Carnival Cruise Lines Compared to Celebrity

[stevenr597]

We recently completed a 7 day Western Carribean cruise on the MS Celebrity Eclipse (Solstice Class). Several months ago we were on the Carnival Liberty and we are Platinum Level Carnival. My wife and I wished to compared these two lines and he is our thoughts:

 

1) Cost of Cruise:

There can be no debate in regards to this. CCL still has the lowest rates and can still be regarded as the best value for the dollars spent.

 

2) Ship Appearance:

My wife and I feel that CCL has some of the best ooking ships at sea, especially one such as the Glory, Freedom, and Liberty. Compared to the Millenium class on Celebrity we would have given the edge to Carnival. However the Solstice Class Celebrity ships are by far the most attractive ships we have ever been on. Edge to to Celebrity in this category

 

3) Entertainment:

Carnival is on a cost cutting binge and this has hurt their entertainment. We have noticed the decrease in the number and quality of bands on Carnival. Celebrity entertainment is much sperior to Carnival. Edge- Celebrity

 

4) Quality of Food:

Both Celebrity and Carnival have excellent food. However in preparation and servicing Carnival has declined due to cost cutting. Edge- Celebrity

 

5) Alternative Restaurants:

CCL's alternative restaurant had lost their entertainment and has become a "Steak" house. CCL has one, while Celebrity has 4 including their "Blu" Restaurant. Edge- Celebrity

 

6) Individual Space:

CCL has become more crowded. On Celebrity you definitely has more space with fewer lines. Edge- Celebrity

 

7) Buffet's

CCL has become more crowded again. We found the quality of foods, manner of preparation and presentation as well as lack of lines on Celebrity to be superior. Edge- Celebrity

 

8) Theatre:

Both lines have excellent theatres. But we do feel that the theatre's on the Glory Class Carnival Ships with their lasers are amoung the best at sea. Edge- CCL

 

9) Ease of boarding ships

We are Platinum Level CCL cruisers and have expedited boarding. On Celebrity we were Aqua Class and also had expedited boarding. Wait time on both ships was minimal. Edge- tie

 

10) Cabins:

CCL are definitely bigger. But on Celebrity Aqua class we had flowers and fresh fruit every day. Edge- Celebrity

 

11) Level of Service:

CCL used to have excellent service. But cost cutting on CCL has had an effective. The level and sophistication of service on Celebrity cannot be beat. Edge- Celebrity

 

11) Room Service:

Room service menu on Celebrity is more extensive. Edge- Celebrity

 

12) Late night food services:

CCL used to open up a buffet line in the late evening. They have discontinued this due to cost cutting. Celebrity has more and better food at night. Edge- Celebrity

 

13) Aqua Class Celebrity compared to Platinum Class Carnival

CCL has nothing like the Aqua Class on Celebrity where you can dine every night in an alternate restaurant (Blu). Edge- Celebrity

 

Impression:

CCL used to be a good alternative to Celebrity. But with this Solstice Class ships Celebrity has gone foward while with their cost cutting Carnival has declined. If one selects a cruise based soley on price Carnival is the winner. Otherwise Celebrity now has Carnival beat.

 

 

 

 

 

9)

[lesleyswimcoach]

I wanted to add that my husband and I went on Celebrity and felt sorry for the children on-board. No waterslides, no mini-golf, no laser tag etc.... We enjoyed it since we left the kids with the grandparents but for our trip with the kids we are doing carnival!

[Cushing985]

Thanks for the excellent comparison for these two lines. I do enjoy Carnival and like their cabins and the informality but also like Celebrity. It's all about price for me though...haven't been on a bad Carnival cruise yet and don't expect to.

[LHP]

Whle we have only done Carnival to this point, Celebrity is one of the lines we look forward to trying.

[librarymom]

I agree with many of your points. We have been on several Carnival cruises and took our first Celebrity cruise this past Christmas. It was the first cruise my daughter (then aged 14) didn't love and she is a cruise fanatic. We found ourselves bored at times as Celebrity doesn't have the range of activities as Carnival and the crowd is much older. This summer we are back to Carnival and my daughter can't wait. The only thing I'll miss is the Celebrity buffet - it's wonderful!!!

[Disneycruisers]

Thanks for the comparison!

 

We're looking to try Celebrity one day, and might wait until our DD is in college (two years.) We cruise Carnival a lot, but if we're spending extra, we still go with Disney (she loves the Disney teen clubs.)

 

Can't wait to try Celebrity though!:)

[divemedic]

We did the 2 week transatlantic aboard the Celebrity Constellation last November. 1st time with Celeb. Preferred Carnival. Had a suite..same size as regular Carnival cabin. Other quests weren't too impressed with Celebrity quality either. We found the food just Ok..better on CCL past cruises. Can't compare the entertainment of the Constellation...was terrible...people always leaving..we couldn't take much more, but their enrichment programs were very good. We found CCL much better for shows but haven't been on ant of thier ships since 2006. If I was to try another line I would try Royal Carribean..I hear they are good. My wife won't go back to Celebrity. As you can see we're back to CCL for 2012.

