JamieLogical's Big NCL vs. Celebrity Thread

[KurtMo]

If you haven't gotten the suggestion yet, the Zacapa Rum Old Fashioned at the World Class Bar is the best drink on the ship - in my opinion.  Try one early in the week - I bet you'll be back.  All the drinks at the WCB seem to be made with proper care and top ingredients.

Edited July 16, 2021 by KurtMo
correction

[JamieLogical]

9 minutes ago, KurtMo said:

If you haven't gotten the suggestion yet, the Zacapa Rum Old Fashioned at the World Class Bar is the best drink on the ship - in my opinion.  Try one early in the week - I bet you'll be back.  All the drinks at the WCB seem to be made with proper care and top ingredients.

 

I will definitely try it out!!

[KurtMo]

Just now, JamieLogical said:

 

I will definitely try it out!!

They only make like 12-15 cocktails at the WCB, but all of the ones I tasted were very good.  It seems to me the WCB has limited hours, say maybe 5pm -11pm or something like that.

[kochleffel]

On 7/16/2021 at 8:36 AM, JamieLogical said:

When I come back from my Equinox sailing, I will try to report on what I see onboard. I know clothes was one of my main concerns with deciding to sail Celebrity, so I want to report back with as accurate a picture as I can to help others who are considering Celebrity for the first time.

 

Thank you!

 

[alpatti]

Celebrity is leading the way to getting cruising started again. They were cursing out of St Martin in early June and out of Ft Lauderdale in early July. Being first has lead to a lot of confusion has to what the CDC and Florida required for the cruise line to operate with paying passengers. As was noted passengers could not check in until 1-2 weeks prior to sailing. Things are getting better. When Jamie could checkin about a week ago, it also opened up my 8/15/21 Equinox sailing (30+ days prior to sailing). Pre-covid checkin was usually about 90 days prior to sailing.

 

I think NCL's first cruise from a US port is sometime in September. There will probably be some confusion as they ramp up their cruising schedule.

 

On other Celebrity cruise critic threads there have been comments/complaints about he My Planner app on a phone and on desktops. I think these problems will get worked out as they get back up to speed.

[alpatti]

I think we are over thinking the dress code.  From Celebrity webpage-

 

Most nights Smart Casual attire

Women should feel comfortable wearing:

• Skirt, pants or jeans with a casual top

Men should feel comfortable wearing:

• Pants or jeans with a short sleeve sport shirt.

 

Evening Chic nights.

Women should feel comfortable wearing:

• A cocktail dress
• Skirt, pants or designer jeans with an elegant top

Men should feel comfortable wearing:

• Pants or designer jeans with a dress shirt, button-down shirt or sweater
• Optional sport coat or blazer

 

Jeans for most nights, but Designer Jeans for Chic nights  😀😀

[JamieLogical]

3 hours ago, alpatti said:

I think NCL's first cruise from a US port is sometime in September. There will probably be some confusion as they ramp up their cruising schedule.

 

NCL's first sailing from US ports is August 7 out of Seattle, then they begin sailing out of Miami on the Gem on August 15.

[JamieLogical]

3 hours ago, alpatti said:

I think we are over thinking the dress code.  From Celebrity webpage-

 

Most nights Smart Casual attire

Women should feel comfortable wearing:

• Skirt, pants or jeans with a casual top

Men should feel comfortable wearing:

• Pants or jeans with a short sleeve sport shirt.

 

Evening Chic nights.

Women should feel comfortable wearing:

• A cocktail dress
• Skirt, pants or designer jeans with an elegant top

Men should feel comfortable wearing:

• Pants or designer jeans with a dress shirt, button-down shirt or sweater
• Optional sport coat or blazer

 

Jeans for most nights, but Designer Jeans for Chic nights  😀😀

 

I have mentioned several times that I am less concerned by the "letter of the law" of the dress code and more complying with social norms. I had been told that jeans would be within the letter of the law, but that you do not see people in jeans in the MDR or around the ship in the evenings, unless they are more designer-type jeans or white or black jeans. My frumpy, blue jeans would really not fit in, even if they are technically allowed.

