The sophistication of Celebrity

[Schplinky]

i do not consider your info on RCI costs 'argumentative" frankly, they are probably far more accurate than the info I got. After all my info came from a crew member, not a sourced article. That is one of the reasons we are all reading these boards...to find stuff out!

 

It's stunning what the various cruise lines can do with so little per day but, frankly, when you can cruise for not much more than $100-125 a day (even on X), there isn't a lot of cash to go around, when you think about it. They have to pay for the ship, fuel, all that staff and other expenses, too. It's astounding to me what a good value cruise vacations are.

[Lois R]

Hi, I don't stop to have my picture taken upon boarding. They have never said

2 words about it.

I just say, "No Thanks Folks" and I keep walking.

 

Also, if the Baked Alaska Parade is not your thing and you don't want to see it,

you can politely excuse yourself from your dinner table and leave before they start it.

[Schplinky]

Also, if the Baked Alaska Parade is not your thing and you don't want to see it,

you can politely excuse yourself from your dinner table and leave before they start it.

 

Oh, I'm just being a big grump. I'm sure I'll live. See all those folks in "adult" clothes acting like they're at a child's birthday party has just always struck me as odd. That's all.

[SANDY BEACH]

I'm not all that wild about the baked alaska parade either. In fact, I don't even care for baked alaska but the stewards seem to find such pleasure in presently it this way. Just find this a time to people watch.

[canderson]

You are soooooo right canderson, those anouncements on the PA can make one mad. We just enjoyed the most wonderful cruise on Princess in the Greek Islands and the Med and in every port at sail away they had a woman on the PA system telling the story of the port.

I'm thankful that Celebrity provides this kind of information in advance of port arrivals in their main theater, and subsequently on their in-house TV channel for stateroom viewing.

 

I'm afraid I just unloaded on someone in another thread re: dress code, trying to explain that those few things that Celebrity does in their effort to differentiate their product from that of the long list of other cruise lines are done specifically to assist in garnering a particular segment of the cruising market. As the differences are few in number, they therefore become more important to that differentiation. It seemed someone was positively shocked that a cruise line would actually do what they could to maintain that differentiation (actually enforce a dress code - gasp!)

 

As another example -- not every line serves "high tea" even once during a cruise. Heavens -- it's gotten to where few Americans have even had the pleasure of this experience at all, or even know what it is. It's not everyone's cup of tea (pun intended), but it's a nice touch. Bring on those sweets and savories. It's just a shame that there isn't room in the specialty restaurants on the M-Class ships so that everyone could enjoy it in that particular setting. Due to space limitations, it's reserved for their cruiser with 5+ cruises, or the equivalent on RCCL ships (of course, there aren't specialty restaurants on Celebrity's other ships). Does RCCL provide this to their passengers? I hadn't heard it, if so.

 

None of these things are particularly "high brow". I'm not even sure I'd refer to them as "sophisticated". In a sense, they're actually rather anachronistic as they tend to hearken back to what was considered 'the norm' in cruising some years back -- but this evidently appeals to a pretty fair number among the cruising public, and that's evidently Celebrity's target market.

[Leela]

As for the baked Alaskas, I'm fine with them dimming the lights and marching the flaming dishes in to some kind of festive music, but I'm not into the singing and napkin-twirling. But if other people like it then that's cool.

 

For tea, the times I've cruised Celebrity there have actually been two "elegant" teas hosted per trip: one open to everyone, and a second for people in suites or who have cruised a lot as canderson points out.

 

"High tea" is a concept misunderstood by a lot of people -- its meaning has shifted over time and across oceans. "High" doesn't actually mean "formal" in the truest sense of "high tea", it originally meant "late." Like, if someone offered you "high tea," it used to mean that you'd get tea and something snacky around supper time, but not an actual full meal. As Miss Manners puts it, the "high" meant "it's high time we've had a little something to eat." :)

[canderson]

"High tea" is a concept misunderstood by a lot of people -- its meaning has shifted over time and across oceans. "High" doesn't actually mean "formal" in the truest sense of "high tea", it originally meant "late." Like, if someone offered you "high tea," it used to mean that you'd get tea and something snacky around supper time, but not an actual full meal.

If you talk about "four sweets and four savories" or scones with clotted cream and strawberry jam, some people just think this is too uppity, I guess. If it's uniquely British, some people think anything is too uppity!

