Just an observation

[Sky Sweet]

I just checked the pricing for our Mediterranean Cruise next June on Brilliance of the Seas to see if it has changed since we booked it and noticed something interesting.

 

The current price for our D1 balcony cabin for that cruise is more than the current price for concierge class cabin on Summit for a similar cruise with the exact same number of days at the same time.

 

I found that to be very interesting since most people think that Celebrity is more expensive than Royal Caribbean.

[BurBunny]

I find that often to be the case. A good portion of the time, RCCL's ships and sailings are more expensive than a similar Celebrity offering. Usually quite a bit higher than their "direct" competition of Carnival and Princess. The success of their marketing and branding is such that they can command a premium for their sailings.

[Tatka]

I found that to be very interesting since most people think that Celebrity is more expensive than Royal Caribbean.

 

I don't think RC is less expensive. I am not sure about Mediterranean cruising, but in Caribbeans, especially on Radiance and Voyager class ships during school vacations prices are very high.

[voyager70]

Sky Sweet I sail both lines as well as Princess and find that it is not unusual at all for RCI to be more expensive than X. Shutter the thought!!

[FreewayFortune]

I was noticing that too. That's why I'm looking at Celebrity for a European cruise next year.

[Schplinky]

I find that often to be the case. A good portion of the time, RCCL's ships and sailings are more expensive than a similar Celebrity offering. Usually quite a bit higher than their "direct" competition of Carnival and Princess. The success of their marketing and branding is such that they can command a premium for their sailings.

 

RCL and Celebrity are also competitors. I find the presumptions on this board to be interesting. The differences between RCL and X are far fewer in number than the similarities, especially if you have sailed both in the last year or two but the myth of HAL and Celebrity being premium lines persists.

[Tatka]

RCL and Celebrity are also competitors. I find the presumptions on this board to be interesting. The differences between RCL and X are far fewer in number than the similarities, especially if you have sailed both in the last year or two but the myth of HAL and Celebrity being premium lines persists.

 

How could they be competitors? :rolleyes: They belong to the same company.

 

And yes Celebrity is a bit more upscale. It doesn't mean you won't have a good time and service on RCCL, but still. It's starts with # of PAX on the same size ship.

[Schplinky]

How could they be competitors? :rolleyes: They belong to the same company.

 

And yes Celebrity is a bit more upscale. It doesn't mean you won't have a good time and service on RCCL, but still. It's starts with # of PAX on the same size ship.

 

Carnival and Princess compete for passengers and yet they belong to the same company.

 

All of this talk of upscale or premium just leaves me feeling that the emperor isn't wearing any clothes. I think it's a mass delusion but if those who believe it want to, fine.

 

Feeling crowded is more often about ship design than the number of people onboard. We have felt the most hemmed in on the smallest two ships we've sailed, mostly due to poorly thought out passenger flow.

[chessbriar]

All of this talk of upscale or premium just leaves me feeling that the emperor isn't wearing any clothes. I think it's a mass delusion but if those who believe it want to, fine.

So what do we call Norwgian who is now allowing jeans in the dining room?

[Tatka]

All of this talk of upscale or premium just leaves me feeling that the emperor isn't wearing any clothes. I think it's a mass delusion but if those who believe it want to, fine.

 

Well, I can clearly see a difference in service on Celebrity and RCCL. RCCL does have some strong points for us and ships are beautiful... but it doesn't change the fact that service is more professional (white gloved) on X ships.

 

It doesn't mean that it's absolutely necessary for enjoyment of vacation, but it's is something difficult not to notice.

[hcat]

We cruise Celeb & Royal Carib & look for the best itins, ship & prices for a given trip..sometimes we choose one over the other depending on what we are looking for at the time. --Our best bargain was a last minute senior fare on Jewel of the Seas--hump w/balcony for practically nothing! It's a combo of luck & planning. We were really fortunate!

Aside from price considerations, both lines offer a good prooduct & a good time but there truly are differences between the two experiences (Chops & Portofino are nice but they are not Muranos, Normandie Ocean Liners, etc.) & certainly the general clientele differ, as sometimes seen on the discussion boards--no one here repeatedly asks abt sneaking beer on board, nor have I seen wife beater T shirts as a popular mode of dress in the buffet area on X. We have met some great people on both lines but there is a difference...

So check prices & decide whihc is best & then happy sailing!

[Schplinky]

I'm really not meaning to argue but we were told all of this "step above" stuff before our first sailing on Celebrity and chose to believe it, mostly due to the volume of the praise. That said, we really did not feel it was a "premium" experience over RCL so much as it was a different one. We were very disappointed not to be experiencing this difference we had read (and continue) to read about because we purposefully chose Celebrity in hopes of experiencing this.

