Comparing lines...Celebrity is nearly always coming in as the best value. Why book others?

[mfs2k]

I find Carnival bashing amusing but based on ignorance. 
 

I’ve been on 10 Carnival cruises from 1986 to 2015 and had a great time. Great memories. Loved the party in my brain. Loved the people we met. Loved the crew and yes, loved the food in the specialty restaurants and the MDR food was decent too. It was definitely the fun ships for us. Great vacations. 
 

But as we reached our mid 50’s we outgrew Carnival and looked to Celebrity for more of a luxury experience. I never took advantage of our Carnival Platinum status.
We sailed on Equinox in 2019 and loved it. We liked that there weren't a lot of children on board.  We liked the refinement.
 

We’re booked on Beyond for 9 nights in a Sky Suite in October and can’t wait to be spoiled. 

[Tierun]

Royal is the family line and Celebrity is the line for us as a couple. The kids love the extra hoopla of the RCCL ships. They are getting older now (early 20s and late teens) but they still turn down suggestions for sailing on X. 
 

Our 23 and 21 year olds are doing a Carnival sailing soon simple for the young adult shenanigans. Which I did in my 20s as well.

 

The wife and are looking to see how the lines differ so we’re trying MSC and are looking into Princess this year. Also want to do Azamara and even the new Carnival ship with the right itinerary.

[SHIP TRAVELER]

Coming out of the shut down we tried a couple of cruises on the Majestic Princess out of LA.  They offered a plus deal with the Premium drinks package (very good brands and service) tips, and WIFI.  We went in a mini suite which is the lowest decent balcony cabin they offer and the total was under $2.5K.  The self service laundry and ironing room is a plus but the dining is a slight step down.  The regular balcony cabins don't not work well for us because there is no place to sit except a desk chair or the bed, they are too small.  The Mini Suite was great.  If you want a good comparison, Princess has some good itineraries and all inclusive package deals.  They also  give OBC to Veterans which is nice.  All this said, we are steadily working on Elite plus on X and have four cruises book with them this year.

[runningtide]

We are devoted Celebrity and RCI fans. Living in Annapolis RCI sails out of Baltimore, so it’s so convenient to drive 30 minutes to the ship from our house. Also love the smaller RCI ships that sail out of Baltimore. But our first cruise was Celebrity, and we certainly love the “cut above” aspect that Celebrity presents. As for Carnival, yes it does sail out of Baltimore but never had any desire to climb aboard. One friend did his first and last Carnival cruise and came off with a great nick name for the line……KMART Cruising.   😁

[PinkSandGirl]

I don't compare prices for other lines when I am looking to book a cruise.  (Except a few years ago as noted above).   I stay loyal to Celebrity because besides a cruise I take other types of vacations during the year...so when I cruise, I want it to be with a cruise line I like and know what to expect.  If Celebrity changes in a way that I don't like, then I will look at something else but for now, Celebrity it is. 😉

 

I have looked over the years, just out of curiosity at other lines.  There are some things I see that intrigue me here and there but not enough to switch.  I also see things that definitely make me not want to go on certain lines. 

 

I'm not restrained to a certain month or timeframe so having that flexibility helps find a Celebrity ship and sailing that works for us.  

 

🍹

[Lastdance]

We have never cruised Carnival, as I did not go to carnivals growing up in Michigan except for one.  We did Royal in the Caribbean, but after three we were done.  We prefer Celebrity’s suite class, but for longer cruises that are more expensive with b2b/TA, we pair suites with SV’s. Right now I am just happy to have six cruises booked in Europe and NZ/AUS, not to mention a couple in the S. Caribbean/SA.  Covid helped my travel budget immensely, so for that I am very thankful.  Furthermore, our cruise buddies are all fantastic people, funny and a delight to be around on a ship.

[canderson]

We haven't sailed all of the lines, but stuck with Celebrity for a variety of reasons once we first boarded Galaxy many years ago.

