Hey Celebrity People! We LOVED Royal Caribbean!

[cathykins]

I know I am opening myself up to a lot here....and I plan to post the same thing on the Royal Caribbean board. But here goes....

My husband and I have been on three Celebrity cruises and really enjoyed them. I have read the Celebrity postings on this site for a couple years. The general over-all feeling over here (with exceptions of course), is that Celebrity was somehow superior to Royal Caribbean. I enjoyed Celebrity so much that I figured that was probably true.

WELL....we had a certain week when we wanted to cruise and I had looked at the RCCL "Jewel" and was intrigued by her. She sailed the week we needed and I decied to book it. I was very prepared for an experience that would somehow "teach me a lesson" from straying from Celebrity. How wrong I was!

We felt that ship was beautiful, with some of the most lovely bar areas I have ever seen. (Especially the one at the back of the ship where you could see the ship's wake sparkling in the moonlight and look up through a glass roof and see the stars.)

Our room was very similar to the one we had on Celebrity, with three notable exceptions. The bathroom was nicer, brighter and had a great built in shower screen as opposed to a curtain...the deck was a little larger and they had put an upright chair and a lounger on it, and they had placed the bed NEXT to the window and the view, where I feel it should be.

The food? Honestly, I think all cruise ship food is fairly similar. Wether it be Carnival, Princess, Celebrity or RCCL (all of which we have sailed). I get bored of all of them after a few days and the specialty resteraunts are good on all of them.

YES, YES...there were a few more announcements on this ship. But they have a dial in your room where you can turn them down and you will only hear the ones that are meant for an emergency if that is what you prefer.

They have a VERY pretty Centrum area and it was utilized all the time. There was always something interesting to see or do or listen to going on there. Many times they were giving dancing lessons there...another time there was the most amazing flamenco style guitarist...the ship just felt like it had more energy than Celebrity did.

We did, in fact, see more kids on board (they said there were 600!), but they were never a problem and that is coming from someone who doesn't have kids!

We found the service to be very good and accomodating.

I think there were two things that got me to write this review...one was that I felt I needed to be honest about how pleasantly surprised we were.

The other was an incident that happened at our table at dinner. We were seated at a table for ten. There were two other couples and a family of four. The wife stayed at home, and the two kids were two of the nicest junior high kids. The husband was a medical resarcher.The first formal night they did not show up for dinner. The next night, we told them we missed them and asked where they were. The wife looked embarassed and said "We don't have any formal clothes and we have friends that said they went on Cruise Critic before they took a Celebrity Cruise and were so intimidated about what to wear that they never went to the formal nights." My husband, who had brought a beautiful suit, along with a jacket, slacks and dress shirts, said to the husband "Didn't you bring just a jacket?" and the husband said "I don't OWN a jacket...and we couldnt afford to go out and get new things for all of us." My husband said "You should be here for the next formal night...you paid for the lobster, you should enjoy it with us. I won't wear a jacket either." The husband said "REALLY?" and we all made them promise to come and enjoy the meal. They did and they loved it! They looked absolutley fine wearing the best they had. Nobody cared! And I realized how out of touch some of the cruisers on these boards have gotten about the meaning of being gracious to everyone and making others feel INCLUDED, not excluded.

Anyway, we would sail either line again and hope to sail RCCL or Celebrity to Europe in the future. Please understand that this is just one person's observations and I probably won't win any popularity contests but what the Hey...my life needs a little excitment anyway!

Thanks for reading this,

Cathy

[Host Kewlguy]

I've never heard anyone say X was superior to RCCL. It's just a different cruise experience. We enjoy sailing on both lines.

[ECCruise]

Two words. Bravo. Thanks.

 

Broadening one's horizons in life (even in something as simple as a cruise line) so often works wonders.

[Host Kewlguy]

I realized how out of touch some of the cruisers on these boards have gotten about the meaning of being gracious to everyone and making others feel INCLUDED, not excluded.

