Comparing Princess and Celebrity

[Bimmer09]

For an intimate bar with doors and walls and no one walking through there is the lovely Adagio on deck 16. Relax in comfy armchairs and sofas and listen to a pianist or a jazz standards trio.

 

 

 

 

 

For the late night owls there is the disco up in Skywalkers

 

 

It's open until 2 a.m latest and has a small perspex dance floor lit from below.

It runs the width of the ship and affords a view like this in the daytime when the bar is closed-it's a good quiet place to curl up with a book.

 

 

ENTERTAINMENT BARS?

 

ADVANTAGE PRINCESS

 

(FOR THEIR NUMBER,THEIR SIZE, AND THOSE WOODEN DANCE FLOORS)

[Jasperdo]

I just magnified my photos in Lightroom but I don't see (or can't read as the Vitality Machines are small in the photos) Iced Tea. I can read Apple Juice and Fruit Juice. Maybe an Iced tea drinker can chime in?

 

Yes, there is most definitely iced tea available at all the self service stations. It's my go-to drink of choice after my double-tall latte! :D Oh, and a very happy birthday to you, Norris!

Thanks to both of you for answering my question.

[G&Gcruisers]

Happy Birthday, Norris

 

A Pisces...no wonder you love the sea.

Have a great day,

Margie & Jerry

 

We love the Wheelhouse Bar/Lounge on PCL. The Coral has a mini museum with neat artifacts. On other ships, the Pub Lunch is served in the Wheelhouse for a nice English flair.

 

Enjoying your comparison, so far.

[Bimmer09]

Norris, we are so enjoying your reviews and comparisons of Celebrity and Princess. We switched over to Celebrity years ago because of their strict smoking policy. My wife is very sensitive to smoke. I like to play blackjack after dinner and the smoke in the casino was just too much for her. Other than that we really enjoyed Princess. I realize that you are a smoker, so you may not be able to answer, but I am wondering if any of the policies have changed. I must say that I am also spoiled to dining in BLU and the thought of a MDR experience does not rank very high. Are their other venues for dining on Princess or just specialty restaurants? Would we need to book a suite and if we did does that change the dining experience? Thanks again for the comparison. We are toying with going back to Princess mainly because of the itineraries.

 

Charlie, thanks for the response and I'm glad that you have enjoyed my reviews.

 

Re the smoking: Princess stopped balcony smoking on cruises beginning Jan 15 2012. I sailed on the last balcony smoking ship, the Crown on Jan 14th.

 

There are two non-smoking nights in the Casino-Formal nights.

 

I don't know why anyone needs to smoke in the Casino as there is a smoking lounge also but some folks don't like to leave those "lucky machines".

 

I find X more smoker friendly-but not in the way you might think-you'll see in my

Smoking Take-Down episode.

 

No smoking indoors on X and I am OK with that.

 

I'll be dealing with the restaurants in this review. I will say that the MDR food on Princess satisfies both Carol and myself. The most popular perk of suite living on Princess is the breakfast in Sabatini's. Food is as good if not better than Blu but the ambience is something that Blu can never come close to. That will be discussed later.

 

Princess has been introducing new partners when it comes to food and I'll discuss their dessert partner at some point. Norman Love is probably America's best known luxury chocolate maker in the USA. I'll show you some of his Princess desserts later.

 

They have now partnered with celebrity chef Curtis Stone who has restaurants on 3 ships (Ruby is one) and on the ships have a Winemakers Dinner and a Chef's table which are culinary and wine extravaganzas for a few people willing to pay a surcharge for an unforgettable meal.

 

So when it comes to food Princess are not fast asleep-quite the opposite.

 

There's a reason why we have done 8 Princess cruises in 4 years....

 

Hope this helps!

 

Norris

 

[Bimmer09]

Happy Birthday, Norris

 

A Pisces...no wonder you love the sea.

Have a great day,

Margie & Jerry

 

We love the Wheelhouse Bar/Lounge on PCL. The Coral has a mini museum with neat artifacts. On other ships, the Pub Lunch is served in the Wheelhouse for a nice English flair.

 

Enjoying your comparison, so far.

 

Thanks for the birthday wishes!

 

I will be discussing and showing a Pub Lunch at some point. Home run!

 

I too love the Wheelhouse bar- so old school comfortable.

 

Norris

[Myrtle Ave. Mayhem]

Yes it can.

 

When they designed the Royal I would have thought a conversation like this should have taken place before talking to the architect....

 

Why do people cruise with us-we don't have any waterparks, jungle gyms, lawns or ski slopes?

