Royal Carribean vs. Celebrity

[a1moty]

I recently mentioned to a new neighbor that our last cruise was on Celebrity. She mentioned that her son works for Royal Carribean.

I said "Oh, aren't they sister companys'?" She laughed and said "Yes, but Royal Carribean is the ugly sister!"

Can anyone explain this to me?

We are currently looking for our next cruise and had been looking at

RC and their itineraries. Is there something about RC that is less desirable or that they just don't do?

I ask, because maybe what ever is lacking or different really won't matter to us.

Thanks in advance for your help!:)

[GMoney]

Did you ask her what she meant?

[Georgia Bulldog Cruiser 51]

My wife and I have completed six cruises on RCI and one on Celebrity. All the RCI ships that we have been on were much more friendly, and there was a lot more to do than the one trip we took on Celebrity. It may be differant now, but unless someone gives a cruise on Celebrity, we will never know.

[Cam6959]

Celebrity is supposedly the more premium cruise line. It all depends on you and your tastes on what you like. I like both they are very comparable. Celebrity has better food in the dining room. Just a tidge though. :) RC has better buffet style food. Just a tidge though :) I don't really think it is that much of a difference. On my cruise on the Navigator in Jan of 2005 I talked to a gentleman whose son is a CD for Celebrity. The son had told his dad and his dad agreed they are the same except for better shows and activities on RC and better food on Celebrity. So no matter which one you pick you will have a great time! I love RC and like Celebrity. JMHO :D

[hdawson]

Some of my observations after 4 cruises on RC and 5 on Celebrity.

First let me say that the RC Radiance class ships are the prettiest I've seen out of 18 total cruises. However, although the Radiance class and the Celebrity Mellinium class share the same hull design, Royal Caribbean squeezes 300 more berths on the Radiance class.

 

I've found little comparison in DR food. Celebrity is so far ahead of RC in food quality. RC us good, not bad. But no better overall than good. Celebrity on the other hand is GREAT. Consistantly.

 

Service on Celebrity is superior. Very refined and professional. Again, the service on RC is not bad, in fact good.

 

When you board Celebrity at your departure port you are escorted to your cabin while sipping complementary champaigne or OJ.

 

When reboarding from "hot" ports, there is a steward at the gangway to offer chilled towels to refresh. It may sound hokey, but sure does the job.

 

Other than noon position reports, Celebrity doesn't us the PA system to hawk bingo, pool games and the like.

 

When using the buffet, you are given a linen lined tray instead of one large platter. Then at the end of the line, a steward will carry your tray for you.

Not just for those that have physical impairments.

 

These are but a few of the Celebrity features that have captured much of my business. I feel like an honored guest rather than a valued customer.

[daveky]

Thanks for hour comments hdawson. They were VERY informative. My TA is from England now living in Kentucky with 2 horse farms and loves Celebrity. This was way before RCI purchased them. For years he has been trying to get me to switch and try Celebrity. I will eventually but still enjoy the product RCI gives. hdawson almost gave the same reasons my TA did for trying Celebrity. My TA was also worried when RCI purchased Celebrity those differences would vanish.

Celebrity budgets more for food (quality) and the personal touches that were mentioned above. But they budget less for entertainment. I enjoy the entertainment on the ships and in past years was my "defense" to my TA why I stayed with RCI. Since being a D+ member will enjoy the Celebrity's Captain's Club I do want to try them, just for something different. It's all personal taste or these different ships and companies wouldn't be in business.

Just look at Carnival who owns Holland America, Princess, Windstar, Cunard and so on. There's a market for all tastes. Captain Bang on the Navigator year told me he and his wife had booked Celebrity and the Galapagos Islands.

Boy, I'd like to try that.

Here's to when I finally will break over and try Celebrity. AND, when and if I can retire, want to do Princess and the South Pacific. I hear from my fellow cruises that's a GREAT cruise, just more time away from home.

 

Dave

[hdawson]

Dave you are so right on. It's important to try other lines either to find one more suitable or confirm that your previous choices were the right ones.

 

Capt Bang and his lovely wife Darlene are sooooo personalble and just nice people. He is the most friendly and accesible ship's master I've seen.

 

I prefer smaller ships, but either I'll have to accept "economy of scale" or someday choose another vacation venue. Maybe the Celebrity Zenith (1250 guests) or the updated Century for next cruise.

