Celebrity I have loved you … but

[ISABELLA]

21 hours ago, lv2cruisgrl said:

I agree between the price increases on sky suites and other changes they have lost our business also.

After 25 years of cruising with Celebrity, based on a lot of reviews - this cut and that cut... we tried NCL Haven  and had a wonderful cruise. Food and service were impeccable, our butler was absolutely great. Suites was very specious, large bathroom, hot tub in the suite. We didn't care for Free style cruising, but otherwise amenities, that comes with Haven are better than in Retreat. 

Next year we are planning to try MSC YC. 

[George C]

We most likely will book rccl suite or MSc yacht club or may try some upscale if celebrity fares continue to climb , also quality of food in Luminae and specialty has gone down. 

[Mystictraveler]

Very interesting discussion. We are Elite Plus on Celebrity and usually try to book a celebrity or a sky suite. While we love The Retreat lounge and the service of the multiple concierges on the edge class ships, we don't care for Luminae. It is just too big and impersonal compared to the older ships. The prices are ever increasing and they have cut back a lot of cruises from 14 to 12 days. So, last year we booked a 14 day cruise on Regent with a pre-cruise land package and quite enjoyed it. And we have two more Regent cruises booked in the next few months but have not booked anything else on Celebrity. We are very selective on the Regent cruises as they can be very pricey so we do the math and look for ones with the day rates which fit our budget. Plus, some have included land packages which adds to the value. We will probably cruise Celebrity again in the future, but they are no longer our only option and they once were.

[Loracpin2]

43 minutes ago, George C said:

We most likely will book rccl suite or MSc yacht club or may try some upscale if celebrity fares continue to climb , also quality of food in Luminae and specialty has gone down. 

Give careful consideration and research before you book RCI. Although Celebrity has always been our cruise line of choice (Elite+), we also have booked RCI (Diamond status). Our latest cruise with them was on June 30 Oasis and will definitely be our last RCI cruise.   

[George C]

2 minutes ago, Loracpin2 said:

Give careful consideration and research before you book RCI. Although Celebrity has always been our cruise line of choice (Elite+), we also have booked RCI (Diamond status). Our latest cruise with them was on June 30 Oasis and will definitely be our last RCI cruise.   

We liked our oasis cruise in owners suite and our allure cruise in grand suite we avoid summer and when school is out to limit the amount of children. I think entertainment is way better than any other class ship . I like the specialty restaurants so we also buy UDP. Ice and aqua shows are amazing we also like the broadway play etc . I think we will be elite plus after our next royal suite on celebrity and we are diamond plus so we get 5 free drinks etc on rccl.

[Redking]

4 hours ago, Georgia_Peaches said:

Agree that Celebrity corporate should get a copy of this but I also think CC followers of the Celebrity board would also be interested.  As it happens, like the OP, I too have just booked us on Regent for an 11 night Med cruise for 2025.  I have 2 more cruises on the books with Celebrity.  Final payment for one is next week.  I may cancel it...don't know yet.  The other is for May 2024 to Alaska.  Will probably keep it even though it's a SS with diminished perks.  The point is, people who come here to read about Celebrity may also be interested in knowing where future former Celebrity cruisers are turning.

As a lurker on the Regent, Seabourne and Siverseaas forums I've noticed a few familiar Celebrity forum names. I agree it's helpful to make the comparison. 

[mnocket]

5 hours ago, Laurab23 said:

We are trying MSC in March in a regular balcony then next August in Yacht Club in an inside. We have an Aqua cabin  in May that right now is priced for over $8000. We booked early and got it a lot cheaper than that. Depending on how we like MSC and especially Yacht Club, we may not sail Celebrity again.

 

Laura

Please be aware that the Yacht Club offering is VERY different from the rest of the ship.  I would  never sail MSC unless I booked the Yacht Club.

[maiaaya]

31 minutes ago, mnocket said:

Please be aware that the Yacht Club offering is VERY different from the rest of the ship.  I would  never sail MSC unless I booked the Yacht Club.

