Up next in 10
It had been 2.5 years since I had cruised on Celebrity Cruises, and knew they had changed many things. I was not really full prepared for just how much and discuss what I found, what I thought and how cruising on Celebrity Cruise line is different to before - and what I think what it means for you
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TikTok: @garybembridge
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0:00
when i stepped back on celebrity cruises
0:02
where i am now it had been two and a
0:04
half years since my last trip on equinox
0:07
in the caribbean and their head i knew
0:09
changed a lot since then but as i found
0:12
out here much more than i'd realized and
0:14
it's significantly
0:16
changed the way i think about celebrity
0:17
cruises and i want to talk about why and
0:19
how because it may change your thoughts
0:22
about cruising with them too or
0:23
certainly how you go cruising with them
0:25
now if you're new here i'm gary
0:27
bembridge and i'm here to make it fun
0:29
and easy to discover plan and enjoy
0:32
unforgettable cruise vacations
0:35
last time i was on celebrity i cruised
0:37
in a balcony cabin and on this trip on
0:39
celebrity silhouettes i booked a suite
0:42
as a splash out treat my next booking is
0:44
actually on an aqua class cabin on edge
0:47
as i've been recommended to try that
0:49
particular category by fans of the line
0:51
so i probably should not have been as
0:54
thrown by all of this as i was but since
0:57
my last trip celebrity have definitely
1:00
ramped up on this area now quite a few
1:02
followers of my channel say they are not
1:05
fans of cunard
1:07
why because it's very class driven and
1:09
they object to that because they create
1:11
a feeling of what of kind of better and
1:13
worse passengers you cannot have queen
1:15
squirrel princess grill and britannia
1:17
grill but nobody has ever said the same
1:20
thing about celebrity to me which has my
1:23
booking show
1:24
also has three distinct classes but it
1:27
doesn't seem to cause the same angst and
1:29
certainly on this trip i think i've
1:31
worked out why
1:34
first of all let me quickly explain the
1:36
three classes that are here on celebrity
1:38
well first there is the retreat class
1:41
so travelers in suites on celebrity
1:43
which they now are calling the retreat
1:45
or kind of the retreat experience
1:47
i found you'd only have bigger cabins of
1:50
course but they also you've got a butler
1:52
which is called now a personal retreat
1:55
host you have your own dining room
1:57
called the lumini it's got its own
1:58
separate kitchen you've got a retreat
2:00
lounge that's open 24 hours a day it
2:03
serves drinks snacks afternoon tea and
2:05
that's hosted by two retreat concierge
2:09
and then there's a very large access
2:11
controlled outdoor retreat which on
2:13
silhouette here is over two decks which
2:16
again also serves treats lunch and
2:18
drinks now celebrity also has aqua class
2:21
now these passengers
2:22
have their own restaurant too
2:24
it's called blue and that is a focus
2:26
more on healthy dining options
2:28
there you get free access to the thermal
2:31
sweet activities in the spa and you get
2:33
other kind of wellness in-room goodies
2:35
then you've got kind of the regular
2:37
traveler which makes up most of the ship
2:39
and they stay in cabins ranging from
2:41
inside through to balcony and they dine
2:44
in the main dining room so why does this
2:46
three-class system not seem to create
2:48
the same tension and angst as it does
2:51
about cunard now that's because in my
2:53
view the overall experience the ship the
2:56
product the service and the food is
2:59
actually now of a standard that
3:00
everybody feels they're traveling in
3:02
luxury and there's not some kind of
3:04
suspicion that people are being offered
3:06
something that's kind of second class
3:09
and the recent changes made i think in
3:11
reinforce all of that
3:13
so in addition to the new kind of modern
3:16
very luxurious edge class ships since my
3:18
last trip on celebrity they've been
3:20
working through and upgrading their
3:21
older millennium and solstice class
3:23
ships and silhouette that i'm on right
3:25
