They say the grass is always greener on the other side, and after twenty Royal Caribbean cruises, I booked my first Celebrity cruise. I thought I was ready for a change, but my seven nights onboard solidified my preference for Royal Caribbean.
I’ve been mostly “Loyal to Royal” ever since my first Royal Caribbean cruise three years ago. Even though I’ve occasionally ventured to other cruise lines, such as Princess and MSC, I’ve always found myself returning to my cruising roots.
Royal Caribbean, in my opinion, has the most innovative ships at sea. I’ve never once had a bad experience onboard, even when cruising on the line’s oldest and smallest ships. With high quality entertainment, top-notch dining, and a diverse array of onboard thrills, I had little reason to look elsewhere for a cruise vacation.
Throughout the past year, however, several of my fellow Royal Caribbean Blog writers have tried Celebrity Cruises for the first time. Reading about their experiences, I was intrigued by the cruise line’s unique itineraries, adult-focused ships, and more upscale atmosphere.
So when planning a summer cruise to Europe, I booked a 7-night Norwegian Fjords cruise on Celebrity Silhouette. I figured it was time to experience what Celebrity was all about.
I boarded my first Celebrity cruise feeling optimistic about my next week onboard, but I quickly realized that I preferred Royal Caribbean.
From the lucrative loyalty status perks to dining options, here’s why I’m going back to Royal Caribbean for my next cruise.
Crown & Anchor Society offers more useful benefits compared to Captain’s Club
Royal Caribbean and Celebrity Cruises enable guests to match their loyalty status from one cruise line to the other, but the benefits are not equal. For my travel style, I find Royal Caribbean’s offers more lucrative benefits.
As a Diamond Plus member with Royal Caribbean, my status was matched to Celebrity’s Elite Plus status. This meant I could enjoy access to exclusive parties, a continental breakfast in a specialty restaurant each morning, discounts on select add-ons, and two complimentary bags of laundry, among other benefits.
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I appreciated the benefits not offered by Royal Caribbean, including a free day of access to the ship's thermal suite and a complimentary scoop of gelato at the gelateria. That being said, I didn’t make use of all the benefits, especially because my travel partner did not have status in the Captain’s Club, so I didn’t care to go to private events alone.
I missed certain aspects of Royal Caribbean’s Crown & Anchor Society while on Celebrity, like grabbing evening hors d'oeuvres in the Crown Lounge and using my buy one, get one free benefit at specialty restaurants.
Most of all, though, I missed my free Diamond drinks.
My favorite benefit of Royal Caribbean’s Crown & Anchor Society are the Diamond drink vouchers, which offer a number of complimentary drinks each day depending on your loyalty status. As a Diamond Plus member, I receive five drink vouchers a day.
Onboard a Royal Caribbean cruise, I can use these drink vouchers whenever and wherever I want with very few restrictions. In addition, the vouchers can be used ashore at Perfect Day at CocoCay. I’m not a huge drinker, but I love utilizing the Diamond drink vouchers to sample co*cktails around the ship, whether it be the Toasted Marshmallow Old Fashioned or Cucumber Martini.
Related: 21 best drinks to order if you have a cruise drink package
Celebrity Cruises also provides a drink benefit to those with Elite status and higher, but it pales in comparison to what Royal Caribbean offers.
You can order drinks from a Happy Hour menu from 5-7PM each evening. While you can enjoy as many drinks as you'd like during this time, the selection of beverages is extremely limited.
Forget trying the Martini Bar’s inventive Bananas Foster co*cktail or a refreshing piña colada on the pool deck. The happy hour drinks were far more basic, such as a vodka soda or glass of wine.
I was still grateful to receive complimentary beverages during my sailing, but I really missed the flexibility of the Crown & Anchor Society’s drink benefit.
I thought I would prefer an adult-focused cruise, but I missed Royal Caribbean’s onboard activities
As a 20-something without kids, I occasionally find Royal Caribbean’s family-friendly atmosphere—particularly on the cruise line’s newest ships—unnecessary for my travel style. While I would have loved that carousel and trendy teen club as a kid, these features don’t necessarily appeal to me as an adult.
Nevertheless, it’s pretty easy to “escape” the kid-focused activities on Royal Caribbean’s ships. Most of these amenities are located in a few select areas of the ship, and by venturing elsewhere, you can find a quieter, adult-centered experience onboard.
Related: The best Royal Caribbean cruise ships for adults
Even so, the lack of family-focused activities on Celebrity Cruises caught my eye. Although the cruise line still has a kids club and activities like family karaoke, there’s a noticeable lack of thrilling attractions like water slides and zip lines on Celebrity’s ships.
I thought this would make the cruise more enjoyable as an adult traveler, since there would be (presumably) fewer screaming kids running around the ship.
Instead, I found myself missing Royal Caribbean’s unique attractions during my Celebrity cruise. Despite attending activities like watercolor class, trivia, and a murder mystery game show, I actually missed my workouts on Royal Caribbean’s rock climbing wall and afternoon rounds of mini golf.
It’s easy to assume activities like the FlowRider, indoor skydiving simulator, and bumper cars are meant for children, but these activities are a lot of fun for adults, too.
During my seven nights on Celebrity Silhouette, I came to the realization that I prefer high-energy, active activities onboard a cruise ship instead of just sitting on a chair for a round of trivia.
It’s unlikely that Celebrity will ever offer these types of thrills in the future, so I’ll probably book my future cruises with Royal Caribbean instead despite the higher number of kids and families onboard.
