coldcdn

4 hours ago, lexmiller said:

I have updated news, from the CURRENT Eclipse cruise, which started Dec 9th.  ALL B2Bers, who were on the prior cruise who remained on board for the Dec 9th voyage, were tested by the crew - monitored testing.  One of the passengers told me (this is from a roll call on another social site, a very active roll call) that he believes that the B2B testing had to occur because of Australian authorities, that these are the current rules - and also possibly, is based upon the number of cases currently on board.  Eclipse is currently a Tier 2 vessel.  I just asked on their roll call, about an hour ago, and 5 passengers so far have replied saying that yes, for their cruise, all B2Bers were tested - one of the passengers who replied, was asymptomatic, feels great, but tested positive.  He is isolated in his cabin, his wife was moved to a different veranda cabin and has to test every morning.  She is testing negative, but every morning she must retest and is not allowed to leave her cabin until she is negative.  Wow.  

And you are looking at 140 nights on board.......if B2B testing is still occurring, ouch, very likely indeed that you'll get it.....we are looking hard at cancelling......

Thanks for this updated information!  Even more interesting, as well as somewhat scary.

We have made our final payments for the January 2, 2023 to mid-March cruises already, but may consider the remainder (but doubt it).  Fortunately we have good, independent trip cancellation/interruption insurance that covers Covid-19.  We also have out-of-country medical that covers Covid-19, so hopefully it'll all work out!  While isolation onboard would suck, it's the potential denial of re-boarding that would be the toughest to deal with. 

I'd be very grateful if you could post a question in the other active board, to see if anyone on a B2B that has tested positive has been denied boarding in Australia or NZ.

2 hours ago, lexmiller said:

I agree wholeheartedly with you - the ship does not want to know.  Self-reporting now is essentially the only way to incur any "covid jail" penalties.  I applaud your decision for your husband to self-treat, distance, mask.  COVID IS EVERYWHERE on land, so it follows that it is everywhere in the air and on the  sea.  And guess what, IT IS NEVER GOING AWAY.  If people have a problem with that, then they need to never leave their houses for any reason whatsoever. 

As far as Celebrity's current cruise testing policy, Australian/NZ cruises require covid tests to board, but they are not required to be monitored - you do a self-test in the privacy of your home/hotel and show a photo of the negative test strip at check-in; and in fact, several folks reported on the recent Eclipse cruises down under, that they only had to SAY that they'd taken a test and it was negative, no proof whatsoever required.  And currently, at least on the Eclipse, B2B cruisers are not required to test for their follow-up cruises - no B2B testing is occurring at all.  This is all excellent news, as MAYBE, JUST MAYBE, the cruise industry is beginning to catch up with the rest of the entire travel industry - no tests needed to fly, no tests needed for land tours, hotels, etc.  

Very interesting that there is no B2B testing on the Eclipse in Australia/NZ ports.  I called the Captain's Club to see if we needed to provide proof of a negative RAT between our B13B south pacific cruises in 2023, and were told that Celebrity will be testing all B2B cruisers.  I wonder if that's what they are telling the local authorities, just to ensure "compliance"?

Oh well, we'll see where it goes.  Our big fear is getting disembarked or refused re-boarding due to being Covid-19 positive, as it's quite likely we'll get it at some point in 140 nights onboard.

1 minute ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

Yes it's common, and the fixes all seem to work for some people but not for others (and not forever).  I signed up both my account and DW's many times – she seems to get the PUP emails more often and I do, but I still find out about many of them right here on this thread.

Thank you for responding.  Interesting!

Where do you go when alerted to a PUP offer on CC, to find it and participate?

I've signed up for Power Up Points multiple times but have yet to receive ANY emails!  We're Elite captains club members and relatively close to Elite Plus so it would have been nice to accrue the points between sailings.

What might I be doing wrong?  Or is this common?

I contacted Celebrity Cruises Captain's Club regarding the requirement for guests to provide proof of a negative RAT for Covid-19 on B2Bs, B3Bs etc.  I was told you had to provide that proof for the first cruise only, and each subsequent cruise Celebrity will take care of all the required testing.  

