Wondering why you cruise Celebrity

[lac]

Hope you all can help me. Hubby and I are planning on booking our 3rd cruise together in Feb 07. We've cruised RCCL and Princess. We really like the idea of the longer cruise Celebrity offers but RCCL has a similar option and we loved RCCL.

 

So we're trying to find out what the differences in the cruise experience are. Any comments on differences, or why you choose to cruise Celebrity?

 

By the way one of us is mid forties and one is early fifties. Hubby is very active, love the pool side activities and if not participating ourselves, at least watching the fun. We also love ballroom style dancing and wonder what the opportunities for that are.

 

Appreciate any and all help.

 

Thanks,

lac

[Pisces11]

We have cruised on Carnival, Royal Caribbean and Celebrity. So far, we have liked Celebrity the best because it felt the most comfortable to us. My husband and I did enjoy dancing before dinner every evening on the cruise and the dance floor was always crowded. I'm not sure I can make a fair comparison because we have only been on 3 cruises. We sailed Celebrity to Alaska in mid September and there were very few children on board. We were on RCCL in March with a lot of college students on spring break. It really is like comparing apples and oranges because I would think the month you choose to cruise would make a big difference. I don't know if I would go back on Carnival because of the size of the ship and there were some other issues as well. It mostly depends on our vacation schedule and who has a cruise at that time. We will be going to Hawaii in April on Celebrity. We chose this cruise because of the sea days and the fact that we enjoyed our celebrity cruise a lot. We would definitely sail RCCL again and would like to try HAL and Princess at some point.

[Tatka]

IMHO it's a great that we have all these options.

 

Just try it , you might like it or not. Only you can decide for youself.

 

I personally prefer Celebrity over RCCL for

 

• smaller number of people on the same size ships
  
• better food in DR and in buffets
  
• more refined service in DR

 

But I don't cruise exclusively Celebrity, because other lines (and RCCL) have better choice of itineraries and activities for our current needs, we have teenager and RCCL have wonderfull ships for teens/kids and even us in mid-thirties.

 

IMHO Celebrity and Princess wins over RCCL in quality of service and food department.

[Steamboatin]

We are loyal to no cruise line. Have 14 cruises under our belt with 2 more booked.

 

We cruise the cruise line with the best itinerary in an area that we wish to explore.

 

An example, last May the cruise line having the best Baltic Sea itinerary was the Celebrity Constellation with a 14 day cruise. Other cruise lines had less days and less ports. Thus, on that cruise Celebrity won.

 

Next two cruises booked are with RCCL and Princess for same reason.

 

Considering Viking for river cruises in China and Europe.

[motherchic]

The reason i like Celebrity:

-I love the M class thallo pool

-welcome champagne upon arrival

-excellent dining room experience, IMHO the food on celebrity in the dining room is better

-like the smiling personal

-iced washcloths on silver trays given out as we are coming back from a hot day on the islands

-the entire ambiance , to me, is just what i want. I dont enjoy a overly strong partying enviroment

-sushi in the evening is very good, waffles for breakfast very good, all the food in the dining room i found to be very good

-i enjoy good conversation, and laughing and a good martini,

I get all 3 on Celebrity.

-Years ago we sailed ( our first cruise ) on RCL. I know it was just bum luck. But we had a big crowd of very drunk people on that particular cruise, from a.m. to p.m. every day. I never could get near much less into the pools or hot tubs. I havnt tried RCL since. I have heard many rave reviews about RCL and should try again one day. All i can say is give Celebrity a try ( i have only sailed on the M class ),

I am 51- the average age on Celebrity seems a bit older. We have made great and lasting friendships from a variety of age groups

Hope you enjoy your next cruise. And if you try Celeb, please give us a review

Nadine

[lucky white heather]

Hope you all can help me. Hubby and I are planning on booking our 3rd cruise together in Feb 07. We've cruised RCCL and Princess. We really like the idea of the longer cruise Celebrity offers but RCCL has a similar option and we loved RCCL.

 

So we're trying to find out what the differences in the cruise experience are. Any comments on differences, or why you choose to cruise Celebrity?

 

By the way one of us is mid forties and one is early fifties. Hubby is very active, love the pool side activities and if not participating ourselves, at least watching the fun. We also love ballroom style dancing and wonder what the opportunities for that are.

 

Appreciate any and all help.

 

Thanks,

lac

We have cruised several cruiselines in order to enjoy dancing aboard..no dance halls available in our home area..they're all bingo halls now!

The largest ballroom is definitely the QM2 with full orchestra/singer and many dance hosts to assist ladies travelling without a dance partner.

On some Celebrity cruises they also provide dance hosts.

