Did We Like Celebrity Cruises?

If you have followed us through our travel journey you know we have primarily cruised on Carnival and Royal Caribbean. Our most recent trip we decided to change things up and try Celebrity, a sister company of Royal Caribbean.

Now, if you know me, you know I will tell you how it was. We’re gonna talk about the great, the good and the things we think that the Celebrity Equinox could work on. To start off, we agreed that this was the BEST trip we have taken together due to the Celebrity experience, the food, the service and ports. Not to mention meeting some great friends on our first day.

Let me start with the great…

-Celebrity Experience: what do I mean by that? The vibe on board was calm and mature. Imagine a ship with only 10 kids, a dream come true! Celebrity ships don’t say no kids but definitely don’t cater to young kids and families. The feeling on board was very resort-like which we thoroughly enjoyed. We don’t think we saw any trashy drunks unlike we have seen on other cruise lines. Overall, the ship was b-e-a-utiful and there were very few things we thought needed improvement. We felt like we were cruising in luxury.

-Buffet: we are not buffet lovers when we travel. This buffet was above and beyond all expectations from their cultural days, multiple options and of course pizza. We were also impressed with their dietary restriction selections (don’t worry, this will be another post soon).

-Boarding process: UM HELLO! I could drop my carry-on bag off in my room when I got on board. YES please. This was my favorite part of the day. Dropping off our heavy bag before exploring the ship. We have never heard of this and we were completely amazed. But, in reality, the boarding process was quick and so organized. We parked, checked in and were on board within 20 minutes.

-Crew involvement: We were pleasantly surprised on this cruise with how many officers we saw on board on a regular basis. On sea days especially the officers participated in Crew vs. Guests volleyball games along with Cory's favorite, putting with the officers. He was able to putt (on REAL grass) against the cruise director. We also saw the officers and crew at the nightly game shows sometimes competing (and beating) the guests! We were impressed with the involvement and friendliness of all crew on board.

Now let's discuss the good…

-Performances: I always love going to check out the performances on board a ship as nightly entertainment. I was impressed with the shows that they had on board but wish there were more! The performers were absolutely amazing and talented. At least two nights while at sea, we were provided entertainment by off ship performers. Both were great in their own way but we really wish we could have seen more from the cast of the ship!

-Game Shows: If you know me, you know I love board games and game shows. So naturally I was excited to see a different game show each night on board. Many common game shows were provided (with clever names) and encouraged on board participation. Being able to watch the game shows was great but the location of where they took place was not ideal for a large crowd. Oftentimes I would be trying to look between two taller people's shoulders instead of having a spot where I could see everything taking place.

-Service: I talked a lot about the officers being great and around a lot on board. But we did not give the service on board as high on our personal ratings. We expected with the resort-like feeling and being pampered the whole time the staff would be more interactive. We found a few servers who really were great and made our experience exceptional but a lot of them we felt just did their job and sent us on our way.

Last and the least, let me talk about some things I think Celebrity could work on…

-Our Room: Going on a cruise you know your room is going to be smaller than what you expected but this room provided very little storage options and only two outlets (that were together by the balcony door). We have done our fair share of cruising and know how to pack for minimal storage space but the closets had no shelves, and the drawers were very small (not made for adult clothing) so we had to get really creative which was no big deal, we made it work for our 8 days at sea… but I cannot imagine doing a back to back on this ship without bringing better storage options for all our clothes. One thing that our room did have which made us laugh was TWO magazine holders on the side of the vanity… I found they stored my curling iron and sunglasses nicely (I told you, we had to get creative).

Our overall thoughts…

Being first time Celebrity cruisers, we were so impressed we have already tried to sell a few clients on taking their first Celebrity Cruise! We loved the atmosphere, the experience and overall trip. We have yet to stop talking about the trip (sorry if you have had to hear about it 100 times so far) and will forever recommend Celebrity to family, friends and clients. If you are looking for a relaxing, quiet and resort-like vacation let us know and we will find the perfect Celebrity Cruise for you!