JamieLogical's Big NCL vs. Celebrity Thread

[JamieLogical]

26 minutes ago, PTC DAWG said:

Yes, we were told the cruise before us was around 400 more passengers than ours..the crew said they would tell the difference...weather was great, we only got off the ship in Costa Maya to wander around and buy a few things to try and help the vendors.  

 

Oh yeah, my Wife digs Captain Tasos.  I think I spelled that right..I hope you saw the Liars Club show....I'm still laughing.

 

I missed the Liar's Club show and I am so mad at myself! Everyone said it was hysterical, which I believe, because Captain Tasos is a riot!

[coffeebean]

On 8/7/2021 at 11:17 AM, graphicguy said:

Not wanting to steal any of Jamie's insights, as they are pretty much spot on from where I sit.  We have similar experiences with NCL and the cancelled cruises.  Bottom line, after begging us to come back to sail, they cancelled cruises only to offer them again at a higher fare.  To me, that's just really bad business and a real slap in the face to those of us who had thousands of dollars tied up with NCL (at their request and command), in many cases, for more than a year.

 

Very hard to overlook that....and I'm a Platinum Latitudes member with NCL.  Can't overlook what they did to us.

 

I also agree with Jamie that more than anything, I enjoy cruising.  It would have to be something pretty horrific for me to say I had a terrible cruise.  I was even on the "listing" cruise on the NCL Escape a few years ago where the ship was hit with a huge gust of wind and tossed us out of bed and injured other passengers.  Even that one I had a grand time after all the hoopla.

 

That said, there are differences between Celebrity and NCL.  I'll give NCL the nod on entertainment.  But, everything else goes to Celebrity.  Food, Service, beauty of their ships, everything else was better on the Celebrity sailings I took.  Frankly, the entertainment on Celebrity wasn't bad.  It was quite good.  It just wasn't over the top with shows like Million Dollar Quartet, or Choir of Man, etc that NCL has.

 

The Platinum perks NCL offers me aren't really anything that would keep me in the NCL fold.  A little laundry service, or some cheap champaign or a couple of Latitudes parties aren't going to sway me to go back.

 

Even with the 25% credits and 10% off cruise fares NCL gave me did not make up for the price increases NCL instituted, either.  So, they don't even have a price advantage over Celebrity.

 

I have fun on cruises.  I adjust my optics depending on the cruise line I'm sailing (I certainly have different expectations for a Carnival Cruise than I do a Celebrity Cruise).  As long as I keep those optics in focus, I love my cruises.

I would like to add NCL's "Burn the Floor" to the list of excellent stage shows. Anyone know if Burn the Floor will be back on NCL ships?

[AstoriaPreppy]

On 8/6/2021 at 2:54 PM, JamieLogical said:

Okay, I have pretty much finished my overall review in the other thread so I am back here to answer your questions about the differences between NCL and Celebrity. Here are my responses to all of the questions you had before I sailed:

 

