Disney Fantasy or Celebrity Equinox?

[goofy4prez]

I know this question is like comparing apples to oranges, but that is the decision I'm trying to make. Briefly here's the scenario.

We are looking at a June 8th sailing on the Fantasy in the Western Caribbean and looking at a Deluxe Oceanview with Veranda (5A) midship for $7699. If I go through a travel agent I also get a $350 on board credit. The ports are Cozumel, Grand Cayman, Jamaica, and Castaway Key.

We are also looking at a 6/1/2019 sailing on the Celebrity Equinox and looking at a Sky Suite (Aft) for $6891. There are some nice perks being in a suite and in addition there is a promo offering $300 on board credit, Free Internet for two, Prepaid tips for two, and premium beverage pkg for two (we don't drink alcohol). The ports are Key West, Cozumel, Costa Maya and Grand Cayman.

There will be myself (54) DW (39 a few times over, LOL) and our DD (21). As are most of you ,we absolutely love Disney... But is this worth the added cost to you all in your opinion. I'm on the fence with this one and want to pull the trigger by the end of Saturday.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

I know this question is like comparing apples to oranges, but that is the decision I'm trying to make. Briefly here's the scenario.

We are looking at a June 8th sailing on the Fantasy in the Western Caribbean and looking at a Deluxe Oceanview with Veranda (5A) midship for $7699. If I go through a travel agent I also get a $350 on board credit. The ports are Cozumel, Grand Cayman, Jamaica, and Castaway Key.

We are also looking at a 6/1/2019 sailing on the Celebrity Equinox and looking at a Sky Suite (Aft) for $6891. There are some nice perks being in a suite and in addition there is a promo offering $300 on board credit, Free Internet for two, Prepaid tips for two, and premium beverage pkg for two (we don't drink alcohol). The ports are Key West, Cozumel, Costa Maya and Grand Cayman.

There will be myself (54) DW (39 a few times over, LOL) and our DD (21). As are most of you ,we absolutely love Disney... But is this worth the added cost to you all in your opinion. I'm on the fence with this one and want to pull the trigger by the end of Saturday.

Well, I'd probably go with the Celebrity one, if those are my only choices.

Reasons: Haven't been to Costa Maya, and haven't cruise Celebrity yet, also free internet, prepaid tips.

 

[hrhdhd]

Celebrity by a mile. The Sky Suite is one of the best deals at sea. You can also still book with a TA for OBC or a cash card (big box TA).

We were in an aft SS in March on the Silhouette (sister ship) and had a superb time.

We have three booked in SSs on the Equinox.

 

[Club Disney Chandler]

I know this question is like comparing apples to oranges, but that is the decision I'm trying to make. Briefly here's the scenario.

We are looking at a June 8th sailing on the Fantasy in the Western Caribbean and looking at a Deluxe Oceanview with Veranda (5A) midship for $7699. If I go through a travel agent I also get a $350 on board credit. The ports are Cozumel, Grand Cayman, Jamaica, and Castaway Key.

We are also looking at a 6/1/2019 sailing on the Celebrity Equinox and looking at a Sky Suite (Aft) for $6891. There are some nice perks being in a suite and in addition there is a promo offering $300 on board credit, Free Internet for two, Prepaid tips for two, and premium beverage pkg for two (we don't drink alcohol). The ports are Key West, Cozumel, Costa Maya and Grand Cayman.

There will be myself (54) DW (39 a few times over, LOL) and our DD (21). As are most of you ,we absolutely love Disney... But is this worth the added cost to you all in your opinion. I'm on the fence with this one and want to pull the trigger by the end of Saturday.

Without a doubt, X Equinox. The best thing we ever did was try a cruise line other than DCL. We still cruise DCL but have also been on Carnival and are looking into RCCL, X, and NCL. There really is life outside DCL, the one caveat I will say about this is, you need to make sure you enjoy cruising, not just Disney cruising. For us, the only vacations we want at this point in our life are cruises, we just love being on the ships and not interacting with the outside world. This is just my opinion, I could be wrong. Enjoy your cruise, whichever option you choose, but please come back her and let us know how X was if you choose that.

