Celebrity vs Carnival...I know, not comparable

[smudge's mom]

I can't speak about Carnival's present product - our last cruise with them was 1998, but I will speak to Celebrity's product.

 

Celebrity has an absolutely wonderful, upscale product - food/staff/etc. However, the ship dies after 11:00 - and the entertainment in the main theater skews old.

 

So, if I were taking a family group - with a large contingent of younger people - I wouldn't choose Celebrity - since most younger people will find nightlife more important than cloth napkins on their buffet trays.

[mmp13]

Again, I think if you go with the right attitude you will have a great time! Celebrity offers a wonderful product but that does not mean that there is nothing else out there to enjoy! As I said before different does not always mean better or worse. Enjoy!

[lstrong]

My Alaska cruise on Carnival Spirit exceeded my expectations. Dinning room service was the best; food was excellent. Love that ship.

[Sunnystone]

I am sure I'll take heat for this, but just sharing my opinion.......

In equating cruiselines to cars I would put forth the below:

 

Carnival....................................................."yugo"

New Princess (after sale to Carnival)..............."buick"

Holland America (also owned by Carnival)........."cadillac"

 

Celebrity...................................................."jaguar"

 

The point is, all are cars that get you where you are going, however, the style, comfort and service are different.

 

Kathryn

 

PS If you are looking for "Rolls Royce".....try Crystal or Oceania

[Mysteryreader]

Our first cruise was on Summit to Alaska, and it was fabulous. We had one bad experience on the land portion of our cruisetour, but everything on board ship was wonderful.

 

Before booking on Celebrity, I'd done my homework. No, no, Carnival wasn't sufficiently cerebral for us. We consider which bks to take to be one of the most important vacation decisions. I didn't even look at Carnival as an option.

 

But an unusual circumstance arose, and ya gotta do what ya gotta do. Last fall I booked a 2-nt Carnival cruise to nowhere on the Carnival Miracle in Nov for me and my sil for a celebratory chick trip. I know one little cruise doesn't provide a true statistical sampling, but that cruise was great! The food was almost as good as anything we got on Summit. The staff was just as friendly and courteous. Our OV cabin was larger than our verandah-cabin on Summit. The entertainment was very good. With the exception of the casino, smokers didn't take over all the public areas. There weren't drunks everywhere we looked. The other pax were mostly friendly and interesting. (Well, there were the four loud tipsy saying-Grace Republicans at breakfast but....)

 

Given a like for like choice, I think I'd do Celebrity again before Carnival, but my experience was very positive, and my sil was absolutely thrilled. In fact, she wants to do a repeat this coming fall only with the guys next time. There're two Carnival 3-nt cruises to the Bahamas; one Celebrity 2-nt cruise to nowhere, and the prices are pretty comparable. I would be surprised if we opt for Celebrity.

 

M/R

[Tatka]

Given a like for like choice, I think I'd do Celebrity again before Carnival, but my experience was very positive, and my sil was absolutely thrilled. In fact, she wants to do a repeat this coming fall only with the guys next time. There're two Carnival 3-nt cruises to the Bahamas; one Celebrity 2-nt cruise to nowhere, and the prices are pretty comparable. I would be surprised if we opt for Celebrity.

 

M/R

 

I've not sailed Carnival so I don't have first hand experience..but our friends did. They had 3 nighter to the Bahamas on Fascination (as a free cruise for attending time-share sale). They didn't have vacation for couple years and have small children.

 

They loved cruise (first timers) and valued every second of their "free" time , but they said that pool was not really clean and they saw so much drinking around....

 

Many people get Carnival 3-nighters as a free or cheap cruisers and are glad to spend $$$ on alcohol.

 

If I were to go on Carnival I would definitely choose 7 night cruises on newer ships.

[mafig]

MysteryReader,

What did you object to?

That they were loud?

Tipsy?

Said Grace?

Were Republican?

 

:confused:

[Breezey]

So many people, so many opinions. My experiences:

 

First cruise with family over winter break- Carnival Destiny - loved it

 

2nd with family over winter break - Carnival Paradise -

loved the non smoking aspect

 

3rd cruise - just DH and I - Golden Princess - loved it

 

And just off the Celebrity Mercury - loved it but had such high expectations that I was disappointed that I couldnt say it was amazing.

