Celebrity Cruises and Royal Caribbean Cruise Line may be part of the same family, but there are major differences between the two cruise lines. Read on for some similarities and differences to help you pick which is right for you!
Atmosphere
Neither Celebrity or Royal Caribbean have a party atmosphere (if you’re looking for a party try Carnival), but Celebrity feels like a much older and calmer clientele. Royal Caribbean includes a lot of families, especially if you are on a mega ship with lots of kid-friendly activities. Celebrity does not have the activities that cater towards children like slides or climbing walls so there are simply less children on board.
Buffet Food
The buffet of Celebrity and Royal feels almost the same. The appearance of the Oceanview Café on Celebrity and the Windjammer on Royal Caribbean is incredibly similar – both are made up of various stations that you walk around to gather your food from the servers. The quality of food onboard Celebrity is up a notch though. One sea day we found filet mignon so tender you could cut it with a butter knife on Celebrity’s lunch buffet. It wasn’t advertised. It wasn’t anything special. It was just there. We’ve not seen that yet on Royal. The food in the Windjammer is plentiful. (I’m not saying it is bad. It’s just nothing to write home about.)
Main Dining Room Food
The food in the main dining rooms is very similar. Celebrity’s may be a slight step up but they literally include some of the same foods. Escargot is our favorite appetizer on both Celebrity and Royal Caribbean and it is the exact same dish.
Staterooms
The cabins on Celebrity and Royal Caribbean are very similar. They are set up in similar ways. Both could use more hooks. But Celebrity includes a few touches that most of the Royal Caribbean ships do not. There was a motion-sensor night light in the bathroom so you didn’t have to turn on a light in the middle of the night. There was a dispenser of good-quality lotion in the bathroom. Despite their similarities, Celebrity wins this round with just those little extra touches that you don’t really think about but are really handy.
Solarium
Both Celebrity and Royal Caribbean have an indoor, enclosed pool that is 18+. This space is very nice if you are trying to get away from the sun or trying to get away from children. On Royal, this is a space where all the adults hang out. On Celebrity, it’s got more of a spa atmosphere because there are very few children in the main pool. I would give the point to Royal Caribbean on this one because it’s solarium is a fun place to hang, while on Celebrity it’s a little sleepy.
Entertainment
Generally a tie. They have very similar evening performances with singers and dancers performing to a decade or genre of music.
Both lines also have day-time entertainment from trivia, to poolside games to dancing. But Celebrity does have its guest lecturers that provide some context on the ports of call. This is a nice touch regardless of if you are in Alaska, the Mediterranean or the Caribbean. Sometimes it is fun to learn a little about the history and geography of a place to give you a better appreciation!
Kid-friendly activities
Royal Caribbean definitely wins this category. Royal ships come outfitted with slides and climbing walls at minimum, but many also have more interesting activities at sea from wave riders to ice skating to ziplines depending on the ship.
The Towel Situation
This feels a little petty to include, but I think it shows a difference between the two cruise lines. On Celebrity, the crew places beach towels on the deck chairs every morning. When you have used a towel, you place it in the bin. If there is an empty chair with no towel, you get a clean towel from the towel holder. On Royal Caribbean, you go to the towel hut when you get up on deck and give them your card and you rent a towel. Royal places a charge on your card until you return the towel. Once you return the towel, the charge is removed from your card. Apparently Royal is concerned its guests are stealing the beach towels while Celebrity is not worried about it.
Price
Celebrity is more expensive. But is it worth the extra cost? That is up to you to decide!
