Its Back To Princess For Me!!!!

[ambullmom]

I just returned from an 11 night cruise on Celebritys Summit. It was a wonderful cruise, but there was something missing that I find only on Princess.

 

I chose this cruise because I got a great deal and I was excited to try something new. Now I know!! Unless I get an offer I can't refuse it will always be Princess for me.

I just wonder if I will be able to settle for a 7 night cruise again.

Princess where I belong!!

 

Mary Beth

[FreQuentKruser]

it will always be Princess for me.

 

Welcome home! Would love to hear you compare, what did you dislike, what did you like. We also love Princess, we have over 20 Princess cruises and are leaving next month for a 4 week cruise on the Pacific Princess. We have also cruised on some other lines but never on Celebrity. We have been tempted to try Celebrity though and would LOVE to hear you write more about the differences.

[M&M CRUZERS]

ambullmom,

 

Would you please fill us in about what was "missing" on your recent Summit cruise? We normally sail on Princess but are trying the 14 night rt Hawaii cruise next March on the Summit. This will be our first time with Celebrity, travelling with friends, and am curious what you mean. We always love our Princess cruises and look forward to reading your "review".:D

[yancycruiser]

After six 7-day cruises, we are going on our first 10-day in November. I'm sure will be be spoiled and not want to settle for anything less. I had booked Celebrity last year and then switched to Princess. I spent a few months on the Celebrity Boards and it appears that most of them would not cruise anything but Celebrity. So I would also like you to compare for us. We look forward to it.

[Iamthesea]

Well, we loved Celebrity (our favorite so far), so I know I will just fall head over hills with the Coral, if Princess is much better.;)

[Coral]

Hi,

 

I sailed the Millennium in 2001 and whenever I saw a Princess ship, I wished that I was on Princess. We even had one of the large aft balconies and I still wished I was on Princess. I felt the same way on RCCL. I won't rule out sailing on these lines again but it would not be my first choice.

[PescadoAmarillo]

I've had the opportunity to spend 44 nights on Princess, 42 on Celebrity and 7 on Royal Caribbean in the past few months. I started this list of comparisons between Princess and Celebrity a couple of months ago, but haven't had time to really polish it up...which I may never have! But, it may be helpful for those people looking to compare Princess and Celebrity. At some point, I'd like to add the same analysis for Royal Caribbean, but I'd have to give up cruising to spend that kind of time on this stuff, and that will NEVER do!

 

Please note, these are just facts, NOT my opinions (which always gets us in trouble on these boards!), and just the facts for the ships I was on (Sapphire Princess and Grand Princess, and Galaxy and Constellation), and just the facts for the cruise dates I was on, because I've done enough back to backs to know that things change, sometimes quite a bit, from one cruise to the very next.

 

Also, I am not biased to either Princess or Celebrity or Royal Caribbean... frankly, we find Princess has the best itineraries and is the most "user friendly", Celebrity has the best menus, food, and service, and we could LIVE on the Radiance class of ship on Royal Caribbean. Each cruise line offers a different, and UNIQUE cruise, and we enjoy them all the most when we don't go on a cruise line expecting the same experience we had on a different cruise line.

 

Hope this helps...

 

 

CELEBRITY

 

Service

-Champagne and escort to cabin upon welcome

-Almost always an offer to carry your tray in the buffet

-An offer to refill coffee during breakfast and drinks during lunch in the buffet

-Cold towels and drinks when returning to the ship on port days

-Cold towels and sherbet around the pool on sea days

 

Dining

-Five course dinner menus

-Intermezzo sorbet pre-entrée course on formal nights

-Utensils are all laid out in the place settings

-Escargot and shrimp forks and intermezzo spoons

-Sommeliers, bar stewards, waiters, assistant waiters AND assistant maitre d’s

-Captains table on formal nights

-Dinner beef entrées are generally steaks

-Salmon, grilled chicken, sirloin steak offered in addition to menu items every night

-Made to order omelet bar in buffet

-Made to order Belgian waffle bar with toppings in buffet

-Made to order pasta bar at lunch in buffet

-Casual dinners must be reserved before 5:30pm each day, but feature three rotating sit down menus; however, pasta and pizza bar open till 1 am

