Compare celebrity with princess

[Christine Frances]

Do they allow smoking in the casino on Princess? I recently took a Royal cruise. where smoking is allowed, and that has now become a deciding factor for me as to which cruise line I choose in the future.

 

Yes, they allow smoking in the Casino on Princess

[Jetswdo]

I was on the Reflection, aqua class last June. Was on the Royal Princess this April:

 

Reflection:

Ship was very comfortable. Adult area had lovely enclosed pool and lounges included with fare. Excellent food. Elevators never felt crowded.

 

Royal:

 

Ship layout was annoying. Steam room and spas not next to gym, only 40 people allowed to use it per sailing? Adult area difficult to get into, ridiculously over priced, very little shade there or any place else on the ship. Tiny elevators, people packed in like sardines. Ship felt crowded all over. But, food was unusally good and was almost as excellent as Celebrity Reflection.

 

One Princess big plus is the very convenient self service laundry. Even if Celebrity laundry would be free, I prefer to was my own clothes, period. It did drive me crazy on the Reflection, having to wash my clothes in the sink and then hang dry.

[vickykay]

We have been on several Celebrity cruises and one Caribbean Princess to Canada/New england. Much prefer Celebrity. We always enjoy our cruises ( not that fussy, when meals provided and cabin cleaned, we are happy). There were some things however, that we did not like about the Caribbean Princess. We much prefer the traditional main dining room rather than the small ones on Princess. Food in MDR was very good but the buffet for

lunch, not so much. Reminded us of a high school cafeteria. Also the hardest beds we ever sly on. We really enjoyed the coffee cafe on Princess and the treats, sandwiches offered as well as the coffee card. Staff on both always terrific. Both lines provide an enjoyable cruise.

[true45]

The only thing that was notably better in Princess was the pizza fresh at International cafe. The pasta and gelato were good too

 

Service was not good at all on Princess. Coffee even in pay venue was awful. The ship was crowded. Lots of chair hogs. Never could find any kind of chair in shade Buffet set up inefficient and sparse offerings. Room service breakfast awful

 

We tried Princess for the itinerary but decided the islands are often so alike and we cruise for the sea and ship so back to celebrity for S class By the way Princess was more expensive too

 

 

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[seacruise9]

Hi,

 

I like both lines and think they overall are fairly comparable. Both lines have strong points and some areas that could be improved. If you like Celebrity, you probably also will like Princess. I was a little disappointed with my last Celebrity cruise (the five-day Celebrity Constellation cruise in December 2013 that had engines problems and spent many extra hours in Key West). I think the line could have handled the situation better. I am currently favoring Princess, but I am sure that I will also cruise on Celebrity again in the future.

 

I cruised aboard the Caribbean Princess in 2009 and will be doing a second cruise on this ship in August.

 

Chuck

Edited June 11, 2014 by seacruise9

[Oxo]

choosing X. With the cocktail hour each day and breakfast in the morning and internet fare exceeds what Princess does for its top cruisers.

 

How much Internet does Celebrity and Princess provide for their top tier cruisers?

[Pennstatedj]

Elite get 100 min, elite plus 200 and Zenith is free I think.

Princess top get 100, I think.

Internet is better on X on S class ships when on regular cruises not TA where too many elites have free minutes.

I always seem to have enough.

Had some issues on M class ships. I hope new supplier improves service.

The newer ships have better technology and is slightly better.

[Cruise Junky]

Elite get 100 min, elite plus 200 and Zenith is free I think.

Princess top get 100, I think.

Internet is better on X on S class ships when on regular cruises not TA where too many elites have free minutes.

I always seem to have enough.

Had some issues on M class ships. I hope new supplier improves service.

The newer ships have better technology and is slightly better.

 

Nope, Princess Internet benefit is better than Celebrity's

 

 

VOYAGE DURATION MINUTES

7 days or less 150

8-20 days 250

21+ days 500

[jgreenwo17]

As a loyal celebrity cruiser I would love to know how people would compare Princess ,in particular Carribean Princess ,with the solstice ships? I would not normally consider changing but as we are in Florida at a time when the Celebrity ships are still in Europe ,we don't have a choice. Have just been reading the member reviews on the Princess ship and am not filled with confidence to book it! Has anyone been on both? How would you compare them?

 

DW and I sailed on the Caribbean Princess about 3 years ago out of NY to NE on a 7 night cruise. I think the food overall is comparable. IMHO, Princess does better with fish and X does better with beef. I feel the service on Princess is also comparable to X. (Especially in the buffet areas). The only thing I did not like about the Caribbean Princess were the dead ends on some decks. X ships, especially S class are laid out so much better than Princess. The decor is better on X. Entertainment is pretty close on both lines.

 

I would not hesitate to sail on the Caribbean Princess again. It was my first Princess cruise and I have sailed two other times aboard their ships.

Edited June 12, 2014 by jgreenwo17

[Nancyquilts]

We are lucky to be elite on both X and Princess. Altho' it may have changed, for 14 days X gave us 90 minutes each, and Princess 250.

