Alternatives to Celebrity

[terrydtx]

1 minute ago, TeeRick said:

terry- thanks!  I am asking if they have a private area like the Retreat or YC?  That would help on a 4000+ passenger ship.

I remember something about their newest ship launching this year has an area similar to the retreat.

[paulh84]

I'm looking for a run of the mill 7 night Caribbean itinerary, newish ship, preferably eastern routing, sailing early to mid February 2025. We have some other budget busting travel plans next year so this will be in a standard veranda. The prices I'm seeing are virtually identical between 3-4 lines. NCL's Haven pricing is higher or on par with Celebrity Sky Suite Prices. Until I see more feedback on how Princess does this new ship I'm not spending the money on their suite(ish) product. 

 

Sun Princess

Feb 22, 2025

Eastern Caribbean from Fort Lauderdale

Princess Plus

Refundable

$4304.78

 

Celebrity Ascent

Feb 15, 2025

Eastern Caribbean - Fort Lauderdale

All Included

Non-refundable

$4354.28

 

NCL Viva

Feb 16, 2025

Souther Caribbean/ABC - San Juan

Free at Sea

Refundable

$3342.60

*Gratuities not included

*$49/pppd upgrade to get a decent drink package that actually includes water and coffee

*Limited WiFi

*$305 for bar gratuities is already added

*Also want to spend ~$500 on Vibe Club since their outdoor decks are atrocious.

Actual total - closer to $4,600

 

Virgin Voyages has no 2025 itineraries out yet. Based on 2024 prices for 8 nights from Miami I would expect to pay around $4,200 with a ~$300 bar credit.

[JDPCruisers]

17 minutes ago, TeeRick said:

terry- thanks!  I am asking if they have a private area like the Retreat or YC?  That would help on a 4000+ passenger ship.

We, too, are looking for alternatives and was very interested in Azamara, had a Med cruise booked with them earlier this year but had to cancel, and are considering the ones mentioned but have only cruised RC (Diamond +) and X (Elite +) but status isn't meaning much any longer, it's more about the amenities and experience for the cost. I'd book Silversea to give them a go, but the cost is shying us away. 

[Ken the cruiser]

1 hour ago, TeeRick said:

Hi Ken- Is there anything on a Princess ship similar to The Retreat experience on Celebrity?  

Hi Rick! First off let me say we usually book the huge fully-covered aft-facing balcony Vista Suites on the "smaller" Grand class (2600-3100 pax) ships, especially when we're going on longer NE/Canadian, Antarctica, Alaska, and Panama Canal cruises, which usually run around $300 pp/day (net, to include the Princess Plus package and unlimited free laundry). To be honest they are definitely much larger than any Sky Suite on any class X ship, and there are also two separate bathroom areas, one with a separate shower and tub with the other facilities in a different room separated by a door.

 

 

We also very much enjoy dining in their "anytime dining" Reserve Collection dining room (open all days except for lunch on port days), which usually has one or two additional items to go along with the other items on the ever-changing MDR menus, and the 2-tops are usually spread a little farther apart than is the case in either Luminae or Blu. We also very much enjoy eating breakfast every morning in Sabatinis, which is another perk for booking a suite.

 

As far as private areas for suite guests on the Grand Class ships, nothing comes to mind; although I've read there is on the newer and larger Royal class ships. But then, with a huge fully covered aft-facing balcony, large enough for 2 padded lounge chairs and a large table for 4, we never really needed any. Also, there is no butler service to pay for which we never really use when we cruising in a Sky Suite.

 

The Grand class ships also have fully covered promenade decks (with lounge chairs) that circle the ship if you like taking daily walks in the shade to burn off some calories.

 

Then there is the evening entertainment ... 😂

 

Edited August 22, 2023 by Ken the cruiser

[TeeRick]

1 hour ago, Ken the cruiser said:

Hi Rick! First off let me say we usually book the huge fully-covered aft-facing balcony Vista Suites on the "smaller" Grand class (2600-3100 pax) ships, especially when we're going on longer NE/Canadian, Antarctica, Alaska, and Panama Canal cruises, which usually run around $300 pp/day (net, to include the Princess Plus package and unlimited free laundry). To be honest they are definitely much larger than any Sky Suite on any class X ship, and there are also two separate bathroom areas, one with a separate shower and tub with the other facilities in a different room separated by a door.