It’s hard to beat the variety of entertainment on Royal Caribbean
After sailing on five separate cruise lines, Royal Caribbean's entertainment has been the crème de la crème.
Entertainment is always quite low on my list of reasons to book a particular ship or cruise line. I always appreciate the amount of theater shows available while cruising, but if I’m being honest, I don’t always attend the shows. Most evenings I prefer listening to music at a bar instead or lounging on the outdoor decks to watch the sunset.
The exception to this is when I cruise with Royal Caribbean. Aside from the oldest Vision and Radiance Class cruise ships, all of the cruise line’s vessels offer unique entertainment venues, whether it’s the ice-skating shows, technology-focused performances at Two70, Broadway productions, or diving spectacles at the AquaTheater.
With so many unique venues, Royal Caribbean is more the exception than the rule. Traditionally, cruise ships have always offered productions in a theater, and theater shows were the only style of performance offered on Celebrity Silhouette.
I attended the ship’s production of “On Broadway” while onboard, which featured live music and choreography from a selection of Broadway shows, including Hairspray and Les Misérables. I didn’t have any complaints with the show, but it, of course, couldn’t compare to the full-length Broadway productions available on Royal Caribbean.
Both cruise lines fared equally well when it came to other entertainment, such as live bands and comedians. Yet if I had to pick a cruise line based on entertainment, I would choose Royal Caribbean in a heartbeat.
Celebrity offered upscale dining, but I prefer Royal Caribbean's food options
Nearly every review I read about Celebrity raved about the cruise line’s food, but I honestly prefer the dining venues on Royal Caribbean. Given the positive reviews, this was one of the biggest surprises of my vacation.
Food is so subjective that I was apprehensive to even include a food review on this list, so my opinion should be taken with a grain of salt. If you ask five cruisers to review food amongst a list of cruise lines, you’d likely see five drastically different rankings.
For instance, I found the food on both of my MSC cruises to be excellent; the emphasis on high-quality Italian food matched my palette perfectly. Others, however, rank MSC dead-last in their rankings on cruise ship food—some even call it inedible!
All that said, I thought the food on Celebrity Silhouette was not as seasoned as I prefer, and menu options were sometimes too elegant for my tastes.
As a traveler who loves spicy, international flavors, I’m not sure I am in the cruise line’s target demographic for menu options.
I enjoyed the variety of food at the buffet, Oceanview Café, and there were items I’ve rarely seen in Royal Caribbean’s buffet, including hummus, ceviche, and even lobster mac and cheese. Despite this, I felt that most dishes could have used more flavor.
Most of the time, I stuck to the stir-fry station so I could customize the dish to my liking with extra spice and seasonings.
As far as the Main Dining Room, I found myself missing Royal Caribbean’s menu. I love how Royal Caribbean incorporates a theme into each evening, whether Italian or French night. At times, I felt Celebrity tried a little too hard to make classic dishes elevated.
Related: 21 Tips for the Best Cruise Ship Main Dining Room experience
Instead of a classic basil pesto found in Royal Caribbean’s Main Dining Room, for instance, Celebrity offered a more enhanced version, made with walnut-arugula pesto, asparagus, tomato confit, and parmesan cheese.
While fancier, the dish was quite earthy in taste, and I felt the classic dish would have tasted better, despite being more simple.
Again, food is a subjective topic, and perhaps my palette is not as refined as other cruisers onboard. There were plenty of dishes I enjoyed during the week, especially the Indian curries, but I simply prefer the food offerings and menus offered on Royal Caribbean.
I’d still book a cruise on Celebrity, but mostly for the itinerary
Even though I preferred Royal Caribbean over Celebrity, one reason I would book a Celebrity cruise over the former is because of the itinerary options.
Celebrity Cruises offers a wider range of itineraries compared to Royal Caribbean—you can find cruises to countries like Argentina, Peru, Samoa, and India, along with more traditional itineraries. The line even offers cruises to Antarctica, which allow guests to sail by the continent and enjoy views from onboard, as well as expedition cruises to the Galapagos.
Related: The best cruise itineraries for every type of traveler
Royal Caribbean still offers intriguing itinerary options, and I’ve sailed on the line in North America, Europe, and Australia. Nonetheless, as someone who chooses cruises primarily for the destination, Celebrity’s offerings are worth browsing.
If I were choosing between a similar itinerary, I would likely pick Royal Caribbean over Celebrity. If I wanted to book that bucket-list cruise to Patagonia, though, I wouldn’t hesitate to book another Celebrity cruise.
Sometimes it takes trial and error to find the best cruise line for you
Every cruiser has their own travel style. Some prefer the party atmosphere of a Carnival cruise while others enjoy a luxury experience onboard a cruise line like Silversea. There’s no right or wrong way to cruise, and sometimes it takes a few tries to find the cruise line that fits you best.
After taking so many Royal Caribbean cruises, I couldn’t help but wonder if there was a better cruise option out there. Yet after trying five cruise lines in the past three years, I’ve come to appreciate the quality and consistency of Royal Caribbean's product.
Whether it’s the morning mimosa with my Diamond drink voucher, afternoon ride on the zip line, or evening stroll through Central Park, I love how diverse the Royal Caribbean cruise experience can be.
In the end, I’m happy I tried Celebrity Cruises. I made wonderful memories during my time in Norway, and I had nothing but great experiences with the ship’s condition, service from crew members, and itinerary.
Yet ultimately, I’m still loyal to Royal.
