If you are trying Celebrity after Loving a different line

[FireEater]

As you can tell by looking lower, we have tried numerous cruise lines. They all have their good, bad, and ugly. They all have their own way of working within their business plan.

 

I personally like Norwegian Cruise Line better, having only been on 2 cruises with them. Staff have been top notch. Food has always been good. Price was within my range for suites at one time, but that I think, has diminished. No pushy sales for photo's or taking of photo's. Officers walk around during the day and at dinners to chat with people.

 

I would not hesitate to do any repeat business on any though, and will. But in the mean time, I want to try Celebrity and MSC before repeat cruise lines, just to see how it is, and for a change.

[Cruise Arizona]

How are you all? We are still loyal X fans...and were lucky enough to make "Elite Plus" when they rearranged everything...so...while I hate the name..I do love the perks!! Our DD works for Princess and we don't sail on them anymore...our experience has been very poor food and really old ships!! But that was our choice to be able to cruise with her!! (re the ship part!!)

 

 

Hope you are all well... I bet the "kids" are very grown up by now...I so remember them on the cruise in '05...such great little entertainers! Wow...10 years ago...I bet they are in college??? LuAnn

 

Just to give you an Up-Date, I'm in CA now, Ventura County. My son is all grown up and freshman at U of A. Daughter is very getting ready for senior year of high school.

 

We just did our first Princess in Feb, the RT Hawaii, like we did with you guys in 2005. What a great cruise that was. This Princess one was nice, but I might give a slight edge to that one 10 years ago on the Infinity for the over all experience. We came off that cruise feeling like we'd definitely do Princess again, but that we still prefer Celebrity. See if you can find me on that other social media page, I'd love to catch up.

[hvsteve1]

Our first three cruises (other than Mississippi Queen) were on Regent. That was because my wife never wanted to cruise because of stories she had heard over the years about crowding, having to eat at a specific time with the same group of people (our experience on the Queen), being constantly sold stuff, etc. I finally discovered Regent on line and found a TA recommended by the line. We took an Alaska cruise and were sold. Eat when you want and sit with who you want or by yourselves, no tipping, no charge for anything, a very high staff to passenger ratio and a very upscale fellow passenger. Even on the shore excursions we could see how much better we were treated than folks on excursions from other ships. We followed with two other cruises then took a break while I took early retirement and we moved south.

 

When we went to get back into cruising, Regent had made their cruises more inclusive and the price had become more than we wanted to spend. Our TA suggested we might like HAL as a less expensive but still somewhat upscale line. We did those two cruises and didn't feel the magic. Then he called and said he could get a deal on Celebrity that was more like what we were used to on Regent. We would be in Aqua Class and have the private BLU restaurant. We also got the full 1,2,3 promotion which made the cruise essentially as all inclusive as Regent had been with included gratuities, a beverage card and OBC for other incidental costs. We sailed on Silhouette and, to be honest, this was on a par with our Regent experience in many ways. We still didn't have the super luxe feel, but it was, otherwise, a great week. We booked another cruise for next year with and even better 1,2,3 package and a Sky Suite, which puts us almost on the level of the more basic suites on Regent.

 

The one thing we find annoying on Celebrity is, even though drinks are included, we have to keep showing our sea pass and wait for it to be scanned. With everything included for everyone on Regent, you need only ask for what you want and never get questioned as to if you are entitled. Other than that, we think "X" has hit the sweet spot for us so far as price and product.

[ImaginationCruiseBride]

We haven't cruised on Celebrity yet. Our Celebrity cruise is in 29 days. We have sailed a few other lines, but mostly on Carnival. We are retired, he is 54 and I am 52, and both retired, although I do work part time for a friend who just started up his company, anyway....we really like that on Carnival there is so much to do no matter what mood you are in. We found HAL to be boring, and the sea days seemed so long, although we did get a lot of napping in. We also have a cruise booked in 2016 with Oceana. We chose Celebrity for our Alaskan cruise because we liked the itinerary and the Celebrity Alaskan cruises were so much cheaper than any of the other lines, so we couldn't justify taking Carnival, Princess or HAL...not that we would have taken HAL again. We had planned on Princess, but the morning (I was actually on hold with Princess at the time) I was going to book with Princess, I got an email with a deal that couldn't be beat on Celebrity. The people in our roll call are amazing and I'm looking forward to it. Before I found our roll call all I had to go on was this board, and I was just a hair away from cancelling our cruise and spending the extra several hundred dollars to go with another line because some of the people (especially in the dress code thread) are so hateful, stuck-up, pompous jerks, and definitely not the kind of people we choose to be around. Thankfully, I found our roll call before I cancelled. This board certainly doesn't do Celebrity any favors. Anyway, I'll let you know the first of June after we get home whether Celebrity won us over or not.

