Suite Class - RCL VS. Celebrity - Pros & Cons

[Sam.Seattle]

1) What are your favorite Suite Benefits and why?

2) Overall, who wins? Celebrity or RCL?

 

 

Edited October 4, 2020 by Sam.Seattle

[39august]

Only the suites on Oasis class ships have access to a dedicated dining room. Other ships have none. And I find the menu much less attractive on those ships than on X's Luminae. Other than the free "happy hour" ,in a dedicated area which is actually 3.5 hrs. on RCI ships, I am not aware of any other perks on RCI, but I may be missing something. I love all the perks Celebrity gives you even with the lowliest suites; premium drinks, wifi, gratuities and $300 OBC and a butler; the Retreat Lounge and the Retreat sun deck, and one I never use, reserved seats for shows. To me this blows RCI suites away. 

[chemmo]

We have never really rated the RC suite offering. On the older ships there is no dedicated dining area and even on the newer we find the offering limited. Our last RC cruise on Oasis had an over busy suite lounge and dining area. It was OK but not luxurious. 

 

Genies vs Butlers...limited experience but Genies seemed more interested in ‘booking things’ or passing on requests to others whereas we find Butlers are more ‘hands on’ and actually do things.

 

A ‘pro’ of RC is their varied room options for suite guests which can be really useful for larger groups.

 

It really depends on what you want on a cruise. If you want to queue jump shows, get great seats, have priority for activities then the RC suite experience will suit you...If you want a dedicated nice dining venue and a comfortable lounge with concierge and Butlers looking to make your cruise special with attention to detail service then Celebrity wins...

 

For those unaware of what suite receives what benefits then look carefully at the programs. A junior suite on RC receives very little whereas a sky suite on Celebrity receives full lounge and restaurant access across the fleet. Some of the relatively large suites on RC (Aqua Suites) still are not considered at the level of genie service...

on Celebrity the higher perks kick in at RS level.

 

If you are planning a suite experience on either line it really is necessary to check exactly what each individual ship has as a bonus for what you are paying. For example, many of the older RC ships offer limited dedicated suite areas and with the delay of the Revolution program some Celebrity ships (within the same class) have or have not suite deck areas...Really an area at present where you need to do your homework.

[TeeRick]

Since you asked about "best overall" I would definitely go Celebrity.  But this question has a lot of different nuances depending on ship and suite level.  And if price is figured into the response.  Celebrity wins outright if you compare benefits for entry level suites (Jr Suite vs Sky Suite).  The premium high end suites are closer in benefits on both lines.  Overall I think the Celebrity suites are more expensive than the comparable RCL suites - but you can find exceptions.

[mac_tlc]

I voted for Celebrity. 
 

Luminae is better than Coastal Kitchen.
On Oasis class, Royal Suite Lounge has a killer view, although we did like atmosphere in Retreat Lounge On Edge.

We really like that Celebrity includes(usually) the 4 perks with Suites. 
Liked butler on Celebrity, although we didn’t make very many requests. 

mac_tlc

 

[George C]

I totally agree with previous post , as for suite itself I would give a edge to rccl, but perks are not even close.

rccl suites - smallest suite with real suite perks is grand suite , they are a nice size with nice balcony , large bathroom with two sinks. Did this on 3 different classes many times and always liked it , did owners suite on oasis and that was huge approx 600 sq ft and 200 sq ft balcony, separate shower and jacuzzi tub.

Celebrity have done sky suites which are much smaller than rccl grand suites on two different classes of ships, also did celebrity suite on infinity which was ok but very small balcony and just did a royal suite over 500 sq ft with a jacuzzi tub in bathroom and another on balcony.

perks only oasis class ships and newer have a suite restaurant, while all celebrity ships have a suite restaurant luminae. Food and service is much better in luminae than rccl costal kitchen. 
suite lounge - on rccl suite lounge has drinks beer and wine most of the day only on oasis and newer ships and hard liquor only for 3 1/2 hours, also wine is terrible.

Celebrity lounge is open all day for drinks and a much nicer wine selection also a really nice selection of liquor.
Some Celebrity ships have a outdoor reserved area with jacuzzi and newest ship has a pool for suite quest . Rccl has reserved pool seats on some ships. Rccl also has reserved seats for there shows which is very nice.  

