Celebrity vs RCI
leec...@webtv.net
loved it. Now, we are considering going on a 7 night Western on
Celebrity Century. Can you please compare for me the major differences
between the lines in terms of shipboard pampering, entertainment, and
other passengers? We are in our 30's and like to socialize with others
and attend the shows but are not wild party types. We are apprehensive
about switching cruise lines due to the excellent first trip we had and
need info with which to make a decision. Thanks for all your help!
Tom & Linda
Basically, the pampering and food are "kicked up a notch".
The activities are quieted down a notch (it's a bit more relaxing).
Entertainment is varied. Celebrity had the best magician we've seen (on
the Galaxy). The Cirque de Galaxy was also one of the better shows
we've seen. But overall, entertainment is NOT the reason to go on
Celebrity. Food, service, pampering, cleanliness and general care of
the vessel (it's important to me), and the no-announcement policy are
why you go on Celebrity.
The passengers on board will depend on when you go. In the summer, XMAS
and Easter time, Celebrity will have many families (like us... we're
going on the Century in 8 days).
Personally, I think that both Celebrity and Princess are overall a nicer
product than RCI. At least for what we look for. Of our next 3 cruises
planned, 2 are with Celebrity and 1 with Princess.
--Tom
Benjamin Smith
Tom & Linda wrote:
> Celebrity is RCI's premium brand.
>
> Basically, the pampering and food are "kicked up a notch".
>
BAM!! Actually with Celebrity it is more like... bam.
>
> The activities are quieted down a notch (it's a bit more relaxing).
>
> Entertainment is varied. Celebrity had the best magician we've seen (on
> the Galaxy). The Cirque de Galaxy was also one of the better shows
> we've seen. But overall, entertainment is NOT the reason to go on
> Celebrity. Food, service, pampering, cleanliness and general care of
> the vessel (it's important to me), and the no-announcement policy are
> why you go on Celebrity.
>
I see entertainment differently than others. I don't look for entertainment
overall. My most favorite entertainer was on the Veendam, Perry Grant.
Overall I thought the Veendam had weaker entertainment than other cruises.
Perry made up for any entertainment I judged weak aboard this cruise.
On the Galaxy I enjoyed, very much, the a cappella singers and also, as a
musician, I judge the band Onyx as superb, it is very hard to be as
versatile as they are and play idiomatically to the degree that they
accomplished. For the most part the showroom stuff wasn't that important,
nor were the commedians, jugglers, etc.
I don't know what goes into people's judgments on what is good or bad
entertainment. Some entertainment is more dynamic and high energy. Is this
considered better? I don't know. I go for the subtleties in entertainment,
communication and chemistry I sense in the performers/entertainers/musicians
and if familiar with their idiom, their level of accomplishment.
>
> The passengers on board will depend on when you go. In the summer, XMAS
> and Easter time, Celebrity will have many families (like us... we're
> going on the Century in 8 days).
>
> Personally, I think that both Celebrity and Princess are overall a nicer
> product than RCI. At least for what we look for. Of our next 3 cruises
> planned, 2 are with Celebrity and 1 with Princess.
>
Century is a dark, serious, though quite luxurious, ship. Galaxy's much
brighter but there's something serious about Celebrity, IMO. Different tone,
style, ambiance to more tropical feeling RCI atmospheres. Try reading 40
reviews at cruiseopinion.com, read mine and Tom's if you like. Here you'll
see very contrasting views of cruisers and you'll get an idea of what
Celebrity is like. Some may compare Celebrity with RCI and may favor one or
another. See what reasons they give, hopefully they'll give some. You can
also look at cruise2.com's profile of Celebrity. The line strongly brands
for pay aqua spas, martini/champagne clubs, Cigar clubs, Cova chocalate and
the cuisine under supervision of Michel Roux. But you'll find alot of the
cruising staples on this line as you did on RCI. They don't make much of a
big production, though, their staff is more businesslike, more into
presentation than production. Sometimes you'll get entertaining bar servers.
3 Night vs. 7 night - age of passengers. 3 younger more likely, lots of 20
and 30 somethings. 7 older than what you got on 3 night. There's also the
scale and variation of activities and pacing differences for different
durations of cruises.
There's no need to stay with one line, if after reading reviews Celebrity
doesn't sound like it is for you there's Princess which is in the same
marketing rung. There's HAL also.
