Is Celebrity the new Carnival?

[RichYak]

26 minutes ago, NMTraveller said:

It is the Carnival cruisers who have kept me off of Carnival.  Not the ships themselves.

I don’t even understand what this means. 

[RichYak]

11 hours ago, Cruise till you drop said:

Why is this even a topic?  

I learn something from almost every thread. 

[eroller]

48 minutes ago, NMTraveller said:

It is the Carnival cruisers who have kept me off of Carnival.  Not the ships themselves.

 

Same here.  The clientele has just gotten too trashy and destructive.  Too many fights and bad behavior.  The size of the security staff speaks volumes.  It’s a shame because the product is decent.  The new Excel Class ships look awesome.  I just can’t risk my valuable vacation time being surrounded by a hostile environment.   I started sailing Carnival in the early 80’s.  Truly the Fun Ships then.  Less family friendly and more adult, and yes we partied and had a blast but you didn’t see the fights and destructive/selfish behavior you see today.  Different times.  

[NMTraveller]

40 minutes ago, RichYak said:

I don’t even understand what this means. 

I have yet to be on a Carnival cruise.  

 

However I have waited for a shuttle at a park and ride with a bunch of Carnival cruisers.  They were so boozed up before the cruise I did not care to see how such a cruise would go.  Perhaps in my younger 20s I would have joined the Carnival Toga party. 🙂 

[deliver42]

The ships aren't the problem. It's the class of passengers, and Carnival's inability to control the situation.

[MadManOfBethesda]

On 9/19/2023 at 2:54 PM, CruisinShips said:

When I think of Carnival, I think of rowdy partiers and lots of kid activities.  That's not how I think of Celebrity at all. 

To me, that's a more significant difference than debatable comparisons to food quality.

That may be true for Caribbean cruises, but it certainly isn't the case when comparing longer cruises to other destinations. I took a two-week transatlantic cruise on Carnival this past April from Tampa to Barcelona and a two-week cruise out of Baltimore to Greenland and Newfoundland last month and I will be taking a two-week transatlantic cruise on Celebrity next month from Barcelona to Port Canaveral. I am Elite on X and have found very little difference in the demographics and conduct between Carnival passengers and Celebrity passengers on these longer cruises. 

[deliver42]

Transatlantics are a totally different animal, regardless of line.

[CruisinShips]

5 minutes ago, MadManOfBethesda said:

That may be true for Caribbean cruises, but it certainly isn't the case when comparing longer cruises to other destinations. I took a two-week transatlantic cruise on Carnival this past April from Tampa to Barcelona and a two-week cruise out of Baltimore to Greenland and Newfoundland last month and I will be taking a two-week transatlantic cruise on Celebrity next month from Barcelona to Port Canaveral. I am Elite on X and have found very little difference in the demographics and conduct between Carnival passengers and Celebrity passengers on these longer cruises. 

Fair enough. I live in South Florida where most of the exposure we have is to Caribbean cruises, so that's the basis of most of the info I get on Carnival.  Longer and more expensive itineraries may very well appeal to a different crowd, so I will defer to you and others on that.

[jonyboy]

On 9/19/2023 at 2:21 PM, RichYak said:

Celebrity is not the new Carnival. The brands still have completely different vibes. The ships are all roughly in the 2000-3000 passenger range so no mega-ships. Carnival is louder and more "in your face" while Celebrity is still more subdued--think boutique hotel.

 

That said, subdued is not for everyone. Celebrity has no dedicated comedy or piano lounge. Night life exists, but not to the extent that it does on Carnival.

 

Where Celebrity is becoming more like Carnival is with its overall move to shorter, more family-friendly Caribbean itineraries and away from longer more exotic ones. Food is always subjective but the cutbacks on Celebrity have been well documented on this board. Having sailed both lines in the past year, I would say that Celebrity no longer excels with dining overall (unless you really like mashed potatoes 😂).

 

Lastly, you don't mention what ship you might be interested in. If it's any of the new Edge class ships, make sure you are aware of what an Infinite Veranda cabin is. You may like it, you may not, just know what it is before booking one.

