Wondering if Celebrity will be a good fit for us

[Cyber Kat]

So we are looking for a cruise for spring 2020.
 

We have an Azamara cruise (first time with them) NY to NY with 2 days in Charleston, SC and Hamilton, Bermuda for this spring, and a Viking Montreal to NYC cruise for this fall, and another Viking cruise Bergen to Barcelona cruise booked for fall of 2020.
 

We really like Viking - don't know yet if we will like Azamara - but we are looking to do something a bit closer to home in the spring - no overseas flights. We have done the Viking West Indies, and will be doing Canada. I don't mind repeating ports, but I like a new one thrown in here and there, so for this cruise, we're looking at lines other than Viking.
 

I really want to try Regent, but we tend to spend less on our spring cruises than on the fall ones. I found a few itineraries that are at the top of the budget, and DH is suggesting I keep looking
 

We don't like the mega-ships and Viking kind of has us spoiled with so much included, no kids, no casino, no photographers, casual dress for dinner. I'm not sure about going back into the mainstream with the mega ships and all the entertainment folderol - rock climbing walls, skating rinks, race car tracks.  We are so not into all of that.
 

I'm looking at a couple of Celebrity Caribbean cruises and we could do a suite for way less than Viking or Regent, so I'm thinking it's a possibility. I don't know all that much about Celebrity so I figure this is good place to learn.
 

What's the vibe like?
How dressed up do people get on the "Chic" nights? Can my husband wear a dress shirt and pants without a jacket and tie?
How is the kid situation - will we find the ship overrun?
How is it cruising in their suites? Is anything included or is everything extra?
If we do Anytime dining, how does it work on Celebrity? On Viking you have to make reservations for the specialty restaurants, but you just walk up to the main dining room and tell them if you want to share or not.
And what in the world do you do with a butler?

 

Thanks for any help you can give me. I'm still pushing for Regent, but I'm thinking Celebrity might work from some things I have been reading.  The cruises I am looking at are on the Equinox and the Summit - bigger than we would like, but not mega ships and I think we would be fine with those.

 

 

[Essiesmom]

Your husband will be fine in a dress shirt and pants on chic or any other night.  People get as 'dressed' as they want to be.  If you do a suite on Celebrity, you have your own dedicated dining room called Luminae, and it is anytime dining.    I've never sailed in a suite, so have no idea what you do with a butler.  The ship will not be overrun with kids.  I have sailed both Equinox and Summit and enjoyed both.  EM

[begood2me]

There is a very good discussion in a different thread about what does a butter does vs a stateroom attendant.  Someone in that thread said that a butter takes care of your needs and the stateroom attendant looks after the cabin.  Having sailed in both suite and non suite (always sail suite now), I can tell you that you need to get used to having a butler.  We get to know the butler and really look to him to make our experience on the ship better.  If we forgot something, we ask the butler to see if he can assist.  The butler will make sure you can get a shirt pressed quickly or get your laundry back in record time.  If you like a certain type of fruit in the morning with your coffee, the butler will make sure you get that type of fruit and not just a regular fruit tray.  Do you really like oatmeal raisin cookies, magically a couple will appear every afternoon for you to enjoy.  On Evening Chic nights, the butler is the one who is in the theater saving the seats in the front row of the balcony so you have the best view in the house.  Do you need help with a reservation, you butler will help solve that along with the suites concierge who works in the exclusive Michael's club lounge.  Do you prefer a certain seating time at Luminae but are running late one day.  You butler will let the restaurant know that you will be there maybe 20 minutes late so don't give away your favorite table by the windows.   One thing to remember is the butlers are generally long serving members of the crew.  They know everyone and everything going on.  They can make your experience SUITE!  

