When to Try Celebrity?

[SamFritz]

We have only sailed on Royal, and now have 14 cruises with them. As diamond members we will get Elite benefits on Celebrity. We want to give "X" a try. We obviously love Royal, and will stay with them as our primary line, but...

 

For our 30th anniversary we want to do a huge (for us) trip to Venice with a Greek Island cruise. Royal and Celebrity offer similar itineraries. I'm a little nervous about trying a new line on a big deal, special cruise, rather than going with a known and loved commodity. If the costs are comparable, or maybe even a little lower on "X" is this the time to give them a try, or should we wait for a more routine mid-winter Caribbean getaway? I'd appreciate loyal Royal's thoughts on your first time with "X".

 

 

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[Ourusualbeach]

If itineraries are the same and you know you love Royal then stick with that for your Anniversary. I would look at doing X for an itinerary that Royal does not offer.

[cruzinlady1947]

We are D+ and tried Celebrity last year to do a 14 night Canada/New England cruise from Bayonne NJ. We loved it. It was a little more expensive than RCCL, but had the itinerary that we wanted with an overnight stay in Quebec. Plus they had a nice price drop prior to final payment. The Summit was a great ship and had the best Elite/Diamond/D+ event that I have ever been to. You had to show your seapass every time you entered, but it was just wonderful. It was a huge room that had floor to ceiling windows that looked over the bow of the ship with no obstructions. It was almost like you were at the helm of the ship. Just beautiful watching the ship as she left port and sailed out to sea. The food was excellent (a small step ahead of RCCL). The overall passengers were slightly older than RCCL, but we fit right in. ;) Maybe it was just the itinerary or overall is a more mature cruise line.

 

I think it would be an excellent ship to try for that special occasion. I'm trying to think of what I want to do for our 50th coming up in 2 yrs. It will be either Celebrity or Quantum. Probably the latter.

 

Either way you will enjoy your cruise. And Happy Anniversary a little early.

 

Gwen :)

 

PS: I will always stay loyal to Royal. I think overall, the best cruise line. But, a change is always good too.

[Aquahound]

Hey Sam, what ship is it? When we ventured over, we first tried a Solstice Class ship and we were very impressed. The ships are gorgeous.

 

In fact, on a European itinerary, I think X is a better fit. We did the Navigator once over there and as much as I love that ship class, it just didn't fit with the surroundings. Does that make sense?

 

Give them a try. From what I know about you and your beautiful bride, I think you will love it. :)

[diligaf51]

I am a Celebrity frequent cruiser (Elite) who is sailing RCCL for the first time next month. What should I experience that will make me prefer Royal over Celebrity? I will be sailing a transatlantic on Legend.

[Dharma517]

I've sailed both and really did NOT notice anything different. Have fun no matter what you choose!! Wait...actually...it was an older crowd...thats it.

[H2Oregon]

I would say give X a try. We have done three X cruises in Europe (Holy Land, Turkey/Greece and Itlay/Croatia) and loved them. The Solstice class ships are beautiful. Celebrity is a little more low key than RCI. Not as many announcments, no Quest or belly flop contests.

 

Elite perks are very nice. Free internet (I think 90 minutes), free bag of laundry, Elite lounge cocktail time each evening, elite coffee/continental breakfast etc.

[Clarea]

I am a Celebrity frequent cruiser (Elite) who is sailing RCCL for the first time next month. What should I experience that will make me prefer Royal over Celebrity? I will be sailing a transatlantic on Legend.

Hard to say, you may end up liking both lines for different reasons. One perk that Royal offers Elite (Diamond level on Royal) is a significant discount for staterooms with a balcony. If you have not done so already, be sure to call Crown & Anchor and get Diamond status on Royal - it's not automatic.

[JMG]

We are D+ and doing our first Celebrity cruise in a few weeks. When we booked X was having a 123 Go promotion. You had a choice of pre paid tips, an OBC, or the Classic Bev package. We took the beverage package which has a value of around $300pp ($44/day). The package includes bottled water, specialty coffee, sodas, beer, wine, and liquor up to $8/drink. X did not offer balcony discounts.

