Princess cruisers who have sailed with Celebrity

Both Princess and Carnival have earned immense brand loyalty from us--we are platinum on both. BUT the recent shuffle for Sapphire Princess for 2018 meant our big birthdays cruise to Asia got cancelled. Celebrity has a 14 day that includes Singapore, Hong Kong AND Bangkok, three places on our wish list. And the price is right. So, Princess cruisers, without bashing Princess or Carnival, IF you have gone on Celebrity (especially Millenium and/or Asia itineraries) tell me what's different, what you liked and what you didn't.

Thanks in advance for your good counsel.

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My wife and I sailed the Millennium in July 2015 to Alaska.

Here's how I scored things back then.

Food: Princess, the buffets are about equal

Waitstaff: Princess

Cabin Size: Celebrity

Cabin Furnishings: Princess

Restrooms: Celebrity

Production Shows: Princess

Musicians: Celebrity

Comedians: Celebrity

Cruise Director: Celebrity

Cabin Attendant: Tie

Casino: Princess

Daily Activities: Celebrity

Photo Department: Princess

Check-in: Celebrity

Bar: Celebrity

Wine Selection: Celebrity

Pizza: Princess

Baked Goods: Tie

Ice Cream: Celebrity

Coffee/Tea: Celebrity

Room Service: Princess

Muster Drill: Celebrity

Officer Visibility: Celebrity

We consider both cruise lines almost equal--with Celebrity just a tad ahead.

I think you will find Celebrity very enjoyable. The food is good, the entertainment is also usually good, and the staff is friendly and accommodating. When we cruise, we check both lines and usually go with the best price--since we know we will like either one. It may not matter to you, but you don't have to do formal nights unless you want to on Celebrity.

Your itinerary looks wonderful. Enjoy!

I wouldn't dream of bashing Princess or Carnival. But having sailed on Celebrity Infinity (same class as Millennium) I am glad to take the opportunity to rehash the following:

Afternoon Tea only complimentary to all passengers once on a two week cruise; other times were either the premium upcharge tea or restricted to upper level Captain's Club;

Other activities routine on Princess (cooking demonstration, backstage tour, even some of the enrichment lectures) also restricted to Captain's Club;

Ridiculously long waits for Select Dining even if willing to share: on one formal night not seated until 9:15 [one hour wait after early show let out], not served entree until almost 11:00;

Exclusively pre-dinner shows for those with late seating or who prefer to go to select later--after late sitting ship resembled the Mary Celeste;

Ship's tour dispatch was a complete clusterflop: tours did not depart until 45 mins to 2 hours after scheduled time, but drivers were being called and ordered to return to ship at original end times (well before sailaway);

Other than one carving station way in the back, buffet offerings were the identical pizza, pasta, sushi and curry dishes every day for two weeks;

Room stewards work in pairs: one makes your bed while the other cleans the bathroom. Yet I never felt the cabin was anywhere near as freshened up as on Princess;

When speaking with senior staff or officers, they would always ask me what my history was with X or RCI before deciding whether or not to address my question.

I actually like them both, I know X Summit andd Millennium, as well as Crown and Emerald Princess, having booked Star Princess for March 2017...

If I should look back honestly, IMHO there's more counting for Princess than Celebrity, especially in terms of food:

-Princess features more choices in MDR, including regional specialities, home-style cuisine, as well as Surf & Turf and sorbet/petit fours on formal nights

-Princess features italian dinner evening

-LOVE International Café!!

-Celebrity used to offer great alternative cold and warm breakfast spots @Solarium Café, now the offers are hugely reduced

-Celebrity is even saving Sushi @buffets in the evening... :(

-Movie under the Stars clearly counts for Princess - but Celebrity has installed a Movie Bar on three M-Class ships, but I do not know how it compares to MUTS

-Culinaric events with Princess, such as tea time for evryone (Elite perk on Celebrity sailings), champagne pyramide, pub lunch on selected ships

-excellent pool areas on Princess ships, but also loved the pool deck of X Millennium

We have been sailing on NCL Jade in April 2016, and compared to Celebrity I found NCL as good as Celebrity, if not slightly better, on NCL some service aspects were given I did not epect and did not get on Celebrity.

All in all I liked Celebrity, especially I loved the layout of Celebrity Summit/Millennium, and the overall food quality was great - no mistakes here, but the same was true for Princess and NCL.

If itinerary and price are reasonable, than I'd consider X again, but I'd prefer Princess, try out HAL (as I do in 2017), and I am indifferent in choosing Celebrity or the smaller NCL ships... :)

I have only cruised Celebrity once. I found them wanting in every way. I have sailed four times on Princess and four times on Norwegian once on Holland. Celebrity is the only one to which I would not go back.

