If you are trying Celebrity after Loving a different line

If you are giving Celebrity try after loving a different line please share why.

About 12 years ago my husband and I wanted to book a Mexican Riviera cruise and we new we wanted high levels of service and a sophisticated atmosphere. We had been on Holland America for our honeymoon 10 year earlier and have loved the attentive personalized service. Our TA suggested Celebrity as at the time they were doing the same or similar iteneray as Holland America, and he felt that we would appreciate the service and slightly younger atmosphere.

We loved our first Celebrity cruise on the Mercury and have been mostly with Celebrity every since.

I did my first Royal Caribbean with a group friends and family last December and had a great time and felt the ship to be very fun and hospitable, but also noticed that the ship seemed very understaffed. Everyone had a great attitude, but there just wasn't that anticipatory and attentive service that we have loved on Celebrity.

I sometimes find myself explaining to my Mom what makes Celebrity so special and she thinks I'm a snob, but I just try to explain that when I'm on vacation I really appreciate have someone so things like bring me my glass of wine before I even sit down, or come by with a selection of appetizers like they do in the elite lounge and I don't have to go make a plate like in the Diamond lounge. Just a lot of little things that add up to make the vacation much more enjoyable.

(We also recently did our first Princess cruise and we found the service to be just as attentive as it is on Celebrity)

I am curious about those who have done other lines, like maybe the contemporary lines like Carnival or Royal Caribbean, what are you attracted to by Celebrity and what had you apprehensive.

In July we will do our first Celebrity cruise on the Eclipse in the Baltic. Previously, we have sailed on Princess and Disney. I have always enjoyed everything about the cruise and both of these lines have excellent staff in the MDR.

Celebrity's price for the Baltic cruise was less than Princess and Disney, so we're trying them for our first time.

I've been a CruiseCritic member for several years and read the boards voraciously looking for info on the particular ship and itinerary. True confession here -- I'm a little concerned because it seems at least half of the posts I read on the Celebrity boards seem to start with "We're elite", "we have suite dining" or "We're Aqua and we'll be eating in Blu." It makes me feel like I'm part of some kind of unwashed masses eating in the -- horrors! -- MDR.

OK, OK, I know you are entitled to what you pay for, and not everyone has the same priorities for vacation spending. But it does give me concern that I will not enjoy my Celebrity experience as much. I really enjoy getting to know the servers and coming to dinner each evening to talk over the day's activities. That's been my experience with Princess and Disney.

Another concern I have after reading the boards in the evening entertainment. My teen-aged daughter and I went every night to the live show on Disney. During the day I'm fine with reading a book but we do like to check out the game shows or other activities. I've read a lot of complaints about the entertainment on Celebrity. I'm hoping I'll like it because going to the show is also a big part of my cruise experience.

We have been on two RCCL cruises, most recently in January on Oasis of the Seas. We chose Celebrity for a cruise in May because of their Alaska itinerary. I thought the service on RCCL had definitely gone down since our first cruise with them 10 years ago. But I went on Oasis with very modest expectations on service. We were in a junior suite and our cabin attendant was spread very thin so we rarely saw him, though he was friendly and hard-working. There were waits at bars to get drinks. The best service by far was in the speciality restaurants. These issues would not keep me from cruising RCCL again.

Many travelers today want good value (cheaper prices too). The cruise lines are in a business to make money, not lose it. This has resulted in staff being cut. We are not able to cruise on "luxury" lines with very low staff to customer ratios. I am expecting my service on Celebrity to be in line with RCCL since I consider both to be "mainstream mass market" lines, for lack of a better description. If service is better than RCCL, then it will be a bonus. I really make my own good time on vacation so I would be hard-pressed to let a delayed drink or an incorrect entree served ruin my day. But other travelers may have different expectations and could be disappointed with the service we had on RCCL. I wouldn't hesitate to cruise that line again but I'm looking forward to trying Celebrity.

