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

[Mimiya11]

On 1/4/2024 at 12:14 PM, Ex-Airbalancer said:

I guess the ship retreat area will be empty on our Fall TA if you read comments on CC 🤔😁

Well if our recent November TA on the Apex was any indication, you will love The Retreat!  Other than the weather making the outdoor area too windy and cold most days (we did spend two mornings outside), we spent many hours in the retreat.  Loved the morning breakfast offerings, afternoon snacks, pre-dinner drinks and found the staff outstanding.  The ship was full, so having a place to go without searching for seats was great.   We booked a SS well before the prices became insane.    

[Alsmez]

On 12/25/2023 at 6:32 PM, chereya said:

Anyone try VV and have a comparison to the Celebrity Experience? My husband and I are in the 40-50 age group and not party people but curious about the adults only vibe.

 

We are the same age and just got back from our first cruise with VV after cruising Celebrity only for many years. We cruised Eclipse to Alaska earlier this year (our first since Covid) so I have a very recent X experience for comparison. I'm still gathering my thoughts to write a comparative review for this board, but I will say there were things I loved and things I didn't. The adults-only thing, however, was AMAZING. We always try to schedule cruises during periods when we're unlikely to encounter many children, and of course X isn't known for having a ton of kids on board in any case, but it was really striking to notice how much the complete absence of children (which also meant no entitled parent behavior, no large multi-generational families, etc.) changed the experience. Other lines need to consider this policy or they are going to start losing to VV in a big way.

 

That said, there was definitely a party vibe (which may or may not have been magnified by the fact that we were on a holiday/New Year's sailing). There are a TON of venues and places to hang out, so you could avoid the parties if you wanted, but there was always a party somewhere. I have extremely sensitive ears and had to avoid the pool deck entirely during the day, as the DJ played music so loudly as to be physically painful for me. Same for the NYE party and several others. Fortunately, we found plenty to do elsewhere and lots of other music played at a more reasonable volume. 

 

Food at most of the restaurants blew X's MDR away, but if you compare it with X's specialities, Blu or Luminae it's a lot harder to declare a winner. The Galley concept worked for me but my husband HATED it - he loves a buffet for breakfast and lunch, and thought the Galley was way too limited in terms of selection (and of course it doesn't change day to day, which got repetitive).

 

Another thing to consider is drinks, if you drink alcohol. We are fans of the ease of drink packages and didn't enjoy going back to an a la carte system, nor the use-it-or-lose-it nature of their pre-purchased Bar Tab option. We had quite a bit of Bar Tab left at the end and had to figure out how to use it up (bought some rounds for friends and an expensive bottle of champagne). We also disliked having to present our bracelet each time we ordered a drink. Drinks were relatively expensive, especially for higher-end liquor brands (e.g., a Bloody Mary made with Bombay Sapphire gin was $15; a single pour of Michter's Rye was $17). Things you don't have to think about on an X cruise with a package. This will definitely be a part of any future calculation when we are comparing lines/prices.

 

Finally, the ship itself (we were on Scarlet Lady) is not even in the same league as Celebrity's S-class in terms of design or aesthetics. Where the S-class has a first-rate art collection on every floor, VV has endless Instagram backgrounds. Navigating the ship was an enormous PITA - there were dead ends everywhere, and you frequently had to know which side of the ship you needed to be on before you left the elevator bank or you would have to backtrack to get there. Materials were very cheap and already showing a TON of wear and tear despite the ship only being in service for about two years. Also, there is seating everywhere, but no COMFORTABLE seating ANYWHERE. It was either too low, too high, too hard, at a weird angle, had a weird bar, or required too many knees to fit into too tight a space. We were a fairly tall group, but our one average height (5'7") member complained just as much as we tall folks. 

 

Anyway, I've been home for a few days now and I'm still not 100% sure how I felt about it overall! We didn't buy a future cruise certificate (known as My Next Virgin Voyage), but that was partially because they seem to be easily available from travel agents these days. Their itineraries are still relatively limited compared with X and other lines, so we may wait until they catch up in that regard. I would be happy to sail with them again on the right itinerary and at the right price, but it may take some time for me to figure out what I consider a good value for the money given the product. 

[mahasamatman]

We have nine cruises booked this year with only one on Celebrity. We'll be first-timers on MSC and AmaWaterways, and repeat customers on two Princess and four Cunard cruises. Next year is currently two Celebrity, two Princess, and two P&O (first time for that one). All the Celebrity cruises were booked before the massive devaluations of the past few months.

