Looking for the honest truth... will a Celebrity Cruise be super snobby?

We've been doing mostly land vacations for the past 10 years with a few cruises thrown in each year. Usually Carnival or Royal Caribbean because they have ships that sail out of the ports closest to us. I haven't sailed Celebrity in awhile but was thinking of returning due to the great smoking policy (not allowing smoking on balconies). Love that! But... after reading some posts and based on some snooty comments I've received I'm wondering if Celebrity will be a good fit. I mean I can play the game and act the part but since I have to be in "business mode" for my business and hubby's career year round I'd really prefer an unpretentious atmosphere for a vacation. I'm not a party animal by any stretch and I'm usually in bed before midnight on a cruise but I'm also hoping to avoid a stuffy experience with lots of snooty judgmental people. I sailed Cunard once and swore I'd never go back. Has Celebrity become like that too? I'm hoping not but looking for the hard truth.

Thanks,

Francie

Absolutely not snobby...

I'm sure there will be some snooty people on board (they can be found everywhere) but the majority are lovely, friendly individuals. Celebrity is one of my favorite cruiselines and I have met some great people from all over the world on board.

We've been doing mostly land vacations for the past 10 years with a few cruises thrown in each year. Usually Carnival or Royal Caribbean because they have ships that sail out of the ports closest to us. I haven't sailed Celebrity in awhile but was thinking of returning due to the great smoking policy (not allowing smoking on balconies). Love that! But... after reading some posts and based on some snooty comments I've received I'm wondering if Celebrity will be a good fit. I mean I can play the game and act the part but since I have to be in "business mode" for my business and hubby's career year round I'd really prefer an unpretentious atmosphere for a vacation. I'm not a party animal by any stretch and I'm usually in bed before midnight on a cruise but I'm also hoping to avoid a stuffy experience with lots of snooty judgmental people. I sailed Cunard once and swore I'd never go back. Has Celebrity become like that too? I'm hoping not but looking for the hard truth.

 

Thanks,

Francie

Francie, the "hard truth" is that Celebrity is very middle of the road, middle America. For the most part, pax are very average people. With 2-3,000 people on a ship, you will encounter every age group, every socio-economic group.

Many posters here are very opinionated and they are not shy to keep repeating their views. But, keep in mind, that this is a forum, and not the real thing.

Take your cruise. You will love it.

By the way, when is baby due?

Paul and Fran ~ cruise ships are just like any other place you might vacation. You are going to encounter all kinds of people. I've sailed Celebrity, Royal Caribbean, Princess, NCL, HAL and Carnival. I have to say that I've yet to run into snobby people on any of them. We sail Celebrity quite a bit. I find Celebrity passengers, by and large, to be very pleasant and friendly.

Message boards are tough places because you can't hear or see people when they write instead of talk. I think you'll find Celebrity passengers to be a great bunch of people. At least I have.

Good luck....I think you'd be pleasantly surprised.

They're not snobby at all. I can see why you might come to that conclusion reading some of the posts here but onboard, you'll experience nothing like it.

I guess a little depends on your actions as well. If you wear jeans and a tee short to the dining room you may get a few dirty looks. If you tie up some pool chairs for hours and never use them you might get a few dirty looks. If you walk around the ship in a bathrobe you may get a few dirty looks. I have encountered all of this.

I generally don't consider most Celebrity cruisers as being snooty. They are generally educated, well traveled, and know what they like. And there is nothing wrong with that.

Ok, I'm feeling better already. This is exactly the response I'd hoped for. Thanks!!!

We are booked for our 4th and 5th cruises, and have really enjoyed the first three. IMHO, Celebrity attracts a lot of different people - most are wonderful, but you'll always have a few that have attitudes. I think that's true anywhere. It's also true on Cruise Critic. Most people are friendly and helpful. Then there are those either complain about everything, or those who flame anyone who dares to complain about anything! Oy!

My advice is that as you read through various threads you'll start recongizing names and knowing which ones to trust and which to take with a grain of salt. (And those like me who can't write a short reply! Or spell!;))

Love the limited smoking policy (asthma) and don't plans to look at other cruise lines at this point.

Sara

Francie' date=' the "hard truth" is that Celebrity is very middle of the road, middle America. For the most part, pax are very average people. With 2-3,000 people on a ship, you will encounter every age group, every socio-economic group.

 

Many posters here are very opinionated and they are not shy to keep repeating their views. But, keep in mind, that this is a forum, and not the real thing.

 

Take your cruise. You will love it.

