Celebrity Summit vs Royal Carribean Jewel of the Seas

[candybarcarter1982]

We are in a debate right now of taking the Royal Car. Jewel of the Seas or the Celebrity Summit in dec 2014. I have done 5 cruises and 1 was royal but I haven't done any with celebrity. I will be traveling with 2 people who have never cruised before. The age group that is going is a 21 yr old, 31 yr old, and a 53 yr old. We were reading that celebrity is a older crowd. We are doing the Southern Cruise out of San Juan. We just didn't know which cruise would be better for all age groups and if you had a preference on which cruise would be better. Please give me you advice and imput. I did the royal enchantment of the seas out of Baltimore and it was a great ship and nice people. I haven't heard much about celebrity.

 

Imput please!!! Thank you so much :o

[Arch713]

Thank you so much for posting this as I am looking for the same answer.

 

I am in my younger 30s looking to cruise with my parents and would love to have a good mix for the varying age groups.

[candybarcarter1982]

I'm the 31 yr old going with my best friend and her mom and I have never done a celebrity cruise. I seen reviews were the celebrity cruises are for the older crowd of 45 and older. But just curious lol glad we aren't the only one with this issue lol

[Gracie115]

I've been on both ships, Summit is a bit older than the Jewel, but they are basically the same size ship with a bit more capacity on the Jewel. We liked both ships. If you are looking for more activity than you should lean toward the Jewel. Celebrity is our line of choice most times but we recognize that it is a quieter atmosphere, more sedate, although the entertainment that is available is good. With the wide range of ages you mention I would probably opt for the Jewel just because you will have more choices of things to do that would satisfy several age groups. If you are just looking for a relaxing vacation with outstanding service and food I would opt for Celebrity as they are a notch above Royal in that regard. Just depends on what you are looking for.....either way you should have a good time...:)

[monicajay]

I have only cruised on the Jewel but have 2 future trips booked on the Summit. The Jewel was a beautiful ship, lots of places to see the water, and we really enjoyed the ship. My DH particularly enjoyed that there was a movie theater. We also found a fantastic waiter in select dining who helped make meal time fantastic. The aft balcony was great too.

 

We have selected the Summit out of San Juan because of the 123 promo in both cases. With free drinks on the Summit and basically pretty similar cabin rates the choice was a no brainer. We certainly won't be worrying about the age range of our fellow cruisers.

 

Age range on any cruise line can vary depending on itinerary and length of trip. We did a 14 night repositioning out of Boston on the Jewel and would not do that again. Almost everyone we met was much older, retired and cruise braggers.

 

We got so sick of hearing about people who were elite, diamond or about to be that once somebody mentioned it we would start laughing. We found that cruising was all anybody would talk about and it seemed like everybody was trying to outdo everybody else. This has not been our experience on shorter 7 night cruises.

[Aquahound]

I recommend the Jewel. The 2 are similar size, but I think RCI's Radiance Class ships are a lot nicer than Celebrity's Millennium Class. Also, RCI has more scheduled activities, which will be better for your age groups.

[micmacmissy]

There is another thread going on right now on this board asking the exact question.

 

I agree Royal would appeal more to a broader age range, but Celebrity is NOT an older crowd than Royal. We did Celebrity inour late 20s/early 30s and found the demographic to be the same on both Royal and Celebrity. Now, looking at a 10 day or longer itinerary, and yes, the crowd will be older. But 7 days out of San Juan? Mostly 30 to 50s with families, on both lines.

 

Weigh out the value of having a drink package included on Celebrity...that might save people a lot of money, enabling you to have more to spend on shore excursions!

 

Honestly, this is one of those questions where there isn't a bad option!

Edited December 3, 2013 by micmacmissy

[Miaminice]

Can´t go wrong with either one...

 

Radiance-class is great but so is the Millenium-class.

I wouldn´t say the crowd is older on Celebrity - especially on cruises in the Caribbean.

 

Royal is a bit more mainstream - Celebrity a tat more luxurious.

Service is great on both lines - food on celebrity might be an inch above Royal.

[cyntil8ing]

The San Juan departure cruises are so port intensive, personally, I'd choose based on itinerary and price rather than ship. But then, that's always the way I decide.

 

Having more activities during the day doesn't mean much when you're off the ship. Having more activities at night doesn't mean much when you're exhausted from your day and getting ready to do it all over again the next day. The demographics don't matter as much when there's only one sea day.