HELP! Celebrity Reflection OR NCL Escape:

[iombie]

I need your help to choose one. I've booked both and will have to cancel one eventually. My partner cannot help me because it will be anniversary present.

 

For 3 years I have been working during thanksgiving and through years I am hardly home, maybe few days a month. And I want it to be special for us.

 

Celebrity Reflection:

AFT Veranda room $2,354

 

NCL Escape:

Inside Guarantee cabin $1,858

I emailed and request to get balcony room at same price of reflection, should hear back from them during weekday.

 

Only thing I dislike about Celebrity is dressing up every night, and everything is perfect. I love freestyling idea with NCL but can't stand too many children.

 

THIS is what putting me in hard position is NCL Escape will be brand new sailing in Nov and I do LOVE to do walk through video and this time I'll be doing 4k walk through with video stabilization. And everything on Escape will be new BUT maybe no balcony cabin....

 

If you were in this situation.... which cruise would you choose to make it so special for 2 of you?

[ImpulsivePuppy]

Though I have never been on the NCL Escape or that class of ship, between the two of those it's a no-brainer; the Reflection. Not only is Solstice class the best ship presently at sea (imo) Celebrity's staff is hands-down the best. I did an NCL and The Solstice two months apart and the differences were enormous. Celebrity simply offers a far, far better product. Again, I have not been on the Escape so I can't speak to it, but as far as food, activities, art, ship, staff, and over all comfort and experience, absolutely go with Celebrity.

[Zoey1]

I need your help to choose one. I've booked both and will have to cancel one eventually. My partner cannot help me because it will be anniversary present.

 

For 3 years I have been working during thanksgiving and through years I am hardly home, maybe few days a month. And I want it to be special for us.

 

Celebrity Reflection:

AFT Veranda room $2,354

 

NCL Escape:

Inside Guarantee cabin $1,858

I emailed and request to get balcony room at same price of reflection, should hear back from them during weekday.

 

Only thing I dislike about Celebrity is dressing up every night, and everything is perfect. I love freestyling idea with NCL but can't stand too many children.

 

THIS is what putting me in hard position is NCL Escape will be brand new sailing in Nov and I do LOVE to do walk through video and this time I'll be doing 4k walk through with video stabilization. And everything on Escape will be new BUT maybe no balcony cabin....

 

If you were in this situation.... which cruise would you choose to make it so special for 2 of you?

 

I have never sailed NCL ( have sailed on quite a few other lines besides X but not NCL) we were on Reflection 3/14/15 for the second time, it felt like a second honeymoon to us. Nothing compares to having a balcony and watching the sunset or early morning coffee )

 

For me it would be hands down the Teflection, which proof in point we are booked to sail on her for the third time this fall!

[miched]

I am not a cheerleader or is it my responsibility to promote Celebrity but you are posting on the Celebrity section so your responses will be rather bias or skewed toward Celebrity.

 

Thanksgiving is nothing special on board.

 

If you want to make your anniversary special stay home since you claim that you are hardly there because of work. Take her out to a fine restaurant and you can really splurge for all the money that you will save by not cruising. Then go home and enjoy the place that you are a stranger to.

 

Or you can be like the one couple when the husband suggested that they do something different and go out and have a nice night out on the town and the wife reponded that it she liked that idea and if he got home before she did to leave the light on. :D

 

Happy cruising 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌞

[rkeate0804]

Celebrity......I sail all the lines and like them all....but celebrity does an awesome job...and I do not dress up every night so don't think that is needed....enjoy whatever you do

[Zoey1]

[quote

 

Only thing I dislike about Celebrity is dressing up every night, and everything is perfect. I love freestyling idea with NCL but can't stand too many children.

 

If you were in this situation.... which cruise would you choose to make it so special for 2 of you?

 

I forgot to mention that Celebrity's dress code is smart casual except the two formal nights, we usually go to a speciality restaurant on formal nights as we prefer not to dress up,either

[Tiggertastic]

I wear the same clothes on ncl as I do on celebrity

 

The only thing we do t do is take a formal outfit on ncl

 

You should be able to get a balcony on escape for the same price as celebrity as ncl is cheaper than celebrity

 

So do you want a new ship with good entertainment and ok food in the mdr or do you want better food in the mdr dressing up for formal and different entertainment

 

I'd be down to itinerary to decide as its a tough one

[illiniwahoo]

I've done 2 Celebrity S-class ships and NCL Breakaway. Both could be great cruises - if you get the unlimited dining plan on NCL. I found NCL's free restaurants to be pretty mediocre. My husband and I agree that we will sail NCL again, but only if we get the dining package to visit only specialty restaurants. You can see a post that I have copied and pasted below describing my two different experiences.

