dreadnot

The NCL Escape is full too . Celebrity would fill a bigger ship . If not another company should get into the market. Carnival goes there but I would rather walk . RCL only 5 days and too large of a ship

Bermuda is a great cruise. With all the ships ported in Florida, it makes sense to move the Summit there, and bring a newer ship to the Bermuda marketplace

Would see how it looks after dry dock. Still it would seem time to rotate in another ship just as a change. Like Celebrity due to Aqua Class and Blu dining

Hope the Summit looks better. Was last on it 4 years ago s d literally looked like a rust bucket.Still most companies rotate ships , but Celebrity just keeps the old Summit in Bermuda.

Is Celebrity ever going to replace the Summit with at least a Silhouette Class ship? I am not a fan of the big NCL RCL ships, and like smaller ships. Have been on the Summit and Constellation , ok but dated. If not Celebrity , it would be nice to see a Princess ship like the Crown go to Bermuda from NY. Speaking of NY , I am amazed by the dearth of ships porting in NY. Would think a line like MSC , looking to break into the market would port a ship year round in NY

Princess is launching the SKY PRINCESS, and ho hum it will port in Port Everglades where there are more cruise ships than Palmetto bugs. The northeast continues to be ignored as is Bermuda. Princess and MSC should give serious thought to these markets. Princess has a serious design flaw in not having retractable domes for a pool area, that is a problem especially for fall Canada cruises . MSC does. Either of these lines could seriously challenge Celebrity that still sends its' old dog Summit to Bermuda. Been there , done that and while I started cruising years ago on Celebrity , I think there are better lines to cruise ;)on presently

Considering a 5 day Canada New England on the Regal Princess 10/18 to check her out. Have been on the Crown Princess ,and really liked the Mini Suite. What are the recommendations re which deck ,and location for balcony size ,as well as not to be under the sky walk. Thanks:cool:

It seems to come down to would you rather pay less ,get nickel and dimed to death and complain , or pay more and go first class. IMHO , cruising has gone too much into assembly line , big ship ,treat them like cattle and so what . Cruising twenty years ago was more bang for the buck, better service ,better dining room food. If you still want that , then you go Celebrity Aqua Spa . Princess Suite Plus . or the next level, Haven or Yacht Club. Now that it is just my wife and me instead of the whole family, will go for the latter. Would rather cruise 1 less cruise and go upscale . This seems to be the evolution of cruising. Eat everything , lounge chair hogs versus true cruisers who will pay for the ship within a ship.

The added level of luxury and service is definitely appealing!

We sailed the Silhouette in January and it was wonderful! I recommend their Caribbean itinerary. The excursions were great. We also enjoyed the specialty restaurants on the ship

 

 

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not a fan of the bigger ships ,and really liked Blu/ Aqua Class on Summit and Constellation. Like the idea of Aqua Class access to the steam rooms. Would probably give edge to Princess on Buffet and service . Celebrity entertainment ok ,but not great. Have heard complaints on embarkation and disembarkation on Celebrity. Was ok boarding Constellation last Jan , have priority boarding , but leaving felt like cattle

I have been looking at the videos of both and online comments, have cruised the Summit and Constellation ,Princess Crown. The Regal appears as a nicer overall ship. like Celebrity Aqua Class , but the rooms are nothing special. Balconies larger on Celebrity, but seem lately Celebrity is decreasing in food and service. many have complained about disembarcation on the larger ships. The activities and entertainment on the Celebrity ships are nothing special, food in Blu was excellent but buffet nothing great. Planning a Dec Cruise and will probably go for the Regal with a deluxe balcony or mini suite. Once the mini suite plus kicks in, the gap between dining on Celebrity Aqua class will close. My only peeve is paying extra for steam room which I think is petty. An edge to the Silhouette goes to the enclosed solarium which on a Regal class ship was dumb not to do, especially since Princess cruises Canada in the fall. If Princess were smart they would put a Crown size ship in Bermuda from NY

will probably go for the Regal since it looks like a beautiful ship/ The Mini suite we had on the Crown 10 years ago was about the nicest room on a ship we have booked. The gym has a sauna, but I will probably use some cabin credit for a couple of steam room sessions. When does the suite plus option go into effect/ if Princess were smart they would throw in some spa use in addition to the dining options.