 

Here's a question related to our strong preferences:

 

Which lines only get on the PA twice or three times (when cleared to disembark at a port) a day the way Celebrity does?

 

I do not want someone yapping on the horn all day telling me what a wonderful experience I'm having and where/when that next can't-miss event is being held.  Celebrity keeps this to a minimum, and really does set a different tone for a cruise.

 

[schittenden]

I’ve sailed many Carnival cruises. I find the lines to be more similar than different. We’ve had a great time, and our cruises were almost always comped or close to it. We get great offers from the Carnival casino and always have free drinks there, so we just get most of our drinks there. The cabins are larger and better laid out than Celebrity if somewhat less nice (particularly, the bathrooms). The food was good. The crew was great. The guests did little to impact my enjoyment of the cruise. We have almost always sailed week-long cruises, so perhaps this spared us some of the more unruly behavior. When it comes to the casino, I love the non-smoking on Celebrity, but I appreciate the free wine, cookies, strawberries, spa treatments, and steakhouse meals that the Carnival casino provides. The Celebrity casino gives me none of that, though they too have started comping cruises. 

[kelib]

10 hours ago, LGW59 said:

as long as you promise that you won't participate in a belly flop contest 🤣

Rather see that than the Chewbacca contest 😵

[juanita1767]

On 3/25/2022 at 7:43 PM, Loracpin2 said:

Agree 100%. Nothing could entice us to sail on a Carnival ship!! 

We tried it just to see...........if it was my first cruise I would never cruise again. 

[KKB]

37 minutes ago, schittenden said:

I’ve sailed many Carnival cruises. I find the lines to be more similar than different. 

Having done Princess, DCL, NCL, RCCL & X, we agree overall.

We have found things to like from each line or ship. 

If we could just take our fav parts of each...PERFECTION!

[schittenden]

24 minutes ago, KKB said:

Having done Princess, DCL, NCL, RCCL & X, we agree overall.

We have found things to like from each line or ship. 

If we could just take our fav parts of each...PERFECTION!

Similar to us. I’ve done all of those by RCCL (which my wife has done). X is catching up on Carnival with another in two weeks and one in August. 

[the penguins]

On 3/25/2022 at 11:09 PM, KKB said:

OK...We have been sailing Celebrity more than any others the last few years; the AI plan works well for us.

I get that some don't drink at all or much.

I get that a particular itinerary or date may sway one to another line.

 

BUT let's say we are comparing 2 similar cruises at similar times. 

 

But for instance: 

Carnival offered us a free cruise with their Casino Match program. We had $600 credit from a COVID booking that I truly thought we would eat as their prices didn't compare when we figured everything in. With the credit it is literally costing us nothing to sail 14 days to Hawaii. OK, we will give Carnival a try (we had that ONE Carnival cruise booked, thus the credit).

It is in 1/2023 & all OV & Balconies are already sold out!!! I priced an interior: $4K no drinks, tips, wifi. (and tips 4 gonna run you about $420 more)

I looked at a 12 day Hawaii cruise on Celebrity 4/2023 (earliest 2023 date). It is only 12 days & you must fly to Hawaii but you do get 5 days on islands vs. 4.

$4200 for interior with drinks tips & wifi.

 

I realize these are slightly different cruises. But if I was paying out of pocket, Celebrity would be the no brainer.

 

Do people just see the price & not factor in all the other things?

 

(I have several different lines booked in the next 2 years...price is often a factor tho not always)

Depends on the route. 

In July 2022 Celebrity and Princess are sailing 14 night itineraries from Southampton to the Med - very similar routes.

Silhouette in a standard balcony with AI £ 3349 per person.

Enchanted Princess with tips, premium drinks and Full internet £1369 per person in standard balcony, £1469 per person in delux balcony and £1749 per person in a mini suite. 

 

 

 

 

 

[maryann2]

22 hours ago, mfs2k said:

I find Carnival bashing amusing but based on ignorance. 
 

