Looking for advice: WB TA on RCCL or X?

[Piggeldy]

We are contemplating booking a WB TA (fall 2013) on either Royal Caribbean (Liberty otS) or Celebrity (Eclipse). Our last two plans have already fallen through but it finally appears to be possible next year. We have never traveled on any of the large cruise lines and thus would be really happy if someone could give any advice.

 

Itinerary for both cruises is rather similar - Europe to Fort Lauderdale with three stops in the Caribbean. Both stop in Philipsburg, St. Maarten, Celebrity then stops in Charlotte Amalie and Nassau while Royal goes to San Juan and Cococay.

 

St. Thomas vs. Puerto Rico

Nassau vs. Cococay

 

Any advice on those ports? We have never been to the Caribbean so all ports would be new for us. Would you see Cococay being a private island as an advantage or a disatvantage?

 

Celebrity leaves from Southampton, Royal from Barcelona. We could get to both easily (leaving from Germany), any advice on which port is nicer/easier to depart from? I assume weather might be nicer/warmer from Barcelona late in October, being more south, do you think that would make a (big) difference?

 

There appears to be more "to do" on LotS? I have to admit that I couldn't care less - DH will probably drop me off in a quiet corner after breakfast, hand me my soda card and a pile of books and only pick me up for lunch and dinner. However, DH will go mad "doing nothing" for two weeks in a row. Due to mild CP he can't use Flowrider or ice rink, taking those two extras out of the equation is there a huge difference in activities between the two lines (lectures, tastings, enrichment etc.)? How about shows - better on RCCL or X? Is RCCL more "fun" than X?

I assume clientel on both ships would be similar due to similar lenght of cruise, similar stops, similar pricing, similar dates (LotS leaves 10/27, Eclipse 11/02)?

 

Regarding Celebrity, DH likes the idea of booking an Aqua Class cabin (primarily for BLU restaurant). However, AQ is currently about $460 more expensive than 1A (at least booking with a German TA) per person... that would pay for Premium non-alcoholic beverage package and a number of meals in speciality restaurants (we would like to try Tuscan Grill and Murano). While I know that something "being worth it" is totaly subjective - if you have traveled in Aqua Class would you say that the price difference would be "worth it"? Could we book a balcony and upgrade later if prices came down (we would be happy with "normal" balcony cabin)?

Any comments on general comparibility of food between Royal and Celebrity? We don't need high-end but enjoy good quality food and especially a nice medium-rare steak ;)

 

Are Royal and Celebrity more alike or more different when it comes to "feeling" of a cruise? We haven't been on a real vacation since 2008 and would really like to have a smooth, relaxing and laid-back atmosphere (and I always over-analyze, over-plan and over-worry I really should restart relaxing right now, I guess).

 

If any of you experienced cruiser could give any advice I'd be very greatful!

[Essiesmom]

While I can't really be objective, having not yet sailed Royal, I think you will have more 'enrichment' opportunities on Celebrity. If you have not already done so, I think you should post this also on the Celebrity and Royal boards here at CC. EM

[SuiteTraveler]

I've been on both of these ships. Eclipse is newer than Liberty. In general Celebrity is more upscale and sophisticated and the overall food is better than RCCL. Considering your interests and how you like to read (like me) on a cruise, I think that the Eclipse would suit you better on a personal level. You would probably go to Cafe Bacci and read in there and then there are the various hammocks and lounge chairs up by the spa pool that I think you would enjoy. I got in one of the big square hammocks and read one day for several hours - it was very relaxing until it was time to get out - that was a struggle! LOL! But still, I very much enjoyed the hammock. The clientele on Celebrity tends to be older. I'm 50 and my husband and I were among the youngest 5% onboard during our Med cruise. If it is during the school year, you are mostly going to be with older adults. Still, we met lots of nice people and made friends! I remember at every port there would be an ambulance taking some elderly person off of the ship and I heard that 8 passengers passed away during our 10 day cruise. The food in the MDR on Celebrity is GREAT! And we had a really great waiter and assistant waiter. One night, in the second week of our cruise, my friend and I had both ordered Chicken Cordon Bleu, but were served roasted chicken by the assistant waiter. We both were OK with that, when our waiter suddenly took one look at our food and grabbed our plates saying "Wrong chicken! Wrong chicken!" LOL! Our waiter was a very elegant man from India and this was the ONLY time we saw him lose his cool. It was absolutely hilarious! Incidentally, I thought that the food at Qsine was significantly better than Murano. Murano is a beautiful restaurant, but the food is overly fussy and rather retro, IMO, and our waiter was a bit snobbish, which we found amusing. My husband and I regularily go to some of the finest restaurants and I would say Murano was rather average in comparison. I like Continental cuisine, though but thought Murano's food suffered from being standardized on a corporate menu. I don't know why Celebrity does that, the head chef at Murano is talented and IMO, HE should be the one setting the menu. The sommelier was great however and I enjoyed her very much. IMO, I like a more chef-driven restaurant such at Bottega or French Laundry.