Benjamin Smith
Sheree Mcgowan
we were happier with the Grandeur. We did not feel the food and service on
Celebrity was as we expected. ie better than RCI. We'll be on the Voyager
in Nov and then on the Celebrity Infinity next Aug so we'll have more to
compare!
BTW< Tom, do you have relatives that work at and attend at Cedarville
Country Day Camp in East windsor? One of the counselor and one of the
campers has your last name!
Sheree
--
Sheree
Join us for the SGC2001 on Aug 24 2001 on the Celebrity Infinity sailing to
Alaska
http://www.geocities.com/tbruin3235/sgc2001
Tom & Linda <TKAN...@worldnet.att.net> wrote in message
news:39949EAB...@worldnet.att.net...
>
>
> Benjamin Smith wrote:
> >
> > Tom & Linda wrote:
> >
> > > Celebrity is RCI's premium brand.
> > >
> > > Basically, the pampering and food are "kicked up a notch".
> >
> > BAM!!
>
> Cute :)
>
> > Century is a dark, serious, though quite luxurious, ship. Galaxy's much
> > brighter but there's something serious about Celebrity, IMO.
>
> I never picture the Century as "dark" in my mind (other than the Darth
> Vader look on the outside, with the beautiful dark blue accent, sharp
> edges and hard lines). But on the inside, the blonde wood in the lido
> cafe (vs. the darker wood in Galaxy's lido cafe) had that light
> Scandinavian (Ikea) look. And I think the dining room is very rich
> looking, but not dark. The small atrium was bright. So was the
> Hemisphere lounge. And the shops.
>
> Though you're right that the show lounge is done in dark blues.
>
> --Tom
Carole Dunham
cruises. I think someone with less bias than I have can give you better
information. However, only Celebrity has the AquaSpa and it's wonderful
thalassotherapy pool, which is fantastic. Talk about getting relaxed. They
also have a more extensive offering of spa services than any other line.
Carole
cruz...@cruisemates.com
<leec...@webtv.net> wrote in message
news:24272-39...@storefull-126.bryant.webtv.net...
Benjamin Smith
Tom & Linda wrote:
> Benjamin Smith wrote:
> >
> > Tom & Linda wrote:
> >
> > > Celebrity is RCI's premium brand.
> > >
> > > Basically, the pampering and food are "kicked up a notch".
> >
> > BAM!!
>
> Cute :)
>
> > Century is a dark, serious, though quite luxurious, ship. Galaxy's much
> > brighter but there's something serious about Celebrity, IMO.
>
> I never picture the Century as "dark" in my mind (other than the Darth
> Vader look on the outside, with the beautiful dark blue accent, sharp
> edges and hard lines). But on the inside, the blonde wood in the lido
> cafe (vs. the darker wood in Galaxy's lido cafe) had that light
> Scandinavian (Ikea) look. And I think the dining room is very rich
> looking, but not dark. The small atrium was bright. So was the
> Hemisphere lounge. And the shops.
>
> Though you're right that the show lounge is done in dark blues.
>
> --Tom
Dark areas of Century are the Rendezvous Lounge and the dark, rich Crystal
Room nightclub. The what I think is a magnificent dining room has lots of
dark, rich wood, dark burgundy seating, and is often dimly lit. Hemispheres
is kinda dark, not as open as Galaxy except near the windows. Century uses
darker carpeting and theater is darkest of the Century class ships.
Century's casino, though rich, is also on the dark side.
Galaxy has lighter carpeting throughout with that that aquamarinish color,
much brighter, airy Rendezvous Lounge with bright yellow and orange chairs
and confetti carpets, brighter and lighter dining room and in a totally
different style from Century's with those confetti carpets that has a subtly
festive feel to them, the Interlude bar is well lit and bright, the beige
and gold theater is very bright. Foyer seems more open, colorful painting is
focal point, white marble backdrop, bright red seating on first level
opposed to Century's beige seats. Galaxy's casino is fairly bright . Galaxy
Savoy's Nightclub, replaces the Century's burgundy with zebra stripes, the
darker orange carpet with a tan colored carpet, much lighter bone colored
wood and those nice red chairs that add that punch of color in my second
most favorite room at sea (behind the Rotterdam V's Ambassador Lounge). The
solarium pool area is nice and bright also. True, the lido area is darker,
that part of the Galaxy is dark.
The Mercury is also darkish and serious and really subdued in areas.
