NCL vs Celebrity

[curleyjane]

I have been on 5 NCL cruises and was disappointed on my last one I took with my Mom on the Gem. I thinks it's time for a change and I would like to take my daughter on the Celebrity Infinity 10-29-15 Western Cruise. I'm 52 and she is 28, I have read Celebrity is for an older crowd. Can I get some opinions from those who have been on Celebrity? Thanks a bunch

[cynbar]

We have sailed both NCL and Celebrity several times, and the ambiance is very different. Celebrity is quieter, more sedate and dignified, more elegant. Dress code is followed pretty closely, nights are either smart casual or formal (although you don't see too many tuxes and gowns anymore, most men wear jackets or suits and women wear something dressy.) Food in the MDR is much better on Celebrity, there is not as big a variety of specialty restaurants and they are higher priced than NCL. The entertainment is generally good but there isn't as much of it, emphasis is more on relaxing and enjoying your companions in a lovely atmosphere. Age range varies from cruise to cruise, probably does trend older than NCL overall. If all of this sounds OK with you, give Celebrity a try, they do put out an excellent product.

 

PS --- I should add that it's possible to avoid dressing formal by eating in the buffet or specialty restaurants, or booking Aqua Class and eating in their restaurant, Blu. But you still will see cruisers dressed smart casual ---- very different from NCL where there is basically no dress code in many venues.

Edited May 4, 2015 by cynbar

[vulcan1971]

I have been on 5 NCL cruises and was disappointed on my last one I took with my Mom on the Gem. I thinks it's time for a change and I would like to take my daughter on the Celebrity Infinity 10-29-15 Western Cruise. I'm 52 and she is 28, I have read Celebrity is for an older crowd. Can I get some opinions from those who have been on Celebrity? Thanks a bunch

 

curleyjane -

 

I have sailed NCL two times but many more cruises on Celebrity. I like both cruise lines for different reasons. I have included a link to another thread that you may find helpful.

 

If you have specific questions after reading this, come back and ask.

[miched]

The only way to really know is to try it. I have never been on a bad cruise, some are just better than the others, and I have been on many carnival, Princess, RCCL and Celebrity.

 

the infinity is the older class but still Celebrity. If you like that you will enjoy the newer ships more

 

happy cruising. 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌞

Edited May 4, 2015 by miched

[curleyjane]

We have sailed both NCL and Celebrity several times, and the ambiance is very different. Celebrity is quieter, more sedate and dignified, more elegant. Dress code is followed pretty closely, nights are either smart casual or formal (although you don't see too many tuxes and gowns anymore, most men wear jackets or suits and women wear something dressy.) Food in the MDR is much better on Celebrity, there is not as big a variety of specialty restaurants and they are higher priced than NCL. The entertainment is generally good but there isn't as much of it, emphasis is more on relaxing and enjoying your companions in a lovely atmosphere. Age range varies from cruise to cruise, probably does trend older than NCL overall. If all of this sounds OK with you, give Celebrity a try, they do put out an excellent product.

 

PS --- I should add that it's possible to avoid dressing formal by eating in the buffet or specialty restaurants, or booking Aqua Class and eating in their restaurant, Blu. But you still will see cruisers dressed smart casual ---- very different from NCL where there is basically no dress code in many venues.

 

Thank You for your response. This is exactly what we were looking for!

[gillsjottings]

We haven't been on NCL, but we did go on a RCCL cruise in 2012. When I decided to book another cruise we preferred the Celebrity itinerary, so chose Celebrity for our 2014 cruise. I was a little bit concerned because we were cruising with my then 19 yo daughter and I had the impression that Celebrity may be a little "old and dull" for her. It wasn't like that at all. We all loved Celebrity.

 

IMHO it wasn't as bright, shiny or noisy as RCCL, but had a more elegant, sophisticated feel. It wasn't intimidating though, which was something that concerned me. I thought formal nights might be very formal, but they weren't (I wore black pants and a dressy shirt and I didn't feel underdressed at all.) There were plenty of 20-something and 30-something people on board and more teens and kids than I had expected.

 

We loved our cruise so much that we have booked the same ship for a cruise with our kids next year.

[4774Papa]

We have sailed both NCL and Celebrity several times, and the ambiance is very different. Celebrity is quieter, more sedate and dignified, more elegant. Dress code is followed pretty closely, nights are either smart casual or formal (although you don't see too many tuxes and gowns anymore, most men wear jackets or suits and women wear something dressy.) Food in the MDR is much better on Celebrity, there is not as big a variety of specialty restaurants and they are higher priced than NCL. The entertainment is generally good but there isn't as much of it, emphasis is more on relaxing and enjoying your companions in a lovely atmosphere. Age range varies from cruise to cruise, probably does trend older than NCL overall. If all of this sounds OK with you, give Celebrity a try, they do put out an excellent product.

