Want to try Celebrity Equinox--how does it compare to Princess or Carnival?

Thank you everyone for all of your replies! Very, very helpful--thanks for taking the time. I know it is all subjective, but your comparisons really helped. It sounds Celebrity and Princess are fairly similar. I prefer quiet pool areas to loud ones and like the idea of the solarium. If you purchase the classic beverage package on Celebrity, does that cover drinks like martinis, or would we always be paying extra for them? Are the shows on Celebrity terribly disappointing, when compared to Princess, or not bad? Final question--we are fairly tall people--are those rounded bed ends too short for many? I am worried about that! Are the beds firm and comfy?

We have enjoyed the entertainment on X a lot, but there just isn't enough of it. On Princess you can hop from show to show. It's not like that on X. However, they have a great martini bar with hip music, which kind of qualifies as entertainment

Yes, you can still get martinis on the classic package, basic ones.

However, if you wish to have a specialty martini bar martini, those won't be covered under the classic package, however, you can simply pay the difference.

Beds on X way more comfy than on Princess.

Length? Average length bed.

We have enjoyed the entertainment on X a lot, but there just isn't enough of it. On Princess you can hop from show to show. It's not like that on X. However, they have a great martini bar with hip music, which kind of qualifies as entertainment

 

Yes, you can still get martinis on the classic package, basic ones.

However, if you wish to have a specialty martini bar martini, those won't be covered under the classic package, however, you can simply pay the difference.

 

Beds on X way more comfy than on Princess.

 

Length? Average length bed.

Very helpful! Thank you!!!

I've not yet sailed Celebrity but have a week on the Equinox booked for next summer. I have experienced the other 2 lines and thought it would be interesting to see what X cruisers had to say.

Based on these responses, I'd have to add that X cruisers appear to be very nice people. In all the responses, nobody slammed the other lines. The comments were factual, helpful and all within the bounds of good taste. This just makes me want to sail Celebrity that much more.

~Brian

We are a long married couple in our late 50s and have cruised many times on Princess and Carnival. We want to try Equinox because it rates so high on CC. What makes it rate so high? How does it compare to Princess or Carnival in terms of food, pools, shows, and overall experience?

 

Thank you so much!

We found it very boring at night and we prefer Princess.

We've been on all three and we are of similar age. I will not cruise Carnival again, regardless of itinerary or price. It just wasn't a good fit for us. Our preference is Celebrity.

We prefer Aqua Class and find the food to be excellent. We have never eaten in the main dining room. The lack of announcements is appealing. We usually have dinner late so the shows aren't really important to us. The atmosphere is a bit more sedate on Celebrity which may or may not be what you are looking for.

Sent from my iPad using Forums

We have sailed on both lines and as well as RCLand NCL. We really like Celebrity but my favorite feature on any ship I've cruised on is the Sanctuary on Princess. Hoping to board the Equinox on Sept. 15! Wish us luck!

We have done many Carnival and one on Celebrity (Equinox). We liked the Equinox, it felt more open than any of the Carnival ships. The Equinox décor was subdued compared to the Carnival ships.

Food is better than Carnival but not by a huge margin, enough to notice. Service is similar but we have always had good service on Carnival. Entertainment is better on the Equinox. The buffet layout is much nicer than any of the Carnival ships. Celebrity is quieter.

For us Celebrity wins out and moves above Carnival to our second favourite line (Oceania is first). We have a Carnival booked for November and we will be back on the Equinox next February.

Give Celebrity a try, even if it doesn't turn out to be your favourite it will be enjoyable.

We have only sailed Royal Princess, once. Our other cruises have been Celebrity Solstice, Equinox and Silhouette. Princess and Celebrity are pretty close.

The buffet on Celebrity is laid out better than the chopped up layout on Royal Princess.

