How does Celebrity cmpare to RCI ?

[octagonmike]

Anyone done both ?

[ByeBye1]

Celebrity is quieter, almost no kids while RCL is more like Disney. Celebrity is a bit more upscale and has better food and good service. Celebrity does not have anywhere near the activities RCL has.

[TEXASMUNK]

Celebrity, food a step above RCI

 

Celebrity, far,far less announcements

 

Celebrity, formal nights...dramatically more formal than RCI

 

Service levels: equal

[snausman]

I love Celebrity and I love RCCL. Celebrity is a bit older crowd but than again my dd (28) loves Celebrity. I think the service and food is much better than RCCL.

 

Laura

[Aquahound]

Anyone done both ?

 

I just cruised the Solstice and absolutely loved it. I also love RCI, but Solstice offered a level of elegance and service that I was not used to. Little things, like welcome aboard champagne and the cold towels they serve you on the pier were nice.

 

Here is a link to the review I wrote:

 

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=54036

[octagonmike]

Celebrity, food a step above RCI

 

Celebrity, far,far less announcements

 

Celebrity, formal nights...dramatically more formal than RCI

 

Service levels: equal

 

 

Ok thanks. Doesn't sound like my thing. Sounds too formal. I haven't cruised RC yet (4 weeks time) but last Christmas in caribbean saw a couple of their ships and they looked fantastic.

 

That's not to say RC ships didn't look fantastic.

[ondeckatsea]

You might want to give Celebrity a try sometimes. It really isn't at all stuffy, just maybe a wee bit less pesty with announcements, food is a notch above RCI, and all the nice little touches mentioned by the other posters. I love them both.

[octagonmike]

You might want to give Celebrity a try sometimes. It really isn't at all stuffy, just maybe a wee bit less pesty with announcements, food is a notch above RCI, and all the nice little touches mentioned by the other posters. I love them both.

 

 

Have only done 1 informal cruise before this forthcoming trip on RC LOS. I am building up to formality slowly ;)

[lkb125]

Anyone done both ?

 

A little quieter, slightly better food and much better lecturers and adult activites. Last time I took a Celebrity TA they had an artist onboard that gave water color lessons really interesting. I love both cruise lines and would go on either one. I am going to try Princess in the fall because of the interesting ports starts in Venice italy. Lorelle

[pcur]

Ok thanks. Doesn't sound like my thing. Sounds too formal. I haven't cruised RC yet (4 weeks time) but last Christmas in caribbean saw a couple of their ships and they looked fantastic.

 

That's not to say RC ships didn't look fantastic.

 

I don't quite agree that Celebrity is more stuffy than RCCL. I just got back from back-to-back cruises, Celebrity Constellation 3/27, and then RCCL Majesty 4/6.

 

Constellation was an older group, but it's not marketed as much to families as RCCL, and doesn't have the rock climbing wall, inline skating, etc. They do have a children's program and a very nice play/swim area attached to it outside.

 

We found the food on both cruises to be wonderful, service was great. We did not think the dining room food on Celebrity was overall better than the Majesty, but their sauces, soups, and salad dressings are more imaginative.

 

We enjoyed both, and are long time RCCL cruisers. This was our 4th Celebrity cruise.

 

Celebrity's ships are understated and classy. RCCL has more "wow" factor, but they are both gorgeous ships. They have a few extra touches that may or may not matter to you: glass of champagne or a mimosa or punch upon arrival; chocolates on the pillow each night; escort to your cabin.

 

I say try Celebrity for the itinerary, because RCCL seems to have more "cookie-cutter" itineraries.

 

Evenings in the dining room the passengers don't necessarily dress up a lot, but they wear nicer clothes, and you see far fewer jeans, shorts, baseball caps, printed tees in the dining room. I think it might be that the staff are stricter about the dress suggestion of the day. They have "smart casual or above", which is basically a collared shirt and long pants for men, and a nice pants outfit or sun/cocktail dress for women. Formal nights were about the same on Celebrity as a longer RCCL cruise. The shorter cruises tend to get more casual passengers.

[cruznjan]

Elegant? Yes. Stuffy? Not!

