Celebrity vs. Norwegian - 14 night Mediterranean Cruise

I have sailed both lines, but not in the Eastern Med. Most people seem to love Istanbul, and DW and I are glad we went once but did not enjoy it and will not go back. Santorini, on the other hand, was wonderful -- and would have been even better if our ship had stayed late enough to see the sunset from Oia (or even Thira). You have pluses and minuses that seem to cancel in other categories (cabins close together on NCL; better food on Celebrity; entertainment and ambience perhaps better suited to your age range on NCL). I would choose NCL based on the itinerary, because itinerary is always number one for us.

Any particular reason why you would not go back to Istanbul again?

We have been on both Celebrity and Norwegian for 2 week Med cruises. Our Norwegian was with a group of 28 ranging in age from 16 to 87. This cruise did stop in Istanbul but not Santorini. Our Celebrity cruise was just the two of us and it did stop in Santorini but not Istanbul.

 

An earlier poster gave you very good advice when they said that the itineraries in the Med are long days ashore with very little sea days, the ship amenities are less of a factor during these cruises. Your time on the ship will be made up of dinner and relaxing after your long days.

 

Celebrity will be more suited to the 50 somethings while NCL will be more attractive to the younger people, although, they too will be 'beat' after a day of touring.

 

The one downfall of the NCL cruise with the large group was that the dinner is Freestyle, which was impossible to get our large group together at dinner. Celebrity however has different dining options which will allow you to get together to discuss what everyone did during the day and to plan the next day. The people in our group did their own thing each day ( some went in groups of 8 or 10) but it was nice to see everyone at dinner to compare notes.

 

Istanbul is a very interesting place and should be seen at least once in your lifetime. Be ready for crowds which at times can be overwhelming for some.

 

You will have plenty of time in Santorini during the day to explore without the late departure. You will see enough great sites without seeing the sunset.

 

"Off Topic Note" - Get to Oia before the crowds to really appreciate the little town ( get that #1 tender ticket ). There is a bus which will take you to Oia (25 min ride ) check the internet for details, this is cheaper than a cruise line excursion and very easy to do.

 

To sum up, the Celebrity cruise going to both Santorini and Istanbul would get my vote. The on board experience with Celebrity compliments the Mediterranean itinerary.

Thanks so much! We have a family of 12 going. Do you think it would be hard to seat us for dinner on NCL with 12 of us?

Wow, Istanbul vs. Corfu? Istanbul by a mile.

Most of our cruises have been on X, but in January, 2010 we sailed the Med on NCL. An unbelievable visit to Cairo made that trip exceptional.

How would they change it if they are already assigned to everyone? Have you ever done GTY by any chance? Do you know how soon they assigned cabins?

Guarantee cabins can be assigned anytime, from soon after to booking to right before departure --- there's no way to predict. Posters here have said that once a cabin is assigned, you can ask to be assigned to another free cabin within the same category. This would take a lot of work, going to various websites to see which cabins show as available, and it still wouldn't guarantee that you'd all be close together unless you're lucky and find a deck with several open cabins.

Thanks so much! We have a family of 12 going. Do you think it would be hard to seat us for dinner on NCL with 12 of us?

When we were on NCL the last two times, we always saw large parties reserved for dinner in the MDR. It didn't appear to be an issue at all.

Although it's subjective..NCL is known for having the worst food overall in all the mainlines(Specialty rest. notwithstanding)That being said NCL & any line will provide vegetarian substitues, but you NEED to advise them of that fact. Your TA should be the one to let the cruiseline know about your dietary restrictions. As to destinations I'd rather go to Turkey. There are a lot of problems in Greece with the austerity issues.

The food on NCL specialty restaurants was excellent on the Getaway and the Breakaway. Not sure about other ships. But Celebrity specialty restaurents were also very good but way overpriced.

Thanks so much! We have a family of 12 going. Do you think it would be hard to seat us for dinner on NCL with 12 of us?

Yes you can get seated together, you will have a wait ( 15-30min.). You will be given a beeper ( drinks are 2 for 1 while you have the beeper ) go to the nearest lounge and have a drink while you wait.

Hi, I'm going to address itinerary, rather than ships, as I've not been on NCL.

A Med cruise is all about the itinerary, you're going to spend anywhere from 8 to 12 hours walking in ports each day, so honestly, activities on the ship are a moot point.

For me, Istanbul wins over Corfu, hands down :) (& yes, Ive actually been to both places)

Yes, Santorini is gorgeous, but believe me, you're going to see many amazing sunsets on this trip, I'm guessing Istanbul is an overnight, at sunset, listening to the calls to prayer as the sun sets over the Mosques is truly amazing!