Interesting post, and I certainly don't think you qualify as a "snob" because you like to be pampered on vacation!! IMHO that's what a cruise vacation is suppose to do for you!

Years ago, I sailed on a Carnival and it's probably not fair to keep my impression of Carnival as the wet t-shirt, belly-flop, loud music venue cruise line, but we have no desire to sail with them. However, I'm sure they are a good cruise line, just not our cup of tea.

We started cruising with NCL which we enjoyed at the time, but pretty much quit after they went to anytime dining - we absolutely hate anytime dining. We LIKE servers and staff that actually get to know our likes and dislikes and we've found Celebrity's staff to be very good at this. The NCL dining room staff was good at remembering our preferences, but I think anytime dining leaves room for improvement with this--and may different now.

We enjoyed Royal Caribbean, but got tired of dining room staff and others actually asking for "outstanding" reviews. I don't know how many times I had to say no to the offer of extra bread, coffee after dinner, etc. - mostly because they didn't remember our preferences. If they are really good, we always mention them by name with ship comment cards AND tip extra. But we hate being "asked" for this. So, we haven't sailed with RC in a while either.

We loved the Regents cruise we took for an anniversary celebration a few years back, but feel the high prices are needed to off set the costs of unlimited alcohol (which we don't imbibe as much) and the continuous stream of offers via postal mail. However, their Alaskan cruise and cruise staff service was outstanding!!

We took our first Celebrity cruise on Infinity last year and just absolutely loved it. Service is important to us and Celebrity wins hands down on that. We have a couple more cruises booked with them, but must admit we don't practice brand loyalty. We go for the itinerary, ship and cost that best suits our needs, then return because of great experiences. :D

We started out with Princess 11 years ago, tried NCL to do Hawaii without crossing the Pacific and did 2 more with NCL until the MDR food and service became bad. Then we went back to Princess for several more years because we like their itineraries, mini-suites and prices. We tried Celebrity and love it, we have been in an S1 which is the closest in size to a Princess mini. Our last Celebrity cruise we had traditional early dining and loved it! We compared the menu each day with Blu and stuck with the MDR. Our two complimentary specialties were not as good as the MDR for service and food!

I think Celebrity's prices are too high now with not getting all three perks. We are going back to Princess for a mini, trying the Royal this time. We like to cruise to explore the world, but still be pampered and waited on each night.

In July we will do our first Celebrity cruise on the Eclipse in the Baltic. Previously, we have sailed on Princess and Disney. I have always enjoyed everything about the cruise and both of these lines have excellent staff in the MDR.

 

Celebrity's price for the Baltic cruise was less than Princess and Disney, so we're trying them for our first time.

 

I've been a CruiseCritic member for several years and read the boards voraciously looking for info on the particular ship and itinerary. True confession here -- I'm a little concerned because it seems at least half of the posts I read on the Celebrity boards seem to start with "We're elite", "we have suite dining" or "We're Aqua and we'll be eating in Blu." It makes me feel like I'm part of some kind of unwashed masses eating in the -- horrors! -- MDR.

 

OK, OK, I know you are entitled to what you pay for, and not everyone has the same priorities for vacation spending. But it does give me concern that I will not enjoy my Celebrity experience as much. I really enjoy getting to know the servers and coming to dinner each evening to talk over the day's activities. That's been my experience with Princess and Disney.

 

Another concern I have after reading the boards in the evening entertainment. My teen-aged daughter and I went every night to the live show on Disney. During the day I'm fine with reading a book but we do like to check out the game shows or other activities. I've read a lot of complaints about the entertainment on Celebrity. I'm hoping I'll like it because going to the show is also a big part of my cruise experience.

I love the MDR late seating. Always had great table mates, outstanding servers. By the second night they know your beverage preference, offer recommendations. I am not an "elite", only stayed in AQ once, and was underwhelmed by Blu menu. Always have great service from cabin attendants, waiters, and bartenders.

