AstoriaPreppy

I can't say enough good things about the Revolutionizing the Millennium and Summit received. They didn't just replace wall coverings and carpeting in the staterooms, they gutted them down to the wall studs and completely rebuilt them. They are fantastic. In addition, many other places on the ship received full renovations: the buffet (while not fully serving islands like the new ship) was overhauled, the MDR space was refitted to look much more modern, the Rendezvous lounge is bright and a revelation compared to the dark former space, etc. Contrast this with the Constellation's sister ship Infinity (which we sailed earlier this year). The staterooms were in disrepair, seating, fittings and carpeting worn, and lots and lots of lighting that just didn't work throughout the ship. You'll find a lot of people on CC who will tell you how great the Connie and Infinity are, but I can only guess there's a level of nostalgia shaping those perspectives. Objectively, the Infinity was not up to current Celebrity standards. We would happily sail on the Summit/Millennium again... and have regularly recommended that people avoid the Infinity if they're expecting a well-maintained ship.

The one thing I've always found confounding about Royal Caribbean is how bad the pizza onboard is. Princess, MSC and even Carnival blows Sorento's out of the water. I'm not sure if it's a proofing issue or a recipe issue, but the dough on Royal ships always seems so... industrial/food service in both taste and texture.

Some fascinating Great review, but this is literally the first time I've ever heard someone say a Celebrity mast grill burger is better than Guy's burgers on Carnival! That's the hottest of hot takes!

I’d also note that the MSC website and app are… particularly atrocious for booked passengers? We’re in the Yacht Club next month for our first MSC sailing, but the website has been confoundingly poor. Shore excursions for entire ports will vanish for weeks at a time, only to pop up again (yet be un-bookable). The web check-in process is often non-functional… info will vanish, or take several attempts to process correctly. You have to physically print off all of your docs (no phone or digital passes). Etc, etc. We’re departing round trip from Brooklyn, but the email we received from the line with our docs referenced our UK arrival and various EU regulations… yet the email also references the New York departure. It’s just a mess of IT/communication. Every time I see someone griping on these boards about how unusable the Celebrity website and IT infrastructure is, I realize they’d have a complete meltdown trying to sail MSC. We’re sailing Yacht Club, so a lot of this is moot for us since they can iron out all the issues, but if I was a Bella/Fantastica/Aurea level passenger, I’d be very annoyed.

The buffet cutbacks reported on CC were… somewhat overblown in our experience? It seemed to be linked closely to how full the ships were sailing: with high passenger load, more of the buffet was open, and when the ship was deserted they scaled back. One of the biggest issues was the removal of the station where they will grill a steak for you, but I believe that’s back? We’re elite on Celebrity, and gold on Carnival, and we’ve got both Celebrity and Carnival trips booked next year. I would absolutely agree with the above comments. Especially, compared to other boards on Cruise Critic, the Celebrity boards tend to be a very specific type of Celebrity passenger… not representative of the line in general, or people we encounter on the line. I’ve found a LOT of what I’d describe as “pearl-clutching” on the Celebrity boards here. A dry piece of chicken or an issue with a room steward turns into a sky-is-falling situation where the entire line is imploding, which turns into reminiscing about the good old days of cheese trolleys and MDR servers doing flambé tableside. There’s also a belief by a lot of Celebrity board posters that the line actively reads and responds to what is posted on CC (they do not), so people make these impassioned cases that are only partly based in reality. There’s some valid points, but they turn into a weird vortex of hyperbole and hysteria that doesn’t really represent what’s going on. I think Celebrity and Carnival are both good products. For social people and families, Carnival offers a great experience, and a good value… it’s a lot of fun, and the line focuses on making sure you’re having fun. We also love the fast casual dining options that Carnival has! Celebrity is going to be more chill and absolutely more upscale… but it’s not remotely the sort of elitist, exclusive rich person trip that the boards here would have you think. We still meet fun, social people every time we sail on Celebrity, it’s just not the main focus of the line.

This has been planned for quite a while now... I think it may just be getting underway? https://cruiseradio.net/major-change-coming-to-carnival-cruise-lines-half-moon-cay/

I almost made the same comment but didn't want to be the insane NYer screaming "YOU MUST KILL THESE BUGS AT ALL COSTS" on a cruise message board.

