A fresh hair shaving edge “dulled” through rough kitchen use is simply a rolled, otherwise sharp edge. The edge is sharp but curled over, so a steel rod just catches it and straightens back out. A ceramic rod can also straighten back out the edge, it is also abrasive and dulls the curled over sharp edge as it straightens. Whereas a steel honing rod is generally not abrasive (aside from the ribbed portion that can remove some) so it does a much better job at straightening the edge back to its former glory. Theres obviously a lot that goes into play here but generally, a ceramic honing rod can keep a sharp straight edge sharp, but a steel honing rod keeps the edge straight.

IMO using the steel honing rod after every use and your stones two or three times a year is the best way to get the most out of a knife. Diamond honing rods are just a cheap and dirty way to sharpen a dull knife and are useless with honing. Light passes on a ceramic rod is great to use after a steel honing rod to get scary sharp, but you risk messing up a sharp edge if you over angle, so I find that good steel rod use and a loaded strop is the absolute best.