New to Celebrity

[jonyboy]

I've tried finding an existing forum with no luck.  We've cruised on HAL a couple times and enjoyed it very much.  Our TA has suggested that with the perks offered by Celebrity on an upcoming Southern Caribbean out of San Juan we are considering this instead.  Any ideas on comparison of the two?  If we do decide to take the Celebrity any tips and advice would be very welcome

 

Thank you

[davekathy]

14 minutes ago, jonyboy said:

I've tried finding an existing forum with no luck.  We've cruised on HAL a couple times and enjoyed it very much.  Our TA has suggested that with the perks offered by Celebrity on an upcoming Southern Caribbean out of San Juan we are considering this instead.  Any ideas on comparison of the two?  If we do decide to take the Celebrity any tips and advice would be very welcome

 

Thank you

Sounds like you'll be on the Summit. Nice ship. Before you book do a price comparison without the bundled perks and with the bundled perks you want. That way you will get a better idea what the bundled perks will coast you above the cruise fare. We've only cruised with HAL once in 2001 on the Statendam. So I can't really compare the two. Other than on the HAL the entertainment wasn't what we like. Maybe it's different now 18 years later. The ship was nice and quiet at night. 😉  We like Celebrity. Try it, you may like it. 

[jonyboy]

13 minutes ago, davekathy said:

Sounds like you'll be on the Summit. Nice ship. Before you book do a price comparison without the bundled perks and with the bundled perks you want. That way you will get a better idea what the bundled perks will coast you above the cruise fare. We've only cruised with HAL once in 2001 on the Statendam. So I can't really compare the two. Other than on the HAL the entertainment wasn't what we like. Maybe it's different now 18 years later. The ship was nice and quiet at night. 😉  We like Celebrity. Try it, you may like it. 

Because the HAL is out of Fort Lauderdale and the Celebrity out of San Juan and we live in New England the cost is very close, air fare and hotel are quite a bit higher going to San Juan the day before

 

[Luvcrusn]

The dress codes on the two differ. Celebrity has no formal nights, but has Evening chic nights. I don't want to start another dress code debate, but the X Evening Chic nights allow one to dress up on not and offers the opportunity for much more personal interpretation. I don't know if that is something that factors into your decision or not, but thought I'd offer it as a difference making factor in your decision. There is no smoking anywhere indoors on X including the casino as well. 

[davekathy]

43 minutes ago, jonyboy said:

Because the HAL is out of Fort Lauderdale and the Celebrity out of San Juan and we live in New England the cost is very close, air fare and hotel are quite a bit higher going to San Juan the day before

 

Since I was referencing the Celebrity Summit which leaves out of SJ, I was suggesting you do a price comparison for your Celebrity cruise with and with out the bundled perks that you TA was talking about. The bundled perks are not free. 

Edited November 13, 2019 by davekathy

[hcat]

Thete have been several threads comparing but  CC search feature is no longer very user friendly,   Maybe someone can help and post a link

[Loracpin2]

1 hour ago, jonyboy said:

Because the HAL is out of Fort Lauderdale and the Celebrity out of San Juan and we live in New England the cost is very close, air fare and hotel are quite a bit higher going to San Juan the day before

 

If you typically fly into FLL and cruise out of there on HAL, have you considered one of Celebrity's S class ships out of FLL?

[jonyboy]

1 minute ago, Loracpin2 said:

If you typically fly into FLL and cruise out of there on HAL, have you considered one of Celebrity's S class ships out of FLL?

That is a great idea, thank you very much.  I think I know what I'll be doing for the next couple hours

 

[4774Papa]

2 hours ago, jonyboy said:

I've tried finding an existing forum with no luck.  We've cruised on HAL a couple times and enjoyed it very much.  Our TA has suggested that with the perks offered by Celebrity on an upcoming Southern Caribbean out of San Juan we are considering this instead.  Any ideas on comparison of the two?  If we do decide to take the Celebrity any tips and advice would be very welcome

 

Thank you

Celebrity is our favorite cruse line, but we also do NCL and Royal Caribbean.

We haven't done HAL.   We avoid HAL in the past because of their smoking policy that once allowed smoking on balconies.  That has changed and while I do check HAL's prices, I haven't found a HAL cruise that was competitively priced to book.

 

Celebrity's has great service and dining.  I love the layout of the ships.  Entertainment is better on NCL and Royal, but still good on Celebrity.

[jonyboy]

22 minutes ago, 4774Papa said:

Celebrity is our favorite cruse line, but we also do NCL and Royal Caribbean.

We haven't done HAL.   We avoid HAL in the past because of their smoking policy that once allowed smoking on balconies.  That has changed and while I do check HAL's prices, I haven't found a HAL cruise that was competitively priced to book.

 

Celebrity's has great service and dining.  I love the layout of the ships.  Entertainment is better on NCL and Royal, but still good on Celebrity.

Our first cruise was Alaska on HAL and they were priced competitively then.  The smoking policy has changed, no more smoking on balconies.  We also did an Eastern Caribbean on HAL and felt more at home knowing where everything is.  However, they do not offer the free perks that celebrity does which does make celebrity a better deal overall.  Maybe time to check out other options

[hiccups]

We sailed HAL 2-3 years ago on Eurodam, and had our first cruise on X a few months ago on Equinox.  We liked X better--the ship was nicer and the food was much better.  I did like the variety of music on HAL, with Lincoln Center Stage and BB King's.  If the price is comparable, I'd go with X, especially if all the perks are included.

[Nymich]

Holland better music and it is not even close.  Buffet has servers instead of grab all like X.

