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Ready to try Celebrity


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Hi everyone -

We have been focusing on Royal for a while to get to Diamond and are about to hit that mark shortly.   Once there - we thought we would try out Celebrity.

Any recommendations on what to look for for our first cruise with the sister company?

We would prefer to sail out of Florida - but would travel if needed for the right experience. 

Thanks!

Steve P

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If you're not looking for water slides, rock wall climbing, sports court, flowriders, merry-go-rounds or cup cake making classes...you will likely stick with Celebrity as your first choice. That's just our opinion after our first Celebrity cruise and sailing on RCL for around 18ish or so years.

The classic drink package is included with your cruise fare. Do yourself a favor and upgrade to the premium package, totally worth it.

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9 minutes ago, Gears said:

If you're not looking for water slides, rock wall climbing, sports court, flowriders, merry-go-rounds or cup cake making classes...you will likely stick with Celebrity as your first choice. That's just our opinion after our first Celebrity cruise and sailing on RCL for around 18ish or so years.

The classic drink package is included with your cruise fare. Do yourself a favor and upgrade to the premium package, totally worth it.

No Cup cake making classes?   Hmmm.   We may have to re-consider this.   😉

What ship were you on?

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19 hours ago, Steve in Orlando said:

Hi everyone -

We have been focusing on Royal for a while to get to Diamond and are about to hit that mark shortly.   Once there - we thought we would try out Celebrity.

Any recommendations on what to look for for our first cruise with the sister company?

We would prefer to sail out of Florida - but would travel if needed for the right experience. 

Thanks!

Steve P

Go on the new Edge class ships.. Edge, Apex, or Beyond.. They all leave from Florida from Nov-April which is the Caribbean season.. If you need a summer cruise from florida only one option which is Equinox. That is a solstice class ship. It is still very good and  in fact I am going on Equinox in 5 weeks and I am very excited about it. But the wow factor is on the Edge class ships.. I went on Edge and Apex last summer and I have been hooked on Celebrity ever since. 

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No toys on Celebrity.   Focused on culinary, entertainment, and service experience.    More of an adult experience (not much for kids to do).   Edge class ships offer more included dining and premium dining options and are priced higher as newer.  Sail 3 classes of ship:  Millennium, Solstice, and Edge.  All three have unique feel, but we now prefer Edge (more culinary options) and Solstice. ts all personal preference.  Read about experiences from those who sailed and see what resonates.

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On 5/18/2022 at 4:34 PM, Steve in Orlando said:

No Cup cake making classes?   Hmmm.   We may have to re-consider this.   😉

What ship were you on?

We were on the Silhouette. It had a refurb in early 2021(?).

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We sailed Summit after we hit Diamond and were hooked.  Going on Beyond later this year.  We don't have a need for those family-friendly activities anymore, and prefer the product that Celebrity offers.  Music all around the ship all the time, superior buffet, multiple flavors of hard ice cream made fresh on board daily, no annoying announcements about activities or sales in the shops, free glass of champagne as you board the ship...

I did a comparison post here on the boards after Summit. If you search you can probably still find it. We had two Celebrity sailings cancelled during the shutdown, or there would have been more in between Summit and Beyond. 

As a previous poster mentioned, each of the classes offer a different set of activities and experience. Even the biggest ships, the Edge class, are small compared to Royal's biggest ships.  So think about which class on Royal you like the best and find a comparable size in Celebrity for your first.

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we sailed Solstice to Alaska for our 25th anniversary.  For more reasons than anyone would care to hear, it was the best trip we ever took.

I would echo what everyone else has said, its a different product.  Depending on your goals, it might be better than RC.  We are taking our adult kids (20s) next week on Independence, and it would've never crossed my mind to go on Celebrity.

We (wife and I) are taking Harmony in August for our 30th to E Caribbean and frankly I wish it was on Celebrity.  That too is a long story.

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This is a great thread.  I was also thinking it may be easier to get to Diamond level with RC and then switch to Celebrity because I want a more adult experience as well, but do you think it matters?  

Can we collect points just the same with Celebrity? 

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On 5/18/2022 at 2:44 PM, Steve in Orlando said:

Hi everyone -

We have been focusing on Royal for a while to get to Diamond and are about to hit that mark shortly.   Once there - we thought we would try out Celebrity.

Any recommendations on what to look for for our first cruise with the sister company?

We would prefer to sail out of Florida - but would travel if needed for the right experience. 

Thanks!

Steve P

I think there are many people on the same wave length  with regards to switching to Celebrity.  I am Diamond Plus so there is some kind of reciprocity on the crown and anchor status for benefits on Celebrity.  As much as I have enjoyed Royal,  when it comes to just me and my wife, I think Celebrity is the way to go. When members of my extended family and grandkids want to cruise, then I would shoot back to Royal.

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On 6/1/2022 at 8:41 PM, D Alt said:

Can we collect points just the same with Celebrity? 