-Breakfast room service menu includes scrambled eggs, ham and cheese omelet, bacon, sausage and ham in addition to continental breakfast

-Still have two midnight buffets on most cruises – island night fruit and sherbet buffet and incredible Gala buffet on final formal night

-Three juice offerings plus two more on request in the buffet at breakfast

-Lemonade and two fruit drinks offered in the buffet at lunch

-Free hot chocolate available in the buffet (as well as coffee and tea) 24 hours a day

-Ceramic dishes and bowls in buffet

-Small coffee cups and drink glasses in buffet

-Unlimited soda stickers average $5 a day for the length of the cruise

-Only one size of soda glasses

 

Entertainment

-Full pool bands with singers

-Live music during dinner in the dining room

-No freshwater pools (including children’s pool)

-Hot tubs close by 9 pm each evening; pools even earlier (varies by ship/itinerary)

-One alcoholic drink size, and all alcoholic drinks are more expensive than Princess

 

Amenities/Cabins

-Large showers

-Thicker bath towels than Princess

-Easy to use ship layout pamphlets in cabin upon arrival

-Robes for some cabins are really thick

-Unlimited pool towels in all the pool areas

-Gym towels in the fitness center

-Large towels for use on shore (great for the beach)

-Free tote bag in cabin (disposable, but lasts for one cruise)

-Umbrella in cabin

-Shampoo (with conditioner) and lotion dispensers in shower and bathroom – no little packets to have to tear open

-Plastic bag liners in all cabin trash cans

-No antibacterial wipes in fitness center

No individualized entertainment system in fitness center

-Fewer free classes in fitness center

-Steam room on Century class ships is extra charge for most people

-No TV programming guide in cabin

-“Telemarketing” channels on TV promoting ship products and services 24/7; similar commercials during TV programs

-Ability to check shipboard account balance on TV in cabin

-Ability to book shore excursions on TV in cabin

 

Loyalty Programs

Nice when you get to Select and Elect levels

 

Ambiance

-Waiters in buffet wear long sleeved white shirt, black bow tie, black pants and cummerbund

-Shorts never really appropriate in the evening unless you eat pizza or pasta and then go back to your cabin or up on an outer deck area; ditto jeans.

-Cruise directors appear on TV morning show in a suit and tie

 

PRINCESS

 

Service

-On line pre cruise support (Cruise Personalizer) with shore excursions charged to shipboard account

-Very limited (almost no) offers of coffee and beverage refills in the buffet

-Assistance with carrying food to table only if it appears you require it

 

Dining

-Personal Choice (Anytime) Dining as well as traditional dining

-24 hour buffet

-Four course dinner menus (but you can make them five course by ordering soup AND salad)

-Salmon, grilled chicken and steaks no longer available every evening in dining room

-Plastic dishes in buffet

-Soufflés offered for dessert most evenings

-Theme restaurants/menus on Sapphire and Diamond Princess

-No sommeliers, bar stewards and assistant maitre d’s (have head waiters, but fewer of them)

-Unlimited soda stickers average $2-$3 per day for the cruise duration

-Sodas in the bars/pool areas are offered in two or three sizes

-Ice tea is the only cold drink available at lunch and dinner for no charge

 

Entertainment

-24 hour freshwater pools and hot tubs

-Champagne waterfall on final formal night

-Multiple sizes of alcoholic drinks; lower prices than Celebrity

-Morning show with cruise director humorous, less formal

 

Amenities/Cabins

-Self service laundries

-Pool towels allocated to cabins, not unlimited although you can ask for more from your cabin steward

-No larger towels for beach use in ports

-No gym towels in fitness center

-Antibacterial wipes for fitness center equipment

-TV programming guide in cabin

-No ability to check shipboard account balance on TV; must go to Guest Relations desk

-Thinner bath towels than Celebrity

-Shampoo, conditioner and lotion in individual use packets

-Individual entertainment system in fitness center

-Free steam rooms in spa

 

Loyalty Programs

-Unlimited free internet when you get to your 6th cruise

-Unlimited free internet when you get to your 6th cruise(!)

-Unlimited free internet when you get to your 6th cruise(!!)

