If I like Celebrity cruises, what other cruise lines will I enjoy?

[Hilaurennn]

Hi all, 

 

We've cruised with celebrity (apex) for our first cruise and LOVED it. We loved the fact there wasn't many kids, it all felt premium but not too fancy, and nothing like 'butlins at sea' as some would describe. The decor was modern and fabulous and the atmosphere great.  We are in our 30s for reference. 

 

My question is, are there any other comapnies/ships you'd reccomend for a similar vibe?  Would love to hear off anyone who has traveled with celebrity and others. 

 

Thanks! 

[MississippiMom]

2 hours ago, Hilaurennn said:

Hi all, 

 

We've cruised with celebrity (apex) for our first cruise and LOVED it. We loved the fact there wasn't many kids, it all felt premium but not too fancy, and nothing like 'butlins at sea' as some would describe. The decor was modern and fabulous and the atmosphere great.  We are in our 30s for reference. 

 

My question is, are there any other comapnies/ships you'd reccomend for a similar vibe?  Would love to hear off anyone who has traveled with celebrity and others. 

 

Thanks! 

Pretty certain the U.S. based readers are going to need to Google “Butlins,” fyi. 
 

All I can tell you is that Carnival, Royal Caribbean and Norwegian Cruise Line (and Disney, too, although, we have not cruised them) are all geared toward family travel, so there’s LOTS of kids.

[leaveitallbehind]

Of the other mass market cruise lines, Princess may offer a pretty good fit.  But those cruise lines as mentioned by @MississippiMom are essentially polar opposites of Celebrity in terms of primary target demographics and on board atmosphere and venue activities.

Edited September 1 by leaveitallbehind

[Liao]

3 hours ago, Hilaurennn said:

Hi all, 

 

We've cruised with celebrity (apex) for our first cruise and LOVED it. We loved the fact there wasn't many kids, it all felt premium but not too fancy, and nothing like 'butlins at sea' as some would describe. The decor was modern and fabulous and the atmosphere great.  We are in our 30s for reference. 

 

My question is, are there any other comapnies/ships you'd reccomend for a similar vibe?  Would love to hear off anyone who has traveled with celebrity and others. 

 

Thanks! 

You may want to look into Virgin Voyages.  There are tons of YouTube videos with a lot of detail for their ships.  Price wise, they seem to be comparable to Celebrity and they are an 18+ ONLY passenger ship.  I agree Celebrity EClass are a very nice product and Virgin ships are all (they only have 4) under 5 years old.   

[canderson]

No kids + vibe would seem to point toward Virgin Voyages.  All three of their ships are fairly new.  Probably one you should investigate.

 

We haven't sailed them.  Could be the difference in our demographic vs. yours.  We haven't felt the need to a tattoo parlor aboard (yet), even after a trip to the martini bar.  Note that their prices include tips, WiFi and dining.  The drinks and shorex are on you.

 

Another line where you will find some newer ships that might get you visual appeal and probably no kids would be Silversea's two new ships, Nova and Ray.  That said, the 'vibe' there may be a bit lower key than you're hoping for.  It depends upon what takes your fancy for activities and entertainment while at sea. 

 

[Hilaurennn]

Thanks for your reccomendations! I will check them out. 

 

I forgot to specify but when I say vibe, I mean relaxed. We don't actually drink, or want to party, or want to be surrounded by younger people doing so which is what we liked about celebrity. Virgin voyages looks like hell to me from what I've seen! Lots of drinking,  partying etc which I get is some people vibes but not what we're looking for :)

Edited September 1 by Hilaurennn

[39august]

So since  you liked Apex  why not try another E class Celebrity ship?  I agree with your assessment of what Virgin appears to be. 

[canderson]

5 minutes ago, Hilaurennn said:

Thanks for your reccomendations! I will check them out. 

 

I forgot to specify but when I say vibe, I mean relaxed. We don't actually drink, or want to party, or want to be surrounded by younger people doing so which is what we liked about celebrity. Virgin voyages looks like hell to me from what I've seen! Lots of drinking,  partying etc which I get is some people vibes but not what we're looking for 🙂

Then definitely have a look at Silversea.  They have a wide range of itineraries.  Would recommend Muse class or Nova class ships.

[Ken the cruiser]

4 hours ago, Hilaurennn said:

Hi all, 

 

We've cruised with celebrity (apex) for our first cruise and LOVED it. We loved the fact there wasn't many kids, it all felt premium but not too fancy, and nothing like 'butlins at sea' as some would describe. The decor was modern and fabulous and the atmosphere great.  We are in our 30s for reference. 

