Nearest comparable line to Celebrity

[catsdinner]

We just did 2 cruises b2b, first on Celebrity Reflection and then on Coral Princess. Both cruises were great but found service better on the Princess ship, especially in the buffet. Didn't like the beverage stations on the Reflection but loved that the waiters were there the moment we sat down on the Coral to bring us our beverages. Dining room on Coral Princess much less noisy. Reflection, the Show, was excellent. I think Celebrity shows are better than Princess but other entertainment on Princess is better. Chair hogs rampant on both ships. Dress code enforcement bad on both ships. Balcony cabin on Reflection had a sofa but it was uncomfortable so rarely sat on it, preferred sitting out on balcony so not an issue. More closet and storage space on Princess. Both lines have stringent smoking policy except on Princess they allow smoking in the casino some nights. Liked that on Princess the room steward called us by name every time she saw us in the hallway, that didn't happen on Celebrity. Food was great in the MDR on both ships, liked that escargot was available every night on Celebrity. Love the Fettucine Alfredo on Princess. We had Select dining on Celebrity and didn't like that every night they sat us at a table for 2 even though we said we would share a table. On Princess we had a table for 6 or 8 every night and enjoyed that more. Reflection is a beautiful ship, Coral is also beautiful but more laid back. There were more children on Celebrity but it was a 7 day cruise and Princess was a 11 day cruise. Like that Princess has laundry rooms so we can iron clothes if necessary. Like that on Princess excursions are paid for on board even if you order them before boarding. Select dining on Celebrity gratuities must be paid for before boarding, not on Princess. This is great when you have a large OBC. Princess we get OBC for being veterans and different OBCs can be combined (Veterans, FCC, shareholders, TA, etc) not on Celebrity. Couldn't use my FCC and drink package for same booking.

The above is my opinion only.

 

Sarah

[jomf]

I would say Princess - Except for the fact that their beds are awful. Any cruise line that offers bed toppers needs to look at the standard of their mattresses.

 

Our last cruise with Princess was spoiled by a bed that was uncomfortable even with a bed topper. The beds on Celebrity have been very good so far.

 

We shall try RCCL next time.

[tbmrt]

From what I understand there were many problems when they first brought the Divina to Miami for Caribbean cruises. We booked it last December thinking that we would deal with some problems due to the price and ports.

 

Big surprise...Loved everything about the ship. Some of the bartenders were new and not trained well, but I'm sure that's been taken care of by now.

[Jayneykul]

We like Cunard as much as Celebrity they each have things we prefer. Celebrity have better entertainment and speciality dining, Cunard has better service and deck space.

We had one terrible experience on MSC and wouldnt go with them again even if it was free to end the terrible experience it took 5.5 hours to disembark in Venice and that was on a small ship! It still makes me cringe to think about that holiday

[helpthejuggler]

Princess -- not really; too crowded and the food is really so so. Holland America -- not any more; dark, slow, and a little sad.

Cunard -- not bad; except for the buffet, a really nice experience; very formal.

Oceania and Azamara -- wonderful, if you can afford it. Select ships of Royal Caribbean -- surprisingly very good; like maybe the Allure, Oasis and perhaps the new ships coming out soon? (Quantum/Anthem); older ships not so much.

 

Enjoy!

Kel:)

 

Re comment on Cunard buffet...

The QM2 buffet has a very unique and compromised layout.

 

This problem does not apply on Queen Victoria/Elizabeth whose design is much more conventional and very pleasant.

Edited April 1, 2014 by helpthejuggler

[Lady Arwen]

We alternate between Celebrity and Princess and love them both. Some things I prefer about Princess is the bread, the desserts, the pasta and did I mention the bread? lol Service is wonderful on both, but Celebrity's cabins are a bit nicer and the beds are more comfortable. Would not hesitate to sail with either of them. HAL, not so much.

[kelmac]

Re comment on Cunard buffet...

The QM2 buffet has a very unique and compromised layout.

 

This problem does not apply on Queen Victoria/Elizabeth whose design is much more conventional and very pleasant.

