Brilliance of the Seas vs Celebrity Summit

[Kryssa]

My all-adult family of 7 is trying to decide if we should book the Brilliance of the Seas or the Celebrity Summit for March 16, 2013. Both have very similar itineraries and pricing. We sailed RCCL in 2005 and had a good time but because it was so long ago, all we can remember is that we had a good time. We have never sailed Celebrity. We have sailed Carnival, NCL, and Disney.

 

We just got off the Carnival Dream and has a great time but it was PACKED with kids because it was spring break. We don't mind kids, but this was too much. You couldn't enjoy the pools without the cannon balls splashing you in the face.

 

We are limited to that week only due to my brother being in college, so the timing is not negotiable.

 

So immediately, we thought about trying a cruise line with less kids, but now I'm worried if we book the Celebrity ship, it will be too "mature" for us. We are all different ages, 20-70, but don't need a party ship. We like to be off the ship as soon as we dock, so with five 8:00am port days on either ship, we'll be in our rooms by midnight.

 

We like to relax on the deck, so finding a few chairs together in the sun is important, even if they are far from the pool.

 

Does either ship have a band at the pool during the day? On NCL they had a great steel drum band. We really missed this on Carnival. Also, we though the singing and dancing on the Dream was mediocre at best.

 

We love good food- is the food any better on the Celebrity ships?

 

Thanks for any insight you can provide!

[Janet524]

DH and I have sailed on both Brilliance and Summit and have loved both. IMO the overall service and food on Summit was a notch above Brilliance - not to say Brilliance was bad. We sailed Summit with our friends 40-somethngs, and DH and I are late 50's - mid 60's. There was a good range of activities on Summit and fewer children that we experienced on Brilliance.

 

Brilliance is a beautiful ship, and the Radiance class of ship is our favorite because of all the glass and the views to the sea. The service was very good and crew pleasant.

 

Perhaps something to consider is that Summit has just undergone a major refurbishing this year and I don't know when Brilliance was refurbed or when she will be refurbed.

 

Frankly, you can't go wrong with either ship. IMO, if one is priced considerably better than the other, I'd let that be the deciding factor. I hope I've helped, not made your choice more difficult.

[chickadee1]

DH and I have sailed on Celebrity Summit May 2010. We weren't really that impressed - just wanted to spend 3 days in Bermuda! What didn't impress us was the fact that there was nothing to do at night for dancing. Their so-called disco or whatever had some good music for about an hour and then disintegrated into a very loud tape of some very bad electronic music - no one was there other than bartenders to complain to. Food was good but the lack of fun activities put a damper on things. Yes, we had a good time but we had a better time on Explorer of the Seas. We have another cruise booked this year on Brilliance and then we can compare properly! I think, however, that your group will make a good time whereever you are! We still had a good time on Summit - just not as good as EOS.

[Topo Gigio]

DH and I have sailed on Celebrity Summit May 2010. We weren't really that impressed - just wanted to spend 3 days in Bermuda! What didn't impress us was the fact that there was nothing to do at night for dancing. Their so-called disco or whatever had some good music for about an hour and then disintegrated into a very loud tape of some very bad electronic music - no one was there other than bartenders to complain to. Food was good but the lack of fun activities put a damper on things. Yes, we had a good time but we had a better time on Explorer of the Seas. We have another cruise booked this year on Brilliance and then we can compare properly! I think, however, that your group will make a good time whereever you are! We still had a good time on Summit - just not as good as EOS.

 

I also took in May 2010 a cruise to Bermuda on the Summit and wasn't impressed either. I took this cruise because in Jan 2010 I took a cruise on the Solstice and it was heaven, but it was a day and night difference between those 2 ships in just 4 months...especially the food

[seaofwonder]

What about doing Adventure out of San Juan? Bigger ship with the Promenade and possibly more activities. I'm limited to Spring Break in March because I'm a professor. We've done a few March cruises and haven't found the kids to be too bad.

 

Adventure is doing the same itineraries as Brilliance.

[bobgp]

In my opinion you can't go wrong with either ship. I've been on both and had excellent experiences on each one. They are approximately the same size with the Summit having less people on board. I think its more a matter of Royal Caribbean versus Celebrity. Which one will offer more of what you want.

 

I suggest you read the reviews on both to help make your choice.

[NorthCarolinaBelle]

Are any of your family members smokers? Celebrity Ships have no indoor smoking areas, and very few outside areas. Also, there is NO smoking on your balcony on Celebrity. Might be something to check on.

[Kryssa]

hanks everyone for the information! We are leaning toward X because we want to trying something with fewer kids, we are all non-smokers, and we aren't active late into the night, especially with five 8:00am ports!

