Would a college grad be happy on Celebrity?

[CrusinAgain]

In light of the recent swine flu news, we may be changing our RCL cruise in June to an Alaska cruise. We have a choice of Celebrity, Princess, and NCL and HAL. I don't know much about Celebrity and not much time to do much research as we have less than a week to cancel on our current cruise scheduled with just the deposit penalized. My biggest concern is would our daughter who is 23 and her husband 25 be happy with good entertainment during the day and night on Celebrity in comparison with Princess and Carnival cruises? Is it really a dressy ship? Its the Mercury. I know Royal would have been but this flu is getting serious. This is her graduation present and my sister and I will be sharing another cabin. Thanks to any who may help us.

[meow!]

Flu wise, Alaska should be safer than Mexico. Celebrity is a "gentle mass market" line while Carnival is an "activity mass market" line. So whichever you prefer!

[CrusinAgain]

meow, sorry don't understand what you mean by this unless Carnival has lots of activities for that age and Celebrity is more laid back?

[meow!]

You are right. Carnival emphasizes on activities on board, including physical activities. Celebrity is more gentle, no rock climbing or splashing in the pool. Mercury is a nice ship, we have been on her to Alaska twice. It has good shows, good enough food, and friendly service. There are formal nights on Celebrity, but you can avoid it by going to the alternative restaurants. So, if your children are the "active" physical type, go for Carnival. If they are more "laid back", go for Celebrity.

[CrusinAgain]

Well I guess you would call them young active adults, not rowdy and certainly not splashing in the pool. They do like ship activities during the day and good entertainment at night. They don't want it to be a stuffy cruise, so do you see good activities for the young adults during the day and good entertainment in the evenings? Carnival isn't an option. There is only Celebrity, HAL, Princess, and NCL. And NCL was not pleasant for us. Princess is great but only goes to Tracy Arm for Alaska and HAL appears to be for the older generation from what I read.

[meow!]

In that case, go with Celebrity Mercury, and find some excursions on land. Perhaps you will be lucky enough to see a bear, we did once from the far (don't get too close). You are likely to see eagles too.

[Mysticks1]

Well I guess you would call them young active adults, not rowdy and certainly not splashing in the pool. They do like ship activities during the day and good entertainment at night. They don't want it to be a stuffy cruise, so do you see good activities for the young adults during the day and good entertainment in the evenings? Carnival isn't an option. There is only Celebrity, HAL, Princess, and NCL. And NCL was not pleasant for us. Princess is great but only goes to Tracy Arm for Alaska and HAL appears to be for the older generation from what I read.

 

I would suggest that you look in the reviews section for that ship. You will probably see comments concerning the entertainment, etc. You might be able to determine if there are activities that would interest them.

I know someone stated above that you can avoid formal nights by dining in the specialty restaurant. I am not sure this is still true. I know that on the Celebrity ship we are booked on the dress code for the night also applies to the specialty restaurants.

[MiamiSky66]

When I graduated from college, I would have been happy on any ship!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[cruznjan]

When I graduated from college, I would have been happy on any ship!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Amen!

[Infi]

You can avoid the formal nights by dining in the buffet area. It's sit down service with a menu and the waiters are DR waiters in training, supervised by Maitre D's. The charge is $2/pp.

[RRFPresident]

 

I know someone stated above that you can avoid formal nights by dining in the specialty restaurant. I am not sure this is still true. I know that on the Celebrity ship we are booked on the dress code for the night also applies to the specialty restaurants.

 

We cruised on the Solstice over Spring Break and they now list in their daily on board newsletters that all specialty restaurants follow the smart casual dress code even on formal nights. Granted, my version of formal was wearing a skirt instead of pants w/ a blouse/sweater but I saw quite the variety of outfits. One family even had dressed up parents (suit/gown)and teenagers in jeans and short sleeve polo/golf type shirts.