I’ve been on 10 Carnival cruises from 1986 to 2015 and had a great time. Great memories. Loved the party in my brain. Loved the people we met. Loved the crew and yes, loved the food in the specialty restaurants and the MDR food was decent too. It was definitely the fun ships for us. Great vacations. 
 

I agree.

I love Carnival.

I sail Carnival Cunard Costa Celebrity and MSC. Although Diamond Plus on Royal have had a few bad experiences so stopped sailing them.

I only sail longer 14 day cruises , not the Caribbean.

[grandgeezer]

There are times when the best isn’t good enough.

[Denny01]

Yes, Celebrity is our ‘go-to’ Line, and have 26 of our 40 cruises on X. Loved all our cruises (well, except a 2N Carnival madhouse), but unless there is a specific itinerary or we are joining friends on another Line, we go X.

 

Why?

  - X treats me as an adult that can read daily’s, pick what I want on my own and doesn’t try to push me into various ‘fun things’.  

 - excellent service. Yes, other Lines also do, but I find X’s staff a bit of a cut above the other ‘mainlines’.

 - common areas are well designed and usually not crowded. Ample theater, and lounges. Using the Magic Carpet is fantastic when we were anchored. 

 - dining is excellent. Love the choices. Love the island buffet. More than love the E-Class 4 MDRs. Smaller, quieter.

 - Don’t have to worry about getting around all the lines and crowds waiting to ‘surf’ for 2min, or climb a wall with block and tackle attached to me…..and I don’t have to explain why I’m Not joining the ‘hairy chest contest’ because ‘hair doesn’t grow on steel!!’. 

 - The 3 X Classes differ enough to give me a change without going to another Line. Each has something unique, something that I’m not big on, something that I look forward to and have booked cruises just to enjoy the ship.

 - Love the very different SRs. Yes, enjoy the E-Class Infinite’s and others. Going to try the Suite experience for the first time on our Oct ‘22 Transatlantic…..just hope I don’t get hooked and want it all the time!

 

Den

[GUT2407]

I love the Celebrity product, but when I factor everything in it is usually $20~50 per night more than Princess, which I also love, if I find a good deal on Celebrity I’ll book it though.

[Denny01]

2 minutes ago, GUT2407 said:

I love the Celebrity product, but when I factor everything in it is usually $20~50 per night more than Princess, which I also love, if I find a good deal on Celebrity I’ll book it though.

Enjoyed Princess also, but the Princess ships I experienced had smaller standard SRs - no couch to have guests over and the shower was so small I was against the curtain all the time, and I’m not That big! So when I compare Princess, I price out a mini-suite to a standard X SR. Yes, it has a much larger balcony than X, but the standard Princess SR isn’t handy for me. Just me though.

 

I found a lot of the Princess venues, especially the theater to be very crowded and too small for the passenger load. But enjoyed the 3 I’ve done on Princess.

 

Den

[t18c97]

On 3/26/2022 at 11:25 AM, mfs2k said:

I find Carnival bashing amusing but based on ignorance. 

 

I had only one experience on a Carnival ship, that was enough. Maybe it was because I was coming from doing Disney cruises, which keeps their ships in like new condition. The ship we were on you could hardly see out the windows on the lower decks from all the sea spray that looks like was never cleaned off. One of the two atrium elevators was down and was being held up with a block a chain the entire time we were on the ship. Looking at internet reviews on the ship later I had seen posts from a couple months earlier saying the same thing. Food in our experience was nothing special and would not be anything we would be wanting to go back for. Now this was back around 2009 and maybe they've cleaned up their act but that one experience for use was enough to say we don't need to do it again. 

[kmtoner]

KKB, for us the ship size has been a big factor when shopping, and Celebrity’s newest ships are very big. (At least by our standards, perhaps not by RCCL and Carnival standards!)

 

We’ve sailed on Princess, Carnival, RCCL, and Crystal. At approx.1,000 passengers, we liked Crystal’s two ocean ships the best. 800-1200 passenger ships are big enough to have plenty to do and the all-included features helped us plan accurately for the cost of the vacations.

