When it comes to cruising, Royal Caribbean is a household name. But there’s another line that many people don’t know as much about. Celebrity Cruises is still well-known, but it’s far from seeing the sort of passenger numbers as its sister line. And yes, if you didn’t know, Royal Caribbean and Celebrity are part of the same company.
Despite that relationship, they are definitely very different in a lot of ways. So how do the two compare? Having sailed both, I can tell you exactly what’s different between them.
Difference in Focus Between the Two Lines (Family vs. Adults)
Let’s start first with something big, and that’s the overall focus of Royal Caribbean versus Celebrity.
First, anyone is welcome on both lines no matter who you are. I think you’ll have fun on either. But there’s a definite difference between the two.
Royal Caribbean is much, much more of a family-oriented cruise line. Whether you are 8 or 80, there are amenities and venues that you’re going to like. But there’s definitely more of a focus on kids and teens. The top deck of their ships have turned into amusement parks with slides splashpads, climbing walls, and tons more. Some ships have escape rooms, there are arcades, and sport courts. There are lots of kid-friendly food and even the entertainment — more on that in a moment — keeps kids in mind.
I wouldn’t call it a kid’s cruise line as there are plenty of spots designed for adults, but family is definitely a big factor.
Celebrity is much more focused on catering to adults. Yes, kids are welcomed, but honestly, the line isn’t built around them. It’s a more refined atmosphere. The top deck doesn’t look like Disney World with all the rides, and even the decor is more upscale with styles that appeal to adults instead of kids. This theme runs through every part of the cruise from the entertainment to food on the ship.
Despite being owned by the same company, you won’t mistake a Celebrity cruise for one on Royal Caribbean.
The Ships Themselves (Especially Newer Vessels)
When it comes to ships, Celebrity’s fleet is way smaller in number. They have just over a dozen ships. Royal Caribbean is closing in on 30 ships. If you cruise often, that’s the big reason you always seem to see a Royal Caribbean ship in port but only occasionally see Celebrity.
But the difference in ships only starts there. Royal Caribbean ships are simply the biggest in the world. In fact, all eight of the biggest cruise ships on the planet are from the cruise line. Its largest ships come in at nearly 250,000 gross tons and 1,200 feet long. And as I mentioned before, Royal Caribbean stuffs all sorts of things to do, see, and eat on board. From ice skating rinks to skydiving simulators, they push the limits of what’s possible on a cruise ship.
Celebrity plays an entirely different ballgame. Its biggest ships top out at 141,000 gross tons. And the ship is much more like a high-end luxury hotel than an amusement park. For instance, the ship shown above features a rooftop garden area that’s chilled out rather than full of games and rides and activities.
Bottom line, if you’re wanting a ship with the most to do, then you choose Royal Caribbean. If you’re wanting a ship that focuses on high-end style and luxury, then you choose Celebrity.
Number of People Onboard
I’ve noticed a trend over the past decade when it comes to ships and that’s the fact more people seem to be fed up with mega ships. Really, the complaint is the number of people on these ships. In the old days a cruise ship might have a couple of thousand people onboard. These days, new ships seem to start around 5,000 passengers and go up from there.
With Celebrity, there’s a bit of relief if you’re tired of ships with staggering amounts of people. Its smallest ships carry just over 2,000 people at double occupancy and even the largest carry only around 3,200. So if you like to sail with fewer people on the ship, you have options.
Royal Caribbean, however, goes big. Yes, it has a handful of smaller ships that carry only around 2,000 people at double occupancy but some of those ships were built nearly 30 years ago. Today, it’s not a big part of the fleet.
Its biggest ships carry closer to 6,000 to 7,000 passengers depending on how many people are sailing that particular cruise.
Food & Drink
Food and drinks are a major part of any cruise, so what’s the difference there? Honestly, I’m of the opinion that the difference isn’t near as big as what some may think. However, there are some.
If you sail older ships, you might not notice much difference at all. On newer ships, I find that Celebrity has some more higher-end options as you might expect. For instance, you can get a custom salad made for you on Celebrity where Royal Caribbean might have a hot-dog station instead.
But both lines have lots of specialty restaurants that aim for fancier meals. Yes, it can get annoying having to pay extra, but you’ll likely love your meal.
Food in the dining room can also be hit and miss across the lines, with some dishes being excellent and others being mediocre, at least in my experience. I would say that the Celebrity buffet is slightly better than Royal Caribbean, but it’s pretty comparable.
As for drinks, the one difference I’ve seen is that Celebrity has some more options for experimental cocktails with higher price tags like you’d find in a fancy hotel. As well, there’s a 20% gratuity on Celebrity compared to Royal Caribbean’s 18%.
A Caribbean Focus vs. World Focus
Let’s talk a bit about itineraries. This is a spot where the two lines are coming closer together, but there is still a difference.
First, with a name like Royal Caribbean, you’d expect… well lots of trips to the Caribbean. Honestly, Royal Caribbean sails ships everywhere, including around the entire world so no matter where you want to cruise, you have that option with the line. But yes, the Caribbean is a major hub. In addition, there are lots of short cruises of 3-5 days available with Royal Caribbean. So you can have a quick getaway without taking a lot of time off.
