Cruise Critic: Celebrity V RCI

[rool]

I'm a relative newbie to this cruising lark, my first cruise being on The Brilliance with RCI at the end of March this year.

 

I booked this cruise in July 2008 and after discovering Cruise Critic spent the next 8 months desperately searching for information and just about visiting the RCI forum every day.

 

I have now booked a July 2010 cruise with Celebrity and I'm doing the same on this forum now.

 

In my opinion there are major differences between the two forums and wondered if this is a general reflection on the average cruiser on each line.

 

For example, I found the RCI forum to be quite fast moving with a lot of posts and new threads daily. There seemed to be quite a lot of fun threads but on the flip side a lot of abusive ones as it appears there is an extremely low tolerance of anything negative said against RCI. There does appear to be a few posters just looking to be contrary for the sake of it in my experience there.

 

Here seems to be quite a bit slower, more relaxed. It can be fairly amusing and sometimes a little cranky but not to the extremes experienced on the RCI forum. Negative threads tend to be debated rather than turning into a bun fight.

 

Both forums are excellent for valuable information to the newbie like me.

[dkjretired]

Probably the biggest difference in the number of posts is simple, there are more ships and people sailing on RCI as opposed to Celebrity. If you go to the Carnival board you will see the same thing, post a thread and in a few hours its on the second page. Not the case with Celebrity. On the other hand there are very few posts and changes of posts on the Disney board as there are other alternatives to Cruise Critic.

[Texed]

Probably the biggest difference in the number of posts is simple, there are more ships and people sailing on RCI as opposed to Celebrity.

 

OT, so nice to see you posting Don. :)

[dkjretired]

OT, so nice to see you posting Don. :)

 

Thanks, I was just waffling around with nothing to do...

[jwattle]

Thanks, I was just waffling around with nothing to do...

...and a martini in hand strolling to the waffle bar;)

[d&a Delaware]

Back to the OP -- We sailed on Celebrity before we sailed on RCCL, and when I first went to the RCCL boards they seemed to be flying along at warp speed. I find I tend to read all or most of the posts when on the Celebrity boards (which I am again because we just booked an Alaska cruise on Millennium), while picking and choosing the posts I think might be of interest while on the RCCL boards. The type of banter which just happened above on this thread is more typical of the Celebrity board, and is kind of personal and nice. Which is also (in our experience) one of the differences between the two cruise lines.

 

Don't get me wrong, we very much like the two different cruise line experiences. We have had great times and met great people on Royal, and already have several future cruises booked with them. But it is nice to get back to Celebrity (and back to Millennium:D) -- a bit more polish in the service, very comfortable low key sort of elegance. But both lines suit us very well.

 

David

[Tatka]

but on the flip side a lot of abusive ones as it appears there is an extremely low tolerance of anything negative said against RCI. There does appear to be a few posters just looking to be contrary for the sake of it in my experience there.

 

Huh.. you haven't met Celebrity snobs yet. :D

 

Celebrity is a very nice line with more refined atmosphere. My first cruise was with X, and I am very partial to this company, but at this moment RCCL suites me better as we are cruising with teenager (who loves X too).

 

Overall we found Princess to be the best fit for all of us.

[jackdiamond]

We are elite on Celebrity; and, we always cruise CC on the M class, with the large balconies. We will soon be cruising AQ on the Equinox. We are diamond with Royal; and, we have always cruised D-1, on the Radiance class, with a large balcony. We enjoy both of the aforesaid, but our preference is Celebrity. It is a wee bit more mature and sophisticated. Also, the food is better.

[JanineM]

Here seems to be quite a bit slower, more relaxed. It can be fairly amusing and sometimes a little cranky but not to the extremes experienced on the RCI forum. Negative threads tend to be debated rather than turning into a bun fight.

 

You know, I think that pretty well sums up the difference in cruising on the two lines. Cruises on Royal Caribbean seem to be a bit more frantic with pool games, parades, announcements. We like Royal Caribbean, but it's a more rambunctious experience.

 

I always tell my friends that X is a bit more subdued and laid back. There is plenty to do if you want to get up and move around, but the cruises are generally a bit more slower paced and the staff and activities are unobtrusive.

 

Great observation!