New to Celebrity...What to Expect

[wallie5446]

Are you doing the 4 night Nassau, or the 5 night Cozumel sailing?

[artmc]

We did four Carnival cruises and enjoyed every one of them. We only switched to Celebrity because we wanted a South American cruise and Carnival doesn't offer them. We've since done another Celebrity cruise and I can't imagine going back to Carnival.

 

Celeb ships have more subtle décor which may not be a big deal. The main difference is that Celeb is geared to an older, but not stuffier, crowd. We are active 50-somethings (went hand-gliding in Rio) and we don't go to bed right after dinner. Celeb provides enough entertainment to keep us happy.

 

However there are some things that Carnival had that I miss on Celeb:

 

1.) self-serve laundry and irons

 

2.) all night pizza - I assume they still have them. You'd be amazed how many people can be found reading and eating pizza on deck at 2:30 a.m.

 

3.) piano bars - the best piano bar I've ever been in was on the Carnival Miracle. The night before disembarkation I was there until 1 a.m. and it was still going strong. I talked to someone the next morning and asked her how long it went. She said that at close to 2 a.m. they were still going, but security asked them to stop because other guests were complaining about the noise. Now that's a fun bar.

 

Celeb does have piano players in Michael's Club and when we were on the Eclipse I got the impression he really wanted guests to join in. The problem is the club has a British gentlemen's club atmosphere and no one can really cut loose because the décor is so elegant.

[headhurt]

Are you doing the 4 night Nassau, or the 5 night Cozumel sailing?

 

We're going on the 5 night Coz sailing. Looking forward to that port the most.

[san diego spartan]

We did four Carnival cruises and enjoyed every one of them. We only switched to Celebrity because we wanted a South American cruise and Carnival doesn't offer them. We've since done another Celebrity cruise and I can't imagine going back to Carnival.

 

Celeb ships have more subtle décor which may not be a big deal. The main difference is that Celeb is geared to an older, but not stuffier, crowd. We are active 50-somethings (went hand-gliding in Rio) and we don't go to bed right after dinner. Celeb provides enough entertainment to keep us happy.

 

However there are some things that Carnival had that I miss on Celeb:

 

1.) self-serve laundry and irons

 

2.) all night pizza - I assume they still have them. You'd be amazed how many people can be found reading and eating pizza on deck at 2:30 a.m.

 

3.) piano bars - the best piano bar I've ever been in was on the Carnival Miracle. The night before disembarkation I was there until 1 a.m. and it was still going strong. I talked to someone the next morning and asked her how long it went. She said that at close to 2 a.m. they were still going, but security asked them to stop because other guests were complaining about the noise. Now that's a fun bar.

 

Celeb does have piano players in Michael's Club and when we were on the Eclipse I got the impression he really wanted guests to join in. The problem is the club has a British gentlemen's club atmosphere and no one can really cut loose because the décor is so elegant.

 

Going on Reflection in 2 weeks. Am so so bummed no piano bar. One of my favs on HAL and RCCL.

 

 

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[rdler]

I'm kind of like Headhurt. My 12 year old son and I are leaving in a couple of weeks to go on our first Celebrity cruise. We have been on RCCL a couple of times and are both platinum on Carnival. Our last cruise on Carnival left me fed up. I feel bad saying this, but I couldn't really deal well with the clientele and the food (except in the steakhouse) wasn't that good at all.

 

Here's my question: I don't want to be disappointed in the food. How much should I plan on dining in the specialty restaurants? We are not Aqua Class, because I didn't think we would want to be limited to Blue, so we will be in the MDR otherwise.

 

I appreciate your advice in advance.

[artmc]

I'm kind of like Headhurt. My 12 year old son and I are leaving in a couple of weeks to go on our first Celebrity cruise. We have been on RCCL a couple of times and are both platinum on Carnival. Our last cruise on Carnival left me fed up. I feel bad saying this, but I couldn't really deal well with the clientele and the food (except in the steakhouse) wasn't that good at all.

