Celebrity or Royal Caribbean??

[katmich12]

Originally Posted by katmich12

My husband and I are planning our first Med cruise for Sept. 2011. We have been on several cruises, mostly on Holland. We were set on Brilliance of the Sea but have seem many negative reviews about food and mattress quality. I'm thinking the Solstice may be worth $400 extra. Any advice is appreciated. This is a big investment.:)

[chessbriar]

If you are a fan of HAL you will prefer X. It's closer to the HAL product than RCCL. Pay the $400

[biker1972]

Food is subjective. Offerings, however, are not. You will find that X has a little deeper menu in the MDR than RCCL. Specialty dining a tossup with X being more expensive. Spa food offerings goes to X. Buffet most likely to X, but I like their layout better than most of RCCL's ships and that colors my feelings (subjective always gets in the way.) I prefer the service on X and it seems that the waiters understand that you can get app, soup, salad and entree as a part of a meal, but RCCL seems to encourage only 3 courses (you have to work harder to get that 4th course).

Mattress is subjective unless it is badly worn, and I think that cruise line's change them before that happens. I have never had one that sagged in the middle or felt lumpy. Too hard for my tastes, yes. Unsleepable, no.

I would choose by ports on a Med cruise and would choose either line. They are different products and my tastes go to X. If you like Hal then you most likely would prefer X over RCCL.

[Woobstr112G]

Originally Posted by katmich12

My husband and I are planning our first Med cruise for Sept. 2011. We have been on several cruises, mostly on Holland. We were set on Brilliance of the Sea but have seem many negative reviews about food and mattress quality. I'm thinking the Solstice may be worth $400 extra. Any advice is appreciated. This is a big investment.:)

 

Haven't been on RCCL for a number of years. If I had my choice though, I'd sail on X. I believe if you've been on Hal, you'll prefer Celebrity over RCCL.....:):):)

 

Bob

[jackdiamond]

For us a no brainer. We will cruise the Radiance in October; and, she is a very nice ship. However, we cruise the Constellation in December and the Equinox twice in 2011. We have essentially decided that all of our future cruises, after the aforesaid, will all be Celebrity M or S class, or we will not cruise.

[lvcruiser]

I have sailed on both lines many times. Celebrity appears to beat out RCI in every category on every cruise in terms of quality of food, service and in your case since you are used to sailing on HAL, ambiance. RCI caters more to the younger family with children, whereas X caters to a slightly more sophisticated and older group.

[truffles2]

We have sailed on Brilliance many times and more than once in the Med. I would sail her again with no hesitation. No complaints in any area!

[joandian]

Even though we leave on our second Celebrity cruise next week, I still prefer RCI. I don't know if our first experience was an exception but we had a horrible experience in the MDR on our Alaska cruise last year and the buffet doesn't have a very good variety of food at dinner.

 

The beds seemed to be the same on both but overall, X lacked the all round customer service and good food we received on our previous 3 RCI cruises. I'm looking forward to a much better experience on this coming 14 day X cruise.

 

We'll be cruising the Med next June on RCI Brilliance and are looking forward to it.

 

Jo

[carsaw]

We have been on a few Royal Caribbean cruises but when I booked our Scandanavia/Russia cruise I booked it on Celebrity. I know people that have cruised the Mediterranean on Celebrity and they only had positive things to say and highly recommended them. Even though my cruise is not until next May I know I made the best decision. Carol :)

[truffles2]

We are giving Celebrity another try next spring. Our first cruise with them about 10 years ago left us hurrying back to Royal. We could not find one thing that we liked better with Celebrity and the dining room was so crowded that the waiters could barely move about to serve (this was Infinity--when she was new). The main reason for "jumping ship" (so to speak) is because Royal doesn't have any ship sailing to Southampton now and I want a few days in London.

[katmich12]

Thanks! I think it is worth $400.

[Solstice23]

We have sailed on the Radiance Class 2 times, But LOVE the Solstice class much more! when it comes to RCL we enjoyed the OASIS ( we surprised ourselves ) but we liked all the specialty dinning and the entertainment and the suite. But if its between the Brilliance and Solstice class ....ummm Solstice class hands down

[Solstice23]

Even though we leave on our second Celebrity cruise next week, I still prefer RCI. I don't know if our first experience was an exception but we had a horrible experience in the MDR on our Alaska cruise last year and the buffet doesn't have a very good variety of food at dinner.

