All Things Celebrity

[NutsAboutGolf]

Celebrity is lot like sailing back in time, you make your own entertainment as there isn't a ton to do on sea days.  They'll always have scheduled activities but they'll slot an hour for "bag toss", another hour for towel folding, etc.  They CAN have lecturers on board (I've been on many sailings that haven't) and most are good and talk about interesting topics.

 

With complimentary food, if one of carnivals newer ships, carnival food is better since you have guys burgers, BBQ, the Italian place, Asian/Mexican place, Big chicken and Carnivals chocolate melting cake is better than any MDR dessert on X.  X does blow away Carnival in the buffet and has the better MDR but if you're a newer Carnival ship, there's no reason to go to the MDR when you have other options

[39august]

Saying Celebrity has water slides is quite misleading. Some Celebrity ships now have itineraries that go to RIC's Perfect Day private island, which has a water park with lots of amusement park type entertainment. There are certainly no water slides on any Celebrity ship.

[swjumbo]

Love the coffin dodgers and Pinnacle comments.

Celebrity is a different class of cruising.

 

Think ‘W’ Hotel or JW Marriott at sea.

RC could be normal Marriott.

Carnival probably Courtyard by Marriott.

I am fortunate enough to be able to visit many cruise ports and on days off I just go to look at the ships and have observed the following about the passengers.

Cunard:    Advanced Years

Carnival:  Party and Loud

Celebrity:  Well heeled (not on short trips though)

P&O: Budget Brit’s Abroad

RC.  Familes

MSC and Costa:  Lots of foreigners

HA: Slightly younger than Cunard but not much.

 

You’ll love Celebrity. If you have kids they’ll love it too. In contradiction to other contributors kids don’t need slides, race tracks etc. If your kids are of normal intelligence they’ll enjoy quality time as a family and the opportunity to meet new friends.

Edited July 14, 2023 by swjumbo

[Ex-Airbalancer]

Also depends on where you are cruising and the length of cruise 

longer cruise less kids on all the cruise 

[KKB]

22 hours ago, NutsAboutGolf said:

Celebrity is lot like sailing back in time, you make your own entertainment as there isn't a ton to do on sea days.  They'll always have scheduled activities but they'll slot an hour for "bag toss", another hour for towel folding, etc.  They CAN have lecturers on board (I've been on many sailings that haven't) and most are good and talk about interesting topics.

 

Huh, have never felt this way. I DO NOT do bag toss or towel folding...

Always trivia, game shows, musicians, pool games on sea days--much like other lines.

(now...they don't have like 10 trivia games on sea days like Carnival!)

 

[med2cruise]

On 7/13/2023 at 1:11 PM, KKB said:

29 cruises in 20 years...9 Celebrity, 3 RCCL, 1 Carnival.

Enjoyed every one & find them more alike than different (along w/ Princess, DCL & NCL as well).

Celebrity is our fav & all we heard going into our 14 day Carnival cruise in Jan was that we would hate it--NOPE! Loved it! 

 

RCCL: best production shows & "bells & whistles"

Carnival: best comedians & endless trivia

Celebrity: best service & food overall

 

I find attitude is the key to everything--if you think you will have a good time, you probably will.

Not every cruise has been perfect but had a good (usually great!) time on each one.

Totally agree with you, it is what you make it!  I have been on MSC, Carnival, Celebrity, Royal.  We tend to go towards Carnival more.  We live across the street from the Tampa Port and usually walk to our vacation on a cruise!

[Hobbsey]

On 7/13/2023 at 2:50 PM, fenton04 said:

21 cruises and started cruising 1987 (our ten year anniversary)  and it you want to approximate the cruises from the 1980's your best bet is Celebrity.  Royal is not even close. We have not been on Princess.

Yes, Except for the class system now in place.   HAL is very traditional as well.  