 

Found Celebrity's service was wonderful, food not as fantastic as I expected, demographics not much different than any other cruise we have been on. Honestly we preferred the set up and choices on the buffets of the Carnival and the choices on the Golden better. I was disappointed in the limited salad bar selection on the Mercury. Also resented the fact that the drinks are more expensive, bingo more expensive and they charged for pretty mediocre cappucino in the dining room.

 

As Smudge's mom mentioned - night life and entertainment on Celebrity were dull. They seemed to cater to an older crowd so the choices for us (I am 49/DH is 52 and we still prefer rock/motown/folk over Sinatra, country etc). Carnival and Golden seemed to meet more the needs of a varied age crowd which we found much better and we also prefer the larger ships that have more choice as far as nightlife goes.

 

Sunnystone - Hugo to a Jaguar? That's quite the stretch. Have you been on all these cruise lines? I would say the service is above all the others we have tried but honestly that will not make me only choose Celebrity.

 

I personally dont feel devoted to any of them. The itinerary is what makes the cruise for us. We are going on the Grand Princess in September because it seemed to be the only cruise that focussed on Greece the most. After that, think we are done with cruising for awhile.

[Mysteryreader]

MysteryReader,

What did you object to?

That they were loud?

Tipsy?

Said Grace?

Were Republican?

 

LOL. I think I posted this story on the Carnival board, but here goes.

 

The cruise was the wkend following the natl election. Sil and I were seated at a table for 8. There were already 2 others by the window, and the waiter indicated the two chairs next to them. They said they were waiting for two more to join them so we sat in the next chairs. Those two came as well as two others who took the two last chairs.

 

The waiters came with coffee. Four by the window (two couples) announced loudly that they didn't want coffee but they did want mimosas. Mimosas came. Brkfst came. We all picked up our forks. One of the four announced loudly, "We can't eat yet. We have to say grace." We all stopped in place. Spoken loudly, grace went like this. "... Bless our President George Bush and bless these four at this table. Amen."

 

It was all I could do not to add, "And bless Sen. John Kerry and the four at this end of the table."

 

We all started to eat. Over the course of brkfst they ordered two more rounds of mimosas. They never acknowledged our existence in any way. When they went to leave, a couple of them were noticeably weaving.

 

Frankly, rather than being insulted I was amused. The first time on a cruise I was dissed by other pax and then it was through grace! Or speaking theologically, I guess it was *not* through grace.

 

M/R

[Sunnystone]

So many people, so many opinions.

Sunnystone - Hugo to a Jaguar? That's quite the stretch. Have you been on all these cruise lines? I would say the service is above all the others we have tried but honestly that will not make me only choose Celebrity.

 

In the famous old words, "been there done that". Former platinum level on Princess prior to the Carnival sale, multiple cruises on HAL until out last horrific experience with them and even worse with the parent, Carnival. Multiple other cruise lines also.

 

I am intrigued about the comments about the positive experiences some have had with Carnival, seems to be mostly with the Legend. That is great, you should enjoy your cruise. I remember being up on the bridge on a Princess ship (before its sale to Carnival) when passengers were coming back from shore. We were docked next to a Carnival ship. There was a pool among the bridge staff and officers as to how many of the Carnival passengers fell on their way to board, including falling off the pier, and as to how many passengers were returned to the ship by the local police! It was almost as good as whale watching. Honestly, it sounds awful, and probably is, but I could not believe what I was seeing. Next time you are in a port you've seen, ie Nassau, try to be back early, grab a drink and watch (hopefully you too will have Carnival ship passengers to watch). It is amazing. After a bit you will be able to guess which ship the passenger is going to. We've done this several times and are getting pretty good at the "which ship is theirs" game. Please do not confuse this observation with "Celebrity snobbery", it is not. Just observe, the results will speak for themselves.

[Breezey]

Sunnystone - would definitely agree that we did not see any heavy drinkers on the Celebrity at all (OK maybe one woman who made a fool of herself during an evening party at the pool). But then again we were on Carnival over winter breaks when there were all families who were pretty responsible.

