Is celebrity 5 star cruising?

[Jo and Rob]

We would like to know whether you think celebrity is five star? What do you think sets Celebrity apart from the other cruise lines? Which cruise lines do you think are on a par with Celebrity?

 

We have previously only cruised with Princess and will be on the Independence in June but have been offered a really good price on a balcony cabin on the Eclipse next Summer Holiday. We can't quite understand why the price for the cruise we are considering is coming out cheaper than Princess and RCL and just want to make sure we are not missing anything! ;)

[AAAAmerican]

Celebrity was the best, once. Right after they RCL :NYSE bought it from the Greek Line and kept it well ..until the new administration took hold and counted pennies instead of making it better for the paying customers.

 

It is an ok line still but nothing like it was when even after they did have a great executive chef which they summarily let go too... But that is what happens to penny pichers eh..

 

They have and do have to come back a lot now since they went to the the ...wayside.

 

;)

 

 

 

 

 

We would like to know whether you think celebrity is five star? What do you think sets Celebrity apart from the other cruise lines? Which cruise lines do you think are on a par with Celebrity?

 

We have previously only cruised with Princess and will be on the Independence in June but have been offered a really good price on a balcony cabin on the Eclipse next Summer Holiday. We can't quite understand why the price for the cruise we are considering is coming out cheaper than Princess and RCL and just want to make sure we are not missing anything! ;)

[cruzmaven]

Not 5 star but IMO better than Princess or RCL, and the S class ships are very nice. If you like Princess, you should love X.

 

Sometimes deals can be found. Why question your luck?

[dkjretired]

Celebrity was the best, once. Right after they RCL :NYSE bought it from the Greek Line and kept it well ..until the new administration took hold and counted pennies instead of making it better for the paying customers.

 

It is an ok line still but nothing like it was when even after they did have a great executive chef which they summarily let go too... But that is what happens to penny pichers eh..

 

They have and do have to come back a lot now since they went to the the ...wayside.

 

;)

 

 

 

With all due respect, they did not summarily let go of the chef, they kept him for 12 years after the merger. Celebrity was better back in the early 90s but cruising has changed and Celebrity would probably not be around if left alone. Penny pinching is tough to swallow since RCI has spent Billions on new ships, upgrades, etc. They have just moved on with the industry. They are under RCI control for twice as long as they were on their own....

 

 

In answer to the OP question, I think you have to define what 5 star cruising is. I don't know what it is after all my cruises. They are an excellent product and you will enjoy your cruise....

[Jo and Rob]

 

 

In answer to the OP question, I think you have to define what 5 star cruising is. I don't know what it is after all my cruises. They are an excellent product and you will enjoy your cruise....

 

We absolutely loved Princess so if Celebrity is up from that we will be very delighted. :)

[royalcruz]

5 stars would probably have to be reserved for Silver Seas, but Celebrity is the finest I have experienced. As you can see from my signature I've tried a lot of lines, and Celebrity S class and M class ships are my favorite, and deserves more stars than the others, IMO certainly a step up from Princess.

[AZaTaz]

No Celebrity is not 5 star.

Having sailed twice on Celebrity and twice on Princess, we prefer Princess and find it a better over all experience. We would sail either line again depending on itinerary.

[AAAAmerican]

dkretired,

 

In all due respect.

 

Sorry fact is fact, it is exact.

 

Celebrity was never a merger. it was purchased for an explicit purpose. That being, it was to have the Bermuda Islands Spots .

 

Or did you think maybe...when Kmart bought Sears was too..?

 

The Executive Chef which was phenominal ( IMHO ), was terminated. I don not know what word and/or term you use for non allowing of contractual resigning.. ..

 

 

Penny Pinching is well if you do not deplete the quality of the products/services.

 

Cruising on some lines is so like our education system was the best once until we Lowered our Standards and instead of the majority of funds going for the Students it went to the Staff/ Faculty.

 

Any Cruise lines can use billions on vessels but if they do not keep the same standards it becomes .. lets say nicely here, NOT as well...:eek:

 

I think you may well know as I what the OP meant by five star.

 

 

 

Princess which is part of Carnival now CCL/CUK :NYSE / LSE is above a few steps of Celebrity (IMHO). Celebrity does have many attributes left still, training as well services are again above par in the industry.

 

Maybe the culinary areas will again come back too..eh..

 

 

 

 

 

With all due respect, they did not summarily let go of the chef, they kept him for 12 years after the merger. Celebrity was better back in the early 90s but cruising has changed and Celebrity would probably not be around if left alone. Penny pinching is tough to swallow since RCI has spent Billions on new ships, upgrades, etc. They have just moved on with the industry. They are under RCI control for twice as long as they were on their own....