 

For those of you that just can't get past that idea, I could tell you a story about a Sunday afternoon at a hotel in Devon when a "tolerably proper" Brit friend and I made a bit of a contest out of creating true architectural marvels in an effort to use up the full amount of cream and strawberry jam that had been delivered on the few scones that came with it! Guess it's a matter of international perspective.;)

[catmand]

It's so interesting, many of us attempting to answer questions and discuss what we perceive to be the subtle differences from cruise line to cruise line. I have always maintained the opinion that of the two we have sailed, one is no "better" than the other, however they are different. Isn't it great we have these choices.

 

For those folks that don't like the baked alaska parade, there is the possibility of sailing Princess and trying their "Anytime Dining", that in and of itself has changed pretty much everything about the traditional style of the evening meals. No baked alaska parade there.

 

Canderson and Leela mentioned the "high tea" (thanks, I learned something) and it is in question if this is "sophisticated" or not, but here again, Princess. There is "high tea" service everyday at 4:00 o'clock, one of the reasons we eat later. It is served white gloves and the little finger sandwiches and cakes and cookies are delicious.

 

Here is something we noticed on our Infinity Alaska trip. Very nice comfortable wooden lounge chairs on deck and all had a nice warm deck blanket rolled up on them, for our use. Sophisticated? no, but an example of that little extra service on Celebrity.

 

After two on each line I still don't know if one is better than the other but am sure having fun doing the testing..............:D

[Leela]

catmand, that's interesting about Princess and "Anytime Dining." The last Princess cruise I took was 9 years ago, and back then they had the waiters singing every night depending on the meal's theme, and of course there was the whole Baked Alaska escapade. Hubby and I found it cringe-inducing every night, and toward the end of the cruise he would want to leave before the singing started but I would want to stay for dessert (this was on the old Star Princess in Alaska). Part of how I was able to lure him back to cruising again was a promise that the waiters on Celebrity didn't sing like on Princess! :rolleyes:

 

Well, now that I know that they're not singing on Princess anymore, perhaps I'll check out a Princess cruise. They've got some great itineraries, that's for sure. A Princess cruise would be the only way I'd ever get my mom to see any of Asia....

 

Thanks for the tip! (That's why I read these boards, after all.)

[Cathy Maneri]

I have only cruise Royal Caribbean and Celebrity so far and I have never had a bad Celebrity cruise. They are very consistent on every ship I have been on. I'm sorry I can't say that for Royal Caribbean. I guess I like consistency and knowing what to expect when I cruise on a particular line (it's like going to the same restaurant and knowing the food and service will always be good).

 

When I walk onto a Celebrity ship, I know I'm in for a nice relaxing, refined cruise.

 

The food, service and ambiance is what I am looking for and I feel it's a great cruise line for the modest consumer.

 

It's all a matter of what you want out of your cruise experience.

 

All you can do is try different cruise lines on the same type ship and compare for yourself.

[dmellis]

It's stunning what the various cruise lines can do with so little per day but, frankly, when you can cruise for not much more than $100-125 a day (even on X), there isn't a lot of cash to go around, when you think about it. They have to pay for the ship, fuel, all that staff and other expenses, too. It's astounding to me what a good value cruise vacations are.

They must make all there money on booze, high rollers in the casino and the big dogs in the suite's

[Casey12]

I wonder how many of you who praise Celebrity so much have sailed other lines in the last 5 years? Announcements on Princess. There were twice as many announcements on my last Celebrity cruise than any of my Princess cruises the past several years.

 

Dancing waiters every night on Princess?? I have seen this on Carnival but only see this one night on Princess and that is only if you have traditional dining. Anytime diners do not have the Baked Alaska parade. If you want tacky dancers, try Royal Caribbean.

 

On Princess, there is high tea every day. Last time I sailed with Princess, I was handed champaigne after checking into my minisuite.

 

The loyalty return perks on Princess definitely outnumber the return perks on Celebrity. On Princess, I am elite and get a complimentary minibar setup in my cabin, canapes sent to my room on formal nights regardless of what type of room I book, free laundry and dry cleaning, free internet.

 

The level of sophestication on Princess lately seems to beat Celebrity for me.

 

By the way - does anyone else find the sorbet parade annoying? People rushing up to get small amounts of sorbet on pool days? One would think they were handing out hundred dollar bills.