Looking forward to my fourth European cruise on Celebrity. Great diversity of cruisers from all over the world will be on your sailing. it is very port intensive, so the evening shows are hard to fit in with early wake up calls. But the shows are fun and I am sure your daughter will enjoy them.

We have sailed on RCCL, Celebrity and Carnival.

We tried Carnival once. the food was good but for us the ship was too loud, not enough ocean views and all around did not feel pampered. That cruise we took our 4 teenage-young adult daughters. though we had a wonderful time all being together, they also would cruise a different line too.

We really like RCCL, food was good, ships are lovely and the shows in the evenings were good.

I still like Celebrity best, you feel pampered. The food is very good; with that little extra service.

the entertainment was good but when we sail with our daughters again we would cruise RCCL. Celebrity is quiet in the evenings. RCCL has more dancing, piano bars etc......

For the cruiser who has enjoyed Disney with her daughter. Everything I have heard is that the food on Disney is excellent and so are the shows. ( You may be disappointed )

We have had 4 children, but when I cruise I like a more adult surroundings because of that we are hesitant to sail Disney

We were worried after reading all these threads about Celebrity cuts and bad food in the MDR when we went on Eclipse last month. No worries! We felt the level of service was fine and the MDR food was very good. We were able to combine the virtues of Select and Fixed Dining by asking the MD to be seated in the section of our favorite waiter. That way we got the "he knows our preferences" benefit without being locked into dining at the same time every night.

Started on Norwegian, went to Celebrity & have done one Royal. All have their high points, we think Celebrity has the most high points for us. Royal has great shows, love the ice show. Celebrity has great aerial shows. I don't remember shows from the Norway, guess they weren't memorable. Didn't care for food (except for Chops) on Royal. We love the MDR & traditional dining on Celebrity, I have several severe food allergies & I don't worry on Celebrity; Mast Grill has good juicy burgers & great hot dogs. Tops for us tho is the fact that Celebrity has a nonsmoking casino! That's the tipper for us.

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We just booked our first Celebrity cruise yesterday! I love RCCL, but have noticed some decline in service and the food quality. I like knowing the layout of the ships, and the entertainment is pretty good and sometimes really great!

That being said, the itineraries are getting old. They are sending their older and smaller ships to the best locations and the newer and bigger are doing the same old eastern/western cycle. So we wanted to do a Panama Canal cruise but only partial transit because of the flights and length of the cruise. Royal doesn't do a partial transit, so we are taking the sailing on Equinox that hits some of the same ports, and we can take an excursion to see the locks.

I am eager to experience a different line, although they are the same corporation. It is nice that we can step into the Elite level, although the perks aren't as good as Royals IMO.

I'm hoping that we will like Celebrity as much as Royal :D.

We sailed Princess 4 times but then found their prices went up so decided to try Celebrity as it was cheaper than Princess. Went on the Eclipse and loved it, so much we have booked again for this year.

What is has shown is that whilst I loved Princess, I've also found I loved Celebrity so it has opened me up to considering other lines, it will come down to itinerary, price and ship design/facilities.

I am a loyal and happy Princess cruiser who has been cruising less than 4 years.

My Traveling Companion, Carol, and I like to cruise the Caribbean in January when it is cold and snowy in Chicago. We have done 7 cruises with Princess so far.

When we came to book next January's cruise most of the Princess ships were doing itineraries we have already done. Only the Royal Princess was adding some extra islands (including Jamaica at Ocho Rios). This cruise would make us Elite in record time on Princess (as we usually book aft suites).

While I was looking at the Royal Princess Carol was surfing for cruises that offered some different ports and more sea days- she found Silhouette , 7 days 3 ports two of which we haven't sailed to. Two leisurely sea days returning to Port Everglades was appealing to her (Jan 17 2016 sailing)

There was an offer of 1-2-3 Go which added value. We priced a Sky Suite on the corner aft (7309) and the price was over $1000 under the Royal and when 123Go is added the X sailing seemed financially logical. We realize the suite will be smaller than the Princess afts but are happy to be aft on the corner.

