B2B2B on Royal Princess, MSC Seaside and Celebrity Equinox. A comparison review.

[MikeyA53]

Background info: Mike (63), retired from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (Mountie) but still working for them so we can afford these types of vacations, Tracy (46) also a Mountie, originally from Wales, UK

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We started cruising in 2009 with the kids, our first 13 cruises were with Carnival. Then when the kids grew up and it became just the two of us we started trying out other cruise lines. Since 2016 we have cruised with Holland America, Norwegian twice, MSC twice, Celebrity and Princess for a total of 20 cruises.

Our B2B2B started with Royal Princess out of Fort Lauderdale on Nov 9, 2018. An 8 day cruise to Curacao, Aruba and Bonaire. On November 17 we disembarked and walked over to the next terminal, lucky for us the ships were docked next to each other and we embarked on MSC Seaside for a 7 day cruise to Ocho Rios, George Town, Cozumel and Costa Maya. On November 24 we took an Uber to the Miami port and embarked on Celebrity Equinox for a 7 day cruise to San Juan, St. Thomas, Punta Cana and Nassau.

 

The following review is one person’s account (opinion) along with some input from Tracy based on what’s important to us when we cruise. The ship (we prefer the newer, bigger ships with lots of amenities), the food, (in a 7 day cruise we usually eat 4 or 5 times in the specialty restaurants), the entertainment (production shows and comedians), the cabins, the service onboard, the spa and the gym. The itinerary is also important but I won’t comment on that since they change or alternate from week to week.

 

The review will start with the ships in general, followed by the cabins, the entertainment, dining, the service and the gym &spa. There will be a summary at the end with a few extras.

 

I will be posting this review on the Celebrity, Princess and the MSC forum, therefore it will take longer than usual since I have to load each post three times.

 

The ships

Royal Princess is a 142,714 gross ton ship with a capacity of 3,600 passengers that went into service in 2013. I would estimate that the average age on this cruise was 65-70 years old. I heard that there was approximately 30-50 kids but the number of children I saw all week I probably could count on one hand. The passengers were friendly in general, it was relatively easy to start a conversation at the diner table, the theater, in the elevators, etc. The ship never felt crowded. 

 

 

We were allowed to bring one bottle of wine each onboard in our carry on baggage and either a dozen bottles/cans of water or sodas each in our checked luggage. I put 12 bottles of soda in a cooler with a luggage tag and gave it to the porter, we pre-purchased twelve 500 ml bottles of water from Princess for a very reasonable price. Princess@sea Messenger was very convenient, allowing us free access to valuable information about the ship while onboard, such as the day’s activities, restaurant menus and your stateroom account. Plus, Princess@sea Messenger allowed us to send text messages to each other, or others onboard. Seaside and Equinox only had an app which allowed access to the day’s activities.

 

 

We were allowed to bring one bottle of wine each onboard in our carry on baggage and either a dozen bottles/cans of water or sodas each in our checked luggage. I put 12 bottles of soda in a cooler with a luggage tag and gave it to the porter; we pre-purchased twelve 500 ml bottles of water from Princess for a very reasonable price. Princess@sea Messenger was very convenient, allowing us free access to valuable information about the ship while onboard; such as the day’s activities, restaurant menus and our stateroom account. Plus, Princess@sea Messenger allowed us to send text messages to each other, or others onboard. Seaside and Equinox had an app which allowed access to the day’s activities.

 

 

Overall she is a beautiful ship with a very elegant atrium, we spent a fair amount of time there because of the International Café and Gelato, (more on that later). It has two dining rooms, the Symphony on deck 5 and the Allegro on deck 6. (We prefer multi deck dining rooms). The buffet area was typical in design, very much like what we have encountered on other ships. The theater was adequate in size for the amount of passengers onboard. The upper decks were very nice, we spent most of our afternoon up there sunning, playing table tennis, mini golf, laser trap shooting, shuffleboard and hitting golf balls in the enclosed driving range, etc. It also has a very nice walking and running track.