[katiel53]

We have been on many Celebrity cruises and love them. We have also cruised on Carnival and some cruises have been great, others horrible. I think the party atmosphere on Carnival is not quite as prevelent sailing from Pt Canaveral. We sailed on the Pride from there 2 times, and had wonderful cruises. The food was excellent, especially the sandwich bar at lunch and the crabcakes they had one day at lunch. The service was really great too. We thought Carnival changed, so we mistakenly went on the Triumph from Miami a year ago. Never again!!!! Worst food and service. I have thought about going on the Glory because it's just a short drive from home, but I am a bit afraid based on what the Triumph was like. I will stick with the Constellation, even though I have to fly to San Juan. But---------if there is a really cheap balcony available on the Glory or the Miracle, I might give in.

 

Katie

[Leela]

I find this thread very interesting! I did not know that both Princess and HAL had gone to Carnival. Consolidation to this degree starts to trouble me, in any industry...but the truth is, after enough consolidation there starts to be room for newcomers. Look at the airline industry and jetBlue, for instance.

 

Anyway, I've always had an anti-Carnival view, mainly stemming from comments my sea captain (US Navy) dad made about Carnival ships waaaayyyy back in like 1985. Times change, of course, and reading this thread has actually made me curious about checking Carnival out!

 

I adore Celebrity, it's the only line I've been on that's made me say "I'm coming back!!!!!" after a cruise. Of course, I don't have the experience you all do, I've only completed four cruises and am eagerly awaiting my 5th (Horizon in April).

[Sunnystone]

As one of the most "anti-Carnival" people, it is with tempered horror that I have just learned that my husband agreed for us to go on a 3 night Carnival cruise (Fantasy) next Jan. I have already offered to meet him in the Bahamas, either by plane or RCL but he said no, WE have to go. His rugby team is playing the Bahamas team and they want to cruise there and back. Can't imagine a more likely profile fit, about 50-70 guys who will be drinking and making VERY merry for multiple days.............

I will have no expectations except that this could be the most interesting trip of my life :) but the husband has promised a penthouse suite so if things get "too interesting" I can stay on the private balcony...........will "smuggle" in our own food and alcohol so how bad can it be???????? we'll see...........

[scottp]

We have sailed the Celebrity Century twice and Millennium once. Loved both of them. Last year our teenage sons said "Let's quit going on these "old folks" ships and do a Carnival.

 

We did the Carnival Triumph and had a blast. Loved the food and service. We are now booked on the Carnival Valor for June, 2005.

 

Will we ever go Celebrity again? Yes, after the kids are on their own. I really like both cruise lines. Most of the time, the cruise is what you make of it!!

[Leela]

[quote name='Sunnystone']the husband has promised a penthouse suite[/QUOTE]

I was looking around on Carnival's web site last night and although they mention "Penthouse Suites" I couldn't find a picture of any. All I could find were regular suites. So, does anyone know what are these penthouses like? Which ships are they actually on?

[dragonlady]

We've been on two cruises, Celebrity Mercury 2 years ago, and Carnival Elation last year with our two boys, teen and pre-teen. My husband and I both preferred the Mercury's food, service and ambiance, but had a great time on both ships. Both kids liked the Elation better in spite of the fact that it was Spring Break on the Mercury so were 300 kids on board. But all of us would go on either one again. We're hooked on cruising. Our pocket books liked the Elation price better, but here we are booked on the Mercury again. DH and I liked the Elation, but love the Mercury.

If the prices and itinerary being equal, we would choose Celebrity, but still might choose Carnival some times to make the kids happy.

Dragonlady

[jsaadat]

Carnival is like a slot machine. Sometimes you win..... Sometimes you don’t.

We once sailed on the Paradise a few years ago and out of all the cruises we had been on up until that time......... it had the best food we had ever experienced. There was not explanation....... it was simply out of this world.

We had some friends sail on the Paradise a year later and they were not very happy with the food at all.

I suppose consistency in over all aspects of cruising develops positive reputations. That being said..... there must be a reason why Celebrity is so highly acclaimed.


J

[newmexicoNita]

[quote name='Tatka']I've not sailed Carnival so I don't have first hand experience..but our friends did. They had 3 nighter to the Bahamas on Fascination (as a free cruise for attending time-share sale). They didn't have vacation for couple years and have small children.

They loved cruise (first timers) and valued every second of their "free" time , but they said that pool was not really clean and they saw so much drinking around....

Many people get Carnival 3-nighters as a free or cheap cruisers and are glad to spend $$$ on alcohol.

