Celebrity or Princess, what's right for us?

To give you a little info on us, we're in our mid 30s, no kids. Only have gone on 3 Carnival cruise and one upcoming RC cruise, we like dining, entertainment, my DW likes the Spa, were not into dressing up.

Some places we would be interested in visiting is Alaska, Pacific Coastal, Canada New England, my questions are does Celebrity do Pacific Coastal? How does Celebrity compare to Princess for Alaska. Are the pools crowded on sea days, what's the average age of the cruiser on either X or Princess and what cruiseline might be the best fit for us.

Answered your duplicate post.

Can only speak for Princess. While we prefer Celebrity's ship experience in general, Princess really does Alaska well. We have particularly enjoyed Glacier Bay and it should be on any bucket list. Celebrity does not go there as far as I know. Regardless of the time of year, outdoor pools are not crowded in our experience due to cool weather, so the enclosed Celebrity M class pool may offer an advantage if the pool is a major factor for you.

You can't go wrong with either cruise line, but I think you'd probably fit in better with Celebrity. I did a Coastal on Celebrity a couple years ago and it was really enjoyable. I've done many on Princess and they've been good too but we're about 20 yrs. older than you. There's just more alternative dining choices with Celebrity and it feels a little younger. I think the only ship they have doing the regular coastals now is the Century and you'd probably like a Solstice ship better. Maybe you can catch a repo one on a Solstice Class ship? I think they have a few wine ones (that's what I was on too).

IMO, Princess is better for AK. They're the ones that will get the best docking positions, I think they own their own trains and resorts and they have covered pools on most of their ships. The one gripe I had with Celebrity was that the pool deck got quite crowded in nice weather. I like ships that have pools in a few different areas so the suntanning crowd can spread out a bit. JMHO.

For Alaska we would pick either Princess or HAL!

Both have been cruising to Alaska for a very long time and can go to Glacier Bay while Celebrity can't.

I've thoroughly enjoyed cruising on Celebrity to Alaska but I'd go with Princess. Their itineraries are unbeatable, especially the north and southbound sailings from Vancouver or Whittier.

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To give you a little info on us, we're in our mid 30s, no kids. Only have gone on 3 Carnival cruise and one upcoming RC cruise, we like dining, entertainment, my DW likes the Spa, were not into dressing up.

 

Some places we would be interested in visiting is Alaska, Pacific Coastal, Canada New England, my questions are does Celebrity do Pacific Coastal? How does Celebrity compare to Princess for Alaska. Are the pools crowded on sea days, what's the average age of the cruiser on either X or Princess and what cruiseline might be the best fit for us.

We have done Alaska and Pacific Coastals on both lines and Canada / NE on Princess.

The only Pacific Coastals still offered on Celebrity are this coming Friday (Sa Francisco roundtrip) and again in May 2016 (Vancouver to SF). Princess has several coastal trips offered from San Francisco -- so would have to choose Princess over Celebrity there.

We actually prefer Celebrity overall but Princess's itineraries in the upcoming seasons work out much better for us.

Celebrity has the beverage package offerings pretty much all the time now -- so if you do enjoy cocktails, water and really good coffee throughout your cruise, this may be the way to go. Celebrity doesn't offer their ultimate Alaska cruise itinerary past this year so not quite as attractive for us. We enjoy sailing out of San Francisco so Princess got our booking for our next Alaska cruise. Everyone seems to rave about glacier bay but I absolutely love Tracy Arm / Sawyer glacier and Icy Strait Point, which Princess has now added to some of their sailings.

I believe the length / price of the cruise has so much more to do with the demographics than choosing Princess vs Celebrity. Longer cruises tend to have an older crowd. Celebrity is actually a bit more formal but you can always book a specialty restaurant on either line to avoid taking formal clothes. The specialty restaurants on Princess are more reasonable in cost....food is just as good. Celebrity offers Aqua Class which has a designated specialty restaurant, so no formal wear ever required. Aqua class rooms are usually on their own deck and only allow 2 persons per cabin ... so usually no kids on that deck. These cabins have some special spa perks included. Some say not worth it but if a spa person, you might love it...I do!

To me, and I know not everyone will agree with this, I think Princess is akin to Royal Caribbean whereas Celebrity seems a bit more elegant. Royal Caribbean actually owns Celebrity....where one is more geared towards families, the other offers a bit more pampering (I think). I believe most of Celebrity ships in their fleet have an indoor pool area whereas a few of the Princess ships do not. This may be a consideration for those cooler weather destinations.

