0:00
Disney figure it out. It's ridiculous. I
0:04
love y'all, but it's ridiculous and
0:06
everybody thinks so. So, there you go.
0:08
Well, hello and welcome back to my
0:09
channel. I'm Jen. I travel. I do
0:11
lifestyle vlogs. I talk about all kinds
0:13
of things. And today, we're going to
0:16
talk about Disney Cruise Line versus
0:18
Celebrity Cruise Line. We're going to do
0:20
a little bit of a head-to-head. We're
0:22
going to go through several different
0:23
categories including food,
0:25
entertainment, overall vibe, cabin
0:28
quality, price. I'm going to tell you
0:31
where I think each cruise line excels
0:34
and where each one has a little bit of
0:36
work to do. And I'm really glad you're
0:38
here. So, this is a little bit unfair
0:41
because I have only been on one
0:43
celebrity cruise. It's why I was
0:45
hesitant to even make this video. But
0:47
you all who are regular Disney people, a
0:50
lot of you have been looking at
0:51
Celebrity kind of going, "Hm, I wonder
0:54
if I would like that line." So, this
0:56
video is really for you. Uh because it
0:59
is a very good cruise line. My friend
1:02
Christy basically was begging me to try
1:05
one. She was like, "Listen, I really,
1:06
really think you're going to like it.
1:08
They're about the same in terms of what
1:12
they offer. uh price is about the same.
1:15
Although I hear a lot of people telling
1:17
me that they think Disney is so much
1:19
more expensive than Celebrity. That is
1:21
not my experience. I will grant you I
1:24
tend to sail in off peak times, but my
1:26
Celebrity cruise for a three night and
1:28
my Disney cruise for a recent three
1:30
night were priced pretty much the same
1:32
and I was on the newer class of ship on
1:35
both cruise line. I don't see a huge
1:37
difference. I know Celebrity does have
1:39
sometimes some pretty big sales. Um, but
1:42
to me they're priced really similarly,
1:44
especially if you're someone that can be
1:46
a little bit flexible in your dates.
1:48
There are deals to be had with Disney
1:50
and there are deals to be had with
1:52
Celebrity. But if you compare apples to
1:55
apples, new ships to new ships, they're
1:57
priced very similarly. So, I want to get
1:59
that what I feel like is is a myth about
2:02
Celebrity that it's so much cheaper or
2:04
that Disney is so much more expensive.
2:06
No, they're priced very similarly. So, I
2:09
that's just my opinion. You may
2:11
disagree. Always welcome if it's done
2:13
politely. Okay. So, let's start with the
2:17
pre-booking process. Disney has a very
2:21
easy pre-booking process in my view.
2:24
Now, granted, I've taken over 15 Disney
2:26
cruises, so I know my way around. If I
2:28
were coming in, you know, it was my very
2:29
first cruise, I might not feel that way,
2:31
but I feel like they do a really good
2:33
job of making it really obvious when
2:35
your booking window happens, how you can
2:37
book things in advance, all the things.
2:39
Celebrity, on the other hand, drove me
2:43
crazy leading up to our trip. So many
2:45
add-ons, so many emails. Did we want to
2:49
add on the the beach club? Did we want
2:51
to add on the hire this? Did we want to
2:54
add on this? Oh, today flash sale. Do
2:57
you want to add this thing? You only got
2:58
24 hours. Oh, like email after email
3:01
after email drove me bonkers. So, for
3:05
pre-booking, the winner in what it's
3:08
like before you actually leave for your
3:10
cruise is Disney Cruise Line. Much
3:13
easier. Did not get bombarded with
3:15
upsell emails. Did not it it felt so
3:19
cheap to me, honestly, the way that
3:21
Celebrity treated us in the days leading
3:23
up to our cruise. And not only that, it
3:25
was very challenging to figure out what
3:27
you were even agreeing to pay for. So,
3:30
I'm out on all that noise. Celebrity,
3:32
y'all need to fix that. Very annoying.
3:34
Disney wins this category by a mile.
3:37
Next category, embarcation.
3:41
Bless Disney. Bless you. You've got to
3:45
fix your embarcation process. We got on
3:49
our celebrity cruise, and if you watch
3:51
the video, you saw my astonishment. the
3:54
way that it was orderly. We whisked
3:57
through security. Our mustard drill was
4:00
watching a video and checking in and
4:03
that was it. Within 10 minutes of being
4:06
on board, our vacation had started.
