Long Time Celebrity Considering Royal Harmony for New Years Cruise

[JerseyGirlatHeart]

Normally cruise Aqua Class 14-day itinerary on Celebrity (which has been discontinued after January 2019). Considering a B2B (Eastern/Western) Royal Caribbean Harmony New Year’s Cruise in 2019. Has anyone done Celebrity (M or S Class) and Harmony, and if so any Pros/Cons?

 

 

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[leaveitallbehind]

Long time RCI and now in recent years Celebrity cruiser. Here are the differences and my opinions of them in general.

 

RCI:

More families / kids

More attractions - rock climbing wall, Aqua theater, Ice rink, zip line, flow rider, etc.

Overall better entertainment

Livelier ship

 

Celebrity:

Better food - Buffet in particular far better

More of a "cruise" experience

Better attention to customer

Better enforcement of adult ages is Solarium / chair hogging

 

Both are very good, but we have shifted more to Celebrity in recent years.

 

Hope this helps.

[JMG]

Long time RCI and now in recent years Celebrity cruiser. Here are the differences and my opinions of them in general.

 

RCI:

More families / kids

More attractions - rock climbing wall, Aqua theater, Ice rink, zip line, flow rider, etc.

Overall better entertainment

Livelier ship

 

Celebrity:

Better food - Buffet in particular far better

More of a "cruise" experience

Better attention to customer

Better enforcement of adult ages is Solarium / chair hogging

 

Both are very good, but we have shifted more to Celebrity in recent years.

 

Hope this helps.

 

Agree with comments above. Celebrity...one announcement at noon..Captain's Report...RCI...hourly announcements about various activities... RCI..shows on newer ships are often full length Broadway shows..Celebrity...typical magicians, comics, singers...

 

D+ on RCI...we prefer to stay loyal to the RCCL Brand...all depends on itinerary, price, and dates of cruises!

[Silvery Seas Cruiser]

We sailed on Harmony of the Seas just last December and loved the entertainment and all the other things to do. I liked the aqua show so much I saw it three times! We weren't really crazy about the food on Harmony as we are used to the wonderful food on Celebrity so what I would say is that we would sail Harmony for the entertainment and Celebrity for the food. Harmony does have a big variety of dining venues.

 

Harmony has many, many more family groups most likely because there is so much for people of every age to do. Celebrity is definitely quieter and more laid back. There are some children on every Celebrity cruise, but at times, especially on longer cruises, they tend to be very young such as preschoolers and toddlers.

 

On Harmony we were in a Junior Suite. Harmony doesn't really have an aqua class equivalent. You have to be in a higher level suite than Junior to be allowed in their special restaurant.

 

Another difference is that Oasis Class ships allow smoking in the casino while Celebrity ships do not. I don't know if this fact is an issue for you.

 

If you are used to Celebrity Solstice Class ships, you may be amazed at the huge size of Harmony both in width and length. Walks from one activity to another can seem long. It is surprisingly easy to board Harmony because it sails from its own very large Terminal 18 at Fort Lauderdale. Boarding is much quicker than on some smaller ships because it is so well organized.

 

If you are used to Aqua Class cabins be sure to book a cabin with an outside ocean-facing balcony because Harmony has balconies that face the interior in the Central Park area and face inward toward the Boardwalk area. Such balconies can be nosier and can seem less private because balconies across from your look right at your balcony.

 

I would not hesitate to sail on Harmony again because it was so much fun and we are booked on the new Symphony of the Seas in November. But we are Elite Plus Captain's Club on Celebrity so we are big fans of Celebrity ships too. I'm sure you will have a great cruise either way.

[leaveitallbehind]

On Harmony we were in a Junior Suite. Harmony doesn't really have an aqua class equivalent. You have to be in a higher level suite than Junior to be allowed in their special restaurant.

 

But we are Elite Plus Captain's Club on Celebrity so we are big fans of Celebrity ships too. I'm sure you will have a great cruise either way.