Similarly, you only technically have to check-in for the first cruise using their app, as you can do the remainder while on-board.  This makes sense as your "arrival time" on the app isn't as important since you'll already be on the ship.

1 hour ago, Northern Aurora said:

 

We were actually on the Solstice in March, 2020, on what would have been a B2B2B2B,  and left the ship the day that Australian Border Force closed the border.  We have been on Celebrity ships, on only B2Bs,  since the resumption of sailing.  Celebrity has conducted covid tests, at their expense, on consecutive sailings when tests have been required.  I expect that policy is fleet wide and not itinerary specific.

 

Will you be on the Eclipse?  We plan to board on March 10, 2023 for a B2B2B2B.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We are on the Eclipse.  Board on January 2, 2023 in Sydney and debark on May 21, 2023 in Vancouver.  Kind of a bucket list winter season.

Thanks for the information.  It will be very interesting to see what Celebrity does to meet the Australian, NZ and other south pacific nation rules in the case of B2B cruisers.

We're in stateroom 7143 on your first cruise and 7139 for your remaining cruises.

Brad & Joelle

This is a good question, especially for non-North American cruise itineraries.

My wife and I are on B13B starting January 2, 2023 in Sydney, AUS.  I know it can be "fun" to check-in on-line for an upcoming vacation,...but not 13 times!  That said, even if such check-in isn't technically required, given the vaccine and negative Covid-19 RAT requirements in the Oceania area of the world, this is something I think we'll look into more closely and report back on here.  Really not wanting to take 26 RAT tests with us to Australia, for example!

If anyone has done B2B in Australia, NZ, Fiji etc recently, let me know how the Covid-19 testing issue has been handled.

On 11/25/2022 at 10:29 PM, cruisinglola said:

Is there anyone doing this cruise in the Pacific next year?

Yes, my wife and I are on this cruise!

Looking forward to it!  Hope to see you there.

On 11/4/2022 at 9:50 AM, buzz031 said:

Just got off the Silhouette TA yesterday. Rules/protocols change all the time. We can only write what happened to us. There was a tremendous amount of coughing onboard the ship the entire time. We had just had booster 5 before we left for England.

My husband woke up on Oct. 27 (first day of all the sea days) with a head cold. We immediately called medical. Medical came within an hour and swabbed both of us (I did not have any symptoms and we masked up immediately when he woke up inside the cabin). He was positive, I was negative. No offer to move me, even though the ship wasn't full, but to be honest, in most cases the other person in the room will likely become positive (I fully expected to, so would not have moved if offered). The information on the paper that was given to us after my husband's positive was not what happened later (the paper said that he would be retested on Day 5 and 6, but he was not retested, only I was retested on Day 6 of his quarantine). They also told us that since I was negative, I could move about the ship with a mask on. I DID NOT. I quarantined myself along with my husband and did not leave the room. Thankfully, we had a balcony and I spent the majority of my time out there (reading and enjoying the endless ocean). We slept with masks on, showered with masks on, I cleaned with the high-power cleaners that they gave us. Sleeping with a mask on was not fun, but for me to stay negative, I figured it was the only way. He felt better on Day 3 and his symptoms were basically gone. We were diligent about masking inside our room during the 6 days of quarantine (and even after). We ate on the balcony (first several days we ate separately on the balcony even in the rain one day). Room service was rocky at the start and then when I mentioned (on Day 3) that we missed the Blu, the Blu's menu was delivered for dinner. So communication on what you could ask for from room service was lacking. We did have a personal concierge assigned, but I guess we really didn't know that we should be talking/asking him questions regarding room service. On Day 6, they retested me (the negative one). I tested negative again (of course with no symptoms during the entire time). They scheduled a disinfection of our room (I believe she said "fogging" of the room and then deep cleaning, which took two hours). We were let out of our room but continued to mask except when eating for the 1 1/4 days that were left in the cruise. Our stateroom attendant was great about getting any linens/towels/water (we were Aqua class) that I asked for. She just couldn't come into the room at all. We were lucky that my husband's course of Covid was mild and that I stayed negative.

Thank you for the comprehensive and well described account of your experience.

Very much appreciated.

