Is Celebrity a "Premium Line"

[seagulls]

We are just back from a Princess cruise and although the line is very good it fell short of Celebrity. We are back home with Celebrity, actually we never wanted to leave in the first place. There was just a set of circumstances that made us try another line.

[Luxana]

<You can quote anyone you want, but our experience shows no significant difference between an NCL (or the dearly-departed Renaissance) cruise and a Celebrity or HAL cruise--and certainly not in the make-up of the clientele. All the talk here about passengers being "more sophisticated and refined" on Celebrity is hogwash--a rather sad attempt by a few to elevate their own status in some way by association. Yes, a nice cross-section of folks--just like you'd find on other mass-market lines.>

 

Absolutely disagree! On our last Norwegian Cruise we had a balcony stateroom; it was one of the smallest cabins we ever had -- after I unpacked my clothes, my DH ended up having to live out of the suitcase, whereas with Celebrity we've had drawers left over! The mattress was as hard as an army barracks! Furthermore, there are more younger couples and families on NCL because it is cheaper! Celebrity and HAL cruisers are generally older and more affluent as a whole.

 

And, no way does the food on Norwegian compare with Celebrity and Holland America! As for Princess, IMHO, the Golden Princess has a "cheap" look to it compared to Celebrity Century and Holland America's Zandaam. We originally booked the Sun Princess for 10 days to the Southern Caribbean and then switched to the April 1st Summit because we decided to go with the cruise line we knew is the best. The Sun Princess was a thousand dollars less for the same type of stateroom, but we decided the extra fare on the Summit would be well worth it! You get what you pay for!

 

We would cruise Holland America again, but no way will we ever cruise Norwegian again, that's for sure! The old Norway was the only really great experience on this line. Celebrity is just a little step above Holland America in the food department, but then, we were on the Zandaam back in 2000, so maybe things have changed. Back then, the Zandaam was a great ship and we thoroughly enjoyed our cruise in a mini-suite.

 

Conde Nast is not wrong about this. Celebrity is a premium cruise line. :)

[phillipahain]

as an elite Celebrity member I would in the past have rated Celebrity as a premium line

Sadly after our last cruise with them and a subsequent cruise on Princess its highly unlikely Celebrity will get our custom again

 

The food on Princess knocked spots off Celebrities

The benefits in Princess Captains Circle far outweigh the paltry offerings from Celebrity and the difference in staff attitude is clear

 

Add on Celebrity hang on to $900 as deposits versus Princess $100 theres an economic factor too

 

Sorry but X need to face realities of the competition and treat their previous loyal cruisers a lot better

[Luxana]

<The food on Princess knocked spots off Celebrities

The benefits in Princess Captains Circle far outweigh the paltry offerings from Celebrity and the difference in staff attitude is clear

 

Add on Celebrity hang on to $900 as deposits versus Princess $100 theres an economic factor too>

 

Which Celebrity ship were you on where you got "paltry offerings"? What Princess ship "knocked spots off"? Princess does have a good promotion with the smaller deposit, but it didn't keep us from the Summit. I don't think Celebrity needs to offer this to fill up their ships. This is just a guess. I have heard a lot of people that absolutely love Princess. We were not impressed with the Golden Princess. Just our personal experience. :cool:

[phillipahain]

Celebrity Galaxy ...........in dire need of a refit, repaint, replacement of numerous crazed windows on observation deck,and the simple washing of windows never mind a major 12 hours of sewage blockage inc overflowing onto restroom floors ......UGH......not even an apology next day

and there were certainly no perks other than 10 minutes of internet even priority disembarkation for Elite members did not happen,and exactly the same dinner menus as they have had for at least 6 years

 

Diamond Princess

 

Lovely Decor , Spotlessly clean , freshly painted outside during the week , always smiling happy staff,

 

Great dinner menus, REAL deserts , 4 themed anytime restuarants , extensive salad bar plus the buffet , wonderful Pain au Chocolat on breakfast bar etc etc

 

within 2 weeks of each other so the comparison is easy

[Luxana]

<within 2 weeks of each other so the comparison is easy>

 

Interesting! Galaxy is one of the older Celebrity ships where as Diamond Princess is one of the newer Princess ships, if not the newest, which certainly would make a difference. These two ships are in a different class. But, still Celebrity should have better maintenance. I am surprised because on these boards, you generally hear good things about the older Celebrity ships. I would be interested in what someone would say who has cruised on both the Diamond Princess and a ship like the Summit. Your points are well taken. I will not be cruising on one of the older Celebrity ships.:eek:

[AFT_LOVER]

since we'd have a mini suite at verandah prices, with a mini bar, slippers with the robes hung in the closet, etc.

