I can't decide which line to go with. We have cruised with rc 3 times, and we did enjoy the cruises. We have cruised NCL, and years ago Disney. But, the Celebrity Solstice looks like such a good deal. It is too "stuffy"? We are "young" early 50's. Will we be bored? How do the lines compare?

Royal Caribbean owns Celebrity and Azamara..we have cruised RCI, Princess, NCL but no Disney but are MAJOR fans of Celebrity.. big time.. We have done three trans-atlantics on Celebrity and just this Sunday we board the Soltice for the Western Caribbean.. and in October doing the Holyland cruise from Rome on the Equinox.. How will you find Celebrity.. incredible compared to the others... in food, service, quality, etc etc. etc.. As for your age.. age has nothing to do with it..lol. y ou will definetely enjoy Celebrity.. think of it this way.. your going from a Ford to a Cadillac..lol. Once you cruise Celebrity.. there is no going back..lol. If you need more information. [email protected]

BTW according to a readers poll in the mag CN Traveler the Solstice was voted the best of the big ships.

I have to disagree with the first reply.

We just did the opposite, went from Celebrity to Royal and here are my observations:

The ships are great on either, so is the crew and service. Food is no better than more upper scale banquet hall food on both lines. It's not 5* restaurant experience on either. How could it be when these mega ships have to feed 3-4K passengers every day? Both lines were fun and the cruises were great. Would not change anything about any of the cruises.

The only difference I can see between the 2 lines is this. Celebrity is marketing itself as a more refined, more subdued line, but still has many activities to keep you busy. Royal market itself as a more of a fun, little wild on occasion, full of athletic activities type of line.

I could do a cruise on either line and have a great time, no doubt, as long as I have a little different mindset as to what I want from the cruise.

That said, we're going on another Royal cruise in October.

Celebrity we're saving for the day my wife can relegate more responsibility towards her new employees so we can do a nice long transatlantic with time to spare for another safari in Africa, so we need at least 3.5 to 4 weeks for that trip.

Unfortunately, my one experience on Brilliance of the Seas was a disaster.. first morning out I slipped and badly fractured my wrist (sued and won btw), the service was except for our evening meal indifferent, the entertainment...was horrendous and when I have a bad experience on one cruise line I tend to not want to cruise it again..i.e. just happened on P rincess last April.. Yes, Celebrity is aimed to maybe an older market,but I don't want ice skating, wall climbing or bowling alleys.. We have yet as I said sailed the newer Soltice ships and will get a better idea.. With the exception of this year... all our Celebrity (and the RCI) were trans-atlantics.. What I want from a cruise is to be catered to, excellent service and food and great itineraries.. BTW forgot to mention Disney ranked in Conde Naste higher than others mentioned..

Just echoing what had been said so far, Celebrity promote itself as more upscale and refined. There is less PA announcements and not as pushy on their selling tatics. There is no rock climbing wall and no skating ring. The activities and entertainemnt is more geared towards the 40-50 crowd, with music from the 70's rather than hip hop.

ESCHEW-the word is perhaps "classier".. and I don't think stuffy...for Celebrity.. they are not for people who want to p arty 24 hours a day and on the longer cruise attracts a bit more upscale than perhaps RCI.lol..and most important.. well traveled guests.

I am not sure classier is the word. I certainly never meant stuffy or "stiff". The way it goes is that you see more discounts on RCL than Celebrity (just like Carnival & Princess). You will see more younger crusiers and first time cruisers on Carnival and RCL, and more mature (not old) and repeat customers on Celebrity & Princess. You will see more party on RCL and Carnival and less loud on Celebrity & Princess. RCL and Carnival tends to be more "showy" (Vegas) and less so with Celebrity & Princess.

I really did not find Celebrity or Princess more classy than Carnival and RCL. What I did find is the surroundinging is different, the selling is more low key, there is less "loud" activites (like tug of wat at the pool), and the staff seems to be better trained, and service level is generally better.

Persoanlly, I like Princess & Celebrity over Carnival and RCL. I am not ready (and I think I will never be old enough) for HAL yet and I don't think I get good value on NCL regardless what I pay due to their inconsistency and my TA told me to stay awy from Costa.

Hi there,
we have been on two celebrity ships and enjoyed them immensely. We really look for the intinerary that suits us and then worry about the ship. We are in our 40's and hd a great time.
Donna

Eschew you have a wise travel agent.. A dear friend who cruises at the drop of a hat got off of Costa and swore never, ever again..especially from Europe.. NCL is a good value if you realize you do not get the TLC of other lines and you do have to if you enjoy decent food pay extra for the specialty restaurants.. If you read my review you will understand..and btw my friend loves NCL..lol.. but she is also in the category of booking a Gaugan..

Thanks ParrotMom, yes you are right. My TA's been very good to me and I have learn lots.

I have many friends who cruise NCL only and swears by it. They think it is good value and the price is right. I've read your reviews and agreed wholehearted on your comments on NCL. The service is just not as attentive, the food is just a notch below, everything seems to be just a tad lower ... For me, to spend $700 on Princess or Celebrity comapre to spend $500 on NCL to make the same stops, I'll take the other 2 any day, happy to pay the extra dough, to avoid the potential aggrevation. that that there is any guarantee, but for me, it's worth the difference. Just like we pick Princess over Carnival, and Celebrity over RCL. I think my DW and I have found our little comfort zone.