We did Select -Your Time Dining on both cruises. We were seated within minutes in the Celebrity Dining room. Princess Maitre d' seemed perplexed with our party of three. Often making us wait for a seat in an undesirable location - table butted against the service station where they pile the dirty dishes. We always go to the dining room early, when it's not so busy. She seemed annoyed with passengers who didn't want to share a table. Never got that impression from any Celebrity Maitre d'

Entertainment in the main theater is better on Celebrity, but Princess has better alternative entertainment in the lounges.

Celebrity has no smoking in the casino and other public areas. The smoke in the Princess casino was unbearable, but I hit a jackpot so I have fond memories.

Princess has MUTS, which we enjoyed, when it wasn't closed due to wind.

For us, the adults only Solarium on Celebrity is the tie breaker. There is no comparable area on Royal Princess.

More pool loungers on Celebrity. More tables and chairs around the pool deck on Princess.

Celebrity beverage service around the pool has slipped a bit. Princess pool beverage servers were very attentive.

We have only sailed Royal Princess, once. Our other cruises have been Celebrity Solstice, Equinox and Silhouette. Princess and Celebrity are pretty close.

 

The buffet on Celebrity is laid out better than the chopped up layout on Royal Princess.

We did Select -Your Time Dining on both cruises. We were seated within minutes in the Celebrity Dining room. Princess Maitre d' seemed perplexed with our party of three. Often making us wait for a seat in an undesirable location - table butted against the service station where they pile the dirty dishes. We always go to the dining room early, when it's not so busy. She seemed annoyed with passengers who didn't want to share a table. Never got that impression from any Celebrity Maitre d'

Entertainment in the main theater is better on Celebrity, but Princess has better alternative entertainment in the lounges.

Celebrity has no smoking in the casino and other public areas. The smoke in the Princess casino was unbearable, but I hit a jackpot so I have fond memories.

Princess has MUTS, which we enjoyed, when it wasn't closed due to wind.

For us, the adults only Solarium on Celebrity is the tie breaker. There is no comparable area on Royal Princess.

More pool loungers on Celebrity. More tables and chairs around the pool deck on Princess.

Celebrity beverage service around the pool has slipped a bit. Princess pool beverage servers were very attentive.

We've had great cabin stewards on every cruise.

We never rule out cruise lines. There are too many variances within each of the fleets. We have absolutely no interest in HAL's older ships. Same with NCL. We have enjoyed cruises on both however we select our ship and time of cruise carefully. Same with RCI. We have had a number of excellent cruises but there are some RCI ships that we would not bother with because of personal preferences. Our two Carnival cruises were also very good...but it took more time to narrow down the ship, the itinerary, and the timing.

my favorite feature on any ship I've cruised on is the Sanctuary on Princess.

Don't you have to pay for that? :confused:

The smoke in the Princess casino was unbearable, but I hit a jackpot so I have fond memories.

This made me laugh 😂. I am sensitive to smoke and wish Princess had a non-smoking casino... But your post got me thinking... Maybe I wouldn't mind if I hit the jackpot ;)

(congratulations on the win by the way).

We have sailed x9 on X and once on Carnival (1999) and once on Princess (2017)

We are going back to X next year.

I much, much preferred the Princess web site, I could navigate very easily and it was new to me!

I much preferred the way X refund your unused OBC to your credit card on the last morning. I pre purchased some from Princess and it took 8 WEEKS and a request for it to be refunded. I was told it is done automatically in 4-6 weeks if the currency is USD, but it has to be claimed if sterling. It was for this reason alone that we booked X for next years cruise.

However, the internet allowance would be better on Princess if we returned, so probably in the future we will book purely by itinerary.

Don't you have to pay for that? :confused:

Yes you do and race around like a chicken the first day to get your reservation. I actually think the Solarium is a huge plus on Celebrity

OP, I've never sailed on Carnival so I can't comment but I have 11 on Princess and my regret is I did not switch to Celebrity earlier. Nothing wrong with Princess, but we just prefer Celebrity