Coming back to the fold

[iheartbda]

I've seen some posts by people who say they are done with Celebrity and moving on. I don't know if they actually jumped ship or it was an idle threat. If they left for real, I'm going to even the score.:)

 

Our first cruise was on Celebrity and we went on to do five in a row. We spread our wings, for reasons I won't go into, but have always wanted to go back. Never had a bad cruise on any of the other lines but always felt Celebrity food was the best and there was just "something" overall that we never felt on other lines. I guess one could say that X has that X factor.:D

 

Come Jan. I will finally see if Celebrity is still my favorite compared to three other lines. Since we will be in Aqua Class, I've looked for threads to see what people are saying. One thread on Blu was probably 95% positive and a recent one is rather negative. I know I must take reviews with a grain salt so I will not let the negatives affect me.:)

 

It seems to me that it's those who have been in Aqua Class any number of times who see Blu as being repetitive and also see the changes/cutbacks. It's going to be all new to me so I probably won't notices the negatives.

 

Celebrity, here I come!

[Tatka]

We sailed 4 times with X. On Monday our fifth starts. Every time we returne to Celebrity we gladly notice that this line has same high standards in food, service, entertainment departments.

My other favorite things about cruising with X is ambience and PAX.

 

Can't wait!

[Living4acruise2day]

I am very happy to read these posts. I have been very concerned lately after reading such negative things, with a few exceptions. I was torn between HAL, X and MSC. I chose X thinking it was a good fit for me and my mom and was beginning to regret it.

[4774Papa]

We love Celebrity, but with the new pricing bundling beverage packages, etc., Celebrity's prices have mushroomed.

 

We are elite and enjoy the happy hour and other than that don't spend that much on booze, mainly wine.

 

We have done some cruises on NCL, which is improving its food quality and its prices are competitive.

 

Since we are Diamond on Royal Caribbean and wanted to do New Zealand, we compared X with Royal and NCL for a NZ and TP cruise. NCL did not have what we wanted and Celebrity's prices (with promos that we didn't want) was more than double the Royal price. Even considering the value of the promos to us, we save $2000 going with Royal.

 

We are booked on a TA from Southampton to Miami in October 2017, since the prices are still pretty good with no bundling. We may not ever do another X cruise again, except a TA.

[Swampbabe]

I am very happy to read these posts. I have been very concerned lately after reading such negative things, with a few exceptions. I was torn between HAL, X and MSC. I chose X thinking it was a good fit for me and my mom and was beginning to regret it.

 

 

You and mother will enjoy yourselves. We went on our first Celebrity cruise last spring break and have booked another one for this April. Our experience was wonderful.

 

Like you, I worried about it after reading these boards. Thought I was paying to be surrounded by grumpy octogenarians when I could do that for free at home. (native Floridian) Nothing could have been further from the truth.

 

Enjoy your cruise.

[Living4acruise2day]

You and mother will enjoy yourselves. We went on our first Celebrity cruise last spring break and have booked another one for this April. Our experience was wonderful.

 

Like you, I worried about it after reading these boards. Thought I was paying to be surrounded by grumpy octogenarians when I could do that for free at home. (native Floridian) Nothing could have been further from the truth.

 

Enjoy your cruise.

Thank you!!!!!!!

[Lois R]

I've seen some posts by people who say they are done with Celebrity and moving on. I don't know if they actually jumped ship or it was an idle threat. If they left for real, I'm going to even the score.:)

 

Our first cruise was on Celebrity and we went on to do five in a row. We spread our wings, for reasons I won't go into, but have always wanted to go back. Never had a bad cruise on any of the other lines but always felt Celebrity food was the best and there was just "something" overall that we never felt on other lines. I guess one could say that X has that X factor.:D

 

Come Jan. I will finally see if Celebrity is still my favorite compared to three other lines. Since we will be in Aqua Class, I've looked for threads to see what people are saying. One thread on Blu was probably 95% positive and a recent one is rather negative. I know I must take reviews with a grain salt so I will not let the negatives affect me.:)

 

It seems to me that it's those who have been in Aqua Class any number of times who see Blu as being repetitive and also see the changes/cutbacks. It's going to be all new to me so I probably won't notices the negatives.