[Cruising89143]

hanks everyone for the information! We are leaning toward X because we want to trying something with fewer kids, we are all non-smokers, and we aren't active late into the night, especially with five 8:00am ports!

 

We are booked on the Summit for November. The itinerary swayed us plus trying X for the first time. We love RCI but it's time for a change and try something different.:)

[chickadee1]

I have to admit - I loved the no smoking on the balcony. The man on the balcony next to me was smoking and when I complained, the ship sent someone right out to stop him. The ship called me to ask if the problem was solved and that night they sent a bottle of wine and a cheese and fruit plate to our stateroom. Very nicely handled.

My complaint about Summit is there just wasn't enough to do!

[lah66]

We had the same dilemma for our MArch 13, 2013 cruise. We had already been to St Kitts so we decided to sail Brilliance. And we are bringing our 15 yo DD and did not want her to be bored on the Summit. DH and I would love to try X though...i dont think we could do wrong with either.

[Virtopia]

I had this same dilemma and actually went with the Summit. It was $250 cheaper for the single supplement and it had a variety of islands that I wanted to visit.

 

I'm looking forward to it!

[Kevin's girl]

I'm looking at these two cruises myself. We are also looking at March 2013. We have sailed many times with RCI, and twice on X, both on Solstice class ships. We have wanted to try one of the other X class ships but really loved our cruise on the Serenade and I want to try the Brilliance. I'm really torn. We really liked the more grown up feel of X, and felt that it was just more classy than any of our RCI cruises. Just not sure which way I'll go.

[Vercat067]

They are both great ships, however if you want less kids, go for Summit.

[NorthCarolinaBelle]

I have to admit - I loved the no smoking on the balcony. The man on the balcony next to me was smoking and when I complained, the ship sent someone right out to stop him. The ship called me to ask if the problem was solved and that night they sent a bottle of wine and a cheese and fruit plate to our stateroom. Very nicely handled.

My complaint about Summit is there just wasn't enough to do!

 

We did not have the same results as you did! Someone kept smoking on the hump, down a few from us. We complained several times with no results, and finally the third day we complained and they sent an officer from guest relations, who we invited out on our balcony to see. Nothing else ever happened, and the guy continued to smoke for the rest of the cruise. My husband says it was because it was a Celebrity Suite and they didn't want to make a customer like that mad. :rolleyes:

 

I'm glad you had better results!

[jamin jul]

we are also looking at both the summit and the brilliance- I have never sailed with celebrity before . Does anyone know if they have the steel drum band by the pool like the RC ships?

[Langley Cruisers]

We are leaning toward X because we want to trying something with fewer kids, we are all non-smokers, and we aren't active late into the night, especially with five 8:00am ports!

 

Yes but remember night life is a choice - it really shouldn't matter what goes on past your bedtime. ;) If you're not interested, it doesn't affect you.

[roe2ship]

we are also looking at both the summit and the brilliance- I have never sailed with celebrity before . Does anyone know if they have the steel drum band by the pool like the RC ships?

Yes the Summit had the band....they just didn't play as often as on Royal.

[chickadee1]

Not as good music at EOS - but the weather wasn't great which is one reason we noted to lack of activities. The highlight of our week on ship was the tour of the kitchens! LOL.

[printingchick]

What about doing Adventure out of San Juan? Bigger ship with the Promenade and possibly more activities. I'm limited to Spring Break in March because I'm a professor. We've done a few March cruises and haven't found the kids to be too bad.

 

Adventure is doing the same itineraries as Brilliance.

 

If you're wanting to avoid children, Brilliance or Summit would be preferable to Adventure. Voyager Class ships attract more families with young children because they include things like the kids' water park, ice-skating, etc. I've sailed on both Serenade (sister to Brilliance) and Adventure doing similar itineraries and found FAR fewer kids on my Serenade cruise.

[hipster1]

My vote would be to try something new and go with the Summit especially since she has just been refurbished with some of the amenities that the Solstice class has. We love RCI, but my personal opinion is that the Brillliance needs to go into drydock soon!

 

Whichever cruise you choose, you will have fun no matter what cause you will be on vacation!:D

 

Allie

[cruiseclues]

For us, the food is much better on the Celebrity ships. :)

[mermaidofmanhattan]

Loved the Summit and my 14 and 9 (at the time) yr. old DS's did, too. The food was excellent and the service is wonderful.

 

I actually got to do a good bit of dancing and there was a lot of live music listening opportunities around.

 

You will never be bothered buy smoking on a Celebrity ship. Period.

 

It's not a party ship and it's not a climbing playground ship either, but my kids found friends and had a marvelous time.

 

To the OP: I think it would be great to go with a group of adult family members on the Summit.