What other lines have you tried when Celebrity started to feel "not nice enough"

[TX-Cruiser]

I still feel like Celebrity is a good match for my husband and I (65 & 56) and we also sail on RC when with our adult children. I do feel like I am starting to desire a little more refinement but not too refined...ie, stuffy. We are very "Texas" people...love great food and great entertainment but prefer to enjoy it in nice jeans & boots. We will dress up if we have to...haha. 

 

The big hurtle I have been finding is my husband loves to play cards. He loves blackjack and enjoys roulette. So a casino on board is a must. Anyone looking for a similar sweet spot? In regard to cost, we are very much focused on value over cost. Luxury has value, but we don't need to go crazy either. I hope this all makes sense. 

[Georgia_Peaches]

We tried MSC Yacht Club and loved it.  We didn't try YC because Celebrity didn't feel nice enough though, we tried MSC because Celebrity was feeling too expensive for the suite experience and wanted to see what was on offer elsewhere.

 

We have since booked a cruise on Regent because Celebrity's food wasn't feeling nice enough and we wanted a smaller ship experience as we cruise the Med in 2025.

 

We are in the casino camp as well, which is why we didn't look into booking with Azamara.

 

Regardless, I always begin my cruise search with Celebrity...

[tfred]

where do you like to cruise?  Caribbean? Europe?  Some of your answer may be swayed by that. The major lines have very regular Caribbean cruises and are easy to find something.   Smaller ships dont always have regular schedules. 

 

smaller ships also have somewhat more attention to dress code where everyday jeans may be an issue.  For the most part they have what you are looking for -casino and entertainment - but on a smaller scale. Stages are smaller so there are no big production shows

 

Have you booked The Retreat on X?  We like it - private restaurant and lounge, less crowded feel but with all the big ship pizazz   Small ship pricing would be comparable to The Retreat so you are paying for it in both cases 

[paulh84]

We tried Princess based on reviews that Celebrity and Princess are mostly similar. That was definitely not it.

Edited October 18, 2023 by paulh84

[Nachosdelux]

Oceania, Crystal, Regent and Seabourn 

 

none of them too "refined" or "stuffy"

 

still had a great time, only better food and smaller ship.

Edited October 18, 2023 by Nachosdelux

[TX-Cruiser]

52 minutes ago, tfred said:

where do you like to cruise?  Caribbean? Europe?  Some of your answer may be swayed by that. The major lines have very regular Caribbean cruises and are easy to find something.   Smaller ships dont always have regular schedules. 

 

smaller ships also have somewhat more attention to dress code where everyday jeans may be an issue.  For the most part they have what you are looking for -casino and entertainment - but on a smaller scale. Stages are smaller so there are no big production shows

 

Have you booked The Retreat on X?  We like it - private restaurant and lounge, less crowded feel but with all the big ship pizazz   Small ship pricing would be comparable to The Retreat so you are paying for it in both cases 

Just to clarify we have sailed the The Retreat and loved it. The big issue there is we both stopped drinking two years ago simply for better health. So the issue there is that if we could do that without having a drink package that would be great. This is one reason we book suites on RC. We like to sail everywhere....haha. 

 

[tfred]

3 minutes ago, TX-Cruiser said:

Just to clarify we have sailed the The Retreat and loved it. The big issue there is we both stopped drinking two years ago simply for better health. So the issue there is that if we could do that without having a drink package that would be great. This is one reason we book suites on RC. We like to sail everywhere....haha. 

 

generally drinks are included at the top end - Crystal, Regent Seabourne whether you want them or not.   Retreat, MCS YC generally include drinks. Oceania et al there is always some kind of a al carte drinks program that maybe you can opt out of   

[dock]

Oceania has Simply More, ( alcohol with lunch and dinner plus an excursion  credit) and no choice to opt out of paying for it. 
 

[Cruisin4ABruisen]

Curious if any Celebrity cruises have tried Viking ocean and what their thoughts are...

[Bejay219]

53 minutes ago, Cruisin4ABruisen said:

Curious if any Celebrity cruises have tried Viking ocean and what their thoughts are...

We have done a B2B on Viking Ocean to Iceland and a B2B Viking Expedition ship in the Great Lakes. We loved both cruises, the ships are beautiful, the itinerary was great, the food was wonderful, service was top notched and the easy going ambience on the ships was a great change.  We are Zenith on Celebrity, always loved them but we are not happy with the cuts to Sky Suites.  We are going on the Transatlantic with Celebrity next May but have decided to book Viking for a B2B (29 days plus 2 pre-cruise and 5 day post-cruise with Viking) instead of staying on Celebrity. Then a Transatlantic on Cunard back home. We will make a decision about staying with Celebrity after our B2B on the Ascent in December (besides the Transatlantic in May). 

They say that Viking has the highest retention rate of staff and it shows in every department, the staff genuinely want you to have an amazing cruise. The ship never feels busy or crowded with so many areas to relax and pick up a book (which they have all over the ship). 

[Jim_Iain]

3 hours ago, Georgia_Peaches said:

We tried MSC Yacht Club and loved it.  We didn't try YC because Celebrity didn't feel nice enough though, we tried MSC because Celebrity was feeling too expensive for the suite experience and wanted to see what was on offer elsewhere.