[Lsimon]

Yes the entertainment on Celebrity is very laid back. We're in our 50's and sometimes I think that most of the entertainment is aimed at an age group much older than us. Only big exception is the one lounge which is used for both party band and disco and even at times this is targeted at an older age group than your kids (such as Sock Hop Party and 70's disco nights)

 

Also - the one Alaska cruise we did was on Princess and we found that the ship was much quieter in the evenings than it was on the Princess Caribbean cruises we'd taken a few years earlier. Although they had a great comedian on board that did a fantastic act which would appeal to all age groups - much better than I've ever seen on Celebrity.

 

I think if they're looking for active evening activities that appeal to their age group in terms of theatre acts like comedians and lounge music then they'd be happier on Princess or Carnival. But if they're more after the general cruise experience and great service and less concerned about the entertainment then they'd do OK on Celebrity - which excels in these areas. And they may like some of the shows on Celebrity - part of my opinion is probably jaded by the fact that we've cruise a fair amount so I've seen lots of cruise shows on Celebrity and they don't change much. If your kids haven't seen many they may enjoy the shows more than I think they would.

[ghstudio]

I assume you are going on a 7 day cruise....longer cruises tend to have more older passengers who can spend the time.

 

Formal nights aren't formal any more....many men wear sports jackets and women wear something nice...but that's about it. Most folks in their 20's don't mind throwing a blazer in their suitcase with one nice pair of pants.

 

So you really are down to how active or quiet a cruise you want. I would rank the cruises (from most active to quietest) Carnival, Princess, Celebrity and HAL. All of the ships have reasonably good entertainment, you just have to find the area that has the type of entertainment you want.

 

Assuming there is some romance still left in your kid's marriage :) I think they'll have a wonderful time on any cruise....there is nothing like being on the top deck (in warm clothes) just looking at the stars and the ocean at night. Our kids have never complained about dull evenings on any cruise and they were pretty much the same age as your kids travelling with their spouses or meaningful others. I don't think you have to worry about what they'll do at night....

 

Carnival will let you know when every event is starting on the PA....Celebrity uses the PA once per day at noon....you are on your own to use the schedule to do what you want. Celebrity has fixed dining times and late seating works well if you want to relax and meet for drinks somewhere or have some sushi before dinner. It's also nice when you have a shore day so you can come back to the ship, make yourself human again then go for a drink...without having to rush to the 6PM dinner.

 

most families with kids eat at the early seating....

 

My choice would be Princess or Celebrity for your trip. Try to book a cruise that goes into Glacier Bay...some cruises don't.

[bikinibottom]

You are right. Carnival emphasizes on activities on board, including physical activities. Celebrity is more gentle, no rock climbing or splashing in the pool. Mercury is a nice ship, we have been on her to Alaska twice. It has good shows, good enough food, and friendly service. There are formal nights on Celebrity, but you can avoid it by going to the alternative restaurants. So, if your children are the "active" physical type, go for Carnival. If they are more "laid back", go for Celebrity.

 

It is always interesting to me the comparisons that are made to the different brands - so much depends on the ship, itinerary, length, etc. For example, our last X cruise my husband was in the "big splash contest" at the pool (the entertainment staff talked him into it). So I guess there is splashing in the X pools LOL! At least there wasn't a hairy chest contest like there was on the Carnival cruise. And BTW I found that the folks on our last Carnival cruise dressed more formally on the formal nights than the ones on our X spring break cruise did! I did see families in tank tops, shorts, and baseball caps at dinner time (and that was on the Mercury). So I guess you have to look at the destination and the itineraries for Alaska to do a fair comparison.

Our Princess cruise to AK was fabulous - I am looking forward to my X cruise to AK this summer so I can do a fair comparison. My ds did a Carnival to AK last summer (she was also on the Princess cruise with me to AK too) and she really liked the Carnival cruise to AK better than the Princess - so it is very subjective! I have liked our X cruises better overall and that is why we usually choose X but I am not a huge nightlife person either - I would rather get a good night's sleep while I am on vacation - that is the ultimate treat for me! ;) My nieces (in their mid 20s) are just going to bed around the time I get up! :D So pick an itinerary with places you want to see - if you are going to AK then you can research the ports and experiences to find a good one for your whole family! Have fun!!

