Alternatives to Celebrity

[lexmiller]

16 minutes ago, Jeremiah1212 said:

If you're jumping ship from Celebrity to higher end lines, even Silversea, additional CC points don't make much sense. If you're high in the loyalty ranks or cruising Celebrity suites at a Silversea price point, there isn't much to offer. Azamara was a bit of an anomaly. You don't earn CC points by sailing Royal Caribbean or vice versa. The Silversea loyalty program is very different since the currency is nights cruised not points and you're really only achieving a discount or a free cruise after you achieve certain nights cruised milestones. 

My point is that we do still love Celebrity for all sorts of reasons that have been debated ad nauseum on every cruise board - and we are getting very near to Zenith.  But we have also sailed Azamara - when you could still EARN Captain's Club points on Azamara - as the small ship experience, the ability to sail into more remote ports, etc, is a fabulous experience as well.  Both products hold their allure, depending upon all sorts of factors.  And my point is simple - to engender brand loyalty, to keep the money all in the same corporate pot, then we should be able to earn CC points on Silversea the same way we were able to earn CC points on Azamara - to earn CC points on Silversea is not a crazy idea, there is the precedent of earning on Azamara.  Royal swapped one luxury line for another.  So let us earn on the one the way we did with the other.  

[Islander500]

16 minutes ago, hubofhockey said:

If loyalty points and tiers were the only things keeping you from doing cruises on more premium lines, then "jump ship" as you call it.  I chose Azamara over Viking for Panama Canal (similar itinerary) only because the price difference was $2,000 over 10 days.  If pricing were more similar, I'd go Viking even with status on Azamara (which you probably get from your X cruises). 

Makes so much sense! I was quite happy with Celebrity offerings after the kids were grown and understood "the system."  Then after Elite+, it was just easier to look at Celebrity offerings first and I usually found something I liked. Now, between significant cutbacks and few fresh itineraries, coupled with steep increased prices, it's definitely time to branch out and just pay more to get more, rather than pay more to get less. After reading the responses in this thread, and asking myself, what am I giving up, I am realizing that the perks from "loyalty" have become somewhat meaningless anyway.  Certainly much less important than what I am currently valuing more. 

[islabahia]

We have high loyalty status with NCL and X.  Now, our loyalty is to whichever cruise line has the itinerary we want at a price we are happy with.  The X product no longer provides the experience that we had become used to.  Cutbacks after cutbacks.  If we are paying $$$ for The Retreat we expect value for our dollars.

[MamaFej]

1 hour ago, Islander500 said:

Makes so much sense! I was quite happy with Celebrity offerings after the kids were grown and understood "the system."  Then after Elite+, it was just easier to look at Celebrity offerings first and I usually found something I liked. Now, between significant cutbacks and few fresh itineraries, coupled with steep increased prices, it's definitely time to branch out and just pay more to get more, rather than pay more to get less. After reading the responses in this thread, and asking myself, what am I giving up, I am realizing that the perks from "loyalty" have become somewhat meaningless anyway.  Certainly much less important than what I am currently valuing more. 

Ding ding ding ding ding!!!

 

That's where we are, as well. However, sometimes we are finding we can pay the same or less to get more elsewhere, rather than paying more to get less on Celebrity. 

 

We have an October X cruise, as well as five in early 2024, that have been booked for a long time. We are strongly considering canceling up to three of them, in favor of other, potentially better opportunities. For 2025, Celebrity is no longer the first place I'm looking, and it's not in the top 5, either. 

[goofysmom99]

I no longer book suites (SS or CS) because of their bathtubs.  Even though I receive free beverage, wifi, room service, and laundry, those things won't make up for terrible MDR food.  So, along with some other folks here, for the most part, I'll be paying more for more somewhere else.  One nice benefit I've discovered researching other lines is most  of the premium lines have fair solo supplements (not X's 100%). I know X won't miss me, nor I them in their present state.  I will miss what they used to be, though (2022 and earlier).

