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

[MikeyA53]

Tuscan Grill

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our meal at Tuscan Grill

 

House Meatballs

 

 

 

 Strozzapreti Carbonara

 

 

 

 Roasted Beef Ribeye

 

 

 

 

Sushi at Five

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our meal at Sushi at Five 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[MikeyA53]

Another dining venue we tried was the AquaSpa Café which had a healthy alternative breakfast and lunch. We had breakfast there a couple of times after our gym workout. I had some protein bars (free) and an antioxidant smoothie (approximately $6). 

 

 

One of our favorite spots was Café al Bacio which served specialty coffees at a fee and a really nice variety of beautiful, delicious desserts at no cost. The dessert menu changed daily. Nearby was Gelateria which served gelato and ice cream at a cost. 

 

 

 

 

 

Gelateria

 

 

 

 

 

 

We also tried the Mast Grill which served good burgers similar to and almost as good as Guy Fieri burgers on Carnival ships 

 

 

 

 

One place we never got to try regrettably was the GastroBar which served gourmet Pub Food a la carte. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[MikeyA53]

Royal Princess

 

Starting with embarkation there was a problem with the previous cruise where there were slightly elevated cases of gastrointestinal illness among the guests, thus we were advised that the terminal would only open at 1 pm after they did a comprehensive sanitation program onboard the ship and in the terminal. As a result you had a lot of people who usually arrive between 10:00 am and 1:00 pm all converging at 1 pm. Therefore getting through security, getting your cruise card and getting onboard took longer than usual. There were some people complaining but we understood that Princess was not at fault and were not put off by it.

 

There was a Cruise Critic Party organized by the passengers, we planned on attending but because of the luggage situation, a late muster and an early dinner at the Crown Grill we did not attend. 

 

Guest services were understaffed; lines were longer than necessary at times. They also had two machines near guest services where you could get a printout of your onboard account. However one machine did not work for most of the cruise and the other ran out of paper and it took a while before it was functional again.

 

 

 

Our cabin steward’s name was Tika and he was very good. Really friendly and quick to cater to our request to empty the refrigerator and get us more hangers for the closet.

 

Service in the buffet was exceptional; they had more crew members standing around waiting to serve you than necessary, they serve real fresh orange juice (delicious), apple juice, coffee, tea, etc. As soon as we would sit down someone was there to take our order and before they could come back with our order, sometimes we would have one or two more crew members asking us if we wanted something to drink.

 

The dining service was good overall and service in the specialty restaurants was superb. Bar service was good, no complaints. We found the crew was very friendly overall which no doubt enhances the experience. Debarkation was as efficient as can be expected, Princess or any other cruise line do not have any control when it comes to customs. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

MSC Seaside

 

Embarkation was a breeze; we had the same experience last year on MSC Divina. We got there at approximately 10:45 am and we were on the ship at 11:30 am. We had lunch in the buffet. After our meal we checked on our cabin and it was ready and our luggage had already arrived. Be warned when you first get onboard you will get several crew members (we had about a dozen crew members) asking if we wanted a drink package or an upgrade to our package.

 

Our cabin steward’s name was Joy and she was so tidy, putting all of my clothes and my little notes away, so that after a couple of days I started tidying up after myself so I would know were all my stuff was. LOL. She was very good and friendly; we would see her everyday working late into the night. It made me wonder if they were understaffed.

 

Guest services was good, they had 5-6 persons working the desk and one staff member roaming the line. If you had a problem that could be dealt with quickly, for example, we were twice in line to obtain a printout of our stateroom account and the staff member roaming the line went and got us printouts both times. We were only in line for maybe 2-3 minutes each time.

 

 

 

Another area that was understaffed was the buffet. There was usually only one crew member working in each table section. In the dining room we only had two waiters and they worked their butts off to serve the tables assigned to them. We were served in a reasonable amount of time.

The service in the specialty restaurant was exceptional and the food was very good, it’s too bad about the menu fiasco.

