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

[kathi]

We are considering switching to a suite on Edge for this fall (From concierge on DCL) if there are too many restrictions/reduced experiences due to, what I assume will be, DCL sailing with >5% unvaccinated passengers.

 

[tee11]

Can you (or anyone) elaborate on sailing Celebrity with kids under 10? What rules were restrictive? How were entertainment, pools, food, etc. from a kid point of view?
Thanks!

We did a 14-nights Baltic cruise in a suite on Celebrity. The cost per night was the same as a regular 4A on Magic for their Northern Europe cruise, but we had so much more amenities than what DCL Concierge offers. The meals at Luminae are better than Palo. The drink package covers a lot of items, the Internet is rapid and unlimited. The service was on par with the best DCL CM’s offer.

The kid’s program was not interesting and the rules applicable to under 10yo kids were so restrictive that our son never went back after the orientation visit. Since it was a port intensive cruise, he didn’t mind at all.

We will only sail Celebrity and DCL in the future, but DCL‘s appeal is fading fast when looking at pricing.

 

[disneywonderfun]

We did our only previous Celebrity cruise around 5 years ago when one child was in her early teens and our son was in single digits. It was a Mediterranean cruise starting in Spain and ending in Greece. Because of that, we were very interested in getting off the ship and exploring the ports. Nevertheless, I cannot think of anything particularly restrictive. Our son went to the kids club once or twice and did not complain. His drawing of a fish was picked at the kids club to be turned into a handmade glass sculpture by the team from Corning. Super cool item we got for free to take home. The entertainment was not super kid friendly. Our children really liked the food. Our kids liked the pools, liked room service, and overall had a great time. They have always had a great time on DCL, so maybe they are just easy to please!

DWF

 

[RAD]

We did a DCL Alaska cruise 5 years ago and we loved it. The wife decided she wanted to do it again in 2022 so I started looking at prices, we go with 4A cabins. OMG, talk sticker shock. So upon the recommendation of a Dreams TA i checked out Celebrity, for the same price we got a 7 night northbound cruise, Vancouver to Seward and added on a 6 night land excursion. Celebrity included a $600 OBC, WiFi, drink package and tips. Looking at the stateroom it's a lot smaller then the 4A on Disney but for the price difference we'll give it a shot. I'm sure we'll miss those DCL touches and the Wonder but for the price difference we'll learn to get over it, I hope.

 

[RAD]

As a follow on to the above post I've done a bit of an upgrade for the Celebrity Alaska cruise. I had book a veranda cabin but when really looking into it the size was a bit smaller then I wanted. I checked other cabin availability and snagged a Celebrity Suite which looking at the video tour looked really nice,

. This was a guarantee rate cabin but I was willing to pay the $15,700 price when I compared it to a DCL price for a 4A during the same time for their standard 7 night cruise at $11,000 for me it was a no brainer. 14 nights for a sea/land package in Alaska in a 1 bedroom suite that has free WiFi, free drinks, tips included and it was only $4,700 more.

Now the real bonus is that this was a guarantee rate cabin, which when looking at the possible locations wasn't a problem, they were all good. But last week, over a year before our cruise I noticed that Celebrity had assigned us a cabin number, it was no longer a Celebrity Suite but a Royal Suite,

. OMG, I don't know if I'll be able to get the wife (or myself for that matter) back into a regular stateroom.

Now I love DCL but just like the rest of the Disney they are, IMHO, getting to a price point where their extra touches are just not worth the price for folks with no kids to worry about anymore. Yea if we still has kids less then 10 years DCL is the place to take them but for adults unless you MUST have that Disney touch look around, you can probably find something as good or better for less money.

Thanks Tracey Heinrichs for making the recommendation to try Celebrity.

 

[Cliffside]

As a follow on to the above post I've done a bit of an upgrade for the Celebrity Alaska cruise. I had book a veranda cabin but when really looking into it the size was a bit smaller then I wanted. I checked other cabin availability and snagged a Celebrity Suite which looking at the video tour looked really nice,

. This was a guarantee rate cabin but I was willing to pay the $15,700 price when I compared it to a DCL price for a 4A during the same time for their standard 7 night cruise at $11,000 for me it was a no brainer. 14 nights for a sea/land package in Alaska in a 1 bedroom suite that has free WiFi, free drinks, tips included and it was only $4,700 more.

Now the real bonus is that this was a guarantee rate cabin, which when looking at the possible locations wasn't a problem, they were all good. But last week, over a year before our cruise I noticed that Celebrity had assigned us a cabin number, it was no longer a Celebrity Suite but a Royal Suite,

. OMG, I don't know if I'll be able to get the wife (or myself for that matter) back into a regular stateroom.

Now I love DCL but just like the rest of the Disney they are, IMHO, getting to a price point where their extra touches are just not worth the price for folks with no kids to worry about anymore. Yea if we still has kids less then 10 years DCL is the place to take them but for adults unless you MUST have that Disney touch look around, you can probably find something as good or better for less money.

Thanks Tracey Heinrichs for making the recommendation to try Celebrity.

Congrats on that cabin assignment…that is wonderful…we are Platinum DCL cruisers but have started to sail Celebrity and we love it. we are empty nesters now and we are really enjoying Celebrity. We are booked on our fourth in February.

 

[RAD]

Congrats on that cabin assignment…that is wonderful…we are Platinum DCL cruisers but have started to sail Celebrity and we love it. we are empty nesters now and we are really enjoying Celebrity. We are booked on our fourth in February.

We're also Platinum members and have sailed on all four ships. We still have a 7 night on the Fantasy scheduled for this January, but that may be the last one. One thing that IMHO DCL really needs to change is the Castaway Club and how it works. Frankly their benefits stink and how you move up to the various levels don't come anywhere close to how other cruise lines work.

 

[mevelandry]

As a follow on to the above post I've done a bit of an upgrade for the Celebrity Alaska cruise. I had book a veranda cabin but when really looking into it the size was a bit smaller then I wanted. I checked other cabin availability and snagged a Celebrity Suite which looking at the video tour looked really nice,

. This was a guarantee rate cabin but I was willing to pay the $15,700 price when I compared it to a DCL price for a 4A during the same time for their standard 7 night cruise at $11,000 for me it was a no brainer. 14 nights for a sea/land package in Alaska in a 1 bedroom suite that has free WiFi, free drinks, tips included and it was only $4,700 more.

Now the real bonus is that this was a guarantee rate cabin, which when looking at the possible locations wasn't a problem, they were all good. But last week, over a year before our cruise I noticed that Celebrity had assigned us a cabin number, it was no longer a Celebrity Suite but a Royal Suite,

. OMG, I don't know if I'll be able to get the wife (or myself for that matter) back into a regular stateroom.

Now I love DCL but just like the rest of the Disney they are, IMHO, getting to a price point where their extra touches are just not worth the price for folks with no kids to worry about anymore. Yea if we still has kids less then 10 years DCL is the place to take them but for adults unless you MUST have that Disney touch look around, you can probably find something as good or better for less money.

Thanks Tracey Heinrichs for making the recommendation to try Celebrity.

I wanna move in that suite and never leave.

 

[San Diego traveler]

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!

How was the summer Greek cruise? We have DCL Booked but looking to change to Celebrity. Thx