[AFT_LOVER]

as we knew but we wanted to check others out, So after 12 cruises on Princess & the Carnival takeover that killed a great line with all the perks Platinum members got, our TA talked us into Celebrity. So we cruised away TA, Mexican Riv, Trans Canal, up to elite members. So we were ready for the top perks. That was 20 minutes of Net access per cruise! Free drinks? That is at Captains Welcome Party, very watered down; then we get an invite to an Officers party where everyone sat in chair with their drink off the tray, not what I wanted (a cosmopolitan) and not an officer to greet us. Want a cappucino? $3.75 at a Italian coffeehouse onboard. The nighly plate of Cheese Wiz on a cracker, or another cheese whipped with some ham, or eggs and fish on a cracker that tasted a week old. So we told them to switch to cheese & crackers or shrimp cocktail. Shrimp was $12 for 2 servings. But they would give us 3 cuts of cheese & some crackers.

 

We were Concerige Class on every cruise (getting 3 points per 2 week cruise) and we never saw a pillow top mattress as stated, the last cruise we were 9th floor aft with a bar with teak floor & wooden tables & chairs which sounded like a war zone all day & night. Then they rpessu re wash the floor onto our balcony flooding the padded loungers & all the crap all over the balcony floor, the glass door, etc & the STINK! They refused to move us. then the gangway from a rocking ship that was not secured slams on my left foot cracking 3 toes & the workers didn't assist in getting it off my foot. Husband had 8 ladies helping. No accident report filed, that was done by the Security Director in the Doctor's office.

5 months later, still no apology from anyone at Celebrity or anything to give us. So I switched back to RCCL.

 

There as Diamond we get the Concierge Lounge with FREE latte, cappucino, espresso all day. Evenings from 5-9PM FREE cocktails with top shelf liquor. Meeting great people enjoying a wonderful cruise. Meet & Mingles that we have gift exchanges which ads to the fun of it.

 

So I will stick with RCCL, maybe a return for a Celebrity if Happy Hour has anything good at a great price. Never saw an upgrade from them either.

[Schplinky]

Our experience was different than HDawson.

 

We had daily bingo announcements on both lines (Constellation and Navigator were the ships).

 

We felt that the food on Celebrity went from very good to very mediocre. On RCL, the food was typically good but was rarely great.

 

We found that the activity schedule was very sedentary on Celebrity (mostly trivia and bingo) but that likely reflects the passenger mix, which tends to be older.

 

We felt the guest services was better on Celebrity. More cheerful and a better attitude. We find that RCL Guest Services tends to approach each customer as a challenge while Celebrity was keen to help.

 

The specialty restaurants were much, much better on Celebrity and also more expensive ($30 instead of $20).

 

We liked that the buffet servers served you (instead of folks doling out their own food) on Celebrity since it seems a good way to prevent food handling illness but they also pass you the tray at the start of the line. This meant that if you only wanted one thing or two, you still had to join the often long line at the start. Also, drink servers don't seem to work zones on Celebrity and we were often asked by three and four servers in the buffet if we wanted a drink of the day. It was annoying.

 

Both Celebrity and Royal Caribeban had bingo, pool games, art auctions, inch of gold sales, kids clubs, singing waiters in the dining room, chair hogs, jeans at dinner (although less on Celebrity but a tidge), midnight buffets and all that jazz.

 

 

We felt the table service on RCL was betetr than Celebrity. Whatever folks mean by refined on X, we didn't experience it. In our opinions, the waiters seemed rushed and disorganised.

 

Celebrity does hand out cold cloths as you re-board in hot ports. RCL does not. Supposedly, they serve sorbet by the pool in the afternoon but we never saw this. They also served champagne as one boarded and offered to escort you to your cabin. We declined the escort but I suppose for some, that would be a kindness. They ahd waiters that strolled through revenue areas later at night (casino and bars) with trays of nibblies that were stunning.

[mdmourges]

My wife and I have taken 8 cruises on RC, one on Celebrity and one on Silversea. The Celebrity cruise was a 10 day on Galaxy and the SS was a 10 day on Silver Whisper. I loved everyone of these cruises but to say the food on Celebrity is far above what you get on RC, in my opioion, is unfounded. The food on SS was far superior but we paid far more to take the cruise. I describe the food I get on RC as food I would get at a nice wedding reception, which to me is nice. I guess you could say the food on Celebrity was like food at a really nice wedding but to try to compare it to a very nice restaurant is an overstatement. I mean they have the same constraints put on them that RC does (number of meals, number of passengers, etc.) and the cruise prices are not that much different, so it makes sense to me that the quality of the food would be similar.

 

Mark

[caviargal]

Some of my observations after 4 cruises on RC and 5 on Celebrity.