[north east girl]

We did Cunard up to 2 years ago. We'd probably still be with them if they did more Caribbean trips. Cunard does more business over in Europe than here. Our TA suggested Celebrity & we've done the Eclipse twice. We found this ship seems pretty close to Cunard in food quality & following dresscodes(we like to dress up a bit)

 

Hi Keithm, we are Cunard fans having sailed with them quite a few times now. We are trying Celebrity Eclipse for the first time in June this year. We are in Aqua class, I've been reading lots of positive reviews about Blu.

 

What would you say that stands out the most between the 2 cruise lines. What we like about Cunard is the dressing up on an evening. I take long gowns and my husband takes his Tux. Would you say for a formal evening do celebrity guests dress for the occasion.

 

Catherine

[Cruise Arizona]

some of the people (especially in the dress code thread) are so hateful, stuck-up, pompous jerks, and definitely not the kind of people we choose to be around.

 

 

Celebrity curisers are not all :) stuck-up, pompous jerks, - we just play them on cruise critic.:D

 

Never judge a cruise line by the people on CruiseCritic, but look at the overall information provided by them. The majority of cruisers never even post here. I'm sure you see some of the same attitude, but maybe in reverse over on the Carnival Boards, just as annoying and judgmental but maybe with the - "I'd be board to death" and "people go to bed at 9 pm" kind of attitude. It is easy for you to brush it off because you know how genuine, kind and funloving the people are with which you have sailed on Carnival.

 

I started this thread because I had been away from boards for a while and with my upcoming cruise I'd been getting caught up on the latest information. I noticed several people posting on here who had not sailed with Celebrity but where actively participating in the conversation, so I was curious about why they were willing to give Celebrity a try after many cruises with another line. (and quite frankly the negativity that I sometimes see on this board.)

 

I just wanted to add that the most helpful reviews and critiques are ones that provide details about why someone liked something over another. For example on my Royal Caribbean cruise in Dec, instead of individulally plated deserts in the buffet area they had large platters of mousse and jello with a spoon. You scooped out your own serving rather than having an individually plated dessert. One of the first things I noticed on my Princess cruise was the beautifully individually plated desserts. Conversely I read a review of the Solstice on which I will be sailing in June, that critized the cute little dessert servings. Apparently the guest would have preferred to be able to do it the other way. That is why I say cruising is subjective.

 

Another example, is that when making the comparison between service on that Royal Caribbean cruise with my Mom who went with me and my recent Princess cruise or any Celebrity cruise was that once you sat down at your place you had to go get your beverage, or vice versa. On Princes and Celebrity, someone comes to take your order after you've sat down. Mom said she'd rather save $300 on the price of the cruise and go get her drink herself. Everyone is different.

[ImaginationCruiseBride]

I agree that, especially the dress code thread does no favors to Celebrity but as I said our roll call is amazing, and I'm starting to think that perhaps one little man is several of the "different" posters with the snotty attitude. And truthfully we are newly weds so perfectly happy to only interact with each other if that is the way it turns out. We use cruising as a convenient transportation mode to get us from port to port so the time on ship is rather minimal outside of dinner and shows.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[cmalagngl]

We have sailed NCL (Not since the Norway, still our best cruise) 11 Carnival, 4 RCL but not in over 8 years, 3 Princess and now 4 Celebrity including the XPedition. Our next two cruises are booked on Celebrity. Why, great atmosphere, we are in our early 60's but still enjoy a really good time. We have advanced from beer to martini's so the Martini Bar is a plus. Food has always been very good in MDR. We thought the specialty restaurants were a really good way to use our on board credit. We just sailed with family on Carnival and had a great cruise. The evening bar entertainment (Single performers) was excellent on Carnival.

 

The ultimate reason why we are now choosing Celebrity is the competitive pricing if you book early. Our next two Celebrity cruises are in Europe the fall of 2016 and the Western Caribean and New Orleans Mardi Gras cruise in 2017. Both purchased at excellent prices with all three 123 perks in January 2015. BUT THE REAL REASON IS THE SMOKING POLICY!

 

The no smoking policy almost anywhere on Celebrity is a winner. We love the Sunset Bar in the late afternoon but many times leave or don't go because half the bar is smoking and the wind always seems to drift back to the no smoking area. I understand the smokers have to go somewhere. Having the casino and anyplace inside as no smoking is fantastic.

