DCL Plat tried Celebrity

[tp1830]

I've done DCL many times on almost all of their itineraries. The great customer and characters helped bring us back again and again.

My inlaws wanted to do Alaska and so we thought of joining them. Without saying, we first priced out Disney. While it was on the high side, it wasn't impossible for us to pay. Even then, we priced out the other options and everyone decided to go with Celebrity.

Dollar for dollar, we got a lot more on the Celebrity than we did with Disney...concierge room, onboard credit, drinks, internet while saving upwards of $4,000. While it looks like a no brainer, it was super hard to book with anyone but Disney...especially since we were travelling with a 1 year old and 3 year old.

Here is the rundown:
1. Celebrity ship was almost the same age as the wonder. There were spots that looked like it needed some TLC, but overall the ship was beautiful.
2. Kids club...tiny compared to DCL. Since the ship only had 38 kids, my kids had almost 1 on 1 attention from the staff which made a world of a difference. Last time on the Fantasy, my daughter was almost just a number in the room. They had tons of toys to take to the room...and the last night they threw a carnival for all the kids with facepainting, tattoos, games, snacks and yes...free gifts for all the kids.
3. Food, i'm sorry Disney, Celebrity won this one hands down. There was almost no comparison. The food offerings were much better. Fresh brewed coffee, real cream and milk and the overall selection was much better than we've ever had on DCL.
4. Service...while the food was better on Celebrity, the service was not. The stateroom host was amazing and while we missed the towel animals, the service from him was outstanding. On the other hand, the dining staff was almost two levels lower. It took a week for them to really interact with the kids. No high chair on the first day. No drinks already on the table. Gave us food without utensils. Luckily the food tasted much better to help make up for it, but once you get the DCL dining service, its hard to live without it.
5. I thought we'd miss the different dining rooms, but we didn't. It was a mute point.
6. Specialty dining was super awesome. We've done palo too many times to count, but the italian restaurant on Celebrity was outstanding with home made pastas....yum.
7. Live music...it was awesome. Yes DCL has the pianist, keyboard player and guitarist...but live violins, a big band...NICE.
8. Shows...we didn't do many of the shows, but the adults really enjoyed them. Not sure how the kids would've liked it...but they wanted to spend the evening in the kids club, so thats where we were...although it was nice up there because we saw so many whales while the kids were playing (one wall is all glass, so they can play and look out at the same time)
9. Shopping...they had sales all the time. DCL has a sale, but not really. This ship had last sailings stuff for 90% off, alaska waterproof warm jackets for $30, and just so many sales. My in laws shopped a lot, and we've cruised with them before where they didn't ever enter the stores on DCL. The variety, with the Apple products and boutique clothes and bags were very cool. Nice to see unique brands from the different countries that the ship has visited.
10. Lack of energy. DCL is high energy...almost all the time. I guess the clientele on Celebrity doesn't demand that type of energy, but you miss it sometimes.
11. The small stuff. I missed the disney music in the hallways, random small disney touches.
12. The indoor pool...DCL needs to get one, right away and make it big. One of the best things ever!!!

Overall, trying another cruise line was great. The experience was different, but not a world different. While each ship has its own personality and differences, they were much more similar than different.

While i may not jump on Alaska again right away...i missed being in shorts...i definitely will not have any issues trying someone other than DCL...although i still have a soft spot for them.

 

[darnheather]

*moot point

 

[BrytEydBelle]

Thank you for your review! I am looking into Alaska cruises and will have to add Celebrity to my list to check out. Very good to know about the indoor pool, lack of swimming is one of my biggest holdups to booking that itinerary.

 

[tink1970]

Thanks for your review. My class is looking at a 25 year reunion AK cruise (we've done 10 year W Caribbean, 20 year Med [sadly didn't do that}) in 4 years so nice to read about this since I'm sure it will be on HAL, Princess or Celebrity.

Appreciate your taking the time to write it up.

