RCCL vs Celebrity - Can't Decide!

[mktopks]

We are planning to cruise either the western or southern Caribbean in March 2007. This will be a group of couples in the mid 40's-50's age range. Two of us will have our 18 year old daughters with us as this is during Spring Break. We have been on one RCCL cruise on the Monarch of the Seas several years back and had a great time. We are deciding between RCCL Navigator for Western route, RCCL Adventure or Celebrity Galaxy (10-day) for Southern routes. We want to balance a nice, relaxing cruise experience for the adults vs a fun time for the 2 high school seniors. Love the Galaxy itinerary, but worry the ship could be too quiet for the girls, though they are not the party animal types. Any input would be welcome to help us decide.

[OPSoccermom]

While we have been partial to X and would always recommend them, if you are looking at RRCL, consider the rRdiance class ships such as the Serenade southern itinerary. The Radiance class ships are closer to Celebrity M class ships in size and amenities.

 

We tried RCCL Mariner last year after 2 straight Celebrity M-class cruises. The teens in the group really enjoyed Mariner, but the adults in the group who had sailed before throught the ship was too big, and too much a "shopping mall" atmosphere.

 

This year we're doing a Radiance class ship , hoping to get a little closer to the Celebrity experience we had in the past

[hdawson]

How many of your group would prefer sailing "The Mall of American of the Seas". So many activities and facilities are in an inclosed interior mall with no sign of being at sea. Radiance class has sooooo many walls of glass giving you an everpresent feeling of being at sea. And I can't say too much more about Celebrity than what's been said. Food and service superb. Far superior over Royal Caribbean. And I prefer the smaller size of Galaxy over the behemouths.

[tserface]

How many of your group would prefer sailing "The Mall of American of the Seas". So many activities and facilities are in an inclosed interior mall with no sign of being at sea. Radiance class has sooooo many walls of glass giving you an everpresent feeling of being at sea. And I can't say too much more about Celebrity than what's been said. Food and service superb. Far superior over Royal Caribbean. And I prefer the smaller size of Galaxy over the behemouths.

 

We've been on the Explorer and the Navigator and they are our favorite ships ever (still waiting until May to experience Celebrity). My wife loves the "mall" stuff and my kids loved the parades, ice shows, rock climbing, etc. Ironically, our decision to go on what I call a "dinky ship" the Infinity was tough, but we liked the itinery and wanted to go to Alaska for more than 7 days. One thing, I think Celebrity's price may be better. I know the price was a lot better going to Alaska. RCCL prices keep creeping up.

 

Still, I highly recommend the Voyager class ships. We loved the two we were one and would go again in a heart beat.

 

Tom

[poetic license]

The adults will love GALAXY ... but there won't be many teens, or even younger children. I returned from GALAXY on 1/21/06 and there were fewer than a dozen children onboard, all of them very young. The kids program was offered, and I would see them from time to time engaged in activities around the pool or on the aft deck. Of course, the itinerary will be different next year, as will the embarkation port, so the passenger dynamic will doubtless be different.

 

I, too, am looking at cruises for March 2007 that will include two of my daughters, who will be 16 and 17 then. The older will be graduating high school that same May. I believe their spring break week next year is March 10-18. I'm interested in the comments and recommendations on this thread as well. :)

[DancerOT]

Just something in general to think about. On both lines 17 is a little bit of an awkward age as you cannot get into the club or casino. Just wanted you to be aware.

[OPSoccermom]

If you have enjoyed the service and size of a Celebrity cruise in the past, I strongly recommend against taking a Voayager class ship during spring break. We did so last year, and would not again. Others will disagree, but in our opinion, there were just too many people on the ship, and groups of young teens congregated everywhere - the stairways, elevator lobbies, promenade cafes, hot tubs, adult hot tubs, etc.

 

Our kids (ages 12 and 16) have done the M-class twice for spring break and loved it. They actually made more friends then they did on Mariner. Even though there were all the activities on Mariner, they would say they prefered X.

 

Kids can always go rock climbing and ice skating at home.

 

Also, keep in mind that southern caribbean itineraries are port intensive, so on board activites aren't as necessary.

 

A compromise might be to do Constellation 7 night southern itinerary. The girls would have a slightly larger ship, the adults would get the X service and food to enjoy.

[meyer4two]

I also am considering trying RC but do not know which ship to try. We are going on the Constellation in April for the 2nd time, have been on the Summit twice and have had wonderful experiences but my son who is in his 30's plans on cruising with us next & I feel like he would like RC better. He is very active & there are more activities on RC than Celebrity. Most of our Celebrity cruises I have seen very few young people so I just feel like he would fit in better on RC. However I have heard the food & service doesn't compare, you get spoiled sailing with Celebrity. We will probably try the Voyager ships but I do have to admit Celebrity does have better itineraries.

[OPSoccermom]

Try Radiance class (Serenade, Radiance, Brilliance, Jewel of the Seas). Unless you son feels strongly about rock climbing and ice skating with all the kids, the Radiance class will be more like what you would expect on an X ship

[hdawson]

Radiance class is the same hull design as the Celebrity Millenium class but carries 300 more guests.

[meyer4two]

thanks for the very informative information, I'll keep that in mind when I book for the '07 schedule.

Never sailing on RC, I would not have known.

[superjerryw]

You really need to decide what type of cruise experience you are looking for. Celebrity will provide a more formal, more adult oriented experience whereas Royal Caribbean will provide a more casual, more family oriented experience. If your family is more laid back you might find Celebrity a little too stuffy and not enough to do on board. I have been on Galaxy twice and had a great time, but the ship board activities cannot compare to Navigator or Adventure. In addtion, the overall crowd on Royal will be younger and there will be more teens.

