It may sound silly but....Celebrity vs Disney

[tammymacb]

Let me say this first. I LOVE DCL. Love it. Our most recent cruise was the 9 night Norwegian Fjords inaugural sailing ( upgraded room price for 2 = 13,000 without airfare) :eek:

 

I don't do any of the character stuff. I avoid early seating because we travel with adults.

 

BUT, Disney has excellent customer service, nice rooms and beautiful dining rooms. I also enjoy their shows and lounge areas. I love DCL but avoid the Disney stuff and just take advantage of the service.

 

I've sailed X once and again, I loved it. It was a looooong time ago. The ship is no longer part of X's fleet. It was small and not particularly lovely, but we had a great time, food was excellent ( better than DCL's) and I don't remember any complaints at all.

 

So, now I'm planning 2017. I'd like to do an Emerald Isles cruise ( DCL is doing one in 2016 and for two in an inside room prices start around $7000). I'm considering X as another option for that cruise at a much more reasonable starting point.

 

Please fill me in on X and why we'll love it. Is service and food still excellent. Is the atmosphere stuffy? ( I don't want stuffy). Are there opportunities to just have fun on board? I'd like to at least compare between the two cruise lines when 2017 is announced, but I'm going to meet some opposition so I'd like some updated X info.

 

Thanks so much.

[Muushka]

As a Gold status DCL and Elite on X, I guess I can say that I have cruised both! We are kidless adults. We used to love Disney World, but too many changes and we don't go nearly as often.

 

The food, IMHO, is about the same as DCL. I'm very picky, so neither line excels (to me). If I HAD to chose, I would probably choose X. The last time we cruised on DCL was a 15 nighter and that food got old really fast.

 

Service? I think they are both excellent on both lines. DCL is more lighthearted, but X has some very friendly staff. So to me, it's a toss up.

 

Stuffy? No, X is not stuffy. It is more quiet, reserved. Calm. We like that!

 

Opportunity to have fun? Again, a toss up for us. But it also depends on what you do for fun. We play trivia and occasionally visit a nightclub late night. Both lines were good for us.

 

The one thing that X has over DCL is BANG FOR BUCK, as you know.

The other huge plus for X is the loyalty rewards. Boy, DCL is LAME. Had my bucket list not included going through the Panama Canal with Micky (and the awesome rates DCL charges for re-positioning cruises), I would have happily cruised with X to help bump us up to Elite +.:D

 

If I didn't answer your questions, let me know. Happy planning!

[DevinMills]

I have sailed both Celebrity and Disney. With a 4 year old and 9 year old we have done Disney when traveling with our Kids and then do Celebrity when it is adults only.

 

The service for me is the same, both cruise lines have happy crew and go above and beyond. The food in Palo or Remy vs the specialty restaurants on Celebrity is a wash but the MDR food or Food in the Suite only restaurant on Celebrity I find to be better than Disney in my opinion.

 

The only reason we sail on Disney over Celebrity is because our young kids found more to do on a Disney boat. That being said, as my kids are getting older, our 2017 Europe cruises will be on Celebrity because they will have outgrown the Disney Characters, but can still find things on Celebrity to do.

 

We love Celebrity and Love Disney but prefer Celebrity without kids. On a Solstice Class ship, you'll love Celebrity and with the cost difference could probably afford a suite on board and love the vacation.

[DevinMills]

Let me say this first. I LOVE DCL. Love it. Our most recent cruise was the 9 night Norwegian Fjords inaugural sailing ( upgraded room price for 2 = 13,000 without airfare) :eek:

 

I don't do any of the character stuff. I avoid early seating because we travel with adults.

 

BUT, Disney has excellent customer service, nice rooms and beautiful dining rooms. I also enjoy their shows and lounge areas. I love DCL but avoid the Disney stuff and just take advantage of the service.

 

I've sailed X once and again, I loved it. It was a looooong time ago. The ship is no longer part of X's fleet. It was small and not particularly lovely, but we had a great time, food was excellent ( better than DCL's) and I don't remember any complaints at all.

 

So, now I'm planning 2017. I'd like to do an Emerald Isles cruise ( DCL is doing one in 2016 and for two in an inside room prices start around $7000). I'm considering X as another option for that cruise at a much more reasonable starting point.

 

Please fill me in on X and why we'll love it. Is service and food still excellent. Is the atmosphere stuffy? ( I don't want stuffy). Are there opportunities to just have fun on board? I'd like to at least compare between the two cruise lines when 2017 is announced, but I'm going to meet some opposition so I'd like some updated X info.

 

Thanks so much.

 

Also if it helps my wife and I are both in our Mid 30's, and while the demographic is older, probably late 40's average, and entertainment isn't near the caliber you find on a Disney ship, it is elegant and sophisticated and we tend to pic port heavy itineraries so large rooms, quality food, and good service are why we come back to celebrity, not necessarily the evening shows.