 

The special restaurant you refer to for suite guests is the Coastal Kitchen which is the equivalent of Luminea on Celebrity. But as with Celebrity, there a number of specialty restaurants for all available for a fee.

 

As to stateroom categories, RCI only has two basic groups - standard and suite. Within each are of course several sub-categories as with Celebrity. The JS you refer to on RCI is somewhat of a hybrid as it includes more cruise points and certain perks above that of a standard stateroom but none of the full suite perks available with Grand Suites and above.

 

There is no comparison between RCI and Celebrity regarding Concierge or Aqua Class staterooms - they would fall into the standard stateroom categories.

 

And if you are Elite, Elite Plus, or Zenith on Celebrity, you would be Diamond on RCI in terms of reciprocal tier benefits. RCI IMO has a stronger loyalty program than Celebrity and one example of this is the with the comparison of the Elite cocktail hour. On RCI, there is a dedicated Diamond Lounge that is exclusive to Diamond and higher members that serves free cocktails every night for 3-1/2 hours plus there are 3 free drink coupons loaded on your SeaPass card nightly that can be used in any other venue on board during those hours as well. This IMO is far better than what Celebrity does.

 

But that being said, we like Celebrity very much and have 3 cruises booked with them and none currently with RCI, with whom we are Diamond Plus.

[JerseyGirlatHeart]

Thanks so much for all info so far. We are Elite on Celebrity, so would receive the Diamond status on Royal. Wasn’t aware of the coupon perk outlined above.

 

 

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[leaveitallbehind]

Thanks so much for all info so far. We are Elite on Celebrity, so would receive the Diamond status on Royal. Wasn’t aware of the coupon perk outlined above.

 

 

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Just make sure you (or your TA) contact the RCI Crown & Anchor Club (Presidents Club on Celebrity) to set up your C & A account so as to receive the reciprocal Diamond tier benefits on board and to start accumulating your points on RCI. As a reminder, while you will enjoy the Diamond benefits, the points earned with your sailing remain with RCI and will begin to accumulate though C & A with each RCI cruise.

[Mr. Click]

We just finished our first Royal cruise in 5 years during which we spent a lot of time on Celebrity ships and made it to Elite. We decided to try Royal one more time because the itinerary worked for us. We do not regret trying it, it was a great time seeing the fjords of Norway and the food was greatly improved over 5 years ago. That said, we won't be going back any time soon. We found the ship, the Independence of the Seas, felt very crowded all of the time. It was very hard to find a place to sit in the Windjammer, other public areas were also crowded and they often closed the Crown Viking Lounge for private/Diamond events so that area was out too. While we were made Diamond because of our Celebrity status the cousins we were traveling with were not Diamond so we could not attend any of these events. Celebrity allows us to bring them, Royal does not. My other problem was the real lack of customer service when we had a problem with out toilet. on three different days out of an eight day cruise our toilets would not flush when we wanted to flush them and then would flush on their own later....apparently there was a clog somewhere on the ship and they would just turn off the whole segment of the ship while they were working on it....without telling us. Until the last day of the cruise we got nothing but "gee,we are so sorry". On the last day, a sea day, they did call to check and offered a future cruise discount for our troubles. I accepted even thought I do not expect to go back on Royal and they said "it will be delivered to your stateroom this afternoon". I am still waiting so maybe one of you got it? I sure did not and was not going to go and stand on line again to ask about that or the wrong $3.50 charge for my evening diet coke that should have been free for being Diamond....oh, they also failed to send out the invites to the Cruise Critic Meet and Mingle to a lot of of our CC members. I only found out about it by calling. The MDR food and service was great, the ice show was amazing and the ports were unbeleivable so all in all it was a great time but it is doubtful that I will go back to Royal. Rock climbing, flow riding, water parking are not my thing. Maybe if I took the grandkids......

[2chiefs]

Long time RCI and now in recent years Celebrity cruiser. Here are the differences and my opinions of them in general.