We're some of the few cruisers that actually like Icy Strait Point, but would absolutely pick Glacier Bay over it. Icy Strait Point a restored salmon cannery from 1912, and unlike most of the cruise line manufactured ports, it's fully owned and staffed entirely by the Huna Tlingit people. That means you won't find Diamonds International or Cariloha here, only shops and restaurants run by actual locals, including a fair amount of artisans. Since opening, the port has become more developed (piers instead of tenders, the cable car network), but we still find it charming. There's a rocky beach, bonfires, restaurants, bars, and constant wildlife viewing... there's sometimes a resident humpback that likes to chill out just offshore. People really despise ISP, but we've found it much nicer and more authentic than something like Ward Cove (where NCL docks in Ketchikan). All of that said, I'd highly recommend the Glacier Bay option if you've never been. NCL doesn't staff a full-time naturalist onboard their Alaskan sailings, so the only time you'll get narrated scenic cruising is when the NPS rangers come on board in Glacier Bay. There's something truly spectacular about watching glaciers calving into the water, and it's likely you'll have tons of wildlife encounters if you're out on deck with binoculars.

I wouldn't count on being able to buy a beverage package mid-cruise. Usually they pull them from sale on the second night of a cruise, but individual ships/beverage managers may have leeway? I know Royal has a hard and fast second night cutoff. WiFi tends to be much more flexible, and they're willing to sell you remaining number of days on a cruise at almost all points up to departure.

Our single time in a promenade-view cabin, we saw almost zero passengers using/looking out their windows onto the promenade. The only person who ever looked or made eye contact with us was the server at Izumi (where we dined early on in the cruise), who would frantically wave each time he spotted us looking out the window, while he was busy trying to rope people into the specialty restaurant each evening.

Not sure that renting/driving/returning a car is worth the time/hassle. NY and Boston have great (economical) connections by rail and air. Delta regularly has flights from BOS-LGA in the $90 pp range, and the Northeast Regional on Amtrak can be super affordable (like $30 pp). You can even get business class and a reserved seat on the Acela for ~$100 with a little advanced planning.

On the Gem in August, we tendered to the old port. It was speedy, because they use local tenders (not the ship's lifeboats). From what I understand, it can vary from week to week and sailing to sailing, so you'll likely only find out onboard (the online port call dock/tender calendars tend to be very inaccurate). We also did the Rick Steves walking tour, and highly recommend, along with just wandering and getting lost in Mykonos.

As someone who has done both lines multiple times, I'd say that much of what people say here is correct. I'd note that NCL allows you to wear shorts/t shirts in almost all formal dining spaces at dinner time, which is something Royal Caribbean still suggests isn't okay. One thing I'd say is that we've found NCL's service to be efficient, but less personalized and friendly, especially with bars. When a huge percentage of your passengers have a beverage package included with booking, the bars on NCL can get frantic. It's the only line we've ever sailed on that has installed rope and stanchions to queue people up for beverage service. That said, NCL allows you to order two drinks at a time per-person, which is something we appreciate. The other thing I'd note is that NCL's customer service onboard can be... odd? When issues happen, NCL will often approach a situation from a "you are wrong" perspective instead of a "solving problems" perspective, more than other lines we've sailed. For example, we've had poor shore excursion experiences on both lines, and while Royal/Celebrity has investigated and offered partial refunds (even post sailing!), NCL's approach is often eye-rolling and shrugs, with no resolution. This is completely anecdotal, but we've always felt like the culture at NCL doesn't empower all of their staff to resolve things, where Royal takes a more customer-oriented approach for all crew onboard... it's hard to describe, but we have noticed it a bunch of times over the years.

We've been to Tokyo several times and have never been able to secure tickets to the museum. They're sold via website in advance. Not sure if it's timing, time of year, or we just aren't fast enough with booking, but getting tickets is challenging. I've always assumed that the tickets are snapped up on release by bots for brokers to resell at much higher rates (much like tickets to the Colosseum are these days). From talking to friends that have been, they all highly recommend the experience for Studio Ghibli fans... I'm not sure there's a ton of value for casual guests? One (unexpected) experience I'd recommend for everyone, fan/not, is the Tokyo Disney Resort, specifically Tokyo DisneySea. DisneySea was created exclusively for Japan, and is widely considered one of the top theme parks in the world. It's also not owned by Disney (it's licensed to a Japanese conglomerate (long story)) so the experience is markedly higher-quality than anything you'd find in Disney's other parks. If you're only in Tokyo for a night or two you might not have time, but I recommend adding it to your list for the future.

