Celebrity vs Crystal

[emptynest1]

I know this has been hashed out before, but the search wasn't functional and I can't find any discussions.

 

Who has been on both and can give me a fair comparison?

 

[ocngypz]

I have sailed with both. Not counting some of the heavily discounted Crystal sailings on Harmony starting at $1695 or so per person......IMHO Crystal does not warrant the upmarket pricing it charges for a product which is not that much stronger than Celebrity's... and is weaker than Radisson or Seabourn.

 

Now.. if there were a Crystal itinerary that you just had to do.. and it was not offered by another cruiseline... then you'd just have to reconcile yourself to the per diems.

 

That's my .02... I'm sure Kitty9 will chime in as well if she sees your post.

[gene624]

I like Celebrity but they are like Cadillac or Buick. Both good, but one better. Crystal is a lot more expensive. I also like Seabourn very much, but it, too is costly. Never tried Radisson, but want to soon.

Gene in Birmingham

[emptynest1]

Ocn, and Gene,

Thanks for the remarks. I appreciate your time.

 

I have been happy with our travel on Celebrity, can't see that Crystal could be that much better to be worth the extra fare.

 

[Randy in Arlington]

These kinds of comparisons are always subjective, of course, but here's my take on Crystal and Celebrity.

 

Crystal is a "niche" cruise line, positioned between the mass market lines and the upscale (Seabourn, Raddison, Silversea, etc.)lines. It has "large" ships by upscale standards and has two seatings for dinner, with assigned seatings, just like the mass market lines. But in terms of luxury and quality of food, drink, etc., it delivers a higher-end product than the mass market lines. Also, it's generally more expensive than the mass market lines, so you're hopefully getting what you pay for.

 

Celebrity is--or at least wishes to be--at the top of the mass market lines. Celebrity's main competitor is Princess (on which I've cruised as well, and enjoyed, for that matter), but I think, talking with some Celebrity folks over the years, Celebrity would like to "move up" in people's minds to where Crystal, and not Princess, was seen as its peer cruise line.

 

Again, just my take on it, but there you have it!

 

--Randy

[cruiseyguy]

I think you're right, Randy. Celebrity clearly has Crystal in its sights, helped along by the former Crystal executives who have moved over to Celebrity.

[JFontaine]

I have been on Crystal twice, Radisson once, and Celebrity about 15 times. There's no question in my mind - that if money was not an issue - I would choose either Crystal or Radisson - they both provide superior cruise experiences (partly because of the fact that their ships are half the size - and on all three of these cruises, they were about half full, or less). But the "bang-for-your-buck" analysis clearly favors Celebrity. That's why I continue to come back to the cruiseline.

[Randy in Arlington]

I agree with MLevine here. However, I would suggest you try Seabourn or Silversea sometime. Then Crystal will feel "mass market" by comparison!

 

Again, however, you're getting what you're paying for, and I definitely love Celebrity for the "bang-for-your-buck" analysis as others have said.

 

My other point is that from my perspective, Crystal is sort of the "hybrid" between the mass market lines and the upscale yachts. On the positive side, whle the ships are half the size of Celebrity's Century-class ships, they're still "big ships" with the amenities, space, activities, etc. On the small, luxury lines, there's not only high quality foodstuffs (caviar, foie gras, truffles, etc) and highly personalized service, single-seat open dining, etc., but a lot less going on on the ship. The passenger list, not surprisingly, skews pretty old too (and as someone who likes to go to bed before midnight most nights, that's not all bad, either!). We were on a Mediterranean cruise in the early 90s on one of the small, luxe ships: there were 93 passengers being taken care of by 108 crew! Lots of pampering, no lines, open bridge, everyone addressing you by name, etc. But also a very small casino, very little in the way of entertainment, a tiny plunge pool, no night life to speak of, etc. Crystal, on the other hand, has the amenities and "feel" of a mass market cruise line, just with luxury touches and a lot more passenger space.

 

--Randy

[DUCK33]

call me crazy but i did not particularlly care for crystal. everything was beautiful but i did not seem to have much in common with the other pax. thats all i will say as not to offend

[47bluejay]

There are so many things that remain in ones memories after a cruise. We loved our Crystal cruise, it was our first cruise. There was an excellent crew to passenger ratio. There was a feeling of personal service without having butlers or other dedicated servers. However, We spent a lot of money for that cruise.

 

We next took a Holland-America cruise. It was quickly apparent they weren't in the same league.

