First Celebrity Cruise

My dear wife has decided that we need to try a different cruise line. She has just booked a Celebrity cruise for April 2019 out of Florida. We will be 66 years old, veterans of 8 Carnival cruises.

What are the differences we will notice the most between the two cruise lines?

Thank you in advance for all of your help.

Dave

My dear wife has decided that we need to try a different cruise line. She has just booked a Celebrity cruise for April 2019 out of Florida. We will be 66 years old, veterans of 8 Carnival cruises.

 

What are the differences we will notice the most between the two cruise lines?

 

Thank you in advance for all of your help.

 

Dave

Better quality food, more refined atmosphere, less "active" activities

Few kids, no constant announcements, no hairy chest or belly flop contests.

You will find a little less partying atmosphere, less announcements, depending on what you book more elegant rooms, better food (subjective), an average age passenger that is older then what you find on Carnival.

It is nice to try new lines. And as we age often we find that it is time to change things up.

Keith

I haven't been on any of the newer large Carnival ships. But on Celebrity that bathrooms in the cabins are a bit more roomy (especially the shower). The restrooms out in the common areas are nicer (real washcloths) etc. No silly checking in or out towels on the pool deck, on the S-class ships the lounge chairs a much nicer. Want a towel or two or three, grab one from the towel rack. The buffet will be nicer and less crowded, the food overall better. You will probably find the ship less crowded feeling as there is a higher ratio of open areas to cabin count (carnival likes to maximize amount of cabins per ship). The beds are more comfy (pillows and sheets too). No smoking anywhere inside the ship (even the casino). Overall it's just a little bit nicer (like staying at the Wyndam hotel versus a Holiday Inn).

Getting back on the ship after a port day is easier. Carnival likes to check every water bottle for booze, Celebrity doesn't seem to care much. There will be a couple of tents at the dock, possibly with comfy chairs to rest in, also cold drinking water and cool wash cloths to wipe yourself down.

You'll love It! We just returned back from our cruise...it was fantastic! We rebooked while onboard.

Sent from my SM-G935V using Forums mobile app

My dear wife has decided that we need to try a different cruise line. She has just booked a Celebrity cruise for April 2019 out of Florida. We will be 66 years old, veterans of 8 Carnival cruises.

 

What are the differences we will notice the most between the two cruise lines?

 

Thank you in advance for all of your help.

 

Dave

We've never sailed Carnival but when you first board a Celebrity ship you are handed a glass of sparkling wine or OJ (your choice). If you have the BP Celebrity doesn't limit the amount of drinks you are allowed per person per day. Enjoy your first Celebrity cruise.

If you are not a smoker you will appreciate the lack of smoking in most areas.

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

My dear wife has decided that we need to try a different cruise line. She has just booked a Celebrity cruise for April 2019 out of Florida. We will be 66 years old, veterans of 8 Carnival cruises.

 

What are the differences we will notice the most between the two cruise lines?

 

Thank you in advance for all of your help.

 

Dave

Dave, you'll just love Celebrity, we have done several Carnival and it was just to noisy, and the smoking in the casino just made the ship stink to high heave same with NCL....there is no indoor smoking or balcony smoking the Celebrity at all so that is a plus. I just figure the weather is nice and warm no need to be inside smoking ...go outside (I am an exsmoker, I apologize to everyone, not knowing at the time that it smelt so bad)

The older crowd and very few children make it a much more relaxing environment for us.

So glad skiorcruise started this thread as we are looking to try Celebrity after our 6 Carnival cruises as well. Can someone explain more about the extra costs we can expect on the ship (dining?, if there are some areas on the ship only accessible by those in specific staterooms, and comparisons to the Carnival Cloud 9 spa? Thanks in advance!

We're also getting ready to do our first Celebrity cruise in May..Ireland, Iceland & Scotland. We've done 25+ with RCI and 1 PCL.

Welcome to Celebrity. Enjoy your cruise.

Doug

We did one Carnival cruise. Whilst we could appreciate its strengths (activities for children and entertainment) we did find it loud, unrelaxing and the food a bit disappointing...It did give us a taste of cruising though...

