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    Lessons Learned First Cruise with Celebrity Cruises



    First Cruise with Celebrity Lessons Learned

    Although we have featured over a dozen cruises on our channel this was our first cruise with Celebrity Cruises so we wanted to share a few of the surprises, expectations and disappointments from our first cruise with them.

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    View 49 Comments

    49 Comments

    2. @KarenOzycz on

      We have always enjoyed small ship cruising, mostly Azamara and Oceania! We did Beyond in Jan 2024 and Ascent in Jan 2025, and are booked on Beyond in Jan 2026! We absolutely loved these ships! We found the food to be very good, we enjoyed the 4 Main Dining Restaurant Concept! Lots of different bars to choose from, which you don’t always get on a smaller ship! We felt like Celebrity handled the number of people really well! Never really waited for anything! We enjoyed our Infinite Veranda and we actually like that as well as a traditional balcony! Many of the details you mentioned are things we are used to from our other cruises, but have always appreciated. We’ve never been on Royal and I appreciate your comparison of the two lines! I highly recommend Celebrity, at least the Edge Class ships as that’s all we’ve ever cruised on Celebrity! Great video!

    4. @BillCeller-gp3mk on

      My wife and I sailed on Apex a couple years ago and loved everything about the ship. The food, the entertainment, the atmosphere and Celebrity’s customer service is some of the best at sea.

    5. @BryceAnderson-m3r on

      Nice video. We cruise about twice a year, only on celebrity. Food, service, entertainment, casino are all excellent. The silhouette is our favourite. Not a fan of infinite veranda. I like a true balcony.

    6. @tedfisherHSCC on

      FYI:MSC World America looks like they are trying to clone Royal Ships. I believe they give you some perks if you are Diamond on RCL too. They designed it to incorporate some features ppl like.

    8. @hochutiem2678 on

      @ 6:50 Looks like you guys never been in the suite class at Royal Caribbean before. The Jr Suite stateroom and above get separate 3 bottles (Shampoo, conditioner & Body wash) in the shower.

    12. @Sunrise-c6b on

      Hello Josh and Rachael, so glad you both finally took a Celebrity cruise and enjoyed it. I have taken two Celebrity cruises and loved them both. One was the Alaska cruise and the other was eastern Caribbean. Both cruises, I loved the service and the twice a day room cleaning and the triple that they provide: wash, shampoo, and conditioner and now you know not to bring them to a Celebrity cruise. I did order the water drink package and was convenient because didn’t have to look for a water station. I also loved the newsletter and I read it every night as well and circled what interested me. Glad to hear that you pre booked your next Celebrity cruise already! Enjoy it.

    13. @BrendaHarwood-k4r on

      Nice review. We have mostly cruised NCL and really like it. But some of the perks of Celebrity makes me want to book with them. We are also looking at Virgin, as we have a big anniversary coming in 2027. ❤
      Looking forward to watching your daily vlogs this weekend

    14. @dmhall4093 on

      Glad you enjoyed your cruise. You went through a lot of trouble for water. You can just bring bottled water with you. Preordering or getting a package is not necessary.

    15. @susanlangford3340 on

      Does Celebrity enforce the pants at dinner rule? A lot of cruise lines say pants but no one listens and it ends up not being a big deal as long as they are “nice” shorts.

    16. @aaronblas9009 on

      Hey Josh…I’m obsessed with your clear glass frames (and videos of course). Any chance you can let me know what brand/style they are? Thanks in advance!

    18. @tedfisherHSCC on

      Talking about the shows on Beyond, we enjoyed just sitting in Eden for a mid afternoon sea day entertainment. They had a couple who played music on the Spanish guitar. He would skillfully play while she sang. 👏👏👏👏 When we were sailed on the Edge, it was early on its launch. They were feeling out the audience for preferences. We could have just sat there for hours listening. At the time we lived in Vegas and have seen over 50 shows of quality entertainment. We know what talent looks like. We booked a dinner on the top deck outside under metal covered seats. We did not like chasing our meal, napkins, utensils, on the floor due to the wind. We found out that this was a total failure by Celebrity. We did love the variety of Restaurants throughout the ship and food choices. We would definitely book another Celebrity Cruise after these stock market turbulence settles down. Great Job As Always Josh & Rachael.

    19. @jholly5747 on

      Hi Josh and Rachel, you finally made it on celebrity. I thoroughly enjoy your recap of what you liked and didn’t like on celebrity beyond. I always wanted to go on celebrity because my husband and I are foodies. My next cruise will be with Holland America in January 2026. Looking forward to watching more of your 11 day trip.

    21. @guitarjeff55 on

      I have recently stumbled onto your food critics of Las Vegas. I've been there several times my oldest daughter used to live there. In fact, my wife is currently there for seminar. I appreciate your critique on the food and now I'm venturing into your videos that have to do with cruise ships. Oh my God, yuck I honestly don't see how people can do this canned sardines way too many people I don't get it, but I do appreciate your contact on the food

    24. @CroakerOutdoors on

      Sailing on the Beyond in Aug '25 in Ocean View. Previously sailed on the Reflection and Summit. This is a very well done video, thank you for splicing in videos of what you are talking about instead of just talking heads for the full time. It's been a while since our last (2017) but I LOVED twice a day turn down, couldn't image with out it. Also, circling the daily activities on the paper activities is a must, apps are just so impersonal. Considering a drink package but definitely bring a few refillable water bottles, not only for the lido but also for for your excursions.

