NCL vs. Celebrity for summer cruise?

[teacher_md]

Celebrity and NCL are my two favorite cruise lines, but they couldn't be more different.

 

Celebrity is more formal, subdued, polished, elegant and has an older demographic. Their ships are BEAUTIFUL, food is good and service is great.

 

NCL has a more chill, down-to-earth, FUN environment. Better entertainment, livelier and younger. Food average (unless you pay extra), service very good.

 

Can't comment on the teen club. When we are booking our cruise we usually go with the best price/package. Breakaway is just so expensive right now!

 

-aj

[conandrob240]

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[NH Cruisers]

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[timcar]

I am in the same boat as you (no pun intended lol!) I have been going back and forth between Celebrity Summit and Breakaway. We did the Summit 2 summers ago and we liked it. But the pool was very crowded with a lot of kids. We cruised the last week in August. I just booked the Breakaway the other day even though I think it is too expensive. And I am also worried that I may be nickel and dimed to death on the Breakaway. Extra money for sushi, to go to the Ice Bar, pastries from the cake boss, gelato etc... I had seen the Celebrity specials but noticed that it was one and not all 3. I booked Breakaway because my kids will be 11 and 13 and I think they will love all the activities on the ship, rock wall, slides, rope course etc.

My kids liked the kids club on Celebrity, but they pretty much like all the kids club on any ship we go on. My daughter didn't like the Carnival kids club we went on in November because they combined the 6 to 8 and 9 to 11 year olds and in her words "I don't want to go there, they have SIX year olds in there". I am also keeping my options open when the reviews start coming out, maybe I will be crazy enough to book both cruises and then cancel the one I don't want before my final payment is due.

[gambee]

I am in the same boat as you (no pun intended lol!) I have been going back and forth between Celebrity Summit and Breakaway. We did the Summit 2 summers ago and we liked it. But the pool was very crowded with a lot of kids. We cruised the last week in August. I just booked the Breakaway the other day even though I think it is too expensive. And I am also worried that I may be nickel and dimed to death on the Breakaway. Extra money for sushi, to go to the Ice Bar, pastries from the cake boss, gelato etc... I had seen the Celebrity specials but noticed that it was one and not all 3. I booked Breakaway because my kids will be 11 and 13 and I think they will love all the activities on the ship, rock wall, slides, rope course etc.

My kids liked the kids club on Celebrity, but they pretty much like all the kids club on any ship we go on. My daughter didn't like the Carnival kids club we went on in November because they combined the 6 to 8 and 9 to 11 year olds and in her words "I don't want to go there, they have SIX year olds in there". I am also keeping my options open when the reviews start coming out, maybe I will be crazy enough to book both cruises and then cancel the one I don't want before my final payment is due.

 

Well I guess I take back the relaxing pool assumption on X :D.

 

But I could not agree with you more, our budget for our onboard account will be quite high on Breakaway. There are a few restaurants that I want to try and then there is the Spa and Vibe, I hope it is all worth it.

[conandrob240]

Now, I am looking at the new Celebrity ships,in the med for 10-12 nights which is actually pricing close to the same as the 7 nt Bermuda cruise. Kid would be THRILLED with the extra nights and the value of the free drinks & gratuities would be even higher! Decisions, decisions!

 

That's the killer with the already high- priced Breakaway. No or very little OBC offered and when you add on drinks, soda package, a few speciality restaurants and gratuities for 3 people, that already expensive cruise just went up another $1000. The good news is, you can enjoy the beaches on town in Bermuda and don't have to spend a lot of tours if you don't want to.

[timcar]

 

That's the killer with the already high- priced Breakaway. No or very little OBC offered and when you add on drinks, soda package, a few speciality restaurants and gratuities for 3 people, that already expensive cruise just went up another $1000. The good news is, you can enjoy the beaches on town in Bermuda and don't have to spend a lot of tours if you don't want to.

 

 

My cruise for 4 in a balcony is less than your quote but I am probably going a different week in summer and my ta gave me $400 OBC so that took a little sting off the price. We have been to Bermuda before and I was also thinking that the Breakaway would bring a bit of a variety than our past cruise there.