 

[DietCokeMommy]

They seem pretty comparable, though the celebrity room looks a little bigger. One small concern I would have is the lack of a curtain divider. This may not be a huge consideration, but I personally would like having a divider between me and an adult child so that we could all change in relative privacy with our needing to go into a tiny bathroom. I’d also prefer castaway cay over key west. But it’s all a matter of preference .

 

[MickeyD]

Celebrity hands down! I love Celebrity and we have sailed on Silhouette and Century. I really want to try the Equinox and I am looking at itineraries for that one. One thing you might want to consider is that cruising as an all adult party, DCL will be quite crowded with children during the summer months, whereas Celebrity skews toward more adults. The premium beverage package also includes lattes and specialty coffees FYI.

 

[we"reofftoneverland]

With prices that close... I'd go dcl.

 

[goofy4prez]

I appreciate all the input. This morning while I was Skyping my DD who is studying abroad in Osaka Japan, I could see how she was trying not to show her disappointment if we didn't go with Disney. I know she is going to be 21 in just a few short months, but she is still my little princess. I guess if there is one thing her mom and dad were successful with is that she sure does love anything Disney. Long story short; I booked the Western Caribbean on the Disney Fantasy for early June 2019. I decided to go with a Deluxe Family Oceanview Stateroom with a Veranda (04B) stateroom 8610. In the end it was $224 more and a larger cabin. I also am getting a $650 SBC from the T/A... Yes I'm quit satisfied with the decision.

I should add that my wife and I also booked a trip for Feb. 2020 for the two of us on the Celebrity Summit and sailing out of San Juan for the Southern Caribbean.

 

[lilsonicfan]

As adults I feel like the benefit to DCL is Castaway Cay.... otherwise to me, there isn’t enough geared toward adults only (I realize I may be in the minority). It seems to me that the Sky Suite is like sailing Celebrity’s version of concierge including in room dining, private restaurant, a butler, etc. I’d probably go with celebrity for that reason. But I think I saw you just booked DCL

 

[soniam]

We just did Celebrity Summit for our anniversary. It was only us adults though. It was fabulous. The service you get in a suite, even a Sky Suite, is beyond anything you will get from Disney, unless you stay in the largest suites on DCL. The food is fantastic too. We loved Luminae, the suite restaurant, and never ate in the main dining room. It really was our MDR. We just showed up whenever we wanted, and there was a place. We only ate twice at the specialty restaurants, and we would have eaten at them for free as much as we wanted due to the room we had. We just never felt they were better than Luminae. I can't say enough about our butler. I wish he would have come home with us The suite lounge, Michael's Club, is awesome. They have free cocktails, wine, beer, and non-alcoholic beverages almost all day. A couple of times during the day they have canapes/appetizers or tea with little snacks. The food and service in the lounge were also amazing. If we didn't have a 12 year, I don't know if we could go back to DCL. The disembarkation for suite guests was great. We had a late flight, so the suite concierge just let us hang out in the suite lounge until the last possible minute and then personally walked us to our luggage and to the customs line. The premium beverage package includes nice bottled waters and premium coffee and tea. I'm a bit of a tea snob, and the tea they used was very very good. I don't know how enjoyable though, this type of cruise would be for a 21 year old. I think it caters more to couples and older adults.

EDIT: I just saw that you are doing Southern Caribbean on Summit out of PR. That's what we did last month. It's amazing! Did you get a Sky Suite. If so, see if you can get Chip (Cipriani really) as your butler. You will be so spoiled

 

[goofy4prez]

EDIT: I just saw that you are doing Southern Caribbean on Summit out of PR. That's what we did last month. It's amazing! Did you get a Sky Suite. If so, see if you can get Chip (Cipriani really) as your butler. You will be so spoiled

We sure did book the Sky Suite and in cabin 8117.

 

[soniam]

We sure did book the Sky Suite and in cabin 8117.

They are going to be doing a dry dock/refurb on Summit next year. So, it should be in really nice condition for you. Have a great trip! I am super jealous and didn't want to leave the ship.