Celebrity VS Carnival

[reefexplorer]

This was our first cruise with Celebrity, after looking on these boards (back in Aug) I almost decided I didn’t want to go. There were several postings on how great Celebrity was and how awful all the other lines were. I noticed most of these posters hadn’t even tried the some of the cruise lines that they were cutting down. I wasn’t sure if I could put my nose up in the air as high as theirs (LOL) and didn’t know if I was really interested in taking vacations with a bunch of snobs. :eek:But I can honestly say that I am glad we took this cruise. We had a wonderful time, met some really great people and the ship was really nice.

 

The first night we had open seating and we sat with this couple from Cape Cod and there son and daughter-in-law. The first thing he said was “this is our 8th cruise with Celebrity and we would never cruise Carnival they are low class, this is the best and why try anything else.” (LOL) These people were really nice and we really enjoyed dining with them, they invited us to sit at there table with them through out the cruise if our assigned table didn’t work out. Let me tell you how I viewed Celebrity compared to Carnival.

 

Embarkation:

Celebrity: We just walked in no lines, no waiting it was great. (we got there at 11:45am the ship didn’t sail till 10:00pm.) Was offered a glass of champagne or OJ when we got on board. This was the easiest boarding we ever had. Celebrity wins hands down.

 

Carnival: we have always waited in line and when you thought you were ready to board there would be another line it seemed.

 

The room:

Celebrity: While the rooms are smaller than Carnival, the mirrors on one wall made it seem larger and the décor was slightly better. The bathroom only had 2 sets of OK towels. :(

 

Carnival: much more storage and the beds are softer and more comfortable. Carnival gives you a big basket of shampoos, razors and lotions etc (never the same each time.) We always had 4 – 6 sets of nice white fluffy towels in the bathroom and the shampoo and body wash in the shower seemed to be better (just my opinion, the shampoo on Celebrity dried my hair out, I should have brought my own, always did but Carnivals was a good quality and worked well for me.)

 

The food:

Both cruise lines are comparable with quality; Pizza on both lines is really excellent. Celebrity has homemade ice cream YUMM. Waffles are the best. And in the deli they have Potato chips. We did not find the spa restaurant I probably would have like it. The buffet was never crowded and we were always able to find a table.

 

Carnival had soft serve that is available 24 hours a day. Carnival has a wider variety of food, there was always several different nationalities represented in their food. I like the WOK station where you can pick and choose your ingredients, sauces etc and they cook it for you. The Deli is much better also. We missed the warm rolls and bread at dinner time also.

 

The “ambience” of the ship:

 

Celebrity wins this one. I really like the NO announcements, although it would have been nice during debarkation so we could actually hear our color being called. The ships décor was elegant although sometimes it was a little to understated.

 

Carnival does have announcements which were annoying when you are taking a nap. The ships décor sometimes was “over the top” but it can be fun also. Some of the ships are really beautiful and some of them are really gaudy. Fortunately I don’t depend on the décor to improve or degrade my experience.

 

The shows on both lines was excellent, very professional and very entertaining. It was refreshing to find such a good variety on each cruise we have taken.

 

Debarkation:

Celebrity: you wait in lounge and they call your color and number. It would have been nicer if they allowed announcements at this time so you could hear the color and number being called. It did work well though and we found our luggage just fine. This is similar to Carnival except I think that Celebrity has smaller groups and less confusion.

 

Carnival: Beside conventional debarkation they allow you to walk off the ship with your luggage before they start calling numbers, we have done this and it was very easy and worked well.

 

Our conclusion would be is that the more different cruise lines we sail the more they seem alike, the similarities out weigh the differences. Over all we had a wonderful experience with Celebrity, the ship appeared to be less crowded than Carnival and the no announcement policy was nice. I would not hesitate to sail on either cruiseline. My experience doesn’t depend on décor or what others wear. I think each cruise is different and is going to be what you make of it. :D

 

Linda

[Becca1960]

Cruise fanatics can have fun trying all the ships. There is nothing wrong with that. So far, I have not found my favorite cruise line, but I will keep trying. We cruise about 4 times each year.

 

On Royal Caribbean, I like their Voyager and Radiance class ships. They have plenty of activities and the service is good. IMO, Carnival has better food and their singers do not sing to prerecorded tracts, it is all live. I am cruising on Carnival again in May.

 

My first Celebrity cruise was on the Mercury in 1998. I was not impressed and I did not cruise on Celebrity again until I cruised on the Infinity two years ago. I enjoyed Celebrity much more, this time. Now, I am booked on the Solstice in February with some friends. I am looking forward this cruise.

 

About 15 years ago, NCL was my favorite cruise line, but there have been too many changes, not all of them positive. I have not sailed on NCL in probably 4-5 years.

 

My husband's favorite cruise line is Princess, and I have to say, I really enjoy Princess, too. You can do traditional dining or you can have open seating. The food in their buffet is very good, certainly better than you find on Royal Caribbean. They have a fridge in every cabin.

 

The mass market cruise line I have not tried is HAL. One of my friends said, the average age of their passengers was "deceased".

 

Becca

[cruzmaven]

I agree that there is a certain snob factor when it comes to Carnival. I've cruised on Celebrity, RCCL, Princess, Disney, etc., so I believe I have some basis for comparison and I must say that I had a wonderful time on my one Carnival cruise on the Carnival Pride in 2000. The Pride was a new ship then and was beautiful. The food in the regular dining room was fine, service was very good and the reservations restaurant, David's (I think) was excellent. I'm about as snobby as they come but I don't think I would hesitate booking on Carnival for the right ship and the right itinerary. For snob factor, I think the Carnival cruises to avoid are the shorter itineraries on the older ships. But the same could probably be said for any cruise line.