Concerns

[neeko]

My wife and I have cruised with Celebrity 15 times and HAL twice. We have decided to give RCCL a try as they offer a great Pacific Coast cruise.

 

We have read of cutbacks and other shortcomings on this forum and are concerned that we will be disappointed with the food and service. We are sure the ports will be enjoyable but what about the onboard experience.

 

Can any one here convince us that this cruise experience will be equal to Celebrity.

[Clarea]

The problem is that everything is subjective. Try a Royal cruise for yourself, then you can make your own determination.

Edited July 3, 2014 by clarea

[CRUSINGFAMILY]

I agree, we sailed both recently and enjoyed both cruises, they are similar but different.

 

Happy sailing

 

Brian J

[Valiamo]

Also take a look at the # of posts some of the posters have had. I have seen way too many one hit wonders jumping in blasting a cruise and jumping off.

 

We have the "my bed was messy", horrible cruise, "it took an hour to get through customs", worst cruise ever, "my table mate talked to me" ruined my cruise, 'it rained for 3 of 7 nights, and they would not give me a refund" etc, etc, etc.

 

RCI says they have over 5 million guests per year, if 99.5% of them have a great time that is still leaves 25,000 unhappy guests and I think most of them come on-line here to vent.

 

It is posters like Bob (clarea) that keep this place sane, read his posts and comments, take the rest with a grain of salt.

 

All cruises have their good points and not so good points. If you go expecting to have a problem, it will find you. If you go expecting to have a blast, you will have one. Interestingly enough there are the upset posters on every cruise lines boards, none are exempt from the nay sayers.

 

(ok off my soapbox, and back to lurkerville.....;))

Edited July 3, 2014 by Valiamo

[anandaindonesia]

I enjoyed both, Celebrity (Solstice) and Royal (Allure). Both will not disappoint you.

 

There are plusses and minuses. For me, food on Royal is better than X (subjective).

Go, and enjoy your Royal cruise!

[Illyria]

We cruised on Allure once - obviously they had great entertainment, but both my husband and I found the food not to be as good as Celebrity (funny that the poster above me has the exact opposite view :) I agree, it's really subjective)

[Cruisin'Kim]

I've sailed on Celebrity and Royal Caribbean, and although we loved our celebrity cruise, we always sail Royal Caribbean now. It is very subjective, we loved how we were treated on Celebrity - it is I feel a higher classed line, but we love Royal Caribbean for the abundance of activities on the ship - Royal Caribbean keeps us much more entertained. Again, this is all just our opinion. I agree, you would have to go on a Royal Caribbean ship and see for yourself, what we love about each cruise line may not be your "cup of tea":)

 

Happy Cruising!

 

Kim

[OCruisers]

Even if you don't like some things about RCCL as much as you like X, you can still have a very enjoyable time. It's not like RCCL is a horrible cruise line. ;)

LuLu

[bighairtexan]

Recently (the past 8-10 years) I mostly cruised Celebrity after a horrible RCI cruise 10 years ago. And some Princess and other lines were thrown in but mostly Celebrity. About 18 months ago I decided to give RCI another chance when there was an offer "I couldn't refuse." I'm so glad I did.

 

OK it's NOT Celebrity. But if I wanted Celebrity every cruise… why…. I'd cruise Celebrity.

 

The food on RCI is not as good, IMO (though it's perfectly fine) but the night life is better.

The service might be a touch more polished on Celebrity, but it's just as efficient and as friendly or friendlier on RCI.

I haven't cruised on "the big girls" but the refurbed Voyager class ships remind me of the refurbed M class ships. Nice decor. Good use of space. Similarly sized and decorated cabins.

I felt as if there were more daytime activities on RCI that didn't include an extra charge but that might be my perception rather than reality, but I don't think so.

 

Definitely a younger demographic on most RCI cruises, but I'm OLD and I still had a great time on both.

 

If everything (price and itinerary) were equal I'd chose Celebrity, but I've no second thoughts about booking RCI. And I can drive to Galveston for the Navigator for a quickie week. Sometimes a bit of variety is nice. But I still can tell that RCI and CELEBRITY are the same RCCL family.

[Desert Cruizers]

We have sailed Princess & Royal but not Celebrity so can't offer a comparison with Celebrity, however, we have found the service on Royal to be very good to excellant & friendly. I also feel that the ships on each cruise line are individuals with their own crew so service, food can vary, but haven't been disappointed yet on our Royal Caribbean sailings, which include 2004, 2006, 2008, 2011, 2013 and 3 this year. Go with an open mind and what you enjoyed vs comparing what this line had or didn't have over the other one. Each will have their good and nots so good points, nothing is perfect.

[nolatravelgirl]

Just make sure you are comparing apples to apples. If you always travel suites class on Celebrity don't try to compare it to a rock bottom lower deck inside cabin on Royal.