Here's why someone on NCL told me to not cruise on Celebrity

[horseymike]

The experience on NCL vs. Celebrity will be for you to decide which works best for you and your husband. 
Hope you have a great cruise 🚢 . Bon Voyage.

[coffeebean]

1 hour ago, upwarduk said:

I’ve never been to a Beyond the Podium lecture which finishes with a test.

I find them interesting and educational.

I took that "test" comment to be a joke.

[MamaFej]

7 minutes ago, coffeebean said:

I took that "test" comment to be a joke.

I imagine that is because it very, very clearly was one. 

 

[jelayne]

1 hour ago, upwarduk said:

I’ve never been to a Beyond the Podium lecture which finishes with a test.

I find them interesting and educational.

Guess you missed my 😉 emoji 

[prmssk]

I was in my early 30s when I first cruised Celebrity (and got married on Holland in my early 20s and cruised Princess in my teens).  In my opinion, age doesn't have a lot to do with what will be the best fit.  It matters more what you are looking for in a vacation.  And each cruise line has so much to offer that quite a variety of people will find things they enjoy with each line.  I don't find generalizations like this couple in their 30s made at all helpful.

 

By the way, NCL isn't really a great fit for us but I have to say we absolutely loved the Prima.  @njsmom  I'm sure you will make the most of your first Celebrity cruise and have a great time.

[Markanddonna]

We got off our first Celebrity Cruise just a few weeks ago. We are Platinum on NCL, so we've been on quite a few (30+ also on other cruise lines). Generally, we like NCL, but our recent Celebrity cruise blew NCL away!  My very favorite thing about this cruise was my fellow passengers. Almost everyone seemed so happy, willing to socialize and be friendly. We spent 17 days on a recent MSC cruise, and it was night and day!  One thing that was touching is that the couples all seemed so contented and the married couples seemed happy to be with one another. We met some great people, both married and single. 

 

The crew was the best ever. I usually give high marks to all crew, even MSC, but this group was a step above. The food was very good to excellent, our cabin was great, and the atmosphere onboard was friendly. Even the customer service folks were pleasant!

 

This was a transatlantic, so the passengers were a bit older, but just about everyone was quite active. We enjoyed dancing in the lounges, and they were quite active. We close down at 11-12, so I can't report what happened later. We all had to adjust our body clocks to European time with frequent time changes, which probably caused people to crash early. I noted that there was not the excessive, non-stop drinking you see on some other cruise lines. A sign of well adjusted, mature people.

 

I usually like lectures, but theirs didn't appeal to me, so I didn't attend any. 

 

I would go on a Celebrity cruise again in a heartbeat!

[Baynanno1]

My children are in their 50's, so I guess I am way beyond being one of the "bunch of boring old people in their 50's and 60's"

We do enjoy an occasional show, we enjoy the live music in various venues as well as the opportunity to dance.

We don't consider ourselves to fit the above derogatory description - or worse those people would have for people in their 70's and 80's!

 On our most recent cruise on Eclipse in December, we enjoyed meeting others of all ages, especially before, during and after dinner.

It goes without saying that we enjoy the ambience of the ship, the wonderful care taken by all crew and of course the food and drink we neither have to prepare nor clear up after! 🤩

 

[gold1953]

good news here!!!  We will never have to meet this couple on our cruises!!

[kr00t0n]

Like many here, my first Celebrity cruise was at 33 (after a few on Royal), and I have cruised almost exclusively Celebrity from then to my ripe old age of 40, wife and I love Celebrity's offering.

 

Are we generally younger than the majority of other guests? Yes. Does it matter? Hell no.

[terrydtx]

18 hours ago, ISABELLA said:

I am responding to your post from NCL Gateway. This is our first NCL haven experience. We are enjoying Haven, but have to tell you - most adults are doing nothing but drinking all day long. There is not much of interesting going on on the ship. After this” free style” cruising, I will take boring Celebrity any time. 

We did our first and last cruise with NCL pre Covid, and I never have been on any cruise with so many inebriated and rude passengers as that cruise. We do our share of drinks but for some on that cruise it was 24/7 non stop drinking. I also found the MDR food to be nowhere close to the quality of Celebrity and HAL. To get better food you have to book the specialty restaurants. 

[bEwAbG]

HAL gets a bum wrap for age, too, but that is often just a function of itinerary.  Older people have the time and money to sail longer itineraries or during non-holiday periods (when I prefer to sail, too).  I'm sure there are plenty of NCL sailings where the average age creeps up.  A HAL 7-day Caribbean has a younger average age and plenty of family groups.  Lines like X, Princess, and HAL offer a different experience from Royal or NCL, so that is also a big factor.

