Help, Loyal to Royal thinking about X

[plowboy920]

We are going to be Diamond on RCL in 3 weeks, have done all Voyager and Radiance Class ships. Looking at a Celebrity cruise on the Century, it's smaller than any Royal ship. This is all about time & itenerary, DW's Birthday and our 25th Anneversary, will we be disapointed with the Century?:confused::D

[mlmbar]

In what months does Celebrity sail the Caribbean?

[Cruising89143]

I suggest trying it. We are cruising X for the first one in March. No way to know unless you try it.

[plowboy920]

In what months does Celebrity sail the Caribbean?

 

It is not a Carribean Itenerary

[bellarosa]

We are going to be Diamond on RCL in 3 weeks, have done all Voyager and Radiance Class ships. Looking at a Celebrity cruise on the Century, it's smaller than any Royal ship. This is all about time & itenerary, DW's Birthday and our 25th Anneversary, will we be disapointed with the Century?:confused::D

 

 

we did celebrity in Jan and food was substandard, service was okay, not the cruise we expected what so ever. We did find out that celebrity lowered there food budget in the time we used them, we also got ill from the free water and lemonade ( something was in it). We will not sail celebrity again as we were very dissapointed. We are very excited for our allure of the seas cruise in feb.. cant wait

[cruisnseas]

I did an 8 night wine cruise from San Diego to Vancouver on Century twoish years ago. I loved it. She is a small ship but the staff was amazing and the ship was beautiful.

 

Be sure to check out Hemispheres on deck 12 for a quiet place to sit and read while watching the view while the ship is at sea during the day.

[marciab]

we did celebrity in Jan and food was substandard, service was okay, not the cruise we expected what so ever. /QUOTE]

 

Well I have the the exact opposite opinion of bellarosa, we just got off the Allure(12/9) and sailed on the Eclipse Jan 12.. and I found the food on Celebrity was FAR superior than the Allure, at least in both of their 'included' options. As far as pay options, they were both equal, but different. We LOVED Quisine on Eclipse, and thought all of the specialty restaurants except Samba were excellent on the Allure as well.

[NovCruisin]

We did a Celebrity in November (1st time) and we have done RC twice. We had the expectation that Celebrity would be leaps and bounds better...but it was about equal in our opinion.

 

Food was better on RC, service better on RC, ship better on Celebrity, loved the fact that there were less kids on Celebrity and loved the alcohol packages on Celebrity.

 

However, since we are in Texas we have to fly for Celebrity but only drive for RC...so RC will win until Celebrity comes to Galveston

[rlpolobear9]

You do know celebrity is part of Royal carribbean right

[Silvery Seas Cruiser]

We like both Celebrity and Royal Caribbean. My most favorite ship is Allure, but what I like about Celebrity is their smoking policy. Another thing I like is that whatever your Crown and Anchor level is on Royal, you will have the equivalent level on Celebrity.

 

Century is a much smaller ship than you may be used to on Royal. If you prefer larger ships, that may be an issue. But if the itinerary is important, you amy need to be willing to take a chance on a smaller and older ship.

[sjb317]

We loved our cruise on Century in October, this was our first Celebrity cruise after 27 on Royal. Century is a beautiful ship, the staff was great and we enjoyed most of the food although we did not find it to be a step above Royal as we have been told so many times throughout the years. Food was very similar, some things were better on Celebrity, some better on Royal.

 

Sherri:)

[OTownNick]

We went not the Summit and it was one of the top 2 cruises we have been on. Service, food, the CL.,,, all around an awesome experience. It's a different kind of cruise than RCL. Not many kids or wild excitement or late nights, but it was somehow more romantic.

 

Was it "better" than an RCL cruise? In some ways yes, but it depends on what you are looking for. It's a little more upscale and elegant in my opinion. There are different food options they don't serve on RCL. The service was excellent, but we've had as good on some RCL cruises in that department.

[Big_G]

We sailed Equinox and loved it. We found the food and service comparable to RCI with a slight edge to Celebrity. We saw more interaction between officers and guest then we've ever seen with RCI. It is a different cruising experience. We found it more laid back and slightly more formal but not by much. It was such an excellent change of pace, we booked the Reflection. We still enjoy Royal.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[NJGRANNY]

We love Celebrity. And, if you're top tier, the perks are better.