1. Can you have dinner from the MDR delivered to your room?
   I did not investigate this on board. You can certainly have room service delivered to your room and, unlike NCL, I do not believe there is any sort of service charge.
2. Free coffee shop treats?
   All of the pastries and treats at the coffee shop, Cafe Al Bacio, were included. There was a separate counter for gelato across from the coffee counter and, I believe, that was an a la carte charge.
3. Is the library still available?
   Yes, the library was open and available. I did not see any notices about COVID restrictions there.
4. Food court in the Solarium?
   I didn’t spend any time at the Solarium. I know that the juice bar was open and the one time I passed by, there were tables/counters set up for food but none was available right then.
5. Differences/similarities in dining venues?
   I didn’t try any of the specialty dining, so I can’t compare those. There was only one MDR. Like NCL, there were some MDR items that were on the menu every night, but it seemed like they had more of a selection of items that changed each night. Two of the appetizers that were available every night were shrimp cocktail and escargot. I have only ever seen those available in specialty restaurants on NCL. Also, there were some fancier entres available (not every night) than I have ever seen on NCL like duck, lobster tail, and some additional cuts of steak. The quality of the food in the buffet I would say was *slightly* better on Celebrity, but the selection felt more limited than NCL for sure. Celebrity definitely has better pizza, but that’s not exactly saying much!
6. Is there much dancing?
   There was definitely dancing in the Grand Foyer. I did not see any dancing in the Sky Lounge, which actually has a nice dance floor, but I did not spend much time there.
7. How are the bars?
   The bars were great. If you can get on a Celebrity Ship with a World Class Bar, which I believe is on all the Solstice class ships, definitely do it! The bartenders throughout the ship were all creative, friendly, helpful, and talented. The bartenders at the World Class Bar were true artists. Also, the Classic Drink Package is included with Celebrities “Always Included” pricing, but I recommend spending the extra $10/day to upgrade to the Premium Package. That way most everything from the Martini Bar, Craft Social, and the World Class Bar will be included.
8. Are there a lot of vegetarian options?
   I don’t know about “a lot”, but there were definitely vegetarian options available in the MDR and at the buffet.
9. Amenities/events for solo cruisers?
   They did not seem to have any activities specifically for solo cruises.
10. MDR seating for solo cruisers?
    In the MDR, I had to be pretty insistent about getting/starting a shared table. The seemed to always want to seat me by myself at a table for two.
11. Can you post to CC via ship’s wifi?
    CC wasn’t specifically blocked or anything, but with the “Always Included” Surf Wifi, I found it almost impossible to view/post to any site. I pretty much gave up on doing anything internet-related unless in port. I mostly just used the WiFi to access the Celebrity App.
12. How easy/restrictive is dining room and buffet access?
    The MDR has two scheduled dining times, 6:00 and 8:00 and then they have the Anytime Dining, where you can just show up and wait in line, but they recommend a reservation. I had the Anytime dining but almost always showed up around 6:00 with no reservation. See my full review for how that went. The buffet was not self-service. You had to wait at each station for a staff member to serve you. This was very mildly annoying at times, but generally not a big deal.
13. How is the shore excursion process/experience?
    I took two shore excursions. For both of them, I had to meet in the theater, which seemed to be the staging area for all shore excursions. We were given stickers with numbers on them that we were supposed to stick to our shirts to designate our group, then we had to follow a crew member with a paddle with our number on it through security and off the ship. It was a bit chaotic once off the ship trying to figure out where to go.
14. How is the live entertainment? Are passengers engaged with it?
    The big production theater entertainment was very different than what I have experienced on NCL. I would call it more “artsy”? Less like a straight-forward musical and more like a comprehensive “performance” with singing and dancing, but also aerial acts and acrobats. The visiting entertainers were about on par with what I have seen on NCL. In terms of engagement, nothing like you have for like Howl at the Moon, the piano player in District Brew House, or the Beatles tribute in the Cavern Club. Definitely more low-key, loungy music where some people danced and some people took requests. The most “party-like” atmosphere I encountered were the Martini Bar and the silent discos.
15. How dressed up are passengers in the evenings for dinner, shows, and bars?
    Definitely more dressed up than on NCL! No one was in like evening gowns or tuxes, but generally, people dressed more formally in the evenings. People in graphic tees and gym shorts stuck out like a sore thumb for sure. I did see a few pairs of dressier shorts, designer jeans, and that sort of thing on the “Smart Casual” nights in the MDR, but that would not fly on the “Evening Chic” nights when men definitely work long pants/slacks and button down shirts and women mostly wore dresses.
16. How is the service?
    The service was a bit slow and rocky as they were still trying to learn and figure out processes/logistics. The staff themselves were phenomenal.
17. CruiseNext/Future Cruise deals?
    The only future cruise deals I saw were to get OBC on future sailings.
18. Stateroom differences?
19. The only real differences I noticed between my angled balcony on the Equinox and the ones I have had on the Escape and Bliss was there was no coffee maker, there were more drawers and fewer shelves, the shower doors were a vast improvement, and there was a nightlight in the bathroom! Also, did not have to leave your keycard in the slot to keep the power on.
20. Menus from the MDRs and “Starbucks”?
    I am so sorry to report that I did not take pictures of the menus!

