Celebrity vs RCCL

[ChollaChick]

My husband and I are going on our 5th RCCL cruise in November. While on board we intend to book another cruise and are considering Celebrity. But having never been on Celebrity we aren't sure if it would be a good match for us. We've been on 3 Voyager class ships (Voyager, Navigator and Explorer), 1 Radiance class (Serenade) and are going on our first Freedom class ship (Liberty) in November. We like going to shows, enjoying good food and drink, watching the water, using the pool. We aren't into the rock climbing wall, flowrider, etc. We like having a ship to explore and enjoy with interesting ports.

 

Also I use a wheelchair so if anyone has been on both in a manual chair and can share thoughts that would be great too.

 

Thanks so much for any advice or help you can give.

[miked998]

We have been on six RCCL cruises, two Carnival cruises and we just got off the Celebrity Infinity two weeks ago.

 

It was our first cruise on Celebrity and it will be our last.

 

The nightly entertainment was OK but it was better on Royal. The service at bars and in the main dining room is better on Royal in my experience. I had a great cruise but it just was not as good as the cruises I have had on Royal. I was expecting Celebrity to be better but it never was.

 

Inifinity is an older ship so it would not be fair to compare the ships. The overall service, entertainment, and experience just was not as good as I was expecting.

[Mr. Click]

We have been on 4 RCCL cruises and 3 Celebrity cruises with two more booked for next 12 months. We much prefer the food, the service and the atmosphere on Celebrity. Our RCCL trips were on the Serenade 3 times and the Allure once. After our Allure experience we don't even look at RCCL anymore. On Celebrity it has been two on S class ships and one on the Summit. The older M class ships like the Summit are nice but not as nice as the new newer S class ships.

 

I cannot speak to wheelchairs directly but DW spent a lot of our last cruise on crutches and the staff worked hard to make things easier for her.

[4774Papa]

We have not been on Royal, but have done the Norwegian Epic and did not like the huge ships. I know most of Royal's ships are the mega-ship type.

 

We prefer Celebrity because it is more civilized, not noisy, with blaring announcements and pushy sales.

 

I know it is not fair to compare the Epic with Royal's ships, but perhaps someone can enlighten me here. On Epic, the pool area was not usable due to noise and crowds.

We have been on Infinity four times and loved the ship.

[kenevenpar]

Many, many Royal cruises.

 

Food - definitely better on Celebrity

Service - Slightly better on celebrity

Entertainment - better on royal (caveat - Celebrity is introducing new entertainment soon, see web)

S class Ships are wonderful - our favorite is Reflection (newest)

Decor - More to our taste on Celebrity

Specialty Restaurants - Nod to Celebrity (I haven't been on the behemoth ships of Royal, So I cannot compare those)

[ehfl]

We've been on both and enjoy both very much. Entertainment is much better on RCL (by far). On the other hand, RCL doesn't have the Persian garden...where I could spend the entire cruise.

[nekzaadvakil]

We love Royal Caribbean, but Celebrity's S class ships are something else. The same relaxed atmosphere, great friendly service and newer modern ships (S class) gives Celebrity that slight edge over RCCL.

 

Infact Royal's Quantum Class ships are based on Celebrity's S class ships. The food on Celebrity is definitely better (both vegetarian and non vegetarian). Celebrity's European Itineraries on their S class ships are better than any on Royal.

 

We book Celebrity for itineraries and Royal for their amazing mega ships. We love the Voyager class and Celebrity's S class ships are pretty much similar in size. We do miss the Royal Promenade but that's about it. Never had a bad cruise on Celebrity.

[dutchclogs]

The pools are not Celebrity's strongest feature but perhaps someone with wheelchair experience could comment.

[chemmo]

Royal has the better shows, especially the larger ships where there are Aqua shows and ice shows but Celebrity is the winner for food quality and ambience.

 

i guess it depends where your priorities lie. We started out as RC cruisers before trying Celebrity. For a short while we mixed both cruise lines depending on itinerary, price....but now we really do tend to stick to Celebrity. We haven't even considered RC for our next cruises, we just do not find them as relaxing.

[drakes2]

Been on two RCL ships, both older ones and several of Celebrity's S class ships, food and service better on Celebrity. Also love the cabins and balconies on Celebrity. One thing that sticks out in my mind is the table for 4 we had on RCL, they put us by a large pillar which was very inconvenient, and I do remember when we asked for bread, they were all multigrain buns and I don't like multigrain, had to ask for some white buns, it's the little things that make a difference. Don't recall ever having any issues on Celebrity ships. Also debarkation on Royal was a nightmare, they put us all in the theatre and started calling by groups, it was very poorly managed. Upon picking up our luggage we found both pieces in lost and found with 4 luggage tags missing. Ok, I can see one but all 4 on two pieces of luggage, come on!

Royal has the better shows, especially the larger ships where there are Aqua shows and ice shows but Celebrity is the winner for food quality and ambience.

 

i guess it depends where your priorities lie. We started out as RC cruisers before trying Celebrity. For a short while we mixed both cruise lines depending on itinerary, price....but now we really do tend to stick to Celebrity. We haven't even considered RC for our next cruises, we just do not find them as relaxing.

[Snit13]

We have 13 Celebrity cruises and 6 Royal cruises in addition to 3 Princess and 1 NCL.

Far and away the best food and service is on Celebrity. They are also the cleanest if that is important. The pool in the Solarium is equipped to accomodate handicapped people...lift. If you are non smokers as we are, you must go with Celebrity as much better for your lungs as smoking is limited to specific outdoor locations. Casino is smoke free if you enjoy donating a few bucks.

 

We prefer the entertainment on Royal but the best we have experienced was on NCL TA.

 

As others have posted, Celebrity is a much more sophisticated atmosphere with far less children or college age. You must try Celebrity and decide for yourselves.

 

We currently have 2 Celebrity cruises and 1 Royal cruise booked.

[Got2Cruise]

I love the Royal Promenade. I imagine for wheelchair users it makes life easier because there is plenty of room and one venue simply flows into another. While Celebrity does have the elegance the venues don't seem to flow. Also, the MDR on Summit the tables are very close together because they broke the once spacious dining room into smaller spaces. I don't think you would be able to use a wheelchair to go from the entrance to the back, the tables are so close. I noticed they gave disabled guests tables in the entranceway hall, not in the dining room. I would ask specific questions about the ship I was considering if I had mobility issues on Celebrity.

[Aus ATC]

We are relative novice cruisers with 2 x RCCL under our belt, 1 to come, and then our first Celebrity Cruise next year. A lot of talk about the "S" Class ships, but how do the "M" Class (Connie in particular) compare?

 

All thoughts appreciated.

[wendyatpml]

We love both RCCL and Celebrity but Celebrity is definitely a step above RCCL.

We are presently booked on the Infinity on Oct. 29. This is an older ship but I chose the itinerary. You can't go wrong with either.

[gsb]

We've been on 6 or 7 Celebrity (s classes) in a row after many RCCLs.

Very nice, but none can compare with the Allure or Oasis.;)

[MommaBear55]

I have been on two celebrity m-class ships and on 7 Royal Caribbean ships up to the size of quantum but not Allure or Oasis. What I do find overall is the shorter the cruise the less fun I have. I think this is because people are trying to get the most bang for their buck. They do more activities, they drink more, and overall they just seem a bit more pushy and ruder than on longer cruises. By far and away the dirtiest ship f I ever was on was the Celebrity ship. I find the food about equal. I like the music venues better on celebrity but the big shows better on Royal. The wine selections are better on Celebrity. There tend to be fewer children on celebrity. So it's all a matter of preference..