 

 

We also very much enjoy dining in their "anytime dining" Reserve Collection dining room (open all days except for lunch on port days), which usually has one or two additional items to go along with the other items on the ever-changing MDR menus, and the 2-tops are usually spread a little farther apart than is the case in either Luminae or Blu. We also very much enjoy eating breakfast every morning in Sabatinis, which is another perk for booking a suite.

 

As far as private areas for suite guests on the Grand Class ships, nothing comes to mind; although I've read there is on the newer and larger Royal class ships. But then, with a huge fully covered aft-facing balcony, large enough for 2 padded lounge chairs and a large table for 4, we never really needed any. Also, there is no butler service to pay for which we never really use when we cruising in a Sky Suite.

 

The Grand class ships also have fully covered promenade decks (with lounge chairs) that circle the ship if you like taking daily walks in the shade to burn off some calories.

 

Then there is the evening entertainment ... 😂

 

Thanks Ken  Very helpful.  We are looking to try Princess soon.

[39august]

Haven't been on Princess since 2003, but this Vista suite is looking very good for the price! Have to check this out. Thanks for the info. 

[Ken the cruiser]

1 hour ago, TeeRick said:

Thanks Ken  Very helpful.  We are looking to try Princess soon.

 

57 minutes ago, 39august said:

Haven't been on Princess since 2003, but this Vista suite is looking very good for the price! Have to check this out. Thanks for the info. 

I forgot to mention, don't tell anybody about these Grand class vista suites. 🤫

[goofysmom99]

1 hour ago, Ken the cruiser said:

 

I forgot to mention, don't tell anybody about these Grand class vista suites. 🤫

I'm being vewy, vewy quiet but I have a call into my TA. 

 

 

Edited August 22, 2023 by goofysmom99

[Ken the cruiser]

For those wondering what's so special about aft-facing cabins, regardless of the ship, here are some photos going through the Panama Canal locks starting at post 440 through 484 in the below Princess thread.

 

Live from the Caribbean Princess: Panama Canal - Apr 26 to May 14 - SF to FTL - Princess Cruises - Cruise Critic Community

 

Or going through the Suez Canal starting at post 139 through 151 in the below NCL thread.

 

Live From the Jade, Nov 13 to Dec 21, from Athens to Cape Town - Norwegian Cruise Line - Cruise Critic Community

 

Edited August 22, 2023 by Ken the cruiser

[Ex-Airbalancer]

13 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

For those wondering what's so special about aft-facing cabins, regardless of the ship, here are some photos going through the Panama Canal locks starting at post 440 through 484 in the below Princess thread.

 

Live from the Caribbean Princess: Panama Canal - Apr 26 to May 14 - SF to FTL - Princess Cruises - Cruise Critic Community

 

Or going through the Suez Canal starting at post 139 through 151 in the below NCL thread.

 

Live From the Jade, Nov 13 to Dec 21, from Athens to Cape Town - Norwegian Cruise Line - Cruise Critic Community

 

That is what nice about Celebrity ships everyone can sit out at OVC & Sunset bar and have an aft face balcony 😁

but the Suez does get a bit boring after awhile 😴

[Ken the cruiser]

4 minutes ago, Ex-Airbalancer said:

That is what nice about Celebrity ships everyone can sit out at OVC & Sunset bar and have an aft face balcony 😁

but the Suez does get a bit boring after awhile 😴

True, especially if you can find a table in the shade. As far as the Suez Canal getting a little boring after a while, that wasn't the case for us as that's the first time we had ever experienced that part of the world, and of course we were sitting on our shaded private balcony. However, I will say that was a "one and done" adventure and we'll probably never cruise through the Suez again whereas we've gone through the Panama Canal 3 times so far. 😀

[Traveling Fools]

On 8/16/2023 at 1:36 PM, Islander500 said:

Hello fellow cruisers,

As a loyal and long-term Celebrity cruiser, I am starting to do some due diligence for other cruise lines.  Of course, I have a lot of research to do but thought I'd ask you experts who have also been Celebrity cruisers. Some info about us. We are in our 60s/70s, typically travel with friends of similar age, looking for interesting itineraries, excellent meals (we like the size and ambiance of BLU), lounge spaces with live music of various kinds, nice seating spaces to relax, chat, have a cocktail or coffee, somewhat reasonable pricing (whatever that means for you) for balcony cabins (don't need suites.)

