Those who have sailed RCI/Celebrity and also NCL

[Abberboo]

Hi everyone, wanted to ask something. I am very loyal to the RCI and Celebrity lines - they are my favorites of all the lines.

 

I am hunting for a cruise that is in the Southern Caribbean and on Celebrity in my timeframe I can go this Nov 2008 there is nothing that will work for me. On RCI, the cruises being offered I have been to those ports a few times recently so I want to cruise in Nov 2008 so I was looking at Norwegian.

 

For those reading this who have been on both lines (either Celebrity and Norwegian or RCI and Norwegian) can you share with me the major differences and similiarities? I believe Norwegian doesnt have a dress code but other than that can someone share major differences like general food quality etc? I know this is broad but any info would be appreciated.

 

Thx

[nightworker]

We have been on Royal and Celebrity and NCL and we found the differences to be in the food and the entertainment. We were on the Dawn and loved the ship but ate in the speciality restaurants alot. The entertainment wasn't as good, we all that being said if they had an itinery we wanted to do we would probably go on it, if the other lines didn't offer it. We have also been on Princess and liked that very much.

[rubrrick]

My one, only..........and probably last cruise in NCL was in 2001. The reason.........is not what I have experienced in the last few years...but what has been reported about NCL.

 

Our experience on NCL..........was as good as any experience we have had on RCCL...........but I doubt that NCL could ever give us that experience again.

 

We certainly are not experienced sailors on NCL........but for now, we will stick with RCCL........and their brands.

 

Rick

[pcur]

We did not care for NCL: food, service, ship's design; all were inferior to RCCL.

[rubrrick]

We did not care for NCL: food, service, ship's design; all were inferior to RCCL.

 

 

Peggy...........is your avatar a picture of the Canal Du Midi???

 

Rick

[dathy]

hi:

 

i wanted to give you my experience. i have sailed ncl and rccl, rccl so many times i stopped counting. in all fairness to ncl, the only ship i sailed on was the pearl. if you have been on a voyager or freedom class ship, and liked all the activities and entertainment offered, you will be disappointed if you go with ncl. i like you, wanted the southern caribbean itinerary that the pearl offered. after we got off the pearl in jan of this year, we all said that it's not the places that you go to, but really, the ship that you choose that make the difference. i would sail anywhere on any rccl ship and there's many other cruise lines i can think of as well, rather than ncl. here's the reasons why:

1. at the end of the cruise we had 2 sea days. unfortunately the seas were pretty rough (20 ft waves). the sports deck, deck 4 and the pools were all shut down. in the atrium the ship has a huge tv screen similar to the one outside on other cruise ships. on the screen the ship was showing slides of statues and promotions for other ncl ships for over 4 hours straight. there was no movie with subtitles. they didn't even open it up for Wii play. the ship has great facilities, but they are not utilized correctly. someone has good ideas, but certainly does not know how to implement them. i remember just sitting there looking at other people on the ship. everyone looked unbelievably bored. my 11 yr old did all of her homework on this cruise. i talked to other families who told me that they could not believe that their teens also finished their homework. we saw a lot of kids with coloring books, etc. just sitting aimlessly in the atrium. and this boredom continued for 2 days. horrible. i have never experienced this on a rccl ship, esp the voyager or freedom classes. maybe if you're traveling without kids of any age you would be okay. i still would not select the cruiseline, but that's just me.

2. we were on the cruise for new years eve. i have been on a voyager class ship for new years eve. absolutely no comparison. the entertainment offered on rccl beats ncl. rccl is total excitement on the royal promenade.

3. ncl has freestyle dining, but you better book a suite to be able to dine during busy periods. suites have a private concierge who, among other things, books your dinner arrangements. ncl won't admit it, but suite passengers get first priority for dinner seating. what this means is that unless you eat at 530 pm or 900 pm, you are going to end up eating in the buffet every night. the ship does have a 24 hr restaurant, but trust me, this place does not even come close to my standards of dinner on a cruise ship unless you do not mind watered-down chicken soup and chicken nuggets for dinner. the problem is that you do not have assigned seating anywhere, so you and 2,000 something passengers are all scrambling for places to eat. restaurant reservations opens at 7:00 am, but calling right at 7 guarantees you nothing. there were many mornings that we ended up with absolutely, positively nowhere but the buffet for the evening. we enjoy the entire dinner experience on a cruise. there are large screen tvs outside of various restaurants telling you what is open for what evening, but the screens were usually wrong. you cannot reserve any restaurant in advance. i found this sytem to be absolutely horrible. i can tell you, on the positive side, that the selection of restaurants and the types of food is definitely the best available at sea, but it is another thing trying to get into one of the restaurants. when i go on a cruise i like having my assigned table as well as specialty restaurants. that way i can pick and choose which to go to. at least i know i'll be served a proper meal. what ncl needs to do in all fairness is allow each cabin to eat in every restaurant at least once. this sytem should be figured out in advance. their current system is absolutely horrible. strangely enough there are many people who like this system, but i think it is because they either are in a suite or cruise off peak.