I also looked at some RCI ships, HAL, Oceania and Azamara but the combination of Itinerary, Value and the ship itself kept us focused on X.

I have often videotaped ships leaving PE the day before our cruises on Princess and admired the lines of the S Class. Reading photo reviews here told me that everything would be new to us-a voyage of discovery in all ways.

I am not expecting perfection but if the service and the food is on a par or better than Princess we'll both feel good about our decision.

Luminae and Blu have no equivalent on Princess, nor is there a lounge near the bow of the ship which we will like. I like that the Officers are more visible on X and the artwork and decor on the S class is certainly appealing. Lawn Grill-count me in. Butler service? Sure that too.

I think it's obvious that the S Class ships have been a home run for X and you don't build 5 if the first one is a dud. So much anticipation in this corner.

We have another Princess cruise booked for September this year (Rome to Barcelona) and will buy another cruise deposit on board as we will continue to cruise PCL. If the Silhouette cruise is as good as I think it will be then we will also add Celebrity permanently into the mix.

I'll write a full review with photos and videos when the time comes and later do a PCL vs X comparison.

Before I set foot on the ship I can tell you that (in comparison) the X website is lame compared to the Princess One and on Princess you don't pay for the excursions until 24 hours before they happen. The excursions on P include videos and a step by step detail of your tour which is very helpful for folks who can't walk too far.

Looking forward to our first Celebrity Cruise!

Norris

Sometimes I do think people are too fussy or expect too much and sometimes things just arent good. ITS LIFE

We just sailed on the Equinox, loved it. Thought the food was very good.

We are absolute foodies in our home and I have been a competitive cook for 5 years now.

I met a lady on the ship that thought the food in the main dining room was "atrocious"

She was looking into the Aqua class so she could dine at Blu,

I have heard others say they didnt really care for blu.......

.....

We sailed on RCCL Oasis, that was the only cruise that we thought the food in the dining room was sub par and the food in the windjammer was awful. ONLY TIME.

did we just get a bad week? OR were we just mega fussy that week?? :-)

Would like to sail Princess one day but their prices are always higher then RCCL or Celebrity. Maybe one day. As it is fun to experience new lines and different ships

If you are giving Celebrity try after loving a different line please share why.

 

About 12 years ago my husband and I wanted to book a Mexican Riviera cruise and we new we wanted high levels of service and a sophisticated atmosphere. We had been on Holland America for our honeymoon 10 year earlier and have loved the attentive personalized service. Our TA suggested Celebrity as at the time they were doing the same or similar iteneray as Holland America, and he felt that we would appreciate the service and slightly younger atmosphere.

 

We loved our first Celebrity cruise on the Mercury and have been mostly with Celebrity every since.

 

I did my first Royal Caribbean with a group friends and family last December and had a great time and felt the ship to be very fun and hospitable, but also noticed that the ship seemed very understaffed. Everyone had a great attitude, but there just wasn't that anticipatory and attentive service that we have loved on Celebrity.

 

I sometimes find myself explaining to my Mom what makes Celebrity so special and she thinks I'm a snob, but I just try to explain that when I'm on vacation I really appreciate have someone so things like bring me my glass of wine before I even sit down, or come by with a selection of appetizers like they do in the elite lounge and I don't have to go make a plate like in the Diamond lounge. Just a lot of little things that add up to make the vacation much more enjoyable.

 

(We also recently did our first Princess cruise and we found the service to be just as attentive as it is on Celebrity)

 

I am curious about those who have done other lines, like maybe the contemporary lines like Carnival or Royal Caribbean, what are you attracted to by Celebrity and what had you apprehensive.

