If You've Cruised on HAL and Celebrity Too...

[NCTribeFan]

I hate comparison questions. So much is subjective.

 

But I'm going to ask anyway! :p

 

Carnival is definitely in danger of losing this Platinum cruiser due to their solo supplement.

 

I reached Platinum by paying for two people - me and DD - and now that she is an adult and not at home, I have the privilege of continuing to pay for two people to sail solo.

 

I fail to see why other lines under the CCL umbrella can still offer single supplements <200%, but Carnival won't. Of course, every ship sails full, so why should they? As a CCL shareholder, I understand.

 

That doesn't mean I have to like it! I'm not a wealthy woman. I regularly sailed Carnival because I felt they offered a great value for my vacation dollars.

 

I loved my one RCI cruise, but every time I checked prices, they were consistently more expensive for teeny tiny cabins, so I continued with Carnival.

 

I only branched out to HAL because a cousin talked me into going with her and a friend, so the cost for 1/3 of a cabin was reasonable, for the length of the cruise (14 day roundtrip to Hawaii from San Diego).

 

So, I'll be "celebrating" my 60th birthday next November. I'd love to go on a long cruise, but no one can take one with me. So I started looking at maybe doing a B2B or even B2B2B.

 

If I have to go solo for the entire 14 days, it would be just under $2,000 - and that's booking a 1A ES rate.

 

So I decided to broaden my search. I really loved my HAL Hawaii cruise, but to repeat that, as a solo, would cost me $2600 - a 175% single supplement.

 

I decided to look further! I found a 15 night Celebrity with a solo rate of 150% that would cost me $1817.

 

It's on the oldest, smallest ship in the fleet (Century), but that doesn't really concern me. I've read up on it and it actually sounds like my kind of ship! I loved HAL's Zaandam, and it is smaller than Century and nearly as old.

 

These ships seem to be designed much more along the lines of the Spirit class than Carnival's typical variations on a large, floating shoebox design.

 

So, has anyone out there sailed on Century or Zaandam or both?

 

Besides the cost, I'm rather disenchanted with the LOUD announcements pimping extra costs activities, the inability to find anywhere calm and peaceful to relax (other than locked in my cabin), the newbie cruisers with no clue how to behave in a crowd, running kids even during times when school is in session, people in the hottubs bellowing at the top of their lungs to the person sitting 2 feet away, etc., etc.

 

I personally have NOT seen any decrease in service or food quality, so I'm not griping at the "cutbacks" that seem to annoy so many others.

 

I like to enjoy a few adult beverages. I don't park myself by the main pool (I detest the noise and activity level). I don't go to many shows. I do play the slots. I dislike having blaring music in all locations at all times.

 

I just am not sure I want to continue to sail Carnival at what it will now cost me to do so!

 

If I can sail a slightly-more upscale line for the same, or even less, why shouldn't I switch?

 

I hate to lose my loyalty perks, although the only ones I really appreciate are priority boarding and tender. Just seems a shame to have to start over on another cruiseline.

[firefly333]

I assume its been a long time since RCL or you only did the very old couple of ships to label RCL as having teeny tiny cabins? Its only TWO ships.

 

In fact RCL cabins if you count the balcony sizes, from balcony on up in category are LARGER than Carnival. These sweeping generalizations are just confusing to everyone.

 

I saw a 0% solo supplement on the newer Liberty OTS which compares way better than any Carnival ship. 4 days, special sailing, $299, 0% supplement, plus taxes and fees. balcony.

 

You are starting off with misconceptions and then going from there to me.

[halos]

I hate to lose my loyalty perks, although the only ones I really appreciate are priority boarding and tender. Just seems a shame to have to start over on another cruiseline.

 

Let go of the loyalty perks.

Are they really worth it????

[firefly333]

Let go of the loyalty perks.

Are they really worth it????

 

The perks are nice, but have no $$$ value like RCL's balcony discount for instance. If it were money in my pocket, it would be harder to shop around.

 

I know being diamond on RCL I can call up Celebrity now and be elite (just got to diamond on RCL). Too bad Carnival does not do this.

 

I would pick Celebrity over Hal myself.

[SkyMaster]

We've sailed extensively on Carnival (Milestone) and X (about 20 cruises) and I can say without a doubt, that you'll love Century if that's the ship you wind up sailing on. Obviously, we love both lines, so would sail either one in a heartbeat, but have no fears about Century. She's an excellent choice, IMO. :cool:

 

"SKY"

[schittenden]

My first cruise was a 5-day on the Century out of Miami. I absolutely loved it. The service was the best of any cruise I've taken (admittedly, not a huge sample size). The ship was lovely and the food was great (rivaled only by my Princess cruise). The ship was in good shape and our room was a fine balcony. Compared to Carnival, it is very understated. I've often told people that Carnival was as good, but not quite as polished. For example, the free glass of champagne on boarding and the escort carrying your carry-on bag to your cabin and showing you the way was a nice touch I haven't seen repeated on any other cruise. I think you'd enjoy the Celebrity Century just fine.

[cyntil8ing]

I've been on the Celebrity Century and it was my favorite cruise ever. I've also been on HAL and it was nice, but it wasn't Celebrity.

 

You will NOT find the loud announcements. In our experience, Captain comes on once per day, around noon, to give a location/weather report, followed by a short announcement from the cruise director. Other than that, you won't hear a peep.

 

The Century, though a smaller ship, flows better than any Carnival ship I've ever been on. Plenty of quiet spots both indoors and out.

 

The one thing HAL does have going for it is drink prices. Rarely was there a cocktail above $7.50 and with happy hour twice per day, you could often get two drinks for $8.50. That will NOT happen on Celebrity. Their drink prices are much higher. Bottled wine prices are comparable on both.

 

You didn't mention if you're a smoker, but the non-smoking casino on Celebrity wins hands-down for us. HAL is just going to non-smoking cabins this month, but smoking is still allowed on balconies. Both cabins and balconies are smoke free on Celebrity.

 

I'd definitely give X a try. We'd make it our primary choice, but we have young children and Carnival's kid's program wins by far.

 

Here is a link to our Century review and cruise photos -- http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1324426

[NCTribeFan]

So the RCI loyalists come out on the Carnival board. :D

 

I stated that I really enjoyed my one RCI cruise. It was my 2nd.

 

But I gave up looking at RCI cruises. I'm talking about all the Carnival cruises I took (beginning in 2001; my only RCI cruise was on the old Empress and the cabin was so small you could barely turn around).

 

I rarely sail in a balcony (which is one of the reasons I was able to sail more often). And every RCI cruise I looked at, the rates for two people for insides were more than Carnival. And since I'm very price-conscious, many of the cruises I was looking at were shorter and were on older ships. Those tend to have lower fares. I've looked at the ship info. The inside cabins are almost always <170 sq feet with many considerably smaller.

 

I just did a quick search for 7-night cruises next November and they all seem to be 200%. Anyway, this thread isn't supposed to be about RCI. For multiple reasons, they just don't appeal to me very much (just too much like Carnival, maybe).

 

I am NOW sailing solo and am discouraged that Carnival does not offer single supplements any longer.

 

And, no, the loyalty perks don't mean much to me. Still, it just seems a shame that I feel the need to start over.

 

I have no interest in NCL. Not sure why - I just don't think I'd enjoy them as well, so I never include them in my research.