[Jim_Iain]

On 1/4/2024 at 3:21 AM, upwarduk said:

So , as we have cruised with them once, I assume our status is safe?

Would be good to check.   After the completion of the merger they even deactivated my log in credentials so I have to create a new account totally.

 

[Dolebludger]

Has anybody tried Viking Ocean? I’ve heard some good things about it, including a $14pdpp drink package that seems rather inclusive. It’s odd, because Viking River Cruises is reported to be “bargain basement”.

[calicakes]

@Alsmez  We're not party people or drinkers( none) but the food aspect of VV convinced us to try a 4 day on Valiant Lady this October.  Well, it was September, but Virgin cancelled our cruise due to a charter so we chose to move it to the next sailing.  I figure a 4 day I can live with if I hate it.  Its Miami, Key West and their private beach club in Bimini.  I did get 300 in a bar tab, no clue how we'll use that except for coffee.     We paid 1981.74 for a Balcony( Sea Terrace) for 2.   Kinda of pricey, so I hope we at least enjoy this.  The tiny pool has always turned me off of booking on VV because we're huge pool people on sea days.  

[Alsmez]

39 minutes ago, calicakes said:

@Alsmez  We're not party people or drinkers( none) but the food aspect of VV convinced us to try a 4 day on Valiant Lady this October.  Well, it was September, but Virgin cancelled our cruise due to a charter so we chose to move it to the next sailing.  I figure a 4 day I can live with if I hate it.  Its Miami, Key West and their private beach club in Bimini.  I did get 300 in a bar tab, no clue how we'll use that except for coffee.     We paid 1981.74 for a Balcony( Sea Terrace) for 2.   Kinda of pricey, so I hope we at least enjoy this.  The tiny pool has always turned me off of booking on VV because we're huge pool people on sea days.  

 

If you're non-drinkers, you might ask your TA to see if they can get your Bar Tab exchanged for Sailor Loot, since that can be used for anything. Otherwise, I have heard that you can order bottles of champagne/wine to your room that will be delivered unopened - you could take them home and give as gifts. Or you can always buy rounds for others! 🙂 

[Mimiya11]

59 minutes ago, Dolebludger said:

Has anybody tried Viking Ocean? I’ve heard some good things about it, including a $14pdpp drink package that seems rather inclusive. It’s odd, because Viking River Cruises is reported to be “bargain basement”.

We have but when we booked the Premium package was included.  But with Viking you do get wine included at meals and there were a few events that offered free cocktails.  

Viking Ocean had some great things about it including a smaller ship, nice areas to wander and hang out.  We found the entertainment was not really for us, and evenings were a bit snoozy.  So we ended up spending most of our spare evenings in the Explorer Lounge, where there was a guitarist who sang songs from the 70's, 80/s and 90's which worked for us.  But it did get tedious since we were on the ship for almost two weeks. Depends what you are looking for.  

[Team Stag]

On 12/25/2023 at 6:32 PM, chereya said:

Anyone try VV and have a comparison to the Celebrity Experience? My husband and I are in the 40-50 age group and not party people but curious about the adults only vibe.

 

We are in that age group & tried VV this Fall.  Here is our thoughts that we posted shortly after the cruise.  It's oddly similar to the post from @alsmex above

Two other things I would mention: First, VV has a new CEO who in his own words has said "its time to move from growing the brand to becoming profitable".  Many regular VV cruisers have noticed the deals or incentives are not as frequent / good as the past.  2) We tend to book within 3 months of sailing & rarely see a suite available.  Our experience is based off booking 6 weeks out in a standard balcony room.

 

"We booked our fall cruise this year with Virgin.  We haven't really had a bad Celebrity trip.  But for us, the one thing Covid changed for us - we will always sail with a real balcony going forward.  Which meant, the E-Class Oceanview room with glass that goes down but controlled by someone else is not an option.  We did some Sky Suites while the prices were low; but now that demand is back it was time to look for something else.  Just to see.  And when we returned; we booked our next cruise with Celebrity.