4. because you do not form any sort of comraderie with the servers, we found the service definitely to be below what we experienced on other cruise lines. as a result, we had to take cash to give our server for the evening because we were not sure if we would ever see the server again. the whole process was just weird.

5. here's another oddity of the ship. the ship has two bowling alleys. we found one small pound ball, i believe 6 or 8 lbs for kids. as a result, we had to continually wait while no one with kids was bowling to be able to get that one ball. this made no sense. also, the bowling alley closes at 9 pm so that the nightclub can open. this nightclub, i believe it's called bliss, is an amazing place, similar to some clubs in manhattan or here in los angeles. however, this is not worth the cruise either. we also did not want to bowl more than once or twice because of the ship movement our scores were in the low 20s. :eek: at $5 per person per game this became frustrating.

 

if we had to do it again, and really wanted to see those islands, we would have just taken short land vacations to each place.

 

before i booked ncl i tried to read everything i could. i think a lot of people are just not really honest. i wish someone would have given me this type of insight.

[madforcruising]

I´ve been on some RCI, one X and one NCL cruise. My NCL cruise was on the then new NCL Dawn which was built to cater to Freestyle cruising.

 

I have to say that I have never had a bad cruise and this includes the NCL cruise, however there´s some things I didn´t like about NCL.

 

 

I was not in a Suite on NCL but a regular balcony room. I´ve heard that the suites on NCL are very nice and maybe even superior than RCI but I can´t say the same about the regular balcony room I´ve been in.

The room seemed to be much smaller to me than a comparable on RCI and the storage was by far not as good. The definitely plus in the room was the shower which was huge and comfortable, though of course this made the remaining space for sink and toilett cramped again.

 

I can´t say much about the entertainment because I missed most of it because of the Freestyle dining desaster.

 

And that´s to come to my biggest gripe about this cruise. Freestyle Dining:eek: :eek: :eek:

 

There was not a single evening we did not have to wait in line to be seated and I´m not talking about a short wait of a couple of minutes. THe usual wait was at least 30 minutes to get to the front and see the Maitr D´. Mind you this was not the time we were actually seated. Some evenings we then got a table but other evening we were just told when the next table would app. free up and to check back then.

 

Once you finally got to your table the race began. The waitstaff did everything to race you through your dinner because there was still a long line outside the restaurant and they needed the table.

 

The food was OK but service and overall experience

 

That all been said, I probably would sail NCL again, but only if they had a itinerary I can´t get elsewhere at a very very good price. If I have a choice it´ll be the other line.

[azkcruizers]

I also sailed on the Dawn along with several RCI cruises. I found the buffet food on the Dawn to be close to inedible. It was awful. I also agree with the comments about entertainment. I have to admit that I went on the Mariner of the Seas in January and thought there food had gone downhill a bit- too many people on board? I've decided to try HAL but didn't realize how many of their 7 days get chartered. We've been bumped once but were allowed to pick a different sail date at the same price, $1000 difference for me and a $200 OBC. Hopefully this one will go:)

[Lily14]

After much deliberation, we also chose the NCL Pearl last October for the 9-day Southern Caribbean itinerary out of Miami. I would recommend it with reservations.

 

First, you really have to work at the freestyle dining. We could always get a seat (after 8) in one of the main, free dining rooms, but if you wanted a specialty restaurant, you needed to reserve it first thing when reservations opened the day before. The food in the main dining rooms (free) was definitely a notch or two below RCCL. The two free specialty restaurants were mixed...we though the Mexican venue was horrible, but liked the italian place and ate there twice. The only surcharge restaurant we tried was the Asian place, and it was very good. I understand the food in the other surcharge specialty restaurants is very good, but we're not much on paying extra to eat every night. We found the Pearl's buffet comparable to the Windjammer, but we really don't eat in the buffets much except for breakfast.