 

However we enjoy the ML size ship for pre and post dinner dancing (Rendezvous lounge) as the floor , although small and often crowded just before each meal sitting is acceptable.Usually the "band" is a two piece there.. but versatile, although once or twice it was an Italian 5 piece.

We recently came off Century..the Rendezvous floor there is interrupted by two pillars which are necessary and structural...you have to watch wher you dance.The band that cruise were Russian ..keyboard and singer...the best we 've ever found on any cruise.

They also had another lounge with group for dancing called the Crystal lounge but it was less "ballroomy"

During the day they sometimes hold basic ballroom dance classes for those who wish to learn a specific dance or just go for fun.

Hope this helps you.

[Jarronwood]

The reason i like Celebrity:

-I love the M class thallo pool

-I am 51- the average age on Celebrity seems a bit older. We have made great and lasting friendships from a variety of age groups

Hope you enjoy your next cruise. And if you try Celeb, please give us a review

Nadine

 

Blimey Nadine, I am 50 - dont tell me we could be the youngest swingers in town....

 

I totally agree with you - your have just summed up the reason we have booked to go with X.

 

 

P.S. Sorry to hear about your friend. She is really having a rough time at the mo.

[tom_uk]

In our case: ininerary, duration & cost. And accident....

 

We went to a 'Cruise Roadshow' in Manchester (UK) in September 2005. This was organised by Cruise Control, a well-known on-line cruise specialist agency. They had arranged for a number of lines (all the majors in the uK market, in fact) to have reps available at this roadshow, and bookings could be made there, at very attractive prices. We had almost decided to go on a 10-night Iberian cruise with Fred Olsen but wanted to ask a couple of questions directly to them (the TA didn't know the answer). In the last couple of days before the roadshow I also spotted the Galaxy 'Best of the Med' cruise; same duration and about the same price (though flights would be extra). So that was put down as a second possibility.

 

When we got to the event we found that the Fred Olsen representatives hadn't turned up, which disappointed us mightily. However a young woman from RCI was very helpful and told us a lot about the Galaxy cruise, and we decided to book there & then.

 

Just a bare week or so later - about 1 day after we'd received the written confirmation of our booking - we became aware of rumours about the future of Cruise Control, and indeed within another week or so it had gone into liquidation. Apparently they owed the industry lots of money and the industry simply stopped accepting fresh bookings from them until they paid for the existing ones. This meant they couldn't advertise cruises with the major lines, which cut their cash-flow enormously, so they went under very quickly.

 

So we ended up with Celebrity almost by accident. We enjoyed our cruise this summer so much that we have booked again for next year, though at rather greater cost! And we will cruise with Fred Olsen one day....

[geoherb]

If given the choice between Celebrity and Royal Caribbean ships on a similar itinerary and about the same price, Celebrity would win in a heartbeat with me. The food and service are much better. There are enough activities for my partner and me, yet without lots of disturbing announcements.

 

We've also enjoyed our Princess and HAL cruises. It all comes down to ship, itinerary and price for us.

[CGTNORMANDIE]

HI LAC!!!

 

All interesting comments...as you can see...there are all different types of cruisers who want one thing or another...but all agree...they like Celebrity.

 

I am a fussy cruiser...I like things to be a bit more formal and traditional. If I want informal...I can take a land vacation. We enjoy all the traditional niceties that come with a traditional cruise...and...I think...this is what Celebrity offers. The activities are not as wild or varied as RCI or Princess. The type of person cruising with Celebrity is usually pretty well traveled and tends to enjoy dining and social activities found on X. I find that UK cruisers usually like Celebrity because it tries to capture the classic transatlantic traditions from years ago. Most of the time...X (X stands for Celebrity) does a pretty good job in providing a bit more of an upscale experience than Carnival, Princess, and RCI. If you like classic, traditional cruising then you will like Celebrity.

 

ROSS

[Tatka]

Most of the time...X (X stands for Celebrity) does a pretty good job in providing a bit more of an upscale experience than Carnival, Princess, and RCI. If you like classic, traditional cruising then you will like Celebrity.

 

ROSS

 

Hi Ross!

 

I agree with the most of your post, but I actually was very surprised woth Princess experience. I wouldn't lump them with RCCL and Carnival. (although I wouldn't lump RCCL and Carnival either ;) )

 

I would've never expected to see so many formal dressed people even on smart-casual nights on summer cruise in Caribbeans!!! Much larger percentage than on X. :)

 

It definitely wasn't informal experience.:D

 

Natasha

[DrKoob]

I am not sure this has been mentioned. We have 7 cruises now, 5 on X. The biggest reason is the people.