We did Cunard up to 2 years ago. We'd probably still be with them if they did more Caribbean trips. Cunard does more business over in Europe than here. Our TA suggested Celebrity & we've done the Eclipse twice. We found this ship seems pretty close to Cunard in food quality & following dresscodes(we like to dress up a bit)

I do love lines but prefer curves and circles.

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Had about 30 cruises before sailing on Celebrity. We were hooked as soon as we boarded and was given a glass of champagne, then walking into the Atrium on the Solstice we went WOW.

It got better as we were in AQ and seen our cabin along with the welcome bottle of champagne.

A a few cruises later the drink pack promo kept us hooked and every cruise since has been on Celbrity and it is mostly due to getting the drink pack thru a promo.

When they discontinue that promo we may start booking other lines.

happy cruising 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌞

Had about 30 cruises before sailing on Celebrity. We were hooked as soon as we boarded and was given a glass of champagne, then walking into the Atrium on the Solstice we went WOW.

 

It got better as we were in AQ and seen our cabin along with the welcome bottle of champagne.

 

A a few cruises later the drink pack promo kept us hooked and every cruise since has been on Celbrity and it is mostly due to getting the drink pack thru a promo.

 

When they discontinue that promo we may start booking other lines.

 

happy cruising 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌞

I agree, the promo is really nice. Lately they have had some great deals. While on the Equinox we booked another cruise for a week on the Eclipse, because of the perks. Then just 2 weeks ago our TA sent us an offer for a 2 week cruise Caribbean on the Equinox, all 3 perks, concierge level and $859 less per person then on the celebrity home site. Needless to say we are going.

I know the weather can be iffy in the Autumn but have you seen the great deals offered for the transatlantic sailings, great deals!!!! Cannot do another trip this year but wow its tempting

We are long time Princess customers with many happy cruises under our belt, and about to experience our first X cruise in July.

Why are we "jumping ship"???

My friend has had many B2B's on X and after seeing all her videos of the ships & hearing about the service levels, we looked seriously at the options for the Baltic cruise we wanted to experience.

Princess had one of their new ships in that region, however, we did not want to fly into Copenhagen. Flying all the way from down under to London is far enough, so we decided to book X for this cruise as it leaves from Southampton. It was actually cheaper for a 14 day in comparison with Princess' 12 day!

So, it will be very interesting to see the differences. It will be hard not to compare, but that is inevitable I suppose.

Several things will be a make/break for us...

Quality of food: It will a change to experience X's menus after having had pretty much the same on Princess for a while, and experience the different dining options.

Cabin: Storage space will be "interesting" on X after being used to the wonderful amount on Princess (I could just bring less I suppose) I have read alot of threads on "storage tips" so hope all those assist.

General atmosphere: Of course it depends on the itinerary, however, we have found that the Princess demographics are getting older, and as such the ship caters to that group. While we are not "youngsters" either, I will be interested to see how X manage their entertainment & activities.

So, it will be interesting...watch this space... :)

We are long time Princess customers with many happy cruises under our belt, and about to experience our first X cruise in July.

 

Why are we "jumping ship"???

 

 

Quality of food: It will a change to experience X's menus after having had pretty much the same on Princess for a while, and experience the different dining options.

 

Cabin: Storage space will be "interesting" on X after being used to the wonderful amount on Princess (I could just bring less I suppose) I have read alot of threads on "storage tips" so hope all those assist.

 

General atmosphere: Of course it depends on the itinerary, however, we have found that the Princess demographics are getting older, and as such the ship caters to that group. While we are not "youngsters" either, I will be interested to see how X manage their entertainment & activities.

 

So, it will be interesting...watch this space... :)

Lara,

The food is so subjective, but I'll share my experience on other lines compared to Celebrity. I actually thought the menu on RCCL was just as ambitious and appealing as Celebrity, but unfortunately the execution was a little off with sometimes the food not being hot enough or the steaks either over or under cooked.

