Celebrity and me.

[Himself]

As most of the regular posters, know, I am a HAL regular.  I did my firstcruise in April 1996 on the old Enchaned Isle out of New Orleans,  We were in port with the 1982 version of THe Nieuw Amsterdam.  That November I went on that ship andhave Sailed HAL eversince.  Frequently I am the Chaplain and sometimes I am a passenger. but always on HAL.  For the past monyh I have getting offers from Celebrity.  Is anyone else getting them?   FYI, I have NEVER sailed wirh Celebeity.

[whogo]

suec12 has: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2759854-hal-vs-celebrity-not-like-the-old-threads/

 

[Lido - Lanai]

2 hours ago, Himself said:

As most of the regular posters, know, I am a HAL regular.  I did my firstcruise in April 1996 on the old Enchaned Isle out of New Orleans,  We were in port with the 1982 version of THe Nieuw Amsterdam.  That November I went on that ship andhave Sailed HAL eversince.  Frequently I am the Chaplain and sometimes I am a passenger. but always on HAL.  For the past monyh I have getting offers from Celebrity.  Is anyone else getting them?   FYI, I have NEVER sailed wirh Celebeity.

I have done two X cruises...... give them a try Father.... you'll be pleasantly surprised.

[Aquahound]

2 hours ago, Himself said:

 FYI, I have NEVER sailed wirh Celebeity.

 

Father, I know there is a good sense of familiarity and "home" with always returning to the same cruise line, but I highly recommend Celebrity.  Celebrity is really, really good in the areas HAL is weak, such as variety of entertainment, modern luxuries,  suites, etc.  Plus, I think their specialty restaurants are the best in the industry.  There's a thread on the Ask a Cruise Question board regarding favorite ships and Celebrity Solstice Class ships are the most mentioned.  No pressure....but if you were to consider giving another line a try, I think it should by them.  🙂

[rkacruiser]

My one Celebrity cruise was a 14 day Caribbean Winter cruise on Eclipse.  The ship had modern, but tasteful and lovely decor.  Their Lido type restaurant was the first that I had experienced with the "station concept".  It took me awhile to figure it out, but I still found that I had to visit too many "stations" to get what I wanted.  Cuisine was good; not great.  Except for their Tuscan Grille; it was excellent and better than most Pinnacle Grill dinners and lunches I have had.  I also dined at Murano's and it was very good.  Service was not quite as personable as on HAL, but good.  Musical entertainment was excellent although two of the three main Theater shows were, I thought, weird.  I had a nice balcony stateroom which was quite comfortable with plenty of storage space.  The shower had a plastic folding door that I found a bit awkward to use as I recall.  

 

Would I sail with Celebrity again?  Maybe.  Having sailed with MSC in January, I think their cruise product fits me better than Celebrity's.  

[AtlantaCruiser72]

I used to be a real Celebrity Cheerleader and usually chose them over HAL and Princess as I felt the product was a little more refined and the service a little more polished.  Two things changed that are keeping me away from Celebrity.  First - with the launch of EDGE Class vessels and introduction of suite class I have seen significant price increases across the board for all room types on all vessels. Second - on my last two sailings (Equinox in December 2017 and Summit in December 2018) I noticed a sharp increase in hard sales tactics and pressure for additional spend - especially specialty dining.  We could not enjoy a meal in ANY venue, nor even a drink in most bars or by the pool, without someone coming up (often multiple assaults) to book specialty dining, which has gotten out of hand pricing wise as well.

 

All that said - Celebrity does build beautiful ships, maintains them well, and the crew typically provide a high level of service, with very good entertainment and activities.  Food being subjective, I'd say it's mostly on par with HAL.  Both lines have strengths and weaknesses.

 

I get DAILY emails from Celebrity, and none from HAL...... I have 2 HAL cruises booked, took one within the last year, and none on Celebrity since 2018.

Edited September 7, 2020 by AtlantaCruiser72

[Jolokia]

Father, I have sailed Celebrity in the past, my parish priest was the chaplain on those cruises. We would have 80 - 100 on those cruises. It was very nice to be aboard with so many people that you know. However, as you know, Celebrity is no longer using AOS and therefore no daily mass. Since they have severed that relationship, I now only cruise on HAL ships.