 

Hope this helps.

 

 

We sailed on the Edge just before covid shut things down.  Loved the Veranda and all the dining options.  My question is do all the Celebrity ships have the same dining options?  The same type of Veranda?  Thanks for your help

[RichYak]

3 minutes ago, jonyboy said:

We sailed on the Edge just before covid shut things down.  Loved the Veranda and all the dining options.  My question is do all the Celebrity ships have the same dining options?  The same type of Veranda?  Thanks for your help

No, just the new Edge class ships: Edge, Apex, Beyond, Ascent, and one more yet to be named.

[RichYak]

9 hours ago, NMTraveller said:

I have yet to be on a Carnival cruise.  

 

However I have waited for a shuttle at a park and ride with a bunch of Carnival cruisers.  They were so boozed up before the cruise I did not care to see how such a cruise would go.  Perhaps in my younger 20s I would have joined the Carnival Toga party. 🙂 

 

56 minutes ago, deliver42 said:

The ships aren't the problem. It's the class of passengers, and Carnival's inability to control the situation.

It's not Carnival's inability to control the situation, it's their unwillingness to change the environment that leads to these situations.

 

These unruly passengers are choosing a product that best appeals to them. Short, cheap itineraries with a loud club music vibe can lead to occasional mayhem. That's simply the cost of doing business for Carnival.

[jonyboy]

41 minutes ago, RichYak said:

No, just the new Edge class ships: Edge, Apex, Beyond, Ascent, and one more yet to be named.

Is that a no for veranda and dining venues?

[eroller]

17 minutes ago, jonyboy said:

Is that a no for veranda and dining venues?

All Celebrity ships offer a main dining room, a buffet, and specialty restaurants.  The Edge Class takes it up a notch by offering additional specialty restaurant dining choices as well as four smaller themed main dining rooms instead of one large one.  
 

All Celebrity ships also offer veranda cabins but only the Edge Class offers the Infinite Veranda. This is the style veranda where a glass window lowers to railing height opening up the cabin to outside.  All the other Celebrity ships have traditional step-out verandas.  There is already endless debate about which is superior but at the end of the day it’s a matter of personal preference.  
 

Keep in mind I’m not including the tiny Celebrity expedition ships in this generalization.  They are a different animal entirely.  

Edited September 22, 2023 by eroller

[jonyboy]

2 minutes ago, eroller said:

All Celebrity ships offer a main dining room, a buffet, and specialty restaurants.  The Edge Class takes it up a notch by offering additional specialty restaurant dining choices as well as four smaller themed main dining rooms instead of one large one.  
 

All Celebrity ships also offer veranda cabins but only the Edge Class offers the Infinite Veranda. This is the style veranda where a glass window lowers to railing height opening up the cabin to outside.  All the other Celebrity ships have traditional step-out verandas.  There is already endless debate about which is superior but at the end of the day it’s a matter of personal preference.  

Thank you for the clarification

 

[JLS07]

On 9/19/2023 at 1:35 PM, young_k92 said:

First, this topic is not intended to start a verbal war. I'm honestly asking, because I do not have unlimited funds to spend on trying new cruise lines in an attempt to find one that doesn't make me, to be honest, hate cruising. And we're trying to decide if we should try Celebrity or move on to HAL.

 

Background: My husband and I are almost-50 Gen Xers who cruise exclusively as a couple and have only cruised Carnival. We usually average about one cruise every 5 years. We started in 2005. We started on a 5-day on the smallest ship in the fleet, and have done 8-day as well as a 14-day Journeys cruise. Each time, we've cruised a bit larger class of ship, but we will never book a cruise on a mega ship. Just not for us. Our next cruise is in October on MSC (not YC).

 

Our last cruise on Carnival was on the Magic in the Caribbean last January. For various reasons, it became apparent to us that, post-Covid, Carnival would not be receiving any more of our hard-earned dollars. It was so bad, that we were booked on a B2B and chose to get off the ship after our first leg, even with it costing us some of those dollars. We are stuck on a previously-booked 14-day Journeys cruise to Alaska next year, praying that the length, itinerary, and sailing month makes the other passengers at least semi well behaved. We're not snobs. Before Covid, we considered Carnival people to be "our people," but post-Covid, it seems to be a different cruise line.

