Trying out celebrity for the first time in years....why doesn't carnival have these p

[Aquahound]

4 day jan 8 2017 on silhouette.

 

That's what the lady at celebrity said. I asked because I have an 11 year old child. I was nervous that it was going to be a retirement home at sea but she said it's a shorter cruise so probably more family and younger crowd.

 

She was correct. Ignore the other posts about age. A 4 day Celebrity cruise will be a younger crowd. In fact, the demographic will likely be the same as your Carnival experiences. Like I said in my other post, the martini bar will be the hotspot. Check out the Passport bar if you like craft beers. They have a great selection.

[ajee622]

Awesome good to hear. I saw it's right near the casino so I'll be right at home

 

 

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[NeuroQueen]

Well, my take on Celebrity is just WOW! We were in the Reflection over Thanksgiving and it was amazing. I always thought I wasn't "old" enough for Celebrity (at 61)😱But I could not have been more wrong. Our Splendor cruise last Thanksgiving was a snooze fest compared to the Relection. The Martini bar was packed with lots of fun people every night. The entertainment was excellent and the food, hands down, better than any cruise I have ever been on. The service was exceptional and not stuffy at all. We already have another one booked for May.

[Earthworm Jim]

So Celebrity is giving you the Premium drink package for free? How does one get these deals? My understanding it's 130 a day for a couple. I will switch from Carnival if i can get that deal.

 

Currently they are offering all of the following on suites: Premium Beverage Packages, Unlimited Internet Packages, Prepaid Tips, and $150 to spend on board. Perhaps that's what the OP was referring to. I don't know how much more you pay for a Celebrity suite compared to a Carnival suite though to get those things.

 

Lower Celebrity bookings get to pick one out of the Classic Beverage Package, High-Speed Internet, Prepaid Tips, or $150 to spend on board. But, or course, at at least a somewhat higher price point.

 

I'm surprised Princess hasn't had to offer similar perks, since they are more a direct competitor to Celebrity than Carnival.

Edited December 23, 2016 by Earthworm Jim

[ajee622]

Currently they are offering all of the following on suites: Premium Beverage Packages, Unlimited Internet Packages, Prepaid Tips, and $150 to spend on board. Perhaps that's what the OP was referring to. I don't know how much more you pay for a Celebrity suite compared to a Carnival suite though to get those things.

 

Lower Celebrity bookings get to pick one out of the Classic Beverage Package, High-Speed Internet, Prepaid Tips, or $150 to spend on board. But, or course, at at least a somewhat higher price point.

 

I'm surprised Princess hasn't had to offer similar perks, since they are more a direct competitor to Celebrity than Carnival.

 

 

 

If we wouldn't have gotten the package it would've been $379 for a veranda (balcony). The package upped it to about $200 more per person. But like I said we got a lot of that $200 back with that incentive program. Let alone what my wife and mine bar bill will be.

 

We ended up paying a little more too because my mother wanted to go and we requested veranda rooms next to each other. But overall not bad

 

I like the fact that essentially all I have to worry about is my gambling money.

 

 

 

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[cruizergal70]

These alleged perks aren't important to everyone. I don't drink so I don't care about any drink packages. I already get a lot of OBC. I'm low maintenance so I never have any issues with service. Food is food. Shrug.

[beerman2]

Just booked Carnival Vista for May 2018. Approx 3,400.00 ( no drinks) 8 day Southern out of Miami. Note we usually get drink package 8 x 55 =440 per person

 

Total about 4,300.00

 

Celebrity is 3,900.00 ( drinks included) for a 10 day Southern from Miami.

 

You be the judge? Numbers show Carnival isn't the better deal.

[sanger727]

You got a better than average deal on celebrity and/or are looking at an unusually expensive carnival cruise. The last cruise I priced out was a Hawaii to Vancouver route and priced out royal Caribbean, celebrity, and carnival. Carnival was priced at $114 pp pd, no freebies; celebrity was $166 pp pd, with free beverage package only; royal was $260 pp pd, no freebies. So, for this sailing celebrity was essentially the same cost as carnival with a purchased beverage package. It just varies so widely cruise to cruise but almost always carnival is the cheapest.

 

That being said we by far prefer celebrity's entertainment and ships so when unless the price difference was ridiculous (like royal's price in this case), we would pick NCL or celebrity over carnival.

 

 

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Edited December 23, 2016 by sanger727

[sanger727]

Currently they are offering all of the following on suites: Premium Beverage Packages, Unlimited Internet Packages, Prepaid Tips, and $150 to spend on board. Perhaps that's what the OP was referring to. I don't know how much more you pay for a Celebrity suite compared to a Carnival suite though to get those things.

 

Lower Celebrity bookings get to pick one out of the Classic Beverage Package, High-Speed Internet, Prepaid Tips, or $150 to spend on board. But, or course, at at least a somewhat higher price point.

 

I'm surprised Princess hasn't had to offer similar perks, since they are more a direct competitor to Celebrity than Carnival.

