Celebrity Cruises vs Royal Caribbean...

[TheD1gitalMe]

Hi Everyone,

 

I was just looking for your opinions on Royal Caribbean vs Celebrity cruises.

 

We have only ever cruised with Royal Caribbean as we really enjoy everything about them, but have recently been looking around at different cruises in terms of pricing and destinations and Celebrity keeps coming up.

 

I am 30 and my wife is nearly there too ;) so we just wanted to know what others thoughts were. The pro's and con's of each cruise line.

 

I will be posting this in the Royal forum as well.

Thanks in advance for your thoughts! :)

[Fish8993]

We have been loyal Royal cruisers. Last year we went on Celebrity and LOVED it. It's a different experience- very quite by the pools; no bartenders running around asking if you want drinks; nightlife ended at 1am; the have an alcohol drink package;food was better; shows were ok.

 

We are a little older 40&48. So late nights 3am/4am on Royal aren't part of what we could do anymore.

 

It just depends what you like to to while cruising. We have converted.

 

Hope this helps!

Annette

[olemissreb]

We only have had one cruise on each line, but Celebrity gets the nod for us. While I loved our Royal cruise, it was much more active than our Celebrity Cruise. Part of that could be because we had our boys with us, but I think part of it is also that there is so much to do on Royal that I wanted to take part in that was later at night (70s & 80s dance parties to be specific) - and then getting up early for our excursions the next day just about did me in!:)

Royal also had many, many, many announcements about bingo, art auctions, sales on the Promenade, activities, etc. where Celebrity had none of those. We also liked Celebrity's smoking policy - much stricter than Royal.

 

DH and I first sailed Celebrity for our 20th Anniversary (ages 41 & 42) and even though we were on a very port intensive cruise, we still felt very relaxed. We'll be on Celebrity again next summer - with our boys and another port intensive itinerary - so I'll have a more realistic comparison between the two lines then.

[JanineM]

Celebrity is "subdued" compared to Royal Caribbean. There are activities and entertainment, but not as raucous. You won't find as many people in the bars at night, but if you're looking for a bit quieter experience >>> with good food >>> then you'll enjoy Celebrity.

 

We are in our early 50s and have found a real range of ages. There will be couples in their 30s through those in their 80s, with a greater percentage between about 50 and 70. But some of those 70 year olds are crazier than I was at 30!

[NorthCarolinaBelle]

The main difference for us is the absence of smoking on Celebrity. We have sailed exclusively on RCI but got tired of the smoke everywhere, even in non-smoking areas. We tried Celebrity this past January. For the first time, we were able to go in the Casino (no luck:rolleyes:) and go into any bar we wanted. Also, there is no smoking on your balcony, so you don't have to worry about paying for a balcony and then not being able to use it.

 

Before I get flamed, rest assured that I am not one of those people who walk through smoking-allowed areas and then complain. I fully support people smoking where it is allowed, and I stay away from those areas.

[Proseknitic]

I have sailed several times on Royal and have more cruises booked. Took Celebrity this summer (change out from a wine tasting cruise whose dates didn't work). My husband adored the Millenium.

 

We both intensely dislike unneeded ship wide announcements. I can read the program, I don't need it read to me. I don't want to hear about sales, raffles and especially bingo.

 

Neither of us are smokers and I had given up completely on balcony's since paying the money and not being able use it do to someone nearby smoking (read RCL, NCL as moderate problems and MSC & Costa being just horrible).

 

I enjoyed the peace and quiet along with the slower pace. I like the multiple small music venues. RCL's food was better in the buffet, Celebrity's in the main dining room. I met great people on both cruises. RCL didn't hassle me about time spent on the treadmills; Celebrity imposes a time limit. But then there were not people standing in line on any of the RCL ships either.

 

I'm not really looking for a lot of entertainment or high buzz on sea days. Late night dancing really isn't my thing.

 

End result is that we will likely take family on Royal Caribbean (the teens and 20s like BIG ships) while my husband and I (or me solo) will probably gravitate toward Celebrity.

 

Does any of this help?

[tally10]

They each have their pros and cons. Our last cruise was on the Eclipse and we brought our then 31 year old daughter. It was a port intensive cruise and she loved it. The only thing that was lacking was that there was nothing to do after us old folks went to bed. She would mainly go listen to the music in one of the bars but the ship pretty much closed down later in the evening. She did say that this was the best time of her life. We loved the cruise also. I think Celebrity has the edge over RCI as far as food and service, but I also think that there is more to do on RCI. You really can't go wrong with either. It depends on what you are looking for in a cruise. Celebrity is pure relaxation and pretty sedate compared to RCI. I will say I do miss the mini golf, the sports court, and those type of acitivities that RCI offers. They are just different and you can't go wrong with either. To me, itinerary will win out every time!

