Booking Celebrity Cruises versus Royal Caribbean (what's included)

Royal Caribbean and Celebrity Cruises are sister brands. They match loyalty status with each other which makes it enticing for a regular customer of one to try the other.

You don't get the same loyalty perks, but higher-level members of each cruise line's loyalty programs are treated with VIP status on the matching cruise line.

Related: Royal Caribbean shifts strategy as Disney enters key cruise market

Royal Caribbean, of course, skews a little younger and courts families given its waterslides, rock walls, laser tag, and other family-friendly offerings. Celebrity is a little higher end and lacks many of those amenities.

Some people have a favorite between the two brands, while others like each one for different reasons.

When you book either cruise line, however, there are some differences. Travel agent Dennis Post of PostCard Travel joined Come Cruise With Me Executive Editor Dan Kline to discuss those differences from the Crush Bar on Celebrity Silhouette.

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The difference between what Royal Caribbean and Celebrity offer

Transcript:

Dan Kline: Hello, cruisers. I am Dan Kline, executive editor of Come Cruise With Me. Next to me is Dennis Post.

He is our travel agent partner, part of PostCard Travel Planning. We are at the Crush Bar, which is adjacent to the Martini Bar, sort of one of the flair bars on Celebrity. But we're going to talk a little bit today about the differences between booking on Royal Caribbean and Celebrity.

And there is a major difference. When you book Royal Caribbean, everything is a la carte. It can work a little bit different on Celebrity, right Dennis?

Dennis Post: Yeah, that's right. So we're on Celebrity Silhouette right now. So what the difference is, you can purchase what's called the "all-in," which is for a slight upcharge on your booking, you'll get a basic drink package, basic Wi-Fi package.

Now if you have a good travel agent like us at Postcard Travel Planning, we will book you up in a group and then you get that included with your price. So it is definitely a value because it's a lot less than you would buy it a la carte.

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Kline: So let me give some caveats here. If you're booking this on your own, it's a savings, a little bit of a savings of booking it on board. If you're booking it with a travel agent, it might be more of a savings.

If you're booking it with a travel agent who has a group on that cruise, it becomes even more of a savings. But nobody is giving you anything for free. So the drink package on this ship is $99 a day and yeah, if you book it at the absolute best, you might be getting it and WiFi and who knows what.

And maybe you're paying an extra $50 or $60 a day. There's no such thing as a free lunch, but there are, speak to someone who had a free lunch today at the buffet. But the reality is you're paying for that, it is included, but what they're doing is the more people that buy it, the more that book it, sort of the better price you're getting.

And that's something that does not happen on Royal Caribbean. On Royal Caribbean, they're testing it a little bit. But for the most part, on every ship you're buying it a la carte and their drink package, as you know, goes up and down, it can cost more, it can cost less.

With Celebrity, you can get a little bit more certainty and sort of book it beforehand and just have everything done and not have to worry about it. Come cruise with me. 

I am Dan Kline. He is Dennis Post. Come cruise with us soon.

(The Arena Group will earn a commission if you book a cruise.)

Make a free appointment with Come Cruise With Me's Travel Agent Partner, Postcard Travel, or email Amy Post at amypost@postcardtravelplanning.com or call or text her at 386-383-2472.