RCL vs Celebrity

[Nodakboiler]

I have sailed RCL twice and Carnival once. I have enjoyed all three cruises. I am considering a Celebrity cruise in the Med because of departure times and itinerary. Any thoughts and/or suggestions?

[RhondaC]

We did Celebrity for the first time, and really liked it! We had a really good price though. I don't know that it was THAT different from RCCL, that we would be willing to pay the extra.

 

You will notice little extras, such as champagne welcome upon arrival, cool towels handed to you when you return to the ship at the ports, and other little things. We really enjoyed it - but do not require it all the time.

 

If you don't mind spending the little more for it, I think you'll like it! :)

[RevSmith]

The last poster is correct it's a step above RCCL...but otherwise about the same...a bit classier...but that's not the passengers that's the ship. There are all types of people on all classes of ships.

[Host Kewlguy]

A few years ago there was a bigger difference between the two cruise lines. Nowadays it's hard to tell the difference. Celebrity is becoming more of a mass market cruise line verses the premium cruise line it was originally supposed to be. Of course you will have less children on board Celebrity but also less activities compared to Royal. The atmosphere on Celebrity is more subdued and mature compared to Royal. No towel animals at all. Very few public announcements, etc. It all depends what people prefer.

[TravlGrl]

We have sailed twice -- once on RCCL and once on Celebrity. They were pretty similar, but Celebrity definitely had a more mature crowd who wore more dressy attire in the evenings.

 

What the previous poster said about no towel animals and not very many PA announcements is totally true! We did miss the towel animals (but got over after the second evening) but were VERY happy with how quiet it was on the ship without the constant announcements for BINGO. Yes, BINGO was offered, but it wasn't being advertised over and over again on the PA. In fact, the ONLY thing I ever heard on the PA was info about the muster drill, the crew's muster drill, and disembarkation instructions. I heard nothing in between all of that.

 

You'll enjoy Celebrity, and even if you decide you like RCCL better, it's worth it to try another line.

[CruiserFromMaine]

We liked Celebrity better--the overall presentation, if you will, of the ship was better: food, service, etc. Not a lot but noticeable.

 

A lot depends on the itinerary, ports, etc. That said, our next cruise will probably be RCCL due to itinerary.

[pcur]

We sailed the Millenium this last April in Europe and LOVED her! We had been on both the Splendour and the Brilliance on Med cruises before, and the Millie was Western Europe.

 

You won't be disappointed if you choose Celebrity for the dates and itinerary. We would go either RCCL or Celebrity in Europe again.

 

We thought our food on the Millie was better, and the buffet MUCH better. As posted above, they have little extra touches, but the GREATEST is the homemade ice cream in the buffet every day. Try the cinnamon; it's to die for!!

[Nodakboiler]

Thanks for all of your comments. We just got back from a Voyager cruise in the Med and loved it. We decided we wanted to go on another Med cruise next fall and are just looking at dates, cost, itinerary, etc. On Celebrity, do you have to do the sit down dinners? We just ate in the Windjammer on VOS and were very satisfied.

[petel]

I have sailed RCL twice and Carnival once. I have enjoyed all three cruises. I am considering a Celebrity cruise in the Med because of departure times and itinerary. Any thoughts and/or suggestions?

 

A little while back I asked the same question .......... here are the answers that I got:

 

Petel Asked - Wolf Answers: X Vs Rccl

 

It's just a couple of pages and reads really fast. Enjoy :)

 

:)

[vmom]

A little while back I asked the same question .......... here are the answers that I got:

 

Petel Asked - Wolf Answers: X Vs Rccl

 

It's just a couple of pages and reads really fast. Enjoy :)

 

:)

 

I'm having trouble loading that page. Is it from the CC boards and under which forum. Maybe I can locate it that way.

 

Also...We tried to book an X cruise on our last RCCL cruise and the travel consultant on board talked us out of it. She said the entertainment on the X cruise was not nearly as good as on RCCL and we would be disappointed.

 

One couple we met on board said there were more activites aboard the X cruises (I'm not talking skating rinks, climbing walls)...such as trivia games etc. I found that during the days at sea there was not much to do on the RCCL cruises if you've not into climbing walls, basketball courts, skating rinks, etc. Anyone else have any feedback on this?

[39august]

I have been told on Celebrity board that there is no evening buffet. However, the buffet area is converted to sit down dinner area at night.

[TravlGrl]

Thanks for all of your comments. We just got back from a Voyager cruise in the Med and loved it. We decided we wanted to go on another Med cruise next fall and are just looking at dates, cost, itinerary, etc. On Celebrity, do you have to do the sit down dinners? We just ate in the Windjammer on VOS and were very satisfied.

 

There is no buffet offered on Celebrity for dinner. Instead, they convert the buffet area into a very casual (yes, hats, t-shirts, sweatshirts are allowed) sit-down area with table service. We didn't use this option, but passed by it each night on our way to the Manhattan restaurant for the "nicer" dinner.

[hawkfanI]

While we haven't yet sailed RCCL, we have sailed twice on Celebrity and had a great time. Celebrity was much, much better than the one princess cruise we went on. While the Grand Princess is a nice ship, the food, atmosphere didn't compare. We're looking forward to our next cruise on the Independence. This time we really wanted the ship to be our destination more so than the ports.