Celebrity vs. Royal Caribbean

[paulap70]

I have never cruised with Celebrity. I am within one cruise of attaining Diamond status with RCCL's Crown & Anchor, and I noted that once I do achieve that level, I can sail on Celebrity at the same level, although I won't earn any more points on RCCL.

 

Is Celebrity truly a step up from RCCL? I've always enjoyed RCCL and stayed with them for the loyalty program perks. On my last couple of cruises with RCCL, I have noticed things such as poor dress in the dining rooms (dress codes not enforced by dining room mgr), children running unsupervised in the hallways at all hours, babies in swimming pool wearing diapers, etc. You get the picture. Given that Celebrity is supposed to cater to the premium or luxury market, I'm wondering if someone that's sailed on both can shed some light. Thanks for your responses!

[fllady]

I am Celebrity Elite/RCL Diamond and the perks on RCL are much better. ALthough MPO, I prefer Celebrity food, service and the way they make me feel special, but when DH and I just want to hang around we enjoy RCL. We are retired and not active like we used to be, so the peace and quiet of the adult only Thalassotherapy pool is our ideal. Their childrens program is supposed to be very good with keeping the children under control and having fun. We have yet to be run over by children as we have been on RCL. People do dress more appropriately also.

[caviargal]

I

 

Is Celebrity truly a step up from RCCL? I've always enjoyed RCCL and stayed with them for the loyalty program perks. On my last couple of cruises with RCCL, I have noticed things such as poor dress in the dining rooms (dress codes not enforced by dining room mgr), children running unsupervised in the hallways at all hours, babies in swimming pool wearing diapers, etc. You get the picture. Given that Celebrity is supposed to cater to the premium or luxury market, I'm wondering if someone that's sailed on both can shed some light. Thanks for your responses!

 

These reasons and a few others are the same reasons I will no longer cruise with RCI. It has also become a nickel and dime shopping mall experience which I do not care for and very family oriented. Cut backs in staff levels, no sommeliers, attention to detail has fallen by the wayside, IMO.

 

Is X a step up? Yes for food, service, adult oriented atmosphere and a traditional and more formal ambiance. IMO, the Radiance class ships are just beautiful but the problems you described are the same across the line, although exacerbated on the huge ships.

 

I would choose an M class ship on X or perhaps Century (will let you know for sure next month about that:)).

 

It is not a luxury line but still a bit above the rest of the mass market lines.

[SandyMc]

I think that you would be sorely disappointed if you booked Celebrity assuming they offer a more premium/luxury experience than RCL.

Granted, my one experience with Celebrity was on a norovirus cruise but, even considering that, I found nothing special about the cruise line. Food in the dining room was fine and the service was excellent (but we have found fine food and excellent service on Royal Caribbean as well).

I love trying different cruise lines and think you should give it a try - just don't expect them to live up to their own hype - that way you won't be disappointed!

[tprime76]

I disagree with Sandy about X not being a more premium line. While I have only been on 3 RCCL and 2 X, the difference is definitely there, although much less so with the Radiance class ships. If it is the type of people on the cruises you are having trouble with (not dressing appropriately, bad behavior of children, etc.), maybe you should try a longer cruise. If I understand correctly, those cruises exceeding 8 days draw a more subdued clientele with less children.

[paulap70]

I disagree with Sandy about X not being a more premium line. While I have only been on 3 RCCL and 2 X, the difference is definitely there, although much less so with the Radiance class ships. If it is the type of people on the cruises you are having trouble with (not dressing appropriately, bad behavior of children, etc.), maybe you should try a longer cruise. If I understand correctly, those cruises exceeding 8 days draw a more subdued clientele with less children.

 

The majority of our RCCL cruises have been on Voyager class ships - Explorer, Navigator, and Adventure (twice). Maybe I should try Splendor, Jewel, Radiance, Brilliance as it sounds like they may attract less of the crowd I'd like to avoid.

 

Thanks for your help!

