Celebrity vs Carnival??

[basil1]

Hi, I need a bit of advice on choosing my next cruise. I am debating between a Celebrity & Carnival European cruise.This is the scoop...I have been on two Celebrity Med. cruises (& Bermuda) and few Carnival Caribbean cruises (other lines as well). I was last on Carnival at least 9 years ago & last on Celebrity November 07. We absolutely love the service and attitude of Celebrity and have nothing but praise for them. When we used to cruise with Carnival we had a good time. The reason for the indecisiveness is that I really like the itinerary a little better on the Carnival cruise, but am afraid to go on a 14 day Carnival cruise. My previous experience tells me that the crowd on Carnival is different than Celebrity. Also I recall that it seems like everyone on the Carnival cruises smoked...everywhere. It was like a second-hand smoke death sentence. Does the destination (Caribbean vs Europe) determine the type of passenger or does the cruise line?

Thank you!!

[YOW]

You'll find a number of threads in this forum on this very subject -- and you'll find wildly varying opinions.

 

If you haven't been on Carnival in nine years, you'd likely notice some great improvements, especially in their food offerings. And the crowd on a 14-day med cruise is going to be different than on a shorter Caribbean sailing, on any line. As for smoke, not sure whether you'd encounter more smoking on a Carnival ship in the Med as opposed to Celebrity; Europeans still smoke a bit more than do North Americans, and if anything you'd find more North Americans on Carnival. We tend to go for itinerary when the other factors are similar, and wouldn't hesitate to go on Carnival... but you'll get some different opinions here.

[BKFlowerMound]

If you're looking for who has the better Smoking Policy for a Nonsmoker, Celebrity wins hands down. Celebrity is tightening up its Smoking Policy effective October 1. I've attached an excerpt from the FAQ section of the Celebrity Website below.

 

What is your onboard smoking policy?

Subject: Ship and Stateroom Details

 

Effective October 1, 2008 for all Celebrity ships, smoking will no longer be permitted inside any stateroom or on any stateroom veranda. Cigarette smoking will only be permitted in designated indoor and outdoor areas of the ship, while cigar and pipe smoking will only be permitted in designated outdoor areas. Smoking will not be permitted in any dining venue, theater, hallway, elevator or corridor. Violations to this smoking policy will result in a $250 cleaning fee being charged to the guest's onboard account and may also be addressed through Celebrity Cruises' Guest Conduct Policy. Cigarettes, cigars and pipe tobacco must be properly disposed of and never thrown overboard. A guest must be at least 18 years of age to purchase, possess or use tobacco onboard.

 

Additionally, there is a non-smoking policy on all components of the land tour portion of all Celebrity Cruises cruisetour products. We appreciate your understanding and adherence.

[Sky Sweet]

Hi, I need a bit of advice on choosing my next cruise. I am debating between a Celebrity & Carnival European cruise.This is the scoop...I have been on two Celebrity Med. cruises (& Bermuda) and few Carnival Caribbean cruises (other lines as well). I was last on Carnival at least 9 years ago & last on Celebrity November 07. We absolutely love the service and attitude of Celebrity and have nothing but praise for them. When we used to cruise with Carnival we had a good time. The reason for the indecisiveness is that I really like the itinerary a little better on the Carnival cruise, but am afraid to go on a 14 day Carnival cruise. My previous experience tells me that the crowd on Carnival is different than Celebrity. Also I recall that it seems like everyone on the Carnival cruises smoked...everywhere. It was like a second-hand smoke death sentence. Does the destination (Caribbean vs Europe) determine the type of passenger or does the cruise line?

Thank you!!

 

Hi basil :)

 

we took a Carnival Cruise this summer by default because it was the only cruise line that had a NYC to Canada itinerary for that time period.

 

It was our first Carnival Cruise in many years and I was very pleasantly surprised by how much it has improved since that time.

 

The food on our Carnival Cruise varied from very good to excellent and we had a wonderful wait staff in the dining room. Even though the ship was eight years old, it was in excellent condition and looked much newer.

 

Contrary to its image, it was not a party ship at all and there was no obvious difference in demographics between the passengers on that Carnival cruise and our Celebrity Cruises except that Celebrity has much older passengers and less children.

 

The only negative compared to Celebrity was that Carnival has a less favorable space to passenger ratio which made the ship feel a little crowded.

