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Celebrity Summit OR Caribbean Princess


rmur

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Hello all!

 

I have been creeping the boards for about a week now reading reviews and trying to get as much information as possible.. My girlfriend and I are planning on a cruise in just over a month and we would like to book ASAP.

 

We are having great troubles deciding between:

Southern Caribbean Cruise on Celebrity Summit Departing San Juan March 3.

(Barbados; St. Lucia; Antigua; St. Maarten; St. Thomas)

 

OR

 

Classic Southern Caribbean on Caribbean Princess Depart San Juan March 4.

(St. Thomas; Tortola; Antigua; Dominica; Barbados)

 

 

We would be planning on doing tours of the towns and enjoying some of the beaches and sunshine (I hope!). Neither of us have cruised before and we have only been to Mexico and Cuba. We will be getting an inside cabin as it seems to be most economical if we are not spending much time inside..

 

Any and all comments are welcomed!

Thank you!

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Hello all!

 

I have been creeping the boards for about a week now reading reviews and trying to get as much information as possible.. My girlfriend and I are planning on a cruise in just over a month and we would like to book ASAP.

 

We are having great troubles deciding between:

Southern Caribbean Cruise on Celebrity Summit Departing San Juan March 3.

(Barbados; St. Lucia; Antigua; St. Maarten; St. Thomas)

 

OR

 

Classic Southern Caribbean on Caribbean Princess Depart San Juan March 4.

(St. Thomas; Tortola; Antigua; Dominica; Barbados)

 

 

We would be planning on doing tours of the towns and enjoying some of the beaches and sunshine (I hope!). Neither of us have cruised before and we have only been to Mexico and Cuba. We will be getting an inside cabin as it seems to be most economical if we are not spending much time inside..

 

Any and all comments are welcomed!

Thank you!

, Summit is coming out of a massive renovation in a week. We prefer Celebrity,and found the Caribbean Princess Crowded and not as modern and clean in design as Celebrity. Choice is yours People like either line everyone has favorites, Conde Nast awarded Celebrity approx 8.5 points ahead of Princess in the Large ship category 2 months ago.

 

Both are great lines.... up to you

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We have sailed both Celebrity(but not the Summit) & Princess(Including the Caribbean), my thoughts. Both have points I like better, I would not have any issue chosing either. I think the cost would be my deciding factor with the ports. We had a great time in St. Marteen, we did a private tour with Bernard Tours and it was great. You also have several other ports that are similar.

 

I think the buffet is much better on Celebrity but feel the pizza, grill and dinning room is better on Princess. Speciality restaurants tie, more expensive on Celebrity. Pool areas tie, but like the adult area better on Celebrity. Laundry really like the self serve on Princess, not available on Celebrity. We found the entertainment on board better on Princess.

 

Inside cabins, we like the beds better on Celebrity but the closets much better on Princess. So all things it truly would come down to Price and ports and we would be happy on either one. Enjoy your cruise.

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We have been on the Summit twice and the Carribean Princess 3 times. I prefer the Summit. I like the feeling of the ship - the total package.

My main problem with the CP is that I find it very crowded. We were on the Emerald Princess which I much prefer to the CP. Princess does allow you to bring on as much wine, beer and soda as you wish. You can only bring on 2 bottles of wine on Celebrity.

 

Dotty

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We've also taken and enjoyed both. Not sure how the Solsticized Summit will be. I do know that I will miss the upper deck areas that will be converted to cabins as I could usually find a quiet place in the shade to read.

 

Direct comparisons:

 

Cabin: CB (Caribbean Princess) definitely has better closet space. I think the shower in the CB is narrower and my recollection was that I had to be careful about how I closed the shower curtain not to flood the floor.

 

Food:

Didn't use the specialty restaurant on CB. The MDR on Summit is much grander spanning two floors, while CB had 2 or 3 separate MDR spaces, so the ceiling was lower but it may have felt a little less huge. I would not choose either based on food in the MDR.

 

I would, however take the Summit's buffet over CB any day. Summit's buffet had everything around a central prep area that could be replenished without disrupting anything and lots of surrounding open space. CB had small areas with narrow aisles within them - so if anyone stopped too long to make their selection - or if they were putting out more of something, you were stuck with no way out or around. And I think Summit's buffet had a larger selection.

 

Ship: we never felt crowded on either, but we also spent most of the sailing on our balcony or ashore, other than for meals. The only entertainment we saw on the CB was the cocktail pianist/singer who we saw and loved every night. We spent a lot of time on Summit in Cova Cafe (which is going away) listening to the string trio. We had some issues with smoking on CB, but I gather that Princess has recently changed their policy. I do remember that on CB we were docked on Grand Turk with our cabin facing the shore and there was some bar near the pier blasting us with loud music. We could not find any place on the ship to sit outside that was not playing loud music and found that frustrating. And there were times we could hear the band or music from the main pool on our balcony. Don't recall that as an issue on Summit.

 

Service: We had great service from everyone, cabin attendants, dining room, and bars, on both ships so that would not be a reason to choose either.

 

We haven't been to all of the islands you'll be seeing so I'm not sure whether I'd pick one itinerary over the other. Of those we have seen, they all have lovely beaches and interesting tours.