 

The beds seemed to be the same on both but overall, X lacked the all round customer service and good food we received on our previous 3 RCI cruises. I'm looking forward to a much better experience on this coming 14 day X cruise.

 

We'll be cruising the Med next June on RCI Brilliance and are looking forward to it.

 

Jo

 

WOW we feel the complete opposite..

 

RCL although we enjoy seems less refined and detailed as Celebrity the food on the Jewel and Mariner were not even close to any of our X cruises but perhaps it was just the week you went? who knows

[patty1955]

We’ve been on 5 cruises, 4 on Celebrity and 1 on RCL. If we had gone on RCL first, we might have liked it, but I doubt it. Fortunately we were already spoiled by Celebrity and will probably never go on RCL again. Why?

One Celebrity we are greeted with champagne. On RCL, they tried to sell us Mai Tais when we first boarded.

On Celebrity we have turn down service, chocolates on our pillow and peace and quiet in our room. On RCL we had to make our bed the first night, listen to announcements over the PA several times a day and had walls thin enough to know that our newlywed neighbors were newlyweds.

On Celebrity, we enjoy drinks after dinner in a pleasant lounge. On RCL, we had to sit on folding chairs in the hallway to watch the karaoke and nobody came over to take a drink order.

On Celebrity, we have gourmet food. On RCL, we couldn’t tell the cheesecake and the key lime pie apart. When I asked for a steak knife to cut the tough prime rib, the waiter insultingly asked if he’d have to cut it for me.

On Celebrity, the sommelier came by our table to ask if we would like a bottle with dinner. On RCL, they had cocktail waitress trying to sell shooters.

Which do you think we prefer?

[lvcruiser]

Patty1955 - Outstanding comparison. Couldn't have said it better myself.

[Sail Girl]

My DH and I have been on 3 Celebrity Cruises and have loved each one! (They have been on M Class Ships.)

We booked a 7 day cruise on the Liberty of the Seas because it was a great deal. Unfortunately it did not turn out to be a good value.

Of our 12 cruises this was the one we enjoyed the least.

The food was average at best and usually not served hot.

On Celebrity we don't feel the need to dine in the specialty restaurants as the MDR food is so good.

The entertainment was so poor that many pax walked out mid-show.

Never saw that on X or any other cruise line. Just rude pax on this RCI cruise?

We did not like the layout out and decor of the Liberty of the Seas, especially the interior promenade area. To us it seemed more like a Las Vegas Hotel than a cruise ship.

We enjoy the more traditional layout and decor of the M Class Ships.

(Haven't seen the decor of the Solticisized M Class ships so can't comment.)

We did enjoy the ice skating show on the Liberty, but did not utilize the other widely advertised activities, the Wave Rider and the Rock Climbing Wall.

The loud, often rock, music in the public areas on the Liberty was not pleasant.

Oh, well, it was only a week, spent with pleasant shipmates. We will stay with Celebrity even though it may cost more per cruise. For us, Celebrity is the better value and the best fit for us. :)

[dcguy9]

So, we have been on 2 Carnival cruises and 1 Celebrity cruise. We are booked for another Celebrity cruise next month. Here's the deal:

 

The 1st Carnival cruise was in 2002 and it was on the Paradise - 100% non smoking. The next one was a 4 day cruise to Canada from NY. Both of these cruises seemed fairly nice and upscale to me. There was very little pool and drinking going on; I think it was a different crowd due to the non-smoking and then cooler climate.

 

Then we did Celebrity to Alaska. Very elegant ship, just a terrific time. So...here is my question:

 

If we did a 7 day to Northern Europe on RC would it be a different kind of experience than a typical RC cruise? We definitely want that upscale feel with good food, nice environment, great for kids etc....I know it won't be the same as Celebrity but do you feel that it would be closer than a lot of RC cruises due to the climate, location etc...?

 

Has anyone done that type of itinerary on RC?

[katmich12]

Most reviews support my thoughts that Celebrity is the line for our crise to the Med. Thanks for your detailed response.