 

Does X do some things better? Certainly, but they were small differences and not all that drmatic. Having believed the hype, we were a little taken aback by the prevelance of all the money generators that X fans seem to criticse other lines for. You still had to pay for a soda (would a truly premium line charge you for a soda?), they still had art auctions, tough sell tactics in the spa, and bingo. Our sailing even featured announcements for the bingo, even though we had heard all of the boasting about that being forbidden on Celebrity. It was actually quite comical. The CD would come on and tell us he hoped we had a nice day, that we were about to leave port , that tonight is the formal and (as though it had just crossed his mind) there is a bingo starting in fifteen minutes. We would listen to this announcement every day and just roll our eyes.

 

To my mind, X had better cabins than RCL, a better specialty restaurant and better wine service. RCL had better food (sorry, but we were bored by the blandness of the Roux menu), MUCH better entertainment and more interesting activities throughout the evening. We saw strengths in both lines but would not say that one was better than the other, just different.

 

We did not hate our Celebrity experience and do plan to sail Solstice in the hopes that it will be better than our Constellation sailing was but we will also approach that sailing with much lower expectations in terms of what "premium" means. To our minds now, it is about the age of the passengers and their preferences and less about what is actually offered by the line.

 

 

Again, I really don't mean to be argumentative so much as I would hope that

[Kathie44]

I have pointed out more than once that X is not always more $$ than Royal. Those are the only lines we sail, so those are the prices I see often. I changed my plan to do a Brilliance PC cruise when I saw how much more the price was as opposed to Galaxy's, which was one more day-- several hundred $$!

Researching the MR cruises last year, I found that Royal had only one 7-night cruise with 3 stops--not enough and not all in Mexico. Mercury had several options and we took the 11-night/6 stops (all in Mex) in Jan. for $50 less per day. You just have to keep checking for the best deal. I like to do my own research. It starts the endorphins early. :)

 

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 nights in London

1/07 Mercury Mexican Riviera

1/08 Mercury Aust/NZ

[Schplinky]

I have pointed out more than once that X is not always more $$ than Royal. Those are the only lines we sail, so those are the prices I see often. I changed my plan to do a Brilliance PC cruise when I saw how much more the price was as opposed to Galaxy's, which was one more day-- several hundred $$!

Researching the MR cruises last year, I found that Royal had only one 7-night cruise with 3 stops--not enough and not all in Mexico. Mercury had several options and we took the 11-night/6 stops (all in Mex) in Jan. for $50 less per day. You just have to keep checking for the best deal. I like to do my own research. It starts the endorphins early. :)

 

I agree with you! Even after you book you can save hundreds by continuing to monitor the price right up to final payments.

[Sky Sweet]

We haven't been on a Royal Caribbean Cruise since the nineties because at that time Royal Caribbean Ships had very small cabins while Celebrity had much nicer ones.

 

Our next experience with Royal Caribbean will be the Brilliance of the Seas Mediterranean Cruise, mentioned earlier in this thread, which will be in an aft D-1 cabin with a huge balcony and a cabin itself that is slightly larger than a concierge class cabin on a Celebrity M class ship.

 

I will be interested to see how this upcoming cruise will compare with our recent cruises on Celebrity.

[Tatka]

RCL had better food (sorry, but we were bored by the blandness of the Roux menu),

 

Sorry, but the food on Splendor of the Seas (only RCCL ship we sailed on) was the worst out of all our cruises, including NCL and Carnival. Many dishes tasted almost like frozen food. This cruise was right after my cruise on Century and the first one for my DH. We both were very disappointed.

 

We are going to sail on Explorer of the Seas next Friday, but food isn't something I am looking forward too.;)

[Schplinky]

Sorry, but the food on Splendor of the Seas (only RCCL ship we sailed on) was the worst out of all our cruises, including NCL and Carnival. Many dishes tasted almost like frozen food. This cruise was right after my cruise on Century and the first one for my DH. We both were very disappointed.

 

We are going to sail on Explorer of the Seas next Friday, but food isn't something I am looking forward too.;)

 

Different strokes, I guess. As we were sailing on Constellation, we thought over and over "this is the food and service people have been raving about?"

 

We hope we/they had an off week.

[Kathie44]

Our first two cruises were on Explorer. We were blown away by that first cruise and the rest is history. It is a great ship and the food was wonderful. Admittedly, that was in '02 and '03 so it may have changed, but recent comments on the RCCL site have been positive.

The best cruise overall was the Jewel cruise last summer. The ship is THE most beautiful one we've sailed and I didn't think any ship could beat the Explorer. The food, service, entertainment, tours and everything else was at least as good as Celebrity. The food was even better.

You should have a great time, including the food on Expl.

 

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 nights in London

1/07 Mercury Mexican Riviera

1/08 Mercury Aust/NZ

[hcat]

We sailed Jewel in Jan & Century in April, both were very good to excellent. Will be going back on both ships--again different experiences. Best price, ship & itin that fits our schedule is how we pick them

[NorCalCruiseGuy]

So what do we call Norwgian who is now allowing jeans in the dining room?

 

Well, Norwegian would probably do anything to attract more passengers.