Royal Caribbean recently extended status matching benefits to Celebrity Cruises, and I couldn't help but try Celebrity again.
I took my first Celebrity Cruises last year on two of their newest and biggest ships: Celebrity Apex and Celebrity Ascent. I enjoyed my first experiences on the sister brand to Royal Caribbean, but I was disappointed with the infinite balcony experience as well as the general state of entertainment.
That isn't to say I swore off Celebrity, but I was content cruising primarily with Royal Caribbean.
In June 2024, the new status matching was announced that provided greater parity between loyalty tiers among the lines. In fact, Pinnacle Club members were given the same top tier status in Celebrity and that piqued my curiosity.
To my surprise, I received a casino offer from Celebrity's Blue Chip club to get a significant discount if I booked a designated sailing. Between the offer and the new perks, I had to give it a try.
I picked a cruise on Celebrity Reflection for a 3-night cruise that visited Royal Caribbean's private island of Perfect Day at CocoCay. It seemed like an ideal match given that I would sail on Celebrity but get a Royal Caribbean day.
Going into the cruise, I was curious how closely my second go around would be to my first, and what the CocoCay experience would be like.
A surprisingly busy cruise ship
Celebrity Reflection is far from their newest ship, but I was pleasantly surprised by how much there was to do on the ship.
Reflection is the last of the Solstice Class ships, and began offering cruises in 2012. She's 1,017 feet in length and can handle 3,046 passengers.
That makes her roughly the same age as Quantum of the Seas and the has the capacity of a Freedom Class cruise ship.
I found there to be a good mix of venues onboard, from dining to bars, to pools and hot tubs. While Celebrity ships may lack all the signature top deck activities Royal Caribbean is known for, there's plenty to hold my attention around the ship.
Being that this was a weekend cruise, I think a lot of people were treating this sailing as a getaway trip. The pools were busy, the casino busy, and music events popular.
My go to spot on any Celebrity ship is Cafe al Bacio, and clearly everyone else on the ship had the same idea. There was always a crowd there, but I was able to find a spot each time I went by.
Cafe al Bacio is so much more enjoyable than Cafe Promenade because they have waiter service at the tables, that can bring you coffee and snacks.
Speaking of the snacks, I like the higher quality food offered here as well compared to the snacks at Cafe Promenade. Croissants, cakes, and cookies galore.
Status matching benefits that impress
As a Pinnacle Club member in Royal Caribbean's Crown & Anchor Society, I was granted Zenith status in Celebrity's Captain's Club. This means I got the best benefits Celebrity has to offer.
To be clear, you'll get the status in Captain's Club, but you earn points separately. So you can't cruise on Celebrity to help boost your Crown and Anchor status unless you switch and go all-in.
To get your Captain's Club status, you should call Celebrity before your first cruise to confirm your enrollment. That will get you your Captain’s Club numbers and ensure they "see" your Crown and Anchor status.
I was really impressed when I got an email before the cruise that I got a free Premium drink package, which is a step up from Royal Caribbean's six daily drink vouchers. That's a tremendous value off the bat.
Just like Royal Caribbean, I also got a free internet package for the duration of the sailing, access to the suite area, and priority embarkation.
When I sailed last year, it was before the status matching change and I was unimpressed with the perks I got at Elite Plus. This new parity between the programs is significantly better.
We got to board the ship in the suite line, and wait to board the ship in the Retreat lounge in Terminal 25 of Port Everglades.
We spent a lot of our evenings hanging out in Michael's Club, which is the suite lounge on the ship. Fun fact, the "Michael" in the lounge's name alludes to Michael Bayley, who was Celebrity's CEO before becoming Royal Caribbean's CEO.
I liked the bar set up in the lounge, along with the fact there are hors d'oeuvres served, self-service non-alcoholic and alcoholic drinks from 7am - midnight, and live music on formal night.
No matter which level you're at in Crown and Anchor, it's a real boon to get added benefits on Celebrity off the bat. For those of us at the top tiers of Royal Caribbean, working in a Celebrity cruise is an easy fit.
My favorite policy on Celebrity
You can come up with pros and cons of cruising any cruise line, but I love the fact you can drop your bags off in your cabin immediately upon boarding.
On Royal Caribbean, staterooms don't open until 1 or 2pm, and there's no access to cabins until then.
Celebrity's cabins also don't open up until the same time, but the difference is you can go to your cabin to drop off your belongings and then leave.
Not having to take your carry-on items around (and get your SeaPass card) is fantastic, and it really made a difference in my enjoyment of embarkation day.
Speaking of my stateroom, I ended up in a Concierge Class balcony room.
I did a last-minute upgrade a few days before the cruise to move up from an inside cabin to a balcony for only $292.
Concierge Class sounds better than it really is, and the only reason I picked it over a standard balcony is it was oddly cheaper.
For a short weekend cruise, I wouldn't prioritize a cabin upgrade necessarily, but given the cheap price, I decided to pull the trigger on it.
What it's like to visit CocoCay
This is the first year Celebrity has been able to send some of its ships to Perfect Day at CocoCay, and I was curious to see how it compared.
Our ship was docked alongside Allure of the Seas, and as a Royal Caribbean fan, it felt good to step off the gangway and back onto a Royal Caribbean area. It wasn't that I disliked my Celebrity experience, just that it felt familiar again being on the island.
Considering how highly rated Royal Caribbean's private island has been among passengers, it's no surprise Celebrity wanted to get in on the fun.
On the island, there is a mix of crew members working from both ships. The Celebrity crew members usually have a "X' pin on their shirt to signify which company they work for, but that's about the extent of the differences.
The Celebrity drink package and internet packages work on the island, just like Royal Caribbean's offerings.
We spent our day at Oasis Lagoon enjoying the music, refreshing water, and swim-up bar. It's been my go-to spot on the island since the Perfect Day makeover.
Tame nightlife
Unfortunately the major drawback to Celebrity I experienced last year remained on Reflection: lack of nighttime entertainment.
There are events held at night, but it pales in comparison to what's offered on any Royal Caribbean ship.
After 10pm, the choice of activities dwindles to a handful of choices. On the second night, there were exactly 5 events total to choose from in the Celebrity app.
I missed having the choice of Schooner Bar, Pub, movies at the pool, karaoke, and the other typical nighttime activities on Royal Caribbean.
The casino became our go-to spot, but if luck isn't on your side, then it's hard to stay there for long.
One way to look at it was that we got to bed earlier than on Royal Caribbean, so we got more sleep and felt less exhausted each morning.
My favorite kind of casino
There's plenty of pros and cons to cruising with Celebrity, but I absolutely love their casino is non-smoking.
While Royal Caribbean's casinos are technically split between smoking and non-smoking, it really means one side is very smoky instead of the less smoky other side.
As a non-smoker, it's a welcome change to have a smokeless casino. It made me want to spend more time there.
It doesn't appear Royal Caribbean has any plans to adopt a non-smoking casino, but I'd love to see that change come over to Royal soon.
I want to try Celebrity outside of the Caribbean
We had a fun weekend on Celebrity, but part of me thinks I really need to experience them in Europe, Alaska, or somewhere else to take advantage of the experience.
I think some of the advantages Celebrity brings to the table are best enjoyed on other itineraries. Or at least, that's my working theory.
Namely sailing on a ship with less passengers, infinite balconies (on the Edge Class ships), and far more varied itineraries than on Royal Caribbean.
In general, I think I'll continue to cruise on Celebrity here and there from an opportunistic standpoint. However, with the status matching now, I can't help but feel more compelled to take advantage of it.
