What differences will we see between NCL, RCL and Celebrity?

[evitacruiser]

Aside from the obvious; dress requirements and freestyle dining, what differences will there be between the above cruiselines?

 

We have sailed with RCI and Celebrity many times but are trying NCL for the itinerary and the timing (Easter 2016) we are pretty easy going so I am sure we will love the experience, but any pointers to aid expectations would be great.

Edited August 15, 2015 by evitacruiser

[ColinIllinois]

Which NCL ship are you sailing on?

[evitacruiser]

We are on The Epic.

[backsbanny]

I found celebrity to have very good food on the main dining rooms better than ncl...i found that rcl seems and looks more upscale than ncl but the strongest aspect about ncl is freestyle cruising and top notch entertainment especially on the new ships...i would definitely cruise on any of these lines if the price is right...if i had to choose from all of them having same price i would go for celebrity though i believe that line is the best value for money

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[evitacruiser]

Yes, we have got a great deal, and as there are three generations sailing I think the freestyle concept will suit us better for this cruise.

 

It was the timing (several of us work in education) so Easter was a good date, and the itinerary (we have done most of the Med ports several times) so the Canaries and Morrocco appealed.

[swedish weave]

With the antics of the present NCL administration, it is impossible to predict what your cruise will be like.

 

I suggest keeping an eye on the NCL website and Cruise Critic so you will know what to expect as the crusetime gets nearer

[backsbanny]

Its going to be great for you and the epic is in my opinion one of the best ships ncl has..

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[Demonyte]

epic is in my opinion one of the best ships ncl has..

 

 

Epic is the "love or hate" ship in NCL's fleet - I'm on the side that disliked it a lot and prefer all other NCL ships that I've been on.

[NLH Arizona]

I cruise on both NCL and Celebrity.

 

Food in the main dining room - Celebrity's is much, much better, I don't like the food in the MDR on NCL and only eat in the specialty restaurants. NCL's MDRs are much, much louder than Celebrity's.

 

Specialty restaurant - A tie. NCL has the selection, but Celebrity's food in the specialty restaurants is awesome. Have had great experiences at the specialty restaurants for both NCL and Celebrity (if you go on Celebrity and the ship has a Qsine, it is a must do...a lot of fun).

 

Entertainment - Again, I'll give this to NCL.

 

Crew - Pretty much the same, in my opinion.

 

Kids - NCL has a lot more children then Celebrity does.

 

Shore excursions - I have to give this to Celebrity, they just seem to be more organized.

 

NCL is way, way more casual (day and night) then Celebrity is.

[abe3]

I think the epic is great but I liked the breakaway and getaway better.

[evitacruiser]

I cruise on both NCL and Celebrity.

 

Food in the main dining room - Celebrity's is much, much better, I don't like the food in the MDR on NCL and only eat in the specialty restaurants. NCL's MDRs are much, much louder than Celebrity's.

 

Specialty restaurant - A tie. NCL has the selection, but Celebrity's food in the specialty restaurants is awesome. Have had great experiences at the specialty restaurants for both NCL and Celebrity (if you go on Celebrity and the ship has a Qsine, it is a must do...a lot of fun).

 

Entertainment - Again, I'll give this to NCL.

 

Crew - Pretty much the same, in my opinion.

 

Kids - NCL has a lot more children then Celebrity does.

 

Shore excursions - I have to give this to Celebrity, they just seem to be more organized.

 

NCL is way, way more casual (day and night) then Celebrity is.

 

Yes, we loved Qsine on the Silhouette, and Bistro on 5, I think that if it was just myself and DH we would choose Celebrity, but this time we are taking my mum in law who will be celebrating her 80th birthday and is a first time cruiser and our three sons all of whom are happy to dress for dinner, but would rather not have to do it every night to eat at a full service restaurant.

 

I am now a bit worried about the food in the mdr though! We are paying for the trip for everyone and I really don't want to add in pay for restaurants every night of the cruise for 6 of us unless it is absolutely necessary.

[Demonyte]

I am now a bit worried about the food in the mdr though! We are paying for the trip for everyone and I really don't want to add in pay for restaurants every night of the cruise for 6 of us unless it is absolutely necessary.

 

Don't be. While the food isn't as nice as on Celebrity, it is still definitely not bad either. There are some people here who say they only eat in speciality restaurant on NCL but majority of people here are just fine with complimentary options - as long as your expectations are reasonable, you'll be fine.