[Hlitner]

We used to be very loyal RCI cruisers (have been Diamond for years) but feel that RCI sold-out many of their loyal customers when they changed the Diamond benefits. The line also seems to have made a decision to focus on mega-ships with relatively boring itineraries (there are some exceptions with their smaller ships) and we thought there were huge cut-backs in overall quality which started more then 5 years ago. Celebrity, on the other hand, offers a classier product which seems to usually be reflected in the types of passengers we meet onboard. You can almost see this by just looking at the various CC posts on each of their boards. One of the most popular topics on RCIs board is about "Rum Runners" and a current big thread is titled "When did cruising become trashy." IMHO you can learn a lot by the cruise lines by simply looking at the popular topics here on CC.

 

Hank

[mcrcruiser]

Royal is great for families with children;) .Celebrity age demographics are usually 40 -80 (some younger & some older ) .The main population is in the 40 -80 .

 

Celbrity perks are best at the Elite level & imo better than diamond plus perks. :D

 

We have found that the food ,service & entertainment on Celebrity is better over all than Royal :D

[alcpa1]

To be fair, and we are Diamond on RCI too, and top tier on Celebrity. It totally depends on the ship. There is nothing that matches the Oasis or Allure in the Celebrity fleet, then again there are no exhaustive announcements on Celebrity fleet wide.

A cruise is what you make it and if you are looking at a Caribbean cruise for example, then you have all of the options appealing to younger passengers (ie., beaches) on both lines. The shipboard experience is different. The ambiance on Celebrity is one of the line's strengths. The food is good, the cabins can be comparable. If the passengers tend to be older well, this can happen on any line on any given cruise except HAL which caters to older passengers no matter what the naysayers pipe in.

Determine what you value, first the itinerary, then the ship. I would love to take our DS and DDIL on a cruise and would not hesitate for one minute to book a Celebrity cruise.

Keep an open mind and make the most of the ship you choose.

[Mulege]

Your loyalty status will be carried over to Celebrity. Room service on X includes full meals not just continental breakfast. It is nice to have dinner or lunch on your balcony.

[stipmom]

Celebrity is quieter with better service and food. Royal will give you more activities .

[Expat...]

I've enjoyed all the RCI cruises I have been on and wouldn't hesitate in recommending one. I find Celebrity more relaxing for me, probably due to approaching my mid 40's and like the experience on Celebrity a bit more. Find service and food to have an advantage over Royal too.:)

[leonardofan]

Many years ago I was at an RCI/X sales training meeting and some big shot told us the difference was that RCI was for people for whom luxury

was a treat and X for people who expected luxury all the time.

 

It's clearly misusing the word "luxury" in both cases, but I think there is an underlying truth there--RCI is for people to collect individual memories

(We ate this meal, we saw that show, we participated in such and such an activity) while X provides a consistent level of attention.

 

Yer pays yer money and yer takes yer choice...

[sailorman43]

I have cruised on both RCL and celebrity. I agree that celebrity is more shall we say genteel. RCL seems to cater to a more party cruiser. However, My wife and have a celebrity cruise for September and we will be on the Allure with RCL in December. We have cruised on the Oasis last year. It was a great experience. We prefer the M class ships on celebrity. We found that the larger S class ships while being beautiful they do not have enough bars or dance places as the smaller ships. RCL on the other hand does. We enjoy both and I am not a spring chicken approaching 70 very soon. It really is a matter of taste. They are both good

[greydog]

Just off Enchantment-Seas Aug-17. We have about 10 RCL trips and 20 on Celeb. We will lean heavily again on Celeb in future. Smoking and frequent announcements on RCL bothersome. More families with kids on RCL usually - juveniles acting like juveniles. On Enchantment quite a few male adults wore open collar shirts to MDR on formal nights. At least adding a tie would be nice.

 

Celeb's 'elite' offers free happy hours while RCL 'diamond' offers free soda, wine and 20% discount on cocktails. We each have 2 drinks at Celeb H-hour and service treatment was great.

 

We have no interest trying RCL's mega-ships ever.

 

I asked an RCL cruiser (over 100 trips) if he ever tried Celebrity and he said he found Celeb pax 'snobby'. I would say there were alot of 'professional' folks on Celeb - teachers, policemen, pilots, bus mgrs, etc.

 

I'd do RCL if a better itinerary but for upscale relaxation we're sticking with Celeb. Happy Cruising