 

htj,

 

Would love to try out Victoria or Elizabeth! The QM2 makes up for the poor buffet by having every meal in the MDR available every day. I could easily alternate between Cunard and Celebrity.

 

Enjoy!

Kel:)

[BosoxI]

We just did 2 cruises b2b, first on Celebrity Reflection and then on Coral Princess. Both cruises were great but found service better on the Princess ship, especially in the buffet. Didn't like the beverage stations on the Reflection but loved that the waiters were there the moment we sat down on the Coral to bring us our beverages. Dining room on Coral Princess much less noisy. Reflection, the Show, was excellent. I think Celebrity shows are better than Princess but other entertainment on Princess is better. Chair hogs rampant on both ships. Dress code enforcement bad on both ships. Balcony cabin on Reflection had a sofa but it was uncomfortable so rarely sat on it, preferred sitting out on balcony so not an issue. More closet and storage space on Princess. Both lines have stringent smoking policy except on Princess they allow smoking in the casino some nights. Liked that on Princess the room steward called us by name every time she saw us in the hallway, that didn't happen on Celebrity. Food was great in the MDR on both ships, liked that escargot was available every night on Celebrity. Love the Fettucine Alfredo on Princess. We had Select dining on Celebrity and didn't like that every night they sat us at a table for 2 even though we said we would share a table. On Princess we had a table for 6 or 8 every night and enjoyed that more. Reflection is a beautiful ship, Coral is also beautiful but more laid back. There were more children on Celebrity but it was a 7 day cruise and Princess was a 11 day cruise. Like that Princess has laundry rooms so we can iron clothes if necessary. Like that on Princess excursions are paid for on board even if you order them before boarding. Select dining on Celebrity gratuities must be paid for before boarding, not on Princess. This is great when you have a large OBC. Princess we get OBC for being veterans and different OBCs can be combined (Veterans, FCC, shareholders, TA, etc) not on Celebrity. Couldn't use my FCC and drink package for same booking.

The above is my opinion only.

 

Sarah

 

 

Thanks for your very even handed comparison. We like both lines and don't understand the constant sniping that appears from some X fanatics. Princess' food has always been more appealing and its wait staff had been far more professional. That's what steered us to them, originally. More recently, however, Celebrity's food has improved (I know some would argue this) from what it had been and the staff more professional. But on X I always sense that the waiters are under tremendous stress, even in Blu. I feel sorry for them. Celebrity's Soltice class is nicer than the Grand, but the Princess small ships were slways a pleasure. Fewer than 700 passengers. Great. Now everything is huge with all lines. Truth be told, I prefer the elegance of Cunard over all of them.

[Queen of Oakville]

We were in our early 30s when we did our one and only Princess Cruise. There was no one even close to us in age. We get along with people of all ages. We were put off by one passenger who told us the "type of people who sail Royal aren't really the type of people who sail Princess". His elitist attitude turned me. I won't say he was representative of all passengers. But overall, we didn't "click" with Princess.

 

We've only taken 1 HAL cruise and we loved it. The service was AWESOME.

 

We're going on our first X cruise this year ... I'm hoping we can expect the same level of service on X.

 

From reading this thread, I learned that X is completely non-smoking. That's another plus for me.

[ORV]

From reading this thread, I learned that X is completely non-smoking. That's another plus for me.

 

Don't know where you got that idea, there are definitely smoking areas. There is no inside smoking and no smoking on balconies, but there are designated areas. If you are averse to smoke it's always a good idea to know where these areas are on the ship you sail on where you can avoid them.

[OCruisers]

Don't know where you got that idea, there are definitely smoking areas. There is no inside smoking and no smoking on balconies, but there are designated areas. If you are averse to smoke it's always a good idea to know where these areas are on the ship you sail on where you can avoid them.

 

Yes, Celebrity certainly does have a few outside smoking areas.

LuLu

~~~

[Oville]

Yes, Celebrity certainly does have a few outside smoking areas.

LuLu

~~~

 

Yes they do and half the Sunset Bar is one of them where cigar smoking is also permitted.

