Celebrity or Royal?

My wife and I are in our mid 30s, I want to sail Royal and she says Celebrity is too fancy for our ages. What is the food like between the two, entertainment among the two and the activities to do on Celebrity, we've only sailed Carnival so we know nothing.

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Where are you thinking of going? Caribbean? Europe? Transatlantic?

Why do you want to sail on Royal? What appeals to you?

Why does she want to sail on Celebrity? What appeals to her?

When you say activities, what do you look for? Dance lessons? Cooking demonstrations? Egg drop contests? Zumba? Ping pong tournaments? None of the above?

We really need to have more information in order to help you decide.

not too fancy at all. just a more restrained vibe and atmosphere. I find the food on Celebrity to be a shade better for the MDR/Buffet.. in fact their buffet is the only one I eat at regularly.

I cannot answer to specialty as I have never done that on C but R's offerings are top notch.

I don't like either line for shows/entertainment but thay are better than Carnival's by a long shot. DH prefers the daily on board activities of Royal.( I again, could care less as I do not partiucipate in any oif them)

I think the crew vibe on Royal is better.. they seem happier and more outgoing. Celebrity is the one cruise line where I never feel as if the crew has earned any extra tip on top of the daily suggestion.

Huh?

It seems like you wait to cruise Royal, go for it.

Winnie

Caribbean, I want to sail on Celebrity her Royal. She likes the entertainment, on some of our Carnival cruises, both of us relaxing. I want to sail on Celebrity cause I like the decor, and a step above in service.

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I like to learn new things and not hairy man contest. I would like to learn how to cook.

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We haven't cruised on Celebrity yet so can't comment on that. But we have cruised on Carnival four times and RC for times with another booked for next year. In my opinion, Royal Caribbean is a step up in all respects. Overall, we enjoy RC much more.

If interested, you might like to take a look at the slide shows my wife made for her website with some of the pictures she took on our previous cruises on both cruise lines. It might help you decide whether you want to give RC a try.

I think you both would enjoy it, but you won't know unless you experience it for yourselves.

Happy cruising.

Entertainment on which Royal ship? Celebrity can't compare to allure or osasis. Celebrity's decor is more subtle and sophisticated than Royal. On celebrity, color will never attach you. Food and service are better in my experience. We enjoy the casino, that's our entertainment. Our family and friends enjoy the shows and Royal gives them more options. Enjoy!

The one I really like on Celebrity is the Pacific Coastal. But do you think Celebrity is for the Older crowd?

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You may be on the younger end but many thirty something's sail on celelbrity . If you enjoy a bit older Crowd, i think you'll love the celebrity experience. There are plenty of activities and entertainment options each day. There simply aren't as many kids on celebrity or young adults.

We were on the Valor two weeks ago from PR, to St Thomas, Barbados, St Kitts, St Lucia, and St Maarten, my question is have you sailed to Ports you've already been to? How do you decide, is it cruiseline first than inteneray than price, how do you go about it?

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not too fancy at all. just a more restrained vibe and atmosphere. I find the food on Celebrity to

I don't like either line for shows/entertainment but thay are better than Carnival's by a long shot.

 

IMHO the newer Carnival ships have some very good entertainment.;)

I have sail X about 14 times and RCL twice. I am 62. I like both but prefer X because it is more subdued and I like the food more than RCL. That said , for a couple in their thirties, I would recommend RCL. But X would not be a mistake . Both offer a good product and service.

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We're loyal to a line until we're not. We started at ncl, switched to Royal, then to Princess to holland and have been loyal to celebrity for six years now. We do like to repeat some ports while always looking to explore new. celebrity, itinerary then price is how we decide.

We are in our 30s and prefer Celebrity. We cruised five times with Royal before making the switch.

On Royal we got tired of the constant announcements and annoying photographers. It didn't matter whether you were in the middle of a meal or trying to apply sunscreen to your face - they'd interrupt and insist on taking a photo so they could try to sell it to you later. On Celebrity there is one announcement a day and a polite no thank you to the photographers is enough for them to leave you alone.

On Celebrity you can bring onboard 2 bottles of wine per cabin. Not sure about Royals current policy, but when we last cruised with them you weren't allowed to bring on any alcohol. They are also quite aggressive about checking bags when returning from port (we have been asked to open a backpack to prove that the small bottle in our bag is sunscreen or water). On Celebrity we have never had that problem.

We prefer the food and bars on Celebrity and also like that it's a more adult crowd (not many kids).

While Royal does provide better entertainment, we haven't been disappointed with the entertainment on Celebrity. We especially like the hot glass shows and guest speakers.

Is the Soltice class better or the millennium?

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Is there a dress code?

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Is there a dress code?

 

 

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You'll hear much woe about how it is less strict than it used to be but in my experience yes and people follow and it is enforced pretty well. Much more so than Royal. Formal nights means a jacket in the main dining room for men. I'd call most dinners "Country Club Casual" with khakis and polos/dress shirts being the minimum. Women can get away with a cocktail dress or nice slacks most evenings.

I didn't see many jeans onboard our last caribbean sailing at all, even during the day. Did see a few people insist on not dressing up for formal night being gently directed to other venues. The specialty restaurants are always "smart casual" and the buffet is simply no bathing suits, bathrobes or bare feet.

