Compare and Contrast Princess and Celebrity -

[Guest ldtr]

11 hours ago, JP350 said:

Princess has a better Ittenary and Price, but we really love the food on cruises and that's why we're considering celebrity. We also have rccl diamond plus status so with a match (sister brands) so we'll have status, but that won't make or break the cruise. I haven't heard anything about celebrity, but I know that Royal quarantines in ocean view rooms on deck one or two. 

Food is very  subjective, Celebrity does some items better, so things worse.  Our neighbors who were just on a Princess cruise with us, had also taken a Celebrity cruise in Europe in April.  They liked the food on Princess, but thought the food on Celebrity was, in their words, horrible. So it all depends. I have found food in the main dining room to be similar in quality, though Celebrity does seem to offer some more regional selections such as Kangaroo on a Australian and New Zealand cruise.  Have not been on Celebrity since the restart, but have found their soups to tend more like consomme, than the soups that Princess serves.

 

We used to sail far more on Celebrity (we started cruising there), but now are doing more Princess as a result of Celebrity going more to the ship within a ship concept.  So it may also depend upon if you book suites or one of the classes that get the dining rooms reserved for those classes, compared to other categories.  Also tend to avoid their more all inclusive fares so that also impacts are selection of Celebrity cruises.

 

Princess tends to run a bit less on person per day comparisons of like categories.  If you are a veteran and shareholder Princess does better with the OBC (Celebrity has some restrictions on shareholder OBC and combining some OBCs that Princess does not have).

 

Celebrity passengers depending upon the cruise seem to be a bit more upscale than Princess, especially on the Alaska and west coast cruisers.

Edited July 15, 2022 by ldtr

[geoherb]

I was disappointed in the food on my last Celebrity cruise (my fourth on X). The service was also disappointing. I keep looking at Celebrity before booking, but Princess and HAL have won our business since that last Celebrity cruise. If I saw a great itinerary that I wanted to do at a good price on Celebrity, though, I wouldn't hesitate to  book it.

 

[cruisequeen4ever]

Compare:

-Both cater more to adults

-Both have beautiful ships

-Both offer drink packages

-Both have good crew 

-Both offer good itins

 

 

Contrast:

-IMO, Princess has much better food and drinks

-Celebrity has a great, free indoor therapy pool

-IMO, Princess has better quality entertainment 

-Celebrity has fun music going as you walk through the ship 

-Princess is more classic, while Celebrity is more modern

-Princess has more comfortable seating on its new ships than Celebrity’s new ships

 

[suekel]

deleted as posted on wrong board

Edited July 15, 2022 by suekel
wrong board

[JP350]

3 hours ago, ldtr said:

Food is very  subjective, Celebrity does some items better, so things worse.  Our neighbors who were just on a Princess cruise with us, had also taken a Celebrity cruise in Europe in April.  They liked the food on Princess, but thought the food on Celebrity was, in their words, horrible. So it all depends. I have found food in the main dining room to be similar in quality, though Celebrity does seem to offer some more regional selections such as Kangaroo on a Australian and New Zealand cruise.  Have not been on Celebrity since the restart, but have found their soups to tend more like consomme, than the soups that Princess serves.

 

We used to sail far more on Celebrity (we started cruising there), but now are doing more Princess as a result of Celebrity going more to the ship within a ship concept.  So it may also depend upon if you book suites or one of the classes that get the dining rooms reserved for those classes, compared to other categories.  Also tend to avoid their more all inclusive fares so that also impacts are selection of Celebrity cruises.

 

Princess tends to run a bit less on person per day comparisons of like categories.  If you are a veteran and shareholder Princess does better with the OBC (Celebrity has some restrictions on shareholder OBC and combining some OBCs that Princess does not have).

 

Celebrity passengers depending upon the cruise seem to be a bit more upscale than Princess, especially on the Alaska and west coast cruisers.

I know I should know this, but what is a ship in a ship. We also tend to stay away from the all inclusive fares. 

[Guest ldtr]

22 minutes ago, JP350 said:

I know I should know this, but what is a ship in a ship. We also tend to stay away from the all inclusive fares. 

It is where you have different areas of the ship for different categories of staterooms. With Celebrity, for example, suites and some other room classes, use  different dining rooms (food selection and quality)  than the rest of the ship.   There are other elements to it.  But basically some portions of the ship that where public space prior to the changes because restricted to certain classes of cabins.

 

I found with Celebrity when they started carving out dining rooms for example the remaining MDR suffered to a degree.

 

MSC does it a bit differently with their experiences tiers.,  NCL does it with Haven, but haven, Cunard also does it with different dining rooms for class of cabin.

 

 

 

Edited July 15, 2022 by ldtr

[patrickmoran]

On 7/14/2022 at 2:01 PM, JP350 said:

I’m thinking about booking a celebrity or princess cruise for April 2023 princess currently has the better price, but celebrity is looking appealing. Could anyone compare and contrast the two lines similarities and differences. I’ve takes 22 rccl cruises 25 total so I’ll have status with celebrity. The ships I’m looking at are regal princess or celebrity apex. Any info you guys can give is greatly appreciated 

Post-Covid, the wifi on P sucks. Don't know about X now.

Cabins on P's Regal are smaller than X's unless you book deluxe balcony or higher category.

Drinks on P are much cheaper though if you are planning on including a drink package won't make a difference. No Martini Bar though Vines is nice on the Regal.

[Guest ldtr]

19 minutes ago, patrickmoran said:

Post-Covid, the wifi on P sucks. Don't know about X now.

