How do You Rank Celebrity

[mcrcruiser]

How do you rank Celebrity as your choice when searching for your next cruise?  If  Not Celebrity then what cruise line will you select ?

[Ken the cruiser]

We like interesting itineraries, with about 50% sea days, that are between 3-5 weeks in length. Our current order of preference when choosing those types of itineraries are:

 

Princess (Platinum), Celebrity (Elite+), and then NCL (Platinum) if the itinerary is awesome.

[Orator]

Celebrity is the best in their class, but I prefer the old Crystal. I'll wait for reviews of the new Crystal, but I would consider Viking and to a lesser extent Oceania.

[George C]

Celebrity is our favorite in general love suite perks , sailing again next week on a music charter on summit. In. November we are on rccl harmony, got a very nice rate on grand suite and they have the best entertainment. The only other cruise we will consider sailing is MSc yacht club which has even better suite perks .

[Pickels]

We sailed on the Equinox, Silhouette and recently on the Reflection; all great cruises, so Celebrity is our first choice, with Princess as second because of the Sanctuary. 

[terrydtx]

We are at the point in our lives that we book now 100% for itineraries that are more port intensive with few if any sea days. We have done plenty of Sea Days in the last 25 years and we now want to see places on our bucket list. Our Equinox cruise in June will be our last Caribbean cruise and we only booked it to take our 12 year old Granddaughter with us during her summer vacation. We have been to every Caribbean island more than once so we no longer wish to do more.

 

Once we find an itinerary, we then look at cabin types, costs, amenities and the best itinerary. The only 3 cruise lines we will book are Celebrity (in the Retreat only), Holland America (in Vista or Signature suites) and Oceania (in at least an A Concierge class cabin). All our future booked cruises were chosen by these criteria's.

Edited March 6, 2023 by terrydtx

[D. B.]

Celebrity is still my Number One choice But if they keep degrading the product while upping cost we have booked cruises this year on  Azamara (Japan Itinerary) and Oceania (Olife with air ticket) in the Baltic to see what they are like.

 We do not have the funds for anything above a standard window or balcony cabin so price matters.

 If RCCI changes to Once a Day cabin service on Celebrity that's another bad decision on their part.

[terrydtx]

2 minutes ago, D. B. said:

Celebrity is still my Number One choice But if they keep degrading the product while upping cost we have booked cruises this year on  Azamara (Japan Itinerary) and Oceania (Olife with air ticket) in the Baltic to see what they are like.

 We do not have the funds for anything above a standard window or balcony cabin so price matters.

 If RCCI changes to Once a Day cabin service on Celebrity that's another bad decision on their part.

Celebrity was our number one choice, but I agree future pricing specially in suites have us now looking at Oceania first. We can book an O cruise now for less than a Sky Suite costs for similar itinerary. 

[terrydtx]

25 minutes ago, D. B. said:

Celebrity is still my Number One choice But if they keep degrading the product while upping cost we have booked cruises this year on  Azamara (Japan Itinerary) and Oceania (Olife with air ticket) in the Baltic to see what they are like.

 We do not have the funds for anything above a standard window or balcony cabin so price matters.

 If RCCI changes to Once a Day cabin service on Celebrity that's another bad decision on their part.

If we were only booking standard verandah cabins we would not be considering Celebrity at all. In their newest E Class ships these don't exist and in other ships the pricing is unreasonable. We would in this case consider HAL first as their 3 newest ships have no IV cabins and still have traditional ones at competitive prices with MDR's that have IMO better choices and overall food quality. HAL still has free room service and a complete dinner buffet and better priced drink and specialty dining packages. 

[patty1955]

Oceania is number one, then Windstar and Celebrity is third. 

Oceania is very much like Celebrity was when we first started sailing. Everybody was treated about the same without class distinction. The food on Oceania and Windstar is like the food used to be on Celebrity.

