Why Should I Choose Celebrity?

[Morris4me]

We've cruised on Carnival, RCCL and HAL. I'm trying to decide between a 10 day cruise on Celebrity and Princess (both new ships, Equinox vs Ruby) for our 25th anniversary. Never having experienced either cruiseline, please tell me why I should choose Celebrity over Princess.

[RCCLCARIB]

We've cruised on Carnival, RCCL and HAL. I'm trying to decide between a 10 day cruise on Celebrity and Princess (both new ships, Equinox vs Ruby) for our 25th anniversary. Never having experienced either cruiseline, please tell me why I should choose Celebrity over Princess.

 

Well, first off, Princess and Royal Caribbean are two similar lines. So from my point of view, Princess, like RCCL, would be a step up from Carnival.

 

Now in my opinion, Celebrity is a step up from Princess in some regards. Celebrity provides guests with a comfortably sohpisticated cruise with unparalleded service in a relaxing environment. The Equinox is a brand new ship and will feature the latest in what Celebrity has to offer: new staterooms, 10 restaurants, multiple malls, grand solariums, fanatsitc pool deck with cabanas, a magnificent spa, etc.

 

As well, the 10 Night itinerary of Equinox is spectacular. Celebrity will transport you to these exotic destinations in comfort and style.

 

I think Celebrity would be a better choice, but Princess would not be bad at all. You must look at what you want: price, ship, type of experience, itinerary, etc in order to make a decision.

 

I recommend going to http://www.celebritysolstice.com to look at the Equinox and to also read this thread which is directly from Dan Hanrahan, President and CEO of Celebrity. Here, he talks about the Celebrity experience. http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=861369

 

Please ask if you have anymore questions :)

[barryod]

We've cruised on Carnival, RCCL and HAL. I'm trying to decide between a 10 day cruise on Celebrity and Princess (both new ships, Equinox vs Ruby) for our 25th anniversary. Never having experienced either cruiseline, please tell me why I should choose Celebrity over Princess.

 

Because we celebrated our 25th on Celebrity, that's why!!:D

 

Barry

[TRadle]

I have not sailed on Princess so I can't address that part of your question. However, I have sailed on Royal Caribbean and Celebrity.

 

To me the Royal Caribbean cruises were...loud....for lack of a better word. There were constant announcements for activities and there were loud activities on the pool deck. Don't get me wrong, these were fantastic cruises we took with the extended family with ages ranges for 17 to 80. Royal Caribbean is a great choice if you are trying to satisfy a wide demographic.

 

Celebrity is more laid back. There are activities but you have to read the dailies to find out what they are. You can read on the pool deck because there are not constant sophomoric contest going on. I think it is more romantic than RCL.

 

Our first cruise was to celebrate our 20th anniversary and we sailed on the Century. This year we will celebrate our 30th anniversary on the Constellation. I think Celebrity is the perfect place for an anniversary.

 

Congratulations on your upcoming anniversary and keep in mind that you can't go wrong with cruising for an anniversary!:)

[DeepWaterMariner]

It depends on what you want and expect in a cruise. I think the service is excellent on Celebrity but I find the menu boring. Your HAL experience should give you a good reference point as far as the style of cruising on Celebrity. I've sailed the Emerald Princess, a sister of the Ruby, and certainly liked it enough to be considering booking it again for next spring. The thing that we like about Princess and particularly a ship in the Ruby's class is the flexibility in dinning. We enjoy the Anytime dinning and we also like the Caribe Cafe (buffet) option for dinner when nothing strikes our fancy on the main dinning room menu. The theme nights in the Caribe Cafe truly make it an option where you don't feel cheated if you skip the main dinning room.

[pattyj 1204]

We have only sailed with Celebrity and have enjoyed every cruise. On the last cruise on the Constellation, we celebrated our 40th anniversary. It was everything I wanted and more. They had a honeymoon/anniversary party which just happened to be on the very day of our anniversary. The party had a live band, cake, champagne and photos. There was a newlywed couple, and one couple celebrating their 55th anniversary. Each of those couples got a bottle of wine or maybe it was champagne. The band played some dancing music and the cake was delcious. It was an invitation only party. So tell them when you make your reservations that you will be celebrating a special event. We like the no-announcement policy of Celebrity. One captain announcement at noon daily.