Someone mentioned trouble in Greece due to the Austerity measures, I'd take that with a grain of salt ;)

I've been to Greece in the midst of demonstrations, never had a problem, the people want the tourist $$ & are warm, welcoming & friendly.

Thank you so much for all the responses! We are going with Celebrity :)

Thank you so much for all the responses! We are going with Celebrity :)

Congrats :) I think you've made a great choice based on itinerary, Istanbul is truly incomparable, like Rome, it's a place where you could wander for weeks, if not months & not see everything there is to see. Have a great time!

You will love Santorini and Istanbul. I've been to both plus Corfu and there is no comparison.

We've done almost equal number of cruises between ncl and celebrity. Your limited information would sway me towards ncl.

The younger ones will have a lot more to do on ncl both with the clubs and with the entertainment

There are lots of vegetarian options on ncl and celebrity. Yes the food is better on celebrity but I disagree with an earlier comment that ncl has the worst food on cruise lines.

We've never had an issue with their food

We've also never been able to get celebrity to move our guarantees once assigned

Do you want the freestyle or some evenings of formal? We struggled between ncl jade and celebrity Equinox for this summer and it was finally decided by the deal that was on and price.

Go with your gut feeling, only you can decide

Thanks everyone!

Just one thing others haven't mentioned is the size of NCL's rooms. We haven't done an inside on either line but NCLs balcony rooms are tiny compared to Celebrities.

Thank you so much for all the responses! We are going with Celebrity :)

One thing as well to note - even if your cabins aren't all that close together, the ship is not that big and you are probably not more than 5 min away from everyone where ever they are.. We travel as a group and because we all book different level of cabins we are usually spread out but it is no problem to meet in someone's cabin for a pre dinner drink lol

We have cruised 8 times on Celebrity and 5 times on NCL. We prefer Celebrity, but if itinerary and price are right, we go with NCL.

 

Celebrity has more consistently good service and better food in the MDR. Celebrity doesn't bug you much (except for that darn beverage package) for sales, while NCL pushes sales more. NCL does have excellent specialty restaurants (reasonable prices), while Celebrity's specialty restaurants are very expensive.

 

NCL and Celebrity both have good entertainment, but NCL probably has a slight edge.

 

Regarding vegetarian meals, I would be surprised that NCL doesn't provide those. You may wish to check with NCL.

 

As for itinerary, we have been to Corfu, Santorini and Istanbul as well as most of the eastern Med ports.

 

All three ports are great, but Istanbul would be my first choice. Of course, my view would be that if you don't see Istanbul on this cruise, then go back for another.

 

One more thing, you will find that if your cruise is longer than a week (you said 14 days), then the average age of passengers will be over 60. You will find that the average age for NCL passengers will likely be lower.

I'd go for Istanbul....it's on my bucket list. Corfu is okay but nothing special. Santorini is fabulous either way. I would say that NCL has much better entertainment than on any of the Celebrity ships we've cruised...only exception is the ship singers and dancers. The X shows from the UK company are wonderful....but that is ending...not sure of date. I'd imagine both would have vegetarian options.

European cruises are so port intensive we dont bother with the entertainment.

I have sailed both lines, but not in the Eastern Med. Most people seem to love Istanbul, and DW and I are glad we went once but did not enjoy it and will not go back. Santorini, on the other hand, was wonderful -- and would have been even better if our ship had stayed late enough to see the sunset from Oia (or even Thira). You have pluses and minuses that seem to cancel in other categories (cabins close together on NCL; better food on Celebrity; entertainment and ambience perhaps better suited to your age range on NCL). I would choose NCL based on the itinerary, because itinerary is always number one for us.

Any particular reason why you would not go back to Istanbul again?

Sorry, just noticed this question. We enjoyed the historical sights of Istanbul, especially Chora Church and Hagia Sofia, but we did not enjoy the Turkish culture -- the "friendly" volunteer tour guides (whose uncle just happened to own a carpet store) who wouldn't take No for an answer (even when delivered, for the third time, in my most assertive New Yorker style). We also did not feel comfortable with the Islamicization that has happened (e.g. turning Hagia Sofia into a mosque, then a museum, in such a way that you can't see how it was as the mother church of the Eastern Empire -- and now threatening to turn it back into a mosque again). No Christian country would dare treat its Muslims that way Christians and Christian spaces are routinely treated throughout the Muslim world, Turkey included. [before the flames start: this is my opinion, which is 100% true and valid FOR ME. You may have a different opinion, and are welcome to state it as YOUR OWN.]