Here's two threads that I found while looking for my post that I copied below.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=44194063#post44194063

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=44250002#post44250002

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2153668

 

"We just got back from our first NCL cruise (Breakaway) after three on Celebrity (Equinox, Silhouette, Summit). I don't think one is overall "better" than the other, they are just a little different:

 

In my opinion, Celebrity wins hands down in the food department, but NCL wins in the entertainment department by leaps and bounds.

 

Celebrity's food was more upscale and seemed to use better ingredients. Even the little things, like the poolside/outdoor cafe burgers, Celebrity's were juicy and tasty, the melted cheese for the cheeseburgers and good bread for the buns. NCL's burgers at Uptown grill were a little dry, you could put a piece of cheese on it yourself (but none available with melted cheese) and the bun was a little tasteless. In the buffet for breakfast, on celebrity I always got a ham, goat cheese, and asparagus made to order omelette, on NCL they didn't have goat cheese or asparagus, and the cheese choice was "cheddar", which definitely tasted like cheese product, not real cheese. Dinners I also found on celebrity to use better ingredients and have more choices not on NCL's dinner menu - duck entree, lobster entree. Don't get me wrong, I never went hungry on NCL, but the food was not a memorable highlight of the cruise like on Celebrity.

 

I also found Celebrity's drink selection to be far more innovative and creative. The martini bar on celebrity has a four page list of martinis, where as NCL had one page of martinis (other pages of other drinks too, but not martinis). NCL has noting like the drinks at the Molecular bar on X. I also liked the celebrity drink package better as it includes coffee bar drinks and bottled water. NCL includes neither and the price is the same.

 

Entertainment, on the other hand, NCL was heads and shoulders above Celebrity. Recognize I was on the Breakaway, and from what I read is sounds like the newest ships have the best entertainment. There were far more bands (and larger bands) on NCL than on X. The shows (Burn the floor and Rock of Ages) were amazing. When I have heard people in the past say that cruise ship shows are like Broadway, I have thought they must have never actually been to Broadway, but NCL's production of Rock of Ages was surprisingly close to the Broadway show. I was super impressed. The dueling piano bar (howl at the moon) and the comedy troupe (second city) were so much fun. We went to headliners every night to see either the comedy or dueling pianos and had SO much fun! Breakaway even has fireworks! On X ships, we are frequently in bed between 11-midnight. On NCL, we were up until 12-2am every night because we were having so much fun! I haven't done enough research to know if entertainment on NCL's older ships is the same or not.

 

I found the cost of the cruises to be comparable, especially if you book X when you get a free drink package and factor that into the equation.

 

Overall, I would not hesitate to sail either Celebrity or NCL again, but each had a different emphasis."

[wallie5446]

Since our 1st cruise in 1987, we have sailed on 7 diff lines. The Reflection is the wifesters favorite ship to date.

Edited April 20, 2015 by wallie5446

[cynbar]

Both NCL and Celebrity offer a great cruise but they are very different --- I would pick based on which line suits you better. NCL is more casual, livelier, more energetic, with better entertainment and basically no dress code. Food in the MDRs is not as good (in our opinion), but we love the variety of specialty restaurants and don't mind budgeting extra. Celebrity is more elegant, more sedate, quieter. Dress code is followed by most everyone, although you can avoid formal nights by dining at the buffet or specialty restaurants. Specialty restaurants are more expensive. It's true that most nights are Smart Casual, but cruisers will still clean up and dress nicely which is optional on NCL in most venues. There is entertainment on Celebrity but it is nowhere near as extensive or varied as NCL--- Celebrity is really more about enjoying the company of others on a lovely ship with very good food and excellent service. We prefer Celebrity overall, it just suits us better, but we have enjoyed our NCL cruises and wouldn't hesitate to take another, we just go in with different expectations.