For several years after we swapped to RC. We had a youngster at the time so made the most of the activities and entertainment....We still were not in love with the food and although less frenetic than Carnival we still did not find our RC cruises particularly relaxing.

Then we tried Celebrity...we wanted to cruise with finer dining and a much more relaxed atmosphere. Celebrity just fits us like a glove...The shows are less ‘showy’ than RC but we rarely go to shows now anyway, there are less activities but on a cruise we want our activities to be shore excursions and our ship time to be about rest and relaxation....

No criticism of Carnival or RC we just no longer want what they offer...we have changed.

If you do usually join in lots of daytime activities and like lots of shows you may find Celebrity very laid back....all I can say is we have never looked back from swapping to Celebrity.

So glad skiorcruise started this thread as we are looking to try Celebrity after our 6 Carnival cruises as well. Can someone explain more about the extra costs we can expect on the ship (dining?, if there are some areas on the ship only accessible by those in specific staterooms, and comparisons to the Carnival Cloud 9 spa? Thanks in advance!

Blu is the restaurant for Aqua guests, and suite guests on an availability basis. Luminae is the restaurant and Michaels Club is the lounge for suite guests. Unless you are in Aqua Class or a suite these areas would be off limit.

The sky lounge is

closed for the Elite Captains Club members and above from 5 to 7PM most days of the cruise. There is a breakfast in Tuscan Grill for Elite and above CC members each morning.

Persian Gardens is limited to Aqua guests, with a few exceptions, or if you purchase a pass.

The main dining room, buffet, mast grill and spa café are free dining venues. Pastries and desserts at Café Al Bacio are free, the beverages are for a fee or covered by the Classic and Premium beverage packages. The specialty restaurants have a fee and they vary by ship.

Enjoy your first Celebrity cruise! We did a short Carnival cruise to Catalina Island and Ensenada, MX, so perhaps not the best representation of Carnival. But, on our Celebrity Infinity cruise in September 2017, we think we found our niche, and booked our next cruise on the Silhouette while on board. Very classy decor (not 'over the top' or 'gaudy'). The food was very good, and did not feel the need to eat in the specialty dining areas. The vibe was just right, and definitely was NOT rowdy (a good thing!). Announcements were once a day, about 10:00 a.m. or so.

I hope you like Celebrity. After only having cruised on Carnival and Princess, my husband and I recently finished our first Celebrity cruise January 13. We are in our early fifties. We love the wide selection of activities on Carnival including the comedy club, piano bar, evening shows, adult scavenger hunt, and trivia. We had booked a Carnival cruise for October on the Horizon, but after our experience in the Summit, we cancelled and rebooked the Equinox for October 15 with nearly the same itinerary.

Celebrity is hands down a better experience than Carnival (and Princess, IMO, but they're close). The service is better, the food is better, the passengers aren't as downscale overall, and the ship is nicer. However, the entertainment is not as good. The shows are pretty good and feature aerialists, there are fun activities during the day at the main pool, they still have some trivia, and there are late night games in the observation lounge before the dancing starts. We found more friendly people on this cruise than we have before on other ships.

Net-net, it's a better fit for us. In the end, only you can decide if the plusses outweigh the minuses.

You will like Celebrity. Having sailed both, the two lines are more alike than different.

What we have noticed - Celebrity has better food. The main dining rooms are close, but buffet much better and Celebrity's specialty dining is wonderful. Don't know which ship you are on, but on The Lawn Club Grill, The Porch and Murano's are not to be missed. Celebrity has a more relaxed atmosphere in general, and especially on the pool deck. No hairy chest contest on Celebrity. Fewer kids and teens on Celebrity, and the average age is probably late 50s, early 60s. Better casino and specialty shops.

Carnival has better shows and to us better entertainment overall. We've seen the discos and karaoke going well passed midnight. Their kids and teens programs are better. It costs less, although not by as much as it use to.

Just what we have noticed. Hope it helps.

yes, thanks for asking this question! My first cruise was with Carnival and I just didnt like how it was run. But maybe that was because it was our first one and neither knew anything about cruising.

One of the things I liked about carnival was the comedy club. No Comedy Clubs on Celebrity?

Thank you all for your replies. I will miss the comedy clubs, but otherwise it sounds like a good fit.