[Casino Player]

Hi, I need a bit of advice on choosing my next cruise. I am debating between a Celebrity & Carnival European cruise.This is the scoop...I have been on two Celebrity Med. cruises (& Bermuda) and few Carnival Caribbean cruises (other lines as well). I was last on Carnival at least 9 years ago & last on Celebrity November 07. We absolutely love the service and attitude of Celebrity and have nothing but praise for them. When we used to cruise with Carnival we had a good time. The reason for the indecisiveness is that I really like the itinerary a little better on the Carnival cruise, but am afraid to go on a 14 day Carnival cruise. My previous experience tells me that the crowd on Carnival is different than Celebrity. Also I recall that it seems like everyone on the Carnival cruises smoked...everywhere. It was like a second-hand smoke death sentence. Does the destination (Caribbean vs Europe) determine the type of passenger or does the cruise line?

Thank you!!

 

Go on the cruise whose itinerary you like best. The time of year you go also has a lot to do with those that go on the cruise. Longer cruises tend to have less families on the cruise with younger children. Both cruise lines have policies about smoking. The food on Carnival I think is slightly better and the service on Celebrity is better.

All things being equal go with whatever itinerary you like better. With these two particular cruise lines I don't think you could go wrong.

[Casino Player]

Hi, I need a bit of advice on choosing my next cruise. I am debating between a Celebrity & Carnival European cruise.This is the scoop...I have been on two Celebrity Med. cruises (& Bermuda) and few Carnival Caribbean cruises (other lines as well). I was last on Carnival at least 9 years ago & last on Celebrity November 07. We absolutely love the service and attitude of Celebrity and have nothing but praise for them. When we used to cruise with Carnival we had a good time. The reason for the indecisiveness is that I really like the itinerary a little better on the Carnival cruise, but am afraid to go on a 14 day Carnival cruise. My previous experience tells me that the crowd on Carnival is different than Celebrity. Also I recall that it seems like everyone on the Carnival cruises smoked...everywhere. It was like a second-hand smoke death sentence. Does the destination (Caribbean vs Europe) determine the type of passenger or does the cruise line?

Thank you!!

 

Go on the cruise whose itinerary you like best. The time of year you go also has a lot to do with those that go on the cruise. Longer cruises tend to have less families on the cruise with younger children. Both cruise lines have policies about smoking. The food on Carnival I think is slightly better and the service on Celebrity is better.

All things being equal go with whatever itinerary you like better. With these two particular cruise lines I don't think you could go wrong.

[Casino Player]

Hi, I need a bit of advice on choosing my next cruise. I am debating between a Celebrity & Carnival European cruise.This is the scoop...I have been on two Celebrity Med. cruises (& Bermuda) and few Carnival Caribbean cruises (other lines as well). I was last on Carnival at least 9 years ago & last on Celebrity November 07. We absolutely love the service and attitude of Celebrity and have nothing but praise for them. When we used to cruise with Carnival we had a good time. The reason for the indecisiveness is that I really like the itinerary a little better on the Carnival cruise, but am afraid to go on a 14 day Carnival cruise. My previous experience tells me that the crowd on Carnival is different than Celebrity. Also I recall that it seems like everyone on the Carnival cruises smoked...everywhere. It was like a second-hand smoke death sentence. Does the destination (Caribbean vs Europe) determine the type of passenger or does the cruise line?

Thank you!!

 

Go on the cruise whose itinerary you like best. The time of year you go also has a lot to do with those that go on the cruise. Longer cruises tend to have less families on the cruise with younger children. Both cruise lines have policies about smoking. The food on Carnival I think is slightly better and the service on Celebrity is better.

All things being equal go with whatever itinerary you like better. With these two particular cruise lines I don't think you could go wrong.

[ginagirl]

You will absolutely love the Supper Club which Carnival now has available. There is a $30 cost per person but not only is the food fabulous, but they always have a live duo playing and singing romantic music to dance to. There is no problem getting a cozy table for 2 with faux flickering candles on the table. The lobster tails are huge, and my husband is till raving about the tender and thick veal chop. Whenever we sail Carnival, we book the Supper Club as soon as we board. On a 7 night cruise, we will dine and dance there at least 4 times. They also have their own bar up there where you can enjoy either a before dinner cocktail or after dinner liquor, while listening to the live music. Service has been impeccable there also. This is a definite improvement to Carnival which many find truly appealing. Enjoy whichever cruise you chose.:D

[Brad1185]

Carnival is no where near the same league as Celebrity. The cruise quality is just not there. The meals for dinner in the main dining room are good on Carnival. I will give them that. The buffet quality for Carnival especially for breakfast is very lacking.

 

I just cannot imagine choosing Carnival over Celebrity.

[ginagirl]

Carnival is no where near the same league as Celebrity. The cruise quality is just not there. The meals for dinner in the main dining room are good on Carnival. I will give them that. The buffet quality for Carnival especially for breakfast is very lacking.