If I were to go on Carnival I would definitely choose 7 night cruises on newer ships.[/QUOTE]


An experience on a 3 or 4 dayer isn't the same as a 7 day or longer cruise. I can imagine the ship may not have been as clean as some would hope. We have cruised 16 times, 4 of these on the shorter cruises: no way to compare!!!! NMNita

[newmexicoNita]

[quote name='Breezey']So many people, so many opinions. My experiences:

First cruise with family over winter break- Carnival Destiny - loved it

2nd with family over winter break - Carnival Paradise -
loved the non smoking aspect

3rd cruise - just DH and I - Golden Princess - loved it

And just off the Celebrity Mercury - loved it but had such high expectations that I was disappointed that I couldnt say it was amazing.

Found Celebrity's service was wonderful, food not as fantastic as I expected, demographics not much different than any other cruise we have been on. Honestly we preferred the set up and choices on the buffets of the Carnival and the choices on the Golden better. I was disappointed in the limited salad bar selection on the Mercury. Also resented the fact that the drinks are more expensive, bingo more expensive and they charged for pretty mediocre cappucino in the dining room.

As Smudge's mom mentioned - night life and entertainment on Celebrity were dull. They seemed to cater to an older crowd so the choices for us (I am 49/DH is 52 and we still prefer rock/motown/folk over Sinatra, country etc). Carnival and Golden seemed to meet more the needs of a varied age crowd which we found much better and we also prefer the larger ships that have more choice as far as nightlife goes.

Sunnystone - Hugo to a Jaguar? That's quite the stretch. Have you been on all these cruise lines? I would say the service is above all the others we have tried but honestly that will not make me only choose Celebrity.

I personally dont feel devoted to any of them. The itinerary is what makes the cruise for us. We are going on the Grand Princess in September because it seemed to be the only cruise that focussed on Greece the most. After that, think we are done with cruising for awhile.[/QUOTE]


Breezy, your experience on Celebrity was the same as ours. We did the Connie over Thanksgiving in 2003. Did we have a great cruise,? you bet, was the ship outstanding? you bet, but something just didn't quite measure up to all the raving that goes on about Celebrity.

[benjamins]

[quote name='Breezey']

And just off the Celebrity Mercury - loved it but had such high expectations that I was disappointed that I couldnt say it was amazing.

As Smudge's mom mentioned - night life and entertainment on Celebrity were dull. They seemed to cater to an older crowd so the choices for us (I am 49/DH is 52 and we still prefer rock/motown/folk over Sinatra, country etc).

Sunnystone - Hugo to a Jaguar? That's quite the stretch. Have you been on all these cruise lines? I would say the service is above all the others we have tried but honestly that will not make me only choose Celebrity.
[/QUOTE]

I think some Celebrity fans set unrealistic expectations about Celebrity and exaggerate Celebity's "superiority" over other lines.

As for entertainment, I enjoy Sinatra/Bennett and "standards" of the 20s through 50s yet I'm 45 and my wife is 38. And we've been this way for a long time. So, I'd say it is tastes, but that the music is the music of a certain generation's time. HAL and Celebrity feature a lot of this type of music because it is arguably more "romantic" and more suitable for ballroom style dancing than Motown or rock. I think for more varied music RCI, NCL, and Carnival are a much better choice than HAL or Celebrity, not sure about Princess.

Yugo to Jaguar is ridiculous. Jaguar is an expensive luxury car with pedigree that appeals to a well-off to affluent clientele, at best Celebrity is an entry-level Acura or upper level Toyota. It's not in Volvo territory cliente-wise, nevermine Jaguar.

Celebrity is a very good value, however I think they send mixed messages. They are resting on their laurels regarding the quality of their cuisine that is no longer that creative. They have souvenier glasses just like the "fun" cruise lines. They sometimes have waiters that beg for ratings. They do have some upscale aspects, the minimal announcements, some aspects of their service style, some of the appointments of their ships, their passenger space ratio is very good, some of their cabin accommodations are high, but there's inch-of-gold junk, junky souvenier standard cruise stuff on their elegant kiosks on the Millennium ships, art auctions from Park West, lots of advertising in the dailies, and other tacky stuff. I think they've compromised the quality of some things. Years ago, their documents came in a vinyl billfold. Now they come in a spiral notebook, just like RCI's.

