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Is Princess becoming the new X?


klfhngr
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Not trying to upset people, but I've been reading many posts and reviews and have seen many complaints regarding the quality of food, lack of assistant cabin steward and service along with other cutbacks on X. I've also been reading how Princess is improving it's cuisine, its service and so on. Is X downgrading while Princess is upgrading? Is the perception changing/swapping on these cruise lines?

 

I have both an X cruise and a Princess cruise booked, hence the 'research'.... Not BASHING, just asking.

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I Love Celebrity overall, but have to say our cruise on Royal Princess last year was excellent! I thought the food was much better than Celebrity (main dining room) and the service was just as good as Celebrity.

 

The ship was fantastic, loved the adults only outdoor pool area and the huge outdoor screen to watch movies and football. I don't think we had one complaint with Princess. Definitely will be considering them for the future but I have hopes of Celebrity improving instead of downgrading anymore :(

 

Steve

Edited by WNcruiser
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I Love Celebrity overall, but have to say our cruise on Royal Princess last year was excellent! I thought the food was much better than Celebrity (main dining room) and the service was just as good as Celebrity.

 

The ship was fantastic, loved the adults only outdoor pool area and the huge outdoor screen to watch movies and football. I don't think we had one complaint with Princess. Definitely will be considering them for the future but I have hopes of Celebrity improving instead of downgrading anymore :(

 

Steve

 

This is exactly what I've been reading/seeing! I heard that even the quality of entertainment is better on Princess.

 

Since I'll be doing both lines pretty close to each other, I'll be able to make a better assessment. Doing X with no kids, family or friends. Will be doing Princess with a good size group of friends and family.

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Yes, the cabin assistants have been eliminated but the number of cabins each cabin attendant has to clean has been significantly reduced. On our recent cruise our guy had only 11 cabins. As a result, service has improved.

 

Have people been complaining about this?

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Yes, the cabin assistants have been eliminated but the number of cabins each cabin attendant has to clean has been significantly reduced. On our recent cruise our guy had only 11 cabins. As a result, service has improved.

 

Have people been complaining about this?

 

Yes.. if you read some of the current cruise reviews, several people are mentioning this and stating that the service is really suffering.

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I'm waiting to read reviews about their new Club Class for their mini suites.

 

Wish they'd offer something like go big, go bigger, etc. on a regular basis, although their drink prices are not nearly as expensive as Celebrity's.

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Been reading so many posts like this no it makes me wonder if I should keep my reflection cruise. I love Royal I wanted to try their premium product but it seems like royal is better than celebrity with all the horror stories I keep reading.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

 

I too like Royal, but the 'smaller' ships.... I was somewhat worried about going on Princess (boredom, not service/food), but I'm sorta surprised of what I've been reading about X. Don't get me wrong, I'm still excited and happy that we are going on X and think the Equinox is a beautiful ship. Shoot, any cruise beats going to work!!!!

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My husband and I just got back last Wednesday from our first cruise on Celebrity. We have cruised many times on Carnival, Disney, NCL and Royal Caribbean. I have to say we absolutely loved Celebrity. We were on the Eclipes and we thought the food was wonderful. We were in a suite but we ordered quite a bit from the main dining room menu and really enjoyed the food. Our room steward was outstanding. We are planning on trying Princess in the future since we haven't tried it yet but we wouldn't hesitate to book with Celebrity again. We loved it!

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On the Reflection TA in October we had 1 cabin steward and he was excellent; actually the service was better than when there were 2.

 

Service in bars, guest relations and shops was excellent.

 

Blu was the only place that service was not what we had experienced on past cruises. There were many suite guests who were dining in Blu in order to dine with family/friends who were sailing in AQ. Blu served as many as 100 dinners above the norm on some nights:eek:

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I'm waiting to read reviews about their new Club Class for their mini suites.

 

Wish they'd offer something like go big, go bigger, etc. on a regular basis, although their drink prices are not nearly as expensive as Celebrity's.