We are very loyal to Princess and find it makes us feel very much at home. We sailed on Celebrity last December for a week, and enjoyed it. A few caveats - we had a suite, we had the full on beverage package as part of our booking, we were with a group.

I think the two biggest things we felt were the negatives with Celebrity is the lack of self-service passengers laundries, and we really were not a fan of their buffet, especially what ever it is they think is pizza. Although we are elite on Princess, I do not send out my delicates, I do them myself in the laundromats, as I don't want many of the items washed in hot water or dried in the dryers. And for longer cruises, I can see this as being a significant issue on Celebrity. I love the pizza on Princess, and the stuff on Celebrity is just repulsive. Those are my complaints....I really do not have any other complaints. So would we sail Celebrity again, yes, under the right set of circumstances, i.e. a one week cruise, and going with a bunch of friends. Otherwise we will stay with Princess.

As we were in a suite, we enjoyed the separate dining room for all 3 meals. Lunch was amazing, dinner was even better, but breakfast - they flunked. We are used to breakfast in Sabatini's which is the reason we book a suite on Princess. But, they more than made up for the inedible breakfast (which we gave up on after day 3) by the butler delivering our cappuccino together with warm croissant and pastry each morning. We really appreciated that there was a sommelier in the dining room at lunch and dinner, and he took great care of everyone.

We found the Celebrity welcome aboard experience to be pretty civilized with a glass of champagne or mimosa offered immediately, and although we thought not being able to access our cabin immediately would be a pain, it was not too bad, we found a lounge, people watched, had lunch in the suite dining room, where they had a spot to store our hand luggage, and then the rooms were ready for everyone.

Muster was simple, but I felt that Celebrity was a bit more lax than Princess on covering the safety aspects of things. Didn't bother us, we are rather seasoned cruisers and pretty much have the drill memorized. After muster, it was about impossible to get a drink at any bar...talk about being swamped with business. The one bar we didn't try (but learned to go to) was the bar in the buffet area......never crowded when we went there to get a glass of wine (to go) or bottled water or the like.

The décor was comfortably elegant, but more on the sleek side. The vibe on the ship was a bit different than on Princess but still comfy.

Entertainment, well, I think it was pretty much a draw. Unimpressive is a word I would use for both lines, but that never has ruined a cruise for us.

I think you will find Celebrity to be a reasonable alternative to Princess, some things will be different, some better, some worse, and hopefully those differences will be interesting rather than spoilers for you.

We've only done 1 X cruise on a Solstice class ship, and we went based on price and itinerary. My thoughts:

checkin/embarkation/disembarkation - X was very smooth, no lineups

ship design - Princess feels much more open, X was like cattle herding

cabin size - X for this one. We liked having a sofa (regular balcony cabin).

bathroom - X again. It was larger and had a real shower.

cabin attendants - a tie. Staff were friendly, efficient and welcoming.

self laundry - Princess (hands down. It's a big plus for me)

Entertainment - X, although we found the venue for some entertainers was poor.

Daily Activities - Princess. Love MUTS (weather permitting)

Education - Princess. Love the learning aspect on Princess cruises.

Sales opportunities - X. Lots more shops, and higher end shops.

Buffet - X. Much larger and more variety. And insistence on hand sanitizing as you enter.

MDR - Princess. Apparently X has redirected spending to the specialty or elite restaurants. The quality, variety, and presentation of food we have found far better on Princess.

Wait staff - another tie. Staff on both cruise lines were excellent.

We enjoyed our X cruise, but we did find the atmosphere and "feel" of the ship very different. Lots of passengers on "free" drink packages, and elites with 3 free drinks a day, lent itself to a more party atmosphere. There is strong pressure to sell you spa and drink packages, tours, trinkets. Overall, if given the same price and itinerary, without question we would choose Princess. But if the itinerary and price is perfect for you, X is a good quality product and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend them.

The 2 things I liked on the Millennium that Princess doesn't have is the Thallossopy pool (sp?) and the beautiful dining room with the large window views.

The 2 things I liked on the Millennium that Princess doesn't have is the Thallossopy pool (sp?) and the beautiful dining room with the large window views.

They are on Regal and Royal (The Enclave).

The 2 things I liked on the Millennium that Princess doesn't have is the Thallossopy pool (sp?) and the beautiful dining room with the large window views.[/QU :)

 

Deleted :)

They are on Regal and Royal (The Enclave).