 

 

In answer to the OP question, I think you have to define what 5 star cruising is. I don't know what it is after all my cruises. They are an excellent product and you will enjoy your cruise....

[Druke I]

I don't think Celebrity is 5 star.

 

Actually, I prefer Princess or HAL to Celebrity, but recognize that we all have different opinions.

 

The finest cruise line I have sailed on is Oceania, but I don't think they rate 5 stars either.

[MDCruiserz]

Jo and Rob,

 

We're also Princess cruisers, just returned from our first Celebrity cruise on Solstice a week ago. You won't be disappointed, but I suspect you will find things that you miss about Princess, at least we did.

 

We had a lovely cruise & Solstice is a truly lovely ship. We were upgraded at embarkation from CC to a Sky suite, which was *very* nice indeed. They knew what they were doing - we'll have a hard time going with a regular cabin now! :eek:

 

To us, there were things that Celebrity did better and things that Princess does better. The service IMHO was comparable on both lines. The food in the MDR wasn't great - in fact, we only ate there 3 times and then stuck with the specialty restaurants (Tuscan and Murano's were fabulous). Then again, on our recent cruise on Emerald, the food in the MDR wasn't great either. I liked (a lot) that there are lots of shaded outdoor lounge chairs, something missing on Princess. The spas are comparable on both lines. The solarium was lovely. We missed the MUTS on Princess, although I know that's not everyone's cup of tea. We liked that there was only one announcement during the day on Celebrity but that announcement lasted a LONG time & seemed to get longer each day. One thing that surprised me was that virtually all of the food venues on the upper decks (buffet area, Aqua Spa cafe, hamburger grill) are shut down sometime between 10:30 & noon. We're very early risers & will often look for something light to eat for lunch around 11:30 - no luck. Not even fruit (except in our room). I assume we could've gone to deck 5 and found something, but maybe not. Another thing that I really can't fathom is that when the Aqua Spa cafe closes (around 2pm?) they take away the drinking glasses even though this is *the* water/drink station for the solarium. The dispensers work - they just don't leave any glasses there. You have to go to a bar or up one deck and over towards the other end of the ship to get a glass.

 

We'd certainly sail with Celebrity again. In fact, we booked another cruise while onboard. But we'll also be sailing with Princess again.

 

I'm sure you'll have a wonderful cruise on Eclipse. Enjoy (and keep fingers crossed for an upgrade)!

[Jade13]

No. But they are the least expensive of the cruise lines we have been on.

[Jade13]

5 stars would probably have to be reserved for Silver Seas, ..

 

You really think so? We found both HAL and Azamara to be better than SilverSeas.

[dkjretired]

dkretired,

 

In all due respect.

 

Sorry fact is fact, it is exact.

 

Celebrity was never a merger. it was purchased for an explicit purpose. That being, it was to have the Bermuda Islands Spots .

 

Or did you think maybe...when Kmart bought Sears was too..?

 

The Executive Chef which was phenominal ( IMHO ), was terminated. I don not know what word and/or term you use for non allowing of contractual resigning.. ..

 

 

Penny Pinching is well if you do not deplete the quality of the products/services.

 

Cruising on some lines is so like our education system was the best once until we Lowered our Standards and instead of the majority of funds going for the Students it went to the Staff/ Faculty.

 

Any Cruise lines can use billions on vessels but if they do not keep the same standards it becomes .. lets say nicely here, NOT as well...:eek:

 

I think you may well know as I what the OP meant by five star.

 

 

 

Princess which is part of Carnival now CCL/CUK :NYSE / LSE is above a few steps of Celebrity (IMHO). Celebrity does have many attributes left still, training as well services are again above par in the industry.

 

Maybe the culinary areas will again come back too..eh..

 

 

 

The executive chef was not terminated after 12 yrs with RCI and Celebrity. His contract ran out and he was like 80 yrs. old. If you have any proof he was fired, please let us in on it. Also, let us in on your idea that they purchased Celebrity for the Bermuda ports, first I ever heard of that. They only go to Bermuda now as an afterthought so that worked out real well if it is true... At the time of the takeover Carnival and RCI were buying up cruise lines and Celebrity was purchased by RCI.

 

Celebrity was better back in the early 90s but only in the minds of some. They didn't have the great ships they have now, go to the various ports and itineries they do. Food may have been better but the cruise industry has changed so much, who would have thought of Specialty restaurants. Things change, the Titanic had better food probably but we see where that went. At this point, you are comparing cruising in the 90s to cruising now, like comparing Apples and Oranges....

[DebbieMacG]

MDcruiserz I hope you don't mind me asking but did you get a favourable price for your upgrade or the same you would have paid at home? :o

[Denny01]

When someone new to Celebrity asks about quality and comparing it to other Lines, telling them about how great 'it use to be' is of no use. They don't care and it isn't of any use to them...And none of it is 'fact' by the way. It's opinon.