[JanetScho]

However I have heard the food & service doesn't compare, you get spoiled sailing with Celebrity.

 

 

You said it!

We just returned from The Explorer on Sunday and while were were not dissatisfied, we just could not help but compare. Celebrity wins "hands down" when it comes to food and service.

I would say that there is definately more young people on RC but the ship also had 3100 people on it! If you need to rock climb, ice skate or play mini golf then RC is the way to go.

Would do RC again if I were taking my 8 and 14 year olds but if it were hubby and I-:D it would be Celebrity all the way!

[CruiseQueen13]

Well IMHO it depends on what you are looking for on your cruise. Here's my opinion:

 

Celebrity:

 

Celebrity's service is outstanding

It's more conservative than RCCL

The food is outrageous!

 

RCCL:

More activities for everyone

More relaxed

Service good

Food very good

 

Now it's up to you to choose. Good luck & enjoy!

[DeepWaterMariner]

I agree with CruiseQueen's comparison in almost all respects. We are just back from a Celebrity cruise on Galaxy and our last RCI cruise was in November. We like them both, but they have specific styles which may or may not be your cup of tea. While we thought our recent Celebrity cruise was excellent there were two areas that were not as good a fit for us as RCI. They were:

 

Too formal. Celebrity should ditch there "informal" dress nights as have just about every other mainstream cruise line.

 

Main dinning room menu is boring. Excellent quality, but too French for us. We prefer the changing themes that you find on many lines, like Italian one night, Caribbean another, etc. Also, I doubt that teenagers will find much they like on the standard Celebrity dinner menu.

 

Combine the terrific service and activities on Celebrity with the RCI dress and menus and it would be a tailor made cruise line for our tastes.

[emilygrace]

Try Radiance class (Serenade, Radiance, Brilliance, Jewel of the Seas). Unless you son feels strongly about rock climbing and ice skating with all the kids, the Radiance class will be more like what you would expect on an X ship

 

Just FYI, the Radiance class ships do have the rock climbing wall.

[hdawson]

Deepwatermariner. Are you saying that Celebrity should adopt a carbon copy philosophy and be just like all the other lines, deserting their loyal following? Personally, I think each line should have a distinctive style. Not everyone wants a cookie-cutter cruise.

[Sky Sweet]

Deepwatermariner. Are you saying that Celebrity should adopt a carbon copy philosophy and be just like all the other lines, deserting their loyal following? Personally, I think each line should have a distinctive style. Not everyone wants a cookie-cutter cruise.

 

I agree with you :)

[MayrMN]

It would be interesting to know, of all X cruisers who have been on more than two cruises (ie-they likely went back b/c they were satisfied), would they support a less formal dining room.

 

My 'guess' would be no.

 

I have been on three X cruises, and just took my husband on his first cruise. Before we left, we discussed what to anticipate and we went shopping for him, so that he felt comfortable at dinner. He doesn't have to 'dress up' for work, and we don't go out for formal dining much at home.

 

Thankfully, but not suprisingly, he came away loving the 'dress up' aspect, the quality of the food and the overall dining experience.

 

I heard from my waiter that they (the waiters) are the ones 'responsible' for telling guests they are dressed inappropriately, thus it rarely gets communicated to the offenders.

 

So, what I'm trying to say here is, keep X they way it is, if you want something different, cruise a different line.

[Sky Sweet]

Just FYI, the Radiance class ships do have the rock climbing wall.

 

If the Radiance class ships are same size as Celebrity's M class, how can they have enough space for rock climbing. Are their cabins much smaller?

[Texed]

Deepwatermariner. Are you saying that Celebrity should adopt a carbon copy philosophy and be just like all the other lines, deserting their loyal following? Personally, I think each line should have a distinctive style. Not everyone wants a cookie-cutter cruise.

 

Mr Dawson always uses common sense.:)

[hdawson]

Cabins are a bit smaller and of course some public areas are smaller. I wouldn't say that the Radiance class is crowded at all. They just fit an extra three hundred guests onboard.

[DeepWaterMariner]

I don't propose that Celebrity have the same menu as other lines, but I would like to see variety in their cuisine. The same style every night is boring for my wife and I, even though it is of excellent quality. Other lines are not cookie cutter. Princess is different from Holland American and both are different than RCI and so on. They each have a unique approach in the dinning room.

 

We've been cruising for years. When we started going on cruises it was jacket and tie every night, including the day of embarkation. I pack my tux for every cruise no matter what line we sail on, but I would just as soon skip the jacket required "informal" nights these days.

 

Neither the food or the dress will keep us from sailing Celebrity again but, as I said in my original note, those areas are not a perfect fit for us. We find other cruise lines are not a perfect fit in areas other than dress and food, but we love sailing them too.

[flashdog_1]

The original poster wants something where everyone in her family will be satisfied. Since it is spring break for you, it is bound to be spring break for many thousands of other teens/colleges at the same time, and some of them may be sailing with you, as opposed to the poster who said 1/21 there were very few which is not spring break.

 

Happy hunting. Any cruise you choose around spring break will have more kids on board than usual.

[dtm]

We have cruised several times during the last few years, evenly split between Celebrity and the parent company. My 17 year old son considers cruising his favorite vacation. He actually prefers Celebrity over RCCL for a variety of reasons, especially the food.

He loves sushi, particularly in great volumes. Since he goes to a private Catholic high school, he and his buddies think nothing of throwing on a coat and tie for dinner. The rock climbing wall is exceptionally overrated as an activity. The ice rink is a novelty, but again I wouldn't make a cruise decision on ice or rock wall activity.

I tend to think the activities balance out overall. RCCL wins if the question is "Which line will have more teenagers on a given cruise?" On spring break cruises, there have always been plenty of teens, however, no matter what line you are sailing.

 

Dan