Ncl breakaway or celebrity reflection

Looking at last minute deals for end of Nov. My partner cannot decide between the two trips. Breakaway is about 400 cheaper in total but reflection has better islands. We could drive to the breakaway but would have to fly to Fort Lauderdale for celebrity (already figured flight cost in total).

Anyone been on both ships? What would you do?

I would go for Celebrity.

Celebrity = traditional cruise, assigned dinner time and seating, 2 formal nights, good food, nice entertainment. Nice staterooms. This is a nice cruise with good food, especially in the MDR. I've been on the sister ship. It is nice but I was not wowed by the entertainment.

NCL = Freestyle cruise = no formal nights (unless you want to dress up) eat at a table for 2 in various different restaurants - you can go to a different restaurant every night of the cruise if you want, but you pay extra for it except for the 5 free restaurants - which some people only do the free ones, while others do a combination of free and extra pay restaurants. Great staterooms - really beautiful. Full scale water park on the ship. Lots of entertainment. The biggest buffet you will ever see on a cruise. GREAT spa - get a spa pass or get a spa cabin. The spa has a wonderful thalisotherapy pool, dry sauna and steam room as well as hot tub. I've been on the ship one generation back - Epic. The Breakaway (and Getaway) are true destination ships.

Reflection for an adult cruise. Breakaway for kid cruise (or if you are an adult who acts like a kid). :D

Seriously, Reflection is one of the most beautiful ships on the seas, with well thought out areas and beautiful, tastefully done decor. It's the one I would go on.

I would go with Celebrity because of the on board experience and since you prefer the itinerary.

Keith

Breakaway is good for families, but they also have The Haven which can make things very luxurious (suite, butler, priority reservations for everything). The other thing about NCL - lots of entertainment. By comparison, the Reflection, though elegant, lacks much to do and the night time entertainment is just so-so. It really all depends on you. If you are active types who like to have lots to do, who like say, going to Las Vegas and seeing shows, eating out and having a good time all day and at night, then NCL would be ideal for you. If you are more quiet types whose highlight of the day is eating dinner, then the Reflection would be right for you. I've done both and I guess we're more into excitement, shows and fun and like the different restaurants on the newer NCL ships. On the Celebrity Solstice class ships, I had a hard time finding much of anything of interest to do. The only show that interested me in 13 days was the comedian - he was very good although it was British humor, so not sure if most Americans got it or not but I found him very clever and great at improvising. Other than that, I found myself sitting around in the tea shop (Cafe Il Baccio) having tea and reading my IPAD most days. I would sit near the gelato stand and listen to passengers berate the person who worked there because the gelato costs extra. Hello? This extra cost is NOT the fault of the employee. After one particularly brutal afternoon for her, I bought a gelato because I felt so bad for her. I watched a cooking demonstration one day (it was pretty basic.) I thought the food was good to great, but that was about all I had to look forward to on that ship. The whole cruise was so dull I actually went to watch glass blowing on the top deck one day. The funny thing is I've seen glass blowing a lot, but I was desperate to have something...anything to do, so I went to it out of a complete lack of anything else to do. Even that was dull. The Celebrity cruise just totally lacked specialness to me.

I've just done TA on Reflection entertainment was none existent after 12:30am ALL bars on ship including casino CLOSED! But I'd pick Refection for food and service. I sailed on Epic and ship and entertainment was fantastic but didn't like paying extra for most things and felt it was a good cruise for a group of people to go on, as it's difficult to meet people as everyone is doing their own thing. I like traditional dinner seatings. On NCL Epic had to wait 20-30 mins every night for a table. I'm told Celebrity cruises have late night entertainment on non transatlantic cruises, so I'd go with Celebrity.

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

I loved Breakaway. To me it was like NCL raised the bar.They have two restaurants on board that I highly recommend,the Brazilian steakhouse and Ocean Blue. I'm looking at sailing in June just for these restaurants. Don't get me wrong Celebrity is one of our favorite cruise lines, but I'd never pass up the opportunity to sail on Breakaway.

Based on my experiences with both cruise lines, Reflection would be my favorite by far.

I've sailed both the Reflection and the Breakaway. Loved the Reflection. Even with its size, it was so well designed that it didn't feel crowded. Great food, enjoyed the entertainment.

Didn't like the Breakaway as a ship. The casino surrounds the main staircase, so there's smoke through the entire three story chamber. The theaters are small so you have to make reservations, which to me flies in the face of the "freestyle" concept. And it's loud. I had problems finding a comfortable, quiet space to be.

I loved the studio cabin I was in, and the Studio Lounge; I just wish I liked the ship.

In a heartbeat....Celebrity!

Absolutely Celebrity!!!!!!