 

PS --- I should add that it's possible to avoid dressing formal by eating in the buffet or specialty restaurants, or booking Aqua Class and eating in their restaurant, Blu. But you still will see cruisers dressed smart casual ---- very different from NCL where there is basically no dress code in many venues.

Concur with this post.

We have done 8 Celebrity and 5 NCL cruises.

 

Itinerary and price are our primary selection factors. Celebrity along with HAL and Princess have the best itineraries with cruises almost everywhere in the World. NCL is more limited.

 

Celebrity is more sedate and dignified as posted already.

NCL tends to attract a younger crowd (although not terribly different from X on the 14 day cruises).

 

NCL has slightly better entertainment. It has more specialty restaurants than Celebrity and the prices are more reasonable, but the MDR food is better on Celebrity. In fact, we don't eat at the Celebrity specialty restaurants for that reason.

 

The buffet on X seems better, with more options. X has an eggs Benedict station for breakfast, pizza station at other times and Indian food at the buffet.

 

Our last NCL cruise was last Sept/Oct on the Star and we thought that the MDR food had improved from 2012, but still not consistently good as on X.

The service is not as consistent on NCL as on X.

 

My Daughter and Son, both adults like NCL, and we have cruised with them on NCL.

 

NCL's excursion prices tend to be higher than X's. Of course, we do try to find private tours.

 

Both lines are fun to cruise on and we have one cruise booked on each line in the future. We do prefer Celebrity as our first choice.

[ECCruise]

May have a slightly different take from some here, but here we go...

 

We've sailed Celebrity 20+ times, over 200 days. NCL a dozen times, around 150 days. Last 2 cruises were NCL last month (21 days on Jade) and Celebrity last week (11 days on Solstice).

 

Really do NOT find huge differences between the lines that some seem to discern, but there are some and each line has its own strengths and weaknesses.

 

Food: Celebrity used to have a big advantage here but no longer. Food is much closer in quality with much more selection on NCL (12-15 main choices a night and 10-12 starter choices a night vs. about half that on Celebrity). Would still give Celebrity a very slight nod in presentation and quality but wouldn't pick a cruise on the minimal difference. Specialty restaurants excellent on both, but NCL generally half or less in cost. $50 per person for a specialty, is IMHO, ridiculous.

 

Service: No longer see any difference. Maybe a bit friendlier on NCL but no complaints on either.

 

Entertainment: NCL in a landslide. More options, more venues and their production shows are a mile ahead of Celebrity (and we LOVE Solstice, Eclipse, Silhouette, et al.: The Show.) We found that at any given time there may be 3 or more options on NCL while on Celebrity those options occur at different times.

 

Ambiance: NCL is freestyle, which means that you will see very few dressed up people in the MDR. Celebrity still enforces a dress code, but only for those who do not pay to dine elsewhere, whether it be for a specialty restaurant or for AQ or suites. You will see plenty of people in casual clothes on Celebrity everywhere else on the ship on formal nights, including the theater, casino, etc. For us, it is a big advantage to not have to pack formal clothes for 4 hours or so total wear. We got over formal nights a long time ago but still meet the dress code when we sail on Celebrity.

 

Maybe we've sailed too much, but we simply do not see the differences that others do in these 2 lines. Would be happy to sail either again, and have lots of days booked on both in the future. We make our decisions based on itinerary and price, not some perceived difference in lines.

[NLH Arizona]

I cruise both lines and have to agree with what has been said.

 

NCL is much more casual. Celebrity does have formal nights (which you can skip by going to a specialty restaurant or the buffet).

 

Celebrity's MDR food is much better than NCL (I only do specialty restaurants on NCL). You can do fixed seating or select dining (eat when you want) on Celebrity. Must note, that the pasta station on Celebrity is outstanding, 1,000 times better than NCL's.

 

There are a lot less announcements on Celebrity, which is very nice.

 

NCL's entertainment is far better than Celebrity's.

 

I think the crew is pretty much equal. I've had great service on both lines.

 

I find Celebrity's passengers to be a little older than NCL, with NCL having more families with children.

 

Celebrity's nightlife is a little more subdued than NCL and the ships on Celebrity are overall is much quieter.

 

I enjoy both lines and when I cruise on different lines, I try not to compare them while onboard, because as much as they are the same, they are very different.