 

Celebrity nice laid back atmosphere.  Murano is awesome.  Concierge and Aqua offer good bang for buck.

 

Doing nbr 7 cruise on X in December and nbr 7 cruise on HAL in March 2020 mostly for the above reasons plus the ports of course!

 

[George C]

We did hal several times and recently several on celebrity, prefer entertainment on Hal. Buffet is much better on celebrity. I love celebrity suite perks. 

[jonyboy]

21 hours ago, Loracpin2 said:

If you typically fly into FLL and cruise out of there on HAL, have you considered one of Celebrity's S class ships out of FLL?

I did check out cruises out of FLL and booked one today.  Western Caribbean on the Edge sailing March 1 for 7 nights.  Thank you for the tip, I should have thought of that.  Over $1,000 less than a similar cruise out of San Juan

[Loracpin2]

3 hours ago, jonyboy said:

I did check out cruises out of FLL and booked one today.  Western Caribbean on the Edge sailing March 1 for 7 nights.  Thank you for the tip, I should have thought of that.  Over $1,000 less than a similar cruise out of San Juan

Glad it worked out!! Summit is a very nice ship but, for your first Celebrity sailing, I think you will be much happier on their newer and larger ships!!! We will be on our 18th S-class sailing in January 2020.

[jonyboy]

4 minutes ago, Loracpin2 said:

Glad it worked out!! Summit is a very nice ship but, for your first Celebrity sailing, I think you will be much happier on their newer and larger ships!!! We will be on our 18th S-class sailing in January 2020.

Reviews we've seen so far seem positive.  I did notice the infinity veranda is a little different than we're used to but it looks nice

[swigso]

Shave a look at this thread if you have not seen it

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2703613-jim_iain-–-edge-live-post-–-b2b-–-greek-islands-and-west-bound-transatlantic/

 

[sound_guy0918]

We've sailed the Summit out of San Juan twice and she's a fine ship.  Smaller than today's megaships which makes it easier to get around.  What's nice about SJU departures is that you are essentially sailing from an "extra" Caribbean port of call, plus you tend to get less days at sea on southern Caribbean itineraries.  

 

We would rank X higher on dining (both food quality and service) and their overall calm, quiet, relaxing environment onboard.

 

Booking with perks can be an exceptional deal, even at a higher fare, but it pays to run the numbers and do a true comparison.  Not sure how things stack up with the new drink package surcharge, but typically we look to book fares with 2 perks and the OBC usually covers he increased fare and the second perk is truly "free."

 

We sailed HAL last year and we would definitely sail them again.  If you like HAL, you will very likely enjoy X as well.

 

Have a great cruise!

[jonyboy]

3 minutes ago, sound_guy0918 said:

We've sailed the Summit out of San Juan twice and she's a fine ship.  Smaller than today's megaships which makes it easier to get around.  What's nice about SJU departures is that you are essentially sailing from an "extra" Caribbean port of call, plus you tend to get less days at sea on southern Caribbean itineraries.  

 

We would rank X higher on dining (both food quality and service) and their overall calm, quiet, relaxing environment onboard.

 

Booking with perks can be an exceptional deal, even at a higher fare, but it pays to run the numbers and do a true comparison.  Not sure how things stack up with the new drink package surcharge, but typically we look to book fares with 2 perks and the OBC usually covers he increased fare and the second perk is truly "free."

 

We sailed HAL last year and we would definitely sail them again.  If you like HAL, you will very likely enjoy X as well.

 

Have a great cruise!

Thank you very much

[jonyboy]

8 minutes ago, sound_guy0918 said:

We've sailed the Summit out of San Juan twice and she's a fine ship.  Smaller than today's megaships which makes it easier to get around.  What's nice about SJU departures is that you are essentially sailing from an "extra" Caribbean port of call, plus you tend to get less days at sea on southern Caribbean itineraries.  

 

We would rank X higher on dining (both food quality and service) and their overall calm, quiet, relaxing environment onboard.

 

Booking with perks can be an exceptional deal, even at a higher fare, but it pays to run the numbers and do a true comparison.  Not sure how things stack up with the new drink package surcharge, but typically we look to book fares with 2 perks and the OBC usually covers he increased fare and the second perk is truly "free."

 

We sailed HAL last year and we would definitely sail them again.  If you like HAL, you will very likely enjoy X as well.

 

Have a great cruise!

We did run the numbers with our TA and did consider the Summit out of San Juan.  You are correct on all points.  I did comparison of costs with and without perks on 4 different cruises on 3 lines.  As you pointed out, sailing out of San Juan does have 1 less sea day and a day in San Juan.  Since we have been to San Juan a couple times previously that was a minor factor.  From New England air fare to San Juan was considerably higher than to FLL, almost double in fact.  Overall, the western Caribbean vs southern was 25% less.  I appreciate all the advice and tips you all have provided and thank all of you very much

[sound_guy0918]

1 minute ago, jonyboy said:

We did run the numbers with our TA and did consider the Summit out of San Juan.  You are correct on all points.  I did comparison of costs with and without perks on 4 different cruises on 3 lines.  As you pointed out, sailing out of San Juan does have 1 less sea day and a day in San Juan.  Since we have been to San Juan a couple times previously that was a minor factor.  From New England air fare to San Juan was considerably higher than to FLL, almost double in fact.  Overall, the western Caribbean vs southern was 25% less.  I appreciate all the advice and tips you all have provided and thank all of you very much

Ah yes well airfare is definitely a consideration.

 

We've not sailed the Edge but reports are excellent.  Hopefully you have a great trip.