4:09
Compare that to Disney. That is one of
4:13
the only cruise lines that still does a
4:15
traditional muster drill. Even though
4:17
there's absolutely no reason for them to
4:19
do it, their terminals feel chaotic. The
4:23
boarding process can feel chaotic. There
4:26
are long lines. It's just not good. So,
4:33
no questions asked. No, I to me it's not
4:37
even a fair fight. It It is so obvious
4:39
who the winner is. For on boarding and
4:42
embarcation, the clear winner is
4:45
Celebrity Cruise Light. Y'all, they have
4:48
figured it out. They know how to move
4:50
people much more efficiently. You would
4:53
think Disney would be the leaders in
4:54
that based on the theme park history,
4:56
but evidently not. And the whole mustard
4:58
drill thing was so much better. The way
5:00
that we were able to leave our bags in
5:02
our rooms, so we weren't shleing all our
5:04
bags around at lunch and all the things.
5:07
We could get into our rooms immediately,
5:09
dump our bags, go to lunch, and the
5:11
vacation literally began within 10
5:13
minutes of getting on board the ship. No
5:16
notes, celebrity. You were impeccable.
5:18
You absolutely won this category.
5:21
Congratulations, Disney. Figure it out.
5:24
It's ridiculous. I love y'all, but it's
5:27
ridiculous. And everybody thinks so. So,
5:29
there you go. All right. Our next
5:31
category is food. Now, this is I it
5:35
pains me to say this,
5:38
and I'm not a big foodie, and even I
5:41
think this the food on Celebrity is
5:44
better than the food on Disney by kind
5:47
of a lot. There are better options.
5:52
There's more flexibility.
5:54
There's a more relaxed vibe because they
5:57
have more dining rooms, so people are
5:59
spread out. You have lots of smaller
6:01
venues. The food quality was better, the
6:05
service was better, the uh things that
6:08
they offered outside of the regular
6:11
dining rooms were better. The buffet was
6:15
better. Like I don't do the buffet at
6:17
all on Disney cuz gross. Uh but on
6:20
Celebrity, it didn't feel gross to me.
6:22
It felt lovely and and non-jermy and it
6:25
it was it was actually a quality
6:27
experience. Um, so aside from room
6:31
service, which I do have to give
6:32
Celebrity a bit of a tick down on that
6:35
because they do charge for their room
6:36
service, which I love me some room
6:38
service on Disney Cruise Line. And hear
6:40
me, I do like the food on Disney Cruise
6:43
Line, but it has gone downhill over the
6:46
years. And the winner in the food
6:48
category for me, don't give me hate in
6:50
the comments is Celebrity Cruise Line.
6:53
You guys are doing it right. And the
6:55
customer service we got, my friend
6:57
Christy uh has a very severe allergy and
7:01
they the way that they treated her, that
7:04
customer service was just above and
7:05
beyond anything I've ever seen on Disney
7:08
Cruise Line and Disney Cruise Line does
7:09
some pretty good customer service. So,
7:12
in terms of the food, the quality of the
7:15
dining rooms, how quiet the dining rooms
7:18
were, the variety of choices, the food
7:21
buffet area, all of the things. I am
7:24
giving this category to Celebrity Cruise
7:27
Line. I'm sorry. Again, no hate, please.
7:30
No hate. Celebrity Cruise Line wins.
7:32
Okay, now let's move on to
7:33
entertainment. Okay, so if you are a
7:37
Disney fan, which I'm kind of assuming
7:39
you are if you're watching this video,
7:40
maybe you're not. Maybe you're a
7:41
celebrity person trying to decide if
7:43
Disney would be right for you. It's hard
7:46
to beat the Disney Entertainment. Disney
7:48
Entertainment is is such a high such a
7:51
high caliber Broadway style shows.