[begood2me]

As far as the vibe is concerned, I would say Celebrity is conformable mix between a mainline cruise line and a luxury line like Oceania or Regent or even Viking.  Now, when you are talking about the Caribbean in the spring, you might get more kids that are out of school.  If it's not break time, you will have less cruises when you take longer than 10 day cruises.  You'll find Celebrity does not have a lot of extra entertainment.  There are no rock climbing walls!  When you are in Suite, you will find that you have a more luxurious experience; however, you can still take advantage of the non suite activities.  Luminae, the exclusive restaurant for Suites, is fantastic.  It's small, with about a great ambiance.  The service is top notch and the food prep is outstanding.  Michael's Club is an excellent retreat an an exclusive lounge for suite guests.   In my opinion, dollar for dollar, getting a suite on Celebrity is a much better value than a regular cabin on a luxury line.  

[Cyber Kat]

33 minutes ago, begood2me said:

There is a very good discussion in a different thread about what does a butter does vs a stateroom attendant.  Someone in that thread said that a butter takes care of your needs and the stateroom attendant looks after the cabin.  Having sailed in both suite and non suite (always sail suite now), I can tell you that you need to get used to having a butler.  We get to know the butler and really look to him to make our experience on the ship better.  If we forgot something, we ask the butler to see if he can assist.  The butler will make sure you can get a shirt pressed quickly or get your laundry back in record time.  If you like a certain type of fruit in the morning with your coffee, the butler will make sure you get that type of fruit and not just a regular fruit tray.  Do you really like oatmeal raisin cookies, magically a couple will appear every afternoon for you to enjoy.  On Evening Chic nights, the butler is the one who is in the theater saving the seats in the front row of the balcony so you have the best view in the house.  Do you need help with a reservation, you butler will help solve that along with the suites concierge who works in the exclusive Michael's club lounge.  Do you prefer a certain seating time at Luminae but are running late one day.  You butler will let the restaurant know that you will be there maybe 20 minutes late so don't give away your favorite table by the windows.   One thing to remember is the butlers are generally long serving members of the crew.  They know everyone and everything going on.  They can make your experience SUITE!  

Awesome - thank you!  We've never had one before, so I had no clue what they could do beyond making reservations.

It's funny.  I had read that a butler will pack and unpack - on a thread somewhere.  We did a Viking river cruise this past fall and had to do a ship swap to get around a low water area of the Danube due to the severe drought in Europe.  I was wishing for a butler to pack and unpack so I didn't have to do it! 😄

[begood2me]

1 minute ago, Cyber Kat said:

Awesome - thank you!  We've never had one before, so I had no clue what they could do beyond making reservations.

It's funny.  I had read that a butler will pack and unpack - on a thread somewhere.  We did a Viking river cruise this past fall and had to do a ship swap to get around a low water area of the Danube due to the severe drought in Europe.  I was wishing for a butler to pack and unpack so I didn't have to do it! 😄

They will pack and unpack; however, you have to be in the cabin when they do either.  To me, it has always been easier and more efficient to this myself.  I'm with you though, hate to pack when I shouldn't have to do it.   In your case, I think I would the butler go get me a bloody mary to make the packing a little easier 🙂

[Cyber Kat]

28 minutes ago, begood2me said:

As far as the vibe is concerned, I would say Celebrity is conformable mix between a mainline cruise line and a luxury line like Oceania or Regent or even Viking.  Now, when you are talking about the Caribbean in the spring, you might get more kids that are out of school.  If it's not break time, you will have less cruises when you take longer than 10 day cruises.  You'll find Celebrity does not have a lot of extra entertainment.  There are no rock climbing walls!  When you are in Suite, you will find that you have a more luxurious experience; however, you can still take advantage of the non suite activities.  Luminae, the exclusive restaurant for Suites, is fantastic.  It's small, with about a great ambiance.  The service is top notch and the food prep is outstanding.  Michael's Club is an excellent retreat an an exclusive lounge for suite guests.   In my opinion, dollar for dollar, getting a suite on Celebrity is a much better value than a regular cabin on a luxury line.  

Thanks!  I was looking at the suites - we've never had one before, although the Penthouse Veranda cabins on Viking are quite roomy.  You don't get a lot of extras on Viking for booking a suite, so that level is just great.