[coastcat]

6 hours ago, alpatti said:

Celebrity is leading the way to getting cruising started again. They were cursing out of St Martin in early June and out of Ft Lauderdale in early July. Being first has lead to a lot of confusion has to what the CDC and Florida required for the cruise line to operate with paying passengers. As was noted passengers could not check in until 1-2 weeks prior to sailing. Things are getting better. When Jamie could checkin about a week ago, it also opened up my 8/15/21 Equinox sailing (30+ days prior to sailing). Pre-covid checkin was usually about 90 days prior to sailing.

 

I think NCL's first cruise from a US port is sometime in September. There will probably be some confusion as they ramp up their cruising schedule.

 

On other Celebrity cruise critic threads there have been comments/complaints about he My Planner app on a phone and on desktops. I think these problems will get worked out as they get back up to speed.

FWIW, I'm on that first NCL sailing. We were able to complete most of the check-in early but the final bit of the process wasn't opened until 21 days prior to sailing (yesterday). No issues so far! I think NCL had the advantage here in that they could observe the challenges faced by Celebrity, RC, and Carnival before needing to deal with such challenges themselves. They also didn't try to make their app do a lot of new functions unlike Princess; their first sailing is next weekend and cruisers are still facing some technical issues.

 

But anyway, a request for Jamie: I'm not really as concerned with the logistics of cruising solo on Celebrity as I am with the experience of cruising solo on Celebrity. I hope you'll discuss that a bit when you report on your cruise. I'm accustomed to the NCL "table for one, please follow me, do anything fun today?" vibe in which solo travelers are just a normal thing. While I'm really looking forward to my first Celebrity cruise (January!), I would be none too pleased to face a pitying "oh, just one?" attitude in the MDR.

Edited July 18, 2021 by coastcat

[JamieLogical]

54 minutes ago, coastcat said:

But anyway, a request for Jamie: I'm not really as concerned with the logistics of cruising solo on Celebrity as I am with the experience of cruising solo on Celebrity. I hope you'll discuss that a bit when you report on your cruise. I'm accustomed to the NCL "table for one, please follow me, do anything fun today?" vibe in which solo travelers are just a normal thing. While I'm really looking forward to my first Celebrity cruise (January!), I would be none too pleased to face a pitying "oh, just one?" attitude in the MDR.

 

Not having sailed solo on NCL, I won't really be able to compare, but I will report back with my observations about the Celebrity solo experience and hopefully that will give you some insight.

[JamieLogical]

My cruise is only five days away! I thought I would summarize the questions people had posted in my previous thread. I will try to get as many answers as I can. Please let me know if you have any other questions that are missing from this list.

 

• Can you have dinner from the MDR delivered to your room?
• Free coffee shop treats?
• Is the library still available?
• Food court in the Solarium?
• Differences/similarities in dining venues?
• Is there much dancing?
• How are the bars?
• Are there a lot of vegetarian options?
• Amenities/events for solo cruisers?
• MDR seating for solo cruisers?
• Can you post to CC via ship’s wifi?
• How easy/restrictive is dining room and buffet access?
• How is the shore excursion process/experience?
• How is the live entertainment? Are passengers engaged with it?
• How dressed up are passengers in the evenings for dinner, shows, and bars?
• How is the service?
• CruiseNext/Future Cruise deals?
• Stateroom differences?
• Menus from the MDRs and “Starbucks”?

[sparks1093]

4 minutes ago, JamieLogical said:

My cruise is only five days away! I thought I would summarize the questions people had posted in my previous thread. I will try to get as many answers as I can. Please let me know if you have any other questions that are missing from this list.

