RCCL vs Celebrity - Can't Decide!

[mktopks]

We are planning to cruise either the western or southern Caribbean in March 2007. This will be a group of couples in the mid 40's-50's age range. Two of us will have our 18 year old daughters with us as this is during Spring Break. We have been on one RCCL cruise on the Monarch of the Seas several years back and had a great time. We are deciding between RCCL Navigator for Western route, RCCL Adventure or Celebrity Galaxy (10-day) for Southern routes. We want to balance a nice, relaxing cruise experience for the adults vs a fun time for the 2 high school seniors. Love the Galaxy itinerary, but worry the ship will be too quiet for the girls, though they are not the party animal types and are ok with each other as their main company on the trip. Any input would be welcome to help us decide.

[megessey]

Without a doubt take a RCCL cruise with 18 year olds! Rock-wall, mini-golf, 2 pools, ice skating rink and pro ice shows, johnny rockets, etc etc etc!

 

Plus the Voyager class ships have tons of quiet areas for the adults if they want to be more subdued, including an adult-only pool area.

 

If it was just the adults, then the Celebrity would be great, but everyone especially the girls will LOVE the RCC ships!

[OPSoccermom]

See my response to your post on the Celebrity boards - try Radiance Class.

[snowmouse]

I am also making this choice for the med next summer. Am rather enticed by the promise of a more upscale dining experience on Celebrity, but am also torn with the activity options for the kids (16 and 10 next summer). Our decision will probably come down to itineraries, but wonder what you all think? Also, with a busy Med itinerary are the activities even going to really matter?

[hdawson]

See my response on the Celebrity board, if it matters.

[BillyMetz]

mktopks. we have a group of 40 going on Caribbean cruise in March 07 as well. We through caution to the wind and have booked on the brand spanking new Freedom of the Seas. I recommend you review this ship on line and their schedules. We are all from mid-40s to early 60's and often travel together. A couple years ago we went to Hawaii on the Celebrity Infinity. Had a great time but found it to be a bit more geared to our age group more so than a much younger crowd.

[Sheffie]

If the length of time in ports is important to you, be sure to check that out, too. I find that that helps make my decision. Our friends have travelled on Celebrity's Century and on a Carnival cruise and their kids liked both.

[JanetScho]

We just came back from Explorer of the Seas on Sunday with our 8 and 14 year olds.

We chose RCCL because of the kids but we adults much preferred Celebrity!

The food was our biggest disappointment! RCCL cannot touch Celebrity Century when it comes to the food.

If your 18 year olds will enjoy the Rock Climbing, Miniture Golf etc that is the only deficiency on Celebrity!

The activities and entertainment are all the same!

[Laxman35]

I don't know if this will help but:

 

Our party of 4 (me, my wife, my wife's sister and her husband) are taking a RCCL panama canal cruise in 4 weeks. This will be the third time that we have taken a spring cruise. Our first cruise together was in Feb 2004 on the Celebrity Constellation.

 

As mentioned in other posts the food was awesome (WAY better than the Carnival food on our cruise the following year) and the service was beyond belief. HOWEVER...the entertainment was severely lacking for anyone under 50. At the time of the cruise our ages ranged from 23-29 and several nights there was nothing for us to do. Most of the night spots geared towards the "younger" crowd were usually empty and one night the biggest attraction was laughing at all of the passengers trying to catch a glimpse of the Queen Mary 2 as it passed by miles away in the night. (It was actually rather entertaining...dozens of people with cameras and camcorders trying to take pictures of a tiny ship).

 

Anyway..this wasn't meant as a flame to Celebrity lovers as this spring we were choosing between the RCCL cruise we ultimately booked and a Celebrity boat. We decided to go with the RCCL cruise because of the great reviews we read on this website and due to the entertainment options already described..rock wall, mini golf, etc...

 

So sorry for the rambling post but basically I would recommend the RCCL cruise for your daughters but if they can really entertain themselves together than treat yourself to Celebrity because it is worth it!

[Bruin Steve]

My two cents:

 

I have been on several RCCL cruises and several Celebrity cruises...and we've taken our daughters (now 20 and 22) on both lines...