 

Ok, so if I expect fellow passengers to follow the dining room dress code I'm out of touch. Too funny. :D

[morriscats]

Kathy,

Escellant post! Bravo for saying what I have felt for a long time (I am a chicken). I was a little worried too about formal nights just from reading CC but our experience was similar to yours. We were dressed formal but there were many who wore "what they had but nice" and did we care??? NO! What a nice thing you and your husband did for that couple. Would love to cruise with you!!!

[BobBeaSea]

Ok, so if I expect fellow passengers to follow the dining room dress code I'm out of touch. Too funny. :D

 

In a word..yes :D

[jenjes3]

Hi .. My husband and are are platinum members on RCCL. We do love it and always went for this cruise line as we cruised with our 2 daughters. We have been on the Voyager Class Ships along with the Radiance class ships. We love them all. We have sailed 7 xs RCCL and 1x on NCL. Now we are looking to sail on the Zenith to Bermuda. We always wanted to try Celebrity and looking forward to possibly a little better service and slightly better food.

 

We realize the Zenith is older ship. We would like to try the Millininum class ships some day. The freestyle dining on Norwegian also looks appealing... So many choices! Not enough money or time!

 

Anyway.. I think sometimes all the cruise lines have there own unique qualities!

[mmp13]

I would love to sail Rccl. I just have not been able to match our time frame and departure port to their schedule. We love Celebrity but would not hesitate to sail Rccl if it met our needs! I have been intrigued by the jewel since her build. she looks like she would be a truly beautiful ship!

[slotaddict]

I have sailed both Celebrity and Royal Carribean, have never had a bad experience. I have only sailed Voyager Class ships so cannot comment on the others. I found RCL and Celebrity very enjoyable.

[Host Anne]

Cathy ~ thanks so very much for taking the time to share your insights with us. I understand how you feel about your experiences on both lines. We've felt the same way over our years of cruising. The Jewel and Brilliance were two of our all-time favorite cruises and ships. I think you gave an outstanding review of your cruise and the perceptions you sometimes get from the boards. I'm glad that you enjoyed the Jewel so much.

 

Also, your kindness extended to fellow passengers was incredible. What happy ships we'd all sail on if we could all be so kind.

[cruiser2004]

how out of touch some of the cruisers on these boards have gotten about the meaning of being gracious to everyone and making others feel INCLUDED, not excluded.

Cathy

 

I am also one of these "out of touch" people that feel rules should be followed. I feel that you have to enforce existing rules or just have no rules at all and just allow everyone to do there own thing so no one would feel excluded. There are cruise lines that have no formal nights for those who don't own or want to wear a suit or evening dress. Last year on a cruise our baggage did not make it to the ship until our fourth day of the cruise. The cruise line offered to provide a tux for myself, but had nothing for my wife to wear. Our tablemates encouraged us to come to formal night dressed as we were, but we respected the rules and had dinner in our cabin. We ordered lobster and three deserts (hey nobody saw us). It turned out one of the most enjoyable meals we ever had on a cruise ship!

Rules can't please everyone all of the time, but I still choose to abide by the rules, even when I don't agree with them.

I am glad you enjoyed your cruise.

[Cruisin' Chick]

Cathy, I think you and your husband are very classy people!

[Host Kewlguy]

Ok, so let me see if I've got this straight. The guy can't afford to buy decent clothing for his family but he CAN afford to take them on a cruise? Makes perfect sense to me. Righttttttttttt.

[brigittetom]

Cathy, What a great post. I agree with absolutely all of your sentiments.

 

Personally, I do want a dresscode in place on any cruise we book and I would want it to be enforced to a point.

 

We have been on many cruises where people were not dressed according to the code but were dressed nicely and personally I think that's what should count.

 

I've had the exact same impression for years. I did feel that RCL did a much better job for the lunch buffet while Celebrity was far superior for dinner. We cruised on the Radiance recently and the lunch buffet was great as usual and our dinner expierence was outstanding.

