For Royal Caribbean cruisers thinking of Celebrity...

[hipster1]

The programs are reciprocal, so our Diamond status on RCI translated to Elite on Celebrity. We had 90 minutes of free internet [each!], a bag of free laundry [each!] plus expedited embarking and debarking.

 

Thanks! We make Diamond after our Hawaii cruise next month. Seems like Celebrity has some nice perks.

 

Well, with only 4 total cruises under our belts, we are pretty low on the totem pole, so the programs don't matter much to us!

 

Trust me, before you know it, you will be high on the totem pole:) As long as you are signed up for the programs, its nice to get some perks.

 

I also am very interested in trying the new S classes. I hear the mixology bar is very cool!

 

Ali

[mo&fran]

We sailed on Independence of the Seas last February, and Celebrity Silhouette this February. There is a full photo review of the Silhouette on the Celebrity forum, but thought I'd offer some comparisons for you Royal cruisers considering Celebrity!

 

Staterooms: We had an aft balcony (1200) on Independence that was HUGE, with an enormous balcony. We loved it! On Celebrity, the rooms with extra large balconies cost more...they have their cabin revenue all figured out. So you can find a bargain on Royal, but no so much on Celebrity. There is no way we could have brought our kids on Celebrity without two staterooms.

Winner: Royal

 

Service: Around both lines, all employees are friendly and provide great service.

Winner: tie

 

Buffet Food: There is a clear winner in this category. Celebrity has a much better selection overall, and things seemed fresher and hotter overall. Royal had awesome croissants in the morning. So did Celebrity, but they offered 3 different kinds!

Winner: Celebrity

 

Ice Cream: Okay, this may seem trivial, but it was important to my son. He LOVED the self serve ice cream on the pool deck. However, Celebrity has self serve ice cream (Mast Grill area) but they also have homemade hard scoop ice cream in the buffet. In six different flavors. With toppings! Sprinkles, M&Ms, peanut M&Ms, gummy bears, caramel sauce, chocolate sauce...

Winner: Celebrity, hands down!

 

Pizza: Granted, I'm from NY where we take pizza seriously. I found the pizza on Royal to be inedible. I mean, that stuff at Sorrentos was worse than frozen pizza. Somehow, on Celebrity, they've figured out how to make really good pizza! Not "good for a cruise ship", but actually good!

Winner: Celebrity

 

Entertainment: I'll be honest, I'm not a huge fan of cruise ship entertainment. I find it all a little hokey and amateur. I did enjoy the ice show, however, and Celebrity has nothing to compare to that!

Winner: Royal

 

Main Dining Room Experience: We had My Time Dining on Royal and the equivalent (Select dining) on Celebrity. We loved My Time Dining...show up whenever you want, and yet somehow seated without a wait in the same section with the same great waiter every night. Awesome! On Celebrity: not so awesome. We had to wait 1/2 hr to be seated, then they couldn't find our table, then we were finally seated at a private table that was so close to our neighbors it was like eating altogether. Celebrity, come on, you should be able to do better...after all, aren't you guys the same company?

Winner by a mile: Royal

 

Specialty Restaurants: We ate in Chops and found it to be good. Not great, not overwhelmingly wonderful, but good. Celebrity has a lot more variety (Qsine, Murano, Lawn Club) and we really enjoyed them. The service was amazing and the food was outstanding.

Winner: Celebrity

 

Lounges/Live Music: We enjoy trying out different lounges and listening to live music in the evenings before dinner. Hard to find live music on Royal before 930pm. On Celebrity, they had singers, jazz musician, etc.

Winner: Celebrity

 

Pool Band: It wasn't until day 5 of our cruise that I realized I hadn't yet heard any Bob Marley music. What?! Yup, Celebrity's poolside band plays top 40. Boo...bring on the island guys in their tropical shirts!

Winner: Royal

 

Chair Hogs: Sigh. They're everywhere.

Winner: Tie, marked with a towel, flip flop, and old paperback novel.

 

Promenade deck: Celebrity has blocked this awesome deck with lifeboats. And where's the shuffleboard?

Winner: Royal

 

Variety of bars: On Royal, we had our kids, so other than some beers in the pub, we didn't do much bar hopping. But Celebrity does this right: martini bar, molecular bar, Michael's Club for beer and Cellar Masters for wine. So many gorgeous, cozy nooks to settle in for a drink!

Winner: Celebrity

 

Overall ambiance: This is a tough one, since Silhouette is a much newer ship. It was absolutely beautiful and very reflective of a modern yet classic style.

