Is Celebrity the new Carnival?

[young_k92]

First, this topic is not intended to start a verbal war. I'm honestly asking, because I do not have unlimited funds to spend on trying new cruise lines in an attempt to find one that doesn't make me, to be honest, hate cruising. And we're trying to decide if we should try Celebrity or move on to HAL.

 

Background: My husband and I are almost-50 Gen Xers who cruise exclusively as a couple and have only cruised Carnival. We usually average about one cruise every 5 years. We started in 2005. We started on a 5-day on the smallest ship in the fleet, and have done 8-day as well as a 14-day Journeys cruise. Each time, we've cruised a bit larger class of ship, but we will never book a cruise on a mega ship. Just not for us. Our next cruise is in October on MSC (not YC).

 

Our last cruise on Carnival was on the Magic in the Caribbean last January. For various reasons, it became apparent to us that, post-Covid, Carnival would not be receiving any more of our hard-earned dollars. It was so bad, that we were booked on a B2B and chose to get off the ship after our first leg, even with it costing us some of those dollars. We are stuck on a previously-booked 14-day Journeys cruise to Alaska next year, praying that the length, itinerary, and sailing month makes the other passengers at least semi well behaved. We're not snobs. Before Covid, we considered Carnival people to be "our people," but post-Covid, it seems to be a different cruise line.

 

So, I've been reading a lot of the posts here on the Celebrity forum. It almost sounds like RCI is turning a once premium line into what Carnival was like pre-Covid. Anyone that can elaborate on this possibility? Honestly, I wouldn't mind trying a line that was like Carnival 18 years ago. We rather enjoyed our pre-Covid cruises. But I want to be prepared not to expect "premium" when it isn't anymore.

 

And, if someone with experience could elaborate on the difference between Celebrity and HAL post-Covid, I would appreciate it. The plan was to try MSC first, then Celebrity, then HAL. But after reading these reviews, I'm wondering if moving straight to HAL might be a better option for us.

 

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

[cheer25mom]

Nope, not even close. The two simply don't compare, especially the shorter carnival cruises. We started our journey cruising Disney, and have done the Mardi Gars only with Carnival. Even pre-Covid we have never been willing to do Carnival on the older ships. We live in a port city for Carnival for one of the older ships that does shorter cruises and we see the condition on the ship and what goes on.

 

There is no way a Celebrity cruise is anywhere close to the same as Carnival, even pre-Covid Carnival. From what we have seen and heard form family it is light years above in pretty much every category.  

[MISTER 67]

Since the pandemic just about all the mainstream cruise lines have cut back on things but Celebrity has not lowered their standards to that of Carnival and don’t expect that ever happening.

Edited September 19, 2023 by MISTER 67

[lv2cruisgrl]

We have always loved Royal and Celebrity.   Celebrity has been our only choice since we have gotten older.  A friend and TA recommended to never do Carnival and we haven't.   She said it's no comparison.   So from reading your post I would recommend you try Celebrity but don't do a ship that hasn't been redone within the past 6 years.  The newer or redone ships are in better shape.  Just my opinion. 

[RedIguana]

43 minutes ago, young_k92 said:

It almost sounds like RCI is turning a once premium line into what Carnival was like pre-Covid.

RCI has pretty much turned into Carnival. Celebrity is becoming (has become?) what RCI used to be.

Just my opinion.

[RichYak]

Celebrity is not the new Carnival. The brands still have completely different vibes. The ships are all roughly in the 2000-3000 passenger range so no mega-ships. Carnival is louder and more "in your face" while Celebrity is still more subdued--think boutique hotel.

 

That said, subdued is not for everyone. Celebrity has no dedicated comedy or piano lounge. Night life exists, but not to the extent that it does on Carnival.

 

Where Celebrity is becoming more like Carnival is with its overall move to shorter, more family-friendly Caribbean itineraries and away from longer more exotic ones. Food is always subjective but the cutbacks on Celebrity have been well documented on this board. Having sailed both lines in the past year, I would say that Celebrity no longer excels with dining overall (unless you really like mashed potatoes 😂).

 

Lastly, you don't mention what ship you might be interested in. If it's any of the new Edge class ships, make sure you are aware of what an Infinite Veranda cabin is. You may like it, you may not, just know what it is before booking one.

 

Hope this helps.

 

 

[manmachine]

20+ Carnival Cruises since 2000, and 5 Celebrity Cruises since 2018.

 

I think Celebrity for non-Suite passengers is now, with all the cutbacks, very close to Carnival of 2005-2010.  Carnival shot above its weight with food and service.  Since my first Celebrity cruise, I have seen the product diminished again and again and again.
 

Celebrity is better now than Carnival.  But they both seem determined to race for the bottom.

 

And Celebrity likes to charge a lot, with much of it unwarranted, IMHO.