There are quite a nice number of options for us to choose from and Celebrity is one of them.  I just have to find the best fit for us and for our budget.  Sounds like this is good possibility!  Thanks!

[Cyber Kat]

3 minutes ago, begood2me said:

They will pack and unpack; however, you have to be in the cabin when they do either.  To me, it has always been easier and more efficient to this myself.  I'm with you though, hate to pack when I shouldn't have to do it.   In your case, I think I would the butler go get me a bloody mary to make the packing a little easier 🙂

LOL - excellent plan!

I'm not quite sure exactly how I did it, but when I was pulling the suitcase out from under the bed, it hit my toe with a lot of force (I didn't know I was that strong!) and ripped my toenail in half!  It was hurting for a long while - even after we got back and the nail still hasn't grown all the way back!

I was really wishing for a butler!

[begood2me]

2 minutes ago, Cyber Kat said:

LOL - excellent plan!

I'm not quite sure exactly how I did it, but when I was pulling the suitcase out from under the bed, it hit my toe with a lot of force (I didn't know I was that strong!) and ripped my toenail in half!  It was hurting for a long while - even after we got back and the nail still hasn't grown all the way back!

I was really wishing for a butler!

Ouch.  There's a good point for you.  Your butler could get all your luggage out from under the bed and arranged for packing.  We have done a few cruises back to back where we change suites between cruises.  In those cases, we only packed stuff from the safe and personal items from the bathroom, and then we let the butler move everything else while we went out for the day.  They moved our "carry on" bags an then all the other clothes he just moved on a cart and put them in the exact same areas of the suite.  Here's the thing to remember, the butlers really want to make your experience great.  The butler takes care of us and we take care of the butler.  

[stevea36]

1 hour ago, Cyber Kat said:

Thanks!  I was looking at the suites - we've never had one before, although the Penthouse Veranda cabins on Viking are quite roomy.  You don't get a lot of extras on Viking for booking a suite, so that level is just great.

There are quite a nice number of options for us to choose from and Celebrity is one of them.  I just have to find the best fit for us and for our budget.  Sounds like this is good possibility!  Thanks!

 

You may want to look into a sailing on a ship that is being rejuvinated (such as the Equinox).  These ships will have  upgraded suite areas on the ship.  You can find out more about this here.

 

Steve

[4774Papa]

2 hours ago, Cyber Kat said:

So we are looking for a cruise for spring 2020.
 

We have an Azamara cruise (first time with them) NY to NY with 2 days in Charleston, SC and Hamilton, Bermuda for this spring, and a Viking Montreal to NYC cruise for this fall, and another Viking cruise Bergen to Barcelona cruise booked for fall of 2020.
 

We really like Viking - don't know yet if we will like Azamara - but we are looking to do something a bit closer to home in the spring - no overseas flights. We have done the Viking West Indies, and will be doing Canada. I don't mind repeating ports, but I like a new one thrown in here and there, so for this cruise, we're looking at lines other than Viking.
 

I really want to try Regent, but we tend to spend less on our spring cruises than on the fall ones. I found a few itineraries that are at the top of the budget, and DH is suggesting I keep looking
 

We don't like the mega-ships and Viking kind of has us spoiled with so much included, no kids, no casino, no photographers, casual dress for dinner. I'm not sure about going back into the mainstream with the mega ships and all the entertainment folderol - rock climbing walls, skating rinks, race car tracks.  We are so not into all of that.
 

I'm looking at a couple of Celebrity Caribbean cruises and we could do a suite for way less than Viking or Regent, so I'm thinking it's a possibility. I don't know all that much about Celebrity so I figure this is good place to learn.
 

What's the vibe like?
How dressed up do people get on the "Chic" nights? Can my husband wear a dress shirt and pants without a jacket and tie?
How is the kid situation - will we find the ship overrun?
How is it cruising in their suites? Is anything included or is everything extra?
If we do Anytime dining, how does it work on Celebrity? On Viking you have to make reservations for the specialty restaurants, but you just walk up to the main dining room and tell them if you want to share or not.
And what in the world do you do with a butler?