[Scotty G]

We have cruised on Celebrity ships with two on Equinox this year. The standards seem a little higher than RCL and the service and food are excellent across the board. I would assume that cruising on Century would be no different than cruising on an older RCL ship like Monarch which we love!

 

Go for it!!!

 

Register with the Captain's Club after you get your Diamond level and you will receive Elite level benefits on Celebrity.:D:D

[Kellie Poodle]

We sailed the 15 day San Diego to Hawaii and back to San Diego cruise on Celebrity Century in April, 2012.

 

The ship is small and intimate. More like the size of the Vision class. It is a pretty ship, but it's not a very new ship. For the most part, it was in good repair and very clean and shining. The things that needed attention were almost always upholstery issues. We like smaller ships, so this was not a problem for us.

 

We sailed in a Sky Suite on deck 12 and the cabin was huge and lovely though we found we are just not "butler people" and could have done well without one. We were aft and there was a good deal of soot on our balcony on some days, but I loved that huge balcony. There was a whole lot of creaking in the cabin at night.

 

 

The food in the MDR was good, not great. We had sailed on Infinity in January 2012, just a few months earlier with the same menu and thought Infinity's kitchen did a much better job on the same dishes.

 

On a cruise with a lot of sea days, I missed the Tutti salad bar in the MDR that RCI has on sea days. I did not find the food at breakfast or lunch to be very tempting. The buffet on Celebrity, especially for lunch, is nowhere near as good as the Royal Caribbean ships. The menu never changes. It's boring. My favorite lunch was the hot dog at the grill near the pool. My favorite breakfast was a bowl of oatmeal at the buffet because it was always served cold in the MDR. The buffet has waffles, which I don't care for. They also have the driest most awful pastries on the high seas. The "famous" sticky buns were as dry as dust under the sugary icing. It was also very hard to get real Swiss cheese in an omelet. I never had that problem on an RCI ship, but have had it several times on Celebrity.

 

Dinner selections were better, with more options, on Celebrity than on Royal for the most part. The Sommaliers on Celebrity are wonderful. Wish they still had them on Royal. Ours on Century was fabulous. One night she suggested a wine that I did not like at all and she took it back, brought us something else and did not charge for it. We liked her so much that we gave her an extra gratuity at the end of the cruise. the waiter we had did an excellent job but had no personality. The assistant waiter, I would have taken home with me. :)

 

The Murano's restaurant served some of the food with foam on it. While this might be thought of as culinary chic, it was like having a pile of spit on my food. It took 3.5 hours for six of us to complete a meal there. The food (without the foam) was good, the service was slow.

 

If you are into trivia, Celebrity does it better than Royal. The CD staff has laptops and they project the questions on a screen. Never a problem understanding accented English. Prizes aren't any better though.

 

We found plenty to do on the ship even with all the sea days. There was a Hawaiian ambassador on board and she taught hula lessons and lei making. We had a fabulous time with her. The CD was great, too.

 

Tendering was not good at all. I've tendered from RCI ships in rough water with less problems than on Century with calmer water. I just can't understand why Century can't get it right. You will get priority tender tickets when you are Elite.

 

The shows were okay, but it's not fair to comment about shows as the itinerary reflects the talent, especially with a long ocean crossing. Some of the talent was awesome. The production shows were great, but I'm a sucker for production shows. :)

 

The smoking, or shall I say non-smoking policy on Celebrity is great. It's such a pleasure to walk through the casino without holding my breath. I even made a few donations in the casino on Century. I never go to the casino on Royal ships. Not even on formal nights when some of them ban smoking in the casino.

 

You will love the Elite perks. Don't forget to call Celebrity Captains Club when you get your Diamond status on Royal. It's not automatic. You have to call and get a number. Then you need to let them know to put it on your reservation. I think the new Diamond Lounge offerings might be a little nicer than the Elite offerings as far as snacks, but they both are the same for drinks. There are more internet minutes and free laundry with Elite. You can't combine the internet minutes, however, like you can on Royal. You need to set up two separate accounts, bit of a pain.

 

You should find the crew to be excellent, but I've found them to be great on either line as the corporate culture is the same. Officers are more present on Celebrity ships, I think, and they are very friendly. There is a "Dancing With The Stripes" event where they pair a guest with an officer. Lots of fun. There might be a couple of guest vs. officers events, too. We don't go to them, so I forget.