[Tiggertastic]

I agree with that everyone is saying in relation to food, entertainment etc however there was a revelation to us last month on NCL

 

we've done almost equal numbers of NCL and celebrity but for the first time we noticed that at midnight on NCL if you're over 25 there's nothing to do where bard are still going, cafe al baccio is still open etc on celebrity

 

NCL closed the bars bang on 12, other than the nightclub which I was 20 years too old for when I went in (and I'm in my 40s) and O'sheehans bar but there was nobody on there.

 

Never noticed it before

[curleyjane]

Thank you all for your comments. Each reply was helpful and much appreciated. :)

[DinaS]

I agree with that everyone is saying in relation to food, entertainment etc however there was a revelation to us last month on NCL

 

we've done almost equal numbers of NCL and celebrity but for the first time we noticed that at midnight on NCL if you're over 25 there's nothing to do where bard are still going, cafe al baccio is still open etc on celebrity

 

NCL closed the bars bang on 12, other than the nightclub which I was 20 years too old for when I went in (and I'm in my 40s) and O'sheehans bar but there was nobody on there.

 

Never noticed it before

 

Strange that you had this experience on NCL.

 

We were on the NCL Gem last year (in March for a 10 day Caribbean cruise) and there was plenty going on after midnight. We're in our 50's, and had no lack of things to do, bars to hang out in, or music to hear.

 

We're hoping that Celebrity (Summit) still has something going on after midnight!

[wallie5446]

Our DD is 32, has sailed on 6 diff lines since she was 8. Worked on ship for RCCL.

She went with us last on the RCCL Freedom in 2011. If she said it once, it was so much we got tired of hearing her say, "I sure wish you guys had of booked something with Celebrity"!

 

Not knowing what you or your DD like to do, it is hard to say, "oh, you will like this, or you will like that".

 

NCL was like going to Circus Circus in Vegas, where as Celebrity was more like the Wynn.

[miched]

Our DD is 32, has sailed on 6 diff lines since she was 8. Worked on ship for RCCL.

She went with us last on the RCCL Freedom in 2011. If she said it once, it was so much we got tired of hearing her say, "I sure wish you guys had of booked something with Celebrity"!

 

Not knowing what you or your DD like to do, it is hard to say, "oh, you will like this, or you will like that".

 

NCL was like going to Circus Circus in Vegas, where as Celebrity was more like the Wynn.

 

great analogy. We started going to Vegas in the early 80s and have seen many changes. We would go there 3 to 4 times a year and to some that may not seem like much but we live in Mi. After the 33rd time there I said to my wife from now on when we come here there are three things that I don't want to do in this order

 

1 Will not go into Circus Circus

2 will not walk up and down the strip in and out of every casino.

3 No more buffets.

 

There are a few favorites that we do frequently visit and they are the Wynn Group, Harrahs, Bellagio, Venetian and we will check out any new casino. We do occasionally visit a casino that we haven't been in but haven't gone back in Circus Circus. It was bad back in the 80s and don't think that it improved.

 

Witnessed the evolution of the whole area that started with Steve Wynn when he built the Mirage. Since then many things have changed due to the bean counters. We don't go there as frequent as we don't like the direction they are taking or feel that we fit into their target market. I feel that the crusie lines are now heading the same way for us now.

 

happy cruising 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌞

[dkjretired]

Don't know if anyone mentioned it but Celebrity's smoking policy is much better if it matters. There is no smoking indoors on Celebrity including Casino, cabins and veranda's. Only a few outdoor spots. Sometimes on NCL the smoking was oppressive especially in the casino and others smoking does not usually bother me.

[illiniwahoo]

We have done 4 celebrity Cruises and 1 ncl. My husband and I are in out low 30s now. Every celebrity cruise we have made friends, people we saw all the time at the same bars and enjoyed talking to. Yes, they were mostly older than us, but not always. We had a blast. On ncl, there were more people around our age, but I think with the freestyle concept people don't keep to a routine, and we never really bonded with anyone on the ship. A few casual conversations here and there, but no real friends, even though more people were closer to our age. We prefer celebrity. I wouldn't worry about it. (You can search by my name for a full comparison, but I'm on my phone now, so it's hard to cut and paste)

[curleyjane]

Don't know if anyone mentioned it but Celebrity's smoking policy is much better if it matters. There is no smoking indoors on Celebrity including Casino, cabins and veranda's. Only a few outdoor spots. Sometimes on NCL the smoking was oppressive especially in the casino and others smoking does not usually bother me.

 

 

That is great to hear! My daughter and I both don't smoke and that is one more thing to love about Celebrity! We decided to book the Western Caribbean on the Infinity in October. Can't wait!!!