Disney Cruise vs Celebrity Cruise pricing

[RAD]

OK, before I begin I'm a long time DCL cruiser, Platinum CC member, and have been on all four ships. My last cruise on DCL was the WBPC in 2019 and my first was the DVC members cruise in 2005. It's just my wife and myself doing cruises now, grandkids too busy with school and other projects to take time off.

Last February we had book the 7 night eastern cruise on the Fantasy that leaves on 1/15/22. We had booked a 4A family veranda stateroom with a fare of $5,321.62. We had already book a couple shore excursions and spa appointments and even had a Palo brunch and dinner booked, we were ready to go.

But in the back of my mind I kept thinking maybe I should reconsider going on DCL again. For us the dinner menu's have gotten a bit stale, they really don't change much. We've seen most of the shows and while I like John Charles when he's one of the entertainers I've seen the Horse With No Name bit enough times.

Seeing posts from Tracey Heinrichs (Dreams travel agent) who's just completed a travel agent preview voyage on the new Celebrity Apex, and Twitter post from John and Kevin who were also on a Celebrity cruise in the last week I decided to check out what I could get on Celebrity.

Leaving also on 1/15/21 on the new Celebrity Apex for a 7 night eastern type cruise in a Sky Suite (video tour at

) would be $5,841.38, which was $519.76 more than what I had paid for the DCL 4A. But for that extra money, beside getting a larger stateroom (397 square ft vs 299 for the 4A) I also would get:
- The Retreat which is similar to concierge on DCL with private area on the ship (see

for a tour). Plus you also get a suite level only dining room, express check in, priority tendering and a Retreat Host, used to be called your butler, for personal service
- Unlimited streaming internet package ($398 value)
- Premium beverage package, which includes drinks up to $15 each ($966 value)
- $600 On Board Credit
- Gratiuties ($266 value)

So as of now DCL has been cancelled and we're book on the Celebrity Apex. I'm trusting Tracey, John and Kevin to not be steering us wrong on this and hope they are right that Celebrity provides service that's equal to Disney.

With all that said if your a Disney fan then DCL is great, we never had a bad cruise with them. But for us it's just at this time in our life its more of getting a good value, and trying something a bit different. So for others in the same boat just wanted to post my experience so maybe you might want to check for yourselves.

 

[kathi]

Now that our daughter is almost 18, we started looking at Celebrity at the suggestion of our TA. We were booked to sail Eclipse in a Celebrity Suite last August that was pushed to August 2022. It is a fraction of what concierge would cost on the Wonder and is about the same price as a deluxe veranda stateroom on DCL. We have sailed 22 DCL cruises and have 3 more booed before August, but I am hopeful that we will like Celebrity to reduce price, go new places and have new dining options.

 

[cvjw]

Please report back on how you enjoyed your cruise! We parked next to the celebrity edge in Nassau a couple weeks back. It looked amazing. We are die hard DCL cruisers, but our interest is peaked by these new celebrity ships!

 

[tvguy]

I can't speak to suites but we cruised Celebrity in October 2019 and it was an awesome cruise. We had a balcony stateroom on Celebrity for half of what we paid for a Deluxe Oceanview on DCL 15 years earlier. However, on DCL we did get upgraded for free to a balcony stateroom.
But we spend most of our time outside our stateroom, so that isn't a factor for us.

 

[hrhdhd]

I'm Elite on Celebrity (close to Elite+), and have done several cruises in Sky Suites, which are a good value for the money. The inclusions are terrific, and you'll enjoy the pampering of the Retreat. Enjoy!

 

[SnowWhite2]

I'm also looking for a new cruise line as DCL is getting either very stale or the pricing is ridiculous. My TA has also steered me to Celebrity. I've done one cruise on them in 2004 in concierge but the ship had no balcony cabins, the bed was pushed up to one side of the wall so if 2 people were in bed you either had to crawl over the person or slide out the bottom of the bed. It was an old ship that was taken out of commission the following year. They required a suit and tie/dress after 6 pm in all venues every evening. That isn't my style of cruising. I heard that has changed. Other than that, we loved the Celebrity cruise. Let us know how your trip goes.

 

[Sykes]

So as of now DCL has been cancelled and we're book on the Celebrity Apex. I'm trusting Tracey, John and Kevin to not be steering us wrong on this and hope they are right that Celebrity provides service that's equal to Disney.

