RCCL cruisers looking at X

[bouhunter]

Hey everyone. We have cruised Royal Caribbean for the past 10 years - Independence, Navigator, Adventure, Brilliance and Jewel. Loved them all. We are seriously considering Reflection for next winter. Please advise why we'll like trying Celebrity!!:) We would book a regular balcony room, same as all our RCCL cruises. We are mostly into the ports and quality time on the ship, not into all the bells and whistlels that RCCL offers such as flowrider, ziplines, etc. We may make this decision in the next day or two and it would involve cancelling an RCCL reservation. I value any and all comments to share with the family!!

Edited September 5, 2014 by bouhunter

[AJB1970]

Hi

 

We've cruised with RCCL previously and on one of the biggest ships they have (Independence), but we've also cruised the Serenade too...we do like RCCL but as you say there are lots of bells and whistles with flowriders etc...

 

If I were to try and sell X to you, it would be by saying that their ships (and we've only cruised on reflection at the mo, but about to go on solstice in January, so it's limited experience here); but they seem geared towards adults (but do have kids clubs etc) and are classier in design than the RCCL ships. The whole experience did seem more 5* and it felt luxurious. The reflection was a truly gorgeous ship and I would happily cruise on her again. I only hope that after travelling 27 hours to Australia, solstice holds the same magic as reflection.

 

Hope I've helped with my limited experience....

 

Amanda

 

 

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[JanineM]

We used to sail with RCCL & now sail Celebrity. We prefer Celebrity because:

- it's a more 'sedate' experience - no pool games, no dancing waiters

- we don't use the Flowrider or ice rink - although I do miss mini golf!

- lack of announcements on loudspeakers

- the smoking policy! No smoking ANYWHERE inside (including casino)

[BobbyD]

We cruised on Celebrity last March for the first time, after only cruising RCI and CCL. Silhouette was a beautiful ship and it was a wonderful cruise. Definitely more "adult" than either Royal or Carnival in its passenger makeup but not too senior. We loved the experience and will cruise them again! Go for it!

[bouhunter]

Thanks for the feedback so far! Our daughter will be cruising with us, she's 17 and very mature I'm sure she'd love it. One question she would have, do they play "trivia" on one of the lounges each day or night? She is a whiz at it and looks forward to it every day on Royal Caribbean:)

[Queen of Oakville]

all of these responses are making me all the more excited for our first X sailing :D

[wallie5446]

We first sailed RCCL in 1990, the Freedom in 2011 we are Emerald in C&A. First sailed Celebrity in 1994, the Reflection Nov 2013, we will reach the Elite level in CC on our Equinox cruise in Nov. Our DD worked on ship for Royal. 7 diff lines over the years. Celebrity is our line of first choice because of, "quality time on the ship"' when the vacation dates are in line with a sailing we like.

 

Oh, our DD was on that 1994 cruise at 12 yrs old, and her first Royal was on the Grandure in 1998.

Edited September 5, 2014 by wallie5446

[greydog]

Thanks for the feedback so far! Our daughter will be cruising with us, she's 17 and very mature I'm sure she'd love it. One question she would have, do they play "trivia" on one of the lounges each day or night? She is a whiz at it and looks forward to it every day on Royal Caribbean:)

 

If you pull trigger for X, sign in with your 'roll call' to meet others sailing with you. Ship may have organized games, but maybe others than Trivia too. On your 'roll call' you can see if others are interested in Trivia and arrange your own games as fall-back. Ship likely will lend you trivia and maybe provide a host if you make a request and have a good size group interested. Good Luck

[JanineM]

There are plenty of Trivia games - sea days, port days, evenings. There is also a teen club where she may make some new friends.

[drarill]

We first sailed RCCL in 1990, the Freedom in 2011 we are Emerald in C&A. First sailed Celebrity in 1994, the Reflection Nov 2013, we will reach the Elite level in CC on our Equinox cruise in Nov. Our DD worked on ship for Royal. 7 diff lines over the years. Celebrity is our line of first choice because of, "quality time on the ship"' when the vacation dates are in line with a sailing we like.

 

 

 

Oh, our DD was on that 1994 cruise at 12 yrs old, and her first Royal was on the Grandure in 1998.

 

 

We are D+ C&A members and love Celebrity! Even our teenage children prefer to cruise with them. We like the food, smoking policy and overall experience. Going back to Royal to celebrate NYE, hope I don't regret not booking the Summit!! 😃

 

 

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[wallie5446]

We are D+ C&A members and love Celebrity! Even our teenage children prefer to cruise with them. We like the food, smoking policy and overall experience. Going back to Royal to celebrate NYE, hope I don't regret not booking the Summit!!

 

 

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We have no qualms about sailing on either one. BUT, there is just that 'something' about an S-Class ship and the quality that are hard to beat!