 

 

 

Guest Services

 

 

Theater

 

 

Upper Decks

 

 

Edited January 13, 2019 by MikeyA53

[MikeyA53]

MSC Seaside is a 153,515 gross ton ship with a capacity of 5,119 passengers that went into service in 2017. I would estimate that the average age on this cruise was 35-40 years old. The cruise director announced that there were approximately 500 children on our cruise. This high figure was probably due to this being a Thanksgiving cruise week. A large percentage of the passengers were from Europe and Asia. A lot of the announcements were done in 5-6 languages. The cruise director was an American, the first on an MSC ship. On MSC we were not allowed to bring any wine, water or sodas onboard. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The ship has a very modern, 4 deck atrium with beautiful spiral Swarovski crystal stairs. It has two main dining rooms, the Seashore on deck 5 and the Ipanema on deck 6. The all inclusive Yacht Club has their own gourmet restaurant on deck 18. The ship has 2 buffet restaurants, the larger one on deck 8 and the smaller on deck 16. The theater was a bit small in size for the amount of passengers onboard however the featured theater show had three showings every night (6:45, 8:00 and 9:15) with the exception of the first night which had two showings (8:00 and 9:15).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Swarovski crystal stairs

 

 

Theater

 

 

Upper decks

 

 

 

 

 

[MikeyA53]

Celebrity Equinox is a 121,878 gross ton ship with a capacity of 2,850 passengers that went into service in 2009. I would estimate that the average age on this cruise was 55-60 years old. I would estimate that the ship carried approximately 75-100 kids. It was not unusual to see them everyday in most of the areas throughout the ship. Overall the passengers were friendlier than on MSC and Princess. On Celebrity you are allowed to bring wine, bottled water and soda onboard in your carry on luggage. 

 

 

 

 

Compared to Royal Princess and MSC Seaside, Equinox was sort of plain in overall appearance. The Silhouette Dining on decks 3 and 4 was however very elegant. In addition I liked how 4 out of the 5 specialty dining restaurants were all together in the aft section of deck 5. Also I preferred how the buffet stations were set up on deck 14. Unlike MSC and Princess where you have to walk up and down one side of the ship or the other to find what you want to put on your plate, Equinox has all the food sections together in the middle of the buffet restaurant.

 

 

 Theater 

 

 

 

Silhouette Dining Room

 

 

Buffet 

 

 

 

Upper decks 

 

 

 

 

[MikeyA53]

Cabins

 

Royal Princess:

 

We had a deluxe balcony, cabin E727 on deck 6, starboard aft. This was an unexpected upgrade which would have occurred within the last week before our cruise. We were not notified and only found out when we checked in on embarkation. Our original room was a regular balcony, C239 on deck 10, mid forward. Even though the deluxe balcony cabin is slightly larger than a regular balcony, (the balconies were the same size) we would have preferred to keep our original cabin because of the location. In addition, since we were not notified, our luggage tags were marked for the original cabin number and thus we only got our luggage late that night. I even had to go to guest services to pick up one of our cases.

 

The deluxe cabin (185 square feet) was average in size; however the balcony was a measly 36 square feet, the smallest we’ve experienced on all of the cruise lines we’ve sailed on. The bed was comfortable and there were adequate storage compartments. We liked how the wardrobe was at the entrance, and easily accessible. The bathroom was adequate but did not have much storage area and the shower had a curtain rather than a glass door like on Seaside and Equinox. Overall the cabin was very quiet; we were never disturbed by noise.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[MikeyA53]

MSC Seaside

 

