rccl vs celebrity

[mgmigs]

i have only done rccl. can someone with experience describe what if any true differences there are between the 2? i am most interested hearing about celebrity's dress code and how closely it is adhered to.

[iheartbda]

We've done both and all I'll comment on is the dress code. We saw more dressed formally on X....long gowns and tuxedos, than on RCCL on formal nights. As far as how closely it's adhered to, not very strict since we also saw VERY casually dressed pax as well. I would say non-formal nights were equal.....most dressed nicely but on both lines, there were the ones who were wearing their casual clothes since "it's their vacation......." It's been a couple of years so you may want to post your question on the X board and simply ask, without asking for any comparison, how closely is the dress code followed.

[picture]

Celebrity allows you to bring a bottle of wine per person onbaord and

waer, & soda

[wineandbeach]

I have been on 3 royal (all Voyager class) and 3 Celebrity. Royal has the WOW factor. The Promenade had me in awe at all times - it is beautiful. There are many more activities on Royal. Celebrity adds a touch of class - You are given a glass of champagne as you board, chocolate on the pillows, hand towels in the public bathrooms (not paper), iced towels are handed out around the pool and as you get on the ship from a port etc. Towels are available in plenty by the pool. They have some great beverage packages and you can bring wine on board with you.

 

I don't believe service really has to do with the line you choose but more with who you get. We have had excellent service on both lines and just okay service at other times on both.

 

I felt over all, people dressed much nicer on celebrity. I usually wear capris and a nice shirt on non formal nights and sometimes felt underdressed on Celebrity - Many women wore sundresses every night. On Royal, we saw a lot of shorts and tshirts in the dining room. We did see people in shorts turned away from the dining room on Celebrity. We saw jeans on both. I prefer Celebrity but since I can only cruise in the summer and Celebrity won't have a ship in the Caribbean in the summer, I look forward to and know I will love my next Royal cruise (Serenade).

[cruisegal415]

How does the entertainment and activities compare on the Celebrity? We just did the Oasis so I guess I'm spoiled. Is the entertainment as good and the amount of things to do at night as much?

[wineandbeach]

Overall Celebrity is not known for their entertainment or activities. We didn't go to any shows so I can't really say how they were. The solstice did have a guitarist, piano singer, and band that traveled to different bars at different times. We enjoy this because we can sit and talk while we enjoy the music. Our younger travelers (19-21) definitely felt Celebrity was a little boring compared to Royal but the older ones (45-50) enjoyed the atmosphere.

[negc]

How does the entertainment and activities compare on the Celebrity? We just did the Oasis so I guess I'm spoiled. Is the entertainment as good and the amount of things to do at night as much?

Entertainment is similar on most mass market cruise lines but in general, I found RCI's to be slightly better than what we experienced on Celebrity. That could be more a matter of the individual sailings we were on and might not be true overall. My only memory of a bad night in the theater on Celebrity was when the celebrity headliner was a "world champion whistler".:eek: Now that RCI is adding first rate Broadway style production shows such as Hairspray, Chicago, Mama Mia, I have to give them a distinct advantage over Celebrity and most other lines (I might except NCL EPIC with such featured entertainment as Blue Man Group, Legends.and Second City.) Other nighttime activities are pretty much the same on cruise ships regardless of the line you are sailing.:) Demographics on your particular cruise may play a larger role in just how early things quiet down in the evening than the line you are sailing on.

[Gonzo70]

I completely agree with Isis' comments. My wife and I prefer Celebrity because of the more upscale touches such as being handed a glass of sparkling wine as you board, minimal announcements (i.e. nobody advertising the next bingo game), being able to bring onboard some wine etc. We have also found the food to be slightly more upscale than on Royal. We do miss some of the energy on Royal ships - there is definitely more nightlife on Royal, more staff led activities and more activities available such as mini golf, rock climbing etc. That said, we have always found stuff to do on Celebrity, it is just that there are fewer organized activities. While the new Solstice Class ships on Celebrity do have more activities available and are beautiful ships, they certainly lack the bells and whistles of RCI's larger ships (i.e. no ice skating, florider etc.).