 

Celebrity, here I come!

 

Hello my friend:) you will have to come back and give your impressions.

 

As you probably know, I have sailed Celebrity many times......2016

is the first time in a long time I didn't sail with them. I booked Reflection

for Feb ( a couple of weeks after you)......so after a year away, I will

see for myself too.

Hope you both have a wonderful cruise and a Merry Christmas as well:)

[CruisinNewb]

I am very happy to read these posts. I have been very concerned lately after reading such negative things, with a few exceptions. I was torn between HAL, X and MSC. I chose X thinking it was a good fit for me and my mom and was beginning to regret it.

 

In two weeks I will be on my 4th cruise with Celebrity. Every time has been great! I hope you and your mom will have a wonderful time!

[Bo1953]

You and mother will enjoy yourselves. We went on our first Celebrity cruise last spring break and have booked another one for this April. Our experience was wonderful.

 

Like you, I worried about it after reading these boards. Thought I was paying to be surrounded by grumpy octogenarians when I could do that for free at home. (native Floridian) Nothing could have been further from the truth.

 

Enjoy your cruise.

 

 

LOL, we are at times surrounded by the octo's here at CC or those who are there in mind alone... go, enjoy, have fun, you can ultimately decide which class of service you desire or serves you best!

 

I believe it will be enjoyable. Yes, things may happen along the way, but unless the ship sinks, nothing to worry about as X is a wonderful mass market line who performs well, overall.

 

Yes, there may be a few blips here and there, quite possibly but nothing which screams horrible, in my opine.

 

bon voyage and let us know how you enjoyed upon return....

[ajee622]

I'm usually on the carnival forums because I have a family and love to drink. However we are doing celebrity in 2 weeks.

 

These forums are all the same of people complaining. I'm sure the service and food on celebrity is top notch.

 

Some complaints probably are warranted but some people think they are cruising on their own yacht and not a ship with a few thousand other people.

 

Btw, these people cant afford their own yacht but in their mind they do.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Bo1953]

I'm usually on the carnival forums because I have a family and love to drink. However we are doing celebrity in 2 weeks.

 

These forums are all the same of people complaining. I'm sure the service and food on celebrity is top notch.

 

Some complaints probably are warranted but some people think they are cruising on their own yacht and not a ship with a few thousand other people.

 

Btw, these people cant afford their own yacht but in their mind they do.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

You went there... LOL

 

I can only smile for the rest of the day now...

 

bon voyage and your next drink is on me during our cruise together...

[iheartbda]

Hello my friend:) you will have to come back and give your impressions.

 

As you probably know, I have sailed Celebrity many times......2016

is the first time in a long time I didn't sail with them. I booked Reflection

for Feb ( a couple of weeks after you)......so after a year away, I will

see for myself too.

Hope you both have a wonderful cruise and a Merry Christmas as well:)

 

Bummer, can't believe we are missing each other by a couple of weeks.:(

Wishing you well in the new year.:)

[bphman]

We have been on 13 different lines and every one has had positives and negatives regardless of class from suites to OVs. I have enjoyed each one. I do not see any clear winners as each one offers a different experience. Some of my best times have been on Carnival which I know is heresy here but it's true. While on Oceania, I never heard so much complaining about non-issues. My only bad experience was on NCL but, in fairness to them, that was on the Norway and have not sailed the modern line.

 

We left Celebrity because we had small kids and they were very heavily into the European market which did not suit the kids. Now that they are grown, we have come back to Celebrity and have been very happy. We did book SS but pricing has gone through the roof with the new perks so we went down to AQ. Our experience goes back to the Horizon over 25 years ago so we have special feelings for Celebrity.

[zoncom]

Saw her in several ports this Fall in the Med. Still a beautiful ship and one of my favorites.

[ajee622]

You went there... LOL

 

I can only smile for the rest of the day now...

 

bon voyage and your next drink is on me during our cruise together...

 

 

 

Haha. I always go there. But I'll get the next one. I always buy the drink package.