 

The bar service was very good, as part of our cruise fare we had 24 drink coupons in addition to our unlimited free drinks at mealtimes. The coupons were good for cocktails, wines, beers and specialty coffees. I usually tip $1 whenever I get drinks at the bar; the MSC bartenders were really appreciative in getting tips compared to bartenders on other cruise lines. Some would ask me if I liked it strong while others would take my $1 and give me back my coupon.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our cruise critic party was organized by MSC; it was attended by the captain and some of his officers, including the cruise director. We had champagne, wine, cocktails, hors d'oeuvres and cake. A group photograph was taken and sent to our cabin. 

 

 

 

 

Overall the crew was a tad less friendly than Princess, we had one bad experience with a crew member, as part of our fare we had free internet package and we were having problems signing on. We attended one of the booths set up to assist passengers with their internet package. The crew member that helped us was miserable; she made us feel like we were a real nuisance. We noticed that she was curt with everyone that asked for her assistance. Tracy and I usually let things like this slide but because she really infuriated Tracy, we looked in the immediate vicinity for an officer, without success, because we wanted to point her out, and report her.

 

Returning from one of our ports we were greeted by several crew members singing and dancing. They also had a bubble making machine which enhanced the experience.

 

 

 

 

At the end of our cruise we were allowed to stay in our cabin until 8:30 am; we had breakfast and disembarked without any problems. We walked over to the next terminal where Equinox was docked to begin our next adventure.

 

 

Celebrity Equinox docked in the next terminal 

 

 

 

Celebrity Equinox

 

Boarding was very efficient; we were onboard at 10:45 am, the earliest I can remember getting on a ship. There was a few crew members who asked us if we wanted a drink package, we already had one included with our cruise fare. Our room was ready in good time and our luggage arrived promptly.

Our cabin steward’s name was Denis and he was just has efficient as Tika on Princess and Joy on Seaside.

 

Guest services was good, most of the time they had 3-4 staff members working the desk. Tracy had a problem with her cruise card, it would deactivate after a couple of uses, she had to change her card 5 times in the first 4 days. I had to change mine once. While I was in line I overheard two other persons having the same problem. Their answer was the cards are very sensitive. We never had a problem on Royal Princess and MSC Seaside.

 

 

 

 

Cruise critic was organized by Celebrity. It was held in the Gastrobar and it was attended by the captain and a few of his officers including the cruise director, They served pastry, but no free drinks. We met a lot of nice people whom we chatted with throughout the cruise.

 

 

Cruise director Dan France and captain Dimitrios Manetas.

 

 

 

 

 

The buffet service was better than Seaside but not as good as Princess. The dining room service was comparable to what we experience on Princess. The staff in the specialty restaurants were superb with the exception of the waiter that served us at Sushi on Five, she did not tend to our table (it was not busy) as much as the other waiters, in the other specialty restaurants. I liked how most of the waiters recommended ordering several appetizers and desserts if you had difficulty choosing. Then we had that waiter that I mentioned earlier who brought me a lobster tail to go with my steak at no charge.

 

[MikeyA53]

Spa & Gym

Royal Princess

We did not use the spa because it was on deck 5 and the gym was on deck 17. For us the two go together, we work out and immediately use the spa then shower. We did not want to transfer all our clothes from deck 5 to deck 17. The gym wasn’t busy most of the time and they had good equipment.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We like to complement our workouts with the walking/running track and as mentioned before they had a really nice one. The track was isolated and you didn’t have non walkers crossing your path all the time like the set up they have on some ships. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[MikeyA53]

MSC Seaside

 

 

 

Seaside had a very nice spa and since we pre-purchased a one week pass, the cost was only $90 per person. It’s substantially more if you wait until you board. The spa had two steam rooms, two saunas, a dry hot salt room, a snow room, a thalassotherapy pool, heated stone loungers, several different shower experiences and an indoor and outdoor relaxation area. We used the outside area when we wanted to get some sun. The best part was that it was never busy, all week there were never more than 4 to 10 people using the spa.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Snow room 