 

Um, we must have people who are interested on being on a classic ship and looking at the sea. (murmuring)

 

What can we give them?

 

Instead we got...

 

I think we should do away with the wraparound promenade decks and just have a couple of open air platforms with some furniture and cushions that can get wet.

This way the sea sniffers will have to come inside and buy a drink. They can walk up top and get a sunburn if they want.

 

I second that-those people standing on the bow doing their Leonardo di Caprio impressions are not spending. Could we put some slots machines out there?

Hey- if they want to see what's up ahead let's make them pay to use the Sanctuary for the privilege!

 

I say we lessen the number of pools and put a water and light show up there so that when it's windy the folks will get soaked and come inside for a drink. Ca-ching!

 

How's about we just load up the stern with more balcony cabins and forget the suites back there? We can always change our minds when the ship has already been built and just knock two balconies together into hastily-arranged suites. (this actually happened)

 

How's about we shrink the balconies? (applause)

 

Just a few of the things I don't like about the Royal Class.

 

Norris

 

 

 

 

 

 

I agree on all points about the Royal class ships. The interiors of Royal Princess look beautiful (except for MDR's - can you say BORING ! ?) It seems that Royal Princess was designed strictly as a revenue production venture; passenger comfort/enjoyment not required. So many features that make Crown/Emerald/Ruby stellar are completely absent on the Royal.

[deliver42]

Happy Birthday Norris.

Mel

[denims]

I don't know if I miss it or not. We are getting ready to book the Ruby. I can get info on the number of passengers on the Ruby.

 

We have taken 7 trips on Princess and 8 on Celebrity.

[midwestchick]

[FlynnRider78]

Hope you have had a very Happy Birthday Norris [emoji324][emoji322][emoji324]

 

Really enjoying your comparison, fantastically written as always.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[skrapngal]

Glad you are reading!

 

Wow you've covered both ends of the ship spectrum with those two sailings!

 

Norris

 

I have, but 2017 with Star Princess and Anthem of the Seas should help round out a better opinion. So far, with only one cruise on Princess and one on RCCL, I would give a slight advantage to RCCL, but both cruises were so different that it really is hard to do a fair comparison.

[Jimbo59]

 

When they designed the Royal I would have thought a conversation like this should have taken place before talking to the architect....

 

Why do people cruise with us-we don't have any waterparks, jungle gyms, lawns or ski slopes?

 

Um, we must have people who are interested on being on a classic ship and looking at the sea. (murmuring)

 

What can we give them?

 

Instead we got...

 

I think we should do away with the wraparound promenade decks and just have a couple of open air platforms with some furniture and cushions that can get wet.

This way the sea sniffers will have to come inside and buy a drink. They can walk up top and get a sunburn if they want.

 

I second that-those people standing on the bow doing their Leonardo di Caprio impressions are not spending. Could we put some slots machines out there?

Hey- if they want to see what's up ahead let's make them pay to use the Sanctuary for the privilege!

 

I say we lessen the number of pools and put a water and light show up there so that when it's windy the folks will get soaked and come inside for a drink. Ca-ching!

 

How's about we just load up the stern with more balcony cabins and forget the suites back there? We can always change our minds when the ship has already been built and just knock two balconies together into hastily-arranged suites. (this actually happened)

 

How's about we shrink the balconies? (applause)

 

Just a few of the things I don't like about the Royal Class.

 

Norris

 

 

Agree 100 percent. The Grand Class Princess ships are the best, better than Celebrity. The Royal Class have too many design flaws, so Celebrity wins out.

[SeaHunt]

Happy Birthday to Norris :D

 

 

(Upon second glance, this muppet Happy Birthday opera singer resembles a shipboard maitre d' we've sailed with before LOL)

[Bimmer09]

I don't know if I miss it or not. We are getting ready to book the Ruby. I can get info on the number of passengers on the Ruby.

 

We have taken 7 trips on Princess and 8 on Celebrity.

 

Larry, pax max listed as 3080.

 

Cheers and thanks for reading!

 

Norris

[Bimmer09]

Happy Birthday to Norris :D

 

 

(Upon second glance, this muppet Happy Birthday opera singer resembles a shipboard maitre d' we've sailed with before LOL)

 

Thanks for the good wishes!

 

Yes the singer Moonlights as a Maitre'd. He always gets me a good table.

 

Norris

 

[Bimmer09]

Hope you have had a very Happy Birthday Norris [emoji324][emoji322][emoji324]

 

Really enjoying your comparison, fantastically written as always.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

Great to see you again!