[deise17311]

Forget which cruise line, base it on this...inside dungeon or breezy, beautiful balcony...that's your answer...and forget the rationalization, "we are never in our room so it doesn't matter." Of course you are not in your room...the inside forces you out of it...

[iombie]

Thanks everyone for your feedback, after thinking hard. And I decided it's not about me, it's for my parnter and I want it to be best cruise for him. So I went and cancel NCL Escape and the agent tried to give me freebie and a free upgrade and yet I still cancel with NCL and called Celebrity to Upgrade room to Concierge C2 class.

[deise17311]

Thanks everyone for your feedback, after thinking hard. And I decided it's not about me, it's for my parnter and I want it to be best cruise for him. So I went and cancel NCL Escape and the agent tried to give me freebie and a free upgrade and yet I still cancel with NCL and called Celebrity to Upgrade room to Concierge C2 class.

 

It's a better choice!!

[purpletequila]

I need your help to choose one. I've booked both and will have to cancel one eventually. My partner cannot help me because it will be anniversary present.

 

For 3 years I have been working during thanksgiving and through years I am hardly home, maybe few days a month. And I want it to be special for us.

 

Celebrity Reflection:

AFT Veranda room $2,354

 

NCL Escape:

Inside Guarantee cabin $1,858

I emailed and request to get balcony room at same price of reflection, should hear back from them during weekday.

 

Only thing I dislike about Celebrity is dressing up every night, and everything is perfect. I love freestyling idea with NCL but can't stand too many children.

 

THIS is what putting me in hard position is NCL Escape will be brand new sailing in Nov and I do LOVE to do walk through video and this time I'll be doing 4k walk through with video stabilization. And everything on Escape will be new BUT maybe no balcony cabin....

 

If you were in this situation.... which cruise would you choose to make it so special for 2 of you?

 

I was in your situation. I had booked the Escape because the spa looks INCREDIBLE. However, going on Thanksgiving week, I started to think about this and what I personally want in a cruise which, sorry, is to not be run over by the rug rats while trying to get somewhere. I was on the Reflection last November and ultimately, this is how I chose the Reflection again for this coming Thanksgiving.

1) While kids during vacation weeks is inevitable, odds are, those families with kids will more than likely choose Carnival, Disney, RCL or NCL over Celebrity. They just will. I would. Wouldn't you?

2) The $7.95 room service fee on NCL annoyed me as do some other policies that might not even affect me, but still annoy me as I think it speaks to the attitude of the line. For example, sometimes--not at all often, I will want to try another entree in the specialty dining restaurant. Celebrity always says "Absolutely, Maam! No problem at all." Norwegian charges you another $10. lol Stupid, I know but again, to ME, it is a nuisance.

3) While the Escape has a free adults only area in the Spice H2O, there is no adults only pool on NCL and I love, hear me, LOVEEEEEE, the Solarium, especially on the Reflection.

4) While the Escape has a lot more to do, I figured that during that particular week, the boat will undoubtedly be at capacity and again, loaded with kids. So am I really going to get to even use a waterslide or the ropes course? I had my doubts.

5) The itinerary. I've been all over the Caribbean. The Escape's Thanksgiving itinerary....I believe the technical term is sucks, whereas the Reflection hits 3 of the better ports around imo.

 

In short, come play with the big kids on the Reflection.

 

[purpletequila]

[quote

 

Only thing I dislike about Celebrity is dressing up every night, and everything is perfect. I love freestyling idea with NCL but can't stand too many children.

 

If you were in this situation.... which cruise would you choose to make it so special for 2 of you?

 

I forgot to mention that Celebrity's dress code is smart casual except the two formal nights, we usually go to a speciality restaurant on formal nights as we prefer not to dress up,either

 

ME too. I never participate in playing dress up. It's a great for those who still like to do it, but having the specialty restaurant to hide in those nights is a great option that I utilize.

[purpletequila]

Thanks everyone for your feedback, after thinking hard. And I decided it's not about me, it's for my parnter and I want it to be best cruise for him. So I went and cancel NCL Escape and the agent tried to give me freebie and a free upgrade and yet I still cancel with NCL and called Celebrity to Upgrade room to Concierge C2 class.

 

I canceled and got personal phone calls from an NCL rep for a week straight. Yesterday I got a personal letter. I guess that's one big boat to fill!