 

 

 

Dry hot salt room 

 

 

 

Heated stone lounger 

 

 

 

Thalassotherapy pool 

 

 

 

 

Indoor/outdoor relaxation area for pass holders only. We used the outside loungers to sunbathe 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The gym was high tech, some weight machines had small screens that tracked your movement and kept count of your set and reps but the gym did not have enough equipment and it got busy at times.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited January 25, 2019 by MikeyA53
mistake

[MikeyA53]

6 minutes ago, MikeyA53 said:

MSC Seaside

 

 

 

Seaside had a very nice spa and since we pre-purchased a one week pass, the cost was only $90 per person. It’s substantially more if you wait until you board. The spa had two steam rooms, two saunas, a dry hot salt room, a snow room, a thalassotherapy pool, heated stone loungers, several different shower experiences and an indoor and outdoor relaxation area. We used the outside area when we wanted to get some sun. The best part was that it was never busy, all week there were never more than 4 to 10 people using the spa.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Snow room 

 

 

 

Dry hot salt room 

 

 

 

Heated stone lounger 

 

 

 

Thalassotherapy pool 

 

 

 

 

Indoor/outdoor relaxation area for pass holders only. We used the outside loungers to sunbathe 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The gym was high tech, some weight machines had small screens that tracked your movement and kept count of your set and reps but the gym did not have enough equipment and it got busy at times.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[MikeyA53]

Celebrity Equinox

 

The spa wasn’t anything special, they had a steam room, a sauna, heated stone loungers and no thalassotherapy pool. The cost was $99 per person for a one week pass; we did not get it because we did not think it was worth it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The gym was nice, lots of equipment and space and it never got busy. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Palmetto Pilot]

I'm really digging the review. I need to to review Holland now! 

[Stateroom_Sailor]

6 hours ago, Palmetto Pilot said:

I'm really digging the review. I need to to review Holland now! 

 

Yeah, I'm courteous what you thought of Nieuw Amsterdam in general.  We were on in June right after dry dock, and were pleasantly surprised with the food, service, and cabins.  A few years ago, with their smoking policy, and extremely outdated avocado greens and golds, I'm not sure it would have been the right choice for us.

[MikeyA53]

14 hours ago, Palmetto Pilot said:

I'm really digging the review. I need to to review Holland now! 

 

7 hours ago, Stateroom_Sailor said:

 

Yeah, I'm courteous what you thought of Nieuw Amsterdam in general.  We were on in June right after dry dock, and were pleasantly surprised with the food, service, and cabins.  A few years ago, with their smoking policy, and extremely outdated avocado greens and golds, I'm not sure it would have been the right choice for us.

 

 

Last year we did MSC Divina, Norwegian Escape and Holland America Nieuw Amsterdam,  of the three Tracy loved Nieuw Amsterdam the best. She liked how quiet and relaxed the cruise was compared to the other two. I found the food on Nieuw Amsterdam  to be excellent, so was the service and we had a very nice aft cabin but like Celebrity Equinox the entertainment and activities were lacking, I need something to keep me occupied. Personally I preferred Norwegian Escape, good entertainment with lots of thing to do, in addition they also had a nice variety of specialty restaurants and the food was good.

[cruisefam38]

MikeyA53, I've been reading along since you first began this thread.  I appreciate your perspective on cruising these three lines, and cruising in general.

[MikeyA53]

Thanks

[micheleata]

Still following this great comparison report!   A snow room?  Never heard of that. 

[clskinsfan]

Great comparison review. Thanks for sharing!

[MikeyA53]

I would like to finish off this part of the review with some interesting photos and comments.

