Comparisons between RCI and Celebrity

[tanelicus]

I started a post on the RCI board. Wanted to get the feelings from this board.

 

What are the differences, other than the obvious visual aspects of both lines ships and lack of a wall or flowrider?

 

Does Celebrity have a 24 hour eatery like the Promenade Cafe?

 

Do the pools stay open all night like the RCI ships?

 

Again I realize that the Celebrity experience is more refined. I think everybody has those days and nights when you want something more relaxed or something more vibrant.

[Gonzo70]

Celebrity tends to focus on providing a more relaxing, tranquil, upscale type experience versus RCI which focuses on constant activities, and action/excitement. RCI tends to attract more families and a younger average demographic than Celebrity. Celebrity does not have a late night food venue (after 1:00am room service is the only option; perhaps Bistro on 5 stays open a bit later, but has a $5 surcharge to dine there). The pools do not stay open late. There is some nightlife on Celebrity (especially at the martini bar) but a large portion of passengers generally are retired to their staterooms by midnight. Most find the food and service to be a bit superior on Celebrity, but the difference is not massive. If you want a more sophisticated and relaxing cruise, then Celebrity is a better choice. If you want lots of stimulation and activities then RCI is the superior option. Both are good lines and have some similarities, they just offer a different ambiance.

[beachbuzzard]

We are just off of Silhouette and it was our first Celebrity cruise after a number of RCCL cruises (see list below). Gonzo's post above is spot on. Both cruises are very good and both are targeting a slightly different audience. Some may prefer the more upscale feel of Celebrity while others may prefer the activities and night life present on RCCL ships.

 

We very much enjoyed Silhouette - it is a beautiful ship - but we missed some of the things RCCL offers and feel it is a better fit for us, at least for now. The "sidewalks rolling up" feel at midnight was striking for us - we like to club it a little bit still so it was tough to see the night club so dead. Luckily it did pick up a little toward the end of the cruise, but it was still nothing like The Vault on Explorer of the Seas (or it's similar versions on other RCCL ships). If we go with some friends as we did this time, Celebrity is fine and I am not knocking the line in any way. They do what they do very well and if that's what you're looking for, you will likely not be disappointed.

 

PS - on the late night food - the buffet (Oceanview Cafe) closed at 1am. I went up real late one night when my wife didn't feel well and they did leave one drink station open all night for the free drinks (water, iced tea, juices, coffee) and had some whole fresh fruit at it.

[SusieV]

There is no service charge for late night room service on Celebrity like there is on RCCL, either, so that is always an option. Of course a tip is always appropriate.

[tanelicus]

There is no service charge for late night room service on Celebrity like there is on RCCL, either, so that is always an option. Of course a tip is always appropriate.

 

The little sandwiches and cookies on the Freedom are good, but after a couple days they start getting a little old. Even though it was nice to have the cafe late at night, where you could sit relax with a cup of coffee and some goodies. Thats the real delight of the Cafe Promenade and Sorrentos.

 

Though between a real sandwich / meal, and a little sandwich the full scale sandwich/ meal is the obvious choice.

 

I am usually full after the main course, so it becomes sort of a moot point.

[tanelicus]

We are just off of Silhouette and it was our first Celebrity cruise after a number of RCCL cruises (see list below). Gonzo's post above is spot on. Both cruises are very good and both are targeting a slightly different audience. Some may prefer the more upscale feel of Celebrity while others may prefer the activities and night life present on RCCL ships.

 

We very much enjoyed Silhouette - it is a beautiful ship - but we missed some of the things RCCL offers and feel it is a better fit for us, at least for now. The "sidewalks rolling up" feel at midnight was striking for us - we like to club it a little bit still so it was tough to see the night club so dead. Luckily it did pick up a little toward the end of the cruise, but it was still nothing like The Vault on Explorer of the Seas (or it's similar versions on other RCCL ships). If we go with some friends as we did this time, Celebrity is fine and I am not knocking the line in any way. They do what they do very well and if that's what you're looking for, you will likely not be disappointed.

 

PS - on the late night food - the buffet (Oceanview Cafe) closed at 1am. I went up real late one night when my wife didn't feel well and they did leave one drink station open all night for the free drinks (water, iced tea, juices, coffee) and had some whole fresh fruit at it.

 

And that is the main reason we took a chance with Celebrity. We have heard great things about the food and the luxury on Celebrity. If you know that your going to be in a position to relax then Celebrity seems like a great choice.

 

Thanks!

[cgags47]

The "sidewalks rolling up" feel at midnight was striking for us - we like to club it a little bit still so it was tough to see the night club so dead. Luckily it did pick up a little toward the end of the cruise, but it was still nothing like The Vault on Explorer of the Seas (or it's similar versions on other RCCL ships).