Agree that only real cops should be allowed to use derisive tone and accusations! 🤣 Seriously though, in 30+ cruises, we've recovered everything we've ever lost onboard cruise ships of all lines: iPhones, electronics, high end sunglasses, hats, full backpacks, etc. The only thing we've ever actually been separated from was a stainless steel straw on Carnival (which only offers horrific candy straws instead of plastic or biodegradable options). Left it in a blender drink at a bar, and it vanished into the bowels of the galley, never to be seen again.

Totally... it wouldn't be safe to let guests just run amok in a glassblowing workshop, so there's a lot of "blow hard now, spin spin spin spin" sort of guidance. You will end up with a finished piece that closely resembles the ones on display, no matter what happens. This is totally spot-on. My husband's piece exploded in the annealer overnight (we learned some colors are more prone to breakage during cooling). The artist called that morning and re-booked him for a makeup session later that day, and suggested colors that would be more stable... and ended up looking better than the original piece.

From my experience, infrastructure on the ship can make a huge difference. When we sailed Celebrity Infinity (one of their oldest/not refurbished ships) earlier this year, we were excited to find Starlink installed... but then realized the routers and wifi system onboard hadn't been meaningfully updated in 10+ years. This meant users were unable to log onto the network entirely or booted randomly while moving through the ship. It was particularly bad in spaces with more than ten or so people trying to use the internet simultaneously, where you'd have to repeatedly attempt to log onto the network for 15 minutes or so, while getting constant notifications to restart the router to pick a better channel with less interference.

So work from home millennials are not the ones smoking pot? Because you might be surprised there….

The revolutionizing that the Summit and Millennium went through was a multi-month process that involved stripping the staterooms down to the wall studs, gutting the MDR, reconfiguring the buffet, etc. The short dry dock Constellation goes through will likely be mechanical, and possibly some new soft goods in public areas... so I'd set expectations accordingly. In your case, I'd say the Constellation reads more like the Grandeur of the Seas, while Summit reads more like Anthem. Grandeur of the seas has a very Royal Caribbean 30 years ago sort of vibe, and Infinity has a very Celebrity 25 years ago vibe... while the Summit is very Celebrity 2020.

I haven't sailed on the Constellation recently, but have experience on the Infinity in South America in March of this year. We found the ship to be in poor condition, especially compared to the revolutionized sister ships Summit and Millennium. Lots of issues in public spaces: worn finishes, carpets in bad shape, lighting out or non-functional. The staterooms were poorly maintained: drawers that were off the tracks, lighting that didn't work, fixtures that would just fall off the wall, etc. We also ran into some issues with hot/functional water some mornings. It was a general vibe of disrepair and patch jobs. The staff seemed unable to fix or resolve most of the physical issues onboard. We were surprised after arriving at home, and posting on Cruise Critic, to find a TON of people who insist the Infinity is still well-maintained and a fantastic experience and absolutely the best thing Celebrity has going right now. I think nostalgia plays strongly for a lot of guests who sailed on Infinity previously, and I'd assume the same is the case for guests on the Constelation. The non-revolutionized ships still have an "old-Celebrity" vibe to them that some people find nostalgic, despite the physical issues... we just found it felt tired and in desperate need of a refurb. When one third of the lights in the Rendezvous lounge are non-functional, seats in lounges are sagging, and the front of a drawer falls off if you pull it, it just reads shabby, not sentimental. We still had a great cruise, but realistically wouldn't recommend the Infinity to anyone expecting a Celebrity-quality experience in 2023.

Yikes! Diageo still uses the world class branding for their mixology schools/competitions, so I assume the partnership is still active? https://www.diageobaracademy.com/en-zz/home/world-class Maybe there's a chance that the World Class bar on Celebrity goes the way of the Molecular Bar?

World Class bar is a partnership with Diageo, which is why you only find specific, high-end brands and a craft-cocktail menu that's is not available elsewhere onboard. This is why the bar doesn't participate in the Captain's Club elite happy hour, or make normal house drinks... you won't be able to get something simple there. I also think the bartenders who work at the World Class Bar may receive outside training by Diageo (in addition to the normal Celebrity bar training), but I'm not positive on that.

