Moved to RCCL

We have been on over 40 Celebrity cruises from the days of the Mercury & Century ,then the M & S class ships . :)

Unfortunately we no longer see value with the higher cruise prices that X is charging .Thus ,we moved to equal itinerairies & lengths of cruises to RCCL & HAL with large savings :D

Have you just booked the cruises or have you come back from doing them already? We like our Royal cruises for different reasons to the Celebrity ones, but they all have their pros and cons. A change doesn't hurt to try. Never tried HAL because I haven't seen the value in the smaller older ships we get here in Australia from HAL that are more expensive anyhow, and I do like my loyalty perks with RCI and Celebrity!

FORTY cruises on the same cruise line???? Holy Cow :cool: I don't think I could ever stay with the same cruise line. I would find it too predictable and boring. Enjoy RCCL. Loved all of our cruises with them.

We have been on over 40 Celebrity cruises from the days of the Mercury & Century ,then the M & S class ships . :)

 

Unfortunately we no longer see value with the higher cruise prices that X is charging .Thus ,we moved to equal itinerairies & lengths of cruises to RCCL & HAL with large savings :D

We were Loyal to Royal for many years before moving to mainly cruising Celebrity. We can still see the strengths of RC (entertainment and activities) especially on the bigger ships and we cruised on them again in January as it fitted our schedule better. A change is good! We particularly enjoyed seeing the Aqua Theatre and Ice Shows again...

Although our cruise was cheaper than what would have been a Celebrity equivalent by the time we had paid for drinks and a dining package there probably wasn't that much in it...We do enjoy the range of room choices on RC, we would book an Aqua Theatre suite again.

Dining is the area you may find less good...we find the RC cafes generally have a slightly less varied selection, MDR not quite as good as Celebrity and the speciality restaurants bigger and food quality down on Celebrity. Nothing really awful, just a bit down....Again, though we enjoyed the change, especially Hibachi which we had not tried before. Pre cruise we booked a four night dining package at a good price. We checked on board re discounts (out of curiosity) and I think we came out on top. We also got the times we wanted whereas when we talked to people who had taken a 'discount' route they had limited timing choices.

Hope you have a great cruise!

We have been on over 40 Celebrity cruises from the days of the Mercury & Century ,then the M & S class ships . :)

 

Unfortunately we no longer see value with the higher cruise prices that X is charging .Thus ,we moved to equal itinerairies & lengths of cruises to RCCL & HAL with large savings :D

We have a TA on Eclipse that was priced very nice, with no price bundling, so we are on it for Oct.

However, we wanted to do a NZ cruise and then a TP cruise out of Sydney and comparing NCL, Celebrity and Royal, Royal C was the very best deal for the NZ cruise on Radiance of the Seas and TP on Explorer of the Seas (April/May 2018).

If Royal works out (after all we are Diamond), we will keep them in the mix.

We have done every Med cruise there is, plus Japan and China, Singapore to Dubai, Australia, South America, the Panama Canal, Alaska, British Isles. The only cruiee left we want to do is the North Cape of Norway that Celebrity doesn't do. We will mow go more for TA cruises with a land trip in Europe before or after the cruise. We are not big on the Caribbean. Since we are running out of cruises, TA is the way to go. TA cruises are inexpensive and Celebrity don't price bundle with drink packages we don't want.

We have been on over 40 Celebrity cruises from the days of the Mercury & Century ,then the M & S class ships . :)

 

Unfortunately we no longer see value with the higher cruise prices that X is charging .Thus ,we moved to equal itinerairies & lengths of cruises to RCCL & HAL with large savings :D

m - that sounds great. You have found your new line. I know you will be happy with your new cruise lines for sure....

bon voyage

We booked on board a Royal ship and compared prices to Celebrity. At that time, Celebrity was the better value.

Now perhaps the pendulum has switched to the other side...depending on what you are booking. The bottom line is that it is worth pricing out different cruises with the same itinerary and determine which line you want to book.

We have not been on HAL in over 20 years. Back then it was great...food, service, ship. We tried Carnival, NCL, and Princess. They all have their pros and cons. We found a home with RCCL but...who knows what the future will bring!

Enjoy your cruises.

We bounce around among RCI, Celebrity, Princess, and Hal - depending on when and where we want to go. Searching multiple cruise lines with my big box warehouse club's travel department website has opened us up to multiple opportunities.

The cruise lines would like for us to keep our Loyalty Program Blinders on, but it's our trip and our money.

We have been on over 40 Celebrity cruises from the days of the Mercury & Century ,then the M & S class ships . :)

 

Unfortunately we no longer see value with the higher cruise prices that X is charging .Thus ,we moved to equal itinerairies & lengths of cruises to RCCL & HAL with large savings :D

Have you completed a sailing on either of theses lines yet?

