Long time "Loyal to Royal" tries Celebrity - A comparison between the two.

[chawkjewel]

Thank you for the comparison. We are booked on Summit next April (our first Celebrity cruise) and also have an aft balcony. We are traveling with another couple and they ended up moving to a C3 because they thought the aft would be too hot. What time of the year did you go and what are your thoughts on the heat. You've made me look forward to this cruise even more. Thank you!

[Guest maddycat]

Great comparison. We are in the opposite situation. We are long term Celebrity cruisers (Elite) and trying our first RCI next month. Two things we have gotten used to is the two bags of free laundry and 90 min of free internet for each of us. We will miss these on RCI.

 

If you are Elite on Celebrity you will get Diamond benefits on RCI. Make sure that you have signed up with Crown and Anchor before your cruise. Diamond C&A members get 24 hours of free internet each. You will also have access to the Diamond lounge, 3 1/2 hour evening cocktails in the lounge each night (usually 5 - 8:30) and 3 drink vouchers on your seapass card to be used during the cocktail hours in most bars and lounges on the ship.

[serialcruiser48]

I was on the Summit for two weeks this past Dec. Fantastic food, had my best Lobster both weeks in a row ever. My big problem with the Summit was the horrible Internet. Bad Internet is a deal breaker for me. But, hey. That's just me.

[leaveitallbehind]

Thanks for the comparisons. I am in the opposite category - a few happy cruises on X (Equinox, Reflection and, soon, Summit), but never on RCCL. But we are going on Explorer's West Coast cruise soon, so I will be able to make similar comparisons. I'll plan to post about it.

 

Please do. It would be interesting to hear your thoughts from the other perspective!

[leaveitallbehind]

Thanks for the great comparison Mike. We are D on RC and have recently booked our first Celebrity cruise for January. We booked one of the concierge class rooms on the 'hump' on deck 11. DH likes the views from the side of the ship so I couldn't talk him into the aft cabin. We're looking forward to experiencing Celebrity.

Barb

 

I'm sure your stateroom location with be very good as we frequently get the hump locations on RCI. But we really did like the aft location and enjoy that view. The balcony was very large and we had our room service meals out there on the full size table - very nice!

 

Thank you for the comparison. We are booked on Summit next April (our first Celebrity cruise) and also have an aft balcony. We are traveling with another couple and they ended up moving to a C3 because they thought the aft would be too hot. What time of the year did you go and what are your thoughts on the heat. You've made me look forward to this cruise even more. Thank you!

 

Our sailing was over the 4th of July and while in Bermuda it was very hot. But the aft balcony had about 3/4 of the area covered and was shaded as a result and even on the hot port days was nice. And at sea it was very comfortable - we enjoyed it thoroughly. I'm sure you will enjoy your cruise and that time of year will not be as hot as when we went.

Edited August 1, 2016 by leaveitallbehind

[rubrrick]

I think that you gave us an excellent comparison. We have traveled on the Infinity, which is of the same class, and loved the ship and crew

 

Rick

[FM]

Well presented review - thanks. We are the opposite - previous Celebrity cruisers ... now looking at our first RCL cruise next year so the comparison was helpful. Wasn't too sure about the Summit as we like to try the newer ships but will now consider ...

[bunzini]

Having sailed Celebrity and Royal both many times, I feel your review is accurate.

[LisaAtlCruiser]

Thanks for the great comparison! I will be on my first X cruise in November - Summit and am very excited to experience the difference. I think X will appeal to me as I like quiet places to read and watch the ocean. But the prices on RCCL generally appeal to me more - except my Nov cruise. I actually got a good deal on X.

[markeb]

Thanks. We're D on RCI, and sailing Reflection over Christmas. Partially change of pace, partially just getting older and not having kids.

 

We did book Aqua Class, so we'll see how that goes. Our last RCI cruise was our first Diamond cruise, so we did get spoiled by the D Lounge, and we've cruised Junior Suites when we can, which aren't an option on X. And, like an earlier poster, I would REALLY like to have a Celebrity ship sailing from PC instead of having to deal with Miami! (I'm a United elite traveler from work, and you essentially can't get there from here (DC) without looooong connections; straight shot into Orlando.)

[nekzaadvakil]

Welcome to our small but ever growing club of cruisers that are loyal to royal and Celebrity. You should try Celebrity's S class ships, they are brilliant.

 

Nick

[Clagmeister]

Thank you for a most helpful comparison. We are giving Celebrity a try in October when we take our first cruise on Eclipse. RCL has always been our favourite but a cruise on Indy a few weeks back seemed a bit stale - even in a suite. It is great that the reciprocal loyalty program has given us Elite tier, so we won't feel too much like newbies 😊

[sky0000547]

Thanks for the comparison, it is always nice to see the comparison between RCI & X. I have always said I will give X a go once I have reached Diamond which is not that far away now.