　

Royal Princess:

 

All lit up at night

 

 

 

 

I believe they have a balloon drop every cruise

 

 

 

Posing at the stairs 

 

 

 

 

If you are celebrating an anniversary, birthday, etc. Princess will decorate your door. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Walkway overlooking the water 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Isolated spot on deck 19 

 

 

 

 

 

MSC Seaside:

 

Captain and his officer. The captain welcomed the guest in 5-6 languages

 

 

 

 

 

 Walkway at the back of the ship

 

 

 

 

 

 Overlooking the South Beach Pool on deck 7 from deck 16

 

 

 

 

Aft elevators 

 

 

 

 

 

Celebrity Equinox:

 

　I waited until the last cruise to get my bottles of liquor. I brought a bottle back from San Juan and one from Punta Cana. Each time security did not seize it. There was no desk set up to pick up the liquor. Interesting! 

 

 

 

 

Unique directory  

 

 

 

 

 

Nice spot to hang out

 

 

 

 

 

 Enclosed pool 

 

 

 

 

 

The bar is covered with ice

 

 

 

 

 

 Disco room? 

 

 

 

 

 

The library and card room is conveniently situated amongst the cabins on deck 9, 10 and 11 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[MikeyA53]

2 hours ago, micheleata said:

Still following this great comparison report!   A snow room?  Never heard of that. 

 

1 hour ago, clskinsfan said:

Great comparison review. Thanks for sharing!

 

 

 

Thank you.😄

[clskinsfan]

In your pics it appears you can really feel the difference in the number of passengers on the ships. The Celebrity ship almost looks empty compared to the other ships. Is that how it felt to you?

[MikeyA53]

MSC felt busy at time,  I found both Princess and Celebrity were similar, with Celebrity having a slight edge on how it was quiet.

[yoshi]

I have never done a B2B let alone a B2B2B, but we have done several 15 day cruises. I am wondering if switching ships mid-way is a good way to feel like you are going even more places? I did like how your doing the 3 different ships took you all over the Caribbean, I kind of like that part. Loved your pictures, you are a beautiful couple. Thanks for the review.

[MikeyA53]

Summary

 

 

Royal Princess　

 

Very good: Free in cabin movies, self serve laundry, allowed to bring wine, bottled water and soda onboard, not crowded, walking/running track, ice cream shop (Gelato)

 

Good: Ship, food, service, cabin, entertainment, gym, buffet variety, activities, staff friendliness, passenger friendliness, specialty coffee and desserts (International Café)

 

Fair: Only 2 specialty restaurants

 

Bad: Spa and gym on different decks

 

Very bad: Balcony

 

 

 

　

MSC Seaside:

Very good: Entertainment, spa, ship, activities, cruise critic party, embarkation

 

Good: Food, gym,

 

Fair: staff friendliness, passenger friendliness, pre-cruise laundry special, crowded at times,

specialty coffee and desserts (Venchi Cioccogelateria-Coffee Bar)

 

Bad: Activity prices (bowling, cinema, etc.), buffet selection, noisy at time, in cabin movies $8

 

Very bad: No walking/running track, specialty restaurant menu and prices

 

 

 

 

 

Celebrity Equinox:

 

Very good: Food, cabin, balcony, passenger friendliness, buffet variety, gym, allowed to bring

wine, bottled water and soda onboard, embarkation, not crowded, specialty coffee and desserts (Café al Bacio)

 

Good: Staff friendliness, service, cruise critic party, ice cream shop (Gelateria)

 

Fair: Ship, walking/running track

 

Bad: Entertainment, activities, in cabin 6 free movies (others $15), activities

 

Very bad: Best laundry special was $49

 

 

 

 

 

After returning home someone asked Tracy which ship she preferred and her answer was MSC Seaside because of the entertainment. I can’t decide between Princess and Celebrity. Princess had lots of things that were either very good or good but being a ‘foodie’ Celebrity’s cuisine was first rate.

