What's to love about Celebrity vs RCCL?

I've been told Celebrity is a "better product" than RCCL, NCL and Carnival, so I have been looking forward to a cruise next week on the Summit. However, after endless frustration with Celebrity's website, I am not feeling the love right now and am vowing to never book a Celebrity cruise again. Once I'm on board, I'm sure all will be forgiven and forgotten. In the meantime, what's there to love with Celebrity vs RCCL?

I've been on the Grandeur twice and both Summit and Grandeur are older, less popular ships. I was in an outside stateroom on the Grandeur and will remain in the same category (steerage!) for the Summit cruise, so none of the perks and amenities that go with the higher priced staterooms apply on either cruise. So, what will be better about the experience on the Summit than it was on the Grandeur, besides better food?

We went on the Celebrity Summit aqua class and loved the service and their Blu restaurant

The boarding was well orchestrated. They even had cloth towels in the bathrooms by the wine bar!

Hope you have a great trip!

It's the little things like 1 announcement a day, cool towels & water when you return to the ship from port and I'll let you discover some. IMHO food and service are better.

I've been told Celebrity is a "better product" than RCCL, NCL and Carnival, so I have been looking forward to a cruise next week on the Summit. However, after endless frustration with Celebrity's website, I am not feeling the love right now and am vowing to never book a Celebrity cruise again. Once I'm on board, I'm sure all will be forgiven and forgotten. In the meantime, what's there to love with Celebrity vs RCCL?

I've been on the Grandeur twice and both Summit and Grandeur are older, less popular ships. I was in an outside stateroom on the Grandeur and will remain in the same category (steerage!) for the Summit cruise, so none of the perks and amenities that go with the higher priced staterooms apply on either cruise. So, what will be better about the experience on the Summit than it was on the Grandeur, besides better food?

No smoking in the casino!. Great service. Yummy desserts in Café Al Baccio (free, although the coffees/teas are a charge unless you have a beverage package).

Nothing at all.

It's the little things like 1 announcement a day, cool towels & water when you return to the ship from port and I'll let you discover some. IMHO food and service are better.

With NCL we got cool towels and water when we returned to the ship at every port!

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With NCL we got cool towels and water when we returned to the ship at every port!

 

 

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I was comparing RCCL and Celebrity, not familiar with NCL.

The most obvious difference will be the number of announcements during the course of the day. Bingo is not advertised over the speakers for example. Food may be a slight upgrade although both pizza products taste like frozen pizzas. You will find cruisers on Celebrity to be older and the energy level on the Summit to be more sedate than the others.

Cruised with both lines and like both. However, we stuck with Celebrity for the more relaxed atmosphere. It is quieter and less family oriented. The ships are a bit more luxurious without being posh. Food is a tat more upscale and service is very good. I`d call Celebrity more "grown up"... if that makes any sense to you.

Cruised with both lines and like both. However, we stuck with Celebrity for the more relaxed atmosphere. It is quieter and less family oriented. The ships are a bit more luxurious without being posh. Food is a tat more upscale and service is very good. I`d call Celebrity more "grown up"... if that makes any sense to you.

Two thumbs up. Exactly what I would have said. :cool:

We think the two lines are more similar than different. We like Celebrity but Royal is my first choice; however, Celebrity has had some great deals lately so we have been choosing them more.:)

I have to say our first cruise on Celebrity was a little disappointing as we had been told for years to give them a try since the food and service was "a step up" from Royal and we did not find that to be true.

Sherri:)

Each of the lines you mention have strengths - quieter, less family, more mature Celebrity, More active, family-oriented (read more kids and young adults) on Royal, and to me, better entertainment on NCL.

I'm not a real foodie, but I like both Celebrity and Royal more than NCL for food, with an edge to Celebrity specialty restaurants if I have extra OBC to spend.

All have strengths but we love them all, and chose cruises more for the itinerary than any other reason.

Since you're sailing on Summit next week I assume you;re going to Bermuda. This cruise is a 7 day cruise which is longer than the Grandeur cruise. Grandeur is a smaller ship (about 70,000 GRT) than Summit (91,000 GRT) so you will have more space and amenities like larger staterooms. I've never been on Summit but I have been on the RCL Serenade OTS which is the same size and was a very nice size: not too big, not too small. To me leaving from NY\NJ has more 'buzz' about it than leaving from Baltimore. The Celebrity product is really nice with small touches such as greeting you with a Mimosa or sparkling wine when you first get on the ship and greeting you with cold iced towels and cold drinks when you get back to the ship when you return from a day in port. I just think Celebrity gears itself to a quieter crowd than RCL. You won't find hairy legs contests on Summit. Celebrity is still a very nice cruise experience despite what all the complainers may say.

Enjoy your cruise.

You may want to look at this thread:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2501461

We are Diamond Plus on Royal Caribbean and will reach Elite Plus on Celebrity after our next cruise, so we have experience on both ships and obviously like both. In full disclosure, on Royal I much prefer RCI's larger, newer ships, especially Oasis Class ships because of the many choices for eating venues and entertainment.

When we travel with our adult kids, we travel on RCI because there is a much more active vibe. We did take one of sons who is 44 on Celebrity and even at that age, he found Celebrity too quiet, especially at night. His very favorite ship is Navigator of the Seas which he likes even better than Oasis Class ships.

We really like Celebrity for the more relaxing atmosphere, the smoke-free casino, some of the longer itineraries, the buffet, the decor, Murano and the comfortable beds. We prefer the Solstice Class ships. I think the crew is friendlier and more helpful too. Of course there are exceptions.

I believe it is hard to suggest to someone else what cruise line to choose because so many choices such as food preferences, entertainment, level of activity, and itineraries are so personal. My sister and I really don't agree much on cruise lines. She loves Princess.