 

So, I've been reading a lot of the posts here on the Celebrity forum. It almost sounds like RCI is turning a once premium line into what Carnival was like pre-Covid. Anyone that can elaborate on this possibility? Honestly, I wouldn't mind trying a line that was like Carnival 18 years ago. We rather enjoyed our pre-Covid cruises. But I want to be prepared not to expect "premium" when it isn't anymore.

 

And, if someone with experience could elaborate on the difference between Celebrity and HAL post-Covid, I would appreciate it. The plan was to try MSC first, then Celebrity, then HAL. But after reading these reviews, I'm wondering if moving straight to HAL might be a better option for us.

 

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

First, I admit I haven't read any other posts besides the first one, so if this is redundant, I apologize.

 

I have been openly critical of some of the decisions Celebrity has made (see this thread I started:https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2925128-celebrity-at-a-crossroads/).  That being said, it is far from Carnival and won't ever go there IMHO.  Sure there have been cuts, and yes there are some passengers that more resemble Carnival passengers but that represents maybe 10% or 5% of those on board.

 

I have cruised Carnival once.  It was a Cuban cruise many years ago (during that small window when we could go there).  It was the only option that fit our schedule and had an overnight in Havana.  It was 2 days in Havana and one sea day - so very quick trip.  Havana was amazing, the sea day was disgusting.  

 

They had a hairiest belly contest.  The women were blindfolded and had to feel up the guys to determine who had the hairiest belly.  The last women - grandmother aged - LICKED the men.  Yes - LICKED them to see who was the hairiest.  The whole day was like that.  We literally just went to our room and stayed in there the rest of the cruise (one sea day).

 

Celebrity is, as I said months ago, at a cross roads.  And they may decide to drop down a notch in elegance, but the gap between were they will be and where Carnival is at will still be quite massive.

 

[jonyboy]

2 hours ago, RichYak said:

 

It's not Carnival's inability to control the situation, it's their unwillingness to change the environment that leads to these situations.

 

These unruly passengers are choosing a product that best appeals to them. Short, cheap itineraries with a loud club music vibe can lead to occasional mayhem. That's simply the cost of doing business for Carnival.

Different cruise lines have different clientele.  Disney for kids, HAL for older folks etc.  We love Celebrity and fall between those two generations

 

[JCMass.]

On 9/19/2023 at 4:32 PM, AlaskaNewbie68 said:

I haven't been on Carnival (it seems obvious it's just not "for me") and we have only done one Celebrity (with another one coming up in January), but we really enjoyed our May trip on Summit. We are 55 yr old GenXers who like peace and quiet on our trips, with some good entertainment and some yummy cocktails and GOOD FOOD. Our itinerary attracted a much older crowd it seemed, but we enjoyed much about Celebrity. We've been on HAL, RC and Oceania. 

Thanks for this, we are going on our first Celebrity cruise on the Summit, in two weeks.  We have been on RCI, Norwegian and HAL all on the smaller ships.  They are each great for what they offer and they are each different. 

 

We feel we are outgrowing RCI which seems to cater to young families, so we thought we would try Celebrity but all the comments here make it sound awful.  The food is no longer varied, and much of it is not good, the ship is dirty, crew overworked poor entertainment etc.  We are usually not that fussy, and enjoy every trip so we are going with an open mind but you can't help wonder with all the comments. 

 

I did read they removed the library, sorry to hear that I always like to go and choose a book or two and sometimes sit and read by the ocean.  Royal Caribbean has done the same thing, but they still have the books in the Schooner Bar, looks like the Summit has none at all. 

[eroller]

8 minutes ago, JCMass. said:

Thanks for this, we are going on our first Celebrity cruise on the Summit, in two weeks.  We have been on RCI, Norwegian and HAL all on the smaller ships.  They are each great for what they offer and they are each different. 

