Celebrity cruiser who tried RCCL

[mandltullis]

Well, after many wonderful cruises on Celebrity we decided to try RCCL. Big mistake. We were incredibly disappointed. We tried to think of one thing that we liked better on RCCL and couldn't come up with a single thing. We were amazed at the difference in the level of service. We saw our cabin steward once the entire sailing. One day our cabin wasn't cleaned until after we went to dinner. On celebrity we saw our stateroom attendant every time we left or entered our room. It was impossible to find a chair in the sun unless you "saved" a chair by 8 am. The food quality was horrible compared to Celebrity. I thought the ship decor was plain and boring in comparison to Celebrity. The shows were awful and many people walked out on them. I felt they did a very poor job letting us know what the various activities were on the ship. People were wandering around constantly trying to figure out what was going on and where it was going on. The help was not helpful and they were not freindly. I've already booked my next cruise......on Celebrity. I am not posting this to bash RCCL. I know that there are many people who absolutely love to cruise with them. I am just trying to let people know that if you are used to sailing with Celebrity but want to try something different, I don't think that RCCL is what you are looking for. It is like driving a Mercedes and then switching to a Hyundai.

[Elizanessie]

Why dont you give us some more details....ship,sailing etc.

 

Elizanessie

[Pumbaamd]

We just got off the Brilliance last Friday. On the bus to the airport, a Celebrity fan was telling us that this was her first RCL cruise. She said she had a great time and her cruise was just as good as Celebrity.

[bilgeboyPa]

I have to agree with mandltullis. I too sailed with Celebrity before I tried RCCL. I was on the EOS in May of 04. The service was almost non-existent,the food was blah , except for Portofino's. The only good meals really were the ones I paid for. My waiter was boorish. He told several racial jokes which I didn't appreciate. I didn't care for the constant hooplah during dinner; waiters dancing, singing. kids parades with a bull horn, towels waving all over the place. I like a nice quiet dinner, not a 3 ring circus. Some people think that kind of thing is fun. I'm not one of them I guess.I have never seen an uproar like this in any fine dining restarant, I didn't expect to see it on a suppossed "upscale" cruise line.

I don't want to come of "snobby",but when I pay almost 3 grand for 8 days, I want a good experience. Hope it helps.

 

Jeff

[love-to-cruise]

Having done both I personally prefer Celebrity. We usually travel with our kids so they prefer RCCl because of the many activities to do on board. If you are going with couples definitely Celebrity is better. By the pool they have cushioned lounge chairs, they serve fresh fruit right by the pool, the food is more upscale etc. But, the Brillance class ship is very close to the Millenium class. I personally like the decor better on RCCl - Celebrity is more modern again it is your preference. If you are traveling with kids and teenagers you have to do Voyager class ships because of the many activities. I would not compare it to a Mercendes and Hyundai that is going to fa. I would compare it to a Hyatt to a Marriott. If you want to compare Mercedes to Hyundai it would be more like Seaborn to Carnival.

[flagger]

One of my biggest gripes which I have failed to mention was the number of announcements on RCCL versus Celebrity. I felt Celebrity was far more "quiet" of the two cruises we have experienced.

[madforcruising]

I didn't expect to see it on a suppossed "upscale" cruise line.

Jeff

 

What makes you think RCCL is an upscale cruise line.:confused:

 

I love RCCL but I wouldn´t consider it as upscale.

[Sea Island Lady]

Although we have experienced none of the negative that the OP did on any of our RCCL cruises, I do have to agree that Celebrity has a better product. However, we can have a great time on any ship and line as long as the food is edible, the service is satisfactory and the entertainment is so,so...and it has been on all the RCCL cruises we have taken so far.:)

 

I too would like to know which ship the OP was on. :rolleyes:

[mandltullis]

Why dont you give us some more details....ship,sailing etc.

 

Elizanessie

 

Sorry Eliza, we sailed on Navigator of the Sea 1/08/05. We stayed in cabin #8304.

[NiniB]

Having just returned from my 2nd RCI cruise,, I have to agree with the OP,, Although I had a GREAT time on both cruises the service, food, ect.. was far better on X.... I have to say the service this New Years cruise on the LOS,, was well no other way to put it HORRIBLE..... :( But the service on the ROS was much better,,, although it was no where near the service we recieved on the Century......

I will think twice before booking another cruise on RCI,,,, depending on the ship,,,, but I am already looking into booking again with X...... :)

[bilgeboyPa]

Hi Madforcruising,

The only reason I said " upscale" is because when I booked directly from RCCL/Celebrity, the CS agent said RCCL was better than X in many ways. The only thing that was better was the actual ship. It was very nice. I was impressed, but it definitly didn't make up for the lack of everything else.