 

[Quellman]

I think comparing Celebrity in Alaska to the Fantasy Caribbean for the kids clubs is a bit of a stretch. I understand the point, but Alaska is primarily an older persons destination, as is Celebrity Cruiseline. So the amount of kids widely varies. But Thanks so much for sharing your review. I don't doubt that much of what you said is quite accurate and it will certainly give some others pause, especially for Alaska. I know we didn't pay the Disney price when we went to Alaska. It is port intensive for sure, so the ship activities are lower, and like others we will spend the money on on-shore activities.

 

[DnA2010]

Thanks for your review! Def adding Celebrity to the list of possibilities for Alaska

 

[Ofinn]

Most schools arent out yet. I would think you would have a lot more kids on board once Summer starts.
Great review.

 

[Wish I lived in Fl]

Thanks for your review. Me and Dd13 went on a 10 day Celebrity Southern Caribbean over February vacation and there were so few kids on board that the little ones got a lot of attention. It was so cute when we went to kids club for Family Bingo. The counselors would play themselves and help the kids with their cards and if the counselor had a almost winning card they would switch it with a child so a little one got to win.

We started with DCL and have branched out to Celebrity. Each has their own strengths. My Mom was critical about Celebrity after Disney. Now that we have gone on another Disney cruise she has started to appreciate what was better on Celebrity.

 

[Sandbtwmytoes]

I've done DCL many times on almost all of their itineraries. The great customer and characters helped bring us back again and again.

My inlaws wanted to do Alaska and so we thought of joining them. Without saying, we first priced out Disney. While it was on the high side, it wasn't impossible for us to pay. Even then, we priced out the other options and everyone decided to go with Celebrity.

Dollar for dollar, we got a lot more on the Celebrity than we did with Disney...concierge room, onboard credit, drinks, internet while saving upwards of $4,000. While it looks like a no brainer, it was super hard to book with anyone but Disney...especially since we were travelling with a 1 year old and 3 year old.

Here is the rundown:
1. Celebrity ship was almost the same age as the wonder. There were spots that looked like it needed some TLC, but overall the ship was beautiful.
2. Kids club...tiny compared to DCL. Since the ship only had 38 kids, my kids had almost 1 on 1 attention from the staff which made a world of a difference. Last time on the Fantasy, my daughter was almost just a number in the room. They had tons of toys to take to the room...and the last night they threw a carnival for all the kids with facepainting, tattoos, games, snacks and yes...free gifts for all the kids.
3. Food, i'm sorry Disney, Celebrity won this one hands down. There was almost no comparison. The food offerings were much better. Fresh brewed coffee, real cream and milk and the overall selection was much better than we've ever had on DCL.
4. Service...while the food was better on Celebrity, the service was not. The stateroom host was amazing and while we missed the towel animals, the service from him was outstanding. On the other hand, the dining staff was almost two levels lower. It took a week for them to really interact with the kids. No high chair on the first day. No drinks already on the table. Gave us food without utensils. Luckily the food tasted much better to help make up for it, but once you get the DCL dining service, its hard to live without it.
5. I thought we'd miss the different dining rooms, but we didn't. It was a mute point.
6. Specialty dining was super awesome. We've done palo too many times to count, but the italian restaurant on Celebrity was outstanding with home made pastas....yum.
7. Live music...it was awesome. Yes DCL has the pianist, keyboard player and guitarist...but live violins, a big band...NICE.
8. Shows...we didn't do many of the shows, but the adults really enjoyed them. Not sure how the kids would've liked it...but they wanted to spend the evening in the kids club, so thats where we were...although it was nice up there because we saw so many whales while the kids were playing (one wall is all glass, so they can play and look out at the same time)
9. Shopping...they had sales all the time. DCL has a sale, but not really. This ship had last sailings stuff for 90% off, alaska waterproof warm jackets for $30, and just so many sales. My in laws shopped a lot, and we've cruised with them before where they didn't ever enter the stores on DCL. The variety, with the Apple products and boutique clothes and bags were very cool. Nice to see unique brands from the different countries that the ship has visited.
10. Lack of energy. DCL is high energy...almost all the time. I guess the clientele on Celebrity doesn't demand that type of energy, but you miss it sometimes.
11. The small stuff. I missed the disney music in the hallways, random small disney touches.
12. The indoor pool...DCL needs to get one, right away and make it big. One of the best things ever!!!