 

Then all that left & even the robes you were lucky to see on the 3rd cruise day.

 

Last month I requested a refund of the $200 deposit we put down in 2003, since you have 4 years to use it. THEY REFUSED!!!!! So AMEX put through a chargeback to credit me the $200 when they got the runaround for an answer as to why they failed to refund my money.

 

When Carnival took over, instead of the Thanksgiving, 2001 announcement that RCCL/Celebrity was merging with Princess - THEY KILLED A GOOD LINE.

 

 

We are just back from a Princess cruise and although the line is very good it fell short of Celebrity. We are back home with Celebrity, actually we never wanted to leave in the first place. There was just a set of circumstances that made us try another line.

[AFT_LOVER]

you should compare the M Class to the Diamond or any larger Princess ship since Grand came out. Comparing the elderly Horison, Zenith, Century, Galaxy, etc is like Brad Pitt vs Jack Lalanne............

[benjamins]

you should compare the M Class to the Diamond or any larger Princess ship since Grand came out. Comparing the elderly Horison, Zenith, Century, Galaxy, etc is like Brad Pitt vs Jack Lalanne............

 

It is absolutely ridiculous to call the Century or the Galaxy elderly. Horizon and Zenith aren't elderly, either. What's HAL's Noordam, Princess' Royal Princess?

 

If the Galaxy was poorly maintained, then Celebrity should get their act together and better maintain this still young vessel.

[Casey12]

I have cruised the Summit and the Millennium and also the Coral Princess and Island Princess -- pretty close ships for comparison.

 

I will take Princess over Celebrity when comparing those ships. We found the service friendlier and the food better on Princess when comparing these 4 ships. We preferred having real food in the buffet 24 hours, we preferred having the pools open all the top and fresh water in the pools. With all things considered, our bill on the ship was far less then on Celebrity while purchasing the same things (wine, internet, shore excursions, drinks). We prefer traditional dining and can get this with Princess.

 

There are a few things I prefer on the Millennium class such as the gorgeous dining room and the Thallossopy pool but all things considered, I prefer the Princess product.

[RelentlessTraveler]

OK, one more opinion added to the mix.... Is Celebrity a "Premium Line?" Probably not.... They have a great product, and I enjoyed my 12-night Panama Canal cruise on the Galaxy. But.... being my third cruise experience, I just do not view this as a "premium" kind of trip. Everything onboard will cost you money. It's all about money. Restaurant.. a 5-star experience! Entertainment... not bad but typical for the environment. Notable... Nicola Loud! Remember this name! Shore excursions? Book them on your own.

 

Personally, I'm not into formal, assigned seating dinner arrangements. Celebrity has a lot of these. It's a personal choice, and not to disparage Celebrity in any way, as they do a GREAT JOB at what they do. I'm just more of an informal type.

[ron46936]

I don't think you could consider X a premium line when the charge about the same as others. Often you can sail Celebrity for less than Carnival.

 

I haven't sailed Princess, but compared to the other lines I've been on (HAL, RCCL, Carnival, and NCL) Celebrity is the classiest. Given all things equal we woild pick Celebrity followed closely by NCL then HAL, RCCL, and CCL as way back third thru fifth.

[Sky Sweet]

I don't think you could consider X a premium line when the charge about the same as others. Often you can sail Celebrity for less than Carnival.

 

I haven't sailed Princess, but compared to the other lines I've been on (HAL, RCCL, Carnival, and NCL) Celebrity is the classiest. Given all things equal we woild pick Celebrity followed closely by NCL then HAL, RCCL, and CCL as way back third thru fifth.

 

Ron, I half agree with the first sentence of your post. A low end cabin on Celebrity is not much different in price than other mass market cruise lines. However, there is a substantial difference in price for those of us who book suites.

[benjamins]

Celebrity is premium in some senses. The hardware is premium (per vintage of ship), the philosophy of the service is premium. The ships usually aren't as crowded as most. There's less of the cheese than other lines.