A few thoughts. First, you seem to love the NCL product, and I noted there's a ton of people just like you! As I've said many times on Cruise Critic, we're line agnostic, as we find things we like across the board, including the differences across the lines. It's just important that we're realistic in our assessments: people decry cutbacks on Celebrity, but NCL is making dramatic cuts that seem to exceed what we've experienced on Celebrity in the past year. On our last NCL cruise several months ago (13 nights), we had two production shows, and three guest entertainers (who all did two nights in the theater). The other five nights in the theater were either movies, a show by the pool/reagae band, or just dark... we've never been on a cruise where there was just no main show or theater entertainment in the evening, or running movies from the 2010s instead of a show. Re: staff, I didn't mean to imply that NCL staff weren't friendly or unprofessional, but they are overwhelmed and harried unlike most other lines. When 90% of the guests on your line have a free beverage package included in their booking, but the line still staffs like people are buying drinks one-off (ie: NCL), it's not fair to the guests or crew. Re: shorts in the MDR, I'm sure you're aware that all other cruise lines clearly state that long pants are required for men in dining rooms at dinner, with NCL being the only line that says you can wear shorts everywhere (with the exception of Le Bistro and ships with the seafood restaurant). I'm not saying that people don't wear shorts on other lines, but NCL is the only line that explicitly welcomes everything outside of beachwear in all their restaurants.... that's their vibe, and that's the point of NCL. We enjoy it! It's not a QM2, tuxedo and evening gowns required sort of environment. Re: excursions. That sounds like a horrible situation, and it sounds like the line handled that poorly. I've had issues with excursions on many many cruise lines, but NCL is the only one who has had a list of affected guests at shoreex, acknowledged they knew of the issues and were in contact with the vendor, and then did nothing. I've received partial refunds and full apologies from bad excursions on Celebrity, Royal Caribbean, and Carnival: NCL is the only line that has ever just brushed us off. While I appreciate your only taking private tours, NCL offers lattitudes members substantial discounts, along with FAS discounts that often make taking a cruise line excursions a no-brainer for passengers like us... I just wish the line would stand behind the vendors they chose to work with like other mass-market lines will.

We've sailed both NCL and Celebrity within the past year, and despite all of the griping you'll see on the X boards, Celebrity still exceeds in food, beverage and service. For context, we're elite on Celebrity and platinum on NCL, so we've got a lot of experience with both lines. NCL is a good product (and their fans are passionate), and there's something about being able to wear shorts and t shirt to the MDR or specialty dining for dinner that's fun and we can appreciate on vacation. We like the casual feel, and they run some really unique itineraries. That said, NCL service tends to be very... depersonalized. Servers and bartenders seem almost constantly overwhelmed, and there's not a lot of the personal connection we've found on other lines. Service is also not consistent. Compared to every other line we've sailed, NCL crew doesn't seem to have good standard service levels or training... things vary widely. You'll find a few good crew, but more often they just seem to be going through the motions. Unlike some of the other posters here, we've also found the NCL MDR food to be pretty weak. To get Celebrity-MDR-level food, you'll need to eat in the upcharge specialities, and even these can be hit or miss. Big picture, I think the service differences are largely a cultural thing between the lines: Celebrity staff and crew seem invested in the guest experience at all levels. They work hard to resolve issues, and realize that everyone, from the Captain down, has an impact on your vacation. The Captain and officers are often out and visible. On NCL, officers run out of the elite guest party moments after being introduced. NCL approaches guest services and guest experience with a "you are wrong" attitude, which we've always found odd. For example, on our last NCL trip, we took an excursion that ended up on a dangerously overloaded boat (there weren't enough seats for guests and people we sitting on the deck and stairs) and we started taking on water. On Celebrity (or any other line), we would have at least received a partial refund of the excursion. On NCL, they said they were "aware of the issue and working on it" and then did nothing to resolve the situation.... that's just their vibe. From my perspective, the Celebrity board leans more negative than many of the other boards on CC. There's a lot of nostalgia from the passenger base on these boards (don't get them started on table side food prep or the freaking cheese cart), but Celebrity still has a decided edge. We certainly would sail NCL again, but it's never our first choice.

I highly recommend the "The Alaska Cruise Companion: A Mile by Mile Guide." The original was published by Princess (of course) and used to be sold onboard in Alaska. The original version was written by fisherman/Alaskan Joe Upton, with the revised version by naturalist Rachel Cartwright. They're both available used, and I can't say enough good things about either edition. Although some info is dated, most of the nature/geography/wildlife content is still excellent.