 

We feel we are outgrowing RCI which seems to cater to young families, so we thought we would try Celebrity but all the comments here make it sound awful.  The food is no longer varied, and much of it is not good, the ship is dirty, crew overworked poor entertainment etc.  We are usually not that fussy, and enjoy every trip so we are going with an open mind but you can't help wonder with all the comments. 

 

I did read they removed the library, sorry to hear that I always like to go and choose a book or two and sometimes sit and read by the ocean.  Royal Caribbean has done the same thing, but they still have the books in the Schooner Bar, looks like the Summit has none at all. 

 

Take all the negativity with a grain of salt.  Yes there have been cutbacks (on every line), but overall Celebrity is still a great line with some of the most stunning ships afloat.  It’s not all doom and gloom.  The vast majority enjoy their cruises on Celebrity but those are not the people you are going to hear from on Cruise Critic.  
 

Unfortunately the entire cruise industry is going through a bit of a transition right now.  Mostly because of COVID.  All the lines are looking for ways to increase revenue and generate positive cash flow after years of no profits let alone income.  So for the foreseeable future expect to pay more and get less.  

[jonyboy]

38 minutes ago, eroller said:

 

Take all the negativity with a grain of salt.  Yes there have been cutbacks (on every line), but overall Celebrity is still a great line with some of the most stunning ships afloat.  It’s not all doom and gloom.  The vast majority enjoy their cruises on Celebrity but those are not the people you are going to hear from on Cruise Critic.  
 

Unfortunately the entire cruise industry is going through a bit of a transition right now.  Mostly because of COVID.  All the lines are looking for ways to increase revenue and generate positive cash flow after years of no profits let alone income.  So for the foreseeable future expect to pay more and get less.  

The library closed due to covid, same with magazines in waiting rooms

[doghog]

1 hour ago, JCMass. said:

Thanks for this, we are going on our first Celebrity cruise on the Summit, in two weeks. 

so we thought we would try Celebrity but all the comments here make it sound awful. 

Why not wait until you cruise with Celebrity and base your opinions on your own experiences and not others?  

[hcat]

14 hours ago, NMTraveller said:

I have yet to be on a Carnival cruise.  

 

However I have waited for a shuttle at a park and ride with a bunch of Carnival cruisers.  They were so boozed up before the cruise I did not care to see how such a cruise would go.  Perhaps in my younger 20s I would have joined the Carnival Toga party. 🙂 

we were on X in ARUBA  with a Carnival  ship nearby.  After lunch we walked to the store area.  We could not believe the loud, pushy, wild  behavior in the stores and and on the street and sidewalks  as the  passengers from that ship travelled  along in packs.  

 

We went back to the ship early,  only to be disrupted  by loud, pulsating,  party music with  an obnoxious DJ...blaring from their outer deck..Our balcony and many others were in earshot.uselrss for the afternoon .It lasted until they left the port..Everyone was glad to seem them go!

[doghog]

2 minutes ago, hcat said:

by loud, pulsating,  party music with  an obnoxious DJ...blaring from their outer deck

We have also experienced that on our cruises when docked with a Carnival cruise ship. Just as obnoxious when Princess ships are preparing to leave and blasting that stupid love boat theme. Even hate it when we are on a Princess ship. 

[Nashna]

I have sailed on Celebrity, Carnival, RCCl, Princess, and HAL.  You do not want to sail on HAL...you are way too young for the clientele onboard.  Shoot, I was 72 at the time and too young!  Try Celebrity or Princess; you would enjoy those two more than HAL.

[jonyboy]

3 minutes ago, Nashna said:

I have sailed on Celebrity, Carnival, RCCl, Princess, and HAL.  You do not want to sail on HAL...you are way too young for the clientele onboard.  Shoot, I was 72 at the time and too young!  Try Celebrity or Princess; you would enjoy those two more than HAL.

Totaly agree.  I was 67 when we did our first HAL and felt like a kid compared to most of the passengers

[JCMass.]

1 hour ago, jonyboy said:

The library closed due to covid, same with magazines in waiting rooms

It was removed, and replaced with cabins so no chance of it coming back.