Celebrity vs ncl

[Susandt]

We are just coming off 5th Ncl cruise.  My try a new line next, celebrity, msc, royal?  Looking for opinions.

 

[TeeRick]

2 minutes ago, Susandt said:

We are just coming off 5th Ncl cruise.  My try a new line next, celebrity, msc, royal?  Looking for opinions.

 

Can you be more specific in what you want to know or compare?

[LGW59]

7 minutes ago, Susandt said:

We are just coming off 5th Ncl cruise.  My try a new line next, celebrity, msc, royal?  Looking for opinions.

 

Do a bit of research, here and on the web, YouTube etc.  Make a list, come back here and ask to the other lines forums as well you will get plenty of responses.

[mikewomb]

Our first cruise was on NCL and an inside cabin. We were on the Breakaway in the Haven which was lovely. I think a lot depends on what you are looking for. Celebrity is smoke free. The food is better, but the food in the speciality restaurants on NCL was quite good. As previously said, what are you looking for.

[LB_NJ]

Curious why you have not mentioned Oceania, Princess, and Cunard? There are others of course.

[LGW59]

21 minutes ago, mikewomb said:

Our first cruise was on NCL and an inside cabin. We were on the Breakaway in the Haven which was lovely. I think a lot depends on what you are looking for. Celebrity is smoke free. The food is better, but the food in the speciality restaurants on NCL was quite good. As previously said, what are you looking for.

Celebrity is not smoke free, they have designated smoking areas on the ship.

[Susandt]

39 minutes ago, TeeRick said:

Can you be more specific in what you want to know or compare?

Dining, night life, pools

[Susandt]

27 minutes ago, mikewomb said:

Our first cruise was on NCL and an inside cabin. We were on the Breakaway in the Haven which was lovely. I think a lot depends on what you are looking for. Celebrity is smoke free. The food is better, but the food in the speciality restaurants on NCL was quite good. As previously said, what are you looking for.

We are just off escape haven room

breakfast and lunches lovely, dinner not so much

love the nighttime party and games

luv the private sun deck of haven or vibe

ncl excursions stink but that’s probably all big excursions 

 

loving some of the ports for celebrity,most likely would do aqua class.  
how are pool decks, are there things like vibe

[Luvcrusn]

7 minutes ago, LGW59 said:

Celebrity is not smoke free, they have designated smoking areas on the ship.

They are smoke free indoors, including the casino to be completely accurate

[Susandt]

23 minutes ago, LB_NJ said:

Curious why you have not mentioned Oceania, Princess, and Cunard? There are others of course.

Guess I haven’t done any research on them

we have only sailed larger ships, love the spa, smaller sun decks, yummy food.  Love to dance

[Luvcrusn]

Celebrity is much more "adult oriented" than Norwegian and except for holiday sailings you generally find many fewer children aboard.

[LGW59]

3 minutes ago, Susandt said:

Guess I haven’t done any research on them

we have only sailed larger ships, love the spa, smaller sun decks, yummy food.  Love to dance

Food on Celebrity is certainly a step above the others.  Nightlife is not wild and crazy, some very good shows in the theatre, nice live music spread throughout the ship.  RCL, much more family themed, think amusement/waterpark, but if one has young kids/teens go for it.  NCL, I have not been on in several years, no real desire to do so again, but that is only because I found my niche with Celebrity.

[mikewomb]

25 minutes ago, LGW59 said:

Celebrity is not smoke free, they have designated smoking areas on the ship.

Outside on deck 5 I believe.  I am referring the inside the ship 

[mikewomb]

11 minutes ago, LGW59 said:

Food on Celebrity is certainly a step above the others.  Nightlife is not wild and crazy, some very good shows in the theatre, nice live music spread throughout the ship.  RCL, much more family themed, think amusement/waterpark, but if one has young kids/teens go for it.  NCL, I have not been on in several years, no real desire to do so again, but that is only because I found my niche with Celebrity.

