????

[cardcrafter]

Are there any other cruise lines offering the same standards as Celebrity at similar prices? We are trying to find an alternative for 2016 as the cruises in next year's brochure don't appeal.......

[Happy2cruise]

Besides Celebrity, we like Princess Cruise lines...on our opinion they are very similar:)

[Wj420]

if you appreciate Celebrity, you may want to consider increasing your budget and try either Azamara or Oceania. The experience on holland, princess or Royal simply doesn't compare, in my opinion. Enjoy!

[OCruisers]

Consider Princess or Holland America! :)

LuLu

[Phxazzcruisers]

A little more expensive, but we love Azamara. They are smaller ships, can get into some great ports that the larger ships can't, the service is exceptional, and the loyalty program combines with Celebrity

[junetraveler2014]

Are there any other cruise lines offering the same standards as Celebrity at similar prices? We are trying to find an alternative for 2016 as the cruises in next year's brochure don't appeal.......

IMHO Nope! Not in this price range...Love Celebrity

[phoenix_dream]

I was not a big fan of Princess (although it's been years) and have never cruised HAL but I understand the age demographic trends even older than Celebrity if that matters to you.

 

We have sailed RCI three times and while I don't think it compares to Celebrity (and has a different and a bit more lively vibe) we have enjoyed our cruises. If you like M class ships, the Radiance class RCI ships have a fairly similar look and feel. Without knowing what it is about Celebrity that you like in particular, and what you are willing to live with (or without) it is harder to offer suggestions.

[hvsteve1]

We cruised on Regent then tried HAL. HAL wasn't close. Celebrity, with a 1,2,3, package included and an Aqua Class room, younger cruisers and level of service was much closer to the luxury Regent experience than HAL.

[OCruisers]

Are there any other cruise lines offering the same standards as Celebrity at similar prices? We are trying to find an alternative for 2016 as the cruises in next year's brochure don't appeal.......

 

To better help ... which "same standards" you've had on Celebrity, are the things that are of special importance to you when picking another cruise line?

LuLu

[ClaudiaB]

Azamara.

[Leviathan2772]

We are very loyal to Celebrity, but they don't do a Mex Riv cruise. So we cruise once a year with Princess. The overall experience was different than Celebrity, but was still very nice. The rooms, dining, etc. We've only had their suite experience and it was similair to X. I give Princess a thumbs up.

[GUT2407]

Princess is probably the closest to Celebrity we've sailed with.

[boatlover19]

I have also sailed Princess because Celebrity does not sail from the West coast and I think Celebrity is a much better product. On the two Princess ships (Golden and Crown) I've sailed, in mini-suites, I have found the staff to be incredibly disinterested. I felt they behaved as if I was lucky to be on the ship and should take what ever subpar service they provided. One example was an audible sigh when I asked a server if a salad contained nuts followed by singing in a different language. I've read other posts comparing Celebrity to a W hotel, if one were to follow that analogy then Princess would be a Holiday Inn.

[GUT2407]

I have also sailed Princess because Celebrity does not sail from the West coast and I think Celebrity is a much better product. On the two Princess ships (Golden and Crown) I've sailed, in mini-suites, I have found the staff to be incredibly disinterested. I felt they behaved as if I was lucky to be on the ship and should take what ever subpar service they provided. One example was an audible sigh when I asked a server if a salad contained nuts followed by singing in a different language. I've read other posts comparing Celebrity to a W hotel, if one were to follow that analogy then Princess would be a Holiday Inn.

 

 

My experience is actually the polar opposite I though service on Princess was better than on Celebrity.

 

No idea what W hotel is.

[cookiersmom]

We have sailed Princess and Celebrity as well as RCCL and one HAL cruise.

Princess is comparable in some ways, but I don't like their staff as well. Our HAL experience was horrible. Very run down ship, very rude staff, I don't like how they have all of one nationality for bar staff, another for wait staff. I like an international crew. And, yes, the demographic on HAL is definitely way too senior for us. They do have great itineraries, but we won't sail them again.

[waterbug123]

Are there any other cruise lines offering the same standards as Celebrity at similar prices? We are trying to find an alternative for 2016 as the cruises in next year's brochure don't appeal.......

 

What standards are you referring to, specifically? Celebrity is a mass market cruise line, as are Royal, Norwegian, Princess, Carnival, and Holland America. They have more similarities than differences.

 

If you truly want to step it up, there are luxury lines line Oceania, Regent, Crystal etc. but they will NOT be comparable in price to the mass market lines.

[wallie5446]

After sailing on 7 different lines over the last 25 years, no there is not.

 

In the end there are only so many parking spots for ships, so every line can not go to all the same places. Hence to get to different places we have to switch lines and step up, or step down :eek:

 

2011 we sailed RCCL Freedom, a very good week, 2012 the Ruby Princess, not bad, just so-so, 2013 Celebrity Reflection, 2014 and again this yr the Equinox.

For our vacation $$, the others were not close.

