New to Celebrity (silhouette)

Hi,

Can anyone give me some advice, we have cruised RCL, P&O, Cunard. We are now looking at celebrity for next year and have heard very mixed reviews? We have just returned from the Canaries on Britannis, food was dissapointing, bed linen old, staff not over friendly I could go on, so we fancy a change. Have heard that celebrity are a cut above and so are their prices we don't want to pay more and be disappointed again.... Any views gladly received.

Thank you

Hi,

Can anyone give me some advice, we have cruised RCL, P&O, Cunard. We are now looking at celebrity for next year and have heard very mixed reviews? We have just returned from the Canaries on Britannis, food was disappointing, bed linen old, staff not over friendly I could go on, so we fancy a change. Have heard that celebrity are a cut above and so are their prices we don't want to pay more and be disappointed again.... Any views gladly received. Thank you

What you ask is so subjective that you'll get a lot of differing opinions even from people who were on the same cruise. I suggest you at least try Celebrity and form your own opinion.

How much more are you willing to pay to get the quality you prefer? When you become disappointed in a line, like I have with Celebrity you look at other considerations you haven't looked at previously. We've switched to Azamara (when their pricing is acceptable) and Oceania (three upcoming cruises).

We're also trying Holland America for the first time even though we've cruised since the early 1990s. Some people like them and others hate them. Only I can determine if I like it and only you can determine that for yourself with Celebrity.

Hi Miss M

We have cruised P&O and Celebrity. We actually enjoyed our Britannia canaries cruise in May and have booked her again for the Baltic next year, having said that we are on Equinox in November. They are quite similar cruise lines but obviously with some differences, which as already said would depend on your personal preferences. The drinks on Celebrity are expensive compared to P&O and it would be sensible to opt for the perk of drinks package included if available. There are no formal nights - replaced by evening chic but UK passengers would possibly still dress as formal which is quite acceptable. The food is better on Celebrity in my opinion. Entertainment is more subjective and we prefer P&O but again down to personal choice. There are no ballroom dance venues/lessons on Celebrity, but some people do manage ballroom/latin dancing on the dance floor. I would recommend you try a Celebrity cruise and don't think that you would be disappointed.

Thank you for your responses, very helpful. :)

I would agree that when comparing food between the two cruise lines it is very subjective. Everyone should agree that the quality and service has suffered in recent years in their attempts to remain competitive. We cruised Britannia last year and the food was worse than my old school's canteen. Celebrity was a little better but still poor except for the buffet which was significantly better than P&O.

We definitely prefer Celebrity but now we always choose a slightly lower grade of cabin and pay the little extra to dine in the specialty restaurants. Check out https://www.cruisecritic.co.uk/news/news.cfm?ID=7423

Thank you Mickey

Not sure if you would consider a suite. Celebrity suite class is a cut above and even the smaller sky suite offers all kinds of perks including drink package, tips, internet, OBC. Best of all you dine in the suite restaurant Luminae which is quite good.

Miss M - Another tip. When aboard you can book a future cruise, choose a date far in the future as you can change it at any time free of charge. They will charge you $300 for a Balcony cabin for the deposit of £148, then they give you $300 back as onboard credit which will go a long way to pay for those specialty dinners.