Is celebrity better than royal caribean??

[cruisetrail]

I like good bars, good food, good pool area,nice staterooms and not too many kids! I don't really take part in most of the activities on royal also so yoga and bingo etc is not important to me.

 

I rank RCI above Celebrity d/t design flaws of S-Class ships.

 

We do not participate in any so-called activities on cruise ships.

We don't sit in bars and casino.

Our activity is the ship and the sea. Of course, we like good food and comfort features like a good spa.

The Allure/Oasis have outclassed Celebrity in all aspects except food.

No questions.

Freedom class?

I prefer RCI Freedom class.

Celebrity S-Class is the only major design that has no separate open pool area for adults (even Costa has!) - we had to stay in crammed pool area with screeming kids. Covered pool is not for us - we are in the Caribbean!

We enjoy wrap-around promenade deck on the Freedom class - it's a part of our cruise life. Nothing close on the Celebrity S-Class.

Balconies - no problem to choose a balcony on the Freedom ships - no obstructions, no problems.

It's a pain on Celebrity - lifeboats spoil the view on lower deck, huge overhang with struts covers upper balconies.

Food overall (especially extra charge restaurants) is better on Celebrity, but it's not a compensation for the lack of amenities.

If you like comfortable and relaxing ships with more space and less kids - try HAL Signature class ships (two ships). They are more comfortable than Celebrity, have all the amenities including excellent spa with hydropool, they are warmer in atmosphere, maritime theme in decor, better food. Much more European feel as they resemble a style of classic ocean liners. Wow atrium - no. Wow sea views - yes.

 

If you want to try Celebrity - think of the Eclipse.

[norn iron]

Great thanks for that. We're the same. We just like chilling out at the pool having some drinks and some good food. We don't really take part in too many of the organised activities. Love the English/Irish bar on RCI as its most like a proper pub and it tends to be the most fun. We just came back from our last cruise last weekend and although I loved it it had just lost a wee bit of the magic I normally feel when I'm onboard plus there was serious hustle and bustle around the pool area particularly. Think I'm definately swaying toward trying celebrity next year.

 

All the pubs in England and Ireland are smoke free, this cant be said of the pub on board RCI ships

[deelastcre]

I prefer Celebrity, but I enjoy the entertainment on Royal. If you want a relaxing cruise with good food and enriching seminars, try Celebrity. If you like activities and great entertainment and a night life, choose Royal. I now cruise for destinations so the night life and entertainment is not a big plus for me.

I forgot to mention the smoking policy on Celebrity is great for non-smokers!

[DonnaK]

We are loyal Royals who just returned from our first Celebrity cruise onboard the Summit. We were very impressed with the higher level of service, and with the amount and quality of the entertainment, particularly the live music. For example, Summit had 3 production shows on a 7 day cruise compared to two on Royal, plus the singers performed two additional "concerts". There were 6 lead singers compared to 4 on Royal, and the Celebrity singers also danced in the shows (while singing). There was live music all over the ship, and it was excellent! We loved passing through a lounge on our way to/from dinner and listening to the piano singer (Jordan Peterson!) or the a cappella quartet (The Crewners!), or the other live musicians/singers. WE are usually active participants on a cruise, and we thought that the activities onboard Summit was excellent (and Steve the CD was very dynamic and did a great job!)

 

The weakest point on our cruise was the buffet, which has a lousy set-up, long lines, and the food trays were not replenished in a timely fashion. Another weak spot was the Solarium, which often had children in it, and a huge chair hog issue. As well, the Solarium pool turned green mid-cruise, and had a scummy substance floating on the surface and accumulating in the corners of the pool, which wasn't corrected for two days.

 

There were a lot of families on our sailing, perhaps because of the itinerary, disembarkation port, and the fact that it was the last week of summer holidays in the northeast.

 

We did not miss the WOW factor of RCI ships. Nor did we miss the more active/sporty environment.

[micmacmissy]

We thought Celebrity felt like a more refined, sophisticated experience. A few things that cheapened our Royal Caribbean experience:

 

-having to sign out pool towels

-more overhead announcements

-salespeople pushing flyers on you as you walked thru the promenade

-belly flop pool competitions

-people in the dining room dressed inappropriately (guy wearing tuxedo tshirt, cowboy hat, and dirty jeans on formal night? and no one from the staff said anything. ew.)