 

Thanks for the compliments and best wishes.

 

Much appreciated!

 

Norris

[Bimmer09]

 

Thanks for the birthday greetings!

 

Norris

[Bimmer09]

Happy Birthday Norris.

Mel

 

Thank you Mel,

 

Norris

[Bimmer09]

I agree on all points about the Royal class ships. The interiors of Royal Princess look beautiful (except for MDR's - can you say BORING ! ?) It seems that Royal Princess was designed strictly as a revenue production venture; passenger comfort/enjoyment not required. So many features that make Crown/Emerald/Ruby stellar are completely absent on the Royal.

 

I knew I wasn't the only one who thought they bungled a new build opportunity.

 

Norris

[ar1950]

Just returned from a birthday party for my nephew and now I see it is also Norris' birthday. Well then, Happy Birthday Norris!! BTW If you knew my nephew you would know that you share the special day with a young man who is as good a person as yourself.

 

Hope it was a great day for you.

[Bimmer09]

Just returned from a birthday party for my nephew and now I see it is also Norris' birthday. Well then, Happy Birthday Norris!! BTW If you knew my nephew you would know that you share the special day with a young man who is as good a person as yourself.

 

Hope it was a great day for you.

 

It was ar. Thanks for the good wishes!

 

I'll be back to the comparison come sun-up!

 

Norris

[Working 2 Cruise]

One more time... Happy Birthday Norris!

[Myrtle Ave. Mayhem]

I knew I wasn't the only one who thought they bungled a new build opportunity.

 

Norris

 

I hope that your birthday has been filled with friends, family, & good cheer ! When you say "bungled", you got that right somethin' fierce ! It makes me pine for the days of sailing the original Pacific/Island Princess from the '70's..... & the original Dawn Princess, the former Sitmar Fairwind. I'm loving your comparison between the two lines & all the nitty gritty details ! On a recent Eclipse cruise the ship itself had "WOW" factor in spades but I experienced dismal cabin & MDR service. The experience felt a little coldy impersonal. I've found that the service delivery on Princess seems warmer & genuinely more sincere.

[pris993]

As a long time Princess and Celebrity cruiser.... I have decided Princess is the preferred line for us. We are elite on both lines.

 

We have done the Equinox, Eclipse, Silhouette ...do not prefer this class of ship over the Princess Grand Class. Just finished a Grand Princess New Years' cruise... enjoyed a lot, booked the same cruise for 2016.

 

The Ruby is one of our favorite Princess ships, have not been on the new Royal or Regal, designed very much like X... may do one day. But prefer Grand class ships on Princess.

 

 

Do not find the dining on X as good as Princess for us. We order off the menu and Princess is far more flexible in meeting our needs. When we are on X we stick to the buffet... generally can find something we like. We skip the MDR on X, too crowded and noisy and menu is hit and miss.

[hllwdcruiser]

Thanks for the birthday greeting!

 

I have been eating the same Indian dish for over 30 years since I discovered it in London, the capital of India.The first time I ordered it, it was called Lamb Phal (like vindaloo but one more on the danger scale).The waiter asked me "Are you sure?". Yes I am. When it came to the table and I started eating (and sweating) I looked up and there were two faces watching me from those kitchen door portholes. LOL! I never order anything else since I left London.

 

Lamb Vindaloo ordered Indian Hot as I like to break out into a sweat, and have my nose and eyes run at the same time.

 

Basmati rice, mango chutney and a ridiculous number of papadums (Masala Papad). Keema Nan to wipe up the plate with. (Keema is Nan stuffed with a thin layer of finely minced lamb in case you are not familiar)

 

Carol's go-to is Chicken Tikka done in a Tandoori oven.

 

Our starter is usually Aloo Gobhi-potatoes and cauliflower spiced up nice.

 

I wash it down with a cold crisp Czech beer.

 

Alas I don't take food photos at home.

 

Norris

 

I learned to love Indian food in London too! (I spent 7 years there during my formative years). When they ask me what heat level I would like, I always say, "Prepare it as you would have it yourself" - this always causes raised eyebrows!

 

I feel like I've been following you around the globe, having lived in London, Miami and Chicago as well.....I almost worked for a cruise line once upon a time and worked in the retail field for 20+ years....

 

As a multi store supervisor I completely understand your take on customer service in regards to your last day on Celebrity. I, too, have extremely high standards - it takes so little effort to smile, say hello and follow up with assistance. People management was the hardest part of my job.

 

I hope your birthday dinner lived up to every expectation!

 

Best,

Sharon