Finally bit the bullet and booked on Celebrity.

[beckicnm]

"he'll miss our corny magnets"
Absolutely take your magnets on your trip. A lot of folks decorate their doors on Celebrity,

I do, and I'm not the only one. It's not disney-level, though

 

[Mischievous Daisy]

I do, and I'm not the only one. It's not disney-level, though

NOTHING on this planet is "Disney Level", except the mouse!

 

[brentm77]

We just sailed the Fantasy last week for the third time, fourth DCL cruise overall. It made me even more eager for our Celebrity cruise. The cruise was fantastic, with mostly-good food, fantastic service, exceptional upkeep of the ship, very clean spaces, and great entertainment in the adult clubs in the evenings. I am not complaining, as I still love DCL and had a fabulous week. But, for the very first time, I started questioning if I am paying too much for stuff we don't fully enjoy/utilize anymore. Even though we are all adults in our family now, it surprised me, because I mostly love the adult-only experience on DCL.

We went to Aladdin, and it wasn't as good as I remembered. I don't need to get into details, but it was a combination of the behavior of the crowd watching it, poor acting by key characters, and poor writing. In short, it felt more like a high school production and less like Broadway. Admittedly, this may just be my tastes changing now that my kids are grown and I am not seeing it through their eyes, but it sure felt like the quality had changed. The two variety acts we tried on this cruise and the last one were pretty bad too. So we gave up on trying the evening theater a couple days into this cruise. It almost felt liberating, as we had relaxed evenings in the adult-only areas instead.

The food was mostly good, but Disney can't seem to cook most cuts of meat without drying them out, and the menus are getting extremely repetitive. Not just form cruise to cruise, but from MDR to MDR on the same cruise. For the first time ever, we even skipped an MDR meal because the menu was so boring and we just weren't in the mood for the long meal process. Unlike many cruise lines, Disney's alternatives to the MDR are lacking. Their quick service food is mostly subpar (with the exception of the Wish from what I understand). I would love the option of a buffet or better pizza/sandwiches in the evenings for those nights when we aren't in the mood for the MDR.

None of the on-deck shows have ever really appealed to us. The sail away party is loud and not really fun for us. Pirate night is ok. The Pixar show was terrible. We aren't interested in characters now that the kids are grown either. They are fun to see, but not important to us.

Finally, this was our first time we repeated an itinerary (Easter Caribbean), and we realized we are really enjoying cruising new itineraries at this stage in our lives. Disney isn't great for that, although there are still some European itineraries that look appealing.

In short, it seems like part of the premium for DCL is the theater and unique MDR's, but we aren't enjoying them as we used to, making me wonder if we are wasting money. I am really looking forward to trying Celebrity. We may find nothing compares to DCL even when the theater and MDR's aren't considered, but I hope not. Maybe it will be a mix of the two, where we come back to DCL every now and then. But we are getting to the point where DCL will probably need to do more to draw us back.

We do have DCL booked for Alaska in September and I am really looking forward to it, since it is a new itinerary and a new ship with different MDR's and menus. Like I said, it is still a fantastic experience overall. It may just be one we are starting to outgrow given our desires are really a nice ship, cleanliness, good service, good food, and interesting itineraries, and maybe less of the Disney-exclusive extras.

 

[daisyx3]

We took 6 DCL cruises from 2003-2020 and then got a great deal on the Celebrity Equinox last summer. We had such a blast! We are going on Celebrity Beyond for St. Thomas-St. Maarten--Puerto Plata in 3 weeks and then an Equinox Cayman-ABC cruise over Thanksgiving. Currently deciding to do a different caribbean itinerary in 24 or maybe try the Greek Isles and Malta.
I'll try to remember to report back on our Beyond cruise.

 

[Mischievous Daisy]

We just sailed the Fantasy last week for the third time, fourth DCL cruise overall. It made me even more eager for our Celebrity cruise. The cruise was fantastic, with mostly-good food, fantastic service, exceptional upkeep of the ship, very clean spaces, and great entertainment in the adult clubs in the evenings. I am not complaining, as I still love DCL and had a fabulous week. But, for the very first time, I started questioning if I am paying too much for stuff we don't fully enjoy/utilize anymore. Even though we are all adults in our family now, it surprised me, because I mostly love the adult-only experience on DCL.