 

I've been following the Princess board as well for reviews of Club Class -- which have been very slow to come. One review confirmed my expectation from the announcement that the Club Class Dining (section of the MDR) is nowhere near as nice as space as Celebrity's separate dining rooms for Blu and Luminae, and the food in Club Class is exactly the same as the MDR plus apparently only one extra choice table-side preparation. So while Princess and Celebrity may be comparable for regular cabins, Celebrity is still miles ahead for AQ and Suites.

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I've been following the Princess board as well for reviews of Club Class -- which have been very slow to come. One review confirmed my expectation from the announcement that the Club Class Dining (section of the MDR) is nowhere near as nice as space as Celebrity's separate dining rooms for Blu and Luminae, and the food in Club Class is exactly the same as the MDR plus apparently only one extra choice table-side preparation. So while Princess and Celebrity may be comparable for regular cabins, Celebrity is still miles ahead for AQ and Suites.

 

Agreed.

 

And the Club Class is surprisingly expensive for what you get. And, the "bonus" of a mid-ship mini on Dolphin deck with a fully exposed balcony. Not for us. Of course, neither are the crazy inflated and overpriced =X= AQ and suite prices either so it is normal balcony on =X= or standard mini on Emerald deck on Princess.

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My biggest gripe with Princess was that there are too many cabins for the size of ship and we always felt crowded. We sailed the Crown and Sapphire. Lounges and even the theater often were full and we had to keep walking around to find a place to sit. Never had issues with the food, though. Also, we did not like the standard balconies but the minis on Princess were great.

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We have cruised primarily on Celebrity but also on Princess. In my opinion, Princess is a step down from Celebrity, at least on the ships we have been on. There are pros and cons on each line, but Celebrity is still our cruise line of choice.

 

Food in the MDR is equal.

 

Service is equal.

 

On our last Princess cruise, the shows were terrible. There was no band, just a soundtrack. The entertainers just lip synced to the sound track.

 

Veranda cabin on Princess has only one chair in sitting area, Celebrity veranda cabin is larger and has a settee.

 

On the itineraries we use, Princess is more expensive than Celebrity for the same class stateroom. We usually cruise Princess in a standard mini-suite and on Celebrity in Aqua. They are about the same price, but we get Blu and complimentary Persian Gardens, and beverage package in Aqua, but nothing in a standard mini-suite. The new Princess Club class mini-suites are about the same price as a Celebrity Sky suite but without all the perks - butler, Michaels Club, Luminae, beverage package, gratuities, etc.

 

Yes, cocktails are more expensive on Celebrity, but you can also get an included beverage package as a perk, which is rare on Princess.

 

The Celebrity Forum seems to attract an inordinate number of complainers compared to Princess Forum. I don't know why that is. We have been on voyages with some complainers and can't figure out what they are talking about. We have never had a 'bad' Celebrity cruise or Princess either. But again, we think Celebrity gives us more for our cruising dollar.

Edited by El Crucero
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My biggest gripe with Princess was that there are too many cabins for the size of ship and we always felt crowded. We sailed the Crown and Sapphire. Lounges and even the theater often were full and we had to keep walking around to find a place to sit. Never had issues with the food, though. Also, we did not like the standard balconies but the minis on Princess were great.

 

Agree that Princess theaters are a weak point. They are too small for the ships & unless you arrive early, seating is a problem, as well as finding a place to put your drinks. Nothing beats thr M class theaters with their coctail tsbles & ample room to enter/exit rows without disturbing others.

 

We have found the lines more similar than different, & although we used to look to Celebrity first, it now depends on which offfers the best value for the sailings we are interested in.

 

OP, go & enjoy your cruise & decide for yourself.

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Yes.. if you read some of the current cruise reviews, several people are mentioning this and stating that the service is really suffering.