 

Divemedic

[geenafeena]

my bf and i have been on carnival a few times as well as RC and princess. we are now booked with celebrity on the silhouette in november for a 2 week cruise (it is the ship's first cruise out of Jersey). We are both 41 and hope celebrity will be a good decision. Hope there is night life for us. Being it is a 2 week cruise, in november, I hope there are people in our age group on board. Anyway, i am sure we will have a blast!

[LynneL]

my bf and i have been on carnival a few times as well as RC and princess. we are now booked with celebrity on the silhouette in november for a 2 week cruise (it is the ship's first cruise out of Jersey). We are both 41 and hope celebrity will be a good decision. Hope there is night life for us. ...

 

I've been wanting to try Celebrity but nightlife a concern too when making plans. Not really for me, but I travel with my kids who are in their early 20s. We sailed on Crown Princess a few years back & I loved it. However, they rolled up the sidewalks early on that ship. My friend & I went to one lounge, mellow listening type music, and we were the only ones there. Actually, we started with 4 of us, but our husbands walked out after a couple of songs. My friend & I felt bad leaving so remained till the end of the set. While my kids never have a bad cruise, they felt it was just too quiet in the evening on that one. I was afraid Celebrity would be the same.

[raylene5]

Yeah, I love the idea of trying one of the more "luxury" lines (we've now done Carnival, RCL and NCL) but I am definitely hesitant to do one as a family. We have 4 young children, ages 1 year to 7 years and I'm afraid the crowd just wouldn't match our family at all. My husband and I are going to go to Alaska by ourselves next summer and I still don't know that those lines would be a good fit for us either. We are in our 30's and I have the impression that these luxury lines are full of a mostly older, more reserved crowd. I LOVE the idea of the superior service and luxurious amenities but too bad they can't seem to combine this with a younger, "hipper" crowd :)

[tiggerman101]

Thanks for this. I am doing my first Celebrity cruise in December also on the Eclipse in an Aqua Class stateroom. This will be a solo trip for me so I am just looking to relax. Honestly, I have been going back and forth between this cruise and the Summit out of San Juan. The advantage of the Summit is two ports I have never been to (Granada and St Croix). I have been to all of the eclipse ports. I am just thinking I will enjoy the newer ship more since the Summit will be going into dry dock for all of the upgrades soon after December. Any opinion?

[kyrisong1]

We've cruised both Carnival and Celebrity several times.

I agree with some of what you say, although I think the look of Celebrity is a little more elegant than Carnival, so we disagree on that point.

In the dining room I think Celebrity is VERY formal, there are three levels of dress, elegant, informal (jacket and tie) and casual (resort casual)

I think that Celebrity has superior beef than Carnival but I also found the deserts pretty tasteless on Celebrity, I prefer to order the fish or lamb and give the edge to Carnival for superior food, and also I like the free cappacino in the dining room, nice touch. But the free fresh made chocolate or almond crossants in the Cova cafe in the morning was really nice too.

Buffet hands down goes to Celebrity, much more choices and food is done very nicely. However you mentioned lines, that waffle line is bigger than any I've seen on Carnival, sheesh you'd think they were lining those things in gold!!!!

Entertainment is better on Celebrity, except for kids, Carnival rocks with that kids program. And the late night entertainment is so much better on Carnival. You go out of your room after 11 there is NO ONE awake, except for little old men with walkers walking the halls however we were on an 11 day, so we expected an older crowd.

The Spa is sooooooooooo much better on Celebrity, loved the rasul and the thallasotherapy pool, will have to check out Dream or Magic one day to see how they compare there.

I prefer love both the steak house and the specialty resteraunt on Celebrity. I don't think I can choose, but I will say I am ADDICTED to that Lobster Bisque on Carnival, I think I'd pay 30.00 just for a endless bowl of that stuff, both have awesome food, I think they tie.

Rooms are comparable.

Price is much better for Carnival so we go Carnival most of the time. We get the best bang for our buck and we like casual, the formal makes my hubby grumble.

Oh also high tea needs to be dress up, I like showing up in shorts,I mean truly mid afternoon I'm NOT getting formal just to drink tea and eat cakes.

We go for Celebrity when we want a longer cruise, but truthfully I can do a back to back on Carnival for what it costs to do a longer cruise on Celebrity............ohhhhhhhhh and speaking of back to backs, Celebrity serves their guests that are on back to back on the same ship a special lunch, a very nice lunch, during the turn around. Wish Carnival would do the same;)

Cheers, Carole

[cruise_control]

We thought the entertainment on Celebrity was much better than Carnival. Other than that, Carnival meets or exceeds in every other category. We're not willing to pay a premium for better entertainment, so we'll continue with Carnival unless something else catches our eye.

[kyrisong1]

We thought the entertainment on Celebrity was much better than Carnival. Other than that, Carnival meets or exceeds in every other category. We're not willing to pay a premium for better entertainment, so we'll continue with Carnival unless something else catches our eye.

lol I love your avatar!!!