    27. @bobcarr5497 on

      Hello Josh and Rachel,
      Thank you for your detailed review of Celebrity Beyond.
      My wife and I are booked on our second Celebrity cruise but our FIRST edge class ship Ascent for an 11 night Panama Canal and Southern Caribbean ABC Islands cruise as well in March of 2026.
      We are booked into a Aqua Sky Suite on deck 10 port side of the ship opposite of the magic carpet.
      We are looking forward to this bucket list cruise and to be in a Aqua Sky Suite and the retreat for the first time as well will be great we hope. We are spa people and on our first Celebrity cruise back in October of 2023 on Equinox we stayed in a Aqua class balcony stateroom and enjoyed the experience with the extra perks of Blu restaurant and the thermal spa so much that we decided to upgrade to the Aqua Sky Suite with more room especially in the bathroom and a traditional balcony on a 11 night cruise and going through the Panama canal made total sense.
      We have already booked our excursions and we actually went through Celebrity Private Journeys for our Panama canal excursions as we want the best detailed excursion we could get with a small group.
      Also we booked a couple specialty restaurants in Eden and roof top garden grill to dine at even though we have Luminae and Blu as well but every review I read tells us not to miss these specialty restaurants. Lol.

      My wife and I have a couple more cruises already booked as well with one being MSC and there newest ship World America 6,700 passengers for October 25th 2025 a 7 night Eastern Caribbean cruise hitting Puerto Plata Dominican Republic, San Juan Puerto Rico and MSC's private island of Ocean Cay and 3 sea days mixed in.
      We are booked into there Yacht Club ship within a ship concept in a deluxe balcony suite on deck 21 port side of the ship.
      We are not MEGA ship people per say but the itinerary, time frame, price and reviews of yacht club sold us to give it a try especially with a ship this massive.

      Also we booked our first luxury cruise for March 2027 for 8 nights on MSC's Explora Journeys on Explora III 922 Passengers in a Cove Residence suite on deck 8 port side of the ship.
      We are embarking in Bridgetown Barbados to the deeper southern Caribbean islands of Gernada, St Kitts, Castries Antigua and MSC's private island of Ocean Cay.
      We will look to arrive in Barbados a couple days early to explore before boarding extending our trip from 8 nights to 10 or 11.

      Like you we booked our cruises out anywhere from a year to 2 yrs out but it's worth it we believe in the end.

      Thank you both again for the detailed information on Celebrity and glad you both had a wonderful time.

    28. @waianaegal744 on

      Thank you for a great video, i'm sailing with my sister end of October '25, have elite plus status with Celebrity but sailing an inside with the Blue Chip free cruise offer, this will be the largest ship I've sailed and so looking forward to hopefully good weather. I'm trying to get familiar with the Beyond before getting there and you've helped a great deal. Happy Sailing.

    31. @Rmeister23 on

      Late to the party with this video but finally
      Going on our first celebrity cruise the Xcel in December and am very curious as to what you played through slot dollars or otherwise to get the come back offer. I’m actually on a comped cruise through URComped from matching my NCL cruising so I’m no stranger to this, but every program is different. Thanks!

    38. @boredoutofherwits on

      Great video! I'm cruising for the first time with Celebrity to Alaska and the tips were very helpful. I read online somewhere that there was a water refilling station at the fitness center so if anyone was still wondering, I'll try and come back in a week and update my comment!

    41. @shirleyrowe4078 on

      I’ll be cruising with Celebrity for the first time in February. I have cruised with 3 other lines, but never Celebrity. You’ve made me even more excited about trying this line out. Thank you!

    43. @penelopepitstop762 on

      We are gold on Carnival and have cruised once on Discovery Princess, but we have decided to move on and our first Celebrity cruise is next May to the Mediterranean on the Ascent. Very excited! Then we may do Royal’s Icon of the Sea when it comes to our home port. Maybe NCL too for our regular Caribbean cruises.

    44. @ty-and-britt on

      1 point and $5 in the casino gets you free drinks? That sounds too good to be true. I don't really see that mentioned elsewhere on the internet very often either. A lot of people saying there is poor drink service in the casino though. Thanks for the tip, I'll try to remember.

    47. @lilianakothny2981 on

      Get to chairs/beds early “and try to hang on to them”……..wow, and you were surprised you couldn’t find any in Solarium……
      Entitlement mentality……..NO, you should NOT be able to hang on to them all day

    48. @LarryVotruba on

      We cruised on the Beyond in May. Captain Kirk was Amazing. The Non-alcoholic drink package is far better on Celebrity. Everything is better on Celebrity. We are booked on the Constalation in December and January and again on the Beyond next May. We had a deluxe inside cabin and loved it so much we got the same room on the opposite hallway for May.

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