[VACruiser123]

Well to me there is no comparison. I have been in a RCL Owner Suite on the Explorer and a Celebrity Suite on Constellation. Other than a slight preference for the suite itself on RCCL; everything else on Celebrity is better. The dedicated restaurant where you can order from ANY of the three dining room menus, to Michael's Club, Butler, Concierge all better. The ONLY thing we got on the RCCL cruise was an invite to the Captain's table for a formal night but not on Celebrity. That is not a thing to me but maybe to others. Also the product on Celebrity is better than RCCL. A better comparison is NCL Haven experience compared to Celebrity Suites. NCL is a MUCH worse cruise line these days compared to Celebrity but their Haven product is excellent.

Edited October 7, 2020 by VACruiser123
spelling

[George C]

5 minutes ago, VACruiser123 said:

Well to me there is no comparison. I have been in a RCL Owner Suite on the Explorer and a Celebrity Suite on Constellation. Other than a slight preference for the suite itself on RCCL; everything else on Celebrity is better. The dedicated restaurant where you can order from ANY of the three dining room menus, to Michael's Club, Butler, Concierge all better. The ONLY thing we got on the RCCL cruise was an invite to the Captain's table for a formal night but not on Celebrity. That is not a thing to me but maybe to others. Also the product on Celebrity is better than RCCL. A better comparison is NCL Haven experience compared to Celebrity Suites. NCL is a MUCH worse cruise line these days compared to Celebrity but their Haven product is excellent.

I think the best comparison is celebrity with msc yacht club, just loved yacht club, private outdoor area with pool and hot tubs , lots of chairs and a outdoor restaurant. Large lounge , butler , drink package that is good at all bars and live entertainment in lounge most of the night. But Celebrity has a better suite restaurant.

[VACruiser123]

Good to know. I am intrigued by the Yacht Club but am really not confident that the overall MSC product would meet my expectations. Reviews are WAY too inconsistent.

[LorraineP]

27 minutes ago, VACruiser123 said:

Well to me there is no comparison. I have been in a RCL Owner Suite on the Explorer and a Celebrity Suite on Constellation. Other than a slight preference for the suite itself on RCCL; everything else on Celebrity is better. The dedicated restaurant where you can order from ANY of the three dining room menus, to Michael's Club, Butler, Concierge all better. The ONLY thing we got on the RCCL cruise was an invite to the Captain's table for a formal night but not on Celebrity. That is not a thing to me but maybe to others. Also the product on Celebrity is better than RCCL. A better comparison is NCL Haven experience compared to Celebrity Suites. NCL is a MUCH worse cruise line these days compared to Celebrity but their Haven product is excellent.

Agree with you about the Haven but MSC Yacht Club blows away both the Haven & especially Celebrity & RCL. 

[George C]

13 minutes ago, LorraineP said:

Agree with you about the Haven but MSC Yacht Club blows away both the Haven & especially Celebrity & RCL. 

What really surprised me was entertainment on msc and YC much better than celebrity but not equal to rccl. 

[LorraineP]

40 minutes ago, George C said:

What really surprised me was entertainment on msc and YC much better than celebrity but not equal to rccl. 

The entertainment on RCL especially the Broadway shows are better, but the shows on MSC were good, different & enjoyable. The singers were excellent. 

[Gracie115]

Celebrity wins, but we like Royal too.  We're booked in a Crown Loft Suite for a TA next year, which would have cost double the amount on X for the same or even less accommodations.  No, there is no butler, but we've rarely asked much of one.  It will be our 1st time dining at Coastal Kitchen, we don't expect it to come close to Luminae, but we're sure we'll find food to eat and that the service will be fine.  The 3 1/2 hour cocktail hour will be enough for us, even though we've loved Michael's (now the Retreat).  We are just as excited about this sailing as we are the one we have a CS booked on the Reflection this coming April...(and we actually think the Royal ship may sail next October, not so sure about the Reflection April sailing)  

 

Both do a good job, they're just different and as several have said Royal wins hands down in the entertainment area.

[Cruise a holic]

We love both and have always gotten wonderful service.  Celebrity offers even the entry level suites, butler service, which is great.  The butler brings snacks daily, helps make reservations, facilitates laundry service, helps if you want parties in your suite, and brings you meals to your suite.  We had one butler and she was fabulous.  Decorated our suite for our anniversary!  Actually on the Harmony, our suite attendant was very visible.  She seemed to live in the hallway in front of our suite and helped us with many things.

Edited October 8, 2020 by Cruise a holic

[cruza]

We went to Anthem and suite restaurant had no comparisons with X (boring food, never changed lunch items..), and Michaels club way MUCH better that suite lounge on RCL. Plus very big number of Pinnacles  pulled much stuff attention from suite guest.

No butler, one suite manager who wasn't paying to much attention...

We had decided that we would be better off on Celebrity.

