Suite Smackdown – Who does it better? Norwegian Haven vs. Celebrity Retreat!

[Seany527]

I recently experienced a sailing on the Celebrity Edge in the Retreat area. My only other suite experiences have been with Norwegian in the Haven. Prior to booking the Retreat, I looked for information on how the two cruise lines delivered their product. While I found plenty on information, I wasn’t able to find any which offered a direct comparison of the two. Having been in the Haven, I knew what to expect and I knew if the price I was paying offered a good value. With the Retreat, I was venturing into the unknown but I still wanted to try it.

In the posts to follow, I will compare the different areas and services offered and put the two lines head to head to find out who offers a better product and value and which I would book again in the future.

A disclaimer to this before we begin: Cruise ships have always changed offerings, but more so now than ever. One would expect to see differences between cruise lines but there are also differences even within the same brand. For example, some Norwegian ships do not offer an exclusive "Haven" restaurant. On Celebrity, few ships have a unique, dedicated Retreat Sundeck. Your overall experience is going to greatly depend on which class of ship you are booking. And even then within the same class of ship, there could be some differences as well.

For the sake of this comparison, we will be look at the newest, in-service class of ships; Norwegian’s Breakaway Plus class and Celebrity’s Edge class.

As we go along, feel free to share some of your experiences or ask any questions you have about the suite experience.

 

As we go along, feel free to share some of your experiences or ask any questions you have about the cruise lines exclusive areas.

[Seany527]

The booking process and included perks

Booking your cruise either in Norwegian’s Haven or Celebrity’s Retreat is relatively identical except for the actual software itself and I wouldn’t necessarily give the edge to one over the other.  I also wouldn’t book a cruise solely on the pre-cruise experience but there are some key differences.

Each line reaches out to their guests prior to their sail date.

 

As a guest of the Haven, you will receive a welcome letter and luggage tags before your sailing.  The welcome letter gives you a shoreside contact number for any pre-cruise requests.

 

Retreat guests will also receive luggage tags prior to sailing.  Guests will also receive a welcome survey asking about some of your preferences for the cruise. Questions on the survey include “what temperature do you want the suite upon your arrival?,” “how many additional clothes hangers would you like in the closets?,” “how about the number of sheets on your bed?” and things of the like.  

 

At the time I am writing this and for the foreseeable future, both lines include some additional perks to all of their guests.  The chart below outlines those benefits on a traditional 7 day cruise with 4 ports of call for two people. Haven guests do not receive added or additional perks compared to standard cabins. A Retreat booking takes the standard perks and provides an additional or added benefit compared to those booked in a standard cabin. 

 

Perk	Norwegian – Standard Cabin	Haven	Celebrity- Standard Cabin	Retreat
Internet	250 Minutes	250 Minutes	Unlimited (No Streaming)	Unlimited Streaming
Specialty Dining	2 Meals	2 Meals	N/A	N/A
Alcohol	Standard Drinks	Standard Drinks	Standard Drinks	Premium Drinks
Shore Excursion	$50 per port	$50 per port	N/A	$300 per suite
On Board Credit	N/A	N/A	N/A	$300 per suite
Gratuities	N/A	N/A	Included	Included
Airfare	Free for 2nd Guest	Free for 2nd Guest	Occasional Discount	Occasional Discount

 

Those sailing in Owner’s suites in the Haven or upper level suites in the Retreat do get some additional amenities than listed in the chart above. These sometimes include the minibar or included dining in specialty restaurants but, for the average suite guest, these additions are not included.

 

As you can see, Retreat guests receive many additional perks compared to those sailing in a standard cabin.  For those in the Haven, the perks remain the same.  Each cruiser needs to evaluate the perks and see if there is an added benefit.  Some people would see no value in streaming internet, while others will see that as a huge plus.

 

For me, as much as I like the gold luggage tags in the Haven, this round goes to the Retreat. Celebrity customizes the experiences more than their competitor and overall the additional perks offer a cost savings.  Whether I actually was given additional clothes hangers, I do not know, but the thought is there.