[Bobbie John]

I don't quite agree that Celebrity is more stuffy than RCCL. I just got back from back-to-back cruises, Celebrity Constellation 3/27, and then RCCL Majesty 4/6.

 

Constellation was an older group, but it's not marketed as much to families as RCCL, and doesn't have the rock climbing wall, inline skating, etc. They do have a children's program and a very nice play/swim area attached to it outside.

 

We found the food on both cruises to be wonderful, service was great. We did not think the dining room food on Celebrity was overall better than the Majesty, but their sauces, soups, and salad dressings are more imaginative.

 

We enjoyed both, and are long time RCCL cruisers. This was our 4th Celebrity cruise.

 

Celebrity's ships are understated and classy. RCCL has more "wow" factor, but they are both gorgeous ships. They have a few extra touches that may or may not matter to you: glass of champagne or a mimosa or punch upon arrival; chocolates on the pillow each night; escort to your cabin.

 

I say try Celebrity for the itinerary, because RCCL seems to have more "cookie-cutter" itineraries.

 

Evenings in the dining room the passengers don't necessarily dress up a lot, but they wear nicer clothes, and you see far fewer jeans, shorts, baseball caps, printed tees in the dining room. I think it might be that the staff are stricter about the dress suggestion of the day. They have "smart casual or above", which is basically a collared shirt and long pants for men, and a nice pants outfit or sun/cocktail dress for women. Formal nights were about the same on Celebrity as a longer RCCL cruise. The shorter cruises tend to get more casual passengers.

 

I agree with everything you said except that the main dining room food is not overall better on Celebrity than RCL. Celebrity's food is definitely better. However Celebrity has also cut back on the quality of meats e.g lamb shank instead of lamb chops that they used to have. The MDR food on our last Explorer cruise was a lot worse than it was on our 5/5/08 Explorer cruise. Everyday steak was chewy and overdone even when ordered rare. Chicken and salmon were dry. They have more fried food entrees e.g. buttermilk fried chicken. A lot of the fish entrees or appetizers are marinated in cilantro or Mexican, Thai and Indian spices and you can't get it without because it has been marinated with it overnight. Unless you ask for a special meal the day before. A lot of soups have those spices also. In the Windjammer the burgers are in a pan, sandwiches are premade and soggy, pancakes and waffles are in a pan overcooked on one side and not done on the other. Two good things in WJ were the omelette and fried egg station because they were making it to order and also the salad bar. On Celebrity you can get a freshly made burger at the grill, or sandwich in the buffet area. The Aqua Spa Cafe on Celebrity ships at lunch cooks meat to order and they serve it to you hot. The MDR does not have many fried entrees.

 

Today on the live chat with CEO of RCI, Adam Goldstein, someone asked how RCCL can command premium prices when the food quality is not delivering a WOW. His answer was that the food in the specialty restaurants is very strong. That is the current problem. They are serving the quality food in the specialty restaurants that they used to serve in the MDR. Goldstein said "We will look for opportunities to enhance this offering as we go forward" (this offering meaning the main dining room and the windjammer)

 

We will see what the food is like on the Serenade on Saturday. This may well be our last RCI cruise.

[Silvery Seas Cruiser]

Just my opinion, because food preferences are subjective, but I did not find the food on Solstice superior to RCI. What I definitely found superior was the presentation of the food. For just one example, even in the buffet, dishes and cups were glass not Melamine.

 

The restaurant design on Solstice is second to none for elegance, especially Blu, but I still wasn't particularly impressed with the food itself. I never once said, "Wow, how delicious!" I would never choose Celebrity based on food. Itinerary would be the deal-maker, but certainly not the food.

 

We also found the service frustratingly slow at times, but the ship was brand new, so maybe they did not have their procedures worked out smoothly then. I did love the champaign welcome and escort to the room on boarding and towels when returning to the ship. Let me say here that even NCL Pearl offered champaign mimosas on boarding. RCI does not. Maybe they once did, but no more.

 

Solstice is an absolutely beautiful, elegant ship inside and out. Would I pay a premium to sail on Solstice...most likely not again UNLESS the itinerary was one I just couldn't miss.