 

What's not so clear is the price of regular cabins. Most of them don't cost any more than any other line so that by definition is not premium. The food isn't always premium, how Celebrity communicates to passengers when there are problems is a weakness, there's no always a "can do" attitude from the crew, there are inconsistencies like waiters asking for excellent marks on their comment cards, there are lots of overlap in terms of just regular obvious revenue enhancers that they share with other lines including things like art auctions and inch of gold sales. Celebrity doesn't seem to enforce their dress code and to me sends mixed messages because on formal nights, where everyone in public areas is supposed to dress for the entire evening, there are casual alternatives offered.

 

Some of the personalized service has been cut back, ship maintenance isn't tops as it once was.

 

But there's the small touches that makes it a deluxe line at least like the sorbet served between courses, umbrellas lent to pax on rainy days at rainy ports, waiters carrying trays in the lido, among others. So, they are in some ways more premium than other lines, but only a bit.

[ron46936]

I don't book suites. You're right that it can make a lot of difference and maybe comparing the service that suite passengers get on various lines is different than we in steerage get. The main thing I like about Celebrity is that they aren't continuously blasting announcements about bingo and art auctions like most of the lines. Also they don't hold art auctions in places that inconvenience passengers that are not participating. The announcements alone are enough to make me want to go on Celebrity. We've also had some of the best waiters on Celebrity. They knew what they were doing.

[Bryon]

Simple test--if they'll let me onboard then they're not premium, or exclusive, or probably even all that bright. And as of now no one has called to deny me my booking on the Connie for next December...

[Artemis]

But there's the small touches that makes it a deluxe line at least like the sorbet served between courses, umbrellas lent to pax on rainy days at rainy ports, waiters carrying trays in the lido, among others. So, they are in some ways more premium than other lines, but only a bit.

 

Hi, Ben,

 

Only because I know you like details, I will comment just to advise that on our Millie Med cruise summer 2004, there was no "sorbet served between courses" except in the Olympic, and staffing was insufficient to afford "waiters carrying trays in the lido" except for a very few pax, thankfully, those who appeared to need assistance the most. These could have been cruise-specific departures from normal practice? I didn't know to ask about the "missing" palate cleanser in the dining room. And to me, the Celebrity buffet breakfast/lunch seemed more/less the same as on any other line...sort of crowded and confusing!

 

You are right, the umbrellas were a nice, "deluxe" touch--they pulled them out on an extremely hot day, too, to provide shade for pax in the line waiting for tenders. There were also chilled towels at the tender station that day. I was very impressed with how the Hotel Director arranged both touches on the fly. By happenstance, we saw him come ashore mid-afternoon. When he observed the heat and tender lines, he immediately started barking in his walkie-talkie for umbrellas and towels to be delivered to the tender pier.

 

Relating that incident reminds me that the HD's and upper level management's "hands on" approach throughout the cruise was very impressive. We have never seen "the big bosses" out and about, mingling with pax and taking care of things, to the extent they were daily involved on this cruise. If that is a "line wide" practice, I commend it, as it does result in those small acts of attention to detail and customization that one associates with a "premium" experience. Curious by contrast, however, and hopefully unique to that one cruise--I am keenly aware there are simply some "off" cruises--was the very unimpressive behavior by lower level management, who to a man/woman showed no initiative in problem-solving or anticipating passenger needs/desires. I could never figure out whether the lower level folks were wholly without authority and too intimidated to ask? such blockheads they couldn't identify a problem/need and figure out a response? or *hopefully* they were just a new crew group still learning how to work together, and thus the extraordinary involvement of upper management. Whatever the reason, their missteps and inconsistency largely contributed to cause our "un-premium" experience.

 

Small touches--good. Basics--need work! I still liked our Celebrity cruise and look forward to the next one.

[i-m-ed]

This makes me think of something that happened ~12 years ago. We graduated college and all went to the Olive Garden to celebrate, one of my classmates was in awe becuase he had never eaten at a "fancy resturant" before. He has since went to law school and is now a full partner in a relatively large law firm. I wonder if he still feels the same way about Olive Garden?

 

Anyway, my take is that Celebrity is is like Red Lobster, RCCL is like the Olive Garden, and Carnival is like TGI Fridays, and though I've never been, I envisoin HAL as the Old Country Buffet, where all of the old people go. I also imagine Radisson as being like Ruth's Chris Steak House.

 

I personally prefer the Olive Garden.

[i-m-ed]

Oh, and I've sailed on Celebrity, RCCL, and Carnival.