From a service standpoint, I don't think that you'll be disappointed--overall, I found the service on Celebrity to be better than Disney's in almost every regard, but that's especially true of Celebrity's service for suite guests. The Sky Suites are an excellent value and I think that you'll really appreciate the extra space. Generally speaking, Celebrity is quieter and more elegant than Disney, and the schedule isn't nearly as packed--there are plenty of activities, but I think that a lot of guests just prefer quiet pool time with a drink. Celebrity definitely isn't for everyone, but I really do think it's worth branching out a bit to see what's out there. We have cruises with Disney, Royal Caribbean, and Celebrity booked for next year.

 

[RAD]

From a service standpoint, I don't think that you'll be disappointed--overall, I found the service on Celebrity to be better than Disney's in almost every regard, but that's especially true of Celebrity's service for suite guests. The Sky Suites are an excellent value and I think that you'll really appreciate the extra space. Generally speaking, Celebrity is quieter and more elegant than Disney, and the schedule isn't nearly as packed--there are plenty of activities, but I think that a lot of guests just prefer quiet pool time with a drink. Celebrity definitely isn't for everyone, but I really do think it's worth branching out a bit to see what's out there. We have cruises with Disney, Royal Caribbean, and Celebrity booked for next year.

Thanks. We’ve done Carnival and Royal, really didn’t like Carnival and found the service on Royal lacking compared to DCL.

We were wanting to do another Alaska cruise later this year. We’ve done one on DCL and really enjoyed it, but when we looked at the pricing we looked elsewhere. We ended up booking Celebrity with a sea and land package for 13 nights that was the same as Disney. But then upgrade’its got me, the standard veranda looked a little small or us so went with a Sky Suite. But then looking later in their web site saw a Celebrity suite guarantee rate that wasn’t bad so booked that, not expecting to be given a cabin number until a couple weeks before the cruise. Then bang, a week later we were in a Royal Suite, OMG we’re going to be spoiled. A whirlpool on the veranda, don’t know if we’ll be using it in Alaska but what the hell.

I guess that’s another reason we wanted to give Celebrity a shot so in case we didn’t like them we could find an alternative.

 

[Sykes]

We were wanting to do another Alaska cruise later this year. We’ve done one on DCL and really enjoyed it, but when we looked at the pricing we looked elsewhere. We ended up booking Celebrity with a sea and land package for 13 nights that was the same as Disney. But then upgrade’its got me, the standard veranda looked a little small or us so went with a Sky Suite. But then looking later in their web site saw a Celebrity suite guarantee rate that wasn’t bad so booked that, not expecting to be given a cabin number until a couple weeks before the cruise. Then bang, a week later we were in a Royal Suite, OMG we’re going to be spoiled. A whirlpool on the veranda, don’t know if we’ll be using it in Alaska but what the hell.

Wow! That's a pretty amazing upgrade. Being in a Royal Suite (or above) also gets you complementary specialty dining as well as a substantially higher level of service from your personal Retreat Host (concierge), so be sure to take advantage of that. On our last cruise we had a standing room service breakfast order that just appeared in our room every morning, and we also asked her to have a bit of dessert waiting in our room every night when we returned from the show. I would assume that you'd still get those benefits even though you were originally a suite guarantee booking.

 

[RAD]

Guess we’ll find out. Looking forward to the free laundry service.

 

[Intr3pid]

I wouldn't compare the two on pricing. They are two different products - one is a themed premium family cruise and the other more of an upscale adult-like experience. We sail on both, but it's pretty easy for us to put them in distinct boxes.

Other than the southern Caribbean cruises - where Celebrity is great - Disney gets our business in the Caribbeans and Bahamas. Sometimes RCL too. (The private islands and themes have their allure.) We have also grown comfortable with Disney in Northern Europe. Those big European cruises are our teens' favorites.

But, we cruise also to travel. And travel is where Celebrity really outdoes Disney. Southern Caribbeans and Mediterranean are prime examples, where Disney is still years behind in coming up with new ports. There is obviously no comparison in Asia, South Pacific, or South America.

We don't care much for Celebrity's new all-inclusive pricing - I should note. It penalizes families and seems to attract a different sort of crowd. I'm glad they are now offering more options after the feedback - but if you are used to Disney's attention to detail, Celebrity's prices would come off as a bit opaque.

Between the two, we have six cruises booked for next year. They can co-exist in your travels.

 

[RAD]

Just an FYI, you can get Celebrity to price a cruise without the bundle.

