Celebrity vs Radiance or Rhapsody for Hawaii?

[adee74]

I'm cruising to Hawaii for the 1st time next year. I would love to cruise with Celebrity but I hear it's a little boring depending upon the person. I'm in my late 30's and my son is nearly an adult. We've cruised Carnival (older ships - hated it), RCCL Allure (absolutely loved it) and now I'm considering Solstice for Hawaii mostly because of the age of the ship and the price secondary. After saling on the Allure, I'd really love the newer ships and amenities. I'd love to sail with RCCL again but I'm concerned about these two older ships. I'm hearing both good and bad things about both RCCL ships and Celebrity Solstice i.e., RCCL old ships and Celebrity boring if not aged 50+. I'm in my late 30's and my traveling partner is my 20 yr old son. Which do you think we'd prefer? I'm not a drinker nor gambler, but I don't like to be in bed by 11:00pm either while on vacation. I really enjoy people watching, the late night shows, late spas and just meeting people. I absolutely loved the activities on Allure and I wish RCCL would change up the itinerary some for Allure/Oasis/FOS.

 

I also posted a similar question on the Celebrity forum just to get both aspects. Thanks in advance for any advise you give.

[cruisingrightalong]

Just my personal vote is RCCL...the Radiance would be my first vote....this has glass everywhere and the views are awesome...an easy ship to get around and find each other. With the mini golf you can even have a tournament with your son....keep score the whole trip and have a winner! There are so many public places to sit and watch people.

 

My next would be Rhapsody....same ideas except not as much glass.

 

Celebrity we have done one trip and sad to say back to RCCL except for an occasional Celebrity with friends. Wasn't as much fun.

 

Ask direct questions about things and promise you people will respond.

 

Lou

[TheCruisingQueen]

You should really try Celebrity, I was on the Celebrity Equinox (Exact replica sister ship of the Solstice) in March of this year and had a wonderful time. I was a little skeptical about going on Celebrity at first, as I heard it wasn't going to be fun and it was for old people, but actually, i found more adults in their 30-40's onboard than seniors, and there were couples in their 20's, but weren't disturbing to the rest of the people on the ship. there was only about 100 kids out of 2850 people on board, and they were never in the way, most of them were teenagers as well. If you go on the Solstice class ships I find that there would be more younger people aboard, then if you try the Century or Millennium class ships. The Celebrity Life activities by the pool or elsewhere on board the ship are fun to participate in, or even watching them is fun. You won't be in bed by 11 on Celebrity, there is still activities at night to have fun in or the theatre shows are good as well! You don't have to gamble or drink to have fun on the cruise! The spa was so nice and relaxing! You have lots of time to meet people on the ship, on Celebrity, I talked to the most people, usually at the oceanview cafe, sky observation lounge, at the pool and elsewhere! The solstice class are beautiful ships, and Celebrity offers unsurpassed service, and they have really nice restaurants and great food, so many activities on board that you will never be bored, and it is so relaxing to go on the ship, because no little kids run around to bother you, and it isn't loud and crowded. I would love to go to Hawaii, especially on a Celebrity ship. My second choice would be Radiance, seems like a nice ship with lots of "Allure" aspects. Rhapsody just seems to old and small, as I have been hearing from past passengers too. I'm planning to go on the Radiance in Dec 2013 for a South Pacific cruise. Whatever you choose, i'm sure you'll have a great time!

 

PS I had a wonderful time on the Allure as well! Celebrity & RCCL are my two favourite cruise lines!

RCCL can't change the itineraries for Oasis or Allure, as they are so big, most ports won't fit those mega ships.

 

TheCruisingQueen :)

 

Sailed:

NCL Jewel Nov/2009

NCL Epic Mar/2011

RCCL Allure of the seas Sept/2011

Celebrity Equinox Mar/2012

 

Coming up!:

Carnival Glory Aug/2012

Disney Fantasy Feb/2013

[SanDiegoHeather]

I'd personally pick by itinerary and price because I like both cruise lines a lot. I also cruise on Princess quite a bit.

 

The first time I went on Celebrity was 12 years ago with my husband when I was 27. It was a 14-night panama canal cruise and there was a wide variety of ages but it was a little "older" than normal. I think it was because it was such a long cruise because we haven't noticed it on the other Celebrity cruises we've been on. However, we did end up hanging out at the disco every night around midnight with the same group of people. It was really fun and we all became friends.

 

Since then, I've taken several Celebrity as well as Royal Caribbean cruises. I really like them both and would personally have a hard time picking.

 

As a ship, I like the Equinox better than the Radiannce but I think that is mostly because I like a little bigger ships. My husband and I have been crusing more frequently on Royal Caribbean (and Princess) lately but has partly been a fluke. Our next cruise is on the Allure in September, which we are taking because we liked the Oasis so much.

