Jump to content

Tell me what you like best?


beamqueen
 Share

Recommended Posts

Okay- so my husband and I are 25. We have only sailed with Carnival. We enjoy Carnival a lot and have a lot of fun! We have a cruise booked with them coming up and I am sure we will enjoy it.

Now we have a cruise on hold with Celebrity on Summit. I have only done minimal research on it but know it's an older ship. We enjoy the older ships on Carnival just fine so not an issue. I am just not sure if we will like Celebrity? I've honestly never thought about it before but we saw a GREAT deal. It is on a Caribbean cruise-- 6 nights. So what do you like best about Celebrity? Can those who have sailed and enjoy Carnival tell me their thoughts? We do enjoy the nightlife on Carnival and the energy! But-- we are not picky people and totally open to change! And for such a good deal...why not!
Link to comment
Share on other sites

You'll find that Celebrity is a lot more laid back. It doesn't have the vibe of a Carnival cruise as the crowd tends to be a little older. If a night life is what you enjoy, chances are you won't find it on Celebrity.

I would also say that Celebrity has some of the best food on the sea.

Also, the Summit is a really good ship. We will be on her in October for the 3rd time heading from NY to the Caribbean. Te staff is also top notch.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Let me first say that I have enjoyed several carnival cruises.
The main difference to me is a more refined experience. No hairy chest or cannonball contests by the pool. Fewer announcements. Better behaved guests.

You might miss the "energy" of carnival. We did not.
We relax, read, unwind on a cruise.
Carnival? Well it's more like spring break, party,party,party. Drink,drink,drink. Repeat.

By the way, royal Caribbean, seems to us to be somewhere between the two experiences.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Summit is a good choice. I have sailed on many ships. Summit is a top pick. I love the new Solstice ships. Just sailed on the Eclipse. Nice ship with a lot of older guests. Summit attracts a younger crowd. Summit has charm...great staff, good service, and cake. It is one of a few ships that can bake a good cake. I have been on Summit twice and have 3 more cruises booked. You will love the Summit.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

[quote name='justcrusn']Let me first say that I have enjoyed several carnival cruises.
The main difference to me is a more refined experience. No hairy chest or cannonball contests by the pool. Fewer announcements. Better behaved guests.

You might miss the "energy" of carnival. We did not.
We relax, read, unwind on a cruise.
Carnival? Well it's more like spring break, party,party,party. Drink,drink,drink. Repeat.

By the way, royal Caribbean, seems to us to be somewhere between the two experiences.[/QUOTE]
[FONT="Comic Sans MS"][SIZE="3"][COLOR="Blue"]I'm in agreement with the above. I can enjoy Carnival when we go with a group or friends but Celebrity is now "our" line. Quieter, more romantic, relaxing, upscale. It is however an older crowd, less diverse and not much night life compared to Carnival. Being honest, at 25 Celebrity wouldn't have been my choice. [/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT]
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm 29 and hubby a very young at heart 40 year old! Our first Celebrity cruise was when I was 24 and we loved it. So much so that we had our honeymoon on the Equinox and are due to sail on her again in April.

We've had no inclination to try Carnival as it seems too brass and loud for us.

It depends what you want from a holiday but with Celebrity, you will find a mixture of age groups to chat to, lovely food, trivia, a few game show type events but more importantly, plenty of time to relax and chill out. We've never wanted to party until 2am as don't want to come back from a holiday needing another one as we're still tired! I do know on all our cruises though, we are easily out partied every night. I'd guess it depends how port intensive the cruise is but to quote my mum and dad 'even us oldies like to have a good time' when I commented on them staying up later than us!

If it's only 6 nights, I'd give it a go. Edited by Cooso
Link to comment
Share on other sites

[quote name='Jane2357'][FONT="Comic Sans MS"][SIZE="3"][COLOR="Blue"]I'm in agreement with the above. I can enjoy Carnival when we go with a group or friends but Celebrity is now "our" line. Quieter, more romantic, relaxing, upscale. It is however an older crowd, less diverse and not much night life compared to Carnival. Being honest, at 25 Celebrity wouldn't have been my choice. [/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT][/QUOTE]

I was right in the ballpark of 25 when we took our first Celebrity cruise. My husband was 23. We both fell in love with the line, but I will say that neither of us loves to party and we had no other sailings with other lines to compare it to. I think at that age it really depends on the person and what they're looking for in a vacation! :)
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Wife and I are both 29. I have been cruising since my early teens and been on Royal and Norwegian. My wife has been on Royal and Disney and by far our favorite is Celebrity. Based on what we have seen/heard in reviews, neither of us have a desire to try Carnival. In fact, we are both very happy with the "blend" and product that Celebrity offers. Our honeymoon was on Royal and while it was great (because it was our honeymoon), we both wish it would have been on X (dates didn't work on X).