First let me say that the RC Radiance class ships are the prettiest I've seen out of 18 total cruises. However, although the Radiance class and the Celebrity Mellinium class share the same hull design, Royal Caribbean squeezes 300 more berths on the Radiance class.

 

I've found little comparison in DR food. Celebrity is so far ahead of RC in food quality. RC us good, not bad. But no better overall than good. Celebrity on the other hand is GREAT. Consistantly.

 

Service on Celebrity is superior. Very refined and professional. Again, the service on RC is not bad, in fact good.

 

When you board Celebrity at your departure port you are escorted to your cabin while sipping complementary champaigne or OJ.

 

When reboarding from "hot" ports, there is a steward at the gangway to offer chilled towels to refresh. It may sound hokey, but sure does the job.

 

Other than noon position reports, Celebrity doesn't us the PA system to hawk bingo, pool games and the like.

 

When using the buffet, you are given a linen lined tray instead of one large platter. Then at the end of the line, a steward will carry your tray for you.

Not just for those that have physical impairments.

 

These are but a few of the Celebrity features that have captured much of my business. I feel like an honored guest rather than a valued customer.

 

 

Also, Celebrity has:

 

- The Aquaspa Cafe

- T Pools

- Way fewer kids

- More passengers who respect the dress code

- Bigger cabins overall

[Schplinky]

I disagree on the bigger cabins comment. When we were researching the sumemr cruises to Europe, the cabins on Millenium were smaller, for the ame types of categories.

[hdawson]

Royal Caribbean has been improving cabin size. Soverign class standard cabin about 124 sqft, Vision class about 145 sqft and Voyager/Radiance classes about 165 sqft.

Celebrity consistantly 170 sqft all the way back to the Zenith/Horizon.

So yes, overall, Celebrity standard cabins are bigger than RC.

 

A couple of additional thoughts: Celebrity provides a carraff of water in the cabin instead of a bottle of water for sale. It's refilled twice daily.

I agree with Caviargirl, Celebrity cruisers are much, much more respectful of the standard of dress that is expected in the dining room.

Celebrity pizza is sooooooooo much better than RC's.

And Celebrity has never offered the infamous Ranch Steak that RC tried for so long to make the standard on their ships.

Celebrity invests much more in their food supplies and preparations than RC. I think they still use Apolo as their purveyor.

[Schplinky]

Are those inside cabins you're quoting? Our D1 balcony cabin on Brilliance (a Radianace class) is 204 feet while the comparable class on Millenium (2a) was 170. Concierge class (at 191 feet) was priced comparably to be between D1 and RCL's junior suite (at 300 feet).

 

I can see the point on making historical arguments but most folks are going to be sailing today's ships as older ships are relegated to secondary sailings.

[hdawson]

The cabin sizes I've used are for entry level, insides and oceanview. Actually, to me cabin size is not a priority. Even after 18 cruises, I spend little time in my cabin. Maybe just a bit more when I have a balcony.

[Schplinky]

I will say that the cabin was more cheerfully decorated on Celebrity. Brighter, lighter colours.

[teegeezfun]

food: ocean liners on constellation was sooo much better than portofino on empress. simply no comparison in food quality and service...ocean liners is a must do for everyone. portofino, don't waste your money.

in the main dining rooms, not too much difference between the two.

 

service: service on celebrity was much better as to attentiveness and staff to consumer ration. i really missed the white gloved attendants at the buffet who carried your tray for you. but r.c. won as to the friendliness of the staff.

 

but i gotta tell ya, none of this is worth losing sleep over. go and enjoy your cruise no matter what you sail on,

[caviargal]

Are those inside cabins you're quoting? Our D1 balcony cabin on Brilliance (a Radianace class) is 204 feet while the comparable class on Millenium (2a) was 170. Concierge class (at 191 feet) was priced comparably to be between D1 and RCL's junior suite (at 300 feet).

 

I can see the point on making historical arguments but most folks are going to be sailing today's ships as older ships are relegated to secondary sailings.

 

IME, it is overall, and the OP did not mention ship.

 

On Sovereign and Vision class, standard insides and outsides are as small as 120 sq ft. Zenith and Century class are larger. On M class, I was thrilled with my standard outside vs RCI's in any class.

[caviargal]

food: ocean liners on constellation was sooo much better than portofino on empress. simply no comparison in food quality and service...ocean liners is a must do for everyone. portofino, don't waste your money.

in the main dining rooms, not too much difference between the two.

 

service: service on celebrity was much better as to attentiveness and staff to consumer ration. i really missed the white gloved attendants at the buffet who carried your tray for you. but r.c. won as to the friendliness of the staff.

