NCL Celebrity comparisons

[HarpHarp]

For cruisers who have sailed both NCL & X, what are the major differences? What is your favorite thing on each line?

 

Thinking about canceling my NCL cruise & switching to Celebrity.

[Tiggertastic]

I d recommend that you do a search, there was a thread 2 weeks ago about the exact same thing that will give you lots of insight.

 

Ncl and celebrity have many differences but we love both.

 

If you share what it is you like or are looking for it will help people to answer for you

[Cruzaholic41]

For cruisers who have sailed both NCL & X, what are the major differences? What is your favorite thing on each line?

 

Thinking about canceling my NCL cruise & switching to Celebrity.

 

In my opinion, NCL and Celebrity are a world apart. What Celebrity ship are you considering? Celebrity is much more refined, less of a family atmosphere, more for adult couples, with much better food and service. Also, their Solstice Class ships are beautiful, unlike the playground decor of NCL ships.

 

These 2 cruise lines are opposite ends of the spectrum for me and when it's just DH and I cruising, I will always choose Celebrity over NCL.

[HarpHarp]

We are looking at the Celebrity Reflection to replace our Escape cruise.

 

Evening entertainment & any time dining are important to us.

[cjcruises]

I feel like they are completely different experiences. All things being equal, I'd probably choose X over NCL, but my husband and kids would t necessarily agree. I prefer the MDR on X, as well as their coffee bars. I love the suite and suite benefits on NCL and NCL's "bells and whistles" are enjoyed by my children. Different experiences, but both a terrific options. NCL is definitely more laid back and less refined. X is more elegant and more adult. I also love the Hot Glass Show on X (select ships only).

I do appreciate the dining options on NCL, so that would be tick on the pro-NCL column. :)

(We've sailed X, Princess, RCCL, and NCL. I don't know that I'd said RCCL again, but the others have been terrific, yet completely distinct, experiences.)

[mizLORInj]

We are looking at the Celebrity Reflection to replace our Escape cruise.

 

Evening entertainment & any time dining are important to us.

 

Tough one. Brand new ship or not as new. Hmmmm. The balcony on the Reflection will be 2x the size of Escape--that matters to us. I feel Celebrity is a bit more upscale--at least on their newer ships (solstice class). Loved the Molecular Bar. IMO entertainment is better on NCL. But I would still cruise Solstice class Celeb ships again.

[4774Papa]

We have cruise 8 times on Celebrity and 5 on NCL.

 

We give the edge to Celebrity, but continue to cruise both lines.

 

Celebrity has far more variety in itineraries, including Asia, Australia, South America and more. NCL just resumed its South American cruises and we hear is going to Australia, but is more centered in the Caribbean, Med, Alaska, Hawaii and Panama Canal.

 

Celebrity has better MDR food and their servers are better trained, for example remembering who ordered what and serving the ladies at the table first. NCL is more inconsistent, but not to point of intense frustration.

 

NCL has cheaper specialty restaurants and several. We don't do specialty restaurants on Celebrity (too expensive), but enjoy NCL's.

 

NCL has slightly better entertainment.

 

We like ships with less than 3000 persons and most of Celebrity's are in that category, while NCL has the Epic, which is our least favorite ship. Too crowded.

 

NCL has more announcements that irritate, Celebrity is more sedate. NCL seems to party more in the late hours and has a little younger customer, especially for the shorter cruises.

We do 14 day cruises mostly and find the typical passenger is more similar than different. On a 7 day cruise, the atmosphere is lighter and younger on NCL.

 

Excursions on NCL tend to be more expensive than on Celebrity, be we do more private tours than ship's excursions.

 

Celebrity's elite status will give you free laundry and a free happy hour's drinks from 5-7. NCL gives you a free dinner at le Bistro and bottle of wine, with free laundry as well.

[luv2cruisecats]

We are Platinum on NCL and Elite on X. To us the difference between the buffets, at least for lunch, is day and night. X has better and tastier food and the layout is much better with X having islands of foods with much less congestion. Our latest cruise in June on the Getaway proved this again but to be fair we have not eaten dinner in either.

Having said that we still like NCL since that is where we started and they keep throwing bargain priced balconies at us.