 

We have since booked a cruise on Regent because Celebrity's food wasn't feeling nice enough and we wanted a smaller ship experience as we cruise the Med in 2025.

 

We are in the casino camp as well, which is why we didn't look into booking with Azamara.

 

Regardless, I always begin my cruise search with Celebrity...

 

I keep hearing so many nice things about MSC Yacht Club.   Still working on Iain but he wants to try Silverseas, Regent or Seabourn first. 

[lovevacadays]

3 hours ago, paulh84 said:

We tried Princess based on reviews that Celebrity and Princess are mostly similar. That was definitely not it.

Would love to know your comparison. I love Princess.  My next two cruises are on Princess. After those I would love to cruise Celebrity. I’ve cruised Royal Caribbean, Holland America, and Carnival as well. The Celebrity ships look amazing. 

[Georgia_Peaches]

1 hour ago, Jim_Iain said:

 

I keep hearing so many nice things about MSC Yacht Club.   Still working on Iain but he wants to try Silverseas, Regent or Seabourn first. 

It took us a while to finally give MSC a try but when we did, we were very happy with the decision. Would love to put Silverseas on our bucket list. So many options and so little time… sigh. 

Edited October 19, 2023 by Georgia_Peaches

[Orator]

Crystal, Oceania and Viking.

[Treasure Hunter]

Viking does not have casinos. We have five Oceania and casino is tiny( but food and itineraries very good). We love NCL HAVEN on the newer Breakaway+ ships. Best of all worlds. Great food in the restaurant. Terrific entertainment. Big casino jumping every night. No dressing up unless you want to. The Haven service can’t be topped but you pay for it. We have 35 cruises on Princess and we just got off the Emerald. I hit four handpays in the casino and had the time of m life but the food has really gone downhill. The new Princess Sun looks fabulous so might give it one more try.

[RichYak]

2 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

 

I keep hearing so many nice things about MSC Yacht Club.   Still working on Iain but he wants to try Silverseas, Regent or Seabourn first. 

I’m looking forward to my “test cruise” on MSC in YC in March. That said, finding interesting itineraries is a challenge on MSC for me. YMMV

[NMTraveller]

Many have moved to Oceania...

 

Try out their board.

[DaKahuna]

1 hour ago, RichYak said:

I’m looking forward to my “test cruise” on MSC in YC in March. That said, finding interesting itineraries is a challenge on MSC for me. YMMV

 We’re doing our test cruise in the MSC Yacht Club on Divina in February.  She’s one of the smaller/older ships but the itinerary is one we like. 
 

[jaywoods678]

Oceania.

[emmas gran]

4 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

 

I keep hearing so many nice things about MSC Yacht Club.   Still working on Iain but he wants to try Silverseas, Regent or Seabourn first. 

Maybe we can talk about MSC when you join Edge in Singapore!!

[montythecat]

Easy for me to answer. We are Elite Plus on X but have felt for 

sometime that Celebrity is not what it was. We tried HAL and loved

it and it is now our go-to mainstream cruise line. We always book

balconies but not suites. Every now and then we treat ourselves

to Viking or Azamara. Next year we will give Silverseas a try.

Viking’s ships are beautiful and itineraries are imaginative, as 

are many of Azamara’s. However, their ships are older and that has

to be taken into account but they are perhaps a bit more fun.

Back to Holland America. We really enjoy the entertainment on

the Pinnacle and Vista class ships. On the Pinnacle ships they provide

a rock band, two pianos, and a blues/soul band. A classical quartet play

in a dedicated room (not in the corner of a noisy lounge) although, I

believe that may, regrettably, be changing. Vista ships do not have

the blues/soul band. I do not care for the production shows in the

theatre which X provide and much prefer HAL’s musical offerings.

We are looking forward to being on Nieuw Statendam in the 

Mediterranean at the end of the month.

Whatever choice you make I hope you enjoy the experience.

 

 

 

 

[JoePDX]

Oceania has become our first in line choice.  We love the small ships and the great itineraries.   I rarely drink so the included soft drinks, coffee, smoothies, etc. works well for me.  We shall see for the future as the Simply More scheme is not of value to me, especially since I do all private excursions.
 

That said, we are open to trying others.  Doing our first Royal Caribbean cruise in a few days.   It is a trial as I paid less that $700 a person for a 14 night TA in a boardwalk balcony.   I am looking at Holland America for their transpacific itineraries from Australia to the West Coast.

 

Joe

Edited October 19, 2023 by JoePDX

[upwarduk]

9 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

 

I keep hearing so many nice things about MSC Yacht Club.   Still working on Iain but he wants to try Silverseas, Regent or Seabourn first. 

Have you tried Azamara Jim?

I was very impressed, even though it was 7 years ago.

So much was included, drinks , gratuities and free transfers to places of interest.

However, we did pay for it in the initial payment.

[di T]

Oceania, and future cruise on MSC in Yacht club

[Older Sister]

We absolutely love Viking ocean cruises.  Their ships are lovely and well maintained, much smaller passenger load (900) so there are never crowds to deal with.  Excellent service.  We’re giving Regent a try next year and are really looking forward to it.   I used to be a big fan of Celebrity but no longer, their “product” has really gone downhill.