Need advice from RCL cruisers who sailed Celebrity

[odiesam]

We are late 40s couple with a 16yo son (is our youngest so he acts like he is late 40s also); have sailed Navigator 2x (LOVED it), Voyager, Rhapsody and have also sailed Golden Princess and Carnival Miracle. We definitely prefer RCCL, especially the big ships but $$$ are a factor these days. We fly to our ports so 7 day cruises make sense.

 

I booked the Celebrity Summit out of San Juan for April 4 (spring break) because we got a great price on a balcony for the 3 of us (we have done inside for 3 of us so we know what that is like) but now I am having second thoughts so I need advice from those of you who have sailed both. I have already booked flights so my only other choice is to book Serenade of the Seas sailing that same date. The Serenade balcony will cost us $350 more; even an inside on the Serenade will cost us $75 more.

 

My concerns are the Summit has not been getting good reviews recently and we are not big spa users which Celebrity seems known for plus am a little worried about older ages on the ship though I also do not like the younger drunkenness (Teens) we have seen on the RCCL ships. We do like the new nonsmoking policy in cabins and balcony on Celebrity but sounds like enforcement is spotty.

 

Is it worth giving Celebrity a try? We are also Platinum status on RCCL now so not sure if that makes it worth cruising RCCL over Celebrity - called the C & A # to get "special balcony pricing" and it was the same as on the website.

 

With finances tighter we are not sure when the next cruise will even be (last one was 2 years ago) so really want to make the right choice.

 

Thanks.

 

Thanks.

[kernow]

I definitely think you should give Celebrity a try. We are in our early 40s with a 14 year old son and have done several RCL cruises with 2 more booked but for Easter 2007 we did our first cruise on X on the Constellation. We all loved it, over the holidays there were quite a few kids in the older age groups and they have very good facilities including a large teen area. My son enjoyed it just as much as RCL.

As for us, we thought the food and service were a step up from RCL, with the entertainment a step down. The ship itself was beautiful and noticably less crowded than RCL. Overall we had a great time and will definitely book Celebrity again sometime.

Have a great cruise whatever you decide.

 

Julie

[bbrad8]

odiesam: We have not cruised w/ Celebrity, but have a 14 yo DS who is also the youngest (by several years), so more like your 40 something 16 yo!!! ;) We have 'looked' at Celebrity for past cruises and will say we have always opted for RCI (w/ a couple Carnival thrown in as well).

 

What we have always decided on is what our DS would 'find' available to him as we felt we would enjoy either line. Our research has found that there is not as much of a 'program' for our DS on Celebrity. :( AO has 'fit' our kids very well over the years. Serenade will have 'loosely' organized activities for his age group and an area in AO just for them.

 

There is no guarantee as to what the 'age group' will be on either sailing (even though it is likely to be younger on either ship because of Spring Break). Demographically speaking, RCI will tend to have a younger crowd w/ more kids your son's age!!!

 

BTW, do not forget that even though the balcony rates are the 'same', as a Platinum C&A member you qualify for a balcony discount on RCI. :cool: So in your case, there is a $100 discount (I believe, has been some years since we were Platinum) on the Serenade cabin!!!

 

Bruce

[pboedeker]

I've not sailed on the Summit, but...

 

Celebrity sailings have always been our favorites. We've always taken our kids with us and they have always had a great time. We sailed on the Millineum and Zenith when my daughters were 17 and 15. We still talk about these cruises today!

 

One thing we did do, was allow each daughter to bring a friend and then those 4 girls bunked in one cabin.

 

The girls didn't use the Youth program on the ship, but made friends with other kids very easily.

 

We were all impressed with the beauty of the ships and the food, we believe is the best in the industry.

 

I vote for staying with Summit!

[TEXASMUNK]

Celebrity will offer you an outstanding cruise!

 

It is a step up from RCI, we sail both, the ships are maintained beautifully!

 

Since it is spring break your son will find others his age onboard.

 

You will return home spoiled!!!!!!

 

That spa thing is hype for the newest ships....the cruise will not and does nto revolve around the spa!

[Lushpuppy]

I have cruises Celebrity but not RCI. M-Class is my favorite ship. We changed to RCI because of the smoking ban, and YES, it IS being enforced although not being well received by some on board (From a friend who is a Captain!)

