Will we like Celebrity?
 

We are 29 with no children. We have been on 5 cruises (2 carnival, 1 Princess, 1 HAL and 1 Radisson). We loved the Radisson Navigator as well as the HAL Maasdam. Our least favorite was on the Golden Princess (ship was too large for our taste). We'd like to experience RCCL and Celebrity as well. Do you think we would like Celebrity? The one thing I notice is that we will have to pay quite a bit more for a Celebrity cabin to get a similar cabin to the Navigator (prefer around 300 sq.ft. with a balcony). How is the food and the activities on the Celebrity ships? Thank you for your opinions. We're open to any suggestions to broaden our cruising experiences.

My husband and I have cruised Celebrity 3 times and love it! Our fav ships, Infinity and Galaxy. Very clean, excellent food and service, wonderful shows. You will find the average ages of cruisers to be 50-65, not many children.
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good luck!

Personally, I think you'll love Celebrity, especially the Millenium Class ships. We agree about the Golden Princess (109,000 tons). However, we thoroughly enjoyed the Dawn Princess...77,000 tons...a nice touch of laid-back elegance. Friends we met on the Dawn Princess went on HAL and enjoyed it. By comparison, they thought it a bit stiff. They, like us, are active retirees.

RCL's Rhapsody of the Seas was a truly laid-back cruise...friendly, fun type passengers and staff. Entertainment and service was good. However, the food was, at best, mediocre. It was the future cruise person on the Rhapsody that talked us into Celebrity...much better food, more attentive service, generally a much more elegant experience.

Our preference on Celebrity Millenium ships is an aft corner FV cabin, 271 sq ft with a huge 242 sq ft veranda. If not available, Concierge Class offers some very nice amenities in a 191 sq ft cabin, 41 sq ft balcony. If you like butler service, go for the Sky Suite or larger...251 sq ft, 57 sq ft balcony.

We especially like the Millenium Class specialty restaurants. Both my wife and I grew up in the Northeast and recall seeing the Normandie, the Olympia, and the United States. It gives us a sense of the elegance our relatives enjoyed as they cruised back then.

This fall, we're going on Celebrity's Constellation for an 11-day cruise to Canada/New England (Concierge Class cabin). We'll also be spending a couple of days in NYC. The inclusive cost of the trip...cruise, air, hotel, and extras...won't exceed $7000 unless my wife goes truly nuts with shopping in Canada. (This has been known to happen.)

Whatever you choose, have a great trip.

I've never been on a Radisson cruise but the Maasdam is my favourite ship of any we've been on. On the Celebrity Infinity cruise we took to Alaska our modern style cabin was lovely... and I loved the butler service. The Maasdam's decor is more to my taste though and the finishing seemed a little better quality. I liked the food on the Infinity, but most of all found the service to be outstanding and far superior to the Maasdam's. On the negative side, the entertainment was abysmal and way too loud, and the onboard photography wasn't very good. If every Celebrity ship is Infinity-size you may find it larger than you like. I would take a Celebrity cruise again though, just for the service.

Thanks for the opinions. The Millinium ship sounds like it may be a good size for us. Great to hear good feedback on the food as well!

One question....how many passengers does this carry? Our very favorite cruise, ship, food, service etc. was on the Radisson Navigator which is around 49,000 tons and carry around 500 passengers (I think?). It gave such a feeling of spaciousness and personalized service. Will we loose that on the Millinium size ship? I do know that I prefer smaller or mid size ships to larger ships.

Millenium Class ships carry 1950 passengers on a 91,000 ton ship. The Dawn Princess, by comparison, carries 1950 passengers on a 77,000 ton ship...and we only felt crowded on formal nights. Lines for photos (On the DP) were a pain so we skipped them.

Millenium class ships are larger. But they carry a larger crew. Allows for a more elegant atmosphere and better all-around service.

Checking costs online, I found that the Navigator offered a 7-day cruise in a balcony cabin for about $2900. A Sky Suite on Celebrity's Constellation to Canada/New England is $100 more...$3000 for an 11-day cruise.

If someone wants to charge you more for a comparable Celebrity cruise than for a Radisson cruise, I'd find another TA. That shouldn't happen.

