Why switch to Celebrity?

[Adkmom]

My family and a group of our CC friends have had great experiences with NCL however in the past year we have traveled separately on 3 different NCL ships and found them lacking in the following areas:customer service, food quality, diversity of activity times, shore excursions and overall atmosphere. They also seem to charge extra for well everything extra. Why should we consider switching to Celebrity Cruise lines will they offer us a better experience for the price?

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[woodofpine]

My family and a group of our CC friends have had great experiences with NCL however in the past year we have traveled separately on 3 different NCL ships and found them lacking in the following areas:customer service, food quality, diversity of activity times, shore excursions and overall atmosphere. They also seem to charge extra for well everything extra. Why should we consider switching to Celebrity Cruise lines will they offer us a better experience for the price?

 

I don't know NCL except second hand. It seems that there is a strong industry nd consumer consensus that X exceeds NCL is service and food quality. The other items you mention activity, excursion, and atmosphere is not known to me.

 

The 'atmosphere' of X may be influenced by the traditional dining schedule and service style while NCL is invested heavily in less formal 'freestyle' food service.

 

NCL is generally a little less expensive a cruise so 'value' is sort of a beholder's thing. I've heard some suggest that if you dine exclusively in NCL specialty (upcharge) restaurants then your weekly total may be on par with X (or some others) with a superior dining experience too.

[ECCruise]

Have sailed both lines fairly extensively.

Service better on Celebrity. Main dining room food better on Celebrity in the past but that may be changing with new menus on both lines.

 

Activities better on NCL. Entertainment better on NCL.

 

Free-style on NCL or traditional on Celebrity: Whatever floats your boat.

[mkad1109]

Have sailed both lines fairly extensively.

Service better on Celebrity. Main dining room food better on Celebrity in the past but that may be changing with new menus on both lines.

 

Activities better on NCL. Entertainment better on NCL.

 

Free-style on NCL or traditional on Celebrity: Whatever floats your boat.

Not sure if you have kids, but could you comment on your thoughts of comparison for teen/preteens? I am getting a little anxious with all the talk of laid back X...I wanted to take them on a more upscale line, but I want them to have some good clean fun too.

[Adkmom]

Thanks for input thus far. We have a teen and a pre teen and I am wondering what Celebrity offers for them.

 

One of the things I like about NCL it the same thing we do not like. We love the Freestyle idea but have found it is becoming limited. The dinning times are shorter than they were making it hard to eat and participate on other activities on board. We also enjoy dressing up and are finding NCL has mostly dropped their dress code. This kind of ruins the atmosphere of a nice resteraunt.

[Sky Sweet]

Not sure if you have kids, but could you comment on your thoughts of comparison for teen/preteens? I am getting a little anxious with all the talk of laid back X...I wanted to take them on a more upscale line, but I want them to have some good clean fun too.

 

Hi mkad :)

 

If you have teenagers, Celebrity's sister cruise line, Royal Caribbean, might be a better fit. Royal Caribbean has some gorgeous ships and is much more family oriented than Celebrity. It also attracts a significantly younger demographic than Celebrity.

 

You also mentioned that you like the flexibility of freestyle dining and some of Royal Caribbean's ships have the option of anytime dining or fixed dining. When we took our cruise to the Greek Isles on Royal Caribbean's Brilliance of the Seas, we tried anytime dining and loved it.

 

While some people love fixed dining, others feel its early seating is too early and its late seating is too late. Early dining also puts restrictions on what you can do on port days.

[nps001]

Please don't take this as a knock on NCL...however, we took a cruise that was too cheap not to take....and there is a reason why.

 

We said we wouldn't compare when on board but it was hard not to. There is a world of difference in service and food--both buffet and MDR. All the little touches that make X so nice are not only missing, the basics are too--such as using your name, greeting you in the corridors, etc.

 

I agree that with teens RCL might be a better fit that NCL. However, I don't think you will be anything less than very pleased with a switch to X in other areas. Whatever you decide, I'm sure you'll enjoy your experience on any line.

[mkad1109]

Hi mkad :)

 

If you have teenagers, Celebrity's sister cruise line, Royal Caribbean, might be a better fit. Royal Caribbean has some gorgeous ships and is much more family oriented than Celebrity. It also attracts a significantly younger demographic than Celebrity.

 

You also mentioned that you like the flexibility of freestyle dining and some of Royal Caribbean's ships have the option of anytime dining or fixed dining. When we took our cruise to the Greek Isles on Royal Caribbean's Brilliance of the Seas, we tried anytime dining and loved it.

 

While some people love fixed dining, others feel its early seating is too early and its late seating is too late. Early dining also puts restrictions on what you can do on port days.

Thanks... I will definitely think about that for our next one! I didn't really have options this time. We had booked a Princess cruise for April 12, which was chartered and therefore cancelled, unfortunately AFTER I had booked airfare for my family of 6 on my own (the compensation they offered was not working). So we booked this one, but I do have some concerns with respect to my children.... They are really well behaved (I know, I know everyone says that--but seriously how else could I have maintained control since they outnumber us!).. I see there is an arcade, that helps. They love the pool and of course our summit cruise is very Port heavy. I heard movies in room arent great and it does not appear to have a movie theater right? Anyone else comments on teens/preteens (sorry to hijack your thread adkmom but looks like we might have the same questions!)

 

susan

[clivep]

As a meat eater I was very disappointed with the beef on NCL. On Celebrity it was absolutely the best.

 

NCL shore excursions were considerably more expensive than Celebrity.