Love the T-pool on the Summit. It was the first Celebrity ship we sailed on. Fond memories.

Celebrity still has free room service - I hear RCCL is now charging.

enjoy!

Thanks so much for all the insights and feedback. I have been on 4 cruises, so far, and have loved all of them for different reasons. I'm not crazy about cruising from Bayonne as it is more expensive than Baltimore where the sleep, park, cruise deals at nearby hotels are reasonable and abundant, but I am looking forward to experiencing Celebrity. I will say this, though, it will be interesting to see how much more "mature" the Summit will be than the Grandeur. My 9 day Grandeur cruise was March a year ago and I went on an 11 day Grandeur cruise this past Jan, school would have been in session, so it was a very, very senior crowd. I was quite surprised to see so many power chairs and walkers as I would have thought people with mobility issues on solid ground would not do well on a moving ship, but I was wrong. In general, though, maybe the Grandeur may attract an older crowd among RCCL since there is no rock climbing, ice skating or other more "exciting" amenities. At any rate, I am looking forward to the little things, like water and a wet cloth when returning to ship. I remember coming back from port last spring, hot and thirsty. We were birthed next to a much nicer ship, maybe an Oceania or SilverSeas ship, and their passengers were greeted big urns of a frosty, fruity punch concoction while Grandeur passengers were greeted with ---nothing.

Any seven day cruise is going to have a slightly younger crowd, especially if you're going during a vacation season. You're also likely to see more kids aboard, although not nearly as many as you might on a comparable RCI sailing.

Even in steerage, the room should be a bit larger than you've had previously.

We are going to be on the Summit on June 18th. This will be our first time with Celebrity. How would you compare this with Holland America? I have been on the Westerdam in Alaska and Nieuw Amsterdam in the Med. Both were nice ships but the food didn't impress me.

My personal experience (considering that both RCCL and Celebrity are the same company) is that overall RCCL is more family oriented whereas Celebrity seems to be more targeted at a mature/older clientèle.

The family market seems to be a huge thing for the cruise lines now. Even Carnival who until recently was aimed more or less at the "booze cruise" party crowd has taken in a hard turn towards family friendly cruising in the last few months following the success of the very family targeted Vista.

With Celebrity becoming much less formal recently, I'll be curious to see if they'll keep it targeted at it's current clientèle or if they'll go full out family in the near future.

Pat

Personally I haven't been on a cruise that really wasn't really wonderful. Perhaps I am easy to please.

I think the RCCL larger ships are truly amazing floating cities. We were on the Allure and it had a huge amount of choices of things to do. The specialty restaurants were amazing (and expensive but ...). The gym was super well equipped. Theme nights (we had a speakeasy party) was great. There were more kids attractions including a hand hewn merry go round!!

We have been on every class of Celebrity Ship (except the Meridian). When we initially sailed Celebrity it was still like the formal good old days for the mass market. Wonderful food, service, ambiance, fellow travellers. And relaxing. There is a kids program but I haven't a clue how it is. And I really look forward to each Celebrity sailing it's like coming home.

There are the same crappy jewelry sales as on every other cruise line. Just a gripe of mine ...

I also liked Carnival and NCL and would not hesitate to sail either. But to me there are 2 kinds of Cruises, the relaxing ones and the go go touring ones. Now That I am an old fart I like the relaxing ones. If I were to do NCL again and/or IF I were to do an MSC cruise I would go the Haven or Yacht Club route. Because it seems as if they have the relaxed ship among the go go ship. NCL's MDR on the Epic wasn't so good, I am glad I bought a 5 dinner Specialty restaurant pack.

To the OP I think that any cruise is subject to the conditions in your mind. If you are easily pleased then I guarantee you'll be very pleased with Celebrity. Please come back after your cruise and give us your thoughts! BTW the Summit is one of my favorite ships. It's an "M" class ship so it's a little older but I found her to be a very relaxing ship. Bon Voyage!!!

Thanks to all who shared their opinions. I leave for Bayonne tomorrow, so I am getting excited. I'll report back when I'm home again.

We are going to be on the Summit on June 18th. This will be our first time with Celebrity. How would you compare this with Holland America? I have been on the Westerdam in Alaska and Nieuw Amsterdam in the Med. Both were nice ships but the food didn't impress me.

I think you will find the food and the choices a little better in the MDR with Celebrity than with HAL. However, the music on HAL is much better (to my taste) than on Celebrity, as I prefer classical and quiet older music compared to the noisy rock music that seems to pervade Celebrity nowadays. Celebrity ships are a little more glitzy that HAL which has an older more European ambiance. HAL also as a great cooking Culinary center for those interested in that. Overall, they are about equal so I choose on the basis of itinerary and price. Also, for the technical folks, Celebrity seems to favor Apple products whereas HAL favors Microsoft products. HAL seems to have a slightly older clientele than Celebrity.

I think you will find the food and the choices a little better in the MDR with Celebrity than with HAL. However, the music on HAL is much better (to my taste) than on Celebrity, as I prefer classical and quiet older music compared to the noisy rock music that seems to pervade Celebrity nowadays. Celebrity ships are a little more glitzy that HAL which has an older more European ambiance. HAL also as a great cooking Culinary center for those interested in that. Overall, they are about equal so I choose on the basis of itinerary and price. Also, for the technical folks, Celebrity seems to favor Apple products whereas HAL favors Microsoft products. HAL seems to have a slightly older clientele than Celebrity.

One other difference is that HAL ships still permit smoking in their casinos in all but two of their ships. This tends to permeate to hallways and for us makes an unpleasant atmosphere compared to Celebrity which is non smoking in all indoor venues.