 

We've had some really outstanding cruises on Celebrity and we've had just a very few with problems. We boarded the Zenith the day after we disembarked the Radiance. It was our fault because we have booked a Celebrity cruise at this same time of year for the last 10 years although we have never booked for less than 10 days. This year we booked the Zenith for a 5 day cruise and it was a spring break cruise. We obviously just weren't thinking which is not the fault of Celebrity. Where Celebrity is at fault is the rude attitude of the Captains Club personnel when I called to ask if Celebrity actually knew what went on during these cruises and still booked repeat passengers. I was talked to rudely and dismissed.

 

I have always encouraged my husband to book Celebrity just because of the great service and enjoying being a repeat passenger. Now we are just looking for a nice price because we know that RCL will provide the same experience and if there is a problem, at least RCL will respond.

[Coolcruise02]

WONDERFUL POST! I have said many times (and taken a lot of heat) that Celebrity gets a little overrated on these boards. Yes, we had a great cruise on X, but not any better than RCCL, Carnival, Princess or HAL.

 

Kewlguy....."no one ever said X was superior" ..... please, when I came here before our first X cruise that is all I heard. Guess what, it didn't live up to all the hype!

[Radio Head]

Cathy' date=' I think you and your husband are very classy people![/quote']

 

Ditto!

[voyager70]

Ditto!

 

Double ditto !! We've sailed Celebrity, Princess, & RCCL and loved all of them. A cruise is what you make of it. I get so sick of hearing one cruise line is better than another or letting one bad experience make the entire cruise line no good. Wish everyone had your attitude. Happy cruising!

[zackiedawg]

I'd have to say I DID have better service, slightly better food, and better attention to details and needs on Celebrity than on RCCL. And I'd also have to include myself with those who want the dress code and think it should be enforced.

 

That said, I have had as much or more fun on all of my RCCL cruises as I did on Celebrity. I would gladly cruise either line again - I know what I get from each, and what I don't. The RCCL cruises provide me excellent entertainment and activity, with very good food and service. Celebrity will offer me very good entertainment and activity with excellent food and service. In my book, that doesn't make one better than the other - they both are slightly better than the other in a few categories, and both wonderful vacation choices.

 

As for the dining room - I will follow the dress code on formal night. Despite the fact that it is just about the only time of the entire year that I wear a jacket and tie or suit, and despite the fact that I am 37 years old (from the supposed 'sloppy' X generation). It is the stated code on board, and I will follow it. And I do prefer to see all the patrons following it as well - it provides a nice atmosphere of something special that enhances the experience for me.

 

That said, my experience in the dining room isn't ruined because one or two people somewhere didn't follow the rules to the letter. What I appreciate is an effort to comply, within one's means. If that means an individual is wearing a sport coat and tie with mismatched pants instead of a custom-tailored Italian suit...that's OK. And if a person decides they either can't or won't comply and arrives sans jacket - I leave it up to the dining staff to decide if that is acceptable. It isn't my dining room. If they decide to admit a person not wearing a jacket, then it's OK by me too. If they turn that person away, so be it.

 

Moreover, I think Cathy and her husband exercised their judgement and exhibited human compassion in a special circumstance that is commendable. For those belittling the scenario, you may have never lived in the shoes of someone struggling to get by on lower income. Why could a person afford a cruise, but maybe not afford new clothes and other expenses? Because of the difference between spending $3,400 for a family cruise, or 10% of their family annual income, and spending another $1,500 on formal clothing for 4 family members, which might come to another 5% of their annual income.

 

As for following the rules - remember that this family DID comply with the dress code - they skipped the formal night, and were planning on doing it again. These were not rude people just deciding to stroll into the dining room in jeans and flip-flops on formal night just to send a message. But a very compassionate couple at their table asked them to consider attending the next formal night in the best clothes they had. And to make that family comfortable, they made a decision to flaunt the rule for a special exception, and with a noble purpose. While I don't think rules were meant to be broken, I do feel that there can be an outstanding exception to every rule, and in those rare scenarios a person breaking the rules can be doing something good. And I have no problem with occasionally looking the other way and letting them escape punishment for their tresspasses.

 

Had they been turned down at the door, cest la vie...that's the risk they took and it didn't work. I would expect them to accept that graciously and eat elsewhere. But if they are admitted, I'll break bread with them and enjoy my meal in my penguin suit just as much!