On 11/11/2022 at 5:13 AM, quiescentlyfrozen said:

Stupid question - can one switch to this new deal if no other cabins of same class available on their cruise, or is that a no-go? I'm already booked for a cruise next year (through Celebrity directly), and this new deal is showing additional $800 OBC. 

Absolutely you can (if I understand you right).

We are on multiple B2B cruises starting in January, and I've had our Celebrity rep review our pricing and OBC compared to current sales many times.  Multiple times the new deal was better and he lowered our price to match, and multiple times there were new OBC's, which he added to our booking. And we're in an accessible veranda, which was sold out in all classes.  We've saved literally thousands of dollars and have added $1,300 in OBC.

Worth a try...every time there is a sale before final payment date.

59 minutes ago, Jean C said:

Hi, here's a link to the Council's (Otago Regional Council) website re wheelchair accessibility on buses -

 

https://www.orc.govt.nz/public-transport/accessible-travel

 

Looks positive but with a caveat.  I've riden on Auckland buses that "kneel" and the driver manually adds plates to act as a ramp. I think most of the country's bus fleet "kneel" (it does in Whangarei) but I've not seen any wheelchair users board so can't vouch that plates are also used. I can phone them for you during the week if that's helpful?

Thank you so much!!

That would be very helpful, as I was just looking up contact information to email but it's so easy for those not to be returned.  We'd also be interested if the buses on the Port Chalmers to/from Dunedin are wheelchair accessible, if you wouldn't mind asking.

Thanks again!  Can't wait.

On 11/8/2022 at 2:40 AM, Relaxing Robbies said:

Grand Princess was at Port Chalmers today and we bussed into Dunedin. Princess organised expensive shuttles $35 return or $20 one way. We took a minibus shuttle provided by a local tour company. $5 into town, just turn up and pay the driver, departed from near the local bus stop.We caught the local bus back to the ship. $1.50 for the trip, pay the driver. The buses are hourly during the day and there was a long queue of cruise passengers waiting. Many people didn’t fit on the bus, so they sent another bus 10 minutes later. All cruise passengers on the second bus, so it was a quick trip with no other stops before Port Chalmers.

 

Dunedin turned on great weather for us.

Any idea whether any bus options (shuttle, mini or city) are wheelchair accessible?  In other words do they have loading ramps?

Thanks in advance, as we'll be in Dunedin 4 times in 2023 aboard the Celebrity Eclipse.

3 minutes ago, coldcdn said:

We too are cruising on the Celebrity Eclipse at that time, BUT I cannot find the ports you suggesting.  Our cruise on the Eclipse departs on February 16, 2023 from Sydney and is in Wellington, NZ on the 22nd, Napier on the 23rd and Tauranga on the 24th.

 

What am I missing?  Did you get the dates incorrect?  HELP!

 

 

Ignore my previous post.  You were referencing the February 7, 2023 to February 16, 2023 cruise.  We're on that one too.  I just took your post of February 23 to mean the 23rd.

Going to be a great cruise and I love the idea of renting a car and driving to the Barossa Valley.

On 9/20/2022 at 6:39 PM, Syd_Cruiser said:

Hello, fellow cruisers!
                                   I am looking for some advice.  I am travelling on the Celebrity Eclipse on Feb 23 from Sydney to Melbourne, Adelaide and Hobart.  

 

The cost of the excursions from Adelaide are pure evil - a day trip with lunch to the Barossa valley is currently around AU$1000 per person!

 

As the ship is overnighting in Adelaide, I have located a few car rental places that are a quick train ride from Outer Harbour station (This is across the road from the passenger terminal).  If I was to hire a car for two days, is there anywhere to park the car overnight near the passenger terminal?  
I am looking at google, but I thought I would see if anyone could give me some advice.  My thoughts would be to use the car to visit the Barossa on the first day and then use the same car to do the Adelaide hills on day 2. 

Thanks in advance.....

We too are cruising on the Celebrity Eclipse at that time, BUT I cannot find the ports you suggesting.  Our cruise on the Eclipse departs on February 16, 2023 from Sydney and is in Wellington, NZ on the 22nd, Napier on the 23rd and Tauranga on the 24th.

What am I missing?  Did you get the dates incorrect?  HELP!

