? Celebrity or Royal for Europe/Med cruise?

[SPacificbound]

As soon as schedules are out for Fall 2015 I want to book either a b2b or b2b2b Europe/Med. If you have cruised Europe/Med on both cruise lines which did you like best and why.

 

Thank you for any info you can give. :)

 

I am also posting this on RCCL forum.

[mcrcruiser]

As soon as schedules are out for Fall 2015 I want to book either a b2b or b2b2b Europe/Med. If you have cruised Europe/Med on both cruise lines which did you like best and why.

 

Thank you for any info you can give. :)

 

I am also posting this on RCCL forum.

 

If you have children going then we would recommend RCCL ships ,for their kid friendly activities

 

Now assuming there are no children with you Celebrity has imo the better service ,quality of food ,the better presentation , better entertainment ,dancing ,embarkation & debarkation procedures ie .Celebrity demographics are 40 to 80 & not many children as would be on a RCCL ship .;)

 

Additionally depending on your cruise level with Celebrity ,their cruise perks are better than RCCL :D

 

Finally the Soltice class ships are the newest ships vs the current RCCL ships sailing the TA & med cruises with the newest updates & ship board amenities:D

[JLSPOOL]

IMHO you need to book a balcony cabin to get the most from an S-Class ship. The lounge areas indoors are a bit short on open window viewing spaces.

 

I've done the Med cruise on Princess, RCL, Millennium and S-Class. I book depending on the itinerary. Now prefer S-Class for no-smoking balcony and newer ships.

 

jls

[Dave85]

I can't really tell you what you should do but I'll tell you what we did:

 

We went by itinerary first, with the stipulation that we'd either do an S Class ship or an RCI Radiance Class ship. I'd done 2 previous Radiance Class cruises, including one in Europe, so I knew that they're beautiful ships and a great choice for European cruising.

 

Ultimately, Silhouette had the best itinerary for what we wanted -- a true long Eastern Med / Greek Isles itinerary. Serenade's itinerary wasn't quite as focused on the Greek Isles. We'll see next month if I made the right choice for our honeymoon!

 

So, while it's up to you whether ship or itinerary is more important, European cruises are itinerary focused so we went by itinerary first.

[SPacificbound]

Sorry I should have included more info. :)

 

No kids, we are well into retirement age. Itinerary is the most important and that is actually what caused me to be asking experienced cruisers for opinions. Definitely a balcony also. :)

[tactic]

We have sailed lots of different lines in Europe, the itinerary is always the most important. The European cruises tend to be port intensive anyway. Plan where you are wanting to visit and check the times in port. Eg some itineraries give an overnight in Venice whilst others are 9am to 5pm - depends what you are wanting. We have done a few Baltic cruises and one of the celebrity cruises gave us an overnight in Stockholm which was great whilst the royal gave us 2 different ports in Sweden. Keep in mind last week may, last week July and all August and last week October is generally speaking our school holiday period in the UK, therefore which ever line you cruise you will encounter lots of children., even celebrity. (We did a cruise on the constellation a few years ago out of Barcelona and the demographics were not the usual celebrity, it was mostly middle aged couples with children and teenagers.) another consideration for us is the destination and time of year, eg in August Athens and Istanbul etc can be VERY hot, whereas late spring /early autumn can be much more pleasant for sightseeing etc.... Hope this helps;)

[SPacificbound]

Thank you for the info.

[TheDunphys]

Hi, we've done med cruises with both rcl and celebrity, always during june july period. The solstice ships are stunning though lack the larger open areas of royal ships. Celeb have less water views throughout public areas. Food on both lines is roughly the same. Celeb has superior buffet but rcl offer more for vegetarians in mdr. Service on both is superb, a little more stiff on celebrity ie there is a little more humour thrown in with rcl. Entertainment is similar as far as shows are concerned but rcl offer way more opportunities to get involved with great dance parties, trivia that's well attended (on celeb often it's a no show), and game shows that are a bit more fun. The pool decks on solstice ships beat rcl ships hands down. Love the cold towels whenever you come back to the ship too. Formal nights tend to be the same with just as many well dressed people on both lines with the majority of mdr guests following the formal suggestion. All in all we love both lines for different reasons. The only cruise we've not particularly enjoyed was on independence out of Southampton. It was like a different cruiseline entirely from other rcl cruises we'd done - huge elderly demographic, so many walkers and scooters, crowded public areas and long queues for everything. Eastern med cruises on vision and radiance class rcl ships were very different however. If you have kids they'll loved other line. Rcl does cater more though to you her guests. Whichever you decide you'll have a fabulous cruise.

[gubby]

Have done both in the Med. Loved both in the Med. As others here have mentioned, with us it came down to itinerary and price. You have to decide which is more important to you. They are both excellent in terms of service, but food on X is a little better, IMHO. I would travel on either line again and in fact we will be on X in October and then switch to Princess for a B2B for a further 24 days.

[LEtue]

I would also recommend that you book based on itinerary and price.

 

The ship is just a hotel to me when cruising the Med. With long days in port we didn't partake in much after dinner so depending on what your port plans are - you may not need much else either - other than a comfortable stateroom and a good meal at the end of the day :) And, that leaves more money for excursions or private tours (which I highly recommend)! I always book inside cabins here too because I'm just not on the ship that long and I can get my views on deck ;)

[celebrity]

We were torn as well with choosing which cruise line to select for our upcoming Med cruise. Ultimately, Equinox won out as the itinerary had the sea days spaced apart to allow for a bit of a break on a port intensive itinerary.

[BarbaraM]

I'd also vote for itinerary and price. We don't worry about number of sea days, if we feel we need a "sea" day, we just stay on board, enjoying the views and the ship. IMO, royal Caribbean does my time dining better. Not enough difference between the two otherwise. Both can have crowded buffet lines, overpriced excursions,sales pitches, overpriced shops,,as well as great service, entertainment options, nice public spaces. Celebrity does throw in some classier touches, but the main products are similar.

 

 

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[SPacificbound]

I appreciate all the responses. :)

[JLSPOOL]

I recommend a b2b that overnights in Venice. Better yet, overnight in Venice and Istanbul.

 

Rhodes, Corfu, Dubrovnik, Corsica, Mykonos, Naples, Barcelona are favorites for us. Barcelona is our choice for embarkation/disembarkation.

 

The Voyager and Radiance class (RCCL) are my preference over a Celebrity ship for the public areas, promenade and Viking Crown Lounge.

 

We board a Freedom Class ship soon to compare with Celebrity's S-Class ships which don't have a proper promenade and often use the front forward Observation Lounge for Private Functions.

 

Do let us know which ships and itineraries you're considering.

 

jls

[SPacificbound]

Thanks so much for the info! :)

 

As soon as Royal and Celebrity bring out the 2015 schedule I will jump on it.:D