Celebrity vs. RCI

[shoegal24]

Forgive me, I'm sure this question has been asked 1000x.

My husband and I did an Alaskan cruise last summer with Celebrity. It was the best week of our life.

I'm just curious how RCI compares with Celebrity in terms of food, balcony rooms, service and entertainment.

[cruisecluestoo]

Forgive me, I'm sure this question has been asked 1000x.

My husband and I did an Alaskan cruise last summer with Celebrity. It was the best week of our life.

I'm just curious how RCI compares with Celebrity in terms of food, balcony rooms, service and entertainment.

 

 

We just got back from the Explorer of the Sea .I can tell you that Celebrity is way above RCL in the food department . RCL was like eating at Ryans

[wolfganghowell]

I'm just curious how RCI compares with Celebrity in terms of food, balcony rooms, service and entertainment.

 

As you can see, we've done both lines a lot. In the last few years, they have really branded the 2 lines distinctly. Here's my 2 cents.

 

Food - Celebrity hands down. Their food presentation is much more sophisticated. Royal is fine, we don't go hungry but it's much simpler.

 

Balcony rooms - this is the greatest difference we have found lately BUT we do concierge class on X and used to do JS on Royal. The price on those two were comparable but the JS gave us a bathtub, a walk in closet and more real estate. I think the regular balcony rooms are actually pretty comparable. But X is lifting their prices up so you will pay a little more.

 

Service - X is a little more formal and reserved where Royal is more casual and "fun". That's not to say that X is snobby, I just think the staff is trained to be more formal. But if you prefer a more relaxed interaction, I think they follow your lead. We've really had few service complaints from either - and always seem to find more crew that go the extra mile than not.

 

Entertainment - well this is totally subjective for everyone. I work in entertainment so I'm also a tough sell. I think X is much stronger for showroom entertainment but I think Royal does a better job with their pool and lounges. The "pool" band on X seems to do standards and pop but I love having a reggae band and steel drums on Caribbean cruises. Of course not everyone feels the same way. I think the Murder Mystery that Royal does is the cheesiest, stupidest thing I've ever seen ( and I've seen A LOT) but there are people that adore it.

 

We have learned to adjust our expectations on each line. There are some things we like better on X, some on Royal. So we go onboard with realistic choices. We know we will eat way too much on X. We know we will be a little rowdier on Royal. ;)