 

Personally we go to speciality restaurants on NCL 1-2 times on a week long cruise, on Celebrity I find the cover charges too high compared to the level of complimentary food available - but then again I'm not a foodie.

Edited August 16, 2015 by Demonyte

[evitacruiser]

We will definitely go to the other restaurants a couple of times, maybe more but I wanted that to be from choice, not because the food served in the mdr meant we needed to!

 

I am sure it will be fine, we are foodie on occasion but we don't eat like that every night at home and we don't want to do that every night on a cruise. We normally choose another restaurant when the MDR food starts getting "samey" which it does on all lines after a few nights.

[backsbanny]

Dont worry about the food..its not as celebrity but its fine

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[Iluvcruising2]

We have only sailed on the NCL Jade and found the complimentary food offerings to be pretty decent.

 

Video shows you the main dining experience.

[YOUTUBE]xOimIZW3xEw[/YOUTUBE]

 

Garden buffet (i.e. the complimentary buffet) for dinner. Pretty good too!

[YOUTUBE]ic9vxaMs48M[/YOUTUBE]

[4774Papa]

I cruise on both NCL and Celebrity.

 

Food in the main dining room - Celebrity's is much, much better, I don't like the food in the MDR on NCL and only eat in the specialty restaurants. NCL's MDRs are much, much louder than Celebrity's.

 

Specialty restaurant - A tie. NCL has the selection, but Celebrity's food in the specialty restaurants is awesome. Have had great experiences at the specialty restaurants for both NCL and Celebrity (if you go on Celebrity and the ship has a Qsine, it is a must do...a lot of fun).

 

Entertainment - Again, I'll give this to NCL.

 

Crew - Pretty much the same, in my opinion.

 

Kids - NCL has a lot more children then Celebrity does.

 

Shore excursions - I have to give this to Celebrity, they just seem to be more organized.

 

NCL is way, way more casual (day and night) then Celebrity is.

We cruise both Celebrity and NCL and I concur with NHL Arizona's post.

 

Overall, we prefer Celebrity, but with the right itinerary and price we book with NCL.

 

We have found Celebrity's wait staff to be well trained, while NCL's staff are not always trained. Celebrity staff always takes the orders from the ladies first and not by picking a person on the table and going clockwise like frequently on NCL. Also, on NCL, I have received the wrong dish more than once.

 

The food on Celebrity is so consistently better that we never eat at the specialty restaurants, which are expensive on X.

 

NCL's variety of low priced specialty restaurants is a plus.

 

NCL seems to charge more for excursions than Celebrity, but we normally do private anyway.

 

Celebrity has a great perk for elite (like platinum on NCL) by providing a free happy hour from 5-7 every evening.

[Tagsalong]

I wish I could speak directly about the Epic, but I can't, sorry. However, we were on the NCL Getaway in March and thought the food in the MDR was outstanding, as well as in the other no-charge restaurants.

 

Let me set my credentials. We are Pinnacle on RCI and Elite+ on X.

 

The Getaway crew and officers were more friendly and engaging than on any X cruise we were on, more like RCI. Never had to wait for a table at any time; breakfast, lunch or dinner. Lots more for kids and young adults to do on NCL. Better and more diversified entertainment. A few negatives ,but nothing serious enough to mention since we don't hang out at the overly crowded pool nor book balconies, but, then again, all ships / lines have small annoyances.

 

Things we particularly liked were the Promenade outside deck, on deck 8, with very comfy chairs and sofas, and the Tropicana restaurant with a real live band playing dance music at dinner time.

 

We will be back on the Getaway in three weeks, yep, loved it that much.

Edited August 16, 2015 by Tagsalong

[Sauer-kraut]

 

Things we particularly liked were the Promenade outside deck, on deck 8, with very comfy chairs and sofas,

.

 

Unfortunately this is not available on the EPIC.

[backsbanny]

Yep epic doesnt have the oceanfront just like breakaway getaway but in my opinion epics spice is way better than getaways spice because it seems bigger and there is a pool there as well

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[kelmac]

I cruise on both NCL and Celebrity.

 

Food in the main dining room - Celebrity's is much, much better, I don't like the food in the MDR on NCL and only eat in the specialty restaurants. NCL's MDRs are much, much louder than Celebrity's.