 

 

You can get all perks by booking a suite. But they also offer 3 pricing categories for every room ocean view and up. Price #1 is for one perk, price #2 is for 2 perks, and price #3 is for all perks. So you can pay an upcharge to get all perks on an ocean view or balcony.

 

 

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[ajee622]

Just booked Carnival Vista for May 2018. Approx 3,400.00 ( no drinks) 8 day Southern out of Miami. Note we usually get drink package 8 x 55 =440 per person

 

 

 

Total about 4,300.00

 

 

 

Celebrity is 3,900.00 ( drinks included) for a 10 day Southern from Miami.

 

 

 

You be the judge? Numbers show Carnival isn't the better deal.

 

 

 

That's my point if people shopped I think you would find carnival isn't the deal it used to be.

 

I'm not bashing carnival at all either. I like carnival. Im honestly not that picky and our next cruise probably won't be on celebrity unless she really likes it.

 

I'm just looking at their prices and I'm surprised I can find cheaper fares on other cruise lines.

 

 

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[Cr2zCr8zy]

My very first cruise was on celebrity. I've been exclusively carnival since. Many posters are correct by saying that carnival's rates are no longer automatically the lowest. It is prudent to shop around.

 

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[janewe]

We were on a Celebrity S class ship, 13 nights in the Med in September. We were on a 4 night cruise on the Carnival Victory a couple of weeks ago. We have done other cruises on both lines. Here is my two cents worth.

 

The food has much more variety in the buffets on Celebrity. We had a look at the Carnival evening buffet one night and all they seemed to have was roast beef. We went to the MDR instead. The quality and service in the latter was very good and close to the Celebrity offering.

 

We had the drink package on Celebrity included and as another poster mentioned, it's good to shop around. An on line T.A. had it at about $800 each off the Celebrity web site rate. When converting from Cdn to U.S. for the Carnival Cheers program it's close to $200 a day ( $53 x 18% x 37% exchange). We just took the allowable two bottles of wine and had a few beers ordered to be in cabin on arrival. We managed to cope with that for the 4 nights.

 

It's true there is an older crowd on Celebrity, many 60's and 70's, we are part of the former demograhic. Some were younger though and there were no children or at least I don't notice them. Although we love kids we are happy not to have them all over the place running about. We did see some of that on Carnival, running in the halls but it didn't bother us.

 

We thought the entertainment on Celebrity was very good, one of the acts was going to Vegas for an extended run. We like the Comedy on Carnival although were a bit dissapointed with it on our recent cruise.

 

Not much to choose from in Cabins, similar lay out and balcony size. Bars and restuarants are higher end on Celebrity.

 

Bottom line, Carnival is the fun ships with a younger crowd, hairy chest contests and music with a louder beat. Celebrity is more sedate. Both are good value but you have to shop around for good prices.

[beerman2]

That's my point if people shopped I think you would find carnival isn't the deal it used to be.

 

I'm not bashing carnival at all either. I like carnival. Im honestly not that picky and our next cruise probably won't be on celebrity unless she really likes it.

 

I'm just looking at their prices and I'm surprised I can find cheaper fares on other cruise lines.

 

 

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Until this thread mentioned Celebrity I never game them a thought. I did check the others though Princess, NCL,and RCI.

 

Unfortunately when I want to travel Southern Caribbean, isn't available on NCL, and RCI you have to go to San Juan.

[bananawindnj]

I hope all you Carnival lovers keep booking on Carnival. That way the Celebrity demand won't increase , so prices will not jump for us regulars getting multiple perks.

 

 

 

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[sanger727]

Until this thread mentioned Celebrity I never game them a thought. I did check the others though Princess, NCL,and RCI.

 

 

 

Unfortunately when I want to travel Southern Caribbean, isn't available on NCL, and RCI you have to go to San Juan.

 

 

Royal does a 9 night southern out of Miami on navigator. Celebrity does 8-10 night southerns out of Miami on the equinox. And NCL does a handful throughout the year. Agree carnivals sheer massive numbers of ships give you many choices and good prices, but just for the sake of variety, there r plenty of other options.

 

 

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[MsJ]

We've done carnival for our last 5 cruises over the past 6 years. I wanted to switch it up a little and we got a great deal on a cruise next month.

 

What I was surprised about was the perks they offer. So for an extra $200 per person I was able to get free alcohol the entire cruise(top shelf liquor and Red Bull/Evian water), tips for the week included which includes drink tips and room, free wifi and $150 obc per person ($300) for the room.

 

I'm assuming that with celebrity ads/who they cater for the crowd might be a little more up tight and older but honestly I'm still going to have fun.

 

Any opinions on celebrity??

 

 

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Hello, We have cruised on Celebrity and love the ships. They are all beautiful. Service was alway great, the food is good and I would do another Celebrity cruise in a blink of an eye. We have been on the Mercury{no longer sailing) the Celebration, the Eclipse, and the Silhouette. On the last 2 we did an aqua cabin and we got to eat in the special restaurant for those cabins called Bleu. The food was the best I have ever had on a cruise ship and the service was like the kind one got years ago in a main dining room. Enjoy your cruise.

