Celebrity Nightlife?

[yankin]

OOPS! Big mistake! Yes, hands down the food and service are better on Celebrity!!!

 

Thats why we are looking to book Celebrity!

[Softball20]

For us, that and the itinerary is the most important factor in choosing a cruise. We gave Royal a try because everyone said "you have to try Royal." We even, reluctantly, went back for more the next year as it was the line that had the best itinerary for the week we wanted to go. No more. I know that a lot of people like it, but I'm not impressed.

 

I do recall having a great time on Celebrity. For us, however, we've never made a decision on a cruise as to the demographics of the other passengers. We've always found plenty to do - some more lively than others. We had one of our best cruises on HAL a couple years ago in the Med. My husband and I found the piano bar early in the cruise and went there almost every night. They had a great entertainer who filled the place and played all kinds of stuff. We're mid 40s (we were then, at least :) )and there were many others our age as well. Sometimes it just depends upon the cruise and time of year. Some crowds are just livelier than others.

[Kan't Wait]

I didn't even bother to read all the posts because I don't understand how someone can stand at the door of the disco and look in and decide that there is nothing going on....guess what?.... if that is what everyone did then there would never be anything going on in the disco/bar/dance floor what have you.

On a cruise you have to make the party-you have to be the party! You have to make the fun!

[DanManBob]

We are about to take our first cruise and it will be 13 days on Celebrity Equinox. We are not particularly "ship-oriented" (much more port-oriented), but I doubt we will be out of our rooms past 10 p.m. unless a sea day is next on the agenda.

 

We have a FULL schedule of excursions that will no doubt be somewhat exhausting.

 

That said, all four of us are part of the over 55 crowd, so perhaps that impacts our thinking to some degree, as well.

[tea4ular]

OK seasoned cruisers, I have been going back and forth on where to take my first cruise and need the low down on Celebrity nightlife.

 

My family and I are trying to decide on a Med cruise June 2011. We are leaning towards Celebrity over NCL primarily because of the food, itinerary, and the drinks package. One thing does concern me...the reports on cruise critic in regards to the nightlife on Celebrity. I am not talking about the shows but the bars and dance floors. From what I have been reading there does not seem to be much "life" in these places. Once folks have dined and gone to the show is it lights out? My wife and I (mid 40's) are not party animals (should have seen us in the 80's:D) but like to have a few drinks and listen to music or dance ie a band or DJ. From what little info I have been able to gather it seems what music there is in the bars seems to be jazz or a band playing pre 1960's music.

 

We really would like Celebrity to be our first cruise experience but if the ship is like a ghost town after 10PM I am afraid we may get bored in the evenings.

 

So to those that have been around the Celebrity "block" what is the ships nightlife actually like?

 

Well, let me try...My best friend and I (women, early 50s) just tried Celebrity for the first time (this was my 12th cruise, her 3rd).

 

We are not party animals, but on a cruise we like to wander around after dinner and slip into the various "nightclubs" for some entertainment (and the mid-night "adults only comedy show"). We were actually shocked to find nearly every public lounge (nightclub) empty or as close to empty as could be. There was one club that had dancing to a live band, and those who were still awake after 10:30 gathered there. It was a fun atmosphere and the music was decent. And the movie theater had an 11pm show each night. Other than that...verrry quiet. We actually got to like it, as it forced us to unwind earlier, watch the stars from the quiet open deck, and tuck in earlier than we probably would have.

 

Now, all this being said...DO try Celebrity. It was the NICEST cruise line I have had the pleasure of being on. The BEST service, the FRIENDLIEST staff, the BEST quality food and because of all of this, and more, one of the best cruise experiences I have ever had.

 

Many of the cruise lines do all sorts of noisy, cheesy games, and loud announcements over the PA. Celebrity doesn't do that (one daily announcement over the PA by the captain at noon, with an update of coordinates, etc.). They do have fun trivia games every day, we had Wii bowling each day, and plenty of other things to do during the day, but nightlife, is not their strong suit. Nor is it a cruise line for party animals. But if you want a lovely, relaxing trip, I don't think you could go wrong! Really.

[Softball20]

We are about to take our first cruise and it will be 13 days on Celebrity Equinox. We are not particularly "ship-oriented" (much more port-oriented), but I doubt we will be out of our rooms past 10 p.m. unless a sea day is next on the agenda.

 

We have a FULL schedule of excursions that will no doubt be somewhat exhausting.

 

That said, all four of us are part of the over 55 crowd, so perhaps that impacts our thinking to some degree, as well.

