Long time Princess cruiser on her first Celebrity Cruise

[abbydancer2003]

Hello all.

 

I'm on the Celebrity Equinox with my sister on her first cruise, and my first Celebrity cruise. I'm planning to blog it starting tomorrow and will figure out where to put it on CruiseCritic, probably in the Celebrity forum, starting tomorrow. (They still offer unlimited internet.) In the meantime I'll post here describing what I see as the differences.

 

If you have any questions on what they do different, please feel free to ask. I'm on until next Sunday and will be checking this regularly.

 

Embarkation was similar, with two big differences. The good - they give you a glass of champagne or mimosa when you board. The not so good - the rooms aren't ready and you have to schlep your carry on bags with you.

 

Muster drill was very different. First, your muster station, is more divided. We are in the front and our station was the theater - but we were in a specific section of the theatre - top level, starboard side. No life jackets required.

 

Coming in they checked your room number on a list with a pencil. Once it started, the station leader only demonstrated how to put on the life jacket. Then they showed a video that showed a secret agent trying to get something from a spy on the ship, pointing out the rules. It was sort of Monty Python ish. Then, the station leader read out the cabin numbers that weren't checked in, and that took about 10 minutes. They then announced the important stuff for a third time and we were free to go. They didn't tell you how to enter the water.

 

Also, your dining assignment is in a card in the room. We had late traditional and we had to go around all the people who didn't have their cards, so had to be looked up.

 

And they have sommeliers in the dining room - so table has a waiter, assistant waiter and a sommelier.

 

Drinks are way more expensive, and a greater variety I think.

 

That's it for now. More tomorrow.

[jennybenny]

Thanks for reporting in. I will be interested to hear how you feel the two lines compare for you. I've not cruised Celebrity, but might consider it in the future. I have heard great things from people on CC who have cruised both.

[GUT2407]

I find them similar in many ways, a few things Orincess does better, a few Celebrity does better.

 

Happy to sail with either of them.

[easyboy]

Looking forward to more of your comparison updates.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[nimiq]

Same here done more Princess cruises but was on Silhouette in March 2017 and loved every minute of it. To be fare to Princess if you compare the Equinox ship you have to compare it to the Royal class.

So far your doing great in your comparison as I thought the drink prices on Celebrity are way to expensive especially at the martini bar.

 

Should I continue reading you on the Celebrity pages or here as this will be very interesting:-)

FYI so you won't miss it please attend silent DISCO we had a blast lol.

 

Sea ya

Eric

 

 

Envoyé de mon iPad en utilisant Forums

[LindsayC]

My boyfriend and I have done 2 celebrity cruises and are going on our first Princess cruise in October so I am also very interested in your thoughts about the two lines and their differences.

Curious about food comparison.

 

Lindsay

[leck57]

My boyfriend and I have done 2 celebrity cruises and are going on our first Princess cruise in October so I am also very interested in your thoughts about the two lines and their differences.

Curious about food comparison.

 

Lindsay

 

I'll also be interested in the food comparison. We have cruised both Princess and Celebrity and consider the dining room food is slightly better on Celebrity however the buffet on Princess is way better. Just off the Royal and we ended up eating at the buffet about half the time due to the frequent number of times they have seafood available.

[GweninTX]

We too are elite on Princess and will be taking our first cruise on the Equinox in October. We got in on one of the great sales with 4 perks for free and friends persuaded us to try them. We could not get traditional dining when we booked. Do they allow changes on the first day like Princess does with the maitred?

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[AF-1]

It will be fun to read your comparisons.

[ghstudio]

We too are elite on Princess and will be taking our first cruise on the Equinox in October. We got in on one of the great sales with 4 perks for free and friends persuaded us to try them. We could not get traditional dining when we booked. Do they allow changes on the first day like Princess does with the maitred?

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

changes are made if space is available. When you board (while you are waiting for your room to be ready), ask where dining room arrangements can be changed....and go see that person wherever they are stationed.

[elliair]

We had heard from another couple who had cruised on Celebrity, who said drinks were more expensive and there was no Happy Hour like there is on Princess. I look forward to reading your blog.