[benjamins]

I've never sailed Carnival, I've been aboard two of their ships for luncheons and tours. Now, this is very limited and I don't know how much limited time with crew reveals about the manner of the crew for the duration of a cruise.

I'll say this. I think the design of a ship reveals something about how a lifestyle a ship is trying to appeal to. The Legend is one of their latest generation of ships, a Spirit-class ship. For me the decor was borderline scary, cluttered, and basically still designed to entertain. Because there is no neon doesn't make it any more classy, it is still highly themed and entertaining decor. The library was tiny with many fake book spines on the shelf; it was part library and part internet cafe. I think this reveals something compared to the size of libraries on HAL, Crystal, Celebrity, or RCI ships. The ship had a dedicated disco that looked like it was designed at funland for the horror ride, so such a large area was used for a disco and only that. Some interesting aspects was the supper club, where Celebrity has only a restaurant this class of Carnival ship offers dancing. The cabin accommodations are just OK compared to Celebrity. Celebrity has far more upscale ships in terms of how they are designed and presented and the lifestyle they suggest.

The crew often was jokey, I'm not sure if that's a Carnival style but that's what was presented to the group I was with on the cruise. They spoke in a sing-song manner and often said things like "isn't this great?, isn't that great?" etc. Music aboard the ship was played at a very loud level. And one thing is for sure, Carnival carries more people on their ships, even with the wasted areas on Millennium ships, they won't feel as crowded as Carnival's because Carnival carries a few hundred more pax on their latest ships than Celebrity does.

I think the buffet seemed much more impressive than what was on Celebrity's Millennium and Constellation. Much more variety. The food I had on the Legend was fine, more or less on par with Celebrity's better food. I really wasn't on long enough to come to any conclusion about it. The dining room was horrible, with diner-like booths and inexplicable lights everywhere.

I think the Legend is horrible as a ship, I make no bones about it. I don't know anyone that I could recommend this ship to outside of the cruise community and when I show people pictures of the interior rooms most are in disbelief--and not in a positive way. For those that are part of the cruising community I think it is somewhat unfair to refer to Carnival as the party ship. I think there are a bit more lively version of RCI, lots of varied activities with entertaining servers that dance and sing at times, but they also offer wine-tasting, formal nights, lectures, etc., if not as often or as stressed as the "premium" lines. I think it is very possible that on some sailings Carnival's food betters Celebrity, that some Carnival servers do as well as or better than Celebrity's albeit with a different style, that communication from Carnival's staff may be better than on Celebrity, entertainment is more varied and lively, pool entertainment much more imaginative. So, there's plenty to like in Carnival, if you can get past their what some may find bizarre and uncomfortably designed public areas.

[dileep]

Here is Conde Nast Traveller's Gold List and Carnival is not on it, but Celebrity is.

[url="http://www.concierge.com/cntraveler/lists/goldlist03/cruise"]http://www.concierge.com/cntraveler/lists/goldlist03/cruise[/url]

[dileep]

Celebrity is on the list at #5, but not Carnival

[url="http://www.travelandleisure.com/worldsbest/results.cfm?cat=otherccruises"]http://www.travelandleisure.com/worldsbest/results.cfm?cat=otherccruises[/url]

[lkb125]

[quote name='elisamarie']I need help. We are looking at a holiday cruise for many families in December 2005. Due to school holiday vacations and the families that are going, we are looking at two Carnival ships for this trip. I haven't been on Carnival since 1990 and after that last cruise on them, I equated it to the Motel 6...they'll leave the light on for you.

Now I'm having to eat my words when I said I'd never (never use never...it always bites you in the butt) cruise on Carnival again. We are looking at the Carnival Legend and the Carnival Glory. Two different class ships, both relatively new yet the Glory is newer.

Have any of you cruised on either of these ships and can you provide me any advice on which to take? How do they compare to say the Zenith? How about the Millenium class ships? Are they comparable at all to Celebrity? how about service and food? Activities and entertainment? Any help will be greatly appreciated.[/QUOTE] I just cruised on the Legend in January with my family and I thought it was fine. The service was good, there were lots of activites around the pool and every was having fun. I really loved their specility resturant I had the 12oz lobster and they were awesome the meal was worth the extra money. The food was fine some very good some ok. I think if you want to have a good time you will. Lorelle