leaveitallbehind

The balcony divider is a solid, not transparent, so you will not be able to see through it. But you certainly can look left around it to see behind the ship. And standing at the railing you would have a full 180 degree view forward and aft on the side of the ship. That would be the case with any side located balcony as all of the dividers between each stateroom balcony are solid. The only balconies that offer a full aft view are the aft facing staterooms on the back of the ship. And as attractive and desirable as they are, their views are limited as forward views along the side of the ship don't exist. It's a matter of personal preference but any side location balcony would be fine for a Panama (or any other) cruise. It just depends on your preference with views.

I think the point here is you are trying to compare apples to oranges. It seems as though you are looking to compare activities and cruising styles for your family of four with a cruise line that does not target that demographic. You would probably be better comparing RCCL to NCL or Disney to see the differences in activities, etc. for you and your children. Or maybe even just the different ship classes within RCCL: Oasis to Quantum to Freedom, etc., so see what different ship classes offer what different family activities. If you are looking for rock climbing, water slides, bumper cars, flow riders, ice skating rinks, aqua theaters, diverse kids club activities, theme characters, etc., you will not find any of that on Celebrity. They are a different cruise line that doesn't offer that as their primary market is adults, not families. In other words there is no direct comparison of family activities with Celebrity as in that sense, they don't exist. So I don't think you and your family would enjoy that cruise experience. As you and your family gets older, your cruising priorities may change. At that point, Celebrity (and others) might be a comparison to then make. But for now, the only apple to apple comparison you could make to RCCL would be, as suggested, perhaps NCL or Disney - but not Celebrity.

I was referring to the Celebrity Always fare relative to the Celebrity standard fare in terms of the cost of the now included "free" items - not Celebrity Always fares with other cruise lines with similar itineraries, etc. Certainly it can happen both ways when comparing fares between different cruise lines. Obviously, there any number of reasons why any given similar itinerary between two different cruise line companies will result in different fares.

I don't find Celerity cruisers pretentious at all. Certainly there are all types of personalities that sail on every type of cruise line. But I think that is an unfair characterization of the Celebrity passenger demographic. They do cater more to adults than families, so clearly there are less children that cruise on Celebrity - most typically less younger children. But Celebrity also has children's programs and activities, and at the age that your children are, there will be activities for them to join in with if they wish - or just enjoy the cruise experience as you if preferred.

The "free" drinks, wifi, and gratuities you refer to is Celebrity's new fare structure called "Always", as in always included. But to be certain, this fare structure has increased with the introduction of this program to cover those included items. While IMO it is reasonable pricing and nice to have this now as essentially an all inclusive cruise, you are definitely paying for it - none of this is "free". On select cruises and stateroom categories they still offer the standard pricing without these items included and a price comparison of the two will show the very definite fare increase with "Always".

RCI (as @Biker19indicated) on their Oasis class ships has an outdoor Aqua theater, indoor Ice Shows, Broadway based shows, Comedy Club and other venues with entertainment. (Freedom and Voyager class ships also have the Ice shows and some, along with Quantum class have Broadway based shows, and other venues). Their smaller ships have the typical ship based theater shows. Celebrity has the more typical ship based theater entertainment such as revue and theme shows, comedians, cover bands, etc.

You are on the right track. But over time the names have changed as the company has grown and the current nomenclature is: Royal Caribbean Group is the holding company for Royal Caribbean International (RCI) , Celebrity Cruises, and Silversea Cruises, They also have a 50% share in TUI Cruises. They used to own Azamara Cruises, but recently recently sold them during the pandemic. 🙂

Agree with all you say except your comment that there is less to do after dark on Celebrity. As I mentioned in my first response, Celebrity by design is not family focused, but is a more upscale, adult focused line and does not have the slides, kid focused things, etc. It is a more traditional style cruising experience. After cruising for many years with our family on RCCL, cruising now without young family, the adult atmosphere of Celebrity is a refreshing change. That is the whole point IMO to Celebrity. The lack of these activities and venues is the appeal with Celebrity to us. These things never were on Celebrity, so there is no replacement taking place. They are two different cruise lines with different cruising styles. But there is still very good traditional entertainment and venues that keep us interested well after dark.

Here are two links relative Captains Club on Celebrity. As shown on the first link. the reciprocity between RCCL and Celebrity "caps" benefits at Diamond and Elite, whereby Diamond, Diamond Plus, and Pinnacle would all share benefits on Celebrity as Elite, and Elite, Elite Plus, and Zentih would all share benefits on RCCL as Diamond. Celebrity's loyalty program is not as robust as that with RCCL, so the benefits as Elite are not as many or as good, IMO. These are shown in the second link. But it is still a nice program. The important thing to remember is that all points earned with each line remain with that line's program and are not combinable or reciprocal. You only share the reciprocal benefits of the "common" tiers. https://www.celebritycruises.com/captains-club/exclusive-offers/loyalty-reciprocity-program https://www.celebritycruises.com/captains-club/tiers-and-benefits

....34 days! (but who's counting?) And will look for you on "X" one day.....