 

• Can you have dinner from the MDR delivered to your room?
• Free coffee shop treats?
• Is the library still available?
• Food court in the Solarium?
• Differences/similarities in dining venues?
• Is there much dancing?
• How are the bars?
• Are there a lot of vegetarian options?
• Amenities/events for solo cruisers?
• MDR seating for solo cruisers?
• Can you post to CC via ship’s wifi?
• How easy/restrictive is dining room and buffet access?
• How is the shore excursion process/experience?
• How is the live entertainment? Are passengers engaged with it?
• How dressed up are passengers in the evenings for dinner, shows, and bars?
• How is the service?
• CruiseNext/Future Cruise deals?
• Stateroom differences?
• Menus from the MDRs and “Starbucks”?

I do hope that you start a new thread when you return so it makes it easier to find the info.🙂 Have a great cruise!

Edited July 20, 2021 by sparks1093

[BermudaBound2014]

1 hour ago, JamieLogical said:

My cruise is only five days away!

 

I am super excited for you!! I think those of you jumping on these first cruises are going to get exceptional experiences!!!

[JamieLogical]

Update: we have just had our Tortola port stop changed to St. Thomas. We anticipated this, because the Summit had to miss Tortola last week due to high COVID numbers in BVI. Just didn't know it would get replaced with St. Thomas.

 

http://www.virginislandsdailynews.com/news/bvi-cancels-cruise-ship-visit-today-in-response-to-fourth-covid-death/article_ce555640-5c5b-5713-83ce-33479d0349bc.html

 

[graphicguy]

On 7/18/2021 at 4:05 PM, coastcat said:

FWIW, I'm on that first NCL sailing. We were able to complete most of the check-in early but the final bit of the process wasn't opened until 21 days prior to sailing (yesterday). No issues so far! I think NCL had the advantage here in that they could observe the challenges faced by Celebrity, RC, and Carnival before needing to deal with such challenges themselves. They also didn't try to make their app do a lot of new functions unlike Princess; their first sailing is next weekend and cruisers are still facing some technical issues.

 

But anyway, a request for Jamie: I'm not really as concerned with the logistics of cruising solo on Celebrity as I am with the experience of cruising solo on Celebrity. I hope you'll discuss that a bit when you report on your cruise. I'm accustomed to the NCL "table for one, please follow me, do anything fun today?" vibe in which solo travelers are just a normal thing. While I'm really looking forward to my first Celebrity cruise (January!), I would be none too pleased to face a pitying "oh, just one?" attitude in the MDR.

Not meaning to speak for Jamie, but I just sailed solo on the Celebrity Edge.  They could not have been more accommodating.  They knew after the first day I was sailing solo.  And, unless I told them I was joining someone else for dinner, they always found me a suitable table, regardless of restaurant.  

 

Celebrity seems to be courting solos with their solo pricing being reduced on these early restart cruises.  Whether that continues is a question.  But, for now, Celebrity is a solo cruiser friend.

 

BTW, I've sailed in the solo cabins on NCL, too.  Nice experience, too!  Celebrity is doing it better, though.

[hoopslover]

4 hours ago, JamieLogical said:

My cruise is only five days away! I thought I would summarize the questions people had posted in my previous thread. I will try to get as many answers as I can. Please let me know if you have any other questions that are missing from this list.

 

• Can you have dinner from the MDR delivered to your room?
• Free coffee shop treats?
• Is the library still available?
• Food court in the Solarium?
• Differences/similarities in dining venues?
• Is there much dancing?
• How are the bars?
• Are there a lot of vegetarian options?
• Amenities/events for solo cruisers?
• MDR seating for solo cruisers?
• Can you post to CC via ship’s wifi?
• How easy/restrictive is dining room and buffet access?
• How is the shore excursion process/experience?
• How is the live entertainment? Are passengers engaged with it?
• How dressed up are passengers in the evenings for dinner, shows, and bars?
• How is the service?
• CruiseNext/Future Cruise deals?
• Stateroom differences?
• Menus from the MDRs and “Starbucks”?

Thanks so much for this thread.  We are mostly NCL cruisers but have both NCL and Celebrity Apex booked ford 2022.  Have a great time and looking forward to more of your advice and observations.