We had a regular balcony, cabin 11122, midship on deck 11. The cabin was 178 square feet and the balcony was 48 square feet. Overall a nice cabin, the bed was comfortable and there were adequate storage compartments, however the sofa made it awkward to access the wardrobe. Entry to the cabin was via a touch pad using your cruise card. The bathroom was well appointed with a glass door shower. The cabin was noisy until about 12 am each night, I had to put earplugs in my ears to eliminate the noise. There was noise from the hallway, the cabin next door at times and our balcony was above a promenade where the same people sat and spoke very loudly every night. I don’t think this was typical of Seaside, probably just bad luck on our part. (Sorry only these three photos were good enough to post

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[MikeyA53]

Celebrity Equinox

 

We had a Concierge Class cabin 1063 forward section. The cabin was 194 square feet and the balcony was 54 square feet. Both were larger than the cabins on Seaside and Royal. We loved a lot of things about the room and balcony. There were lots of drawers and cabinets including a big cabinet above the bed. The bed had rounded edges which made the room look bigger. However I’m only 5’8" and sometimes my feet were dangling over the bed depending on how I was sleeping. Also the bed interfered with getting into the wardrobe. The bathroom had lots of cupboard space; the shower had a glass door. One thing I really liked was the built in night light.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Lady Arwen]

Thanks for posting your 3 experiences......your photos are terrific!  We've not done MSC, and frankly, no desire to do so.  Twice on Royal Princess and 3 times on Equinox, so very familiar with these ships.  Looking forward to the rest of your review!

[ScubesDad]

Thank you for the review.  I too am looking forward to the rest of your postings.

However, I am interested in your comments re MSC, I have heard good things from people I know who have really enjoyed MSC.....

[Rosethorn40]

I think your format; of comparing each cruise ship by section, i.e. cabins, dining, etc. is an excellent idea, and I am looking forward to reading more. I hope to one day do a B2B2B2B of several lines, on their newest, grandest ships. However, neither mine nor my husbands jobs would give us that much time off at once 😞 Also, don't think I could leave my fur-babies for that long. 

[Silkroad]

Following. Thank you for your review. We’ve sailed Equinox’s sister ships, and have lately considered Princess & MSC, so we’re quite interested in your comparisons.

[micheleata]

Great review so far.   Looking forward to reading more.

[MikeyA53]

On ‎1‎/‎13‎/‎2019 at 3:17 PM, Lady Arwen said:

Thanks for posting your 3 experiences......your photos are terrific!  We've not done MSC, and frankly, no desire to do so.  Twice on Royal Princess and 3 times on Equinox, so very familiar with these ships.  Looking forward to the rest of your review!

 

Thank you, glad you like it.

[MikeyA53]

On ‎1‎/‎13‎/‎2019 at 4:59 PM, Rosethorn40 said:

I think your format; of comparing each cruise ship by section, i.e. cabins, dining, etc. is an excellent idea, and I am looking forward to reading more. I hope to one day do a B2B2B2B of several lines, on their newest, grandest ships. However, neither mine nor my husbands jobs would give us that much time off at once 😞 Also, don't think I could leave my fur-babies for that long. 

 

Thank you for following.

[MikeyA53]

On ‎1‎/‎13‎/‎2019 at 5:00 PM, Silkroad said:

Following. Thank you for your review. We’ve sailed Equinox’s sister ships, and have lately considered Princess & MSC, so we’re quite interested in your comparisons.

 

Thanks you for following.

[MikeyA53]

On ‎1‎/‎13‎/‎2019 at 5:11 PM, micheleata said:

Great review so far.   Looking forward to reading more.

 

 

Thanks

[MikeyA53]

Entertainment

 

Royal Princess

Overall the entertainment was good on Royal Princess; we saw three out of the four production shows and comedian Scott Wyler twice because he was so good. The production shows were shown twice each night in the Princess Theater, usually at 8:00 pm and 10:00 pm. We also enjoyed the Marriage Match and Majority Rules game show in the smaller Princess Live Theater.

 

 

Princess Live Theater.

