ambience clubs and were very pleased.

 

This is the first time DH & I will be trying Celebrity ( the drinks package hooked us & we're only on a 15 nighter) but we're going with an open mind & fully intend to enjoy ourselves. We'll be cruising after all.

 

We know ahead of time there is no afternoon tea in the MDR; there are no cloth facecloths in the public bathrooms rooms ; rarely are clerypeople on board; there are no frsh flowers on the tables in eithther the MDR or or the Lido. However, apparently the service on X is wonderful , there is a sushi bar and a martini bar to die & there are frequent good guest speakers.

 

And as many of you have implied : don't get stuck in a rut but be open and available for new experiences. So we sure will enjoy trying out something new. Still we cannot help but wonder why there seems to be so little crossover between X and HAL. Are the passengers different types of people? Will we fit in?

[COP]

For those of you who took seriously the concerns raised in my previous post about what we believed to be a downward trend in the quality of service, and especially the lack of response from Celebrity to my concerns as sent to them, about the quality of the food and overall appearance of the Celebrity Constellation and other problems, on our June Baltic Cruise, and suggestions that we should try another cruise line, so we did, and so it is, good by Celebrity, and hello NCL.

 

Well we have just returned from a cruise up the East Coast, from NY to Halifax and back, on the Norwegian Gem and we would have to say it was wonderful, the ship is bright and vibrant, the Crew are wonderful, the food is good and the service is excellent, it was just like Celebrity was 10 years ago.

 

I know that I will be hounded again by those in blinkers who only see cruise ships with a white cross on a blue background, but frankly I don’t give a dam, so now we will cruise on and try other cruise lines such as the more traditionalists like Cunard, P&O and others.

 

WELL, NOW ALL OF US ARE HAPPY!:rolleyes:

[cynbar]

We prefer Celebrity and Princess but have enjoyed our two recent NCL cruises a great deal, they offered a livelier atmosphere, cheerful decor and excellent, friendly service. No cruise line is perfect, no cruise line offers everything we want all the time. And, it gets to be a little repetitive to cruise the same line over and over. Glad the OP enjoyed NCL, there is plenty of competition out there, no need for him to spend his money with a line he wasn't satisfied with. Nothing says that everyone here has to feel the same way, in fact I'm quite sure they don't. But that doesn't make him wrong.

[NLH Arizona]

I think you will really enjoy NCL. I did my first NCL cruise last year and I choose NCL for two reasons. First, because they were less expensive than Celebrity and would be able to take more cruises if I combined both lines in my planning. Secondly, because of their tie in with Caesars and their Casino At Sea players program. If you gamble, make sure you sign up for a card when you get on the ship, the perks are fantastic.

 

I didn’t do the MDR, as I had read a lot of reviews about the MDR food, so I chose to eat in the specialty restaurants and the food was fantastic, with the exception of one restaurant that was not to my liking. I especially liked Cagney’s and the Teppanyaki restaurant.

 

My second NCL cruise is this November and I was totally surprised that I received it at half price from Casino At Sea and my 2014 11 day cruise is free, sans tax and port charges. The funny thing is that I always gambled more on Celebrity, but never got an offer until this year (on my last November Celebrity cruise, I gambled very little) and just got an offer for a discount off one of their cruises, which I didn‘t use.

 

I will still continue to cruise with Celebrity, because I like the product, but will save the majority of my gambling money for NCL. I don't compare the two lines as far as service, food, etc., because every cruise line has their own style and no two are alike. If you go in not expecting one cruise line to mirror another, you should have a great cruise no matter what cruise line you are one.

[brfan]

Question of curiosity: Why do people rarely compare Celelbrity to HAL?

 

As for us, although we have cruised on Cunard, Princess, RCI & HAL, we have cruised on HAL most frequently simply because they have full baths in outside staterooms which we find useful when we cruise for more than 15 days at a time. We have never cruised NCL nor Carnival because we tend to enjoy a modicum of formality but we have contributed to our children's sailing on these lines and even encouraged them to use them because we believed they would be a better fit for kids and adolescents. Apparently, we weren't wrong because both our children and grandchildren enjoyed them very much with the exception that they found the kids'menus were dumbed down too much (mac & cheese, chicken fingers, hot dogs, hamburgers...,mostly) so ended up bringing even the youngsters to dine with them in the MDR. But they loved the ambience clubs and were very pleased.

 

This is the first time DH & I will be trying Celebrity ( the drinks package hooked us & we're only on a 15 nighter) but we're going with an open mind & fully intend to enjoy ourselves. We'll be cruising after all.