[Welshlady]

We sailed on infinity in July this year and were surprised and disappointed at the lack of 'control' over the dress in the restaurant, particularly on formal nights. there were many people casually dressed and no one said anything at the restaurant entrances. We saw jeans too. I'm comparing with Princess & P & O and they were far more dressy and classy. We were expecting X to be a step up but were disappointed.

[caviargal]

The majority of our RCCL cruises have been on Voyager class ships - Explorer, Navigator, and Adventure (twice). Maybe I should try Splendor, Jewel, Radiance, Brilliance as it sounds like they may attract less of the crowd I'd like to avoid.

 

Thanks for your help!

 

Radiance class are top of the line for RCI but you still need to avoid all holidays, summer, etc. or do longer cruises. I would not do Splendour as the dining options and Concierge Lounge make the Radiance class ships a better bet.

 

JMO

[cavkc]

Earlier this year we cruised on a Millennium and Radiance class ship within 6 weeks of one another. I wrote a detailed comparison between the two lines which you may find useful:.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=392725

[AnthonyF]

Who cares..... Dress how you and your table mates feel comfortable. I find worryoing about the dress at other tables incredibly tacky as long as they are dressed appropriately for a nice dinner. I'll agree jeans, shorts, tube tops, t-shirts... are not acceptable, but otherwise why are people so bothered?

 

 

 

P.S. People should be well behaved and respect those in the Dining Room.

[caviargal]

Who cares..... Dress how you and your table mates feel comfortable. I find worryoing about the dress at other tables incredibly tacky as long as they are dressed appropriately for a nice dinner. I'll agree jeans, shorts, tube tops, t-shirts... are not acceptable, but otherwise why are people so bothered.

 

 

The problem is that what is "comfortable" to some is quite inappropriate for the dining room. People are "bothered" because on many lines dress codes are widely ignored and this has created a decline in the ambiance of every night on board, formal or otherwise.

 

I saw swim trunks, tanks and jeans on my last RCI cruise on formal night in the dining room. Nothing is said and the problem continues to grow.

[rebeccalouise]

I think it is so nice to see people dressed for dinner on the cruises. I plan accordingly- bringing nice pant suits for informal nights, gowns for formal nights and skirts and nice sundresses for casual nights. I think it makes dining more of an experience and something that I don't get to do very often at home. That's just my opinion and I am glad that Celebrity cruisers by and large dress for dinner.:o

[momofmeg]

Who cares..... Dress how you and your table mates feel comfortable. I find worryoing about the dress at other tables incredibly tacky as long as they are dressed appropriately for a nice dinner. I'll agree jeans, shorts, tube tops, t-shirts... are not acceptable, but otherwise why are people so bothered?

 

 

 

P.S. People should be well behaved and respect those in the Dining Room.

Anthony that is the POINT- no one is referring to expensive "designer wear" but APPROPRIATE wear.On my last Royal cruise, Mariner of the Seas- we saw the jeans, tacky tee shirts etc. in the dinningroom at dinner- even on formal night.

 

I cruised on the Zenith 4 months later and the differance in how people dressed was like night and day. Many people were just middle class but they dressed appropriately for dinner-maybe not designer wear but the corrrect clothing.

 

Also the food and service was much, much better. Now that is comparing a new ship on Royal to an old ship on Celebrity-but I can honestly say the Zenith was better.

 

Now I have never been on a luxury line but of the mainstream lines I have been on -Celebrity tops the list.

[Gypsea]

Celebrity is the Cadillac of Royal Caribbean. If you don't think so do the research. Compare the guest to staff ratio. That says it all. You will have better service, food and a cleaner ship because of it. RC has way too many guests in comparison to the staff. It was evident on the Granduer(two weeks ago) and that is one of their smaller ships. I had a nice cruise but the ashtrays, tables and public areas were often neglected. I would not make that up. It was noticable and disappointing.

 

Of course, there's also the welcome champagne/oj, cold towels on the gangway(in the warm ports) and sommeliers to name a few of the extras everyone enjoys on Celeb. These are just a few very nice touches that stand out and make you feel the difference.

 

Certainly no cruise is perfect but if you had a bad cruise on Celebrity I am surprised. Though I've only had four I've never been disappointed.