 

The big difference we found between RCCL and NCL was the service. This was huge. We received consistently bad service in all the dining venues. Service was slow and the staff just didn't seem to care. It really began to get a little frustrating. We've found the staff on both our RCCL cruises to be incredibly warm and friendly...this is something we missed on NCL and the other lines we've sailed, for that matter.

 

We are single with no kids and the onboard ship experience was fine for us. We made use of the private spa area that you could pay $20 and get access to for the day. This included a hydrotherapy pool, heated loungers, whirlpools, sauna, steam bath, etc. We LOVED this place as it was so relaxing and not crowded. We thought the pools were lacking though, and if we hadn't made use of the spa area, we probably would have been disappointed by our sea days.

 

Would I do this particular NCL cruise again? Yes. We had a great time. Would I choose NCL for another itinerary I could do on RCL or Princess, absolutely not! However, if you really are excited by the itinerary, I'd say go for it. Just manage your expectations...service and food just won't be as good. But, don't worry, you will find something decent to eat and you certainly won't starve ;)

 

We've tried several lines and although there were individual items on each ship that may have been better, overall, we prefer Royal Caribbean. If we were to stray from Royal in the future, it would be for a good deal/exceptional itinerary on Princess.

[shamda]

We have been on several NCL cruies including the Pearl last November. We were also on the Star to Alaska a couple of years ago and the Star Pacific NW reposition cruise the year before that. We are sailing on the LOS in 2 weeks. Here is my feelings about our 11/07 cruise on the Pearl:

 

The thing that bothered me the most was that there was nothing to do or eat after 10:30 PM. The ship was a ghost town by 11. We tried ordering room service one night around midnight and the food finally came around 1:30 AM.

 

I agree with others that complained that the service on NCL was not as good becuase of the freestyle dining. I agree with that. The tips are added to your account and you do not have the same wait staff each day. The staff knows this and they do not work as hard.

 

The specialty restaurants were very good, however you have to wake up at 7:00 AM the day before to make reservations. The italian restaurant is free however they were always booked. We had to complain on the last night in order to finally get a reservation in it. Freestyle is a good concept, but I dont think it works well.

 

Our 18 year old daughter traveled with us and she was bored to tears the whole trip. There was nothing for her to do and no place for her to go at night. The Bliss lounge does not allow anyone in after 9:00 PM that is under 21. Where are the 18-20 year olds supposed to go?

 

We are looking forward to the LOS sailing as the last 3 cruises we have done were on NCL. We are hoping for a much better experience. We have been on 2 other RCI cruises before but they were both short 4 and 5 day cruises. This time there are 7 of us going and I am sure we will all have a great time. We are done with NCL.

[pcur]

From Lily14's post:

 

"We made use of the private spa area that you could pay $20 and get access to for the day. This included a hydrotherapy pool, heated loungers, whirlpools, sauna, steam bath, etc. We LOVED this place as it was so relaxing and not crowded. "

 

This is a BIG difference from RCCL, because their (public, yes, not private) sauna, steam, whirlpool, and indoor pool are all free. It would really bother me to have to pay $20 a day extra to use these, and I use the hot tub/whirlpool twice a day on cruises because of a muscle problem I have.

 

The reports on free style dining are a big turnoff.

[madforcruising]

From Lily14's post:

 

"We made use of the private spa area that you could pay $20 and get access to for the day. This included a hydrotherapy pool, heated loungers, whirlpools, sauna, steam bath, etc. We LOVED this place as it was so relaxing and not crowded. "

 

This is a BIG difference from RCCL, because their (public, yes, not private) sauna, steam, whirlpool, and indoor pool are all free. It would really bother me to have to pay $20 a day extra to use these, and I use the hot tub/whirlpool twice a day on cruises because of a muscle problem I have.

 

The reports on free style dining are a big turnoff.

 

Well that sounds more like the thermal suite on RCCL and you pay for that as well. There´s free whirlpools and such on NCL too.

[Ephraim]

We have been on a number of NCL and a number of RCI cruises.

 

Unlike many others, I do happen to like the freestyle and have had very little in trouble getting a table. Maybe it's their choice of dining time or maybe it's because they didn't look at the screens that give you information on what kind of lines are at which restaurants. I can tell you that I NEVER go to the buffet for dinner and that I have almost never paid for a speciality restaurant.

