Dedicated RC cruiser tries Celebrity

[truffles2]

Enjoyed your review Carol. We were very pleased with our two transatlantics on Eclipse. That being said, I don't think the entertainment is quite as good as RCI (for my taste anyway and we, too, always attend the shows), food a little better (especially the bread pudding and sauce), passengers a bit more refined, but overall not quite as much "fun".

[Cruising89143]

 

Yes, there is a big difference between the S Class and M Class Oceanviews. S Class is more similar to WJ in that it is an island design with lots of choices. M Class is the old, line-up design and they have a lot less selection.

 

That would make a difference. I don't like those old style buffets at all.

[avalon007]

Thanks for posting your comparison.

 

We will have to consider another cruise line soon to get a different itinerary if we want to cruise more out of Sydney.

 

My main hesitance with celebrity has been the age demographic.

 

We are in our 40's.

 

It wouldn't have occurred to me except on our last cruise on Voyager to NZ, the combination of longer cruise (14 days), destination & time of year combined to in that instance have a demographic being mostly 60+.

 

I recall one morning in the Windjammer looking around & we were the only people I could see without white hair! I felt like I was visiting a retirement home.

 

Now don't get me wrong, there are plenty of older people whose company we enjoy, we just prefer to cruise with a mixed crowd & get away from too many mobility scooters & walking frames, as my 81 year old mum lives with us & we see enough of the aged related stuff every day.

 

We will have to deal with all that soon enough, but until then....

 

So, do you think Celebrity would be for us or we would find the general demographic just too old?

[PattyG12]

Thanks for sharing Carol ... I think Celebrity will be our next line too.

[hellsop]

Having done this exact run two years ago, for ... reasons... I have to support the culture and buffet differences pretty much 100%. I wasn't in Blu, but rather traditional seating MDR. That food was always excellently rendered and enjoyable, but somehow felt less interesting or varied than dining room on RCI ships. Like... The vegetarian option was always there, but it was pretty much going to be a pasta dish. It was never going to be cauliflower biryani, or twice-roasted potato with a stirfry spinach medley, and maybe once you might see a mushroom risotto instead. I'm not even a vegetarian and it made me feel disappointed.

 

The other culture difference that I didn't see mentioned is that after the shows and late seating dinner was done, there was maybe an hour or so before things started closing up. By 11:30 or minight, your choice was pretty much one night club or bed, and the nightclub option was pretty much a "make your own fun" because there would typically be three bartenders, a willing DJ, and about six customers, which is well below critical night club energies. Other bars, mostly closed because they didn't even have six customers.

 

Edit to add:

 

This is not a denigration at all. Other things being equal, I'd probably pick Celebrity for a long re-positioning cruise without many stops, because, wow, was it relaxing and well executed as a cruise. It's just not what I'd pick for my current profile of "I can afford 7, maybe 10 nights at a time, and I want to cram as much time with my friends in as I can, and they can afford even less time off so we probably have to squeeze it into 5 nights. They better be *long* ones."

[Tyler80]

Thanks for this review Merion_Mom! I've been wanting to try Celebrity for a while, and knowing it is related to RCL I know I will enjoy it but I also know there will be a different vibe to the cruise, which now looking forward to. Sounds like I need to book an AquaClass stateroom so I can eat in Blu? Thanks again!

[storm1of4]

Nice & honest review, Carol...I'm glad you at least tried another cruise line..why people don't even try another cruise line is still a mystery to me...DW & I have cruised on RCI ( 12X), Carnival ( 6x), NCL ( 5X), Celebrity, Princess, HAL, & Disney once each ( w/ Disney Dream 2nd time on DCL in Nov..)...it's so cool going to experience other cruise lines...I would have been very upset about the cabin A/C.. I like it cold when I sleep...it's funny- when I ask people if they ONLY go to one hotel chain ALWAYS, they say, "of course not"..when I ask if they ONLY go to one restaurant chain, they say, "Of course not"..when I ask if they ONLY go to one city/ location for a vacation, you hear, "of course not, we like to go to different places and see the world"......funny then, why do soooo many people tell you they haven't/ won't/ not interested in trying another cruise line?? Obviously being Diamond on RCI, we love Royal...BUT I can assure you, having experienced Disney's service & shows & Castaway Cay private island ( BEST IMO, next is Half Moon Cay from HAL) WAS TERRIFIC...the 2 toilets in your cabin are real nice, too...the escargots in Le Bistro on NCL & the Fruit Fondue dessert ( a bowl of pineapple is carved out and filled with fruits, then dipped in chocolate fondue..YUM!!) are to die for!! Or the crepes that HAL grills outside their Explorer's Lounge just before dinner..that was nice..yes, HAL & Celebrity ( maybe Princess as well) have a more "mature" clientel..Disney, Carnival & NCL are younger and RCI I feel is kinda in the middle..I love the Freedom & Oasis class ships- so much to do, but I'll be the first to say the MDR food for me has always been fair or just "OK". We love Chops, and 150 Central Park was fabulous, but so was Palo on Disney, Le Bistro, Teppanyaki ( Japanese steakhouse), & Cagney's on NCL...VARIETY is the spice of life..next up, Disney Dream in Nov., then Oasis next Oct .'14, then maybe either NCL Getaway ( RCI Diamond friend just got off new Breakaway & loved it!!) new Princess Regal or RCI Anthem Of Seas in 2015...Happy cruising!!