[coastcat]

2 hours ago, graphicguy said:

Not meaning to speak for Jamie, but I just sailed solo on the Celebrity Edge.  They could not have been more accommodating.  They knew after the first day I was sailing solo.  And, unless I told them I was joining someone else for dinner, they always found me a suitable table, regardless of restaurant.  

 

Celebrity seems to be courting solos with their solo pricing being reduced on these early restart cruises.  Whether that continues is a question.  But, for now, Celebrity is a solo cruiser friend.

 

BTW, I've sailed in the solo cabins on NCL, too.  Nice experience, too!  Celebrity is doing it better, though.

Thank you for sharing that! I’m really excited about trying Celebrity Edge next January. 

[kochleffel]

6 hours ago, graphicguy said:

Celebrity seems to be courting solos with their solo pricing being reduced on these early restart cruises.  Whether that continues is a question.  But, for now, Celebrity is a solo cruiser friend.

 

I was treated very well as a solo passenger on Royal Caribbean (Celebrity and RC are under the same ownership). RC has no special services for solos, but for example, in the MDR, there was never any problem getting a table and the maitre d' tried to give me the same table and waiters every night. RC often has discounts of 50% or more for the second passenger in a cabin, and that also applies for a solo booking into a double cabin, in effect reducing the single supplement.

[kpark895]

Jamie, where did you find your new cruise clothes/shoes?  I am particularly  interested in the shoes, as I've never been able to find anything suitable to wear as an "all occasion" shoe.

[JamieLogical]

17 minutes ago, kpark895 said:

Jamie, where did you find your new cruise clothes/shoes?  I am particularly  interested in the shoes, as I've never been able to find anything suitable to wear as an "all occasion" shoe.

 

The pants and linen shirts, I found on Amazon. The gold shoes I found on clearance at my local Sketchers outlet. The grey Jambus were on clearance on Macy's website.

 

I can post links to the Amazon stuff, if you want.

 

Edited July 22, 2021 by JamieLogical

[jaja]

Wishing you a great time!!!  

[fandangocruiser]

Jamie -- (Hope this catches you before you sail.)  Thanks for starting the thread.  Thanks to Caesars, we've been on nearly 20 NCL cruises over the past 11 years.  However, in fall of 2019, we got a certificate from the Eldorado for a cruise on Celebrity.  We booked one for March 2020, and were really looking forward to it.  Due to covid, it was cancelled.  We've rebooked a couple of times, but still haven't made it.  Hoping you'll give us all the details so we'll know what to expect when (and if) we get to go on X at the end of September.

[JamieLogical]

7 hours ago, fandangocruiser said:

Jamie -- (Hope this catches you before you sail.)  Thanks for starting the thread.  Thanks to Caesars, we've been on nearly 20 NCL cruises over the past 11 years.  However, in fall of 2019, we got a certificate from the Eldorado for a cruise on Celebrity.  We booked one for March 2020, and were really looking forward to it.  Due to covid, it was cancelled.  We've rebooked a couple of times, but still haven't made it.  Hoping you'll give us all the details so we'll know what to expect when (and if) we get to go on X at the end of September.

 

Will definitely provide as much detail as I can. It seems like a LOT of NCL regulars are trying Celebrity or at least considering it in the next year or so. I think there are many people who want to know more about how the two lines compare and contrast.

[kpark895]

20 hours ago, JamieLogical said:

 

The pants and linen shirts, I found on Amazon. The gold shoes I found on clearance at my local Sketchers outlet. The grey Jambus were on clearance on Macy's website.

 

I can post links to the Amazon stuff, if you want.

 

 

Thanks, Jamie.  That would be great.  And I do have a Sketchers outlet near me that I can check.

[kpark895]

20 hours ago, JamieLogical said:

 

The pants and linen shirts, I found on Amazon. The gold shoes I found on clearance at my local Sketchers outlet. The grey Jambus were on clearance on Macy's website.

 

I can post links to the Amazon stuff, if you want.

 

 

Also, I hope I'm not offending, but you don't appear to be really tall.  Since I am also on the vertically challenged list, if I'm correct, how do the pants fit lengthwise?