[OCruisers]

Just saying our granddaughters love Celebrity! :)

[Muushka]

I have sailed both Celebrity and Disney. With a 4 year old and 9 year old we have done Disney when traveling with our Kids and then do Celebrity when it is adults only.

 

The service for me is the same, both cruise lines have happy crew and go above and beyond. The food in Palo or Remy vs the specialty restaurants on Celebrity is a wash but the MDR food or Food in the Suite only restaurant on Celebrity I find to be better than Disney in my opinion.

 

The only reason we sail on Disney over Celebrity is because our young kids found more to do on a Disney boat. That being said, as my kids are getting older, our 2017 Europe cruises will be on Celebrity because they will have outgrown the Disney Characters, but can still find things on Celebrity to do.

 

We love Celebrity and Love Disney but prefer Celebrity without kids. On a Solstice Class ship, you'll love Celebrity and with the cost difference could probably afford a suite on board and love the vacation.

 

I can't wait to try the suite dining on X.

I keep checking for upcoming cruises for some deals, but none yet.:(

 

And I agree, the prices on X are so good, a suite is something that you could afford easily compared to DCL.

[tammymacb]

I can't wait to try the suite dining on X.

I keep checking for upcoming cruises for some deals, but none yet.:(

 

And I agree, the prices on X are so good, a suite is something that you could afford easily compared to DCL.

 

I agree! I usually sail CL but didn't for the Fjords. Because it was $30,000 for nine nights for two.

[pixidustmom]

I too love DCL and haven't cruised with X. I look forward to the change and seeing how it goes. I am sure the biggest will be the shows. That's ok.

[dizneydawn]

I have sailed on DCL 7 times and on X once with two more X cruises booked at this time. I have always thought Disney does adults better than any other cruise line but we LOVED our X cruise. Having the free drink package that not only includes alcohol but also includes canned soda, bottled water and signature coffee drinks was soooo awesome! We hit the coffee bar multiple times each day. On DCL we would only hit cove cafe a few times.

At this time X has my business as DCL has gotten too expensive!!

[wendyatpml]

W4e did a Disney Cruise this past April with the grandkids. It was our first Disney cruise and it will be the last. On the plus side, we did have a nice cabin and the cabin stewart was good. Guest services was also good.

We found the food in the dining room good but other places on the ship it was awful. The pools were really small. The entertainment for adults was non existant.

We are going on a Celebrity cruise this October. You will LOVE Celebrity.

[texasgirl29]

We have sailed DCL several times and once on Celebrity. DCL has a more whimsical atmosphere and really beautiful decor. One of my teenagers loved the teen club, the other was too old for the club and too young for the adult areas.

 

MDRs on DCL are very noisy. The waiters seemed friendlier than X. I liked how the themes change. The pools are too small. The shows are great -- and often ended with confetti.

 

There are beautiful adult only areas on DCL -- lots of clubs after dinner.

 

On X, I really liked Cafe al Bacio. We had the classic package and it felt like being pampered. The shows were more varied. The quality of the food about the same. Lots of areas to sit and enjoy music or talk.

 

No casino on DCL which I think is good -- the casino on Celebrity Eclipse took up a lot of space and not too many people. The shops on X were way over my budget.

 

I liked the both -- two different varieties.

 

JoAnn

[bEwAbG]

No casino on DCL which I think is good -- the casino on Celebrity Eclipse took up a lot of space and not too many people.

 

The lack of a casino is what keeps me from going on DCL. Let's face it: there's only so much people watching you can do on a cruise, and there are often stretches of time in which there is nothing scheduled to do. I'm sure I'll make it on DCL at some point (my sister is a huge Disney nerd), but I'll stick with X when it's just me and my friends because I would miss the casino as an entertainment option.

[KKB]

We prefer Celebrity. Why?

1--We found DCL MDR food to be sub-par. Celebrity MUCH better.

2--We like fewer children now that ours are older

3--DCL is typically 30% more expensive than Celebrity--but not 30% better

[Muushka]

I too love DCL and haven't cruised with X. I look forward to the change and seeing how it goes. I am sure the biggest will be the shows. That's ok.

 

Good point about the shows, I forgot about that. They are a tad better on DCL.

 

But I did notice that after several DCL cruises, once you've seen a show, it isn't that great the second time around.

Same for X. The Cirque type show has gotten old too.

[spearmint]

OP: if you were enamoured of the food on a much earlier X cruise, you will be disappointed in what is available now. The food now is not terrible, mind you, but not nearly of the style and quality of the Michel Roux menus. Just don't expect that and you will probably not be disappointed. I would listen to those who have done both lines, in regard to today's food.

[Muushka]

OP: if you were enamoured of the food on a much earlier X cruise, you will be disappointed in what is available now. The food now is not terrible, mind you, but not nearly of the style and quality of the Michel Roux menus. Just don't expect that and you will probably not be disappointed. I would listen to those who have done both lines, in regard to today's food.