 

Would love to hear your thoughts with some details, and thank you in advance.  💗

 

 

 

 

 

 

me offer an illustration.  Carnival has the earned reputation of being the party cruise line.  And on Caribbean cruises they live up to that reputation.  But book an Alaskan cruise on a Carnival ship and the party image dissipates.  

 

DW and I book suites.  So, our response to alternatives to X will be based accordingly.  And while we chose to book suites, we remain reasonable in what we are willing to spend for that experience.  And I mean reasonable relative to our definition of the word.

 

X and NCL have been our go to lines.

 

11 years ago, we were so blown away by the outstanding service we received on a wedding anniversary cruise with NCL, we began to favor them over X.  When they implemented the Haven, NCL really became our first choice.

 

While we have experienced X’s Luminae restaurant and Michael’s Club on non-Retreat class ships, we have not experienced the full Retreat treatment.   It seems to mirror NCL’s Haven and could provide a worthy comparison of like services.

 

6-months before COVID, DW and I booked a Vista Suite on an 11-night cruise aboard Oceania’s Nautica.  We were FAR from awed by the experience and except for itinerary have no desire to book another Oceania cruise.  In all fairness, some (and only some) of the food offerings (mostly desserts) were superior to X and NCL.  Certainly not enough to merit abandoning X or NCL.  The crew was small and friendly. Because of the ship’s size and passenger/crew ratio it was easier to really get to know the crew.  We felt Oceania was disingenuous with their beverage program leading guests to think they were getting more than the actual package.  We found the entertainment to be sophomoric. The accommodations were what we expected.  We were not blown away by the service and by no means considered the cruise to be an uber luxurious, classy experience. 

 

Itinerary and timing are the only reason we would consider booking another Oceania cruise.  And, with exception of family reunion cruises, is the driving force behind who we book with. 

 

This coming November 2023 we have a TA from Lisbon to Ft. Lauderdale booked aboard Azamara Onward.  We booked with Azamara only because it was a package Land Journey/Cruise deal.  Not that we have anything against Azamara, their itineraries just haven’t met our wants.  The footprint of the ships in the Azamara fleet appear to be very similar to Oceania’s; so, it will be interesting to compare the two carriers.

[mac_tlc]

1 hour ago, Ken the cruiser said:

For those wondering what's so special about aft-facing cabins, regardless of the ship, here are some photos going through the Panama Canal locks starting at post 440 through 484 in the below Princess thread.

 

Live from the Caribbean Princess: Panama Canal - Apr 26 to May 14 - SF to FTL - Princess Cruises - Cruise Critic Community

 

Or going through the Suez Canal starting at post 139 through 151 in the below NCL thread.

 

Live From the Jade, Nov 13 to Dec 21, from Athens to Cape Town - Norwegian Cruise Line - Cruise Critic Community

 

We had an aft cabin for our Arctic circle cruise in June and I can certainly second your affinity for them. Nothing like it. 