They do some stuff different for sure.  Let's start with the room.  The red hammock is a nice touch.  One night - I dozed off in it while listening to the music from the pool deck & looking at the stars.  It was great.  But the other chair is so uncomfortable that you aren't sitting in it long.  Which means two people don't get the chance to enjoy the balcony together for any extended period of time.  The room looks like it's decorated by Ikea.  The bed is so low to the ground that you have to unzip your suitcases in half to get them to fit under the bed.  Not a huge deal; except for being a little older & trying to get out of bed at 3:00 a.m. with a bad knee was always a fun experience.  And for the record, they only clean the room.  I did't think it would matter; but we really missed the turndown service.  We didn't know how much we enjoyed it; until it wasn't there.  And the lack of couch in a standard balcony room was also missed.  There one chair - slightly more comfortable than the metal thing on the balcony but not comfortable enough to sit long term.  I never thought I'd miss a couch; but apparently I sit on it more than I remember.  

The food.  We love food.  Our family celebrates life with food.  We love all food and respect the effort and style of the different chefs who prepare it.  It doesn't have to be fancy or expensive for us to enjoy a product that those in the kitchen work so hard to make.  So hearing about Celebrity taking a step back was always concerning to us.  Hearing how great VV food is was a big reason we booked with them.  The food is really good. The sourcing (quality) is better than standard Celebrity fare - if we are looking solely at base ingredients.  The preparation was a more basic than Celebrity.  It lacked flavors to make a meal outstanding.  We complain on this board about Lobster.  VV solved that issue by not serving any.  We did order the seafood platter in Wake to compare to raw on 5.  The quality of VV platter was not as good as what we have on Celebrity.  Many on here would have fun reviewing their lobster tail 😄 .  There was tons of fun food that we liked around the ship - Popcorn, soft pretzels, etc.  The hamburger was definitely better than the grill (but not better than lumanie burger).  And we complain on here about menu cuts; the VV menus are pretty simple as well - just a handful of dishes; so longer cruises the food will get repetitive.  

We have done the all included so regularly with Celebrity; items like no Tips, or wifi included was not a noticeable change for us.  Leaving with a bar bill was.  Everyone we talked to was having an incredible time.  A common theme was "one of the best cruises I've ever been on".  And most of those people were coming from Carnival.  With a few from Norwegian.  I did not meet anyone who cruised Celebrity regularly.  Although we did see one of their beach bags on someone's shoulder.

The night time entertainment was lively.  I can honestly say we willingly stayed up later than we have on any other cruise & we danced (we don't often) more than any other cruise.  It was a fun cruise.  But as someone who plays an Engineer in real life and is focused on Efficiency & Water Reduction (& Lean manufacturing & Six Sigma and whatever buzz word to increase production, eliminate waste and raise profits is) - there were noticeable things.   For example, no table clothes.  Even in their "fine dining / speciality restaurants".  One less thing to change, one less thing to wash.  No real uniforms for the staff.  They basically wore polos.  Again - no uniforms for them to clean and press.  The crew ate with the passengers (no additional dining area).  And bottled water was no where to be found.  Anywhere.  It was fill up your cup at the water station (although carafe of water in the room was nice).

 

The final things that stood out to us: 1) everything is on the app. I finally found a place with a printed schedule but they either need to figure out wifi quality or the app quality because it was hit or miss.  2) We smelled A LOT of weed.  It was a 4 day cruise over the weekend; so I get it's gonna be a party.  But WOW - I was shocked.  3) the need for reservations.  Shows & meals.  One more step that we were not use to coming from Celebrity.  

 

I encourage people to branch out and try something new.  You may find something you like better than Celebrity.  You also may realize that Celebrity isn't that bad.  Cheers."

Edited January 7 by Team Stag

[C4HCG]

On 1/5/2024 at 12:20 AM, NMTraveller said:

For my last cruise the pre and post cruise hotels had better service than Celebrity.  I will book my next vacation with the hotels.

 

Celebrity is understaffed…

So that’s you done on Celebrity NMT? I know from your posts you don’t like the direction Celebrity have taken and I would love to read a summary of your last cruise, the good (if anything) and the bad. Fully understand you may prefer not to.

 

 

[calicakes]

1 hour ago, Alsmez said:

 

If you're non-drinkers, you might ask your TA to see if they can get your Bar Tab exchanged for Sailor Loot, since that can be used for anything. Otherwise, I have heard that you can order bottles of champagne/wine to your room that will be delivered unopened - you could take them home and give as gifts. Or you can always buy rounds for others! 🙂 

Are there things to purchase?  Do they have a gift shop? 

[Alsmez]

44 minutes ago, calicakes said:

Are there things to purchase?  Do they have a gift shop? 