7:54
You've got of course Disney IP. So if
7:56
you're somebody who loves Disney music
7:58
like I do, I don't like Disney music. I
8:00
adore Disney music. I listen to Disney
8:03
music all day long. I listen to acoustic
8:06
Disney music and piano Disney music and
8:09
classical versions of Disney music. Love
8:11
it. Love it. Love it. So for me, the
8:14
entertainment on Disney Cruise Line,
8:16
this was a slam dunk. It's going to go
8:18
to Disney. Having said that, so the
8:20
winner is Disney. Yay Disney, you won
8:22
entertainment. Celebrity was really
8:25
good. They felt much more like Vegas
8:28
quality shows to me. The entertainers
8:30
were fabulous. I love that they had
8:32
things at a bunch of different venues,
8:34
including some smaller venues. The
8:37
quality of the dancers and the
8:40
vocalists, and I used to be a vocalist.
8:42
I was a singer for a really long time.
8:45
So very good. The imagination behind the
8:48
shows, um, in that regard, it felt a lot
8:51
like Virgin Voyages. If you've ever
8:53
sailed Virgin, that was the one bright
8:56
spot for me about Virgin Voyages was
8:57
their entertainment. very creative, very
9:00
imaginative, loved. I mean, no notes.
9:04
The the shows were all fabulous. Having
9:07
said that, how can you beat some of the
9:10
Disney entertainment? I mean, I'm
9:11
thinking of booking on the Treasure and
9:13
the Destiny, even though I don't like
9:15
those class of ships simply to see uh
9:18
the two shows that are on those ships
9:19
because I've heard that they're so
9:21
incredible. Uh it's Moana and um
9:24
Hercules. Disney wins. Having said that,
9:27
also good on Celebrity, you guys. It it
9:29
it really surprised me how good the
9:32
entertainment was. So, if you say a
9:34
celebrity and you're a normal Disney
9:36
person and you're like, "Oh, I'm just
9:37
going to skip the shows." Don't skip the
9:39
shows. They're really, really good. So,
9:42
well done, celebrity. Disney still wins.
9:44
Okay. Um, next category. Are you ready?
9:48
This is big. Cabin quality. Okay.
9:52
This one was tough. And I'm trying to be
9:55
fair because I'm trying to compare. You
9:58
know, I like all of the class. Well, I
10:00
like the dream class Disney ships best,
10:03
but I've also sailed on the Magic and
10:05
the Wonder and I've also sailed on the
10:06
Wish. I would say if you're looking at
10:09
like the Dream class ships or certainly
10:11
the Magic and the Wonder, Celebrity wins
10:14
on their newer ships for cabin quality.
10:17
It was a beautiful stateateroom. It was
10:19
a quiet stateateroom. It was very
10:21
wellappointed. The bathroom was
10:23
beautiful. Um, it was it was absolutely
10:26
lovely. It actually felt closer to what
10:29
you get on Viking, which is actually a
10:32
luxury line, um, than what you get on
10:35
Disney. Such good quality in the
10:37
stateaterooms. It's just designed
10:40
really, really well. I do understand
10:42
Disney's catering more towards children.
10:44
Although Celebrity also has children on
10:46
board, so that you know, not as many as
10:48
Disney caters to, but still cabin
10:50
quality. I am giving a slight edge to
10:52
Celebrity, even on the newer ships. I
10:56
love the Wish. I love, you know, the
10:58
older ships on Disney still have a
10:59
shower curtain. Ew, don't get me
11:01
started. Um the the wish the bathrooms
11:04
are really lovely but overall room
11:06
quality and kind of how I felt when I
11:08
walked in. I am giving this category
11:11
again this might surprise some of you to
11:14
celebrity cruise line. Really lovely.
11:16
Haven't sailed the older ships. So you
11:18
comment below what you think. Like if we
11:20
were to compare apples to apples like
11:22
the magic and the wonder maybe compared
11:25
to the celebrity older ships. What do
11:27
you think? But for the newer ships, I am
11:30
giving Celebrity the Room quality award.
11:34
Congratulations, Celebrity. I hope it
11:36
brings you much joy and happiness.
11:38
There's actually no award. Sorry. All
11:40
right, let's talk about ship spaces.
11:45
Oh, this one is tough, y'all. This one
11:47
is tough because I love me a beautiful
11:50
Disney ship. And Disney has done such a
11:52
good job with so many of their ships.
11:55
And I have been on some of those ships
11:57
so often that they feel like home to me.