 

Port intensive cruises are exhausting. We did a twelve-day in the Med a couple years ago, and we were beat. It was the best cruise ever, but I was exhausted when we got home! Sure, we like to have some fun in the evenings, and we always found something to do, but we were never closing any bars at night :)

[Peteymil]

It really does depend on the sailing, but having done the med cruise last summer, I agree that it was so exhausting (in a wonderful way), that nightlife was less important. That being said, we would go to the casino after late seating, and then have a cocktail, and there were always others around.

[rgastin]

We did the Med cruise on Celebrity - I can't say enough how fantastic it was.

 

As to night life - we were so exhausted every night from touring a different city each day that all we could do was collapse in bed and get up the next morning and start all over again. It's much different than a caribbean cruise where you would want a lot of nightlife.

 

You can't beat the itinerary, the service or the food. Go with Celebrity!!

[yankin]

Reading thru the reviews and the comments from the seasoned cruisers we have decided to give Celebrity a go. Like I said in one of my earlier posts I have traveled the Med before so the ports are not the deciding factor. I have lived and worked in Turkey and Italy for the last few years so my family and I are looking for some R&R. Of course that would include a few late nights on the dance floor:).

 

The tough part of the decsion is deciding which cruise to take. Celebrity have three or four intenarys traveling the Med next summer:rolleyes:.

[Dancer Bob]

I was on the Constellation a few months ago. There were some people who kept the disco open til 3 AM twice- the DJ was astounded, it apparently has never happened before. I gather anything after 10 PM is usually dead. The quality of the dance floors is poor- the disco floor has raised joints- and the quality of the music is not much better than "cruise ship standard.

 

I found the food good, but not exceptional. The buffet choice was limited and there was nothing at all except room service after 11PM. Even the "midnight buffet" was at noon! Definitely not for a night person.

 

If you want nightlife in the Mediterranean, I would pick Costa, but the food is not as good.

[Lois R]

quote:

" Even the "midnight buffet" was at noon!"

 

Bob, it is called a Brunch....they no longer have a midnight buffet.

[yankin]

I was on the Constellation a few months ago. There were some people who kept the disco open til 3 AM twice- the DJ was astounded, it apparently has never happened before. I gather anything after 10 PM is usually dead. The quality of the dance floors is poor- the disco floor has raised joints- and the quality of the music is not much better than "cruise ship standard.

 

I found the food good, but not exceptional. The buffet choice was limited and there was nothing at all except room service after 11PM. Even the "midnight buffet" was at noon! Definitely not for a night person.

 

If you want nightlife in the Mediterranean, I would pick Costa, but the food is not as good.

 

I believe you may be correct. Love the look of Celebrity but getting tucked into bed at 10PM due to lack of nightlife does not sound appealing, heck I am on vacation! Funny you should mention Costa. I started a similar thread on the Costa board and the responses seem to indicate Costa is known for there nightlife. I live in Italy and know all to well that the Italians eat late and party well into the morning. Though Costa's food does not get rave reviews there nightlife seems to more than make up for it.:D

[BrendaStarr]

DH and I did an Eastern Med cruise with Celebrity two years ago, and we found the nightlife to be quite ...exhausting... ;) Our cruise was in late july-early august and our fellow cruisemates seemed to be willing to spend their evenings and nights in the Nightclub, dancing the night away. As far as I remember, the Martini Bar was also a popular place to spend parts of the evening. And a lot of the shows in the theatre didn't end until after 11 - after that people went to the casino.

I think that if you choose a cruise in the middle of the summer, when schools are out and most people have their vacations, you'll get all sorts of people onboard, and some of them will be willing to stay up late and have a drink or two...

[Tiggertastic]

OK seasoned cruisers, I have been going back and forth on where to take my first cruise and need the low down on Celebrity nightlife.

 

My family and I are trying to decide on a Med cruise June 2011. We are leaning towards Celebrity over NCL primarily because of the food, itinerary, and the drinks package. One thing does concern me...the reports on cruise critic in regards to the nightlife on Celebrity. I am not talking about the shows but the bars and dance floors. From what I have been reading there does not seem to be much "life" in these places. Once folks have dined and gone to the show is it lights out? My wife and I (mid 40's) are not party animals (should have seen us in the 80's:D) but like to have a few drinks and listen to music or dance ie a band or DJ. From what little info I have been able to gather it seems what music there is in the bars seems to be jazz or a band playing pre 1960's music.