 

Next it was Millennium. We were impressed. Service was excellent (except for Guest Relations.) Afterwards we realized we could take two Celebrity cruises for the same price we would pay for one Crystal cruise. The small difference in personal attention compared to Crystal did not do as much for the ego as the satisfaction we get from looking at our bank balance when we returned.

 

Therefore, we are now booked for a back to back to back on Millennium this fall.

 

Roger and Jo Coffey in San Diego

3B'ing from Venice to FtL.

[sueclark]

I'm surprised I haven't seen any comments about the cabins on this thread. For us, the cabin and service are the primary factor when choosing a cruise. So far we have chosen Celebrity.

 

Let's look at a two week cruise: for about $10,000 on Celebrity we get a Royal Suite, including Butler service and all the special attention given to the ships top passengers. For the same money on Crystal, we would get a nice verandah cabin... they too only give the special attention and Butlers to the top passengers.

 

Sue

sueclark@aol.com

 

Constellation Transatlantic 9/7/04

 

Infinity Panama Canal 4/17/05

[cechase]

Sue, I really agree with your comments. Before taking an eight day cruise on Mercury in March of this year, I did quite abit of research of the various lines including the luxury lines. For probably on half of what we would pay on the luxury lines, we had a Royal Suite (which we loved!) and a butler, and had a wonderful experience.

 

We are leaving for Fort Lauderdale tomorrow morning for a seven day cruise on Century, and have once again a Royal Suite and a butler, and will have the experience that a pax would only get if they book one of the very expensive cabins on a ultra luxury line. This one is a birthday present for my dear lady friend! The whole cost is well less than $6,000.00, including air fare, hotel, and transfers.

 

Charlie

 

Mercury 3/13/2004

Century 5/22/2004

[kitty9]

As I've written previously, I was very impressed by my Summit experience last January. I was not at all expecting the kind of service I received and that the Normandie would be as fantastic as it was. But that said, there are numerous small things that are done on Crystal that Celebrity cannot provide. While the main dining room food on the Summit was quite good, you would have to dine in the Normandie every night to get the kind of food and service you receive every night in the main dining room on Crystal. The food in the buffet on the Summit was nice and varied, and the grill area with the pizza and burgers was excellent, but I just don't think it compares with the casual dining options on Crystal. There are three areas on the Serenity where you can get casual food and it's excellent all around with selections like veggie burgers, wraps, grilled salmon, and menu selections from Wolfgang Puck---and all that from just the two poolside grills. They have what they call the Grand Gala Buffet that's an absolute delight with all the huge shrimp, lobster, crab, prime rib you can eat---and then there are the desserts that are extraordinary.

 

Then you have some of the little touches that Crystal provides that the larger lines cannot. One evening, a group of us joked with our head waiter that we would love a Hungarian dinner. Two days later we all received an invitation to a special lunch, prepared just for the 8 of us, of old fashioned Hungarian food. It was fantastic. I don't think you'd see that on any mass market line. On Easter morning, the captain turned the ship completely around so that the sun would shine into the Palm Court for Easter sunrise services. When we got back to our rooms after breakfast, there were specially prepared Easter treats consisting of Cadbury bunnies, dyed eggs, chocolate creme eggs and jelly beans. On the world cruise every year, there's a ship's Olympics complete with opening ceremonies and a parade of nations. Since we were in the middle of crossing the Atlantic, it was a bit windy and we didn't know if the ceremonies could be held. Again, the captain turned the ship in a different direction so that the deck was sheltered from the wind. On another cruise, the captain lowered the lifeboats so passengers could get a closer look at a large pod of whale. As for shore excursions, because the number of passengers is lower, Crystal can have smaller tour groups, which is much nicer. Plus, their shore excursions are something else, like providing the opportunity to fly in a Russian MIG jet on a stop in St. Petersburg, or overnight trips to Moscow.

 

Crystal's smaller size can provide the little attention to detail that the larger ships cannot. I know that those "little things" might not mean much to most people, but it's what people come to expect from Crystal. Yes, you do get a bang for the buck on Celebrity, but you also don't get a lot of other things that Crystal provides. Celebrity is the best there is in the mass market arena, and if it continues to stay the course, it will remain heads above all the other mass markets. But because of sheer numbers alone, it just cannot provide everything a Crystal cruise does.

 

Darcie

[olderpilot]

Interesting points have been made.

 

We have just signed up for our first Celebrity cruise and and are looking forward to it. We have sailed several times on HAL and Princess and once on Crystal.

 

My wife and I did not find the meals on Crystal any better than on HAL- in fact the menu actually had fewer options than HAL. The service was better on Crystal - mainly because the waiters had one less table to serve.We were on a 10 or 12 day Med cruise on the Symphony.