[Oxo]

44 minutes ago, Seany527 said:

The booking process and included perks

Booking your cruise either in Norwegian’s Haven or Celebrity’s Retreat is relatively identical except for the actual software itself and I wouldn’t necessarily give the edge to one over the other.  I also wouldn’t book a cruise solely on the pre-cruise experience but there are some key differences.

Each line reaches out to their guests prior to their sail date.

 

As a guest of the Haven, you will receive a welcome letter and luggage tags before your sailing.  The welcome letter gives you a shoreside contact number for any pre-cruise requests.

 

Retreat guests will also receive luggage tags prior to sailing.  Guests will also receive a welcome survey asking about some of your preferences for the cruise. Questions on the survey include “what temperature do you want the suite upon your arrival?,” “how many additional clothes hangers would you like in the closets?,” “how about the number of sheets on your bed?” and things of the like.  

 

At the time I am writing this and for the foreseeable future, both lines include some additional perks to all of their guests.  The chart below outlines those benefits on a traditional 7 day cruise with 4 ports of call for two people. Haven guests do not receive added or additional perks compared to standard cabins. A Retreat booking takes the standard perks and provides an additional or added benefit compared to those booked in a standard cabin. 

 

Perk	Norwegian – Standard Cabin	Haven	Celebrity- Standard Cabin	Retreat
Internet	250 Minutes	250 Minutes	Unlimited (No Streaming)	Unlimited Streaming
Specialty Dining	2 Meals	2 Meals	N/A	N/A
Alcohol	Standard Drinks	Standard Drinks	Standard Drinks	Premium Drinks
Shore Excursion	$50 per port	$50 per port	N/A	$300 per suite
On Board Credit	N/A	N/A	N/A	$300 per suite
Gratuities	N/A	N/A	Included	Included
Airfare	Free for 2nd Guest	Free for 2nd Guest	Occasional Discount	Occasional Discount

 

Those sailing in Owner’s suites in the Haven or upper level suites in the Retreat do get some additional amenities than listed in the chart above. These sometimes include the minibar or included dining in specialty restaurants but, for the average suite guest, these additions are not included.

 

As you can see, Retreat guests receive many additional perks compared to those sailing in a standard cabin.  For those in the Haven, the perks remain the same.  Each cruiser needs to evaluate the perks and see if there is an added benefit.  Some people would see no value in streaming internet, while others will see that as a huge plus.

 

For me, as much as I like the gold luggage tags in the Haven, this round goes to the Retreat. Celebrity customizes the experiences more than their competitor and overall the additional perks offer a cost savings.  Whether I actually was given additional clothes hangers, I do not know, but the thought is there.

I appreciate your time and effort to go into so much detail. Thank you! 

Not trying to be funny. What or why do you single out the NCL Gold tags? Never seen them or paid attention to them.  Reusable?

[Two Wheels Only]

One thing of note is the number of stateroom types and their location. There are "within the complex" and "outside of the complex" options for both The Haven and The Retreat.

 

I book for 4 so some options don't apply to me but the info is still nice to have. 

[Seany527]

Check in Experience

Your cruise check in at the pier is going to depend greatly on your port of embarkation. Both the Haven and the Retreat offer separate check in areas for their guests. From my experiences, what’s different between the two lines is how cruisers move through the terminal. Once past security, Haven guests wait (if there is any wait at all) in a smaller, shorter queue to check in. With Celebrity’s Retreat, guests arrive and are asked to take a seat in the waiting area. The shore side check-in team will come to you and process your reservation.

Both lines offer you snacks and drinks while you wait to board the ship. The majority of the check-in process is relatively the same. Depending on where your cruise starts, you may or may not have different security lines, but overall the general idea is the same.

However, not having to wait in a line to check in and shoreside coming to you at your seat rather than waiting in a queue to check in, gives The Retreat the win in this category. 