 

I think you will enjoy Century. I did. WTH, a cruise is a cruise. Just getting out there on the ocean and not having to do laundry, plan and cook meals and make the bed is better than being home.

 

There are things I like better on Royal than I do on Celebrity and vice versa. We sail both lines for itinerary.

 

Somewhere on the Cruise Critic member cruise review boards there is my review of our Century voyage. Do a search on my screen name and it should pop up.

 

Hope you have a wonderful sailing.

[baldercash]

Kellie excellent post I may differ on a few of your comments but I totally agree with your perception of the two lines.

[plowboy920]

Thanks for all the great Info!:D

[Guest maddycat]

There are more internet minutes and free laundry with Elite. You can't combine the internet minutes, however, like you can on Royal. You need to set up two separate accounts, bit of a pain.

 

Our last Celebrity sailing was on the Silhouette 11/2012. We were able to combine our internet minutes. A change in policy? Someone made a mistake?

[Kellie Poodle]

Our last Celebrity sailing was on the Silhouette 11/2012. We were able to combine our internet minutes. A change in policy? Someone made a mistake?

 

Don't know. My last sailing was in April and we had to have two accounts and open them only in the Apple place which, having limited hours, was a real pain.

[granddutchess]

We are loyal RCCL cruisers as well. We tried X this past June for our Alaskan cruise. It was the best cruise we ever did. I would say go for it. You will not be disappointed. We had an Aqua class cabin which was amazing.

[TexCruise371]

Go for it! We loved our cruise on X. Going again in a few weeks!:D

[AlanAllyn]

We are diamond on RCI, having sailed on their largest and smaller ships. Last month, we sailed on the Century to Hawaii. It was a great cruise. The ship is in fine condition; the food was very good; the service was outstanding. There was plenty to do on the

[rubrrick]

We have sailed both on X and RCCL. I think that Kellie Poodle has some very valid points, especially about the food. We were just off of the Infinity just over a month ago, and the food in the cafeteria was the same, every day, and sub par to Royal Caribbean.

 

Unlike Kellie, we like and use our butler. We have cruised in Royal Suites, and one time in a Sky Suite. I realize that how we cruise is not the norm, but I will say that I expect some things that have gone downhill under the old president will come back to life under the watchful eye of Michael Bailey, Celebrity's new President.

 

Rick

[Kartgv]

It sounds like you're specifically interested in the Century. Our last cruise was on the Century, from Vancouver to San Diego in September. Prior to that, we had 3 cruises on the Radiance (Mexico 2010, and B2B's around Australia and New Zealand in Feb/Mar. 2012), with a New England Explorer cruise in between. We loved the itinerary of the Century cruise and enjoyed ourselves, but were somewhat disappointed in the ship. It's definitely smaller than the Radiance - the size would have been fine, but we didn't like the layout as well. For example - you can't get to Guest Services, which is in a smaller version of the Centrum, without going up and down stairs. We weren't impressed by our Century Concierge cabin - dated orange & red décor, very poor storage (a useless tiny night stand with only a shelf, no drawers) and lighting - only an overhead light at the vanity. Meals in the dining room (we had Select Dining) were generally very good, pretty comparable to RCI. We hated the buffet - compared to RCI Windjammer, we thought Century had very mediocre food, much more limited selection, and was very poorly set up. Most of the staff was great, though our cabin attendant was just 'adequate'. Hemispheres Lounge was lovely and a great place for a quiet retreat, but pretty similar to the Viking Crown on the Radiance. We didn't do many shows on any of the cruises, so can't make a fair comparison.

 

On the plus side, we love the Celebrity smoking policy. We also enjoyed some nice quiet music in the Rendezvous Lounge several times, and liked Celebrity's policy of allowing you to bring 2 bottles of wine on board (RCI has now switched to the same policy). Century also allowed us to buy a bottle of wine in a bar and have the bartender save any unused portion for the next night, just as they do in the dining room. The elevators were better on the Century - never had a significant wait like we frequently did on the Radiance. Embarkation, debarkation, and the tenders were all handled efficiently. We had no problem with the 2 separate free internet minutes packages - setting them up took just a few minutes, and when the first one was done, we simply started using the next one.

 

Itinerary is always the most important factor for us in choosing a cruise, so we'd sail on Celebrity again for the right itinerary, but it would have to be an extra special itinerary for us to choose the Century again.