Celebrity vs Princess

[allegiant]

In the past 8 years we have gone on 5 Celebrity seven day cruises in the Carribean and 2 Royal Carribean. We prefer Celebrity. The ships were Summit, Solstice,Eclipse and Reflection. We enjoyed them all. We thought the food and service were excellent. Now a member of our travel group has suggested Princess for a Carribean Cruise on the Regal Princess. None of us has cruised with them. Knowing in advance that there will be pros and cons, can anyone who has been on both lines give us the differences we can expect with Princess? Comparison, Similarities and Differences

Thank you

[eandj]

Go for it. ;)

The two lines are more similar than different. We have been on 7 or 8 X cruises including the s class ships. We were on Regal twice in the last 14 months. We enjoyed it. A big complaint is balcony size...small. However with research you can go for rooms with extended ones. (There are no ocean view, only insides and balcony cabins. ) S class verandah rooms are larger. You need to book a deluxe balcony or mini suite on Regal for a sofa.

Lots of restaurant venues. No charge for a couple of those. Plus a huge buffet,grill , pizza bar etc. I'm a seafood eater and Princess offers lots. We found food very good. Entertainment is very good. Happy hours a couple times a day. Drinks less costly than on X.

There are little pluses and minuses for each. You won't be disappointed.

[hughdm]

We like Princess, but as far as the shipboard experience is concerned, Celebrity is just a bit better in the most important categories. These are only our opinions, your mileage may vary:

 

Dining room food - Celebrity

Specialty restaurants - Celebrity except for steakhouse type

Steakhouse specialty restaurant - Princess

Entertainment - Celebrity

Service - Celebrity

Excursions - Celebrity

Suite class cabins - Celebrity

Suite passenger perks - Celebrity by a mile

Drinks - Tie

Buffet - Princess

Pizza - Princess

Price point - Princess

If you are going to Alaska - Princess by a mile.

[allegiant]

Thank you for your nice reply.

[allegiant]

Viva Cruise Critic! So nice Thank you

[macaroni]

I would have to say that Princess has much better entertainment..

[Bytor62]

We like Princess, but as far as the shipboard experience is concerned, Celebrity is just a bit better in the most important categories. These are only our opinions, your mileage may vary:

 

 

If you are going to Alaska - Princess by a mile.

 

If you don't mind me asking, why Princess for Alaska? We will be on Reflection in February and were thinking of booking a future cruise to Alaska while on board. I have really only been on Celebrity but am open to other lines, have always wanted to try Princess.

[hughdm]

I would have to say that Princess has much better entertainment..

They had the best piano bar entertainer by far on a couple of our cruises. Bert WITH AN E! You had to be there. Seriously, the Princess piano bars are usually a plus, but often the venue they use has limited seating. Another thing Celebrity has going for it is that we never have trouble getting show seats and on Princess, you'd better go early!

[hughdm]

If you don't mind me asking, why Princess for Alaska? We will be on Reflection in February and were thinking of booking a future cruise to Alaska while on board. I have really only been on Celebrity but am open to other lines, have always wanted to try Princess.

 

1. They go into Glacier Bay on many itineraries. If you take an Alaskan cruise, you really need to go to Glacier Bay.
   
2. If you want a cruise tour, Princess is very well organized. A well-oiled machine. They own five of their own excellent resorts.
   

[OCruisers]

We like Celebrity and still cruise on Celebrity from time to time ... BUT Princess is our favorite and the best fit for us. :)

Do give Princess a try to see for yourself.

 

LuLu

[Cruise Raider]

I may really going to throw a wrench into this but would say Celebrity is far better in my opinion! I especially love the S-class for Alaska itineraries.

 

Although we sail on Princess quite often as they haven't abandoned us here on the west coast as many cruise lines seem to have done, we do prefer Celebrity over all other cruise lines. I am not one that believes they are very similar at all. I think Royal Caribbean is more like Princess than Celebrity is. Overall -- I think you will get more families and young children on Princess than you will ever see on Celebrity....if that is a consideration.

 

Of the things I do like on Princess better, though --

 

Piano Bar

Bogo event during twice daily happy hours (buy one, get one for a dollar)

Pizza

Price of specialty restaurants (half the price of those on Celebrity)

Large open closets with tons of shelving and storage space

Room service (not the menu but the actual service -- quick and accurate)

MUTS -- complete with popcorn

[Hlitner]

We regularly cruise both lines (among others). In fact, 3 weeks ago we were on the Regal Princess and next week we will be on the Celebrity Eclipse. We enjoy both lines. Each has their pros and cons (and this differs among ships) but that kind of variety makes things new and fun. The Regal is the newest Princess ship and she is gorgeous. But like very ship she does have some design flaws so you might want to read some reviews (there are plenty here on CC) of the Regal and Royal (they are sister ships with a similar design) before you select a cabin location.