 

My husband and I took a 11-night Honolulu to Vancouver cruise on Celebrity Summit in 2002 and had a blast. What I liked best was the itinerary because we had 2-days in Lahaina and we stopped at both Kona and Hilo (as well as Kawaii). I notice that a lot of the Hawaii cruises have limited ports. On that particular cruise, the age mix was pretty similar to the 8 or so Royal Caribbean cruises we've taken.

 

While they do the same activities on both lines, I think it's a little more toned down on Celebrity. I also think the food and service is better on Celebrity (I've been on 6 Celebrity cruises).

 

Good luck!

[anderss22]

I'm cruising to Hawaii for the 1st time next year. I would love to cruise with Celebrity but I hear it's a little boring depending upon the person. I'm in my late 30's and my son is nearly an adult. We've cruised Carnival (older ships - hated it), RCCL Allure (absolutely loved it) and now I'm considering Solstice for Hawaii mostly because of the age of the ship and the price secondary. After saling on the Allure, I'd really love the newer ships and amenities. I'd love to sail with RCCL again but I'm concerned about these two older ships. I'm hearing both good and bad things about both RCCL ships and Celebrity Solstice i.e., RCCL old ships and Celebrity boring if not aged 50+. I'm in my late 30's and my traveling partner is my 20 yr old son. Which do you think we'd prefer? I'm not a drinker nor gambler, but I don't like to be in bed by 11:00pm either while on vacation. I really enjoy people watching, the late night shows, late spas and just meeting people. I absolutely loved the activities on Allure and I wish RCCL would change up the itinerary some for Allure/Oasis/FOS.

 

I also posted a similar question on the Celebrity forum just to get both aspects. Thanks in advance for any advise you give.

 

I would go for Radiance. I have been on both Rhapsody and Radiance and loved them both. I am in my mid 30's and found both ships to have a good mix of ages. They did not feel like floating nursing homes at all and were heaps of fun.:)

[DHADEN]

If you liked Allure, then you would probably like the bigger ship which is the Solstace, but it is also the more crowded ship (about 3000 pax)

 

When we were on the Solstice, it was not a "retirement home" atmosphere.

We saw many more younger groups (30's & 40's) than older groups.

 

That being said, we prefer the Radiance Class ships above ALL others. They have glass everywhere, and sailing Hawaii, I would like seeing out from every public venue. The Radiance is a large ship, but with fewer people (only 2400 pax). There are lots of activities and entertainment everywhere.

Also, try to get a balcony room on the Hump. Unless you are getting suite, the one we always get is 9078 or second choice 9092.

 

Hope This Helps.

[FLACRUISER99]

I would go for Radiance. I have been on both Rhapsody and Radiance and loved them both. I am in my mid 30's and found both ships to have a good mix of ages. They did not feel like floating nursing homes at all and were heaps of fun.:)

And you are saying that when you cruised on Celebrity Solstice it was a floating nursing home.

[Topo Gigio]

What the price for both cruises?

[anderss22]

And you are saying that when you cruised on Celebrity Solstice it was a floating nursing home.

 

Actually I have not been on Celebrity Solstice. I was just merely pointing out that there is a perception that some cruise lines/ships are like floating nursing homes and I wanted to point out that RCL in particular are not like that at all. They have a great mix of all ages from my experience and were alot of fun.

[Jayfo]

I am in my mid 30's and found both ships to have a good mix of ages. They did not feel like floating nursing homes at all and were heaps of fun.:)

 

This made me chuckle out loud!!! :D:D:D

 

I'm sure the flames will be coming atcha soon for that one but I know just as there are people who wouldn't want to be on a floating day care center, there are those that don't want to be on the floating nursing home either. That is the beauty of having so many choices of cruiselines/ships....there's something for everyone.

 

Thank you, OP, for asking the same thing I wondered about as well (which now peaked my interest into looking into both ships) :)

[anderss22]

This made me chuckle out loud!!! :D:D:D

 

I'm sure the flames will be coming atcha soon for that one but I know just as there are people who wouldn't want to be on a floating day care center, there are those that don't want to be on the floating nursing home either. That is the beauty of having so many choices of cruiselines/ships....there's something for everyone.

 

Thank you, OP, for asking the same thing I wondered about as well (which now peaked my interest into looking into both ships) :)

 

I am glad that I made somebody laugh! :D Its all light hearted stuff and hopefully people should take it in the context in which it was given. Its not meant to offend anyone. If it does then so be it, but Im not going to lose sleep over a comment I made in good humour.

 

I agree that there is so much choice out there these days and there is something for everyone on a cruise. People get out of it what they choose to!;)

[Janet524]

DH and I are fans of both RCCL and X and have cruised many times on both lines. We sailed to Hawaii on Radiance a few years ago and loved it. If I were to do it again, it would be on Radiance because of the ship design. There is alot of glass and the views out to the sea and the islands are beautiful. The X ships IMO do not have the open feel of the Radiance class ships. In the area of service I would give the nod to X, by a very small margin. Bottom line is you can't go wrong with either.