brentm77
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jan 17, 2013
We sailed in a Celebrity Suite last August to Alaska on the Eclipse. It was the same price as a DCL veranda cabin. The suite only had 1 bathroom and no dining table, but it was spacious and comfortable. The service was excellent from all of the Retreat (what they call concierge) Staff.
However - We thought the food in the suite dining was terrible for vegetarians and hit/miss for my husband who eats anything. I felt bullied by my waiter not to order from a different menu and he was not helpful or even seemed to care when we couldn't find anything we liked on the menu. The specialty restaurants (upcharge) were not good and one place I sent my food back because it was inedible. They really didn't seem to care.
The "premium" drink package was garbage for wine/champagne, and I couldn't even find better wine by the glass anywhere. No higher end champagne by bottle or glass. I literally drank Titos bloody Mary's for breakfast, lunch and dinner (they were delicious). So the drink package really didn't work for me and Disney has much better options by the glass and bottle.
Onboard activities were not really things we wanted to do (other than a fun scavenger hunt for what would be the 1820 society on the first day). We did a lot of trivia, which was fun. The shows were "ok" and the movies were infrequent, not of interest and the theater where they showed them was lacking.
For Alaska and for the price, it was a good choice and if the food were better and they acted like they cared, I think the other things could have been forgiven since it's such a port intensive cruse (and I really do like bloody Mary's).
My husband and 18-year-old daughter were less critical than I was but they agreed it was missing the Disney service and quality we are used to.
We will be sailing our 30th DCL cruise this August on the Dream in a 1Bedroom suite and in December on the Fantasy in a 4E. We are trying Celebrity one more time (huge OBC offer if booked on the ship - $300 per passenger) in an Aqua Sky Suite on the new ship in the Caribbean next March.
It seems like food quality varies more on Celebrity from ship to ship, with the newer ships having better food. But I haven't experienced Celebrity first hand yet. I didn't book them for our upcoming Alaska since it was one of their older ships that hadn't been updated recently for the dates I was looking at and I ended up getting a comparable price with Disney. But I have two Celebrity cruises booked for 2024. I will be curious to see if it is a better experience for you next March.