Celebrity Cruises Smoking Policy

For your comfort and enjoyment, Celebrity ships are designated as non-smoking; however, they do recognize that some of their guests smoke. Therefore, Celebrity Cruises' Smoking Policy permits cigarette, cigar and pipe smoking in designated outdoor areas of the ship. Smoking is not permitted in any dining venue, casino, theater, lounge, hallway, elevator, or corridor. Celebrity Cruises' Smoking Policy includes smoking-like products such as electronic cigarettes. Smoking is not permitted inside any stateroom, nor on any stateroom veranda. If you are in violation of this policy, a cleaning fee of $250 USD will be applied to your SeaPass account and you may be subject to further action pursuant to the "Consequences Section" of the Guest Conduct Policy. Cigarettes, cigars and pipe tobacco must be properly disposed of and never thrown overboard. You must be at least 18 years of age to purchase, possess or use tobacco onboard. 

Additionally, there is a non-smoking policy on all components of the land tour portion of all Celebrity Cruises Cruisetour products. 

[4774Papa]

1 hour ago, Susandt said:

We are just coming off 5th Ncl cruise.  My try a new line next, celebrity, msc, royal?  Looking for opinions.

 

We have done 7 NCL cruises, 2 on Royal C. and 11 on Celebrity.

 

We prefer Celebrity, Royal C. and NCL in that order.   Still, we have never had a bad cruise.

 

Celebrity excels in dining and service.  Royal's MDR dining is very close to Celebrity, but not crazy about their buffet. 

NCL and Royal C. excellent in entertainment.

Ship design, Celebrity wins hands down.   Some NCL ships like the Epic are a poor design, others not so bad.  Royal is in between.

 

Price wise, Royal C. has the best prices, since Celebrity and NCL  have gone with price bundling, including drink packages, internet, etc. which raises prices.   Still, Celebrity has had a 20% price sale for months, making them more competitive.

 

Haven't done Princess, MSC or others, but know cruisers that thought Princess was almost comparable with Celebrity or Royal.  MSC has received mixed reviews, mostly not so good.

 

[Cruising89143]

I would not cruise on NCL unless it was in the Haven. We were on the Bliss in October of 2019 and while the ship was beautiful it was a zoo outside of the Haven. Packed in the public spaces. The space on the upper decks was tight and cramped compared to Celebrity. 
 

On Celebrity I would not have to book the Retreat if I wanted a more relaxed experience compared to NCL. Celebrity has good entertainment but NCL is better as is RCI (especially Oasis class). We found food and service to be better across the board on Celebrity. Only one announcement per day and that’s from the Captain. Totally smoke free interior environment. 
 

I suggest giving X a try. It’s really the only way to find out if it fits your needs. 

[KmomChicago]

8 minutes ago, 4774Papa said:

We have done 7 NCL cruises, 2 on Royal C. and 11 on Celebrity.

 

We prefer Celebrity, Royal C. and NCL in that order.   Still, we have never had a bad cruise.

 

Celebrity excels in dining and service.  Royal's MDR dining is very close to Celebrity, but not crazy about their buffet. 

NCL and Royal C. excellent in entertainment.

Ship design, Celebrity wins hands down.   Some NCL ships like the Epic are a poor design, others not so bad.  Royal is in between.

 

Price wise, Royal C. has the best prices, since Celebrity and NCL  have gone with price bundling, including drink packages, internet, etc. which raises prices.   Still, Celebrity has had a 20% price sale for months, making them more competitive.

 

Haven't done Princess, MSC or others, but know cruisers that thought Princess was almost comparable with Celebrity or Royal.  MSC has received mixed reviews, mostly not so good.

 

See everyone has a different view but I’ve done two RCI and found the MDR mediocre and the Windjammer quite good on both ships. Oasis class has tons of options for alternative included and up charge food and was easily my favorite ever in this aspect. 
 

Haven’t done NCL but if you like their newer mega ships I’d think you’d like RCI Oasis or Quantum class as my research suggests they have similar modern amenities. 
 

I did Celebrity over 20 years ago and it was very nice and depending on dates prices are sometimes comparable to RCI. 