I think compared to RCI ships with all of the glass, tropical colors, shiny
brass, bright colors the Century can seem dark and doesn't have that "wow"
impact. She is much more subtle. The foyer may not impress as there are no
panoramic elevators or brass or anything like that. The ships of Princess
may seem a bit closer to the RCI type in some ways. Celebrity's ships have a
different type of aesthetic. Some fans of RCI ships don't like Celebrity
ships as much, missing the centrums, relatively heavy use of brass and brass
accents, lots of glass, lots of reflective materials, and tropical and
pastel colors of RCI. The ships flow differently and the ambiance is of a
different nature in public areas.
Ben
Tom & Linda
HDawson228
Probably 25% larger. DR food on Grandeur last Oct was good but certainly not
as special as the ship. The ships public areas will wow you. Grandeur is a
gorgeous ship. Looking forward to the reported food quality and the pampering
on Century in Sep.
Tom & Linda
joke - only those who've been on Galaxy would understand - and only if
they paid very close attention].
The Sun Class Princess ships <to me> are in a whole different
direction. No closer to RCI than Celebrity. Like a third point on a
triangle. Much more use of beautiful Italian tiles, and lots of
marble. In addition to the traditional leather, wood, and cloth
upholstery, they also use that attractive green cast iron (there's a
name for it but I don't know what it is) for chairs and railings in
places like the pizzeria. In fact, the pizzeria is in one of the best
locations on the Sun class ships, surrounding one of the upper levels of
the atriums. And the ships are much more "whimsical" in terms of
adornments (rainbow colored crabs, shells, dolphins, etc.). With a very
amateurish art collection (oil paintings by art 102 drop outs). But the
ships seem to be impeccably maintained, more like Celebrity than RCI (at
least from the 4 RCI cruises we've been on - where they don't clean
carpets, they wait to replace them in dry dock).
Actually, I liked the darker woods in the Galaxy's lido cafe better than
the light woods in the Century's lido cafe.
Maybe it's the way we look at colors. I like the darks in Vermeer's
paintings (van Gogh's bright colors don't do it for me). I like the
interplay of darks and lights. Chiaroscuro. Artists say that you need
darks to show lights.
Maybe I just view darks as "rich" rather than "dark". I think it's a
matter of our vision and perceptions.
--Tom
Benjamin Smith
Tom & Linda wrote:
> I believe that the atrium on the Galaxy is the " rande Foyer" [inside
> joke - only those who've been on Galaxy would understand - and only if
> they paid very close attention].
>
Oh yes, but they fixed it by the time I was on it. Orion Restaurant was O ion
when I was on her, but that was fixed in the next two days.
>
> The Sun Class Princess ships <to me> are in a whole different
> direction. No closer to RCI than Celebrity. Like a third point on a
> triangle. Much more use of beautiful Italian tiles, and lots of
> marble. In addition to the traditional leather, wood, and cloth
> upholstery, they also use that attractive green cast iron (there's a
> name for it but I don't know what it is) for chairs and railings in
> places like the pizzeria. In fact, the pizzeria is in one of the best
> locations on the Sun class ships, surrounding one of the upper levels of
> the atriums. And the ships are much more "whimsical" in terms of
> adornments (rainbow colored crabs, shells, dolphins, etc.). With a very
> amateurish art collection (oil paintings by art 102 drop outs). But the
> ships seem to be impeccably maintained, more like Celebrity than RCI (at
> least from the 4 RCI cruises we've been on - where they don't clean
> carpets, they wait to replace them in dry dock).
>
I agree that they are different. However, I think the atrium area of the Sun
Princess class ships are along the same lines as those in RCI's ship, with finer
detailing. Same designer, some details different . But they have the circular
shapes, similar types of stairways which are illuminated in a similar manner, so
the initial impression is somewhat similar. I agree about the differences, too.
Princess to me has finer details and are more whimsical, different types of
dining rooms, different theater style, staterooms, etc. Grand Princess has
similar whimisical details as Sun class. The Grand's atrium, however, is not
similar to RCI's.
I like the Wheelhouse Bars in Princess, RCI really has nothing similar.
>
> Actually, I liked the darker woods in the Galaxy's lido cafe better than
> the light woods in the Century's lido cafe.
>
I like Galaxy's lido. Century's was just OK, IMO.
>
> Maybe it's the way we look at colors. I like the darks in Vermeer's
> paintings (van Gogh's bright colors don't do it for me). I like the
> interplay of darks and lights. Chiaroscuro. Artists say that you need
> darks to show lights.