 

Another thing we prefer about Celebrity is we are non-smokers and Celebrity has a much stricter smoking policy (no smoking on balconies, in the casino, and in all indoor bars/lounges aside from one).

 

FYI, just a small technical comment/clarification: RCCL (Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd.) is actually the parent company to both Royal Caribbean International (RCI) and Celebrity Cruises (as well as Azamara Club Cruises and a couple of smaller lines) - so this thread is a comparison of RCI vs. Celebrity rather than RCCL vs. Celebrity.

[yogimax]

We were on the Celebrity Millenium and I found the cruise director was excellent, much more down to earth and less into the silly comedy stuff that gets old from the RCCL CDs.

[THEWIFE]

I agree with all posters regarding dress code. We also found that there was an older demographic. We felt that the food is better on Celebrity than on RCCL or Princess. Entertainment was the best we ever had. The only problems we experienced on Celebrity that we never experienced on RCCL was that port excursions were very limited and, for the most part, not very good (guides that barely spoke English, for example). In addition, Celebrity severely lacks in Guest Relations, which other Celebrity passengers told us is a chronic problem across the Celebrity line. If Guest Relations is a serious consideration for you, as it is with us, you might want to cruise with RCCL. :cool:

[Gonzo70]

In addition, Celebrity severely lacks in Guest Relations, which other Celebrity passengers told us is a chronic problem across the Celebrity line. If Guest Relations is a serious consideration for you, as it is with us, you might want to cruise with RCCL. :cool:

 

I personally have had nothing but positive experiences with guest relations on Celebrity. On our last cruise, my wife was severely sunburnt after one port stop. We had a catamaran excursion booked through Celebrity for the next morning. The evening before we went to guest relations and they without any hassle permitted us to cancel the excursion even though it was well passed the cutoff time for doing so. Likewise when my wife had ordered a special package for my birthday and an error was made with a delivery, guest relations quickly had an officer meet with us and he was very apologetic for the mistake and offered us a couple of goodies that more than made up for the mistake. This likely is more an issue of what particular people you interacted with than a Celebrity vs. Royal Caribbean issue.

[moviestar600]

we will be doing our first sailing on Celebrity this winter. A very short itinerary on the Eclipse, with the goal to see if we like it. These responses are very helpful to me as well and now I can't wait:D

[THEWIFE]

Hi, Gonzo! Glad to hear that your experience was positive on Celebrity. We had problems from booking onwards. We booked several excursions with them and the experience we complained about, the entire busload of passengers complained about. Their solution was to reimburse each one of us different amounts, depending on the mood of the person reimbursing. No passenger left the excursion satisfied with the end result. in fact, they called me at home twice and asked me to repeat the story. Both conversations culminated with the fact that they were sorry we had a negative experience, but they would do nothing further about it. I wrote them and weeks later they responded with a letter telling us, in effect, "tough noogies". I did not have to rely on fellow passengers' opionions about Guest Relations to form an independent opinion of Celebrity; it was easy enough to form my own.

You had a good experience. I'm happy for you, really. That is why they make chocolate and vanilla! :D

[THEWIFE]

Sorry. I forgot to mention this one: In addition to the above experience with Guest Relations, we had an emergency e-mail sent to the ship from our travel agent as soon as we left port to begin the cruise. Although the cover page clearly stated to deliver these papers to us immediately, it took over two days for us to receive it. Do I need more to validate my bad experience?:(

[mgmigs]

upon doing some research, it seems as if celebrity's loyalty program blows rccl's out of the water. it seems as if celebrity really cares more about it's past passengers.

[The Big Booper]

We were on the Solstice June 2010 and noted that there were far more passenger activities then in the past on our trips on the Galaxy and Connie.