 

 

Well Big Al, good for You!

I guess I am one of those people..no mystery.......Just turned 50 and have been on 40 plus Royal Caribbean cruises (lost count), 2 Carnival and 1 Princess. I love RC product and Oasis class...We like the familiar. Not really interested in trying other lines.. But did book a Celebrity, Silhouette for January 2014. Being a long time RC cheer leader I am a bit excited but anxious about trying a different line. I was happy the OP posted her experience...

[printingchick]

Thanks, Merion_Mom!

 

Did you miss some of the more "cheezy" activities from RCL while on Celebrity? I nearly tried Celebrity for my upcoming cruise. I ended up sticking to RCL for two reasons. (1) I had a lot of credit card points which made the RCL cruise considerably less expensive for me. (2) I REALLY like the Quest, the 70s party, the sexy legs competition and the belly flop contest and I think I'd miss them.

 

Your thoughts?

[Dall]

Thanks for that review. I took lots of notes.:p

[39august]

Great review! So thorough. Other than the MDR, Blu and the buffet, was there any other place to eat that was not an extra fee? Other than room service, of course.

[njmomof2]

Carol, you sailed with my sister last week. Did you go to the M&M? She was probably there. She had a lovely time. She also prefers aqua class but had one of those new ocean view cabins and decided after the first day that she liked it a lot. Said it was really hot in Bermuda.

[Bruin Steve]

Carol,

Glad to hear you enjoyed your cruise on the Summit...

 

Just to add some personal notes here:

I have cruised quite a bit--7 different cruise lines, around 35 cruises and counting...

I am "Diamond" on Royal Caribbean...and, independently, "Elite" on Celebrity...

I love both lines--for different reasons.

 

If I was going with kids, Royal Caribbean would be my choice hands down. Where RC wins is in the amenities--but, I am getting a bit old for surfing, ice skating and rock climbing. Also, I don't think anyone matches the entertainment--and the variety of entertainment--on the bigger newer RC ships...

 

OTOH, for a more "adult" cruise, I think Celebrity is miles ahead of every other "big ship" cruise line...First thing to note is the space-per-passenger ratios...basically, Celebrity ships have more space and fewer passengers...so they feel very uncrowded...Getting seats for shows or in lounges or on the pool deck is easy. IMHO, the food is better (of course, that is a subjective area) and the service is superior.

 

I especially love Celebrity for Europe cruises...Port intensive...the relaxation and spaciousness become more valuable than the shipboard activities. The service is incredible, lots of little "extras"--nice when getting back "home" from long days of touring in port.

 

I love the M-Class ships, but have come to love the newer S-Class even more. I do not eat at the buffet much, but, on the S-class, the buffet is pretty impressive. On itineraries I've been on in Europe with late days in port, they've actually extended the buffet dinner hours...and I have come back to the ship late and have had some pretty good sushi dinners in the buffet...

 

We have, of late, always taken the "Select" (anytime) dining in the MDR and have always been seated very quickly...and the MDR on Celebrity is a pretty nice experience. Our recently completed Silhouette cruise (we got home about a week ago), we ate one night in Qsine--a completely unexpected wonderful evening--very hard to describe--but, gather a small group--like 3 or four couples--and try it...

 

Nowadays, when we look to book a cruise, we always look first to Celebrity...which doesn't necessarily keep us off of Royal Caribbean either...Our next cruise is on Allure...Our last cruise (Mediterranean) was on Celebrity Silhouette...The cruise before that (Caribbean) was on Mariner of the Seas...Prior to that (Iceland/Norway) we were on Celebrity Eclipse...

 

We'll probably repeat that pattern often...

[gohunter]

Merion Mom, thanks for the balanced and well written review.

 

We've never been on RCI, having deliberately avoided it because of the comments about rowdy kids running around, both from friends who have been there and forum reviews here and elsewhere. My wife wanted to go on one to try it, but after speaking to a few people who'd been, she changed her mind. As we are late 50's early 60's we try to avoid loads of kids. Been there, done that, got the t-shirt, now ours are adults. We're not old duffers yet, we just appreciate a bit more peace and quiet. :D

 

Been with Celebrity and yes the entertainment is first class. The only other ship we've known to be of a similar standard was the Costa Victoria in 2007 where they did absolutely superb renditions of shows such as "Phantom of the Opera". You are like us, we go to all the shows, even the repeats. On our last cruise we even went to the early and late show on one night (Beatles tribute band), because it was just SO good and we saw plenty of others coming back for a second helping.

 

We also had superb food on Celebrity and never really found anything to complain about. Our table waiter in the main restaurant was superb as was the Maitre D.

