Ready to Book, but which way to turn??? Celebrity or NCL?

[mrspeck]

I am getting ready to book a short cruise for this coming April. We have never cruised with anyone other than HAL, but there are no HAL sailings that fit our needs. I've narrowed our options down to Celebrity and NCL...which, will we feel more at home on? We are used to deluxe or penthouse suites on HAL, looking at Deluxe Owner's Suite on the NCL Gem or the Penthouse Suite on the Celebrity Century. Any suggestions????

[Bill B]

Normally, this would be a 'no brainer'. However, because you are considering suites I have no advice (I've never had a suite on any line). What I can tell you is I have heard only good things about NCL suites.

[travelmatron]

I've never cruised Celebrity...but NCL really does know how to treat their suite passengers. Expect to spend more time in the specialty restaurants on NCL.

[LAFFNVEGAS]

I am another one that votes for NCL when it comes to Suites. You will definitely have a premium experience when it comes to NCL Suites. We were not in a Suite on the Solstice only an Aqua Class category but in talking to some of the Suite passengers a couple were actually dissappointed and felt it was not any more special than a regular Celebrity cabin other than being much larger.

I have been in many a SA Suite on HAL and I can tell you that our NCL Suite experience on the Pearl was definitely a few steps above a HAL suite experience. You will love having breakfast and lunch in Cagneys. :)

[jjeffjb]

is much better on Celebrity. Also, on the Celebrity Summit the specialty restaurant, Normandie, was one of the best dining experiences at sea I've ever had. I believe all their ships have the same menu in the specialty restaurants.

[baggal]

If you're used to a traditional cruise experience (assigned dinner in the MDR, etc.) regardless of the type of cabin you book, I would vote for Celebrity. I had an NCL cruise booked for this past summer because of its itinerary, but in the end I canceled because I felt the NCL format was too far out of my comfort level.

[parrotfeathers]

I get RCL and NCL mixed up. Are they similar at all (other than both being cruise lines).

[JJPacer]

My vote goes to Celebrity

[sail7seas]

Why not ask this on their Boards? :confused:

[bellebaby]

We usually have a Deluxe Suite on HAL and tried a Royal Suite on Celebrity Millennium... not impressed. I would give NCL a try.

 

JMO...

 

B

[sail7seas]

We sailed Celebrity in Royal Suite about 5 times years ago and stopped sailing Celebrity entirely when RCI purchased the line. We sailed once after and never returned.

[HeatherInFlorida]

This is the perfect board for the question since the OP has always sailed on HAL and wants opinions of other people who have enjoyed HAL over the years. And, of course they would welcome opinions from HAL cruisers who have sailed on both Celebrity and NCL in recent years.

 

My inclination would always be to say Celebrity which everyone knows is my preference, but reading the OP I was glad Lisa weighed in because I remembered how much she loved the suites on NCL. Since she has sailed on so many different lines in recent years, I would take Lisa's advice in a heartbeat.

 

I would agree that unless you jump to a Royal Suite, the CS and SS on Celebrity Solstice class just don't measure up to their other ships. But the SS on other Celebrity ships is lovely and, in my opinion, quite comparable to suites on HAL except without the Neptune.

 

They do have the Butler, though, and recently friends told me it was absolutely wonderful and until then they had only cruised HAL, twice in suites. They did not miss the Neptune at all and grudgingly admitted that overall they preferred Celebrity:).

[flhawkeye]

Up until my last experience with NCL I would have said go with NCL. But now I would suggest Celebrity. I am a loyal HAL cruiser and while I miss the butler experience and the superior concierge experience that NCL provides I feel that the NCL experience, even in the top suites, has been compromised by the total NCL experience. Even the specialty restaurants on NCL are not of good quality based upon my last cruise in November. I ate only in the specialty restaurants and often felt that I ate better in the HAL main dining room. Celebrity butler service is generally excellent. I feel that hands down their dining experience is better than NCL. That would not be hard to accomplish as I feel that NCL food is little better than that which is served in a basic cafeteria. I have heard that the Garden Villa Suites on NCL do offer supurb service. I have only sailed in their older classes of ship in the owners or penthouse suites. I have only sailed in the top suite, penthouse, on celebrity.

[lvz2cruz]

I would pick Celebrity. We have always had great experiences on X.