-Few early evening music options. Most things seemed to start at 10:30pm or later.

 

Things that Celebrity had that were nicer touches:

-Champagne as you board the ship

-Ice water under canopy as you reboard the ship at ports

-More folks respecting fellow passengers by dressing according to the rules.

-Lots of live, pre-dinner lounge areas to relax

-Better food

 

As far as shows are concerned, we found them to be of similar quality. We are late 30s/early 40s, and found both lines to be a lot of fun. We chose Royal for the last one, because we thought the kids would enjoy the bells and whistles (mini golf, promenade, flow rider, etc.) Funny...the kids wound up relaxing on the balcony, reading, and probably would have enjoyed Celebrity just as much!

[Twin A]

We are loyal Royals who just returned from our first Celebrity cruise onboard the Summit. We were very impressed with the higher level of service, and with the amount and quality of the entertainment, particularly the live music. For example, Summit had 3 production shows on a 7 day cruise compared to two on Royal, plus the singers performed two additional "concerts". There were 6 lead singers compared to 4 on Royal, and the Celebrity singers also danced in the shows (while singing). There was live music all over the ship, and it was excellent! We loved passing through a lounge on our way to/from dinner and listening to the piano singer (Jordan Peterson!) or the a cappella quartet (The Crewners!), or the other live musicians/singers. WE are usually active participants on a cruise, and we thought that the activities onboard Summit was excellent (and Steve the CD was very dynamic and did a great job!)

 

The weakest point on our cruise was the buffet, which has a lousy set-up, long lines, and the food trays were not replenished in a timely fashion. Another weak spot was the Solarium, which often had children in it, and a huge chair hog issue. As well, the Solarium pool turned green mid-cruise, and had a scummy substance floating on the surface and accumulating in the corners of the pool, which wasn't corrected for two days.

 

There were a lot of families on our sailing, perhaps because of the itinerary, disembarkation port, and the fact that it was the last week of summer holidays in the northeast.

 

We did not miss the WOW factor of RCI ships. Nor did we miss the more active/sporty environment.

 

I'm so glad to hear some positive things about the Summit, especially with regard to the music. My husband and I love listening to live music in the lounges, in the atrium, etc. We've been on 2 RCL cruises and are going on our first X cruise on the Summit next fall. We enjoy cruising with RCL, but the Summit had the better itinerary (IMO) and the price was right.

 

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2

[shipshape sam]

"Better" is very subjective. It. Is better for me since I don't do the activities on Royal. However, if I'd take my grand kids I would chose Royal. celebrity is more sophisticated. Better dining in MDR And fine specialty restaurants. The answer to your question is it depends on what you're looking for.

 

 

Very good response.

 

We like both, depending on what we want on a particular sailing. As an example, we wanted to go to Labadee, so we are sailing on Royal next cruise. Celebrity does go to Labadee, but it is not often. We wanted a private island experience this time and wanted to go between Thanksgiving and Christmas, so.........

 

In 2014, we will sail Celebrity again. Want to also sail Allure again in 2014 or 2015.

[Silvery Seas Cruiser]

We sail both Celebrity and Royal depending on itinerary or what is convenient at the moment, but I confess I love Solstice Class ships and really apprecate the fact that Celebrity has a strict non-smoking policy including no smoking on the balconies.

 

Every time we sail, including Allure just last July, I try my best to convince Rpyal to change their balcony smoking policy when I fill out the Customer Satifaction survey--all to no avail. Hopefully now that Disney has seen the light and will end balcony smoking soon on their ships, Royal will not be far behind.

 

I also really enjoy the on Celebrity. They seem to have more of it in more places on the ship and earlier than Royal.

 

It is hard to beat Allure and Oasis for all around entertainment variety and numbers of restaurant choices, but I do really enjoy our cruises on Celebrity.

[Big-Don]

My wife and I have sailed on both and prefer X a little more.

We are at the top level on both loyalty club lists. (Very nice)

In the last 12 months we have taken the Infinity through the

Panama Canal and to Antarctica.

This month we are doing the Solstice for the first time; Honolulu

to Sydney and B2B Sydney to Sydney for 30 days in the South

Pacific.