[Mysticks1]

We cruised on the Solstice over Spring Break and they now list in their daily on board newsletters that all specialty restaurants follow the smart casual dress code even on formal nights. Granted, my version of formal was wearing a skirt instead of pants w/ a blouse/sweater but I saw quite the variety of outfits. One family even had dressed up parents (suit/gown)and teenagers in jeans and short sleeve polo/golf type shirts.

 

That is a change that I haven't seen - the last time I looked on the website it still said specialty restaurants had the same dress code. That is good to know as that could be an option for us on formal night.

[CrusinAgain]

You can avoid the formal nights by dining in the buffet area. It's sit down service with a menu and the waiters are DR waiters in training, supervised by Maitre D's. The charge is $2/pp.

 

Am I understanding this right? Going to the buffet area on Celebrity they have a surcharge of $2 per person? Wow...never have heard of this before. Is this at breakfast and lunch also or do they even have breakfast and lunch at the buffet area.

[Lois R]

Am I understanding this right? Going to the buffet area on Celebrity they have a surcharge of $2 per person? Wow...never have heard of this before. Is this at breakfast and lunch also or do they even have breakfast and lunch at the buffet area.

 

Hi,:) to clarify,

During the evenings , X does not offer a "regular buffet".

The charge is for what is termed "Casual or Alternative Dining".

It is set in near the buffet but you are served on linen by

waiters who are in training off a menu.

I ate there on Century recently and the food was very good.:)

2.00 per person is suggested.

 

As for breakfast and lunch, they have "regular cafeteria style

buffets" on all the ships.

[CrusinAgain]

I assume you are going on a 7 day cruise....longer cruises tend to have more older passengers who can spend the time.

 

Formal nights aren't formal any more....many men wear sports jackets and women wear something nice...but that's about it. Most folks in their 20's don't mind throwing a blazer in their suitcase with one nice pair of pants.

 

So you really are down to how active or quiet a cruise you want. I would rank the cruises (from most active to quietest) Carnival, Princess, Celebrity and HAL. All of the ships have reasonably good entertainment, you just have to find the area that has the type of entertainment you want.

 

Assuming there is some romance still left in your kid's marriage :) I think they'll have a wonderful time on any cruise....there is nothing like being on the top deck (in warm clothes) just looking at the stars and the ocean at night. Our kids have never complained about dull evenings on any cruise and they were pretty much the same age as your kids travelling with their spouses or meaningful others. I don't think you have to worry about what they'll do at night....

 

Carnival will let you know when every event is starting on the PA....Celebrity uses the PA once per day at noon....you are on your own to use the schedule to do what you want. Celebrity has fixed dining times and late seating works well if you want to relax and meet for drinks somewhere or have some sushi before dinner. It's also nice when you have a shore day so you can come back to the ship, make yourself human again then go for a drink...without having to rush to the 6PM dinner.

 

most families with kids eat at the early seating....

 

My choice would be Princess or Celebrity for your trip. Try to book a cruise that goes into Glacier Bay...some cruises don't.

 

Thanks for your posting. My daughter, 23, has been on Carnival and Princess and her husband has been on Carnival. They were really looking forward to Royal Caribbean since it is geared to their age crowd but this swine flu looks like it will put a stop to going to the Mexican Riviera in June. Yes, it is a 7-day cruise we will be doing somewhere on the West coast. The Star Princess which I know would be good only goes to Tracy Arm which we have never been to but I see most folks are saying Glacier Bay (which we have been to) is much better. Guess that is where I'm stuck - a cruise with Glacier Bay or Hubbard Glacier that isn't much on activities or a cruise that I know is loaded with activities that doesn't go to Glacier Bay.