On Princess, I loved the food, though I found the buffet line to we in that grey area somewhere between a line and stations and no knowing if I should move ahead or wait. For dinner I always had three or four things that appealed to me and everything I ordered was delicious. No flops, nothing to send back, all good. We did you 8:30 in that weird back of the ship dining room on the Grand that no one wants to be in because there is no lounge or bathroom down there. Because the dining room was half full we got our table for two and we had excellent service and the food was always piping hot. However my husband was a bit befuddled sometimes as he doesn't eat sea food other than fish and chips, so often that left him with one or two choices, and then he got confused by the always avialble menu that kept changing everynight.

I will say that the raspberry mouse 50th anniversary heart thingy could possibly be the most delicious dessert I have ever had.

We will be back on Celebrity in June, and hoping that the service and atmosphere will be what we have always experienced.

We like to jump around and enjoy different amenities, itineraries, menus and entertainment. In addition to the 3 listed below, we'll be trying HAL in 2018 with their unique Alaska cruise tours. If I'm 36 and the next youngest person is 72, I'll enjoy the cooking demos with them and don't mind striking conversation with different generations.

Carnival : We sail in the Fall, where the average age on our last cruise was 35-45. For the most part I would say it is the same as any other mass market line, only with inexpensive thrills in decor and entertainment, but the service was great and the food surprisingly good, maybe a $40 pp steakhouse. I'm a little concerned about the new "American Table" menu being rolled out, luckily we get to skip it this year. On the flip side, I'm excited about the new 9-15 day "Journey" cruises with throwback features offered in the 1980's.

Royal Caribbean : Definitely a step up in luxury design and entertainment, we loved Quest and the Ice Show. Very friendly environment, we made friends that we're still in contact with. The MDR reminded me a 3 star steakhouse such as Outback. There are many exclusive itineraries, port heavy transatlantic cruises we want to do, but I'm not thrilled with recent cuts, dynamic dining, or the direction of (perhaps gimmicky) giant ships that can't hardly go anywhere.

Celebrity : We chose Celebrity mainly out of curiosity, a great deal for Alaska, and we had a gift certificate. :)

Expectations: Even better food, great service, relaxing ambiance, boring, everyone in their cabins after 9PM, stuffy passengers. Some of this was exactly what I thought it would be, but the majority not so much.

The first sea day was boring, but we got used to the vibe of the ship and didn't need to be constantly entertained. Of course, the ship doesn't shut down at 9, more like midnight! I didn't find the passengers stuffy, they were pretty talkative once you break the ice.

The service was better than expected, and I don't think it's snobbish to enjoy this. They market themselves as "modern luxury", that's the what you are paying for. I felt a little out of place with some of the 70's themes, the Village People, but it was interesting to watch. I was surprised that there was actually something to watch on TV, love the Top Sheff theme. The solarum was way more relaxing than I imagined! :)

I'm trying Celebrity after cruising with Royal Caribbean for the past 10 years, 5 cruises in all. I'm looking for a more upscale cruise experience with better food and a more quiet refined atmosphere. While I still love Royal Caribbean and will continue to sail Royal Caribbean for family group cruises, my wife and I look forward to sailing on Celebrity for our "just us" cruises.

Lara,

 

The food is so subjective, but I'll share my experience on other lines compared to Celebrity. I actually thought the menu on RCCL was just as ambitious and appealing as Celebrity, but unfortunately the execution was a little off with sometimes the food not being hot enough or the steaks either over or under cooked.

 

On Princess, I loved the food, though I found the buffet line to we in that grey area somewhere between a line and stations and no knowing if I should move ahead or wait. For dinner I always had three or four things that appealed to me and everything I ordered was delicious. No flops, nothing to send back, all good. We did you 8:30 in that weird back of the ship dining room on the Grand that no one wants to be in because there is no lounge or bathroom down there. Because the dining room was half full we got our table for two and we had excellent service and the food was always piping hot. However my husband was a bit befuddled sometimes as he doesn't eat sea food other than fish and chips, so often that left him with one or two choices, and then he got confused by the always avialble menu that kept changing everynight.

