New to Celebrity

[zeppgirl]

We are brand new to Celebrity, but think we will be booking a cruise for next summer for a belated anniversary trip.  We are looking to travel to Europe for 7-10 days and would like somewhere on the Mediterranean, like Italy, Greek islands, etc. I am feeling a bit overwhelmed with the options and am not finding an easy way to find pricing for each cruise.  

 

I'm going back and forth between the newer/flashier ships that cost more and some that may have better itineraries but are on older ships and cheaper.

I also can't decide between retreat, aqua class, or just doing a veranda. On some of the cruises, aqua and retreat are too much, but then some are doable. I'm just not sure if it's worth spending more.

 

Would love any insight anyone is able to give. 

[Essiesmom]

In the Med/Europe, itinerary is more important than ship.  You have to think about why you want to go to Europe.  Pick some places you want to visit, look them up on cruisetimetables.com.  See where they fit into itineraries on various ships and make your choice.  EM

[NoWhiners]

OK, I'll try and help. We only have 1 cruise on X (shorthand for Celebrity) but many on various lines (HAL, Princess, RCI, Oceania). I can't tell if you have cruised before and are new to X or if this is your first cruise but since you have over a hundred posts, I'll assume you have cruised before. My advice, in no special order:

 

Search these boards. Lots of good info and you can go to the Ports of Call threads for info on places you might visit in Italy or Greek islands.

All cruise lines, including X, allow you to search for cruises, by date, destination, # of days, departing port, etc. Give that a try, check for special sales or deals.

Itinerary trumps everything--decide where you want to go, set some priorities then use that as guidance.

As far as cabin type/category (retreat, aqua, etc), here's our approach--we take the category that gives us the best value. That is totally up to you, one person's value is another's waste of money. I will say, we don't usually book the higher levels, we just get a nice balcony, on the aft if we can, and go from there. What is important to us may not matter to you. For example, we do not enjoy the shows on any cruise, so we skip them but we love trivia, so try and play that a lot. All up to what you like. If you book the higher levels (like Aqua, where I think you get a special dining room), that will work if you really enjoy good food.

Know in advance what, if any, perks matter to you. I think X is almost all AI now, so you will get bev package, internet, grats, and maybe OBC. If you don't drink, that will make a difference to you. If you don't use the Internet, same thing. There are still some fares on some cruises that are strictly the cruise, but they seem to be getting harder to find.

If you are a (rhymes with bosco, located outside Seattle) member, you can get great fares. Can't use the name here. I hope this post survives!

If you are uncertain, book the lowest level you can live with and don't worry, just go and enjoy. You will have a great time no matter what choices you make 😃

 

Good luck and keep posting questions to help get the info you need.

 

Edited June 28, 2021 by NoWhiners
add info

[4774Papa]

9 hours ago, zeppgirl said:

We are brand new to Celebrity, but think we will be booking a cruise for next summer for a belated anniversary trip.  We are looking to travel to Europe for 7-10 days and would like somewhere on the Mediterranean, like Italy, Greek islands, etc. I am feeling a bit overwhelmed with the options and am not finding an easy way to find pricing for each cruise.  

 

I'm going back and forth between the newer/flashier ships that cost more and some that may have better itineraries but are on older ships and cheaper.

I also can't decide between retreat, aqua class, or just doing a veranda. On some of the cruises, aqua and retreat are too much, but then some are doable. I'm just not sure if it's worth spending more.

 

Would love any insight anyone is able to give. 

Most Med cruises are port intensive and the ship is not a major factor.  Pick based on itinerary and price.

 

I always compare similar itineraries for Celebrity, Royal Caribbean, NCL and Princess.  Recently, Royal C seems to always have the lowest price.  Great, especially if  you don't drink like a fish.  Celebrity and NCL mostly require you to book with perks like open bar.

 

Celebrity excels in dining and service as well as ship design.

Royal and NCL excel in entertainment.

 

All are good, just do your research and pick.   I suggest the eastern Med and perhaps the Adriatic for a first cruise (Venice, Dubrovnik, Corfu, Santorini, Athens, Mykonos).