[sun bum]

This shows how we feel about Celebrity:

 

CELEBRITY ASCENT  2024

CELEBRITY BEYOND  2023

CELEBRITY EQUINOX 2022

CELEBRITY EDGE 2022

CELEBRITY SUMMIT 2019

CELEBRITY EDGE 2019

CELEBRITY EQUINOX 2018

CELEBRITY REFLECTION 2017

CELEBRITY SUMMIT 2016

CELEBRITY SILHOUETTE 2015

CELEBRITY SUMMIT 2013

CELEBRITY MILLENNIUM 2011

CELEBRITY SUMMIT 2009

CELEBRITY MERCURY 2007

GOLDEN PRINCESS 2005

CELEBRITY CONSTELLATION 2003

[RichYak]

16 minutes ago, sun bum said:

This shows how we feel about Celebrity:

 

CELEBRITY ASCENT  2024

CELEBRITY BEYOND  2023

CELEBRITY EQUINOX 2022

CELEBRITY EDGE 2022

CELEBRITY SUMMIT 2019

CELEBRITY EDGE 2019

CELEBRITY EQUINOX 2018

CELEBRITY REFLECTION 2017

CELEBRITY SUMMIT 2016

CELEBRITY SILHOUETTE 2015

CELEBRITY SUMMIT 2013

CELEBRITY MILLENNIUM 2011

CELEBRITY SUMMIT 2009

CELEBRITY MERCURY 2007

GOLDEN PRINCESS 2005

CELEBRITY CONSTELLATION 2003

Ahh, I see you're a Princess fan... 😂

[padgman1]

Sun bum, could you be a bit more specific about your feelings towards Celebrity???😉

 

Go Reds !!! ( grew up in Louisville, attended many Reds games in the 60-80's).

[cgolf1]

For us Celebrity is the first choice and we will look at certain Royal ships. 

 

Inside room prices on Celebrity are still really good deals so price isn't an issue for us.

 

For a potential birthday cruise this year though, I did also price out MSC, Carnival's new ships, Princess, and Holland. If we don't do Royal or Celebrity we might try MSC for their crazy low price point. Cost matters a little this year since 2024 is a Galapagos cruise which isn't cheap.

[sun bum]

17 minutes ago, RichYak said:

Ahh, I see you're a Princess fan... 😂

As you can see it was our 2nd cruise and its been Celebrity every since.

[jagoffee]

59 minutes ago, RichYak said:

Ahh, I see you're a Princess fan... 😂

Obviously they see no reason to even try a different cruise line.

 

I am still a Suite Celebrity fan.   Based  on their itineraries, I have cruised on Princess enough to reach the Elite level.

 

I really enjoyed Oceania, so given the right itinerary, I would pick it over Princess.Although I would not hesitate to book a Princess cruise with the right itinerary.  

 

When Celebrity eliminated their regular 14 day winter Southern Caribbean cruises, they drove  me to try some other lines including Regent.  I would much rather cruise in a Royal Suite on Celebrity over a Regent cruise. (I also did not like the fact that shore  excursions for ever port was built into the base price.) 

 

i would say that Celebrity is trying to push me away with the lack of 14+ day itineraries.  I tried a B2B, 4 day with a 10 day on the Silhouette last fall.  Just not the same and my wife says never again.  I have done a B2B  with two seven day cruise, but I did not care for that one either.  
 

I have some other cruises lines (like Seaborne or perhaps Viking) to try.  
 

My next scheduled cruise is on the Summit from Iceland to Boston. (12 days) with an extra 3 days in Iceland.  
 

We have sampled many locations over the years with the French Polynesia being out most frequently non Caribbean visited area.

 

the only negative is that we would have been at the Zenith level if we had only cruised Celebrity, but it has never been our priority.

Edited March 6, 2023 by jagoffee

[paulh84]

After our last cruise on Beyond in the Retreat I can't see up going back to non-suite categories very often. We only cruise once to twice a year with 2-3 other trips mixed in. We're both almost 40 for what it's worth. 

 

My hierarchy of where I'd would start would be:

1. Celebrity 

2. MSC Yacht Club 

3. Virgin (maybe)

4. For Europe - I would consider a unique line or sailing ship like Windstar  

5. Maybe NCL Haven - strictly outside of school holiday time and only if it is substantially cheaper than Celebrity which it hardly ever is. 

 

Each ship RCL comes out with is further from what we want in a cruise. The older ships are just too old for us. I recently priced out a few comparable Oceania cruises to Celebrity itineraries we have booked and it was consistently at least double in price. I also think the ships will be too quiet and small for our liking. I would try MSC YC for the right price but I am not particularly excited about the common notion that it's really nice as long as you never leave YC. The ships seem like a circus on multiple fronts. Friends that used to frequent NCL Haven say it's a glorified teens club this point. They have not been happy. 

 

Celebrity continues to check a lot of boxes for our wants and needs. E class, specifically Beyond, has easily been our favorite ship to date. 