 

When to try X? Wow, that is a tough one. We were swayed by itinerary and price. We did not know about the 123 Go promotion until we called to book. It was a very pleasant added bonus for us. It will be so nice not to stop and think about the mounting charges with every drink ordered. I can try a different drink and if I do not like it...so what! We are now past final payment and the price has dropped but that price does not include the beverage package so the cost is still break even for us.

 

We have been on HAL, Princess, Carnival, and NCL in addition to RCI. I can honestly say that not one cruise has been a disappointment. There were differences. NCL was on the Norway so that was unique being on an older ship at a time when the line had very limited budgets. We still had a great time!

[DonnaK]

We are rather loyal to Royal, but at the end of August, we took a spur-of-the-moment cruise on Celebrity Summit from NJ to Bermuda. The ship and the cruising experience FAR exceeded our expectations. The food and service were outstanding!!! The officers and the performers were VERY visible all over the ship. Much to our surprise, entertainment (which is very important to us) was significantly better on Celebrity. For example, there were three production shows on a 7 day cruise instead of two, and the troupe had 6 lead singers instead of 4. The singers and dancers performed in other venues on the ship, including a jam session on the last night with the other performers on the ship that was outstanding! The lounge singers were of very high quality and performed often, and the lounges were more open so it was easy to "stumble upon" them while walking from place to place around the ship.

 

We wouldn't hesitate to cruise on Celebrity again, and wish they did Caribbean cruises during the summer!!!

[villauk]

Sailed both and it's usually the itinerary that makes the difference for us. There are less children on X; the demographic is definitely swayed to an older crowd.

 

Also, we found we liked the lack of announcements. My DH adores the fact that X always offers apple pie for a dessert each evening - simple things, please simple minds :D.

 

One of the best evening performances we have experienced was on Celebrity Constellation: a local Russian folk dancing group. We still remember their show and how good it was ;).

 

We've booked X again for next year, couldn't resist the free beverage offer :).

[Big_G]

It may depend on who is sailing with you. A couple sailing alone on such a milestone would have a great time. If you're sailing with a family of teens and young twenty somethings, it might be a little boring for them. While we still love Royal ships, we found Equinox and Reflection to be a little more elegant, mature, and relaxing. We're looking forward to trying some other Celebrity class ships

[SamFritz]

Hey Paul, we're actually thinking two years ahead, so the 2015 itineraries aren't out yet. I was just comparing 2014 cruises to get an idea.

 

My thinking is that Celebrity is one step up the scale from Royal, sort of like going from a Chevy to a Buick. My expectations would be for things to be different enough that it would feel like something new, but familiar enough that I would not be overwhelmed or lost by all the differences. I would expect to see some degree of higher quality in service, entertainment, and food, but not a huge one. With nothing to compare it to yet, I've always felt that Royal does a great job with these.

 

 

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[cruzincanuck]

Both Royal & Celebrity are great cruise lines. For that extra special event, an Aqua class room on a Solstice class ship is a great means to celebrate. The cabin has a few extra bells & whistles: more toiletries, shower with jets, bottled water and tea to name a few. The Blu restaurant reserved for the Aquaclass is absolutely the best. Advertised as healthy food may be true but there is a means to find pure decadence ;) in the menu. You can have both breakfast and dinner at Blu. Nice touch to a cruise!! Beautiful ship too!

[xxHadleyxx]

Actually, I think a European cruise, when that is a BIG trip to you, is the prefect time to try Celebrity.

 

You will likely be spending more time in port, and not have the energy for late nights in the night clubs, rock climbing, ice skating, etc--so you won't miss them.

 

In our experience, Celebrity had better food and was more relaxing and just felt a little more luxurious.

 

Royal, has more to keep us busy (when the ports don't do that) and better nighttime shows.