 

That said, I've never minded being with older travelers.  People have their stories and are usually a delight to get to know, even within the confines of a vacation setting.  One of the fuddiest duddies I ran across was a newlywed couple in their late 20s who pre-judged everything and talked themselves out of even trying to have fun.  At one point they said that they never went anywhere twice because they'd never been satisfied with anywhere enough to want to return.  I felt a bit sorry for them.

[PTC DAWG]

17 hours ago, upwarduk said:

I’ve never been to a Beyond the Podium lecture which finishes with a test.

I find them interesting and educational.

The joke, it went right over your head. 🙂

[poffles]

21 hours ago, njsmom said:

In December, we did a holiday cruise on the Norwegian Prima. I told this one couple, in their 30's and who loved to drink and lay by the pool all day, that we were going on our first Celebrity cruise to Alaska this summer. 

They were quite derogatory about our cruise, saying we should cancel and cruise on NCL instead. The reasons they said we should cancel:

 

—You'll be cruising with a "bunch of boring old people in their 50's and 60's" (we're 51 and 55)

—All you'll do is listen to lectures and have to learn about history and educational things (sign me up now!) 
—It's boring and no one does anything at night (sensing a theme here)
 

Of course, I ignored them and kept my cruise and I'm looking quite forward to it. Just thought I'd share because I found it rather funny. And insulting. Coming from an "old person" in her 50's. 

 

As someone else said, wonderful to have choices.  I think when I was in my 30s I was ready for the early to bed early to rise so I guess I'm boring 😉  I guess I partied enough in my 20s.  That said, on the occasion I'm up 'later' there are many (old LOL) Celebrity cruisers that don't read the memo that they should be in bed instead of kicking it up on the dance floor LOL.

 

I have sailed Carnival and NCL and I still have times pondering sailing on NCL again (Carnival not a thought) and then I read others reviews and see their pictures of long lines at guest service, crowds around the pool, lots of families (read as lots of children) and I stop pondering.  I sail for the ship and just the calm of sailing, not for the party so it really is to each their own.

 

I love the adultness of Celebrity and that I can go to guest services almost anytime and walk right up, or that even with pool chair games I can always find a chair and place in the pool.  I love the calmness of it ... that is it's charm.  Also no smoking anywhere inside the ship, not even the casino  !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Tierun]

After sailing carnival in my 20s, I decided to take a cruise on Celebrity Infinity because I got a great deal for DW’s 36st birthday. We loved it and X has been our favorite line since. Now I did have to adjust to the quieter nightlife, but everything else was exceptional. Now in our 40s we’re ready to call it a night by midnight and we usually have a good time at the club or whatever bar we belly up to.

[coaster]

I make my own decisions and would not let anyone be that much of a factor. I personally do not like NCL since they went Freestyle over 20 years ago. Got spoiled with great service in the MDR during the 90's at traditional dining that they got rid of. One freestyle cruise in 2003 was enough for us having to get the attention of random waiters just for various condiments. Some prefer NCL, but not all of us have the same expectations or like the same things. 

Edited May 16, 2023 by coaster

[TMaine]

On 5/15/2023 at 1:02 PM, njsmom said:

In December, we did a holiday cruise on the Norwegian Prima. I told this one couple, in their 30's and who loved to drink and lay by the pool all day, that we were going on our first Celebrity cruise to Alaska this summer. 

They were quite derogatory about our cruise, saying we should cancel and cruise on NCL instead. The reasons they said we should cancel:

 

—You'll be cruising with a "bunch of boring old people in their 50's and 60's" (we're 51 and 55)

—All you'll do is listen to lectures and have to learn about history and educational things (sign me up now!) 
—It's boring and no one does anything at night (sensing a theme here)
 

Of course, I ignored them and kept my cruise and I'm looking quite forward to it. Just thought I'd share because I found it rather funny. And insulting. Coming from an "old person" in her 50's. 

I am not saying you should cruise NCL or Celebrity but they are not wrong.   We walk the ship after our late dinner each night and usually there is hardly anyone around.  It's quite peaceful really.

[Saturngrl]

I love reading these posts!  I have sailed Carnival, Royal Caribbean and Celebrity and am now in my early 60's.   Celebrity is the BIG winner for us!  We love the upscale experience with small touches like cloth towels in the public restrooms and better service in bars and restaurants.  We live in Central Florida, so lying out by the pool all day has no appeal to us.  The daily schedule feels like Summer Camp---so many different activities to do as much or as little as you desire. 

