Stepping up from Celebrity - which luxury line would you recommend?

[micmacmissy]

For a special occasion, we are looking to experience a more luxury cruise line.  We love Celebrity and we are looking for a lot of what they have - great service, elegant design, awesome food.  But we want a smaller, more luxurious experience.

 

Anyone out there step up from Celebrity, and if so, what would you recommend?

[Orator]

I stepped up to Crystal. Wonderful experience! 

[Cg52]

We are celebrating our 50th wedding on a river cruise next year. We’ve done one previously and loved the experience. Only about 100 to 200 guests a very different experience but we really enjoyed the quieter pace and more personalized service. We dock right in port. Tours included in price everyday. We sailed with Avalon through France and are doing Zurich to Paris with Viking next year. In 2023 we are doing Amsterdam to Budapest. 

[Cg52]

Just now, Cg52 said:

We are celebrating our 50th wedding on a river cruise next year. We’ve done one previously and loved the experience. Only about 100 to 200 guests a very different experience but we really enjoyed the quieter pace and more personalized service. We dock right in port. Tours included in price everyday. We sailed with Avalon through France and are doing Zurich to Paris with Viking next year. In 2023 we are doing Amsterdam to Budapest. 

They also do ocean cruises that I’ve heard only good things about.

[slewis7]

We have found that Viking has been an excellent match for us after a string of Celebrity sailings.

[Ken the cruiser]

If the itinerary was right, Crystal would be our first choice if you have never tried them before. Our first cruise with them was back in 2018 on a 21 day B2B California coastal in combination with a Mexican Riviera cruise. What a great trip!! We were in a A category veranda cabin for around $325 pp/day with full perks.

 

The food and service was wonderful, their enrichment program on sea days is tremendous and both the Serenity and Symphony have full outdoor promenade decks to walk off all those extra calories. Their passenger capacity is around 800+ which for us is large enough to avoid the shortfalls that come with sailing on a small ship. Yup, Crystal would be our recommendation. 😎 

[tfred]

Oceania is very nice - food is excellent.  Above that Seabourn, Crystal, Regent

 

Some of it depends on how "formal" you want to be.  There are some suggested dress codes on the last 3 that you may not like

 

As a suggestion - Crystal River Cruise.  We have done Rhine and Danube (Xmas markets) and loved it.  Top service, food and only 100 pax

[Joywrk]

Have tried Crystal, Silversea and Seabourne. All are very good but Crystal has been the best in terms of food, service and enrichment. You can’t go wrong with any of them.

[NCHPcruiser]

We are planning a Crystal cruise in the near future.   From what we read and what friends have said the dress code on Seabourn is more formal than Crystal.  

[DCPIV]

We've been on three Silversea cruises and enjoyed them all. We're looking forward to our fourth towards the end of the year. 

 

Also consider the Paul Gauguin. That can be somewhat magical. We've been twice. 

[Mark_T]

36 minutes ago, Cg52 said:

They also do ocean cruises that I’ve heard only good things about.

Viking Ocean are a different class to Viking River though, at sea they are a luxury line, on the river they tend to be rather densely packed onboard.

 

It is not such a big deal though as the nature of river cruises is to spend more time off the ship than on it.

[Azulann]

After sailing only on Celebrity, we have moved to Viking Ocean . Have our third cruise coming up in October. Their ships are  designed for adults. Everywhere  you look in any common space you see floor to celling windows with the view of sky and water . All staterooms are balconies.  Food and service is outstanding, No nickle dime attitude.  No casino, no kids.

Excursion in  every port, wine and beer at meals, internet ,all included in the price of stateroom( including fee and port charges).

 

 

[rjrpar]

1 hour ago, Cg52 said:

We are celebrating our 50th wedding on a river cruise next year. We’ve done one previously and loved the experience. Only about 100 to 200 guests a very different experience but we really enjoyed the quieter pace and more personalized service. We dock right in port. Tours included in price everyday. We sailed with Avalon through France and are doing Zurich to Paris with Viking next year. In 2023 we are doing Amsterdam to Budapest. 

Amsterdam to Budapest is a great trip, enjoy!

[Mark_T]

1 hour ago, micmacmissy said:

Anyone out there step up from Celebrity, and if so, what would you recommend?

Crystal or Viking Ocean would be my vote.