 

mac_tlc

[Ex-Airbalancer]

1 hour ago, Ken the cruiser said:

True, especially if you can find a table in the shade. As far as the Suez Canal getting a little boring after a while, that wasn't the case for us as that's the first time we had ever experienced that part of the world, and of course we were sitting on our shaded private balcony. However, I will say that was a "one and done" adventure and we'll probably never cruise through the Suez again whereas we've gone through the Panama Canal 3 times so far. 😀

Petra  was amazing , I would it again , i wish we would have gone to Safaga like you did 

It might be best to do a land tour for  Egypt

[Ken the cruiser]

7 minutes ago, Ex-Airbalancer said:

Petra  was amazing , I would it again , i wish we would have gone to Safaga like you did 

It might be best to do a land tour for  Egypt

The Karnak Temple, the Valley of the Kings, and Valley of the Queens along with the lunch cruise on the Nile in Luxor was totally awesome, even though it was a long day! Heck, the whole 38-day B2B cruise was probably the most awesome cruise we have ever been on. Funny thing, we didn't really start to appreciate what NCL as well as the Jade had to offer until we stopped comparing it to previous X and PCL cruises. Once we did, we really started having a much better time. 

 

But since we didn't get to see the pyramids on that cruise, we booked an NCL B3B on the Getaway in a Club Balcony starting the end of Oct 2024 to go see them as well as the ancient Greek ruins and some ports in Italy and Croatia for about $250 pp/day with their new FAS Plus package. Celebrity has the Silhouette going there about the same time, but they wanted double the price for an AQ cabin, and their possible B2B itineraries were not as diverse as NCL's, which was important since we were planning to book a 30-day or so cruise.

 

[Islander500]

3 hours ago, Traveling Fools said:

 

me offer an illustration.  Carnival has the earned reputation of being the party cruise line.  And on Caribbean cruises they live up to that reputation.  But book an Alaskan cruise on a Carnival ship and the party image dissipates.  

 

DW and I book suites.  So, our response to alternatives to X will be based accordingly.  And while we chose to book suites, we remain reasonable in what we are willing to spend for that experience.  And I mean reasonable relative to our definition of the word.

 

X and NCL have been our go to lines.

 

11 years ago, we were so blown away by the outstanding service we received on a wedding anniversary cruise with NCL, we began to favor them over X.  When they implemented the Haven, NCL really became our first choice.

 

While we have experienced X’s Luminae restaurant and Michael’s Club on non-Retreat class ships, we have not experienced the full Retreat treatment.   It seems to mirror NCL’s Haven and could provide a worthy comparison of like services.

 

6-months before COVID, DW and I booked a Vista Suite on an 11-night cruise aboard Oceania’s Nautica.  We were FAR from awed by the experience and except for itinerary have no desire to book another Oceania cruise.  In all fairness, some (and only some) of the food offerings (mostly desserts) were superior to X and NCL.  Certainly not enough to merit abandoning X or NCL.  The crew was small and friendly. Because of the ship’s size and passenger/crew ratio it was easier to really get to know the crew.  We felt Oceania was disingenuous with their beverage program leading guests to think they were getting more than the actual package.  We found the entertainment to be sophomoric. The accommodations were what we expected.  We were not blown away by the service and by no means considered the cruise to be an uber luxurious, classy experience. 

 

Itinerary and timing are the only reason we would consider booking another Oceania cruise.  And, with exception of family reunion cruises, is the driving force behind who we book with. 

 

This coming November 2023 we have a TA from Lisbon to Ft. Lauderdale booked aboard Azamara Onward.  We booked with Azamara only because it was a package Land Journey/Cruise deal.  Not that we have anything against Azamara, their itineraries just haven’t met our wants.  The footprint of the ships in the Azamara fleet appear to be very similar to Oceania’s; so, it will be interesting to compare the two carriers.

I really appreciate your perspective. Have looked at a couple of interesting Azamar itineraries recently for 2024. Would love to hear back from you after your November 2023 cruise. Enjoy!   

[wineoclock]

I can’t remember if it’s been mentioned but has anyone been on Cunard and if so how does it compare?

 

I know about the dress code and tbh probably why it puts me off a little, but dh would loves the idea, and wants to cruise Cunard at some point. 
 

Also retreat to grills please thank you! 

[TeeRick]

18 hours ago, Ken the cruiser said:

For those wondering what's so special about aft-facing cabins, regardless of the ship, here are some photos going through the Panama Canal locks starting at post 440 through 484 in the below Princess thread.