-Free laundry when you get to your 16th cruise

 

Ambiance

Wait staff in buffet wear tropical shirts and shorts

Cruise director appears on morning TV show in casual attire

[yancycruiser]

Thanks JBM410 for taking time to post a detailed review of both cruiselines from your perspective.

[Kirsten T]

I think that sums it up pretty well! I just did the 10 night Panama on Coral after 5 great cruises on Celebrity's Century class ships. We've always had a Sky Suite and enjoyed the extra perks that go with suites, as well as the incredible C-class Sky Suite verandas. I booked the Coral trip with my sister because of itinerary, departure port and price (nice veranda cabin for very reasonable fare.) My 2 biggest concerns were, would the service and food be comparable? The service was equally great, and overall the food was only a notch below Celebrity's. A few other comparisons (between Coral and Century's C-class only):

 

Blow dryers - advantage Princess. Celebrity's will give you 2nd degree burns on whatever hand you hold it in, but don't actually dry hair.

Buffet food - advantage Princess for selection and overall quality. I missed Celebrity's juices and lemonade, but loved the Princess salad bar and many choices. Celebrity's buffet service is nice, but I'd rather have better food and carry my own tray.

Restaurant food - Celebrity wins this one, but the food was certainly acceptable on Coral and the service was quite good, even using Anytime Dining. We could get chicken, steak, salmon and fettucine alfredo every night, which was a good thing on French night (I draw the line at frog's legs.) Coral's menus were less continental than Celebrity's and had better and more plentiful vegetarian items.

Pizza - advantage Princess. I've never eaten so much pizza in 10 days before.

Grill - advantage Celebrity. No turkey burgers on Princess, and their veggie burgers were a sort of pasty spinach "burger", if you can call it that. Celebrity also offered more toppings, although Princess had grilled knockwurst and bratwurst that were great - plain ol' dogs on Celebrity.

Pools and spas - advantage Princess, and Coral had way more seating available around the lido pool. The spas were much larger, although the excessive chlorine kept me from spending much time in them. Heated freshwater pools beat saltwater pools hands down. Coral's Lotus pool area was way nicer than the enclosed pool area on either Galaxy or Mercury.

Coffee - equally appalling on both lines. At least on Coral, you could get a free cup of fresh brewed coffee if you trotted down to La Patiserrie, the coffee bar in the atrium. We always got free cappucino as suite passengers on Celebrity, so I kind of missed that...

Entertainment - advantage Princess. The pool bands on Celebrity have been just okay, and the 2 guys on Coral knew a lot more songs (we know all of Celebrity's by day 5.) The production shows on Princess blew me away; they made Celebrity's seem like junior high school productions. The lounge bands were about equal; it was an older crowd on the 10 night Panama trip and the music matched the clientele.

Gym equipment was newer and more plentiful on Coral.

The daily newspaper was hard to decipher on Coral; I thought Celebrity's layout made it easier to find information.

Celebrity is better at getting people on and off the ship in port; Celebrity always runs multiple security lines and on Coral, there was usually just one.

 

I missed the little extras on Celebrity, but not enough to make me dislike Princess for not having them. The cruise director was goofy on Princess and they're more managerial on Celebrity - no big deal. I liked the different drink sizes and the fact that alcohol and soda were both cheaper on Coral. I didn't feel "nickeled and dimed to death" quite so much on Princess. I missed the extra room and the tub in Celebrity's Sky Suites but not enough to pay almost $1000 more for a 10 day cruise (Galaxy Panama vs Coral). If Celebrity had a cruise that worked for us next winter, we'd be on it, but they don't and I'm not losing any sleep over it. I was thrilled with Coral and can't wait to do the whole thing again next January. Would I try one of the Grand class ships? Probably not. But in the 2000 passenger range, I'd take either Century class on Celebrity or Coral and be happy either way. Expect to be satisfied and you'd probably be happy too.

 

Cheers,

Kirsten

[Toto2Kansas]

We sailed on RCI for 14 days through the Panama Canal (review is on CC under the Legend of the Seas) only a couple of weeks ago for the first time in many years. All I we could say when it was over was "take us back to Princess". The cruise was OK, but we also missed a lot of the things (like the food quality) on Princess.