Edited April 1, 2014 by Oville

[Queen of Oakville]

thanks for all the clarifications on the smoking areas

 

*noted*

 

Someone at the start mentioned no smoking inside.

 

my biggest concern is the casino, which is on the inside of the ship : )

[blueboro]

The new Royal Princess and soon to be Regal Princess have deluxe balconies and premium deluxe balconies that have a 2 seater sofa like a loveseat.

 

Keep in mind that the majority of balconies on Royal/Regal are very small and have generated lots of complaints. We enjoyed our Caribbean Princess last year but it was crowded and a lot of "dead ends" on certain decks. We found HAL's Nieuw Amsterdam very close to Celebrity and enjoyed it very much...plus it carries less passengers than the S-class.

[CathyCruises]

IMO there is no comparison between the ships between S class and whatever class Sapphire is in. I was depressed all week by the tacky decor, small closed off rooms, dead ends everywhere, dar and dreary indoor bars. Other things were fine but I couldn't get past that decor. Also the 'solarium' area, which we use a lot on X, was totally under furnished with a mishmash of plastic tables and chairs, and amazingly loud with screaming kids and table game players. Very disappointing.

[Jade13]

Hal

Edited April 1, 2014 by Jade13

[gr82cu2]

I'm finding this thread very interesting. We are about to sail X for the first time the end of May. We board only 11 days after disembarking Royal Princess so the experiences will be very close to each other in time. We have sailed Princess 4 times prior and also Royal Caribbean 3 times, NCL twice and Carnival once. They all have their differences. Some are better at some things than others are. We have felt our experiences on Royal Caribbean were quite comparable to those on Princess. I don't care for NCL at all and Carnival to me was ......meh....... Our son and daughter in law love Carnival though.

[Fixit2010]

Hmm looks like Princess is a favourite. What are they like for restaurants compared to ?

[Going Coastal]

Here is one more opinion FWIW. We are long time Celebrity fans who have been branching out the past few years. Some things we really like about Princess are being able to use the cabin as soon as we board and breakfast in Sabatini's if in a suite. We have also enjoyed the smaller ships of Oceania and Azamara on some itineraries like SE Asia where we want to get very close to the action. I think we just love to cruise!

 

 

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[downsmead]

The Deluxe Balcony cabins on the new Royal, and yet to be launched, Regal Princess do have sofas and are slightly more roomy than the standard balcony cabins. However the balconies themselves are said to be tiny (9' x 4'), and are the same size for all balcony cabins :(. We have sailed on both X and Princess and like them both and have upcoming trips booked one on each. I love Aqua class on X and so it will be interesting to see how our trip on the new Regal Princess compares. I book according to the itinery but it is good to note that Holland America seems quite highly thought of as well.

[cartervan]

I'm very surprised that there hasn't been more mention of HAL as being very comparable. After 10 or 12 cruises with Holland America (and a couple with NCL and one with Carnival) we finally took our first cruise with Celebrity last year (we choose more because of the itinerary than anything) and felt right at home from the first moments. We're looking forward to our next cruise on the Constellation in June. I don't know if you can really compare HAL to any of the big S class ships, however. We really prefer the smaller ships.

[FLACRUISER99]

If you had to select another line for one season, which other line comes close to Celebrity?

I am going to say HAL, I gave up on Princess even though I have 20+ cruises with them.

[mcrcruiser]

Imo it is Holland America for food quality ,presentation & service on the ship ;which is very comparable to Celebrity in those regards .

 

Where Holland misses imo is the entertainment & ship activities departments . Holland in those areas are dull when comparing to Celebrity ;)

[jgreenwo17]

Every Princess cruise I have been on, (two insides and one balcony), all had mini fridges.

No sofas in the insides but for sure on a regular balcony.

[jgreenwo17]

"Not so fast" The sofas on Princess are in the mini suites and above. (Not regular balconies). I stand corrected.

 

I have sailled HAL and Princess and love them both. Princess offers more than HAL in the way of MUTS,The Sanctuary, etc. I'm an X newbie so I will find out shortly who I like better. Get to try an S class first. Hopefully get to sail on an M class next year.