 

My question is, are there any other comapnies/ships you'd reccomend for a similar vibe?  Would love to hear off anyone who has traveled with celebrity and others. 

 

Thanks! 

 

25 minutes ago, Hilaurennn said:

Thanks for your reccomendations! I will check them out. 

 

I forgot to specify but when I say vibe, I mean relaxed. We don't actually drink, or want to party, or want to be surrounded by younger people doing so which is what we liked about celebrity. Virgin voyages looks like hell to me from what I've seen! Lots of drinking,  partying etc which I get is some people vibes but not what we're looking for 🙂

If I might ask, where would you like to cruise next, for how long, and in what room category? For us, those three parameters play a key role as to which cruise line we would pick.

[lv2cruisgrl]

1 hour ago, 39august said:

So since  you liked Apex  why not try another E class Celebrity ship?  I agree with your assessment of what Virgin appears to be. 

If you liked Apex for sure do Ascent!  She is my favorite ship of th Edge class. 

[Stem to Stern]

May I ask OP why specifically are you looking to jump ship?

[Essiesmom]

You might look at Viking Ocean…no kids but probably an older demographic.  You might also look at MSC,  but probably in their Yacht Club.  I’ve sailed many lines but enjoy MSC, although no need for YC.  I enjoy the hubbub of the ship, although the buffet can be crowded.  EM

[lola2013]

9 hours ago, Hilaurennn said:

Hi all, 

 

We've cruised with celebrity (apex) for our first cruise and LOVED it. We loved the fact there wasn't many kids, it all felt premium but not too fancy, and nothing like 'butlins at sea' as some would describe. The decor was modern and fabulous and the atmosphere great.  We are in our 30s for reference. 

 

My question is, are there any other comapnies/ships you'd reccomend for a similar vibe?  Would love to hear off anyone who has traveled with celebrity and others. 

 

Thanks! 

Why look elsewhere when you have already dry experienced the best? 😉

[Tom47]

We have cruised on Celebrity, Royal, American Cruise Lines, Pearl Seas and Hurtigruten. 

ACL ships cruise only in US and are about 100 pax.  Only 1 Pearl Seas ship, 200 pax, and it cruises Canada and US.  ACL and PS might fit your style, but are more Expensive, due to smaller pax count. PS is owned by ACL and they recently merged loyalty programs.  They also offer a substantial referral discount.   We never saw any kids on their cruises.

[Iamcruzin]

9 hours ago, Hilaurennn said:

My question is, are there any other comapnies/ships you'd reccomend for a similar vibe?  Would love to hear off anyone who has traveled with celebrity and others. 

 

Thanks! 

We find Princess to be the closest to Celebrity. They are interchangeable for us. We book the line that has the better itinerary or price. I have Princess booked for 2026 but when Celebrity releases their summer Europe itinerary I would cancel Princess if Celebrity was offering a better price on a similar itinerary.

[Alsmez]

5 hours ago, Hilaurennn said:

Thanks for your reccomendations! I will check them out. 

 

I forgot to specify but when I say vibe, I mean relaxed. We don't actually drink, or want to party, or want to be surrounded by younger people doing so which is what we liked about celebrity. Virgin voyages looks like hell to me from what I've seen! Lots of drinking,  partying etc which I get is some people vibes but not what we're looking for 🙂

 

We like Celebrity for the same reasons you do and didn't love our recent Virgin Voyages cruise. It wasn't bad, and the no kids aspect was AMAZING, but the party vibe just wasn't really our scene. We were on a New Year's itinerary so that probably added to the party, too. We were traveling with friends and we'd consider Virgin again if we were with them or another group, but for just the two of us, we prefer Celebrity. We're also considering trying MSC's Yacht Club for something new, although I do fear we'd be stuck in the Yacht Club area exclusively as apparently MSC ships are a complete zoo if you're in the "gen pop" areas.

[Tom47]

We have also cruised on Azamara, previously a subsidiary of Royal, but sold during  Covid.   Only kids were a child belonging to a crew member.  Drinks and gratuities included, but showers are much smaller than Celebrity(unless you book a suite), a drawback for a cruise line with luxury prices.  Ships are about 700 pax.  Service was outsatnding.

Edited September 1 by Tom47

[zitsky]

5 hours ago, Iamcruzin said:

We find Princess to be the closest to Celebrity. They are interchangeable for us. We book the line that has the better itinerary or price. I have Princess booked for 2026 but when Celebrity releases their summer Europe itinerary I would cancel Princess if Celebrity was offering a better price on a similar itinerary.

I see complaints about food on Princess.  How is the entertainment?

