Is it worth it?

[LGW59]

5 minutes ago, FiremedicMike151 said:

So a side question - is the retreat worth getting?  I'm looking at a 4 day right this minute and there's a retreat room that I'm comfortable paying for, but it's nearly double the cost of a regular balcony.. 

 

Again, it is subjective.  Experience is different with more included, i.e. Luminae, Retreat Deck/Lounge area.  Def more expensive but for a 4 day cruise, just might be the perfect way to try it for the experience and then can decide if a value for you when going on longer cruises.

[Bo1953]

9 minutes ago, Ferry_Watcher said:

 

Generally speaking, passengers on Celebrity are emotionally mature people who know how to act in public.  They often times have busy and stressful jobs/careers and when they are on the ship it is to relax with their partner/family/friend.   They have no need, desire to show social dominance.  They don't engage in one-upmanship, because they already have the nice home, car, career.  

They want good service, good food & drink, a relaxed setting, and are willing to pay for it.  They tend to appreciate and treat the crew respectfully (as passengers on other lines do as well).  Celebrity passengers are willing to pay more for this cruise experience.

 

Celebrity passengers just tend to be chill 

LOL - which ships have I missed on X where the passengers are 'emotionally' mature?

 

Oh wait you were not talking about CC...

 

I need that respite for sure.... LOL

 

bon voyage

Edited January 11, 2022 by Bo1953

[FiremedicMike151]

1 minute ago, cangelmd said:

Which ship? It’s hard to go back from the Retreat, even though back is pretty nice. Our last cruises before Covid struck were 10 days in a Royal Suite on Reflection followed 3 months later by a week in an inside cabin on Edge - two different and wonderful experiences.

Celebrity Summit

 

[FiremedicMike151]

By the way, I really appreciate everyone's responses!
 

[LGW59]

9 minutes ago, FiremedicMike151 said:

Celebrity Summit

 

Very nice ship, it was my first ever with Celebrity and that was before she was refurbished.  Wonderful memories, a man never forgets the first time...on a ship

[rmalbers]

Just a couple of things:  Pricing on X right now is not typical (there are some deals on X cruises right not for the next month or two!),  there is a 'boatload' of FCC money that has to flow thru the system and at this point is looking like that might take a couple more years!  If you want a more typical X cruise stay away from holiday cruises and peak summertime, you will have a few more kids during this time but from what I've seen the kids on X are more well behaved so it's not as big of a deal.  Also, younger/older crowds based on itinerary, cruise length and season.

[hiccups]

6 minutes ago, FiremedicMike151 said:

Celebrity Summit

 

I will say we’ve sailed twice on Summit, and it’s not our favorite ship—we preferred our sailings on Equinox and Edge since they are larger ships with a bit more to do, and more venues.  Summit has some attractive prices, though!

 

For me, the Retreat would be more worth it on the Edge class ships because of the pool on the Retreat deck.

[Pickels]

1 hour ago, FiremedicMike151 said:

My wife and I just hit gold on Carnival and are generally OK with them.  We sailed Royal Caribbean once and found it to just be a more expensive version of Carnival..

 

We've always said we were going to try Celebrity once just to experience it, but I am absolutely sticker shocked when I start to book.  We book balconies, which seem to be about 2 times the cost of Carnival if not more.

 

The ideal cruise for us is just to relax.  We like wandering around the boat relaxing by the pool and are past the party point of our lives, we've recently started hitting up the casino on Carnival solely because they are now smoke free.  On port days we generally don't get excursions as they make us feel rushed and interrupt our overall chill vibe on vacation.

 

So I ask, is it worth it?

ABSOLUTELY !

[Bo1953]

6 minutes ago, LGW59 said:

Very nice ship, it was my first ever with Celebrity and that was before she was refurbished.  Wonderful memories, a man never forgets the first time...on a ship

LOL, where did my mind go???

 

Maybe somewhere on the great blue sea???

 

bon voyage

[clojacks]

Lots of responses  say that to compare the 2 you have to consider that Celebrity’s prices are all-inclusive and Carnivals are not. But can’t you still cruise Celebrity as a non all-inclusive? Isn’t there are stripped down price “hidden” in their booking engine? Wouldn’t that be a more valid comparison if price is your decision driver?