 

I will say that the raspberry mouse 50th anniversary heart thingy could possibly be the most delicious dessert I have ever had.

 

We will be back on Celebrity in June, and hoping that the service and atmosphere will be what we have always experienced.

How are you all? We are still loyal X fans...and were lucky enough to make "Elite Plus" when they rearranged everything...so...while I hate the name..I do love the perks!! Our DD works for Princess and we don't sail on them anymore...our experience has been very poor food and really old ships!! But that was our choice to be able to cruise with her!! (re the ship part!!)

We have only sailed RCCL once...and it was a great ship...Radiance of the Seas...but for us the "dining" experience was just really poor. But that was in '07 so things may have changed? But it put us "off" enough we have not returned. We love Oceania and Azamara but really only cruise them for T/As and always turn to X for any other cruising. (South America/Asia/fjords of Norway etc) We have also cruised with Cunard/Carnival/and many times on HAL...mainly because they used to sail out of SD to Mexico quite a bit and that was easy for us!! We have never tried a "new" HAL ship...only the older ones...so would like to try that aspect of HAL.

Hope you are all well... I bet the "kids" are very grown up by now...I so remember them on the cruise in '05...such great little entertainers! Wow...10 years ago...I bet they are in college??? LuAnn

In July we will do our first Celebrity cruise on the Eclipse in the Baltic. Previously, we have sailed on Princess and Disney. I have always enjoyed everything about the cruise and both of these lines have excellent staff in the MDR.

 

Celebrity's price for the Baltic cruise was less than Princess and Disney, so we're trying them for our first time.

 

I've been a CruiseCritic member for several years and read the boards voraciously looking for info on the particular ship and itinerary. True confession here -- I'm a little concerned because it seems at least half of the posts I read on the Celebrity boards seem to start with "We're elite", "we have suite dining" or "We're Aqua and we'll be eating in Blu." It makes me feel like I'm part of some kind of unwashed masses eating in the -- horrors! -- MDR.

 

OK, OK, I know you are entitled to what you pay for, and not everyone has the same priorities for vacation spending. But it does give me concern that I will not enjoy my Celebrity experience as much. I really enjoy getting to know the servers and coming to dinner each evening to talk over the day's activities. That's been my experience with Princess and Disney.

 

Another concern I have after reading the boards in the evening entertainment. My teen-aged daughter and I went every night to the live show on Disney. During the day I'm fine with reading a book but we do like to check out the game shows or other activities. I've read a lot of complaints about the entertainment on Celebrity. I'm hoping I'll like it because going to the show is also a big part of my cruise experience.

I could have written this post. Our first Celebrity cruise will be to Bermuda on June 14. In the past we have sailed Disney, Princess, Royal Caribbean, HAL, Norwegian and Carnival. Truthfully, the only one we didn't enjoy (my husband was looking for a way to abandon ship before we even left the dock) was Carnival. I, too, was concerned when reading the Celebrity posts, of how often "elite" was mentioned. I really was beginning to wonder if we'd feel uncomfortable, being lowly "first timers". Everyone has different ways to vacation and to cruise. For us cruising is a welcome break, but not the only way we vacation, so we usually look for an appropriate cruise for the time and place we want to go. Others like to cruise exclusively and like to be loyal to one line. There's nothing wrong with any of these choices. Everyone is free to choose. I'm anxious to try Celebrity, but I'm beginning to wonder if I'll be allowed out of "steerage". "Elite, Aqua, etc" seem so important on this Board. Anyway, I hope that my worries are for naught and that we will thoroughly enjoy Celebrity, (even in a lowly veranda cabin).

(I do agree that no one can touch Disney for entertainment - they are in a class by themselves).

