Finally bit the bullet and booked on Celebrity.

[tgropp]

We have been on four Disney cruises(Great) two RC (Good) and one Celebrity (Great). I would rate the Celebrity cruise one small step below Disney. We are leaving Saturday on a nine day Cruise on the Celebrity Equinox. We pre booked in November 2021 and for $1,800 we get a balcony stateroom with drinks, internet and tips and $100 OBC. That was to tough to turn down

 

[Mischievous Daisy]

We are toying with trying another line. Our DD is a junior in HS so the clubs are quickly becoming moot. We have our Dream B2B March 2024, she’ll be 17. After that kids programming no longer matters.



Was looking at Celebrity and then wondered if we’d miss the private island other lines offer.



Started looking at RCL as well for Parrot Cay.



For Alaska someday, after our DD is off on her own, she has no interest, we will likely not do Disney for itineraries and cost. So watching for that as well. Seems like RCL or Princess for that.

Our friends did Princess, they are the only cruise line allowed to enter the inlet where the "College Fjords" are. They said that was a highlight of their trip. I looked it up and she was correct. No other cruise ships are allowed there.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

We tried Celebrity for an itinerary and date we wanted. We enjoyed our vacation and would consider Celebrity again but our hearts belong to Disney. We really enjoy the Disney shows/evening entertainment more. We also prefer the way Disney organizes people that have booked shore excursions etc... I don't drink and my husband drinks very little so the availability of drink packages is not a consideration. We started cruising with Disney when our kids were small and now that they are grown we still prefer Disney. We cruise a little less often but do bigger cruises to soften the airfare expenses. Currently booked for back to back Disney cruises and very excited! Any day at sea is a good day, there is just a little more pixie dust with Disney.

OP here. I could have written these very words. This is why I posted about biting the bullet. Nothing else feels like a Disney cruise. As I stated before though, I don't want to say I can't try anything else. Dh felt like doing something different so I don't mind compromising sometimes. It can't always be about me. Maybe he'll spend half the time pointing out how Disney would have done something differently or he'll miss our corny magnets or he'll miss the Disney shows or he'll miss sitting in the deck 4 chairs watching the sunset. Maybe he's tired of seeing Golden Mickeys 30x. I can appreciate that too. I will definitely report back about it.

We are toying with trying another line. Our DD is a junior in HS so the clubs are quickly becoming moot. We have our Dream B2B March 2024, she’ll be 17. After that kids programming no longer matters.

Was looking at Celebrity and then wondered if we’d miss the private island other lines offer.

Started looking at RCL as well for Parrot Cay.

For Alaska someday, after our DD is off on her own, she has no interest, we will likely not do Disney for itineraries and cost. So watching for that as well. Seems like RCL or Princess for that.

Our kids are 26 and almost 23. The kids club hasn't mattered to us for years. Our kids have enjoyed Palo on the few, special cruises they've sailed with us more recently (2019). We still enjoy Disney without kids.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

Having cruised Alaska 5 times on the Wonder I can honestly say that the warmth of the cast members keeps bringing us back! Once we were so close to the glacier you could almost reach out and touch it!! Many cancelled their small boat tour because it was really not much closer than Captain Thord got the Wonder! We really brought the pixie dust to Alaska

We haven't sailed the Wonder to Alaska since 2012 but we did sail the 14-nt WBPC cruise on her last March. OMG our best cruise ever. I can honestly say it was the warm and love we felt from the crew that made it so special and me want to do this cruise again. Looking forward to that in October!

 

[darnheather]

When is the best time price-wise to book other cruise lines? With DCL it is opening day, is it same for others or certain sales?

 

[DCLMP]

When is the best time price-wise to book other cruise lines? With DCL it is opening day, is it same for others or certain sales?

I don't think so. They run sales all the time, but the price doesn't change that much. If the price does go down before the PIF date or they run some other kind of special they will price match.

I think the best prices including DCL come close to sail date you just can't choose your room.

 

[DCLMP]

BC nowadays means Before Covid.
For most people alive right now, we’ve never seen a 3 year span of life with this many changes in the world.
Maybe not the most changes in 3 years ever though. Our grandparents living through WW2 could give a good debate if they were alive now.

I agree with you the last three years have been something, and it keeps accelerating into God knows what.

Anyway I feel like you did about RCCL, but were cruising on them again because of the itinerary. DCL's itineraries are pretty limited in Europe...so you have to branch out if you want to see something new.

 

[JWG]

The DCL split bath is a real perk. Especially if you have 3+ in your room. Was surprised a lot of the suites on other lines didn’t have 2 baths like Disney does in their 1BR.

This experiment probably waits until there are just two of us.

