Celebrity Suite v Royal Suite

[LGW59]

OK so I have cancelled 2 cruises in 2020, I know welcome to the club.  So with the $ I did not spend, but have allocated, I have decided to power up.  Have only ever stayed in entry level suites, but now I am going a bit further.  Am trying to decide between a Celebrity Suite or Royal Suite on Apex.  I know Apex has not had a sailing yet, but Edge has.  Does anyone have any advice here?  I am def doing one or the other, Celebrity or Royal, there will be two of us.  With all due respect, please don't suggest a lesser suite, just wondering for comments from others who may have done the same on Edge, Summit, et al.  Thanks very much in advance.

[jelayne]

We have done both  CS & RS on M & S although not on the Edge.  We thought the CS on the M class was great- huge living dining area with a real dining table . We had a cocktail party for 14 with room to spare.  On the S Class the CS has no real dining table & IMHO feels cramped.  The RS on S class is great with dining table for 6 plus 1 & 1/2 bath    
A BFF did the CS on the E class no real  dining table but  decent amount of living space.  The RS has a small dining table for 4(?).  
We enjoy room service brunch so a real dining table is a plus to us.  The CS & RS earn the same CC points.  The RS comes with  2 bottles of alcohol & unlimited specialty dining, which on the E class is worth more than on the M class. So it comes down to what is important to you for the difference in price.  

[chemmo]

Cannot comment on the rooms on Apex/Edge as we have not experienced.  

 

We disliked the CS on S class as the bedroom is internal and there is no dining table. Disliked the CS on M class as the bedroom is internal and the bath is mega high, however the living space is nice.

 

Loved the RS on S class, perfect for two guests. Whilst the PH is a decadence of light and space the RS is still very nice.

 

On M class we made the big mistake of booking the PH on our first cruise and ever since then have not been able to board M class without booking it again! If you really want to book something where the room is a wow, this is the one although the ship itself has some limitations, particularly limited speciality dining.

 

However, once you decide which room is better for you remember the RS on any class comes with a lot more perks than the CS.

 

Beverage package

In suite bar set up including 2x1l bottles of spirit

Unlimited speciality dining

Free laundry

That extra personal touch on service (escorted onto the ship with ‘special delivery’ luggage service). 

Usually some sort of extra event (lunch with officers)

 

For us we enjoy that extra touch of luxury. However if you plan on dining mainly in Luminae or trying the 4 main dining rooms the unlimited speciality dining may not have that much value to you.

 

We have spent our last few cruises on S class either in a RS or the PH...We haven’t been tempted by the ‘look’ (or the prices!) of the equivalents on Edge/Apex. We have friends who recently cruised in a RS on Edge and felt it simply wasn’t as ‘luxurious’ as the RS on S class. Their particular dislikes were there was a big overhang over the balcony meaning it had limited sun and that the dining area was quite small. Strongly suggest you do lots of video  searching.

 

Whatever you choose to book, hope you enjoy!

[Zigster]

Like the previous posters we cannot comment on the Edge class suites.  For us it's the additional perks that you receive with the RS that makes it our go to choice.  The complimentary specialty dining is a very nice perk as well as the additional 1/2 bath on S class.   
With the RS you have a walk in shower with separate bathtub.  CS has a shower/tub combination which is a deal breaker for us.  
Enjoy your sailing with whatever you choose!

[Cruise a holic]

Have sailed in both.  It depends upon your budget.  If you can swing it, a Royal suite is great.  The perks have been described above.  The advantage on the S class ships is that in a Royal suite, you get an extra 1/2 bath.  That is IMO a wonderful bonus.  We also got beautiful  monogramed bathrobes to take home .  The Celebrity suite is also great as extra space is always a plus at sea.  I haven't been in a Royal suite or celebrity suite on the Apex class

[CHEZMARYLOU]

We've sailed in both classes on S and M class ships and prefer the Royal Suite.  The bathroom in the Celebrity suite is small with a very high tub that is difficult for me. The Royal Suite has a separate tub and shower and a half bath on the S class ships.  I think the E class has the same bathroom configuration in as the other ships. Not sure about the half bath.  The balcony on on the RS on E class looks pretty small but that is what we booked on Apex.

[George C]

We did celebrity suite last year and royal suite this year on infinity, love everything about the royal suite perks are great larger room , hot tub on balcony. I am happy with any suite on Celebrity even sky suite.

