Looking into Celebrity for the first time

[YellowDog]

Ok, I've seen the ads for the Celebrity Solstice and from what I have seen...well, wow.

Anyway, I noticed that it is cruising a Caribbean Itinerary that I find interesting next March. So I wanted to ask the Celebrity people (celebrities? ;) ) a couple of questions:

1. When is the best time to book? In other words when might I see the prices at their lowest?

2. Why will I like Celebrity over Princess? (my current favorite line)

3. I know some of you have traveled other lines as well, but this being the Celebrity board Im sure Ill find plenty of fans who will tell me what makes it the best?

4. If not the Solstice, what is "the best" Celebrity ship?

Any and all info appreciated.

[FinelyCruising]

Well, the best time to book has already come and gone for Solstice, so it is what it is right now unless you can be a last minute cruiser and enjoy favorable pricing when close to sail date specials get posted.

 

The ship is going to be quite different, and I am going to enjoy that experience. While I enjoy longer cruises, I don't mind a week to get away either to see this ship.

 

Absent of that ship, I think the best other that we have done and is worth looking at is The Constellation on the longer itinerary to the Ultimate Caribbean. Great ship and great itinerary.

[YellowDog]

Thanks. I will look into the Constellation as well. I know its got to be hard to get on the brand new ship the first year. Maybe, with the new ships from a variety of lines coming out in the next year maybe it will lower the prices for the "used to be new" ships :)

[rucruizin]

Yellowdog...

 

I copied, and pasted 2 reviews form one of my fellow CC roll call members, and myself. I was just going to give you the link to both, but decided it might make it easier for you this way. Hope these help you make your decision. I think you will love Celebrity, if you like Princess.

 

Hi everyone!

 

I did a quick review of our cruise and posted it over on the Celebrity board. I'm sure everyone has their own take on things -- but here is my basic review:

 

 

Lauren and I just returned from the March 21st cruise of the Constellation and had a wonderful time.

We cruised this ship when it was brand new in 2002 (Baltic) and was pleased to see she is holding up very well at age six.

 

Below is a list of information and bit of the "Mac O'meter" rating our impression of this 10 day Eastern Caribbean cruise:

 

Captain = Dimitris Manetas

Cruise Director = John Grantham (his first cruise as a CD)

Captain's Club Hostess = Marissa

 

Friday, March 21.....Casual.....dept Ft Lauderdale.....4:30

Sat, March 22.....Formal.....at sea.....................

Sun, March 23......Informal...at sea....................

Mon, March 24......Casual.....St Thomas...............7:00 -- 18:00

Tue, March 25......Formal.....St Kitts...................8:00 -- 15:00

Wed, March 26......Casual......Barbados.................9:00 -- 18:00

Thur, March 27......Informal....St Lucia..................7:00 -- 16:00

Fri, March 28......Casual......St Maartin...............8:00 -- 17:00

Sat, March 29......Formal......at sea.....................

Sun, March 30......Casual......at sea.....................

Mon, March 31...................arrive Ft Lauderdale.....7:00am

 

 

1 == poor 5 == average 10 == superior

 

Precruise.....Bahia Mar Hotel.....8.2 -- this hotel is better than the recent reviews over on TripAdvisor; old and a bit worn, but nice beds and beddings. They are getting ready for a renovation/rebranding to a Hilton (I believe). Taxi to port w/tip = $16

 

Embarkation.....8.5 -- the group getting off the ship was running a bit late. We arrived at 11:30; waited about 20 minutes; gave Captain's Club members priority cards and we were on the ship by 12:00 noon.

 

Cruise Critic Group.....9.2 -- we did a small meet and greet at the Mast Bar after the Muster Drill. Connections party was next morning 10:30 in Michael's Club. Wonderful group; maybe 30 of the original 55 people showed up. No group photo; no Connection's Pins (probably because CD and CC hostess were new??) John the CD did talk to the group and Host Andy was in attendance as well. Good info from both!

 

Cabin.....8.1 -- over all in great shape; Constellation seems to have very modest decor compared to the other Millennium class ships. Everything worked well. Only down side was a bathroom floor in need of a re-grouting -- water was seeping into the wood base and when you walked on it water would squish up (Yuck). Cat 9 inside. PS -- the new beds and bedding are an improvement, however, not as good as the beds on the Millennium, and not as good as Holland America's beds/bedding.

 

Dining Room Cuisine....9.0 -- great food; presented well; some changes in the past year; all new menus starting this month; Asst Maitre'D indicated the new menus would include about 60% of the original items.

Service was excellent!!