[zeppgirl]

3 hours ago, 4774Papa said:

Most Med cruises are port intensive and the ship is not a major factor.  Pick based on itinerary and price.

 

I always compare similar itineraries for Celebrity, Royal Caribbean, NCL and Princess.  Recently, Royal C seems to always have the lowest price.  Great, especially if  you don't drink like a fish.  Celebrity and NCL mostly require you to book with perks like open bar.

 

Celebrity excels in dining and service as well as ship design.

Royal and NCL excel in entertainment.

 

All are good, just do your research and pick.   I suggest the eastern Med and perhaps the Adriatic for a first cruise (Venice, Dubrovnik, Corfu, Santorini, Athens, Mykonos).

Thank you so much!  That's good to hear. We typically pay by the drink, as the package wouldn't make sense for us. I will see what I can find!(:

[whitbob]

Hi Zeppgirl,

 

First, I agree with others, Med Cruises can be very port intensive, leaving you with less time on the ship.  You may not get the same use out of the retreat benefits as a trip with several sea days, etc... In deciding between the classes we have ended up with AQ on 8 Celebrity cruises.  We had never been on a large ship before Celebrity/Silhouette, and after reading about BLU on CC,  we booked and really enjoy the service levels in BLU.   You will see allot of information on the pros and cons of BLU.   Yes many of the tables for 2 are close, but they are/can be close in the MDR.  The Service in BLU has been consistently very good, but the few times we have gone to the MDR, the service can be drawn out, or harder to customize (no sauce/different vegetables), so the length of the meal can be longer than needed.  Our experience has been that in the MDR you are served with the rest of the 4 - 5 tables in your row.  For example, if you skip a course, you may be waiting for the other tables to finish their salads before entrees are served.  

 

As for pricing, as you are seeing it is complicated.  We use a TA, who handles the interactions with Celebrity, but we typically follow the sales and do (numerous) Mock bookings to determine cost of Retreat, AQ, etc... so we usually know what the price to match is, when we call him for the booking.   He is better at OBC, additional benefits or discounts that we have missed.  Also it was priceless to have him dealing with the refunds and rebookings for last year.

 

You mentioned Italy in the summer.  We did the Rome roundtrip to Greece in August on the Reflection.  We also lived in California, and were NOT used to humidity at the time.  It was oppressively HOT.  While touring Rome, some of the local type businesses were closed for the month.  Once we got on the ship we realized that they were all on Cruises.  It was totally full, with 750 children onboard,  and many many large parties traveling together, which is out of the ordinary for Celebrity.  It is the only time we have had to wait to be seated for dinner, and the specialty restaurants were busy, so you ended up eating early or late.   The outside pool was a madhouse, and long waits for drinks at the bars.   Loud large tables of people yelling to talk in the dining rooms.   That said, it was the only Celebrity experience where we felt like the ship was crowded.   If we wanted to repeat Italy/Greece in August, we would probably book a suite or pick a smaller boat. 

 

Good luck with planning and Happy Belated Anniversary.

 

[zeppgirl]

33 minutes ago, whitbob said:

Hi Zeppgirl,

 

First, I agree with others, Med Cruises can be very port intensive, leaving you with less time on the ship.  You may not get the same use out of the retreat benefits as a trip with several sea days, etc... In deciding between the classes we have ended up with AQ on 8 Celebrity cruises.  We had never been on a large ship before Celebrity/Silhouette, and after reading about BLU on CC,  we booked and really enjoy the service levels in BLU.   You will see allot of information on the pros and cons of BLU.   Yes many of the tables for 2 are close, but they are/can be close in the MDR.  The Service in BLU has been consistently very good, but the few times we have gone to the MDR, the service can be drawn out, or harder to customize (no sauce/different vegetables), so the length of the meal can be longer than needed.  Our experience has been that in the MDR you are served with the rest of the 4 - 5 tables in your row.  For example, if you skip a course, you may be waiting for the other tables to finish their salads before entrees are served.  