[LGW59]

4 minutes ago, Bo1953 said:

LOL, where did my mind go???

 

Maybe somewhere on the great blue sea???

 

bon voyage

😲 for shame

[Essiesmom]

I have more cruises on Carnival than any other, although I have a lot on Celebrity.  I love the buffet on Celebrity over Carnival, and the ambiance.  But be wary of the short cruises.  I was on a B2B2B on Millie, it was 5/5/4.  Onboard was a very experienced Celebrity cruiser, probably their most traveled at the time.  He told me that I would notice a difference in guest behavior on the 4 day, as opposed to the fives.  And he was right.  On the longer cruises, I never saw men in wife beater shirts and shorts…on formal night.  Would I like to sail Celebrity all the time?  Maybe.  But currently, I prefer to sail from a port I can drive to,  which limits me to Jax, Port Canaveral, Charleston, and Tampa.  That limits my choice of cruise line.  EM

[cangelmd]

34 minutes ago, FiremedicMike151 said:

Celebrity Summit

 

While I agree that a good “toe in the water” might be a 4 day balcony cabin, then compare experiences- my opinion is that the Retreat makes a bigger impact on the S and M class than Edge.

Whatever you decide, 4 day cruises are a little “wilder” in general than longer ones, but it’s a good way to compare.

[graphicguy]

40 minutes ago, FiremedicMike151 said:

So a side question - is the retreat worth getting?  I'm looking at a 4 day right this minute and there's a retreat room that I'm comfortable paying for, but it's nearly double the cost of a regular balcony.. 

 

Boy do I love me some Retreat.  So, what's added is Premium Drinks (almost, but not quite, every drink you could want is included), Streaming WiFi (a big step up from the "included" WiFi), sizable OBC, etc.  Add in the Retreat Lounge (or Michael's Club), a Retreat Concierge and a "Butler", the Luminae Restaurant (I think they also include Blu Restaurant), priority em/dis-embarkation, and it's a whole other experience.

 

Is it worth it?  As others say, it's up to you.  But, if you add up the upgrade gimmes and OBC, I figured they were worth about $1,200-$1,400, and that doesn't include the exclusivity and extra service.

[DCPIV]

From what you've said, I believe you would enjoy Celebrity. The things you are trying to avoid with Carnival don't really exist on a Celebrity ship or are toned down quite a bit. Overall, it's a much more relaxed and relaxing atmosphere. There's still plenty of good fun to be had, mine you, but it's not shoved in your face. 

 

Whether it's worth it is up to you, but I find it quite worth it. I also find The Retreat worth it, but that is a very pricey add-on. 

 

Frankly, from what I know about Carnival, I'd much rather pay the higher price for Celebrity. In fact, I don't know that I'd sail Carnival at any price. I've never been much for the wild party scene, and enjoy it even less than i used to. My wife, however, is gold on Carnival. She goes on a girls' cruise on Carnival every year and enjoys it for those few days. She's told me that I'd hate it, and I have no reason to doubt her word. 🤣

[Chgojim]

Not going to debate the Carnival vs RCL vs NCL vs Celebrity question. It truly depends on so many factors such as one’s budget, type of on board entertainment and atmosphere one seeks (party, active, relaxed), tolerance for lots of young people, the food quality one seeks, etc…we started out with Carnival, moved to Princess and then Celebrity , which now that we are older with more disposable income, is our line of choice.

   We are fortunate to be able to now afford the Retreat class but it was not certainly how we started out, progressing from porthole, to outside to balcony etc…The one thing I haven’t seen mentioned is the upgraded suite benefits that Celebrity offers vs other mainstream lines such as Princess (not talking of luxury ones such as Aramara). Having a suite host, all specialty dining, a separate lounge and restaurant, is what sets Celebrity apart from the others 

[LB_NJ]

Unfortunately you will not know without trying at least once.

 

There are a large number of things about cruising that are very subjective and depend on what is important to YOU.

 

Small ship vs. large ship, active vs. quiet, how important is food, cost, activities, party atmosphere, etc.

 

We have not tried Celebrity before however we will try it this June (the Summit, assuming all goes well).

 

We have been on Cunard QM2, Royal, Princess, and Oceania. All have different cost profiles and pros and cons.  Of those 4 lines the only ships WE WILL NOT SAIL on are the large Royal ships, we are OK with the smaller Royal ships.  Personal preference.