[Lady Anna & Sir Troy]

I just want to remind people (and myself) that trying to compare current NCL ships to the new Breakaway is like Apples to Oranges. It has a few of the Epic themes carried over, but looks like a step up. This is definitely NCL's attempt at something more luxurious and classier than anything they have released to date.

 

I think I can stand on the comments I previously stated that the kids club will be better then Celebrity, but the rest, even food, well - it is just too early to tell. What they have released so far includes several top chefs and the new Ocean Blue should wow you. I am sure their entertainment will be bar none, the best at sea.

 

One of the themes I love is what they are doing to combine the ocean with the public spaces. There are more public venues on this ship that take advantage of the Ocean Air and views. Just imagine beer in hand in a comfy pub chair and swirling around to see deep blue hues of the Ocean leading to infinity. Strolling along the promenade with Park Avenue to your left and the Ocean to your right.

 

I expect this ship to take the FUN of an EPIC ship along with taking up a notch some of the other industry bests like Carnival's Aqua Parks, Celebrity's SPA and specialty food venues, and RCCL Interior Promenade.

 

I mean really, other than Vegas who else has a salt room in their SPA?

 

I'll leave it at that. I just can't wait to see what people think of the new Breakaway.:D

 

L.A.S.T.

[Sejanus]

Well, i cannot speak for NCL but i can tell you that we just got off a celebrity ship and will not go on it again. We had a number of teens with our group and they absolutely hated it. Stuck inside watching videos and playing primary school games. My son wanted off the boat. To make it worse the celebrity cruise unlike carnival base all there normal adult activities around older people, 55+. This made it a terrible cruise because every bit of entertainment was based around older people, like trivia, battle of the sexes, even karaoke and the night clubs. So our teens (15-19) were unable to participate in any of these activities either. On the carnival boats out teens can participate with family activities.

 

With our group, the only person who said they would sale again with celebrity was the only person above 50. And for the teens celebrity was a very bad choice.

 

Our next cruise has been booked, we are trying NCL because we have heard the entertainment and activities are better suited to people under 45 and teens are well catered for. This is from friends who have traveled on NCL, not here say or forums.

 

Also on food. We found the food comparable to carnival. We were on the Solstice.

 

Sej

[4774Papa]

Well, i cannot speak for NCL but i can tell you that we just got off a celebrity ship and will not go on it again. We had a number of teens with our group and they absolutely hated it. Stuck inside watching videos and playing primary school games. My son wanted off the boat. To make it worse the celebrity cruise unlike carnival base all there normal adult activities around older people, 55+. This made it a terrible cruise because every bit of entertainment was based around older people, like trivia, battle of the sexes, even karaoke and the night clubs. So our teens (15-19) were unable to participate in any of these activities either. On the carnival boats out teens can participate with family activities.

 

With our group, the only person who said they would sale again with celebrity was the only person above 50. And for the teens celebrity was a very bad choice.

 

Our next cruise has been booked, we are trying NCL because we have heard the entertainment and activities are better suited to people under 45 and teens are well catered for. This is from friends who have traveled on NCL, not here say or forums.

 

Also on food. We found the food comparable to carnival. We were on the Solstice.

 

Sej

Not a problem, that gives us less competition for good cabins on Celebrity.

[conandrob240]

Sejanus, what was your itinerary? Sometimes, the itinerary rather than the ship or the line, drives the activity level. If it was a cruise longer than 10 days in mid- January, I would expect kids would be bored regardless of the cruise line because most kids are in school and crowd will be older retirees because of the length of the cruise

[Sejanus]

Sejanus, what was your itinerary? Sometimes, the itinerary rather than the ship or the line, drives the activity level. If it was a cruise longer than 10 days in mid- January, I would expect kids would be bored regardless of the cruise line because most kids are in school and crowd will be older retirees because of the length of the cruise

 

Maybe, but its the only time we cruise. Every year we cruise beginning of Jan so it should not change what we see. Itinerary was good and the shore excursions made the cruise worthwhile in the end. I know many people get cut up and cranky about which cruise line is better etc, that's not us. What i suggest is you read more comments about celebrity and teens. There are many many posts on here and on other web sites that we ignored and wish we hadn't. Celebrity is not good for teens, the proof is in all the posts and even CC itself recently did an article where they suggested it was a poor choice for teens. Good luck and good cruising.