 

50's, 60's, 70's and 80's nights. A Love and Marriage with 300+ in the theater instead of the paltry few or even not scheduled as in our priors. A late night Bacardi Sizzle pool party running 10:45 til after midnight with the production show female dancers bumping and grinding non-stop, with a Latin beat. Lounge acts were among the best we have seen on our 33 cruises including a singer/pianist in Michael's (giving small thanks he wasn't named Perry), a party band (Sipra), a jazz trio, Tony something, with vocalist (really good), an acopella (sp?) male group and a late night comedian who appeared in the small comedy club (4 shows) adjacent to the theater. And the theater orchestra also gave a couple of small concerts.

 

We wouldn't hesitate to go on another S class ship again because this is the entertainment package they all seem to have. Much more then the M and C ships.

[Gonzo70]

Sorry. I forgot to mention this one: In addition to the above experience with Guest Relations, we had an emergency e-mail sent to the ship from our travel agent as soon as we left port to begin the cruise. Although the cover page clearly stated to deliver these papers to us immediately, it took over two days for us to receive it. Do I need more to validate my bad experience?:(

 

I am sorry you had these unfortunate experiences. The point I was making was that I do not believe that poor service at guest relations is a common aspect of Celebrity. This thread is about main differences between RCI and Celebrity. While you and others certainly have had bad experiences with Celebrirty's guest relations department, so have others had bad experiences with RCI's guest relations department. While it is horrible when this occurs to somebody, I would not say that in general a difference between Celebrity and RCI is the quality of guest relations.

[mjldvlks]

I admit our Celebrity cruise was a short cruise on X's oldest ship, Mercury. But with that in mind, we were dissappointed in the ship and the service. The service in the MDR was poor. There may have been more choices on the menu [didn't really count] but the quality was not noticeably different than RCI. Did I mention the service was poor? It took our waiter 30 minutes to even acknowledge our presence. I don't recall his ever telling us his name. I don't think we had a dedicated assistant waiter. The buffet line was poorly laid out and crowded. There were always long lines. The station layout of Windjammer on RCI ships works much better IMO. The ship was closed in and seemed more crowded than any RCI ship we've been on.

 

All in all, a glass of cheap sparkling wine as you board was not enough to overcome the tremendous negatives. We had a great time with great friends -- and saw some great places in the PNW we had never seen before. But I would not go out of my way to cruise Celebrity after that experience. I certainly wouldn't pay extra for the privilege. I would like to see their newer ships, but it would have to be a dynamite itinerary at a great price.

[Gonzo70]

I admit our Celebrity cruise was a short cruise on X's oldest ship, Mercury. But with that in mind, we were dissappointed in the ship and the service. The service in the MDR was poor. There may have been more choices on the menu [didn't really count] but the quality was not noticeably different than RCI. Did I mention the service was poor? It took our waiter 30 minutes to even acknowledge our presence. I don't recall his ever telling us his name. I don't think we had a dedicated assistant waiter. The buffet line was poorly laid out and crowded. There were always long lines. The station layout of Windjammer on RCI ships works much better IMO. The ship was closed in and seemed more crowded than any RCI ship we've been on.

 

A lot of what you describe is attriubutable you having sailed on Celebrity's smallest and oldest ship - that is about to leave the fleet. When comparing Celebrity's newer ships to Royal Caribbean's newer ships there is a higher staff to passenger ration on Celebrity and there is more space per passenger on Celebrity. The buffet on Celebrity's newer ships is very well laid out with stations. Like the poster who experienced poor service with guest relations, it is very unfortunate your received such poor service, but that is not a normal occurrence on Celebrity. The vast marjoity of people who sail on Celebrity rave about the service (as they do on Royal Caribbean). There is bad and good waiters on both Celebrity and Royal. I think some people on this thread are reading too much into individual experiences (i.e. a bad waiter or poor service at guest relations) and taking this to mean that this is typical for the entire cruise line.

 

Most people who have done multiple cruises on both Royal and Celebrity, on comprable ships would not say the service is dramatically better or worse on one line versus the other. Most would say the main difference lies in the overall vibe - Royal having more energy, nightlife, bells & whistles etc. whereas Celebrity overall providing a bit more of a tranquil, upscale, relaxing type experience.