On 9/28/2022 at 9:47 PM, MMDown Under said:

What is your favourite port to approach by ship and to leave?

My favourite to approach is NYC and my favourite to leave is Bora Bora in Tahiti.

 

Why - 

It takes forever to approach NYC with the high rises in the far distance and the big bridges.  Then you get close enough to identify the buildings and bridges. 

NYC is special because that is where I met a penpal who I got from the Parker Pen Pavilion at the World Trade Fair, NYC.  She is about to turn 80 this month and is the one I just sent a birthday card to.

 

Bora Bora is a stunningly beautiful romantic destination, even cruising on your own.  Just grab a chair, put your feet up and dream as the ship pulls away in the darkness !

Kotor is unbelievably beautiful and should be on everyone's bucket list.  Venice is nice cruising up the Grand Canal.  But I haven't seen Stockholm, Sweden mentioned and it is amazing.  Long, long winding cruise up the river to get to the Port of Stockholm.  Really nice.

I'd love an answer to this too.  Sailing her starting January 2, 2023.

On 5/15/2021 at 6:10 PM, Host Jazzbeau said:

With their low rate of vaccinations, would you really want to go anyway?  Better for everyone to wait until Australia catches up.  [PS – I'm in the same boat as you, only with New Zealand:  cruise cancelled by Covid twice; not thinking about rebooking until after international cruising actually starts up there.]

Yes their vaccination roll-out is slow, but with only 909 total deaths in a country of over 20 million people, I think we can all agree they are doing very well for their population.  Extrapolated that would equate to about 15,000 total deaths in the US (instead of the actual 588,000+).

I hope they can ramp up and open to foreign tourists sooner than 2022!  I want to go cruising in November 2021 as planned!

This is a most unfortunate post in many respects. My wife too has MS and travels with a small scooter, BUT we travel exclusively with Celebrity as their S-Class ships are BY FAR the most accessible at sea (and we've tried them all). The heading of your post leads one to believe that if they are disabled they should choose another cruise line, and this could not be farther from the truth. As others have insinuated, the main responsibility lies with your lack of planning (sorry to be blunt), or high expectations of the cruise lines responsibility once off the cruise ship.

Could Celebrity have more disabled-friendly shore excursions? Yes! (and hopefully they see the opportunity to corner this market given their first-class, disabled friendly S-Class ships)

Could they have local buses to transport disabled people to the cities in Europe, Asia etc? Yes!

But please do not characterize Celebrity as being poor for disabled or mobility challenged passengers. This is simply not factually correct.

It would be fascinating to have everyone that is responding to this thread include whether they or their DH is either in a wheelchair or handicapped. It seems many who are responding are neither, and it shows in the response language.

My wife and I's first cruise was aboard the Renaissance R7 in 2001, which we won on an on-line auction (when that concept was still extremely new). I bid $474 for an inside cabin on the 12 night British Isles Cruise departing from Dover, England and concluding in Copenhagen, Denmark. It was more of a "lark" bid, but low and behold, we won the auction and went.

It was a fantastic cruise, and we were by far the youngest on board. We heard a lot of people talking about what they paid, but we paid a fraction of what they did, so we kept quiet.

By the way, that $474 was total, all taxes, port charges and fees included.......FOR BOTH OF US! [$19.75 each per day]

No wonder Renaissance declared bankruptcy shortly after that. :)

My wife and I are on for 35 days on a B2B2B2B starting on January 3, 2016. All are on Celebrity. Last year we did 28 days aboard, following 25 days the previous year. None were enough, so we keep upping the ante.

However, caveat.....that damn Canadian dollar may stop these annual January B2B cruises.

Travelling with Celebrity on our 1st cruise this month. It is a 9 night cruise. Wondering how much wine we can bring onboard and if we can bring it to the dinner in the main dining room in the evening? or must we consume in our cabin. We are 2 adults, 1 cabin.

 

Thanks in advance.

The cruise line rule is 2 - 750 ml bottles per cabin, but....

My wife and I board separately in different security lines. Somehow 4 - 750 ml bottles end up in our cabin to be enjoyed during the cruise. Not sure how that happens, but thought you'd be interested.