[tapdancer_pm]

Hope I dont sound like I am picking apart your comparisons, but, on the Caribbean Princess they now have an attendant handing out as many pool towels as you would like and you can exchange them any time too for dry ones. I found this to be much better than being allotted them by the cabin steward. We also found dry ones iin our cabin when we returned each night also.

[Northender]

Thank you so much for the comparisons. I only want to comment on two of your Princess comparisons

 

 

 

-Salmon, grilled chicken and steaks no longer available every evening in dining room

Just got off The Star 4/10. Salmon, chicken and steak was on the available anytime menu in Anytime Dining. Salmon was delicious, chicken - well chicken is chicken, did not have steak, waited for tourenados (sp) of beef which turned out to be nice size filet mignon.

 

-Plastic dishes in buffet -

could this be a safety issue. You can go to HC and bring food out to tables in pool areas, etc.

 

DH and I feel as though we are going to stick with Princess, at least until retirement. When you only get one a year, want to stick with what we know and truly love.:)

 

Thanks again.

[Berliner]

...I just wonder if I will be able to settle for a 7 night cruise again.

Princess where I belong!!

 

Mary Beth

 

you won't,:) we started with 7 Day Western C. than 10 Day Panama and now 15 Hawaii .We dont even go without a Balcony anymore.It's an adiction.... but a good one.

 

Berliner

[PescadoAmarillo]

Hope I dont sound like I am picking apart your comparisons, but, on the Caribbean Princess they now have an attendant handing out as many pool towels as you would like and you can exchange them any time too for dry ones. I found this to be much better than being allotted them by the cabin steward. We also found dry ones iin our cabin when we returned each night also.

 

Not at all...that's the value of these boards. I know that you can't expect the exact same experience on every ship in a cruise line. Nice to know that the towels are "free-flowing" on the Caribbean Princess - as scuba divers, we never seem to have enough when we return from a dive excursion, to set everything on to dry. We simply ask for a minimum of 4 pool towels in the room every day on Princess, and have never had a problem doing it that way. Still, it would be nice to be able to wander up on deck, not planning to sit in a lounge chair, and then have pool towels available up there when we decide to do so anyways.

 

Also, I specifically asked for salmon when it wasn't on the menu on the Sapphire, and was told it wasn't available as it is on some of the other Princess ships. Possibly if I had had traditional dining, I could have gotten it if I pre-ordered it, but with Personal Choice, it just wasn't an option. I am a salmon freak - eat it at least 4 times a week at home - and I did miss it, but there was always a different fish to choose from.

[WeBeGone]

Thanks for the comparisons- we're straying from Princess in Jan for the Celebrity Millennium (I HAVE to go-it's work for me) and I've been apprehensive about leaving my beloved Princess. Now I feel a little better. thanks for good info

[ILUVCRUIZN]

This was a very interesting thread to read!!! Thanks for all of the great information.....

[geoherb]

Great listing of the amenities. One addition: On Princess, afternoon tea is served in one of the dining rooms each afternoon. On Celebrity, afternoon tea is served in the buffet most afternoons. There is just one formal afternoon tea served in the dining room. For that one, passengers are requested not to wear shorts.

 

We like both cruise lines and would gladly book either whenever we can find another cruise that fits our schedule.

[Northender]

JMB - sorry that you missed your salmon. We love it too and it was prepared very well on both The Star and The Grand. Could it be an East Coast/West Coast thing as regards availability. This was definately cold water salmon and definately not land-locked salmon. :) Just a guess on my part.:)

[argosy]

I've been on both, but prefer Princess. Even my lowest rated Princess cruise seemed to have something that Celebrity's missing, and in my opinion, that would be an atmosphere of the crew and staff that says "we are having a PHENOMENAL time!"

 

I did have some wonderful moments on the Millennium though. I especially liked the specialty restaurant. The sushi was by far better on Celebrity, for another.

 

I could care less about sorbet at the pool, a wine steward, and cool towels being handed to me as I board the ship, though. Many people like that stuff, but for me it's a wasted effort.

 

But yeah...if the price and itinerary were right, I'd go with Celebrity again.