NCL Vs. Celebrity.

[kqcallahan]

I have only cruised with Holland and Celebrity. We are looking at two European cruises, one with Celebrity and one with NCL. 

So I'm curious for those that have done both what will be the big differences I will notice? Trying to make the decision nerve wrecking lol

[hallux]

I can almost guarantee that if you use the search box at the top of the thread list you will find this question asked a few times.  Just enter 'celebrity' and be sure to keep the filter to topic titles only and this forum section...

[fredflint]

Well if you do a quick check look at NCL cancels over 4 months of Epic cruises in Europe.

NCL will probably be cheaper I have no doubt but do you always buy the cheapest car, soup etc...?

[Liljo22]

What ships because that can make a big difference.

[kqcallahan]

1 minute ago, Liljo22 said:

What ships because that can make a big difference.

Escape for NCL and Cancellation for Celebrity 

[kqcallahan]

58 minutes ago, fredflint said:

Well if you do a quick check look at NCL cancels over 4 months of Epic cruises in Europe.

NCL will probably be cheaper I have no doubt but do you always buy the cheapest car, soup etc...?

Actually the opposite is true, NCL will be more expensive. I'm assuming because it adds on Barcelona. Both are 11 nights

[Liljo22]

13 minutes ago, kqcallahan said:

Escape for NCL and Cancellation for Celebrity 

Escape is arguably NCLs best ship.  All the bells and whistles but without sacrificing public spaces.  

[flarad]

We cruise Celebrity and NCL regularly. If NCL includes Barcelona and Celebrity does not, we would definitely cruise NCL. Barcelona is our favorite port, all time. That being said, the Escape is a great ship but is beginning to show her age. She has amazing spaces and would be terrific for a European cruise. Celebrity Constellation I believe, is an older ship but their ships are high quality and we believe they have better service and food. Don't fret, you will enjoy either ship. 

[LadyZolt]

3 hours ago, kqcallahan said:

Escape for NCL and Cancellation for Celebrity 

The Celebrity "Cancellation"?  Subconsciously, perhaps you don't really want to go on Celebrity.  😉

[wncretired]

I have always been a Celebrity person. (Over 15 cruises with them). My last two cruises have been with NCL. I have grown fond of NCL. I’m planning a Mediterranean Cruise next year on NCL. I Do plan to go back with Celebrity this fall just to be able to compare them again. 

[Georgia_Peaches]

NCL Escape is my favorite ship in their fleet.  Have also sailed on the Constellation.  If you are looking at a port intensive itinerary, my recommendation is to go with the less expensive option because you won't be on the ship much anyway.  There's a lot to see and do on the Escape that will get lost with a port heavy trip.  We made the mistake of sailing on RCL's Allure when we did a Med cruise and to this day, I can't tell you much about what Allure has to offer...we were only there to sleep.

 

The "Connie" is an older, smaller ship that has not had it's scheduled Revolution.    She is definitely nice, but not anything like the Escape.  

[Sigyn]

I've cruised NCL but I won't be on Celebrity until July 7. I'll let you know!

[schmoopie17]

Unless things have changed on Celebrity, NCL has lower deposits and they're refundable.

Edited May 29, 2023 by schmoopie17

[kqcallahan]

9 hours ago, schmoopie17 said:

Unless things have changed on Celebrity, NCL has lower deposits and they're refundable.

(haven't cruised in a bit so forgive the question)
 

Do cruise lines still let you call if a better deal / lower prices come about? Like where you said they have refundable deposits. 

[hallux]

8 minutes ago, kqcallahan said:

(haven't cruised in a bit so forgive the question)
 

Do cruise lines still let you call if a better deal / lower prices come about? Like where you said they have refundable deposits. 

That depends on the policies for your region or the region you used for your booking.  Depending on where in the process you are (before or after final payment) and what cruise line it is the money back could be in the form of credit to your form of payment, reduction of final payment amount or a FCC.

 

As we're on the NCL board - for a US-booked cruise (possibly all of NA), if before final payment and the cruise is not paid in full then your final payment amount would be reduced and you get whatever the new promos are.  If after final payment you would get an FCC (and only ONE TIME, if it goes down again you're stuck with paying that first reduced price).

Edited May 30, 2023 by hallux

[Sailing12Away]

Do a true price comparison based on what is important to you. Our first Celebrity trip is coming up in November. Their Retreat area includes all the bells & whistles, but at a cost. We don't usually care about internet, fancy coffee drinks, etc. So for us, we're rather have the lower price with NCL's Haven and add on what is important to us. 

 

The deeper I dive into the world of Celebrity, including their boards here on CC, the more I realize they're the same as NCL. Same complaints, same issues, same spotty internet service, same disagreement on food quality. 

 

If the itineraries are the same and price for what is important to you is about the same, try out NCL and see for yourself which is a better fit for you.

[amygutman]

13 hours ago, Sailing12Away said:

Do a true price comparison based on what is important to you. Our first Celebrity trip is coming up in November. Their Retreat area includes all the bells & whistles, but at a cost. We don't usually care about internet, fancy coffee drinks, etc. So for us, we're rather have the lower price with NCL's Haven and add on what is important to us. 

 

The deeper I dive into the world of Celebrity, including their boards here on CC, the more I realize they're the same as NCL. Same complaints, same issues, same spotty internet service, same disagreement on food quality. 

