lespetites

Is the Princess grill cabin on the Queen Mary or the Queen Elizabeth...or Queen Victoria....  We have sailed all three....   The QE and QV are laid out very similar to the mini suite on Princess but that is where it ends...... With Cunard.... you have a private butler and you have one of the best dining rooms at sea... plus separate relaxation areas if you want....It is amazing..... Only the Queens suite on cunard is better.... Go to Cunard and look up the menus ...Also if you don't see something you like or want the Chief will make it for you with a days notice... I can't say enough about the grill dining on Cunard.... The Princess grill suite on the QM is a little different but so very roomy... There, again go to Cunard and they will give you the sq footage...  If you are thinking of which to go with... Try Cunard, its wonderful....no matter what cabin you get the service and dining is great... Princess is a little step down even their club mini suites can't touch Cunard......  The QM is a ship all on to her own,   She is a true Ocean Liner and anyone who loves to cruise should sail on her....We have been on 8 cruises with Princess and 4 with Cunard.....all told we have been on 51 cruises 10 different cruise lines.....

Yes, they do charge for additional dishes.. Our experience was very disappointing. There was just the two of us and really to "share our dishes" which we do all the time when we dine out, was quite comical. My husband got the duck and I got the lobster. The duck was 1/2 of the breast. Which is 1/4 of the two breasts on a duck. I received 1/2 of a small lobster tail for a main course. The sides we each choose came in a small ramekin that was no bigger than 2 to maybe maybe 3 inches across. We did "share" these dishes an they were OK but nothing extraordinary for the price of $39. My own feelings are bring back Sabatini's, the price was much better and the food was excellent. The Menu there was very diverse and delicious. We would eat there at least twice a cruise..My husband and I dine at the Crown Grill at least 2 times a cruise at $25 a meal the price its much better and also we have never!! received a bad meal. We have tried most everything on the menu and have been most pleased with it all... I think Share is pretensious and over done! The restaurant reminded me of a cafeteria in New York we went to and was not very good.. We both like warm and inviting atmospheres and this was not one of them.. Just go and look at the venue, it is cold, too much bare wood and chrome more like a doctors office than a restaurant also because there was no carpet or drapes it was very very noisy in the venue.. thank goodness my husband and I sat next to each other instead of across from each other at the table.... The wait staff were wonderful as usual in the specialty restaurants. Its just not their fault what kind of food they are required to serve. Hope I haven't taken up too much space but one last thing.. Most people we met that had tried Share were not going to go again.. The price was way too much for the food you were given and the menu was very very limited..

I agree.......Restaurants, cruise lines, home made......no one makes better creme brûlée than Celebrity....bar none Like you I never tire of it.. One of the times we were on the Connie the chief made guava sorbet a couple of times... Wonderful!!

We are planning a Xmas cruise and are debating between these 3 ships. Have only cruised Princess before, but have heard Celebrity food is better. Is that true? Confused about the extra charges in restos, and for which areas. Want to have a good time w/o feeling nickel and dimed to death. Sounds like Silhouette has re-appropriated previously free areas and made them exclusive…if so, how much has this impacted the overall experience? We would probably only eat in specialty rests one or two nights.

Hi, my husband and I have sailed both, we prefer the Silhouette.. Princess ships are lovely but I look at them as decorated tastefully, but like a Las Vegas casino.. Lots of gold and brass and tile etc.. The Silhouette is more like the Ritz Carleton.. more low key warm and with lots of art and open rooms aboard.. The reg balcony rooms are configured differently and I prefer Celebrity's configuration better... I don't need all that room for a dressing area...as Princess has.. The Silhouette cabin uses the Princess dressing room area as living space so you can have a sofa for more comfortable seating..They both have the same hang space. Also I think Celebrity's balcony is a little bigger.

On the Silhouette you can't believe how beautiful the top deck with the lawn and sunset bar is to have an afternoon drink or to just go up to seat and enjoy the view or to read... We also have rented one of the cabanas on occasion and have enjoyed that experience immensely. You get an iPad to play around with and full steward service and snacks ... for about 8 hrs.. very relaxing.

As far as the specialty dining is concerned you don't need to eat in any of them to have a wonderful meal... Celebrity is better in the MDR than Princess... We were on a 10 day Princess cruise and only ate in the MDR twice.. The first formal night because we thought it would be special because it was formal night and it was not.. Then we tried it 4 days later and it wasn't any better so we alternated between the steak house and Sabatino's...both are very nice and the food was delicious but the menu is limited and we were starting to repeat what we ordered. We usually eat in the MDR on Celebrity and go to the speciality restaurants on occasion but have always had a fantastic meal... The menus are less limited and more diverse than Princess... but they are more expensive so we only do it for special occasions because the MDR is quite good..ps ( Celebrity makes the very very best creme brullee) if you like that sort of thing. I agree with another post that said Princess ships were confusing.. its up, down over etc.. and there are more closed in public rooms than open spaces like on the Silhouette most of the public rooms are open and not closed in by walls. We have been on a number of Princess cruises because we live in So Calif. and enjoy going for a quick 7 or 10 day cruise without flying.. (we did fly when we went on the Regal) If we want something special and don't mind flying we choose Celebrity or Azamara.. One other thing... both ships are close to the same size.. Regal....1082 ft by 126 and the Silhouette 1047 ft by 121, but the Regal carries 3600 passengers while the Silhouette carries 2886... That's 700 passengers difference.. if that means anything to you... Sorry this was so long.. All in all I don't think you will have a bad time on either ship.. I just think you might like to try something different and would like the new experience of the Silhouette... Good cruising whichever one you choose...