 

This is such a great tip. I had high expectations of the food on DCL (our first time ever cruise) and it took the second cruise for me to realize that I didn't care for the food! I think it was just the presentation and idea of eating on a ship that made it seem so good but in reality, it wasn't. Same for X. So now when I cruise I don't make food a highlight of my day and I'm much happier!

[keithm]

This is such a great tip. I had high expectations of the food on DCL (our first time ever cruise) and it took the second cruise for me to realize that I didn't care for the food! I think it was just the presentation and idea of eating on a ship that made it seem so good but in reality, it wasn't. Same for X. So now when I cruise I don't make food a highlight of my day and I'm much happier!

The opposite of us.We're both in the food industry & are "foodies". We've found the MDR food on the Eclipse to be very good overall. The specialty rest. Qsine/Murano were excellent. We are now looking at a 14 day trip on Regal Princess & are concerned the food will not be as good. Really a conundrum.

[ginak1112]

The opposite of us.We're both in the food industry & are "foodies". We've found the MDR food on the Eclipse to be very good overall. The specialty rest. Qsine/Murano were excellent. We are now looking at a 14 day trip on Regal Princess & are concerned the food will not be as good. Really a conundrum.

 

My husband and I (in our 50's) went on the Regal in November after many years away from Princess. We just did the Silhouette in the Baltics so I can give some recent comparisons. The food was excellent on Princess and I give them a slight edge over Celebrity right now. The steakhouse is fantastic with such good quality meat and it is very inexpensive, maybe $25. The pizza is very good and you can get personal size in Alfredos (no cost). Where they really shine, I believe, are the desserts. We found Celebrity desserts to be very lackluster and tasteless. What I really loved about Princess was how romantic it was and the shows blew Celebrity's away. Now it could be that this was the new ship and they have the best cast on board, who knows. They had fun and music and dancing every night in the atrium too. This was a Caribbean cruise so I'm not sure how it would vary in another region but I'm sure that you could research. We took a mini suite and it was fabulous too.

 

With that being said, I still like Celebrity but it's nice to try different things.

[tammymacb]

Thanks for the input.

 

When I sailed X the food was spectacular. And it's been a long time, so I'm sure (just by the norm of the industry) it's probably not as good, but I remember really good.

 

The post about Princess is interesting too. Princess is about the only line I haven't sailed. I keep meaning too and I just haven't done it. Depending on price and itinerary, I really need to keep my mine (and options) open.

[Grams28]

Hi Muushka

We just returned from a 7 night cruise on the Millennium to Alaska. This is our 16th cruise and not all with Celebrity. This was one of the best cruise ships we have been on. The service, food, rooms and lounges were wonderful. There is no smoking inside the ship, so even the Casino was pleasant. There is a smoking area outside in spot only. This is a great improvement and I hope all the cruise lines will be doing this. We have sailed around the British Isles with Carnival, but the only thing with Carnival is that the menu is the same on each ship. Therefore, after we had done 4 sailings with them, we were tired of the food. The staff on the Millennium were great and nothing was too much trouble. The embarking was the best we have ever encountered. We got to Canada Place in Vancouver at 11:20 and were sitting eating out lunch by 12 noon. Getting off the ship at each port was easy including Icy Strait where we were tendered. I usually hate being tendered but we had no problem getting ashore. All in all it was a wonderful vacation with lots and lots of good memories.

 

I can't wait to try the suite dining on X.

I keep checking for upcoming cruises for some deals, but none yet.:(

 

And I agree, the prices on X are so good, a suite is something that you could afford easily compared to DCL.

[Grams28]

Hi tammymacb

Just wanted to let you know that we just came back from a 7 night cruise on the Celebrity ship, Millennium and the food was wonderful. They went out of their way to make meals for our friend who has a peanut allergy. What they have as their standard things for you to chose from if you don't like the choices that night are fantastic. I had salmon for 3 nights and escargots for 5 out of 7 nights. We were planning a trip with Princess but we always check to see what is above our rooms and what we see from our window. With Princess the cost of the cruise was good but the view was an obstructed view, which means you have a lifeboat in front of your window. I am not paying for an outside room to have the view obstructed. We have had a balcony but there are certain parts of the world that a balcony is not worth the cost because of the weather. Example would be cruising around the British Isles and cruising the Baltic.

 

Thanks for the input.

 

When I sailed X the food was spectacular. And it's been a long time, so I'm sure (just by the norm of the industry) it's probably not as good, but I remember really good.

 

The post about Princess is interesting too. Princess is about the only line I haven't sailed. I keep meaning too and I just haven't done it. Depending on price and itinerary, I really need to keep my mine (and options) open.

[GatorMomInNC]

I am in Celebrity Solstice in Alaska right now. Trying X instead of DCL. Having a great cruise. My biggest negative is lack of family entertainment at night. Really miss DCL shows. X doesn't really have shows (with plot, etc) just people singing and playing instruments. Totally boring and not my cup of tea. Not alone on this opinion based on number of empty seats in the theater. But still, overall, a fantastic cruise. Hope to post comparison and detailed report when I return.