[olemissreb]

I've been on Princess (many moons ago when I was probably one of the youngest ones on board), Carnival (one 5 day cruise that kind of soured me on the line as a whole), Royal and Celebrity.  I've had my kids on 1 each of the latter and they loved it.  Not as much for them to do on Celebrity, but we were in Alaska and they found other kids on board to hang with and they kept themselves entertained (they were 13 & 17 at the time).  The Royal cruise, the kids (10 & 14 at the time) had much more to do and the youngest loved the kids club with all the things they had them doing.

 

My favorite is Celebrity - they just feel a little more "upscale" from the time you get on board and they greet you with a complementary glass of champagne (or at least they did the last time I was on Celebrity 10 years ago in Alaska).  First time I was on Celebrity for a Caribbean cruise, they had a tent set up dockside and they would greet you with cold towels to cool yourself off after a HOT day on the islands. I hope they still do that on my March '25 cruise!

 

I'm now in my 60s and feel like I just fit in more with the other passengers.  No I'm not really well traveled, but I've never really been a party animal and I'm perfectly content to sit at a bar and listen to the music with a good glass of wine or to have great conversations with my travel companions.  Next cruise will be with my boyfriend (who will turn 60 that year), my sister and her boyfriend (both in their 60s) and while we may venture to the "disco" for a little while, we'll probably just be content to hang out and enjoy the trip and each other's company.  I find that that is much easier to do on Celebrity because it's not as "loud" - seems more toned down in terms of the volume (both amount and decibel level) of announcements and the volume of the music throughout the ship.  Just a more relaxed atmosphere all around.

[Reel Love]

On 7/14/2023 at 10:13 AM, Esprit said:

More coffin dodgers on Celebrity!

Oh my gosh, I literally LOL'd when I read your comment!  Thanks Esprit for making me laugh on a gloomy day 😄

[hcat]

On 7/14/2023 at 1:34 PM, swjumbo said:

Love the coffin dodgers and Pinnacle comments.

Celebrity is a different class of cruising.

 

Think ‘W’ Hotel or JW Marriott at sea.

RC could be normal Marriott.

Carnival probably Courtyard by Marriott.

I am fortunate enough to be able to visit many cruise ports and on days off I just go to look at the ships and have observed the following about the passengers.

Cunard:    Advanced Years

Carnival:  Party and Loud

Celebrity:  Well heeled (not on short trips though)

P&O: Budget Brit’s Abroad

RC.  Familes

MSC and Costa:  Lots of foreigners

HA: Slightly younger than Cunard but not much.

 

You’ll love Celebrity. If you have kids they’ll love it too. In contradiction to other contributors kids don’t need slides, race tracks etc. If your kids are of normal intelligence they’ll enjoy quality time as a family and the opportunity to meet new friends.

good descriptions

even with changes  has better food, great ships ( E class), nicer decor &   fewer "over-drinkers ".  more upscale and diverse clientele!

[NutsAboutGolf]

8 hours ago, KKB said:

Huh, have never felt this way. I DO NOT do bag toss or towel folding...

Always trivia, game shows, musicians, pool games on sea days--much like other lines.

(now...they don't have like 10 trivia games on sea days like Carnival!)

 

You’ll have perhaps one trivia game per sea day, for game shows I guess there’s deal or no deal which isnt free, like the casino I don’t count musicians as an activity yet anyone is welcome to, for pool games I can only think of the officers vs pax vball games

[KKB]

1 hour ago, NutsAboutGolf said:

You’ll have perhaps one trivia game per sea day, for game shows I guess there’s deal or no deal which isnt free, like the casino I don’t count musicians as an activity yet anyone is welcome to, for pool games I can only think of the officers vs pax vball games

Lots more on our cruises! (Have been on Celebrity 5 times in last 2 yrs)

Trivia at least 2x/day

Deal or No Deal is their bingo.

Game shows r different  were nearly every night—Minute to Win it, Yes/No game, Family Feud, Majority Rules, Marriage Game, Battle of Sexes, Quest, etc.

Pool area games: chipping & putting contests, bean bag toss (Cornhole), Golf ball toss (Blongo), etc

We like to be BUSY so we wouldn’t be sailing Celebrity if there weren’t options!