 

Thanks for the info. My girlfriend and I are booked for the Celebrity Summit in April, 2012, with another couple, all of us 25 years old. We are not going to go to the nightclub every night, but we might go once or twice in the 8-Night cruise. What exactly do you mean by "so dead"? I'm almost positive that there won't be any karaoke bars or anything, but what about a piano bar, something similar to the Schooner Bar on RCI?

[Leibe_]

And that is the main reason we took a chance with Celebrity. We have heard great things about the food and the luxury on Celebrity. If you know that your going to be in a position to relax then Celebrity seems like a great choice.

 

Thanks!

 

I love Celebrity and have not cruised RCCL but would cruise RCCL this Jan if I did not already have a cruise booked on the Silly. The Hughes Brothers will be on RCCL on Jan eighth. Love them and go to see them every time I get the chance. Maybe Jan 2013...........

[Gonzo70]

Thanks for the info. My girlfriend and I are booked for the Celebrity Summit in April, 2012, with another couple, all of us 25 years old. We are not going to go to the nightclub every night, but we might go once or twice in the 8-Night cruise. What exactly do you mean by "so dead"? I'm almost positive that there won't be any karaoke bars or anything, but what about a piano bar, something similar to the Schooner Bar on RCI?

 

Nothing similar to the Schooner Bar. The liveliest area past midnight on most Celebrity sailings is the martini bar. Often there is a fair amount of energy and activity there into the early morning hours. Sometimes the casino stays busy past midnight.

[royalcruz]

Thanks for the info. My girlfriend and I are booked for the Celebrity Summit in April, 2012, with another couple, all of us 25 years old. We are not going to go to the nightclub every night, but we might go once or twice in the 8-Night cruise. What exactly do you mean by "so dead"? I'm almost positive that there won't be any karaoke bars or anything, but what about a piano bar, something similar to the Schooner Bar on RCI?

Here's my experience: I've never seen the nightclubs busy other than during events. There might be 20 people. There might be kareoke one or two nights but it's not likely to be recent songs.

[The Big Booper]

Thanks for the info. My girlfriend and I are booked for the Celebrity Summit in April, 2012, with another couple, all of us 25 years old. We are not going to go to the nightclub every night, but we might go once or twice in the 8-Night cruise. What exactly do you mean by "so dead"? I'm almost positive that there won't be any karaoke bars or anything, but what about a piano bar, something similar to the Schooner Bar on RCI?

 

The Summit is a Millennium class ship which tend to be even quieter then the newer Solstice ships.

[tanelicus]

We would sail on the Freedom of the Seas again in a heartbeat. However, being that it was a ship that we both spent a wonderful time with our kids, we can't fathom doing it over without them.

 

We both enjoy vegging out, and if there are only five couples at a bar then that is good enough for us.

 

Its funny, when we were on the FOS the Crypt seemed a little subdued for a disco on a huge ship.

 

We love Boleros. That closed roughly 12-1 AM every night.

 

FOS definitely had something for everybody.

 

Celebrity seems very romantic. Which we enjoy. We appreciate art as well.

 

Do most ships have guest speakers on Celebrity related to culture and history lessons? It seems like a line that might have those things.

[Bridge Maven]

Both cruise lines have beautiful ships when they are new, but Royal Caribbean does a better job of maintaining their aging ships.

 

With the exception of concierge class on M class ships and family cabins, all Celebrity non suite cabins on a ship are the same size, while on Royal oceanview cabins are larger than inside cabins, balcony cabins are larger than oceanview cabins, etc. So if someone wants to book a low end cabin, without a balcony, Celebrity has larger cabins and is one of the best values at sea. At the same time, Celebrity has a much larger price discrepancy between their suites and balcony cabins than Royal Caribbean so Royal is a better value for suites, providing that it is booked before final payment is due. However, because of this factor, Celebrity suites do not usually sell out before final payment is due, so if someone wants to book a Celebrity cruise at the last minute they can frequently get a much better deal on a suite than they can on a Royal Caribbean suite, becaue suites on Royal Caribbean tend to sell out months before a cruise.

[Gonzo70]

Celebrity seems very romantic. Which we enjoy. We appreciate art as well.

 

Do most ships have guest speakers on Celebrity related to culture and history lessons? It seems like a line that might have those things.

 

Yes, Celebrity generally has a couple different guest lecturers per sailing that do a few presentations each on their area of specialty.

 

Celebrity definitely does have a romantic vibe with lots of elegant public venues and their specialty restaurants are outstanding.