 

Alas, Crystal is no more, so we’re booked on our first X cruise in the Med at the end of September ’22. Our Sky Suite will cost more than double what we ever spent on our modest Crystal Promenade Deck cabins. I’m optimistic that food, drinks, entertainment, and service on the Beyond will compare well to Crystal. But I confess that I’m concerned about 3,000+ passengers on the Beyond. If our trip were during a school holiday, I doubt we would consider a ship so large. If our next trip is great, I’ll start looking at Celebrity’s smaller ships for future sailings. If not, I’ll look at SilverSeas.

 

95% of the comments on the Celebrity Cruise Critic Board have me feeling very, very confident about Celebrity generally. Our thanks to everyone here!

[Bo1953]

On 3/26/2022 at 12:25 PM, mfs2k said:

I find Carnival bashing amusing but based on ignorance. 
 

I’ve been on 10 Carnival cruises from 1986 to 2015 and had a great time. Great memories. Loved the party in my brain. Loved the people we met. Loved the crew and yes, loved the food in the specialty restaurants and the MDR food was decent too. It was definitely the fun ships for us. Great vacations. 
 

But as we reached our mid 50’s we outgrew Carnival and looked to Celebrity for more of a luxury experience. I never took advantage of our Carnival Platinum status.
We sailed on Equinox in 2019 and loved it. We liked that there weren't a lot of children on board.  We liked the refinement.
 

We’re booked on Beyond for 9 nights in a Sky Suite in October and can’t wait to be spoiled. 

Okay, be amused yet know that my bashing of Carnival is based on the personal representations of people, who I know personally, described their experience on Carnival.

 

Not that I took it as representative of ALL Carnival sailings, yet I took it as a line that I did not want to try... mainly due to the number of passengers on many of their ships, the size of some of their ships, the advertizing seen did not appeal to us, and more I Am sure played into my bashing of the line... LOL

 

To be sure, your choice to sail and/or like Carnival is fine by most of us, it is just not our desire. We say go for it or not. Each line has its' offerings and attractions for sure. Just depends on how you like it.

 

Happy you have enjoyed your past sailings on Carnival.

 

bon voyage

Edited March 30, 2022 by Bo1953

[mfs2k]

5 minutes ago, Bo1953 said:

my bashing of Carnival is based on the personal representations of people, who I know personally, described their experience on Carnival.

 

Perhaps we will meet one day and you will factor in my experiences in your opinion.

[mtempelaar]

On 3/25/2022 at 7:09 PM, KKB said:

I realize these are slightly different cruises. But if I was paying out of pocket, Celebrity would be the no brainer.

 

Do people just see the price & not factor in all the other things?

I have my favorite cruiselines, and my favorite types of cabins.  Choosing what I sail and how depends on my intent and the itinerary.   Group cruise - Carnival or RCL.  Just me and the hubs, or planning to stay on ship more and take advantage of the amenities - Celebrity.   NCL - Never again.

 

Yesterday, for laughs, I priced out Beyond and Carnival Mardi Gras for similar itineraries - Sky Suite versus a nice Mardi Gras Excel suite.   Mardi Gras you are throwing more $ in to match the perks of Celebrity and you still aren't getting the OBC of Sky Suite.   Then I did a Wonder of the Seas suite comparison.  Celebrity was better (and less crowds thank god).

 

Last I did Silversea pricing.  Now most of Silversea is over the top pricing, but looking at what you get for a 7 day Alaska cruise or Lisbon -> Barcelona cruise....If you book far enough in advance, cost can be in between a Sky Suite and a Celebrity Suite.  They can include airfare in that as well, and airport transfer, shore excursions, cooking classes, food and beverage.  The perks are better, it's 5 star, and you get into some smaller, more unique ports.  But you don't want to go through rough seas in a 23-40k ton ship.

 

I've got cruises booked out through 2024 at this point, but I think when the Silversea itineraries come out for 2025, I may dip my toe into their pool...just once in my life....