When our daughter was younger we cruised NCL. I really dont know that Celebrity would be for you. We also wanted to try RCI as we are 40 and although we loves Xs service etc, the club at night was EMPTY and I mean EMPTY! I cant really see that there are suitable facilities on board for a 16 YO (even a mature one).

If you are taking a balcony, do look for an angled one with a bigger balcony, if you ask on the X board, they will tell you the sought after cabins.

An AFT FOV cabin is fantastic if you can get one of those.

And if you do smoke, remember, you can only smoke in ONE bar and thats the disco way up very top deck, a slot area in the casino, and the upper deck outside. Maybe it doesnt bother you, but just letting you know the TRUE facts as X dont really advertise it very well.

On the pluses, fabulous ship..no question, service impeccable. Food is nothing like it was a few years back, it has gone down IMHO.

You really dont see many kids on X. But you know your own child so you will know better whether or not that is important to him.

The spa area is beautiful, the thalassotherapy pool is really lovely.

Little touches are great, nice sunbeds, escort and champagne on arrival etc but if you like a party atmosphere..then ...mmmmm we were fine but we were a group so made very much our own party although we did get a few disapproving glances:rolleyes:

Prices for drinks on X I would say are CHEAPER than with RCI AND you can order bottles for your cabin!

If you do decide to keep with it, do as I say get on to the X forum and look for one of the angled balconies OR an aft, or an FOV!

Hope it all works out:)

[kernow]

What we have always decided on is what our DS would 'find' available to him as we felt we would enjoy either line. Our research has found that there is not as much of a 'program' for our DS on Celebrity. :( AO has 'fit' our kids very well over the years. Serenade will have 'loosely' organized activities for his age group and an area in AO just for them.

 

 

Bruce

 

Bruce, before we sailed on X I thought exactly the same thing and was a bit worried about our son enjoying himself. However once oboard we found that the program on X has very similar activities to those on RCL with the teen area to 'hang out' in too.

Celebrity doesn't seem to advertise itself as a family line but I was really surprised how family friendly it is.

 

Julie

[bbrad8]

Bruce, before we sailed on X I thought exactly the same thing and was a bit worried about our son enjoying himself. However once oboard we found that the program on X has very similar activities to those on RCL with the teen area to 'hang out' in too.

Celebrity doesn't seem to advertise itself as a family line but I was really surprised how family friendly it is.

 

Julie

 

Julie: Based on all the research we have done in the past and in talking w/ MANY Celebrity cruisers, that is really shocking!!! :eek: It is really good to know although I can not fathom why Celebrity is keeping this so under the radar. Every time we have looked into this, we were told by MANY that kids would not have anywhere near the program or activities available.........

 

Bruce

[negc]

A 16 year old traveling with you can be a factor in deciding between the two lines. At that age the Adventure Ocean program may not have the appeal that it might have had several years earlier. However, during Spring Break, even Celebrity's ships will probably have more than enough kids of similar age that your 16 Y/O can make friends to pal around with. Celebrity ships will not have some of the features that appeal to younger and active passengers on RCI, but if he or she is as mature as you claim, the off-ship experiences as well as some of the onboard activities may be satisfactory and he or she might enjoy being in the company of a slightly older passenger complement.Also keep in mind that Radiance class ships don't have all of the bells and whistles that the larger RCI ships offer so the features on Serenade may not be significantly more appealing than what is available on the Summit. Have you and your 16Y/O sat down and compared the two ships in question and weighed the pros and cons of both?

If it was my decision I suspect that I would tend towards spending the extra money and sail with RCI but you know your child better than I and what is right for me might not apply in your situation. Whichever you choose, I think all of you wil enjoy your cruise.:)

[shallwechat]

i have cruised celebrity in alaska. i have also cruised carnival, norwegian, rccl and princess. i must say, celebrity is in a class all of its own. it was wonderful. the service was excellent, the food was excellent, the boat was..............well, u get the point. it was just wonderful wonderful! oh yea, i noticed the boat was extremely clean.

 

hope you have a nice cruise! i think you will really enjoy it.

[Gracie115]

We sailed several times on both lines. Don't think this was mentioned by anyone here but Summit and Serenade are basically the same size. We've been on Summit twice and on Jewel of the Seas twice(Serenade's sister ship) We love them both. Celebrity food is definitely was definitely a step up from RCCL, but we enjoyed RCCL's too. Service was excellent both times we were on Summit. RCCL is definitely a younger crowd than Summit and that's why we've leaned more towards Royal the last few years but if I could get a deal on Summit or Millie or Infinity I'd do it without hesitating. I don't think you'll be sorry.