 

Live from the Caribbean Princess: Panama Canal - Apr 26 to May 14 - SF to FTL - Princess Cruises - Cruise Critic Community

 

Or going through the Suez Canal starting at post 139 through 151 in the below NCL thread.

 

Live From the Jade, Nov 13 to Dec 21, from Athens to Cape Town - Norwegian Cruise Line - Cruise Critic Community

 

Thanks Ken.  I had not seen these Live threads since I normally do not follow those lines.  Did you have any photos of your secret Vista suite?  I did look up a couple of You Tubes on the Vista suite but could not find an aft-facing one.

[Veinless]

My main concern with some of the alternatives is their strict rules on dress code. Like c'mon man my jeans cost more than your suit. I wear a suit daily to work, when I'm on vacation I want to relax, not dress like I'm going to the office.

[Ken the cruiser]

3 hours ago, TeeRick said:

Thanks Ken.  I had not seen these Live threads since I normally do not follow those lines.  Did you have any photos of your secret Vista suite?  I did look up a couple of You Tubes on the Vista suite but could not find an aft-facing one.

Here's a link to a suite on the Caribbean Princess which provides a pretty good representation of the one we were in (D737) on our Panama Canal cruise in May 2022. Once you launch the link, click on either Virtual Tour or Panoramic Tour under the Suite picture. The only difference is that it's not an aft-facing one and it doesn't have a covered balcony. However, we'll be in an aft-facing one on our October NE/Canadian cruise on the Caribbean Princess, so I'll post some more detailed pictures of the balcony in my Live thread on that one.

 

 

Caribbean Princess - Cruise Ship Information - Princess Cruises

 

Edited August 23, 2023 by Ken the cruiser

[KKB]

On 8/16/2023 at 12:36 PM, Islander500 said:

Hello fellow cruisers,

As a loyal and long-term Celebrity cruiser, I am starting to do some due diligence for other cruise lines.  Of course, I have a lot of research to do but thought I'd ask you experts who have also been Celebrity cruisers. Some info about us. We are in our 60s/70s, typically travel with friends of similar age, looking for interesting itineraries, excellent meals (we like the size and ambiance of BLU), lounge spaces with live music of various kinds, nice seating spaces to relax, chat, have a cocktail or coffee, somewhat reasonable pricing (whatever that means for you) for balcony cabins (don't need suites.)

 

Would love to hear your thoughts with some details, and thank you in advance.  💗

 

Have cruised Celebrity, Princess, Carnival, RCCL, DCL, NCL & MSC.

Of those lines, Celebrity is THE BEST--best food & service.

If you have not tried Eclass (Apex, Ascent, Beyond, Edge), it is even a step above other Celebrity ships.

Now, we still sail other lines...but adjust our expectations accordingly.

[George C]

I booked a oasis class grand suite and added UDP so all dinners and some lunches in specialty rest in suite dinning room for under 3 k each saving over 1k per person over sky suite , next booking will be rccl suite or MSc yacht club.

[Ken the cruiser]

1 hour ago, Ken the cruiser said:

Here's a link to a suite on the Caribbean Princess which provides a pretty good representation of the one we were in (D737) on our Panama Canal cruise in May 2022. Once you launch the link, click on either Virtual Tour or Panoramic Tour under the Suite picture. The only difference is that it's not an aft-facing one and it doesn't have a covered balcony. However, we'll be in an aft-facing one on our October NE/Canadian cruise on the Caribbean Princess, so I'll post some more detailed pictures of the balcony in my Live thread on that one.

 

 

Caribbean Princess - Cruise Ship Information - Princess Cruises

 

@TeeRick here is an aft picture of the Caribbean Princess, which gives a pretty good representation of the covered aft-facing Penthouse and Vista suite balconies along with the Premium Balcony cabins back there. To find out which is which, just look at its deck plan. - Deck Plans : Princess Cruises

 

 

Hope this helps.

[Veinless]

Isn’t that right above the crew smoking area? Yuck!

[Ken the cruiser]

20 minutes ago, Veinless said:

Isn’t that right above the crew smoking area? Yuck!

We were on the CB for 18 days and never smelled any smoke.