Originally Posted by
BamaVol
It sounds like the two of you had a good experience. What other line(s) have you sailed? I recently booked our third cruise with Princess. I liked what I have seen so far. Previously, we had sailed Royal Caribbean and Norwegian. It’s interesting to go to any of the CC forums and read how disappointed experienced cruisers are due to frequent guest program “enhancements”. As a nube, I’m clueless - just comparing with other lines I’ve sailed.
I've only sailed on Celebrity (this was my second - first was on the Celebrity
Century, which they've since sold, in 2010). Mr Gfunk took a cruise on Royal Caribbean in maybe 2007 as well. We have friends who are avid cruisers and take probably 5-10 cruises a year. They usually go on Celebrity but will also do Royal Caribbean or Norwegian sometimes based on itinerary/timing/price. I asked him the other day if he's done a Princess cruise, and he said he hasn't but their reputation is "a bit older and slower pace," so take that as you will. My understanding is Princess and Celebrity are generally at the same quality level but Celebrity markets itself as a little more young/hip/freewheeling. I would generally describe the
Reflection's decor as "modern hotel lobby chic," for whatever that's worth. If you're looking for a cruise and want to try something new, I thought (and still think) Celebrity is a really nice experience.
I will probably not take enough cruises to get past Celebrity's "Classic" loyalty tier for the forseeable future, but the perks at Classic aren't really that interesting anyway. I think the most exciting one was 10% off wifi.
Originally Posted by
wrp96
Of the cruiselines I've sailed, like the OP I found Celebrity's app to be one of the better ones, also Carnival's. Absolute worst was Virgin's which rarely if ever worked, which when they require you to use the app for everything is very frustrating (couldn't make any reservations, couldn't order room service, couldn't shake for champagne, wasn't getting my messages, etc), and then also HAL's although that may have been a function of their terrible internet because we couldn't ever access it because the internet didn't work.
Also probably worth noting that a lot of the app's functionality only appears when connected to the ship wifi.