Not sure which deck the staterooms are on, but since the restart, most cruise lines maintain a number of staterooms dedicated for quarantining any passengers that contract and test positive for covid on board. Its part of the restart protocols agreed upon with the CDC.

I think to better determine if trying Celerity would be a good thing you should understand the differences between the two lines. While they are both part of the RCI family, they are two different companies that operate independently and have different target markets and on board experiences. I'm not sure that simply because they are part of the same holding company would assure that if you enjoy one you would automatically enjoy the other. Just my opinion. That being said, we do enjoy both as in our experience with both they both a good cruise experience. RCCL primarily targets the family market with venues and activities on board oriented towards activities that would appeal to families. Celebrity is more upscale and primarily targets adults, with none of those venues and activities found on RCCL, resulting in a more traditional cruise experience. Thirty years ago we started cruising with RCCL, as that style of cruising appealed to us. Our children were young and the clubs and activities on board were a big part of that decision. We remained loyal to Royal for many rears as a result. As our family grew older and our children were now adults, we started cruising on Celebrity as our alternative, in particular because the on board atmosphere provided far less children and none of the activities that originally appealed to us on RCCL. Celebrity, as a result, is now our primary choice for essentially the opposite reasons RCCL was originally. We still enjoy RCCL very much and do still cruise with them. But within the RCI family, as mentioned, Celebrity is now our primary choice of cruise lines. They are very different companies that offer very different experiences.

Our last Summit cruise was four years ago and I thought I recall smoking allowed there. But, again, I could be wrong. And maybe my memory was of Eclipse? I will defer to your information and that reported by @bookitdanno. OP, sorry I had this wrong.

That would seem more likely IMO. There have been a number of reports of stateroom changes early in the restart relative to covid and quarantine areas.

I thought it was portside. Could be wrong.

Portside pool and portside Sunset Bar - deck10 - on with our last Summit cruise. And if there are those on the Promenade deck that would indulge, it would be on the port side deck 5. Nowhere near you and highly doubt you will be inundated with smoke.

Or (and also not typically successful) you can check with guest services for available upgrades on board. However, this will be at a charge to you for the difference between your paid fare and the last published fare for the upgraded stateroom. As indicated by @wrk2cruise, no more freebees.

We have been in the stateroom behind you (9294), but on deck 11. Your balcony is larger than most and is private, at least from the view of 9294 as yours angles in and away. The dividers are very private and extend to the edge of the railing and are straight up and down virtually full height, so the only way to see the adjacent balcony would be to lean over to look in at it. Your actual straight down view will be to the top of a lifeboat on deck 5, but would only restrict your view of the water directly down the side of the ship by a little. We had essentially that same view and this is not IMO enough to be of a concern.

...and it's the "isn't the case for everyone" that this policy hopefully will successfully address. If not, and there are still those who think their cruise vacation is all about them and don't think addressing the simple muster drill in a timely matter is important or matters for the rest of us, then I say throw them overboard and be done with them! 😄 But that all being said, I agree with you....

"Back in the day" that was just part of the process.....

Don't recall seeing this on Anthem in April, but we did our muster check in first thing, (along with confirming SR dining plans and getting internet set up) so it was a little later in the day when we first reached a bar. There were a number of passengers ahead of us during the day in terms of drinks in hand, however. So perhaps they, too, had completed muster or that policy was not in place. Will be on Allure in June and will let you know if it is in effect then. That all being said, I think that is not a bad plan!

I am not an ship designer nor did I stay at a Holiday Inn Express recently, but IMO since most of the casinos are designed as a walk through from point a to point b, (likely to attract more potential customers than if it was a dedicated space), maybe if there are doors they would constantly be opening and closing as people continually enter and leave the casino? Might not be practical and defeat any benefit intended by them.

Unfortunately as long as RCCL continues to provide a smoking section in their casinos the possibility of smoke making its way out of the casinos into other public areas will exist. I think the concern with Radiance class ships is the entrance to the casino directly from deck 6 at the atrium, which can allow the odor to rise in the atrium. This seems more noticeable as a result than on other RCCL class ships

Yes. But perhaps "recline" is the wrong choice of words - more like a couple back rest positions to choose from. You can see the notched bar with the different positions in the picture, which is as was on Ovation and Anthem. Sorry @island ladyfor the similar response. Was still typing as you posted. 🙂

As with their other ship classes IMO the better locations on Odyssey for convenience to the elevator banks, etc., are the hump locations by the main (aft) elevator banks. The hump at this location extends out slightly farther than the forward and aft ones, and none of the staterooms on this hump on deck six are obstructed - just those forward and aft of it. The staterooms in between, both forward and aft, would be the ones more recessed. But unless you are adjacent to the hump protrusions the view forward or aft from these staterooms would not be interfered with significantly. We were on Ovation just forward of the front elevator banks on that hump and Anthem aft on the first stateroom out on the aft hump and both locations were fine. Just a bit of a walk with the aft location. We are on Odyssey for a TA next year in a similar aft location.