Royal Princess v Celebrity Eclipse

We have never sailed on Princess, but have been a little dismayed about the huge price rises recently on Celebrity.

We were looking at a de lux balcony on Royal Princess, but hear that they are much smaller than the Aqua (A1) or Conciege (C2) balcony cabins on Eclipse.

So our question is that if we are used to these cabins on Celebrity should we opt for mini suite?

Also how do the Club Class mini suites compare with the Aqua on Celebrity (we love Blu!)

Thank you in advance

We've sailed both many times, including Deluxe balconies on Royal and Aqua on Eclipse.

There's no comparison between Aqua on Celebrity and Club Class on Princess. Aqua has Blu, a completely separate dining room with completely different menu, etc, plus Persian Gardens, etc. While Club Class dining is a small section of the main dining room with one to two additional items while the rest of the menu is the same as the rest. Very minimal other extra perks...

As for size of cabins, the Deluxe balcony on Royal is actually larger than balcony cabins in Eclipse (CC and Aqua cabins are same size as standard balconies on Solstice class ships, 233-279 (Princess) vs . 194 square feet (Aqua).

The Deluxe balconies have spacious walk in closet with loads more space than Eclipse closest, plus bed area, sofa, desk with chair, and balcony. Bathroom is decent sized, not as much storage as Celebrity but larger shower - although still a shower curtain rather th a n the capsule shower. Larger ledge to store your own toiletries and for ladies to shave, handheld shower head, etc..

On Royal, unless we're booking a suite, we only book Deluxe balcony cabins. The extra sitting space and lower price than standard balconies sell it for us. We use the money saved for Ultimate Balcony Dinner (nothing equivalent on Celebrity), Crown Grill, Winemaker's Dinner, etc..

If you've enjoyed Celebrity, you'll very likely enjoy Princess. Similar demographics, etc. Royal is a beautiful ship...

Have s great sailing....

We love Celebrity and are trying Crown Princess for the first time in July in a club class. Will let you know!:)

We are elite on Princess and Celebrity. I much prefer Princess to Celebrity... feel Princess is more responsive to special requests off menu in the MDR, like the MDR on Princess ships better than the larger X ships, we have cruise on the Eclipse, Equinox, and Silhoutte, (MDR on X too crowded and noisy) feel entertainment on Princess is more consistent then X.

Ref cabins we always book a mini suite on Princess... like the extra space and having a bath tube. On X we booked CC or better.

I would not book Club Class on Princess unless the price was right, prefer a regular mini suite and book and pay extra for the Crown Grill Steak house, $29 pp a night.

We sailed on the Regal Princess Dec 18-29 in a deluxe balcony. We sailed AQ on the Eclipse Jan 2-8. We enjoyed both cruises very much, but, we loved the Regal! Yes, the balcony is very small, but, the ship and personnel, imo, make up for it. Princess personnel are very eager to please. Also, it is very nice to have the tableware set on the table, and drink service in the casual buffet restaurant. Please come back and let us know what you decide. There is so much we enjoyed about the Regal which is the same class as the Royal.

We sailed on the Regal Princess Dec 18-29 in a deluxe balcony. We sailed AQ on the Eclipse Jan 2-8. We enjoyed both cruises very much, but, we loved the Regal! Yes, the balcony is very small, but, the ship and personnel, imo, make up for it. Princess personnel are very eager to please. Also, it is very nice to have the tableware set on the table, and drink service in the casual buffet restaurant. Please come back and let us know what you decide. There is so much we enjoyed about the Regal which is the same class as the Royal.

We like both ships, but prefer the Eclipse for these reasons: Stairs near elevators(hear this will be rectified on Regal in future)Large forward Sky Lounge. Regal has nothing like it. Eclipse theater much nicer & has beverage service & place for your drinks. Love the 14 day winter Caribbean trips(though this ends in 2019)Just the overall layout of Eclipse.

We at Platinum on Princess and Elite on Celebrity. Both are excellent lines, and when one travels on both lines, they will notice more in common, than differences.

Celebrity has the Aqua Class and the Blu Dining Room. Princess has now moved to compete with this by adding Club Class. I think that Club Class since it is a new product is evolving, and most likely will wind up fairly similar to Aqua Class. Club Class requires that one either books a suite on mini-suite which are fairly large cabins, as compared to Celebrity in which they designate a group of balcony cabins as Aqua Class.

The main dining rooms are both lines are fairly similar.

Entertainment is excellent on both Celebrity and Princess.

We did find that the itineraries on Princess may be better than the scheduled stops on Celebrity.

As for Price, fairly similar, but we do feel that Princess may be more expensive.

The Royal Class on Princess, like the Solstice Class on Celebrity have their strengths and weaknesses. Again the ships have more in common, than differences.

But are well run lines, One cannot go wrong with either of them.