The third bed is the couch, which has a pull-out feature (but is unlike most pull-outs you've likely experienced). It works more like an Ikea pull out, where the bottom pulls out and up to form a bed from the couch.

As to whether it will be near the sliding doors or not, this is dependent upon your cabin number and room configuration. Some rooms on Celebrity have the king size bed closest to the balcony doors, with the couch near the bathroom, while others are reversed. Check your stateroom number to Celebrity's site or on here for how specifically yours is configured.

Have a great cruise!

My wife and I cruised on the Royal Princess and Celebrity Eclipse last year as part of multiple B2B cruises. I took notes and am finally posting a comprehensive comparison.

Before I give my review, I'll note that my wife and I are 46 and 45 year old professionals from Canada, but she has a mobility disability so that factors greatly into our vacations and is why cruises work so well for us. That being said, it also factors greatly into our review of cruise ships (as you'll note below).

The ships/cruise lines are compared and reviewed by area below:

Staterooms: Princess has better storage and closet space, but Celebrity has better doors (both entrance and balcony). The entrance doors on the Princess ship were ridiculously narrow, so if you're a larger person, which we're not, take this into consideration! We preferred the Princess beds for comfort, but the Celebrity beds for their rounded, space saving design. Overall we preferred the Celebrity staterooms to Princess, but the latter had some excellent features we appreciated.

Balcony: Celebrity has excellent balconies, but we found the outrage expressed by some about Princess balconies was largely unfounded. Ours was fine. Overall though, Celebrity has better balconies and access to them.

Dining: If you're just comparing the main dining rooms, there is no question the overall food is better in the Princess MDR. They also have a better selection and overall food quality (e.g. lobster). However, if you add the specialty restaurants and the buffet, Celebrity wins hands down. Granted the specialty restaurants on Celebrity are more expensive but at least you can get a table (for all 7 nights we were not able to get a reservation at the Crown Grill, despite trying multiple different methods to get one). The food and service is also fabulous at the Celebrity specialty restaurants. As for the buffet, while the selection is quite good on Princess, the design and layout is absolutely the worst (similar to HAL's Eurodam). There is little space and it always feels crowded. For design, food quality and ease of use, Celebrity's buffet is far superior. Overall dining may be a toss-up, but if you're a foodie or like ambiance, then Celebrity wins.

Entertainment: No questions that entertainment is better on Princess, as this is definitely not one of Celebrity's strong suits. However, the actual entertainment venues are better on Celebrity. They are easier to find, and used for better applications than on Princess. Also I have to mention accessibility, as the venues on Princess are quite inaccessible (odd entrances, oversize furniture etc), while the ones on Celebrity are all fully accessible. One complaint we have with both cruise lines is their lack of ability to coordinate entertainment in the lounges to work well with a plan for pre-dinner drinks. Finally, the outdoor movies on Princess are fabulous! Great option. So overall, hands down the best entertainment is on Princess.

Service: Overall staff friendliness, helpfulness and level of "cheer" goes to Celebrity. However, for those with allergies, the staff on Princess were great and better than Celebrity. Both lines offer good service, but when looked at in every aspect over the entire ship, Celebrity has better overall service.

Accessibility: This isn't even close. Celebrity Solstice Class ships are the most accessible ships afloat. Many reviews point to HAL or some other examples of accessible ships. They are wrong. Period. All public spaces (except the top sun deck) and restrooms on Celebrity ships are fully accessible with automated door openers. That cannot be said of any other major line. Princess' public spaces and restrooms are horribly inaccessible, which is disturbing for a newly designed ship that clearly caters to North Americans. If this is an issue for you, choose Celebrity. Full stop.

Bars: Celebrity has more usable selections, better ambiance and they are in better locations. To clarify, Princess has more actual selections, BUT they are in unusual and not well thought out locations, making them impractical places to enjoy a drink. Celebrity has options for all types of moods or requirements (e.g. sea views, wine lists, pre-dinner entertainment etc). As for a late night, night club-style bar, Princess wins this one for sure. Quasar on Celebrity is really poor!

