Still confused. I hear they are both fantastic cruiselines. We definitely want a newer ship on either line. Can anyone point out the difference in the lines. We are mid-50s and want elegance (at an affordable price). Thanks

Hi Lois,<BR><BR>Royal Caribbean actually owns Celebrity. I have never been on a Celebrity ship but I just came from the Voyager of the Seas last week and all I have to say is, that ship is incredible!<BR><BR>The ship was elegant at an afforable price. We paid $1400 pp for a category C,deck 6, aft. What a great room. Room was big, balcony was huge, it held 2 lounges, two chairs and a table with room to spare. <BR><BR>After being on this ship it would be hard to go on another, it just had sooo much to offer!

I also took Voyager last year and loved it. I have never been on Celebrity. There was a wide variety of ages on board. I stayed on a lower deck in a room big enough to sleep, shower and watch a little TV at night (you don't need to spend all you time in the room anyway). There is always something going on. I paid about $700 per person.

Lois, I am going on my first RCCL cruise in less than 2 weeks. Out of PR a Southern Caribbean itinerary. I will post when we get back. We are also in your age bracket. It is Radiance of the Sea. We paid about $750 per person for an oceanview. Not a big room just a window.

We have sailed Royal Caribbean 6 times and decided to try Celebrity Infinity last year. We were VERY disappointed and are back to RCI this year. <BR><BR>To begin with, we like the architecture of the RCI ships much better. lots of glass and panoramic views. With only small windows in most public spaces, we felt enclosed on the Infinity. We have several favorite places to hang out on RCI ships, but didn't find even one on the Infinity. Thus we spent a lot more time on our balcony and spent a lot less on drinks, etc. <BR><BR>We had heard that the food was so much better on Celebrity. We didn't find that so. Some items were about as good as RCI, others were not as good, didn't find anything better. One of our table mates thought the food at the Cracker Barrel restaurants is better. I kind of agree. Our wait staff in the dining room were really bad. Not one time did everyone receive what he/she ordered for each course. It is a real problem to reorder each time. One night the waiter set the salad in front of the man next to me and said, &quot;I brought you the wrong salad.&quot; They assistant waiter put the lobster shells from one passanger on anothers bread plate. These are just a few examples. We spoke with the Maitre-d, but things did not improve. These were not new wait staff either. This was near the end of the second contract for the waiter.<BR><BR>Every one's experience is different and a lot of people really like Celebrity and have not shared our experience. If the dining room was the only reason we didn't like the curise, then we would try Celebrity again. But it isn't. <BR><BR>If you are looking for elegance, we didn't find it on Celebrity. They do not announce everything on the loud speakers like RCI does, which depending on the individual, can be a positve.<BR><BR>Dinner in the specialty restaurant on Infinity was fabulous. I wanted to eat there everynight, but hubby thought that would be rude to our table mates.<BR>

Dee, if you don't mind me asking which specialty restaurant did you eat in? I guess they are all called Potifino or Chops on those ships correct? I would also like to eat in one of those restaurants.

The specialty restaurant was on Celebrity Infinity and I think it is the USS United States.

I am another person who was disappointed with Celebrity. And the person was correct that RCCL does own Celebrity.<BR><BR>Celebrity is probably more elegent then RCCL but I wasn't impressed. I even found the food better on RCCL.<BR><BR>Have you considered Princess?

I have been on both Celebrity and Royal Caribbean. We really enjoyed Celebrity but that was 10 years ago.<BR>(Just booked a trip on Summit today.<BR>Hope it is better than some of the reviews.) We sailed on Adventurer of the Seas last year. The food was good, the entertainment was great and the service left a bit to be desired. You should consider Princess.

Celebrity is getting more like RCCL every day and the administration know this. They are building too many new ships at the same time and find it difficult to find quality employees. They are planning to change this soon (hopefully). This problem is also affecting the entire cruise industry (too many new ships). It seems that the older, smaller Celebrity ships have the better cruise experience.<BR><BR>Paul

We sailed on Celebrity (Century) four years ago and it was wonderful. Food superb. IMHO it was just elegant enough. I swore my next cruise would be on a Celebrity and have booked on the Summit for June. Can't wait!

P. S. What I meant by &quot;elegant enough&quot; .... people very casual and friendly; definitely jeans and teashirts during the day, but they really dressed up for dinner. The young people were off doing there thing and I peaked in and the disco was swinging past midnight. For my taste it was the Martini Bar. Something going on to appeal to all ages but I would guess the median age was about 45'ish.

Okay, I'm starting to freak about all these negative posts lately regarding Celebrity. We are almost ready to book a 10 night cruise for April on the Summit. We have cruised with Celebrity twice (Mercury &amp; Galaxy) and loved virtually everything about them. However, our last two cruises were with Princess. The first was somewhat of a disappointment after cruising with Celebrity, but the second one was much better and put them back on the list. Now I'm confused! We've never tried RCL, but I always thought Celebrity was considered to be the nicer, classier of the two. What has happened to them?

Their older smaller ships, such as the two you were on Lenore never have complaints. Seems like the newer mega-ships have the little problems (just for some passengers). Maybe they need a lesson on how to operate large mega-ships. I am sure you will have a wonderful time. They are really beautiful ships. I was on the Summit and Millennium.<BR>Please let us know when you return.<BR>You are fair and unbiased.<BR><BR>Paul

I was definitley fair and unbiased before I sailed on the Millie.<BR><BR>Our service and food was so bad - I ended up leaving with a definite impression.<BR><BR>I always sail a new ship thinking it will be a great trip. This trip disappointed me so much ........

Lois,<BR>I'm still a Celebrity fan but I'll stick to the ships the size of Century on down. We sailed the Hawiian Islands to Vancouver on Summit last Summer. It's beautiful but it didn't have the same warm atmosphere of the smaller ships (Century is hardly small though). I think Paul is right, too many new, really big ships for the cruise lines to staff properly. Lois, I don't think that new means elegance these days. The older ships are much more elegant in my opinion.<BR>Have fun.<BR>Linda

I sailed on my first cruise with Celebrity Summit in Nov 01. It was only its 3rd sailing and it was fabulous. That said, I heard they bring in the &quot;cream&quot; of their staff to set up the new ships. Being our first cruising experience we didn't appreciate just how fabulous the service etc was and were very disappointed on our last cruise in October 02. It was on Royal Caribbeans Splendour of the Seas - could not really recommend it...no comparison to Summit. Our fellow diners called it the &quot;training ship&quot;. Staff were surly and ship needed a good cleaning/refurbishment. <BR>Experienced cruisers on Summit told us RC got a younger crowd but Celebrity was supposedly a little more upmarket. <BR>We are considering Century for back to back Caribbean cruise...any advise/recommendations?

Just pick one and go. Quit agonizing over it. Celebrity has regressed until it is nothing more than a run of the mill line anyway, and Royal Caribbean has never been anything but that so it doesn't matter which you pick.

We sailed with RCCL years ago with young children and it was great. Better than Princess. In 2002 we sailed with 2 Celebrity ship. I would recommend the Celebrity Century. It was an a little older but had an awesome staff. Their newer ships Millenium is not nearly as nice with respect to activities, etc. Bigger is not always better. We are aged late 40's.

My father is the captain on a RCCL line. I am not biased, I would take RCCL. I took my boyfriend on the RCCL (though yes, with extra, extra perks) he said that the RCCL just was a better cruise line