As someone who has also been burned by NCL's horrific shoreside customer service, this is such a great perspective to share. I'd echo a lot of these thoughts, especially when it comes to quality of the food and beverage service on Celebrity v. NCL, and the attitudes of the staff onboard. It's one of the reasons we have cruises booked on multiple lines in the future, but zero on NCL (even though we've got cruise next credits to burn).

[luvcruzing]

@JamieLogical I’ve been a loyal NCL cruiser, with a few Carnival cruises mixed in, mostly due to very generous casino offers. I’ve been thinking, though, of trying another cruise line.  Can you share how you were able to find cruises with no single supplement? 

[JamieLogical]

6 minutes ago, luvcruzing said:

@JamieLogical I’ve been a loyal NCL cruiser, with a few Carnival cruises mixed in, mostly due to very generous casino offers. I’ve been thinking, though, of trying another cruise line.  Can you share how you were able to find cruises with no single supplement? 

 

Unfortunately, there is no easy way to filter for them the way you can on NCL's site. I sort of did it by trial and error clicking through and searching around. You can also search by number of passengers on Cruise Plum (I think it is safe to mention that site since it's not a TA site?) and then narrow by cruise line, cabin type, etc. and sort by price.

[luvcruzing]

Thank you.  I’ll give it a try.  

[TFLG]

I sail Celebrity quite a lot and typically prefer it over most of the other lines. So here's my 2 cents on the differences.

The night life on Celebrity can be dull sometimes but it really depends on the sailing.  The Sky Lounge is the typical late night "party" spot.  There's usually a band or DJ (or a Band then DJ) starting around 10 and they will play till the guest count drops off.  There's Quasor on the S-Class ships that has  DJ and plays modern music but that is rarely busy.  The Silent discos are usually PACKED and I much prefer the celebrity version to the NCL version.  I've seen conga lines that stretch all the way around the main foyer.   Early Evening the band is typically in the Main Foyer playing anything from 50's to mellow modern.  And one night there's typically a white party on the pool deck that usually attracts a good crowd.

I find the food on Celebrity better overall than NCL. Quite a bit better in the MDR, and a bit better in the specialties.  BTW most people don't realize you can "haggle" the price of the specialties. They normally have a guy standing outside the buffet trying to sell specialty dining. Offer him half the asking price and go from there.  I typically get around 30-40% off  (It's a flat rate fee in most of them). The buffet is close but again I think I'll give the nod to Celebrity for it's better quality.

 

As far as drinks, I do the upgrade on the drinks package because I like Single Malt scotch and I spend a fair bit of time at the Martini Bar and the World Class Bar. But the standard bevvy package includes ALL drinks up to $14 (I think), so water, soda, coffees smoothies etc. My wife is perfectly happy with the standard package.  Service can be slow especially at the Marinin Bar when it's packed and out by the pool it's sometimes hard to find a waiter when you want one. 1st world problems lol.

 

Someone mentioned more stratification.  It' really just the same as NCL,  Suites and everyone else.  The Aqua Class cabins do have a separate dining room and the food is better than the MDR but that's about the only useful perk of that class. It gets you nothing else of value. And I was told they created this class to help sell the less desirable cabins.  The Aqua Class cabins tend to be high and are often under overhangs from the pool deck or some such thing. So you get better food but a crappier cabin. I only sail Aqua class when I can find it close the cost of a regular veranda (on rare occasions it's less).

 

One other thing I like, they don't charge gratuity on the beverage package or specialty dining. And the daily gratuities are usually included too.  So the price you see is the price you pay (plus port fees and tax) . I hate the way NCL adds on gratuities to the packages you pick.

 

I like both lines. Celebrity is bit fancier, but NCL is a great line too (well except those older ships...)

[TFLG]

I forgot to mention that you can (at least until the zombie apocalypse) order dinner (and lunch I think) from the MDR menu from room service. 

