Done with Celebrity - Back to Royal

We sailed Celebrity last May and was not impressed at all. The ship didn't hold a candle to any of the Royal ships I've done and that includes the Majesty to Allure. The vibe on the ship was dull, I enjoy the a more lively atmosphere. I was expecting the food to be way above Royal from all that I had read. The only thing I found better was the pizza. The service was about the same level as Royal. I'll probably give Celebrity a try again but looking forward to my next cruises in Royal.

We did Celebrity and our next cruise is on Freedom BUT that doesn't mean we wouldn't cruise with Celebrity again if the price is right. We weren't overly impressed with the food but we had really wonderful service ship wide. The ships really don't have the WOW of Royal but are beautiful in a more subdued way. We would take either line according to price. We also are going to try MSC after reading some posts on these boards. Will we like it?...Can't say til we try but will let you know. We booked the new Seaside for Jan 2018.

We were also on the explorer last week and docked next to you twice. We've been on 10 Royal cruises and this was by far the worst vacation we've ever had. Perhaps cold weather cruising isn't for us, but we were incredibly bored during the day on sea days, hated MTD (traditional wasn't available anymore when we booked and 530 would have been too early and 8:00 too late for us). Also talked to people who were on the Solstice the same week and they hated their trip as well. Maybe it's just early season Alaska?

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We sailed Celebrity last May and was not impressed at all. The ship didn't hold a candle to any of the Royal ships I've done and that includes the Majesty to Allure. The vibe on the ship was dull, I enjoy the a more lively atmosphere. I was expecting the food to be way above Royal from all that I had read. The only thing I found better was the pizza. The service was about the same level as Royal. I'll probably give Celebrity a try again but looking forward to my next cruises in Royal.

Agree.....

The pizza rocks on Celebrity

At least you gave Celebrity a try! :)

I am wondering what type accomodations you had on Celebrity. We are Celebrity Elite+ and have always sailed in balcony and AQUA. We have found the service and cleanliness far superior on Celebrity. The food in BLU and the specialty restaurants has always been superior. We have not eaten in MDR since AQUA class was instituted. Just did B2B on Constellation and other than a booking error which listed me as first time (quickly changed by CC host) all was outstanding.

We loved our cruises on Allure and Jewel and are looking forward to Oasis in December and Brilliance in April 2017.

The only real major difference we find is entertainment. We haven't been to a show on Celebrity in years....waste of time....high school drama would be better. That being said, look forward to the entertainment on Oasis and Brilliance in the future. Not looking forward to eating in MDR but will survive.

There are many places to eat on Oasis and most likely will buy a dining package for Brilliance.

Give Celebrity another try and if all is not to your liking visit Guest Services and speak with the DIRECTOR. Amazing the power of an officer on a ship.

I am wondering what type accomodations you had on Celebrity. We are Celebrity Elite+ and have always sailed in balcony and AQUA. We have found the service and cleanliness far superior on Celebrity. The food in BLU and the specialty restaurants has always been superior. We have not eaten in MDR since AQUA class was instituted. Just did B2B on Constellation and other than a booking error which listed me as first time (quickly changed by CC host) all was outstanding.

 

We loved our cruises on Allure and Jewel and are looking forward to Oasis in December and Brilliance in April 2017.

 

The only real major difference we find is entertainment. We haven't been to a show on Celebrity in years....waste of time....high school drama would be better. That being said, look forward to the entertainment on Oasis and Brilliance in the future. Not looking forward to eating in MDR but will survive.

There are many places to eat on Oasis and most likely will buy a dining package for Brilliance.

 

Give Celebrity another try and if all is not to your liking visit Guest Services and speak with the DIRECTOR. Amazing the power of an officer on a ship.

So far we have only sailed on Royal, not yet tempted to go on Celebrity....not one of the sailings available has fit our timeslot....but in addition from what our friends have said, we will be disappointed in the entertainment on board. We like being entertained and amused all day and all night long. So for us, there is no rush to sail on Celebrity....we will get there.....there are some sailings that will fit better for us post retirement on Celebrity, but not right now.

done with royal, going back to DCL

We've sailed twice with Celebrity, both times on the Eclipse, and we enjoyed ourselves immensely. We experienced none of the problems faced by the OP, and would have no hesitation sailing again with Celebrity.

no credit for next cruise purchase. While on board I booked an expensive 10 day RCL cruise and got squat for it. No OBC, no discount that my TA couldn't get - zero. No incentive here, and maybe they have a point that it's not the same cruise line (same company though), but it still left me with a bad taste.

I'm not sure why the bad taste, as OP seems to recognize the issue: booking on a different cruise line. Moreover, if she didn't like the terms and the lack of incentives, why go through with the booking? I just don't see the issue. :confused:

In any event, I wish the OP the best of luck with future cruises on whatever line(s) and ship(s) she chooses.

