Leave Celebrity For Cunard?
 

Would you consider leaving Celebrity for Cunard?

The return to class and decorum on Cunard's Queen Victoria is very appealing to my family.

The CEO from Cunard indicated their market surveys indicate a strong and growing target market for a formal, premium cruise experience. Carol noted a large proportion of the respondents are "refugees" from the once premium Celebrity Line. I loved the line "we voyage, not cruise" and "we dine, not eat" - that is exactly what I want

Was wondering if any Celebrity cruisers are interested in acquiring a higher end, more traditional cruise experience?

ABoatNerd

Our friends that haved used Cunard ships as a way to cross the Atlantic several times, recently cruised with us on Celebrity for the second time. They said that they found Celebrity to be more fun and less stuffy. Celebrity may not be perfect , but most people I encouter on their ships are repeat cruisers. Some people feel that they are on a British ship when they sail on Cunard, but I find that puzzling. Cunard is owned by Carnival, and their new ships are built in France.

Manuel

Queen Victoria was built at Fincantieri Marghera (Italy) and Queen Elizabeth will be build at Fincantieri Monfalcone (Italy) , so not in France.

I believe Queen Mary was built in France, but in any they start out with a latin background

Manuel

I don't know their older ships, but the new ones are/were build at Fincantieri shipyards in Italy

That's great beautifull things tend to come from Italy.

Manuel

I checked the QM 2 was built at the Chantiers de l'atlantique in France

No,,,I wouldn't consider switching. Celebrity has just enough "class" to suit me, and the lovely Mrs. Jones (Vita). (And, frankly, I don't really care where the ship was built)

Ken
"SkyMaster"

We cruise mostly on Celebrity & Royal carib..we did enjoy a short trip on QM2 & hope to try out the new one. QM2 would be my choice for a transatlantic based on the quality of the vessel...DH did not like the food & British atmosphere on QM2--I enjoyed it all very much from the cabin to the performances to the Tea. The pool deck seemed small...

Unless Celebrity declines significantly we'll stick with that & look forward to trying Solstice.

Hcat I am also looking forward to sailing on Solstice.

Manuel

No, I prefer an informal premium cruise experience.

It is possible to find premium services and facilities in a casual setting, and that's our "perfect storm."

The Cunard CEO's statement seems to imply a false choice: that such concepts as "voyage," "dine" and "premium" must be joined at the hip with "formal."

Not true. You can voyage and dine on a premium ship with sharp, classy people who don't wear baseball caps to dinner, but with none of the formality or "class distinctions" of Cunard.

Celebrity vs. Cunard isn't the only comparison to be made in this regard.

AR you certainly have a way with words, oo Celebrity we allways have had a fine dining experience without class distinctions.

Manuel

Celebrity or Cunard?
 

I have cruised both, and am doing both in 2008, however I have to say that Celebrity is tending more and more towards the "no rules, do as you like, dress as though going to the local hardware store " atmosphere.Even did a cruise where the Captian never even made an announcement, never was seen around, the CD did all the announcing, ( he came on several times a day for bingo, trivia, art auctions etc - against corporate policy" Thought I was on NCL or RCC.

Will I sail Azamara,? No because it boasts it is "casual, non traditional open dining etc"
Pity, Celebrity could have "upgraded" and found a place just below Crystal, something I would love. Instead they are trying to imitate NCL

Crystal prices are high all outside balcony cabins (not appealing to a solo traveler) but the killer for me is that if I wish to go on Crystal out of UK, the only hotel they offer costs $2000 PER NIGHT SOLO NO MEALS. on top of air fare that makes trvelling with that line out of my reach.

I would really love to find a luxury elegant traditional fixed seating cruise. l

I have thought about trying a Cunard cruise...or "voyage". Love their website, and marketing material. Truthfully, I got confused with their cabin types. There seemed to be no real clear answers on which ones had obstructed views, or the metal 1/2 wall on the balcony...etc. Also, I didnt' understand why if you were in a certain cabin class, say "B3" (or whatever), those were the people you dined with. Segregation?

We love Celebrity. I met a gentleman in the spa on our last Celebrity cruise who was taking his first Celebrity cruise, but was a Cunard regular. He too stated that Cunard was "stuffy". But then he found other things to gripe about on Celebrity.

It's hard to please everyone; luckily there are cruise lines out there for all of our tastes!

If anything, I'm looking for a less formal, rather than more formal cruise experience, so I don't think we'll be booking Cunard in the near future.
While we always follow the dress code, frankly, we would be happy if they did away with formal nights, or at the least, informal nights, but took care in maintaining the high level of service which we have come to expect from Celebrity.

Re: Leave Celebrity For Cunard?
 

ABoatNerd,

No. Fundamentally, I don't like the idea of being treated as inferior just because I choose to book a less expensive cabin so I can cruise more frequently. Also, with Celebrity choosing to maintain its traditional standards of dress, many of those who would wear baseball caps in the dining room or do other things that show a lack of upbringing are going to other lines where they don't have to dress for the "informal" evenings. I hope that Celebrity will continue to distinguish its product in this way.

Norm.

We are long time regular Celebrity cruisers. We Did a Transatlantic and World Cruise on the QE 2 a couple of years ago.

We enjoy the food and excellent service much more on Celebrity.

Granted... we have not tried QM 2.... but We don't want to be disapointed a third time.

I find Ocenia very interesting and we are doing a Transatlantic in March 2009 on them.(a great price too)

Cunard is still very class conscious and I don't want to have anything to do with that.