 

From my perspective, the food on NCL is a cut below RCI in all areas except for meat, because frankly RCI has been using some cuts of meat as steak that I don't believe should be served as steak. NCL clearly uses egg product for their omelets and doesn't care to hide it and they clearly used more processed product. RCI does use some processed product as well, but at least their coffee and omelets appear to be made with the real stuff. (I don't mind that NCL uses egg product for their omelets, but put it into a jug... don't pour it from the carton!)

 

RCI's entertainment is generally a step above, going for B names in some case. NCL doesn't bother for the B names, though I have to admit that they have some REALLY good entertainers including one lady who bills herself as the chocolate godess who has a voice that can bring a man to tears. (I find that Princess certainly has more entertainment at one time than either line).

 

RCI has better ship design, that's clear. In fact that's how the company got started, so they better keep that up.

 

Casino wise, NCL has more choices and one of the only cruiselines that offers Pai Gow Poker.

 

Personally, if the difference in price was $100 per person (per week for an inside cabin) more for RCI, I would pay it. Get to the $200 range and I really have to consider the NCL ship.

 

Expect a better cabin, better food and better entertainment on an RCI cruise. Most of the other stuff is pretty much the same. For me, it's the price and itinerary. NCL needs to be significantly cheaper for us to choose them. And since NCL doesn't seem to have a ship out of SJU anymore it's not usually in competition. (I would rather leave for a Southern Caribbean cruise out of SJU any day over Miami/Fort Lauderdale).

[FunCruiser56]

RCI/Celeb are my cruiselines of choice. Although given the right islands I would cruise with Princess again.

Recently I have received several mailings from Princess with some wonderful choices of so. caribbean cruises- enough to make us consider taking one. I know Princess was not one of your asked choices but you might check them out, several sail from Ft. Lauderdale. And the prices we thought were very reasonable.

 

After reading the rating a NCL ship got for cleanliness (or lack of) no way would I ever sail with them again.

We did sail on the Dreamward in 94 and did have a fine cruise but not without alot of problems.

 

Have fun planning your cruise!

 

Bev

[cruzeluver]

We must have incredibly dumb luck.

 

I have read numerous posts regarding wait times for a table on NCL. We have been on three NCL cruises (just back a week and a half ago) and have never waited for a table. We are prime time diners (usually between 7:00 and 8:00) and have always been seated immediately. We have done NCL with just the two of us, us and one other couple, and now us and two other couples. Never a wait!

 

We love NCL. RCCL is great as well.

[Liz]

Abberboo: you used the term "I" alot so I am going to assume you are a solo cruiser. I sailed on the Jewel last summer to the Western Med as a solo and will not cruise solo with NCL again. I met some terrific people, especially through the roll call, but the ship "experience" itself was a real letdown. The dining room food was okay. Just okay. I ate at the French restaurant one night and it was pretty good - the best meal of the week. Freestyle dining is a disappointment; I ended up at the buffet most nights, rather than wait 45-60 minutes for a table. Service overall was inconsistent, but I think part of that is because the tips are pooled at the end of the cruise and so there is no real incentive for a staff member to excel - they will get the same amount of gratuities, not matter what. Entertainment was disappointing. Nothing to take your breath away, nothing like the parades and ice shows. Shore excursions were expensive - about 20-25% higher than RCCL's. I enjoy the open feeling of Voyager class - like the Promenade. Even though it is enclosed, it feels spacious. There is not that feeling on the NCL Jewel, I can't really speak about other ships. Even the ceilings seemed lower to me. The slot machines were not very friendly, so the casino was virtually empty the entire time. No real nightlife to speak of.

I've never been one to hurry-up and get off a ship... except this one. I've also never filled out a negative comment card... until this cruise. I enjoyed the itinerary, but that's not the entire experience for me. I think NCL knows they have a problem... hence the generous on-board credit they sent me as an apology, in response to my letter to Corporate. My comment card was not noticed, I guess. Too bad the OBC will go unused.

If you are a solo, check out the Solo Cruisers thread for more info. Stay with RCCL, or maybe even try Princess?

Just my humble opinion...

 

Liz

[pcur]

Well that sounds more like the thermal suite on RCCL and you pay for that as well. There´s free whirlpools and such on NCL too.

 

OK, that makes more sense now!:D

[TEXASMUNK]

We were once very loyal NCL passengers. Way back to the Leeward, Southward, Windward, Starward and of course, SS Norway.