[north29]

With 99% of your review. We are D+ with RCI and have decided that X is more our cruising style(now days). We will cruise both, depending on itinerary and yes, price. We have found that many times if booked at the right time X has been the same price as RCI and sometimes less. Example, Christmas cruise this year on X for 14 days was much cheaper than a back to back cruise on RCI. This was at the time of the booking, as we all know prices can change.

[LilBlackDress]

Thank you for your comparison. IF RCI doesn't do a panama canal in 2019 or 2020 (gosh that seems like a long ways out!!) I am going to try and talk my DH into Celerity... this should help! :)

[griffy116]

I really enjoyed the review and this was just the information I needed. We are Diamond on Royal and just booked our first Celebrity cruise, as they announced they will be doing the Caribbean during the summer of 2017. We love the itinerary. We love Key West and we've never been to Costa Maya and the date worked out perfectly for all of us. They had a promotion that gave us ALL FOUR PERKS. We couldn't believe it and neither could our TA, but after checking, we have it in writing. We got the free internet, gratuities, drink package and $300 OBC. We will be sailing on the Equinox and while we normally book a balcony, we booked an OV...and still got the perks. Since we are Elite on Celebrity, we also get the free bag of laundry. On Royal, we just got off Liberty 7-nights, and found out you had to be on an 8 night cruise to even get the Wash'N Fold for the discount of $20, so we lost that as Diamond. We were usually busy during most of the hours for the Diamond Lounge so the drink package will work much better for us. My Grandson has cruised with us since he was 3 and is Diamond. He's always preferred Royal and was excited about the new water slide on Liberty since we had sailed Liberty a couple of years ago on a Med cruise and it wasn't there at that time. It was added during dry dock. He used it exactly once...because of the line. He wasn't as impressed with the food on the Liberty and when he found out about the perks, he was all in for booking Celebrity. We're anxious to see how Celebrity compares to Royal. One thing I did notice is the number of food venues that are an additional charge. No Sorrento's pizza and no Promenade Cafe for the sandwiches and desserts. Mast Grille sounds good so I hope we don't miss Sorrento's and the Promenade Cafe too much. Love the idea of the regular ice cream on Celebrity. If anyone has copies of the menus, I would love to see them. Please share.

[floatel_lvr]

I would like to add my thanks for your comparison (review). We have been mostly loyal to Royal with 1 in the last 20 on Princess. We found Princess to be very comparable to Royal. They did some things better and Royal did some better but both good cruise experiences. We have been thinking about trying Celebrity and so glad to add your feedback to our thought process.

[4774Papa]

Thanks for the great comparison.

We have not cruised Royal, but have two cruises booked out of Sydney for April 2018, one on Radiance of the Seas and the other Explorer of the Seas (Transpacific).

 

The prices were what attracted us to those cruises. Celebrity's pricing has moved up quite a bit on the cruises that we are interested in taking since the inclusion of the freebies like beverage packages.

 

Since we are elite and don't drink enough to want to pay for the packages either directly or indirectly, we like the Royal straight up pricing.

 

The Radiance cruise that we booked goes to New Zealand for 11 days and is less than half the 10 day Celebrity cruise at about the same time. Of course, with Celebrity we get the beverage package and another free one, but the difference is still significant.

 

I like what I read about the Diamond Club happy hour. The only negative difference is elites on X get a free bag of laundry instead of $10 off.

[Snit13]

Thanks to all for your positive responses to my comparison! Please let me know of any questions or additional information you are interested in.

 

Hi Mike,

 

Job well done. We have sailed every ship of Celebrity except the Millenium. If you enjoyed the Summit, you must try the Solstice class ships as they all are awesome. Our personal favorites are the Constellation and the Infinity, sister ships to Summit. It appears you did not try AQUA class and thus dine in BLU, our very favorite.

 

We are Celebrity Elite + so Diamond on RCCL and some perks are better on Celebrity, but agree that Happy Hour on Royal cruises is more to my liking.

 

We will be sailing from Tampa and Cape Canaveral in our future, so no more Celebrity cruises.

 

Again, enjoyed your review.

 

Grace

[cyntil8ing]

I've been on the Summit six times, four times to Bermuda. I love that ship and itinerary! So, I come at this from the opposite side - I got to Elite on Celebrity before joining C&A at Diamond. I mostly agree with your comparison. We have only been on two RCCL ships, Enchantment and Adventure, so haven't had the full RCCL experience.

