Anyone sailed Celebrity?

[DolphinWatcher]

Hi. We've sailed with p&o for the last 6 years or so but a bit underwhelmed by next year's itineraries as we've done most of the ports and have seen a great one on Celebrity Eclipse that we are considering. Have any of you p&o regulars sailed with Celebrity and could give me some pointers on plus and minus features compared to p&o?

 

Many thanks for your help.

Edited March 29, 2015 by DolphinWatcher

[kruzseeka]

Hi. We've sailed with p&o for the last 6 years or so but a bit underwhelmed by next year's itineraries as we've done most of the ports and have seen a great one on Celebrity Eclipse that we are considering. Have any of you p&o regulars sailed with Celebrity and could give me some pointers on plus and minus features compared to p&o?

 

Many thanks for your help.

 

Sailed on Infinity and really rated much about Celebrity. We liked the ship although it's one of their older ones and we heard regulars complaining! Food excellent (better than P&O though we've been happy with the standard of P&O), staff rather more friendly and less impersonal than on P&O we found but entertainment was poor imo and drinks prices and tips far more expensive. The passenger demographic was different - much more international with only about 30% Brits even though it was a Norway/Iceland cruise. But I'd be happy to travel with either for the right itinerary and price.

[DolphinWatcher]

Thanks for the balanced feedback. Very helpful. If anyone has experience particularly of the kids clubs I'd love to hear about that as can't fault P&O on that and I hear they are probably the best & I don't want 3 grumpy smaller people!!

[Presto2]

Hi. We've sailed with p&o for the last 6 years or so but a bit underwhelmed by next year's itineraries as we've done most of the ports and have seen a great one on Celebrity Eclipse that we are considering. Have any of you p&o regulars sailed with Celebrity and could give me some pointers on plus and minus features compared to p&o?

 

Many thanks for your help.

 

Hi

 

Have done P&O twice on Oceana and Celebrity Silhouette 3 times.

We sailed on Celebrity the 2nd and 3rd time as we liked the itineraries better too.

 

Plus side for Celebrity compared to the only other P&O ship we have sailed on, Oceana:

 

The Celebrity Silhouette / Solstice class are stunning and very modern

The select dining venues like Qsine are a 'must do'

The bathrooms are great - loads of space / great showers

The aft cabins are amazing

The staff are great and always telling you to 'Have a nice day!' ;-)

The itineraries were amazing - fly cruising to the Eastern Med.

A generally quiet atmosphere compared to the likes of RCI when we went but I think this has changed

NO big screens - yeah!

The Martini Bar if you enjoy cocktails

The Sunset Bar is a stunning place to relax and the natural grass area by it the same

The Solarium area is great for adults only

The cabins are bigger / more modern / glass balconies compared to older P&O ships

More space on deck on a sea day -- well sort of, we get up late so never seem to find a space on any ship - not the ship's issue

A real mix of different nationalities - though this may be less so on the Eclipse

The buffet restaurant is FAR better than on P&O Oceana - a different league

Formal nights are less formal (if that suits you) but most dress up in a suit of some kind

 

What P&O does better - this is comparing Oceana:

Much more formal for 'the' occasion on formal nights - we enjoy this atmosphere - not too stuffy though!

Drinks are FAR cheaper - no additional gratuities and you can take as much wine on the ship at any port as you wish.

The select dining on this ship is less expensive - £8 per head compared to £50

The atmosphere at sailaways is better

The food for us is better - meals are smaller and tastier - on Celebrity the meals where huge and not particularly that impressive. More isn't better!

Great if you want a British atmosphere and British entertainment - we don't particularly bother re shows but this is what most say ????

Tea and coffee making facilities and biscuits twice a day

Excursions are far cheaper and the same quality

The Oceana still had friendly feel to it and the atrium area is stunning

 

If we saw the same itinerary on the 2 ships we would be torn as we love both ships (Solstice and Oceana). Love both cruise lines - they are both different and wouldn't say we'd had a bad holiday on any.

 

Then again we are the sort that make the most of every moment on any holiday, do our research and know what to expect. E.g. we're going on Britannia and know that it is a big ship with small balconies :D PS We are sailing the same time as you in July to the Canary Islands. ;-) We're going on the 25th though so will now check that we have the right day :-D

 

Any more questions just ask

Edited March 29, 2015 by Presto2

[Presto2]

Thanks for the balanced feedback. Very helpful. If anyone has experience particularly of the kids clubs I'd love to hear about that as can't fault P&O on that and I hear they are probably the best & I don't want 3 grumpy smaller people!!

 

We met people with little ones on Celebrity as we have to travel in the school holidays - their kids seemed to have a great time. :)

[Thejuggler]

We also did the Celebrity trip to Iceland and Norway and it was the best cruise we have done. Eclipse is large, but there is plenty of public space, lots of quiet corners and a great crowsnest bar. Anytime dining worked really well and they seat you in the same area so you get to know your waiters.