a disturbing thing is the number of strongly negative reviews for , food and service in the site reviews, more for the Baltic cruises than the Caribbean cruises. That , to me , is disturbing, and is makingme think about maybe trying the Princess Regal instead

Thanks ,experience and recommendations usually beat deck plan only info

Thinking of a Dec cruise , Eastern Carribean on Silhouette. We like the Summit and Constellation Aqua cabins. Any cabins on Silhouette better than others ,any to avoid? Thanks

I have been looking at the reviews of the Silhouette, since I was thinking of a Jan cruise out of Ft Lauderdale. Online reviews of the embarkation ,disembarkation have been quite critical ,with many stating it was the worst of any cruise. Also criticized was the level of service ,and less than friendly crew. Any feedback/

Hi, my DH and I are sailing on Celebrity Summit and just arrived in Bermuda this morning. Currently I am having trouble posting pics, but when I am able to I will. This is our third time on Summit. We like that she is a "smaller" ship. The service has been good for the most part, with a few glitches. Worst problem was while driving up, that the Bayonne Bridge was closed, and we had no idea until we were close to it (driving up from near Philadelphia). It might have been nice if the cruise line had posted a heads up on their web site or an email informing driving passengers of this issue. Yesterday we had a full day of rain, but hubby and I used the day as one of rest. We are in Aqua Class on deck 11. The cabin is rather small compared to what we are used to (usually book a Jr. Suite on Royal Caribbean). However, it is arranged with much attention to convenience, and there is room in it to store all our belongings. We have enjoyed dining in Blu, but the first night we ate at the Tuscan Grille and much preferred the food there. Last night we were unable to get a reservation there, so book early if you wish to eat there on this cruise! Also we have eaten most lunches in Bistro on Five, which is intimate and nice. Had lunch at the Oceanview Cafe today after exploring the shops at Kings Wharf. The buffet was just fine for my tastes but DH found the variety lacking. No burgers or hot dogs; for those you need to go out to the pool grill. I enjoyed my salad and chicken very much though. :) Tonight we have a shore excursion planned: Harbour Nights in Hamilton. We have done this before and enjoyed it very much. Tomorrow our shore excursion will be to Horseshoe Bay beach, again one of our very favorites. We have been to BDA multiple times and love it here. Any questions about this cruise please ask and I will try to answer them the best I can.

Another example of bigger is not always better . A mini suite is not exactly a bargain basement room . To have to pay for a steam room , to me is reallyl class price gouging by the Cruise line . This seems to be a pattern with the larger ships . Will probably make me pick a Celebrity Aqua Class room where steam room and select dining are included. See you later Princess

No free steam room on that ship, sorry!

The nickel and diming to death continues At least on celebrity Aqua Class that is included .Unfortunately their that time of year is near zero

Which deck and or room would you suggest for a minisuite, and have not been able to find out if there is a steam room/ sauna in gym area like the Crown Princess or only in the Spa area on deck 5, which I would suspect is not free

looking at mini suite , offered L 410 or 415 ,any suggestions? thanks

We are long time Celebrity folks and have sailed enough to earn Elite and I am a retired travel agent.

 

It have been a few years since we have sailed but Celebrity has always been our preferred cruise line. While we have no current sailing with other cruise lines to compare it to, Celebrity lost a few points with us this past trip.

 

On the positive side, the ship was immaculate and the staff, with two minor exceptions, was outstanding. Certainly no diminishing on that regard. On the other hand the food (not meaning to include the specialty restaurants), a previous Celebrity high point for us has clearly slipped. Self-disembarkation was a mess and had the potential of causing real conflict among the passengers.

 

Just a few food examples-

-Belgian Waffles: The waffles are themselves are just as tasty as ever but things like the strawberries in some kind of gooey syrup appeared to be right out of the can. In the past they took fresh strawberries and made their own light syrup.

 

-Eggs: The "custom" omelets in the Oceanview were dry, lacking in taste and served browned on both sides. A stark contrast to the custom egg and omelet stations in the paste.

 

-Eggs Benedict: For breakfast in the dining room they are grossly overcooked, the Canadian bacon was dry and shriveled as was the English muffin. They were much better in the Oceanview.

 

-Hash Browns: They are now using the pre-pressed type you get at McDonald's. McDonald's are better.