[caviargal]

I wonder how many of you who praise Celebrity so much have sailed other lines in the last 5 years? Announcements on Princess. There were twice as many announcements on my last Celebrity cruise than any of my Princess cruises the past several years.

 

Dancing waiters every night on Princess?? I have seen this on Carnival but only see this one night on Princess and that is only if you have traditional dining. Anytime diners do not have the Baked Alaska parade. If you want tacky dancers, try Royal Caribbean.

 

The loyalty return perks on Princess definitely outnumber the return perks on Celebrity. On Princess, I am elite and get a complimentary minibar setup in my cabin, canapes sent to my room on formal nights regardless of what type of room I book, free laundry and dry cleaning, free internet.

 

The level of sophestication on Princess lately seems to beat Celebrity for me.

 

 

I have not sailed with Princess since 1993 but quite honestly did not enjoy it enough to go back. I found the staff stuff and the food not to my liking. Most disconcerting of all was being chased down the hall when vacating our room by a room steward loudly and rudely commenting on being "stiffed". I immediately turned around and went back to the cabin, him in tow, and located the envelope, which had apparently fallen under the bed when he was changing the sheets. I reported the incident to Princess. Quite frankly, even had I stiffed him, which I have never even considered on a cruise no matter how mediocre the service, his lack of professionalism had no excuse.

 

I did not notice any dancing or singing on my two most recent RCI cruises, Serenade or Vision, except for the last night. I did not find in intrusive.

 

On a recent Carnival cruise, it was highly annoying to have announcements, dancing and singing in the evenings at dinner.

 

I quite enjoy my Diamond Plus perks on RCI: Concierge Club access, canapes and/or chocolate covered strawberries in the stateroom each day, along with other little gifts and notes; a private bridge tour, free internet minutes, free formal photos, cocktail receptions, etc.

 

It is has been three years since my Inifinity cruise so I am anxious to re-experience Celebrity in October.

[canderson]

Last time I sailed with Princess, I was handed champaigne after checking into my minisuite.

It's handed to all Celebrity cruisers as they board. A bottle comes in the room, even at the cabin class below suites.

 

That's not really the point, though. It's not that any of these things are unique. It's that they're not typically available in combination. Our most recent non-Celebrity cruise was NCL. No comparison on any of these counts. Haven't tried Princess.

 

If your Princess cruise had 1/2 the announcements of your Celebrity cruise, and since there are only 2 a day on Celebrity (unless there's something majorly wrong!), one assumes that they either don't tell you when the ship has cleared port customs, or you don't get the two minute noon position report.

 

Please elaborate.

[AFT_LOVER]

gets you all the goodies that were standard with suites when we cruised Princess. Butlers, FREE mini bar, slippers with robes, free laundry, free dry cleaning, free internet, then Carnival showed up & away went Butlers, slippers, mini bars unless you've cruised 16 times +, and the freebies. The rudeness of them to us, no A/C on med cruise in our mini suite & no other stateroom for us. Refusal to fly us home with total refund. SO I slept in the lobby with my DH which got them working on the Golden. Then I wanted my deposit refunded after a year of no further cruises. They refused saying it was over a year yet the deposit is good for 4 years? So AMEX charged them back & credited me the $200.

 

So Bye Bye Princess!!!!!

[Tatka]

On my both sailing with Celebrity I was really really impressed with dining experience. We can argue about quality of food (which was very fine), but the service was most professional on both Century and Mercury.

 

I was also very surprised and satisfied with the way Celebrity resolved our booking (sleeping) issues. We (and it was completely my fault) booked! inside cabin for 3, which was really for two (I didn't book cabin for 3 with bunk beds). They offered us a room for 3 on completely sold cruise and we decided that roll bed was fine as our kid was returning to our cabin when we were sleeping anyway. We decided not to switch to higher deck... They still sent us shampagne and candy! My husband joined us only for the second cruise on X and he was very impressed!!!!

[mikeyandy]

boring old fart

 

they do it and its fun, thats what cruises are about.andrew of London

[mikeyandy]

big old grump, you said it

 

you got a tumour on your humour????

 

andrew of London

[Schplinky]

big old grump, you said it

 

you got a tumour on your humour????

 

andrew of London

 

Are you agreeing with yourself?

