Love RCI, however, looking to 'step up' in regards to service/pampering..

[mammy]

Ha! That will teach you take all that time off like you were retired or something! :D Time to take those 7 nighters like the rest of us working stiffs. ;):D:D

 

 

 

ROTFLMAO........GOOD ONE!!! I just inhaled my coffee:p I do believe you are right the longer the cruise the older the pax......We did it because the ports were sooo alluring.......BTW i am a working stiff, unfortunately not retired yet.......I am a business owner and can only get away once a year, usually february when we are up to our armpits in snow....so I try and strech it a little longer than 7 days.........guess I should try the b2b.

[mammy]

The LA on one of my RCI cruises told me the service on Celebrity is very formal. They're there to serve you, not interact with you. His exact words were "they're not there to be your friend". How Regent? I think you might find that if you want to be pampered, you'll lose night-life. But that's what I've only heard...never experienced, yet.

 

 

DITTO....that is exactly the way we found it.......they are there to serve you.......and mind you the service was good......and like I said I would have preferred more night-life, but we still had a great time, as we made our own fun;) I would definately sail them again, but not until I'm 70 or so:D

[mammy]

Yep, the lights are still on at 10! Actually, I am a morning person so anything pass 10 or 11 is a stretch for me (almost never make it to midnight on New Year’s eve!). Celebrity ships are not party ships, but they do have things going on late into the night.

 

Oceania is mainly a foreign port line, but they do have a limited number of cruises out of the US. Have to book way in advance though. We booked 12 months ahead and still almost did not get a cabin. I do have to point out that evening entertainment is not one of their strong points. We even got a little bored in the evenings. One reason is the ships are very small so there is not much to see while "just walking around."

 

Dress code is always “county club casual” which for me just meant dress slacks and nice open collar shirts. Great not to have to fool with dressing-up. Some people still did though; even saw one couple in formal clothes one night; no idea why.

 

 

Yup the lights were on.......but nobody was home:p

[critterchick]

If you really like RCI, why not consider upgrading to the Royal Suite? I had a tour of a Royal Suite on one cruise and it was spectacular - jacuzzi on the balcony, large living room, and dining area to say nothing of the master bedroom. You even get your own butler. If dining is an issue, book a lot of nights in the specialty restaurants. Then you'll get a ship with active nightlife where the crowd is under 70.

 

What ship was that on? We didn't have a butler or even a dedicated cabin steward. The RS is spectacular indeed, but on RCI it's just a nicer cabin, without any real pampering to go along with it and no more perks than you'd get from a GS or OS.

[gerig]

Having sailed on Carnival, Royal Caribbean, Princess and Celebrity. My favorite is Celebrity.

 

I definitely feel there is much better service - welcome champagne - escort to cabin and that's just for starters. On one cruise when we returned from Grand cayman - there were three ships in port - there were extremely long lines to return on the Royal and Carnival ships in port. The Celebrity ship had their own dock with more tenders and ice cold towels welcoming you back. Those are the little things they do - however they do not do towels animals but have better chocolates on the pillow at night.

 

As far as the food I've been on five different Celebrity ships and the food is much better than the other lines. I have always found the staff to be friendly, warm and polite.

 

As far as entertainment - it depends on the cruise. Our Celebrity Europe cruise went to the wee hours of the morning and this is definitely a more mature passenger cruise. On our Royal Caribbean Canada cruise the ship almost closed down around 10:30 - 11:00. They even made the early dinner seating earlier.

 

I have loved every cruise I have been on, but if given a choice I like the little extra pampering on Celebrity.

[KW_cruiser]

We're young (25 &26) and love Celebrity. Great choice for a big ship. Solstice looks nice, and we were recently on the Millenium in Alaska - a magnificent cruise.

 

However, to really step it up, we're trying Sea Dream Yacht Club. A client of mine owns a few travel agencies, does amazing luxury trips all over, and says Sea Dream is "the best."

 

You can jet ski off of the back of the boat :)

[rubrrick]

we're still young, under 50, lol... enjoy dancing, pool, drinks, etc.. we love RCI but considering moving up.. what cruise line would you recommend and why??! This is a 'one time' thing, we'll go back to RCI after the experience. Planning on leaving the rug rats behind. Please advise/help....

 

 

Personally, I think that you need to stay with Royal Caribbean........and take a suite.

 

Why...........because, every other line that has been suggested.......does not have a night life!!

 

You won't find it with Oceana, Regent 7 Seas, Crystal, WindStar, Azamara, or Seabourn.

 

You will find it with Carnival...........maybe book a suite there.

 

You either cruise with a line that has elegant service..........or one with night life...........I don't know of a ship that has both.

 

My brother (now deceased) and I used to have great conversations about cruising. He only cruised on Crystal or Radisson.........stay in a smaller suite............and we love Celebrity or Royal Caribbean......and for the same price stay in a Royal Suite........or either a Royal Suite or an Owners suite on RCL.

 

He had more pampering.........and we had more space. However.......with a record of OS and RS stays.......we really have been pampered on Royal Caribbean and Celebrity.

 

So.........that's my thoughts.:D:);)

 

Rick

[rubrrick]

What ship was that on? We didn't have a butler or even a dedicated cabin steward. The RS is spectacular indeed, but on RCI it's just a nicer cabin, without any real pampering to go along with it and no more perks than you'd get from a GS or OS.

 

 

Jean.........back before my time on RCL........they used to have butlers. I believe that stopped somewhere around the time that they bought Celebrity. Was that 1992?? Anyway........I heard that they were only for the large suites........whatever that means.

 

Rick

[shipknotshore]

I am a business owner and can only get away once a year, usually february when we are up to our armpits in snow....so I try and strech it a little longer than 7 days.........guess I should try the b2b.

