Twice on Carnival and once on Royal Caribbean,

[susycruise]

My husband and I will be sailing on the Solstice middle of January and we are very exicted! Having only cruised a few times - twice on Carnival and once on Royal Caribbean, we are wondering what we will find different or better on Celebrity:confused:

We've had a great time on all of the cruises and wanted to know what brings you back to Celebrity

 

Thanks for your thoughts

[nps001]

In one word---service. I have not been on RCCL but have on Carnival. I love all the special touches on X---chilled towels after a day of shore excursions, the specialty restaurants are the best.

 

X is more refined than the two lined you mentioned. There is a more strict dress code (discussed ad nauseum on these boards) but for many it is a plus. Only one daily announcement. In short, it is upscale without being uptight.

 

The ships do not feel as crowded as there is a less passengers to public space ratio and a much higher staff to passenger ratio.

 

The staff is incredible. Sure there are always bad spots, but overall, they do anything to make you happy. I am still amazed that I can be served by one bartender on a ship and 7 months later they remember my name and what I drank----this happens more often than not.

 

 

Enjoy Solstice---she is beautiful and you will love the ship.

[STXCruisers]

We first sailed Carnival three times then went to Celebrity and have not gone back. For me, the fact that the announcements are not piped into the cabins is a real plus. On Carnival, there were so many announcements and often they were not welcome!:( On Celebrity, we know the captain will speak at noon and we are sure to open the cabin door if we are there to hear what he has to say. Beyond that, if you are in your cabin, you can enjoy peace and quiet.:)

The champagne on boarding is a nice touch and, as nps001 said, returning from excursions it is so nice to be welcomed by a cool drink and a cool moist towel. This is only one example of how service oriented they are.

The food is better on Celebrity as well and there are so many dining venues from which to choose. There truly is something for everyone.

Celebrity does not have rock climbing or ice skating or huge pool slides, but those things do not appeal to us on a cruise. The pace is more relaxed and sedate, more what we want from our cruise experience.

 

Don't get me wrong, any cruise is better than none and we enjoyed our Carnival cruises. We may cruise with them again if they have an itinerary which is more what we want than we can find with X (maybe not, we HAVE purchased RCL stock!) but the overall experience is much more to our liking on Celebrity.

 

Solstice is beautiful and you will enjoy your cruise.

 

Doris

[susycruise]

Thankyou Doris and nps001 for your thoughts, Celebrity sounds wonderful - just what we are looking for this time around.

This board is great anything you need to know you can find it on CC

[Denny01]

This forum is very helpful, but you might find your specific cruise's Roll Call to be very handy also. Each cruise has a forum that fellow cruisers use. Go to the top of this forum and select 'Celebrity Connections Roll Call', then select Solstice and find your cruse date. Lots of posters sharing there.

 

We find Celebrity to be our line of choice. Cruised RCCL and Carnival along with Princess and Cruise West, but we go to Celebrity as our starting point. The only reason we go with another line is for a specific reason such as our Thanksgiving cruise on a 5-day Carnival with our daughters because of jobs and locations.

 

Why Celebrity? Agree with the earlier posts on Service and ambiance. Loved the Celebrity design focus on many sitting areas where you can get away from the crowd. You just don't feel like there are 2000+ with you. Haven't been on Solstice Class yet, but will shortly!

 

Celebrity has the low-key elegance we like. Excellent dining, we enjoy the traditional times and sharing tables with people we can get to know beyond the 'what cruises' and 'where you from' discussions when you share with different people each night. And the waitstaff learns your preferences and that is a plus. Celebrity has added Select Dining which is more flexible and may try it later, but the traditional dining experience for us is what sets cruising apart from a land vacation.

 

For us, the ship is not transportation to the next port, but the reason we are cruising. Love the ports, but the ship is my prime point. Every cruise line has good service, but we find Celebrity to be a cut above, along with the low-key elegance in decor, and no real press to spend more (they will be more then happy to help you spend extra, but not the hard cell).

 

I'm kind of thinking while I'm typing. We entertain ourselves with cruise friends, new friends we make on the cruise or take part in some activity – Celebrity seems to be set up for that approach more. I like being in a swimsuit and then getting into slacks and shirt for the evening, and then dressing formal a few times. I enjoy a waitstaff that looks sharp in their formal outfits, many times outdressing us.

 

Service, lowkey elegance, designed with intimate areas, more for the self-starter. OK, isn't that a bit self-serving of me! We do have a lot of fun, but more towards what we do ourselves instead of being organized by the staff. That sound better?

 

Denny