 

We never had a problem with the nightlife on board.  We love the Lawn Club Grill on Silly and Reflection.  We LOVE the Abba sing a long and Silent Disco nights!  Martini Bar is always a-hoppin and the World Class Bar makes fabulous craft cocktails!  

 

Boring?  Maybe, but then again, you should see us on board with friends in adjoining cabins with the particians between our balconies open.  Coffee on the balcony in the a.m. and pre-dinner cocktails at night!  (Then, there are also our friends knocking on our door at 6:30 a.m. calling, "Mimosas!".  

 

Enjoy your cruise! 

 

[catgirl411]

I’ve said it before and I will say it again…every one of the 25+ cruises I’ve been on has had something wonderful about it. Most times the wonderful far outweighs the not as good. We’ve cruised NCL, Royal Caribbean, Windstar, HAL but in recent years have settled on X, Princess and Oceania. The passenger component really seems to depend on the length of the cruise, the itinerary and the port of embarkation in my experience. Our next three cruises are a TA, South America and Portuguese/Canaries all on X. Really looking forward to them. And we are young at hearts in our late 60s, early 70s.

[AbbyCruiser45]

On 5/15/2023 at 1:17 PM, BigAl94 said:

I would take it as a compliment, they clearly didn't think you were in your 50s!

 

Perhaps they have cruised on Celebrity, from a 30 year old's perspective on many cruises I could see where they were coming from. Clearly they would be better suited to a different cruise line.

 

I haven't hit my 30s yet (though I am getting close), and I still love Celebrity. Funny enough, I've sailed NCL and didn't like it at all. 

[FRMPEI]

On 5/15/2023 at 2:02 PM, njsmom said:

 

—You'll be cruising with a "bunch of boring old people in their 50's and 60's" (we're 51 and 55)

 

 

Gee! 50's and 60's That is being generous IMO. LOL!

 

Regards,

Kevin Reid (in that 60's group)

[FlyingAnchor]

I took my first Celebrity cruise at 28 and haven't looked back since! 🤣🤣🤣 And I love the "Beyond the Podium" series. 

[catgirl411]

The more I read Live Reports, the more I realize that everyone looks for something different from their cruise experience. Some people want to lie in the sun and drink, some want to party all night, some want to gamble, some want to go on excursions, some love trivia and game shows, some love music and production shows, some love good food…etc, etc. you just have find what fits for you. And that probably has little to do with the relative age of the crowd.

[ISABELLA]

To be fair to NCL, they don’t pretend to offer upscale cruising experience. Free style determines that pj shorts are OK for evenings -dinner or show. Even in Haven, there is no dress code. We only ate at Haven restaurant and La Bistro ( French specialty restaurant). Food is good and special attention is very nice. But Haven comes with a price.

Sailing in the regular cabin or even suite would not work for us. Different venues with any kind of entertainment are small and crowded. Also, would like to point out - Celebrity perks are better than NCL “free at sea” deal. So now we are looking forward to our 10 days on Equinox in November.

[PTC DAWG]

1 hour ago, catgirl411 said:

The more I read Live Reports, the more I realize that everyone looks for something different from their cruise experience. Some people want to lie in the sun and drink, some want to party all night, some want to gamble, some want to go on excursions, some love trivia and game shows, some love music and production shows, some love good food…etc, etc. you just have find what fits for you. And that probably has little to do with the relative age of the crowd.

All of those options are what I like about cruising in general..

[karmamule]

4 hours ago, catgirl411 said:

I’ve said it before and I will say it again…every one of the 25+ cruises I’ve been on has had something wonderful about it. Most times the wonderful far outweighs the not as good. We’ve cruised NCL, Royal Caribbean, Windstar, HAL but in recent years have settled on X, Princess and Oceania. The passenger component really seems to depend on the length of the cruise, the itinerary and the port of embarkation in my experience. Our next three cruises are a TA, South America and Portuguese/Canaries all on X. Really looking forward to them. And we are young at hearts in our late 60s, early 70s.

 

This is very true for us as well! We haven't been on as many cruises, but we've been on NCL, MSC, Celebrity, Virgin, Carnival and RCL and every cruise has been a delight. There is always something disappointing, but in each case that's been outweighed by all the fun and relaxation we have.

 

We feel like we'll be tending to book more on Celebrity and Virgin in the future, but you never know when some new ship or great itinerary will catch our eye.