Celebrity vs Princess

Hi all,

My 13-year-old daughter and I will be taking a cruise next year. But we a torn between a Princess cruise and a Celebrity cruise. Both are a 7-night Western Caribbean escape with 4 ports of call.

Princess itinerary:

Sun: Depart from Ft. Lauderdale

Mon: Princess Cays, Bahamas

Tue : At Sea

Wed: Falmouth, Jamaica

Thurs: Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands

Fri: Cozumel, Mexico

Sat: At Sea

Sun: Return to Ft. Lauderdale

X Cruise itinerary:

Sat: Depart from Miami

Sun: Key West, Florida

Mon: At Sea

Tues: Costa Maya, Mexico

Wed: Cozumel, Mexico

Thurs: Georgetown, Grand Cayman

Fri: At Sea

Sat: Return Miami

The Princess cruise is on the Regal Princess and the X cruise is on the Equinox. This is our first cruise so all opinions and advice is helpful.

Thanks

I don't think you can go wrong with either. We prefer Celebrity, but my parents are super elite on Princess (not sure what it's called) so obviously they love Princess. They have sailed with us on Celebrity and loved it as well. With that in mind I would go by which itinerary you like better.

Princess in this case. A 13 yr old would probably like Princess Cays over Costa Maya or Key West. BUT, if your daughter isn't into beach days then Key West would be her ticket. Many Quasi and non-Quasi historical things to do and see in Key West. You could also make Key West a beach day, if need be.

Welcome to Cruise Critic! :)

While your daughter would enjoy Regal Princess (very nice ship) and we rather cruise out of Ft. Lauderdale , we much prefer the X itinerary.

Happily, you can't go wrong with whichever of these you chose. :D

Princess in this case. A 13 yr old would probably like Princess Cays over Costa Maya or Key West. BUT, if your daughter isn't into beach days then Key West would be her ticket. Many Quasi and non-Quasi historical things to do and see in Key West. You could also make Key West a beach day, if need be.

Yes. Same - If she is into the Kid clubs that may be better.

If it's a hang together cruise then go Celebrity.

Princess have a better selection of included dining options including an excellent pizza restaurant. That may not may not be a factor:

Princess seems to have more casual places to eat. If your 13 year old wants to be able to grab a burger or pizza or ice cream it is easy to do. Not sure about the kids club on Celebrity but the Princess one looked nice when we looked. (We have never cruised with a child or teen). If you wants lots of water slides and such that is not on Princess. I do not remember much about the pool on Celebrity. Have fun whichever you pick.

Here is why I would advise against the Regal (I have been on the Royal Princess, same class of ship). The balconies are tiny (I am dead serious about this and it's a major problem). The pools on that class of Princess are dinky. I would choose the Celebrity ship.

I like the itinerary of Celebrity but Regal Princess may be a better ship option for first time cruisers.

Celebrity is my first choice when travelling without kids. Your 13 year old might enjoy Princess, NCL, RCCL, as these cruise lines offer a better selection of activities, IMO. Either way, enjoy!

Princess seems to have more casual places to eat. If your 13 year old wants to be able to grab a burger or pizza or ice cream it is easy to do. Not sure about the kids club on Celebrity but the Princess one looked nice when we looked. (We have never cruised with a child or teen). If you wants lots of water slides and such that is not on Princess. I do not remember much about the pool on Celebrity. Have fun whichever you pick.

Pizza , burger and ice cream are also available on Celebrity. They have the best ice cream booth!!

Nothing against either choice but have you also considered Royal Caribbean?

The larger ships have far more activities on board like climbing walls, ice skating, zip line, golf....Whilst our favourite cruise line now is Celebrity when our son was a teen we had great fun enjoying RC ships activities together. We also continue to acknowledge that the RC shows are far better and more varied than the X offerings.

Hope I haven't just made the choice harder still!

I happen to be a huge Princess fan over all. The ship is just as much the destination as the port itinerary is, and the Regal and Royal are great ships (think large ship, small ship feel). Ask over on the Princess board for a totally different point of view. Enjoy your cruise which ever you choose.

One comment regarding Key West with a 13 year old. If you walk around town there are many shops with items in the window that range from mildly naughty to extremely vulgar. (sayings on t-shirts and the like). Doesn't bother me as an adult (I love Key West!) but not sure I would walk my 13 year old daughter around that area. Just FYI.

Definitely Princess!

Nothing against either choice but have you also considered Royal Caribbean?

 

The larger ships have far more activities on board like climbing walls, ice skating, zip line, golf....Whilst our favourite cruise line now is Celebrity when our son was a teen we had great fun enjoying RC ships activities together. We also continue to acknowledge that the RC shows are far better and more varied than the X offerings.

 

 

Hope I haven't just made the choice harder still!

This is exactly what I was thinking!! Royal Caribbean is much more geared towards families and has a lot more things that are attractive for a 13 y.o.

