celebrity for 20-somethings

[rachnr]

My boyfriend's parents are taking us on an Alaska cruisetour (I know, such problems I have!). After narrowing to Celebrity and Princess, between our lifestyle (fairly casual), the age range of the passengers, the boat activities, the itinerary, hearing that Princess is very accommodating for disabled passengers (his father is recovering from a stroke and has trouble walking) and the pod-problems Celebrity was having, Princess seemed to definitely be the best option for us.

 

Unfortunately, when they went to book, the Princess options we were looking at were all booked up with the exception of interior rooms. So, instead they found a Celebrity one on the Summit.

 

I'm curious of a few things. Firstly, if the pod problems are still occurring and if they tend to seriously disrupt the trip, or if its just a minor annoyance kind of thing. Secondly, I'm wondering if we will find Celebrity to be a good fit for us or not. At this point, it doesn't matter as its already paid for, but we're concerned given what we've read about the average age of the passengers, the types of activities offered in the evenings, etc. We're 27 and 28 and we are FAR from being party animals, but we would probably like a fun, relaxed bar setting to hang out in the evenings, some people our own age to socialize with, activities that go beyond shuffleboard, or just not feeling like the boat is completely dead at 9 pm :) Neither of us are complaining about a free cruise, but just curious if anyone had any insight on this. Otherwise, I'll know to pack about 2x the number of books I perhaps would have :) And it's no offense to anyone older, we're just hoping to not feel completely out of place or like "annoying kids" who are up at midnight.

 

 

Thanks for any thoughts on this!

[Fredr]

Hello,

 

Having been on 17 cruises including several on Celebrity, it is my opinion that you and your family will have a very nice time on a Celebrity cruise. There is to me at least, a wonderful Euopean ambiance on Celebrity ships, like going to a truly beautiful hotel with wonderful service and great food. You will meet interesting people but I really cannot tell you how many you will meet who are in your age group. Alaska is a very popular place to cruise and I am sure that there will be others your age but how many?

 

Here are some additional ideas for you....consider renting a car in Juneau, Skagway, and the other Alaskan/Canadian ports. This will give you and your family flexibility to see and do more. It will probably be much easier for your father to get in and out of a car than on and off a tour bus. And for some hiking. plan on climbing the East Loop Trail when you visit the Mendenhall Glacier (you and your husband) as this will put you above the glacier and from up there you have some truly spectacular views of the Alaskan Wilderness. And consider a drive up into the Canadian Yukon from Skagway.

 

As for nightlife on a Celebrity cruise, there are bars and music and of course the shows, but you will find that visiting the Alaska ports has a tendency to tire out even the hardy party types.

 

Hope that this helps.

 

Fred

[JanineM]

Our only experience on Celebrity was a Caribbean cruise earlier this year. We are in our mid-40s and were amongst the youngest people on the ship.

 

That said, please don't think that you're going to have a staid experience because of the age of the other passengers. Many of us who are a big older still feel like we're in our 20s and can be a lot of fun. As a matter of fact, I have several friends who are in their 60s now, and I have had trouble keeping up with them for decades!

 

You'll still want to bring a few books, even if it's just for your afternoons at sea.

 

Hope you have a wonderful cruise!

[kitty9]

Celebrity is going to attract an older crowd, but in summer, the average age drops considerably. The one thing that might concern you is the fact that your post says you're fairly casual. Celebrity is the most formal of all the mass market lines in terms of dressing in the evening. A vast majority of the passengers adhere to the dress codes of formal/informal/casual. Also, Celebrity asks that you stay in the code of the evening, for the entire evening if you're going to be in any public rooms after 6pm.

 

As for the social life, to be honest, I've been on Summit 4 times and the nightlife can be sedate, especially on itineraries as busy as Alaska. And, most of those in your age group will be those cruising with their kids, so they're not likely to be partying late. You'll have a few choices for nightlife which is the RendeVous Lounge where they have a dance band (with mostly "old folks" music), the Bar at the Edge where the music might be more to your taste, the Casino Bar, Michael's Club with a piano player, the Celebrity Theater where they hold production shows, and on some evenings they have "theme" get togethers up on deck near the pool. Since Alaska is more port-intensive than other cruises, you really won't have to worry much about being bored during the day. There is a full schedule of activities during the day.

[Globe Trekker]

My wife and I (ages 34 and 26) took our first Celebrity cruise on Summit and after that I was sold on Celebrity. The ship is beautiful, the food is spectacular, and although things did tend to slow down around 9pm, I found myself plesently entertained the entire time. Summit is a very relaxing ship and I found it to be quite casual durring the day and casual evenings. Of course, formal and informal nights people do dress acordingly and remain so for the remainder of the evening. Celebrity's onboard dress slogen used to be "casually elegant" but has now changed to "relaxed elegance", however this just means you won't really see swim suits and t-shirts at ship functions other than the pool. Polo shirts and comfortable shorts/pants are acceptable. I wouldn't worry about the ships pods, if they were causing a big problem on a lot of trips Celebrity wouldn't be gaining any popularity. So the likeliness of a problem is rare, but things do happen.

 

My wife and I are not the wild party type but we do like some activity and we found the ship to be quite a bit more active than we had originally assumed. The average age on our cruise was in the 40-50 range, but there were many couples on the ship in there 20s and 30s. The dancing nightlife was a bit dull on a couple nights but the lounges and bars were always filled with frendly people engaged in conversation. And of course, the later it got, the younger the crowd. I really felt as if this ship was designed to entertain people with other people rather than a lot of thrills. The one time I actually saw someone playing shuffle board, it was a father playing with his young daughter. However, there were very few kids on the ship.

 

The onboard activities that we really enjoyed were light breakfasts at the spa, soaking in the warm thalassotherapy pool, reading on deck, afternoons at the pool, wine pairing classes, cooking classes, big screen movies, theater production shows, afternoon tea, the evening sushi bar, live clasical music at the cova cafe, formal dining ambiance (regardless of the evening dress), and night time strolls around the decks.

 

Overall, I think you will enjoy this cruise more than the one on Princess. For me a cruise is about taking it easy and being pampered and it's the little things like that which Celebrity does very well. That is why my wife and I decided to sail with Celebrity to Alaska this year. You will have a very nice and relaxing time. Enjoy!

 

:)