[TeeRick]

We did the Celebrity Suite on Edge and have sailed CS suites on S-Class and M-Class, as well as Sky Suites (SS) on all three classes.  Our favorite CS is on M-Class.  The Edge CS is very similar to the S-Class CS.  We have never sailed in a RS or PH.  Many view the CS as just a larger version of the SS and it has the same benefits.  So it is larger but not really a premium suite.  Others have pointed out the enhanced benefits in the RS over the CS but usually at a substantial price difference.  In a CS you could enjoy Luminae and the Suite Lounge (Retreat) the same as the RS.  But in the CS you could also choose to pay for specialty dining every night instead of Luminae (but why?) and still it would be substantially less expensive than the RS.  As for the booze bottles in the room - you can just get your butler to bring you drinks as your suite will come with the highest level of the new inclusive pricing anyway.

[LGW59]

Thank you everyone, we really appreciate your comments.  We decided to splurge on the RS, used the refund from our May 2020 cancellation and glad we did.  I had it on a courtesy hold as wanted to see the feedback here before finalizing.  Thank you again!

[LGW59]

6 hours ago, chemmo said:

Cannot comment on the rooms on Apex/Edge as we have not experienced.  

 

We disliked the CS on S class as the bedroom is internal and there is no dining table. Disliked the CS on M class as the bedroom is internal and the bath is mega high, however the living space is nice.

 

Loved the RS on S class, perfect for two guests. Whilst the PH is a decadence of light and space the RS is still very nice.

 

On M class we made the big mistake of booking the PH on our first cruise and ever since then have not been able to board M class without booking it again! If you really want to book something where the room is a wow, this is the one although the ship itself has some limitations, particularly limited speciality dining.

 

However, once you decide which room is better for you remember the RS on any class comes with a lot more perks than the CS.

 

Beverage package

In suite bar set up including 2x1l bottles of spirit

Unlimited speciality dining

Free laundry

That extra personal touch on service (escorted onto the ship with ‘special delivery’ luggage service). 

Usually some sort of extra event (lunch with officers)

 

For us we enjoy that extra touch of luxury. However if you plan on dining mainly in Luminae or trying the 4 main dining rooms the unlimited speciality dining may not have that much value to you.

 

We have spent our last few cruises on S class either in a RS or the PH...We haven’t been tempted by the ‘look’ (or the prices!) of the equivalents on Edge/Apex. We have friends who recently cruised in a RS on Edge and felt it simply wasn’t as ‘luxurious’ as the RS on S class. Their particular dislikes were there was a big overhang over the balcony meaning it had limited sun and that the dining area was quite small. Strongly suggest you do lots of video  searching.

 

Whatever you choose to book, hope you enjoy!

We saw several videos on RS EDGE, wow!!!  Balcony not huge (72SF) but will surely serve our purpose.

[BCHappyGal]

Have only stayed in a Sky suite but have friends who absolutely love the CS but they have only been on the M & S classes of ships...

[Jim_Iain]

We have sailed in both CS and RS on all classes of suites.   Decision is often based on the relative cost difference.   The RS come with some perks that should be taken into consideration in you calculation.   Some of these perks are  Bar Setup in Room with 2 bottles of Booze of your choice and mixers, beer etc.   Unlimited specialty dining, unlimited laundry and dry cleaning etc. 

[jelayne]

54 minutes ago, Jim_Iain said:

We have sailed in both CS and RS on all classes of suites.   Decision is often based on the relative cost difference.   The RS come with some perks that should be taken into consideration in you calculation.   Some of these perks are  Bar Setup in Room with 2 bottles of Booze of your choice and mixers, beer etc.   Unlimited specialty dining, unlimited laundry and dry cleaning etc. 

I agree with you and would add the length of the cruise is a factor.  For example, the unlimited laundry & dry cleaning on a 7 night, to us , has minimal value vs on a 14 N or more.  Same for speciality dining  on the Edge with more speciality’s and a  longer cruise is worth more to us than on the M class with just 2 ( I don’t count Sushi on 5 as allergic).  

[Cruise a holic]

7 hours ago, jelayne said:

I agree with you and would add the length of the cruise is a factor.  For example, the unlimited laundry & dry cleaning on a 7 night, to us , has minimal value vs on a 14 N or more.  Same for speciality dining  on the Edge with more speciality’s and a  longer cruise is worth more to us than on the M class with just 2 ( I don’t count Sushi on 5 as allergic).  

However, so nice not to bring home dirty laundry and dry cleaning!  We also are not fans of sushi on five- but many speciality restaurants of the S class including the Lawn club grill and the porch on our favorite S class ships the Silhouette and Reflection- so unlimited sp dining great.  We also enjoy Qsine and the newest version of it.  The alcohol we bring home as we get the all-inclusive package.