[Ken the cruiser]

10 minutes ago, zitsky said:

I see complaints about food on Princess.  How is the entertainment?

Complaints? Over the past 14 months, we have spent 30 days on the Sapphire Princes, 22 days on the Grand Princess, 21 days on the Sky Princess, 17 days on the Diamond Princess, and 17 days on the Caribbean Princess and the food served in the Reserve Collection dining area was quite tasty. On port days when we had to eat lunch up at the buffet, there were always tasty options to choose from. But as they say, food is definitely a subjective matter and YMMV.
 

As far as entertainment goes, we always had plenty of options when it came to shows in the theater, game shows in the Explorers Lounge, enrichment lectures on sea days, and watching hilarious comics in their new Laugh Lounge practically every evening. You can scan my below Live From threads for more details about those.

Edited September 2 by Ken the cruiser

[chemmo]

19 hours ago, Hilaurennn said:

Hi all, 

 

We've cruised with celebrity (apex) for our first cruise and LOVED it. We loved the fact there wasn't many kids, it all felt premium but not too fancy, and nothing like 'butlins at sea' as some would describe. The decor was modern and fabulous and the atmosphere great.  We are in our 30s for reference. 

 

My question is, are there any other comapnies/ships you'd reccomend for a similar vibe?  Would love to hear off anyone who has traveled with celebrity and others. 

 

Thanks! 

Don’t look for another line, stay with Celebrity!
 

We ‘found’ Celebrity about 20 years ago after using other lines and the ambiance fitted us like a glove! Smart but not stuffy, good food, decent entertainment, a good range of rooms to choose from…

 

They have three classes of ship M, S and E. Apex is the newer class.
 

M class is now older. Recent reviews have been mixed about its condition but many (me included) see this category of ship as classic rather than dated…S class came before E class. The ships have a great flow, some nice restaurants and has been our firm favourite for years. If you decide to future cruise on Celebrity bear in mind that not all their ships are the same. If you loved Apex you may want to stick with E class.

 

Itineraries are world wide.

 

Mentioning Butlins and Apex I wonder if you want to focus on cruises from Southampton? If so your choices of Itinerary are more limited. However, over the years we have enjoyed cruises from Southampton to Norway, Canary Islands, Spain and Portugal and even a British Isles tour so there are some options. Celebrity ships are here seasonally, from late April until the end of October. One nice option is a Trans Atlantic trip (Florida to Southampton in the Spring and Southampton to Florida in the Autumn). Cunard and P&O have ships based in Southampton year round but I think you may find Cunard to formal and P&O too Butlins! I haven’t cruised on either so can’t add a personal comment. Other lines like Princess and MSC are seasonal too.

 

It is hard to decide what will suit you. Many cruisers start with itinerary first then look at ships…As others have said YouTube can be a good source of information. 

Edited September 2 by chemmo

[ladylemondrop]

Try the S class Celebrity ships, Reflection or Silhouette are my favourites. 

[chemmo]

1 hour ago, ladylemondrop said:

Try the S class Celebrity ships, Reflection or Silhouette are my favourites. 

My favourites too. Love the extra restaurants. Back on board Reflection next year.

[Iamcruzin]

9 hours ago, zitsky said:

I see complaints about food on Princess.  How is the entertainment?

I see complaints about food on all of the lines I have sailed including Celebrity. I always found that the food on Princess was better than Celebrity. However, I haven't sailed with them for a while so I'm sure it has declined as well. Celebrity and Royal have better specialty restaurants and they both have better entertainment. When we were sailing Princess they had the itineraries we wanted until they stopped sailing from the New York area which is when we turned to the other 2 lines. We are booked on Princess for Europe in 2026. Princess has better pricing than Celebrity and Royal Caribbean. Overall the passenger demographic and the atmosphere is the same as Celebrity. Royal Caribbean as you must know is family focussed but they do have the best adult sanctuary on the  Quantum class ships which are about the same size ships as the newer Princess and Celebrity ships. 

[hcat]

21 hours ago, Liao said:

You may want to look into Virgin Voyages.  There are tons of YouTube videos with a lot of detail for their ships.  Price wise, they seem to be comparable to Celebrity and they are an 18+ ONLY passenger ship.  I agree Celebrity EClass are a very nice product and Virgin ships are all (they only have 4) under 5 years old.   

but many aspects of Virgin  might not really appeal to mainstream X cruisers.. too edgy! 

[Tierun]

For comparable prices and ship sizes Virgin, Princess, and Holland America are your best bets. Silversea was mentioned, but it’s a smaller ship experience and is only a price comparison to Celebrity’s retreat. If you want a smaller ship experience I’d recommend Oceania.