 

but i gotta tell ya, none of this is worth losing sleep over. go and enjoy your cruise no matter what you sail on,

 

 

I disagree. Portofino is the best meal and service you will find on an RCI ship, IME. Not as good as Oceanliners perhaps but on RCI, I will dine there 3 of 7 nights at least. Part of this is the atmosphere and to avoid too many kids running around at dinner.

 

In the main dining room, X is far more superior for my taste. They are much more willing to prepare food to specification ( I avoid sauces, butter, etc) and RCI does not prepare meals to order.

[Schplinky]

 

In the main dining room, X is far more superior for my taste. They are much more willing to prepare food to specification ( I avoid sauces, butter, etc) and RCI does not prepare meals to order.

 

I'm going to start travelling with you. When I tried to make a special request (that wasn't even that special) on Constellation, our waiter cut me off and said "please order from the items listed on the menu." I said I wasn't that interested in any of the appetisers and so he said he would bring me a shrimp cocktail (not my original request) and huffed off before I could say no thank you. I was surprised but it was late in the cruise and it didn't seem worth raising this with the dining room captain. It did reduce the waiter's tip. I don't understand folks' fascination with shrimp cocktail.

[katiel53]

We have sailed many cruises on Celebrity. It has been our line of choice. Our last 3 cruises were on Constellation. We wanted to do a Panama Canal cruise and because we were Elite with Celebrity, we became Diamond with RCI. We chose Brilliance of the Seas for our Panama Canal trip.

 

It was the best cruise we have ever taken. Normally on Celebrity we stay in Concierge, but unfortunately when we booked Brilliance, we could only get an E1. Small, small cabin, but the ship itself was gorgeous.

 

The beef on Celebrity is from Iowa and I am a beef eater, so I had my fill on Constellation. Unlike Celebrity, RCI gets it beef from????? I did try other meats because I wasn't impressed with the beef on Brilliance. The food is much better on Celebrity, but is good on RCI. The Osso Bucco and Moroccan lamb were excellent.

 

The biggest plus to RCI is that they give their Crown & Anchor members far more benefits than Celebrity does. There is no automatic discount on Celebrity for balcony cabins as there is on RCI. There is no Concierge Lounge on Celebrity. Those two items alone represent quite a savings.

 

As far as specialty restaurants go, I absolutely loved Portofino. I would go there 5 times in a week if my husband went with me. I have been to Oceanliners once or twice on my cruises but Portofino has better food as far as I am concerned. I did love the goat cheese souffle on Celebrity though. We also went to Chops and I felt that was just ok. I wouldn't rush to go back there again.

 

Everyone has different expectations of their cruise. Each person has to decide for himself/herself what is important. I am very happy with RCI and it just might become my line of choice. If Celebrity would give the perks that RCI did for its Captain's Club, I would then probably stick with Celebrity. But, until then, I will sail on one or the other.

[excitedofharpenden]

I haven't tried RCCL yet being very much of a Celebrity cruiser, but really want to give their Radiance class a go. They look very appealing. I can't get too excited about all the perks, looking more at the overall cruise experience. I am not that picky on the food, so it would be interesting to see how Royal Caribbean does. I don't think will be disappointed. I have yet to experience the Speciality Restaurant on Celebrity so can't compare there.

We were Concerige Class on every cruise (getting 3 points per 2 week cruise) and we never saw a pillow top mattress as stated, the last cruise we were 9th floor aft with a bar with teak floor & wooden tables & chairs which sounded like a war zone all day & night. Then they rpessu re wash the floor onto our balcony flooding the padded loungers & all the crap all over the balcony floor, the glass door, etc & the STINK! They refused to move us. then the gangway from a rocking ship that was not secured slams on my left foot cracking 3 toes & the workers didn't assist in getting it off my foot. Husband had 8 ladies helping. No accident report filed, that was done by the Security Director in the Doctor's office.

5 months later, still no apology from anyone at Celebrity or anything to give us. So I switched back to RCCL.

 

There as Diamond we get the Concierge Lounge with FREE latte, cappucino, espresso all day. Evenings from 5-9PM FREE cocktails with top shelf liquor. Meeting great people enjoying a wonderful cruise. Meet & Mingles that we have gift exchanges which ads to the fun of it.

 

So I will stick with RCCL, maybe a return for a Celebrity if Happy Hour has anything good at a great price. Never saw an upgrade from them either.