[dplusd]

Don't be afraid to try X. Unless you will miss having the rock wall or flow rider or ice rink, you will probably find you like Celebrity equal to, or more than, Royal. X is a little dressier, a little more elegant, fellow passengers a bit more refined, less kids, food is comparable or slightly better, and the S-class ships are supposed to be beautiful.

 

We are in the process of changing our fall 2014 TA cruise on IOS to a Celebrity S-class ship...still looking at dates and itineraries.

[Cruising89143]

We took our first cruise on X in March on the Reflection and loved it. Only one announcement per day which is the Captain's daily update. Smoking policy is more strict. No smoking anywhere inside the ship. A LOT less kids. As a matter of fact we think of Celebrity as RCI for adults.

 

We found the food to be better across the board. Especially in the Oceanview Cafe. I understand the the lido dining is better on the S class ships over the M class due to the setup and size. Crew and service are equal to that of RCI which we have always found to be very good.

 

Entertainment was in line with the Freedom class. The seven night cruise had three major production shows. The Reflection had the RCI WOW factor. Beautiful ship.

 

We are booked on the 13 night Equinox Barcelona to Venice on June 1st next year with three port visits to Greece including Santorini, Mykonos and Athens. We can't wait to get back to Santorini. We also stop in three ports in Italy, Villefranche and Dubrovnik.

 

I suggest giving X a try. You will see some similarities and also some new things that we found to be a nice addition.

[George C]

We are diamond and did Solictice about 4 or 5 years ago, was diappointed at food and service in MDR, but great specialty resturants and they upgraded us to a suite and it was a very nice ship . Will try them again sooner or later

[mm1251]

If you can, book Aquaclass. You have anytime dining in Blu -- a small restaurant reserved for Aquaclass guests only (suite guests can dine there if space is available). It's a fun and "different" experience compared to RCI.

 

Congrats & have a great time planning :D

[mil76]

We did Celebrity for the first time last June because they offered an itinerary which hit both Santorini and Mykonos, and RCI didn't have anything with both of these ports. The Elite benefits were excellent. I could have done a carry-on for 12 days had I known I could do so much laundry for free. The ship seemed more upscale, although what we love about RCI isn't about being upscale, but all the activities to do on-board.

 

We did travel with kids (11 and 14 year old boys) and they hated it. When we were at the Acropolis we saw a tour from the Serenade and my boys joked that they wanted to sneak into the tour and go back on the Serenade.

 

Oh well, we gave it a try and are going crawling back to RCI for Halloween on Oasis.

[Cruising89143]

We did Celebrity for the first time last June because they offered an itinerary which hit both Santorini and Mykonos, and RCI didn't have anything with both of these ports. The Elite benefits were excellent. I could have done a carry-on for 12 days had I known I could do so much laundry for free. The ship seemed more upscale, although what we love about RCI isn't about being upscale, but all the activities to do on-board.

 

We did travel with kids (11 and 14 year old boys) and they hated it. When we were at the Acropolis we saw a tour from the Serenade and my boys joked that they wanted to sneak into the tour and go back on the Serenade.

 

Oh well, we gave it a try and are going crawling back to RCI for Halloween on Oasis.

 

I don't think kids would enjoy X. They have kids programs but nothing like RCI. The ships just aren't designed for kids.

[cruzeluver]

I don't think kids would enjoy X. They have kids programs but nothing like RCI. The ships just aren't designed for kids.

 

I would say it depends on the kids, not all like the same things. Some of our best friends kids have preferred X to Royal or NCL all of which they have sailed from the time the kids were 4 and 5.

[SamFritz]

No kids for us on this one so that won't be an issue.

 

 

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[drarill]

I would say it depends on the kids, not all like the same things. Some of our best friends kids have preferred X to Royal or NCL all of which they have sailed from the time the kids were 4 and 5.

 

I agree, my children didn't like our first Celebrity cruise, it was a Med cruise in the beginning of June. But they loved our last two, both in the month of July. Late May and the beginning of June is great to cruise the Med, but you will find more families in July.

[SamFritz]

Thanks for the insight everyone. If the price is comparable and the schedule works we will consider Celebrity.

 

 

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