 

I remember I was on carnival in the casino and the guy next to me was betting $500 a hand on blackjack. He was drunk having a good time and says hey can I use my card (since obviously he's getting free drinks) for the a drink for the entire table. They told him no. I'm like come on man!!!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Bo1953]

Haha. I always go there. But I'll get the next one. I always buy the drink package.

 

I remember I was on carnival in the casino and the guy next to me was betting $500 a hand on blackjack. He was drunk having a good time and says hey can I use my card (since obviously he's getting free drinks) for the a drink for the entire table. They told him no. I'm like come on man!!!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

To be sure, I was thinking of beverages which exceed the premium package, but that works too and saves me a few shekels! LOL

 

bon voyage

[El Crucero]

but always felt Celebrity food was the best and there was just "something" overall that we never felt on other lines. I guess one could say that X has that X factor.

 

Thank you for your post. We agree with you. I am often accused of being a Celebrity 'cheerleader' and I admit it is true because I like the line so much. As far as prices being so high, we are always successful in finding something that fits in our budget. We cruise about 21 to 28 days per year. I have shopped all the lines and used three others, but Celebrity still gives the best value for our cruising dollar.

 

Most of the time we cruise in Aqua because of Blu. The Blu menus are no more repetitive than the MDR or Luminae since they all operate on a 14 day (more or less) rotating menu. And we sometimes will eat in a specialty restaurant or the buffet for dinner as the mood strikes us. I will say that we like the vibe better in Blu on the M class ships than the S class, but it is all good.

 

We have been cruising on Princess more frequently since we can eliminate air travel with their more frequent West Coast departures. Princess is okay, but in our opinion it is a step down from Celebrity and we have lower expectations. When we come back to Celebrity, it is like coming home. I just wish Celebrity would replace the Century as a Southern California base.

[cpj]

I've seen some posts by people who say they are done with Celebrity and moving on. I don't know if they actually jumped ship or it was an idle threat. If they left for real, I'm going to even the score.:)

 

Our first cruise was on Celebrity and we went on to do five in a row. We spread our wings, for reasons I won't go into, but have always wanted to go back. Never had a bad cruise on any of the other lines but always felt Celebrity food was the best and there was just "something" overall that we never felt on other lines. I guess one could say that X has that X factor.:D

 

Come Jan. I will finally see if Celebrity is still my favorite compared to three other lines. Since we will be in Aqua Class, I've looked for threads to see what people are saying. One thread on Blu was probably 95% positive and a recent one is rather negative. I know I must take reviews with a grain salt so I will not let the negatives affect me.:)

 

It seems to me that it's those who have been in Aqua Class any number of times who see Blu as being repetitive and also see the changes/cutbacks. It's going to be all new to me so I probably won't notices the negatives.

 

Celebrity, here I come!

 

After about 26 cruise on all the mass market lines, I really do not see that much difference. They all have good and bad points. I use to complain about food but I no longer cruise for the food. It is what it Is. Lately I've really become spoiled by NCL Haven experence. It's expensive so I won't do it all the time. And I'm sure I will be back on Celebrity one day. Never had a bad cruise on them. ALso the only place I see a big difference on the mass market lines is NCL entertainment is way ahead of the rest.

[grandgeezer]

Thank you for your post. We agree with you. I am often accused of being a Celebrity 'cheerleader' and I admit it is true because I like the line so much. As far as prices being so high, we are always successful in finding something that fits in our budget. We cruise about 21 to 28 days per year. I have shopped all the lines and used three others, but Celebrity still gives the best value for our cruising dollar.

 

Most of the time we cruise in Aqua because of Blu. The Blu menus are no more repetitive than the MDR or Luminae since they all operate on a 14 day (more or less) rotating menu. And we sometimes will eat in a specialty restaurant or the buffet for dinner as the mood strikes us. I will say that we like the vibe better in Blu on the M class ships than the S class, but it is all good.

 

We have been cruising on Princess more frequently since we can eliminate air travel with their more frequent West Coast departures. Princess is okay, but in our opinion it is a step down from Celebrity and we have lower expectations. When we come back to Celebrity, it is like coming home. I just wish Celebrity would replace the Century as a Southern California base.