 

Hank

[smtcan]

[quote name=Cruise Raider;48359137

 

Of the things I do like on Princess better' date=' though --

 

Piano Bar

Bogo event during twice daily happy hours (buy one, get one for a dollar)

Pizza

Price of specialty restaurants (half the price of those on Celebrity)

Large open closets with tons of shelving and storage space

Room service (not the menu but the actual service -- quick and accurate)

MUTS -- complete with popcorn[/quote]

 

I would agree with many of these points, but a lot depends on the ship. We have cruised extensively on Celebrity M and S class, and on three of the older Princess ships, Star, Ruby and Emerald. We rated Celebrity M class above these. When we cruised on Royal Princess we loved the ship. It was comparable to S class in style and ambience and since we are not traditional Princess cruisers we didn't mind the lack of a promenade deck. We had a cabin near the aft so the lack of a centre staircase didn't bother us. The only things we didn't like were the small theatre and short shows, and MUTS. Fine for actually watching movies under the stars, but really annoying having loud concerts and kids movies all day.

[drakes2]

I love both lines for different reasons, Celebrity's balconies a little larger than Princess, not really interested in MUTS, enjoy the entertainment on Princess more. My friend and I were on the Royal a couple of years ago when it was just around 6 months old and loved the Pizza bar, went there most days for lunch and no extra charge, also the Elite lounge, where we went for pre dinner drinks and snacks, excellent smoked salmon, breads, tons of specialty cheeses, all at no extra charge, in fact, I found several venues that did not have an extra fee. I do enjoy the wine tours on Celebrity more than Princess and find the S. Caribbean cruises cheaper on Celebrity.

I would agree with many of these points, but a lot depends on the ship. We have cruised extensively on Celebrity M and S class, and on three of the older Princess ships, Star, Ruby and Emerald. We rated Celebrity M class above these. When we cruised on Royal Princess we loved the ship. It was comparable to S class in style and ambience and since we are not traditional Princess cruisers we didn't mind the lack of a promenade deck. We had a cabin near the aft so the lack of a centre staircase didn't bother us. The only things we didn't like were the small theatre and short shows, and MUTS. Fine for actually watching movies under the stars, but really annoying having loud concerts and kids movies all day.

[hazelmaye]

In the past 8 years we have gone on 5 Celebrity seven day cruises in the Carribean and 2 Royal Carribean. We prefer Celebrity. The ships were Summit, Solstice,Eclipse and Reflection. We enjoyed them all. We thought the food and service were excellent. Now a member of our travel group has suggested Princess for a Carribean Cruise on the Regal Princess. None of us has cruised with them. Knowing in advance that there will be pros and cons, can anyone who has been on both lines give us the differences we can expect with Princess? Comparison, Similarities and Differences

Thank you

The Regal Princess is a knockout ship. i have sailed 6 timed on the S-clas ships and while they are nice, the Regal princess is just much warmer, busier and more fun to be on.

[scotslizzy]

After so many cruises with Celebrity S class ships we were on Royal Princess this Feb and thoroughly enjoyed it.

 

We had a mini suite (same price for a standard balcony cabin on Celebrity) and enjoyed the extra room. Balcony size is really small enough for two people (just) . Entertainment better than Celebrity but I would give Celebrity the higher score for food in the MDR.

 

Speciality restaurant's much cheaper than Celebrity and just as enjoyable .

 

I will go back to Celebrity if I find the right cruise and price but having said that now that I have tried Princess they will be included in the mix .

 

Scotslizzy

[mafig]

I've always been slightly bored on Princess. However, I've read that Royal and Princess are beautiful ships with great entertainment, I'd like to try them.

 

Princess does have great pizza, and I enjoy their pasta dishes at dinner.

 

There's one thing that bugs me about Princess ~ the way they handle MyTime/Personal Choice (or whatever they call it) dining. We like a table for two. EVERY TIME and EVERY CRUISE we've been on with Princess after we say we'd like a table for two they ask "wouldn't you like to share?" Sometimes there's a rolling of the eyes when we say NO.

Also by the end of the cruise many of the traditional diners have decided they want to do Personal Choice and Princess lets them. This makes it hard to get into the Personal Choice dining rooms.

 

Also, you have to book a Mini to get a sofa, otherwise it's just a chair. Don't know if this is still true on Royal/Regal.

 

I think their drinks are watered down. It's not just me, I've read posts where others believe the same.

The prices are less than Celebrity, though.

Edited November 24, 2015 by mafig

[pmattor200]

We switched from Princess to Celebrity after we did a western Caribbean cruise and the ship went so fast from Cozumel back across to the Bahamas that a lot of people got seasick at night. that return trip is usually a two day trip back to Miami instead of one day to get to their "private island" Just watch the itinerary.