[Cindy]

We enjoy both lines as well as others, so we generally choose based on a combination of itinerary, price, and schedule. Our next two cruises are on Princess, on the Regal and the Royal, and I'm anxious to see how those ships compare to the Equinox which I LOVED.

 

When we were booking for next summer, I looked at sailings from Celebrity, Princess, HAL, and Royal Caribbean. There was a sailing on Celebrity I really liked, but I thought the per diem was ridiculous (at about $500/day/person for an Aqua Class cabin) so I crossed it off the list. The cruise we chose was also expensive, but didn't approach the Celebrity pricing. Cruise fares for Europe in 2018 seem to be up considerably over the great deal we got this year.

[mthomp5]

Thank you for doing the comparison! We are primarily Princess cruisers but have been thinking about Celebrity for a future cruise so this would be so helpful. Would be interested in what you thought about the quality and dining options.

 

What time were the rooms available?

[keithm]

Thanks for reporting in. I will be interested to hear how you feel the two lines compare for you. I've not cruised Celebrity, but might consider it in the future. I have heard great things from people on CC who have cruised both.

I use the "paper towel" test. In rest rooms do you ever see cloth towels? In Princess, No. On Celebrity, Yes. Food is comparable. No sommeliers on Princess, so if you like wine you'd best know What" brand you like. The Jewelry on Celebrity is more high end than Princess. Art auctions are the same...Awful! NO central stairway on Royal class ships. I do hear they will convert a staff stairway to public use. I got caught several times using it on Princess. Sorry, couldn't stand the ridiculous wait for elevators on the Regal.

[capriccio]

NO central stairway on Royal class ships. I do hear they will convert a staff stairway to public use. I got caught several times using it on Princess. Sorry, couldn't stand the ridiculous wait for elevators on the Regal.

 

The central stairway on the Royal has been available to passengers since last October and on the Regal since this past May and the Majestic was constructed with a passenger central stairway according to postings here on cruise critic.

Edited August 7, 2017 by capriccio

[FLSteve11]

Hello all.

 

I'm on the Celebrity Equinox with my sister on her first cruise, and my first Celebrity cruise. I'm planning to blog it starting tomorrow and will figure out where to put it on CruiseCritic, probably in the Celebrity forum, starting tomorrow. (They still offer unlimited internet.) In the meantime I'll post here describing what I see as the differences.

 

If you have any questions on what they do different, please feel free to ask. I'm on until next Sunday and will be checking this regularly.

 

Embarkation was similar, with two big differences. The good - they give you a glass of champagne or mimosa when you board. The not so good - the rooms aren't ready and you have to schlep your carry on bags with you.

 

Muster drill was very different. First, your muster station, is more divided. We are in the front and our station was the theater - but we were in a specific section of the theatre - top level, starboard side. No life jackets required.

 

Coming in they checked your room number on a list with a pencil. Once it started, the station leader only demonstrated how to put on the life jacket. Then they showed a video that showed a secret agent trying to get something from a spy on the ship, pointing out the rules. It was sort of Monty Python ish. Then, the station leader read out the cabin numbers that weren't checked in, and that took about 10 minutes. They then announced the important stuff for a third time and we were free to go. They didn't tell you how to enter the water.

 

Also, your dining assignment is in a card in the room. We had late traditional and we had to go around all the people who didn't have their cards, so had to be looked up.

 

And they have sommeliers in the dining room - so table has a waiter, assistant waiter and a sommelier.

 

Drinks are way more expensive, and a greater variety I think.

 

That's it for now. More tomorrow.

 

Is Princess the only mainstream line that still makes people take their life vests to the muster drill? I don't have to on any of the other lines I've sailed in the last few years (which is pretty much all the main ones in the US outside of HAL) I wonder why they continue to make people do that? I know someone is going to say safety, but it's not rocket science to put on a life vest and walk to your muster station (sadly, not that half the people will do it even with specific directions in a disaster anyway).

 

Do they not put your dining table on your room key anymore? That's definitely different.