 

We are planning another B2B2B for November 2019. We prefer to cruise on a different ship every time we cruise, in other words we do not like to repeat the same ship twice. We looked at Princess, Celebrity, Royal Caribbean (never been on RC) Norwegian, Holland America and Carnival. We prefer cruising out of the cruise capital area of the world (Miami & Fort Lauderdale). It makes it easier to combine cruises together. When booking a ship we look at the ship itself (Prefer newer ships), the prices and the itineraries. We wanted to include another Celebrity ships if possible but because most of their ships do not stick with a 7 day schedule (The length of their cruise keeps changing from week to week) it was not feasible to include them. The ships we looked at from Norwegian and Holland America were too expensive and Carnival was not a good fit.

 

Finally we booked a 7 days cruise on Royal Caribbean Allure of the Sea leaving from Fort Lauderdale on Nov 3, 2019, with stops at St. Kitt, St. Thomas and Coco Cay. Then on Nov 10 we embark on Regal Princess for a 7 day cruise out of Fort Lauderdale to Princess Cay, St. Thomas and St. Maarten. Finally on Nov 17 we take an Uber to Miami and get on MSC Meraviglia for a 7 day cruise to Ocho Rios, Jamaica, Grand Cayman Islands, Cozumel and Ocean Cay.

 

However, approximately 6 weeks after booking MSC Meraviglia we got a notice advising that our 7 day cruise had changed to a 4 day and a 3 day cruise with only Ocean Cay as a port for each cruise. They offered us $100 OBC for the inconvenience but we declined and cancelled. We then booked Crown Princess leaving on Nov 17 for a 10 day cruise out of Fort Lauderdale to Bonaire, Curacao, Grenada, Dominica, St. Thomas and Grand Turk.

 

Overall we are happy with the change, all three cruises are leaving on three consecutive Sundays out of Fort Lauderdale. Fortunately we have an aft cabin on Regal Princess  with a large balcony and on Crown Princess we also got lucky and got a balcony cabin on the Caribe deck which has large balconies compared to the other decks.

 

In closing I would like to post my favorite sunrise and sunset photos taken over the course of our cruises. Cheers! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

San Juan

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bye

 

 

 

[MikeyA53]

15 hours ago, yoshi said:

I have never done a B2B let alone a B2B2B, but we have done several 15 day cruises. I am wondering if switching ships mid-way is a good way to feel like you are going even more places? I did like how your doing the 3 different ships took you all over the Caribbean, I kind of like that part. Loved your pictures, you are a beautiful couple. Thanks for the review.

 

 Thank you so much. 

[NemoCrownie]

Thank you so much.  You and your wife are adorable and I really appreciate the detail regarding the various ships and cruise lines.  We have not been adventurous, having only sailed two lines, so your info and comparisons are very helpful.  I wish you would consider doing port reviews in the future as you have been to so many and some of them are cruise line specific.  Again, thank you for your time and effort doing this wonderful comparison and review.

[Fogfog]

Thanks so much for the details/review and insight.

Very interesting to get some sense of both Princess and MSC as we have not tried those lines.

The summary was very helpful!

Interesting to consider B2B  7+7 instead of a 12-14 night. Worth considering the strategy and the variety it can bring.

 

Cheers.

fog

 

 

[MikeyA53]

1 hour ago, NemoCrownie said:

Thank you so much.  You and your wife are adorable and I really appreciate the detail regarding the various ships and cruise lines.  We have not been adventurous, having only sailed two lines, so your info and comparisons are very helpful.  I wish you would consider doing port reviews in the future as you have been to so many and some of them are cruise line specific.  Again, thank you for your time and effort doing this wonderful comparison and review.

 

 

Thank you, I have covered many ports multiple times in my past reviews. Considering it took about 6 weeks to prepare this review and posting it on three forums (Princess, MSC and Celebrity) I decided to concentrate on the ships this time.

[MikeyA53]

1 hour ago, Fogfog said:

Thanks so much for the details/review and insight.

Very interesting to get some sense of both Princess and MSC as we have not tried those lines.

The summary was very helpful!

Interesting to consider B2B  7+7 instead of a 12-14 night. Worth considering the strategy and the variety it can bring.

 

Cheers.

fog

 

 

 

 

Thanks Fog, glad you enjoyed it.