 

On board talks to fill seadays were excellent, the Australian 'Patrick Moore' who gave talks about the destinations, how they were formed, what natural features to see etc. Senior crew also did presentations about how the ship and company operates. The navigator talk was brilliant and we saw the Captain almost every day and had a chat.

 

The only downside was the presence of Bobby Davro who opened his 'act' with a deeply offensive and racist joke more suited to Bernard Manning than an audience from all corners of the globe.

 

We only went to one specialist restaurant, Qsine, where you order from ipads, but we quickly realised most of the dishes were rehashed buffet food! Service was very slow and after we complained they dropped all charges, including the wine. The buffet is however top notch with world food at different stations. It is more a food court than a buffet. Wine is quite expensive, but you can order the bar house wine in restaurants which is excellent value.

 

Our daughter went to the kids club, but she isn't really a club person so can't say how good it was. There is a small amusement arcade and table tennis for children. They also do animation classes, egg drop competitions etc all good for children to get involved in.

 

I'm currently price watching Baltic trips with Princess and Celebrity, but I would much prefer to go with Celebrity.

Edited March 29, 2015 by Thejuggler

[DolphinWatcher]

Thank you all, I sincerely appreciate your views & this has been really helpful for me.

Presto2 you are absolutely right it is the 25th. I'll check my countdown. Hopefully see you on board!

[terrierjohn]

DW, if you have enjoyed P&O then I think you would really enjoy Eclipse. In our opinion Celebrity has better food, better service, much better cleanliness and Eclipse is a far better ship than P&O had before Britannia, and probably better than that.

Eclipse entertainment venues not as many nor quite as varied as P&O, and gratuities, drinks, shuttles and shore excursion are more expensive.

But we rate Eclipse as our current favourite cruise ship.

[Floflegs]

We have done 3 cruises on Celebrity but only on their older ships, Constellation and infinity. We go on P and O in 3 weeks for the first time so it will be interesting to compare. We book our cruises based on itinerary not the line.

[bee-ess]

We prefer Celebrity for all the reasons stated above. We have been on Summit, Solstice and Eclipse and all have been superb. Seems a notch above P&O.

 

One tip - if you book, wait until they do the offer for free drinks package which I think was about this time of year last year - it will save you a lot as drinks and wine are expensive. I think the offer was called 3-2-1.

[kruzgal]

We have sailed Celebrity many times...but not P&O yet, so I can't compare but some of the things we liked on Celebrity are -

- there tends to be quite a mix of nationalities, even when sailing from Southampton, as opposed to P&O which apparently has a very British style.

- we like the food, again less British and more International in style.

- where will the cruise you have seen be sailing from? If it is from Southampton then I think your children will enjoy the kids club as there will be plenty of other British children for them to mix with. The Eclipse doesn't have golf courses, rock climbing etc like Royal Caribbean so the club tends to be more activity based - scavenger hunts, arts & crafts, sports etc.

- Everything on board is in dollars and people often see at as £ eg: it is stated above that the speciality dining costs £50 but it does not, it is is anywhere from $5 for the bistro up to around $50 or £33. I see a lot of people saying how expensive Celebrity is for drinks, restaurants etc. and P&O is certainly cheaper from what I have read, but sometimes I think the currency conversion makes it feel like even more. You can also pick up lots of offers onboard such as 2 for 1 in speciality dining, 25% off etc. if they are quiet.

 

 

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[Thejuggler]

We also prefer the ABP parking system Celebrity use at Southampton. Your car stays where you park it - no need to queue for valet parking. Vans are in the car park to pick up your luggage, you walk to the terminal.

 

There's also no need to queue to pick your key up when you disembark then spend more time trying to find your vehicle!

[Flo71]

We tried the Celebrity ship infinity summer 2013. The ship was showing some signs of wear, we had some plumbing issues with our toilet too but nothing too awful. We had a free drinks package and although we drink very little alcohol we did enjoy the soft drinks and coffees. The coffee shop was definitely a plus with Celebrity. I thought on the whole their service was fautless, preferred the shows to P&O. But for us I have to say the big downside was the food, we enjoyed a couple of meals in the MDR but the buffet was very disappointing everyday. Not a patch on P&O food in my opinion.

 

So although at some point we may try celebrity again (but on one of their newer ships that has a wider range of eating venues) our best fit cruiseline wise is P&O.

[David Owl]

We have been on Eclipse for the last 3 years and it's certainly the best ship that we have used. We are on Britannia this time as it's a new ship and the itinerary is one that we want to do but unless it is better than the previous P&O ships we wiuld probably go back to Eclipse in future.