As others have stated, Celebrity does offers a good product, the food and entertainment are good.

[rkacruiser]

2 hours ago, AtlantaCruiser72 said:

I get DAILY emails from Celebrity, and none from HAL.

 

I receive none from either.  I am again starting to receive unwelcome brochures in the mail from my 
"friends" at Regent and Oceania.  Maybe a sailing on Oceania, but Regent?  Not likely.  

[St Pete Cruiser]

I haven't been getting mailings of late from anyone, but plenty of emails.  I have done Royal and Celebrity twice, but was always happy to return to HAL.

[StLouisCruisers]

I'm still receiving snail mail brochures from Oceania and have never sailed them.  A couple times a week we get an email from HAL, but only one at a time instead of one to each of us each time.  Did they give up on DH?

[grest]

have done two Celebrity cruises....will definitely do another..

[Himself]

20 hours ago, Jolokia said:

Father, I have sailed Celebrity in the past, my parish priest was the chaplain on those cruises. We would have 80 - 100 on those cruises. It was very nice to be aboard with so many people that you know. However, as you know, Celebrity is no longer using AOS and therefore no daily mass. Since they have severed that relationship, I now only cruise on HAL ships.

As others have stated, Celebrity does offers a good product, the food and entertainment are good.

One of the advantages HAL has in offering Mass.. Even if I am not the Chaplain, I like to get to Mass each day. If I were to go Celebrity it would have to be a seven day out of Ft. Lauderdale when I can get to Mass on Saturday before sailing and  get to Mass at St Anthony in FLL after dis-emarking.

[doone]

I have been getting emails from Princess, HAL and Celebrity.  I feel like I am at home when I sail HAL, but would definately look at sailing Celebrity or Princess if the price and itinerary were right...............

 

Father, if you give Celebrity a try, please come back and give us your thoughts...................

Edited September 8, 2020 by doone

[Himself]

3 hours ago, doone said:

I have been getting emails from Princess, HAL and Celebrity.  I feel like I am at home when I sail HAL, but would definately look at sailing Celebrity or Princess if the price and itinerary were right...............

 

Father, if you give Celebrity a try, please come back and give us your thoughts...................

 

If that happens, I will let you know.  I would try the EDGE if I were to do it.

[rkacruiser]

27 minutes ago, Himself said:

I would try the EDGE if I were to do it.

 

I have friends who are Diamond on Royal Caribbean/Celebrity and are at least 4 Star Mariners with HAL.  They sailed on Edge and loved everything about the ship.  

[Stateroom_Sailor]

My favorite cruise to date was Celebrity Millennium, in 2014.  The ship design, pace, and flow went very nicely against scenic Alaska, and the slight nip from the shoulder season.  The food, comfort, and service were very comparable to HAL.

 

Between October 2018, and April 2019, we noticed a sharp decline in food quality, including shortages of ingredients.  I'm talking fresh vegetables, hummus spread, pancake batter, chocolate syrup, etc.  It should be embarrassing to run out of pineapple while docked in Maui, but they did manage to round up frozen mixed veggies.  Reviews across the fleet were similar, and it was common discussion onboard.  This may have been a temporary distribution or cash flow problem, but it was one a few reasons we decided to move along.

[Himself]

4 hours ago, rkacruiser said:

 

I have friends who are Diamond on Royal Caribbean/Celebrity and are at least 4 Star Mariners with HAL.  They sailed on Edge and loved everything about the ship.  

 

 

It is an ugly looking ship!  What did your friends think of the "magic Carpet?"

[doone]

I don’t like the looks of the Edge either and those infinity balconies, not for me....

[Caribbean Chris]

We cruise both lines every year (except for 2020 and ...?) 

 

When I board a HAL ship, I feel like I’m back home - I love HAL.

It represents classic ocean liner elegant-comfortable cruising to me.
We’ve sailed every class HAL ship including Pinnacle and found them all very comfortable. Sometimes we book suites but regardless of category, I always know the service and housekeeping will be wonderful.

 

When I board Celebrity, I know I will have a good vacation - I like Celebrity.
It represents modern trendy-stylish cruising to me. 
We’ve sailed every class X ship including Edge; were underwhelmed by Edge for numerous reasons, but we like the Solstice class ships very much.