I could have written this post. Our first Celebrity cruise will be to Bermuda on June 14. In the past we have sailed Disney, Princess, Royal Caribbean, HAL, Norwegian and Carnival. Truthfully, the only one we didn't enjoy (my husband was looking for a way to abandon ship before we even left the dock) was Carnival. I, too, was concerned when reading the Celebrity posts, of how often "elite" was mentioned. I really was beginning to wonder if we'd feel uncomfortable, being lowly "first timers". Everyone has different ways to vacation and to cruise. For us cruising is a welcome break, but not the only way we vacation, so we usually look for an appropriate cruise for the time and place we want to go. Others like to cruise exclusively and like to be loyal to one line. There's nothing wrong with any of these choices. Everyone is free to choose. I'm anxious to try Celebrity, but I'm beginning to wonder if I'll be allowed out of "steerage". "Elite, Aqua, etc" seem so important on this Board. Anyway, I hope that my worries are for naught and that we will thoroughly enjoy Celebrity, (even in a lowly veranda cabin).

 

(I do agree that no one can touch Disney for entertainment - they are in a class by themselves).

Dont worry at all. I just came off my 6th Celebrity cruise and did not notice a "class" system of any kind. I had no idea what level people or where or what accomodations they stayed in. I did notice that Concierge Level cabins had a gold sea pass card, and some others had a light blue sea pass card, but it made no difference in how myself or my family was treated. And we stayed in a veranda cabin.

I have sailed on Carnival, RCCL and Princess. We have a preference for Princess and Celebrity. I can assure you that even in your veranda cabin, you will be treated just like everyone else, and you will have a great time!! :D

We enjoyed Royal Caribbean, but got tired of dining room staff and others actually asking for "outstanding" reviews. I don't know how many times I had to say no to the offer of extra bread, coffee after dinner, etc. - mostly because they didn't remember our preferences. If they are really good, we always mention them by name with ship comment cards AND tip extra. But we hate being "asked" for this. So, we haven't sailed with RC in a while either.

 

AGREED! I found on Royal, there is the constant solicitation for good reviews ... one must give excellent reviews, "good" is not good enough. You hear it constantly from the MDR staff and also from the CD. If you are going to solicit the good reviews, then what are they really worth? You are almost guilted into giving a good review for fear that your waiter will lose his job if you don't rate him with 5*

Dont worry at all. I just came off my 6th Celebrity cruise and did not notice a "class" system of any kind. I had no idea what level people or where or what accomodations they stayed in. I did notice that Concierge Level cabins had a gold sea pass card, and some others had a light blue sea pass card, but it made no difference in how myself or my family was treated. And we stayed in a veranda cabin.

 

Agreed! I too was worried that there would be an "elite" class division, but the onboard experience is much nicer than you read about at cruise critic :D

OP, I know what you mean about having your preferences remembered. I remember on Eurodam (HAL), I had ordered prime rib for the second nights dinner after ordering beef medallions on the first night. After the waiter walked away, I realized that I had not told him how I wanted the meat cooked, so I called him back. I said, "I forgot to tell you how I want the meat cooked" and he interrupted me and said, "you like it medium rare" I was shocked. He told me it was his job to note and remember these details.

I found the same level of service on Celebrity.

Celebrity gets the edge for me due to larger ships, smoking policy, and their attention to detail wrt my son's allergies.

I am confident that most of our future cruising business will be with X. We may sail HAL for the right promotion or itinerary. I would book HAL expecting the great service but recognizing there would be other concessions. My only reason for sailing Royal again would to gain points towards diamond and status climbing is not high on my list.

I see service on X/HAL as a "given" that is to be expected. On Royal, it's offered on the condition of getting a good review. I sometimes feel guilty for always giving Carnival a bad rap but we had a bad server in the MDR and that really skewed my opinion. I was made to feel guilty for being a "have" and literally asked to compensate him for being a "have not". I don't go on vacation to be placed in this position and made to feel guilty about working hard having money to spend on a holiday. I realize that this was one experience with one individual, but it skewed my whole perception of the cruise line.