[JGmf]

Thanks very much for doing this.  Looking forward to the future posts

[Seany527]

Overall Ship Layout for Suite Guests

As I stated earlier, keep in mind this comparison is looking at the line’s newest class of sailing ships.

Let’s start with Norwegian and the Haven.  Norwegian offers the true ship within a ship experience. From the moment of boarding, a passenger could essentially never leave the Haven complex if they didn’t want to. Your restaurant, your lounge and your pool/sun deck are all located within 3 decks and with exclusive elevator and stair access. If you book certain Haven cabins, those too are all located within this same area.  Further, if you did want to go to the theater or ashore, you have access via your Concierge to the crew elevators. These elevators will give you direct access to these areas.

In the Retreat, it’s slightly different. Your Retreat dining room, Luminae, is located on one deck. Two decks up, with no exclusive elevator or stair access is the lounge.  From the lounge you can access, via stairs, the sun deck. If you wish to use an elevator, it’s back outside the lounge to the elevator bay and then one deck up, swiping your Retreat SeaPass card multiple times.

More on the overall layout of the Retreat is the awkward position of the spa in-between Luminae and the Lounge decks. If you take the stairs, be ready to be constantly pestered by the workers in the spa. They stand next to the stairs and promote different sales, offerings and treatments. In the beginning, I patiently listened and said no thank you but it didn’t let up during the cruise. I found it extremely annoying

Layout of the suite areas overwhelmingly goes to Norwegian with The Haven.

[Seany527]

22 hours ago, Oxo said:

I appreciate your time and effort to go into so much detail. Thank you! 

Not trying to be funny. What or why do you single out the NCL Gold tags? Never seen them or paid attention to them.  Reusable?

Hello-  They are certainly not reusable but they have a gold shimmer to them.  To be honest, they are nothing special, I just like the way they look 🙂

[Oxo]

46 minutes ago, Seany527 said:

Hello-  They are certainly not reusable but they have a gold shimmer to them.  To be honest, they are nothing special, I just like the way they look 🙂

Thank you.  To bad they are not reusable where you just change cabin number. 

Stay Safe and Happy Cruising!

[Seany527]

In-room amenities

 

All guests in the Haven or Retreat include a personal butler. In most instances, your butler will do everything in their power to deliver or meet your request.  For this section we will focus on what the lines offer by default rather than what your butler would or would not do for you.

 

Both lines off the standard binoculars, umbrella, embroidered products like slippers, bathrobes and towels. 

 

With Norwegian’s Haven, your suite is going to include an espresso machine.  Afternoon snacks are sent to you each day in the Haven, but not in the Retreat (you could as your butler/host though, but again, this is not something that is standard).

In the Haven, fresh flowers are delivered to your stateroom on embarkation.

 

Premium bath products are given to guests of the Haven. Retreat guests receive the same products as those in a traditional cabin. 

 

In Celebrity’s Retreat, bottled water is provided to you…and that’s all I have as a noted difference between a suite Retreat guest and your standard cabin.

 

Overall, this section is rather insignificant to most cruisers but there are some noteable differences that some would be interested in or actually do find important. 
 

The win goes to Norwegian. For those keeping score, it’s tied. 2 to 2. 

[psac]

Thanks for this, interesting reading. At some point are you going to get to cost comparison for similar itineraries?  Obviously that could be a big differentiator. 
 

[Seany527]

30 minutes ago, psac said:

Thanks for this, interesting reading. At some point are you going to get to cost comparison for similar itineraries?  Obviously that could be a big differentiator. 
 

I don’t know yet to be honest. There are so many factors that come into play with the price. 
 

Celebrity includes $600 in OBC, plus streaming internet and premium drinks.
Streaming internet with NCL I think is up to roughly $350 for 2 people. Premium drinks adds another $300 per person. For the cruiser it depends on the value which Celebrity includes and NCL charges extra for on a 7 day cruise. 
 