We just got off the Silhouette Sunday after doing a B2B (2-7 day cruises), eating in Blu.

We had the exact same menu, the second week, as we did the first. I had the exact same courses and all of them were excellent.

Edited December 23, 2016 by grandgeezer

[Host Jazzbeau]

We just got off the Silhouette Sunday after doing a B2B (2-7 day cruises), eating in Blu.

We had the exact same menu, the second week, as we did the first. I had the exact same courses and all of them were excellent.

 

That's how Celebrity does B2B cruises -- they always start each cruise [they may have seemed like 'segments' to you, but there were separate cruises] with Menu #1. If you sail the true 14-day itineraries you will get all 14 menus.

[galensgrl]

I am glad to see your post. We will be trying X for the first time in May. We have tried NCL, and most recently HAL. We drifted away from NCL after several cruises because we felt the value for the experience just wasn't there. We love HAL, it was a better fit for us than NCL. Unfortunately we never really got a "deal" cruising with HAL, and found the price for a Neptune suite prohibitively expensive. We always booked a Vista Suite (glorified Verandah cabin LOL) hoping for an offer to upgrade to a Neptune Suite for a fee, but that just never happened. So while checking out other cruise lines, I found a great deal with X on a Sky suite. Of course reading CC posts about X, there are good reviews and bad reviews. Trying to take it all with a grain of salt. Read a lot of bad reviews of HAL's Veendam before we travelled but we liked that ship just fine. But I'm glad to hear from someone who has tried other lines and feels X is worth going back to, makes me feel pretty good about our upcoming cruise. Even if it's not perfect, many people seem to like X and that says something. Hope we are in that majority as well. Thanks again!

[grandgeezer]

That's how Celebrity does B2B cruises -- they always start each cruise [they may have seemed like 'segments' to you, but there were separate cruises] with Menu #1. If you sail the true 14-day itineraries you will get all 14 menus.

 

I know that but I didn't see any mention of a 14 day cruise, just a 14 day menu.

[jagoffee]

I've seen some posts by people who say they are done with Celebrity and moving on. I don't know if they actually jumped ship or it was an idle threat. If they left for real, I'm going to even the score.:)

 

Our first cruise was on Celebrity and we went on to do five in a row. We spread our wings, for reasons I won't go into, but have always wanted to go back. Never had a bad cruise on any of the other lines but always felt Celebrity food was the best and there was just "something" overall that we never felt on other lines. I guess one could say that X has that X factor.:D

 

Come Jan. I will finally see if Celebrity is still my favorite compared to three other lines. Since we will be in Aqua Class, I've looked for threads to see what people are saying. One thread on Blu was probably 95% positive and a recent one is rather negative. I know I must take reviews with a grain salt so I will not let the negatives affect me.:)

 

It seems to me that it's those who have been in Aqua Class any number of times who see Blu as being repetitive and also see the changes/cutbacks. It's going to be all new to me so I probably won't notices the negatives.

 

Celebrity, here I come!

 

Welcome home!

[iheartbda]

Saw her in several ports this Fall in the Med. Still a beautiful ship and one of my favorites.

I long for the days of the Zenith, one of our favotites.

 

That's how Celebrity does B2B cruises -- they always start each cruise [they may have seemed like 'segments' to you, but there were separate cruises] with Menu #1. If you sail the true 14-day itineraries you will get all 14 menus.

I did B2Bs on NCL two times and found a couple of things I really liked on the menu. I was looking forward to having them the next week but the menu was

different. I didn't expect that on NCL.:)

[SusieV]

I think that Celebrity is slipping in terms of quality, and I'm not an octogenarian.

 

I do figure that every cruiseline has made cutbacks though so likely jumping ship wouldn't do any good. Since the luxury lines are out of reach financially, I will still enjoy a Celebrity cruise every year or two. I find myself missing a lot of the little touches that made a cruise special, though.

 

The basic product is still enjoyable, but it's really not what it was. Even my partner saw a slide and our recent sailing in October was only his second.