Maybe getting tired of Celebrity, so who do you recommend to replace them?

[DarrenM]

With Celebrity again in May, but hearing worrying things about them, that maybe adversely affect what we liked about them.

 

So for 2025 we might be looking at an alternative.

 

Criteria is simple.

 

1. few or no little creatures.

2. Great Food

3. Many bars with attractive drinks package. (Always get premium on Celebrity)

4. Mediterranean

5. OK Itinerary. Not that bothered been to most places now.

6. Reasonable entertainment, but not forced fun.

7. Plenty of space to relax, and large enough for me to wander around for hours. (Constellation this year, reflection and Beyond previously - all OK)

8. No forced formal nights.- I wont be taking a suit.

 

Narrowed it down to three so far but open to other suggestions:

 

Celebrity

Princess

Virgin.

 

Any ideas/thoughts would be appreciated.

[DarrenM]

just to confirm a couple of things.

 

Would really like to stay with Celebrity

Like the look of certain things on Virgin, but not some of the other things

Similar with Princess.

 

Avoiding P&O, MSC, and the other cheaper end brands.

[mom says]

Better the devil you know. OR. Variety is the spice of life. Your pick.  No one but you can say whether or not you will enjoy cruising on the other 2 lines. And you will never know until you've tried them. 

[leaveitallbehind]

Rather than base your decision on others' comments, my honest answer would be to see what your experience is in May and judge for yourself and then decide.  But you've pretty much eliminated all but the premium lines in your consideration, so you either have to continue with Celebrity or likely add a premium to your budget and look at Viking Ocean, Regent Seven Seas, Oceana, and Silver Sea, as examples.

 

To your other possible options, Virgin is upscale all adults (18+), and Princess would IMO be more similar to Celebrity.

Edited February 15 by leaveitallbehind

[SbbquilterUT]

Not sure if you are interested, we are trying out Oceania this August.  Looking at total package cost plus will evaluate value of cruise once we are back.  We are looking at smaller ship and interesting itineraries.  Still have Celebrity booked as we have enjoyed each of our cruises with them.  Recently completed a winter getaway on RCCL where we got what we paid for and had a good time.  One thing that does influence our decisions is that we do not pay for Suites, drink or WiFi packages which makes my budget easy to look at and evaluate what we are buying.  

[NotADopey1]

We were loyal to HAL for a long time.  Travel agent suggested a Med cruise with Celebrity so we cruised with them for quite a few cruises.  When they started cutting back on concierge amenities we decided on NCL. Had the best time on the Joy over Thanksgiving.  Going on NCL again to Mexican Riviera and Hawaii.

[NotADopey1]

Oh,  we tried Princess which was a total disaster. Will not do that line again.

[*Miss G*]

48 minutes ago, NotADopey1 said:

Oh,  we tried Princess which was a total disaster. Will not do that line again.

 

I am wondering if you were on the same itinerary with Princess that I was!  We all said exactly the same thing.

 

@DarrenM, we love Holland America’s Pinnacle-class ships; the Koningsdam, Nieuw Statendam; and the Rotterdam, which is their flagship.  All are music-themed, which is our preference over performance theatre and forced fun.

 

I will take a lot of heat from the HAL-haters, but I think the above ships fulfill all your stated criteria.

[Mike981]

1 hour ago, DarrenM said:

With Celebrity again in May, but hearing worrying things about them, that maybe adversely affect what we liked about them.

 

So for 2025 we might be looking at an alternative.

 

Criteria is simple.

 

1. few or no little creatures.

2. Great Food

3. Many bars with attractive drinks package. (Always get premium on Celebrity)

4. Mediterranean

5. OK Itinerary. Not that bothered been to most places now.

6. Reasonable entertainment, but not forced fun.

7. Plenty of space to relax, and large enough for me to wander around for hours. (Constellation this year, reflection and Beyond previously - all OK)

8. No forced formal nights.- I wont be taking a suit.

 

Narrowed it down to three so far but open to other suggestions:

 

Celebrity

Princess

Virgin.

 

Any ideas/thoughts would be appreciated.

 

I was feeling the same way as you about Celebrity a month ago. Then my DW and I went on the Silhouette for a 10 day in the Caribbean and loved it. I booked our last room this past April at what I considered a good rate, who knows if I will be able to find that again. The only reason we wouldn't go with Celebrity would be the cost to benefit ratio isn't there or a better offer/itinerary on another line. We certainly are not married to Celebrity.

 

Our next cruise is up in the air, because our daughter is getting married in August 2025 in Iceland. So $$$$.

If we are able to go on our usual winter vacation, it will be a scaled down version.