That's all I meant by it.

One more thought...I love formal nights on board. I felt way over dressed in my Tux on those nights on RCCL. Many guests wore short sleeves and slacks. I wasn't crazy about that either. But to each his own.

 

Jeff

[madforcruising]

Thanks Jeff for explaining. I was just confised because everything I heard so far was telling X is upscale to RCCL and not vice versa. I have to proove this with my first X cruise upcoming in Sept.

[Rickster]

We have cruised four times with RCI (Song of America, Enchantment, Voyager and Explorer.) And four times with Celebrity (Century, Mercury, Millennium and Century.) All eight cruises were outstanding. I guess we're just lucky. We find the food slightly better on Celebrity, entertainment better on RCI and the service about the same on both. (Just my humble opinion.) We've experienced pool chair hogs on both lines.

 

Our next cruise will be on the Jewel of the Seas, our first time sailing on a Radiance Class ship.

 

Rick.

[kiefaber455]

We've done one Celebrity cruise (Mediterranean) and one Royal Caribbean cruise (Southern Caribbean). Loved both for different reasons--but will admit that Celebrity just seemed a bit more upscale than RCCL. Having said that, while on the Serenade last year we did book the Brilliance for next week, so we'll see. Have done Carnival and Norwegian and will do neither again. We'll pretty much stay with RCCL, Celebrity, or Princess which we also like a great deal.

[sicsinohio]

We've been on 2 RCL cruises...2003 in the Explorer and 2004 on the Voyager. Had a great time both times. Our cabin stewards both times were competent and friendly, and our dinner sevice was the same. The food was good, although not truly fabulous, and there was a huge variety. We hardly ever had to wait in lines for anything although both times these huge ships were filled to capacity. We did however, have to "save" deck chairs on the "at sea" days. We are planning another cruise in March 2006 on the Explorer...we go with a group of about 20 people. We're really looking forward to it. Sorry to hear your RCL experience was so disappointing. We have always heard good things about Celebrity, but haven't tried them yet.

[goouchjac]

We are seriously thinking of trying RCCL, after reading the negatives on this post wondering if it will be a mistake,,,we are avid Celebrity cruisers (nine) and thought a change might be good...do they have those theme nights in the dining room every night??any more insight would be really helpful,,,thanks,,,:p

[xpcdoojk]

I just thought I would share this thread with you X fans.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=120929

 

I like X, but they and RCI are much much more alike than different.... IMHO.

 

jc

[mortypro]

funny we have sailed two celebrity cruises mercury, zentih before the explorer

we were a little nervous about doing rccl as we heard the celebrity was more upscale, etc.

the stewards we had on celebrity were better but my daughters on exploreer was better then the one we had on explorer. i did miss not having those terry bathrobes. i can honestly say our waiters on the explorer

were far superior to the ones on celebrity. the staff on explorer was much friendlier. i am in professional theater and i was so impressed with the shows on rccl and found the celebrity lacking.

their were just as may chair hogs on the celebrity ships as on the explorer.

the food we found fine on all the ships. there was much more uncontrolled drinking on our cruise on celebrity to bermuda.

we have booked serenade for next new years as we liked the informalness of rccl but if there was a cruise itnerary that came up on celebrity we would book it without question. in our opinion both lines are wonderful

[Firefighterhoop]

Well, after many wonderful cruises on Celebrity we decided to try RCCL. Big mistake. We were incredibly disappointed. We tried to think of one thing that we liked better on RCCL and couldn't come up with a single thing. We were amazed at the difference in the level of service. We saw our cabin steward once the entire sailing. One day our cabin wasn't cleaned until after we went to dinner. On celebrity we saw our stateroom attendant every time we left or entered our room. It was impossible to find a chair in the sun unless you "saved" a chair by 8 am. The food quality was horrible compared to Celebrity. I thought the ship decor was plain and boring in comparison to Celebrity. The shows were awful and many people walked out on them. I felt they did a very poor job letting us know what the various activities were on the ship. People were wandering around constantly trying to figure out what was going on and where it was going on. The help was not helpful and they were not freindly. I've already booked my next cruise......on Celebrity. I am not posting this to bash RCCL. I know that there are many people who absolutely love to cruise with them. I am just trying to let people know that if you are used to sailing with Celebrity but want to try something different, I don't think that RCCL is what you are looking for. It is like driving a Mercedes and then switching to a Hyundai.

 

Hi, I don't mean to be rude by asking this, but what is your age? Would like to try celebrity but at 23, i don't know how the night life would be.... Again no offence by me asking your age, just wondering.