 

RCI:

More families / kids

More attractions - rock climbing wall, Aqua theater, Ice rink, zip line, flow rider, etc.

Overall better entertainment

Livelier ship

 

Celebrity:

Better food - Buffet in particular far better

More of a "cruise" experience

Better attention to customer

Better enforcement of adult ages is Solarium / chair hogging

 

Both are very good, but we have shifted more to Celebrity in recent years.

 

Hope this helps.

Agree 100%. We just took a Celebrity cruise last year and booked two more. We also booked another RCI Oasis cruise. We like both but RCI kids ratio seems to be going up and we are getting older :-) so we are leaning more toward Celebrity now.

[39august]

The only time I have ever seen lines backed up to enter an RCI Windjammer (buffet) was on the Harmony about a year ago. It was a nightmare to try to eat there. These ships appeal to families with children. They don't appeal to us. I would hate having to make reservations for all the various shows on board. (We didn't have to as we are Pinnacle, so had a reserved seat section at all shows.) We have only cruised on Silhoutte last Dec., but have 6 more Celebrity cruises booked! If you enjoy the X product, I don't think you will care for Harmony unless you want to do all the slides, climbing, zip-line, surfing, etc. And BTW there is no pool in the Solarium on HOTS.

[leaveitallbehind]

The only time I have ever seen lines backed up to enter an RCI Windjammer (buffet) was on the Harmony about a year ago. It was a nightmare to try to eat there. These ships appeal to families with children. They don't appeal to us. I would hate having to make reservations for all the various shows on board. (We didn't have to as we are Pinnacle, so had a reserved seat section at all shows.) We have only cruised on Silhoutte last Dec., but have 6 more Celebrity cruises booked! If you enjoy the X product, I don't think you will care for Harmony unless you want to do all the slides, climbing, zip-line, surfing, etc. And BTW there is no pool in the Solarium on HOTS.

 

After a few of the threads we were on together regarding Celebrity, I'm glad you've enjoyed them. We, too, have moved over to Celebrity with the next three booked with them. Not that we won't go back to RCI, but we really enjoy the cruising style that Celebrity offers.

 

Enjoy your cruises!

[Luvcrusn]

My first ever cruise was on a Royal Caribbean ship and it hooked me on cruising. Thereafter, we found a fit on Celebrity, since there's no smoking indoors and I can actually use the casino and don't have to go "up and around" to avoid walking through it as I have to do on all Royal ships. I also prefer the level of service, the food in both the MDR and specialty restaurants, only one daily announcement, no need to pre-book shows and the Aqua class cabins and Blu on X. After taking many X cruises, DH and I saw an itinerary we liked on Royal that wasn't available on X about 4 years ago. Although we had a nice time, there were many issues that made us miss sailing with X and we agreed that we missed the service level of X.

[JerseyGirlatHeart]

My first ever cruise was on a Royal Caribbean ship and it hooked me on cruising. Thereafter, we found a fit on Celebrity, since there's no smoking indoors and I can actually use the casino and don't have to go "up and around" to avoid walking through it as I have to do on all Royal ships. I also prefer the level of service, the food in both the MDR and specialty restaurants, only one daily announcement, no need to pre-book shows and the Aqua class cabins and Blu on X. After taking many X cruises, DH and I saw an itinerary we liked on Royal that wasn't available on X about 4 years ago. Although we had a nice time, there were many issues that made us miss sailing with X and we agreed that we missed the service level of X.

 

 

 

Thanks ... just the type of info I was looking for.

 

 

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[bigbeergut]

We’ve sailed a lot on the Oasis class ships several people have indicated that there better entertainment. However it’s takes some work to manage the entertainment and dinner because the show times vary each evening. You also will need reservations for the comedy show. Everything except the comedy show stays the same each week so you will see the same shows each we ek of the B2B. In general I agree with most of the earlier comments, but it just se end too big and impersonal. We will choose X everyday over RCL unless there is a very unique itinerary.