And there's the other "little things" like not having to check out towels, more comfortable beds, sheets and pillows, better lounge chairs  (although after the last refits the lounge chairs seem to be less "premium"). bigger bathrooms/showers than many other cruise lines. No constant announcements over the PA.  You normally get one a 10 am and when in port you will get some relating to the port/tendering etc, but other than that you need to check the daily program or app to find out whats going on.   It's also easier to find somewhere to sit in the buffet most of the time. Some of this stuff is ship dependent too, the older ships are showing some age now. I prefer the S-Class ships.  I have not tried the new edge class but friends that did try it didn't like it as much as the older ships.  I wish they had the boardwalk like on the newer NCL ships. Instead they put a stupid elevator on the outside of the ship lol. 

[JamieLogical]

I hate to revive this old thread, but I also wasn't sure this was worth creating a new thread. I encountered another striking difference between NCL and Celebrity this week. I am sailing on a B2B on NCL beginning 9/26. This will hopefully be my last NCL sailing for a good long while. The price for the second leg of my B2B has dropped by $191 per person since we booked. In the past, I knew that NCL offered some compensation for price drops after final payment. Usually they offered an upgrade where you have to pay any remaining difference between the upgrade category and your original booking, 50% of the difference as FCC, or 25% of the difference as OBC. In this case, I was hoping for OBC, as I have no desire for more FCC and an "upgrade" to a Club Balcony from my angled BA balcony was definitely not something we were interested in.

 

As it turns out, NCL will only offer 25% of the difference as OBC as long as that OBC would work out to at least $50 per person. With a price drop of $191 per person, 25% only amounts to $47.75  per person. $2.25 short. So we are out of luck. $0 OBC for us!

 

Meanwhile, I am booked on a Celebrity sailing in November. Celebrity is currently running a 20% off sale. And, unlike NCL's "sales" they didn't just jack up the price before putting cruises on sales. The original prices remained the same and the 20% off is actually 20% off what I originally paid. I contacted my Celebrity Vacation Planner and she got me the full difference in OBC. I now have $348 in OBC that I did not have before the sale. Not 25% of the difference. Not 25% of the difference if that totals at least $50/person. 100% of the difference.

 

I was also able to get a price reduction on my January sailing, since that's currently still outside of final payment. NCL would have done that as well, but it's more evidence that the 20% of sale is a genuine sale.

 

[luvthebeach703]

I encountered another striking difference between NCL and Celebrity this week. I am sailing on a B2B on NCL beginning 9/26. This will hopefully be my last NCL sailing for a good long while.

 

Just getting off your b2b to bermuda how do you feel going forward? NCL vs Celebrity? We are committed to 1 more on NCL to use FCC. Did it feel like being home to you? Was it easier not having to fly? Great to be back to Bermuda?

[JamieLogical]

On 10/10/2021 at 10:55 AM, luvthebeach703 said:

I encountered another striking difference between NCL and Celebrity this week. I am sailing on a B2B on NCL beginning 9/26. This will hopefully be my last NCL sailing for a good long while.

 

Just getting off your b2b to bermuda how do you feel going forward? NCL vs Celebrity? We are committed to 1 more on NCL to use FCC. Did it feel like being home to you? Was it easier not having to fly? Great to be back to Bermuda?

 

We had a great cruise all around. I don't think it has persuaded me to return to NCL anytime in the immediate future, though. I have two upcoming Celebrity sailings and two upcoming Princess sailings. I am sure we will reassess once we are looking at booking something after those, so into May 2023-ish? As things stand, we do still have $500 of CruiseFirst, but we aren't committed to using it.

 

NCL at less than 50% capacity and with no children was a DREAM, but we obviously can't/won't count on that moving forward. NCL food in the buffet and MDR definitely made me miss Celebrity's food, but we did enjoy most of the specialty restaurants we went to this time. Le Bistro is absolutely phenomenal with the new menu!

[luvthebeach703]

Thanks for the update. Will be interested in hearing your thoughts on the summit.