 

Not Regent though, perfectly nice small ships, but they have become a little too casual and comfortable rather than elegant luxury.

[Jeremiah1212]

If you ask the true lux line enthusiast you will start a debate larger than "What is Always Included" or "How many days is 72 hours" that you see on the X board 🙂

 

Most do not consider Viking, Oceania and Azamara among the luxury lines. Regent, Silversea, Seabourn, Crystal and Seadream are usually the top contender in the luxury space although some would include Crystal in premium rather than luxury. 

[britishcruisers2]

We tried Azamara and one benefit was the reciprocal captain club/ le club system.

Being smaller ships in the fleet they can utilise many ports that Celebrity can't or could only tender into .Lots of different activities such as White Night with live music on the pool deck when the officers serve a hot and cold buffet to the passengers and the Azamazing evening held one evening in port.

Much more casual and informal which doesn't appeal to everyone but we highly recommend.

 

 

[Ken the cruiser]

1 hour ago, Azulann said:

After sailing only on Celebrity, we have moved to Viking Ocean . Have our third cruise coming up in October. Their ships are  designed for adults. Everywhere  you look in any common space you see floor to celling windows with the view of sky and water . All staterooms are balconies.  Food and service is outstanding, No nickle dime attitude.  No casino, no kids.

Excursion in  every port, wine and beer at meals, internet ,all included in the price of stateroom( including fee and port charges).

 

How are the Viking Ocean evening shows, enrichment programs and other entertaining things to do, especially on sea days? Top notch, just ok or in some cases nonexistent?

[larry_s_taco]

53 minutes ago, britishcruisers2 said:

We tried Azamara and one benefit was the reciprocal captain club/ le club system.

Being smaller ships in the fleet they can utilise many ports that Celebrity can't or could only tender into .Lots of different activities such as White Night with live music on the pool deck when the officers serve a hot and cold buffet to the passengers and the Azamazing evening held one evening in port.

Much more casual and informal which doesn't appeal to everyone but we highly recommend.

 

 

Does Azamara still have the  reciprocal captain club/ le club system benefit since they were sold? 

[Hlitner]

So here is the shock for some X fans.  Stepping up means moving to many different lines (Viking, Oceania, Seabourn, Silverseas, Crystal, Sea Dream, etc etc).  There are many lines that are actually a huge step up and many can often be booked for less money then folks pay for comparable cabins on X.  DW and I used to be big time X fans and have been Elite Plus for quite a few years.  But soon after LLP took over the line we experienced what we call, "death by a thousand cut-backs" on X.  And this happened at the same time that X implemented some serious price increases.  So as a simply example, we have an upcoming Caribbean cruise on Seabourn which is costing us less than $400 a passenger day.  For those not familiar with Seabourn it is a true luxury line (with space ratios about double of that on X) which is all-inclusive (except for excursions).  The last time we cruised on Seabourn we left the ship with about $500 of unused On Board Credits because we had no use for it!  

 

But folks need to understand that the luxury lines are a different product from X.  Onboard life is certainly more quiet, and you do need to give up waiting on lines, having photographers follow you around, seeing all that wonderful wasted space for photo galleries, not having daily "sales,"  etc etc.  It can be difficult not having to deal with tender tickets, pesky photographers, staff trying to get you to pay for alternative dining (on Seabourn the alternative restaurants have no extra charges).  And imagine the depression when you find out it is easy to walk into any show at the last minute and actually find decent seats.  OMG.  Truly awful.  My goodness, on our recent Greek Island cruise on the Seabourn Ovation DW and I found ourselves all alone on a large tender when we wanted to go ashore.  Oh....the horror!    And having to put up with our small luxury suite (everyone gets a suite on Seabourn) with a bathroom that had a full size bathtub, a separate shower, duel sinks, etc.  And then there was the additional horror of ordering decent caviar and having it delivered (cabin or bar) for no extra fee.  Imagine!   

 

Hank

[Mark_K]

2 hours ago, DCPIV said:

We've been on three Silversea cruises and enjoyed them all. We're looking forward to our fourth towards the end of the year. 

 

Also consider the Paul Gauguin. That can be somewhat magical. We've been twice. 

We’ve done two on Silversea and also enjoyed them.  