[The Big Booper]

I admit our Celebrity cruise was a short cruise on X's oldest ship, Mercury. But with that in mind, we were dissappointed in the ship and the service. The service in the MDR was poor. There may have been more choices on the menu [didn't really count] but the quality was not noticeably different than RCI. Did I mention the service was poor? It took our waiter 30 minutes to even acknowledge our presence. I don't recall his ever telling us his name. I don't think we had a dedicated assistant waiter. The buffet line was poorly laid out and crowded. There were always long lines. The station layout of Windjammer on RCI ships works much better IMO. The ship was closed in and seemed more crowded than any RCI ship we've been on.

 

All in all, a glass of cheap sparkling wine as you board was not enough to overcome the tremendous negatives. We had a great time with great friends -- and saw some great places in the PNW we had never seen before. But I would not go out of my way to cruise Celebrity after that experience. I certainly wouldn't pay extra for the privilege. I would like to see their newer ships, but it would have to be a dynamite itinerary at a great price.

 

We are not the biggest Celebrity boosters, far from it. The S class is way different then the older M and C ships. The buffet is laid out like an RCI buffet with multiple action stations. and is very glassy. The basic ship is laid out like the Voyager/Freedom classes with a narrower promenade on decks 4 and 5 and a 10 deck atrium with glass elevators outside the dining rooms and the pool deck buffet cafe. No ice rink and no Quest. The Celebrity crowd can have their wine blending seminars and us transplanted RCIers can have 75-80% of what we are used to having. And the computer lounge is labeled the iLounge 'cuz it has a flotilla of....iMac laptops.

 

Give it a shot.

[Delila]

My husband (46) and I (45) have been on RCCL's Freedom of the Seas (twice) and Celebrity's Solstice. I loved them both. The main difference for me was on Celebrity we had to stay "dressed" after dinner and all those wonderful fancy frozen drink machines that are on Freedom of the Seas didn't seem to exist on Solstice.

[THEWIFE]

Me again! Just wanted to say that while your point is well taken, we have had MANY cruises, and I still say that Celebrity has poor guest relations. We were on the Equinox, a new ship. We had no complaints apart from what I described, but like food, the likes and dislikes of anything, such as cruise lines, is always an individual thing. I am simply saying that I did not draw my conclusions from what others said. I drew them from my own experience. I have found guest relations on RCCL to be better than Celebrity. This is my opinion and I am entitled to it, even if it doesn't jibe with yours.

Enough said. Let's agree to disagree.:)

[negc]

My husband (46) and I (45) have been on RCCL's Freedom of the Seas (twice) and Celebrity's Solstice. I loved them both. The main difference for me was on Celebrity we had to stay "dressed" after dinner and all those wonderful fancy frozen drink machines that are on Freedom of the Seas didn't seem to exist on Solstice.

 

I know that there was a time that ships required you to remain in your formal wear for the rest of the evening on formal nights, but did not find that to be the case on our past two Celebrity cruises. What did they do if you had the audacity to change into some more comfortable attire to enjoy the evening's activities? I enjoy dressing up on formal nights but often that attire is less than appropriate or comfortable for later night activities, and on such occasions I have had no compunction about changing into less formal attire.:rolleyes:

[i guide the sky]

I haven't been on RCCL in a while but looking forward to coming back. I have been on several Celebrity, most recently on Solstice. All I have to say is that it was DEAD, and I felt like had it not been for honeymooners, that was me, it would be entirely age 60 plus. In fact the whole ship was asleep by 10 if not for the few "kids" looking for some kind of nightlife. I did however enjoy the elegance and class of celebrity, which is what keeps me going back but after this last solstice cruise it was notably bad. Wife and I are looking forward to RCCL mainly for the activities and nightlife. we are also only doing a 4 day, and some would say that attracts a younger rowdier bunch.

[mjldvlks]

A lot of what you describe is attriubutable you having sailed on Celebrity's smallest and oldest ship - that is about to leave the fleet. . . . .

 

I pointed that out at the beginning. But having sailed on RCI's oldest [Monarch] and smallest [splendour] I have to say that oldest and smallest is obviously no excuse.