 

Recent years it became evident that their financial woes were clearly translated to the food, service, calibre of the staff. NEVER AGAIN.

 

Save a few bucks, sail with NCL but be ready for a cruise provides you accommodations and sufficient food to get through the week. Heck, stay home eat at MacDonalds and be just as happy.

 

As for RCI and Celebrity....duoble your expectations from NCL and go with RCI. or....Double your expectations again from RCI and sail Celebrity...we are still in mourning that our favorite Celebrity ship, Galaxy, has been sold.

[Maraprince]

We have sailed on NCL both pre and post freestyle and there is a definite drop off in service with freestyle. We have sailed on ships designed for freestyle and those converted to freestyle.

 

Freestyle doesn't work unless you eat at 5:30PM. Other times, you will wait to be seated or be seated and wait to be given a menu. Trying to see the shows means you must rush out and find standing room only or eat at the buffets.

 

If we were seated right away, we had a wait of 15 minutes before we were given water or a menu because the focus was on seating other passengers at tables the same wait staff would handle. Then once you had your menu, the waiter would start from the last table seated before coming to take our orders. Diner usually ran close to 2 hours due to the wait times and not because of what was ordered. Many nights we left without dessert and coffee just to find standing room only at the shows.

 

Freestyle just didn't work for us in the cabin either. Cabin stewards have more cabins to clean than on other lines. You have to indicate that you are out of your cabin so it can be cleaned. We had a problem the first captain's night when the steward tied to come in at 4:30 PM while my cabin mate was in the shower. When we returned to our cabin around 1:30 AM, it was clearly not serviced. We called Housekeeping and they sent someone in. We didn't have any clean towels for the morning. After that out cabin steward made sure that our cabin was always the last to be cleaned.

 

Staff isn't as ready to greet you as on other lines.

 

Much perfer RCL and Celebrity for service, food and entertainment.

 

NCL's pricing is no longer as cheap as it used to be. Be careful of the amount of time that is spent in the ports. It could be the overall deciding factor on whether or not you choose NCL. We chose RCL due to almost full days in ports.

 

 

MARAPRINCE

[tcfive]

I have sailed on NCL twice. Once with just my 2 DDs (DH was stationed overseas with the Air Force), and once with just my DH. The first time was on the Norway. I loved it. The food, the service the activities and especially the teen club. My younger DD was 16 at the time of the cruise. The teen club kept the teenagers going from noon till way after midnight every day. The crew was especially friendly and helpful.

 

I enjoyed this cruise so much I convinced my husband to go on another with me. We were on the Wind in Hawaii. This was a totally different experience. We went over the New Year holiday. Free stlye dinning was not a pleasant experience for us. We tried every day to get into one of the speciality dinning rooms with no luck. Even getting into the main dinning room was difficult. The food was good, but nothing special or memorable. The dinning service was sluggish at best. Many times the food was no longer hot be the time we were served. We choose to eat at the buffet several nights just to get our food while it was still hot.

 

We had 4 sea days to go to Fanning Island in the middle of nowhere. These 4 days were agony. There were very few planned activities. Most people camped out on deck all day. Trying to get around to get to the pool or to a bar for a drink was like running an obstacle course. No bar server ever came to the deck area we choose to sit. Luckily, my DH and I are avid readers and had taken several books with us. We only caught one or two nights of the entertainment (out of 10) because of the dinning situation and the crowds. Most shows were shown only at one time instead of two. I did enjoy the ports of call, but would have preferred to just have picked an island and not done a cruise. It has taken me two years to convince my DH to go on another cruise with me.

 

Last summer, I took my first RCCL cruise to Alaska with my sisiter. We picked the Radiance based on its itenirary. I willl never look back. The service we recieved was great. The food was good and served in a timely manner. I splurged and went to the spa for the first time on a cruise. The treatment was great. I used the thermal suite several times and the ladies at the desk always greeted me by name. The young lady who worked as a hostess in the Windjammer always did her best to put a smile on your face, even at 6:30 am for breakfast. During the two sea days of our trip, there was plenty of activities to join. I did not realize how the small touches can change a good vacation into a wonderful vacation.

 

I would take another NCL cruise if it were the right itnerary at the right time and price. But I would look for a RCCL ship first.

[Abberboo]

My boyfriend and I have read through all your replies and I just wanted to thank you all so much for the feedback and opinions, they have been incredibly helpful!!!!