Celebrity Cruises is known for offering a luxury experience, with a line that caters to those wanting to sail and have a great time, while also enjoying a higher-end atmosphere.
If you’ve never sailed Celebrity before, then there is still a lot that should feel familiar if you have sailed another cruise line. If you haven’t cruised before, then know that you’re about to enjoy a cruise that’s generally a step above the mass-market lines that are the biggest names in cruising.
Either way, there are some tips that are good to know to make your vacation go more smoothly, save money, and have a better time on Celebrity.
The Newest Ships Offer a Completely Different Experience
While we have yet to sail every ship in the Celebrity fleet, we can tell you confidently that the newest ships offer an experience vastly different than the rest.
Celebrity offers three classes of ships: Millennium, Solstice, and Edge (there are small Expedition ships, but for our purposes, we’ll focus only on the traditional cruise ships). Celebrity’s Edge class was first introduced in 2018 and is currently four ships in number (Edge, Apex, Beyond, and Ascent) with a fifth (Xcel) coming in 2025.
This class of ships is drastically different than previous versions. From the ship’s design to the décor to public artwork, everything about the ship was a step above. It doesn’t feel like a cruise ship, but more like a high-end hotel. Older ships are nice, but feel much closer to traditional ships from other cruise lines in comparison.
You Can Re-Book Packages at Lower Prices to Save
Celebrity is part of the Royal Caribbean Group. If you’ve sailed Royal Caribbean before, then you may be familiar with how the prices for packages can change before your cruise. For instance, maybe the drink package is selling for 10% off one day, but then 25% off the next day.
It’s similar on Celebrity. On a recent sailing, we saw that prices would fluctuate when we’d occasionally check them. In that case, don’t be scared to book because the price may be lower later on. If that’s the case, you have the ability to refund a purchase prior to the cruise and then rebook the item at the lower price.
So if a drink package is $80 per day one day, you can buy it. Then if it drops to $65 per day, you can refund that $80 purchase and rebook at $65. You just need to keep an eye out for any price changes to take advantage
Free Money For Being A Shareholder
As part of Royal Caribbean Group, you can actually invest in Celebrity Cruises. The stock trades under the “RCL” and if you are an investor, you can take advantage of a nice perk: free money.
Anyone that owns at least 100 shares of the stock can receive onboard credit. You have to fill out a form online a few weeks before you sail, but you can take advantage each time that you take a cruise on Celebrity. Unfortunately, having more shares won’t net you a bigger benefit. Instead, it’s based on the cruise length:
- $1,000 onboard credit per stateroom on a world cruise
- $250 onboard credit per stateroom on sailings of 14 or more nights
- $100 onboard credit per stateroom on sailings of 6-13 nights
- $50 onboard credit per stateroom on sailings of 5 nights or less
If you’re an investor, it’s the easiest money you’ll make. Just note that at current prices the cost of 100 shares of Royal Caribbean will run you about $15,000.
You Can Share An Internet Connection
It used to be that having wi-fi on the cruise was a total luxury. Now, it’s practically a necessity. Whether you want to just keep in touch back home or you want to stream your favorite shows when relaxing in the cabin, there’s no end to why you might want a connection.
The only issue is that service is pricey, in the $25-$30 per day range… and that’s just for one connection.
One tip is that if you want to save, you can actually share this connection. Celebrity offers a connection for one device at a time, but it doesn’t have to be the same device all the time. So one person can connect on their phone and then another can login later to connect with their tablet.
It’s doubtful you need a constant online connection on a cruise, so sharing makes a lot of sense.
Keep An Eye Out For Free Drinks In The Casino
Head to Las Vegas and having free drinks served while you play is commonplace. On a cruise, however, that’s not the case. Given that alcohol is big business on the ship, cruise lines don’t give out complimentary drinks unless you’re a bigger player in the casino.
That’s why you should know that Celebrity bucks the trend. They offer free drinks for players. Check your daily planner for details, but on our recent cruise, there was a notice saying “if you’re actively playing at any table game or slot machine with your SeaPass card inserted, you’re entitled to a range of complimentary beverages from your Casino Bar Team.”
It’s hard to beat a free drink, so take advantage.