[Schplinky]

I've never heard anyone say X was superior to RCCL. It's just a different cruise experience. We enjoy sailing on both lines.

 

Is that a joke? Read any of the the thread where folks ask for comparisons. You seem to ahve posted a lot on this thread and are looking for an argument but try to be a little objective.

[hermang]

I know I am opening myself up to a lot here....and I plan to post the same thing on the Royal Caribbean board. But here goes....

My husband and I have been on three Celebrity cruises and really enjoyed them. I have read the Celebrity postings on this site for a couple years. The general over-all feeling over here (with exceptions of course), is that Celebrity was somehow superior to Royal Caribbean. I enjoyed Celebrity so much that I figured that was probably true.

WELL....we had a certain week when we wanted to cruise and I had looked at the RCCL "Jewel" and was intrigued by her. She sailed the week we needed and I decied to book it. I was very prepared for an experience that would somehow "teach me a lesson" from straying from Celebrity. How wrong I was!

We felt that ship was beautiful, with some of the most lovely bar areas I have ever seen. (Especially the one at the back of the ship where you could see the ship's wake sparkling in the moonlight and look up through a glass roof and see the stars.)

Our room was very similar to the one we had on Celebrity, with three notable exceptions. The bathroom was nicer, brighter and had a great built in shower screen as opposed to a curtain...the deck was a little larger and they had put an upright chair and a lounger on it, and they had placed the bed NEXT to the window and the view, where I feel it should be.

The food? Honestly, I think all cruise ship food is fairly similar. Wether it be Carnival, Princess, Celebrity or RCCL (all of which we have sailed). I get bored of all of them after a few days and the specialty resteraunts are good on all of them.

YES, YES...there were a few more announcements on this ship. But they have a dial in your room where you can turn them down and you will only hear the ones that are meant for an emergency if that is what you prefer.

They have a VERY pretty Centrum area and it was utilized all the time. There was always something interesting to see or do or listen to going on there. Many times they were giving dancing lessons there...another time there was the most amazing flamenco style guitarist...the ship just felt like it had more energy than Celebrity did.

We did, in fact, see more kids on board (they said there were 600!), but they were never a problem and that is coming from someone who doesn't have kids!

We found the service to be very good and accomodating.

I think there were two things that got me to write this review...one was that I felt I needed to be honest about how pleasantly surprised we were.

The other was an incident that happened at our table at dinner. We were seated at a table for ten. There were two other couples and a family of four. The wife stayed at home, and the two kids were two of the nicest junior high kids. The husband was a medical resarcher.The first formal night they did not show up for dinner. The next night, we told them we missed them and asked where they were. The wife looked embarassed and said "We don't have any formal clothes and we have friends that said they went on Cruise Critic before they took a Celebrity Cruise and were so intimidated about what to wear that they never went to the formal nights." My husband, who had brought a beautiful suit, along with a jacket, slacks and dress shirts, said to the husband "Didn't you bring just a jacket?" and the husband said "I don't OWN a jacket...and we couldnt afford to go out and get new things for all of us." My husband said "You should be here for the next formal night...you paid for the lobster, you should enjoy it with us. I won't wear a jacket either." The husband said "REALLY?" and we all made them promise to come and enjoy the meal. They did and they loved it! They looked absolutley fine wearing the best they had. Nobody cared! And I realized how out of touch some of the cruisers on these boards have gotten about the meaning of being gracious to everyone and making others feel INCLUDED, not excluded.

Anyway, we would sail either line again and hope to sail RCCL or Celebrity to Europe in the future. Please understand that this is just one person's observations and I probably won't win any popularity contests but what the Hey...my life needs a little excitment anyway!

Thanks for reading this,

Cathy

When I raised the issue of "formal dress" several months ago I was roundly skewered and told if I couldn't handle Celebrity's requirements I should try Carnival or some other line who was more in tune with less formality. I applaud your attitude in making a fellow passenger comfortable and to the others who may have looked on in horror - Take a lesson from an enlightened cruiser

[WeBeCruisin']

Flame me if you wish, but I'm not going along with the OP's "look how noble we are" mentality. The "medical researcher" and his family obviously knew in advance what the expectations were and chose not to participate. To their credit, they did the right thing by choosing alternative dining for the formal nights.