 

One thing about the Captain's Club loyalty program I want to mention is a free within category upgrade when booking. It's not as generous as the balcony discount, but it applies to all types of cabins.

 

Also of interest is tiered earning where you earn 50% more daily points for balcony over insides and outsides and depending on suite class, 4x to 9x as many points. One could get to Elite status in just two cruises, a 10-day and a 7-day, in a Penthouse Suite.

 

But unless one cruises in suites, it takes longer to go from Elite to Elite Plus on X as it does from Diamond to Diamond Plus. So I think which program is better depends on how you cruise -- length of itinerary and type of cabin.

 

Because the Celebrity beverage package is now usually included, the Elite cocktail hour, in my opinion, has become more a social thing than a true perk. We usually make more friends at the Martini Bar. :)

Edited August 1, 2016 by cyntil8ing

[3CatsInMA]

Thanks for taking the time, Mike. Very interesting.:)

[Tudy]

Hey all! i am a frequent Celebrity cruiser who as ventured out to try Royal after we became Elite on Celebrity.

 

There is another difference that no one has mentioned and I am wondering if you are aware. Elite breakfast on celebrity includes several cocktails free of charge, including Bloody Mary's, Mimosa's and Bellini's. When we sail Royal, we miss this amenity. :)

[iluvcruzin]

We will remain loyal to Royal, but not singularly.

 

I thought Loyal to Royal was for those die-hard fans that don't cruise other lines. Rid yourself of this stigma and enjoy all there is to cruising. Congrats on trying something different!!

 

I started my first RCCL cruise on the Song of America in the 80's. It was my favorite line for many years. Then I "jumped ship" and tried others. I love most of them including Celebrity. I am only loyal to cruising itself. :)

 

Great review and comparison Mike. Thanks for the share.

Edited August 1, 2016 by iluvcruzin

[drarill]

I really enjoyed the review and this was just the information I needed. We are Diamond on Royal and just booked our first Celebrity cruise, as they announced they will be doing the Caribbean during the summer of 2017. We love the itinerary. We love Key West and we've never been to Costa Maya and the date worked out perfectly for all of us. They had a promotion that gave us ALL FOUR PERKS. We couldn't believe it and neither could our TA, but after checking, we have it in writing. We got the free internet, gratuities, drink package and $300 OBC. We will be sailing on the Equinox and while we normally book a balcony, we booked an OV...and still got the perks. Since we are Elite on Celebrity, we also get the free bag of laundry. On Royal, we just got off Liberty 7-nights, and found out you had to be on an 8 night cruise to even get the Wash'N Fold for the discount of $20, so we lost that as Diamond. We were usually busy during most of the hours for the Diamond Lounge so the drink package will work much better for us. My Grandson has cruised with us since he was 3 and is Diamond. He's always preferred Royal and was excited about the new water slide on Liberty since we had sailed Liberty a couple of years ago on a Med cruise and it wasn't there at that time. It was added during dry dock. He used it exactly once...because of the line. He wasn't as impressed with the food on the Liberty and when he found out about the perks, he was all in for booking Celebrity. We're anxious to see how Celebrity compares to Royal. One thing I did notice is the number of food venues that are an additional charge. No Sorrento's pizza and no Promenade Cafe for the sandwiches and desserts. Mast Grille sounds good so I hope we don't miss Sorrento's and the Promenade Cafe too much. Love the idea of the regular ice cream on Celebrity. If anyone has copies of the menus, I would love to see them. Please share.

 

IMHO the Ocean View Cafe is superior to the Windjammer. I was also disappointed about the hours the WJ was opened on our last cruise. The OVC offers pizza, sandwiches and desserts practically around the clock and also closes really late at night, unlike the WJ. No-one has mentioned Cafe Al Baccio, you will find sweets and great coffee there all day long and they also close late at night.

Hope this helps.

[sgregel]

If you are Elite on Celebrity you will get Diamond benefits on RCI. Make sure that you have signed up with Crown and Anchor before your cruise. Diamond C&A members get 24 hours of free internet each. You will also have access to the Diamond lounge, 3 1/2 hour evening cocktails in the lounge each night (usually 5 - 8:30) and 3 drink vouchers on your seapass card to be used during the cocktail hours in most bars and lounges on the ship.

Maddy,

My upcoming cruise on Freedom in November will be my first Diamond cruise. Is the 24 hours free internet actually 24 hours online or for a 24 hour period?

 

I love this thread! I'm definitely going to consider Celebrity. It seems like a more "adult" experience. I prefer fewer kids, so never cruise during the summer, spring break or holidays. The smoke free casino is very appealing. The casino is my favorite excursion!

 

Sandy