[Ex-Airbalancer]

We usually do Transatlantic, so a lot of seadays 

We may go to lectures and do progressive trivia once a day and that enough for us 😁

We don’t need the cruise ship to keep us entertained 

 

[Baggy178]

Doing our first TA with Celebrity this Autumn.

Looking forward to not purchasing the Wi-Fi package and spending our days at sea having a digital detox, reading copiously, a few early sharpeners and then not getting dressed up for dinner in the OVC.

Might play a bit of bingo, go to the odd lecture and maybe take in a show.

Generally in bed early.

Basically doing sweet Fanny Adams.

 

[broadwaybaby123]

I've cruised all 3 lines, most recently with Royal.  Carnival was about 5 years ago, and Celebrity about 4 years ago.  

 

If you like Royal, most likely, you'll like Celebrity.  They're owned by the same company, and Celebrity, in my opinion is more upscale and subdued than Royal.

 

Carnival is more or less hit or miss.  I've been on 3 of their ships with a 4th one booked.  I hated Carnival Holiday (yes, I know, I'm dating myself here) because to me, it felt like a floating Las Vegas and there wasn't a lot for us kids to do other than ice cream parties (I love ice cream, so don't get me wrong I love ice cream parties but not everyday).  When I went on the Triumph years later, things started to look up as they seemed to be getting their act together as a company.  We loved it!  We decided to book on the Pride years later, only to find that things seemed to have gone downhill on everything again for Carnival.  I'm hopeful that things will be better for my Venezia cruise next year.

 

Royal and Celebrity both have their act together and the service is pretty much consistent across both lines.  I haven't had a bad experience with either line, and the staff was incredible on both lines.

[C-Dragons]

3 hours ago, Baggy178 said:

Doing our first TA with Celebrity this Autumn.

Looking forward to not purchasing the Wi-Fi package and spending our days at sea having a digital detox, reading copiously, a few early sharpeners and then not getting dressed up for dinner in the OVC.

Might play a bit of bingo, go to the odd lecture and maybe take in a show.

Generally in bed early.

Basically doing sweet Fanny Adams.

 

Very interesting history behind that phrase.

I learned something new today. Thanks.

[davekathy]

5 hours ago, Baggy178 said:

Basically doing sweet Fanny Adams.

The only Sweet Fanny Adams (F.A.) I know is the song by Sweet. Good song. Even the name of their album.

Edited July 16, 2023 by davekathy

[NutsAboutGolf]

15 hours ago, KKB said:

Lots more on our cruises! (Have been on Celebrity 5 times in last 2 yrs)

Trivia at least 2x/day

Deal or No Deal is their bingo.

Game shows r different  were nearly every night—Minute to Win it, Yes/No game, Family Feud, Majority Rules, Marriage Game, Battle of Sexes, Quest, etc.

Pool area games: chipping & putting contests, bean bag toss (Cornhole), Golf ball toss (Blongo), etc

We like to be BUSY so we wouldn’t be sailing Celebrity if there weren’t options!

 

I realize I wasn't clear when I said "sea days" as I meant in the daytime since the evening's schedule is fixed for all nights except for the day of embarkation which may omit the game show and may only perform the main show once.  In the evenings you have trivia, one main show repeated twice, between the two main shows a game show.  On the E-class they used to have the whimsical ongoing Eden show but that seems long gone and its just now musicians.  Yet you still lack choice, as you know on Carnival you have the main show, usually 2 or 3 comedian shows at the punchliner, a karaoke bar and a sing along piano bar

[KKB]

1 hour ago, NutsAboutGolf said:

 

I realize I wasn't clear when I said "sea days" as I meant in the daytime since the evening's schedule is fixed for all nights except for the day of embarkation which may omit the game show and may only perform the main show once.  In the evenings you have trivia, one main show repeated twice, between the two main shows a game show.  On the E-class they used to have the whimsical ongoing Eden show but that seems long gone and its just now musicians.  Yet you still lack choice, as you know on Carnival you have the main show, usually 2 or 3 comedian shows at the punchliner, a karaoke bar and a sing along piano bar

There r differences to be sure.

Somehow never bored on any line!