 

The OP encouraged this family to disregard the dress code and then compounded the issue by disregarding it themselves to show how wonderful and exalted they were. Two wrongs do not make a right, and the OP's actions seem almost condescending,

 

Medical researchers are generally very well compensated, and the entire family could have met the minimum dress code requirements for less than $50 to $100 either on eBay or at a thrift shop.

 

As for the ship comparison, which was obviously the secondary reason for the post, I've been on RCCL five times, including the Brilliance of the Seas (one of the Jewel's sister ships) and on Celebrity's Summit, Constellation, and Horizon. The Brilliance is a beautiful ship, and their buffet area and layout are superior, in my opinion, to Celebrity's, but overall, the extra touches by Celebrity, such as the welcome-aboard champagne, cold towels dockside, the Sushi Bar, the gorgeous Martini Bar, the sorbet by the pool in the afternoon, fewer announcements, etc. give Celebrity a definite edge, in my opinion.

 

I would, however, sail on Royal Caribbean again in a heartbeat.

 

Allen

[morriscats]

But they did meet the minimum dress code - they were allowed in! It is not "our" dress code but the cruise lines dress code and if it does not matter to them, it should not matter to us.

[catmand]

I suppose I should read the entire original post before I comment, sorry, nope, not going to do it.

I guess we all have our own special ways of communicating things, this one that screams "Hey Celebrity PEOPLE........we loved Royal Caribbean........as if to say those that enjoy the Celebrity product are a group of sheep or perhaps cattle?

I think that whenever a person spends his money (that is if there is any left after filling up the car) for a cruise vacation that experience should be a positive, happy one. Who books a cruise going in expecting to be disappointed? as mentioned in the original post? or as "being taught a lesson" for "straying"

PS: we have now had around 30 dinners with about 10 other couples on Celebrity ships. I honestly don't think any of them gave a darn what we did or didn't wear but were much more concerned with our company.

I am so glad a good cruise experience was had on Royal Caribbean, just as it should be on Princess, NCL and/or any other line.

We just completed our third celebrity cruise 8,12, and 14 days. I can't wait to cruise Celebrity again. Oh yes, it'll be after our next Princess cruise.

[caviargal]

But they did meet the minimum dress code - they were allowed in! It is not "our" dress code but the cruise lines dress code and if it does not matter to them, it should not matter to us.

 

Being allowed in did NOT mean they met the dress code. It means that RCI chose to look the other way, as they so often do. They simply do not want to lose money by making a passenger angry so they ignore the attire and let the offender into the dining room.

 

It is quite amazing to me to read about some of the outfits that are allowed these days on the formal dining rooms of RCI: an unbuttoned leather vest on a man with no shirt underneath, shorts and tanks, ball caps. Really, are there that many people with simply no class?

 

I personally find it appalling and a huge step down for RCI based on what I enjoyed in past years when they enforced their own policies (and the dress code is just one). Cruising is no longer a special experience on most lines, IME and IMHO, and RCI is sacrificing clients like me in pursuit of being lax in their enforcement of onboard policies.

[Host Kewlguy]

WONDERFUL POST! I have said many times (and taken a lot of heat) that Celebrity gets a little overrated on these boards. Yes, we had a great cruise on X, but not any better than RCCL, Carnival, Princess or HAL.

 

Kewlguy....."no one ever said X was superior" ..... please, when I came here before our first X cruise that is all I heard. Guess what, it didn't live up to all the hype!

 

If your definition of "superior" means more formal, better service or a more mature clientele, then yes, Celebrity is superior. I enjoy sailing on both lines. Both lines have their strong/weak points. For instance RCCL wins hands down for on board activities and the shows. But I'm not booking a Celebrity cruise to climb rock walls or ice skate. I book with Celebrity to relax and enjoy the higher quality service they provide compared to the other lines. If I feel like dressing down I will book NCL.