Cabins on P's Regal are smaller than X's unless you book deluxe balcony or higher category.

Drinks on P are much cheaper though if you are planning on including a drink package won't make a difference. No Martini Bar though Vines is nice on the Regal.

It may depend upon the ship.  Had very good wifi on the Grand and the Majestic, but horrid (like in the old dial up modem kinds of speed) on the Ruby.

[Orlando Vic]

Our one and only Celebrity cruise from Yokohama to Vancouver was a disappointment. There were no self-serve laundry machines and dryers. Midway through the cruise, they ran out of shrimp, hot dogs & iced tea. The pizza was rewarmed frozen pizza. 😩

[guitarcrazy]

We were on a Celebrity Med cruise in 2012 and a Princess Baltic cruise in 2016.  Prior to 2012 we had cruised on Holland and Norwegian.  The first day of the Celebrity Cruise, the food knocked my shoes off.  However after that, the food was indistinguishable from all other cruise lines I had previously used. In general I find cruise food good but not great; I have cruised on Crystal and Paul Gauguin since that Princess 2016 cruise and did find that their food was a notch better-say very good, but still not great.  For what it’s worth I have heard Regent is great-but have not tried it.   As it is, with “good” food that is way too plentiful, I eat way too much.  I’d hate to see how much weight I would gain if I thought the food was great 😄 So I am happy to go on Princess, Celebrity, Holland, and NCL and will go based on itinerary and price.  So far, I’ve avoided Carnival and Royal Caribbean, as well as Silversea and Viking…but for differing reasons.

[ALWAYS CRUZIN]

Our favorite Princess ship is the Sky Princess. Loved it above Celebrity any day.

[the penguins]

On 7/14/2022 at 9:33 PM, bigeagle12 said:

Unfortunately the Sail Only Pricing is only on select cruises 😥

No that's all changed. As from July all cruises and all cabin categories up to Concierge can be booked as Cruise only or with AI. Cruises booked before July can be changed to Cruise only. Aqua and Suites must be AI. We are delighted. 

[Marelaine]

On 7/14/2022 at 2:39 PM, Torfamm said:

We sail on both lines frequently and find that they are more alike than different.  There are pros and cons to both and I can't say that I have a clear favorite, the decision is usually based on itinerary.

 

in my opinion, Celebrity has significantly better food and we love that there is no smoking anywhere inside the ship, including the casino. Smoking in the casino is the biggest negative to sailing with Princess for me.

 

On Princess, we like the fact that there is savory food available in the International Cafe rather than just the pastries and desserts available in Cafe al Bacio on Celebrity. We also like that availability of self-serve laundry on Princess ships.  It makes a big difference on long trips. We also enjoy formal nights. We also like that option to order from the Medallion app on Princess ships, it's especially convenient for coffee in the morning and enjoy formal nights.

It was disappointing when Celebrity went to sweets only at Cafe al Bacio. But if anyone wants afternoon tea, head to the buffet. Celebrity puts out a nice spread of savory sandwiches, charcuterie, pastries, and fruit.

 

[richsea]

Interesting replies on this thread. We started cruising on X in 1996, & have over 25 sailings on them, but none since 2017. Lately it’s been pretty much Princess, due to X pricing, their ship within a ship, & the faux balconies on their new ships. If we ever go back to them, it will be on an older ship.

 

I would say each line has +&-. X used to have the best food, but that’s changed in the past 10 years, with food now comparable, although X buffet food & layout is better than P except on P Royal ships. I think Princess std. balcony rooms are inferior, with no place to sit unless you book a deluxe on Royal ships. Princess drink prices are more reasonable, & they have a much larger activities staff. 
 

We haven’t sailed Princess since the restart, so I can’t speak to the reported decline post covid. Personally, we now look to Princess before any other line, & will see how things are in November on our third try on the repo from Brooklyn.
 

[Tedferg]

Someone mentioned the Atrium on Princess, on our one X cruise we missed the wide central Atrium we enjoy on Princess.

[Guest ldtr]

13 minutes ago, richsea said:

Interesting replies on this thread. We started cruising on X in 1996, & have over 25 sailings on them, but none since 2017. Lately it’s been pretty much Princess, due to X pricing, their ship within a ship, & the faux balconies on their new ships. If we ever go back to them, it will be on an older ship.

 

I would say each line has +&-. X used to have the best food, but that’s changed in the past 10 years, with food now comparable, although X buffet food & layout is better than P except on P Royal ships. I think Princess std. balcony rooms are inferior, with no place to sit unless you book a deluxe on Royal ships. Princess drink prices are more reasonable, & they have a much larger activities staff. 
 

We haven’t sailed Princess since the restart, so I can’t speak to the reported decline post covid. Personally, we now look to Princess before any other line, & will see how things are in November on our third try on the repo from Brooklyn.
 

One of the changes we did not like in Celebrity is when they reduced their entertainment staff to make more room for Spa/Gym contractor and started charging for things like Zumba booked through the gym run by one of the contractors.

[richsea]

12 minutes ago, ldtr said:

One of the changes we did not like in Celebrity is when they reduced their entertainment staff to make more room for Spa/Gym contractor and started charging for things like Zumba booked through the gym run by one of the contractors.

Yes, I remember that. Not that I took Zumba classes, lol, but I thought it strange that they chose to start charging for something like Zumba. Bean Counters at work! I remember sailing on P shortly after X reduced activity staff & seeing the photos of the 6 or 8 staff P had on hand.