[TKS]

We've only sailed X's Solstice and Ruby Princess, but I prefer Solstice. We had a 'mini-suite' which is comparable to the standard verandah on Solstice - standard verandah cabins on Ruby are considerably smaller. I also felt very 'nickel and dimed' on Ruby, not so much on Solstice. I didn't like the layout of Ruby (circuitous routes to several areas), but since you are apparently looking at sailing a different class of ship, that is not a relevant comparison.

 

I also found the smoking (and the resulting smell) on Ruby to be far more noticeable than on Solstice.

 

Food was a bit better on Solstice, IMHO.

 

I also found Ruby to be much louder than Solstice, and while the idea of MUTS is fun, it was so loud we seldom spent much time around the pool because of the noise level.

 

Overall, I think the two lines are pretty comparable, but they appeal to a slightly different demographic. I wouldn't turn down another Princess cruise, but if Celebrity offered a similar itinerary, I would choose X.

Edited November 24, 2015 by TKS

[Aquahound]

In the past 8 years we have gone on 5 Celebrity seven day cruises in the Carribean and 2 Royal Carribean. We prefer Celebrity. The ships were Summit, Solstice,Eclipse and Reflection. We enjoyed them all. We thought the food and service were excellent. Now a member of our travel group has suggested Princess for a Carribean Cruise on the Regal Princess. None of us has cruised with them. Knowing in advance that there will be pros and cons, can anyone who has been on both lines give us the differences we can expect with Princess? Comparison, Similarities and Differences

Thank you

 

I'm also a huge Celebrity fan and I cruised Regal earlier this year. I was disappointed with that ship. We had a standard balcony room and it was tiny. The balcony was pathetic. There were no lounges on the ship with outside views and the pool areas had nothing on Celebrity. The aft pool is basically unusable if you're a non smoker because it is in one of the ship's only smoking sections. Besides, the pool is tiny back there.

 

That said, the buffet was the best I've ever seen on a cruise and the live entertainmnet around the ship was excellent. The MDR was very spacious and comfortable, unlike the cramped tables that are typical on Solstice ships.

[Tak8]

Princess is my favorite line, but Celebrity is a close second. I did my first Celebrity cruise last year for Christmas on the Summit. My next cruise is also with Celebrity. Their pricing was much better for a mid-December Caribbean cruise.

 

I have not sailed on the Regal, but one criticism I have read on these boards is that the balconies are very small. I don't know the type of cabin you want, but thought I would mention it.

 

I like the main dining room better on Princess. Celebrity has a better buffet. Qsine is a novel concept, but I would take the specialty restaurants on Princess over Celebrity.

 

Entertainment is a toss up for me. I really enjoyed the acrobats on Celebrity. Princess has more entertainment in their atrium area.

 

The atrium is an area I give the edge to Princess. Princess has a little more wow factor when you step on board.

 

I think you would enjoy Princess. I think it's good to try other lines for comparison.

[iandjm]

We regularly cruise both lines (among others). In fact, 3 weeks ago we were on the Regal Princess and next week we will be on the Celebrity Eclipse. We enjoy both lines. Each has their pros and cons (and this differs among ships) but that kind of variety makes things new and fun. The Regal is the newest Princess ship and she is gorgeous. But like very ship she does have some design flaws so you might want to read some reviews (there are plenty here on CC) of the Regal and Royal (they are sister ships with a similar design) before you select a cabin location.

 

Hank

 

 

See you on Eclipse next week [emoji3]

[Gracie115]

Just tried Princess for the 1st time a few weeks ago on the Regal, after many many X cruises. Celebrity wins for us in most categories.....

 

The Regal had great pizza, a bit more entertainment, we liked the Piazza area very much...Sabatini's Spec Rest was great...Vines, wine bar very nice....BUT

 

What is referred to as "ANYTIME DINING" on Regal was a horrible experience....stand in line....get beepers.....and then wait for wait staff to take care of you....really didn't like it at all....

 

No top sheet on bed....how ODD is that? We were in a mini suite and I would think a top sheet is standard...apparently not...

 

No place to stand at front of ship and feel the wind in your hair...NONE...unless you pay extra for their "Sanctuary" area..... never encountered that on any other ship on any line...

 

The ship is beautiful, but we prefer Celebrity.....would we cruise on Princess again, sure, if the price is right...it wasn't bad, it just wasn't as good as X!!!

[allegiant]

I am so thankful for the time you took to respond me.As you no doubt have noticed English is not my first language for sure I have make mistakes. But I have read and understood all your message. Thank you I'm fascinated by this forum. :)

[Hlitner]

See you on Eclipse next week [emoji3]

 

You can usually find DW and moi in one of the bars :)