[Rouge Wave]

We've cruised on Carnival, RCCL and HAL. I'm trying to decide between a 10 day cruise on Celebrity and Princess (both new ships, Equinox vs Ruby) for our 25th anniversary. Never having experienced either cruiseline, please tell me why I should choose Celebrity over Princess.

 

To be candid, I do not think you should.

If my latest experience on Celebrity Sept 22nd to Oct 6th is a realistic indication, and I think it is, Celebrity is having some serious issues. I blame it on RCI and their lack of understanding how to run a premium mass-market cruise line. I think RCI is trying to run Celebrity on the cheap and is cutting corners in particular, in the area of the quality of food served and cosmetic upkeep. I am not saying the old guard Celebrity ships are shabby, but shabby is quickly approaching.

Do not let anyone on this board/thread or any other board/thread fool you by saying RCCL and PRINCESS being the same. RCCL and CARNIVAL are equivalents as are in the big view, Celebrity and Princess.

In 2008 I have been on a Princess and a Celebrity cruise (among others). Both cruises were promoted as being the premier cruise for that ship for the itinerary. Although the overall service provided by the crew was ever so slightly better on Celebrity, the quality of food offered was dramatically better on Princess as was the condition of the ship.

Granted, ship condition should not be an issue on the Celebrity or Princess ships you are looking at, the quality of food offered very much might be an issue. In my opinion, ITENERY then price should be the deciding factor. Basing just my experience from 2008 on both cruise lines, presuming itinerary and price for similar cabin class being about the same, I’d choose Princess.

By the way I am not “loyal” nor a cheerleader for any cruise line, I always call it as I see it without personal investment of ego or self status as many seem to have.

[lweber05]

Rouge Wave - Thank you for confirming other information that we have been given regarding the decline in Celebrity’s food. We have booked the Celebrity Solstice for a cruise at the end of January. It will be our third Celebrity Cruise with our last one in 2003. Between our first Celebrity Cruise on the Horizon and our second, on the Galaxy, we sailed on Raddison (now Regent) four times, as well as the Delta Queen and the QE2. We found that the food served on Celebrity was nearly comparable to that served by Regent; for this reason we booked the January Solstice Cruise. We just returned from a Canadian Maritime Cruise on RCCL. The RCCL food was fair at best (except for two outstanding meals at Chops). Another couple that sat at our table in the MDR told us that they had taken a Celebrity Cruise earlier this year and that the Celebrity has changed its menu. We were told that they found that the quality of the food served on Celebrity is now poor in relation to the food that was served on RCCL; we were told that they will not use Celebrity in the future. Based upon your report and theirs, we are considering cancellation of our Celebrity booking before the date that incurs a penalty.

[Denny01]

Picking cruise lines is as subjective as people's opinion on dining. We've cruised on Celebrity, Carnival, Royal and Princess. We've cruised Celebrity more, and find it superior for us. We look to Celebrity initially for the itinerary, and if we find one, compare it to another line for price. Unless it's a definite cost savings, we stick with Celebrity.

 

 

The main reason is we think Celebrity has better service and we enjoy the lower-key approach: few announcements, intimate common areas that make the ship feel smaller, and great dining. You will see some negative comments on the new menu, but we enjoyed it a lot. We liked the set dining times – the 'flexibility' of Princess anytime dining was OK, but it was like eating at a shorebased restaurant. Celebrity gave us a feel of a true cruise, we got to know our tablemates, and the wait-staff knew our dining and wine preferences after one night. The Princess balcony room was a bit larger and I liked the storage layout, but the Equinox rooms (and Solstice we are going on) look very nice. I thought Princess didn't quite have the level of service – I liked the common areas, but I found Celebrity a cut above.

 

 

All of this is very subjective and these types of questions sometimes bring out the major bashers, so watch out for the 'terrible cruise line' or 'hated the ship/service/dining' comments. I have trouble believing people didn't like most of the 7+ evening menus. No matter what line you pick, I think you'll love it!

 

Denny