[Orator]

3 minutes ago, goofysmom99 said:

I no longer book suites (SS or CS) because of their bathtubs.  Even though I receive free beverage, wifi, room service, and laundry, those things won't make up for terrible MDR food.  So, along with some other folks here, for the most part, I'll be paying more for more somewhere else.  One nice benefit I've discovered researching other lines is most  of the premium lines have fair solo supplements (not X's 100%). I know X won't miss me, nor I them in their present state.  I will miss what they used to be, though (2022 and earlier).

You paid dearly for the "free" internet and drinks!

[Ex-Airbalancer]

On our last cruise we usually had 10 friends with us having dinner , really never worried about the food, it was fine , I could always fine something to my liking 

Not a big meat or fish person so I order 1/2 time from the vegetarian menu

Dinner was more about meeting up with friends 

The only night we had problems was our usual waiter was off , the new guy rushed us though dinner quick , we were done in about hour instead of our usually 2-1/2 hr dinner 

And what I have seen of our up coming TA menu, it looks fine to me , I think we will be down to about 8 at dinner on the up coming cruise 😁

[lyndarra]

I arrived late for this party however I concur with others who suggest HAL as a viable alternative. I've cruised an equal number of times on both and found they are similar in some ways and different in others. Pre COVID I have found X had the advantage as far as food and ship ambience but since COVID they seem to have slipped a little in the MDR offerings. My priority is the itinerary and find HAL wins hands down.

[lyndarra]

BTW @Islander500 there are a few threads running ATM, from first time HAL cruisers in the HAL forum, which you may find informative.

[Ken the cruiser]

3 minutes ago, lyndarra said:

I arrived late for this party however I concur with others who suggest HAL as a viable alternative. I've cruised an equal number of times on both and found they are similar in some ways and different in others. Pre COVID I have found X had the advantage as far as food and ship ambience but since COVID they seem to have slipped a little in the MDR offerings. My priority is the itinerary and find HAL wins hands down.

But are there fun things to do in the evening on a HAL cruise other than sitting and listening to music in one of their Music Walk lounges? Last I heard they have a combination CD/Excursion director and one assistant. Is that still true?

[Sigyn]

I'm interested in this thread because I've been shopping around cruise lines this past year, after only cruising on Carnival in the past. Since December we've gone on NCL, Royal Caribbean and, just last month, Celebrity in a sky suite on the Millennium. Such a bummer that they changed everything already.

We loved Celebrity for our July 7-14 cruise, but it was right before they changed from having individual butlers to a butler "team" so now that the experience has lessened we have no interest in going back. We had a lovely experience on the Norwegian Prima in December, so I've booked our next cruise on the Norwegian Joy in the Haven for March 2024. I've heard great things about the Haven, so I want to try it before we switch to Oceania or Viking. I'm open to trying those, since we did enjoy our suite experience, but since we have a teenager (he'll be 16 in two months) I want to opt for more family-friendly cruise lines when he's with us. 

 

[Travel-and-See]

1 minute ago, Ken the cruiser said:

But are there fun things to do in the evening on a HAL cruise other than sitting and listening to music in one of their Music Walk lounges? Last I heard they have a combination CD/Excursion director and one assistant. Is that still true?

What kind of fun things do other lines like Celebrity offer other than live music?

[Ken the cruiser]

5 minutes ago, Travel-and-See said:

What kind of fun things do other lines like Celebrity offer other than live music?

We enjoy going to evening shows in the main theater, both with the production cast as well as guest entertainers. We also enjoy going to the hilarious game shows held between the early and late theater shows. We also like going to the late shows up in the Reflection lounge on the M and S class ships as well as in the Eden on the Edge class ships. Then there are the 3-4 trivas to pick from on sea days. 

 

FWIW I've got Live From threads on each of the cruises we've been on since cruising started back up in my expanded signature below.

Edited August 21, 2023 by Ken the cruiser

[lyndarra]

8 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

Last I heard they have a combination CD/Excursion director and one assistant. Is that still true?

Know nothing of this.