 

Not just the people who work there (and they are THE finest crew on the seas) but the other guests as well. We are in our early 50s. And we may get flamed for this, but we don't want to cruise with kids or teens (that eliminates RCL & Princess), want an active Cruise Critic group (that's why we booked HAL reluctantly), are not interested in being on a cruise where the entire ship is just one big party (that's why we did one cruise with Carnival and will never go back).

 

So, take out the drunks, the kids, the teens and want some computer-savvy Cruise Critic posters and the best service on the seas, X is your only choice.

 

Plus I am a huge believer in loyalty. I believe that the average American knows the price of everything and the value of nothing. I truly value a long term experince with companies that I admire. It is why I am typing this on an Apple Macintosh, why I wouldn't own a TV without a TIVO, why I wouldn't buy tires from any place other than Les Schwab (a northwest tire store), truly love Starbucks coffee and travel on X whenever I can.

[Kathie44]

We cruised RCI the first two times and loved it. Then good friends asked us to go with them on Summit to Alaska. We fell in love with Summit and X. So we have alternated lines ever since, depending on itinerary and price.

Our last cruise in June on Jewel was every bit as good as X has been. We went with the same friends and chose Jewel over Connie because of wanting to see Amsterdam, instead of Copenhagen.

DH overheard fellow pax on Jewel rave about the Mex. Riv. and decided we HAD to do it next. Less than a month after our Eur. cruise I booked Mercury's 11-night for Mex. in Jan. It was a better deal ($$$ per day) than RCI's 7-night on Vision and X's 11-night on Infinity. I like having six Mexican ports where Vision had only 3 and Infinity had 2 in CA and only 4 in Mex.

In the future (probably summer of '08) we are planning a Med. cruise on Galaxy because it offers the 5-day land tour to Italy we want (again with our friends). RCI's land tours are in Spain, which we've already seen on a land trip years ago.

DH also wants to do Aus/NZ, (based also on overheard raves). I started to look around for who goes there and thought we would have to switch to Princess, but the very next day X announced that Mercury would start going there next year..so Mercury it will be, probably winter of '09.

Thinking WAY ahead, a Celeb. or RCI cruise to S. America is a possibility--so many cruises, so little time! :D

As long as those two lines go where we want to go and have competitive pricing (X is not always more expensive) we will stick with them.

 

1/02 Explorer E. Carib.

1/03 Explorer W. Carib.

8/03 Summit Alaska cruise/tour

2/04 Adventure S. Carib.

2/05 Galaxy Panama Canal

6/06 Jewel Brit. Isles/Nor. Fjords + 3 days in London

1/07 Mercury Mexican Riviera

[wallygator]

Hope you all can help me. Hubby and I are planning on booking our 3rd cruise together in Feb 07. We've cruised RCCL and Princess. We really like the idea of the longer cruise Celebrity offers but RCCL has a similar option and we loved RCCL.

 

So we're trying to find out what the differences in the cruise experience are. Any comments on differences, or why you choose to cruise Celebrity?

 

By the way one of us is mid forties and one is early fifties. Hubby is very active, love the pool side activities and if not participating ourselves, at least watching the fun. We also love ballroom style dancing and wonder what the opportunities for that are.

 

Appreciate any and all help.

 

Thanks,

lac

 

 

Simple honest answer is. Try once , you'll most likely return. You be the judge:) :rolleyes:

[bauerdogs]

The Service, The food, and the Early & Late seating. We do not like the open seating. :)

[sal7202]

One of the biggest positives for Celebrity is there are far fewer children onboard than some other cruise lines.

[caviargal]

One of the biggest positives for Celebrity is there are far fewer children onboard than some other cruise lines.

 

That is a HUGE plus IMO!

 

I like the fact that their ships are a good size and not overcrowded, though Solstice is not a step in the right direction IMO.

 

Also, I appreciate that most of X's clientele abide by - and actually enjoy - the more formal dress codes and the traditional onboard ambiance.

[tinker]

I am not sure this has been mentioned. We have 7 cruises now, 5 on X. The biggest reason is the people.

 

Not just the people who work there (and they are THE finest crew on the seas) but the other guests as well. We are in our early 50s. And we may get flamed for this, but we don't want to cruise with kids or teens (that eliminates RCL & Princess), want an active Cruise Critic group (that's why we booked HAL reluctantly), are not interested in being on a cruise where the entire ship is just one big party (that's why we did one cruise with Carnival and will never go back).

 

So, take out the drunks, the kids, the teens and want some computer-savvy Cruise Critic posters and the best service on the seas, X is your only choice.