For you, if embarkation ports are not a preference, I would choose the Aqua Class on one of Celebrity's Solstice Class ships for Alaska. Nice dining (IMHO), no formal dress required, great spa, beautiful ships with a lawn on the top deck and if you choose a 7 day itinerary, probably a lot of fellow passengers that are your age.

For the Pacific Coastals, I think your best bet is Princess.

Since I haven't been on Celebrity for Canada / New England, I cannot recommend one over the other but this is a fabulous itinerary when done in the fall months. Wish we could do another but my DH just hates to fly.

Love the Celebrity product but have had to go with Princess for Alaska and Glacier Bay.

OP:

You will never, ever know which cruise line is a "good fit" for you until you actually sail on them. Several times. It is impossible to quantify all of the plusses/minuses of each line via other's opinions.

Book and go. Relax. Enjoy. Then book a different line next time. Compare/contrast.

You will soon know which line works for you.

For us?.... they all do! :)

We're a couple in our mid 30s too. No Kids. We are/were loyal to Royal & Celebrity and lately we prefer Celebrity. Since we're foodies, dining options are important and we've never been disappointed with Celebrity. We absolutely love the modern S class ships and its contemporary look. We'd probably do Alaska on the Celebrity Solstice when we decide to go there. Celebrity's European itineraries cannot be beat.

Century is no longer in the Celebrity fleet

You can't go wrong with either cruise line, but I think you'd probably fit in better with Celebrity. I did a Coastal on Celebrity a couple years ago and it was really enjoyable. I've done many on Princess and they've been good too but we're about 20 yrs. older than you. There's just more alternative dining choices with Celebrity and it feels a little younger. I think the only ship they have doing the regular coastals now is the Century and you'd probably like a Solstice ship better. Maybe you can catch a repo one on a Solstice Class ship? I think they have a few wine ones (that's what I was on too).

 

IMO, Princess is better for AK. They're the ones that will get the best docking positions, I think they own their own trains and resorts and they have covered pools on most of their ships. The one gripe I had with Celebrity was that the pool deck got quite crowded in nice weather. I like ships that have pools in a few different areas so the suntanning crowd can spread out a bit. JMHO.

We're in our mid 30's, chose Celebrity for Alaska, and wouldn't change a thing. It's a very peaceful and relaxing line. Our next trip to Alaska will be on Princess or Holland America to see new places, like Haines and Glacier Bay. For additional land tours, they've got some killer deals in May!

OP:

 

You will never, ever know which cruise line is a "good fit" for you until you actually sail on them. Several times. It is impossible to quantify all of the plusses/minuses of each line via other's opinions.

Book and go. Relax. Enjoy. Then book a different line next time. Compare/contrast.

You will soon know which line works for you.

For us?.... they all do! :)

This poster has stated pretty much everything I'm thinking. We all love to research, being here on CC, but I kind of have the feeling that the OP is on an unending quest for answers to every question before committing. It's just not possible!

You can't go wrong with either cruise line, but I think you'd probably fit in better with Celebrity. I did a Coastal on Celebrity a couple years ago and it was really enjoyable. I've done many on Princess and they've been good too but we're about 20 yrs. older than you. There's just more alternative dining choices with Celebrity and it feels a little younger. I think the only ship they have doing the regular coastals now is the Century and you'd probably like a Solstice ship better. Maybe you can catch a repo one on a Solstice Class ship? I think they have a few wine ones (that's what I was on too).

 

IMO, Princess is better for AK. They're the ones that will get the best docking positions, I think they own their own trains and resorts and they have covered pools on most of their ships. The one gripe I had with Celebrity was that the pool deck got quite crowded in nice weather. I like ships that have pools in a few different areas so the suntanning crowd can spread out a bit. JMHO.

CENTURY is no longer in the fleet.....

Both cruise lines intrigue us, we're not into the party scene, but don't want to be bored to death, one thing I do like about X is the Solarium is free to use, where the Sanctuary cost money, does X have like movie under the stars, but a bonus with my DW is they both serve Diet Coke. My thing is for Alaska, I'm not sure if we would want to get a balcony, I just don't think we would use it as much as I think we would, I would rather spend my money on other things. As I'm the only one who works and my DW is on a disability pension.

What's better Princess Cays or Labadee/Coco Cay and Amber Cove seems nice and will Princess go there?

What's better Princess Cays or Labadee/Coco Cay and Amber Cove seems nice and will Princess go there?

Preferred Coco Cay to Princess Cay. I haven't sailed Princess in the Caribbean because Princess Cay is one of three ports of call.