 

As for pricing, as you are seeing it is complicated.  We use a TA, who handles the interactions with Celebrity, but we typically follow the sales and do (numerous) Mock bookings to determine cost of Retreat, AQ, etc... so we usually know what the price to match is, when we call him for the booking.   He is better at OBC, additional benefits or discounts that we have missed.  Also it was priceless to have him dealing with the refunds and rebookings for last year.

 

You mentioned Italy in the summer.  We did the Rome roundtrip to Greece in August on the Reflection.  We also lived in California, and were NOT used to humidity at the time.  It was oppressively HOT.  While touring Rome, some of the local type businesses were closed for the month.  Once we got on the ship we realized that they were all on Cruises.  It was totally full, with 750 children onboard,  and many many large parties traveling together, which is out of the ordinary for Celebrity.  It is the only time we have had to wait to be seated for dinner, and the specialty restaurants were busy, so you ended up eating early or late.   The outside pool was a madhouse, and long waits for drinks at the bars.   Loud large tables of people yelling to talk in the dining rooms.   That said, it was the only Celebrity experience where we felt like the ship was crowded.   If we wanted to repeat Italy/Greece in August, we would probably book a suite or pick a smaller boat. 

 

Good luck with planning and Happy Belated Anniversary.

 

Thank you, you give really good information here and it's hugely appreciated! I think we might go the aqua class route. Our cruise that got canceled was NCL haven spa suite.  We love good food and ideally would make use of the spa, at least a few times. Other than that, I'm pretty much ok traveling with any balcony room. My husband, on the other hand, likes to be pampered and is willing to pay more for not having to wait in lines and some extra perks. Don't get me wrong- I enjoy all of that too, but he sometimes gets stressed out with traveling, so the idea is to make it as stress-free as possible.  I guess ultimately I will have to compare the pricing and see realistically how much things are worth if I were to put a price on them. We could get a cheaper room and pay the difference to eat a la carte at fancier restaurants, but don't think we would have the option for early boarding by paying.

 

Do you usually get extras with your TA that the site doesn't give?  I do a lot of research myself and usually go through (yes, the big warehouse store that can't be mentioned) to get credit, but other than that haven't gotten freebies. I did once go to AAA to use their travel agent service, but they were only able to get me the same as I had found online myself.

 

You make a great point about Italy being closed and the heat. I will have to see when people seem to take their vacations. I believe it's more July, right?  I'm a teacher so it would need to be June or July. I was originally thinking end of july/early august would be better so I can do summer school as well as travel, but with the heat and vacations, maybe it would be better to go immediately after school gets out at the end of May. We have traveled to Europe many times (I am from there originally), but usually it's more northern. It would be nice not to have a humid vacation. 

 

I'm surprised about the kids and the cruise being full. We start back up early August here for school. And I'd love to bring my teen/preteen normally, but celebrity's prices are way more than the royal caribbean we would book normally, so not sure we could swing two more people and still have a fancy trip(: Plus in this case we want a kid-free trip.

 

13 hours ago, NoWhiners said:

OK, I'll try and help. We only have 1 cruise on X (shorthand for Celebrity) but many on various lines (HAL, Princess, RCI, Oceania). I can't tell if you have cruised before and are new to X or if this is your first cruise but since you have over a hundred posts, I'll assume you have cruised before. My advice, in no special order:

 

Search these boards. Lots of good info and you can go to the Ports of Call threads for info on places you might visit in Italy or Greek islands.

All cruise lines, including X, allow you to search for cruises, by date, destination, # of days, departing port, etc. Give that a try, check for special sales or deals.

Itinerary trumps everything--decide where you want to go, set some priorities then use that as guidance.

As far as cabin type/category (retreat, aqua, etc), here's our approach--we take the category that gives us the best value. That is totally up to you, one person's value is another's waste of money. I will say, we don't usually book the higher levels, we just get a nice balcony, on the aft if we can, and go from there. What is important to us may not matter to you. For example, we do not enjoy the shows on any cruise, so we skip them but we love trivia, so try and play that a lot. All up to what you like. If you book the higher levels (like Aqua, where I think you get a special dining room), that will work if you really enjoy good food.