We went to Aladdin, and it wasn't as good as I remembered. I don't need to get into details, but it was a combination of the behavior of the crowd watching it, poor acting by key characters, and poor writing. In short, it felt more like a high school production and less like Broadway. Admittedly, this may just be my tastes changing now that my kids are grown and I am not seeing it through their eyes, but it sure felt like the quality had changed. The two variety acts we tried on this cruise and the last one were pretty bad too. So we gave up on trying the evening theater a couple days into this cruise. It almost felt liberating, as we had relaxed evenings in the adult-only areas instead.

The food was mostly good, but Disney can't seem to cook most cuts of meat without drying them out, and the menus are getting extremely repetitive. Not just form cruise to cruise, but from MDR to MDR on the same cruise. For the first time ever, we even skipped an MDR meal because the menu was so boring and we just weren't in the mood for the long meal process. Unlike many cruise lines, Disney's alternatives to the MDR are lacking. Their quick service food is mostly subpar (with the exception of the Wish from what I understand). I would love the option of a buffet or better pizza/sandwiches in the evenings for those nights when we aren't in the mood for the MDR.

None of the on-deck shows have ever really appealed to us. The sail away party is loud and not really fun for us. Pirate night is ok. The Pixar show was terrible. We aren't interested in characters now that the kids are grown either. They are fun to see, but not important to us.

Finally, this was our first time we repeated an itinerary (Easter Caribbean), and we realized we are really enjoying cruising new itineraries at this stage in our lives. Disney isn't great for that, although there are still some European itineraries that look appealing.

In short, it seems like part of the premium for DCL is the theater and unique MDR's, but we aren't enjoying them as we used to, making me wonder if we are wasting money. I am really looking forward to trying Celebrity. We may find nothing compares to DCL even when the theater and MDR's aren't considered, but I hope not. Maybe it will be a mix of the two, where we come back to DCL every now and then. But we are getting to the point where DCL will probably need to do more to draw us back.

We do have DCL booked for Alaska in September and I am really looking forward to it, since it is a new itinerary and a new ship with different MDR's and menus. Like I said, it is still a fantastic experience overall. It may just be one we are starting to outgrow given our desires are really a nice ship, cleanliness, good service, good food, and interesting itineraries, and maybe less of the Disney-exclusive extras.

We loved everything on our Celebrity 11 day cruise. Food (and options) were excellent and we really enjoyed the entertainment! I'm sure you'll really have a fabulous time!

 

[jimmymc]

If nothing else, Celebrity has great included food, both the MDRs and buffet. Have fun!

 

[kiford]

There is no indoor smoking on Celebrity. I don't smoke, so I don't know exactly where the smoking areas are, but there's one on the promenade deck, one near the pool, and one at the back of the ship at the Sunset Bar. Easily avoided.

From my investigations, Celebrity and Viking Ocean are the only two mainstream cruise lines (I'm not including the smaller more boutique ones) that don't have smoking indoors at all. We've been looking at Celebrity but I'm still not entirely convinced. I'm not sure if I love cruising or if I love cruising Disney. About the only reason at this point that we'd want to try a different cruise line is for ports that DCL doesn't cruise to. But it has to be a cruise line that has no indoor smoking so that limits our options.

Having watched a number of vlogs on Celebrity's Edge class ships, I'm definitely a No for the infinity verandah, Far too many complaints about them which were pretty much answering the questions I had (e.g., how it affects AC, etc.) so that also means I would probably have to end up going with a sky suite or above so pricing isn't really going to influence the final decision. Viking Ocean seems to have rather blah entertainment and excursions. Both still possible but still thinking about it.

 

[Calantha]

But it has to be a cruise line that has no indoor smoking so that limits our options.

This is good to know. I just assumed no one had it any more. We're still a few years away from booking anything else, but indoor smoking (and a large casino atmosphere) are deal-breakers for me.

 

[hrhdhd]

Having watched a number of vlogs on Celebrity's Edge class ships, I'm definitely a No for the infinity verandah, Far too many complaints about them which were pretty much answering the questions I had (e.g., how it affects AC, etc.) so that also means I would probably have to end up going with a sky suite or above so pricing isn't really going to influence the final decision. Viking Ocean seems to have rather blah entertainment and excursions. Both still possible but still thinking about it.