After booking standard outside rooms early on, now we almost always book a Sky Suite (Lowest price level for suites) to be sure the service and housekeeping will be wonderful. 
 

They’re both good lines. I’d probably stick with HAL exclusively but my husband likes all the suite perks on Celebrity for even those least expensive suites, and we have friends who like X, too. 

 

[dogo88]

We've done both Celebrity and HAL, all things being equal, we would choose Celebrity. 

 

Dan

[lcand1923]

Being able to attend Mass is a major reason that I like HAL.  On my one Celebrity cruise, there was a priest onboard.  While wandering around the ship, I found a tiny posting saying that Saturday Evening Mass would be offered in this public room.  About 25 people attended the first Saturday.  The number increased to close to 100 people on the second Saturday.  (This cruise covered the Iberian Coast with stops near Fatima and St James Campostela, so there were a lot of Catholics onboard.)  These Masses were not mentioned in Daily Program.

 

I liked Celebrity, but the above is one of the things that I found lacking with the Celebrity experience.  Things would be taking place onboard that you would find by stumbling upon them.  Activities were not mentioned in the Daily Program.   (This could be the fault of the Cruise Director rather than the line.  I don't know.)

 

The cabin was great.  The food was acceptable.  The entertainment was quite good.  The ship-sponsored shore excursions were quite good.

 

Would I sail Celebrity again?  Yes.

 

[rkacruiser]

17 hours ago, doone said:

I don’t like the looks of the Edge either and those infinity balconies, not for me....

 

I agree.  My friends did not mind the appearance.  The infinity balconies was something that took some "getting used to".  The younger ones of my friends accepted them.  The most senior lady prefers the traditional balcony.  

 

22 hours ago, Himself said:

 

 

It is an ugly looking ship!  What did your friends think of the "magic Carpet?"

 

I am going to have to ask about that.  I don't recall any reaction whatsoever.  I'll try to return to this thread if, when, I get a response.  

[Cruzaholic41]

22 hours ago, Himself said:

 

 

It is an ugly looking ship!  What did your friends think of the "magic Carpet?"

When I cruised Edge, it almost instantly became my new favorite ship. It is absolutely beautiful. 
 

The Magic Carpet might look a little goofy from afar but on board, it’s a really nice and unique venue. When they move it from floor to floor, it becomes a different venue. I don’t remember exactly what they all were but I recall it being a wine bar on one floor and a specialty restaurant on another (you can’t ride it up and down - that’s when they change the venue).  They even had a guitarist playing at night (remember guitarists? - HAL used to have those 🙄). 
 

Otherwise, like someone else said, all things being equal, I’d choose Celebrity every time. 

[I_r_a]

Hi H,

 

We liked our several cruises on Celebrity at least as much as we did our cruises on HAL.

 

Ira

Except for The Prinsendam

Edited September 10, 2020 by I_r_a
because

[Himself]

On 9/7/2020 at 4:00 PM, AtlantaCruiser72 said:

I used to be a real Celebrity Cheerleader and usually chose them over HAL and Princess as I felt the product was a little more refined and the service a little more polished.  Two things changed that are keeping me away from Celebrity.  First - with the launch of EDGE Class vessels and introduction of suite class I have seen significant price increases across the board for all room types on all vessels. Second - on my last two sailings (Equinox in December 2017 and Summit in December 2018) I noticed a sharp increase in hard sales tactics and pressure for additional spend - especially specialty dining.  We could not enjoy a meal in ANY venue, nor even a drink in most bars or by the pool, without someone coming up (often multiple assaults) to book specialty dining, which has gotten out of hand pricing wise as well.

 

All that said - Celebrity does build beautiful ships, maintains them well, and the crew typically provide a high level of service, with very good entertainment and activities.  Food being subjective, I'd say it's mostly on par with HAL.  Both lines have strengths and weaknesses.

 

I get DAILY emails from Celebrity, and none from HAL...... I have 2 HAL cruises booked, took one within the last year, and none on Celebrity since 2018.

I have gotten nothing from HAL. I used to get good offers from HAL Regularly as a msriner.