11:59
But from a design perspective, design
12:02
only, take Disney or not Disney
12:04
completely out of it. Again, I am giving
12:08
the award for design to
12:11
Celebrity Cruise Line. Y'all, this ship
12:15
was bonkers. The fact that they had real
12:19
plants, not everywhere, but most
12:22
everywhere, the plants that you were
12:23
looking at were real, the art on board,
12:27
the quality of materials in the
12:30
different venues, everything from like
12:33
just like the furnishings being super
12:36
individual, the design felt so
12:39
intentional and a lot of the spaces were
12:42
so well curated and absolutely lovely.
12:46
And as someone who is like an armchair
12:48
interior designer, I I mean I just like
12:51
watching videos about it basically. I
12:53
was wowed by the Celebrity Ascent. It is
12:56
an absolutely beautiful ship. Now, I
13:00
will say um the adult areas, if you're
13:03
going to count that as ship spaces, so
13:06
maybe like do a subcategory.
13:08
I would say it depends. They I did not
13:12
love and and I should have done spa as a
13:14
separate category, but we'll do it here
13:16
in ship spaces. I did not love the spa
13:19
area. The rainforest room on all of the
13:22
Disney ships is my favorite place. It
13:24
feels very um exclusive and quiet and
13:28
lovely. It is adults only as it is on
13:31
Celebrity. U but I didn't love it on
13:33
Celebrity. I had trouble relaxing. It
13:35
felt a little cold. Um I didn't I I just
13:38
didn't love it. it. They didn't have any
13:40
music playing and I still to this day
13:42
don't know if that was just like a a
13:44
fluke on the day that I was in there,
13:46
but there should be music playing in a
13:48
spa area, right? Um, so for the spa
13:51
category, so for overall ship spaces,
13:53
I'm giving it to Celebrity Ascent. But
13:55
if I had started out with a a separate
13:58
category for the spa, I would have given
14:00
the spa award to Disney Cruise Line
14:02
because nothing beats the rainforest
14:04
room for me. I've also been in the spa
14:07
area on Viking, which we're going to
14:09
talk about that later because I have a
14:10
Viking cruise coming up, and that really
14:12
wins across like all categories. I I
14:15
can't even tell you. Viking Ocean, not
14:17
River. Viking Ocean. Their spa area is
14:19
ridiculous. Wait, Jen, this video isn't
14:21
about that. Get back on track. Um, so
14:24
for the spa area, I'm giving it to
14:25
Disney. For all other overall ship
14:28
spaces, I'm giving the award to
14:31
Celebrity Ascent. So good. So beautiful.
14:34
So welldesigned. Very, very well done.
14:37
All right, let's talk about the one that
14:41
might be the most controversial that I'm
14:44
going to talk about, especially for
14:45
celebrity fans that are watching this
14:47
video, and that is the overall vibe of
14:50
the ship. Disney cruises are very
14:53
friendly spaces. It is possibly because
14:56
there's a lot of families, although I
14:58
see so many adults only doing Disney
15:01
Cruise Line. It is possible because when
15:03
we get on board, we all have this sort
15:05
of shared love of Disney culture, Disney
15:09
music, Disney entertainment. It's
15:11
possible that it's things like, you
15:13
know, I generally tend to hang out with
15:15
people that are also Disney Vacation
15:16
Club members and there's kind of this,
15:19
you know, like the trivia and all the
15:21
things, but I did not feel like
15:24
Celebrity was nearly as friendly. I
15:27
sailed by myself a lot. I was with my
15:29
friend Christy on this trip. But Disney
15:32
is just friendlier and that could be by
15:36
design, right? Because celebrity maybe
15:38
people want to stay to theirelves more
15:40
and not really chat or whatever. But
15:43
Viking is also very chatty. Um people on
15:46
a Viking cruise. So I don't really know
15:49
why it felt that way. It could have been
15:51
because it was a three night. Again, I
15:53
am very open to you sharing a different
15:55
experience, but celebrity felt a little
15:59
the people felt a little cold to me.
16:02
People were not striking up
16:04
conversations and in the pool area.
