Thoughts/Experiences on Celebrity?

[tink1970]

Since Celebrity is part of the Royal Caribbean family, I thought I'd ask if anyone had thoughts on this line. I know about cruisecritic but sometimes the critiques are so...specific. We're thinking about transitioning to other lines since we've been on most of DCL's cruises.


Recommendations?
Things that are different (significantly) from DCL?


Thanks

 

[gumbypee]

This is very subjective but I had a "bad" cruise on Celebrity (any cruise is better than being at work but still...).

I found the food awful - I lost weight on the cruise

The customs part was a nightmare - they were disorganized, confused, people didn't know what to do, it was insane

(This was a cruise from Ensenada to Hawaii btw)

It felt fancier than DCL and RCL.

It might have just been a bad time in my life but I personally probably won't do it again (never say never!)

 

[Meriweather]

We love Celebrity. Have been on 3 cruises with them. All wonderful.
4 night Pacific Northwest
7 night Pacific Coast
18 night Panama Canal (this was the most recent....last Oct.)

Food was good. Service and crew were great. Shows ....okay, Disney wins in this by far for any cruise line
Room was comfortable. And ports were great!!

 

[tink1970]

Thanks! I appreciate the input

 

[FairestOfThemAll37]

I really enjoy Celebrity. I like the feel of the ships and they generally have a great solarium space on the pool deck.

I didn't care for the MDRs on Celebrity at all. But take my opinion with a very large grain of salt because I have not found an MDR I do like. That said, Celebrity has some amazing upcharge restaurants.

No smoking in the casino is great.

I'm not sure what type of room you usually sail, but the suite prices can get really high on Celebrity to the point (much like Disney) where you're at a luxury line price point for a non luxury product.

 

[tink1970]

I really enjoy Celebrity. I like the feel of the ships and they generally have a great solarium space on the pool deck.

I didn't care for the MDRs on Celebrity at all. But take my opinion with a very large grain of salt because I have not found an MDR I do like. That said, Celebrity has some amazing upcharge restaurants.

No smoking in the casino is great.

I'm not sure what type of room you usually sail, but the suite prices can get really high on Celebrity to the point (much like Disney) where you're at a luxury line price point for a non luxury product.

Thanks @FairestOfThemAll37, I was hoping you'd respond since I've read you've been on Celebrity! We actually do enjoy suites and are waiting to make our deposit. It will still be 56% less than a similar cabin around the same time with a similar itinerary on DCL. We will pay up to what some people would consider crazy/outrageous prices but not booking on opening day (I had a total brain glitch that day!) put the DCL price tag into the "Even I can't justify this" range. Neither DH nor I are foodies so I'm sure we'll be fine with whatever. We really cruise to relax (I'm so looking forward to the Canyon Ranch Spa), see new places, and disconnect. I'm getting excited about a new experience!

 

[Lesverts]

I've been on:

Celebrity Summit; 7-night Southern
Celebrity Silhouette; 7-night Western
Celebrity Reflection; 7-night Eastern

They were all really good experiences. Some issues were had on each relating to some less than stellar guest relations. The MDR was terrible on the Silhouette, but very good on the other 2. Tuscan Grill was fantastic, Murano was great. Qsine was wonderful. The buffet was fantastic on all 3 ships. Lots of choice, different offerings each day. The drinks were good, bartenders friendly and knowledgeable. Room attendants were hit or miss. Summit and Reflection was good, Silhouette was poor. Casino staff were outstanding. Shops on board were lackluster for the most part. Prices onboard were on the high sided. The deals to book Celebrity are also great. being able to make your cruise all-inclusive really helps for budgeting and planning for me.

I have two more Celebrity cruises booked. The next one on the Equinox it was 2700 CAD (so around 2000USD) for 7 night Western, pre-paid gratuities, beverage package, 350 OBC and unlimited internet. Same cruise on DCL is 4000 USD.

My only issue with Celebrity is that for their loyalty program it takes a lot of time, money and cruises to get higher status.

 

[tink1970]

My only issue with Celebrity is that for their loyalty program it takes a lot of time, money and cruises to get higher status.

Thanks, I'm going to look into that. Of course since I'm accustomed to DCL's loyalty program which is nice but nothing spectacular I'm fairly easy to please

Appreciate the summaries!

 

[OKgirl]

We have cruised several different lines and took 1 Celebrity cruise on the Solstice out of Miami several years ago. I found the food to be wonderful (best cruise food I've experienced) and the solarium was incredible too. The pool chairs are all padded and they had other little cozy places to cuddle (hammocks, cabanas, etc). The clientele definitely skewed MUCH OLDER than NCL, Carnival, or RCCL on that particular cruise (in February I believe). I joked with my husband that somebody wouldn't make if off the ship due to an average age of 75-80 (no lie on that average, and no offense intended to older folks). Low and behold, the next morning a pine box was being taken off the ship onto the dock. (I felt terrible about my joke after that). I have never seen so many scooters in my life. My feet were run over several times by scooters when trying to walk across the elevator area just to get across to the stairs. (As you walk across, an elevator "dings" and 3 scooters race to be the first one through the door, knowing only 1 can fit). People standing in the way are just collateral damage. (And they glare at you when you say "Ow" after your foot gets broken.....) Walking down the hallways to our room at night we would pass 20-30 scooters and have to meander around them. I think they now make people put them in their rooms which is good because that had to be a fire hazard. Night life ended at 11 pm which was a disappointment. However, I was on a continuing education cruise and had to go to be early anyway. (And we still had a great cruise - I am not saying we had a bad time!) I would cruise with them again in a heartbeat, but might pick a time when more families are traveling.