 

Thanks for any help you can give me. I'm still pushing for Regent, but I'm thinking Celebrity might work from some things I have been reading.  The cruises I am looking at are on the Equinox and the Summit - bigger than we would like, but not mega ships and I think we would be fine with those.

 

 

Celebrity's ships are very well designed and allow you maximum views of the ocean.  Also, we never seem crowded like on many NCL ships.  The M and S class ships are not mega ships and hold about 2200 and 2800 passengers respectively.

 

Chic night is nice, I once did a Tux, then wore a business suit, now I take a sport coat and tie.  Some still wear suits and a few tuxes.  Still you don't have to dress up like that.  You don't need a tie.  I think a sport coat is advisable.

 

Celebrity never has many kids.  Of course, most of our cruises are two week cruises and there probably aren't more than 20 kids on the entire ship.

 

Anytime dining is nice, it is flexible and allows you to have happy hour with friends then head to the dining room.  It is best to dine no later than 7pm.  If you want to eat later, suggest fixed late dining.

We cruised in a suite once and you get a butler, which we hardly ever used (but he brought tea and snacks around at 4pm every day). A butler will make reservations for you and if you want to dine in your cabin set that up for you.  You dine in the wonderful Luminae restaurant and the food is excellent.  You do need reservations for the specialty restaurants, but we hardly ever dine there, since the MDR is very good.

 

The service on Celebrity to me is the best when compared to NCL, Royal C or Celebrity.

 

I sometimes price cruises on Azamara and Viking, but their prices are always double or triple what I can find on Celebrity.  You are likely to save $$$ compared to them.

 

You won't find problems on Celebrity of people getting drunk and making a show of themselves, Celebrity cruisers are not the party hardy type.

[Cyber Kat]

6 hours ago, stevea36 said:

 

You may want to look into a sailing on a ship that is being rejuvinated (such as the Equinox).  These ships will have  upgraded suite areas on the ship.  You can find out more about this here.

 

Steve

 

The cruise we are looking at IS on the Equinox. I like that it’s not one of the mega ships. 

[Cyber Kat]

6 hours ago, 4774Papa said:

Celebrity's ships are very well designed and allow you maximum views of the ocean.  Also, we never seem crowded like on many NCL ships.  The M and S class ships are not mega ships and hold about 2200 and 2800 passengers respectively.

 

Chic night is nice, I once did a Tux, then wore a business suit, now I take a sport coat and tie.  Some still wear suits and a few tuxes.  Still you don't have to dress up like that.  You don't need a tie.  I think a sport coat is advisable.

 

Celebrity never has many kids.  Of course, most of our cruises are two week cruises and there probably aren't more than 20 kids on the entire ship.

 

Anytime dining is nice, it is flexible and allows you to have happy hour with friends then head to the dining room.  It is best to dine no later than 7pm.  If you want to eat later, suggest fixed late dining.

We cruised in a suite once and you get a butler, which we hardly ever used (but he brought tea and snacks around at 4pm every day). A butler will make reservations for you and if you want to dine in your cabin set that up for you.  You dine in the wonderful Luminae restaurant and the food is excellent.  You do need reservations for the specialty restaurants, but we hardly ever dine there, since the MDR is very good.

 

The service on Celebrity to me is the best when compared to NCL, Royal C or Celebrity.

 

I sometimes price cruises on Azamara and Viking, but their prices are always double or triple what I can find on Celebrity.  You are likely to save $$$ compared to them.

 

You won't find problems on Celebrity of people getting drunk and making a show of themselves, Celebrity cruisers are not the party hardy type.

 

As I mentioned, we were looking at spending less than what we would on Viking because it will be between 2 kind of pricey Viking cruises. We really love Viking, but as I’ve said, we’re not going steady 😄. The experience is wonderful. 

 

I thought that getting a suite on Celebrity would give us a good experience at a lower cost.  Not looking for Celebrity to be Viking, but hoping for a good fit. We’re flexible. 

