What will we notice different to Rccl & Celebrity

[justfred]

We have recently booked a cruise on Epic for next Feb, and after many years cruising with Rccl & Celebrity we thought it was about time to give NCL a spin, we are quite looking forward to see how NCL do things!! , we are open minded but we have absolutely no idea what to expect, we have the complimentary UBP so thats a good start.

Any info or guidance would be very much appreciated

 

Christine & Pete

[Vacationlover2]

I used to sail RCCL, Celebrity and Disney. I loved those lines but I absolutely ADORE NCL. I like not having to dine at a specific time. I love their shows. I love the free beverage package they have been offering. I love all the dining options.

 

I also like not having to bring formal wear. What a pain that was for my husband to have to bring a suit.

 

I think you will love Norwegian.

[Demonyte]

What to expect varies greatly also on the ships you're used to. I'm currently onboard Celebrity Summit and the experience is way different in comparison to NCL than it was on Celebrity Reflection in January.

 

From my personal experience I'd say that in general with NCL there is less variation between ships what comes to basic offerings like MDRs, bars and entertainment.

 

For example NCL has pretty much the same parties on all ships, with Celebrity we were impressed by the parties featuring their production show dancers on Reflection but really underwhelmed by the lack of anything like that on Summit.

 

So all in all, in order to make any worthwhile comparisons, one would need a lot more info about the preferences and cruising history. Epic is the first of NCL's megaships so it's a lot more like newer RCI or Celebrity ships than these older ones.

Edited November 9, 2015 by Demonyte

[kelmac]

Vl2,

 

We made a recent "revisit" to NCL after a 14 year absence. We are Celebrity fans, and so we were concerned the food would be a huge let down. To counter this, we purchased the UDP (ultimate dining package) and ate every meal in an alternative restaurant. We did lunch in the MDR and tried to avoid the buffet.

Turned out to be an excellent cruise!

Food was excellent! Entertainment better than Celebrity. Ship was modern and well designed. Cabins are small, but once again, well designed. Service was great. Ships are, of course, much more crowded than Celebrity, but we didn't let that slow us down.

 

I now place NCL food better than:

--RCL

--Princess

--HAL

 

This was on the Jewel last March, and we have the Jade booked this coming March.

 

Nice to have a new (old) cruise line on our rotation!

Kel:)

[cruisetimeforme]

Another Celebrity and RCI fan here too. Been cruising only these two for the past dozen years or so and hadn't been on NCL for around 14 years. Back in June we sailed the Oasis to celebrate our 25th anniversary and they dropped the ball this time. It'll be a long time before we'll give them our money. We decided to do a redo cruise and so tried the Getaway and had a blast! I was pretty anxious not really knowing if it would be a good decision, but boy were we glad we did. Liked it enough that we booked two more while onboard! It's nice to have another line to sail again. That being said, we're heading out on the Star in Dec with the family and getting nervous now since all the bad reviews she's been getting since coming back to Tampa. Just to be on the safe side we've got another coming up on the Reflection in Jan. I feel NCL might be looking for our kind of people these days. Plus, we're Gold and Platinum level, who would have known? I say give it a try, you might be very surprised

[hypercafe]

Except to see much more crowded ship with a lot more a la cart, up charges.

[NLH Arizona]

I've cruise Celebrity for many years and five years ago, I put NCL into my mix of cruise lines that I cruise on.

 

NCL is much, much more casual than Celebrity, not only during the day, but in the evening as well. NCL doesn't have any real formal nights, they do have a dress up or not night, where many get dressed up and get their pictures taken. On NCL during the evening at the specialty restaurants, I've seen everything from sports jacket and tie to sweat suits to jeans and t-shirts and even baseball hats at dinner (something I don't think I ever seen on Celebrity).

 

There are many more families on the NCL ships then there are on Celebrity, but that has really never been an issue for me, as I don't cruise during the summer, holidays or school holidays and the children are pretty well behaved while still being children.

 

I love the specialty restaurants on NCL, they have such a wide variety of them. I have only eaten in the MDR a few times and the food in Celebrity's MDR is far more superior. Now, I will say that NCL is changing their menus and the new ones look interesting and they will have some upscale items like lobster, prime rib and surf and turf on them at an additional charge, similar to what RCCL does.

 

I'm not a big entertainment person, but have heard that the entertainment on NCL is far superior to Celebrity.

 

I'm not a mega ship person, mostly sail on NCL's jewel ships and on Celebrity the smaller ships, the Summit is my favorite. I think the Celebrity ships, in their styling, are more sophisticated, then the NCL ships. I felt the balcony cabin, which I cruised in on my first two cruises, was much smaller than the Celebrity Concierge level cabin. I will say that the NCL cabin had more than adequate storage space. On NCL in a balcony cabin, you only get a dispenser in the shower with shampoo and body wash, no conditioner, body lotion, etc., things that I'd come to expect on Celebrity.

 

The two lines are different, but I've had great cruising experiences on both. I'll be on the NCL Pearl this December and Celebrity's Eclipse this January and are looking forward to both cruises.

[justfred]

Thanks to everyone for your info, we are quite looking forword to trying NCL, as they say a change is as good as a rest?

 

Christine and Pete

[NLH Arizona]

Thanks to everyone for your info, we are quite looking forword to trying NCL, as they say a change is as good as a rest?

 

Christine and Pete

BTW, just read that Celebrity has gotten rid of the formal night and they are now evening chic, which includes jeans, etc.

[Demonyte]

BTW, just read that Celebrity has gotten rid of the formal night and they are now evening chic, which includes jeans, etc.

 

No yet, only starting next month. We're currently onboard Celebrity Summit and Formal Nights are still going just like before.

 

However while not the official policy, they have in fact allowed nice designer jeans already on Formal Nights.