A Princess girl tries Celebrity

Just returned from my first Celebrity cruise aboard Summit. I chose Celebrity this time around because I preferred the Mexican Riviera itinerary Celebrity offered, plus I would like to try some other lines intermittently. I have some opinions and that's just what they are-opinions...and based on just one cruise with Celebrity. Overall we had a really nice time and would definitely cruise Celebrity again if an itinerary was of interest. My husband and I discussed our comparison and felt we still prefer Princess. It wasn't so much that one is "better" than the other-just different. Here are some comparisons. Keep in mind we had a Concierge Class cabin.

Celebrity excells in: 1.Service, especially deck, poolside and bar. Not only were they attentive but social and friendly. My experience with Princess deck and bar service-fair at best, and on the Golden it was poor. 2. Food-overall. I find the dinners and desserts on Princess wonderful, but their breakfast and lunch buffets don't come close to Celebrity. The one exception to this are the hamburgers and hotdog grills in which Princess's are better. Celebrity had these great specialty stations for breakfast and lunch. Also the room service menu was more extensive and you could order a full breakfast in your cabin. I loved our waiter and his assistant on Celebrity-they really made it special. 3. Accomodations-The cabin was gorgeous with a comparatively huge bathroom, and luxurious linens for the bed. I have never slept so well in my life. 4. Deck space/availability of chairs-plenty of chairs, comfortable chairs, very little saving of chairs, and plentiful soft, luxurious towels. Did I mention the sorbet offered?

Now for Princess, which excells in: 1. Embarkation and Disembarkation-We had our worst experience with Celebrity-especially disembarking. 2. Princess ships are much prettier and show less wear (with the exception of the cabins). 3. Shore excursions-Princess has better offerings and better organization. Princess staff are also readily available to guide you for any shore issues even if you're not taking an excursion. Celebrity staff were non-existent. I do have to give Celebrity credit, however, for having the shore excursion desk open so much. 4. Entertainment-wow-big difference. Although I liked some of the entertainment on Celebrity-Princesss is much, much better-from shows to movie offerings to musical entertainment. 4. Fresh water pools-no need to elaborate. 5. Cruise director and staff-For the most part, Princess excells, but we were not happy with the cruise staff on the Golden, but all other Princess cruises were great as far as cruise staff.

Other issues I am undecided about. I love Anytime Dining on Princess. You feel less structured and it's a more relaxed feeling. BUT, and this is a big but-we enjoyed so much getting to know our dining companions on Celebrity. We ended up being very friendly with the other couples and meeting up with them at other times, other than dinner time. It enhanced our cruise and seemed to make it worth the effort to dress and go to the dining room every night at the same time. The other issue is atmosphere. Princess is a little more active and lively. Celebrity more low-key and reserved (but NOT stuffy at all!!) I guess it's what a person is looking for at a particular time. Thanks for listening!!!!-Sue (Note: this is a paste from the post I put on Princess board)

Interesting. Thanks for the comparisons.

Great comparison, I found it balanced and informative.

Just curious, how would you compare the other lines you've sailed to Princess and Celebrity?

I agree with your observations, but for us the scale tilts towards Celebrity.

One thing I'll add: We just finished the Summit's Mexico cruise last week, so we were either on the same cruise as you or one before. The disembarkation was indeed terrible with very long lines. At least celebrity had no problem leaving our belongings in our state room until we were ready to disembark - after the immigration line.

But I'll say that I've never experianced this before. It think it has more to do with the Summit being relatively new to that port. On our prior 2 trips on the Summit out of Ft. Lauderdale the procedures were completely different and the disembarkation was quick and orderly.

I especially appreciate your post because my daughter is turning 40 next summer, shortly after their 15th anniversary. Their two sons will also be graduating from high school in the spring. She wants a BIG whoop-de-do to combine all these special occasions, and insists nothing will be any fun unless we go with them...

There are few cruises that will suit our combined needs sailing from a FL port next summer (she is a teacher) but Princess has a viable option for us. We have only sailed with Celebrity thus far (with a HAL scheduled for this Dec) so thank you for your input!

Sue, I totally agree with your assessment. I think anyone would be happy to cruise with either line. But for me, if the itineraries were the same, I would probably (gulp!) go for Celebrity.:) Thanks for your thoughtful post.

I have sailed Princess, Celebrity and RCCL and I must say of the 3 Celebrity had the worst disembarkation ever. I think it was maybe due to their "no announcements" policy....they just left us sitting forever with no idea what was going on, then when the crew in our color area were asked why we were waiting so long they were pretty rude with the answer " Listen everyone on the ship has the same problem...not just you!" We really thought that if they had at least given us some idea of what the delay was we could have not only called to make later arrangements with transportation but at the very least we would have known what was going on. We were told to be in a lounge by 7:30AM for our color call and it was 9:15 before they ever started getting people off the ship. It seems the more reviews I read about Celebrity the more I am seeing problems in this area. I know we even commented that it was a shame to end such a great cruise on such a sour note. None of the other lines I have sailed could really compare with Celebrity level of service, I just hope they work on this one area.

I especially appreciate your post because my daughter is turning 40 next summer, shortly after their 15th anniversary. Their two sons will also be graduating from high school in the spring. She wants a BIG whoop-de-do to combine all these special occasions, and insists nothing will be any fun unless we go with them...

