How does a cheap Celebrity cruise compare to Royal Caribbean?

We booked the cheapest Celebrity weekend cruise to see just how similar (or not) the experience is to a cheap Royal Caribbean weekend cruise!

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[thomasgeurtz]

My wife and I are 25 year loyal to royal but after a short trip on Silhouette just like this video, we are now loyal to Celebrity. What a fabulous experience. Outstanding service and quality food. So relaxing and laid back. We are booked on 2 celebrity cruises in the near future. Can’t wait.

[melvinjacobs]

Your parents were on a long cruise, so the older crowd is normal, but on a 7 day cruise there is a nice mix of families and seniors. The difference I've found on Celebrity is that the kids on Celebrity are mindful of their surroundings and are well behaved, as opposed to Royal, where kids sometimes run amuck without parental control. I'm Diamond on Royal, so I speak from experience. Celebrity is now our go to line.

[TheMikeD]

We just tried our first Celebrity cruise last month, and here is our opinion on how they compare with an Oasis-class Royal Caribbean ship:

- Staff: Far more courteous on Celebrity. Almost everyone smiled and greeted us every time we passed by them. The staff on Celebrity made our experience top notch, and they’re the number 1 reason we’d try Celebrity again.

- Clientele: On average, upper-scale people on Celebrity and more social. I found it easy to meet people and get into good conversations, more so than on Royal.

- Kids: Yes, they’re on Celebrity, but we found them to be better behaved overall than on Royal.

- Cabins: More spacious on Celebrity.

- Buffet: Noticeably better quality on Celebrity. So good in fact, we had dinner at the buffet twice.

- Main Dining: Royal’s food quality and service in the MDR is FAR better than Celebrity’s, which was very surprising. My theory is that Celebrity is pushing people to book the specialty restaurants.

Specialty Dining: Excellent on both cruise lines. Food and service were both exceptional.

Bars: Celebrity has some courteous bar tenders, but Royal has more knowledgeable ones who will make a drink strong without you asking for it.

Entertainment: You can’t beat Royal on an Oasis-class ship.

Casino: Royal’s staff is more hospitable here, but I enjoy that the casino is non-smoking on Celebrity.

Wifi: Royal’s was far better. Celebrity’s was dysfunctional.

Vibe: Celebrity is chic and relaxing. People dress up much more at night on Celebrity. Royal has more energy and is super casual.

Drinks Package: Royal’s is much more inclusive and worry-free. I had the Classic package on my Celebrity cruise and was nickel-and-dimed several times.

Hope this helps!

[clmoss]

This was a super helpful video. My husband and I are well-past our rock climbing and surfing days and just want a quiet sundeck where we can get peacefully tipsy on mimosas all morning, lol.

[christineshields]

Living in Texas, the majority of our cruises have been on Royal out of Galveston during the shoulder seasons. As the port continues to develop and grow, I have my fingers crossed that Celebrity will begin sailing out of Galveston. While we've always enjoyed our western Caribbean cruises, we would love to see some cruises that offer different ports/itineraries of longer durations. Because of the itinerary, we have a 10-night Carnival cruise booked out of Galveston in 2024 that will not only cruise to the typical western Caribbean ports, but also to Costa Rica, Panama, Cartagena, Aruba, Bonaire, and Curacao.

[oowoo]

My wife and I had our last "alone" cruise before the kids on the Silhouette, both 32 at the time. By far our best cruise and we weren't the youngest couple on the ship. The Silhouette is a beautiful ship, the art work is amazing, food was above par for cruise food, the crew was the best we've ever had. The passengers on board were kind and friendly, no one was in a rush. It was a relaxing, laid back, now worries cruise. I would recommend to anyone, go on a Celebrity Cruise. There were a lot less kids then RCL or Carnival. We spent our on last day in the adult only pool area, my wife and I still reminisce about it to this day.

[matthews]

We love Celebrity for all of the reasons mentioned in the video! We also find it cheaper to cruise Celebrity over Royal when you factor in the drink package, Wi-Fi and tips.

[ReneBuret]

Celebrity is a solid cruise line through and through. Having sailed on Carnival,  Royal, and Princess many times, I always come back to Celebrity. Enjoy.
.

[beatlejeff]

I'm in the opposite situation. I've never sailed on any line aside from Celebrity. so I'm looking forward to my first Royal sailing (on Mariner) in July.

[janet]

I have just returned from a celebrity beyond cruise. Everything was fantastic, the staff the food, entertainment and the staterooms were a very good size. This was my first cruise with celebrity, it certainly won’t be my last. 👍🤗

[Stanf]

We have done 4 cruises with Celebrity ranging from 7 to 12 days since 2015. We have another scheduled in a year. We have only done 1 RCI cruise with another coming up in 6 months. HAL PCL and NCL have been the other lines we have sailed with 2 each. Celebrity by far has been the best experience for us and will remain loyal to the brand.

[robertkuwada]

For just my wife and I, we mainly sail on Celebrity, but for family cruises (with Grand Kids), we sail on RCL.

[kodysmama]

After 20+ Carnival cruises we are going on our first RC on 4/22 and Celebrity Ascent November 2024. Can’t wait.

[kathryncashner]

IMHO, Celebrity has better food, better crew. We aren't into rock climbing or roller coasters anyhow!

[scorejason]

This sounds amazing and right up my alley at this point in my life

[StevesRamblings]

Trying our first Celebrity cruise in October. Looking forward to seeing the difference and how our experience lines up with this review.

[dchenkin]

As a single, 43 year old man, I am now more likely to choose Celebrity over Royal when the cost difference is reasonable. Great video showing cruise lines are more different than one is better or worse.

[mercyrodriguez]

We love Celebrity, out of the 8 to 9 cruises we do a year, we do half on Royal and half on Celebrity!

[robe]

I am going on the reflection April 2024 to ABC islands and will be my first celebrity cruise. I also have only done royal Caribbean cruises so I am anxious to see the difference. Me and my wife are in our early 60’s so less kids sounds very nice. Our last cruise with Royal there were so many kids it got really crazy.

[carolm]

Hi, Matt! I like the comparisons of the sister brands: RCL and Celebrity. RCL owns Azamara and Silver Seas Luxury Cruises. Now is the time to take us on those adventures if you can! As an experienced cruiser, I still enjoy and learn from your RCL blogs.😀