[cardcrafter]

Thanks folks for all your comments - think we'll have a look at Azamara as their excursions look great.........

[true45]

I have also sailed Princess because Celebrity does not sail from the West coast and I think Celebrity is a much better product. On the two Princess ships (Golden and Crown) I've sailed, in mini-suites, I have found the staff to be incredibly disinterested. I felt they behaved as if I was lucky to be on the ship and should take what ever subpar service they provided. One example was an audible sigh when I asked a server if a salad contained nuts followed by singing in a different language. I've read other posts comparing Celebrity to a W hotel, if one were to follow that analogy then Princess would be a Holiday Inn.

 

 

Had a similar experience on Princess

 

At MDR dinner I ordered a steak

My dinner and DHs were delivered and the waiter disappeared. The steak could not be cut, it was so hard. I could not find him to tell him.

 

When my husband was finished, he came for the plates. I asked why he had not checked in us about the dinner. And I told him about the steak. He said he doesn't have time to do that. So tough ----- in other words. Didn't care.

 

I overheard a woman at the service desk saying she was in the restroom and needed a feminine product. The employee said no she couldn't help her and the woman was very upset. I would have found a way to help & found her something. I did offer to help the woman even though not my age range if you know what I mean

 

Just a different culture on Princess. Officers not as friendly, don't make eye contact.

 

And I hate their syrup coffee free & paid

Love the pizza at Alfredo's

 

Just my own subjective opinion

We tried them for itinerary

[robinlynn]

Are there any other cruise lines offering the same standards as Celebrity at similar prices? We are trying to find an alternative for 2016 as the cruises in next year's brochure don't appeal.......

 

Am planning a British Isles cruise for next year. The.Princess itinerary was more convenient, with it docking in Southampton instead of Amsterdam, (since we want to spend a few extra days in London on our own). We would have to go on a ship built in 2004, the Caribbean Princess. But after spending a full day on CC looking up responses to my concerns about the ship, it sounded like maintenance is a major concern, with it being kind of "rough around the edges"to say the least. It sounded like it was suffering from some neglect and it was an old-fashioned design for us. I decided this wasn't for us.For us, Celebrity Silhouette is worth an extra flight ( a short $79 one to get from Amsterdam to London after the cruise). This will be our third cruise on Celebrity. They have definitely set the standard for us in our price point. We love Celebrity!

[suec12]

Azamara is lovely BUT IMO their sails (and Oceania) are MUCH more expensive - we sailed Azamara three times in their early years and did really like it but they have now priced us off the ship.

 

We have done one HAL sailing and I would do another if I wanted the itinerary. We thought the service, amenities, and such were pretty comparable. We liked the promenade deck. The food might have been not quite as good (and the portions seemed a bit smaller) but we did not go hungry. We would definitely miss the French onion soup and escargot as "everyday" options.

 

I would like to try Princess if X was not offering an itinerary that appealed to me in a given year. But as the title says X is hard to beat, esp. after you earn some perks. HAL and Princess don't have anything like elite perks as far as I know.

[monicajay]

Are there any other cruise lines offering the same standards as Celebrity at similar prices? We are trying to find an alternative for 2016 as the cruises in next year's brochure don't appeal.......

 

If you were to say where you would like to sail and when, others might chime in with some suggestions that might work.

 

Since each cruise line has many different ships the overall experience is not always the same. For example, we found the Jewel of the Seas to be very, very similar to the Celebrity Summit. Only the included bevy package and martini bar gave Celebrity the upper edge but I would gladly sail on the Jewel again.

 

Where do you want to cruise in 2016? What would appeal to you?

[Stateroom_Sailor]

Princess and Holland will have the best itinerary variation, but they both come with perks and drawbacks. I would read reviews and watch videos to see what best fits for you.

[suec12]

Well a poster mentioned that some suggestions could me made (even tho I'm not the OP). I want a cruise on a "premium but NOT luxury) that starts or ends in Istanbul. It needs to be in May or late Sept. / Oct. Not a Holy Land or Black sea itinerary. This would be for 2016. We had planned to do a Venice to Istanbul HAL sail in Spet. 2015 that I was so excited about but now for personal reasons, I don't think it will be happening. So if anyone can hook me up a similar voyage, I would be much appreciative.

[waterbug123]

Well a poster mentioned that some suggestions could me made (even tho I'm not the OP). I want a cruise on a "premium but NOT luxury) that starts or ends in Istanbul. It needs to be in May or late Sept. / Oct. Not a Holy Land or Black sea itinerary. This would be for 2016.

 

Not sure what you mean exactly, by "premium but NOT luxury." ???

There are mass market lines (Celebrity, Royal, Norwegian, Disney, Holland, Carnival, Princess) and then there are the upper end lines (Regent, Oceania, Silversea etc.; amongst those I'm not sure how one distinguishes "premium" from "luxury."

 

Either way, it sounds like you know what you want but don't want to take time to research it, so talking to a travel agent who specializes in cruises might be your best bet.