Will we like Princess?

[SusieV]

My husband loves Celebrity, but we're looking at alternatives to flying overseas for an event in China in October, and we saw that Princess has a transpacific from Alaska to China at approximately the right time, on Sapphire Princess.

 

He really loves the food and service on Celebrity. He is a little nervous about trying a new cruise line after being satisfied with X.

 

I would love to hear your thoughts on this!

[dzcruisers]

We've sailed X and Princess. We really enjoyed Princess and it's younger crowd. We sailed Summit in Feb and it seemed half the passengers were 75 plus. God Bless them all for still being able to travel.

My husband liked the ages of the people on Princess better, seemed to be more 40,50, 60 year olds than on X. He doesn't want to sail X again for a while. It was easier to find a couple married 65 years than one married 5 or less for the newly wed game. They didn't - least amount of years was 10. Couples were married 10, 30, 55 & 65 years.

We found they were comparable in service. X probably has a little better food in the dining room. Princess had a better buffet. We liked the anytime dining on Princess because we like 7 to 7:30 hour for dinner. Found we ate with Americans at 7 and Europeans at 8. It was interesting meeting them all.

We looked at that cruise on the Sapphire Princess and are hoping to do it next year. Sounds like a great cruise. When in Beijing be sure to visit the Pearl Market - they sell everything there, designer bags, name brand sports wear, etc. And of course Pearls.;)

[rebeccalouise]

Read the reviews on Sapphire. There were some bad ones for that itinerary.

 

I sailed Sapphire to Alaska in 2005. Princess, IMO has gone downhill since my previous Princess cruise in 1998. The "anytime" dining is a pain- with rushed, bad service. If you do go- do traditional dining. My overall feeling about the ship was neutral- didn't hate it, didn't love it. I had just gotten off the Millenium prior to our sailing and really missed the Millenium.

 

If I compare the Millenium Class Ships (90T) to Sapphire (116T). Millenium Class wins hands down.

[mii]

You are going to get many varied opinion on Princess cruises. Now I have sailed on them 8 times and loved every one of them. I have also been on two Celebrity cruises and am booked for one in May and I can honestly say that Princess has some very good points as does Celebrity have their good points. In my opinion and this is my opinion the food is just about the same on both ships. I know that people will disagree with that but hey it is my opinion. I have a Princess cruise planned for Nov. and no dobut maybe I will sail Celebrity again. I go for the itiniery. If Princess has one that is better than Celebrity than I will do that. If not I will take the itiiniery that is best for us and that may be Celebrity. Both cruiselines have their good points and they both certainly have their not so good points.

 

Like I said you are going to get varying opinion on this one. Just read everything about the two lines and you make the best decision that is right for you.

 

Marilyn

[leoandhugh]

I would not rely on many opinions of Princess for this particular cruise because it will be very different from what most cc posters have experienced. The length of the cruise itself, the large number of days at sea will probably mean an older crowd than on, say a 7-14day Caribbean cruise. Some of the menus will repeat items, the vegas type shows will repeat. But if you are a couple who do not require constant entertainment and things to do and you are really looking for an alternative to flying, I say go for it. It is not as though you had the choice of another cruise line; the way I understand it, you either fly to China or you take Princess. You also have to factor in the number of days away from home, the cost of the cruise over flying against probably extra days in China, which may, or may not, be desirable from your point of view. Unless others opinions are really bad, I would not be swayed one way or another.:)

[Tatka]

Read the reviews on Sapphire. There were some bad ones for that itinerary.

 

I sailed Sapphire to Alaska in 2005. Princess, IMO has gone downhill since my previous Princess cruise in 1998. The "anytime" dining is a pain- with rushed, bad service. If you do go- do traditional dining. My overall feeling about the ship was neutral- didn't hate it, didn't love it. I had just gotten off the Millenium prior to our sailing and really missed the Millenium.

 

If I compare the Millenium Class Ships (90T) to Sapphire (116T). Millenium Class wins hands down.

 

Not the case on our summer cruise. I don't believe ship sailing from Alaska to China will hold as many passengers as Caribbean Princess during summer months in Caribbeans, but we still had wonderful service (may be less formal) in both "anytime" dining rooms and never had to wait for tables for two.

 

By the way from what I read and hear service has gone downhill on all lines (except Carnival) since last century. ;)

 

We sailed on just about any massmarket cruiseline and to this date Celebrity and Princess are our two #1s.

 

Enjoy. Princess does so many things right!

[PescadoAmarillo]

You will love the Sapphire Princess...she and the Diamond (twin sister) are our favorite Princess ships (we've done transpacific cruises on both of them). We find the food and service better on Celebrity, but we love the flexibility of a Princess cruise...Anytime dining, no "informal" dress code, 24 hour buffet, pools (fresh water) and hot tubs. Princess is "cruiser-friendly". Just don't expect Celebrity service and food and you'll be very happy. (BTW, the production shows DO repeat on consecutive nights...Princess has multiple entertainment venues, and offering shows on consecutive nights allows you to see a different show every night. And the menus will NOT repeat...we've done 30 and 29 night Princess cruises and had a different menu every night).