[cruzinlisa]

We cruised Celebrity a couple of years ago and had a great time. We found a great deal- it was either $750 or $799 per person for the two of us and we had an Aqua Class balcony with access to Blu and the persian gardens. 5 day cruise. It came with a classic drink package but our TA gave us OBC to upgrade that to premium and paid for tips. DH did not upgrade to premium, but I did. The experience was more upscale than Carnival and I appreciated the wine recommendation in the dining room. The few negatives I noticed: 1. Buffet food was terrible. Almost no selection and what they had was blah and 2. the place SHUT DOWN after dinner.

 

But BLU was good, making up for the bad buffet. As far as evening entertainment, we did find one fun thing, the last night of the cruise of course. It was something called 5 minute party or something like that and it was like comedic party karoke. We were walking through on our way to our room and got hooked in. I wish I had found it earlier.

 

Drinks were flowing- most people had the drink package. All in all, an amazing cruise. I wish I could find a similar deal.

[jimbo5544]

I hope all you Carnival lovers keep booking on Carnival. That way the Celebrity demand won't increase , so prices will not jump for us regulars getting multiple perks.

 

 

 

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While we have not sailed on a Celebrity ship, I can't give first hand knowledge, perhaps you can explain why they are struggling.

 

 

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[theriac]

I'm on the cruise with you in two weeks and I agree with you about paying to upgrade perks. I just went on my first X cruise last month to Israel and loved it. I'm hooked on the product they offer and the price is actually comparable to Carnival with certain deals.

 

I love carnival and will use them when the price is right but as of now I will be looking toward X. I was waiting for Carnival to release the Asian itineraries but decided to book X when I got a Concierge class cabin with 4 perks on a 14 night Singapore to Hong Kong cruise.

 

I was much younger than the crowd I saw on board last month I still loved every second of the cruise.

 

The only thing lacking with X was the daily trivia activities. Everything else I found better.

 

I'll see you in 2 weeks!

 

 

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[bluwes]

So Celebrity is giving you the Premium drink package for free? How does one get these deals? My understanding it's 130 a day for a couple. I will switch from Carnival if i can get that deal.

 

The deal we got was Classic drinks package, free gratuities and $300 OBC on our Equinox sailing in 2015.

We then booked a further cruise while on board, and got the same but with $500 OBC.

We didn't upgrade to the Premium drinks package in 15, but will do so this time.

[trueblue91652747]

Following for info after cruise. Thanks and enjoy.

[IndyDenise]

It pays to price/line shop!

 

I priced out a Panama Canal cruise on Carnival. For 3 of us it was over $8000.00 ( in a Grand Suite )

 

On HAL it was $7000.00 .. with free drink packages, free gratuity, free steakhouse dinners, $300 OBC, $200 in free internet.

 

And it's in a real suite with real perks.. free steak and eggs for breakfast and mimosas for suite guests, free dry cleaning and laundry and pressing, the Neptune Lounge with concierges, priority dining, etc.

 

Some of you may say that HAL is boring but I differ. I make my own fun.. and sometimes it is nice to cruise with a 1000 less people , never have to deal with chair hogs, drink mixed drinks made with fresh mixers ( it's like the Alchemy bar everywhere). Believe me I drink ( a lot ) on HAL and I always make friends who are doing the same.

 

Since I'm cruising for the experience of the Panama Canal HAL is perfect. Also their Mediterranean cruises are fantastic too!

 

If I wanted party time and the fun vibe it's Carnival... but honestly the level of service on HAL is fantastic.

 

Let me add that I'm a young 50! Sometimes I act like a 21 year old., if I get a nap in.

 

 

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Edited December 24, 2016 by IndyDenise

[ajee622]

Yeah I'll let everyone know my honest impressions.

 

I do like the idea of "better service and better food". But that's going to be subjective. Also again I'm not bashing carnival. I do like carnival. When we started cruising my daughter was 6. Now she's 11. So she started to outgrow the water slides and all. Or at least think she's too cool for them. Haha.

 

 

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[beerman2]

Royal does a 9 night southern out of Miami on navigator. Celebrity does 8-10 night southerns out of Miami on the equinox. And NCL does a handful throughout the year. Agree carnivals sheer massive numbers of ships give you many choices and good prices, but just for the sake of variety, there r plenty of other options.

 

 

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If you read post #32 I did a Celebrity comparison to Carnival for the Southern.

[cruise pup]

It's not free. It was an extra $200 per person. 3 people we have cruising. So $600. 4 day cruise.

 

$300 obc, all tips paid for (worth $200??), all top shelf drinks and fee wifi.

 

By cruise standards I will easily drink $150 a day of alcohol on a 4 day cruise. If it was 7 days it might be a little more difficult. My wife likes more wines and exotic drinks so she could have 6 a day and it pays for itself.

 

 

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This is a great deal for wine drinkers. You order wine by the glass but there was a nice selection. The wine steward kept refilling the glass so it really was like ordering by the bottle. Even worked at the buffet lunch.