As far as entertainment goes, I'm not what one would call a big fan of production shows but I'll watch whatever's on. Nothing wrong with HALs music walk, Rock or BB Kings, duelling pianos et al. Also not a fan of classical music but appreciate skilled musicians so I do miss Lincoln Centre on HAL.

On one X cruise, during a real High Tea, we were serenaded by a string quartet but don't see that happening any more.

As a child of the 50s and 60s I love R&R, R&B and folk of this era (I play guitar), and now find Music Trivia is all about later music i.e. Gen Z and Millenials.

Entertainment has moved on, on both X and HAL.

[Ken the cruiser]

6 minutes ago, lyndarra said:

Know nothing of this.

As far as entertainment goes, I'm not what one would call a big fan of production shows but I'll watch whatever's on. Nothing wrong with HALs music walk, Rock or BB Kings, duelling pianos et al. Also not a fan of classical music but appreciate skilled musicians so I do miss Lincoln Centre on HAL.

On one X cruise, during a real High Tea, we were serenaded by a string quartet but don't see that happening any more.

As a child of the 50s and 60s I love R&R, R&B and folk of this era (I play guitar), and now find Music Trivia is all about later music i.e. Gen Z and Millenials.

Entertainment has moved on, on both X and HAL.

Understand, and it sounds like HAL works for you and that’s super cool. We used to cruise with HAL quite a bit, as we are 4* Mariners. But when they switched to their music walk strategy back in 2018, as we like 3-5 week itineraries, they just got too relaxing for us. For us right now, Princess is hitting all the marks for us.

[Cap_D]

What other options have a ship wide mindset of doing what they can, with what they have available?   At least from a Retreat vs anything else perspective, the key appeal has been having crew or an apparatus to deal with guest requests and relations issues in a manner that is holistic and defaults to pleasing the customer.  Any thoughts on who does that as well as Celebrity of a few months ago or 2019?   Not just a Butler, but overall being on top of things .. 

 

We've only sailed twice, in retreat, in 2022 and 2023.  Issues we had were addressed, and while some were avoidable and a team could maybe help (as would a cordless phone or app to use services), the reason to rebook or praise was always the principled intent of the crew from the steward, butler, Luminae team, to the Hotel Director, F&B director, etc.  Very personal, and always helpful to defaulting if they had or could do it, they'd do their best and were generally working with decent stuff. (That seems what most positive sentiments about Celebrity have always been from reading the posts, terrific Luminae waiters and maitre ds, crew like Cranston (have not had the pleasure), the person that goes to the other end of the ship to find a bottle of wine instead of giving up, decent sheets, the cool hand towel at a port, remembering our young child's name and aiming to cater to him no differently than anyone else, etc. ).   

 

Also, anything on Princess or is it just bleh?  Would love to hear if anyone has experience with Princess current suite / signature product as the new Sun Princess looks interesting.  That said, very skeptical about anything owned by Carnival or with the public track record of Princess sailing on the West Coast where it seems like it's one issue after another related to the crew, cleanliness, and ship.  There's something to crew that seem to care and I don't get that vibe from Princess' marketing or public persona.  

Edited August 21, 2023 by Cap_D

[Ex-Airbalancer]

Friend were with us on our Spring TA , they than took a HAL cruise to Norway 

They loved the entertainment on HAL , they said they actually stayed up later listening to the music 

They had no complaints about the food 

[Travel-and-See]

44 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

We enjoy going to evening shows in the main theater, both with the production cast as well as guest entertainers. We also enjoy going to the hilarious game shows held between the early and late theater shows. We also like going to the late shows up in the Reflection lounge on the M and S class ships as well as in the Eden on the Edge class ships. Then there are the 3-4 trivas to pick from on sea days. 

Doesn't HAL have all of that too? 

[Ken the cruiser]

35 minutes ago, Travel-and-See said:

Doesn't HAL have all of that too? 

No. From my understanding they no longer have production shows, except for a dance troupe, or guest entertainers performing in early and late shows in the main theater. Instead they periodically show BBC Earth movies in the main theater and the dance troupe, whom I’ve heard is pretty good, also performs periodically in the theater.
 

