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Celebrity Equinox and Ruby Princess


Adam Handelman

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Both are new or nearly new ships, and both are large and beautiful. However, the atmosphere is different. Celebrity features a more formal atmosphere overall, with only fixed seating times in the main dining room and a quieter ambiance. Food and service are excellent, although not everyone agrees that Princess lags behind. Princess has more options and a more relaxed atmosphere. You can choose either traditional (fixed seating with the same time and table and waiter everynight) or anytime dining, where you show up for dinner when you are ready from about 5:30-10:00. Princess has 24 hr buffets, freshwater pools, Movies under the Stars and more evening entertainment than Celebrity. Hope this gives you some general idea. We enjoy Celebrity but prefer Princess -- of course, others have different views!

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Have been reading that Celebrity will be instituting a variable dining program.. As for the difference in ships...although we only just received sailed the Pacific Princess which doesn't have the movies or the "anytime dining".. We missed the "class" and "the little extras" that Celebrity seems to offer. Not that our cruise was bad, but just as the song says..,."little things mean alot" and after three Celebrity cruises we will go back.. Food on our particular ship Pacific Princess in the dining room was absolutely outstanding.. We found the PP people on our cruise pretty stuffy to put it mildly..and very brand, i.e. Princess, conscious..which means nothing to me..as to how many days nor which category they are and what benefits.. What mattered was the lovely size of the smaller ship..and the ports.. As a matter of fact we are booking the Equinox for 2010 trans-atlantic.. AND I DO KNOW THAT there are many people on this board who will strongly disagree with me..but trivia, pottery painting and a dull area around the pool seem to be the highlights for many...I was bored..lol and I don't like "hairy leg contests"..lol

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I'm partial to Princess, so I would pick the Ruby. So that I'm not bias, if the itinerary is similar I would go with price. Even though I prefer Princess, I go on other lines. It's great for comparison. Since this is your first go round. I would look at the style of the cruise line and price.

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One update....Solstice Class ships on X have freshwater pools....

 

agree that there seems to be a bit more entertainment on Princess than Celebrity...EXCEPT for the Solstice class ships..there were several things we wanted to see on Solstice that we never could quite find time to fit in....:D

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We loved the Ruby in Feb 09. All of our expectations were well met, as usual (12 prior Princess cruises dating back to 1990). We have only sailed Celebrity once (Dec 08) so it is hard to have a well rounded opinion of their ships and crew. It is expected that people have different tastes and often develope loyalties to their cruiseline of choice. My advice would be to try them both as time permits. Though I would say that if ice cream is important to you, for my taste Princess was better.

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Both are new or nearly new ships, and both are large and beautiful. However, the atmosphere is different. Celebrity features a more formal atmosphere overall, with only fixed seating times in the main dining room and a quieter ambiance. Food and service are excellent, although not everyone agrees that Princess lags behind. Princess has more options and a more relaxed atmosphere. You can choose either traditional (fixed seating with the same time and table and waiter everynight) or anytime dining, where you show up for dinner when you are ready from about 5:30-10:00. Princess has 24 hr buffets, freshwater pools, Movies under the Stars and more evening entertainment than Celebrity. Hope this gives you some general idea. We enjoy Celebrity but prefer Princess -- of course, others have different views!

 

we are booked on both. We were on both sister ships, the Crown and Solstice. I agree Princess has so many more options on entertainment. Both ships are beautiful. Anytime dining on Princess is a real plus. I think I would go on the Ruby Princess 1st. Overall I think they offer more! Both are wonderful.

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Food on our particular ship Pacific Princess in the dining room was absolutely outstanding.. We found the PP people on our cruise pretty stuffy to put it mildly..and very brand, i.e. Princess, conscious..which means nothing to me..as to how many days nor which category they are and what benefits.. What mattered was the lovely size of the smaller ship..and the ports.. As a matter of fact we are booking the Equinox for 2010 trans-atlantic.. AND I DO KNOW THAT there are many people on this board who will strongly disagree with me..but trivia, pottery painting and a dull area around the pool seem to be the highlights for many...I was bored..lol and I don't like "hairy leg contests"..lol

 

I don't know much about Pacific Princess and would never pick a small ship over a large one. In this case, OP is deciding between two big ships with all of the bells and whistles.

 

But my experience is the exact opposite as yours. I found the people on my Crown Princess cruise to be the most friendly I have cruised with on any ship on any line. The people that I wound up meeting weren't Princess cheerleaders and many were discussing past and future cruises on other lines. As far as food goes, I can do without Princess' food for dinner in the main dining rooms. I would rank it behind Carnival's and Royal Caribbean's. But I thought the specialty restaurants, the other smaller dining venues, and the buffet areas for breakfasts and lunches to all be very good. As far as pool scenes go, on these larger ships, Princess excels because pool areas are split up. There are separate areas for movies (and just relaxing, reading, with nothing going on in the AM) and the pool with entertainment (steel drum band and events). There is also a separate adults only pool. Something for everyone on Princess when it comes to pools. We also liked the variety of entertainment choices in the evenings. Wth our next cruise being a very special one for me and my wife, I feel very safe in going with the Ruby Princess. To me, it's money in the bank. I am sure those that enjoyed the Solstice might feel the same about choosing the Equinox.

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