Don't discount the Sunset Veranda cabins on Edge-class. Real balconies! Just avoid deck 7.

 

[CarolynU]

Just returned from 2 x Princess and didn’t miss DCL at all.
Check in, and boarding so much easier than DCL I found. Debarking way easier too.
Food marginally better on DCL as larger choice and always a steak. I like my food super hot temperature wise and Princess accommodated that much better than DCL.
I’ve seen all the main stage shows in DCL so many times I’m bored so it was refreshing to try something new.
Absolutely no difference in levels of service both lines exemplary.
I’ve decided that I’m not a fan of massive ships though so whichever I choose next will have to be smaller. I also definitely want to try Celebrity.

 

[Flying Fish]

We had children later in life than most. We sailed other lines many years ago and liked them, but we switched to DCL when we had kids. It turned out that we really loved it as well, so it was a win/win. That being said, we are starting to really tire of several things on DCL and thinking about branching out. We're doing RC in a month, but we didn't love that before kids and not sure we will now. We are looking hard at giving Princess another shot (first time with kids) and Celebrity our first shot. My concern is how many kids will be on those lines and if the kids will enjoy them. When we sailed Princess 15 years ago everyone was very old and didn't seem to like the kids aboard, and I would prefer to avoid that tension if possible. Does anyone have any views/opinions on this? All this Celebrity talk has me itching to give them a shot.

 

[dioxide45]

We took 6 DCL cruises from 2003-2020 and then got a great deal on the Celebrity Equinox last summer. We had such a blast! We are going on Celebrity Beyond for St. Thomas-St. Maarten--Puerto Plata in 3 weeks and then an Equinox Cayman-ABC cruise over Thanksgiving. Currently deciding to do a different caribbean itinerary in 24 or maybe try the Greek Isles and Malta.
I'll try to remember to report back on our Beyond cruise.

The Beyond and the rest of the Edge class ships are in a class all themselves. We sailed on the Beyond late in 2022 and it was truly fantastic. We are booked on the Apex and Ascent back to back for December 2024. We had a great time and can't wait to get back on the next ones.

 

[ldo]

If you are going during school holidays, on princess there are plenty of kids. During Easter break. For ex, they had kids movies each am at pool from 9-11 am. Outside of school breaks/summer much less kids.

 

[auntlynne]

 

[MEC004]

I’m waiting for the rest of 2024 to be released. We want DCL but hubby doesn’t want to pay DCL price for a ship we’ve been on (Wonder). Hoping it’s a different ship in Alaska.

The posts about Celebrity make me think it’s our backup option. I’m also debating Princess.

 

[soniam]

I’m waiting for the rest of 2024 to be released. We want DCL but hubby doesn’t want to pay DCL price for a ship we’ve been on (Wonder). Hoping it’s a different ship in Alaska.

The posts about Celebrity make me think it’s our backup option. I’m also debating Princess.

I wouldn’t bet on a different DCL ship for Alaska. Maybe the Magic, but probably not the bigger ones. There may be a size limitation.

 

[Dug720]

I wouldn’t bet on a different DCL ship for Alaska. Maybe the Magic, but probably not the bigger ones. There may be a size limitation.

Celebrity has the Edge going to AK, and that's bigger than the DCL Classics. So it's not that.

 

[Marc D]

I wouldn’t bet on a different DCL ship for Alaska. Maybe the Magic, but probably not the bigger ones. There may be a size limitation.

Not anymore, since they opened the new Panama Canal. All DCL ships can now cross over to the Pacific using the new locks. And most cruise lines sailing in AK use ships close to the size of Fantasy or even much larger, notably NCL Bliss which is 40,000 GT over Fantasy.

 

[SnowWhite2]

Anyone considering Virgin Cruises? Tom McAlpine who launched DCL left to start up Virgin Voyages. Only 18 and older on that line. I'm intrigued.

 

[bcwife76]

I’m waiting for the rest of 2024 to be released. We want DCL but hubby doesn’t want to pay DCL price for a ship we’ve been on (Wonder). Hoping it’s a different ship in Alaska.

The posts about Celebrity make me think it’s our backup option. I’m also debating Princess.

CLIA Alaska has all the ships/port stops out for 2024 already and the Disney Wonder is sailing to Alaska in 2024. Makes sense as she's already on the west coast after coming back from Austrailia.