 

Oh...the one food venue that I think RCCL does MUCH better than Celebrity is the buffet area. Celebrity has the "line" concept that can get clogged up easily, Royal's island stations seem much more efficient.

 

Have fun whatever you decide!!

[Nancynurse]

We have sailed on the Summit on spring break and found over 200 kids on board ranging all ages. Your son will enjoy the cruise and you will enjoy the atmosphere. We have found that we love both lines.

 

The Summit was getting bad reviews from picky people just like every other ship. We didn't have any issues with the ship...maybe we aren't too picky. Take the picky comments with a grain of salt...most of them are just a bunch of crap.

 

I have now become spoiled with the balcony discount with Crowne and Anchor and have a hard time giving that up.

 

Nancy

[Gonzo70]

 

Is it worth giving Celebrity a try? We are also Platinum status on RCCL now so not sure if that makes it worth cruising RCCL over Celebrity -

 

Keep in mind that if you are platinum with Royal Caribbean you will be recognized at the reciprocal level with Celebrity. Be sure to call the Captain's Club if you stick with Celebrity and enroll so you will receive the coupon booklet and be invited to a cocktail party.

 

I have cruised both lines and enjoy them both (and have deposits down for each line for future cruises).

[hawt1]

We are also mid-40s and have two girls younger than your 16 yer old. We did Celebrity Galaxy last year. Some of what I type below will be a little tongue in cheek so please, no flames.

 

Our impression of the ship itself. Definitely was showing its age and the thrusters as we went into and out of port were ridiculous. They could shake you out of bed.

 

Activities on board: The girls liked kids club but at any given time there were only about 8 kids in there for the entire 6 to 12 age group. Of course you are going at a busier time than we did so there will be more fo them.

 

Food: better on Celebrity but RCCL food is still quite good so no big deal for us. And the servers on RCI just seem a little more willing to join the fun instead of being white glove. We do miss the somellier when on RCI.

 

Entertainment: here is where Celebrity dropped the ball (for us, your taste and mileage may vary). We have enjoyed Beatlemania on RCCL twice...great shows. We have seen excellent comedians that I recognize from TV shows etc.

 

On Celebrity, we had (and I forget the names so I will generalize this):

 

Monday Night: some male singer who sang lots of songs from well before we were born and was an okay singer but it felt like we were listening to grandmas old 78 LPs - we left after 20 minutes

 

Tuesday night: a female piano player who played alot of the same songs that the singer had sung the night before.

 

Wednesday night: dance troupe - RCI has them too...either you like or you do not

 

Thursday night: a puppeteer whose jokes were not even good enough to get groans from many of us...bad enough to make you cringe and unfortunately bad enough to make you laugh at just how bad it was.

 

Friday night: Wait for it...Yes, they actually billed it as this. Back By Popular Demand: The guy from Monday accompanied by the lady from Tuesday! Good Lord! Man Overboard!!!

 

Here is an idea that you may not have thought of: I would pay the $100 change fee on your flights and move to the Adventure of the Seas (Sunday to Sunday) for a great trip with lots of kids and lots of activities. Your son gets a larger ship. Johnny Rockets, a great teen club, rock climbing, ice skating, roller blading....

 

Not sure on prices but worth checking it out.

[Going Coastal]

We have cruised on both and think you and your son will really enjoy that route on Summit.

We did notice that the teenagers were all very occupied and not very visible on Summit.

The crew was very vigilant about checking ages in the bars, too, if that is a consideration.

Have a great trip.

[39august]

I don't understand your RCI balcony price supposedly the same as on the website. That is just not correct. Whomever you spoke with did NOT quote the price with $100 off the total cabin price with your Platinum discount. Not trying to make you change to RCI, but you do need to know that your rate is $100 LESS than the quote on the RCI web site.

[Alysia]

Ok this only my opinion... We are diamond plus members on RCCL and last year we wanted to try something different. We booked the Summit for the 15 day Hawaii cruise out of Los Angeles. We were expecting a little more upscaled from RCCL. What a shock we had. The ship and food were horrible. Also the shiped was not kept up. It looked very old. My kids (14 and 21 year olds) were so bored at night. There was no night life for them. It seemed like the ship died after dinner. Even on New Years eve. My suggestion to you... don't do it. Again this is my opinion. Good luck with whatever you decide to do.