Celebrity Cruises Review

If you had to choose one word to describe Celebrity, it’d be “style.”

The line got its start in 1989 as a project of the Chandris family, who’d operated cargo and passenger ships in Greece and beyond since 1915. Celebrity made such a splash, so quickly, that it was bought by Royal Caribbean Cruise Line just nine years later. It has operated as a sister line to Royal Caribbean ever since, while the trademark “X” in the line’s logo is a reminder of it’s origins: It’s really the Greek letter chi, for Chandris.

From the beginning, Celebrity has been known for high-end design, cutting-edge contemporary art, superior cuisine, and great spas. Its newest ships, the Solstice class, take all that to the next level, with multiple dining options, innovative public spaces, and a truly high-end aesthetic. Fleetwide, the line offers a glamorous, exciting experience while also keeping its prices within reach of the mainstream crowd.

iPads On Board

“Modern” is another word you could use for Celebrity. On the newer Solstice-class ships, you can check out an iPad from the guest services desk and take a self-guided tour of your ship’s art collection. iPads are also used as menus at the Qsine specialty restaurants aboard several of the Celebrity ships, and can even be bought duty-free on several Celebrity ships at the Celebrity iLounge, a high-style space where you can also take classes from Apple-certified staff, browse the web on MacBook Pro laptops, and buy other Apple gadgets.

Activities On Celebrity Cruises

Fleetwide, the onboard atmosphere balances enriching experiences with others that are just plain relaxing and fun. Foodies can sign up for culinary tours, wine and mixology events, and “Food as Art” demonstrations. Guests interested in fitness and health can take a seminar on Chinese herbal medicine or acupuncture; get an actual acupuncture treatment at the spa; or take a yoga, spinning, Pilates, or tai chi class at the gym.

There are also stargazing sessions, language-learning workshops, and talks by visiting experts from Smithsonian Journeys, tailored to the cruise region: archaeologists or art historians on Mediterranean cruises, marine biologists on Bermuda sailings, naturalists on Alaska sailings, etc.

And then there’s pure fun: dance classes, game-show-style trivia contests, karaoke, Nintendo Wii and XBox Kinect sessions, and pool games — including pool volleyball matches between guests and the ship’s officers, who sometimes play fully clothed in their uniforms.

Evening Entertainment & Kids Programs

At night, Celebrity offers all the popular cruise entertainments, including Vegas-style musical revues, comedians, and passenger talent shows, but it’s the smaller touches that tend to stand out, like the a cappella singing groups that walk around the ship in the evening, performing in various lounges.

For kids and teens, the line offers a supervised program with different activities for the various age groups. There’s also group babysitting in the playroom, both late nights and for a couple of hours on port days.

Dining On Celebrity Cruises

Dining-wise, Celebrity offers a stylish experience, with modern touches spicing up menus that, on the whole, are on par with other mainstream lines like Royal Caribbean and Holland America. Dining service is excellent, and the line’s main dining rooms are uniformly stunning, from the line’s oldest ship, 1995′s Century, to its newest, 2011′s Silhouette. Guests can opt to either dine traditionally — at a fixed time, with the same companions every night — or choose “Celebrity Select Dining,” which lets you vary your dining time day by day.

In terms of specialty dining, the newer Solstice-class ships win the prize, supplementing their main restaurants and buffet with four specialty options each: the high-end Tuscan Grille for steaks and pastas; the European-themed Murano, featuring table-side cooking, carving, and flambé; Blu, a spa-cuisine option for guests occupying the ships’ AquaClass staterooms; and either an Asian restaurant or Qsine, which serves an eclectic international menu with super-creative presentations.

Celebrity’s older Millennium-class ships aren’t far behind on the specialty dining front. From the beginning, each has offered a specialty option intended to recreate a dining experience from the golden age of transatlantic passenger liners, with period decor, music, and menus. Recently, Celebrity has also begun retrofitting these ships with some of the best features of their newer Solstice-class fleetmates, so each of them now has two or three specialty options apiece, or will soon.