[NutsAboutGolf]

I don't think X is for you, as long as you book the newer ships, I think you'd actually prefer either RCL or Carnival.  I've been on Crystal, NCL and currently have booked 7 Carnival sailings (into 2024) and 3 X sailings.  X is a very relaxed experience, not a lot of activities, you'll see a lot of people reading and playing games.

[Susandt]

16 minutes ago, NutsAboutGolf said:

I don't think X is for you, as long as you book the newer ships, I think you'd actually prefer either RCL or Carnival.  I've been on Crystal, NCL and currently have booked 7 Carnival sailings (into 2024) and 3 X sailings.  X is a very relaxed experience, not a lot of activities, you'll see a lot of people reading and playing games.

During the day we love a quiet area to read, 

want better food then what Ncl haven had

at nighttime we do love a dance party, will I find that on x

[LGW59]

8 minutes ago, Susandt said:

During the day we love a quiet area to read, 

want better food then what Ncl haven had

at nighttime we do love a dance party, will I find that on x

Yes, if dancing is your thing, the silent disco looks like a lot of fun.  I don't dance but I did enjoy watching everyone do so, wearing their headphones to listen to the music

[NutsAboutGolf]

28 minutes ago, Susandt said:

During the day we love a quiet area to read, 

want better food then what Ncl haven had

at nighttime we do love a dance party, will I find that on x

 

Yes, there are actual DJ dance parties yet my concern is that the "party" may be pretty tame unless all you care about is music and a dance floor that's possibly nearly empty.  They don't start until 11pm-1130pm which keeps most passengers away as this was the case on my Presidents Day sailing a couple of weeks ago.

 

There are other events, usually one if not two venues playing live music all throughout the day and evening to dance to yet most of the music is from the last millennium.

Edited March 7, 2022 by NutsAboutGolf

[KKB]

You need this:

I have sailed Celebrity several times; NCL once. Enjoyed both. 

NCL entertainment & musicians ROCKED.

But Celebrity wins on nearly every other issue--food, service, overall ships.

[LGW59]

9 minutes ago, KKB said:

You need this:

I have sailed Celebrity several times; NCL once. Enjoyed both. 

NCL entertainment & musicians ROCKED.

But Celebrity wins on nearly every other issue--food, service, overall ships.

Yep, both very nice lines for sure, for me Celebrity kicks it up a notch with all you mention and just the overall ambiance/vibe.  That said my cruises on NCL were all very good. actually one of the best I ever had was a Mexican Riviera out of San Diego.

[KKB]

1 minute ago, LGW59 said:

Yep, both very nice lines for sure, for me Celebrity kicks it up a notch with all you mention and just the overall ambiance/vibe.  That said my cruises on NCL were all very good. actually one of the best I ever had was a Mexican Riviera out of San Diego.

OH--forgot to mention: WATERFRONT on NCL.

EVERY ship should have this!!

[KKB]

2 hours ago, Susandt said:

We are just off escape haven room

breakfast and lunches lovely, dinner not so much

love the nighttime party and games

luv the private sun deck of haven or vibe

ncl excursions stink but that’s probably all big excursions 

 

loving some of the ports for celebrity,most likely would do aqua class.  
how are pool decks, are there things like vibe

As I said before--Celebrity food is GREAT.

I would recommend  Eclass on Celebrity (Edge, Apex, Beyond & eventually Ascent). LOTS of activities & better shows/music than our other Celebrity cruises.

I have taken ship excursions on all the lines we have cruised. Usually you get what you pay for. Lower priced excursions typically are "meh." We more often do our own exploring.

On E class AQ isn't necessary with the 4 MDR option, imo, tho we LOVED Blu on our first cruise on the Constellation.

Love the pool deck on Eclass--more room around the pool for chairs than a lot of lines. THAT BEING SAID, I sailed the Edge last summer & got spoiled--got a chair RIGHT next to the pool all but 1 day in 2 weeks (had to settle for SECOND row). Much more a chill vibe than NCL party atmosphere. No way we could get a seat by the pool on NCL in late 2019...