16:07
Everyone just seemed to be sticking to
16:09
their own immediate party, which there's
16:11
nothing in the world wrong with that. To
16:13
be frank, Christy and I were kind of
16:14
sticking to ourselves, too. But the
16:16
times when I was alone on the ship where
16:18
I was like meeting Christy early or or
16:20
we went our own separate ways, I didn't
16:22
get the same warm and friendly vibe.
16:25
Interestingly, the only really great
16:27
conversation I had, and I generally do
16:29
have really good conversations on
16:31
cruises with people that I had not met
16:32
before, I don't like to call them
16:34
strangers, but you know, people I had
16:35
not met before, was with a couple in the
16:38
little cafe um outside the adult areas.
16:41
And guess what? They're DVC members and
16:43
Platinum Disney Cruisers. and we struck
16:45
up a great conversation and it was
16:47
lovely. Uh, but overall it did not have
16:50
the same friendly vibe for me that
16:52
Disney Cruise Line does. So, having said
16:56
that, what's really interesting is I
16:58
thought about which line would I
17:00
recommend for solo cruisers and that
17:03
could be kind of its own um, you know,
17:07
definitely could be like its own
17:08
category, right? In fact, let's make it
17:11
its own category. Which one won for solo
17:13
cruising? which is challenging for me to
17:15
say because I didn't actually do a solo
17:17
cruise. But I will tell you sitting here
17:19
right now, if I was going to book a solo
17:21
cruise and and the prices were the same
17:24
and the itineraries were the same, I
17:26
would 100% choose Disney over Celebrity.
17:30
Not to say that I couldn't have a lovely
17:32
time, but I think I would get lonely.
17:35
Celebrities seem to have a lot of larger
17:38
groups that were very connected and
17:41
fewer solo travelers. I always run into
17:44
a ton of either solo travelers on Disney
17:47
Cruise Line or people that are sailing
17:49
with their kids and their kids have gone
17:51
off somewhere and they never see them
17:52
the whole ship. So, it's kind of like
17:53
they're a solo traveler. And on
17:55
Celebrity, I just I could tell almost
17:58
immediately that it would be a very
18:01
solitary experience for me. Now, don't
18:04
get this picture of me that I'm like
18:06
chatting it up with everybody I see on a
18:08
cruise ship. I'm, believe it or not, a
18:11
kind of an introverted person, but I do
18:13
like to have like one-on-one
18:15
conversations, right? Just like a, you
18:17
know, sitting having a drink at a bar or
18:19
whatever. Just like an interesting like
18:21
where are you from? And I'm really
18:23
curious about people's lives and their
18:25
stories. And I have heard so many
18:27
amazing stories traveling all over the
18:29
world. So, I really do like engaging
18:31
people in that way. On Celebrity, that
18:34
did not feel like something I would feel
18:36
comfortable doing. I don't know what it
18:38
was. It just almost a little bit like
18:41
hoidy toy. Like people were like, "Don't
18:44
talk to me." Which on Disney Cruise
18:46
Line, you never feel that way. And it's
18:48
not about money because as we've already
18:50
discussed, they're very similarly
18:51
priced. But there was just something
18:53
about the clientele on Celebrity that
18:55
made people feel a little standoffish to
18:58
me, and it wasn't exactly my vibe. Now,
19:00
let's talk about some fears you might
19:02
have about Celebrity versus Disney. What
19:05
I hear from celebrity people who are
19:07
thinking of trying Disney is that
19:09
they're very worried that it's just
19:10
going to be screaming children 247. No
19:13
quiet spaces. Everything is going to be
19:15
chaotic. And whilst some things are
19:18
chaotic, the adult spaces on Disney
19:21
Cruise Line are lovely and the
19:23
entertainment is lovely. And you
19:25
actually don't run into huge crowds of
19:27
children as often as you think you will,
19:29
especially if you sail in the offse. Uh
19:32
you you just don't run into that. I have
19:34
never run into that. If you're someone
19:36
who can't stand to be around children
19:37
ever, maybe don't do either cruise line
19:40
because they both welcome children on
19:42
board. Although Disney does have a
19:44
better reputation, so they for their
19:46
kids clubs, although my friend Christie
19:47
was saying the kids clubs on Celebrity,
19:49
her son absolutely loves them. So maybe