 

 

[Mark_K]

26 minutes ago, RedIguana said:

RCI has pretty much turned into Carnival. Celebrity is becoming (has become?) what RCI used to be.

Just my opinion.

Haven’t sailed them for a while, but RCI used to be a place where you couldn’t sit by the pool without hearing BAR SERVICE yelled out about a hundred times an hour.  I don’t think Celebrity will ever become that.

Edited September 19, 2023 by Mark_K

[NutsAboutGolf]

The food quality gap between the two cruises lines has been steadily closing

[CruisinShips]

When I think of Carnival, I think of rowdy partiers and lots of kid activities.  That's not how I think of Celebrity at all. 

To me, that's a more significant difference than debatable comparisons to food quality.

[Cruisegoer]

Carnival has way better food selection and quality wise than Celebrity these days, just compare the menus and options.  I'm Elite on Celebrity but going on my first Carnival cruise since 2019 next May on the new Jubilee. My last Celebrity cruise was July 2022 on the Summit, prior to that on the Apex in Feb 2022. I'm expecting the Jubilee to knock my socks off so not sure when I might be returning to Celebrity until their standards go back to the casual elegance it once was.

[rj59]

I'd try both HAL and Celebrity. I have over 100 nights on HAL and used to love it, but steady cutbacks drove me away. For instance, every music venue is corporate-sponsored, so you get only pre-approved setlists that are the same on every ship. The same is true of theater shows--they stopped paying for singers and dancers, so there are no production shows, just 4 contracted dancers doing the same 2-3 interpretive dance shows on every ship--then you also get a nature documentary, also corporate sponsored, of course. I went on my first Celebrity last summer in Alaska, Solstice, and loved it. It wasn't as stodgy or uniform as every HAL ship, which is geared towards older people who like tradition. The artwork is daring, there was a younger crowd, and a more diverse crew--HAL is both racist and sexist, since MDR servers are 99% male Indonesians, as are stewards, whereas servers in bars and the buffet and the cafe are 99% Filipino. I also loved that Solstice, and the others in its class, have the same size as most older HAL ships, around 2,000 people, so it doesn't get packed like megaships, and along with HAL, doesn't have waterslides or gimmicks for kids. If you really want to be wowed, go on any Edge-class ship, which on Apex had two separate casts for shows and 3 different venues where I saw shows, and it's just an absolutely brilliant ship. Koningsdam and the two newer HAL ships have some innovations, but they don't have the innovation and wow factor of Edge-class on Celebrity. Both are larger than there older ships, but still are around a manageable 2,700 pax.

 

My advice is to try both for shorter cruises. I'm going on 3 HAL cruises in October, going from Vancouver to SD, at dirt-cheap prices, so you could try that next Spring. I'm also going on Zaandam in late April, only 1,500 passengers, that just goes from Vancouver to Astoria and then back. For Celebrity, I'd try one of their short cruises out of Florida--I'm going on Silhouette, which does 3-4 night Bahamas, and I think Summit is doing 4-5 night ones to the Western Caribbean. Then you could decide which is for you. Both are also at high occupancy and resulting high fares, another reason to go on a cheaper shorter cruise on an older ship, before committing to a more expensive, longer cruise. One aspect of Celebrity that HAL doesn't have is a class system, other than a gimmicky upgrade called Club Orange, which I like, and no closed-off areas, except for some rental cabanas, whereas the Retreat on the Edge-class ships cut off access to a significant part of the front, the only thing I truly hate about those ships. You might also consider Princess, which I'd say is on the same level as HAL and Celebrity, also with innovations, like no set dining and a huge movie screen and no kids gimmicks and a medallion instead of a card. I also find more deals with them, and are in their top loyalty level, and am going on a 2-night one from Seattle to Vancouver this weekend. 

[1Virgo]

Strictly my opinion, but I would recommend booking Aqua class which gives you access to the Blu restaurant, much smaller and better food than main dining room.  

 

Celebrity is not Carnival. 

[young_k92]

2 minutes ago, 1Virgo said:

Strictly my opinion, but I would recommend booking Aqua class which gives you access to the Blu restaurant, much smaller and better food than main dining room.  

 

Celebrity is not Carnival. 

Good. I'm done with Carnival. We are no longer Carnival people.

[young_k92]

Thank you all for the helpful replies and info!

[1Virgo]

11 minutes ago, young_k92 said:

Thank you all for the helpful replies and info!

Have a great holiday 

[Cruisegoer]

16 minutes ago, 1Virgo said:

Strictly my opinion, but I would recommend booking Aqua class which gives you access to the Blu restaurant, much smaller and better food than main dining room.  

 

Celebrity is not Carnival. 

not everyone who cruises can afford the suite life or Aqua class. Glad to know people like class systems in 2023.