Celebrity, on the other hand, isn’t nearly as focused on the Caribbean. Next summer, there are a total of two ships sailing the Caribbean for Celebrity according to the schedules. Royal Caribbean shows a total of 16 ships available during that time.
Instead, there is a bigger focus by Celebrity on spots like Europe. There, you have your choice of eight different ships next summer, making up more than half the fleet.
Onboard Atmosphere
Now I’ve touched a little on the onboard atmosphere in that Royal Caribbean is more family focused and Celebrity is more adult-focused. But I really want to nail that down as I think there’s a big difference between the two.
Celebrity is the luxury-focused brand in the Royal Caribbean Group’s portfolio. You’ll see that shine especially in the newer Edge-class ships. The atmosphere onboard is high-end. It’s not stuffy by any means, but very stylish and absolutely nothing looks cheap or mailed in. Older ships can look a bit more dated, but the newest are simply high-end. Take a look at the cool walk-through art exhibit shown above, for example. You just don’t see that on other lines. When you sail Celebrity, you just feel like it’s a bit nicer in the overall atmosphere from the decor to the food to your other passengers.
Royal Caribbean is by no means a slouch, but again older ships can feel dated in some cases. But while newer ships are contemporary, the atmosphere just isn’t quite as nice as Celebrity’s newest ships. That atmosphere is a step above some of its direct rivals, but still more down-to-earth than what you’ll find on Celebrity. Given that the line caters to families, this makes complete sense.
Private Islands
These days, all the big cruise lines have built huge private destinations. Carnival has Celebration Key, NCL has Great Stirrup Cay, MSC has Ocean Cay, and Royal Caribbean has CocoCay.
CocoCay really is the gold standard when it comes to these private destinations. There’s a spot to relax, adults-only areas, waterparks, and more. So whether you want to just chill or you want adrenaline, it’s all available. But Royal Caribbean doesn’t stop there. There is also Labadee and the new Royal Beach Club in Nassau, another coming in Cozumel, and another private destination — that looks even bigger than CocoCay — coming to Costa Maya.
It’s already the case that if you are sailing from the East Coast, you’re likely going to be going to CocoCay, but expect even more focus on private destinations going forward.
Celebrity, however, is different. In recent years they have started to dock at CocoCay on some trips. But outside of those itineraries, there’s not near the focus on private destinations that Royal Caribbean has.
Shows & Entertainment on the Ship
Let’s touch on entertainment because there are some differences here you’ll want to know.
First, if you sail Royal Caribbean’s biggest ships, the variety of shows is pretty staggering. There’s the main theater, but then the Aqua Theater and then also shows on the ice rink on ships that have them. The shows on the newer and bigger ships really try to go big and bold and have a huge wow factor. I’m talking about performers diving off high-dives into a tiny pool or just shows that really put on a spectacle.
Celebrity is more traditional in that you won’t see high-divers and there’s no skating rink. But the theaters on their newest class of ships are the most stunning of any theater I’ve seen at sea. The huge curved screens produced wild backdrops and the shows in general feel a bit more adult than what you find on Royal Caribbean. Not adult as in risqué, but just more mature in feeling, like an artsy movie instead of a summer blockbuster.
Cost to Sail
I’m betting one area where there is a difference between Royal Caribbean and Celebrity is somewhere you’d absolutely expect it… but it might still throw you for a loop. I’m talking of course about the cost of the cruises.
Now first things first, costs run the gamut for both lines. You want luxury? You can spend literally tens of thousands of dollars on either line. And both also have cheap deals if you want a quick getaway.
But what’s surprising is that given Celebrity is the luxury-focused brand, it actually seems to have cheaper cruises.
Take a trip aboard Carnival Ascent, the newest ship until Celebrity Xcel arrives. I’ve sailed this ship. It is gorgeous and you can find cruises starting around $1,200-$1,400 per person for trips that last nearly two weeks.
Royal Caribbean’s Star of the Seas, its newest ship, has cruises starting at about the same price, but for just 7 days.
And on the cheap end, you can actually find cruises starting around $300 on either line though you seem to get more nights on Celebrity.
Similarities Between the Lines
Now I’ve talked a lot about differences between the lines. And let me clear that Celebrity is not Royal Caribbean and vice versa. But Royal Caribbean Group owns both lines and while they are different, what surprised me a bit is that you can see similarities everywhere.
Those similarities are most pronounced when you sail an older ships. In the case where I sailed Celebrity on a short cruise on an older ship with a stop to CocoCay, it had a lot of overlap with Royal Caribbean.
That older ship reminded me a lot of a Royal Caribbean ship, just with different decor, even down to the maps that are around the ship to help you navigate. The two cruise lines also use the same design for the cruise planner online and for the cruise line app that you use on the ship. In many ways, it felt like Royal Caribbean, without the waterslides.
Now there is more divergence on longer trips and on newer ships so don’t be shocked by the differences in that case.
More on sailing Celebrity and Royal Caribbean:
- What I Wish I Knew Before I Sailed a Celebrity Cruise
- What I Wish I Knew Before I Sailed Royal Caribbean