 

Buffet.....8.4 -- good selections; ice cream was great; waffles were great; nice sandwich station; pasta station was very good, but slow.

 

Ocean Liners.....9.5 -- continues to be the best restaurant at sea; perfect service; all items were excellent; they did offer a few items not on the menu.

 

Entertainment.....8.2 -- we've seen it all in 30 cruises, so we attend very few shows. Celebrity Singers and Dancers seem better than average; Acapella Group "Ocean's Four" is outstanding and they performed all over the ship! Pool band "Top Notch" was fine. Greg the Pianist, Strings Quartet and Frank the Guitarist could be found in the Cova -- all very good. Big fan club of Perry Grant met in Michael's club several times for his shows. Celebrity Orchestra did a great job. David Meyer -- didn't see; Flying Dreams fine; Jeff Nease, old school but pretty funny.

 

Service.....9.0 -- ship wide the staff was friendly and did a wonderful job.

 

Fellow Passengers.....8.8 -- nice mix of age groups. For spring break, not that many children or teenagers. All were well behaved. Everyone seemed to be having a great time. Standard number of chair hogs, but the pool staff was removing their stuff after a period of time. One weird guy with a towel over his head would center himself on deck 11 facing the topless sun-deck area. He was there almost every day.

 

Disembarkation.....9.5 -- Elite CC members met in the San Marco Restaurant and were allowed to leave the ship at 9:00am sharp. Cont breakfast was served.

 

Celebrity consistently makes us feel special and remains our number one choice for cruising. We made our sixth visit to the Captain's Table and had a wonderful evening with Georgios Karlis the Chief Engineer. Roses in the room, chocolates, special $15 laundry rate, Captain's Table photo, Wine blending, Senior Officer's Cocktail Party, CC Cocktail Party..., We've toured the Galley, Backstage area, and the Bridge on other cruises, so we didn't revisit these. Marissa, the Captain's club hostess did a wonderful job!

 

If you have any specific questions, let me know.

Enjoy!

Kel

**********************************************************

Hey Kel... Thanks for the review, even though we were there it's nice to see the perspectives of others.

 

We made it home safe, late Monday night. We gave up our seats on the early flight in exchange for first class on the later flight a $300 flight voucher, and meal vouchers. I love that option. You simply have to ask yourself...how much is my three hours worth? All the bags were waiting for us at the baggage claim office.

 

In retrospect of the cruise...I came up with the following...

 

Embarkation...took over an hour, and I thought it was one of the more disorganized embarkations I have been through in awhile. We are platinum on Carnival, so those perks make a huge difference.

 

I have always felt that Carnival folks were the nicest, happiest cruisers.

 

However, I was very impressed with everyone I encountered on the ship. I think we may have found our perfect match. On other lines I have experienced rude foriegners, obnoxious children, rowdy revelers, snobs, mean old people, and everything in between. I was very impressed with the Celebrity clientel. I never felt that anyone was snobby. No one was rude. No rowdy, swearing drunks. Even the children seemed quite well behaved.

 

Everyone was so friendly, and people would happily start up a conversation with me wherever I was. I felt very at ease the whole time.

 

The cruise critic group...was a 10 in my book! Four of the couples from this group were practically inseperable. We were always with at least one other couple from this group, and usually more. Like I told them...unless I'm that one person that everyone needs a break from...I never tired of their company. I couldn't have hand picked a better group, and it truly made this cruise an extra special one.

 

I still prefer Carnival food. The menu selections in the main dining room seemed very limited. There were several nights that nothing excited me. Even the desserts were lacking, and I usually eat 2 or 3 of them. I am a recent vegetarian, and our wait staff did an excellent job of accomodating any request I made. After seeing what the menu had to offer, I was quite satisfied with the many vegetables my waiter brought me every night. The dining room service was very good, to excellent. As good as I have experienced on Carnival. MUCH! better that HAL and Princess.

 

The asst. Matre' d was always present, every night and did an excellent job of accomodating any requests. I happily tipped him as he was the first one of his position who had ever done anything for me, on ANY cruise.

 

I was especially impressed with the aqua spa cafe. They always, happily accomodated any special request I made to tweek a dish that wasn't vegan, or totally vegetarian. Same with the buffets..there were so many wonderful vegan offereings. I ate quite well.

 

My other disappointment in the food department, was the room service menu...I felt it was much more limited that any other cruiseline I have been on. I was not impressed with it at all. However, the service was always prompt when we did order room service.

 

Our cabin steward was good, not great, not outstanding. He did his job...period. My biggest frustration was when we asked for two fluffy pillows. We made 3 seperate requests, and ended up with 8 FLAT pillows. The cabin was always clean, and he was quick to make up the room. There isn't anything I can put my finger on specifically, but I have had cabin stewards that just seemed to make the evening turndow...something to look forward to.