[flashdog_1]

The newer innovations of dining choices on Princess and NCL can be read about in various reviews on these boards (Personal Choice Dining, Any Time Dining and Freestyle Dining are the names i remember, so maybe there are 3 that offer it now). It is certainly a way to avoid the baked Alaska parade if that is offensive to you.

 

On Celebrity M class ships you may eat up until 8 at the Aqua Spa Cafe without dressing up, at the buffet location for casual dining boulevard without dressing up, or of course, use room service, and later pizza etc., so there are ways to avoid the baked Alaska parade even there. And if your ship is in port until 9 p.m., you can eat ashore (have crab legs which aren't served on the ship).

 

Hate to tell you, but they sang Auld Lang Syne on the same night as Baked Alaska.

 

Personally, and only my own life choice, I do not like any hoopla like party games, baked Alaska parade, bingo, casino or other noisy "forced participation" activities (got partied out by the time I was a junior in college), but if I am in a position where I must endure any of them, I do. The Baked Alaska parade is the only one I have had to endure. The others I can easily avoid by not going to the outdoor pool or lounge when the games or bingo are scheduled. But I like interacting with my table mates more than I dislike the parade, so I endure the Baked Alaska parade without comment or making a face, even. ha

 

But I read the boards for other cruiselines and hear people really eat up some of the activities that turn me cold. There was probably a time in my life that I would have chosen livelier activities, but not in my 60s now.

 

That's what is so nice about cruising. You pick the line that gives you the most chances to have the kinds of activities you want, and then select the ones offered that suit your lifestyle. We'd never have a total concensus on ANY ship about what activities to have or not to have. You make the choice and be happy with the choice.

[Schplinky]

It's not a phobia of Baked Alaska. I simply find the tradition silly. I wouldn't consider switching lines over it or excusing myself from the dining room in order to avoid it.

[operafan]

gets you all the goodies that were standard with suites when we cruised Princess. Butlers, FREE mini bar, slippers with robes, free laundry, free dry cleaning, free internet, then Carnival showed up & away went Butlers, slippers, mini bars unless you've cruised 16 times +, and the freebies. The rudeness of them to us, no A/C on med cruise in our mini suite & no other stateroom for us. Refusal to fly us home with total refund. SO I slept in the lobby with my DH which got them working on the Golden. Then I wanted my deposit refunded after a year of no further cruises. They refused saying it was over a year yet the deposit is good for 4 years? So AMEX charged them back & credited me the $200.

 

So Bye Bye Princess!!!!!

 

We were on the Grand last December and it was the most rotten cruise experience we've ever had. Horrendous food, horrible service and the kicker..........No a/c in ANY of the cabins on a Mexico cruise when it was 2000 degrees out. We were lucky, we had a balcony and could open the door, but others roasted the whole week. Never, never again on Princess. Vicki

[jsea]

It's not a phobia of Baked Alaska. I simply find the tradition silly.

Me too. I don't understand the point of parading around the dining room with platters of desert perched high on waiters' hands. Oh, wait, yes I do. It's to make you feel all gushy that the cruise is coming to an end and instill a giving streak in you for tips.

 

In all seriousness, I still don't like the tradition. It's so true that the only other time you see human beings so excited about dessert is at a child's birthday party. Maybe if I photographed the buffets I would understand.

 

Just finished a Princess cruise with Anytime Dining... no parade! But lots and lots of obnoxious bingo announcements. Shield my delicate ears. :D

[jsea]

...No a/c in ANY of the cabins on a Mexico cruise when it was 2000 degrees out. We were lucky, we had a balcony and could open the door, but others roasted the whole week. Never, never again on Princess.

What compensation did Princess offer for the inconvenience? [sorry to stray off topic.]

[operafan]

What compensation did Princess offer for the inconvenience? [sorry to stray off topic.]

 

Surely you jest! Complaints fell on deaf ears. I think no a/c was the least of their problems....... Anyhoot, to get back on topic............Are we still discussing the goofy dessert parade or are we back to why Celebrity is soooooooooooo much better than most other lines? For us, it's just the total package. Big things like food and service and small things like cold towels after port stops and champagne and an escort to your cabin when you board. I especially appreciate the lack of things like "the ugliest guy in the world" contest or a "drink until ya drop" extravaganza. (Ok, strike the last one, we love the champagne bar. Martini Bar too............. :) Vicki