Overall, trying another cruise line was great. The experience was different, but not a world different. While each ship has its own personality and differences, they were much more similar than different.

While i may not jump on Alaska again right away...i missed being in shorts...i definitely will not have any issues trying someone other than DCL...although i still have a soft spot for them.

Thanks for the review! We started cruising with DCL when we had DD who is now 2.5y/o and we have another on the way. I anticipated cruising with DCL until the kids are older since I assumed DCL was better with toddlers. Is there anything you didn't like about Celebrity as it related to toddlers? Do you feel DCL is worth the extra cost for toddlers? Thanks

 

[quickcat]

Thanks for the review! I missed the music in the hallways too...seems like such a minor thing but it is really a nice touch Disney has with the music.
Glad you had a wonderful trip.

 

[Rabb it]

Very cool insights! Thanks for the report

 

[hanscarlet]

Thank you so much for your review! I am very curious to hear the details like you've outlined when it comes to other ships because I have only sailed DCL. Not sure what to do about our Alaska trip (re: go with Disney vs. Some other line)

Can you elaborate a bit with what is involved with the concierge experience on Celebrity (or if others have experienced it with other lines). Thanks!

 

[tp1830]

Its true, we went during the off season to alaska...over memorial day weekend. The counselors said that over the summer break, the ship can get upwards of 400 kids...of which would be totally too many...as i mentioned the space is small. But the counselors did say that the kids club takes up different parts of the ship when they have so many kids...basically flex space uses.

Right, celebrity is not a kid focused cruise line, but i was super surprised at how good the counselors were with the kids.

We met a family that had done the fantasy last year in summer and they agreed that they were surprised that their kids had a blast (and that the food was better on celebrity).

Someone asked for negatives...let me give you a little different perspective.

The care for the youngest is more expensive, but they have a $19/hr babysitting service in your room, which was pretty nice since my daughter had her own toys and was kind of in her own "element"
There aren't any kiddo movies on the tv (except the pay-for kind)
There aren't funny kid friendly servers that make hats or mickey ketchups (not that they're bad, just no added touches)
The room sofa was kind of small...but then again if you go $ for $ comparison, you'll get a suite for the Disney price of a verandah...so you'll end up with a bit more space
Ohh...no towel animals...kind of missed seeing them the first night...again the small touches

On the plus...they had this nice library, which was very cool for the kids and an elevator with glass overlooking the ocean...saw a few dolphins swimming along when going down once.

 

[chamberlain]

Thanks for the information. What ship did you sail on and what itinerary? And did you say you sailed concierge? I would love to know more about what it's like to sail on Celebrity and what you get with the concierge level. We love sailing DCL for all of the reasons you said but for the price we may look to another line for Alaska. Plus our children probably won't go with us so that will change what we are looking for in a cruise.

 

[turtle27]

Thanks for your review! I am showing this to DM! She is torn about leaving DCL because she thinks other cruise lines will not add up. I keep saying, yes, but we should keep an open mind! One question, I have almost no tolerance for smoking, asthmatic, and it does not look like smoking is allowed in common areas of Celebrity, is this true? Or did you notice smoking on board?

 

[redsonja76]

Indoor pool on an Alaska itinerary alone would sell me! That's awesome!

 

[jiminyC_fan]

We did Holland America (HAL) for Alaska and if I didn't know better I would think that I wrote the review above. I would absolutely sail HAL again and I am DCL Platinum, too.