As Diamond, D+, and Pinnacle, on your first Celebrity cruise, you get an equivalent status on Celebrity (Elite).  Then you start acquiring points from zero on Celebrity.  Higher levels than Elite must be earned with points on Celebrity.  Further, points obtained on Celebrity do not increase your Royal Caribbean status.  That has been the limitation that I haven't gotten past.  That said, I am also interested in trying Celebrity at some point, but not sure when that will be.

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1 hour ago, Peter D said:

As Diamond, D+, and Pinnacle, on your first Celebrity cruise, you get an equivalent status on Celebrity (Elite).  Then you start acquiring points from zero on Celebrity.  Higher levels than Elite must be earned with points on Celebrity.  Further, points obtained on Celebrity do not increase your Royal Caribbean status.  That has been the limitation that I haven't gotten past.  That said, I am also interested in trying Celebrity at some point, but not sure when that will be.

hmmm i guess that does stink that it is not reciprocal, but I guess it's good to at least get to Elite. 

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21 hours ago, Peter D said:

As Diamond, D+, and Pinnacle, on your first Celebrity cruise, you get an equivalent status on Celebrity (Elite).  Then you start acquiring points from zero on Celebrity.  Higher levels than Elite must be earned with points on Celebrity.  Further, points obtained on Celebrity do not increase your Royal Caribbean status.  That has been the limitation that I haven't gotten past.  That said, I am also interested in trying Celebrity at some point, but not sure when that will be.

What about drinks? Does elite give you that? Or is it included anyway with Celebrity all incl program?

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44 minutes ago, Eddy said:

What about drinks? Does elite give you that? Or is it included anyway with Celebrity all incl program?

Here is a link I found for the Celebrity benefits. 

https://secure.viewer.zmags.com/publication/a54eb4aa#/a54eb4aa/1

I'd say they are comparable to the old Diamond/Diamond Plus benefit for RCL.  The drinks are unlimited for 'happy hour' from 5-7pm.

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On 6/5/2022 at 1:35 PM, Eddy said:

What about drinks? Does elite give you that? Or is it included anyway with Celebrity all incl program?

The cruise fare for Celebrity is 'drinks included' as their classic package. There are no 'x' drinks per day based on your loyalty tier level anymore, and no happy hour. Every hour is happy hour. 🙂

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2 hours ago, Gears said:

The cruise fare for Celebrity is 'drinks included' as their classic package. There are no 'x' drinks per day based on your loyalty tier level anymore, and no happy hour. Every hour is happy hour. 🙂

I suppose that is true with the 'Always included' booking option.  As I look at the booking options, there is a cruise only booking option where the Elite tier benefits might be of value.  The premium drink package is more extensive on Celebrity, but it seems more comparable with the Royal drink options.

11_24_Beverag-Flyer-Branding-update.indd (celebritycruises.com)

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We're also considering Celebrity for our 30th anniversary cruise in 2025. I'll be Diamond after the 2024 cruise. I kind of want to take advantage of the Diamond drinks though so might stick with Royal for that cruise. Edit: Seeing that drinks, wi-fi etc are included with Celebrity depending on upgrade package (I think I knew that but forgot) I did the math and for comparable cruise on an edge class ship compared to something like the Wonder it cost's pretty much the same after the Royal cruise planner extras.

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  • 1 month later...

 

We’re Diamond Plus on Royal …….. trying Celebrity for the first time this fall.  We actually got great pricing for Sky Suites and booked the Beyond for the next 2 Thanksgiving and next 2 Easter weeks.  We have a son who will turn 11 just before our first Beyond cruise  …… we’re hoping that going during the holiday weeks each time will mean there’s boys his age on board for him to hang out with.  But if not, he also likes to hang out with us on cruises too, so I guess it will be good either way.

 

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On 6/7/2022 at 6:26 AM, Gears said:

The cruise fare for Celebrity is 'drinks included' as their classic package. There are no 'x' drinks per day based on your loyalty tier level anymore, and no happy hour. Every hour is happy hour. 🙂

There is a Captains Club event for high tier that includes Elite and up/Diamond, but thats usually just one evening during happy hour.    During the period , you can access basic cocktails as well as whatever the CC specials are.  Or if you have an inclusive package on Celeb you're good to go so no need for the CC club benefit.

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I’m booked on Celebrity for later this month.  I did receive nice OBC  and had also hit an amazing sale for excursions a while back.  I’ve now learned “the hard way” to not use OBC on excursions as when it came to a reprice on the cruise at a current  sale I stood to lose the OBC, which meant a loss of excursions, which Celebrity-had applied a portion to each excursion upon checkout.    I would have had to repurchase excursions  at the current rate and a significant cost increase.  So if the need to use OBC on excursions is strong  maybe check out each excursion separately, so not all excursions are impacted should you try to reprice after losing OBC. 

I also think the “all inclusive WiFi and drinks” on a European cruise is a gimmick and waste of $.  Most hours will be spent exploring towns (utilizing my phone plan) and drinking will likely be at a minimum  since off the ship most all day and the need to get up early and go.  The Elite status looks like it included some sort of a happy hour daily somewhere as well as free WiFi each Elite guest-I think-2 days  each. 

no, I did not research this sailing. I joined a relative who had already booked and “just signed up” ( very unlike me) I share my experience so others have food for thought. 

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