Cruise line differences - Norwegian, Royal Carribean and Celebrity

Hi, hopefully this is the correct place to post this.

My partner and I have previously been on a Royal Caribbean cruise round the Mediterranean. We are currently looking at a cruise for our honeymoon next year, we are restricted to the last week of March and the first 2 weeks of April. We are looking at Hawaii or the Caribbean.

We are looking at a cruise with Celebrity in the Caribbean and Norwegian in Hawaii, there is also a further option of Princess in Hawaii. We have read some reports about Norwegian that seem a bit off putting and we would like to know how it might compare to our previous experience of Royal Caribbean, same with Princess and Celebrity.

We loved our Royal Caribbean trip so something of that standard would be great again. We are both 32 if that is helpful and we also like the odd night of getting dressed up and making an effort for dinner etc.

Thanks

Royal Caribbean probably has the best entertainment, Celebrity the best food and service (probably comfort as well), NCL is probably less expensive - but if you like a bit of formality (as you mentioned) and good food and service (without h@ving to pay extra in specialty restaurants, you might prefer Royal Caribbean or Celebrity.

Decide on what you want to do on Maui. NCL always docks in town, Kahului. You are about 30 mins. from a nice beach. If you are planning on water activities. The other spot is up west in Lahaina. Near beaches, and you will tender in.

I’ve been on Royal, NCL, and Princess, but not Celebrity. I really enjoyed all 3. I did Princess round trip from San Francisco to Hawaii and it was really great! The enrichment activities and talks added value to the cruise. I went with my mother and we got the all-inclusive beverage package included in the price. The wine selection on Princess was the best of the 3.

Royal and NCL I’ve cruised in the Caribbean and Alaska, respectively. RCCL and NCL are pretty similar. Royal edges out NCL for entertainment, but I love the freestyle of NCL. Food quality was about the same on both, but the first waiter I had on Royal hit it out of the park by bringing us everything we were kinda thinking about to try. I think I may feel biased toward Royal’s service because of that.

Edit to add: I would choose Princess again, hands down, for Hawaii. Especially if you have a lot of sea days. The entertainment was great. They had a professor on board talking about seismology, marine biology, and weather. They had native Hawaiians give talks about their culture, and lessons on ukulele, hula, and crafts. NCL and RCCL are both great in their own right, but if the price is within your range, I would definitely choose Princess.

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A couple of points to remember. Celebrity is owned by Royal Caribbean; many consider Celebrity is a notch above RC but many similarities. If you have loyalty status on RC it is recognized on Celebrity and vice verse.

Many lines do not cruise year round to Hawaii. You might be limited by your dates if set on Hawaii.

For the Caribbean you are looking at spring break - could be a lot of families/kids. Try looking at 10 days, southern Caribbean. Great cruise and 10 day cruises have less kids/families.

I've enjoyed sailing on RCCL, NCL and Celebrity - all of my cruises have been European destinations. I choose the cruise ship based on the ports visited not the amenities onboard the ship. I did notice the following:

RCCL - lots of activities, good food, very good shows

NCL - food not as appetizing as RCCL or Celebrity, shows not as good as RCCL

Celebrity - best food of the lot - not as many activities & older demographic than RCL or NCL

Have not cruised on NCL so I can't offer any insight for them. However I have heard that in terms of a comparison to RCI, they are more similar than different.

However, we have been long time RCI cruisers who recently have moved to Celebrity, so I can offer some commentary there.

If you are interested, following is a link to a thread I originated comparing RCI and Celebrity after our first Celebrity cruise. I hope you find it helpful.

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2384894

BTW we have cruised two additional times with Celebrity since this review and have our next three booked with them as well - including a 10-night Hawaii itinerary.