[1Virgo]

4 minutes ago, Cruisegoer said:

not everyone who cruises can afford the suite life or Aqua class. Glad to know people like class systems in 2023.

we dont book unless we get a sale.   

[zitsky]

Maybe read one or two of the MANY threads about the Celebrity changes? 😂

Edited September 19, 2023 by zitsky

[AlaskaNewbie68]

I haven't been on Carnival (it seems obvious it's just not "for me") and we have only done one Celebrity (with another one coming up in January), but we really enjoyed our May trip on Summit. We are 55 yr old GenXers who like peace and quiet on our trips, with some good entertainment and some yummy cocktails and GOOD FOOD. Our itinerary attracted a much older crowd it seemed, but we enjoyed much about Celebrity. We've been on HAL, RC and Oceania. 

[Gia2cats]

51 minutes ago, Cruisegoer said:

not everyone who cruises can afford the suite life or Aqua class. Glad to know people like class systems in 2023.

Just another opinion here. We booked Aqua Class on Celebrity once and my husband was not a fan. To me, it was not worth the steep increase in price. Also did not use the Spa. But most people rave about Aqua. We do verandah cabins and Concierge on the M class ships since they are slightly bigger cabins. We are not foodies. 

[MISTER 67]

1 hour ago, rj59 said:

I'd try both HAL and Celebrity. I have over 100 nights on HAL and used to love it, but steady cutbacks drove me away. For instance, every music venue is corporate-sponsored, so you get only pre-approved setlists that are the same on every ship. The same is true of theater shows--they stopped paying for singers and dancers, so there are no production shows, just 4 contracted dancers doing the same 2-3 interpretive dance shows on every ship--then you also get a nature documentary, also corporate sponsored, of course. I went on my first Celebrity last summer in Alaska, Solstice, and loved it. It wasn't as stodgy or uniform as every HAL ship, which is geared towards older people who like tradition. The artwork is daring, there was a younger crowd, and a more diverse crew--HAL is both racist and sexist, since MDR servers are 99% male Indonesians, as are stewards, whereas servers in bars and the buffet and the cafe are 99% Filipino. I also loved that Solstice, and the others in its class, have the same size as most older HAL ships, around 2,000 people, so it doesn't get packed like megaships, and along with HAL, doesn't have waterslides or gimmicks for kids. If you really want to be wowed, go on any Edge-class ship, which on Apex had two separate casts for shows and 3 different venues where I saw shows, and it's just an absolutely brilliant ship. Koningsdam and the two newer HAL ships have some innovations, but they don't have the innovation and wow factor of Edge-class on Celebrity. Both are larger than there older ships, but still are around a manageable 2,700 pax.

 

My advice is to try both for shorter cruises. I'm going on 3 HAL cruises in October, going from Vancouver to SD, at dirt-cheap prices, so you could try that next Spring. I'm also going on Zaandam in late April, only 1,500 passengers, that just goes from Vancouver to Astoria and then back. For Celebrity, I'd try one of their short cruises out of Florida--I'm going on Silhouette, which does 3-4 night Bahamas, and I think Summit is doing 4-5 night ones to the Western Caribbean. Then you could decide which is for you. Both are also at high occupancy and resulting high fares, another reason to go on a cheaper shorter cruise on an older ship, before committing to a more expensive, longer cruise. One aspect of Celebrity that HAL doesn't have is a class system, other than a gimmicky upgrade called Club Orange, which I like, and no closed-off areas, except for some rental cabanas, whereas the Retreat on the Edge-class ships cut off access to a significant part of the front, the only thing I truly hate about those ships. You might also consider Princess, which I'd say is on the same level as HAL and Celebrity, also with innovations, like no set dining and a huge movie screen and no kids gimmicks and a medallion instead of a card. I also find more deals with them, and are in their top loyalty level, and am going on a 2-night one from Seattle to Vancouver this weekend. 

Agree on HAL, we are 4 Star Mariners and were very loyal to HAL but they have taken too much of a downward spiral and we won’t sail with them anymore, I just hope Celebrity doesn’t cutback too much more.

[hcat]

2 hours ago, RedIguana said:

RCI has pretty much turned into Carnival. Celebrity is becoming (has become?) what RCI used to be.

Just my opinion.

good analysis..

Just the thread title makes me cringe!

[oakbender]

Since you are a Carnival cruiser just curious why you picked Celebrity and not Princess.  We have no loyalty to any cruise line and pick our cruises usually by itinerary or because a club we belong to picked the cruise.  i will say that Celebrity is our over all favorite but you can't beat Hal or Princess for itinerary.

[tigervixxxen]

I’ve cruised on Carnival plenty but not in a couple years. The difference isn’t as extreme as some folks make it out to be. At the end of the day they both are mainstream cruise lines. 
 

What did OP hate so much about their cruise that it forced them to walk off the ship? Need more info there to help determine if Celebrity is a better option.