Agreed! I didn’t sail Yacht Club but we did a basic room on MSC this past June and I will never sail them again, YC or not. Definitely an example of, you get what you pay for. I’ve seen some others write positive reviews about MSC and I’m glad they had a great experience. It was definitely not for us. 

[mnocket]

1 minute ago, maiaaya said:

Agreed! I didn’t sail Yacht Club but we did a basic room on MSC this past June and I will never sail them again, YC or not. Definitely an example of, you get what you pay for. I’ve seen some others write positive reviews about MSC and I’m glad they had a great experience. It was definitely not for us. 

Yep.  I love the Yacht Club - hate the rest of MSC.

[emmas gran]

7 hours ago, mnocket said:

Yep.  I love the Yacht Club - hate the rest of MSC.

Would never cruise anything but YC on MSC done 6 cruises with the 7th next month, one was 28 days Dubai to Tokyo

Edited August 23, 2023 by emmas gran

[ChucktownSteve]

On 8/21/2023 at 7:47 PM, Covepointcruiser said:

Enjoy Regent, however, many of your fellow CCers can’t afford them.

Actually I found some Regent cruises less pp/pn than a similar XX (double cross) cruise and size suite but with many more perks/amenities. The thing to do is book when Regent itineraries are first released because they raise all their rates every three months..

.

I found a 2026 southern Caribbean Regent lower suite cruise for about $200pp/pn less than a 2025 XX lower suite cruise. However Regent comes with premium liquor bottles in suite, excursions included, specialty restaurants included, grats included and more.

Edited August 23, 2023 by ChucktownSteve

[hcat]

14 hours ago, Loracpin2 said:

Give careful consideration and research before you book RCI. Although Celebrity has always been our cruise line of choice (Elite+), we also have booked RCI (Diamond status). Our latest cruise with them was on June 30 Oasis and will definitely be our last RCI cruise.   

maybe don't judge by Oasis.. It could not  compare to X for dining ( food and service) or staterooms in general, and many other  still included  X niceties.. X has no lines, no need fir show abd event res,  less hawking of items at dining rms  .. We were counting the days til we disembarked. 

 

Even our dtr and son in law...younger and active ..saw it as a step down, esp after camera was stolen at an event and they had their stateroom searched &  were accused of lying!  ( both have sec cleared jobs) . Nice!

 

Oasis is good for families, those who like rock walls, surf pool, parades etc.  Music and shows may be livelier than X..maybe not so on E Class ships.

 

Mgmnt may try to bring X down to Royal standards but still have a ways to go..

just our opinion!

[djh]

15 hours ago, George C said:

We liked our oasis cruise in owners suite and our allure cruise in grand suite we avoid summer and when school is out to limit the amount of children. I think entertainment is way better than any other class ship . I like the specialty restaurants so we also buy UDP. Ice and aqua shows are amazing we also like the broadway play etc . I think we will be elite plus after our next royal suite on celebrity and we are diamond plus so we get 5 free drinks etc on rccl.

Love the entertainment on Royal and variety of dining BUT, one thing I have discovered is that lately there are loads of children no matter when you sail. Since covid, I think more parents just pull them out of school and do online studies while on vacation. Plus the fact that ( in Texas at least) many schools are doing four day weeks or home schooling which means children are cruising all times of the year. We were on the Allure in mid January this year with 1400 children.

[Loracpin2]

8 hours ago, hcat said:

maybe don't judge by Oasis.. It could not  compare to X for dining ( food and service) or staterooms in general, and many other  still included  X niceties.. X has no lines, no need fir show abd event res,  less hawking of items at dining rms  .. We were counting the days til we disembarked. 

 

Even our dtr and son in law...younger and active ..saw it as a step down, esp after camera was stolen at an event and they had their stateroom searched &  were accused of lying!  ( both have sec cleared jobs) . Nice!

 

Oasis is good for families, those who like rock walls, surf pool, parades etc.  Music and shows may be livelier than X..maybe not so on E Class ships.

 

Mgmnt may try to bring X down to Royal standards but still have a ways to go..

just our opinion!

 

Edited August 23, 2023 by Loracpin2