 

We know ahead of time there is no afternoon tea in the MDR; there are no cloth facecloths in the public bathrooms rooms ; rarely are clerypeople on board; there are no frsh flowers on the tables in eithther the MDR or or the Lido. However, apparently the service on X is wonderful , there is a sushi bar and a martini bar to die & there are frequent good guest speakers.

 

And as many of you have implied : don't get stuck in a rut but be open and available for new experiences. So we sure will enjoy trying out something new. Still we cannot help but wonder why there seems to be so little crossover between X and HAL. Are the passengers different types of people? Will we fit in?

 

There are cloth towels (what you called face cloths) in the public washrooms on Celebrity.

[Cruising89143]

& the food in the MDR was terrible. But the specialty dining was good.

 

That was our experience on NCL. To get a good meal we had to pay for it. The lido dining on NCL ranks as the worst that we have ever experienced.

[TomTN]

We sailed on NCL Jan, 2010 (third time). Got to see Cairo, many pyramids and go in the Great Pyramid. The sail away from Valletta, Malta at night was beautiful. Also met some wonderful people, just like X.

Glad you like NCL.

[bubbachief]

I have tried to get an answer to this question and since you were on the Constellation Baltic cruise, I'll try you. We are on the Constellation this coming May for the Baltic cruise. On the St Petersburg overnight, did they bring in local talent for the show that night? We are debating signing up for an evening folklore show that is offered by some of the local tour groups. If something similar is on board the ship, we may just do that.

[Macadian]

I do hope your a smoker. If so, NCL should suit you quite comfortably...

I have had enjoyable cruises on NCL, only marred by their smoking policy, hence my switch to either 'X' or 'RCL'

 

Have a great cruise!

[sandancer]

I agree that trying new lines is fun and keeps things fresh. Also, how can you comment on a cruise line you have never sailed on? We have tried five lines and so far we like Royal Caribbean and Celebrity the best with Princess coming in third. No doubt we will eventually try others.

 

Good luck in your cruising adventures!

 

Ditto

[mafig]

We've also had very nice cruises on NCL. Their suite perks are great and sometimes you are able to get a good price on their suites. Our last crusie we ended up with so much OBC that we really had to work hard to use it. WE got OBC for booking a suite, OBC for for booking more than 9 months out and OBC for using our AMEX card. Then our TA put us in a group, which entitled us to [I]more [/I]OBC. Unfortunately, we found out the last day that we could NOT use the OBC for their service charge. So DH found a watch he liked so that we could use it all up.

Because of the large amount of OBC and the fact that this was an itinerary we had been on before, we did eat in the specialty restaurants every night except one (I believe). I do agree that the main dining room food isn't as good as the other lines. (Celebrity is way better here.)

Their entertainment is good too.

I enjoy trying other lines. Some I like better than others. My first cruise on Celebrity was terrible, stayed away for seven years, but my last few on Celebrity were great; they are probably my favorite line right now.
Two lines I (personally) will stay away from are Carnival and Costa.

Never had a problem with smokers on Norwegian. We have on Carnival.

:)

[dodger1964]

Grass/greener just saying.

[TomTN]

[quote name='jocelysue']Question of curiosity: Why do people rarely compare Celelbrity to HAL?

As for us, although we have cruised on Cunard, Princess, RCI & HAL, we have cruised on HAL most frequently simply because they have full baths in outside staterooms which we find useful when we cruise for more than 15 days at a time. We have never cruised NCL nor Carnival because we tend to enjoy a modicum of formality but we have contributed to our children's sailing on these lines and even encouraged them to use them because we believed they would be a better fit for kids and adolescents. Apparently, we weren't wrong because both our children and grandchildren enjoyed them very much with the exception that they found the kids'menus were dumbed down too much (mac & cheese, chicken fingers, hot dogs, hamburgers...,mostly) so ended up bringing even the youngsters to dine with them in the MDR. But they loved the ambience clubs and were very pleased.

This is the first time DH & I will be trying Celebrity ( the drinks package hooked us & we're only on a 15 nighter) but we're going with an open mind & fully intend to enjoy ourselves. We'll be cruising after all.

We know ahead of time there is no afternoon tea in the MDR; there are no cloth facecloths in the public bathrooms rooms ; rarely are clerypeople on board; there are no frsh flowers on the tables in eithther the MDR or or the Lido. However, apparently the service on X is wonderful , there is a sushi bar and a martini bar to die & there are frequent good guest speakers.