We have cruised both RC and Celebrity. I think it had as much to do with the destinations as the cruises. A more expensive cruise will probably have activities geared toward an older crowd because they will have more disposible income. For example, in the Med we were on Celebrity. We were practically the only couple our age on the ship.Don't get me wrong, we had a reallly nice time It was nice but my in laws in who were maybe 60 had a GREAT time. They were out partying every night--the music and shows were geared toward them. We would go hang out and have a quiet drink by ourselves. Hysterical.

The RC cruise was in the Caribbean and it was definitely a younger crowd. We were in our 20's then. I don't know if I would call it a party ship but activities were aimed more at us in our 20's . We had a great time on RC too. The RC cruise was less of a party ship than the Carnival cruise that at the time that was less expensive. Carnival was almost a college crowd at that time and location, spring break crazy. I think they have really changed their marketing.

It seems that cruise location, length of the trip and the demographics of the group who they are marketing to will affect how stuffy or wild the ship is. What is wild to one group might be stuffy to another. Good luck.

I've been on both Celebrity and RCCL - and I liked both of them.... For Costa, interesting comment... We were on the Oasis earlier this year and docked in the Bahamas. We were having ice cream and two ladies came in and sat next to us. They were from the Costa ship docked near us. They said it was very disappointing and they wouldn't do it again (service, quality of food, cleanliness of room). I've heard that before, but I seem to hear it consistently for that line...... It does sound like you have a good TA.....

We did a cruise on Solstice in April and were very impressed with the cabins. The bathrooms were large for a cruise ship and the rooms had full leather sofas! Beautifully decorated ship and the dining room food was excellent. The entertainment was pretty bad and the buffet got old after a week of breakfasts there, even though at 1st we were impressed with the selections. We usually cruise RCL and even though this ship was prettier and roomier then the RCL ships we have been on, it wouldn't be enough to entice me again, unless the itinerary & price were enticing also. Plus, it did seem like there were a lot of really old people on the Solstice and RCL has a better mix (IMHO).

Hey ZWHO... who are you calling old!! We were on the Soltice on the 25th of April and the ship is absolutely gorgeous..I could have spent a week checking out the art.BTW read my review on this site.. It's not a party ship.. that is for sure and I did find it more low key than I expected.. The week we were on everything that could wrong with the entertainment did.. and I absolutely hated the E.D. and previously I've never noticed or cared.. we are on the Equinox 10/18 in October and I can hardly wait..

Well ParrotMom, old people travel on Celebrity and Princess. Really old people cruise on HAL. The younger folks like to party on RC and Carnival. Since I prefer Princess and Celebrity over RC and Carnival, I guess I am old. Us old farts got to stick together and defend our turf!

Cruising is such a tough topic because with each person's individual likes and dislikes, you get a very different set of what is "best" and what to avoid. Personally, I have done 2 NCL cruises, 1 Royal Caribbean, and 1 Princess. I would say RC was the best in every category I can think of. NCL is a very closer second. Princess was just okay. Not bad enough to make me avoid them, but not anything to make me really want to use them again. I know people who completely disagree. Also, the specific ship people cruised on makes a big impact on their opinion, too. My RC cruise was on the Oasis. Is that a factor in making them so superior in my mind?? Absolutely! Even with NCL, my sailing on the brand new (at the time) Sun was much better than my sailing on the older Majesty. Same crusie line and only a few years apart on the trips, but the ship made a huge difference. Restaurant choice is another HUGE factor me my wife and I since we abhor the idea of an "assigned" dinner time or eating with a group of strangers. Then there are cruises that are the exact opposite, they hate the anytime dining and look forward to meeting people at dinner.

I know I am not answwering your question here, really, I am just stressing the importance of your personal tastes and style in making the choice.

Just as we each have a unique personality, each cruise line and each ship within it has a unique personality. Know what is important to you, gather all the facts on each option, and then have the time of your life on whichever cruise you choose!

ESCHEW..maybe it's not "old" people.. and I do know "young" people who cruise Princess.. perhaps it's the fact we older ones appreciate the service, atmosphere and if I may add the CLASS of these premium ships. Somehow or other Holland America has a reputation as being stodgy..and Ive heard stories about passengers just sitting and sleeping..and Im not ready to be put in that category yet.

ParrotMom, we used to cruise Carnival more than 10 years ago when they had the newest and biggest ships, then we moved on to RC, Celebrity and Princess although we did an odd cruise here and there with other lines such as HAL, NCL etc.

As we "mature", our taste changes and our requirement changes. We found ourselves no longer cruises on Carnival and not even RC although we had been on a couple of them in the past few years when the price was right.

We found HAL "stuffy" and the passengers more "stiff" (and tries to be more formal) than Celebrity and Princess. We also found the pace slower. I like to think that we are still relatively fit and can keep up with the much "younger" crowd. People just sitting and sleeping on HAL ships are strictly rumors. You don't see them in public area. They sat and slept in their cabins.

As Shandy1977 put it poetically, "Just as we each have a unique personality, each cruise line and each ship within it has a unique personality". Sometimes it is the ship, more often it is the crusie lines.

We have always enjoyed new ships and try them out. The Oasis was nice but we don't have the urge to go back. It's not for us as there were way too much going on. We were on the Ruby Pricness inaugural in 2008 and we wanted to get back right away.

We love the tranqility and yet we want to be able to find "action" when we wanted it. We just don't want the action come to us and surround us all the time. We hate ship board annoucements, and we love to dine by ourselves, or dine only with people that we met on baord that shared common interest. Anytime dining is great that way.

I will try to do a trip report for our upcoming Holyland cruise. I hope to read your report on the Holyland as well. This will be DW's first small ship cruise and there is no anytime dining so it will interesting.