Brenda, you make me laugh. You are still banging on about this poor Summit experience. You couldn't fault them before and waxed lyrical about your Concierge Class home away from home. Where did it go wrong? I suspect it was after they knew you were on there trying to blag an upgrade with your black light fiasco. They really did know you were coming. I have a funny feeling that having gone through Princess and Celebrity, you will fall out with RCCL, but let's wait and see.

 

Phil

[Luckyroot]

Brenda, you make me laugh. You are still banging on about this poor Summit experience. You couldn't fault them before and waxed lyrical about your Concierge Class home away from home. Where did it go wrong? I suspect it was after they knew you were on there trying to blag an upgrade with your black light fiasco. They really did know you were coming. I have a funny feeling that having gone through Princess and Celebrity, you will fall out with RCCL, but let's wait and see.

Phil

 

I have to agree with you Phil. We've heard this story SO many times, ENOUGH already! We get it, you no longer care for X. I just wonder how long it will take before RCCL is the next victim, with ad nauseum complaints about a cruise gone bad.

 

A cruise (or any vacation) is what you make of it. I was injured on my 2nd cruise. But no one here heard about it. Because NOBODY CARES!!!!! These boards are about sharing so that others can learn about cruising, but I really don't see how anyone is learning a darn thing from the constant repetition of cracked toes, and puke being power washed down from above etc. One might say that this is important information but NO ONE else has ever complained of these things. I'm sure thousands have stayed in that same cabin, with nary a complaint. Thousands have walked the gangway as well, without injury.

 

Okay, stepping down from my soapbox. Sorry for the Rant, but I really hate to see my favorite cruise line trashed.

[Char]

as we knew but we wanted to check others out, So after 12 cruises on Princess & the Carnival takeover that killed a great line with all the perks Platinum members got, our TA talked us into Celebrity. So we cruised away TA, Mexican Riv, Trans Canal, up to elite members. So we were ready for the top perks. That was 20 minutes of Net access per cruise! Free drinks? That is at Captains Welcome Party, very watered down; then we get an invite to an Officers party where everyone sat in chair with their drink off the tray, not what I wanted (a cosmopolitan) and not an officer to greet us. Want a cappucino? $3.75 at a Italian coffeehouse onboard. The nighly plate of Cheese Wiz on a cracker, or another cheese whipped with some ham, or eggs and fish on a cracker that tasted a week old. So we told them to switch to cheese & crackers or shrimp cocktail. Shrimp was $12 for 2 servings. But they would give us 3 cuts of cheese & some crackers.

 

We were Concerige Class on every cruise (getting 3 points per 2 week cruise) and we never saw a pillow top mattress as stated, the last cruise we were 9th floor aft with a bar with teak floor & wooden tables & chairs which sounded like a war zone all day & night. Then they rpessu re wash the floor onto our balcony flooding the padded loungers & all the crap all over the balcony floor, the glass door, etc & the STINK! They refused to move us. then the gangway from a rocking ship that was not secured slams on my left foot cracking 3 toes & the workers didn't assist in getting it off my foot. Husband had 8 ladies helping. No accident report filed, that was done by the Security Director in the Doctor's office.

5 months later, still no apology from anyone at Celebrity or anything to give us. So I switched back to RCCL.

 

There as Diamond we get the Concierge Lounge with FREE latte, cappucino, espresso all day. Evenings from 5-9PM FREE cocktails with top shelf liquor. Meeting great people enjoying a wonderful cruise. Meet & Mingles that we have gift exchanges which ads to the fun of it.

 

So I will stick with RCCL, maybe a return for a Celebrity if Happy Hour has anything good at a great price. Never saw an upgrade from them either.

Hey Brenda :D

 

We have been Elite with Celebrity for quite some time (21 cruises)`, and while I agree that the afternoon canapes could use some inspiration, I don't think I would EVER accuse Celebrity of using Cheeze Wiz!! :eek:

 

Both Celebrity and RCI are very good choices, depending on what your major expectaions are. They both offer a good cruise experience with RCI having the edge when you consider activities. We have cruised on Celebrity 3 times in the last 9 months and will agree that the quality of the food has diminished just a tad. However, the service we received was the usual Celebrity excellence.

 

We are sailing on Voyager in a few days and fully expect a good cruise experience. Different from Celebrity--but comparible in satisfaction.

 

I must admit that I am perplexed with your quote in your signature after reading the above diatribe against Celebrity. You say

" Funny that a bad cruise is still better than a day at work - AGREE?"

 

That does not agree with your stated opinion of Celebrity.

[buchie614]

I have cruised with RCCL several times, we are diamond + and cruised with Celebrity once, and never again. Just my 2 cents worth, the service was lousy. I think that celebrity is the "ugly" sister.