Next year we have booked the Solstice on B2B cruises and a

transatlantic on the Oasis of he Seas.

[sevenseasnomad]

I like good bars, good food, good pool area,nice staterooms and not too many kids! I don't really take part in most of the activities on royal also so yoga and bingo etc is not important to me.

 

Be careful when you book. On holiday cruises aboard X, you'll find tons of kids. One of our cruises (February winter break for most of the northeastern schools) was ruined by kids (and their parents' lack of supervision) taking over the adult Solarium area, running up and down hallways, hitting all the buttons on the elevators, breaking in lines, shoving adults, and showing up at midnight in lounges restricted to over 21 after 11 at night.

 

When security officers detained one 15 yr-old and called the child's parents, the father cussed out the officers for waking him up. It was 1:30 in the morning! We witnessed similar incidents the entire week. Near the end of the cruise, we gauged reactions from some of the crew, who by this time were allowing kids to do just about anything because they were exhausted from being yelled at by parents who were just as rude and abusive as their kids. A couple crew members said that they'd just given up trying to maintain any order. We've never wanted to disembark any ship, but on this particular cruise, we couldn't wait to get off that ship.

 

In all honesty, it was not Celebrity's fault, but our fellow passengers who refused to control their children. We've been on 3 RCI cruises & 2 Celebrity. I'm currently booked on an upcoming 2014 X cruise. Unless you book during a school break, I'd agree on most of the assessments that Celebrity is more laid-back, with less announcements which is very nice.

 

You won't know until you try X. Just book when school's in session, please.

[MicCanberra]

Be careful when you book. On holiday cruises aboard X, you'll find tons of kids. One of our cruises (February winter break for most of the northeastern schools) was ruined by kids (and their parents' lack of supervision) taking over the adult Solarium area, running up and down hallways, hitting all the buttons on the elevators, breaking in lines, shoving adults, and showing up at midnight in lounges restricted to over 21 after 11 at night.

 

When security officers detained one 15 yr-old and called the child's parents, the father cussed out the officers for waking him up. It was 1:30 in the morning! We witnessed similar incidents the entire week. Near the end of the cruise, we gauged reactions from some of the crew, who by this time were allowing kids to do just about anything because they were exhausted from being yelled at by parents who were just as rude and abusive as their kids. A couple crew members said that they'd just given up trying to maintain any order. We've never wanted to disembark any ship, but on this particular cruise, we couldn't wait to get off that ship.

 

In all honesty, it was not Celebrity's fault, but our fellow passengers who refused to control their children. We've been on 3 RCI cruises & 2 Celebrity. I'm currently booked on an upcoming 2014 X cruise. Unless you book during a school break, I'd agree on most of the assessments that Celebrity is more laid-back, with less announcements which is very nice.

 

You won't know until you try X. Just book when school's in session, please.

This can happen on nearly any school holiday /spring break type cruise with nearly any cruise line (perhaps not all).:D

[bikn4fn]

This was all very good information. As you can see by our signature, we've been on RCCL. Our next cruise is with X. As is with most of the postings, you have to take everything with a grain of salt and not take everything as gospel. All in all, X sounds very promising.

[MicCanberra]

This was all very good information. As you can see by our signature, we've been on RCCL. Our next cruise is with X. As is with most of the postings, you have to take everything with a grain of salt and not take everything as gospel. All in all, X sounds very promising.

I am sure you will enjoy your cruise,:D

[Onessa]

We typically like the smaller RCCI ships (Radiance-class or smaller, Voyeger-class OK, bigger than that "no thanks") Solcitise-class Celebrity is wonderful. Not as much of the "whiz bang" on-board activities (no climbing wall, no skating rinks, no wave riders) but always a very lovely cruise.

 

If you cruise for all of the on-board "what can we do next" sort of stuff, RCCI is a better choice. If you cruise for fine dining and lovely atmosphere - both are great. If you prefer having a larger number of smaller venue music performances, X may well be a better choice.

[DiamondSuiteCruiser]

We cruised on both lines last year, and there is very little to separate the two brands. The only major plus on Celebrity is their smoking policy

 

Also you won't here a lot of announcements and the annoying BINGO BINGO BINGO come play Bingo. Celebrity it more relaxing.

 

The smoking policy is changing on RCI soon as we'll, so it will not be as bad after 1 Jan 2014.