[Swells1]

2 hours ago, DarrenM said:

Like the look of certain things on Virgin, but not some of the other things

I just sailed with VV for the first time last month, and have booked a second. I'd say it ticks the boxes on your list. I'm happy to answer any questions you might have.

[cruisemom42]

@DarrenM from what I've read of your posts in the past, I will say that you frequently mention drinks and a lively bar atmosphere. (If I've got the wrong end of it, feel free to let me know.) If that's really the case, I'm not sure that I would recommend either HAL or Oceania for you. Neither of them have much of a "scene" going on at night and when I say "night" I mean it ends pretty quickly around 11pm on both lines.

 

Nothing wrong with that, if that's what you're after. But a bit different to Celebrity to be sure. I like both of the above-mentioned lines, so it's not a bash -- just being honest with what I've experienced.

 

I wonder if you would consider NCL or MSC in their "enclave" areas? Might be a solution for you -- you get the best of both worlds. The enclave/yacht club environment is nice with few kids, but you also get access to the bigger, flashier entertainment, casino, etc, if you want it.

 

I also think you might be a good candidate for Virgin Voyages, based on what I've read but I haven't experienced them personally and likely won't as I tend to choose more based on itinerary than onboard fun.

 

Finally, just wanted to say that I've liked Celebrity a lot in the past and no reason you couldn't go back to them if you try another line (or two) and they don't measure up. It's not like you have to divorce them! 

 

P.S.  If you are on Constellation this year, keep in mind it is one of Celebrity's oldest ships, smaller than the others you've been on and (unless it is scheduled soon) has not had a major "update" in a while. That said, I took BTB Med cruises on her in October 2022 and loved both the ship and the personnel onboard.

 

 

[YourWorldWithBill]

3 hours ago, *Miss G* said:

 

I am wondering if you were on the same itinerary with Princess that I was!  We all said exactly the same thing.

 

@DarrenM, we love Holland America’s Pinnacle-class ships; the Koningsdam, Nieuw Statendam; and the Rotterdam, which is their flagship.  All are music-themed, which is our preference over performance theatre and forced fun.

 

I will take a lot of heat from the HAL-haters, but I think the above ships fulfill all your stated criteria.

Just a note to express our agreement. Having tried some slightly higher-priced lines, we came back to HAL for many reasons.

[DarrenM]

On 2/15/2024 at 8:36 PM, cruisemom42 said:

@DarrenM from what I've read of your posts in the past, I will say that you frequently mention drinks and a lively bar atmosphere. (If I've got the wrong end of it, feel free to let me know.) If that's really the case, I'm not sure that I would recommend either HAL or Oceania for you. Neither of them have much of a "scene" going on at night and when I say "night" I mean it ends pretty quickly around 11pm on both lines.

 

Nothing wrong with that, if that's what you're after. But a bit different to Celebrity to be sure. I like both of the above-mentioned lines, so it's not a bash -- just being honest with what I've experienced.

 

I wonder if you would consider NCL or MSC in their "enclave" areas? Might be a solution for you -- you get the best of both worlds. The enclave/yacht club environment is nice with few kids, but you also get access to the bigger, flashier entertainment, casino, etc, if you want it.

 

I also think you might be a good candidate for Virgin Voyages, based on what I've read but I haven't experienced them personally and likely won't as I tend to choose more based on itinerary than onboard fun.

 

Finally, just wanted to say that I've liked Celebrity a lot in the past and no reason you couldn't go back to them if you try another line (or two) and they don't measure up. It's not like you have to divorce them! 

 

P.S.  If you are on Constellation this year, keep in mind it is one of Celebrity's oldest ships, smaller than the others you've been on and (unless it is scheduled soon) has not had a major "update" in a while. That said, I took BTB Med cruises on her in October 2022 and loved both the ship and the personnel onboard.

 

 

Thanks for your post.

 

I must have seriously misled you though.

 

I love a drink but hate parties. So I want bars that don't have music, dance floors or anything novel.

 

Me and my wife love just sitting near a bar and drinking the night away( usually in bed 9pm lol)

 

We start early, sample everything on the cocktail menu, then go to bed, sleep it off and get up early the next day for a morning run.

 

Rince and repeat.

 

Hence why I am not sure about virgin voyages.

 

We also enjoy our food too. So food is important. Hence why we might like virgin voyages.

 

Sunset bar and world class bar on celebrity are superb. And to be fair we do like the martini bar, early doors.

 

Wife wanted to try constellation as she doesn't like the infinite verandas.

 

I am ok with it and I don't mind it being smaller. As long as the bars are just as good. No world class bar on constellation though. But they do have another bar that's name escapes me.

 

Would love to just stay with celebrity but their new CEO irritates me, with her clear nickle and diming attitude and corporate nonsense speak.

 

I hate corporate speak.

 

Anyway. Like others have said, I will have a clearer picture come May.