It was free on the Millennium. Quite large and not crowded.

From what I have read on Princess - it is small on these ships and there is a cost.

The problem with the T-pools on the M-class Celebrity ships is that they share their space with the Aqua Spa Cafe. So even though the pool area is considered part of the Spa and has signs posted "Quiet Therapy Area" you get diners pulling their chairs right up against the pool and putting their plates right on the ledge--or even getting into the T-pool with beverages in hand.

The problem with the T-pools on the M-class Celebrity ships is that they share their space with the Aqua Spa Cafe. So even though the pool area is considered part of the Spa and has signs posted "Quiet Therapy Area" you get diners pulling their chairs right up against the pool and putting their plates right on the ledge--or even getting into the T-pool with beverages in hand.

Have never see that

OP. We were quite loyal to Princess but have since switched to Celebrity. We both agree it's our cruise line of Choice going forward. I was on Millennium in 2005 so can't really comment on what shape she's in but we were on her sister ship in May this year and loved her. We certainly miss the laundry but love so much else about Celebrity that we'll make do. Give it a try

It was free on the Millennium. Quite large and not crowded.

 

From what I have read on Princess - it is small on these ships and there is a cost.

Cruise Junky has shown the T Pool is larger.

The Enclave is pretty pricey.

I don't feel they are any smaller, but they certainly are not free. :)

T pool looks to be about at least twice the size of the enclave.

http://www.seacourses.com/celebrity-cruises--celebrity-millennium.html

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ulraA-t23BE/UCdKDe43J_I/AAAAAAAAFbI/_LVRjSUYkbE/s1600/Royal_Princess_spa_t-pool.jpg

We sailed M last year round trip Hong Kong. We had an inside cabin and had a great cruise. M and Summit are my least favorite buffets for dinner but OK. MDR was very good.

We are platinum on P and Select on X. I consider the lines pretty equivalent.

We sail X or Silversea when we want a butler (simply not offered on Princess) and Princess when we don't. I like the way the buffet is set up on the Millennium class ships as opposed to the more congested arrangement on Princess.

We tend to stay in the room and like having two TV's in a mini-suite.

Not sure why Princess doesn't have butlered suites. :(

Our last Celebrity cruise was some time ago. I did not like the way they handled wine at embarkation for us--confiscating our two allowed bottles until they could confirm that we had not smuggled any other bottles on board. It took too long to get back (late on the second day of our cruise). I also did not like the way the wine steward wanted to handle our preordered bottles. He wanted me to sign for all three bottles on the first night. I told him I'd sign for each bottle when I received it. The food had gone downhill from our previous Celebrity cruises as well.

When we took this cruise, we were about tied in number--our fourth cruise on Celebrity and had been on five on Princess. We went back to Princess and have sailed 13 more times on it. We've also taken several HAL cruises during this time (and one Carnival quickie).

I still look at Celebrity but haven't found a great bargain or unique itinerary that will convince me to book a cruise on it instead of Princess or HAL.

Wow. Thanks cruisecritic hive. Very helpful. I think we will give it a try. The itinerary is just too ideal to pass up. And i like that they have three overnights giving us more time in the ports we are interested in. I may miss the Princess platinum perks but we have a lot more cruises to take in our lifetime.

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We were also booked on the Sapphire cruise that cancelled. We looked into Celebrity for the similar itinerary but are probably going to book Princess South America with our friends instead. Princess did say they would honor the beverage package for our replacement cruise but we're checking to see if the 3 for free is a better deal. By the way, Holland America also has the same itinerary as the Sapphire did leaving around the same timeframe. You might want to look at that as well. Good luck!!

Both Princess and Carnival have earned immense brand loyalty from us--we are platinum on both. BUT the recent shuffle for Sapphire Princess for 2018 meant our big birthdays cruise to Asia got cancelled. Celebrity has a 14 day that includes Singapore, Hong Kong AND Bangkok, three places on our wish list. And the price is right. So, Princess cruisers, without bashing Princess or Carnival, IF you have gone on Celebrity (especially Millenium and/or Asia itineraries) tell me what's different, what you liked and what you didn't.

 

Thanks in advance for your good counsel.

 

 

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Equal.

Although I haven't sailed celebrity for a while (since they don't offer much variety out of sydney/ australia). I would prefer celebrity over princess. Only since they have more modern ships.

At this stage

Princess is our first pick

Celebrity second

All else being equal.

In our opinion you will find as much difference between, say, two Princess ships and a Princess and a Celebrity.

A couple of things they each do a bit better than the other.

If we'd sailed Celebrity first our preference may have been the other way around.