 

We LIKE RCCL, we LOVE Celebrity...

It is not a knock on RCCL...there are many things good about the line, foremost the amenities (Rock climbing, Ice Skating, Roller Blading) especially for the younger set...

But Celebrity beats RCCL hands down on food and service...as well as on the spaciousness of the ships and the lack of lines and crowds...

 

Our daughters really didn't miss the RCCL amenities when we took them on the Celebrity Summit (18 and 20 at the time)...They found plenty to do and actually appreciated being treated like "grown-ups"...They participated in karaoke and trivia games, they sat by the pool and they enjoyed all the same activities we adults enjoyed...They made friends both with the others their age they met onboard as well as with the younger cruise director's activity staff members...

 

It occurred to us that, even when we've cruised with them on RCCL or Carnival, it's not the ship's amenities that occupied their time...it was hanging out with kids they met...it was a social thing...

 

We also figure that we're not booking a cruise for THEM...we book it for US...Though I used to ice skate when I was younger, I'm far beyond that now...and, I'm not really going to spend a lot of my cruise climbing rock walls either...I DO spend my time in bars and lounges on board...and EATING...The shows are fine on any cruise line (okay, except Princess or Costa)...I'm not expecting Bruce Springsteen or George Carlin...What I'm looking for is an overall cruise experience--relaxation, interesting itinerary, good food, great service, nice ship, something to do at night and on at sea days...

 

My first choice is Celebrity...

 

But, you really can't go wrong with any cruise...

[GrandySm]

Have sailed celebrity once (Mercury) and will be making our first cruise with RCI (Explorer) in April so it will be interesting to compare the two. I found Celebrity a little bit older crowd and from what I have been reading on these boards it seems that there is a good chance that kids will be running the ship. To be honest I am having buyers remorse.

[danajjj]

We have cruised both lines and you can't go wrong. Pick the one the adults would really like to do. The girls will have a fabulous time on either ship!!

[cruiseman_tx]

Have sailed celebrity once (Mercury) and will be making our first cruise with RCI (Explorer) in April so it will be interesting to compare the two. I found Celebrity a little bit older crowd and from what I have been reading on these boards it seems that there is a good chance that kids will be running the ship. To be honest I am having buyers remorse.

 

I wouldn't worry too much about the kids taking over the Explorer. RCI does a great job at providing enough activities to keep kids occupied. In 9 cruises with RCI, kids have never presented a problem.

[49holding]

I have only cruised celebrity once on the Zenith to bermuda 5 yrs ago with 16 other familymembers for our parents 50th and tho I had a good time I was less than thrilled with a few aspects of a celebrity cruise. We didn't care for the limited buffet hrs....breakfast bufett was over by 10a, lunch buffett hrs were also limited. No dinner bufett. They had a reservations only dinner outside the bufett that accomodated less than 50 people. We never utilized this aspect as we lacked the foresight to know when we would be too tired for a legnthy formal like dinner in the DR. There were times when there was absolutely no food to be gotten on the ship ( from 1:30p lunch bufett to the 4 p after noon finger sandwhiches) unless you ordered room service. Entertainment was poor. The dress code included 3 semiformal nites,and 2 formal, all of which you were encouraged to remain in that attire after dinner for the shows, etc was too restrictive Maybe Celebrity has changed since the summer of 2000, in the meantime we have found RCCl to be a good fit for us.

[JanetScho]

Have sailed celebrity once (Mercury) and will be making our first cruise with RCI (Explorer) in April so it will be interesting to compare the two. I found Celebrity a little bit older crowd and from what I have been reading on these boards it seems that there is a good chance that kids will be running the ship. To be honest I am having buyers remorse.

 

Oh, don't have buyers remorse!

We just got off the Explorer last Sunday and thought it was great. While I certainly preferred the food and service on Celebrity (Century) we were not dissatisfied with RRCL. They say the average age for cruisers on RCCL is 30-50 and I beleive that to be correct! The Explorer is so large that you really don't see all the kids that much! In fact, most of the kids should be in school in April!

Look at it this way...Any cruise beats sitting behind a desk all day. ;) Go have fun!