Winner: Celebrity

 

Best for Kids: Well, our kids didn't use the Flowrider, Kids Club, or H2O zone. But they did enjoy ping pong and mini golf, and we climbed the rock wall once. Royal definitely has more bells and whistles for the kids, especially if they're under 12.

Winner: Royal

 

Casino: Non smoking on Celebrity. Yes! I would much rather lose money at the blackjack table while NOT inhaling a ton of smoke. Free drinks help.

Winner: Celebrity

 

Of course, so much is subjective, but just thought I'd throw my two cents out there! We loved the Celebrity cruise, especially the food and adult areas and would love to go again. That said, we were docked with Allure and I'm just dying to take the kids on that!

 

Happy travels everyone!

 

 

The one thing you miss is choices. We are Elite on x, so we have been there. But most of those cruises were TA, which we did for 4 years. Then we did a TA on Navigator and loved the ship and were impressed.

 

Then we decided to cruise the Caribbean and stayed with RC. I recently looked at the same region with X, and was disappointed.

They do not have anywhere near the number of ships or choices in that area to make me want to choose them again.

 

RC just gives us so many choices. While X may be a nice one time choice, and am sure Alaska , European and TA cruises on X are great, they just are not there for winter cruises.

[Guest maddycat]

I never understood why RCI doesn't have a martini bar like X does. I have never been able to get martinis on RCI that taste quite like they do on X and I not sure why.:confused:

 

The one thing that I don't appreciate about X is since we don't use the MDR any longer we don't take formal clothing with us. And on X the entire ship is designated for formal wear for the whole evening where on RCI it is more the dining room. Are they still doing that on X? It has been awhile since we sailed with them.

 

We were on the Silhouette a couple of years ago. It is more formal than RCI but there are still passengers who do not dress for formal night. A long sleeve dress shirt and dress slacks will be acceptable.

[peteukmcr]

Thanks for your comparison. We were discussing only the other day that we feel with what appears the constant eroding of 'inclusive' elements of a RCI cruise over the 10 years we've been cruising with that line, the nickel & diming which has definitely increased, it's about time we tried X. You've convinced me.

[Cruising89143]

The one thing you miss is choices. We are Elite on x, so we have been there. But most of those cruises were TA, which we did for 4 years. Then we did a TA on Navigator and loved the ship and were impressed.

 

Then we decided to cruise the Caribbean and stayed with RC. I recently looked at the same region with X, and was disappointed.

They do not have anywhere near the number of ships or choices in that area to make me want to choose them again.

 

RC just gives us so many choices. While X may be a nice one time choice, and am sure Alaska , European and TA cruises on X are great, they just are not there for winter cruises.

 

X currently has six ships in the Caribbean for the winter covering most of the same areas of RCI with four, five, seven, ten, eleven and fourteen night cruises. X just doesn't cruise to the Caribbean during the summer months.

Edited February 19, 2014 by cruisingator2

[micmacmissy]

The one thing you miss is choices. We are Elite on x, so we have been there. But most of those cruises were TA, which we did for 4 years. Then we did a TA on Navigator and loved the ship and were impressed.

 

Then we decided to cruise the Caribbean and stayed with RC. I recently looked at the same region with X, and was disappointed.

They do not have anywhere near the number of ships or choices in that area to make me want to choose them again.

 

RC just gives us so many choices. While X may be a nice one time choice, and am sure Alaska , European and TA cruises on X are great, they just are not there for winter cruises.

 

Good point for frequent cruisers. Unfortunately, my husband doesn't like to repeat vacations, so I consider myself lucky to have gone on a cruise 2 years in a row! (Should I consider divorce? ;))

[georgew4]

We've cruised several times on each of these lines and found that we enjoy X much better...but...living in TX and having RCI out of Galveston...and the lower cost...we prefer RCI. We found almost every aspect of cruising better on X...and prefer Con-Class that's a bit more $$. Driving to the departure port is HUGE rather than air fare!! Mrs. also likes the healthy/veggie food that's seems more available on X.

Princess now sails out of Houston...and we prefer RCI over Princess...but X over RCI.

If X sailed out of Houston or Galveston, we'd switch in a second!!

[Big_G]

Nice job. We've done Equinox and Reflection and I wholeheartedly agree. I would also add that we noticed the officers were more engaging than the officers on any Royal ship we've sailed. They seemed to be more app to stop and ask how your cruise was going. We're trying to split our time evenly between the two lines because they're different styles of cruising. I have to admit it gets a little quiet around the pool deck on sea days. No belly flop or sexiest man contests. Bring your reading material.