We also thought the choices in the Lido were much inferior to what HAL offered.

 

Basically we found the difference to be 30% less passengers on a similar sized ship - but you pay 30% more for the privilege. The biggest thing you notice is that all the facilities are uncrowded which is very nice of course. Cabins are about the same size. Service no better or worse.

 

Our bottom line was that we couldn't justify the extra cost. We can take 3 cruises on HAL, Celebrity, or Princess for every two cruises on Celebrity.

 

Jerry

 

 

 

 

[Richard Stein]

Celebrity is a poor man's Crystal. The food in the main dining room is almost as good. The price is half, but Crystal has superior service and is something you should do for a special occasion.

 

Horizon, 9/5/04, Sapphire Princess, 6/13/004 ?

Zuiderdam-2003, Constellation -2003, Infinity-2002, Vision of the Seas-2002,

Mercury-2001, Norwegian Sky-2000, Horizon-2000, Ryndam-1999, Grand Princess-1999, Westerdam-1998, Grand Princess-1998, Oriania-1997

1985-1996-3-HAL, 1-RCCL, 2-NCL, 11-Princess, 1-Royal, 1-Cunard

[marco]

Echoing several thoughts already presented. Yes, Crystal is "nicer", but....it's say, 15% nicer for 40% more $$$$. Reducing the number of catagories of cruise ships, I would would have to say Crystal is at the top of the list of the "regular" cruise lines. It has more similarities than differences with "X", Princess and HAL, and more differences than siliarities with Seaborne, Silverea, Radison. (Of these the only one we have NOT been on is Seaborne) As for size and # of passengers, that is a plus for Crystal, and that is why we prefer the Horizon and Zenith over the Millenium class ships when sailing on "X". I think once Horizon and Zenith come back from being refurbished, balconied, concierge classed, blah, blah, blah, they will be quite the contenders with the Crystal ships. Having been on over 100 sailings, and maybe 30-35 ships over the years, we've seen and experienced just about everything available.

[Lois R]

Marco, I would like to compliment you after reading your post.

It was to the point, without being snobby, (in my opinion).

Sometimes it is so hard to "read tone" on a message board...even when reading "between the lines" and I appreciate how your post came across.

Thank you.

 

Next up...HORIZON Sept 18th to Bermuda!

 

See My Century and Mercury Pictures at:

http://community.webshots.com/user/lovescruising

[Ma Bell]

I just must say that I've stayed in suites including the Penthouse Suite on M-Class ships as well as regular balcony cabins, but I never considered that paying more for accommodations makes one a "top passenger". I usually have no idea what kind of accomodations people have.

[Randyk47]

I agree fully with Marco. Seems to me that 10 years ago Crystal had really set themselves aside from the "upscale" mass cruiselines like X and HAL. I remember my TA pushing us to take a Crystal cruise, that there was no comparison. Had to agree at the time.....the per diem costs were (and still are) much higher on Crystal and that was the comparison then and now that got my attention. There were a few even more exclusive/expensive lines out there like Seabourne. It also seems to me that Crystal has come back, closer to X and HAL, in terms of service and quality while the truly expensive lines have drawn away. I know that a couple of weeks ago I received an email ad from Seabourne and, since the weather was lousy, spent several hours comparing cruises. I used our upcoming Galaxy 12 day Panama Canal cruise in an RS as my baseline and try as I might it was double for basically the same cruise on Crystal and triple for Seabourne. As much as I'd love to try Crystal or Seabourne I just can't bring myself believe, and certainly can't convince my DW, that there's a $1,000 per day difference in the quality of an X cruise versus a Seabourne cruise.

 

Until Galaxy

[Giorgi-one]

Don't try to justify the cost difference between Celebrity, Crystal and Seabourn. Upscale cruise lines exist for the same reason as Multi Million dollar homes and $100,000 cars.

 

"RICH PEOPLE HAVE TO HAVE SOMETHING TO SPEND THEIR MONEY ON. IF THEY BOUGHT THE SAME THINGS THAT WE DID, WHAT WOULD BE THE POINT OF BEING RICH?"

 

Note that this is not meant to be derogatory. I would much prefer to be rich and spend my money on mansions, expensive cars and upscale cruises.

[cruiseyguy]

This has been an interesting thread and has brought to the fore the many incremental improvements Celebrity has made over the last couple of years while Crystal has essentially maintained its status quo. Ship size is still a problem for Celebrity--it's very hard/impossible to provide Crystal-like personal service to nearly 2,000 people. However, the rebuilt Horizon and Zenith may give Celebrity the opportunity to close that gap.