19:51
that reputation isn't warranted. Um, but
19:54
yeah, I I I have never felt on a Disney
19:57
cruise that I was just surrounded by
19:58
screaming children all the time. It's
20:01
just not true. So, if you're a celebrity
20:03
person and you really enjoy celebrity
20:05
and you've been thinking of trying
20:06
Disney, I would try Disney and I would
20:09
see what you think and then maybe you
20:10
have a YouTube channel and you could
20:12
make a video about it. Now, for my
20:13
Disney folks, and this is who I'm going
20:15
to spend the majority of the rest of the
20:17
video talking about who are thinking of
20:19
trying celebrity, try see what you
20:22
think. Um, I think a three night like
20:24
what I did is a good way to kind of get
20:26
your feet wet. One of the reasons why I
20:29
did it is I'm kind of interviewing them
20:31
for an Alaskan cruise. And I can tell
20:33
you I would not hesitate to do an
20:35
Alaskan cruise with Celebrity. Uh
20:37
actually, one of my sons and his partner
20:40
want to do an Alaska cruise and we're
20:41
hoping to do that in the next couple of
20:43
years and I think Celebrity would be a
20:45
great choice for that party. Um neither
20:48
of them are as into Disney as I am and I
20:50
think they would be really happy with
20:51
Celebrity. Um for adults only, Celebrity
20:54
is fantastic. even with kids. Again,
20:56
check Christiey's content. I'll put the
20:58
link to her podcast down in the
21:00
description box because she's done
21:01
several videos about that. But y'all, it
21:04
is um it is a lovely Celebrity is a
21:07
lovely cruise line. You will have a
21:09
great time. You will love the food. You
21:12
will love the entertainment. You will
21:14
not be surrounded by drunk people all
21:16
the time. I know because Disney doesn't
21:18
have a drinks package. Several of you
21:20
have voiced to me that you get concerned
21:22
that it's just, you know, people it's
21:24
like spring break in Daytona 247. That
21:27
is not the vibe I got from Celebrity at
21:29
all. Now, did I see a few people that
21:31
were inebriated? Yes. Not nearly as many
21:34
as I saw on our one Virgin Voyages
21:36
cruise, by the way. It seemed like a
21:37
very much more subdued crowd. I never
21:40
felt like things were rowdy. Even in
21:43
the, you know, adult only venues in the
21:45
evenings, it wasn't a rowdy crowd. It
21:48
was a very fun crowd and we had a really
21:51
good time and I think if you like the
21:53
quality of Disney, you will really
21:55
really be happy if you sail Celebrity,
21:58
especially with that whole embarcation
22:00
mustard drill thing. Oh my god, Disney
22:02
get it together. Like, why are we still
22:05
doing that? Why is that still such a
22:07
miserable experience? Now that I know
22:09
that there's another way to do that, I I
22:12
I don't I don't know. It's going to make
22:14
me mad every time I get on a Disney
22:16
cruise. I'll get over it. I'll get over
22:17
it super super fast because I still love
22:19
me some Disney Cruise Line. Um, but also
22:22
I have found a cruise line that I think
22:24
I will absolutely sail again and I
22:27
really really loved it. Again, would I
22:28
sailed them solo? Probably not.
22:31
Although, if I was really burned out and
22:34
I just wanted some time alone, that
22:36
might be the better choice depending on
22:38
the deal you could get because Celebrity
22:40
does have some solo cabins on a few of
22:43
their ships. So, maybe consider that.
22:46
Um, it just didn't feel like the right
22:47
vibe for what I usually get out of a
22:49
solo cruise, which I love doing on
22:51
Disney so very, very much. I hope this
22:54
was helpful. Put your questions down in
22:56
the comments below. Subscribe if you
22:58
haven't. This video and all my videos
23:00
has been brought to you by my fabulous
23:02
patrons. Do you agree with my
23:04
assessments? Do you disagree with my
23:06
assessments? Those of you that are
23:07
experienced in either cruise line, chime
23:09
in in the comments respectfully and
23:12
understanding that it's your opinion.
23:14
Remember the scene in inside out two
23:16
when or is that an inside out one? I
23:18
guess inside out one. Facts and opinions
23:20
all over the ground getting confused.
23:22
They're not facts. It's your opinion.
23:25
But please feel free to share it. And I
23:27
I hope whatever you're doing, you're
23:29
finding joy. And I will see you in the