[Schmoe38]

We were on Edge in November 2019. We have travelled in all suites categories on both S Class and M Class ships. We looked very closely at the differences between the Celebrity Suites and Royal Suites on Edge prior to booking our cruise, and found that the Celebrity Suite was the better value for us. 
 

If you haven’t done so already, there are some very good videos of Edge Celebrity and Royal Suites on YouTube. They were very helpful to us in making our decision.

 

Randy

[TeeRick]

22 hours ago, LGW59 said:

Thank you everyone, we really appreciate your comments.  We decided to splurge on the RS, used the refund from our May 2020 cancellation and glad we did.  I had it on a courtesy hold as wanted to see the feedback here before finalizing.  Thank you again!

Nice!  Truly hope you get to enjoy it!

[LGW59]

15 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

We have sailed in both CS and RS on all classes of suites.   Decision is often based on the relative cost difference.   The RS come with some perks that should be taken into consideration in you calculation.   Some of these perks are  Bar Setup in Room with 2 bottles of Booze of your choice and mixers, beer etc.   Unlimited specialty dining, unlimited laundry and dry cleaning etc. 

Thank you for your input, Jim.  After seeing all the responses here, and comparing cost diff between CS & RS, we felt the additional inclusions, as you and several others mention here, are worth the additional cost, which really was not all that substantial relatively speaking.  This is a 12 night cruise with 4 sea days, so the upgrade we think is well worth it, if it were 7 nights, we'd most likely not have done it. 

[cangelmd]

Have done Royal Suite and Sky suite, our CS cruise is May 2021, 11 day, so may not happen, :(. I agree with some other posters, we upgraded to the RS because we were traveling with friends, and many of the advantages to us were because e could spend more time with our friends - we had dinner in the suite, had room to play cards on the balcony, half bath for privacy, they helped us with the liquor, etc. Loved the tub on the balcony, although, lol, we used it as a hot tub, not a bathtub, if you get my meaning.

We felt that for us the CS was the sweet spot for value because it allows DH to have his coffe in the suite while I sleep, when we are on a cruise alone.

[RodPat]

We were on Edge last November and had a Celebrity Suite.  We normally stay in a Royal Suite on S class ships.  There were no Royals available on Edge for the sailing we booked so we took a Celebrity Suite and were very happy with it.  More than large enough for two people. 

 

[mmeg29]

16 hours ago, LGW59 said:

Thank you for your input, Jim.  After seeing all the responses here, and comparing cost diff between CS & RS, we felt the additional inclusions, as you and several others mention here, are worth the additional cost, which really was not all that substantial relatively speaking.  This is a 12 night cruise with 4 sea days, so the upgrade we think is well worth it, if it were 7 nights, we'd most likely not have done it. 

12 days - OH I so hope you get to go.  So many restrictions. I have my fingers crossed for you.  I would so take any amount of days right now even if they were all sea days.  SIgh. 

[George C]

I am a little surprised at size of balcony for royal suite on edge , since it was about 3 times bigger on M class, although we never used the hot tub out there. 

[Covepointcruiser]

It’s a shame they take up valuable balcony space for a Royal Suite with that ugly looking bathtub/whirlpool on the balcony.   Would never use it because the leftover water in the whirlpool pipe are not clean.   One major advantage of the Royal Suite is the extra half bath and an actual Dining Room table.   This is on the S class, on the new Edge class there may be a dining table for the CS.

[LGW59]

22 minutes ago, Covepointcruiser said:

It’s a shame they take up valuable balcony space for a Royal Suite with that ugly looking bathtub/whirlpool on the balcony.   Would never use it because the leftover water in the whirlpool pipe are not clean.   One major advantage of the Royal Suite is the extra half bath and an actual Dining Room table.   This is on the S class, on the new Edge class there may be a dining table for the CS.

What is interesting, for every single video I have found for Royal and PH on EDGE, have never seen a whirlpool on any.  Yet, in Celebrity promotional material and some TA's, they all talk about it being on the balcony.  If it is there, I cannot find it.  Though I'd be unlikely to use it anyway, so not a big deal.

[JFontaine]

Keep an eye on the pricing for the Villa, if steps are not a problem for you. It was a truly extraordinary experience.  

[LGW59]

42 minutes ago, JFontaine said:

Keep an eye on the pricing for the Villa, if steps are not a problem for you. It was a truly extraordinary experience.  

Steps are not a problem, and OMG what a lovely suite, the view from that upstairs bedroom!!!  Just checked, here are the results:

 

APEX, Europe, Aug 28 - Sept 9

 

Royal Suite - $25,549

Villa - $37,869

 

And just for kicks and giggles:

 

Penthouse - $$43,369