And as many of you have implied : don't get stuck in a rut but be open and available for new experiences. So we sure will enjoy trying out something new. Still we cannot help but wonder why there seems to be so little crossover between X and HAL. Are the passengers different types of people? Will we fit in?[/quote]

We have about 10 X cruises and 5 HAL cruises. HAL is our 2nd choice, but we have not sailed with them since 2005.
We liked the rooms, beds, food, beautiful ships, promenade deck, and excellent service.
BUT, we live in a society where we simply do not have to contend with indoor smoke. I would book with them again, but I would dread the stale smoke issue.
If you can handle the smoke I think HAL is very comparable to X. Who knows? If they have not had cutbacks similar to X they might better than X at this point.

[blueboro]

Ah...so BJC is the "Do Celebrity Care...NO" poster. Enough said.

[richsea]

[quote name='cruisingator2']That was our experience on NCL. To get a good meal we had to pay for it. The lido dining on NCL ranks as the worst that we have ever experienced.[/QUOTE]

Actually, we ate dinners the buffet on one night, & they had lobster tails, & while they were super small, they were fantastic! Overall, I didn't think the buffet was that bad, but if we ever cruise NCL again, we will. Plan. On dining in a specialty restaurant, most likely Cagneys, every night. BTW, we also LOVED the casual dress code, particularly when cruising with the grandkids! Excellent entertainment also!

[Turtles06]

[quote name='richsea']Actually, we ate dinners the buffet on one night, & they had lobster tails, & while they were super small, they were fantastic! Overall, I didn't think the buffet was that bad, but if we ever cruise NCL again, we will. Plan. On dining in a specialty restaurant, most likely Cagneys, every night. BTW, we also LOVED the casual dress code, particularly when cruising with the grandkids! Excellent entertainment also![/quote]

NCL is a great deal of fun, and freestyle dining is a wonderful concept. But don't waste your money on Cagney's for dinner. Truly overrated; mediocre food, badly prepared. Le Bistro, however, is worth it. (Still, no one cruises on NCL for the food.)

[richsea]

[quote name='Turtles06']NCL is a great deal of fun, and freestyle dining is a wonderful concept. But don't waste your money on Cagney's for dinner. Truly overrated; mediocre food, badly prepared. Le Bistro, however, is worth it. (Still, no one cruises on NCL for the food.)[/QUOTE]

We ate ate Cagneys & thought the food was very good, certainly not as good as Muranos, but very good. Also, they were not able to sit us until 15 minutes after our reserved time & sent a bottle of wine to the table as a result

[sevenseasnomad]

No one cruise line can be all things to all passengers. Thank heavens we have so many cruise lines that offer different experiences.

OP, I'm glad you found a line that you enjoyed.

[bplazo]

I do not think that the service we received on our last Celebrity cruise cold be any better on any other ship.

[jd1966]

[quote name='jocelysue']Question of curiosity: Why do people rarely compare Celelbrity to HAL?

As for us, although we have cruised on Cunard, Princess, RCI & HAL, we have cruised on HAL most frequently simply because they have full baths in outside staterooms which we find useful when we cruise for more than 15 days at a time. We have never cruised NCL nor Carnival because we tend to enjoy a modicum of formality but we have contributed to our children's sailing on these lines and even encouraged them to use them because we believed they would be a better fit for kids and adolescents. Apparently, we weren't wrong because both our children and grandchildren enjoyed them very much with the exception that they found the kids'menus were dumbed down too much (mac & cheese, chicken fingers, hot dogs, hamburgers...,mostly) so ended up bringing even the youngsters to dine with them in the MDR. But they loved the ambience clubs and were very pleased.

This is the first time DH & I will be trying Celebrity ( the drinks package hooked us & we're only on a 15 nighter) but we're going with an open mind & fully intend to enjoy ourselves. We'll be cruising after all.

We know ahead of time there is no afternoon tea in the MDR; there are no cloth facecloths in the public bathrooms rooms ; rarely are clerypeople on board; there are no frsh flowers on the tables in eithther the MDR or or the Lido. However, apparently the service on X is wonderful , there is a sushi bar and a martini bar to die & there are frequent good guest speakers.

And as many of you have implied : don't get stuck in a rut but be open and available for new experiences. So we sure will enjoy trying out something new. Still we cannot help but wonder why there seems to be so little crossover between X and HAL. Are the passengers different types of people? Will we fit in?[/quote]
Although we only have one cruise on HAL, we found it to be very similar to X in every way!