Yes, there is VV branded gift shop with shirts, coffee mugs, etc., as well as the usual selection of overpriced luxury goods (sunglasses, purses, watches, a few clothing items, makeup, etc.). Plus a sundries shop in case you forgot to bring Tums and want to spend $6 on a roll of eight (ask me how I know the cost of 8 Tums 😉 ).

[calicakes]

1 hour ago, Alsmez said:

Plus a sundries shop in case you forgot to bring Tums and want to spend $6 on a roll of eight (ask me how I know the cost of 8 Tums 😉 )

Ohhhh, sorry.  I travel with a medicine cabinet full of "just in case".  It came in handy last month in Paris when I got Covid for the first time.  I had test kits, molnupiravir( the newest covid medication, worked great. ) and a lot of cold medication.  I didn't have to buy anything but extra tissues.  

[NMTraveller]

3 hours ago, C4HCG said:

So that’s you done on Celebrity NMT? I know from your posts you don’t like the direction Celebrity have taken and I would love to read a summary of your last cruise, the good (if anything) and the bad. Fully understand you may prefer not to.

 

 

I would not say that I am done,  but I do not have any Celebrity cruises booked at this point.   My next cruise is on AMA Waterways.  
 

I think that the cuts that many have mentioned I noticed.  I did really like the Millenium ship.  That is my favorite Celebrity ship.  

[TeaBag]

7 minutes ago, NMTraveller said:

I would not say that I am done,  but I do not have any Celebrity cruises booked at this point.   My next cruise is on AMA Waterways.  
 

I think that the cuts that many have mentioned I noticed.  I did really like the Millenium ship.  That is my favorite Celebrity ship.  

You will love AMA.

[Frenchkona]

It’s so interesting to see the posts from Celebrity cruisers dissatisfied with the current  changes that are happening on their ships. I agree with you. It is a shame.  But don’t you think other cruise lines are doing exactly the same?  Trust me they are!!  If you don’t believe me, check out the rants and rages from every one of the boards that cater to the various cruise lines. All of them are full of complaints about various programs, dining situations, and former perks that have been changed or deleted. 
I know everyone remembers the various hardships the pandemic dropped on all of us. Besides health issues, it was a economical knockout to families and believe it or not, corporations. They suffered tremendously, and it crippled a lot of them. 
So you may feel that you will receive better perks, better accommodations, and that unending service from Jules, Jean-Claude, or whatever you call your servant in waiting. But you are going to be surprised. All cruise lines are experiencing the same economic turmoil and it’s going to take a while to recover. Just don’t jump ship!  (Jovial remark not intended)

[Alsmez]

I just posted my review of our Virgin sailing and a separate, longer dining-only review in the Virgin forum - here are links if anyone is interested. I'll post a Celebrity comparison review soon!

 

 

[upwarduk]

On 10/18/2023 at 10:16 PM, paulh84 said:

We tried Princess based on reviews that Celebrity and Princess are mostly similar.

We have just booked Princess for the following reasons:

a) We found a 14 night sailing from Southampton.

b) Silhouette sails from Amsterdam, but sometimes goes back into Rotterdam, making pre& post travel arrangements complicated.

c) Their AI still includes gratuities.🤩

d) Their ships have proper balconies, not Infinite as Apex has ( sailing from Southampton).

Edited January 8 by upwarduk

[jmfdr]

17 hours ago, Mimiya11 said:

We have but when we booked the Premium package was included.  But with Viking you do get wine included at meals and there were a few events that offered free cocktails.  

Viking Ocean had some great things about it including a smaller ship, nice areas to wander and hang out.  We found the entertainment was not really for us, and evenings were a bit snoozy.  So we ended up spending most of our spare evenings in the Explorer Lounge, where there was a guitarist who sang songs from the 70's, 80/s and 90's which worked for us.  But it did get tedious since we were on the ship for almost two weeks. Depends what you are looking for.  

Viking Ocean is a perfect fit for us.  We love the quiet, comfortable spaces without loud music or party atmosphere.  The onboard lecture series are always a highlight for us.  

.  

[Mimiya11]

6 hours ago, jmfdr said:

Viking Ocean is a perfect fit for us.  We love the quiet, comfortable spaces without loud music or party atmosphere.  The onboard lecture series are always a highlight for us.  

.  

 

Agree that the lecture series were great, especially the commentary as we sailed through the Panama Canal.  

We also enjoy eating outside so we ended up most nights at the buffet while enjoying the same options that were in the dining room.  Plus gelato, breads and all desserts beat Celebrity by leaps and bounds.