Spa: Princess. Period. The spa on the Royal/Regal Princess is spectacular. Nothing against the spa on the Eclipse, but you simply cannot compare the two. If you're a spa person, look no further and book the Royal/Regal Princess immediately. It feels like a massive, high-end, luxury hotel spa. While I'm not a spa person, I was stunned at how amazing it was (and I've toured top-end spas in many locations around the world).

Ship Maintenance/Repair: We were both surprised at the lack of maintenance being carried out on the Royal Princess. We were even more surprised by the sheer amount of rust that was visible on this new ship. This simply does not happen on Celebrity. They have staff working daily to scrub, sand, and paint everywhere, whereas Princess does not seem to have the same commitment. We both commented that this could present a problem going forward as these new ships will appear to age prematurely. We had similar comments about other maintenance throughout the ship. Celebrity seems to focus more on this than Princess.

Embarkation: Both were excellent. Fast, friendly and easy. Princess scans your passport as your room card photo, while Celebrity takes a live picture at check-in.

Debarkation: Both were excellent and well organized. Worth noting that on both there are no longer the constant and annoying announcements, or long lineups to get off the ship. However, if you do encounter such lineups and delays, don't blame the cruise line, blame US Customs.

Muster Drill Process: Princess wins this one hands down. If you're goal is to get on with enjoying your holiday or having a drink then you may like Celebrity as its a video presentation in a dining room/lounge. If, however, your priority is on life saving during an emergency, Princess does a good job. You actually have to put on your life jacket properly (what a novel concept!). While I hate these drills, they do have their place and Princess' drill is far superior.

Fellow Passengers: This won't be a rating, but more just information. Celebrity attracts a slightly younger and more ethnically diverse demographic (e.g. British, Germans, French, Spaniards, Russians etc). To put it bluntly, it is blatantly obvious that Princess caters to white, english-speaking, North Americans. We happened to overhear three separate and distinct accusations of racism being levied against Princess staff, which was shocking. I'll make no comment on this, other than we overheard them.

Ship facts: Celebrity Eclipse - 1,047' long, 123' wide, 126,000 tonnes, 3,046 passengers.

Royal Princess - 1,083' long, 126' wide, 142,229 tonnes, 3,560 passengers.

To conclude, in our personal opinion only, the Celebrity Eclipse (and other Solstice Class ships) are superior to the Royal/Regal Princess. Both have their own strengths and weaknesses, but taken as a whole, Celebrity wins. One final comment, in terms of feeling crowded, the Royal Princess ship felt crowded in many areas despite being a larger ship. The Celebrity Eclipse never felt crowded in any space. So if personal space is important, factor this in.

My wife and I cruised on Royal and Eclipse last year as part of multiple B2B cruises. I took notes and was going to post a similar review, so appreciate the time taken in this thread to post such a comprehensive comparison.

Before I give my review, I'll note that my wife and I are 46 and 45 year old professionals from Canada, but she has a mobility disability so that factors greatly into our vacations and is why cruises work so well for us. That being said, it also factors greatly into our review of cruise ships (as you'll note below).

Staterooms: Princess has better storage and closet space, but Celebrity has better doors (both entrance and balcony). The entrance doors on the Princess ship were ridiculously narrow, so if you're a larger person, which we're not, take this into consideration! We preferred the Princess beds for comfort, but the Celebrity beds for their rounded, space saving design. Overall we preferred the Celebrity staterooms to Princess, but the latter had some excellent features we appreciated.

Balcony: Celebrity has excellent balconies, but we found the outrage expressed by some about Princess balconies was largely unfounded. Ours was fine.

Dining: If you're just comparing the main dining rooms, there is no question the overall food is better in the Princess MDR. They also have a better selection and overall food quality (e.g. lobster). However, if you add the specialty restaurants and the buffet, Celebrity wins hands down. Granted the specialty restaurants on Celebrity are more expensive but at least you can get a table (for all 7 nights we were not able to get a reservation at the Crown Grill, despite trying all different methods to get one). The food and service is also fabulous at the Celebrity specialty restaurants. As for the buffet, while the selection is quite good on Princess, the design and layout is absolutely the worse (similar to HAL's Eurodam). There is little space and it always feels crowded. Overall for design, food quality and ease of use, Celebrity's buffet is far superior. Overall dining may be a toss-up, but if you're a foodie or like ambiance, then Celebrity wins.