now has had that revamp so this whole
3:28
solstice class ship feels so much more
3:31
plush
3:32
stylish and much more quality than
3:34
before it's not that i didn't like it
3:36
before but everything now just feels
3:38
much more classy they've used designers
3:40
like kelly hoppen who i know pretty well
3:42
there's a whole bunch of others i've not
3:44
heard of but they all seem to have been
3:46
told to make things look and feel better
3:49
and more luxurious and it feels much
3:50
more like you're staying at a really
3:52
smart upmarket hotel
3:54
food as well i think has absolutely been
3:56
improved they've now got a partnership
3:58
with the michelin star chef called
4:00
daniel boulond
4:02
and they tell you that frequently every
4:04
time there's boards around the ship
4:06
there's it's on his name's on the menu
4:07
now i've not heard of him but it sounds
4:09
like he's pretty well known in the us
4:10
but clearly he's been working to elevate
4:13
the food and everything including the
4:15
food
4:16
in the ocean view cafe buffer i think is
4:18
is better than i certainly remember now
4:19
the upside is if you want to save money
4:22
i think the special dining has much less
4:24
of a reason to go to now except perhaps
4:26
sushi on five or round five as it's
4:28
called an edge class because you can't
4:30
get that in the restaurants
4:31
now one issue i also had with celebrity
4:33
before this revamp is i felt that the
4:36
outside decks on solstice class
4:38
definitely were pretty substandard and
4:40
had lots of wasted space but they've now
4:42
got much nicer places to sit delays
4:45
about and they vary from like the lawn
4:47
club but there's new spaces at the rear
4:49
of the ship there's lots of varied and
4:51
interested places to sit around the pool
4:53
and around the decks now in the edge
4:55
class this is absolutely much better
4:57
they've got the beautiful rooftop
4:58
terrace areas kind of outdoor bars and
5:01
kind of elevated that whole thing but
5:03
the big upgrade that really counts as in
5:05
the cabins these are so much nicer and
5:08
using that word i used earlier so much
5:10
plusher even the linen and the towel
5:12
seem much better so i think this kind of
5:14
overall shift to make the whole ship
5:16
experience shift kind of a little bit
5:18
more up market a bit more luxury kind of
5:20
as a base could be why passengers are
5:22
getting much less uptight about the
5:24
class system that's here on celebrity
5:26
and maybe they're less obvious and over
5:28
about it too although you do hear lots
5:29
about the retreat everywhere
5:31
that shift to spend on the upgrades the
5:34
food of course all comes at a price and
5:37
here's another key change that i do want
5:39
to talk about and this is where when i
5:42
was followers of my channel if they
5:43
would consider celebrity many many
5:45
people raised this one
5:47
as a big issue and that is around fairs
5:50
one really big change from my last
5:52
celebrity cruise is the fares they've
5:55
shifted to a much more all-inclusive
5:57
fare which they call always
5:59
included now as a base the fair now has
6:02
three key inclusions wi-fi for one
6:05
device
6:06
classic string package and gratuities
6:09
you can then upgrade to high levels of
6:11
inclusions and if you go in the retreat
6:13
the suites the fare has the highest of
6:15
those which has got faster wi-fi premium
6:18
drinks package gratuities and a really
6:20
big slug of onboard credit now it's kind
6:23
of hard to do a very detailed comparison
6:25
because so much has happened in cruising
6:27
including the shutdown but my conclusion
6:29
is that the fares have edged up a bit
6:32
more than just those inclusions i feel
6:35
they've gone up even more than that but
6:37
even if not totally right in my
6:39
comparisons when i look and compare to
6:41
other premium lines that have also
6:43
followed this more all-inclusive
6:45
approach like holland america and
6:46
princess and even the new entrant virgin
6:48
voyages celebrity fares generally seem
6:52
higher on similar itineraries of course
6:55
the question is though do you get value
6:57
for money on celebrity i decided with
7:00
the new elevator product certainly on
7:01