[MrCruising68]

Great photos with detailed information.

This is an excellent preview for anyone who is planning, or even considering a cruise on the Solstice.

 

Thanks for posting the link.

 

 

Thanks for you positive appraisal, Varoo. It's great that I/we get to share our cruise experiences with others and it helps that I LOVE putting together the blog reviews/overviews of each ship we cruise on. It's a labour of love but sooooo worth it!

[MicCanberra]

 

The smoking policy is changing on RCI soon as we'll, so it will not be as bad after 1 Jan 2014.

 

I think this is a really positive move on their part.:D

[Sparky333]

Regarding sailing during Christmas holiday that posters mentioned above -- would you expect lots of children the week prior to Christmas or just the week of the 25th and through New Year's? We're booked on X Dec 15 to 22, 2013 and I never considered there might be more children on board than usual.

[MicCanberra]

Regarding sailing during Christmas holiday that posters mentioned above -- would you expect lots of children the week prior to Christmas or just the week of the 25th and through New Year's? We're booked on X Dec 15 to 22, 2013 and I never considered there might be more children on board than usual.

 

I would imagine that there will be a few more families on board.:D

[We're The Groupnors]

Regarding sailing during Christmas holiday that posters mentioned above -- would you expect lots of children the week prior to Christmas or just the week of the 25th and through New Year's? We're booked on X Dec 15 to 22, 2013 and I never considered there might be more children on board than usual.

 

Sounds like we may be on the same cruise...

 

I don't think school gets out for the holidays until the 20th, so I don't expect we'll see too many kids on board unless parents choose to pull their kids out early.

[lcmslady]

As you can see in my signature, it's been a while since I've sailed on RCI but I've come to love Celebrity for many of the reasons mentioned above.

 

No constant announcements.

More refined and sophisticated

I love the music available all over the ship in the evening. I usually find a lounge that I like, settle in with a drink and listen to whoever is performing that evening.

 

No smoking is huge for me.

 

I tend to sail when school is in session so kids aren't a big factor. You will still see some whose parents pulled them out of school but it's really no big deal. Even on the Christmas cruise when there were over 400, it really wasn't that bad.

 

Whatever you do, it's still a cruise and a cruise is a good thing

[MissCruising1]

Regarding sailing during Christmas holiday that posters mentioned above -- would you expect lots of children the week prior to Christmas or just the week of the 25th and through New Year's? We're booked on X Dec 15 to 22, 2013 and I never considered there might be more children on board than usual.

 

Being the holidays generally yes but the cruise lines still has a maximum number of children allowed ie: they 'cap' age groups for kids club reasons, safety and probably to keep everyone happy! However Celebrity seems to attract couples more than a lot of families (another difference to RCI)

[MicCanberra]

Being the holidays generally yes but the cruise lines still has a maximum number of children allowed ie: they 'cap' age groups for kids club reasons, safety and probably to keep everyone happy! However Celebrity seems to attract couples more than a lot of families (another difference to RCI)

 

There are no Climbing walls/water slide type activities on board X.:D

[Cruise a holic]

I've just returned from my 4th royal carribean cruise. I have sailed on liberty , twice on adventure and once on navigator. I do love royal but have found some of the entertainment etc to be a bit repetitive at this stage. I've heard celebrity is good. Has anyone any experience of both cruise companies and any opinions on which is better? Or indeed if anyone has found any other company better than royal carribean? I'm afraid to book with another company incase I don't enjoy it as much because its an expensive holiday! Any help would be appreciated! Sharon.

 

Loving both, it depends. Nothing beats the Allure and the Oasis if you are looking for choice and facilities from kids to adults. So many options for entertainment and dining. Even many different staterooms. We totally enjoy those ships. Well organizaed and great crowd control! Very high tech also.

 

When we are interested in a relaxing more adult vacation, we totally enjoy celebrity, especially the new big ships. Also great speciality restaurants, not as many choices as RC and good entertainment. Limited announcements and more restricted smoking policy. Also no smoking in casino. The drink packages on Celebrity much better and more cost effective then RC.

 

You cannot go wrong with either! In January 2014, we are sailing one week on the Silhouette and the second week on the Allure. The best of both worlds.

[cruisetrail]