Celebrity versus Carnival and Royal Caribbean

[duegwb]

I've only cruised on Carnival and Royal Caribbean, and I'll be on the Equinox in March. What's different on Celebrity versus the other two?

 

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[OCruisers]

We much prefer Celebrity over Carnival or RCCL ... but it is much more laid back and not in any way a night time party ship which may/may not be a factor for you.

Lots of things are subject -- food, service, décor of the ship, etc. -- all which suit us better on Celebrity vs Carnival & RCCL.

Look forward to having a great cruise on Celebrity! :)

[actuarian]

I've been on all three lines multiple times (total of 33 cruises among the 3) so I can compare them based on experience. IMHO, Celebrity has better Main Dining Room food than either RCCL or Carnival and I am pretty sure it has a higher food budget. Celebrity specialty restaurants are also better but correspondingly more expensive. For example, compare Celebrity's Tuscan Grill at $45 with RCCL's Giovanni's Table at $29. Usually, Celebrity cruise fares are also more expensive if you can compare staterooms with similar sizes and types. Entertainment is about equal among the three although Celebrity seems more subdued, especially later in the evening. Celebrity has fewer children on board and fewer activities aimed at children. It has far fewer announcements, especially sales related announcements. The median age of cruisers on Celebrity seems to be higher than on RCCL or Carnival. One other thing worth noting is that Celebrity has more distinct classes of service, such as Concierge Class, Aqua Class, and Suite Class. Therefore, there are more venues that are restricted based on class of service, such as the special Concierge Class lunch on embarkation day, Blu restaurant for Aqua Class, Luminae Restaurant for Suite Class, and Michael's Club for Suite Class.

Edited December 18, 2016 by actuarian

[Elusive_Cruiser]

Really does depend on what you want and expect. I recently posted my experience with a land-based AI. The responses I saw were very enlightening. Our travel experiences are so very subjective.

 

We've been on Celebrity, Princess, HAL and Carnival. We would go back to any except Carnival. But if you are young'ish and foot loose and fancy free, Carnival may be best for you.

[dennbr9]

Have done eight Cruise lines over 42 Cruises. Did many on RCI and enjoyed them all. Since 2010, our last two Royals, we have done all Celebrity and Princess - 21 or 22 Cruises. Love them both. Never been on a bad Cruise. Do love Aqua Class on Celebrity, MDR better to us on Princess.

 

Check Itinerary, Cost, age of Ship and make your choice. Other than staying away from old Carnival Ships, probably no bad choices.

 

 

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Edited December 18, 2016 by dennbr9

[gek]

We have been on all three cruise lines and enjoyed all of them. Thanks to Aqua class Celebrity remains our favourite but we would cruise on any of them with the right itinerary.

 

I think the main difference is the number of children on board. We cruised on a Carnival ship with no more that a dozen or so kids on board and it was as good if not better than any of our Celebrity cruises. Celebrity tends to be a little more sedate than Carnival or RCCL but it all depends on the mix of passengers.

[Miaminice]

We cruised with RCCL many times and jumped ship to Celebrity years back - never went back.

 

I think before discussing food, restaurants etc the main difference should be named: different concept!

 

RCCL and Carnival are family cruise lines. Bigger ships are action filled and almost theme park like. Entertainment is big, almost omnipresent and there are musicals and water shows and belly flop contests.

 

Not so on Celebrity. The atmosphere is more laid back without being boring, a bit more luxurious and upscale but still relaxed. On average there are way less kids on board and the focus is less on party and parades than on relaxation with available, however, more subtle entertainment. Of course, also on Celebrity, Caribbean cruises are always a bit more relaxed than other worldwide cruises.

 

So if that is what you are looking for and prefer, you might get hooked on Celebrity.

 

If you are a family and you are looking for something closer to RCCL and Carnival, you might want to give NCL a try.

Edited December 18, 2016 by Miaminice

[4774Papa]

We have done 9 cruises on Celebrity and 6 on NCL. We prefer Celebrity, but sometimes NCL has the right itinerary and great prices.

 

Celebrity's bundled pricing as well as more inflated prices have changed our cruise bookings for 2017 and 2018. We did book an Eclipse TA cruise from Southampton for October 2017 since the itinerary is great and prices were not bundled with promos that we didn't want.

Also, prices were still relatively good.

 

We wanted to do a NZ cruise from Australia in early 2018, but Celebrity's pricing was just ridiculous. We found a great 11 day NZ cruise on RCCL for LESS than HALF the price of Celebrity's 10 day cruise. Add in the value to us of any promos included by X and we still save $1000 EACH going with Royal. Also, we booked a great transpacific from Sydney to Seattle for a great price on Royal.

 

Unless Celebrity changes its pricing, we may just be dong TA cruises with them in conjunction with a land tour in Europe. Of course, part of that is that we have done nearly every cruise in Europe that can be done except the North Cape of Norway, which Celebrity does not have. NCL and Royal do have one.

[impatientlywaiting]

We cruised with RCCL many times and jumped ship to Celebrity years back - never went back.

 

I think before discussing food, restaurants etc the main difference should be named: different concept!

 

RCCL and Carnival are family cruise lines. Bigger ships are action filled and almost theme park like. Entertainment is big, almost omnipresent and there are musicals and water shows and belly flop contests.

 

Not so on Celebrity. The atmosphere is more laid back without being boring, a bit more luxurious and upscale but still relaxed. On average there are way less kids on board and the focus is less on party and parades than on relaxation with available, however, more subtle entertainment. Of course, also on Celebrity, Caribbean cruises are always a bit more relaxed than other worldwide cruises.

 

So if that is what you are looking for and prefer, you might get hooked on Celebrity.

 

If you are a family and you are looking for something closer to RCCL and Carnival, you might want to give NCL a try.

 

We are "jumping ship" from Royal to Celebrity as well and looking forward to a more laid back atmosphere. Thanks for the information! Can't wait!

[Sheeba67]

We miss the comedy shows, multiple trivia opportunities, and the Red Frog Pub on Carnival. But you can't beat a Southern Caribbean with Celebrity and all the perks. Celebrity does have a more mature crowd, but a cruise is what you make it.

[cmalagngl]

Don't forget the smoking policies. Celebrities no smoking policy almost everywhere including the casino is a game changer for us. I agree with the other comments. Unless there is a significant itinerary reason for wondering from Celebrity we will cruise with them because of their smoking policy.