[bikinibottom]

The charge is for using the buffet area at dinner time only. It is open for breakfast and lunch with no charge. It is their alternative to using the MDR for a full meal. It is not a buffet at like at breakfast and lunch - more of a lightened up dinner menu served in a casual atmosphere, but still using servers and linens. I have never eaten there - we always MDR. Our friends did it on our last cruise, they had a decent meal but certainly not the elaborate menu at the MDR. But you can find lots of posters here who have. The fee is a reservation fee - $2.00 pp I think?

[CrusinAgain]

Yes the entertainment on Celebrity is very laid back. We're in our 50's and sometimes I think that most of the entertainment is aimed at an age group much older than us. Only big exception is the one lounge which is used for both party band and disco and even at times this is targeted at an older age group than your kids (such as Sock Hop Party and 70's disco nights)

 

Also - the one Alaska cruise we did was on Princess and we found that the ship was much quieter in the evenings than it was on the Princess Caribbean cruises we'd taken a few years earlier. Although they had a great comedian on board that did a fantastic act which would appeal to all age groups - much better than I've ever seen on Celebrity.

 

I think if they're looking for active evening activities that appeal to their age group in terms of theatre acts like comedians and lounge music then they'd be happier on Princess or Carnival. But if they're more after the general cruise experience and great service and less concerned about the entertainment then they'd do OK on Celebrity - which excels in these areas. And they may like some of the shows on Celebrity - part of my opinion is probably jaded by the fact that we've cruise a fair amount so I've seen lots of cruise shows on Celebrity and they don't change much. If your kids haven't seen many they may enjoy the shows more than I think they would.

 

That is what I thought, sounds like it is good for my sister and I (50's) but not so much for the younger generation. I know Princess offers different venues in the evening for entertainment and not sure if Celebrity does this or just the one show? How about movies - are they current or old. Princess and Carnival showed movies before they were released to the public or just released.

[Lsimon]

Am I understanding this right? Going to the buffet area on Celebrity they have a surcharge of $2 per person? Wow...never have heard of this before. Is this at breakfast and lunch also or do they even have breakfast and lunch at the buffet area.

 

The posts above gives good information on the Casual Corner table service restaurant type service (not a buffet) set up evenings in the buffet area. I think the service charge is primarily to provide compensation to the waiters working there and I've seen it described as both a service charge and a gratuity.

 

But I'll add that there are several buffet type stations set up late into the evenings where service is buffet style and there is no charge, these include Pizza, Pasta, & Salad bar stations. Also a sushi & stir fry station at which they have a selection of sushi, sushi chefs that will make a plate on request, a stir fry area where you can select your own vegetables in a bowl and then give them to a chef who will add desired meats, sauces and starch (rice, noodles or whatever) and prepare to your order - possibly a couple other Asian dishes too.

 

And of course room service is also an option and you can even order anything off that nights dinner menu from room service if you request service during the normal dinner serving times.

 

This is for M and C class ships - never been on Solstice yet.

[Lsimon]

That is what I thought, sounds like it is good for my sister and I (50's) but not so much for the younger generation. I know Princess offers different venues in the evening for entertainment and not sure if Celebrity does this or just the one show? How about movies - are they current or old. Princess and Carnival showed movies before they were released to the public or just released.

 

On Celebrity there is just one "show" venue, but they do have musical entertainment of various types in different lounges all night. There are also other events like Karaoke and occasionally audience participation shows, like their version of the newlywed game, are held in the evening in venues other than the main theater.

 

I'm guessing movies are not quite so current on Celebrity - certainly not before they are released. Last cruise, a month ago, showed films like: Charlie Wilson's War; Fools Gold; "21"; 88 Minutes; Leatherheads; Indiana Jones - Crystal Skull; etc. I've never been to the Cinema but these were listed in the daily bulletins from the cruise.