 

The only differentiating factor might be the level of activities. I think that Princess is a bit more "energetic" than Celebrity, but you'll be cruising during college break time and that may affect how active things are.

 

j

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Closet Sapce on Summit is better as the have doors the CB did not, it was open to anyone visiting your room. the Washrooms on Princess were tighter space as someone mentioned.

 

As for the Bedding and everything to Carpets it will all be New on Summit. The food in the MDR was boring on the CB but food is subjective. The Specialty on Celebrity is hands down the best on any lines we have sailed esp the Normandie and Qsine! The Bars are active areas and Social on Celebrity esp the new ones added to the Summit this month the Ice martini bar etc. CB was out least favorite ship we have ever sailed most of my clients feel the same. Summit will still have deck space on top deck only some space is removed for the cabins, most of the time it was empty up there anyway, have Sailed on Summit 5 times all over from Alaska, Europe, Caribbean and bermuda I have a real good feel for the ship. The CB flow was off compared to other ships just did not like it as much. If you like the Thompson Hotel in Toronto or ever Stayed at a W you will like the renovated Summit much more, More Modern Luxury with and edge to it.

 

Molecular bar is amazing so are the All inclusive beverage packages they offer!

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The Summit, especially after the Refrubish into the Solstice Class. Also if you book before February 4, 2012, Celebrity has a special offer of an additional $200 off. I think the SUMMIT will be better over all, Celebrity is just nicer in my opinion.

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We have cruised on Summit and Caribbean Princess. We LOVE the Summit! We think that the service on Summit is much more personal. While on Princess we never once saw our cabin attendant...however our room was cleaned, it's nice when they let you know that they are there and if you need something to call. We also called for room service a few times on Princess and it was a few hours before it came.....so one more vote for the Summit. We are heading back in April!:D

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The Summit, especially after the Refrubish into the Solstice Class. Also if you book before February 4, 2012, Celebrity has a special offer of an additional $200 off. I think the SUMMIT will be better over all, Celebrity is just nicer in my opinion.

 

 

Can you tell me where can I book for the $200 off?? Is this in Celebrity Cruise website?? Thanks.

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  • 2 months later...
Hello all!

 

I have been creeping the boards for about a week now reading reviews and trying to get as much information as possible.. My girlfriend and I are planning on a cruise in just over a month and we would like to book ASAP.

 

We are having great troubles deciding between:

Southern Caribbean Cruise on Celebrity Summit Departing San Juan March 3.

(Barbados; St. Lucia; Antigua; St. Maarten; St. Thomas)

 

OR

 

Classic Southern Caribbean on Caribbean Princess Depart San Juan March 4.

(St. Thomas; Tortola; Antigua; Dominica; Barbados)

 

 

We would be planning on doing tours of the towns and enjoying some of the beaches and sunshine (I hope!). Neither of us have cruised before and we have only been to Mexico and Cuba. We will be getting an inside cabin as it seems to be most economical if we are not spending much time inside..

 

Any and all comments are welcomed!

Thank you!

 

Perhaps too late for you and hope you enjoyed your cruise- but having sailed multiple times on both- hands down celebrity summit is a better choice. The caribbean princess is very crowded and service is fair to good- the food also isn't up to par especially poor buffet- carnival is much better! On the other hand- the Summit service is excellent, the passenger flow much better then the princess. On the princess we had to book the Sanctuary in order to be guaranteed a good spot to sit and relax- no problems on the Summit. We also had a suite on the princess so we were lucky as our cabin was nice. The theatre was so crowded on the Princess that we didn't even have a seat for a couple of shows. You need to enter the theatre at least 1/2 hour in advance in order to find a seat.

 

We will be sailing again on the Summit in August and are looking forward to the new renovations. Since the Caribbean Princes no longer leaves from NY and we enjoyed sailing from the Brooklyn terminal- I assume we will never go on Princess again. Sticking to Royal Caribbean and Celebrity-

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HI. We usually cruise on Celebrity but cruised on the Caribbean Princess this past august to Canada/New England (needed a 7 day cruise). We enjoyed our cruise but much prefer Celebrity. I hated the small separate dining rooms and the buffet was similar to a HS cafeteria line and poor choice options. We enjoyed the various evening venues for dancing but found the shows much like HS productions. We did love the coffee cafe and the coffee card. The beds were extremely hard and uncomfortable for me. We would sail on Princess again if the itinerary fit the bill, but much prefer Celebrity. We loved the Summit two years ago and cant wait to cruise again on her this coming June.

 

Enjoy your cruise - the ports are wonderful.

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I agree with everyone here, the Summit all the way. Caribbean Princess was my first cruise, fell in love with cruising, then sailed on the Summit and fell in love with Celebrity. Love the set up of the buffet, the service and food, much better on the Summit. It always felt crowded and had a hard time finding a seat in the shows on the CP. Plus you don't have the annoying loud speaker announcements or hard sells for photos, etc. on Celebrity. A few things we miss are the seafood buffets that Princess had (don't know if they still have them with crab legs), Movies Under the Stars, and the Balcony dining. Those are awesome. Would sail either line, but prefer Celebrity.

 

Have fun and enjoy your cruise. Both itineraries are great.

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