One more thing...we prefer mid-sized (70 - 90,000 tons) ships for their stability. They typically offer more amenities without the feeling of being on a floating city. IMHO, a ship's "feeling of spaciousness and personalized service" is not a function of size but of good customer relations. Some cruise lines...with ships of all chapes and sizes...have yet to learn that lesson.

I AM NEW TO THIS BOARD. I HAVE BEEN ON SEVERAL CRUISES (RCL. CARNIVAL, REGENCY, CELEBRITY, PRINCESS). AND HAVE FOUND THAT CELEBRITY (HORIZON, ZENTIH AND GALAXY) TO BE THE BEST. CETAINLY TOPS IN FOOD AND SERVICE. ITS THE ONLY CRUISE LINE THAT WE HAVE BEEN WHERE WE WERE PERSONALLY ESCORTED TO OUR CABIN FROM THE GANGWAY ENTRANCE. RCL AN PRINCESS WERE NOT BAD BUT CELEBRITY WAS DEFINITELY BETTER. ON THE SMALLER CELEBRITY SHIPS (HORIZON, ZENITH) THERE MIGHT BE SOME LONG LINES FOR THE BREAKFAST BUFFET AND SUCH). AS FAR AS AGE GROUP THERE WERE ALL AGES ON THE CRUISES WE TOOK (4 CE;EBRITY CRUISES IN ALL) AND THEYNHAS PLENTY OF ACTIVITIES.

I think we may put our Celebrity plans on hold until 2005. Just found the best deals on a Radisson ship called Diamond. I'm looking at a 2 for the price of one and will get a nice American Express shipboard credit to boot! Just too good to pass this up. I hope we'll be pleased with this ship, cabin is a bit smaller than we'd like but the balcony sounds good, as does the rest of the ship. I guess we'll find out soon enough.

Obviously, it is these little touches that cause SOME people to think one ship is overall better than another...such as the "being escorted to the stateroom"...a nice touch...nicer if the same level of service exists throughout the entire cruise.
The ONLY way you'll ever know for sure if you'll like any cruise ship is to GO ON IT...unless you find your veritable twin here who thinks the exact same way you do. And what will you do if someone here say you WON'T like it..cancel??? I doubt it...chill out and go...tell US how you liked it after you get back.

Radisson Diamond is a FABULOUS ship-you will LOVE it!! Have a blast!

I agree....go enjoy! I recently returned from the Diamond and just loved it. I was concerned that a ship with less than 300 people may be too small...NOT SO AT ALL! It has everything to offer as larger ships, just on a smaller scale. The cabins are smaller than the cabins on other Radisson ships but still large by many cruise standards.

Depending upon where you're cruising too, you will likely be able to use the Diamond's Marina that they drop in port. They provide jet skiis, water skiing, snorkeling. No cost, no reservation needed....just show up and they provide everything for you.

Also, don't forget to make a reservation at the Italian restaurant Don Vito's. It is such a fun experience with lots of singing and dancing and a great time! Make your reservation the first day as it is small and you don't want to get shut out.

Message for JimM: Our group of 8 (4 couples) are strongly considering the 12 or 13 day Constellation cruise in fall 2005. Would you mind e-mailing me with your thoughts/experiences when you return this fall .... I love Celebrity (was on Mercury 2002, also going on Mercury 11/26 to Mexico 2004). I've been monitoring Celebrity over last month for pricing --- excellent prices, but just when I went out to my group with their "great" prices ... they have now increased considerably ... Anyway, really interested in your experience. My e-mail is [email protected]

It does not make sense to go with Celebrity when the price for the comparable room is same or higher than Radisson. On Celebrity you need to add tips, wines with meals, drinks in your room, soft drinks, bottle of water and meals on alternative restaurant on top of your cruise fare. By the time you add all up, you'll be paying much more for the pleasure of being just one of 2,000 passengers vs. 600. It does not make sense at all to me. I've taken a Celebrity ship, and thought the dining room including the alternative restaurant, both food and service, poor. Other things were fine. But the basic problem is that 1,950 people all decend on a port at once, and that's just too many. They don't have free bottles of water for you in tour buses either. I think the Celebrity is one of the best in mass market lines, but once you experience luxuary, I think you'll be disappointed with anything less.