[lovey1103]

X is better overall - the buffet is far superior to Princess.

I do love Princess coffee cards though.

[smtcan]

We cruise mostly with Celebrity but recently have done three Princess cruises. We still prefer Celebrity but will choose Princess if the itinerary is better.

 

Dislikes on Princess:

- plastic plates in buffet (gives it a real canteen flavour)

- small theatres with short shows (have to arrive 45 minutes early to get seats together for a 30 minute show)

- the noisy movie screen blaring concerts most of the day although it's good to watch a movie at night

 

Likes on Princess

- International cafe

- coffee card

- ultimate balcony dinner

 

Service is comparable on both, and generally food is too. We have had some wonderful meals on both, many good average meals on both, but the very few disappointing meals we have had have been on Princess, particularly prime rib, which I tried a second time to see if the first was an anomaly and found it wasn't!

 

Our next cruise is on Royal Princess which will be an experience. From choice we never cruise in school holidays, but this time we are traveling with our sons and their families, so we expect it to be interesting. In 2015 we have a B2B2B booked on Celebrity.

 

Sheila

[derekjp47]

As a loyal celebrity cruiser I would love to know how people would compare Princess ,in particular Carribean Princess ,with the solstice ships? I would not normally consider changing but as we are in Florida at a time when the Celebrity ships are still in Europe ,we don't have a choice. Have just been reading the member reviews on the Princess ship and am not filled with confidence to book it! Has anyone been on both? How would you compare them?

 

If you enjoy Celebrity, you will equally like Princess. The main difference will be the age of the ship, but the Carribean has just been in dry dock and should be in good shape. We have done a dozen cruises on each line including two on the Carribean and find them very comparable in every way.

[Oxo]

X is better overall - the buffet is far superior to Princess.

I do love Princess coffee cards though.

 

I do agree with this, however, with the two new Princess ships (Royal and Regal) that just came out within the past year, this is no longer true. Princess' Royal and Regal have a fantastic buffet area that is really great. There is much more being offered now on these two ships.

[avalon1025]

Over the past 12 weeks i've had the good fortune to sail the Celebrity Silhouette, Crown Princess (similar to the Caribbean) and the Westerdam. My favorite ship was the Silhouette, no ship can compare to how beautiful this ship is (my type of decor), the Westerdam was a lovely cruise with great service. The Crown was one of the worst cruises I've been on in recent times. The ship was way way too crowded (lines everywhere - cooler weather cruise), dated tacky decor (think mall based chain restaurant - Olive Garden?), overall just mediocre and bland. The Crown had the worst casual restaurant set up at sea (the horizon court -crowded and every morning consisted of hunting for a sticky table to eat off plastic plates - both other cruise lines serve on china), the gym was small and crowded and the spa old and in need of an update. In over 85 cruises, one of the few ships I could not wait to get off of. Minor to some, but Princess also only carried the cheapest of liquors, I drink bourbon and Celebrity and HAL had great selections, Princess only the cheapest junk. I am platinum on Princess and its sad to see how far down the cruise line chain they have been repositioned

Edited June 13, 2014 by avalon1025

[shipfriend_max]

Although I have posted already my thoughts, here some additions:

IMHO you recognize that Celebrity operates in the Premium market, and Princess in the (very good) standard market. Why?
-Plastic plates on Princess ships at the buffets
-similar sized Princess ships usually carry more passengers
(except Coral/Island Princess vs. X Millennium Class, where it is almost the same)
-fresh food stations at the buffet of Celebrity (Stir Fry, Pasta, Grill)
-more soft drinks included in the fare
-I personally like that X ships have "real" observation lounges at the front - ok, the Skywalker on some Princess ships is a very nice alternative.
-Celebrity provides cold towel service in hot areas, and offers cold drinks and towels when returning to the ship.

All in all I need to say that I really like both lines.
But usually Celebrity costs less than Princess, and you get more.

[wallie5446]

[quote name='keenager']As a loyal celebrity cruiser I would love to know how people would compare Princess ,in particular Carribean Princess ,with the solstice ships? I would not normally consider changing but as we are in Florida at a time when the Celebrity ships are still in Europe ,we don't have a choice. Have just been reading the member reviews on the Princess ship and am not filled with confidence to book it! Has anyone been on both? How would you compare them?[/quote]

Ruby Princess in 2012, Reflection last Nov 2013. Went on both with the same couple, they thought the Ruby was great, I thought it OK, my wife wont think about sailing Princess again!:confused: ( we first sailed Princess in 1992, X in 1994)) How do 4 people eat, dance, drink, together for 7 days and walk away with totally different feelings?

Now the Reflection last Nov! We were all in tune! One of the best cruises any of us had been on in 25+ years. The S-Class ships are the best.

Will Princess be bad? Heck no, IMHO. Will there be things you compare to Celebrity and go, hummmm? Yes there will. The staff is friendly and careing just as on X.

Footnote: To this day my wife still talks about the Ultimate Balcony Dinning on the Ruby as one of the best things ever on a cruise. Go figure! Edited June 13, 2014 by wallie5446