 

If you can afford the extra you should look at the Aqua class which gets you into a seperate restaurant with more attentive service and a quieter atmosphere. There are a few additional benefits such as free water and access to the relaxation lounge as well.

 

The cost of drinks has been mentioned, but if you get the basic drinks package, which

I believe is one of the 123 options you can upgrade to the premium on the ship which will get you the pick of the drinks

 

We found the embarkation process much slicker each time, taking around 20 minutes from arriving at the terminal to getting our first, free, drink.

 

The only real downsides were that the entertainment was not quite as good, and there is no promenade deck, although we will have to get used to that with most of the latest ships.

 

Don't want to be too negative about P&O though, they are all still pretty good.

[Cantlogincaptain]

We are just back from 14 days on Eclipse which will have a refit in April to change Cellar Masters into a Gastro pub. We think the ship is fabulous, more public space than larger P&O ships. MDR food can be patchy but as stated earlier the buffet is another level.

If cruising in Europe expect 40 or 60% in DJ for formal evenings but sailing from US as we were I felt out of place in a suit as 90% were in a tux!

I would suggest the beverage packages if you like a drink and wrt kids on board it would be a similar number as Azura in term time.

 

Both lines offer things we like, but we Brits do like a moan, I found the international mix more interesting and positive / pragmatic.

In short if you like P&O and are under 65 years old you will almost certainly enjoy Celebrity.

[The Mommy]

Love Celebrity!!

 

We have just booked Britannia - just to be with friends so I hope it doesn't disappoint.

Generally food and service far better than P & O

Loved Eclipse and Equinox

 

 

Hope you enjoy

[Flo71]

Could people confirm which Celebrity ship they are describing when they say the buffet is another level to P&O. I am not doubting them and would reconsider sailing with Celebrity on the Eclipse if this is the ship they are talking about but on the Infinity food in the buffet was really poor, choice was very limited, hours of service for different sections were limited and the choice that was available wasn't good quality. The Arcadia in comparison on our next cruise was much better food wise. We aren't even fussy lol, enjoyed Carnival offerings when we went with them. Just were shocked at the good quality of service on the Infinity but poor food choice.

[gadabout60]

Could people confirm which Celebrity ship they are describing when they say the buffet is another level to P&O. I am not doubting them and would reconsider sailing with Celebrity on the Eclipse if this is the ship they are talking about but on the Infinity food in the buffet was really poor, choice was very limited, hours of service for different sections were limited and the choice that was available wasn't good quality. The Arcadia in comparison on our next cruise was much better food wise. We aren't even fussy lol, enjoyed Carnival offerings when we went with them. Just were shocked at the good quality of service on the Infinity but poor food choice.

 

I have been on the Eclipse twice and the buffet is far far better than P&O's buffet.

Great selection of food - personally I love at lunchtime getting a fresh stir fry with everything I want in it. Huge selection. Possibly not such a great choice of desserts though free ice cream counter and lovely soft ice cream does it for me!

[bee-ess]

I have been on the Eclipse twice and the buffet is far far better than P&O's buffet.

Great selection of food - personally I love at lunchtime getting a fresh stir fry with everything I want in it. Huge selection. Possibly not such a great choice of desserts though free ice cream counter and lovely soft ice cream does it for me!

 

Totally agree, Eclipse buffet is superb, far more choice than P&O.

[Ergates The Ant]

Have sailed on Celebrity 4 times, once on Infinity, an older ship, and three times on Eclipse ( Solstice class). Only sailed once with P and O on Oriana, and booked for Britannia.

Pluses on Celebrity

Lovely bathrooms

High standard of cleanliness throughout ship.

Lovely staff and crew, always greeted passengers

No queuing for anytime/ freedom dining and always got a table for two

On Eclipse, excellent buffet layout, and plenty of seating in the evening. Even during busy times, usually found a seat without too long a wait

Plenty of choice in the buffet for breakfast and lunch, and although less choice in the evening, never went hungry.

Almost always got a seat in the theatre

Tea and coffee making in cabin out of Southampton

Drinkable coffee in the buffet!

Nice coffee shop ( charge for coffee but not cakes and pastries)

Very little smoking and easy to avoid

Good entertainment on cabin tv

Southampton parking right by the terminal, no need to leave keys

 

 

Negatives for Celebrity

Expensive drinks

Atrium ( although lots of wow factor) can be noisy and affects ambiance in rooms above, like the library!

Been on it a few times now, and getting bored with the familiarity!

 

P and O (Oriana)

Pluses

Buffet food wasn't bad but....more on that

Seemed like more to do on board ( Celebrity seemed to have a lot of sales pitches thinly disguised as activities!)

Lovely promenade deck

Lots of lounges and areas to relax

Chaplains cinema was good

Tiffany coffee bar very nice

 

Negatives on Oriana

Buffet in the evening, seating reduced by half to accommodate pay restaurant, so very busy and hard to find seats.