[abbydancer2003]

For those interested, here's my live from thread. First post isn't that interesting, and it's copied from my blog. I'll try to make the rest more interesting.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=53734084#post53734084

 

I'll talk about food tonight.

[goldenrod]

We are Elite with Princess but we have been on Celebrity five time we especially love Celebrity Solstice class ships, we have had the free drink package several times, and we think the food overall is better, with better food in the MDR

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[reedprincess]

NO central stairway on Royal class ships. I do hear they will convert a staff stairway to public use. I got caught several times using it on Princess. Sorry, couldn't stand the ridiculous wait for elevators on the Regal.

As noted, the central staircase in Royal and Regal is wide open for passenger use. Funny that it bothers you in Princess, but not on Celebrity. No central staircase on "new" Celebrity ships either (Solstice class) Just forward and aft staircases for all deck access. Not even the option to finish out a central staircase in those "new" builds either...

Will be interesting to see what their new Edge class will do..

[JimmyVWine]

Is Princess the only mainstream line that still makes people take their life vests to the muster drill? ... I wonder why they continue to make people do that?

And conversely, I wonder why the other cruise lines don't require that you carry your life vest to become familiar with it. There is no substitute for "hands on" training. None. I have flown well over a million miles in my life and have heard "your life vest is located underneath your seat" a thousand times. But in a panic situation, how many people on board the plane would actually be able to remove and don the life vest without ever seeing or touching it before? If carrying a life vest for a drill is the biggest inconvenience in one's life, then that person is leading a very charmed life.

[FLSteve11]

And conversely, I wonder why the other cruise lines don't require that you carry your life vest to become familiar with it. There is no substitute for "hands on" training. None. I have flown well over a million miles in my life and have heard "your life vest is located underneath your seat" a thousand times. But in a panic situation, how many people on board the plane would actually be able to remove and don the life vest without ever seeing or touching it before? If carrying a life vest for a drill is the biggest inconvenience in one's life, then that person is leading a very charmed life.

 

Well, the main reason is it's been determined it's not needed, and not required anymore of course. The lines found they were having far too many people getting injured tripping and falling on the loose straps people left dangling behind.

 

An airline and a cruise ship are different. In an airline you may only have seconds after a plane has hit the water to get your life vest and get it on and out of the plane. (Of course, I've also never had a drill on an airline to put on a life vest, so not even sure that matters here. They don't even do it either). Large cruise ships don't sink that fast, even the Titanic took a couple of hours to go down. It's still not difficult anyway. If you get your hands on the life vest, it only takes a few seconds to put it on. Even if you don't know how (meaning you paid no attention to what they were doing in the demonstration), it's pretty obvious. Put it over your head, wrap the strap around your waist, tighten it. Done. If you're that panic'd that you cannot handle that, then seeing it ahead of time isn't going to change that.

[JimmyVWine]

Even if you don't know how (meaning you paid no attention to what they were doing in the demonstration), it's pretty obvious.

If you have been on as few as one cruise, you know that to a good bit of the clientele, nothing can be presumed to be obvious. I'm sure you've heard the old joke about the most frequently asked question on a ship: "What time does the two-o'clock BINGO game start?"

[CATGUY7]

For those interested, here's my live from thread. First post isn't that interesting, and it's copied from my blog. I'll try to make the rest more interesting.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=53734084#post53734084

 

I'll talk about food tonight.

 

Enjoying your post, and looking forward to more. Thanks!

[elfinmagic]

Take some MRE's along. After over 45 Princess cruises and always excellent food we decided to try Celebrity 7 day followed by two 7 day Princess. First night both sick same symptoms don't want to mention here - something we had for dinner. After that food went downhill. Either overcooked and dry or stacked and smothered in gravy even after turning it back. Both lost weight but gained it back once on Princess for 14 days.

[bl413]

We sailed Celebrity Solstice to St. Petersburg and that route a few years ago. We found the food on the ship very poor. We found ourselves eating in the speciatly restaurants mosts nights. The solstice dining rooms were gloomy compared to the many Princess ships we have been on. We found just about everything was a lower standard then we have seen on any Princess ship we've been on and no where as beautiful!! IMHO