 

 

 

 

 

 

For activities they had table tennis, mini golf, laser trap shooting, shuffleboard and hitting golf balls in the enclosed driving range. The ship had ‘Movies Under the Stars’ featuring recently released movies on the big screen. In our cabin we had a good sized wide screen TV with a wide variety of free recently released movies at our disposal. 

 

 

Table tennis

 

 

 

Mini golf

 

 

Laser trap shooting

 

 

Enclosed driving range

 

[MikeyA53]

MSC Seaside

Overall the best entertainment we have ever experienced on a cruise ship. There was a different production show each night of the cruise, plus an additional afternoon show on the second day called ‘Butterfly’. Each show ran about 30 minutes and they were shown at 6:45 pm, 8:00 pm and 9:15 pm. We made reservations on embarkation day for all of the shows and we attended all of them. Even with reservations we usually arrived approximately 20 to 30 minutes before it began because the theater did fill up every night. The shows usually ended with a standing ovation. The cast was made up of approximately 40 singers, dancers and acrobats. The cast had beautiful costumes and it was amazing how many times they changed into different costumes each show. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In addition we saw a very funny BeerProv comedy show in the theater and played the Quest game in one of the lounges. The 4 member cast of the BeerProv was very talented and we wished we would have seen all three of their shows; however their adult only shows played at 10:15 pm which was a bit late for us early risers who love going to the gym and spa.

 

Quest 

 

[MikeyA53]

Seaside has a Fun Pass for their F1 Simulator, 5D Cinema, Bowling and Zip Line. They have different packages you can buy and the best deal was purchasing a $100 package and getting $60 additional credit. We bought the package but soon regretted it. It was our fault for not looking into it fully before getting it. Each F1 simulator ride, zip line and 5D Movie (4 different interactive movies) uses $10 of your credit and bowling cost $25 for 30 minutes and $45 for an hour.

 

F1 Simulator

 

 

 

 Full size bowling lanes 

 

 

 

Seating for bowling

 

 

 

Cinema 

 

 

 

 

 

Since we had planned on staying onboard for 3 out the 4 ports we thought we would have plenty of time to use our package but they have a very narrow schedule for when it’s open. Reservations can only be done on a daily basis. In addition they didn’t have enough staff working which resulted in long lines. We ended up only using $125 out of the $160 credit available. 

 

 

 

 

 

Line up goes beyond this photo and it was taken on the morning of the last sea day. We stood in line 35 minutes before they opened and we were first in line just one minute before 4 other persons showed up. All of this to make sure we were able to bowl. 

 

 

[MikeyA53]

Worth mentioning is the Garage Club which is next to the bowling, F1 and cinema on deck 7. It’s a 1950s themed area where you can get drinks and it also becomes a dance club at night with the car as a DJ station.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In addition they also had a billiards room.

 

 

 

 

[MikeyA53]

For other activities the ship had waterslides, a big screen that showed movies on some nights (they were not recently released movies).The size of our cabin TV was adequate and they had recently released movies at a cost of $8 per movie.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Basketball court

 

 

Zip line 

 

 

[Jim_Iain]

Enjoying your informative comparison.   Keep up the good work.

 

[MikeyA53]

On ‎1‎/‎15‎/‎2019 at 3:23 PM, Jim_Iain said:

Enjoying your informative comparison.   Keep up the good work.

 

 

 

Thank you

[dani negreanu]

Thank you, a very interesting comparison.😀

[hcat]

Enjoying the review and photos.Thank you for doing it.  Hope to hear about the gyms,  spas and pools.

 

So far however,  it confirms  we will stick with Celebrity as it best fits our style  and we have good loyalty perks The ..new EDGE may be  very different but we  look forward to Celebrity's newest !

[dodger1964]

Thanks for great review.

 

We have sailed on Celebrity(elite plus) and MSC(black with status match).

 

I consider them to be about equal.  Lately with the pricing differences we have found MSC to be much better deal for us!

 

Look forward to rest of your info!