Wow! Conde Nast readers rate Celebrity 6th

[C 2 C]

We have cruised Celebrity almost exclusively (other than Royal's Oasis and Allure) for the last decade. Have other cruise lines improved that much that Celebrity ranks behind Disney, Cunard, Princess, Norwegian and Royal?

 

Who has cruised these other lines to make sense of this ranking?

[satdan]

We were on princess last October, there is no comparison. Service, food, room, entertainment are all better on celebrity

[shadowlover]

I have sailed them all and the only one I really did not like was Norwegian. They all have their pros and cons I guess. All of them are so close in my opinion. My absolute favorite is Allure but I have seen comments from some who didn't like that ship at all so...beauty is in the eye of the beholder I guess

[boatlover19]

There is no way Princess is better than Celebrity. Norwegian should not be in the same conversation. Just my opinion.

[Mango Mike]

It would be interesting to know what (if any) connections Conde Nast has with the higher rated lines.

 

I've always been skeptical when it comes to a lot of these polls/ratings. In my opinion, the ranking is directly proportionate to the amount of advertising the cruise line does with that magazine or if the executives of both companies are in cahoots with each other.

[Rosethorn40]

I can't speak from experience, but the handful of people I have spoken to that have actually sailed on Disney say it's heads above any of the major cruise lines; food, service, everything. However, check their prices, they are not cheap. Maybe on Cunard, if traveling first class and eating in the Queen's Grill would explain their high marks. NCL has me flabbergasted only because I've read that their space to passenger ratio is terrible and their ships, especially the Epic & Breakaway class feel crowded (However, their food, service and entertainment always rate high).

 

I hope Celebrity is better than Royal (I realize Royal Caribbean I the parent line), because while my one RCCL was nice, I wasn't overly impressed.

 

What were the readers of Conde Nast rating the different cruise lines on? Who is the average Conde Nast reader? I think a narrow sampling of travelers isn't the best way to get an accurate "rating" of a cruise line, but it does give the top 5 bragging rights.

[Bo1953]

We have to remember, that CNT demographic reader may be different than the CC demographic reader and as such have different opines about what is good or bad.

 

Us, being biased, may need to start a campaign to the CNT voters... ;-)

 

But reading it all, they seem to be a diverse group though.

 

bon voyage...

[DrivesLikeMario]

Don't put too much credence in these polls. They're rigged. TAs are pumped constantly for votes by all the cruise lines for almost every poll. They are extremely inaccurate. They need to put more effort into doing unbiased, untainted polls.

[neverbeenhere]

Good. This will kept Riff and his brother Raff off my cruiseships. Thank you for the information, Headmaster Arno.

[BEAV]

As you can see from my signature, we sail 'em all (or a lot of them). But Celebrity remains our favorite in the mass market category.

 

With regard to the comment about NCL not worthy of even being in the discussion, while I understand that sentiment, IMO NCL is two vastly different products rolled into one ship. Someone in an inside cabin may very well have a completely different opinion of NCL than someone staying in one of their Haven Suites where you are largely cut off from "the masses" if you wish to do so.

 

We've been doing a lot of Princess the last two years, but that's only because we're West Coasters and they have cornered the market in our area. We "settle" for them when we want a close-to-home cruise getaway. But I'd much rather be sailing Celebrity.....

[dogsambam]

Loved Disney, but the food does leave a little to be desired.

[BEAV]

Loved Disney, but the food does leave a little to be desired.

 

Agreed.

 

Mickey needs to spend a little more time away from the cameras and get into the kitchen and crack the whip with Minnie! :eek:

[need2bespoiled]

Agreed.

 

Mickey needs to spend a little more time away from the cameras and get into the kitchen and crack the whip with Minnie! :eek:

 

Or just stop nibbling on the food, still in the packaging in the store room ;)

 

I've sailed many of the mass market lines, in our books, Celebrity is still tops. I wish I could get Dee to sail the premium and luxury lines.

 

Happy sailing,

Jenna

[TxnAquarian]

Re: Disney, we have never sailed with them, nor would we, but all of my friends who are experienced cruisers have nothing but raves about them, ship, service, etc. So they must be doing something right.

 

Re: NCL, like Beav said, it is two completely different experiences rolled into one. The NCL suite experience beats the suite experience of every other line hands down. In fact, when we were boarding the Solstice today (in a suite) we were commenting how much better NCL handles even the boarding process for suite guests - private waiting room with food and drinks, personal welcome and escort onto the ship by the butler.

 

However, for us, Celebrity is the complete package. We usually choose them over Crystal and Azamara, which are our other go-to lines. Celebrity gives us a little of everything that we want in a cruise line and we don't feel like we need to look too far afield.

 

Michael

[sweetp0618]

Agree that the food on Disney isn't very good. We've been on several Disney cruises and while the ships are beautiful and fun, the food is the worst of any cruise line we've been on, including CCL, RCCL, NCL, and Princess. I think the food on Disney is much worse than the better restaurants at Disneyworld. Our first Celebrity cruise is in December. I can't wait!

[hvsteve1]

Let's make an assumption, and I think a safe one, that voters in the poll don't have to have sailed every cruise line there is to vote on which is best. Therefore, the vote will be skewed by how many voters have sailed on what line. Cruise lines are rated by size and not by class. As a result, less expensive lines with more customers get a higher rating than higher end lines. Also, some lines have many more ships which equals more passengers. Thus, RCL and RCI, though considered less high-end than Celebrity, have more ships and more passengers to vote. As a matter of fact, Celebrity has one of the smallest fleets and, as a result, less passengers than other lines. As for Disney, as with the parks and timeshares, Disney cruising is more a way of life than a cruise.