[Randyk47]

Good comment on the size consideration Cruiseguy. In all honesty we've only cruised with HAL and our Galaxy cruise next year will be our first with Celebrity. Actually brought on by two things. One, our last HAL experience was OK but not up to our previous cruises. In my mind it was due partially to the cut back in HAL's service level and partially due to the size of HAL's Vista class ships. In this case, bigger was not better. Second, Galaxy is sailing out of Galveston and we can drive to the port and save a bunch on airfare. (Which, of course, we applied to a much better cabin.) Cruiseguy's comment makes me wonder if we're expecting too much as Galaxy is about the same size as the Oosterdam and we much preferred the smaller Ryndam (HAL "S" class)which I've always considered roughly equivalent to the Horizon and Zenith.

 

Until Galaxy

 

 

[JFontaine]

Here's an example of how Crystal and Celebrity handled a similar problem:

 

Crystal - I'm single, in my 40's, assigned to a the singles table for dinner. On this sailing the singles table was comprised of the gentlemen hosts (in their 70s), and single women who I refer to as super-seniors (80s and 90s). These people were lovely, but I didn't belong there, and Crystal should not have put me at that table. After dinner I approached the restaurant manager - who said that he noticed the problem (was he going to approach me? what if I was too shy to ask for a change of tables?). The next night he put me at a table of married folks in their 50s, hosted by an officer. We had a great time. The restaurant manager came by the first couple of nights to catch my eye and make sure everything was fine.

 

Celebrity - with my brother. Arrive at dinner the first night - all the seats at our assigned table were taken. Assistant Restaurant Manager assures me that the table (set for 6) would be reset for 8 the following night - and we were given a table for two. Next night - same thing happened. I asked to speak to the Restaurant Manager - and was told that he was in a meeting. Third night - happened again!! Was assigned to our third table for two. Again asked to speak to the Restaurant Manager - was told he was too busy - although he was standing nearby. Gave up and had dinner alone with my brother the rest of the cruise. Restaurant Manager clearly knew that I wanted to speak to him - and only approached me when he noticed that I was the Captain's guest on the sixth night. By then - too late.

 

This is just an example how both lines could mess something up - but one line was better at fixing it.

[marco]

Thank you , Lois. Ya' know......I've always wondered too, after reading a post what the inflection and tone and intent of the writer was. Sometimes I'll read something one way, than another and it puts a little different twist on the subject. SOme people may mean to use satire, comedy, critisizm, lambasting, or what ever and as the reader, you just don't know how this person is trying to come across. So, instead of blasting or flaming someone, ask them what their intention was! At any rate....have you been to Bermuda or on the Horizon before. Bermuda is my favorite island. We've been there maybe 14 times now, over the past 25-30 years. Once we flew, all other times by ship. Last time was on the Zenith. Last cruise for us was the Horizon out of Tampa and next month QM2 trans-At. (Ya, I LOVE ships) Oh, by the way, one of the above posts kind of eluded to the socio-economic demographics of specific lines, well..QM2 rates are approx $1500 pp to $28,000 (that's not a typo!!!) pp for the sailing. That's going to attract a pretty broad mix, don't you think?

[Lois R]

Marco, this will be my first time on the Horizon and my first time in Bermuda as well

 

I am really looking forward to the entire week!

I know the ship for this cruise is more like a "floating hotel" because she is in port for a much longer length of time. But that is ok with me . I enjoy the ports but the ship is "the thing" for me! After sailing the Century twice and then the Mercury I also know this is going to be a smaller venue (which I really enjoy).

My TA recommended the "Dolphin Quest" for an excursion. I have never done any dolphin things...even when I was in the Caribbean, I never chose those particular excursions. So, this will be really fun as well!

 

And when you were talking about the $$ for the QMII....it is funny...well not really funny, but it makes you think, yes....there are things in this life (right now for me) that I will never be able to afford.

A Crystal, Seabourne, Radisson, whatever "Luxury Lines" offer. I know there have been folks on here who have told me the single supplements on those lines are quite low. The thing for me is, they might be low, but the actual price is more than I can afford.

Make sense? The supplement plays no part for me...because the bottom $$ is out of my league.

 

Celebrity offers me a fantastic experience and I thank my lucky stars I am able to sail them.

 

Next up...HORIZON Sept 18th to Bermuda!

 

See My Century and Mercury Pictures at:

http://community.webshots.com/user/lovescruising