[valtandc]

thanks for review. would love to try celebrity if they ever went out of nyc. I think the only thing I wouldn't like is the lack of excitement in the evening. I love this about carnival and others i have cruised on. I heard from 2 different friends that celebrity is a bore after dinner.

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

...

1) Cost of Cruise:

There can be no debate in regards to this. CCL still has the lowest rates and can still be regarded as the best value for the dollars spent.

 

...

 

Such is not always the case... the below quote if from THIS thread that I started earlier last year:

 

I am not going to BITE on their marketing practices ("warnings" of upcoming rate increases for summer)!!

 

... interestingly enough, I just booked the Solstice YESTERDAY - I looked briefly at the Dream and it was $600 MORE for a balcony for my 18yo son and 3 of his friends! I would have booked them in an interior, but there are not many of them on the Solstice, and they were long gone. Also, the 3rd and 4th person rate for the Dream that week shows as $559. On the Solstice 3rd and 4th are $399... thus, they could sail the Solstice in a BALCONY for about the same as an INTERIOR on the Dream. Has the world gone topsy turvy?! :eek:

 

5/29/10 Carnival Dream:

Interior (4 People): $3095 (185 sq. ft.)

8A Balcony (4) ... : $3685 (185 sq. ft. + 35 sq. ft. balcony) ..... $3545 for a Cove

 

5/30/10 Celebrity Solstice:

Interior --- N/A -- Sold Out

Balcony (4 people): $3072 (194 sq. ft. + 54 sq. ft. balcony)

 

Some part of the Carnival "VALUE" concept is missing to me here! I will admit, having sailed both lines a few times - I prefer the food on Carnival, and their entertainment (shows/music/comedians) are usually good.

 

On our two previous Dream sailings, there were definitely times where the ship felt quite crowded. I sense that this will not be the case on the Solstice:

Dream = 128,000 tons, 3464 (double occupancy guests) - MAX of 4,631!

Solstice= 122,00 tons, 2850 (double occupancy guests) - MAX of ? (I can tell you it is less than 4,600 !!) ;)

 

BTW - Celebrity got my business because they were SMART enough to send me a list of a dozen sailings which I could choose from for 2010 and only pay fees/taxes in a Concierge Class balcony cabin thanks to their Blue Chip Club (Casino) -- as a result they get my business for the additional cabin as well. ;) As nice as the Casino Marketing people are at Carnival, they are hamstrung due to current corporate policies -- severely limiting what they can offer "players".

 

It was difficult picking from this (below) list, but I already had the week of Memorial day off... so.. !

------------------

5/3/10- Celebrity Eclipse (new ship)- 4 night U.K.cruise- port- South Hampton, England

 

-5/30/10- Celebrity Solstice (new ship)- 7 night Caribbean cruise- port- Ft. Lauderdale

 

-6/6/10- Celebrity Solstice (new ship)- 7 night Caribbean cruise- port- Ft. Lauderdale

 

-6/6/10- Celebrity Summit- 7 night Bermuda cruise- port- Bayonne, N.J.

 

-7/18/10- Celebrity Solstice (new ship)- 7 night Caribbean cruise- port- Ft. Lauderdale

 

-8/8/10- Celebrity Solstice (new ship)- 7 night Caribbean cruise- port- Ft. Lauderdale

 

-8/15/10- Celebrity Summit- 7 night New England and Canada cruise- port- Bayonne, N.J.

 

-9/18/10- Celebrity Constellation- 7 night Western European cruise- port- Barcelona

 

-10/18/10- Celebrity Equinox (new ship)- 13 night Holy Land cruise- port- Rome

 

-10/24/10- Celebrity Solstice (new ship)- 7 night Caribbean cruise- port- Ft. Lauderdale

 

-11/17/10- Celebrity Eclipse (new ship)- 3 night Bahamas cruise - port- Miami, FL

 

-12/26/10- Celebrity Solstice (new ship)- 7 night

“New Year” Caribbean cruise- port- Ft. Lauderdale

-------------------

 

In all fairness, I see that the 5/29/10 Dream sailing is offering a new fare: "Pack & Go - Last Minute Specials" where you can book guarantees for Interiors ($2705), and balcony ($3072) cabins. The drawback there is you must "risk" being assigned to a less than desirable cabin location. That is an entirely different topic - which I won't go into!

 

Tom

 

 

Tom

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

Thanks for this. I am doing my first Celebrity cruise in December also on the Eclipse in an Aqua Class stateroom. This will be a solo trip for me so I am just looking to relax. Honestly, I have been going back and forth between this cruise and the Summit out of San Juan. The advantage of the Summit is two ports I have never been to (Granada and St Croix). I have been to all of the eclipse ports. I am just thinking I will enjoy the newer ship more since the Summit will be going into dry dock for all of the upgrades soon after December. Any opinion?

 

ECLIPSE - for sure (forget the ports in this case.. :))

 

Tom

[tiggerman101]

ECLIPSE - for sure (forget the ports in this case.. :))

 

Tom

 

Thanks Tom. I was hoping you would answer. I am going to buy my air today so I will solidify my decision.