>
> Maybe I just view darks as "rich" rather than "dark". I think it's a
> matter of our vision and perceptions.
>
I agree, the Century is quite rich. I think the woods and lighting are dark in
many areas. One of HAL's ships has a Vermeer's showroom, I wonder what you would
think of it.
Thanks for artists' eye look at ship spaces!
Ben
Charles
"Carole Dunham" <cruz...@mindspring.com> wrote in message
news:8n2d7d$67l$1...@slb6.atl.mindspring.net...
> I don't like RCI and I love Celebrity so I won't comment on the overall
> cruises. I think someone with less bias than I have can give you better
> information. However, only Celebrity has the AquaSpa and it's wonderful
> thalassotherapy pool, which is fantastic. Talk about getting relaxed.
They
> also have a more extensive offering of spa services than any other line.
On Voyager there is something similar. Right inside the gym. And they don't
charge for it.
Charles
"Benjamin Smith" <be...@ix.netcom.com> wrote in message
news:39955419...@ix.netcom.com...
> I like the Wheelhouse Bars in Princess, RCI really has nothing similar.
The Schooner Bars on RCI seem to me to be a similar but not exact idea.
villa deauville
Would that"randey foyer" be similar to the sky club
SUNNY<.......just wondering
Becca
had more fun on RCI. It may be an age thing, I believe RCI attracts a
younger, more energetic crowd. If the price and the circumstances were
right, I would cruise with Celebrity again.
Becca <-----hasn't had a bad cruise, yet...
Benjamin Smith
Charles wrote:
> "Benjamin Smith" <be...@ix.netcom.com> wrote in message
> news:39955419...@ix.netcom.com...
>
> > I like the Wheelhouse Bars in Princess, RCI really has nothing similar.
>
> The Schooner Bars on RCI seem to me to be a similar but not exact idea.
That's a fairly nautical area but seems much more casual than the somewhat
aristocratic feel to the Wheelhouse Bars on Grand Princess and Sun Class
Princess ships. But in the woody aspect and the nautical models they are
somewhat similar. There is a room on the Voyager that seems to be headed in
that direction, maybe Crown and Anchor Club?
Ben
Charles
> That's a fairly nautical area but seems much more casual than the somewhat
> aristocratic feel to the Wheelhouse Bars on Grand Princess and Sun Class
> Princess ships. But in the woody aspect and the nautical models they are
> somewhat similar. There is a room on the Voyager that seems to be headed
in
> that direction, maybe Crown and Anchor Club?
I don't recall a Crown and Anchor Club.
Benjamin Smith
Charles wrote:
Charles, I'm thinking of the Connoisseur Club.
Ben
Charles
> Charles, I'm thinking of the Connoisseur Club.
That is the cigar club. I would not compare it since it has a different
function than the Wheelhouse.
Benjamin Smith
Charles wrote:
How about just in terms of "Gentleman's Club" ambiance when nothing is
going on? Are cigars smoked in Wheelhouse? I know Wheelhouse has
entertainment and Connoisseur Club does not.
Ben
Tom & Linda
were at the bottom level of the mini-atrium (Celebrity doesn't do multi
deck atriums - not their style or signature). There is a nice marble
wall with flowers and plants that was used as a backdrop for the
photos. The marble wall had the name marked with letters mounted to the
marble. But the G had fallen off. So for formal pictures for a few
weeks/months or however long it took to fix, you could have your picture
taken in the " rande Foyer". And depending on how you stood, you might
have the name with the missing G in your picture.
Given Celebrity's "obsession" with keeping the ships in pristine
condition... it was kind of like a little "beauty mark" on a super
model. I mentioned it in my review and a few others said that they
noticed it too.
--Tom
Charles
Cigars are not smoked in the Wheelhouse Bar. The Wheelhouse Bar is a public
room that has no doors. Connoisseur Club is a cigar club behind a door. It
is only open a few hours, like Michael's Club. Right down to the Cigars and
Cognac. The Wheelhouse Bar is a full bar that is elegantly appointed. Classy
musicians etc.
Jeff Coudriet
Just got off the Galaxy -- the "G" is back!
Jeff
Benjamin Smith
Jeff Coudriet wrote:
> Tom--
>
> Just got off the Galaxy -- the "G" is back!
>
> Jeff
>
It's been back a long time. It was back when I was on her in June, of last
year.
I look forward to your review of the Galaxy, she's my favorite Celebrity
ship.
Ben S. (Tom's on the Century right now)