 

Sometimes in a large city for hotels you can spend $100/night or $1000/night or anywhere in between.  Same goes for restaurants.  It all depends on what is important to you.

[rockraiders]

We switched from Carnival to Celebrity and we’re never going back. Recent pricing has tempted us though. We prefer the demographics and general behavior on Celebrity. 

[emmas gran]

If you start with a suite and Retreat services you may never want to go back to a regular balcony 😀😀

[LGW59]

25 minutes ago, Chgojim said:

Not going to debate the Carnival vs RCL vs NCL vs Celebrity question. It truly depends on so many factors such as one’s budget, type of on board entertainment and atmosphere one seeks (party, active, relaxed), tolerance for lots of young people, the food quality one seeks, etc…we started out with Carnival, moved to Princess and then Celebrity , which now that we are older with more disposable income, is our line of choice.

   We are fortunate to be able to now afford the Retreat class but it was not certainly how we started out, progressing from porthole, to outside to balcony etc…The one thing I haven’t seen mentioned is the upgraded suite benefits that Celebrity offers vs other mainstream lines such as Princess (not talking of luxury ones such as Aramara). Having a suite host, all specialty dining, a separate lounge and restaurant, is what sets Celebrity apart from the others 

The one thing I haven’t seen mentioned is the upgraded suite benefits that Celebrity offers.  They were mentioned in several posts.  

[davekathy]

2 hours ago, FiremedicMike151 said:

So I ask, is it worth it?

I say go for it. Book an equivalent balcony stateroom to what you would book on Carnival. Then decide if Celebrity is worth it. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. We now only cruise with Celebrity and Royal. We like the difference and similarities between the two lines. For us we like Celebrity a little better for the fact there is no inside smoking and Celebrity's ships aren't floating amusement parks. 

Edited January 11, 2022 by davekathy

[CruiseRQA]

1 hour ago, FiremedicMike151 said:

So a side question - is the retreat worth getting?  I'm looking at a 4 day right this minute and there's a retreat room that I'm comfortable paying for, but it's nearly double the cost of a regular balcony.. 

 

I will weigh in on this next week as we (hopefully, Covid tests and Delta airlines cooperating) will be in a suite  on the Apex. 

[bigbenboys]

1 hour ago, FiremedicMike151 said:

So a side question - is the retreat worth getting?  I'm looking at a 4 day right this minute and there's a retreat room that I'm comfortable paying for, but it's nearly double the cost of a regular balcony.. 

 

Overall I like M Class ships for relaxation and being classy. S Class ships as classy and entertaining. E Class as loud. Luminae is very nice on the M and S Class ships. We mostly book sky suites, but also like AquaClass and its restaurant Blu. 

[verizon]

Is it worth it?  As others say, it's up to you.

I have 50+ on Celebrity 1 on NCL and 2 on RCCL.

Celebrity ships is like my 2nd.home.

I got free WIFI,Premium drink package and free Laundry every time I cruise on Celebrity.

I sometimes get free specialty dinner one night on my sailing.

Edited January 11, 2022 by verizon

[Jazzbo]

1 hour ago, hiccups said:

I’d say for a short cruise, and your first on X, try a regular balcony.  Then you can compare directly to Carnival and see if you think it’s worth it.  We do 😃

I tend to agree with hiccups. If you're Gold on Carnival, you have probably been on 4-day Carnival cruises.  If you do a regular balcony on X for a 4-day cruise, you will have a good comparison to a regular balcony on a Carnival 4-day cruise.  There are a group of balcony cabins on this class ship called the "Sweet 16," that have double-size balconies.  They are 6016 - 6030 Starboard and 1621 - 1635 Port.  You may want to try one of those (if available).  They are currently 2C cabins, but will become "Deluxe Verandahs" beginning April 14, 2023.  You'll have the experience of a "regular" cabin (albeit with a double-size balcony) for 4 days that you can compare to a 4-day Carnival cruise.  Our last cruise on the Summit was in April 2019, and she is a beautiful ship!

 

Here is a link to a YouTube review of a sweet 16: https://youtu.be/mGlbXGa9NzY

 

Please come back and let us know if you decide to take the Summit cruise.  I'm sure a lot of people on this board will be happy to share tips.