We tried NCL once and it was not good--steward cleaned room once every other day most of the trip. Our kids were in a different cabin and got same service( or lack thereof). When we complained, he said we had the do not disturb on which was not true--we desparately wanted service. Food trays were all over the pool deck all day and trash and food on the ground was still there the next day. When docked in Bermuda 3 days, birds were on the decks picking at the leftovers, making more mess. Since the steward never showed up, we went to the pool to get towels for showers but they were out a few times each day. We continually called and they were never filled. Then buffet was continually out of silverware, cups, and mugs. We tried again after 2.0 on a newer ship and it was pretty much the same aggravations. The crew seemed more like prison wardens than happy people wanting to create a welcome environment for paying guests.

Our travel agent discouraged us from sailing NCL because of all the complaints she has received. We moved to a different state and our TA here said the exact same thing.

Outside of our disappointing experiences and TA recommendations, I think Celebrity is more like HAL where NCL is pretty much at the bottom of the heap.

[esquire20]

I am getting ready to book a short cruise for this coming April. We have never cruised with anyone other than HAL, but there are no HAL sailings that fit our needs. I've narrowed our options down to Celebrity and NCL...which, will we feel more at home on? We are used to deluxe or penthouse suites on HAL, looking at Deluxe Owner's Suite on the NCL Gem or the Penthouse Suite on the Celebrity Century. Any suggestions????

DO NOT BOOK WITH NCL!!!!!! I am a long time cruiser with over 30 cruises on my resume. I have sailed on Celebrity 6 times. My most recent sailing with celebrity was on the Solstice. A great and beautiful ship, excellent food, service and entertainment. 2009 I did a 14 day repo cruise on the NCL Jewel, it was my first time on NCL, it was the worst cruise I had ever been on.They nickel and dime you for everything! and I mean everything. Look, I know that all cruise lines are charging all kinds of extras to compete with rising fuel costs and other cruise lines, but NCL raises this practice to an art form. My biggest complaint was the food.There is such a big difference between the "free" restaurants and the extra-charge specialty restaurants that I never went back to a Free dining room after the first time.The free MDR food was just inedible. I will not cruise NCL again, even if they gave me a free ticket.My vacation time is too valuable. I would rather a cruise line charge me more money up front and give a great cruise experience than get a cheap price and have a horrible one. Good Luck

[Jade13]

We have positive things to say about Celebrity and it seems that after cruising on them twice last year the overall experience has really improved over a couple of years. We were on their oldest and newest ship in 2010, and both had better food and entertainment than HAL last year. HAL always has better itineraries but that does not seem to be at issue.

[tcook052]

Why not ask this on their Boards? :confused:

 

Agree.

[Randyk47]

Our cruise experience is probably pretty limited compared to many others here as we've only been on Carnival, Holland America, and Celebrity. The Carnival cruise was our first, a try-it-you'll-like-it test to see if we even liked cruising. Our one and only Celebrity cruise was because of an opportunity to cruise out of Galveston, only a 4-5 hours drive from our home, and an incredible offer for a Royal Suite. We loved the Royal Suite, probably the best cabin we've had. Service and food were good to excellent and the only part of the cruise experience we thought was lacking was the butler who supposedly came with our suite. He turned out to be kind of worthless and a pain to deal with. Other HAL CC'ers, a number of us crossed over to the dark side for this cruise, had better experiences with their butlers and I'll have to say that ours was famous, or infamous if you prefer, over on the Celebrity boards at the time for not being the best. He's no longer with Celebrity by the way. Bottom line was that we liked Celebrity and found the experience to be comparable with HAL.

[DFD1]

I agree with Esquire20 about the food in the main dining room. It is ordinary at its best.

We had small variations of the same menu every night.

 

In talking with some staff, they readily admitted the food in the main dining room was structured in such a way as to encourage passengers to move the the upcharge specialty restaurants after one or two nights.

 

NCL is ordinary in lots of other ways as well, IMO, but perhaps better for suite passengers.

[m steve]

no smoking on X's balconies and NCL checks every bag for liquor or wine and takes the liquor and charges corkage even if you drink it in the cabin. Why not look at Princess as they are much like HAL. And being a Mariner lets you get a reduced rate for your cruise.

[fann1sh]

MrSpeck, a comment on the Celebrity and NCL boards.

 

If you decide to check each of them out, IMO you'll find more "NCL's way-or-the-highway" cheerleaders on the NCL board.

 

Again, this is just IMO, but the Celebrity board seems to have more people who will discuss =X= faults impartially.

 

As we all know, ambiance/atmosphere on a board does NOT always equal that aboard the ships.