[kelmac]

As mentioned, both lines are great at what they do! We've cruised RCI six times, with the Allure coming up next year; and we've cruised Celebrity 17 times, with the Millennium coming up in a couple of weeks.

 

For us, the big difference is the higher quality of food, at all venues, on Celebrity. We double up on the number of visits to the alternative restaurants on RCI to improve the quality. In addition, we stay away from the "feeding frenzy" in the Windjammer.:p

 

Enjoy!

Kel:)

[beachbuzzard]

Thanks for the info. My girlfriend and I are booked for the Celebrity Summit in April, 2012, with another couple, all of us 25 years old. We are not going to go to the nightclub every night, but we might go once or twice in the 8-Night cruise. What exactly do you mean by "so dead"? I'm almost positive that there won't be any karaoke bars or anything, but what about a piano bar, something similar to the Schooner Bar on RCI?

 

On our recent 12-nighter, we checked the club almost every night and it rarely had more than 6-10 people in it - and many times it was less than that. However, somehow it livened up on the last few sea days and we had two straight nights of 20-40 people and full dance floor for most songs from midnight until we left between 2 and 2:30 am. I think the DJ was thrilled to get some late night business - might have been the first time ever for him!!

 

As Gonzo pointed out, the Martini Bar is a lively spot but no live music. Even it was winding down most nights between midnight and 1am. The Ensemble Lounge had live music (Jazz or something similar) many nights, but it wasn't like a piano bar (RE Schooner Bar on RCCL), even though its layout was most similar to the Schooner Bar, but not exactly. We missed that type of activity too - nothing like a boisterous piano bar crowd belting out old favorites at the top of the their lungs!!

 

Alex

[Guest maddycat]

As mentioned, both lines are great at what they do! We've cruised RCI six times, with the Allure coming up next year; and we've cruised Celebrity 17 times, with the Millennium coming up in a couple of weeks.

 

For us, the big difference is the higher quality of food, at all venues, on Celebrity. We double up on the number of visits to the alternative restaurants on RCI to improve the quality. In addition, we stay away from the "feeding frenzy" in the Windjammer.:p

Enjoy!

Kel:)

 

We've sailed on Celebrity 7 times (our last cruise was on the Silhouette) and on RCI 12 times (our last cruise was on the Explorer). We have 2 more Explorer cruises booked. We prefer RCI. We love the Explorer.

 

For us the big difference between the two lines is how quiet Celebrity is, no announcements except for the captain's noon announcement. We appreciate Celebrity's restricted smoking policy. We find the food to be much better on RCI, except for the desserts. Celebrity's desserts are wonderful. We like to break up our dining on a longer cruise by eating a few nights in the Windjammer. The quality, variety, selection, service and atmosphere is far superior to Celebrity's buffet. We also prefer the MDR food on RCI.

 

We don't ice skate, rock climb or participate in the belly flop contest, but they're fun to watch. There are more activities on RCI. RCI is more relaxed. Celebrity is more formal.

[Bridge Maven]

We've sailed on Celebrity 7 times (our last cruise was on the Silhouette) and on RCI 12 times (our last cruise was on the Explorer). We have 2 more Explorer cruises booked. We prefer RCI. We love the Explorer.

 

For us the big difference between the two lines is how quiet Celebrity is, no announcements except for the captain's noon announcement. We appreciate Celebrity's restricted smoking policy. We find the food to be much better on RCI, except for the desserts. Celebrity's desserts are wonderful. We like to break up our dining on a longer cruise by eating a few nights in the Windjammer. The quality, variety, selection, service and atmosphere is far superior to Celebrity's buffet. We also prefer the MDR food on RCI.

 

We don't ice skate, rock climb or participate in the belly flop contest, but they're fun to watch. There are more activities on RCI. RCI is more relaxed. Celebrity is more formal.

 

Maddycat, prior to taking our cruise on Radiance of the Seas to Alaska earlier this year, I was concerned about all the negative comments on this board about Royal Caribbean's food, but was very pleasantly surprised by how good it was. In my opinion, Samba Grill and Giovanni's table were better than the specialty restaurants on Celebrity, the buffet was much better, and the main dining room was very comparable.

[Guest maddycat]

Maddycat, prior to taking our cruise on Radiance of the Seas to Alaska earlier this year, I was concerned about all the negative comments on this board about Royal Caribbean's food, but was very pleasantly surprised by how good it was. In my opinion, Samba Grill and Giovanni's table were better than the specialty restaurants on Celebrity, the buffet was much better, and the main dining room was very comparable.

 

I'm glad that you agree. Many die hard Celebrity cruisers believe that Celebrity is superior to every other mainstream cruise line. And that's another thing, Celebrity is a mainsteam cruise line it is not an upscale cruise line as is so often stated here.

