DCL vs Celebrity (not your usual comparison) . . .

[tvguy]

We took our first Celebrity Cruise in October 2019. Vancouver, to Victoria, to San Francisco (overnight stay so 2 days there) Santa Barbara and Los Angeles.
It was the wonderful cruise. Only complaint was the extreme hard sell for extra cost restaurants. Always someone outside the main restaurants asking if you were interested, and at the buffet at lunch time they had a staff member walking among the tables offering half off if you signed up then! I heard on both this Celebrity cruise and other cruises that extra cost dining rooms were not drawing the customers like they hoped, and that the main dining rooms were drawing more people than they hoped.

 

[disneywonderfun]

We took our first Celebrity Cruise in October 2019. Vancouver, to Victoria, to San Francisco (overnight stay so 2 days there) Santa Barbara and Los Angeles.
It was the wonderful cruise. Only complaint was the extreme hard sell for extra cost restaurants. Always someone outside the main restaurants asking if you were interested, and at the buffet at lunch time they had a staff member walking among the tables offering half off if you signed up then! I heard on both this Celebrity cruise and other cruises that extra cost dining rooms were not drawing the customers like they hoped, and that the main dining rooms were drawing more people than they hoped.

Might explain why our room is packaged with unlimited included specialty restaurants.

DWF

 

[Lorana]

My husband and I have been considering giving Celebrity a try in a few years, as our oldest graduates high school next year and our youngest becomes a high school freshman this fall. We have previously also sailed on RCCL, NCL, and Costa.

We love Disney the most, but as Marc D noted:

DCL‘s appeal is fading fast when looking at pricing.

We are willing to pay more for the quality we get with Disney, but in some cases that pricing is too much. It's one reason why, when we sailed to Alaska, we went with the NCL Bliss, as it was half the cost for a minisuite there as it was for a verandah on the Disney Wonder.

 

[soniam]

We are also trying Celebrity this summer for a Greek Isles cruise on their brand new ship "Apex"! We were able to get a sunset verandah with the upgraded drinks package and $150 OBC/pp for half the price of an inside stateroom on Disney's Greek Isles sailing next summer. Wifi and tips are also included with Celebrity. We will still sail on Disney in the future, but their prices in the Mediterranean are way out of our budget every year and this new ship looks absolutely beautiful so we're excited to try it out!

I am looking at one of the those for our 25th anniversary in 2023. I don't normally like to cruise the mediterranean; we just prefer to visit the actual cities/countries. However, a Greek Isles cruise is more like cruising the Caribbean.

Might explain why our room is packaged with unlimited included specialty restaurants.

I think the larger suites have included that for a while. I know ours in 2018 did. We actually got upgraded from a Sky suite to the Royal suite for a small additional charge. We had booked some specialty restaurants but got comped for them. I do remember really enjoy the Japanese restaurant. It was the only one on the older ships that I would consider doing again. We just did the buffet for breakfast/lunch on sea days and the suite restaurant most of other days.

 

[tvguy]

All the offers I am getting from Celebrity include tips and unlimited alcohol even for the least expensive cabins.

 

[Dug720]

All the offers I am getting from Celebrity include tips and unlimited alcohol even for the least expensive cabins.

Yes. They have an "all included" pricing now. Gratuities, I believe basic internet (not streaming) and the regular beverage package is included in the cruise fare. You can select Elevate or Indulge for an additional fee and that bumps the beverage package up to Premium, the internet up to streaming, and gives OBC for each person.

 

[hrhdhd]

The reason why the Mediterranean is expensive because the disney magic on sails there in high season.

So do the other cruise lines. That's why they call it high season.

 

[mevelandry]

I like the idea of an « all-included cruise ». We always end up buying a few drinks, wifi and specialty dining anyway... And we have never removed tips.

 

[disneywonderfun]

I like the idea of an « all-included cruise ». We always end up buying a few drinks, wifi and specialty dining anyway... And we have never removed tips.

Yes, yes, yes. I am a huge fan of all inclusive pricing. Disney, and several other cruise companies, tend to price like a discount airline. The teaser rate is what attracts you initially. But then there are so many things that add to your final expenses. It is nice to know that I will not likely have much of a shipboard bill at the end of my Celebrity cruise, especially with the $1200 OBC. On the one other Celebrity cruise we have sailed, I ended up going to the casino and withdrawing my remaining OBC with their 5% surcharge for using OBC as casino money. Still well worth it. A few hands of video poker, and I just cash out and get stacks of $100 bills.

DWF

 

[KashasMom]

I haven't been able to pull the trigger on the Wish for several reasons (3/4 nights definitely being one). We've been in suites on Celebrity a long time ago and it was awesome then. Your cruise sounds even more so! Even with the Wish I don't think Disney has stepped it up enough for Concierge! BTW, my daughter (who only went in the kids clubs once) outgrew Disney when she was around 7. I still force her to go when we cruise with extended family. Have a great cruise!

ETAsk: Were you able to get your deposit back? I thought you weren't able to with Concierge?

 

[AquaDame]

I haven't been able to pull the trigger on the Wish for several reasons (3/4 nights definitely being one). [...]

I admit, if we weren't on the maiden I'm not sure when we would get around to sailing on the Wish. I'm not a huge fan of 3/4 night cruises either; we'd rather do a 7 night and hit a further island to boot.

 

[disneywonderfun]

I haven't been able to pull the trigger on the Wish for several reasons (3/4 nights definitely being one). We've been in suites on Celebrity a long time ago and it was awesome then. Your cruise sounds even more so! Even with the Wish I don't think Disney has stepped it up enough for Concierge! BTW, my daughter (who only went in the kids clubs once) outgrew Disney when she was around 7. I still force her to go when we cruise with extended family. Have a great cruise!