 

 

-Dinner Menu: The "chic" nights had a good selection of good entrees but the other nights were lacking in good choices. One night the menu said "Redfish". There is no way it was Redfish. First Redfish is a firm flesh. This was pasty at best and tasteless. Second it is illegal, for conservation reasons to catch Redfish commercially and also illegal to serve it in restaurants. It could be red snapper but if so, was not good red snapper and that is not redfish. Another, non-chic night had pasta primavera. Somewhat tasteless with only zucchini and small tomatoes as vegetables. The sauce was very thin and somewhat bitter. While the deserts were good and they still have excellent creme brulee, disappointed that no evening offered chocolate mousse, a previous staple.

We understand that they are pushing and likely trying to get people into the specialty restaurants, the decline in the main dining room is a reality.

 

-Self Disembarkation: Can only be described as chaos. We appeared as direct in the main lobby at 7:15am. People were already being lined up by a single Celebrity person. When we saw the situation we decided that we would just sit on the stairs and wait until everyone disembarked. It was obvious at that point that it was going to be a mess and the lines would mean nothing once disembarkation began. The lobby area continued to fill until it reached the point shown in the attached photo. A large area behind what the photo shows is also full. Can you tell on the photo the entire progress of the "line"? By the way the beginning of the line is at the very top right of the picture. Are we the only ones that see that was not going to work once disembarkation started? Before disembarkation started only Celebrity person working in the area left. Becoming concerned that the line would become meaningless and tempers might flare when almost everyone was likely to abandon the lines and head for the stairs (people were expected to walk down the stairs from Deck 3 to Deck 2) I walked over to Guest Relations and expressed my concern, They seemed to care less. When disembarkation started, exactly what we expected happened and the line disintegrated and almost everyone started to move to the stairs at the upper right of the picture. Wow, what a shock---LOL. We are surprised that we saw no flare ups as people, even those just arriving in the lobby, cut the line ahead of people who had been waiting for 45 minutes or more. As we originally intended, we stood clear until almost everyone was down the stairs. As we disembarked, I expressed my concern to a Celebrity person at the stairs and she rationalized the situation. As we disembarked, I expressed the same concern to the activities director and got the excuse that they got far more people than usual for walk-off. Even if we believe that, they knew that at least the previous night when people declared they were walking off. They knew that at least an hour earlier when the lobby was almost full.

Celebrity dodged a potential passenger conflict. If they just rationalize this, and they don't adjust, they are exposing themselves to future liability issues

We were on the Regal 1st May 2016,overall found the cruise enjoyable.Confusing at first to get bearings,mid ship stairway ends deck 7 & theirs nothing on starboard side of deck 7.Passenger services were shocking & found the hospitality not to be that great compared to smaller ship Coral princess,service was impeccable.

Mostly dined in concerto as really enjoyed being waited on & very relaxing,compared to the rushed atmosphere of horizon court.Philippians are best at service.

Port lectures were shocking as long as you didn't mind hearing about shopping for handbags & shoe's.

Cruise director Martyn Moss was very good value.

Prefer explorer's lounge compared to princess live.

Food quality was a fraction better than Coral,room steward excellent.

Since the assistant cruise entertainers were so good on the Coral I found the personnel on Regal disappointing especially the Australian lady hosting karaoke.

Shore excursion we used SPB & found them to be exceptional.Done Princess excursion in Estonia,no good,group to large & needed headset.

Would I cruise princess again differently yes.Not so keen on Regal or Royal though & prefer to study the deck plans.

We had the same problem with the Regal in April/May 2015. The weather was bad most of the Baltic cruise and everyone was inside. The ship was planned with the expectation that some people would be outside. The area around the Piazza was always packed and there were loud activities all day, beginning with Zumba at 9:00. I heard people with a cabin on the Emerald Deck complaining that they heard the Piazza noise in their cabin. We love Princess but don't know if I would book the Regal again.

Seems to me like a shot across the bow to Celebrity AquaClass, and Blu Dining room. I have Cruised on the Summit ,and the Constellation , and the Aqua Class rooms are just nice , not overly large balcony rooms. On the other hand the Crown Princess Mini suite was much larger and more comfortable. I plan on trying the Regal Princess on a 5 day fall Canada cruise ,and if it is as nice as it looks .will book a 7 day in Jan when Club Minisuite package is available