[beachbuzzard]

I'm glad that you agree. Many die hard Celebrity cruisers believe that Celebrity is superior to every other mainstream cruise line. And that's another thing, Celebrity is a mainsteam cruise line it is not an upscale cruise line as is so often stated here.

 

Agree - it is a mainstream line with a more sophisticated/relaxed feel.

[Bridge Maven]

Agree - it is a mainstream line with a more sophisticated/relaxed feel.

 

Beachbuzzard, I agree that Celebrity has a more relaxed feel to it than most of the other mass market cruise lines but I don't equate that with being sophisticated. To me Celebrity would be sophisticated if it played more classical music, provided good theatrical productions, and had more intellectually stimulating activities.

 

BTW, this is not meant as a criticism of Celebrity because I don't think being sophisticated is a requirement for a cruise line to be enjoyable.

[tanelicus]

Darn - we were looking forward to the food on Celebrity.

 

My experience with the food on RCI is that I thought it was good but nothing memorable. I thought the food was decent not great. That doesn't mean that I didn't enjoy myself and eat a great deal. It was pretty much what I expected.

 

The Windjammer was to me not a good experience. And I am one that appreciates a buffet and doesn't turn my head up at it. The people working in the WJ were great. The food was good, but it wasn't a more than one evening type of place to eat. I did enjoy the sushi on jade and brought a tray every evening to our room for a pre-dinner snack.

 

My kids loved the WJ. Kids usually like places where there is great deal of choices and desserts.

 

Overall the food was good. The pizza in Sorrentos not so good. The snacks in the Promenade Cafe were decent. We really enjoyed the PC.

 

In my opinion the volume of quality entertainment on RCI blows every other line out of the water. I am not talking the shows, but the things to do on the ship. Terrific

 

My biggest concern with RCI is that most of their ships apart under the Freedom class are starting to get old. It doesn't seem like they have changed anything out and replaced anything.

 

So when you say Celebrity doesn't have better food, when I have heard over and over that it does. Yikes! Thats one part we were looking forward to.

 

Oh well. We will see how it compares.

 

 

 

.

[richardb]

Anyone care to comment on the dance venues? My wife and I love to dance and on RCL there are usually 2 or 3 venues for ball room dancing. Does Celebrity, specifically the Century, offer dancing every night, other than club dancing with the DJ?

 

We have booked our first Celebrity cruise and look forward to the opportunity.

[Gonzo70]

Darn - we were looking forward to the food on Celebrity.

 

My experience with the food on RCI is that I thought it was good but nothing memorable. I thought the food was decent not great. That doesn't mean that I didn't enjoy myself and eat a great deal. It was pretty much what I expected.

 

The Windjammer was to me not a good experience. And I am one that appreciates a buffet and doesn't turn my head up at it. The people working in the WJ were great. The food was good, but it wasn't a more than one evening type of place to eat. I did enjoy the sushi on jade and brought a tray every evening to our room for a pre-dinner snack.

 

My kids loved the WJ. Kids usually like places where there is great deal of choices and desserts.

 

Overall the food was good. The pizza in Sorrentos not so good. The snacks in the Promenade Cafe were decent. We really enjoyed the PC.

 

In my opinion the volume of quality entertainment on RCI blows every other line out of the water. I am not talking the shows, but the things to do on the ship. Terrific

 

My biggest concern with RCI is that most of their ships apart under the Freedom class are starting to get old. It doesn't seem like they have changed anything out and replaced anything.

 

So when you say Celebrity doesn't have better food, when I have heard over and over that it does. Yikes! Thats one part we were looking forward to.

 

Oh well. We will see how it compares.

 

 

 

.

 

Celebrity does have better quality food. I have heard they budget about 20% more per/person per/day for food. Since food is fairly subjective, you will always find some who prefer the food on a different cruise line. Same thing with restaurants. Look at overall trends, not a handful of people's subjective opinions. Overall most people who have dine on both Celebrity and RCI find Celebrity's food to be a bit superior (not a lot better, but better). They really shine in the specialty restaurant area. Their diner buffet has fewer options than does RCI, but aside from that most find Celebrity's food better.

[Gonzo70]

Anyone care to comment on the dance venues? My wife and I love to dance and on RCL there are usually 2 or 3 venues for ball room dancing. Does Celebrity, specifically the Century, offer dancing every night, other than club dancing with the DJ?

 

We have booked our first Celebrity cruise and look forward to the opportunity.

 

Yes, all Celebrity ships have a fair amount of live music. Your daily newsletter will list the schedule of when and wear the various musicians and bands are playing. There should be non DJ dance music both before and after dinner most (if not every) nights.