 

[beckicnm]

I agree with you the last three years have been something, and it keeps accelerating into God knows what.

Anyway I feel like you did about RCCL, but were cruising on them again because of the itinerary. DCL's itineraries are pretty limited in Europe...so you have to branch out if you want to see something new.

Celebrity is going to keep a ship in Europe year round. They announced that in the Captains Club webinar that came out recently. Lots of time for new itineraries.

 

[DCLMP]

Celebrity is going to keep a ship in Europe year round. They announced that in the Captains Club webinar that came out recently. Lots of time for new itineraries.

I don't know about cruising in Europe in the Winter that sounds a bit chilly to me.

 

[auntlynne]

 

[beckicnm]

I don't know about cruising in Europe in the Winter that sounds a bit chilly to me.

Just glancing at the itineraries, it looks like it's pretty heavy on Spain/Canaries/Morocco/Egypt/Israel. All places I would avoid in the summer if possible.

 

[brentm77]

Well, we unexpectedly booked on Celebrity today too! We were just goofing around and found an excellent price for my wife and I to do Barcelona to Rome with lots of great stops in between in 2024. With the exception for a cheap cruise I took in my teens, this will be our first venture from DCL to another line. We could not be more excited.

We did the DCL Italy/Greece one last June, and this time we will get to do the Western Mediterranean, but still stop in Sicily, the Amalfi coast, and end in Rome, which we are thrilled to visit again. We know exactly what we want to do in each now. We had planned to do Switzerland in 2024, but cruising the Med again was too tempting for us. And the price on Celebrity, on their new ship for 2023, seemed like a bargain when sailing with only 2 people compared to sailing DCL with 4. It's even a day longer. It's concierge too (I realize it's not their best class, like concierge is on DCL). I can't wait to try Celebrity. I know we will miss some stuff, but we plan to go in with a good attitude about it. If we love it, I suspect we will do less DCL going forward. We love DCL so much, but it is fun to have new itinerary options when venturing to Celebrity.

The one thing I have already noticed is their website is so much better. We booked the cruise today and could already browse and book excursions (more than a year out, no less). Everything is laid out better and easier to use too.

 

[soniam]

Well, we unexpectedly booked on Celebrity today too! We were just goofing around and found an excellent price for my wife an I to do Barcelona to Rome with lots of great stops in between in 2024. With the exception for a cheap cruise I took in my teens, this will be our first venture from DCL to another line. We could not be more excited.

We did the DCL Italy/Greece one last June, and this time we will get to do the Western Mediterranean, but still stop in Sicily, the Amalfi coast, and end in Rome, which we are thrilled to visit again. We know exactly what we want to do in each now. We had planned to do Switzerland in 2024, but cruising the Med again was too tempting for us. And the price on Celebrity, on their new ship for 2023, seemed like a bargain when sailing with only 2 people compared to sailing DCL with 4. It's concierge too (I realize it's not their best class, like concierge is on DCL). I can't wait to try Celebrity. I know we will miss some stuff, but we plan to go in with a good attitude about it. If we love it, I suspect we will do less DCL going forward. We love DCL so much, but it is fun to have new itinerary options when venturing to Celebrity.

The one thing I have already noticed is their website is so much better. We booked the cruise today and could already browse and book excursions (more than a year out, no less). Everything is laid out better and easier to use too.

Celebrity goes ahead and charges for excursions and dining; whereas, DCL doesn’t charge until right before or during the cruise. I think that’s why Celebrity can let people book early. I think you would get a lot of people booking duplicates early and then canceling later. They would need to charge at booking.

 

[brentm77]

Celebrity goes ahead and charges for excursions and dining; whereas, DCL doesn’t charge until right before or during the cruise. I think that’s why Celebrity can let people book early. I think you would get a lot of people booking duplicates early and then canceling later. They would need to charge at booking.

For sure. I bet there is a lot of shuffling as the cruise approaches. Paying upfront may help a little with people grabbing a spot just to hold it. But, we did get a big onboard credit which made it possible to book some without paying upfront. We tend to do a lot of private excursions, but there are some that are easier with the cruise line. I like that I know we have the cruise ones locked in now, instead of finding out a few months out that the one we wanted is full and scrambling to find a replacement. That happened in Mykonos and it ended up coasting a lot to find a private tour, which would have been easier had we had more notice.

Overall though, the website just works better and has a better layout. Even though I was just using it for the first time, it is intuitive and things seem easier to find.

 

[brentm77]

I recommend you give an Edge class ship a try

Did you have an infinity balcony? It looks nice, but I can't decide if I will miss the more outdoor feel of the DCL verandahs.

 

[Sykes]

Did you have an infinity balcony? It looks nice, but I can't decide if I will miss the more outdoor feel of the DCL verandahs.