 

[tink1970]

We have cruised several different lines and took 1 Celebrity cruise on the Solstice out of Miami several years ago. I found the food to be wonderful (best cruise food I've experienced) and the solarium was incredible too. The pool chairs are all padded and they had other little cozy places to cuddle (hammocks, cabanas, etc). The clientele definitely skewed MUCH OLDER than NCL, Carnival, or RCCL on that particular cruise (in February I believe). I joked with my husband that somebody wouldn't make if off the ship due to an average age of 75-80 (no lie on that average, and no offense intended to older folks). Low and behold, the next morning a pine box was being taken off the ship onto the dock. (I felt terrible about my joke after that). I have never seen so many scooters in my life. My feet were run over several times by scooters when trying to walk across the elevator area just to get across to the stairs. (As you walk across, an elevator "dings" and 3 scooters race to be the first one through the door, knowing only 1 can fit). People standing in the way are just collateral damage. (And they glare at you when you say "Ow" after your foot gets broken.....) Walking down the hallways to our room at night we would pass 20-30 scooters and have to meander around them. I think they now make people put them in their rooms which is good because that had to be a fire hazard. Night life ended at 11 pm which was a disappointment. However, I was on a continuing education cruise and had to go to be early anyway. (And we still had a great cruise - I am not saying we had a bad time!) I would cruise with them again in a heartbeat, but might pick a time when more families are traveling.

Thanks-I remember when I used to go to WDW and the scooters were the biggest menace I experienced. I appreciate the warning. I never use the elevators on a cruise ship because for some reason it brings out the worst in people--sounds like Celebrity is no exception.

DH and I are early to bed early to rise people (he's a surgeon so...) and after being kept up all 3 nights by our night owl neighbors on our last cruise I'll take no nightlife! I definitely prefer the geriatric crowd to ill behaving children so I suspect Celebrity will be a good fit for us. I'm a grumpy 75 year old in a 46 year old's body

I appreciate your chiming in...our next DCL is our last for a while and I'm getting nervous about changing brands.

 

[Denise W]

Thanks-I remember when I used to go to WDW and the scooters were the biggest menace I experienced. I appreciate the warning. I never use the elevators on a cruise ship because for some reason it brings out the worst in people--sounds like Celebrity is no exception.

DH and I are early to bed early to rise people (he's a surgeon so...) and after being kept up all 3 nights by our night owl neighbors on our last cruise I'll take no nightlife! I definitely prefer the geriatric crowd to ill behaving children so I suspect Celebrity will be a good fit for us. I'm a grumpy 75 year old in a 46 year old's body

I appreciate your chiming in...our next DCL is our last for a while and I'm getting nervous about changing brands.

We went on Celebrity Summit to Bermuda a few years ago and absolutely loved it. We found it a step up from Disney, RCL amd NCL. We are musicians and found the live entertainment to be the best on all the cruises we have been on. It included a well known Broadway actor who gave two shows during the cruise. He was fabulous. We felt the food was better and didn't notice as many "old people", but we are in our sixties so may not have noticed.
Denise

 

[tink1970]

We went on Celebrity Summit to Bermuda a few years ago and absolutely loved it. We found it a step up from Disney, RCL amd NCL. We are musicians and found the live entertainment to be the best on all the cruises we have been on. It included a well known Broadway actor who gave two shows during the cruise. He was fabulous. We felt the food was better and didn't notice as many "old people", but we are in our sixties so may not have noticed.
Denise

Thanks, Denise. Sounds like you had a wonderful time! I travel frequently with my mother who is mid 60s so I don't consider that age range "old" since she usually has more energy than I!

The more feedback I receive the better I feel. Thanks, y'all.

 

[Mary Anne]

I just got off the Celebrity Summit to Bermuda out of Bayonne, NJ yesterday. It was a lovely trip but I would rate it a 7-1/2 to 8 out of 10.

Weather was just not warm enough for me. Granted I cannot fault Celebrity at all for that.

We only ate in the dining room, had anytime dining but did eat at the same time every night, in the same seats, with the same wait staff. Cannot say enough good things about the waiter and his staff. The food was good, not great, not OMG I've never had anything this great before. My 27 year old who was traveling with us and it was his 8 or 9th cruise said it was the worst he'd ever had. Carnival was better according to him.

I enjoyed all the evening shows with the exception of the the magician. 45 min of my life that I'll never get back.

Room had to be the smallest of all the ships we have ever been on. Room was always clean but we hardly saw the room attendant at all. That said, we leave our room clean, other then making the bed and cleaning the bathroom there was not much for him to do.

We had the classic beverage package (which were included in our booking package), bottled water was the worst I've ever had. I really did enjoy the specialty coffees though.

Oh and about the wheelchairs. I have never seen as many on any cruise as on this one. Granted I am getting older (mid 60's) but there seem to be people even younger then that using them.

Getting onboard was easy and flawless. Getting of somewhat annoying with waiting time and lack of custom agents. Our comment to each other is someone from their company needs to go to the Disney school of movement to learn how to move large numbers of people in the shortest, fastest, time.

We did book inboard to use the for Alaska next year. That said, I am 100% certain we will sail to Alaska, I'm 50/50 on if we will keep this booking or seek another sailing with another ship. My son (who loves Carnival) found the same ports cruise, same time period, same type of two staterooms, for $2000 cheaper! I am doing my homework on other cruise lines now for that trip.

 

[tink1970]

Thanks! I love hearing everyone's feedback

I've wanted to go to Bermuda for a while but have yet to make it. Hope you enjoy Alaska next summer