 

I'd agree Celebrity isn't 5-stars because of the top (expensive) luxury lines that are avail. But for someone who hasn't cruised them, and 'only cruised' Celebrity, Princess, Carnival and Royal Car, I'd say Celebrity, for us, is the top line.

 

why? for the price, great SR's and great value. Service is always outstanding, excellent dining, and love their common areas. But the main difference is they treat us like Adults. We make our own plans and don't need the ship to entertain me or make numerous announcements.

 

If you loved Princess, I think you'll love Celebrity.

 

Denny

[Scrapchick]

I think I answered your question when it was posed in another form in an earlier thread. I told you I have cruised 18 times with Princess and am Elite with them and have now cruised 4 times with Celebrity and #5 is booked for July.

 

I also gave you my opinion about whether Celebrity is better than Princess in that response. While I am a big fan of Princess and think they offer a very good experience at a very good price, I feel overall that Celebrity outdoes them in terms of food, service and entertainment, as well as the modern, unique flavor of their ships.

 

I will definitely sail with Princess again but found my recent trip on the Equinox to be a higher quality experience overall. The two lines do things differently and each has their pluses and minuses. Price is only one aspect. We got a good deal on our Equinox cruise and then got a further price reduction before sailing. It was superb value for that particular trip. Our Eclipse sailing in July is a lot more pricey and there have been no price drops but the ship is almost sold out. The cruise line will do what they have to do to sell out the ship.

[jackdiamond]

In my opinion, most of the luxury ships are six stars, the S class are 5.5 stars, the M class 5 stars, and the Century 4.5 stars.

[nps001]

I agree---it does NO good to compare to the past. The industry as a whole has changed. If lines had kept doing what they did in the 90s they wouldnt be around.

 

I pay the same or less than I did for cruises 3 years ago. Something's got to give.

[Ma Bell]

We started cruising in 1974 and I would say most of the conjecture that everything was much better then is just because everything seems better when you're young and impressed with everything. There are so many improvements in the ships and so many more choices today than there were in the past.

 

Celebrity has a wonderful product for the money. As in anything, not every experience is the same, even for people on the same ship at the same time. Never had a bad one with Celebrity.

[SantaFeFan]

The restricted smoking policy on Celebrity makes them 5+ star to me!

[jd1966]

Absolutely!!!!!!

[rothjer]

We would like to know whether you think celebrity is five star? What do you think sets Celebrity apart from the other cruise lines? Which cruise lines do you think are on a par with Celebrity?

 

We have previously only cruised with Princess and will be on the Independence in June but have been offered a really good price on a balcony cabin on the Eclipse next Summer Holiday. We can't quite understand why the price for the cruise we are considering is coming out cheaper than Princess and RCL and just want to make sure we are not missing anything! ;)

 

 

5* a stretch, however, not far from it. I think what you will find with X that is unique compared to other lines is a huge based of regular/frequenty cruisers. IMO X boards on CC are the most happening place, and for good reason. Its a good product, and customers appreciate that. Pricing, well, I have never really figured out pricing for cruises. It really depends, aside from the "premium" lines, you can find some pretty good deals !

 

MaBell hit the nail on the head with the fact that crusing has become such a vast and expansive industry in terms of choices. My best suggestion is to not overthink it and test out the waters and see what works best for you. Example, we loved Costa, although level of serivce and quality was nowhere near what we grew to expect on RCI or X, however, we would still sail with them again because the food was gorgeous, european clientel, and beautiful suites.

[cruie4ever]

The restricted smoking policy on Celebrity makes them 5+ star to me!

 

I totally agree with you about Celebrity smoking policy . For this reason alone we sail Celebrity & I don't have to have some ones second hand smoke in the casino

 

We have done 45 cruises & rating one cruise line over another is subjective at best . What Celebrity does well they do very well imo ,like the quality & presentation of the food . A big one is that on Celebrity ships the public space ratio is much better than on other lines except Holland . Quality of entertainment will have to go with Celebrity .

 

Value for dollar spent Celebrity does a great job . We still cruise other lines because Celebrity doesn't always have the itinerary we want . After Celebrity ,we would first select Holland ,then Princess ,then Carnival & next Royal .

 

Hope this helps the OP

[Dorene1]

Everyone has their own opinions on cruise lines. I love Celebrity, but I found Princess not even close. You will enjoy sailing Celebrity. I really wish I knew why people like Princess.

 

Dorene

[stipmom]

Dorene, I feel the same way. Given a choice I would not choose Princess over Celebrity or RCCL for that matter. I am considering Princess for a British Isles cruise next year because I really want to see those places but in the Caribbean there are much better choices as far as I'm concerned.