 

Glad you enjoyed it. We're not loyal to any particular line. They all have their good points and all have their not so good points, some more than others, so we like to give them all a try unless we hear some stuff that doesn't sound to our liking. We prefer the medium sized (~2000 passenger) ships as our experience has shown that the service is much better than on the larger 3500+ ones, as is the embarkation/disembarkation process at every port!

[JMG]

Great review of the Summit and comparison to RCI. We are booked for the repositioning cruise on the Summit in October. We booked during the 123 Go Promotion so we selected the Drink package which beats a balcony discount by a mile!

We are looking forward to the cruise and now I am even more excited about going on the Summit!

Many thanks!

[MAHA]

Merion Mom,

 

Thanks for the review from someone who has sailed Royal a lot. We are trying to decide between Rhapsody of the Seas and Solstice for a Hawaii cruise to Vancouver in Spring of 2015. From what I am hearing about the Solstice class of ships, I think we are leaning towards giving Celebrity another try. Our first and only Celebrity cruise was on Galaxy in 2003 for an 11 night Eastern Caribbean cruise with our 3 sons. We tried Royal after that and haven't given Celebrity another try. Does anyone know if a 30 yo and 24 yo would be bored with the Celebrity Hawaii cruise - there are 5 sea days after Hawaii. Two of our sons are wanting to go, but I am hesitant about Celebrity for them.

 

Mary Anne

[impatientlywaiting]

Thanks for the comparison of RCCL and Celebrity. I had always figured that once we made Diamond, we'd try Celebrity. After your review, I'm not so sure now. We only eat in the Windjammer and if the choices are far less on Celebrity, that may not bode well for our decision to try Celebrity. :(

[Sandy1975]

I appreciate the review Carol. One question - did you compare the price of a similar cruise on Explorer? I'm not even sure Explorer does the same length of cruise to Bermuda. Just curious if there's a significant price difference.

 

I can answer this one! We were on the Summit in June and liked Bermuda so much that were looking to book 1 last trip to Bermuda in 2013. We were looking at Celebrity again but the prices seem a bit high than what we wanted. Then my husband looked at both GOS and EOS and we were surprised to see that they were cheaper. There was in avg a difference of about 200-300 / person in the pricing between Summit and Explorer of the Seas. Since there weren't any additional perks booking with Celebrity, we decided for the cheaper cruise. We are hoping to have a similar experience on EOS!

[Clarea]

Thanks for the comparison of RCCL and Celebrity. I had always figured that once we made Diamond, we'd try Celebrity. After your review, I'm not so sure now. We only eat in the Windjammer and if the choices are far less on Celebrity, that may not bode well for our decision to try Celebrity. :(

As another poster mentioned, there is a significant difference between the buffet on Millenium class ships (which this review covered) vs Solstice class ships.

[xpcdoojk]

Great review, MM!

 

We loved Celebrity when we sailed them a long time ago, now. I have become a flowrider lover, so I pretty locked into RCI and the big ships. That said we are doing a river cruise in the fall of 2014. That may be a challenge!

 

jc

[Scotty G]

As another poster mentioned, there is a significant difference between the buffet on Millenium class ships (which this review covered) vs Solstice class ships.

 

Agree!!! We loved our cruises on Equinox and will be doing more in the future.

[Onessa]

As another poster mentioned, there is a significant difference between the buffet on Millenium class ships (which this review covered) vs Solstice class ships.

Also agreed - we are dedicated RCCI cruisers but love Celebrity Solstice particularly their buffet and other alternate dining.

 

In general the X staff is a bit more reserved, but other than that I enjoy both lines

[PH8]

Super review.........Like you,I have "ventured" out a bit....I really like Celebrity and going on my 3rd one in Feb.......it's nice to try other options..

[truffles2]

Thanks for the comparison of RCCL and Celebrity. I had always figured that once we made Diamond, we'd try Celebrity. After your review, I'm not so sure now. We only eat in the Windjammer and if the choices are far less on Celebrity, that may not bode well for our decision to try Celebrity. :(

 

It must depend on the ship. The Windjammer equivalent on Eclipse was very good! For example, for breakfast they offered about a half dozen varieties of eggs benedict (mexican, italian, etc) and a large home-made ice cream station for lunch. Very nice.

[vermontvoyager]

Thanks for the great review of your Celebrity cruise Carol. :)

I am another long time RCI cruiser that seriously would like to give Celebrity a try just to try something different for a change.

I have been thinking about giving Princess a try also for the different itineraries they offer.

I am tired of the same old RCI itineraries.:eek:

[Guest maddycat]

Thanks for the review. We sail both RCI and Celebrity. What we like most about Celebrity is their very restricted smoking policy. No smoking on balconies or in the casino. We also like the lack of announcements on Celebrity. We dislike those art auction and bingo announcements on RCI. We prefer the less reserved atmosphere on RCI, much friendlier crew. We also agree that the Windjammer is much better that the buffet on Celebrity........and that's comparing the buffet on the Explorer to the buffets on the Summit and the Silhouette. We also miss having a live band playing at the pool when sailing on Celebrity.