We mainly sail RCL and sometimes go on Celebrity. We stick with RCL becuase of the PERKS since we became Diamond Plus. They are MUCH MORE than what you get on Celebrity as Elite.

And, we like the Grand Suites on RCL along with the additional perks. It seems that Celebrity is WAAAAAAY overpriced with their Suites, and there are too few of them. They are always all booked as soon as the itineraries are out.

We have also sailed HAL and they are equivalent in service and friendliness.

Hope This Helps.

We have been on over 40 Celebrity cruises from the days of the Mercury & Century ,then the M & S class ships . :)

 

Unfortunately we no longer see value with the higher cruise prices that X is charging .Thus ,we moved to equal itinerairies & lengths of cruises to RCCL & HAL with large savings :D

Please come back after your Royal Caribbean sailings and let us know your thoughts. We've sailed them twice, but to be fair, both times was with extended family in summer with kids, so we really did not experience them without kids. We did like the entertainment, the food was mostly good( not the gray burgers in the Windjammer), & the service fine, but I am not a fan of the shopping mall down the center of their ships. I would love to try the Radiance class ships, but no desire to sample the Oasis class.

I hear a lot about how high X is priced but we always find them to be less than RCCL, especially in the Caribbean, and usually less than other lines. We have found that we can get an X cruise that includes the drink package and a good amount of on board credit for less than a comparable RCCL cruise that does NOT include any drink package and less OBC. We use an online agent that always has good deals on X.

It is all very interesting. We started with RCL about 10 years ago and loved it. Three southern Caribbean cruises on the Serenade three years in a row. Then we were ready to do the Med but Royal did not have an itinerary that we liked, we wanted some Greek islands, Athens and Istanbul so we went with Celebrity and loved it. Started doing more cruises with them until friends asked us to join them on the Allure to check out the mega ship experience. It was so bad that we have not been on a Royal ship in 4 years and have made Elite with Celebrity loving every cruise. On our last cruise through Asia we were looking for something with Norway and the fjords and maybe Iceland. Celebrity had a trip out of Dublin but the price was pretty high so I checked Royal and they had a good deal out of Southhampton with a much better price and more ports in Norway so again, the itinerary works for us so we are trying it.....it is still 10 months away and I am hopeful that it won't be another Allure experience.

We are Diamond Plus on Royal Caribbean and a cruise away from Elite Plus on Celebrity. We've sailed Independence several times because of its convenient home port in Fort Lauderdale. I would say the main difference between Celebrity and Independence you will notice is the much greater energy overall on Indy. There just is so much more going on.

Another difference you will notice is that the food is not quite the same quality especially in the Windjammer buffet, but it is plenty good enough.

We really like the Diamond Lounge which is available to you at all times, but much of the day you may be the only people there. The view in there can be spectacular. In the mornings for awhile and in the late afternoon the Diamond Lounge is attended by a Concierge or Loyalty Ambassador (or whatever the title is.) You can help yourself to espresso, coffee, cappuccinos and tea at any time there at no cost.

I don't drink alcohol, but Hubby loves his wine. He likes that on Indy Diamonds are given a daily allotment of coupons for drinks that can be obtained at most bars. The Diamond Lounge can get very crowded, so he likes having the option to avoid that and go elsewhere.

We are very fond of Independence and would not hesitate to sail on Indy again if the itinerary is right. I hope you both will enjoy Indy too.

Thanks for the info. I am not worried about the food in the buffet, lunch is about the only thing we get there but I think I may miss Celebrity's nice ice cream shop.....beyond that food is needed but we are far from foodies. We both have some food issues--allergies and special diets so we have decided that food is food and service is more important. On the Allure the food in the MDR was terrible and service was worse. So bad we opted to specialty restaurants or pizza rather than going back. Looking forward to exploring the Diamond Lounge but we have a draw back there, we are traveling with some UK cousins--another reason we opted for Southampton--and they do not have our status. We will sort it out. The cruise is port intensive and that is what we like and I am sure it will be a great time. In the mean time, we have Venice to Barcelona coming on the Constellation in September and a month with the grandchildren before that.. :)

Thanks for all your replies & good wishes :).We did not mention that we have sailed RCCL ships in the past & the 2 cruises we booked are 9 nights on Navigator for southern Caribbean & 7 nights on Oasis for Western Caribbean .:D

We also sailed Princess ,HAL & Carnival /all in all we have now 78 past cruises ,so we can relate to all your kind comments :)

Food is as we all know a subjective thing . We feel that the entertainment on RCCL should be lively ; although we have had excellent entertainment on Celebrity as well :)

This will be our first on the Oasis class & we are definitely looking forward to seeing this size ship:D

Please come back after your Royal Caribbean sailings and let us know your thoughts. We've sailed them twice, but to be fair, both times was with extended family in summer with kids, so we really did not experience them without kids. We did like the entertainment, the food was mostly good( not the gray burgers in the Windjammer), & the service fine, but I am not a fan of the shopping mall down the center of their ships. I would love to try the Radiance class ships, but no desire to sample the Oasis class.