They only have a CD, whom also doubles as the Excursion Director, and one assistant so they don’t have the staff to provide evening game shows every night, but rather periodically on occasion. Basically the Music Walk is their main form of entertainment, which some folks like. Now, if I’m wrong, please let me know. In fact here’s a link to a HAL thread that may help better understand what HAL passengers enjoy the most.

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2955753-what-are-your-favorite-things- preferably-recent-about-hal/

 

[Z0nker]

On 8/16/2023 at 10:36 AM, Islander500 said:

Hello fellow cruisers,

As a loyal and long-term Celebrity cruiser, I am starting to do some due diligence for other cruise lines.  Of course, I have a lot of research to do but thought I'd ask you experts who have also been Celebrity cruisers. Some info about us. We are in our 60s/70s, typically travel with friends of similar age, looking for interesting itineraries, excellent meals (we like the size and ambiance of BLU), lounge spaces with live music of various kinds, nice seating spaces to relax, chat, have a cocktail or coffee, somewhat reasonable pricing (whatever that means for you) for balcony cabins (don't need suites.)

 

Would love to hear your thoughts with some details, and thank you in advance.  💗

 

 

 

 

 

It’s always good to shop around. We’ve tried four cruise lines so far, including Celebrity, which was fabulous. Wish they did more on the West Coast. 
 

Princess comes in second of the four for me, but we sail with them the most because they homeport in SF. They also offer an enormous selection of itineraries. 
 

Hope we get to try some others, like HAL or Oceana. 

[CinciCruise]

On 8/17/2023 at 9:44 AM, Shiba_Lover said:

I was just looking at silverse yesterday.  Husband prefers table for 2.  Is that available or is it only large tables?  This is one of his big reasons for sticking with Luminae.

 

On 8/17/2023 at 9:44 AM, Shiba_Lover said:

I was just looking at silverse yesterday.  Husband prefers table for 2.  Is that available or is it only large tables?  This is one of his big reasons for sticking with Luminae.

We love Silversea and there are lots of tables for 2. 

[terrydtx]

We only book Sky Suites with Celebrity, but with the high future pricing and loss of prior SS amenities we are looking more at Oceania as an alternative. We had looked earlier this year at booking the Equinox for a 2025 Santiago to Buenos Aires 14 day cruise. After doing comparisons we found an 18 day Oceanis cruise and booked a concierge class cabin on the Marina for $200pp less than the 14 night Equinox cruise in a SS.  We really made a wise choice after the cancelation of all SA 2024-2025 Celebrity cruises earlier this month. After our Apex cruise next month and B2B January Edge cruise, I really believe we are done with Celebrity, and we will be Elite+ after the January cruises. We now are booking cruises for the itinerary not the loyalty status. We have 2 future cruises also booked on HAL both for the itinerary, 

[TeeRick]

15 hours ago, Ken the cruiser said:

Understand, and it sounds like HAL works for you and that’s super cool. We used to cruise with HAL quite a bit, as we are 4* Mariners. But when they switched to their music walk strategy back in 2018, as we like 3-5 week itineraries, they just got too relaxing for us. For us right now, Princess is hitting all the marks for us.

Hi Ken- Is there anything on a Princess ship similar to The Retreat experience on Celebrity?  

[terrydtx]

14 minutes ago, TeeRick said:

Hi Ken- Is there anything on a Princess ship similar to The Retreat experience on Celebrity?  

We took a look at Princess suites but we just do not want to cruise on a ship with 4000+  passengers. They do have services close to the Retreat. Here is a link to them. Full suite (princess.com)

[TeeRick]

2 minutes ago, terrydtx said:

We took a look at Princess suites but we just do not want to cruise on a ship with 4000+  passengers. They do have services close to the Retreat. Here is a link to them. Full suite (princess.com)

terry- thanks!  I am asking if they have a private area like the Retreat or YC?  That would help on a 4000+ passenger ship.