Likewise I think the prices are fluctuating

too much right now. I see some cruises where the Retreat is cheaper than the Haven and vise versa and I cannot determine why. 
 

The total price paid was also a reason I decided to do this thread. And with price aside, I hope readers can see the value and overall execution the lines have.  From that maybe they can determine what they are comfortable paying.  As some readers have said on the Celebrity forum, there is no price or cost savings that would entice them to book with NCL due to the number of children. 

[Seany527]

Bar and Lounge

No matter where you go in either the Haven or the Retreat, bar service is available even if you do not visually see the bar. The Haven has an indoor bar while The Retreat as has outdoor bar. Whether you like sitting at a bar indoors or outdoors, that’s personal preference so I can’t award a winner based solely on that. What I can touch on is the offerings at the bar.

The Haven offers large padded seats at their bar, the Retreat opted for oversized white barstools. Both bars offer a unique drink menu that can not be found anywhere else on the ship.

The Haven also features additional “secret” drinks like getting your favorite drink smoked. The bartenders also add a spin to the traditional drinks like throwing in raspberries to a mojito or adding jalapeños to tequila to create a spicy margarita.

These drinks could also be ordered in the Retreat but the ingredients were not readily available. Someone from the crew would have to go down to the dining room or galley and get the additional ingredients. They had no problem doing it but I’m not going to make someone run down 10 flights of stairs because I want raspberries.

On the lounge side, there are some differences between the two brands as well.
In the Haven there is a smaller lounge type area next to the bar with traditional seating and then all the way forward, still within the Haven complex is a larger lounge with large windows looking forward across the bow and into the ocean. The lounge offers daily snacks as well as an espresso machine.

In the Retreat, the lounge stretches from one side of the ship to the other and because the lounge is not all the way forward like it is in the Haven, it gives guests more room to spread out. The Retreat also offers daily snacks and an espresso maker but unlike the Haven, there is also self-service beer and wine and countless other types of non-alcoholic drinks.
 

The Retreat also offers exclusive live music. So in between sets, a soloist will perform a more intimate show just for guests in suites.  Your concierge is also located in this area.

 

So, when the bars and lounges go head to head, who takes the win? Well, the large forward-facing windows of the Haven lounge offer unparallel views. Their lounge has a quieter atmosphere, where you could even doze off.  The Retreat lounge is more of a central hub, where guests are passing through to make reservations with the concierge, or grabbing a glass of wine or simply passing through on their way up to the sundeck. The bar of the Haven offers it all and does it all. In the Retreat, it’s your standard bar without taking it to the next level. While this section is a little tighter than most, the win goes to the Haven.

[Seany527]

The Sundeck

 

This section might mean little to some and everything to others when you consider taking a cruise in the Haven or Retreat.  One question to ask yourself is do you enjoy an indoor or outdoor pool, because when you sail in a suite, you don’t get both in your exclusive area.

 

If an indoor pool is important to you, then you may want to consider the Haven. The Haven features an indoor pool and hot tub as well as outdoor hot tubs on their sundeck. The main pool of the ship will meet your needs if having an outdoor pool is important.  In the Retreat, both your Retreat pool and hot tubs, as well as the main pool, are outside.

 

Now that we have the pools out of the way, let’s talk about the overall layout. In the Haven, the port side is mostly a mirrored version of the starboard side. Each side offers a selection of padded loungers and a number of day beds. All the way forward, features bar stools which overlook the bow of the ship.
 

This may also be your only opportunity to have a forward-facing view as the Haven takes up the only public space looking forward. There is a constant breeze and the day beds as well as umbrellas, offer some shade. Deck chairs have good space between them.