Know in advance what, if any, perks matter to you. I think X is almost all AI now, so you will get bev package, internet, grats, and maybe OBC. If you don't drink, that will make a difference to you. If you don't use the Internet, same thing. There are still some fares on some cruises that are strictly the cruise, but they seem to be getting harder to find.

If you are a (rhymes with bosco, located outside Seattle) member, you can get great fares. Can't use the name here. I hope this post survives!

If you are uncertain, book the lowest level you can live with and don't worry, just go and enjoy. You will have a great time no matter what choices you make 😃

 

Good luck and keep posting questions to help get the info you need.

 

I appreciate the info!  We have done two cruises so far- one was a penthouse suite on NCL and one was interior Central Park connecting rooms. We realized that when traveling as a family, we like our space and the two rooms have worked out very well for having multiple bathrooms and a place to separate. We'll be booking a cruise on RC again (probably 2 bedroom aquatheater) and if I was to travel with the kids, I would do a suite or two connecting rooms again. This time it's just hubby and me, so we're more flexible.  We are brand new to X though. Always wanted to try. We realize we like RC more than NCL. I will definitely search by port- good idea! I saw one cruise that looked good, but unfortunately one of the ports didn't have great things said about it so I am continuing the search. Might not find one that is 100% perfect either, but I guess now I should base it more on dates as well. Also I totally agree with the rooms.  I responded to someone in this reply as well that my husband is the one that really likes the extras and good service is important to him. I'm not sure how "good" the regular service is. Might be perfectly fine. For me, I do like good food. 

 

We always get the best internet possible, but we don't drink enough to make the drink package worth it. I did look at RCI but it seemed the itineraries were better on X (plus would be nice to try another affiliated cruise line, especially one I've been wanting to try). Down to get a balcony and am ok with that but being as our canceled trip was super fancy (we went all out with a suite and flying business, etc), not sure if I want to go simple. However, prices are way more on what I'm seeing than we paid, so to get the equivalent would cost a bit). Thanks for the help and insight!

[whitbob]

Do you usually get extras with your TA that the site doesn't give? 

 

Our TA does usually offer additional OBC.  It has been different amounts with each cruise, I suspect depending upon length and price.   My DH will work out the price details when booking.  He also stays on top of the current pricing through CC Roll calls/ email marketing materials from X.  He will email the TA, and sometimes the TA has been able to rebook to the lower rate, upgrade the room and other times (before the current AI pricing) and get additional perks added in. 

 

You make a great point about Italy being closed and the heat. I will have to see when people seem to take their vacations. I believe it's more July, right? 

 

I looked up photos of the Italy/Greece cruise in the cloud, and it was the 3rd week in August, which I do think aligned with a holiday there, or end of summer vacations.   I have no idea if the high children count on that cruise was unique to summer vacation in Europe or the US.  Like you we have traveled and cruised Northern Europe, Iceland, in August, and did not see large numbers of children on Celebrity Ships.  The positives of the vacation were the skies were clear blue and the Ionian and Aegean seas were like glass, so smooth.  The Reflection was in perfect condition, and with Aqua Class, we would tour early to beat the heat get back on the boat by 12 or 1pm and usually have the Solarium and Persian Gardens to ourselves.  The sail aways each evening at the Sunset Bar were stunning.

 

I hope you find our perfect cruise.

[wrk2cruise]

Some TA's may have a group rate which can save significantly given the recent increases but make sure you know what you are getting as far as perks are concerned.  Unfortunately we can't mention TA's here but there are a few very good large ones that many deal with.  The best place to learn of these is talking with fellow cruisers  onboard.

[phoenix_dream]

I have yet to sail on Edge class as my cruise last year needed to be rescheduled, but I can honestly tell you I have never been on a Celebrity ship I didn't love, dating back to 1992 and 50+ cruises later.  I would pick based on the itinerary rather than the ship, especially on a port intensive cruise.

 

Our favorite cabin when we can't afford a suite (which is most of the time) is Aqua Class.  We love the Blu restaurant, for both a nice place to eat breakfast as well as dinner.  On M class ships, the Concierge and Aqua class cabins are larger than the regular balcony or outside cabins so on those ships I would always go for one of those if within your price range.