 

Our cabin attendant had 10 cabins on our recent Caribbean cruise aboard Eclipse. No problems whatsoever. Oh...wait a minute...I had to ask for the sparkling wine. Devastating. :D

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My husband and I just got back last Wednesday from our first cruise on Celebrity. We have cruised many times on Carnival, Disney, NCL and Royal Caribbean. I have to say we absolutely loved Celebrity. We were on the Eclipes and we thought the food was wonderful. We were in a suite but we ordered quite a bit from the main dining room menu and really enjoyed the food. Our room steward was outstanding. We are planning on trying Princess in the future since we haven't tried it yet but we wouldn't hesitate to book with Celebrity again. We loved it!

 

We were on the same cruise and had the exact same dining experience. The few meals we ordered off the MDR menu were very good.

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There are 1000's of passengers on Celebrity ships every week and I don't see 100's of complaints every week. Maybe I'm looking at the wrong threads. I understand people's concerns when they see some complaining about various things, but I assume there are some issues with all cruise lines. eg. Princess's small balconies. Based on the prices I am seeing from Celebrity, not enough people are leaving for other lines. :D Just my humble opinions!

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Exactly...everyones' viewpoints are so different. Food is entirely subjective. I love Suite Class and mini suites are not even suites in my opinion, when compared to X...but that is my opinion...can't wait to sail the Reflection for a TA in April!

 

 

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We have taken several cruises on Princess and our first Celebrity cruise is this summer. Our last cruise on Princess was in 2014 on the Royal Princess and I didn't like the ship at all. The Royal class, at least to me, was a not a great move by Princess. If you like tiny balconies, overcrowded elevators (no central staircase) and limited pool space, then maybe you would like the Royal Princess. I would still cruise on Princess and the Ruby Princess is one of my favorite ships, but I'm not a fan of their new ships. :mad:

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Yes, the cabin assistants have been eliminated but the number of cabins each cabin attendant has to clean has been significantly reduced. On our recent cruise our guy had only 11 cabins. As a result, service has improved.

 

Have people been complaining about this?

 

We just sailed in AQ on Equinox and for the first time ever I had to say - room steward was not as good as before. Cabin was vacuumed maybe every few days, I had to request toilet paper, since roll was coming to the end and there were none extra in the bathroom. Few times empty cups were left ..

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I've been following the Princess board as well for reviews of Club Class -- which have been very slow to come. One review confirmed my expectation from the announcement that the Club Class Dining (section of the MDR) is nowhere near as nice as space as Celebrity's separate dining rooms for Blu and Luminae, and the food in Club Class is exactly the same as the MDR plus apparently only one extra choice table-side preparation. So while Princess and Celebrity may be comparable for regular cabins, Celebrity is still miles ahead for AQ and Suites.

What class on Princess is equivalent to AQ?

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Yes.. if you read some of the current cruise reviews, several people are mentioning this and stating that the service is really suffering.

 

Had one totally amazing cabin attendant on Infinity in Oct. He did a fabulous job. We noticed that the attendants really helped each other and had some type of back up crew coverng some of the tasks.

 

Amazing back story was that he had been an asst for several years waiting for his turn to move up...because of the new plan, he was promoted and got a raise. He said it was a dream come true. He worked so hard.....great attitude...so for us on this cruise, this program was definitely a plus.

 

Agree that BLU staffing and service needs to be improved...and suite guests entry be based on actual availability of seats.

Edited by hcat
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We just sailed in AQ on Equinox and for the first time ever I had to say - room steward was not as good as before. Cabin was vacuumed maybe every few days, I had to request toilet paper, since roll was coming to the end and there were none extra in the bathroom. Few times empty cups were left ..

 

Sounds like you had a bad attendant or one with an attitude.

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What class on Princess is equivalent to AQ?

 

There isn't an exact equivalent. AQ improves the food, and Celebrity cabins are generally larger than Princess, so it wouldn't be unfair to compare AQ to the Club Class Mini-Suites. But since Club Class Mini-Suites cost about the same as Sky Suites on Celebrity, that is a better comparison -- that Celebrity wins by a mile. [i'm not a fan of AQ because of the location of most of the cabins -- even the new ones on deck 11 of M-class are now ruined by the MUTS-clone above them]

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