[cruising cockroach]

7 hours ago, 4774Papa said:

Celebrity never has many kids.  Of course, most of our cruises are two week cruises and there probably aren't more than 20 kids on the entire ship.

 

Not sure if it was in jest or not but the CD on the Millennium announced that the Alaska cruise that ran before the TPAC repo to Japan in 2017 (the last Alaska cruise was around of just before Labor Day) had 500 kid on board.

[PROCRUISE]

Just my two cents worth, especially since I don't cruise in suites.

I have taken the 11 night West Indies cruise on the Viking Sea. The ship, crew, food, service and fellow passengers was all phenomenal.

I have taken seven cruises with Celebrity including the Summit on its NE/ Canada itinerary. Even before its upcoming dry dock, the ship was great and just the right size. Food was very good as well as the service and again, the fellow passengers were great. I have also cruised on the Equinox, my favorite Celebrity vessel, but it is a significantly larger vessel but I love the ship and have always found Celebrity to be very good.

Enjoy which ever cruise/ cruise line you decide upon.

[4774Papa]

8 hours ago, cruising cockroach said:

 

Not sure if it was in jest or not but the CD on the Millennium announced that the Alaska cruise that ran before the TPAC repo to Japan in 2017 (the last Alaska cruise was around of just before Labor Day) had 500 kid on board.

That is possible, our Alaska cruise had more kids and it was a 7  day cruise, but we did it on NCL, since Celebrity doesn't go to Glacier Bay and NCL does.

[myjillian]

Never had a Celebrity cruise I never liked....wait I remember a 14 day repositioning cruise from Vancover (sp) to San Diego.  The Captain must have been having a bad time and the whole crew seemed a little up tight and unhappy.. we were in a suite and .we took it to help celebrate our friends 40th anniversary and the Summit was their favorite ship...the food was terrible and couldn't wait to get off in San Diego and board a Princess because we were starving.....said never again Celebrity...then couldn't resist a New England /Canada  13 day deal on the" Connie" 2 months later and it was wonderful..we have since become Elite plus and we like concerige (sp)  always trying to get a room near the library 🤗we have done several Med cruises...favorite being a wine cruise out of Southampton with 3 OVERNIGHTERS..in La Harve we took the train into Paris and spent the night so we could go up into the Eiffel  Tower at night.  Been to Paris before but just those day trips....my husband was dying to go up the Eiffel  Tower on the day trips you never have the time

Edited January 29, 2019 by myjillian

[Cyber Kat]

On 1/28/2019 at 11:24 PM, PROCRUISE said:

Just my two cents worth, especially since I don't cruise in suites.

I have taken the 11 night West Indies cruise on the Viking Sea. The ship, crew, food, service and fellow passengers was all phenomenal.

I have taken seven cruises with Celebrity including the Summit on its NE/ Canada itinerary. Even before its upcoming dry dock, the ship was great and just the right size. Food was very good as well as the service and again, the fellow passengers were great. I have also cruised on the Equinox, my favorite Celebrity vessel, but it is a significantly larger vessel but I love the ship and have always found Celebrity to be very good.

Enjoy which ever cruise/ cruise line you decide upon.

 

Thanks!  We are looking at Equinox. What makes it your favorite?  It’s at the maximum passenger size for us, but we were okay with the Carnival Splendor and the Carnival Sunshine. Unlike some, we don’t dislike Carnival, but at this point we are looking for a more upscale line. We did love Viking and the smaller ship experience. We are also looking for good food - which I have heard Celebrity has. 

 

We are looking at several cruises on different lines - Celebrity is one of them, so I’m glad to hear that it should be a good fit, especially on either the Equinox or the Summit. 