 

Specialty restaurant - A tie. NCL has the selection, but Celebrity's food in the specialty restaurants is awesome. Have had great experiences at the specialty restaurants for both NCL and Celebrity (if you go on Celebrity and the ship has a Qsine, it is a must do...a lot of fun).

 

Entertainment - Again, I'll give this to NCL.

 

Crew - Pretty much the same, in my opinion.

 

Kids - NCL has a lot more children then Celebrity does.

 

Shore excursions - I have to give this to Celebrity, they just seem to be more organized.

 

NCL is way, way more casual (day and night) then Celebrity is.

 

Bingo, NLH is spot on!!

 

We love Celebrity, but did the Jewel last spring after a friend encouraged us to give them another shot! We did have a 7 day UDP and that made all the difference! We ate lunch in the MDR and avoided the buffet -- I rate that combo better than Princess, Royal Caribbean, and Holland America. What a surprise to us as we always believed the food on NCL was subpar. (our last NCL cruise was back in 2001)

 

Royal is a study in two different cruise lines. The Allure, Oasis, Quantum and the Anthem all have superior entertainment, but the other RCL ships are not any better than NCL. Celebrity comes in third here.

 

Celebrity does rule in having modern, uncrowded ships with an adult atmosphere. The perks of the Captain's Club are second to none and they have a knack of making my wife and me feel special on every voyage. (i.e. -- 13 invites to dine at the Captain's table) MDR food is excellent, and Blu is a nice change of pace, and the alternative restaurants are excellent, but expensive.

 

We were all set to cruise the Reflection in March (Miami), but after a difficult time obtaining affordable airfare, affordable hotels and land transport issues, we dumped the whole cruise and booked the Jade out of Houston for half the price. No real perks, and we added the UDP again, but still a great deal with non-stop cheap airfare to boot.

 

We did the Anthem of the Seas this past June, and to tell you the truth -- it should have been a Celebrity ship. Constructed a Meyer Werft with Celebrity like features (cabins, buffet, ship layout…,); it felt like they made a mid-stream change and slapped on the Royal Caribbean stuff (rock wall, ifly, wave rider, bumper cars…,). Even the North Star felt like a good idea for Celebrity. The dining rooms are attractive, but the quality of the food didn't match. What a let down! Celebrity cuisine on this ship would be a huge success.

 

All three of these cruise lines are still on our rotation, and we've dropped Princess and HAL (another thread):rolleyes::)

 

Enjoy!

Kel

[4774Papa]

kelmac,

We have seen some interesting cruises on HAL, but we book early and the prices always seem high. It seems that HAL is notorious for offering real bargains much closer to the cruise.

 

I would be interested in knowing why you don't do HAL anymore.

[kelmac]

kelmac,

We have seen some interesting cruises on HAL, but we book early and the prices always seem high. It seems that HAL is notorious for offering real bargains much closer to the cruise.

 

I would be interested in knowing why you don't do HAL anymore.

 

Hi 4P,

 

Fair enough -- we've cruised HAL 9 times and here is my thoughts:

 

Good:

--Uncrowded ships

--Excellent MDR food

--Excellent itineraries

--Variety of ship sizes

--Adult atmosphere

--Warm asian feel with good service

--Upscale beds and beddings

--Excellent private island (Half-Moon Cay)

 

Bad:

--Old school smoking policy (smoking allowed on balconies; casino and several locations)

--Dark traditional decor

--Alternative restaurants are good, but not great

--Poor past passenger program

--New builds are unimaginative and dull

--Poor morale of officers and some staff

--Older passengers are attracted to this line

 

I think Cunard offers a similar product without all the negatives.

 

Enjoy!

Kel:D

[newmexicoNita]

Aside from the obvious; dress requirements and freestyle dining, what differences will there be between the above cruiselines?

 

We have sailed with RCI and Celebrity many times but are trying NCL for the itinerary and the timing (Easter 2016) we are pretty easy going so I am sure we will love the experience, but any pointers to aid expectations would be great.

 

The biggest difference is just what you memtioned, especially compared to RCI. Most will say Celebrity is a little more upscale: this is probably true but we still prefer NCI as it is more laid back. The food is slightly better on Celebrity and we think NCL is better than RCI, but in all fairness we haven't done RCI for many years. NCL probably takes the prize for better entertainment.

 

Just go and know the lines are more alike than diferent but each has its own personality.