 

In the Retreat, you get a mix of padded loungers, day beds, sitting chairs, sofas, and rocking chairs in a spacious, beautifully decorated setting. There are a number of live plants which really make the overall setting calm and peaceful.  Back to the actual deck chairs, I did find the seat selections to be rather accommodating and there are a number of accent pillows which esthetically add to the area but are also very practical while you are on the sundeck. I enjoy being in the sun, but I don’t necessarily want to lay down on a lounger. Sitting in a padded chair or even a rocking chair in the sun was rather enjoyable.

 

Now I will say, the Retreat sundeck is hot and there is little shade.  In the forward section there is also very little breeze. When you walk onto the sundeck from the elevator bay (don’t forget to swipe your keycard to gain access) this section of the Retreat, heading aft, does have some more breeze. The Retreat also pumps in soft background music which was a nice added touch.  Smoking is not allowed on the Retreat sundeck which is a stark contrast to the Haven sundeck where smoking is allowed in one section. And in a final touch which sets the Retreat apart from the Haven, there is also the occasional sail away event where the butlers come together to serve the guests on the open deck while you sail away from the port.

 

The winner of this section overwhelmingly goes to the Retreat. Bring your SPF 50 because there is a lot of sun, but you are going to want to experience and enjoy everything the Retreat Sundeck has to offer. 

[Seany527]

The dining room
 

The suite dining rooms, The Haven Restaurant on Norwegian and Luminae on Celebrity, offer a smaller, more intimate dining setting than the traditional main dining rooms with elevated service and a more refined selection of meal choices.

The Haven Restaurant is open for Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner throughout your vacation and offers a larger and more extensive menu. However, the menu is fixed and does not change. There are the occasional chef specials but that seems to vary from ship to ship and cruise to cruise, so if you’re hoping to find offerings not included on the menu, I wouldn’t count on it. The restaurant itself has ample seating, both indoors and outdoors, with all tables spaced apart with ample room to have a quiet conversation. The restaurant is decorated in darker tones and each table is covered with a white linen table cloth. Food taste is so subjective from person to person so I will not include that factor into the overall rating, but I will say nearly every meal I had was enjoyable.

Luminae, in contrast to The Haven Restaurant, is open for breakfast and dinner each day and open for lunch on sea days only. Suite guests who wish to have a sit down lunch can do so at the bar area on the Retreat Sun Deck, but note that there are only a handful of tables and they do all fill up sometimes. You also can not eat the food anywhere but within this dining area. Luminae offers a much smaller menu when compared to its competitor, but the menu changes for lunch and dinner each day, always guaranteeing you have something different to eat at each meal. They also have a menu of “classic” items which is offered at every dinner throughout your cruise. The classic items are not printed in your actual menu so if you do want to order something from that menu you will need to ask your waiter for the selections at each dinner or write them down. Why Celebrity didn’t print these in the physical menus seems rather strange to me.

There is penalty of seating in Lumanie, in fact maybe too many seats. Tables for 2 are spaced about 18 inches apart and the restaurant can get very loud at times. For the most part, there are no partitions to break up or absorb the noise. It’s a real design flaw in my opinion, and I think that’s why Celebrity is changing the layout on  their next Edge class ship (but again this comparison is only about the newest ships currently in service).
The restaurant is bright and open, decorated in gray and red tones. Nearly every seat has a view of the ocean out past the collection of picture windows that line one side of the restaurant. The tables are dressed with either table runners or placemats, which offers a less formal approach than that of the Haven.  The selection of food in Luminae was more premium cuts of meat and heartier ingredients. Taste, although subjective in my opinion was just as good as dinners served in the main dining room. One extra touch is each plate is marked with the signature Retreat logo. Celebrity actually does quite a nice job on their branding and this logo can be found throughout your vacation in different aspects (towels, bedding, drinkware and even complimentary sunglasses).