 

I just cannot imagine choosing Carnival over Celebrity.

Brad, I would have said the same thing as you if we hadn't experienced the Supper Clubs on 2 different Carnival ships within the last 18 months. We have been cruising for decades on many different lines, and I will say that the best dining experiences have been in the Supper Clubs on our last 2 Carnival ships. As for the main dining rooms on Carnival, I feel they leave a lot to be desired. We truly enjoy the superb dining in X's, Princess' and HALs' specialty restaurants; but with them all being fairly equal in that category, I still prefer Carnival's Supper Club for it's intimate, romantic ambiance with classy live music for dancing. To each his own, but unless you've experienced the Supper Club, you really shouldn't try to evaluate its worth. In my opinion it's totally different and superior from what other lines are offering in their specialty restaurants.

[Brad1185]

You are right about the Supper Club. We were on the Spirit in Jan and the food and service was excellent.

 

Overall If a Carnival and Celebrity ship were side by side and I could go on either, I would pick Celebrity with out hesitation.

[YOW]

Overall If a Carnival and Celebrity ship were side by side and I could go on either, I would pick Celebrity with out hesitation.

 

All things being equal, Celebrity remains our line of choice.

 

So let's imagine this scenario. Two ships are lined up at the pier (say Miami, for our purposes) -- one, a Celebrity M-class ship (can't speak for S-class yet), the other a Carnival Conquest-class. Both ships are going to do San Juan, St. Thomas, St. Maarten, and a 'private island'; and the price for our category is exactly the same. We'll choose Celebrity, for that added boost of service and refinement that result from better crew- and space-to-pax ratios.

 

Change one or more factors, and the decision for us (and I realise not for some others) could very well change. If X changed one port to Casa de Campo, while Carnival went to Grand Turk (tough example, I know, given Ike's wrath), that might make us consider a switch. If the savings on Carnival were significant, or the upgrade cost to a balcony were reasonable, our choice could come out differently. And if Carnival offered an 8-day sailing for the same price as X's 7-day itin, we'd take Carnival for sure.

 

For others on these boards who've had different experiences, the decision could be easier or more difficult, or a non-issue. That's the beauty of it all -- different strokes for different folks.

[budster]

We have done a ta on both. We are doing another on X but if the itinerary were different for Carnival I would have chosen Carnival. The entertainment on Carnival was so much better and more fun, other than Perry Grant. Celebrity has much better itineraries and we actually like the food better on Carnival. The service is great on X but our waiter for 14 days never once asked our names. That is a first for us.

[jwds]

We have been on Celebrity in Europe and in the Caribbean and on Carnival only in the Caribbean. I would choose between the two based simply on price and itinerary. For Europe, if price and itinerary were equal, I would probably pick Carnival since the more casual atmosphere would make packing simpler.

[Drew B]

Because you specifically mentioned smoking as a personal concern of yours, I would say that you should DEFINITELY choose Celebrity. I have no doubt that you will face more smoke on Carnival given Celebrity's new smoking policy. Otherwise, I would consider it a toss-up and would give the edge to Carnival because you prefer the itinerary. However, the smoking thing could be a big difference for you.

[basil1]

Thank you all for your advice. I think we are leaning more toward the Celebrity cruise.:)

[Coolcruise02]

I just cannot imagine choosing Carnival over Celebrity.

 

Well, I would!

 

That is your opinion and that is fine, but I for one would have NO problem choosing a Carnival cruise over Celebrity.

 

Everyone has different things that are important to them on a cruise but we have found Carnival has better food and the level of service is "over rated" on Celebrity.

[Ardy53]

We have just returned from a 12 night Celebrity cruise in the Med. Our only other cruise was 2 years ago in the Bahamas on Carnival.

 

We are smokers and found no difference between the two, but that changes after October insofar as cabins are concerned.

 

Entertainment better on Carnival.

 

Food much the same, edge to Carnival.

 

Service suprisingly better on Carnival, except for the bars on Celebrity - ALL the bartenders knew our names and drinks after one or two nights.

 

Activities better on Carnival.

 

Ship space better on Celebrity.

 

Would have gone on either again if not for the change in smoking policy for Celebrity.

 

Roy

[Chelly]

I have narrowed my transatlantic choices between Carnival and Celebrity. I like the Carnival price, but prefer Celebrity refinement, Anyway, the smoking issue may be deciding factor. For me, smoking is a problem. Is smoking permitted in Celebrity lounges? Does Celebrity have Piano Bars? If so, is smoking allowed? Your answers mean alot. Thanks.