[LidoBoy]

We took our first X cruise this past January after a decade of RCL cruises. It was on the Reflection. I agree with most of your comparisons, but in the end I choose RCL over X for ship experience. I prefer the livelier atmosphere on RCL. Although I am not shutting out X completely. We will definately cruise on X again, but it will likely depend on the itinerary.

 

I agree and disagree regarding the buffet. I liked the 24 hour pasta, pizza and salads. I liked the breakfast, especially the omelette bar. But in the end I was disappointed in the evening atmosphere at the buffet. All the RCL ships I have been on seem to change the atmosphere in the evening and would offer some of the MDR food, but in a buffet style. Overall, I would give X the win regarding food.

 

For those who are considering X and shy away because of the so called layed back atmosphere with little to do late in the evening. On Reflection I felt there was plenty of partying going on. You could definately see a younger demographic at the Martini and Molecular bars late into the night.

 

I say, if you are considering it, do it with the expectations that it will be a different type of cruise. That is how we approached it and loved the X style of cruising as well.

 

The Diamond to Elite transfer what got us to try it. That is a nice perk.

[skibyrd]

We were on the Silhouette a couple of years ago. It is more formal than RCI but there are still passengers who do not dress for formal night. A long sleeve dress shirt and dress slacks will be acceptable.

 

On Reflection, the men in our group had shirt and ties, waiter offered and gave them jackets to drape over their arms - "it was formal night you know"!! Yup, more formal....

[sjb317]

On Reflection, the men in our group had shirt and ties, waiter offered and gave them jackets to drape over their arms - "it was formal night you know"!! Yup, more formal....

 

Funny, we did not find Celebrity to be anymore formal than Royal. Formal night on Century: my husband, wearing a tshirt & jeans, went to our table before dinner to tell our tablemates we would not be joining them as I was not feeling well. He planned on going to the buffet. The head waiter would not hear of it and insisted he stay, which he did. :D I made him wear khakis & long sleeved collared shirt to the specialty restaurant on Celebrity and he was way over dressed.

 

We really enjoyed our Celebrity cruise but I was surprised by how much alike Celebrity & Royal are. Each line does some things well but each could also take lessons from the other.

 

Sherri:)

[drarill]

Excellent comparison. Thanks for taking the time to share your experience with us. :):)

[sjh422]

We have cruised Celebrity S and M class ships 8 times in the past 5 years and have always enjoyed our cruises. However, we often found that there were not enough entertainment options

 

Last month we decided to take our daughter, son-in-law and grandson on the RCI Oasis of the Seas. We were all blown away by that experience. We loved the wide array of entertainment both day and night and loved the fact that there were so many shows which our whole family enjoyed together such as the ice show, the aqua show, game shows that were offered both night and day. We really loved the adult comedy shows and were delighted to have the same comedians do a family friendly show. b There were many quiet places to relax, but we were having too much fun to sit still.

 

RCI does a wonderful job with the amount of passengers and appeals to all age groups.

 

We do miss the ice cream bar and the specialty restaurants on Celebrity but in the future we will sail the Oasis and Quantum class ships.

[cruisetrail]

OP, thank you for comparison.

Yes, subjective at times, but I agree with you in most cases.

 

For us RCI Freedom class wins by a mile overall due to Celebrity design flaws and lack of amenities.

The food on Celebrity is better, but this difference does not overweigh the design flaws.

[bighairtexan]

Celebrity is usually my line of choice, but as mentioned above, RCI now is full time out of Galveston so I gave RCI a try again fairly recently and I was pleasantly surprised. I still prefer Celebrity and agree w/ pretty much everything the OP had to say. I've not had the unpleasant MDR experience on Celebrity, so I can't speak to that. I do "Select dining" about half the time and haven't experienced the negative issues that the OP had. Maybe that was a one off and the OP got unlucky.

 

Another couple of things that tip the scales for Celebrity for me. Their room service menu is much more extensive. You can get eggs other than scrambled, including omelets for bkfst and a variety of bkfst meats and French toast etc.

 

Also (and I do this at least once or twice on a longer cruise) you can order dinner off the Main Dining room menu to be delivered to your room. Great for the days that you just don't want to get out of shorts and a t-shirt but want to eat what the MDR is offering.

 

Additionally Celebrity has the Aqua Spa Cafe which is included and open to everyone. Lighter healthy and DELICIOUS fare for bkfst and lunch. Lastly, Celebrity has added SPE (lighter locally sourced and healthier recipes) in the MDR for all meals and pretty much for every course.