 

At least for now Celebrity seems to be our cruise line of choice. We have sailed on over twenty cruises over a 30 year span and never been on a bad one. We have been on better ones but never a bad one.

[1982CruzStart]

Our first three cruises (other than Mississippi Queen) were on Regent. That was because my wife never wanted to cruise because of stories she had heard over the years about crowding, having to eat at a specific time with the same group of people (our experience on the Queen), being constantly sold stuff, etc. I finally discovered Regent on line and found a TA recommended by the line. We took an Alaska cruise and were sold. Eat when you want and sit with who you want or by yourselves, no tipping, no charge for anything, a very high staff to passenger ratio and a very upscale fellow passenger. Even on the shore excursions we could see how much better we were treated than folks on excursions from other ships. We followed with two other cruises then took a break while I took early retirement and we moved south.

 

When we went to get back into cruising, Regent had made their cruises more inclusive and the price had become more than we wanted to spend. Our TA suggested we might like HAL as a less expensive but still somewhat upscale line. We did those two cruises and didn't feel the magic. Then he called and said he could get a deal on Celebrity that was more like what we were used to on Regent. We would be in Aqua Class and have the private BLU restaurant. We also got the full 1,2,3 promotion which made the cruise essentially as all inclusive as Regent had been with included gratuities, a beverage card and OBC for other incidental costs. We sailed on Silhouette and, to be honest, this was on a par with our Regent experience in many ways. We still didn't have the super luxe feel, but it was, otherwise, a great week. We booked another cruise for next year with and even better 1,2,3 package and a Sky Suite, which puts us almost on the level of the more basic suites on Regent.

 

The one thing we find annoying on Celebrity is, even though drinks are included, we have to keep showing our sea pass and wait for it to be scanned. With everything included for everyone on Regent, you need only ask for what you want and never get questioned as to if you are entitled. Other than that, we think "X" has hit the sweet spot for us so far as price and product.

 

I am really glad to read that you like X. We have done 3 cruises on Regent, quickly making it our favorite cruising experience. However with our Canadian $ doing so poorly and the high pricing we are now trying out Celebrity. Our first cruise with X is this fall, with another planned for next fall. We have booked suites for both cruises and are hoping that this experience will be close to the one on Regent.

[cbr663]

Our perspective is a little different. After sailing with HAL, we decided to try X this past winter. After hearing that HAL and X were more similar than different, we tried the 7-day Reflection cruise from Miami. What we discovered was that X was not a good fit for us.

 

We had booked an Aqua class cabin and really enjoyed Blu. We found the ship to be in excellent shape and the decor and design pleasing to the eye. We loved the gelato and enjoyed the Apple tech talks (being avid Apple fans our selves). Our cabin was spotless and the extra deep balcony that we had on the bump out was really enjoyable.

 

We found our cabin and washroom too small. While service in Blu was exceptional, it was hit or miss throughout the rest of the ship. We ordered room service twice and both times our orders were incomplete. Aqua class cabin amenities were not consistently provided. I sent a bathrobe out for cleaning at the beginning of the cruise and had to request its replacement at the end of the cruise. A birthday cake pre-ordered online before the cruise for a special celebration did not arrive.

 

Our biggest challenge was sea days and boredom. It seemed like if you didn't like to drink or lounge around a pool, there really isn't a lot happening on a X cruise. So, it is back to HAL for at least one more cruise (we have a HAL cruise that we won) and then maybe onto another line.

[LuckiePuris]

I have previously cruised with P&O Australia, Carnival Australia and also Royal Caribbean. RCI was my favourite until our Solstice cruise this month.

 

Now that we have cruised Celebrity, we will find it hard to go back to other cruise lines (only if they were to have a super fantastic deal). We weren't planning on any other cruises for the next 18 months, however loved Celebrity so much that we booked a cruise while onboard for March 16, and then after being home for a week, booked another cruise for November 15.

 

What we loved about Celebrity was all the luxurious touches, from the glass of bubbles on embarkation, to the attentive service throughout the ship, to the ice cool towels and drinks waiting for you as you re board the ship after a long day at port.

 

Just as the Celebrity slogan says, they have ready exactly what we want, a nano second before we know we want it.

 

We loved little experiences such as all the wine tastings and events, the complimentary lawn club cheese sail away parties, and the amazing food even in the MDR.

 

I don't think we're snobs for now wanting to sail with Celebrity as our general preference, however as we do enjoy fine food, fantastic wines (Cellarmasters) and cocktails (Martini Bar and Molecular Bar), Solstice provided the perfect setting for our holiday.

Edited April 24, 2015 by LuckiePuris