Also smoking area just outside rear of buffet, in the evening very hard to find seating let alone seating where you are not being repeatedly blasted with cold smoky air as the automatic doors open and close!

Bathrooms old fashioned and cramped, useless hair dryer ( hosepipe on wall type) toilet temperamental - needed repeated flushing to cope!

Cabin showing its age

Big queues for anytime dining, esp tables for 2

MDR food was Ok but not very special, and didn't find the waiting staff very friendly

Very few balcony cabins

 

 

Despite the negatives, we had an enjoyable cruise on Oriana and would cruise on her again! Also would definitely cruise again on Eclipse if an interesting itinerary, but would be nice if Celebrity would bring a different Solstice ship over to Southampton next year, a change of artwork would be nice!

[Dorset Cruiser]

Went on first Celebrity cruise last October. It was one of the older ships, Constellation, but we expected the same level of food and service as we had been told about by so many people who had cruised Celebrity, and we were distinctly underwhelmed in most areas. It is certainly no better than Princess (with whom we have cruised the most) or RCI and in fact we enjoyed P&O and Fred Olsen much more than Celebrity.

 

However the cruise experience is very subjective and everyone has a different take on what the experience was for them so if you do decide to try Celebrity, go with an open mind. No cruise is totally bad 😄

 

 

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[Flo71]

Think we were possibly just on the wrong ship for us with Celebrity, may try something like the Eclipse in the future. We had a great deal on the cruise and everything bar the food in the buffet and some nights the MDR was good.

[CRUISIN LINDA]

Went on first Celebrity cruise last October. It was one of the older ships, Constellation, but we expected the same level of food and service as we had been told about by so many people who had cruised Celebrity, and we were distinctly underwhelmed in most areas. It is certainly no better than Princess (with whom we have cruised the most) or RCI and in fact we enjoyed P&O and Fred Olsen much more than Celebrity.

 

However the cruise experience is very subjective and everyone has a different take on what the experience was for them so if you do decide to try Celebrity, go with an open mind. No cruise is totally bad 😄

 

 

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I agree. We went on Celebrity Eclipse in 2012 and while the ship is beautiful, we felt the food was quite disappointing and repetitive. The entertainment was very good, but the price of drinks and gratuities are ridiculous. We much prefer Princess, Fred, Thomson or P&O, maybe not so glitzy, but very friendly and much better value for money.

[shoreham01]

We have only been on a short three night cruise on Arcadia, but have been on three cruises on the Eclipse.

 

Our experiences on Arcadia have resulting in us not booking another P&O cruise. We found the buffet poor, the MDR food poor and the staff just about the most unfriendly we have ever met. We are very chatty and friendly to everyone so it was not our attitude.

 

The entertainment was good on Arcadia and the state room and the ship itself were ok.

 

Celebrity has lovely friendly staff, wonderful stateroom with large shower with no sign of ghastly plastic curtain. The bed is very large and very comfortable. The buffet food is fantastic, so much choice. Entertainment is good the first time you see it, but like all cruise ships after the same shows for the third year running it does become a little tedious.

 

Drinks are very expensive and they have just put the price up yet again. There is a drinks package which they include from time to time. If not then if you are a drinker you will need the expensive drink package.

 

I agree with everyone else about the foyer, but still preferred the Eclipse to Arcadia.

 

Don't bother with speciality restaurants unless they are offering 50% off deal which they do from time to time once you are on board. In our opinion the food is not much better than the MDR and Buffet. Having said that we did have a wonderful meal at Moranos on our first cruise, but that was complimentary. This year we heard the food was not so good there.

 

We will have to wait for a year or so for our next cruise as we have to save up.

[Mbett1]

We have sailed with Celebrity and P&O on our last 2 cruises. We sailed a transatlantic from S'ton to FT Lauderdale in a sky suite on Eclipse and a Iberian cruise on Oceana in the Orissa Suite. In my opinion Celebrity is far far better overall. We were very disappointed in P&O - it was our first cruise with them and I voiced my thoughts to their MD over the phone - kudos to him that I actually managed to speak to him! The only area that we thought P&O better was in the entertainment and particularly the shows. The food on P&O was generally good but unadventurous. Celebrity food was more 'International' but the choice and standard of the extra restaurants was outstanding. Admittedly they were 'extra tarif' but then so was the mundane cafe Jardin on Oceana. I likened the Oceana buffet to a canteen whereas the Celebrity buffet was well thoughtout. Both cabin grades carried the services of a Butler, the Celebrity Butler could not do enough for us - really proactive to make sure that we had everything we wanted, in contrast the P&O Butler was far more profunctory in his attentions.

I would not cruise with P&O again.