Entertainment: No questions that entertainment is better on Princess, as this is definitely not one of Celebrity's strong suits. However, the actual entertainment venues are better on Celebrity. They are easier to find, and used for better applications than on Princess. Also I have to mention accessibility, as the venues on Princess are quite inaccessible, while the ones on Celebrity are all fully accessible. One complaint we have with both cruise lines is their lack of ability to coordinate entertainment in the lounges to work well with a plan for pre-dinner drinks. Finally, the outdoor movies on Princess are fabulous! Great option. So overall, hands down the best entertainment is on Princess.

Service: Overall staff friendliness, helpfulness and level of "cheer" goes to Celebrity. However, for those with allergies, the staff on Princess were great and better than Celebrity. Both lines offer good service, but when looked at in every aspect over the entire ship, Celebrity has better overall service.

Accessibility: This isn't even close. Celebrity Solstice Class ships are the most accessible afloat. Many reviews point to HAL or some other examples of accessible ships. They are wrong. Period. All public spaces and restrooms on Celebrity ships are fully accessible with automated door openers. That cannot be said on any other major line. If this is an issue for you, choose Celebrity. Full stop.

Bars: Celebrity has more selections, better ambiance and in better locations. To clarify, Princess has more actual selections, BUT they are in unusual and not well thought out locations, making them impractical places to enjoy a drink. Celebrity has options for all types of moods or requirements (e.g. sea views, wine lists, pre-dinner entertainment etc). As for a late night, night club-style bar, Princess wins this one for sure. Quasar on Celebrity is really poor!

Spa: Princess. Period. The spa on the Royal/Regal Princess are spectacular. Nothing against the spa on the Eclipse, but you simply cannot compare the two. If you're a spa person, look no further and book the Royal/Regal immediately. It feels like a massive, high-end, luxury hotel spa. While I'm not a spa person, I was stunned at how amazing it was (and I've toured top-end spas in many locations around the world).

Ship Maintenance/Repair: We were both surprised at the lack of maintenance being carried out on the Royal Princess. We were even more surprised by the sheer amount of rust that was visible on this new ship. This simply does not happen on Celebrity. They have staff working daily to scrub, sand, and paint everywhere, whereas Princess does not seem to have the same commitment. We both commented that this could present a problem going forward as these new ships will appear to age prematurely. We had similar comments about other maintenance throughout the ship. Celebrity seems to focus more on this than Princess.

Embarkation: Both were excellent. Fast, friendly and easy. Princess scans your passport as your room card photo, while Celebrity takes a live picture at check-in.

Debarkation: Both were excellent and well organized. Worth noting that on both there are no longer the constant and annoying announcements, or long lineups to get off the ship. However, if you do encounter such lineups and delays, don't blame the cruise lines, blame US Customs.

Muster Drill Process: Princess wins this one hands down. If you're goal is to get to enjoying your holiday or having a drink then you may like Celebrity. If, however, your priority is on life saving during an emergency, Princess does a good job. You actually have to put on your life jacket properly (what a novel concept!). While I hate these drills, they do have their place and Princess' drill is far superior.

Fellow Passengers: This won't be a rating, but more just information. Celebrity attracts a slightly younger and more ethnically diverse demographic (e.g. British, Germans, French, Spaniards, Russians etc). To put it bluntly, it is blatantly obvious that Princess caters to white, english-speaking, North Americans. We happened to overhear three separate accusations of racism being levied against Princess staff, which was shocking. I'll make no comment on this, other than we overheard them.

Ship facts: Celebrity Eclipse - 1,047' long, 123' wide, 126,000 tonnes, 3,046 passengers.

Royal Princess - 1,083' long, 126' wide, 142,229 tonnes, 3,560 passengers.

To conclude, in our personal opinion only, the Celebrity Eclipse (and other Solstice Class ships) are superior to the Royal/Regal Princess. Both have their own strengths and weaknesses, but taken as a whole, Celebrity wins. One final comment, in terms of feeling crowded, the Royal Princess ship felt crowded in many areas despite being a larger ship. The Celebrity Eclipse never felt crowded in any space. So if personal space is important, factor this in.