Celebrity fans chosing another cruiseline . does anyone compare?

[melika091900]

We love celebrity's food and service ,, no one has ever compared to them, but for all the seasoned cruisers on here , is there any cruiseline that goes to mexico ( riveria) that compares at all to the service on celebrity ??

I posted this on another forum also, but i wanted to ask the celebrity cruisers as well..

The only reason we arent looking at celebrity is because we want to go back to the mexican riveria and they dont go there :(

any suggestions anyone ???? im not really into the luxury cruising of radisson, or crystal ,,

 

 

THANKS

[caviargal]

I am just back from HAL's Oosterdam to the Mexican Riviera. She is a great ship with a wonderful crew and the food and service were excellent. She is a perfect size ship with great artwork and upscale features. Top notch gym and lots of intimate spaces

 

I choose HAL over X as a rule these days and have two more HAL cruises booked. If you travel in suites, HALs are simply the best. If not, all of their cabins are very well appointed. The bedding is luxurious and their amenities in the cabin high end.

[richsea]

We tried Princess last November after sailing exclusively with X & were pleasantly surprised with their food & service; I would say just a notch below Celebrity, & we would definitely return to them.

They have 2 ships which do 7 day Mexican Riviera cruises that are very reasonably priced. Our daughter just booked an October sailing on Golden Princess for $1500 total for a balcony cabin.

 

Good luck!

[usha]

I tried Oosterdam (although it wasn't a Mex Riv), and really liked it very much. I'd consider Holland America for a plan B (still love Celebrity more.:o )

[Coolcruise02]

I think HAL and Princess are both a step above Celebrity. But, have also had great cruises on RCCL and Carnival. They all have good and bad points. :)

[LuvCeleb]

How does the smoking policy compare between Celebrity, dd HAL and Princess. Wife and myself want to do a Carribbean this fall, but Celebrity does not have any 7 day cruises. We are pleased with the smoking arrangements on Celebrity but may have to choose HAl or princess this fall.

[melika091900]

thank you all for your responses... its so hard picking a cruise, I just felt like we had the best vacation on celebrity ... weve been on NCL, carnival and they hold nothing on celebrity ...

 

 

thank you all again, i might be trying holland america

 

happy cruising

Melissa

[Tatka]

I would choose Princess or HAL (we had some problems with it, but it seems like they fixed issues). Food on these two lines, while not Celebrity (altho HAL came very close and better in buffet), are very good. I love pools on Princess, arts and bedding on HAL. Princess has very nice array of nightly entertainment options.

[BILLP1]

We loved Regent . Costly but worth it. All inclusive . No tips, No bills to sign for drinks, No lines and no chair hogs... Great food....

[skandls]

I would vote for HAL. Food and service are very good. And the regular cabins are quite nice. We were on a very port intensive (Canada-New England) cruise so night life was non-existant.

 

I did not like Princess - we could not get traditional dining and ended up making reservations when we could - so we missed shows and other activities. The food was OK - the best was in the steakhouse - the other restaurants weren't very good. Also we were on a new ship at the time (Diamond) and we got on OV room that was so small the one chair had to be moved constantly so we could get around the cabin.

[Nancyquilts]

We loved it when Princess left from San Francisco, but that won't happen next year. No complaints about any of the above including RCCL. Nancy

[chrismch]

We've been on both Princess and X several times. Our January cruise on X was disappointing. Prior to that we were raving fans. Just got off a Princess coastal cruise 2 wks ago and loved it. We did the anytime dining and had no trouble with getting 7-8 pm dining times so we could go to the different shows.

 

Our deciding factor these days in picking a cruise is the itinerary and price as it seems many of the cruiselines are doing cost cutting and making them all seem more like each other unless you go to the upscale luxury cruises.

[marmi]

For me there no question about it, I will never go back with HAL: lot of noise, less staff to attend you, nothing much to do on board (spoon throwing in the pool, needle point, bad hair day, eat more weight less, that is it, for a 7 days cruise), embarkation et especially desembarkation was a nightmare. No wonder they offer low prices, unless you like to wait, until something happen, if you ask for a question, they will send you to your cabin to look for the answer on TV

So from now on, it is Celebrity or may be RCCL, they are partners

Next Cruise

Celebrity - Constellation March 2008 :)

 

Past Cruises

Celebrity - Zenith - Oct 2006 :)

Celebrity - Zenith - Feb 2005 :)

HAL - Zuiderdam - March 2003 :mad:

Celebrity - Century - April 2002 :)

[dforeigner]

In case you do not get to read my reply on the other thread.

 

HAL visits some awesome ports but, although they are working on it, I am not sure how good their children's program is.

 

Princess has an awesome children's program. They are not going as far south as Acapulco since they stopped sailing from San Francisco (unless you are in a repo cruises). Princess has traditional and anytime dinning. Please do not confuse the anytime dinning to the freestyle of NCL. I believe HAL may have this program (they are testing it) on a few of their ships.

 

Since you have been with CCL, when applicable, you can get past guest pricing/discount with these two lines as they are owned by CCL Corp.

 

for HAl and Princess ??????? I didnt know that...... wow thanks for the info ..

 

 

You are more than welcomed. Here is a link that provides further information.

 

http://www.worldsleadingcruiselines.com/home.asp

[caviargal]

For me there no question about it, I will never go back with HAL: lot of noise, less staff to attend you, nothing much to do on board (spoon throwing in the pool, needle point, bad hair day, eat more weight less, that is it, for a 7 days cruise), embarkation et especially desembarkation was a nightmare. No wonder they offer low prices, unless you like to wait, until something happen, if you ask for a question, they will send you to your cabin to look for the answer on TV

So from now on, it is Celebrity or may be RCCL, they are partners

 

 

So are HAL and Carnival sister companies. That does not mean they are similar and they are not.

 

HAL has high staff ratios, in line with X. There is "eat more, weigh less" on RCI and X, I have never seen a "spoon throwing" anything. And there was certainly much more to do throughout the week.

 

Prices are not low, so I do not know where you get you data. They offer sales as does every line when the bookings are not strong.

 

Sorry you did not enjoy your Zuiderdam cruise, as I had a great time on mine.:)

[caliber35]

How does the smoking policy compare between Celebrity, dd HAL and Princess. Wife and myself want to do a Carribbean this fall, but Celebrity does not have any 7 day cruises. We are pleased with the smoking arrangements on Celebrity but may have to choose HAl or princess this fall.

 

At the risk of someone flaming, I can tell you that the smoking policies on all three lines are pretty much the same. Cabins and Verandas are allowed. All allow some smoking in bars and on open decks. Princess has a dedicated smoking bar called Churchill's. X has smoking nights on the after deck. So far, if you are a smoker, the lines to avoid are Oceania and Azamara.