Along with style, Celebrity is known for its service, which rarely disappoints. In the restaurants, waiters and sommeliers are poised and professional, while cabin stewards are both friendly and precise. If you book a suite, you also get the services of a tuxedo-clad butler, who’ll bring you afternoon tea, shine your shoes, and otherwise make sure you don’t have to lift a finger.

Fleet Overview

Celebrity sails a fleet of ships that range from the Celebrity Century — to Millennium Class — Constellation, Millennium, Infinity and Summit — to Xpedition Class — a 98-passenger vessel that offers year-round Galapagos sailings – to the new Solstice class: Celebrity Solstice, Celebrity Eclipse, Celebrity Equinox, Celebrity Silhouette, and coming in 2012, Celebrity Reflection.

These People Will Love Celebrity cruise line

Those desiring a “taste of luxury.” Celebrity Cruises positions itself in the “premium” category, meaning that pricing is significantly below the “luxury” category and quality of service and amenities is slightly above the “contemporary” category. Still, Celebrity aspires to deliver “tastes of luxury.” On a Celebrity cruise, guests can expect chilled towels upon return from shore excursions, fresh sorbet served poolside, elegant tea service, 24-hour butler service in every suite and more.
Classy Folk. Available only in certain categories of veranda-class staterooms, Celebrity Cruises’ ConciergeClass includes everything from priority embarkation, fresh flowers and champagne on ice upon arrival to a pillow menu, plush duvets and Frette robes.
Spa Lovers. Celebrity Cruises’ Aquaspa offers an array of treatments inspired by rituals from exotic cultures. Celebrity cruise lines also delivered the first-of-its-kind experience, Acupuncture at Sea.
Healthy Diners. Celebrity Cruises AquaSpa Café offers light, healthy fare in a relaxing environment.
Lifetime Learners. Celebrity Cruises’ Discovery Enrichment Series program features lectures that range from finance and astronomy, to wine education and politics, to history and culture. Computer Training At Sea offers workshops and instruction help passengers enhance their computer skills.

Destinations Served By Celebrity Cruises

Alaska
Australia & New Zealand
Bahamas
Canada & New England
Caribbean
Europe
Galapagos
Hawaii
Pacific Northwest
Panama Canal
South America
Transatlantic

Ship Reviews

Avid Cruiser Posts Featuring Celebrity Cruises

Singer00

I sailed with a cousin on Celebrity last month and we shared a cabin with separate credit cards for our stateroom keys. The experience on board was lovely. As a performer/musician my favorite part was the Summit’s new pianist, Jordan Peterson!

However, after the trip, my card was charged for the entire bill ($8,000)instead of only my portion ($800). It has now taken three weeks, multiple hours of phone calls with our supposed Celebrity customer service rep, Mike, (who is near impossible to get a hold of!), my credit card company, the bank, and being quite literally yelled at by a Royal Caribbean collections agent, who was not informed of the investigation to fix the mistakes to the bill on THEIR end … And the issue is still not closed, nor have we been offered a single form of restitution for all the trouble we’ve been put through. Not only that, but I was asked to solve this myself by calling my credit card company back and allowing a portion of the incorrect charge to go through! And when I’ve asked that we be compensated with a discount, or a credit of some kind, even a bottle of wine, I’ve been told a flat “no” followed by radio silence, without any further suggested solutions.

I’m disgusted with the disrespect I’ve been shown, when no portion of this drama was our doing. I was nothing but patient and polite as they began to sort this out, but have reached my limit at this point. NO portion of the lovely vacation was worth the nightmare I’ve endured after the fact. You’re better off on a cruise line who cares!
EDUARDO MARTINEZ HERNANDEZ

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Richard

Celebrity provided a shuttle service for passengers into Bilbao and back.
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