Comments on Celebrity compared to RCCL

[Emmski35]

Going on our first cruise with Celebrity, booked, paid for! I am just interested in people's comparisons between the two, food, accommodations, entertainment etc. Just generally interested, thank you. :)

[Emmski35]

Ggg

[Cruising89143]

I think of Celebrity as RCI for adults. Beautifully designed ships like RCI but less kids, food is slightly better in all areas, entertainment is good but not as good as RCI's Oasis class. Service on both lines is very good with a friendly crew. We now prefer X slightly over RCI.

[dln929]

If you do a search you'll find a heap of threads asking this very same question. Everyone wonders the same when they want to try out different lines. Here's one to get you started. Happy reading! http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1720721&highlight=celebrity+compared+to+rci

[miched]

Ot os the adult version between the two.

 

No rah rah rah or amusement park gimmicks.

 

Just a quiet relaxed enjoyable amosphere except during spring break for the Caribbean cruises when they bring on the entertainment to accomodate the younger crowd.

 

 

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[Emmski35]

Going on our first cruise with Celebrity, booked, paid for! I am just interested in people's comparisons between the two, food, accommodations, entertainment etc. Just generally interested, thank you. :)

 

Thank you for your replies! I figured it was just a bit of a better class of ship, we have cruised 8 times with RCCI and loved it, but we fancied a change and the good thing is we keep all our diamond member benefits, Elite here we come, cocktail hour, hic! Seriously though, we are super excited to explore a different ship and meet new people! Thanks again..:D

[Emmski35]

Oh and ps, thank you for being kind and respectful. I've only just joined after 9 years of cruising, I always hovered on this board. So I join and make a few random comments and BOOM, some really nasty, rude dare I say sarcastic comments back. Shocked me a bit, I'm a sensitive soul! I only came on to up my excitement as my cruise is only 14 days away, so anyway thanks again, rant over haha.. :o

[spearmint]

We have about 14 cruises on X and took one on RCCL in June. There are some differences but not a lot.

 

The ones that we noticed are:

 

(1) there are no sommeliers/wine stewards in the MDR on RCCL. The poor overworked assistant waiter (sometimes the waiter) brought us our wine...when we could get his attention. On our first X cruise, the wine steward told us that if we knew what wine we wanted for the next night, and pre-ordered it from him, the wine would be at our table when we went in to the dining room. For the most part, this has remained true.

 

(2) Also, while not exactly rude, some of the cafe staff were somewhat abrupt on occasion. I have never come across any member of the crews (from cleaners to captain) on X that were not pleasant and helpful.

 

(3) There were no pool butlers on board RCCL that I could see except the one or two who were behind the "desk" where one had to sign out towels for the pool area. Celebrity has myriad towels on deck for anyone (just please put them into the large hampers when done with them rather than leave them on loungers).

 

(4) With no pool butlers, there was no one to see about children (parents in attendance or not) running and jumping into the pools. The signs are quite adamant about that, and one or two kids can clear a pool of adults quite quickly.

 

I would sail RCCL again, I think, but for now, I will stay with Celebrity.

 

Bill

[Emmski35]

That's great Bill, thanks for your reply. My other half did some research before booking, he was getting a bit jaded with RCCL, specifically the food and wanted something different, so all the replies and other threads that have been pointed out to me are basically confirming that the food and general class is a bit better. Having said that I had no complaints with RCCL, but I am looking forward to something different! ;)

[miched]

We traveled one time on RCCL and had their select dining. We asked for and got a table for 2 the first night. We were seated in a row of small tables with a bench along one side and a chair on the other. There were about 6 tables so there were 6 couples. The waiter stood at about the middle of the 6 tables and addressed all of us as if it were a table for 12. Telling us about the menu, her name and helper. Problem was the Maitre d was talking over the PA and there was also a piano playing so we couldn't hear anything. When the waiter came to our table to take our order and I asked her to repeat what she said because I didn't hear her it was as if I asked for her home phone number, she got all upset and rather irate.

 

She then proceeded to treat the whole section as a table for 12, instead of seperate tables. After that experience welooked for some tables that were real tables for two and requested those. On all of the other cruise lines that we were on we have never been served like that.

 

 

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[TomTN]

Smoke, smoke, smoke, smoke.

 

Turned off by the rah rah on our only RCL cruise, but that is just me.