[kelmac]

We've experienced MSC Yacht Club, Azamara, Oceania and Crystal.  Crystal wins in the food and entertainment categories and that would be my first choice. 

 

Dollar for dollar, I would still cruise Celebrity* compared to all other lines.

 

*Boarding the Millennium in two days

 

Enjoy!

Kel

Edited September 8, 2021 by kelmac

[Mark_T]

25 minutes ago, Hlitner said:

...For those not familiar with Seabourn it is a true luxury line (with space ratios about double of that on X) which is all-inclusive (except for excursions).  The last time we cruised on Seabourn we left the ship with about $500 of unused On Board Credits because we had no use for it!

The one thing that has kept us off of Seabourn so far is the smoking policy.

 

How do you find it? (assuming you are not smokers...)

[PTC DAWG]

2 hours ago, Azulann said:

After sailing only on Celebrity, we have moved to Viking Ocean . Have our third cruise coming up in October. Their ships are  designed for adults. Everywhere  you look in any common space you see floor to celling windows with the view of sky and water . All staterooms are balconies.  Food and service is outstanding, No nickle dime attitude.  No casino, no kids.

Excursion in  every port, wine and beer at meals, internet ,all included in the price of stateroom( including fee and port charges).

 

 

I'm an adult that likes a Casino a few times on my cruise....

[PTC DAWG]

29 minutes ago, Hlitner said:

So here is the shock for some X fans.  Stepping up means moving to many different lines (Viking, Oceania, Seabourn, Silverseas, Crystal, Sea Dream, etc etc).  There are many lines that are actually a huge step up and many can often be booked for less money then folks pay for comparable cabins on X.  DW and I used to be big time X fans and have been Elite Plus for quite a few years.  But soon after LLP took over the line we experienced what we call, "death by a thousand cut-backs" on X.  And this happened at the same time that X implemented some serious price increases.  So as a simply example, we have an upcoming Caribbean cruise on Seabourn which is costing us less than $400 a passenger day.  For those not familiar with Seabourn it is a true luxury line (with space ratios about double of that on X) which is all-inclusive (except for excursions).  The last time we cruised on Seabourn we left the ship with about $500 of unused On Board Credits because we had no use for it!  

 

But folks need to understand that the luxury lines are a different product from X.  Onboard life is certainly more quiet, and you do need to give up waiting on lines, having photographers follow you around, seeing all that wonderful wasted space for photo galleries, not having daily "sales,"  etc etc.  It can be difficult not having to deal with tender tickets, pesky photographers, staff trying to get you to pay for alternative dining (on Seabourn the alternative restaurants have no extra charges).  And imagine the depression when you find out it is easy to walk into any show at the last minute and actually find decent seats.  OMG.  Truly awful.  My goodness, on our recent Greek Island cruise on the Seabourn Ovation DW and I found ourselves all alone on a large tender when we wanted to go ashore.  Oh....the horror!    And having to put up with our small luxury suite (everyone gets a suite on Seabourn) with a bathroom that had a full size bathtub, a separate shower, duel sinks, etc.  And then there was the additional horror of ordering decent caviar and having it delivered (cabin or bar) for no extra fee.  Imagine!   

 

Hank

You're right Hank, Celebrity is truly awful.  

 

 

[Azulann]

1 hour ago, Ken the cruiser said:

How are the Viking Ocean evening shows, enrichment programs and other entertaining things to do, especially on sea days? Top notch, just ok or in some cases nonexistent?

Recent Bermuda cruise in July,  the evening shows were cabaret  style with fabulous singer from Broadway, with backup singers; ABBA show with band and dancers, little more low key than big Celebrity shows with acrobats .Both CD and assistant were great singers tenors. 

During my Transatlantic three years ago , with six sea days in a row(pre covid), lots of  presentations , lectures,  small group discussions by resident historian and other presenters on variety of historical subject. They do have trivia each day. On the TA  we had big Beatle show  on pool deck under the stars  with wine and lovely snacks.  Also a Met  opera broadcast  in  theater during a afternoon.  Lots of  evening music  in the lounges, and main living room, jazz, classical and guitarist.  Torhaven is a nightclub that opens at 10pm for dancing and ship band with  singer. 

Some of  it was top notch, some more ok.  All evenings shows are live-streamed to your room during this covid time.