[JohnSax]

Having been on both RCI and Celebrity many times, I would say it really depends on WHICH RCI ship you're sailing on. The only RCI ships, in my opinion, that are comparable to the majority of the Celebrity ships (not Zenith or Horizion) are the Radiance class of ships. So, that said, I sailed this past year on the Serenade, the Infinity, and the Galaxy. Food was MUCH better on Celebrity (with the exception of Portofino and Chops, which were excellent), entertainment was better on RCI, activities better on RCI, service was very good on both lines but Celebrity maybe a tad better, but the best SHIP, hands down, was the Serenade. Loved everything about it--the decor, the furnishings, artwork and layout--she is a knockout!

[negc]

There is no cruiseline that is a perfect fit for everyone which is one reason that there are so many different lines offering so many different cruise experiences. Your opinions and comparison of your experiences on RCI and Celebrity are certainly valid for you, though others might not agree. The only comment you made that had me a bit confused was about not knowing what was going on or where events were taking place on your RCI cruise in contrast to your experience on Celebrity. Did the daily Cruise Compass not provide that information? Didn't they make some PA announcements about particular activities and their venues. One of the more frequent complaints I have read about RCI has been the number of such announcements on their cruises (although in my experience, there has been a significant reduction in, what to some are irritating announcements). Conversely, Celebrity fans usually note that it does not make such announcements and that their daily activities paper provides them with the information they need. I guess I could understand confusion on the part of someone sailing for the first time on Celebrity who might not carry that information sheet with them and because of the lack of announcements, missed some activities or forgot when and where they were taking place, but I don't understand why people on your RCI cruise couldn't determine this information. Could you explain?

As far as the dining room extracurricular activities are concerned, in recent years the parades and singing waiters have been limited to perhaps two nights even on a 10 or 11 night cruise. To those of us who have cruised many times, these parades etc. may get old pretty quickly, but I think that we should try to remember back when we were first time cruisers and these things were what made the dining experience different (and perhaps better) than what we would find in a land-based restaurant. Not everyone on a cruise is looking for a quiet staid environment. Those for whom this is an overriding concern should seek out a cruise line that offers such an experience. RCI is a mass-market, not an upscale, cruiseline, while Celebrity is supposed to offer a more conservative and upscale experience. Each caters to a particular clientele and enthusiasts of one might not enjoy the other. That doesn't make either of them better than the other, just better suited to particular cruisers.

[tazmancruiser]

I think all of us, as we read a post, we have to read between the lines. Everyone has their own like and dislikes. Some cruisers want's and wishes may be what a younger couple want or a midlle aged, senior, senior -senior want.

I have cruised only R.C. and like what I get. Don't mind the announcements, always been able to find a pool chair, told a few people where to go when they tried saving 10 or 12 seats for the show. But I still keep having fun and keep on cruising.

But I am ready to try celebrlty. I would like to get pampered some more like what I have read on celebrity post boards.

Hope I am not the only senior - senior on the ship. I still like a mixed crowd, laughing, having fun. It make for a good mix and helps keep me young!

[cruiseorbust]

We have mostly traveled with Celebrity (16x) with boys that now range from 15-25. It truly depends on what you are looking for. We have always fun on both! The activities and shows have been great on RCCL and the food on Celebrity wonderful. Service has been great on both.

 

It does depend on which ship, what room stewarts you have, waiters and busboys. It also depends on different times that you happen to travel during the year. It can also depend on other passengers as well as the staff working on each ship.

 

It verys so much. We have found that we enjoy both these lines, and always look forward to our next cruise. We have tried other lines and most do not compare. We are thinking of trying Princess in the near future.

 

I will say that Celebrity has made a lot of changes, not always for the best. RCCL has made changes too, in our experience, mostly for the better.

[hockeycop]

negc and taz, just about said it all! RCCL and Celebrity are one company but seperate types of cruise lines.

If you were so unhappy with your experience, don't wait until you come home and "trash" a cruise line, bring it to the pursers or cruise staff's attention and you can rest assured they will make every attempt to make you happy. In all fairness to RCCL, it sounds as if you were bound and determined to have a bad experience with RCCL. All cruise lines want your business so, they will bend over backwards for you no matter the cruise line. If anyone decides to cruise with another cruise line remember this, "Keep an open Mind"!

The comparison remark was way out of line and sounded snobbish.

[Tex_Jen]

It's too bad the OP had a bad experience on RCCL, but my experience was nothing like the OP's. We had excellent service from our room steward. She cleaned our room twice a day most days. Our waiter and asst. waiter were phenomenal. All of the staff were friendly and would remember your name if you had struck up a conversation with them.

 

As for the food, I can not comment as I have not sampled Celebrity fare. I know that not only on these boards, but among my friends, Celebrity tends to be a cut above.

 

I hope you find the cruise you are looking for in the future,

Jen