ETAsk: Were you able to get your deposit back? I thought you weren't able to with Concierge?

Disney is quite nice about allowing a hold for a couple days. Our reservations simply cancelled automatically after two days when the deposit was due and unpaid.

DWF

 

[DCLMP]

I wish I had the problem of deciding whether I wanted to do a 26k cruise or a 35k. That's a really nice problem to have. I can't decide if I want to do a 5k premium balcony room on carnival, a 6k obstructed on princess or a 9k inside on Disney. I obviously made the wrong career choice in my younger life. I need a do-over.

 

[Intr3pid]

I like the idea of an « all-included cruise ». We always end up buying a few drinks, wifi and specialty dining anyway... And we have never removed tips.

Not the way Celebrity has started to do it - I should note. The room costs reflect sometimes unnecessary expenses for families (particularly those spread over multiple rooms due to kids), and It's starting to redirect some of them elsewhere. Maybe purposefully. Partly why you have to be careful which sailing dates you bring your kids on, or you will not find the family experience your kids are used to on DCL.

For our family, it's hardly ever Celebrity vs DCL. A cruise with the same itinerary and dates - DCL wins every time. Where DCL fails though is providing opportunities to sail to new destinations. Magic in Europe and Wonder to/from Hawaii are great, but there isn't much else in the way of new experiences. While we still need our dose of Caribbean getaways in the cold of the winter, brands like Celebrity step up to fill a real gap in our travels. They provide a great complement to any family looking to explore the world beyond what DCL can take them to.

 

[mevelandry]

Not the way Celebrity has started to do it - I should note. The room costs reflect sometimes unnecessary expenses for families (particularly those spread over multiple rooms due to kids), and It's starting to redirect some of them elsewhere. Maybe purposefully. Partly why you have to be careful which sailing dates you bring your kids on, or you will not find the family experience your kids are used to on DCL.

For our family, it's hardly ever Celebrity vs DCL. A cruise with the same itinerary and dates - DCL wins every time. Where DCL fails though is providing opportunities to sail to new destinations. Magic in Europe and Wonder to/from Hawaii are great, but there isn't much else in the way of new experiences. While we still need our dose of Caribbean getaways in the cold of the winter, brands like Celebrity step up to fill a real gap in our travels. They provide a great complement to any family looking to explore the world beyond what DCL can take them to.

We are a different crowd: DH and I are childfree (kids are not part of our plans). When I refer to « my family », I‘m always talk about MIL and FIL (in their 70s).

Outside of my MIL and I obsession with characters, we tend to be drawn to more adult entertainment. 18+ comedy shows? Count us in! 60-70-80s musical revue? Yes, please!

 

[disneywonderfun]

I wish I had the problem of deciding whether I wanted to do a 26k cruise or a 35k. That's a really nice problem to have. I can't decide if I want to do a 5k premium balcony room on carnival, a 6k obstructed on princess or a 9k inside on Disney. I obviously made the wrong career choice in my younger life. I need a do-over.

I know what you mean. We have always been "ok" with delayed gratification when we had financial decisions earlier in our lives. For example, we did not have cable television for the first several years of marriage as we rushed to pay off our student loans, We were one of the last people we knew to actually get a cellular phone. I still remember having to find a pay phone (which basically were nonexistent at the time). Our first car was a Mazda purchased only for its 0.9% financing at the time. Anyway, not that this is a financial advice bulletin board and I am certainly not so presumptuous to provide it to other people, however I know that financial sacrifices we made 15 years ago are making our lives much easier today. Our first Disney cruise (I think in 2009) was in a guarantee cabin. No way we could afford anything else at the time. And, yes, it is a good "problem" we have these days simply struggling with which overpriced cabin makes the most sense for us now!

Best regards,

DWF

 

[NotANewbie]

We are doing a NCL cruise this December, and 16yo daughter is excited, but when I told her we were going on a 3N on the wish next June she just about did a handspring. This will be our 3rd DCL (2010, 2014, and now 2022). She's as excited at 16 as she was at 6.

 

[DCLMP]

I haven't been able to pull the trigger on the Wish for several reasons (3/4 nights definitely being one). We've been in suites on Celebrity a long time ago and it was awesome then. Your cruise sounds even more so! Even with the Wish I don't think Disney has stepped it up enough for Concierge! BTW, my daughter (who only went in the kids clubs once) outgrew Disney when she was around 7. I still force her to go when we cruise with extended family. Have a great cruise!

ETAsk: Were you able to get your deposit back? I thought you weren't able to with Concierge?

This has been my thought too. The ship doesn't even look that much different than the Fantasy or Dream. We're hoping to cruise three times next year. The price, length, and itinerary for the Wish just doesn't seem like a good investment for us.

Have you ever cruised on Princess?

 

[disneywonderfun]

This has been my thought too. The ship doesn't even look that much different than the Fantasy or Dream. We're hoping to cruise three times next year. The price, length, and itinerary for the Wish just doesn't seem like a good investment for us.

Have you ever cruised on Princess?

Our first cruise was on Princess but we never sailed on them again. That was before kids! No reason we will not in the future, just have not gotten around to it.

DWF

 

[Marypoppins14]

I love reading these comparison threads. I've sailed in Concierge on DCL for roughly a third of my cruises with them. The escalation of prices and decreased offerings caused me to stick with aft verandah staterooms on the Dream, and Navigator's verandah on the Magic/Wonder. Looking to try Celebrity, Norwegian and Princess. Loved the RCCL Oasis (rock climbing, zip lining, ice skating - fun!) Thanks for all the comments. Definitely helps to hear other points of view!