 

Anyway, in regards to your husband, there are great enrichment lectures on Eclipse and also they play movies in one of the lounges on sea days. There are shows every night - I particularily enjoyed the British commedian - he was very quick witted and made fun of our unfortunate situation the day we went through The Bay of Biscay and the ship was really rocking and rolling! He couldn't stand still on the stage - quite impossible with all the motion and he joked that this was the first time he'd worn out a pair of his shoes doing his act! LOL!

 

Also, there is the glass show on the top deck - worth attending - they raffle off various glass objects. There is bocce ball and croquet on the lawn. There are concerts and a big gym with lots of equipment and a fully equipped casino with Texas Hold 'em Poker tournaments. There are cooking demonstrations and also a Top Chef cookoff between the various chefs. (If you go to Murano, you could ask to be a judge at this show!) There are plenty of adult oriented things to day during the day.

 

You are right to get the drinks package. If you enjoy wine, go ahead and get the premium alchohol package - it saves a lot of money and hastle and the wine stewards are very generous and learn what you like and have it ready for you each night. They will also do wine pairings with your meal, if you ask them to. The martini bar is a lot of fun and they do fancy things like pour 20 drinks at one time. Normally, I don't drink much other than wine, but since it was included in our drinks package, I tried various martinis. Of course, the special teas and coffees are also included.

 

In terms of cabins, I normally would have booked Aqua Class to eat at Blu, BUT our friends didn't, so we went to the MDR to be with them - and it was absolutely great! We originally had a verandah cabin, but 6 weeks before departure a Family Verandah Stateroom opened up. It's a 2 bedroom cabin with living room, dining room, verandah and it's just HUGE - 500sq ft! My husband and I like space, so I grabbed it! I saw inside the regular verandah cabins and they were nice, though compact. So anyway, Aquaclass gives you a fancy jetted shower and tea served in your stateroom and some spa amenities and then access to the thermal suite. You need to weigh out in your own mind how much these amenities are worth to you.

 

Charlotte Amalie is the shopping capital of the Carribbean. Usually we take the ferry to St. John and go snorkeling. Definitely get off the ship and onto some kind of smaller boat that day. The area is incredibly scenic. There is an underwater snorkeling trail in St. John and the beauty there is magnificent!

 

At Nassau, the best thing to do is go to Atlantis for the day with tickets from the ship's excursion for the water park and The Dig. Atlantis is quite awesome!

 

RCCL has tons of stuff to do on the Liberty such as mini golf, ice skating, pools, rock climbing walls, but the food will not be as good as on Eclipse. RCCL does cater to a younger crowd, but on a transatlantic, I'm not sure how many kids there will be unless your cruise is outside of school time. There is a place to sit and watch people try to do the Flowrider - which is interesting.

 

The cabins are larger than on the Eclipse - at least that is how they felt to me - I had a balcony cabin. RCCL's specialty restaurants are good and they have been implementing chef driven specialty restaurants on some of their ships - which makes a difference, IMO. Liberty is substantially larger than Eclipse. There is an adults only Solarium so you can get away from the kids onboard.

 

As far as Cococay goes, it's just a beach with watersport crafts you can rent and a place to eat - it's just a beach party day. You can read about it here:

http://www.cruisecheap.com/cruise-lines/royal-caribbean-coco-cay.html

 

In Puerto Rico ,there are many options including Biolumenescence Bay (great if there is a full moon!) or ziplining in the rainforest or going to Old San Juan.

 

I would describe life on board RCCL as energetic. On RCCL, for example, every night at dinner a waiter comes around to sell the "shot" of the night which is some concoction of various liquors. Lots of people buy them. You don't see that on Celebrity. On Celebrity it is more about relaxing and great service overall.