 

By the way, when is baby due?[/quote']

 

Thanks so much, the baby is due mid March. We're thrilled! We've had lots of changes all at once, I'm selling my business, hubby's office is closing so most likely we'll relocate and now I'm pregnant. But it's all good especially the new baby!

I suspect that if you took the passengers off of a Celebrity ship and placed them in a neutral setting, you would be hard pressed to distinguish them from passengers from a Royal Caribbean, Princess,or even a Carnival ship. More often than not, the passengers on most lines do not fit the stereotypes that are often used to describe them.:) Now some cruisers can be fanatically defensive of their favorite line, especially if they feel it is being described unfairly, but that doesn't necessarily mean that they are snobs, or that so-called "cheerleaders" are peculiar to any particular line.

Go with an open mind, thats the best advise I can give. If you don't like it then don't go back, but you won't know until you try. I haven't had a cruise I didn't like except for one, and I won't go back. And I have never met a snob on a Celebrity cruise in all the years we have been cruising. Everyone goes to have a good time. Stay away from the complainers though, there are bunches of them.

I sensed no snootiness on either of my Mercury cruises.

I guess a little depends on your actions as well. If you wear jeans and a tee short to the dining room you may get a few dirty looks. If you tie up some pool chairs for hours and never use them you might get a few dirty looks. If you walk around the ship in a bathrobe you may get a few dirty looks. I have encountered all of this.

 

I generally don't consider most Celebrity cruisers as being snooty. They are generally educated, well traveled, and know what they like. And there is nothing wrong with that.

No, I won't be doing any of that and educated, well traveled and knowing what one likes are all fine by me. Thanks for your comments. :)

Thanks so much, the baby is due mid March. We're thrilled! We've had lots of changes all at once, I'm selling my business, hubby's office is closing so most likely we'll relocate and now I'm pregnant. But it's all good especially the new baby!

Wow! Those are a lot of major changes! But how exciting! I wish you all the best.

Our first grandchild is due this winter and we are very excited!

I have my first Celebrity cruise coming up and I worried about the same thing...only I called it being snobby. I've been told that X was snobby and I read a few posts that seemed snobby to me in the beginning. Then, I got involved with my roll call and they're all a great bunch of people who I look forward to meeting. Maybe one of the best roll calls I've had. So, if you haven't done it already, check out your roll call and I'll bet you'll find some nice people you'll enjoy cruising with.

This is an OLD post (2004) but still a great read:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=49998&highlight=celebrity+snob

This is an OLD post (2004) but still a great read:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=49998&highlight=celebrity+snob

Omg...Arno, I remember that thread:D:):D

Whatever happened to Danno? he hasn't been around in years. I remember he bought his own boat, but can't remember him posting in a long time about cruising.

Don't be misled by some of the comments on this board. 99.9 percent of people on Celebrity are great. We cruise on all of the lines, HAL, Princess, Carnival, NCL, etc.. Celebrity is a mainstream line with a fleet and a pricing model to prove it. I would compare Celebrity to the Princesses and HALs of the world-each of those lines have their particular differences. You will have a great time...go for it.

We are going on our first cruise in March ( probably around when your baby is due, we were married in March, and two years later my son was born in March--so March is a big month for us.) I was also thinking the same thing, but when I ask questions everyone seems so friendly, on every board there does seem to be a few that have--strong opinions so I guess that is to be expected. My main reason for switching to X in the non-smoking policy, and because it just seemed a good fit for my husband and myself. To me, life is too short to be snobby, there are so many fun things to learn from those around me-why would I ever want to act like I'm better or above anyone.

Love the count-down clock!

CoffeequeenJ:p

We think the people on Celebrity are great and fun to be with. Never have encountered any snobs.

Paulandfran - you asked a question that's been on my mind for months. After booking Celebrity on a whim for our first cruise -strictly based on the itinerary - I was worried that we'd be dreading our actual time on the ship. With so much discussion about chair hogs and formal dress - I was spent a lot of time wondering if cruising would be right for us. We would never think to spend so much time wondering if we were dressed right for a night out, as some of the threads lead me to believe that others do.

That said - when I've asked questions on this forum I've generally had great responses, and people are a wealth of information. I expect that most people will be just like that in person on the ship.

This is an OLD post (2004) but still a great read:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=49998&highlight=celebrity+snob

Great link! Thanks!

Just have to say again, thanks so much for the warm responses. This was exactly what I was hoping for. I'm relieved and looking forward to sailing with Celebrity. Now the fun part, picking a ship and itinerary!

Thanks again,

Francie