 

Here's my question: I don't want to be disappointed in the food. How much should I plan on dining in the specialty restaurants? We are not Aqua Class, because I didn't think we would want to be limited to Blue, so we will be in the MDR otherwise.

 

I appreciate your advice in advance.

 

We were on two Celebrity cruises (both 14-day) and were happy enough in the MDR that we never tried the specialty restaurants. In fact, on each cruise there may have been only one meal that was less than excellent. If I were you I'd start off in the MDR. If you're finding the food isn't to your liking you can always try the specialty restaurants.

[travelingirl70]

We're looking forward to this trip. Log is not a fan of cruising, but does it because he really likes me.:D Our last cruise was disappointing in a lot of ways, so I am hoping that this one will be a big win. I'm really looking forward to relaxing. No belly flop contests.

 

You sound a lot like me. DH hates cruising, but has gone along with it because I love to travel. We've sailed Carnival 2x, Disney 1x and most recently, Celebrity over Christmas last year. Celebrity was the first cruise DH actually enjoyed. We even booked an Open Passage ($100 deposit towards future cruise, with OBC) while on board. That's saying A LOT!!!!!!

 

Someone said "casual elegance" and that's exactly how I was going to describe it. It looked like a nice upscale hotel with subtle decor. Not super flashy or tacky in any way. We sailed on the Solstice and loved the layout of the ship. We are not night owls, but found ourselves following one musical act around the ship, a great guitar player and vocalist, just our style.

 

DH hates crowds and lines which is one of the reasons he doesn't like cruising. But we didn't find it very crowded on Celebrity, and that was over Christmas when the ship was at capacity. It's just well laid out.

 

One thing I loved was the fact the Celebrity wasn't constantly making announcements over the PA. You get a noon time announcement from the Cruise Director and that's it. So, you need to check your daily itinerary of activities, but it was so peaceful.

 

No belly flop contests, but you would find a very lively crowd at the martini bar. Fun and easy to meet people, but not like a college fraternity party.

 

I found MDR food to be roughly the same as Carnival and Disney (good to very good), but the specialty restaurants were OUTSTANDING!!!!!!

 

We will never cruise anything but Celebrity again.

Edited November 3, 2013 by travelingirl70

[bplazo]

I thought that the food in the mdr was just as good if not better than the specialty restaurant.

[wallie5446]

We're going on the 5 night Coz sailing. Looking forward to that port the most.

 

Should be about time````````:D

[rjrpar]

I am about to hit my 19th Carnival cruise next month so I understand. I did two Celebrity cruises this year and they quickly became a line that I love. My two Celebrity cruises were out of the country (Asia and Norway) so I am not sure if that makes a difference. However, I will tell you the main reason I like Celebrity so much. It is peaceful. You will not get annoyed with drink waiters, loud announcements, noisy pool areas, tons of photographers, etc. It is all very low key. I always think 'Casual Elegance" when I think of Celebrity. Plus the ships are beautiful and elegantly subdued. Huge fan.

 

Very good post. We have done only 3 Carnival cruises and I agree they are not as elegant as X. However, I do think Carnival provides great value, comparable MDR food, a very good steakhouse, and good entertainment in their lounges. They often get overly criticized on cc boards of other cruise lines.

[varoo]

In brief, on Celebrity cruises we feel that we are being treated as mature adult guests.

 

On Carnival cruises we feel that we are being treated as children at summer camp.

 

[jasbo49]

I do think Carnival provides great value, comparable MDR food, a very good steakhouse, and good entertainment in their lounges. They often get overly criticized on cc boards of other cruise lines.

 

I appreciate your comments and that, for the most part, people here don't denigrate Carnival much. My wife and I have sailed Carnival for three of our six cruises and happened to find Celebrity extremely competitive for our 35th anniversary cruise. We kind of like not being looked down on, as Carnival cruisers are on some forums.

 

Jim