[Pier290]

We cruised on Equinox in April....there were probably at most 40 kids that we hardly saw. It's a very laid back cruise line with EXCELLENT service and food. U will not be disappointed. Happy cruising! 🛳️🍹😎

[royalcruz]

I think that a suite on Celebrity will be the perfect fit for you. The aft corner S1 Sky Suites on Equinox are highly recommended and well priced. Almost all suite bookings include drinks, internet, gratuities, and credit (some exceptions are senior and resident rates). Dining in Luminae is anytime dining and the food and service are excellent. You get good sized Bulgari bath products and a bath tub. There is a suite concierge lounge where the butlers serve afternoon tea. The butlers try to provide anything that you ask for within reason. We don't go to the tea service, so we request that they deliver alternating vegetarian canapes, crudite, or cut fruit to snack on at the end of the day. You'll probably be invited to the Helipad for a sailaway. There aren't a lot of children in Celebrity. 😊 

The entertainment is very good, but the public areas sometimes have music that is too loud. The ships are a good size but don't feel overcrowded.

 

[Cyber Kat]

10 hours ago, royalcruz said:

I think that a suite on Celebrity will be the perfect fit for you. The aft corner S1 Sky Suites on Equinox are highly recommended and well priced. Almost all suite bookings include drinks, internet, gratuities, and credit (some exceptions are senior and resident rates). Dining in Luminae is anytime dining and the food and service are excellent. You get good sized Bulgari bath products and a bath tub. There is a suite concierge lounge where the butlers serve afternoon tea. The butlers try to provide anything that you ask for within reason. We don't go to the tea service, so we request that they deliver alternating vegetarian canapes, crudite, or cut fruit to snack on at the end of the day. You'll probably be invited to the Helipad for a sailaway. There aren't a lot of children in Celebrity. 😊 

The entertainment is very good, but the public areas sometimes have music that is too loud. The ships are a good size but don't feel overcrowded.

 

 

That sounds like a good fit!  I like the helipad for sail away. The cruise we are looking at leaves from Fort Lauderdale and we haven’t sailed from that port yet. 

 

Also like the idea of having some snacks in the late afternoon. I do like an afternoon tea, but not every day. I can deal with the loud music as long as I have a place to escape when I want. 

 

Do they have any live cover bands?  That’s something we do like in the evening.

 

Thanks so much for the help every one. 

[begood2me]

1 hour ago, Cyber Kat said:

 

That sounds like a good fit!  I like the helipad for sail away. The cruise we are looking at leaves from Fort Lauderdale and we haven’t sailed from that port yet. 

 

Also like the idea of having some snacks in the late afternoon. I do like an afternoon tea, but not every day. I can deal with the loud music as long as I have a place to escape when I want. 

 

Do they have any live cover bands?  That’s something we do like in the evening.

 

Thanks so much for the help every one. 

There is usually 2 bands on the ship that play covers.  There is usually another musician who will play solo during the afternoon or early evening.  The solo performer tends to be someone either playing guitar and singing other covers or a classical pianist.  All that being said, there are no guarantees for who will be on the ship on your sailing.  In my opinion, the entertainment on the last couple of cruise has actually been better than those entertaining about 5 years ago.  

[royalcruz]

On 2/4/2019 at 8:47 AM, Cyber Kat said:

 

That sounds like a good fit!  I like the helipad for sail away. The cruise we are looking at leaves from Fort Lauderdale and we haven’t sailed from that port yet. 

 

Also like the idea of having some snacks in the late afternoon. I do like an afternoon tea, but not every day. I can deal with the loud music as long as I have a place to escape when I want. 

 

Do they have any live cover bands?  That’s something we do like in the evening.

 

Thanks so much for the help every one. 

There is always a house band. They play at the pool and inside in the evenings. Ft. Lauderdale is a great city. Stay an extra night on the beach or downtown. Las Olas Blvd is the place to be in the evenings.

[Cyber Kat]

Thanks everyone for all the responses.

Just wanted to let you all know that we are taking the plunge!  We have booked the 10 Night Southern Caribbean on the Equinox for May 2020.  We are in a Sky Suite so I'm excited for that and it's an aft corner!  Looking forward to seeing the Equinox after the renovation.