[Cruising89143]

You will enjoy Celebrity. Both are very good cruise lines and the differences are not the far apart. I do like the Concierge lounge on the RCI ships. Especially the ones on the Oasis class. We will continue to cruise both lines but as stated in a previous post, we prefer X just slightly due to less kids being on board.

[Emmski35]

Thank you! I am getting more and more excited now and won't keep quiet about it, much to the chagrin of my partner hahaha. No offence meant here, but he's 54 and I'm 37 and neither of us has or wants kids, so it is a bonus to us if there are fewer on board, I don't hate them or anything! That's normally why we cruise in September when the kids school holidays are over. I think my partner picked Celebrity for this reason also. :)

[tbugstwo]

We have 20 plus cruises on Celebrity, 2 on holland America, 2 on RCL, and one unfortunate Carnival cruise. We obviously love Celebrity. Also enjoyed Holland America, but Celebrity's perks keep us choosing Celerity vs. HAL, all other things being equal. As for the Celebrity vs. RCL comparison, IMHO the Celebrity product far exceeds the RCL product. This comparison is based on 5 cruises in the past year, 3 on Celebrity and 2 on RCL. While we had a good time on the RCL cruises, this was due to our traveling companions, rather than anything offered inboard the ships. IMO RCL ships are too garish and too loud with poor venue locations. Also the food was subpar w hen compared to that offered on Celebrity. Entertainment however was equal.

[October55]

I have been on a couple cruises on Royal Caribbean and a couple on Celebrity. I found service, food and entertainment to be pretty much the same. The difference for me has been the "Celebrity Life" events. Yes, I'm a bit of a geek, but I enjoy the guest speakers and the glass blowing demo far more than the hairy chest and belly flop contests!

[bjbear]

I am also a Celebrity fan, like someone else said, I IMHO it's a more adult, pampered line and love the food. That being said, I have to admit I haven't tried RCL only because of the size of the ships. I'm in the minority here, but just hate huge ships. A very personal preference I know but love Celebrity as far as service, staff, ambiance, and food.

[MissCruising1]

We have cruised a few times on RCL and once on Celebrity and instantly fell in love with both cruise lines... the day we stepped on board Celebrity Solstice we were absolutely blown away. To us it's a more adult experience. Also - probably better for couples. I agree with comments above about not as much rah rah etc.

 

Now you've got me dreaming about going on Celebrity again! :D

[spearmint]

I forgot one thing that we really noticed; it has been mentioned many times on these boards....there are ssoooooooooooooooo many announcements on RCCL during the day whereas there is one main announcement at noon by the captain on Celebrity. That's it. No one exhorts you to attend this or go hither and yon.

 

As for children, there were 503 on board our last cruise which was the RCCL. I must say that for the most part they were not a problem; as I said, it only takes a couple of unruly kids to empty a pool, no matter how many are on board. Our worst experience with loads of children was on Celebrity Millennium; we didn't know that spring break for the U.S.A. and, I think, Mexico was when we cruised. The ship seemed awash in the little buggers!:rolleyes: Having quit smoking, I went looking for somewhere on board to buy cigarettes halfway through the cruise.:eek: (I could not find any, thankfully.)

 

 

Bill

[OCruisers]

With what all the passengers on Celebrity Millie have just experienced and having been unhappy with the way it was handled (and with good reason) ... it might not be the best on times to ask this question. :rolleyes:

 

LuLu

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[Gig103]

With what all the passengers on Celebrity Millie have just experienced and having been unhappy with the way it was handled (and with good reason) ... it might not be the best on times to ask this question. :rolleyes:

 

LuLu

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C'mon, let's keep the Millie topic to the existing 30 threads! Host Andy did the same thing in the "next class of ship" thread. Life goes on, and so should CC.

[Emmski35]

Ahh, thanks for the replies! I am pretty excited right now! I think more so because its a new ship for us, we are so used to RCCL, so it's something new to explore! I plan on getting very fat from the delicious food! :D

[kevinyork]

Done two RC cruises and then our first X this July on Eclipse. Both are good but X had the edge for us. More relaxed atmosphere and better food for sure.

 

 

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[suekay]

We love Celebrity and love Royal,but am I the only person in the world who prefers Royal's food?:o The main restaurant menu, and certainly the wider selection of "non foreign" food in the buffet especially in the evening.