Curious to know which line offers a better dining experience?  Celebrity serves their meals in a beautifully decorated restaurant in a warm, inviting atmosphere. Their menu is constantly changing. Norwegian’s menu in The Haven Restaurant does not change; what you see is what you get. However, even due to that shortcoming, the win in this category goes to Norwegian.
Luminae, I would estimate, seats about double the capacity to that of The Haven Restaurant. Service does not suffer because of it, but the dining room was loud. Further, their lack of lunch in Luminae on port days is a bit puzzling. It’s not a company decision to not offer a served lunch because some of their restaurants which carry an additional fee are  in fact open. Celebrity loses in this category due to their shortcomings. 

[Seany527]

The Winner

 
So who does a better job? Is there a better value between the two brands? It’s not an easy answer but I hope the information above will be helpful to you when making a selection.
Personally, with a choice between the two, I would choose the Haven over the Retreat. The Haven wins in both overall experience and value. Here’s why...

I believe Celebrity already does an amazing job and excels at service and food throughout their ships and in their main dining rooms. Moving from a traditional cabin to a suite offers little overall benefit. The experience is already so refined, it’s difficult to improve upon. Of course, everything always has room for some improvement but overall, Celebrity gets it and provides a great cruise vacation no matter what price you pay or what room category you sail in.  I don’t see the additional perks Celebrity is offering in the Retreat as added value because I already enjoy the overall brand experience so much.

With Norwegian, comparing the traditional cabin to a suite, there is a huge step up. Norwegian also offers a good overall product but they do have more areas they can improve upon. Personalized service, food preparation and the like have always been enjoyable but when you move into the Haven, the cruise experience is taken to the next level. But, their true selling point is their ship within a ship experience.  You can have the choice to stay within the Haven complex with a limited number of guests, never venturing out until your cruise is over. If you do want to leave to attend a show or play trivia, the option is there for you, and that’s what cruising with Norwegian is all about…doing what you want, when you want to.  I guess that’s why they call if “Freestyle” cruising. 

 

I hope you enjoyed this comparison.  If you’ve sailed between these two lines, I’d love to hear what you think as well.

[Two Wheels Only]

Thanks for the comparison. It would also be interesting to see where MSC Yacht Club lands in the bunch. There's also the Suite Neighborhood on Wonder Of The Seas.

 

B4B cruise, anyone? 😉

[dwr777]

A great review and comparison, thanks! I’ve thought about trying Celebrity’s Retreat but you’ve convinced me to stay with the Haven.  

[luckyinpa]

never stayed on celebrity but extensively researched the summit and the sky suite and perks. even post refurb it's a joke in my opinion. the chair at the desk, the 'whatever' that is at the foot of the bed. (chairs or suitcase holders) and just the decor of the room. not worth 5000 for the week that i was looking at. the penthouse and higher ones do look much better than the sky suite though. 

 

 i had booked concierge class before the virus and may get on someday though. also researched both suite restaurants. literally elbow to elbow which is great if you want that kind of experience. but if you dont it would not be so much fun. the 2 havens ive been in have had much better seating arrangements and decor. not having the ship within the ship also seems to lack the 'flair' of being in the haven.  the buffet did look better than the NCL buffets though.

[cltcruisers123]

On 9/22/2021 at 7:21 PM, Seany527 said:

The Winner

 
So who does a better job? Is there a better value between the two brands? It’s not an easy answer but I hope the information above will be helpful to you when making a selection.
Personally, with a choice between the two, I would choose the Haven over the Retreat. The Haven wins in both overall experience and value. Here’s why...

I believe Celebrity already does an amazing job and excels at service and food throughout their ships and in their main dining rooms. Moving from a traditional cabin to a suite offers little overall benefit. The experience is already so refined, it’s difficult to improve upon. Of course, everything always has room for some improvement but overall, Celebrity gets it and provides a great cruise vacation no matter what price you pay or what room category you sail in.  I don’t see the additional perks Celebrity is offering in the Retreat as added value because I already enjoy the overall brand experience so much.

