Has anyone sailed on Celebrity?

[luisdivan]

We did a Celebrity cruise last year to Europe ( Western med) , Celebrity Reflection,with teens - tweens 15 years old , and They loved, there were activities for the teens but the ports were so intense that they did not enter the clubs . Celebrity is also our second cruise line . Beutifull ships, clean an organized like Disney

 

[SnowWhite2]

We cruised Celebrity to Bermuda about 10 years ago and they required you to "dress" after 6 pm and no shorts were allowed in any venue. Is it still like that?

 

[Keels]

We cruised Celebrity to Bermuda about 10 years ago and they required you to "dress" after 6 pm and no shorts were allowed in any venue. Is it still like that?

Nope, not really. Formal night is "Evening Chic", but my Dad and Husband wore nice jeans. Jackets aren't required. No shorts to dinner in the restaurants, though.

 

[FSU Girl]

You posted while I was responding...I would keep your eye on the dining as they often have sales for dining packages. I don't remember what we paid but I seem to recall it was a 20% savings on their 6 night package which made paying extra for the dinners much more palatable to me

I'll definitely wait on booking to see if a good deal comes out thanks!

 

[FSU Girl]

So - to of the specialty restaurants (Blu, Lumiere) are for specific stateroom guests (Blu is for AquaClass, Lumiere is for Suites).

I wanted to try Aqua Class or suites, but they were just too far out of our price range, so we'll have to experience those another time.

Qsine, Tuscan Grille and Murano are flat-rate $/pp restaurants (similar to Palo & Remy). Lawn Club and Sushi on Five are $ a la carte restaurants. The three main specialty restaurants also offer things like brunch or specialty themed lunches throughout the cruise - they're usually cheaper than what you're paying for dinner, so I pay out of pocket for those instead of using the dining package

When I was asking the lady at Celebrity about the restaurants she never mentioned how two were a la carte, so thank you I'm thinking we'd probably stay away from those and do the other three.

For a cruise of your length, I would at least do four nights - you can try out all three and then go back to a second time to your favorite. Personally, if a deal came across for six nights, I would buy that in a heartbeat ... mostly because I get burned out on the MDR (even though the food is pretty good for cruise food) and the forced dining time. Sometimes I want to have dinner at 7 instead of 5:45 or 8:15, you know?

That's a good idea, I was thinking of doing four or five. We have four sea days so those would be perfect to try on those.

 

[FSU Girl]

We did our honeymoon on the Eclipse, one of the Solstice-class. Yes, if you have the classic you can upgrade to the premium for the different per day, it was $11ish I think for us per person per day? And that's not just booze, that is "if it is liquid on the ship and under $15, you can have it." So fresh squeezed orange juice with breakfast, premium coffee or tea from the coffee shop, smoothies by the little spa food area for lunch, wine with dinner, $15 cocktails from World Class Bar (try the Zacapa Old Fashioned!), bottles off water off the ship for excursions or in our room at night. It completely paid for itself many times over so you should totally do it.

I think we will upgrade. Most of the drinks I like are pretty expensive and I'm guessing wouldn't be covered by the classic one. I love smoothies, so that's great to know.

We thought Sushi on Five looked like a rip-off, tbh. It was a la carte and around the same price we'd pay for sushi on land. Since we'd already paid for the cruise it seemed silly to pay that rate for sushi. If it was all you can eat so I could try new things, maybe.

I think we'll avoid this one. I'm not a huge sushi lover so it would be a waste for me to go there I think.

 

[FSU Girl]

We did a Celebrity cruise last year to Europe ( Western med) , Celebrity Reflection,with teens - tweens 15 years old , and They loved, there were activities for the teens but the ports were so intense that they did not enter the clubs . Celebrity is also our second cruise line . Beutifull ships, clean an organized like Disney

That's great to hear they are similar to Disney. That is one of the things I love sailing with Disney and was a little apprehensive about switching to a different cruise line.

 

[CathyCU03]

We've done Celebrity. There were things we like more and things we likes less than cruising with Disney. We did a summer cruise to Bermuda and there were lots of multi-generational families. I'd say the average age was slightly older then DCL but it was not to bad. In a way it was nice that the boat wasn't jam packed with kids. My parents have cruised celebrity multiple times. If you are going during the school year or on a longer cruise I think the average age will be higher.

In general my 5 YO liked the kids club and we liked that she seemed to do a lot more activities all around the ship. It's very different from Disney's setup and we liked that there was less reliance on screen time. We did not miss the split bath and all. The drink package on Celebrity was great. We really enjoyed the ability to get bottled water all the time as well as alcoholic beverages. The pools were bigger than on the Disney ships but they are salt water. There was no water slide on our Celebrity boat and my DD missed that option. We enjoyed more of the programming than on Disney. We did a painting class, wine tasting, wine blending, trivia, silent disco, karaoke etc. Since we do Disney for our DD not because we're particularly crazy for Disney stuff it was nice to not have so much themeing with these types of events. We didn't do the evening shows since they weren't overly kid friendly but my parents did and they didn't seem impressed. I think the Disney shows are much better. Celebrity also doesn't offer fist run movies in a theater environment like Disney but that wasn't a big deal to us. I also liked the shopping on Celebrity better. They have a wider selection of items since they aren't pushing such a large percentage of Disney merchandise. I got some jewelry and other fun stuff and they had different sales and events during the week. We did miss the TV options in the stateroom. Sometimes its nice to put a movie on in the background or to entertain the kids while you get dressed and that's not an option on Celebrity unless you want to pay. We did specialty dining at Quisine and thought it was really good and really fun. Our experience in the main dining room was mixed. The food was on par with Disney but the wait staff left a lot to be desired. We were concierge and got to attend some other special events like a galley tour and sail away party from the helipad which were really fun. We would sail Celebrity again both with or without kids.