Edited October 8, 2020 by cruza

[Yorkshire-Pudding]

1) What are your favorite Suite Benefits and why?

The all-inclusive product for Royal Suites and the pre-cruise Concierge. I like to book everything before we go on holiday and being able to specify what we want in suite ahead of sailing is great, so I don't have to decide once I get there. There is still the flexibility to change once on board and we have found the Celebrity accommodating. There is access to a Concierge on RCL but not the same experience.

 

2) Overall, who wins? Celebrity or RCL?

Depends on what type of holiday we are having. Our last 2019 cruise was in the Med and to places we had visited before so it was a chilled holiday. We sailed RCL on the Independence in a 2-bedroom Grand Suite because we invited one of my son's school friends to join us. It was nice having the 2 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms and a sitting room to meet and chat and the equivalent is not available on Celebrity in Suite Class which I always felt was a mistake. We could not have done this type of holiday on Celebrity. We did miss some of the ambiance of Celebrity, the higher housekeeping standards and the butler, but we did enjoy the suite seating on the pool deck, theatre and the Suite Lounge in the evenings. We felt the RCL Suite Lounge was preferable to Michaels, it was brighter, large windows and less pretentious. Our last Celebrity sailing, we couldn't get a seat in Michaels many evenings and gave up trying. As Cruza mentioned, we did come across Pinnacles on RCL who always wanted attention and to let the rest of know they were Pinnacles and a strange pathological need to brag about how many cruises on.

 

For 2020 we were returning to Celebrity for a Caribbean cruise on Equinox but cancelled because of the pandemic. We have move the same holiday to 2021 but I have started considering the Anthem for 2022 but don't like the fact that the loft suites are just a cantilevered space and not a truly separate bedroom and they don't all come with baths but showers so might book a safari to Africa instead. The pricing is insane on RCL and I am not sure about the value of the genie.

 

As LorraineP mentioned, NCL Haven is a closer product to Celebrity than RCL for the suite experience.

 

[Beeline Cruiser]

Seriously, we have ONE MORE cruise to do on RCL to make Diamond - one and done!! Suites I'm really not into yet but Aqua Class I so WANT TO TRY! Thank you for doing this poll to show the difference!!

[lizinindy]

If you’re on an Edge class ship, do the suites. The suite lounge, the suite pool and hot tub and bar....superb!

[TeeRick]

14 hours ago, lizinindy said:

If you’re on an Edge class ship, do the suites. The suite lounge, the suite pool and hot tub and bar....superb!

Yes maybe try the Iconic Suite instead of buying your next car.😀

[lizinindy]

TeeRick—-you’re absolutely right on that one! Ha ha ha!

[George C]

19 hours ago, lizinindy said:

If you’re on an Edge class ship, do the suites. The suite lounge, the suite pool and hot tub and bar....superb!

We are booked in sky suite in April on edge hopefully we can sail. Even with sky suite we get great perks, but of course royal suite and larger have even better perks. My last cruise was February on infinity in royal suite.

[Georgia_Peaches]

We were first introduced to the suite life on Royal in a Grand Suite.  We liked it for the cocktail hour in the suite lounge and the larger accommodation.  But then I heard that Celebrity offered suite class things like drink packages and additional OBC as well as a dedicated lounge and dining room, so we left for Celebrity and never looked back!

[TeeRick]

16 hours ago, Georgia_Peaches said:

We were first introduced to the suite life on Royal in a Grand Suite.  We liked it for the cocktail hour in the suite lounge and the larger accommodation.  But then I heard that Celebrity offered suite class things like drink packages and additional OBC as well as a dedicated lounge and dining room, so we left for Celebrity and never looked back!

In 2019 we did a Crown Loft Suite on RC's Harmony of the Seas.  It is in the same mid-level suite class (Sky Class) as a Grand Suite.  We actually loved the layout of the CL and in particular the location on deck 17.  It is in a retreat style location with easy all day access (across the hall) to the suite lounge and restaurant (Coastal Kitchen).  The following week we did a Celebrity Suite on Edge.  I think I wrote a comparative review on this.  We liked the CL suite better than the CS suite but the Celebrity suite program overall (with the usual 4 perks included) and access to the Retreat was much better.  And Luminae was better than Coastal Kitchen too.  Prices were comparable when compared apples to apples.

[mafig]

Pinacles on Royal can cause problems expecting priority over everyone, including (and sometimes especially) suite passengers.  ..... Some, not all.

[mafig]

Oops, I think that should be Pinnacles (I'm not one, can you tell?)😁