We are both pretty outgoing and like to gamble, hang out by the pool and have drinks throughout the cruise at least while in the Caribbean. We have always found Celebrity to be just about a perfect fit for our preferences in nightlife, organized activities, and other amenities. I do wish the food would get back to closer to the days of Michel Roux but overall we really have no reason to book elsewhere.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think it depends of what you want to do on your cruise.I go on carnival with a bunch of girls. We can act silly and have a blast doing it. There's always something going on and tons of places to go late into the night! Now for Celebrity I go with my husband.. Slower paced, more "mature" passengers, more refined. Not that we get bored, we totaly relax, spend time together the Summit has a wonderful "T" pool for adults where the warm water "waves" Its kinda like a huge hot tub--just wonderful. The food is good It all depends of what you want. There is entertainment and dancing I dont mean to make it sound like it's boring its just not the neon party boat like carnival .
Link to comment
Share on other sites

[quote name='beamqueen']Okay- so my husband and I are 25. We have only sailed with Carnival. We enjoy Carnival a lot and have a lot of fun! We have a cruise booked with them coming up and I am sure we will enjoy it.

Now we have a cruise on hold with Celebrity on Summit. I have only done minimal research on it but know it's an older ship. We enjoy the older ships on Carnival just fine so not an issue. I am just not sure if we will like Celebrity? I've honestly never thought about it before but we saw a GREAT deal. It is on a Caribbean cruise-- 6 nights. So what do you like best about Celebrity? Can those who have sailed and enjoy Carnival tell me their thoughts? We do enjoy the nightlife on Carnival and the energy! But-- we are not picky people and totally open to change! And for such a good deal...why not![/QUOTE]

I will approach this a different way...especially since you ask what "we like best"...

First off, I've cruised on eight different cruise lines...including four cruises on Carnival...

I long ago decided that I much prefer Celebrity...here's why:

One of the things I don't like about Carnival is that the ships are very, very, crowded...Very poor space-per-passenger ratios...It results in long lines, difficulty finding a table at the buffet, the necessity to show up at the showroom long before the actual show time and more...

Celebrity ships ar FAR LESS CROWDED...Take a look at the number of gross tons vis-a-vis the number of passengers. This is the Space-per-passenger ratio. Even at "Double occupancy, Celebrity is far better. But add in that, due to Carnival's marketing strategies, they fill far more third and fourth berths than anyone else in the industry...so those passenger figures for Carnival are actually much higher...and the ships even more crowded.

Celebrity, with the less crowded ships, feel much more relaxed...the service is much better, the venues less crowded...

Celebrity has just as many things going on, just as many bars, lounges, showrooms and other venues...they are just far less frenzied...You still will find dancing, karaoke, piano bar, pool area, spa activities, shows, trivia games, etc. (Okay, you may not find some of Carnival's less classy activities like hairy chest contests)...but you will be able to find just as much to do...It's just that it may be scaled down a little...but, remember, getting herded around en masse doesn't necessarily mean "fun"...

On Carnival, activities do tend to stay large late into the night...On Celebrity, you may find things quieting down a little very late into the night--but there are still things going on...

Carnival may have a younger demographic...But Celebrity's demographic DOES tend to span all ages...

So, you may not find that same late night "party atmosphere", but you will find a more elegant, relaxing cruise...with far more exceptional service and far less hassle...

Once you try Celebrity, you may never want to go back to Carnival...
Link to comment
Share on other sites

What we like best is the laid back atmosphere, the attentiveness of the crew, the glass of sparkling wine they give us at embarkation, the welcome back drinks and cold towels they greet us when we return from shore, the food, did I mention the staff? (awesome!)

My husband loves to dance and when we were on the Summit last year he went off to "disco night" and didn't come back till 3:30 a.m. So there are later activities around the ship but obviously if no one attends them then they don't keep them open.

We've found people of all ages on our Celebrity cruises. The martini bar was fun. We met quite a few people there.

If you found a great deal, why not try it out? If you decide that Carnival is still your favourite then at least you will have compared it to something else. Or maybe you will have two favourite lines to cruise on.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

(For reference...on my first Celebrity cruise I was 33.)
What I like best about Celebrity is the ability to relax and not worry about the little things.
Being treated like a grown up is a perk too! Like if I need another pool towel, I get one. I do not have to check my wet towel in or risk loosing my "deposit" on the towel.
I love the beverage packages and being able to go get any drink I want at any time.
I love feeling pampered by the staff.
I like the variety of activities and the option to do nothing.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Celebrity has a better drink package plus the overall quality of drinks is a lot better.

The drink pack as part of a promo is also hard to beat. It also includes coffee, water, soft drinks and juices and quantity it is not limited.

drink up ☕️🍷🍺🍹🍻🍸
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Please sign in to comment

You will be able to leave a comment after signing in



Sign In Now
 Share

  • Forum Jump
    • Categories
      • Welcome to Cruise Critic
      • Hurricane Zone 2024
      • Cruise Insurance Q&A w/ Steve Dasseos of Tripinsurancestore.com June 2024
      • New Cruisers
      • Cruise Lines “A – O”
      • Cruise Lines “P – Z”
      • River Cruising
      • ROLL CALLS
      • Cruise Critic News & Features
      • Digital Photography & Cruise Technology
      • Special Interest Cruising
      • Cruise Discussion Topics
      • UK Cruising
      • Australia & New Zealand Cruisers
      • Canadian Cruisers
      • North American Homeports
      • Ports of Call
      • Cruise Conversations
×
×
  • Create New...