 

We really would like Celebrity to be our first cruise experience but if the ship is like a ghost town after 10PM I am afraid we may get bored in the evenings.

 

So to those that have been around the Celebrity "block" what is the ships nightlife actually like?

 

 

Hi, we're about the same age so here is our personal view of NCL v Celebrity

 

Food - no real line could be drawn between the 2 but Celebrity main dining room was slightly better than NCL but NCL speciality better than Celebrity

 

Day Activities - NCL won hands down - we struggled on Celebrity to find fun things to do during the day

 

Evening entertainment - Celebrity was aimed at a slightly higher class - e.g string quartet, Acapella, Jazz Band and their nightclub was dreadful. NCL had a couple of game shows as well as live music in a couple of places and on deck.

 

Although we enjoyed both - for fun we would go for NCL - for class go for Celebrity

 

We wouldn't take our teenager on celebrity - there wasn't enough for him to do where as on NCL we have to remind him that he is actually with us and to turn up to dinner

 

If you are looking at the Jade or the Epic, we are finding their prices next summer a little high - it is worth looking at The Independence of the Seas out of Southampton or The Carnival Magic out of Barcelona

[yankin]

Hi, we're about the same age so here is our personal view of NCL v Celebrity

 

Food - no real line could be drawn between the 2 but Celebrity main dining room was slightly better than NCL but NCL speciality better than Celebrity

 

Day Activities - NCL won hands down - we struggled on Celebrity to find fun things to do during the day

 

Evening entertainment - Celebrity was aimed at a slightly higher class - e.g string quartet, Acapella, Jazz Band and their nightclub was dreadful. NCL had a couple of game shows as well as live music in a couple of places and on deck.

 

Although we enjoyed both - for fun we would go for NCL - for class go for Celebrity

 

We wouldn't take our teenager on celebrity - there wasn't enough for him to do where as on NCL we have to remind him that he is actually with us and to turn up to dinner

 

If you are looking at the Jade or the Epic, we are finding their prices next summer a little high - it is worth looking at The Independence of the Seas out of Southampton or The Carnival Magic out of Barcelona

 

Tiggertastic,

 

Thanks for the advice, tough decision.

 

I have looked at IOS and NCL. NCL with the Jade would be easier for us as Venice is only an hours drive:D. Celebrity was our first choice for two reasons; the food and the option of the all you can drink package:p. With IOS and NCL I have the impression of being nickle and dime non stop. However with two teens and needing a bit of nightlife for ourselves I find myself looking elsewhere. Oh the choices!!

itinerary is a distant third as we live and travel in Europe.

[ISABELLA]

OK seasoned cruisers, I have been going back and forth on where to take my first cruise and need the low down on Celebrity nightlife.

 

My family and I are trying to decide on a Med cruise June 2011. We are leaning towards Celebrity over NCL primarily because of the food, itinerary, and the drinks package. One thing does concern me...the reports on cruise critic in regards to the nightlife on Celebrity. I am not talking about the shows but the bars and dance floors. From what I have been reading there does not seem to be much "life" in these places. Once folks have dined and gone to the show is it lights out? My wife and I (mid 40's) are not party animals (should have seen us in the 80's:D) but like to have a few drinks and listen to music or dance ie a band or DJ. From what little info I have been able to gather it seems what music there is in the bars seems to be jazz or a band playing pre 1960's music.

 

We really would like Celebrity to be our first cruise experience but if the ship is like a ghost town after 10PM I am afraid we may get bored in the evenings.

 

So to those that have been around the Celebrity "block" what is the ships nightlife actually like?

-

We love Celebrity, but "what nightlife"?-it is almost none.

M ships have better than S ships. I am speaking of Equinox. Hardly anything after 10 pm.

But if you are going to Europe, you might be tired to stay up late. Tours are starting very early..........

[LINGBER]

We have taken our children on two celebrity cruises and have another two booked! They had a great time on both. As we travel when school is out they always make friends. We have to agree that the night life was lacking both on our Med cruise and our 10 night southern caribbean, but we didn't mind too much.

 

We are on the Eclipse out of Southampton for 14 days at the end of the month and I have had some concerns as there are 5 sea days. I am hoping that the kids make friends and that there is a bit of night life in the evenings. We love the food and the service on Celebrity. We have sailed RCI twice and found the ships to large and the food mediocre, but the nightlife was better! More options geared to us middle aged folks. We have also sailed several times on Princess. Also found their entertainment to be better and the food pretty good. Didn't love their newer, larger ships. I am really hoping that we don't find the Solstice class too large.