Rich -- if you like the Millie Class ships, I'd bet you'd LOVE Radiance Class! Lots of out-ward-looking focus: floor to ceiling glass, and bird-cage elevators with seaward views! No shopping malls, wave riders, or Central Park -- just the ocean. :D

We've sailed both lines frequently. The largest ship the Independence of the Seas. I must say the biggest difference for us is the welcome back feeling we receive on Celebrity. We recognize a lot of the staff and vice versa. Very comforting to see the officers out and about greeting passengers. Looking forward to our next European cruises.

Johanne

We have cruised both many times - and like both for what they are.

RCCL for the "Wow" things like Promenade, Aqua Theater, Central Park... and lower prices.

Celebrity for a bit more laid back, less hype and more "grown up" feeling.

However, lately we got stuck with Celebrity... and, regardless of all the complaining of others, still enjoy every cruise.

We have been on over 40 Celebrity cruises from the days of the Mercury & Century ,then the M & S class ships . :)

 

Unfortunately we no longer see value with the higher cruise prices that X is charging .Thus ,we moved to equal itinerairies & lengths of cruises to RCCL & HAL with large savings :D

My first Celebrity cruise was the Zenith and got me hooked on cruising. I did a TA on Navigator of the Sea and the "Diamond lounge" was held in the club called The Dungeon. Never again on that ship! It was back to Celebrity for most of my cruising!

Anyhow, if you feel like switching from a great cruiseline like Celebrity to RCCL, go ahead. I guess that is the reason some folks prefer Marriott properties while others prefer Best Western.

We booked a RC Mediterranean sailing while on board Oasis last year. At the time we compared prices to Celebrity, as I wanted to try a Celebrity cruise, but they were double the price so we gladly settled for RC.

About 6 months ago I was perusing Celebrity's website, and saw an almost identical itinerary plus choice of 2 of 4 perks, at about the same price, so we gladly switched. While generally I do think Celebrity is the much more expensive line, it's not always the case!

We have been on over 40 Celebrity cruises from the days of the Mercury & Century ,then the M & S class ships . :)

 

Unfortunately we no longer see value with the higher cruise prices that X is charging .Thus ,we moved to equal itinerairies & lengths of cruises to RCCL & HAL with large savings :D

But what about the ships? A 3.5 star, 27 year old RCL ship doesn't have anywhere near the appeal of a 5.5 star S class ship to me personally, even though the itinerary is very important to us.

But what about the ships? A 3.5 star, 27 year old RCL ship doesn't have anywhere near the appeal of a 5.5 star S class ship to me personally, even though the itinerary is very important to us.

We will find out if Radiance of the Seas is a nice ship. It seems to have descent ratings.

Frankly, we tend to favor the M class ships over the S class in any event.

But what about the ships? A 3.5 star, 27 year old RCL ship doesn't have anywhere near the appeal of a 5.5 star S class ship to me personally, even though the itinerary is very important to us.

Royal doesn't have any 27 year old ships. The Sovereign and Vision class were built in the 1990s, but only Majesty (1992) remains in the Sovereign class. Most of RCI's ships were built in 2002 or later, and all have undergone substantial renovations in their drydocks over the last 10 years (mainly to add revenue, such as adding cabins and paid dining). Freedom, Oasis and Quantum class ships (Freedom is the closest to an S class, I think) are all 2006 or younger.

However, we just sailed on Solstice and she blew us away. Food, service, layout all exceeded RCI, which has been our first choice for quite a few years. We go by itinerary, ship and price, and right now the itineraries we've booked are a mix of RCI, X and Princess, with an occasional Azamara thrown in. But Celebrity has moved to the top of our preferred list (Azamara is generally too expensive) because we don't like the chaos of the MDRs on RCI. And then there's Blu, which we adored.

We have sailed 35 times on Celebrity and 3 on RCI (Radiance, Freedom, and Jewel). We enjoyed the RCI ships (the Radiance class in particular - Freedom was too big and too many kids for us), but vastly prefer Celebrity. In recent years, we have often looked at both lines as Celebrity has indeed raised their prices, but in most cases we find very little price differential, particularly when one considers the various perks such as the drink package, included grats, etc. So we end up back on Celebrity again and again as we enjoy the experience (admittedly a decline from years ago in some ways but still great). I guess on some cruises RCI would be cheaper, but for those we have researched we have found Celebrity only slightly more expensive and therefore worth it for us. To each their own and all that - this is our view.