Carpets Give You Clues
Cabin hallways on any cruise ship can be confusing. There are no windows and the pattern of walls and doors repeats itself again and again. You can walk and walk without knowing which direction you are headed or where the elevators are.
If you’re sailing Celebrity, there is a clue (at least on some ships) that can help you get around. Look to the floor.
In the hallways there is a certain carpet pattern, but then another style in the elevator lobbies. Smartly, Celebrity takes the elevator lobby carpet and has it extend out into the cabin hallway. That way, even from a distance you can tell how where to turn for the elevator lobby so you don’t miss it.
Be Ready For Similarities With Royal Caribbean
As mentioned a couple of times, Royal Caribbean and Celebrity are sister brands, both under the Royal Caribbean Group umbrellas.
What we’ve noticed is that in many ways the cruise lines share similarities. On newer ships, you may not notice as much of a difference as the Edge class vessels are simply in a league of their own.
Older ships may remind you a lot of a Royal Caribbean ship, just with different décor, even down to the style of 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 can feel like Royal Caribbean, without the waterslides. So if you’re a fan of Royal, you won’t feel out of place on Celebrity.
“All Included” May Be A Good Deal… Or Not
When you book your cruise, you’ll have a decision to face. You can book the traditional “Cruise Only” fare or you can book the “All Included” fare.
With the All Included offer, you pay more, but you also get a drink package and wi-fi included. The issue is that you definitely want to do the math to make sure it’s worth it for you.
For example, we just priced out a 7-day cruise for a balcony cabin at $957 per person with taxes and fees. The All Included offer was $2,065 per person. That’s $158 more per person, per day.
In return, you get the drink package (full priced at $108 per day with gratuity included) and wi-fi (full priced at ~$30 per day). In other words, you’re paying $158 per day for packages that add up to only about $140 per day. (What’s more is that the discounts for pre-booking packages mean that $140 is rarely what you’ll actually pay if you buy these offers ahead of time.)
But another cruise had the same All Included offer for only $72 per day more than the basic cruise fare.
Bottom line, you’ll want to do a little bit of math to make sure the All Included offer is worth it for your specific cruise. It can save you considerable money, or maybe not.
Be Ready for Expensive Drinks
This one isn’t so much a tip as a way to mentally prepare for your cruise… and that is to get ready for expensive drinks.
Now, there are still “reasonable” prices on many drinks that are in line with other cruise lines. But we were surprised at the cost of many things on the menu.
For instance, some of the fancy cocktails in Eden (a cool lounge area at the back of Edge-class ships) ran $20 before gratuity. On the “cheap” end of things, sodas cost $4 plus gratuity. That’s the highest price we’ve ever seen in cruising.
Of course if you drink a lot then Celebrity has drink packages that can help you save. But if paying individually, be ready.
How To Save 10% On Any Celebrity Cruise
Want a simple way to save 10% on any Celebrity cruise you take? Join AARP. The group is actually open to anyone, so you don’t have to be retired or over 55 to join. Pay the annual membership fee ($12 at last check) and you can access their gift card mall.
Here, you can buy a number of gift cards at a discount off the face value. This includes Celebrity gift cards for 10% off. So a $500 gift card costs you only $450. We’ve personally used these cards to save hundreds on the cost of cruises.
It can be a bit of a chore to redeem them via Celebrity (it took us a couple of emails back and forth to use them to pay) but it was definitely worth it for the savings. For more details, read our article here.
Take Time to Appreciate Art On The Ship
Nobody goes on a cruise to look at art, but it would be wrong not to point out that if sailing Celebrity you should definitely take some time to appreciate the works onboard. Lots of ships have artwork around as decoration, but it seems like Celebrity takes it a step further.
There are the pieces around the ship that you don’t want to miss, but then there are also more immersive sections that are unlike anything else we’ve seen at sea.
For instance, Celebrity Ascent features a work called “Aurora.” It’s a mirrored hallway with chrome rocks that puts you in the middle of the art as you walk through. Other pieces around their ships are just spectacular and give a more upscale vibe to everything.
It’s something you don’t want to just pass by and not appreciate.
More on Sailing Celebrity:
- Worth It? Celebrity Cruise Drink Packages Explained (Prices, What’s Included, and More)
- 12 Big Differences Between Celebrity Cruises and Royal Caribbean
- Celebrity’s All Included Offer: How It Works & What to Know