 

We pick ships based on itinerary, food, service, entertainment in that order. If nightlife/ activities are really important, you may want to try Princess or RCI. If you are a land based traveler and are used to upscale resorts, where evenings are a nice dinner and drink in the lounge, then Celebrity's entertainment in a bonus and you should have a great time.

 

Good luck.

[yankin]

We have taken our children on two celebrity cruises and have another two booked! They had a great time on both. As we travel when school is out they always make friends. We have to agree that the night life was lacking both on our Med cruise and our 10 night southern caribbean, but we didn't mind too much.

 

We are on the Eclipse out of Southampton for 14 days at the end of the month and I have had some concerns as there are 5 sea days. I am hoping that the kids make friends and that there is a bit of night life in the evenings. We love the food and the service on Celebrity. We have sailed RCI twice and found the ships to large and the food mediocre, but the nightlife was better! More options geared to us middle aged folks. We have also sailed several times on Princess. Also found their entertainment to be better and the food pretty good. Didn't love their newer, larger ships. I am really hoping that we don't find the Solstice class too large.

 

We pick ships based on itinerary, food, service, entertainment in that order. If nightlife/ activities are really important, you may want to try Princess or RCI. If you are a land based traveler and are used to upscale resorts, where evenings are a nice dinner and drink in the lounge, then Celebrity's entertainment in a bonus and you should have a great time.

 

Good luck.

 

This is the exact cruise we are looking for in 2011. Please us know how it went. Hopefully there will be enough nightlife to keep you going. Had a look at some of the dailies for past Celebrity cruises and the program is lacking in the evening. What gives Celebrity? I know your not the party cruise line but some of us do like to live it up after 10PM:D?

[GeorgiaPeach51]

First of all comparing a NCL to Celebrity cruise is more than nightlife differences. :eek: Altho I haven't cruised NCL, I do have a few family members and friends that have and who swear never again...for reasons like unsavory food, poor service, too glitzy interiors, too casual crowds etc.

 

Will you find X lively enough for you? Well, depends on the group cruising. Know that if your cruise is more than 7 days, it will have an older demographic as on all cruiselines. Between cost and length of time away from work, the median age (not average which can be confusing) ) on that kind of cruise might be 55 or so. That being said there are people of all ages that enjoy music and you'll seee them out and about at midnight. ;) However, with a port intensive ititeneray and early arrivals at ports, most CHOOSE to head to their cabins to get rest for the next long day. The cruise nights probably run later in the beginning days of the cruise. Some people just get over the late nights somewhere along the trip.

 

So... personally between NCL and X, no question ..choose Celebrity for a finer experience. :D Happy planning!

 

I think this is a great summary of the situationl. On our one Celebrity cruise (Equinox) I was surprised by the numbers of younger people (40's, 30's, a lot more late 20's than I would have imagined) on our Eastern Med. cruise. At midnight things were still going in Quasar and Michael's. Agree that there were a lot of ports and we were tired, though we tried not to be! :p

[riclop]

Hi Yankin,

 

Well, as far as the "nightlife" aboard Celebrity, me and my husband did not find any. We are not sure if it was just that particular cruise we went on, but there was not much to do after seeing the evening show.

 

I was very surprised that there was not a piano bar where you could sit, chat, have a drink and make requests until at least midnight.

 

This was my first Celebrity cruise, but I have done 7 Royal Caribbean cruises, and my NEXT cruise will be on Royal Caribbean. I did one Princess Cruise, and I would say that too was a better experience than Celebrity.

 

I found that there was not only nightlife, but the morning and afternoon activities were lacking too. If you are looking for complete R&R, then in my opinion, Celebrity is the way to go. If you want some fun and lively activities, then I can only tell you that RCCL has all that and more.

 

I personally think the food, entertainment, interaction with crew and activities to keep busy is MUCH better on Royal Caribbean. AND, if you prefer to just relax, you can do that too on RCCL. It is just great to have the options to do a lot of other activities if you want to. And, my husband did enjoy the volleyball, basketball, and dodgeball games he participated in. He did win the dodgeball event, and he has the Medal to prove it!!

 

I hope you do enjoy your first cruise experience, because if you do the cruise line that is perfect for you, then you may want to do another one, and another and another....!

 

Enjoy!

 

Kathy

Went on the Equinox in Dec and will never go back due to how boring it was after the show. There is No night life at all. So its the show and goodnight, not alot of fun...