 

The cabins...teeny tiny. Wow! I was shocked at the lack of space. I had to make the DH leave the room so I could change my mind. I love the spacious Carnival cabins, and the luxury and space on HAL. We had the problem with the water squishing up through the bathroom floor. One morning, the main water line was out in our part of the ship. No toilets, no water...not that there is ever an opportune time for something like that...but in that case...it was really bad timing As for the decor in our room...who ever had the brilliant idea for the color scheme including rust, burnt orange, avacado green, and bile yellow in the cabins, must have been on acid. It looked like the 70's threw up in our cabin.

 

The spa and fitness center were awesome. Plenty of machines to go around.

 

My serious annoyance of the cruise...The Persian Garden. It was touted as a tranquil, quiet place to relax or meditate. We were told that only 40 passes were sold for the entire cruise. This was to ensure the atmosphere. Well we purchased the $200 add on, and experienced nothing but frustration with it. They did not bother to tell us that they ran specials for couples, and ladies nights, etc. that included use of the "relaxation" room. Also, anyone who books a spa treament, gets access. Guess what? If you have 20 extra people in there with their girlfirends, friends or husbands...it's not tranquil anymore. My DH was pieved, to say the least. He spoke to the spa manager, and she basically told him to call next time and find out if anything was scheduled, before he came. WHAT A RIP OFF!

 

The drinks were outrageous, so I was forced to smuggle. I love those souvenier glasses that the drinks came in. So, for you potential smugglers. Mind you I didn't drink all this, most of it came home with me. When returning from port, I brought on 2 bottles of vodka, one bottle of tequila, 6 pack of VI beer, mixers, and a 6 pack of diet 7-up.

 

We didn't even bother with the shows. The one we started, I walked out on. Once you have seen one ship production...you have seen them all. The band on the deck was horrible. An asia, imitator band...did I mention horrible. They couldn't even pronounce half of the words. We knew it was time for lunch when they came out. Or the Ipods got turned up really high. The a capella group was outstanding! We caught them just about every night. We missed the comedian, and wished they had more comedy shows. Carnival still is best in that department.

 

A word to anyone out there who will listen...please...don't sing along with the a capella guys. The people next to you didn't come to hear you sing off key

 

Our overall impression of the cruise...great! We had a wonderful time, made wonderful new friends. There were little touches that made it a classier cruise, than past cruises. We loved the waffles! Some days they were cooked better than others.

 

We would definately sail Celebrity again.

 

For cost, service, comfort, space, food...I would still choose Carnival

 

For Class, itinerary, fellow passengers, service, and overall experince... I would choose Celebrity.

 

For comfort, spaciousness, cabin amenities, itinerary...I would sail with HAL

 

For itinerary only...Princess

 

If I won a free trip...Royal Caribbean

 

I too am happy to answer any questions you have.

 

Oh, and I LOVED those chocolates they left on the pillows.

[bgjg1970]

Ok, to answer some of your questions, we,ve been on three Celebrity ships, Constellation, Millenium, and Summit. Summit we are doing for the second time in September. We got hooked on Celebrity because of service and quality of food. The ship is always clean, the staff always friendly and the food is excellent.

 

Which one do we like most? We have become attached to sailing on Millie class vessels. They are the right size, never appear crowded, and are well layed out.

 

Which was the best I have been on? I agree with the guy that said Constellation. We highly enjoyed them all but, Constellation will always be special because we sent 14 wonderful days in the Baltic on her and met some terrific people from England. It also took us to places we will probably never see again in the near future. Our upcoming trip on Summit we hope will only be as good.

 

As for Princess, we tried one of those and decided that it just wasn't what we wanted. Blame it on two many people, average quality food, not being as clean, confusing layout, or our just plain being spoiled. Take your pick. But, the proof is in the eye of the beholder. You have to try it and pass your own judgement.

 

We did the Caribbean in January, February, and March/April and if I had to place a bet the prices were probably the best in March/April. Just watch out for Easter. The Spanish down there really take there religious holidays seriously.

 

All in all I don't think you will regret a Celebrity trip on any of the Millie class ship. Although, I do have to admit your first impression of Soltice is correct, WOW!! :D

 

Just remember, any cruise you choose, no matter what line you choose to go with, is better than regretting that you didn't! Happy sailing.:) :) :)

[jwattle]

Our aqua class rooms just dropped $100 per person for March of next year on Solstice, so they are coming down a bit:)