[purpletequila]

Go on Disney if you want to be mugged by that mouse.

 

I tried to book a cruise with my 9 year old niece and they can fry ice.

They wanted close to 6 grand for an inside cabin and closer to 8 for a verandah.

 

Are they selling a cruise or company stock? Ridiculous pricing. When I can take 3 cruises for 2 in a balcony on Celebrity WITH a drinks package, the chances of my going to an inside cabin to go on Disney ONCE, is ZERO.

[need2bespoiled]

Disney is..different...

 

I've been on two ships, on recently, and while both were short cruises for work (one was a full ship charter with NO kids onboard), it was interesting finding a bar with some "activity", especially on the non charter this past January. There was one option on deck which was nice, but a bit windy and only had some activity until fireworks were over, and then all of the bars inside were basically together, in a row, small and enclosed (not open like the Martini Bar) and dead, except for when an "entertainment" event was going on like music trivia or karaoke which were well attended. Of course the shows were really well done, but if you attended an on deck party, be prepared to dance and intermingle with 5-15 year olds. The shops were packed. Food in the MDR was ok, no different than the MDR on Celebrity. The buffet was ok, with lots of choices, but it is CROWDED. If some here think getting a seat is tough in the Celebrity buffet, try Disney! It (I intended to mean the Buffet, but this applies to a lot of the ship) also feels VERY institutional, like the Disney parks. Finally, room service is nothing compared to Celebrity though we were not in a "suite" on Disney on either cruise as the cabins were assigned to us.

 

While I don't like to say never, I can't see us ever paying the Disney premium for what they charge.

 

It's been quite a while since we sailed NCL and while their sweet perks are very well done, we miss the rest of the experience on Celebrity, which has risen their bar with their new perks and Luminae that I have not been able to get my other half to stray except when Celebrity didn't have something available (quick 4 days in March when we're already in FL with nothing to do but cruise ;) )

 

I'm sure Holland America is better than when we sailed a few years ago as well, and our sailing was a charter, but again it didn't meet our expectations and actually had us stop cruising for a while we were so disappointed.

 

Finally, I agree with the poll being skewed towards number of those who sail. But does it matter? If we're happy with Celebrity, and we know what the difference are, the ratings shouldn't matter to us!

 

Happy sailing,

Jenna

[venicecruiser]

I used to sail X exclusively. I switched to Princess a few years ago and doubt I will ever cruise with X again.... Now if I could cruise on Seabourn on a regular basis, that would be my line of choice!

 

Claudia

[DYKWIA]

I have never been able to make much sense out of Conde Nast ratings for travel.

 

With all these rankings and awards not just at Conde Nast I wonder sometimes whether other things are at play.... Conde Nast always just comes across as a glossy travel brochure with lots and lots of advertising space to fill.

 

Often awards and rankings are less than transparent on how they reach their conclusions - Public vote / trade experts / Publications own inspectors - some hybrid

Edited October 21, 2015 by DYKWIA

[excitedofharpenden]

It would be interesting to know what (if any) connections Conde Nast has with the higher rated lines.

 

I've always been skeptical when it comes to a lot of these polls/ratings. In my opinion, the ranking is directly proportionate to the amount of advertising the cruise line does with that magazine or if the executives of both companies are in cahoots with each other.

 

I have always been a bit dubious of Conde Nast's ratings. The number of times I have seen threads on this board about how highly Celebrity is rated by them. I never responded with a well done post to those threads because I always wondered about the background. It seems Celebrity is now out of favour for some reason.

 

Phil

[retired067]

My thoughts, many years ago I worked for a Supermarket chain and once a year the local magazine would do a poll, best deli, best bakery etc. Well we would go and pick up a load of entry forms and have everyone in the office would spend an hour or two filling in the info. For a couple of years we were voted best in every dept. Then the competition figured it out. So now when I see Voted #1, I smile and remember the old days.

[DYKWIA]

Even Cruise Critics own annual awards (different results depending on which CC site you're looking at) seem a bit like modern day school prize giving (everyone has to get some sort of medal).

 

Best new cruise ship for the UK market this year...............who could it be (bites fingernails)...... and the winner is ..... P+O Brittania

 

Well there's a surprise.

[K.T.B.]

For those that are curious, here's the link to the rankings: LINK.

 

Interestingly enough, there's no way of telling exactly how they came up with these ranking, other than a "readers' ranking". They're not revealing what the criteria is for the ranking.

[ghstudio]

We have cruised Celebrity almost exclusively (other than Royal's Oasis and Allure) for the last decade. Have other cruise lines improved that much that Celebrity ranks behind Disney, Cunard, Princess, Norwegian and Royal?

 

Who has cruised these other lines to make sense of this ranking?

 

It depends on what you value. There are so many ranking lists, for example, US News and World Reports has several lists ranking cruise lines. The one that caught my eye was the category "Best Cruise Lines for the Money", Celebrity ranked 9th of 9 (RCL was #1). They are #3 on "best cruise lines for families (Disney was #1)."

 

It's a lot like product reviews...results can easily be swayed one way or the other based on who's voting or writing the review and their motives (e.g. Amazon's recent legal action against 1000+ false reviewers). One, of course, has to read the criteria for rankings....if the list is ranked based on advertising revenue to the person creating the list....etc. Who is voting? what were they asked...was it just "rank these cruise lines" or was it rank four items and then some formula was used to create a total rank (like consumer reports)...and did they rank food equally with look of ship.