this cruise the answer that is probably
7:03
yes
7:04
but i'm not a very frequent celebrity
7:06
traveler as you've heard so i started to
7:08
ask people on the cruise who are and the
7:11
most common answer i got was you can see
7:13
where the money is going so i think that
7:16
is as close to a yes this is good value
7:18
as you can probably get but definitely
7:20
as i've been planning my future cruises
7:22
celebrity like for like cruise attendees
7:25
seem to cost a bit more than on similar
7:27
lines but i do think these upgrades have
7:29
made it worth it probably telling is
7:32
i've actually already booked my next
7:34
quiz as i mentioned earlier kind of
7:35
based on this one
7:37
however other than costing more probably
7:40
an improved luxury feel and quality what
7:42
about the people it's attracting and the
7:45
cruise experience and the entertainment
7:47
itself
7:48
is that different and has that changed
7:50
to
7:51
based on my past experiences now in the
7:53
premium category i think you can rank
7:55
the lines from traditional classic
7:57
through to very modern and contemporary
8:00
so based on that i would rank them as q
8:02
naught on one end you know very
8:03
traditional very classical then holland
8:05
america
8:06
then princess then celebrity and then
8:09
the new premium entrant virgin voyages
8:11
is the most kind of modern and
8:12
contemporary celebrities cruise format
8:15
the entertainment and the daily program
8:17
i still found it to be extremely
8:19
traditional it's got the usual trivia
8:21
enrichment talks lots of shopping lots
8:24
of shopping movies kind of under stars
8:26
production las vegas review shows guest
8:29
singers guest magicians live music in
8:31
the bars and so on it's basically the
8:33
same as on the other established premium
8:35
lines it's really not that different at
8:38
all to be previously either the shows on
8:41
edge class are bigger and more glitzy
8:43
they're even more out there but overall
8:45
the overall kind of daily program is the
8:47
same so on this cruise anyway they're
8:49
definitely still attracting travellers
8:50
seeking a more classic cruise experience
8:53
but i would say with the move to more
8:55
modern decor and the new edge class
8:57
ships they do seem to be attracting a
8:59
slightly but not dramatically younger
9:01
crowd than on the more traditional say
9:03
cunard hot in america and even princess
9:06
i do see a shift there
9:08
this definitely seems to be more
9:09
families appearing 30 something couples
9:12
without kids lots of gay couples you
9:14
know the line is really promoting its
9:16
diversity credentials and that seems to
9:18
be showing up in the passenger mix now
9:20
someone in my early 60s i would say i
9:22
was very comfortably within the average
9:24
age but it felt a different mix and
9:27
overall a more kind of youthful attitude
9:29
crowd if you like to my recent cruises
9:31
on those other premium lines for sure
9:34
solar travelers i would say are still
9:36
fairly underrepresented in my view on
9:38
celebrity but they do seem to be moving
9:40
a bit on that so silhouette here has got
9:42
four inside solar cabins
9:45
uh the other millennium and solstice
9:46
class i believe don't have any solar
9:49
cabins but the new ships have got more
9:51
options i think edge has eight when i
9:52
looked at it apex has 24 and it seems
9:54
that beyond is gonna have 32 solar
9:56
cabins including ones with balconies
9:58
those infinite balconies so it's still
10:00
fairly limiting for solar travelers
10:01
surcharges are high so the shift in
10:04
celebrity it was much more marked than
10:06
i'd expected to be kind of a ramp up of
10:08
the different classes especially the
10:10
retreat suites class
10:12
you know pulling the line much more
10:14
luxurious i felt it's differentiated to
10:16
the other premium lines but still it's
10:18
mostly a 40s 50s 60s audience i suspect
10:21
but of course time will tell but
10:23
consider that now to find out more about
10:25
how to make the most of a cruise on
10:27
celebrity take a look at this short
10:29
playlist where i start with a really big
10:31
watch out and something to avoid so see
10:34
you over there
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