[PROCRUISE]

We're just the reverse of you having cruised with Celebrity several times and will again this December and also having just book a February cruise on The Allure, out first outing with RCCL. I'm guessing the RCCL experience will be like most other cruise lines we've been on although this ship is itself the cruise due to its size etc. One thing I can assure you, you'll most likely find Celebrity amazing, relaxing, and full of well traveled and very pleasant fellow passengers. Celebrity is our favorite, so go for it!! :)

[bouhunter]

Thanks everyone for the comments. Last night we booked Reflection for next winter. Need to call RCCL and cancel Serenade. We're excited to try something new after sticking with RCCL the past 10 years! :)

[wallie5446]

Thanks everyone for the comments. Last night we booked Reflection for next winter. Need to call RCCL and cancel Serenade. We're excited to try something new after sticking with RCCL the past 10 years! :)

 

Then that calls for a drink at the Martini bar!:D You will enjoy the Reflection.

[Banjo]

Hi

 

I only hope that after travelling 27 hours to Australia, solstice holds the same magic as reflection.

 

 

 

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I sailed on both the Solstice and Reflection, very similar. Reflection does have a few more passengers which I did not notice.

 

Enjoy your cruise, Banjo

[tnfcruise]

Now that you've made the Celebrity booking, my only advice is to get your Crown & Anchor points converted to the equivalent status in Captain's Club. Depending on number of RCI points you have, you could well be CC Elite status before stepping foot on an X ship!

 

 

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[bouhunter]

Now that you've made the Celebrity booking, my only advice is to get your Crown & Anchor points converted to the equivalent status in Captain's Club. Depending on number of RCI points you have, you could well be CC Elite status before stepping foot on an X ship!

 

 

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Thanks. We're RCCL Diamond and did call C&A first and got Captains Club numbers. I checked our Celebrity reservation online this morning and they're showing us as Elite:)

[DonnaK]

Enjoy your cruise!

 

We are also Royal Caribbean cruisers, but our last 2 sailings have been with Celebrity, and we totally loved the experience. (and we were on the Summit, an older and smaller ship).

[spanner14]

So glad I found this thread while browsing! We're 1 point away from being Platinum with Royal, but for next summer they don't have the European itinerary I want. However, Constellation does.

 

We loved our cruises on FOS and Indy but now that dd is an older teenager she is not bothered about flowrider/rock wall/ice rink. We just want comfort, good food, a theatre, and nice pools. If we love Royal, will we like Celebrity?

 

Thank you in advance. :)

[wallie5446]

So glad I found this thread while browsing! We're 1 point away from being Platinum with Royal, but for next summer they don't have the European itinerary I want. However, Constellation does.

 

We loved our cruises on FOS and Indy but now that dd is an older teenager she is not bothered about flowrider/rock wall/ice rink. We just want comfort, good food, a theatre, and nice pools. If we love Royal, will we like Celebrity?

 

Thank you in advance. :)

 

If you love Royal, you wont want to get off Celebrity!:D

 

We are Platinum in C&A, and our upcoming cruise on the Equinox will give us our 300 points in Capt Club to reach Elite.

[TravelerThom]

I have sailed both lines a number of times (enough to be both D+ and E+). While the perks are not the same, I am hard pressed to say which program has the better overall perks - however I assume that you know that Celebrity does NOT offer a balcony discount to Captain's Club members.

 

IMO one of the biggest differences between X and RCI is that RCI does a much better job than X containing their noise (which some may call music) to appropriate venues. I am utterly amazed that a "modern luxury" adult line insists on subjecting passengers with obnoxiously loud sound which is allegedly music in venues that are difficult to avoid. Every few months the management apologizes, promises to never do it again and things quiet down, but only to return louder than ever in a few weeks. For this reason I have thus far in 2014 had four RCI cruises (totaling six weeks) and ZERO X cruises - but I am doing a TransAtlantic on the X Equinox within the month. If it is as loud as some of the X cruises I have been on it may be my last Celebrity cruise. I have absolutely no problem with having loud music in a nightclub, but having music too loud to have a conversation in most areas of the ship is a deal breaker for me.

 

Thom

[spanner14]

If you love Royal, you wont want to get off Celebrity!:D

 

We are Platinum in C&A, and our upcoming cruise on the Equinox will give us our 300 points in Capt Club to reach Elite.

 

That's encouraging, thank you! :)

 

I did read some very mixed reviews of Constellation but I know you can't please everyone all of the time. I think I read that only Platinum and upwards get equivalent status on Celebrity but as we're only 1 point away from Platinum do you think it would be worth phoning the Captain's Club folks to book? We booked Indy via C&A and they were really helpful.

[wallie5446]

That's encouraging, thank you! :)

 

I did read some very mixed reviews of Constellation but I know you can't please everyone all of the time. I think I read that only Platinum and upwards get equivalent status on Celebrity but as we're only 1 point away from Platinum do you think it would be worth phoning the Captain's Club folks to book? We booked Indy via C&A and they were really helpful.

 

Call C&A first and have them get you set up in the Capt Club, then call the CC Loyality desk to book, just like you do thru C&A.

[spanner14]

Call C&A first and have them get you set up in the Capt Club, then call the CC Loyality desk to book, just like you do thru C&A.

 

Ah, thanks so much, that's great. :)

[xcell]

what's the benefit of booking with captain's club vs TA and just giving them your captain's club number?