I love Celebrity and especially, the Equinox ... and like Princess quite a bit. We are elite on both and don't travel during the time of year when kids are out of school. However, I have only seen a handful of kids on Celebrity on my many cruises on this line. On Princess, you will see more kids but still these ships don't have all the bells and whistles for that age group that you can find on Royal. But if you are set on those two choices, and certainly, I am not trying to talk you out of either one, but I would go with Princess, even though the itinerary on the Celebrity one is much more attractive to me (because I love Costa Maya and Key West). But, a teenager would probably like the Princess Cays and I believe Princess ships dock in the better part of Cozumel. We were recently on the Equinox and even after being in Cozumel dozens of times, I couldn't figure out where town was from our port. Well, later I could see what I think was a Princess ship docked way down the shoreline ... aha!! That's where you can just walk off the boat and be where all the fun stuff is. From where we were docked on the Equinox, you would have to take a cab to get there. It don't believe it was a walkable distance.

Hi all,

 

My 13-year-old daughter and I will be taking a cruise next year. But we a torn between a Princess cruise and a Celebrity cruise. Both are a 7-night Western Caribbean escape with 4 ports of call.

 

Princess itinerary:

Sun: Depart from Ft. Lauderdale

Mon: Princess Cays, Bahamas

Tue : At Sea

Wed: Falmouth, Jamaica

Thurs: Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands

Fri: Cozumel, Mexico

Sat: At Sea

Sun: Return to Ft. Lauderdale

 

 

X Cruise itinerary:

Sat: Depart from Miami

Sun: Key West, Florida

Mon: At Sea

Tues: Costa Maya, Mexico

Wed: Cozumel, Mexico

Thurs: Georgetown, Grand Cayman

Fri: At Sea

Sat: Return Miami

 

The Princess cruise is on the Regal Princess and the X cruise is on the Equinox. This is our first cruise so all opinions and advice is helpful.

 

Thanks

While we have lost much of our liking for Celebrity....we do think that the X itinerary is a much better option. The situation with Falmouth leaves much to be desired. And Key West is a fun place to visit (and shop)...especially if its your first visit.

Hank

I,ve sailed both lines and love them both.BUT with a 13 year old I would reconsider and look into Royal Caribbean.There is more for a 13 year old to do on RC than Princess or Celebrity.Take a look at one of the mega ships like Oasis or Allure or one of the other newer ships.We were on the Oasis of the Seas and loved it.So much to do and the shows were fantastic.

I,ve sailed both lines and love them both.BUT with a 13 year old I would reconsider and look into Royal Caribbean.There is more for a 13 year old to do on RC than Princess or Celebrity.Take a look at one of the mega ships like Oasis or Allure or one of the other newer ships.We were on the Oasis of the Seas and loved it.So much to do and the shows were fantastic.

I would have to agree. Both Celebrity & Princess are geared more towards adults. You should go with RC or NCL. There are SO MUCH MORE activities on either Royal or NCL for someone your daughters age. And the entertainment on either lines are also gear more in line for kids.

It don't believe it was a walkable distance.

Now, I know that you are young enough to make the less than 3km walk to the heart of San Miguel de Cozumel.

Definitely Princess!

That coming from someone that hasn't sailed on Celebrity yet is a bit ridiculous.

I have been on Regal Princess- it is a beautiful ship, Lots of dining choices. We had an obscure view balcony- it was fine! My DH and I could sit and enjoy the waves roll by. I have not been on the Equinox- but from what I have seen it too is a beautiful ship.

What does your daughter like to do? Is she into history? Key West has an AWESOME museum- Mel Fisher treasure museum. Plus Hemingway House.... Yes, Key West is geared a bit more to adults- as mentioned you may have to explain some of the naughty items.... or not...

Costa Maya has some neat ruins to see. Plus there is a water park there too.

I can't say much about Jamaica. DH and I stay on the ship since it is not our favorite port- but then you have a huge ship almost to yourself.

I think either ship is wonderful. I think it really boils down to what would you two like to see and do? I would go in a heart beat on either ship. HAVE FUN and enjoy each other that is my advice. :)

I,ve sailed both lines and love them both.BUT with a 13 year old I would reconsider and look into Royal Caribbean.There is more for a 13 year old to do on RC than Princess or Celebrity.Take a look at one of the mega ships like Oasis or Allure or one of the other newer ships.We were on the Oasis of the Seas and loved it.So much to do and the shows were fantastic.

Not all kids like these activities. Mine who are now 18 & 19 would have absolutely hated that. We took them on HAL when they were 14 & 15 to Norway and it was their favourite cruise ever.

To the OP I have never sailed Princess but my advice would be to sit down with your daughter & do a bit of research. There will be places she fancies going to & places you do. After that it should become clearer which is the best itinerary. We've always made our final decision as a family like this

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Thank you all for your advice. My daughter isn't really interested in any programs because she thinks she is too mature for things like that even if it is directed for kids her age. We are going during her Spring Break so their should be more kids on the cruise than the usual. But in the end we have decided celebrity and if we change our mind the nice thing is that with X we don't have to pay until we are ready.

I see that you have made your decision, so this is just to reenforce it. Go to the Hot Glass Show early on your voyage. You may find it as fascinating as we did and want to come back for more!