 

[FSU Girl]

We did miss the TV options in the stateroom. Sometimes its nice to put a movie on in the background or to entertain the kids while you get dressed and that's not an option on Celebrity unless you want to pay.

So you can't watch the TV without paying? Or there are certain channels you have to pay for? We like to relax in the cabin and watch some TV, that'll be annoying.

Celebrity also doesn't offer fist run movies in a theater environment like Disney but that wasn't a big deal to us.

Did they show any movies in the theater?

If you are going during the school year or on a longer cruise I think the average age will be higher.

We are sailing during August, but it's a two week cruise so I guess it's a toss up if it'll be skewed older.

 

[CathyCU03]

So you can't watch the TV without paying? Or there are certain channels you have to pay for? We like to relax in the cabin and watch some TV, that'll be annoying.

They had a small line up of cable channels (CNN comes to mind) that was free but no movies other than paper-view and certainly no on demand TV shows like on the Fantasy and Dream.

Did they show any movies in the theater?

The boat we were on didn't have a movie theater just a theater for the production shows. They had an outside terrace area that had a small screen set up and they showed some recent-ish movies and some random pre-recorded concerts but we never went.

We are sailing during August, but it's a two week cruise so I guess it's a toss up if it'll be skewed older.

Here's the trip report I wrote after our vacation if you want more details (including at the end all the equivalent of the Navigators from the cruise).

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2525463&highlight=summit

 

[SingingMom]

Great information!
Has anyone sailed on Celebrity—with teens?

We sailed Celebrity Summit to Bermuda for our 25th anniversary, with our almost 18 year old. We had a Royal Suite with our own butler, our own hot tub on our private double verandah, with beautiful teak furniture. Our bathroom had a shower and a Jacuzzi tub and a walk in closet, and a computer in the living room. A dining room with a full bar set up. We had a terrible time. There was not much to do, our DD was not allowed in the nightclub with us and not drinking. The service was terrible, the food was eh, and the butler was rude. I had such wonderful expectations and it was a real disappointment.

two years ago we sailed Disney Fantasy in a verandah stateroom. DD was 22. We spent most of our time in the adult only areas and had a fabulous time. We will NEVER cruise again unless it's with Disney.

 

[Princess KP]

After 8 Disney cruises, we decided to try a grown up cruise when our youngest went off to university. Sailed Celebrity for the first time in 2016 and again in 2017. We have another one booked in 2019.
We have also sailed on RCCL a few times but like Celebrity better.

Average age of the passengers also depends on the itinerary and time of year. We did a 10 night Southern Caribbean last September and there were only a handful of kids. There were quite a few retired folks but again, I think it had a lot to do with the itinerary, with many passengers doing back to backs.
Service and food is good. The shows, not so much. Love the drink package, even if it is mainly to get bottles of water and lattes from Cafe al Bacio.

Nothing will compare to Disney but Celebrity offers good value. Similar experience for much less.
Enjoy your cruise!

 

[DisneyPiPhi]

I just had clients cruise on Celebrity Silhouette for their anniversary, and they LOVED it. They came back raving about the food, the service, and the variety of activities.

 

[SingingMom]

Shows on Celebrity Summit were subpar. They actually did a movie medley and someone sang "My Heart Will Go On". DD looked at me and said, "Titanic? Are they for real?!"

 

[PrincessTrisha]

2 words - Café Bacio.

This is the crowning glory of Celebrity. Fantastic breakfast pastries, followed by incredible desserts throughout the day and evening. Pair that with a drink package which gives you unlimited access to a huge list of specialty coffees, teas, fresh brewed ice teas, and other various beverages.....this is our favourite thing about Celebrity. A great place to hang out and talk along with the most perfect coffee shop at sea.

 

[NC State]

We are now wanting to check into this. Disney is pricing us out. Where's the best place to learn more about Celebrity? What is included and what is an extra cost? Do you have a message board like this one for Celebrity?

 

[SingingMom]

We are now wanting to check into this. Disney is pricing us out. Where's the best place to learn more about Celebrity? What is included and what is an extra cost? Do you have a message board like this one for Celebrity?

Cruise Critic has interesting forums and will help you find info on Celebrity.

 

[Dug720]

Cruise Critic has interesting forums and will help you find info on Celebrity.

Just remember that a lot of the posters on there take the CRITIC part very seriously. They can make the whining on here look like compliments.

 

[mevelandry]

2 words - Café Bacio.

This is the crowning glory of Celebrity. Fantastic breakfast pastries, followed by incredible desserts throughout the day and evening. Pair that with a drink package which gives you unlimited access to a huge list of specialty coffees, teas, fresh brewed ice teas, and other various beverages.....this is our favourite thing about Celebrity. A great place to hang out and talk along with the most perfect coffee shop at sea.

Ok, I just googled it and I fainted. Lol I just told my husband that I wanted to try Celebrity in 2019. XD

 

[starvenger]

Just remember that a lot of the posters on there take the CRITIC part very seriously. They can make the whining on here look like compliments.

Very true. You learn to filter those out (mentally, not literally. I don’t think they’ve got a filter for that) pretty quickly.