I've done both an Infinite Veranda and a Sunset Veranda and liked both. It's really a matter of personal preference. IMO, the Infinite Veranda makes the entire room feel connected to the ocean in a way that you don't get with a normal balcony, and the balcony space is legitimate usable space which makes the main cabin bigger. But if it's hot outside, it's a bit of a drag that you can't go outside to enjoy it for a while then return to your air conditioned cabin--you lose pretty much all of your air conditioned air within a few minutes of opening the balcony window. And if you're sharing a room, you don't get a proper separated space with the balcony. My wife will often wake up first and use her laptop on the balcony while I'm still sleeping. It's much harder for her to do that without waking me with an Infinite Veranda (there are thin frosted doors, but the only option for blocking light is the blind for the main window). Either way, the Infinite Veranda is pretty novel and worth trying.

It's not related to the balconies themselves, but I'll add that the wake views on the Sunset Verandas are wonderful. The location far aft isn't very convenient (especially since the aft elevators on the Edge class are more mid-ship), but the views make up for it.

 

[tink1970]

Well, we unexpectedly booked on Celebrity today too! We were just goofing around and found an excellent price for my wife and I to do Barcelona to Rome with lots of great stops in between in 2024. With the exception for a cheap cruise I took in my teens, this will be our first venture from DCL to another line. We could not be more excited.

We did the DCL Italy/Greece one last June, and this time we will get to do the Western Mediterranean, but still stop in Sicily, the Amalfi coast, and end in Rome, which we are thrilled to visit again. We know exactly what we want to do in each now. We had planned to do Switzerland in 2024, but cruising the Med again was too tempting for us. And the price on Celebrity, on their new ship for 2023, seemed like a bargain when sailing with only 2 people compared to sailing DCL with 4. It's even a day longer. It's concierge too (I realize it's not their best class, like concierge is on DCL). I can't wait to try Celebrity. I know we will miss some stuff, but we plan to go in with a good attitude about it. If we love it, I suspect we will do less DCL going forward. We love DCL so much, but it is fun to have new itinerary options when venturing to Celebrity.

The one thing I have already noticed is their website is so much better. We booked the cruise today and could already browse and book excursions (more than a year out, no less). Everything is laid out better and easier to use too.

Yesterday I booked our first Celebrity cruise too! I've been wanting to try them so it's a short 5 day to nowhere interesting...(Cozumel and Bahamas) Jan 2024, just to dip our toes into the line to see if it's worth reeeeallly committing to them for longer, more interesting itineraries. I did cost compare and our Celebrity Suite cruise fare for 2 in January departing out of Miami is only $192 less than a 1 BR suite on DCL cruising out of Ft Lauderdale to Cozumel and CC on very similar dates which supports my theory that other lines aren't necessarily cheaper for 2 to cruise, especially in suites. Regardless, I'm excited to see how Celebrity stacks up and if they're a viable alternative to Viking and DCL for my cruise budget.

 

[hrhdhd]

Did you have an infinity balcony? It looks nice, but I can't decide if I will miss the more outdoor feel of the DCL verandahs.

The Infinite Veranda isn't a balcony; it's a window.

I had an IV on Apex last March; I was solo, so it was fine (originally booked an OV but got bumped up because my OV was in what was then the quarantine zone, and the ship wasn't close to full). With a partner with different sleep habits or temperature preferences, though, it'd be tricky. The furniture at the window is also chintzy: a couple of chairs that aren't suited for reading a book or looking out the window for much more than 15 minutes, and a table that can hardly hold a couple of drinks.

DH and I were in a Sunset Veranda on Apex in December, and it was much better than the IV. Large balcony with two loungers and two chairs, great views. One note: we were originally on Deck 6 but the noise from Eden below was bad at night, so we were moved to Deck 9, which was much quieter.

 

[brentm77]

The Infinite Veranda isn't a balcony; it's a window.

I had an IV on Apex last March; I was solo, so it was fine (originally booked an OV but got bumped up because my OV was in what was then the quarantine zone, and the ship wasn't close to full). With a partner with different sleep habits or temperature preferences, though, it'd be tricky. The furniture at the window is also chintzy: a couple of chairs that aren't suited for reading a book or looking out the window for much more than 15 minutes, and a table that can hardly hold a couple of drinks.

DH and I were in a Sunset Veranda on Apex in December, and it was much better than the IV. Large balcony with two loungers and two chairs, great views. One note: we were originally on Deck 6 but the noise from Eden below was bad at night, so we were moved to Deck 9, which was much quieter.

Thanks. I may look at changing the booking. I don't love the I can't sit out there while the cabin is air conditioned still. Seems like a fun idea on paper, but not very practical.