 

Plus I am a huge believer in loyalty. I believe that the average American knows the price of everything and the value of nothing. I truly value a long term experince with companies that I admire. It is why I am typing this on an Apple Macintosh, why I wouldn't own a TV without a TIVO, why I wouldn't buy tires from any place other than Les Schwab (a northwest tire store), truly love Starbucks coffee and travel on X whenever I can.

 

 

We are also in our early 50's and found our first Celebrity experience on the Zenith last month to be a bit "stuffy", for lack of a better word, with pool activities lacking and most entertainment geared toward the older cruiser. Trivia was played on the pool deck daily which we have never seen before, and it was quite boring as was the recorded music played daily.

 

As others stated the "X" experience is much more formal compared to all our previous experiences and when chatting with other cruisers about our disappointment with the entertainment and lack of a fun factor on the ship I was promptly told that "Celebrity IS a step above you know" and also that "maybe we should sail Carnival."

 

We are neither drunks nor partiers but Celebrity will not be our first choice in the future as "people" do make a difference on a vacation. We prefer a more lively environment with a bit more casual feel as a welcomed change from the regimen of working all year.

 

IMHO the climate on each of the cruise line boards is a good indicator as to the experience you may expect to encounter.

[Drew B]

Hi Ross!

 

I agree with the most of your post, but I actually was very surprised woth Princess experience. I wouldn't lump them with RCCL and Carnival. (although I wouldn't lump RCCL and Carnival either ;) )

 

I would've never expected to see so many formal dressed people even on smart-casual nights on summer cruise in Caribbeans!!! Much larger percentage than on X. :)

 

It definitely wasn't informal experience.:D

 

Natasha

 

In all honesty, I saw a higher percentage of men in tuxedos on formal night on Carnival than on X... I was surprised, given X's reputation for formality, how many men opted for suits instead...

[Bisous3]

I like Celebrity and Princess equally , but some of the things I love about Celebrity are the service, the French food, the BREADSTICKS, the familiarity that comes with having cruised 9 times with them, the sushi bar.....I could go on and on....but its a little embarassing because I find my mind going to mostly food related things! LOL!

[celbercrz333]

The food. Ok, the staff was so nice and efficient, the ship (Zenith) always clean, nice decor, the tv--we ordered our breakfast the night before from the tv menu when we had an early tee time in Bermuda and it came when we requested. The buffet and dining room wasn't open when we left the ship for our round.

[lysolqn]

We've taken 38 cruises, 25 of which have been on Celebrity. While we've enjoyed all our cruises, we are partial to Celebrity because of the level of service (usually excellent), the more formal, traditional cruise experience (we don't find it stuffy as some do), the ships (we're not into neon and blinding glitz), the quality of food and food service (also usually excellent), and the passenger demographic which we find to be a bit more sophisticated than that of most of the other mainstream lines (there are exceptions to every rule!).

[jen826]

Why do we cruise X? Because it was the first cruise we went on and didn't want to be let down by booking a different cruise line. We have only gone on 2 cruises, both with X. And both times we were about the youngest couple on the ship (24 the first cruise, 26 the second) But we love it anyway. We are not in to partying. We love good conversation, which we have found with all of our dinner guests. The pools on Summit were wonderful, always found chairs. The service is amazing. Especially housekeeping. Food was great, I am a picky eater and the wait staff was wonderful. I even had my favorit ice cream the last 3 nights of the cruise made for me.

[Skimble1973]

As you can read in my signature I've been cruising with X several times.

 

I'm definitely not a member of Celebrity's target group: 34yo German.

But since my first cruise, Celebrity ships feel like home to me!

 

When I didn't have a partner I even travelled by myself and enjoyed these cruises even more.

 

I like the discreet ambiance, not too much party, the excellent service and food. I always met interesting people (perfect for practicing my English) and there was always a couple of younger guys, too.

 

In 2004 I tried the Radiance otS (RCCL). I can't say that I didn't enjoy the cruise, but if you've cruised Celebrity before you'll be missing so many SMALL things on RCCL (excellent pastries, sherbets, waiters carrying your tray, suhsi bar, less announcments, ...). Just SMALL things, but they make the difference!

[tinker]

We've taken 38 cruises, 25 of which have been on Celebrity. While we've enjoyed all our cruises, we are partial to Celebrity because of the level of service (usually excellent), the more formal, traditional cruise experience (we don't find it stuffy as some do), the ships (we're not into neon and blinding glitz), the quality of food and food service (also usually excellent), and the passenger demographic which we find to be a bit more sophisticated than that of most of the other mainstream lines (there are exceptions to every rule!).

 

I would have to say, stick with RCCL.