 

I wish RCI had a martini bar and a Molecular (mixology) bar like Celebrity has. But I wish Celebrity had a Schooner type bar w/ piano music like RCI has.

OTOH it's nice to change it up a bit which is why I'll cruise 4 or 5 times on Celebrity and then throw in a Royal Caribbean cruise just for something a bit different.

[notladjr]

My one Celebrity cruise was eight years ago in 2008 but my observations about the food compared to RCCL matched yours. I found the food to be better and have more variety on Celebrity. I also greatly enjoyed the small venue music like a string quartet playing in a lounge you passed on the way to dinner ,etc. Celebrity was a little more formal but I actually liked that.

 

I usually end up cruising RCCL due to the itinerary and pricing but would love to check out one of the newer Celebrity ships like the one you were on.

[micmacmissy]

OP, thank you for comparison.

Yes, subjective at times, but I agree with you in most cases.

 

For us RCI Freedom class wins by a mile overall due to Celebrity design flaws and lack of amenities.

The food on Celebrity is better, but this difference does not overweigh the design flaws.

 

In my review over on the Celebrity page I do talk about perceived "design flaws"...our cabin was one of the 2C cabins on deck 6 with the lifeboats outside. And guess what? We LOVED it!

 

We missed shuffleboard on the promenade deck and the lifeboats do block views, making that deck less pleasant to spend time on. Other than that, I wouldn't consider that ship's design to be flawed at all. It was beautiful and handled crowds wonderfully.

[KeywestK]

Thank you for taking the time to do such a thorough comparison of your X and RCI experiences. We are long-time RCI cruisers, and did our first X sailing last winter on Eclipse. I enjoyed so many things about X, but the one area that was a problem was their Select Dining, and it's a shame that one year later they still haven't worked out the kinks. I do plan to sail on X again in the future, and hope we'll have a better dining experience.

[micmacmissy]

Thank you for taking the time to do such a thorough comparison of your X and RCI experiences. We are long-time RCI cruisers, and did our first X sailing last winter on Eclipse. I enjoyed so many things about X, but the one area that was a problem was their Select Dining, and it's a shame that one year later they still haven't worked out the kinks. I do plan to sail on X again in the future, and hope we'll have a better dining experience.

 

You're right, and I don't quite understand why. Independence of the Seas had just as many passengers, and we had no problem. Tables were also not as smushed together. Being that they're owned by the same company, you'd think they'd have it figured out by now!

 

I will say, it did drive us more to the specialty restaurants. A conspiracy theorist would tell you that is part of the plan! ;)

[KeywestK]

You're right, and I don't quite understand why. Independence of the Seas had just as many passengers, and we had no problem. Tables were also not as smushed together. Being that they're owned by the same company, you'd think they'd have it figured out by now!

 

I will say, it did drive us more to the specialty restaurants. A conspiracy theorist would tell you that is part of the plan! ;)

 

LOL, I thought the same thing. We did have a lot of OBC for that sailing, so we did take advantage of specialty dining....which was outstanding! So maybe there is a method to their madness;):)

[micmacmissy]

LOL, I thought the same thing. We did have a lot of OBC for that sailing, so we did take advantage of specialty dining....which was outstanding! So maybe there is a method to their madness;):)

 

True! I did miss getting to know one set of waiters in particular. Last year on Indy my daughter loved our waiters (Norbert and Bogdan) so much that when we got home she named her new gerbils Norbert and Bogdan!

 

For our friends who went with us and never cruised before, they missed out on that traditional MDR experience, which was kind of a bummer.

[grandgeezer]

As you can see the opinions are all over the board, and they're all right. Everybody has their own expectations and what constitutes a great cruise. If you check all the cruise line boards, you'll find the same thing, some people love them, and some people hate them. If your interested in trying Celebrity, go for it and make up your own mind.

We prefer Celebrity, but we do other lines and have had only one bad experience.

 

This past October, we did a B2B2B on the Oasis for a week and the Allure for two weeks. The ships and the entertainment blew us away. That being said, we probably won't do them again. Why? It's geared for the younger crowd and those with kids. The ships atr just too big. We found it really crowded at times, and didn't enjoy the waits for elevators, or getting into the Windjammer or dining room for breakfast or lunch. Also we found it quite noisy at times. There were 6,000 people on each cruise so there are plenty of people who like this style. We are open to trying the smaller ships in the future so RCL will show up in our travels in the future.

[LetsGetWet!]

After doing research, I'm pretty sure that all pools on X close by 9PM. Can anyone confirm, is that also true for hot tubs - no where to go and relax and have a moonlit swim/soak late at night?