Royal Caribbean vs celebrity

[Kkb0517]

How would those of you who have been on both lines compare Royal Caribbean to celebrity? What do you like or dislike about about either?

 

[FairestOfThemAll37]

I think the crowd on celebrity skews a little older and more towards couples/adult travelers. I also think the styling on Celebrity is a wee bit more sophisticated than on Royal.

I’ve never found an MDR meal that I would call good on any line and usually eat in specialty restaurants so I’m probably not the best person to give food comparisons. I think it’s all awful haha. Both lines do have decent specialty restaurants.

A huge plus (to me) is that Celebrity is completely non-smoking indoors including the casino. I hate cigarette smoke so I don’t even think about going into the casino on Royal.

Other than that they’re about the same although Celebrity cruises are generally pricier and the rooms tend to the smaller size.

 

[Crusader10hky]

During most of the year the crowd with be much older on Celebrity. I think the only exception may be if they have a sale during spring break or something. I expected it to be much fancier than RCCL but what I experienced was that it was more of a moderate elegance as opposed to being updated and modern. When I cruised Celebrity it was among the smaller ships I've cruised and there was NOT much to do if you're an active cruiser. DW enjoyed the slow pace and she could sit in a lounge chair and stare at the ocean all day. Me? I have to have something to do, at least every now and then. On my ship it seemed like the only things to do were gamble, dance, swim, shop, or attempt the windiest game of basketball ever. Far, Far fewer options than RCCL, which is aimed at the more active and younger crowd. There are not as many loud obnoxious pool games or parties popping up everywhere, although that isn't to say they didn't exist.

I don't meant to make it sound like cruising Celebrity is akin to visiting a luxury retirement home, but there were times when it had that pace... Full disclosure, the oldest/slowest crowd DW and I ever cruised with was actually on RCCL 9-night in early December before school let out for most children and it was one of the best ever. No lines for the rock-climbing wall or pretty much anything. You could do whatever you want except for 'walk down the hall quickly' and ' get a pool deck chair at 7AM' (fine with me). Felt like we had run of the ship in the late afternoon and evenings, but so many events were cancelled because of lack of participation.

It looks like some of Celebrity's newer larger ships have incorporated more offerings, but it seems that they stick to their bread and butter 'relaxation' theme (spas, croquet, slower paced activities) and there is NOTHING wrong with that.

I firmly believe that any cruise can be a great cruise, but I still have my preferences.

 

[bumbershoot]

A huge plus (to me) is that Celebrity is completely non-smoking indoors including the casino. I hate cigarette smoke so I don’t even think about going into the casino on Royal.

Yep!!!

 

[ronandannette]

During most of the year the crowd with be much older on Celebrity. I think the only exception may be if they have a sale during spring break or something. I expected it to be much fancier than RCCL but what I experienced was that it was more of a moderate elegance as opposed to being updated and modern. When I cruised Celebrity it was among the smaller ships I've cruised and there was NOT much to do if you're an active cruiser. DW enjoyed the slow pace and she could sit in a lounge chair and stare at the ocean all day. Me? I have to have something to do, at least every now and then. On my ship it seemed like the only things to do were gamble, dance, swim, shop, or attempt the windiest game of basketball ever. Far, Far fewer options than RCCL, which is aimed at the more active and younger crowd. There are not as many loud obnoxious pool games or parties popping up everywhere, although that isn't to say they didn't exist.

I don't meant to make it sound like cruising Celebrity is akin to visiting a luxury retirement home, but there were times when it had that pace... Full disclosure, the oldest/slowest crowd DW and I ever cruised with was actually on RCCL 9-night in early December before school let out for most children and it was one of the best ever. No lines for the rock-climbing wall or pretty much anything. You could do whatever you want except for 'walk down the hall quickly' and ' get a pool deck chair at 7AM' (fine with me). Felt like we had run of the ship in the late afternoon and evenings, but so many events were cancelled because of lack of participation.

It looks like some of Celebrity's newer larger ships have incorporated more offerings, but it seems that they stick to their bread and butter 'relaxation' theme (spas, croquet, slower paced activities) and there is NOTHING wrong with that.

I firmly believe that any cruise can be a great cruise, but I still have my preferences.

This would be a perfect description of our one-and-only Celebrity cruise also. We'd go again, but with the right expectations. And since we do like active recreation and lots of choices for entertainment, we'd pick RCCL over Celebrity if all things were equal but I wouldn't even consider it if I still had young kids.

 

[SevenWonkas]

We did Celebrity Reflection earlier this year with our son (then 5 years old). We have now done cruises on Royal, Disney, and Celebrity. Mostly Royal.

We did really enjoy Celebrity. Our son, an only child, loves the kids clubs. Celebrity did some fun activities to bring the family together, which I don't remember Royal really doing. There was family bingo (free), a talent show (royal might do this), and a family fun night on deck. We cruised during our spring break, and there was a good number of kids on the ship.

Overall, I'd say the cruise was slower paced than Royal, which suits us just fine. We don't do the rock climbing wall or deck parties anyway.

We did miss some of the shows on the newer Royal ships - like the Aquatheater and ice shows. The shows on Celebrity weren't bad, they were still very good productions, we definitely just missed the other shows.

We cruised on Anthem of the Seas a few months after Celebrity, and the look and feel of both ships were similar. Anthem had more bells and whistles, but the overall design in terms of colors, etc. was similar.

I was surprised how small the casino was on Reflection, especially compared to Royal's casinos. It also wasn't overly flashy, from what I remember it was kind of like an elegant casino! And as a previous poster said, it was nonsmoking!

We booked another Celebrity cruise for 2019, on their upcoming ship,Edge!