I did say that for families DCL is great, but once the kids are gone IMHO they are an overpriced option, unless you’re the type that must have the Disney vibe.

BYW Dreams will book Celebrity cruises and give you an on board credit.

 

[Cheburashka]

I wouldn't compare the two on pricing. They are two different products - one is a themed premium family cruise and the other more of an upscale adult-like experience. We sail on both, but it's pretty easy for us to put them in distinct boxes.

Other than the southern Caribbean cruises - where Celebrity is great - Disney gets our business in the Caribbeans and Bahamas. Sometimes RCL too. (The private islands and themes have their allure.) We have also grown comfortable with Disney in Northern Europe. Those big European cruises are our teens' favorites.

But, we cruise also to travel. And travel is where Celebrity really outdoes Disney. Southern Caribbeans and Mediterranean are prime examples, where Disney is still years behind in coming up with new ports. There is obviously no comparison in Asia, South Pacific, or South America.

We don't care much for Celebrity's new all-inclusive pricing - I should note. It penalizes families and seems to attract a different sort of crowd. I'm glad they are now offering more options after the feedback - but if you are used to Disney's attention to detail, Celebrity's prices would come off as a bit opaque.

Between the two, we have six cruises booked for next year. They can co-exist in your travels.

Does Celebrity have a private island? Castaway Cay is a big draw for us. We never sail any warm weather Disney cruise that does not offer CC.

 

[RAD]

No they don’t which is a negative.

 

[Cheburashka]

No they don’t which is a negative.

Sounds like a good line to sail to more exotic locations, though.

 

[RAD]

Hey, I love Disney cruise line. That's why I've done 10 cruises on them from 3 days, to a Med cruise, Alaska cruise and a Panama Canal cruise. But for us at our time in life it was time for a change. We asked Tracey, one of the Dreams agents here what would she recommend as an alternative to DCL, she said Celebrity. I then went and looked at a couple old Dreams shows on YouTube which Tracey, John and Kevin compared Disney, Royal and Celebrity for their concierge class service. They rated it as Celebrity 1st, Royal 2nd and Disney 3rd. Now Pete, a co-owner with John of Dreams rates Disney as 1st but can't rate Celebrity since he's never cruised on them.

So I guess my reason for starting the thread was before automatically going to Disney to book a cruise is unless you just need to have that Disney touch, or need to see fireworks at sea, but still want to receive a high level of service maybe you should check out Celebrity.

 

[KashasMom]

So much of DCL has gotten stale for us - the food/menus, entertainment (although we do have a few favorites), and most of all, the itineraries. The lack of active activities is what originally pushed us to look elsewhere. It's been a very long time since I cruised Celebrity but it was awesome back then. We had great suites (piano and butler included). Since then the ships have gotten bigger with more amenities/activities so I don't think you will be disappointed. (We're not fans of CC so don't care about the lack of a private island - never found that BBQ food good on any of them - and it's really just a beach). Concierge on Disney is "nice' but definitely not "wow". I would love it if they had a separate pool - that's our big want. And other lines have definitely stepped up their own concierge-type offerings, surpassing DCL. We have a Wonder concierge coming up with extended family and it will likely be our last Disney cruise. We're okay with that. We love RC Oasis class and would love to try some of the new Celebrity or Princess ships. Hope you have a great cruise!

 

[mrp4352]

Platinum DCL here as well, and we loved Celebrity when we first tried them this summer on the Summit. The main difference we found was in the Broadway-style shows, obviously DCL won there. But for food, service and general enjoyment we felt they were equal. And we loved having the prepaid gratuities, drinks and Wi-Fi included in the fare we chose. (Caveat: the youngest that we travelled with was 14 and the kids were never into DCL kids club, so we didn’t include that in the comparison.)

 

[CamColt]

Im platinum DCL and was booked (and sailed) on the 8/9 cruise. When we were a few weeks away and still didn't know what was going on I looked into the Celebrity Edge. We could have done a comparable room for a 7 night (as opposed to the 4 night) with drinks and tips included for I believe it was a little less (I forget exactly now). I stuck it out and went with DCL but it would have been a very nice option.

 

[hrhdhd]

Does Celebrity have a private island? Castaway Cay is a big draw for us. We never sail any warm weather Disney cruise that does not offer CC.

Technically, no, but we've stopped at Labadee in Haiti, which is private. I think it's more often an RCCL stop.