[cruisemom42]

I don't currently have a single "go-to" cruise line. For me the itinerary and the size of the ship (small) are my biggest criteria. Smaller ships are getting harder to find, unfortunately. 

 

I like Azamara and am doing a second cruise with them in 2023, as well as a first cruise on Oceania (one of their smaller ships). I'm not a "luxury" cruiser so it's unlikely that you'll ever find me on a ship more expensive than those two lines. 

 

I would like to try Viking but I find many of their itineraries unimaginative.

 

For mass market lines right now I like Celebrity and HAL:  Celebrity (M class and S class) for the ship and HAL for itineraries. Sometimes there is a crossover. Celebrity cruises tend to be shorter, but I recently put together four sailings on Solstice in 2025 that will take me from Hong Kong to Australia to Hawaii to Alaska with no repeats.

 

I used to cruise with Princess but since their newer ships I am not a fan any longer.

 

[bigbenboys]

We have cruised different cruise lines. So far Celebrity is my favorite. We cruise mostly in suites. We have not sailed on the higher end cruise lines, reason dress code. Been to over 75 countries. We only have a few areas of the world we have not cruised. So our cruising is more about the ship than where we are going. I canceled 3 of our 4 cruises in suites for this year. 2 of them were repeats cruises. I'm hoping Celebrity food issue will get better by Sept. I dont like the Edge Class ships. If I do a 7 night cruise it must be west coast or Alaska.

[phoenix_dream]

We finally hit Zenith last year, after 30 years and 70+ cruises, so obviously Celebrity is our go-to.  In the past we have sailed with Royal Caribbean, Princess, Norwegian, and Carnival but all except Royal have been many years go so I'm not sure I could really compare fairly (although will NEVER sail Carnival again - if I won a cruise I'd donate it - seriously).  So Royal would be my second choice, but only if we were doing a family cruise with kids.  It would be nice to go on a luxury cruise line, but I am prone to seasickness so I am not very fond of the smaller ships.  Not to mention the costs.

[southernbreezes]

For me Celebrity Edge Class Ships. If not Celebrity maybe Holland.  I like ships that are 2,000 to 3,500 passengers none smaller none bigger. Never a cruise less than 10 nights.

Edited March 6, 2023 by southernbreezes

[prmssk]

If all things are equal, we choose Celebrity but we book cruises for all kinds of reasons (itinerary, unique ship experience, how it fits into our schedule, embarkation port, etc.).  I'm most excited to try MSC's Yacht Club. Royal Caribbean still ranks pretty high for us.  Some day we want to get back on Holland.

 

On the other end, we were not impressed at all with Princess last year so they are very low on our list.  We don't completely avoid Carnival but we have to have a compelling reason to book a Carnival cruise as they really aren't our vibe.  I really don't like what NCL is doing right now so I'm hesitant to book another one anytime soon.

 

Maybe some day we will venture into more premium lines like Azamara, Oceania, etc. but we aren't at the point to consistently cruise them.

[Travelw]

Our first choice is Princess, then RCCL.  We’re only on one Celebrity and we’re not impressed with service  and food quality.  Giving Celebrity another chance on Silhouette, price was too good to pass up.

[broadwaybaby123]

Well, my house is divided:

 

My niece and I are TEAM ROYAL but will not turn down a Celebrity cruise, as that's our second favorite line.

 

My parents are TEAM CELEBRITY but will not turn down Royal since that's their second favorite line.

[Duanerice1]

We only sail the Caribbean because I don't think a  cruise is a good way to visit 'cool' places.  We used to take Celebrity all the time but the value isn't there for us anymore.  They have pretty much backed themselves down to mainstream but haven't reflected that in the price.  Although, we found a pretty good deal with some nice OBC on Good Friday,  So the ABC on the Equinox in 4 weeks is on tap.  Otherwise we have pretty much been sailing Carnival.  I know, some on here wouldn't set foot on board.... And that's OK.  And I'd agree with the older ships and weekend sailings... ehhh.  But anything over 7 nights on a newer ship..... hard to tell the difference.  We like the 4 comedy shows every night in addition to the main show.

 

For other trips we like to spend time exploring.  We don't want to go to Greece and get off the ship at 7 and back on at 5 with 3,000 other people.  To me those places are made for land based vacations. For us, sailings are pretty much Caribbean only .   We only take maybe 2 sailings a year also take at least 2 other land vacations.