Royal Vs Celebrity Review

[nelblu]

Wow, Quantum must be a step above Indy, because on Indy the eggs were the powdered variety (blech), the cookies in the bakery section of WJ were rock hard, and for ice cream, all you had was the machine on the pool deck. Which, by the way, was filthy.

 

Even when we tried to pay for ice cream in Ben & Jerry's, they had no toppings, no sprinkles, no waffle cones...terrible, considering you're paying for it!

 

And there was no welcome tent in port- that would be a very nice touch!

 

Just consider the Quantum the Penthouse and the Indy the Hot House. LOL

[depplep]

Good to read this. We've been considering X for a long while now. Want to get away from families and kids. Don't care about the entertainment. After 11 cruises, we've still never been to one show.

[NemoCrownie]

We did a B2B on the Jewel in February and very much appreciated the tent with ice water, cool towels and comfortable seating after a day in port. Also there was hand dipped ice cream and a few toppings in the Windjammer during the dinner hours each evening in addition to the soft serve machines.

 

I do think that the variety and quality of the food has decreased dramatically over the last couple of years and the decrease in staffing is noticeable. I miss the fruit and ice carvings, morning donuts, the daily bread selections, pen and paper in the room, fresh flowers, etc. I don't miss most of the announcements or the singing in the MDR though. We thoroughly enjoyed our Jewel cruise and I certainly recognize that food preferences are subjective and most of what I miss will be of no consequence to others.

 

I am looking forward to our first cruise on Celebrity and I hope that the food, staffing levels and presentation are a notch above RCI's current levels but regardless we will have a great vacation.

[Big_G]

I would never discount anyone's experience but we've been on Reflection twice and are going again 2016. We thoroughly enjoy both Royal and Celebrity but here's my take:

 

 

• Pretentious? No. In General, a more mature, overall better dressed, laid back crowd doesn't equal pretentious
  
• Never had a problem with the elevators but we avoid the aft elevators on all lines. Any elevator near the food end of the ship will be problematic at certain times of the day.
  
• Mast Grill is a poolside grill and it's free. Royal has nothing comparable. A close second might be Johnny Rockets but it's not free and it's really not that close to the pool. Park Cafe on Radiance Class isn't even close.
  
• Beer selection trounces Royal.
  
• Free mutiflavor with toppings real ice cream.
  
• For pay restaurants trounce Royal.
  
• We've had about the same experiences with both MDRs.
  
• Ocean View Cafe has outdoor seating and has more breakfast options.
  
• Royal has nothing that compares to the outdoor and aft Sunset Bar.
  

 

We're big fans of both lines and that's why we continue to sail both. If you want a Royal cruise, you won't find it on Celebrity because it's not.

 

For the guy who thinks Princess will be step up from Royal, it's the same without the shows, rink, flowriders, and rock wall but don't let that stop you. We've never had a bad cruise on Royal, Celebrity, Princess, or Carnival.

Edited April 7, 2015 by Big_G

[saltycat]

Have sailed 4 different cruise lines with Royal being our favorite overall.

That being said Celebrity Reflection is my favorite ship of all...Love the aft seating area and Sunset Bar...the smoke free environment...jazz on the lawn...the service...

Have also sailed her sister ship the Equinox...just Love the Reflection

[galavant3]

We've done many cruises on Royal and just two on Celebrity but we prefer Celebrity. Both times we were in Aqua Class and we absolutely loved it. An added bonus is when they offer the included beverage package.

 

We've never noticed lines at the elevators.

[Cruising_Tiger]

Older crowd and not so inclined to walk perhaps?

 

That might be true, but then again the X-ships do not have gangs of kids riding the elevator for entertainment.

[A&L_Ont]

I believe that bauxite building was used as Dr. No's secret hideout in the James Bond movie. That same movie used Dunn's River Falls in the scenes with Ursula Andress.

 

I remember using that port area on a Princess cruise, and it was nick named the Bond Pier. It looked like an industrial port area, but had a quaint Bond throw back feel.

[eel]

That's funny...we could not find ANY live music or a nice lounge scene anywhere when we were on RCCL before 9:30pm. If you're really a night owl and don't mind live music after dinner, then no problem.

.......

 

 

I meant live music after dinner and the show. You are right. If you want earlier live music you are out of luck on Royal.

[eel]

FYI, On the Quantum's WJ there are 3 omelets stations and another for other kinds of ready to cook eggs. On certain days for lunch, towards the back of the WJ, there is an ice cream station with all of the trimmings. On two evenings we visited the WJ and in addition to a pasta & meat station and Italian antipasti there was an hard ice cream station--don't know it it's there every night. Also, in the WJ there's a fresh bakery section with delicious bread and the best freshly baked cookies--mmmmmm! Also, I've noticed that on my last 3 cruises they have tent with iced water and wet towels on the dock.

 

 

 

It's funny, that the elevators on Quantum did not seem in sinc as we also had some wait

 

 

Awesome! We sail Quantum on Sunday!