Note to self: If entertainment on Celebrity is worse than on Royal, avoid like the plague.

 

Though I find it hard to believe anything could be worse than "City of Dreams" on the Radiance last year. I still have traumatic nightmares from sitting through that.

If it was that bad why didn't you leave? We've walked out of shows that we didn't like.

If it was that bad why didn't you leave? We've walked out of shows that we didn't like.

Because I made the mistake of sitting mid-row and getting trapped in on both sides at the last minute. And I'm not rude enough to climb over people mid-show.

When we were on Voyager a few years ago, we asked why there was no lobster on the menu for formal night. Our waiter told us that many passengers complained about dripping butter on their fine clothes so they changed lobster night to a casual night.:eek:

I guess I should be glad I didn't ask. I probably would have cracked up or choked on my drink with that response. I like the previous reason of forgetting to defrost them better, lol.

 

If it's bad entertainment you want to avoid, it's HAL that needs to be treated like a plague. ;)

LOL, I was thinking the same thing. Entertainment on our Serenade cruise was miles ahead of our HAL cruise.

If it was that bad why didn't you leave? We've walked out of shows that we didn't like.

Because unless it is obscene or so awful as to toss cookies is incredibly rude to walk out of a show. Did you walk out of your daughter's 2nd grade recorder concert?

As I posted previously, the entertainment on Celebrity leaves a lot to be desired. The last 3 shows we did attend we stayed in back and left after about 15 minutes. There were some excellent duos on our February cruise so we would listen to them or go to dance/music venues instead of the theater. To each his own but not up to our standards. That is really the major issue we had with Celebrity. Maybe because we sailed AQUA class and twice in Suites we have a different perspective. Service was over the top on our last 2 cruises.

Because unless it is obscene or so awful as to toss cookies is incredibly rude to walk out of a show. Did you walk out of your daughter's 2nd grade recorder concert?

We always sit in the balcony and at the end of a row. It's dark in the balcony and we don't have to disturb anyone (climb over anyone) when we want to leave.

Because unless it is obscene or so awful as to toss cookies is incredibly rude to walk out of a show. Did you walk out of your daughter's 2nd grade recorder concert?

Oh come on! Really? You're relating walking out of an unenjoyable show to a parent walking out on their own kids?

Sheesh. Cruise Critic.

Because unless it is obscene or so awful as to toss cookies is incredibly rude to walk out of a show. Did you walk out of your daughter's 2nd grade recorder concert?

No kid, but I totally agree with the sentiment. I HAVE left one Broadway show before it was over - but I waited until intermission. (The 1st revival of Les Mis - it was ruining the memories I had of the original Broadway production in its original Broadway theatre.) There are some I wish I'd left, but based on my seat it would have been completely awkward (lotteries used to be front row - a few still are, but more are spread all over the theatre).

Because unless it is obscene or so awful as to toss cookies is incredibly rude to walk out of a show. Did you walk out of your daughter's 2nd grade recorder concert?

Or unless it's "Cats"

. Did you walk out of your daughter's 2nd grade recorder concert?

It depends on how bad she was:eek:

Is that considered tough love:p

As I posted previously, the entertainment on Celebrity leaves a lot to be desired. The last 3 shows we did attend we stayed in back and left after about 15 minutes. There were some excellent duos on our February cruise so we would listen to them or go to dance/music venues instead of the theater. To each his own but not up to our standards. That is really the major issue we had with Celebrity. Maybe because we sailed AQUA class and twice in Suites we have a different perspective. Service was over the top on our last 2 cruises.

There is nothing better than the all around greatness of the production shows on RCL. We used to really enjoy the production shows on Celebrity until they started producing their own. Last month we did a B2B on Celebrity, it was our first taste of the new shows. They sounded and danced well but there was no other visual that made us say WOW. There was few costume changes and for no intents or purposes no set changes. Almost like listening to it on the radio. The second leg we skipped them altogether.

Because unless it is obscene or so awful as to toss cookies is incredibly rude to walk out of a show. Did you walk out of your daughter's 2nd grade recorder concert?

If you didn't enjoy your steak in the MDR because it was terribly over cooked, would it be incredibly rude of you not to finish it?

If you didn't enjoy your steak in the MDR because it was terribly over cooked, would it be incredibly rude of you not to finish it?

Not at all rude. In fact you should have sent it back when you first noticed it was overcooked.

 

* way poor Internet. This was the second week out of drydock and they had just installed the Celeb equivalent of VOOM, but you could have fooled me. Sloooow, like in the old 56k modem days.

Like Royal, they advertise it as implemented fleet wide when in reality it's a work in progress on many ships.

If you didn't enjoy your steak in the MDR because it was terribly over cooked, would it be incredibly rude of you not to finish it?

Unlike real live human beings as members of the cast who notice when people walk out your steaks fellow steaks really don't know if you send it back. Rarely do they get offended.