 

Sej

[roe2ship]

Sejanus, what was your itinerary? Sometimes, the itinerary rather than the ship or the line, drives the activity level. If it was a cruise longer than 10 days in mid- January, I would expect kids would be bored regardless of the cruise line because most kids are in school and crowd will be older retirees because of the length of the cruise

My one Celebrity cruise was a 7 day Bermuda, peak summer time and the evening entertainment was quite boring. The ship seemed like most people went to sleep by 10:00pm......too low key for me. That cruise also had the least amount of kids from my other cruises. My 9 year old son at the time did not really enjoy the club either.

 

From the impressive pictures of the Breakaway.....I don't really think you can compare the Summit with it.....perhaps the Solstice class may be a better comparison. Good luck choosing.

[aseligman]

I was on Summit this time last year out of San Juan, right after its dry dock. Awesome ship. It kind of felt like a big city, boutique hotel as opposed to a floating megaresort with crazy waterslides and rock climbing walls. Very contemporary. Great food. Great cabin. Loved everything about it. I will say this, though: There were NO kids onboard. Well, hardly any. I saw maybe one or two in that 12-14 age range and that was it. There were a handful of people in their 20s and 30s. Most were in their 40s to 60s. The time of year (school was in session) and the fact that the ship left from San Juan and not Florida probably contributed to that, but I got the feeling that Celebrity was more adult-oriented. I can't speak for Norwegian, since I haven't sailed with them. I'm actually going on Epic in a week-and-a-half.

[conandrob240]

I can't argue whether Celebrity is good for kids or not- np never tried it. Heck, I asked the darn question! But... A mid- January cruise that doesn't cover MLK Day and especially one that leaves from outside the US or is longer than a week, is going to have a handful of teens regardless of the cruiseline. Very few parents would pull a middle school or high school kid out of school for a full week let alone two weeks- there is just too much going on with schoolwork and sports/ activities. Now, little kids, sure but definitely not Tweens and teens. I'd bet the numbers for teens on a cruise sailing longer than a week on a non school break can be counted on one hand on any cruiseline.

[halos]

[quote name='Sejanus']Well, i cannot speak for NCL but i can tell you that we just got off a celebrity ship and will not go on it again. We had a number of teens with our group and they absolutely hated it. Stuck inside watching videos and playing primary school games. My son wanted off the boat. To make it worse the celebrity cruise unlike carnival base all there normal adult activities around older people, 55+. This made it a terrible cruise because every bit of entertainment was based around older people, like trivia, battle of the sexes, even karaoke and the night clubs. So our teens (15-19) were unable to participate in any of these activities either. On the carnival boats out teens can participate with family activities.

With our group, the only person who said they would sale again with celebrity was the only person above 50. And for the teens celebrity was a very bad choice.

Our next cruise has been booked, we are trying NCL because we have heard the entertainment and activities are better suited to people under 45 and teens are well catered for. This is from friends who have traveled on NCL, not here say or forums.

Also on food. We found the food comparable to carnival. We were on the Solstice.

Sej[/quote]

We only sailed on Celebrity once back in 2006. I am now 50 and I still feel Celebrity is too old for me. The cruise was very nice. I have no complaints about it. The service was excellent (yet I felt it was a little stuffy for my taste) the food was great, our itinerary (Panama Canal Crossing) was one of the best I have ever been on....but I prefer a fun ship. This is why I [B][I][U]used to[/U][/I][/B] prefer Carnival. Now, NCL has the fun factor (that CCL has seemed to lose somehow) and that is who I sail with.

You Tube NCL and see what you come up with. Even something as simple as coming back to the ship from port is a fun experience because you will be greeted with somethign like this:
[URL]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YDjoGip1TuE[/URL]

[URL]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lE7QLDZ9Bzw[/URL]