Edited February 19 by DarrenM

[DarrenM]

With regards to premium cruises, I don't mind paying if its worth it.

 

Celebrity isn't cheap if you go for the balcony cabins, premium drinks package etc. But I have no issue as long as everything is included.

 

Heard so many bad things about MSC and P&O that i just wouldn't go there.

 

P&O for more political reasons too.

 

Never thought about the even.more premium smaller ships, but some of those are really small.

 

I really detest fancy dress nights too just to eat. So again celebrity suits me.

[cruiseaholic777]

It sounds to me that HAL would be a good fit. Try something new, we have never had a bad cruise. I like different things on different cruise lines.

[Hlitner]

Not a lecture but just some comments.  More then a few times, we have met crusiers who tell us they are tired of cruising or tired of their one and only favorite cruise line.  Some have this "loyalty" thing and others seem to be creatures of habit and keep booking the same line, over and over again, even though they will complain about being tired of the same old thing.  

 

DW and I do have lines we like more then others, but we are soon going on our 17th cruise line (#18 line coming up in Dec).  While we have enjoyed all of our cruises (more then 100) we truly enjoy the variety we find by cruising many different lines.  The menus are different, food venues vary, entertainment is different, and even the atmosphere varies from line to line (and ship to ship).

 

We have never found the perfect cruise line or ship and I doubt if it exists.  Each experience has its pros and cons, but we never tire of the variety.  From the info provided by the OP we would probably give Virgin a try because they do not have any "little creatures" and it will be something new and different.  Princess (a line with which have cruised on over 30 voyages) will generally have plenty of little ones (especially on their shorter cruises) and the food will not overly excite a Celebrity cruiser. 

 

Hank

[Mike981]

Nice post @Hlitner

 

You are reminding me of when I worked in an office and many coworkers would constantly complain about their job. I would get sick of hearing about it and say, "well you have two options; figure out how to make it work or leave. No sense in staying at a job that you hate."

 

I worked in radio, so most people could have easily gone and gotten a job at a convenience store and not missed a beat.

[ldubs]

2 hours ago, Mike981 said:

Nice post @Hlitner

 

You are reminding me of when I worked in an office and many coworkers would constantly complain about their job. I would get sick of hearing about it and say, "well you have two options; figure out how to make it work or leave. No sense in staying at a job that you hate."

 

I worked in radio, so most people could have easily gone and gotten a job at a convenience store and not missed a beat.

 

I occasionally advised folks to do themselves (and me) a favor and find something they enjoy. 

[DarrenM]

Well some really good advice here.

 

I fully accept being a creature of habit, and maybe even starting to moan about what I have liked previously.

 

All that said, my concerns about Celebrity revolve more around what I heard the CEO say, and her corporate none answers to straight questions.

 

I am sure the others are similar though tbh.

 

Looked further into virgin and princess and I definitely like the look of virgin more than Princess.

 

Will see after May.........on constellation.

 

A prediction

 

I will be having a particularly great day one day mid cruise, and will be happily inebriated.

 

And will book a 2025 cruise whilst in that state. 

[George C]

While I have read negatives on MSc , it’s extremely rare to read anything 

negative about MSc yacht club . It’s a ship within a ship concept with separate lounge , bar , restaurants, outdoor area has pool and bar and hot tubs, lounge has live music most of the night . Premium drink package and WiFi included. To save money they even have inside cabins . Butler will escort you to reserved seats if you want to attend shows in main theater. Veterans , police and first responders get ten percent discount.

[capriccio]

7 hours ago, George C said:

Veterans , police and first responders get ten percent discount.

As do other active and retired civil servants at the federal, state and local levels.

[George C]

10 hours ago, capriccio said:

As do other active and retired civil servants at the federal, state and local levels.

I believe so . Also if you are diamond on rccl , elite on Celebrity etc they match your status and that gives you a 5 percent discount. If both maximum discount is ten percent , really a bargain compared to celebrity suites or rccl suites.

[edinburgher]

On 2/15/2024 at 4:40 PM, DarrenM said:

Celebrity

Princess

Virgin.

Oceania or maybe Viking Ocean?

[Wasasalad]

Holland America excellent in every way!

[DarrenM]

22 hours ago, George C said:

While I have read negatives on MSc , it’s extremely rare to read anything 

negative about MSc yacht club . It’s a ship within a ship concept with separate lounge , bar , restaurants, outdoor area has pool and bar and hot tubs, lounge has live music most of the night . Premium drink package and WiFi included. To save money they even have inside cabins . Butler will escort you to reserved seats if you want to attend shows in main theater. Veterans , police and first responders get ten percent discount.

Never contemplated this but what price point is it?

 

Have to have a balcony too. It's the law in my house.