To answer the original question we are about your age and have chosen both Celebrity and Royal in the past and have both booked in the future.

Royal pros:

Many different kinds of ships sailing many different types of itineraries - choices!

Activities - there is always something going on.

Solarium provides a nice quiet area on sailings that need it.

Entertainment - for the most part the shows are pretty good. Jewel was an exception. Ick!

Service - generally congenial and happy to help out

Royal cons:

Extremely high numbers of children during any school vacation time.

Windjammer (buffet) has been a bit inconsistent. Seems to vary ship to ship.

Smoking in the casino can cause problems in other public areas, especially on

smaller ships. Jewel this was awful. Liberty no problem.

Celebrity pros:

Gorgeous ships with well thought out storage in rooms.

Professional service that is not intended to be warm and fuzzy.

Varied itineraries spread all over the world.

Excellent food in all venues.

Few announcements.

Few children, save for specific holiday periods.

Spa and fitness areas are superior to Royal in our experience.

Celebrity cons:

Can be a bit sedate, our last sailing had fewer enrichment activities than I would have liked.

Fewer ships so when itineraries are offered sometimes there are only one or two.

Price point is definitely higher on average, but this can vary depending on time of year you're looking.

Hope this helps.

We have sailed on both, but only Australia/NZ itineraries. I think they are more similar than different. Every class of ship on Royal has some different features, as does Celebrity.

We find that school holidays have youngest passengers of course, and the longer the cruise the older the average age, but there is always a wide range covered.

We found Celebrity to be a bit more vigilant with the dress code on formal nights, and generally the standard on other nights seemed overall a bit dressier on Celebrity.

We liked the shows on both, but not every show is to everyone's taste.

We like a ship that has lots of outward looking areas to sit, and Royal's Radiance and Vision class ships, while smaller, are looked down at by some, but they are our first preference, although we haven't done anything larger than Voyager.

I would go on price and itinerary, and the idea that if you do one line this time, then you can try the next another time.

My wife and I are both in our 30s as well. We started out as Royal loyalists (and we yet are) but decided to try Celebrity, since the itinerary was much better for Europe. And also, we were open to trying Celebrity since they belong to the same family as Royal Caribbean.

We were definitely not disappointed. We felt the staff was just as friendly, the food was slightly better on Celebrity as was the entertainment. Since we've been on Royal's Voyager class ships, and Celebrity's 'S class' ships, both felt the same size (we did however miss Royal Caribbean's royal promenade). Celebrity's Mast Grill (Burgers on the pool deck) is our absolute favorite place to eat (the best beef, turkey and vegetarian burgers)

If the price and itinerary are the same, choose the bigger ship. You wont be disappointed for sure. Both these cruise lines really know how to show you a super time!

I like to learn new things and not hairy man contest. I would like to learn how to cook./quote]

 

Like you, I am in my 30's and am about to do my second cruise on Celebrity Solstice...okay - my first and only cruise was on Solstice; however, ....

 

like you, we fancied Solstice as our first choice for a cruise because of it's decor and service. We also did not want a family cruise ship with lots of kids around. There are kids aboard but it caters more for adults not children.

 

And,

 

Like you, we appreciate the art of cooking. My DH is great at cooking meat and I always thought it was near the best restaurant quality. Until.... we cruised on Solstice and attended a cooking demonstration by the head chef and he showed how to cook the perfect steak! I kid you not - if you like your steak blue, rear, medium rare or well done, follow his method and tips and you will NEVER have blood running over the rest of your food on your plate and you will have your steak just the way you want it! Now my DH does the pefect silver service steak every time for dinner - whether it is done in the pan or on the BBQ.

 

Like you - we did not want a hairy chested belly flop competition ship.

 

We LOVED our time on Celebrity Solstice and can't wait to cruise Celebrity again. We loved meeting people of all ages. The average age when we went on in Australia (may differ from different parts of the world) was 40 - 60 (there were older and younger). The few kids on board were really well behaved.

 

(Would like to try Azamara and Cunard sometime).

 

Just another thought - to save squabbles, why not book and go on two cruises - Celebrity and Royal? Between you both, you can then decide the best that suits both of you (any excuse to cruise is always a good one)...:p

We have sailed on both lines and it can depend on ship as to which is the best choice if you're interested in activities i.e. just because it's a Royal ship doesn't mean you'll have more activities. You need to be aware that the smaller Royal ships sometimes do not offer any more activities than X, save the rock climbing wall.

Food, IMHO, is marginally better on X. There are less rowdy activities on Celebrity ships - no belly flopping contest - slightly more refined atmosphere. Oasis class ships offer the most amount of choice for entertainment and food, surprisingly they also feel the least crowded of all the Royal ships (obviously this is our opinion and not counting Quantum in the equation ;)). Pax are dispersed well throughout the ship.

We cruise on both lines, more dependent on itinerary and available dates. Usually, we see what X is offering first and then compare with Royal. As for summer 2016, looks like we're back to Royal.

I will be 36 and my wife will be 35, no kid. Does Celebrity have enough food options, Royal has a lot of options but we don't like to pay for it, if we don't have to. Another thing she doesn't want me to talk about which cruise, or cruiseline. Maybe I get more excited than she does, and talks about it to much.

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the OP asked "Is there a dress code?"

Yes, and it is all spelled out on the Celebrity website.