 

Anyway, I hope that I have helped you understand the differences. Ask me anything else you want.

[Tiggertastic]

Done both and from your description of what you like I'd do Eclipse

 

Yes the sail out of Barcelona is nicer than Southampton but this time is often spent exploring the ship

 

Late October is definitely warmer sail out of Barcelona

 

But the things on the ship are better on Celebrity than RCL

[Piggeldy]

@ Essiesmom, thank you - I have not yet posted my questions on the Celebrity and Royal boards... I didn't know if that was "acceptable", really.

 

@Tiggertastic, thank you very much for your advice as well!

 

@ SuiteTraveler - wow! Where to start? Thank you so, so much for your input! I guess I will print it out for DH... light bedtime reading ;)

 

I'm 50 and my husband and I were among the youngest 5% onboard during our Med cruise.

 

In November 2013 we will just have reached our mid 30s *cough*

Oh well. We did a Hurtigruten cruise for our honeymoon and must have been by far the youngest (aged 29). There was a solo traveler in his 40s, a couple in their late 40s/early 50s, everyone else must have been retired for decades. We still had quite a lot of fun, we don't travel to party.

 

We have decided never to put things we really want to do off for later. Life is too short. You never know if there is a later. Rather than ending up like my grandma (who always wanted to do a TA), my father in law (who always wanted to see the North Cape) or our bestman (who wanted to do and see so much) we'd rather be the youngest by 30 years than not know if later might be too late.

 

the overall food is better than RCCL. Considering your interests and how you like to read (like me) on a cruise, I think that the Eclipse would suit you better on a personal level.

 

The comment on the food alone will probably help us make up our minds. I can't imagine being stuck on a ship for seven sea days with food I might not like.

If it was just me, I'd be on Celebrity without a doubt - especially as I was born about an hour from where Eclipse was built, I would love to travel on a Meyer Werft ship. I am really more worried about my husband who likes to be kept busy (or will sleep through the day but he can sleep at home much cheaper)... movies, lectures, concerts, cooking demonstrations and glass show sound great though! I think I better keep him out of the casino as he loves to play Poker (bad player, unfortunately) and Black Jack. Maybe he will get a $20 allowance to lose on day 1 and leave it at that.

 

I don't drink a lot of wine, I get tipsy too easily. Maybe a glass with dinner every other day or so while on vacation. DH likes beer but shouldn't drink much for health reasons... we would probably pay for alcoholic drinks as we go. However, we both enjoy (nice) coffee, non-alcoholic cocktails and I especially enjoy flavoured waters.

 

In terms of cabins, I normally would have booked Aqua Class to eat at Blu, BUT our friends didn't, so we went to the MDR to be with them - and it was absolutely great!

 

That's good to hear! I think we'd enjoy Blu from what I have seen/read. I can take or leave the shower, tea would of course be convenient and spa/thermal suite would surely be a plus. I could live without the tea though. Size of cabin is not that important to us while we wouldn't want to travel without a balcony.

 

Can access to spa/themal suite be purchased if you don't stay in Aquaclass? Does the thermal suite really only have nine loungers? That seems to be a rather small number for a ship that size. Are any steam rooms or saunas available free of charge anywhere on the ship? I think I read something about saunas in the dressing rooms? We really enjoyed that on Hurtigruten.

 

I guess I will have to do some more research on the ports but scenic sounds perfect.

 

In Puerto Rico ,there are many options including Biolumenescence Bay (great if there is a full moon!) or ziplining in the rainforest or going to Old San Juan.

 

While ziplining in the rainforest sounds like something I'd love to try... I'd probably have to sleep on the couch after deciding to do that. My husband won't even let me use the teeny tiny zip line on the playground around the corner.

 

I just remembered that my former roommate spend a week in San Juan for work a couple of years ago. I guess I should give her a call.

 

I would describe life on board RCCL as energetic [...] On Celebrity it is more about relaxing and great service overall.

 

I feared that.

My husband would love "energetic" while I am all about "relaxing". Maybe I can slip in a couple of days of hiking in Norway earlier in the year to make him happy. Or hiking in Finland and kill two birds with one stone visiting our god daughter.

 

Anyway, I hope that I have helped you understand the differences. Ask me anything else you want.

 

Yes! A lot more than I could ever have hoped for even. Thank you so much for all the advice you offered! That will be a perfect starting point for more weekend discussions.