 

If the itineraries are the same and price for what is important to you is about the same, try out NCL and see for yourself which is a better fit for you.

@Sailing12Away it is interesting. If you happen to be on different forms for differences lines, how common the complaints are no matter which company.

 

Every cruise-company specific posting of “Ncl canceled my porch… Celebrity has terrible food… Princess canceled my excursion…” seems to be met with a similar complaint for a different cruise line.

 

Yes, there are some underlying recurrent themes for one brand versus another, but I think that you’ll find excellent, great, good, and terrible experiences for individual people, individual ships an individual companies. That is the nature of cruising. 
 

warmest, Amy

[graphicguy]

HAve sailed both lines….in a variety of cabins on both, ranging from Solo Cabins on NCL to Haven.  Sailed on the Norway (right before it blew up) to the latest/greatest (at least until Prima started sailing). On Celebrity in a balcony cabin to the Retreat.  Sailed Solstice to the Apex.

 

I think you can only make broad generalizations as both lines do good food, both included and up charge.  Both lines offer good service.

 

Both lines have beautiful ships that are very well kept.

 

Price wise, Celebrity always cost more, but their “all inclusive” rates, while significantly more expensive than NCL’s FAS, does include EVERYTHING.  You pay for it, one way or the other.

 

NCL has the better entertainment.  Celebrity is more laid back.  

 

Depends on what you want.  If you want something to do, all the time, go NCL.  If you’re looking for a cruise to unplug and unwind, Celebrity fits that bill.

 

 

[Ken the cruiser]

We have usually booked with Celebrity and Princess since cruising started back up. However, my DW found this awesome NCL Jade itinerary a few years ago which we subsequently went on this past Fall. We were so pleased with the whole NCL experience, once we stopped comparing it to Celebrity and Princess, that we have no issues booking with NCL again if the itinerary is another awesome one. 

 

I've included the Live From thread I posted to while we were on the cruise. But not for you to plow through, unless you just want to, but rather to point out at post #7 some of the pre-cruise cost-related lessons learned we uncovered when comparing our previous experiences with Celebrity and Princess.

 

Here are a few differences we've run into so far when comparing to recent Princess and/or Celebrity experiences since cruising started back up.

 

1. You cannot pay the Daily Service Charge (gratuities) with nonrefundable OBC issued from any source. You can either prepay for them online prior to your cruise (with a credit card) or with refundable OBC once onboard. We were originally planning to pay the daily $18.50 pp charge using the nonrefundable OBC our TA gave us for booking the cruise with them. However, when we heard this and contacted her, she was able to change their perk from nonrefundable OBC to issuing us a remate check about 30 days prior to each cruise. 

 

2. We had booked our roundtrip air through NCL, which was super cheap at around $1100 pp. We got the schedule for the flight to Athens about 30 days out and arrive at 2 pm, with 3-hour layovers at the two interim stops. We were quite pleased. However, on our return flight from Cape Town, we were booked in a Delta "Basic Economy" category where according to Delta you get the following:

 

- No seat(s) assigned until after check-in, not together 

- No changes allowed*

- Cancelable for partial eCredit (cancellation charge applies)**

- Last to board & not eligible for upgrades 

- No miles earned; no credit toward SkyMiles Medallion Status***

 

Mind you this is a 16+ hour flight from Cape Town to Atlanta. The main thing that annoyed us was you could not get seats assigned until after check-in. Later we heard you might be able to get seats assigned as early as 7 days prior, but that caveat has not been confirmed.

 

When we called NCL Air to try to get seat assignments, they said to call Delta. So we did and believe it or not, we were able to get our seats assigned and they are together. But we heard a few days later on the Roll Call that other folks on our NCL cruise weren't so lucky. When we told our daughter this a few days ago, she rationalized from her past experiences as a travel agent you can do certain things with an airline ticket within the first 24 hours of being ticketed (e.g., cancel a nonrefundable flight and get a full refund) before it's locked into the rules of the category you booked. She's guessing since we called as soon as we got the flight information, we were still in that 24-hour window. Needless to say, this will be the last time we book our flight reservations through NCL, regardless of the price. Just too much stress knowing we wouldn't be able to sit together on such a long flight.

 

3. You cannot use OBC issued by NCL, to include NCLH shareholder benefits, to pay for excursions booked online prior to the cruise. It's not a big deal, but it's something to be aware of. In our case since we're on B2B 19-day cruises and there are no self-service laundromats on an NCL ship, we'll be using most of our NCL OBC to pay for laundry service. Also learned if you're on a B2B with separate booking numbers, any excess nonrefundable OBC remaining in your account after the first leg will not be automatically transferred to the second leg's account. In other words, use it or lose it.

 

4. When we booked the cruise, one of the NCL perks was a "free" unlimited beverage package. Sounds like a pretty good deal until you realize you have to pay the full gratuities when you book the cruise, which works out to be just under $20 pp/day. Not a bad deal if both of you drink alcohol. However, since my DW only drinks water, which is not included in the unlimited beverage package, that would mean we would be paying almost $40 a day in beverage gratuities for my 1-2 glasses of wine at dinner and my triple Baileys to savor while watching the evening show. Needless to say, I won't be getting glassy-eyed on this cruise. 😂

 

 

Edited May 30, 2023 by Ken the cruiser