[borrowash]

You might want to give Celebrity a try sometimes. It really isn't at all stuffy, just maybe a wee bit less pesty with announcements, food is a notch above RCI, and all the nice little touches mentioned by the other posters. I love them both.

 

I agree completely with this quote. But for the best overall cruise experience, and if I could only go on one cruise, it would be RCI.

[searoses]

went on summit last month. that makes 2 for celebrity and 3 for rcl. i think the differences we much more noticeable a few years ago. the food on c was better quality and the service excellent in the early 2000s. last month i kept saying to myself they really can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear! poor excuse for lamb,duck,tough steak. the only excellent meal in the mdr was the prime rib on the first night. c does not have a full buffet as a 2nd choice. their small area off the specialty res had lovely service but the menu was so so. the service in the mdr was breezy,polite,and not very personable. obvious that the staff had more tables than in past-too many for some. our waiter waxed fondly about the old days when the duck skin was crisp and the meat fork tender.

 

in contrast we ate more nights at the wj on our last rcl cruise and were never disappointed. we are not"meat and pot" eaters preferring more ethnic and highly spiced food. we were traveling with some family members and found the wj cool,quiet and at our own pace. the wj has really improved the last few years for dinner.

 

 

would not choose one over the other for food,service,ect. we travel based on itinerary and access to a quiet,adult pool. my criticism of the food in no way diminished our wonderful vacation. for those who are counting on being wowed you may be disappointed at the cutbacks that are definitely showing.

 

 

the bed on the summit was the BEST ever for a ship.

[thxmom]

We sailed on Celebrity Century in January 2009 and RCI Navigator of the Seas in March 2009. Personally I enjoyed the RCI better. However, we had a bad experience with a flooded cabin on the Century and the customer service was less than satisfactory. The food on the Century was better than RCI. Century was quieter. More activities on the Navigator, cruise director and activities team friendlier. I agree with pcur/Peggy above....the Navigator WOWed us, the promenade deck was beautiful. Century more understated. I'd sail on both lines again.

[Nostromo]

Lately I have been using the specialty restaurants on RCI a lot. I find that for the $20 per person extra charge, I get truly fantastic meals. Service, food, and ambiance are damn near perfect. I prefer Portofino's to Chops mainly because it has more variety. But Chops really does have excellent filet mignon. To me, a 10 oz filet mignon is worth the $20 charge, IMHO. They will charge you extra if you order more than one entree, but you can as many appetizers, sides, and desserts as you like.

[SLCBoys]

We did a family Solstice cruise in Feb with ages 26-65ish. This was a first for our family on any Celebrity ship. Solstice is a beautiful ship and crew was great.

 

The live pool entertainment was so, so. Music was from 40's-50's, tried to just tune it out, food definitely wasn't a step above as many have mentioned compared to RCI, we felt it was very comparable. Average age seemed to be late 60's and up. Far less kids, I think I'd rather put up with rude kids then rude older people, I've never hear so much complaining in my life on a ship. Disco was a ghost town and all pools/hot tubs shut down at 8:00, that was VERY annoying!!

 

Celebrity Elite members don't have anywhere near the perks as RCI Platinum/diamond membership levels.

 

If you like the quite, laid back, stuffy atmosphere, Celebrity would be a good choice.

 

We really missed the diversity in age, things to do on board and music on Royal. Everyone that went all said it was our first and last time on Celebrity.

[ljk76]

Anyone done both ?

 

In February the Celebrity Solstice, this month RC Enchantment of the Seas, 11 years older - and 1/3 the price! Honestly the food on RC was as good or better, not counting the specialty restaurants.

 

Solstice is beautiful, very WOW, but we found the service to be better on RC in this case at least. Celebrity was prettier, but RC was more fun and a much better value. Celebrity was quieter, RC was more fun. But we have never had what I would call a bad cruise yet. (well maybe one 3 day cruise on the Carnival Fantasy was pretty pathetic, but we still made the most of it.)

 

Have fun whichever you decide! It's all in the attitude!