[Randyk47]

Up front let me say I've only sailed Carnival, HAL and now Celebrity. The Carnival cruise was simply to see if we liked cruising at all. It worked! We love cruising but will probably not go back to Carnival anytime soon. Our next 4 cruises were HAL. Our most recent was Celebrity on the Galaxy. HAL and Celebrity compare quite well, seemingly marketing to pretty much the same level of passenger. In comparison there are some things that one line does better than the other but nothing earthshattering that makes us say we'll only cruise one line or the other from now on. All in all we felt the service and food was superior on the Galaxy. Yes, the Galaxy needs a facelift but so did the Ryndam before she went in for her major upgrade last year. If I noticed anything that was really "broke" it was the windows in the Stratosphere Lounge. But, on the other hand, I prefer the Crow's Nest on HAL as we found the Stratosphere to be just kind of a barn of a room and not particularly cozy or inviting at night. If HAL is premium then Celebrity easily mets and slightly exceeds that standard.

[hotspur]

The correct answer is not listed as an option--which is typical of polls on the Celebrity board here. Celebrity is a mass-market cruise line, and is no better than the other mass-market lines. The service is no better. The cabins are no better. The itineraries are no better. Food in the main dining room at dinner is marginally better (beef dishes only), but is offset by the fact that there are so few dinner alternatives offered.

 

The fact that Celebrity cruises are priced at the same point as the others confirms that it is no better. Those who think differently are deluding themselves, but that is also typical here on the Celebrity board.

[ho]

Hotspur,

 

I agree with you 100%. Celebrity is not a bad line, I even think they are a little better then NCL but I prefer RCL and Princess to Celebrity. I have never sailed on Raddison, Crystal or Seabourn but if I paid that much money and they were like my Celebrity cruises I would be very upset. If Celebrity keeps their prices in line with the others I will continue to sail them. If they want to price themselves closer to the premium lines they have allot of work left and it's going to take more then that cheap class of warm champagne to justify the premium price.

[joeyanddavid]

Someone Please give me a definition "premium", Once i understand how the cruise industrydefines its terms then I can answer the thread question. I was told that HAL "was" premium.. I have been on HAL... :(

According to websters " a high value or a value in excess of that normally or usually expected. so with that being said.

So What IS "PREMIUM"?

[Tjalex07]

It's a mass-market line just like all the others (RCCL, Carnival, Costa, NCL, HAL). There is nothing more "up-scale" about the experience, and certainly nothing about the passengers. They attract the same nice cross-section of American folks, with a sampling of Brits, Canadians, ANZACS, etc., to make it interesting. All the posturing here about Celebrity being so special or different from the others is simply self-gratification on the part of a few.

 

The results of a poll on the Celebrity board are irrelevant.

 

I would respecfully disagree with the statement that Celebrity is just like all the others. I have sailed on the QE2, Crystal, Radisson, and Celebrity. I found Celebrity to be just as "premium" in many respects as these cruise lines. HAL, would be considered premium, but in NO WAY would I consider Carnival, Costa, or NCL to be representative of a premium experience. The service, food, presentation, and refinement are far superior on the Celebrity ships. My wife and I are fortunate to be able to choose the line we prefer to sail and have enjoyed our experience on Celebrity and the other lines as well. I do not have to subscribe to self-gratification, but rather emprical evidence.

[Tjalex07]

I would respecfully disagree with the statement that Celebrity is just like all the others. I have sailed on the QE2, Crystal, Radisson, and Celebrity. I found Celebrity to be just as "premium" in many respects as these cruise lines. HAL, would be considered premium, but in NO WAY would I consider Carnival, Costa, or NCL to be representative of a premium experience. The service, food, presentation, and refinement are far superior on the Celebrity ships. My wife and I are fortunate to be able to choose the line we prefer to sail and have enjoyed our experience on Celebrity and the other lines as well. I do not have to subscribe to self-gratification, but rather emprical evidence.

 

I should have added that we have sailed on Carnival (although many years ago) HAL, Costa, NCL (only once) and Princess. We enjoyed ourselves on all, but Celebrity has earned our respect. Costa was very nice, but the food was not at the level of Celebrity. Princess was comfortable, but not refined. Of course, the luxury lines like Cunard, Crystal, and Radisson do provide an overall experience that is generally superior to Celebrity, but we paid for it!