[rebeccalouise]

It has been years since I did Royal Caribbean. I know that the ships are nicer now and I have heard mixed things from recent passengers.

 

The thing that really urked me on my trip was the waiter at dinner. He kept reminding us to fill out the questionaire and mark excellent. He did this on the first night and kept reminding us. We were tempted to write "poor" just because of this. He was a nice waiter and did a good job but this was intrusive and unprofessional.

Did anyone else experience this?

[vagabondcarib]

Who cares..... Dress how you and your table mates feel comfortable. I find worryoing about the dress at other tables incredibly tacky as long as they are dressed appropriately for a nice dinner. I'll agree jeans, shorts, tube tops, t-shirts... are not acceptable, but otherwise why are people so bothered?

 

 

 

P.S. People should be well behaved and respect those in the Dining Room.

 

No its not "tacky". People pay a lot of dough to go on these cruises and the ambiance and atmosphere are big parts of it. The rules as far as dress code are there for that reason and should be enforced. Argue all you want, but attire affects atmosphere and people behave differently went dressed more formally.

[J&G]

The thing that really urked me on my trip was the waiter at dinner. He kept reminding us to fill out the questionaire and mark excellent. He did this on the first night and kept reminding us. We were tempted to write "poor" just because of this. He was a nice waiter and did a good job but this was intrusive and unprofessional.

Did anyone else experience this?

 

We didn't have anything like that happen on RCL but did on our recent cruise on Infinity - our butler told us at least a couple of times that we needed to mark him as excellent or he'd lose his job. We really felt pressured especially considering we had problems with him (including lying to us). It made it very uncomfortable.

[rebeccalouise]

Hopefully these crew members are the exception and not the rule. I don't remember any of the other crew members on my trips being so blatant.

On my last celebrity cruise they had the crew show the last day. Where they play "Simply the best.. better than all the rest" and then tell you how important it is to the staff to fill out the questionaire. That was the only time it came up and it was at the end. So I think these individuals need to be reminded not to pester the passengers. In fact, if and when it ever happens again- I will comment about it on the card.

[jswrpw83]

I just returned from Navigator 09/30 - 10/07, traveling with my daughter who is eleven. I thought there would be few children considering the time of year, but there were surprisingly many and they did cavort through the dining room during meal time, play hide & seek dripping wet in the bathrooms near the pool, etc. Our other cruise experience was also on the Navigator this past April for Spring Break. Unfortunately, both of us were disappointed to find the overall service onboard as well as food quality was better in April. The ship was almost at full capacity, but maybe they need more staff: no one was picking up trash left around the pool deck but you couldn't relax for the waiters hawking the drink of the day! We didn't notice grossly inappropriate attire on formal nights. We both want to experience a higher quality cruise next time--and we are not stuffy!

[Fairsailing]

Celebrity is the Cadillac of Royal Caribbean. If you don't think so do the research. Compare the guest to staff ratio. That says it all. You will have better service, food and a cleaner ship because of it. RC has way too many guests in comparison to the staff. It was evident on the Granduer(two weeks ago) and that is one of their smaller ships. I had a nice cruise but the ashtrays, tables and public areas were often neglected. I would not make that up. It was noticable and disappointing.

 

Of course, there's also the welcome champagne/oj, cold towels on the gangway(in the warm ports) and sommeliers to name a few of the extras everyone enjoys on Celeb. These are just a few very nice touches that stand out and make you feel the difference.

 

Certainly no cruise is perfect but if you had a bad cruise on Celebrity I am surprised. Though I've only had four I've never been disappointed.

 

I agree with the "Cadillac" description, but for slightly different reasons. Despite some extra bells and whistles, it's still a Chevy underneath. Same with Celebrity/RCCL. The two lines are more alike than not. You can have a "Celebrity-like" experience on a Radiance class doing the longer, non-Caribbean itineraries. Or you can have a bunch of kids running around on a Celebrity Caribbean cruise.

 

If you want a luxury line, you want Crystal or Silversea.