 

There are few cruises that will suit our combined needs sailing from a FL port next summer (she is a teacher) but Princess has a viable option for us. We have only sailed with Celebrity thus far (with a HAL scheduled for this Dec) so thank you for your input!

If I were taking teens, especially older teens, on a cruise I would check out the teen/ young adult activities to pick the best for the teens. For example, make sure that they have a disco where teens are allowed in late in the evening.

I know there have been pleanty of teens on our Celebrity cruises during school break times, but I've seen them looking for something to do and complaining as the disco had a no teens policy after a certain time of night (maybe 11PM). While this was nice for us adults, it would not have been nice for the kids. Some of the larger ships such as the grand class princess ships or the Explorer class RCCL ships have more for teens.

Another example is that the indoor pool on the Celebrity Millenium class ships is a special spa pool and teens under either 16 or 18 are not allowed. This would make it tough if they want to swim on a day which is not great weather.

Also, while I greatly prefer traditional dining as I enjoy sharing dinner with new people to meet, I think that if we were taking our kids and eating as a family only - that the anytime dining on Princess might be a bigger attraction for us.

While I wouldn't have hesitated to take our teens on Celebrity - it wouldn't have been my first choice.

Thanks Sue for your observations. It particularly appealed to me because having been loyal Celebrity cruisers, we decided to booka Princess cruise next year because of the itinerary. Frankly, Celebrity has a very set itinerary in the Caribbean, and we've done those islands so many times, we were looking for a little diversion. The Princess cruise we're going on stops at Granada and Martinique, among others, and we were looking for these islands, which Celebrity doesn't call at. Celebrity is a wonderful cruise line, we never had any complaints at all, but looks like Princess has a lot to offer, so Princess, here we come!:)

Thanks to all who offered advise about taking "teens" on a cruise, but these boys will both turn 18yrs by the time they graduate. They are capable of amusing themselves, which is good, because few lines seem to have programs specifically aimed toward their "in between" age bracket.

I was looking elsewhere because our previous Celebrity cruises do not seem to be the best "fit" for everyone involved this time. We prefer earlier dining, and they prefer later, etc. As much as we love Celebrity, open dining would work best. And, like the previous post, we too have done the "same old, same old" Caribbean route with Celebrity and are looking for something (anything!) different. While the Princess itinerary is nothing really new, you have to make adjustments to accomodate your specific needs at a given point in time.

Again, thank you Suze, for giving us your unbiased opinion. I DO appreciate the comparison between Celebrity and Princess, which happens to be pertinent to our upcoming needs.

Thanks, Suze17 for the unbiased comparison. We just booked with Princess after 11 consecutive Celebrity cruises & welcome the info.

We enjoy crusing to the Caribbean in the late fall & Celebrity just doesn't have anything that is appealing to us during that time, so we are trying the yet to be completed Crown Princess November 2006. We're looking forward to seeing for ourselves the differences between the two lines. We are also spending half what our Zenith cruise to Bermuda in an oceanview cabin this past July cost vs. a stateroom with balcony on Princess.

I kind of feel guilty for switching, but figured that this would be a good opportunity to try something different considering the itinerery & cost.

Thanks again!!

Rich

Suze .... Thanks for taking the time to do this comparison! As a "much-cruised-on-Princess" person, agree with you on most of your comments! :)

Celebrity now so reminds me of the way Princess use to be! Love sailing on Celebrity cruises!

Happy Sailing! OCruisers :)

Great comparison, I found it balanced and informative.

 

Just curious, how would you compare the other lines you've sailed to Princess and Celebrity?

Thanks, Suzanne!! I have cruised also with Carnival and Royal Caribbean. I really like Royal Caribbean. The ships are beautiful. I have been on 2 RCCL cruises and liked them both alot and am taking my niece on one of their shorter cruises in Jan. A couple we got to know on Summit are big RCCL fans and have encouraged us to try the Voyager class of ships, which we'll probably do. I did not care for Carnival. We didn't have a horrible time but didn't have a good enough time to warrant trying it again especially when we knew we had a pretty sure thing with Princess and Royal Caribbean (and now Celebrity!) Take care-Sue

I agree with your observations, but for us the scale tilts towards Celebrity.

 

One thing I'll add: We just finished the Summit's Mexico cruise last week, so we were either on the same cruise as you or one before. The disembarkation was indeed terrible with very long lines. At least celebrity had no problem leaving our belongings in our state room until we were ready to disembark - after the immigration line.

 

But I'll say that I've never experianced this before. It think it has more to do with the Summit being relatively new to that port. On our prior 2 trips on the Summit out of Ft. Lauderdale the procedures were completely different and the disembarkation was quick and orderly.

We were on the same cruise! Yes, I agree and I also liked the fact that you didn't have to have your suitcases outside the cabin til later in the evening-unlike Princess. My problem with Celebrity and the immigration issue was that no one was around to assist passengers especially those with mobility problems in getting on the line or helping them get through the line. Alot of people were struggling with walkers and wheelchairs, not knowing what to do or where to go. There should have been crew members around to help with the mess.

Re: disembarkation:You're probably right and to tell you the truth, I wasn't that upset because I am good at going with the flow. I just felt really bad for some people who were anxious. Thanks for your feedback!