 

 

That's a good alternative! With doing a b2b you wouldn't get those "old retired people who close up shop at 8pm right after dinner". I can say that because I'm right there with them and we're not retired yet! :rolleyes::eek:

We've done one B2B cruise and loved every minute of it. We had a great time and met lots of fun people on board both times!

[skandls]

What about Crystal - it has larger ships with more entertainment than Regent or any of the other upscale cruise lines.

[dirtgirl]

we're still young, under 50, lol... enjoy dancing, pool, drinks, etc.. we love RCI but considering moving up.. what cruise line would you recommend and why??! This is a 'one time' thing, we'll go back to RCI after the experience. Planning on leaving the rug rats behind. Please advise/help....

 

 

Hey buddy, :)

 

I agree with Rick - it's hard to get pampering and night life - and I know you like night life..;)

[klfhngr]

Having sailed on Carnival, Royal Caribbean, Princess and Celebrity. My favorite is Celebrity.

 

I definitely feel there is much better service - welcome champagne - escort to cabin and that's just for starters. On one cruise when we returned from Grand cayman - there were three ships in port - there were extremely long lines to return on the Royal and Carnival ships in port. The Celebrity ship had their own dock with more tenders and ice cold towels welcoming you back. Those are the little things they do - however they do not do towels animals but have better chocolates on the pillow at night.

 

As far as the food I've been on five different Celebrity ships and the food is much better than the other lines. I have always found the staff to be friendly, warm and polite.

 

As far as entertainment - it depends on the cruise. Our Celebrity Europe cruise went to the wee hours of the morning and this is definitely a more mature passenger cruise. On our Royal Caribbean Canada cruise the ship almost closed down around 10:30 - 11:00. They even made the early dinner seating earlier.

 

I have loved every cruise I have been on, but if given a choice I like the little extra pampering on Celebrity.

 

Now this is something I can get used to!! Reminds me of a 5 star A/I resort!

[klfhngr]

We're young (25 &26) and love Celebrity. Great choice for a big ship. Solstice looks nice, and we were recently on the Millenium in Alaska - a magnificent cruise.

 

However, to really step it up, we're trying Sea Dream Yacht Club. A client of mine owns a few travel agencies, does amazing luxury trips all over, and says Sea Dream is "the best."

 

You can jet ski off of the back of the boat :)

 

This was on my list.. just worried that the crowd my be older or 'professionals'.. even though I am one too!

[klfhngr]

What about Crystal - it has larger ships with more entertainment than Regent or any of the other upscale cruise lines.

 

Also on our list...

[klfhngr]

Hey buddy, :)

 

I agree with Rick - it's hard to get pampering and night life - and I know you like night life..;)

 

But why can't I have both?!!!!!!! Maybe I should purchase my own yacht.. hmmm....

[dirtgirl]

[quote name='klfhngr']But why can't I have both?!!!!!!! Maybe I should purchase my own yacht.. hmmm....[/quote]


Maybe you should make your own cruiseline.;):D

[KW_cruiser]

[quote name='klfhngr']But why can't I have both?!!!!!!! Maybe I should purchase my own yacht.. hmmm....[/quote]


That's my point - you should. However, for 5-10K depending, you and yours can experience the lifestyle on Sea Dream, before dropping $20mil on a new Mirgab V yacht :D

From what I've heard, the Sea Dream experience is terrific. The clientelle are typically upper class, middle aged, more adventurous and casual than a line like Silver Seas.

I don't know what type of nightlife you're looking for, but the champagne is included, and you can sleep outside on the Bali beds. Sounds fun to me !

We're booking Sea Dream for our honeymoon this fall. Nothing looked like a more perfect experience, except for one of those over water bungalows in Bora Bora:p

[Lushpuppy]

I have cruised Celebrity at Butler level, and yes, even in inside cabin level, you do get extra special service on Celebrity. HOWEVER, unless we had been in a group, I am pretty sure at times we would have been bored out of our skulls:eek:. We ALWAYS closed the disco, there really is not a lot of fun places at night time. We will miss loads of the niceties, I love having a Butler and often do even on land resorts. But can live without one:rolleyes: I think if you are looking at Celebrity, look at shorter cruises going out of ports like FL. All of the itineraries we have done were more than 12 nights. Those were filled with mmmmm dont know how to put this... in fact, I wont:eek:
There was one man dancing every night in the rendezvouz lounge, talk about babys diapers... tell you what, somone ought to have told him crimplene trousers were NOT a good idea with "padding"... (that give you an idea!)
We dined at Captains table on every cruise, and am quite sure we were invited it was because we were seen all the time having fun and enjoying oursleves.
The food last Feb, was NOT a patch on what it used to be.. it was not above average, and our waiters were just okay.. nothing special. W dined as a group of 8 three times in the speciality restaurant and service there had gone WAY down! They tried to fob us off with plated meals as we were in a group...it wasnt good.
We cancelled our most recent cruises due to the new smoking policies, drew the line at the balcony ban, but, we are kind of pleased now and it forced us into trying out something new. We have lowered our expectations of the little extras. We know that.. but the things we are really looking forward to is the nightlife.. something we feel was totally missing with Celebrity...
It IS difficult. We also looked at Seabourn, Silverseas etc..but it just felt too old for us..
Let us know how you get on if you do decide to try something new. Maybe the Solstice will be better for entertainment nightlife etc..certainly DO NOT cruise on anything smaller than an M-Class ship if you do go.
Happy cruising!:)

[galavant3]

We have also thought about Silverseas, Seabourn and those other smaller lines/ships... Might be to uppidy up for me.... Maybe not....!!?[/quote]

Those are the lines I want to try! To me, this really sounds like luxury cruising. Not in the budget right now but hopefully some day!