With Norwegian, comparing the traditional cabin to a suite, there is a huge step up. Norwegian also offers a good overall product but they do have more areas they can improve upon. Personalized service, food preparation and the like have always been enjoyable but when you move into the Haven, the cruise experience is taken to the next level. But, their true selling point is their ship within a ship experience.  You can have the choice to stay within the Haven complex with a limited number of guests, never venturing out until your cruise is over. If you do want to leave to attend a show or play trivia, the option is there for you, and that’s what cruising with Norwegian is all about…doing what you want, when you want to.  I guess that’s why they call if “Freestyle” cruising. 

 

I hope you enjoyed this comparison.  If you’ve sailed between these two lines, I’d love to hear what you think as well.

Fantastic review. We are just off the Apex in Retreat and we’ll be in the Haven on NCL Joy in April. Will come back to this and post some thoughts. 

[Leela]

Thank you for these reviews! As a previous Celebrity Sky Suite passenger, I'm looking forward very much to experiencing The Haven. 

[regjr13]

I’m sorry but this person has obviously never sailed on Celebrity and definitely not in the Retreat of the Edge class ships. The comparison could not be more off as you are NOT comparing like ships or classes. NCL is on the level with Royal Caribbean not with Celebrity. Different sizes of ships, different amenities.
I don’t even know where to begin.

To start, embarkation on the Celebrity Edge in the Retreat, there is a completely separate elevator that takes you from the main entrance (in the terminal) directly to a 2-level private area where your Retreat Concierge will greet you and offer you beverages, food and the like before escorting you to the ship; very similar to that of the Haven. But as mentioned, no private elevator on Celebrity to the Retreat area. 

The Retreat is different from the Haven as NO suite is behind a locked door like that of the Haven. The Haven has a complex with around 50 suites (Encore which we were on Dec 2021) behind the locked door and the others are scattered through out the ship. We were in an aft facing Haven PH on NCL Encore for a back to back. It was on deck 15 aft and the Haven lounge was on deck 16 forward. It was a long walk, but we didn’t mind it. 
Sun decks on both Retreat and Haven, a toss up to me with a slight edge to NCL for shaded areas and Celebrity slight edge (No pun intended) the Retreat had an outdoor full service bar, with food and lots of staff to bring drinks around.
The Retreat, hands down blows The Haven out of the water when it comes to food in Luminae. The Haven restaurant had the same menu for 14 nights while we were on the ship whereas, Luminae changed the menu every day. 
All water, top shelf alcohol, wine selections…Celebrity hands down wins again. Look at the basic wine selections on NCL and compare that with Celebrity. NO comparison. 
Both the Haven and the Retreat rooms offer daily snacks delivered to your room. In both the Haven and the Retreat we received things like chocolate covered strawberries, prawn with cocktail sauce, sandwiches, desserts, etc., delivered daily. 
Where NCL wins…ENTERTAINMENT and I do like the overall feel and look of the Haven Bar area better…Hands down NCL wins here. (Pictures of each posted below Celebrity Edge Retreat Lounge first pics in grey color and NCL Haven Second) 
For overall ship…Celebrity Edge class wins.

Traveling with family with kids and want to be in an enclave away from the masses…NCL Haven it is. When traveling solo, with my spouse or adult friends…Celebrity wins. 
At the end of the day, it comes down to what you enjoy most. Celebrity is a bit pricier on most sailings, but to not be knickled and dimed on basic things like water in your suite, higher level wines, gratuities, in port drink charges, etc., I would pick Celebrity Edge class ships. 

 

Edited February 15, 2022 by regjr13
Typo

[PTC DAWG]

I have sailed both lines, they aren’t comparable…if you have kids, go NCL, if not, Celebrity all the way, especially Edge class. 

[Lionkingrichard]

Epic has 2 indoor bars and a outdoor in the Haven? Never had a problem getting a drink or food choices. Just ask!

[luckyinpa]

i was researching apex and saw something i bet no other cruise line has... the edge villas open up directly onto the outside retreat deck thru their own secret door. but for almost 10K per person id expect nothing less than unique features 😉