Princess compare to Celebrity???

[MDG]

Also, how does Princess compare to Celebrity. We were on Celebrity Constellation last year and loved it.

[DeRon]

You will love both, but for different reasons. Princess is much more casual, and is a lot of fun. Tons to do, good entertainment, fresh water pools open 24/7, personal choice dining, food is overall good.

 

Celebrity, as you know, is more refined, elegant, and the food is really good (better in my opinion than Princess - at least the dinner is), and very relaxing.

 

The things I liked better on Princess: friendly staff, pools and hot tubs, better entertainment and parties, a feeling of "do what you want", laundry rooms with ironing boards.

 

The things we liked better on Celebrity: the evening meal experience (MUCH more formal), the overall refined feel, the public rooms, and service.

[Mike2131]

You will love both, but for different reasons. Princess is much more casual, and is a lot of fun. Tons to do, good entertainment, fresh water pools open 24/7, personal choice dining, food is overall good.

 

Celebrity, as you know, is more refined, elegant, and the food is really good (better in my opinion than Princess - at least the dinner is), and very relaxing.

 

The things I liked better on Princess: friendly staff, pools and hot tubs, better entertainment and parties, a feeling of "do what you want", laundry rooms with ironing boards.

 

The things we liked better on Celebrity: the evening meal experience (MUCH more formal), the overall refined feel, the public rooms, and service.

 

Hi!

I pretty much echo everything in this posting. On our 12/10-12/20 Panama Canal Cruise we had a top-notch Romm Steward (better than Celebrity) and a much better Cruise Director and Staff (they were great!). Overall, we find the food and service are superior on Celebrity. Entertainment is probably better on Princess. Ships for both lines are beautiful.

 

We favor Celebrity, but would not hesitate to cruise with Princess again.

[the hornsea potter]

Having been on the Celebrity Summit and Constellation and on the Sapphire Princess I can only say that all are wonderful.Celebrity just have it on food but Princess has better entertainment.Celebrity provide cold towels on return from hot excursions and sparkling wine on inital boarding.Princess provides cheaper drinks.Service is very good on both lines.

 

It is,of course,subjective but in my opinion anyone who fails to enjoy a cruise on either lines needs to smell the roses.

 

It is much like comparing a Porche with a Ferrari or in my case a Volvo with a Saab.

[joyride]

As you can see from our list of cruises below, we pretty have much stuck to Princess. I don't think I've ever had a "Bad" cruise (except maybe the one on Carnival - but that's a whole other topic). There is something to say for reaching "platinum" status and some of the nice perks like free internet, etc.

 

That said, we tried Celebrity over Thanksgiving and we absolutely loved it. The ship was beautiful, the crew was so friendly and they seemed so happy and accomadating. We especially enjoyed the food - not that it was extremely better than on Princess, but it was a nice change. The Spa Cafe on the Constellation is such a nice area and the food there was awesome. I also loved the sushi they had every afternoon! I personally did not think that Celebrity had a more "formal" feel than Princess. I did enjoy the fact that Celebrity does not make announcements of activities all day long!

 

There are some things about Princess that have kept us going back. The pools and spas are opened 24/7 and are freshwater - which we prefer. Personal choice dining is really great because you have the freedom to eat at different times and with whom you choose. I also like the mini-suites on Princess better than the Concierge Class balcony cabin we had on Celebrity. Our cabin on the Constellation was nice, but we seemed to run into each other a lot tryng to get around the bed. I agree that the Laundry rooms on Princess are very handy - and I also love having a refrigerator in the room to keep my wine in. One other thing - I think Princess is MORE organized with their excursions and getting off the ship in the ports.

 

I think if you try Princess you will not be disappointed. I think that my DH and I have decided to look at both lines in the future and probably choose either based on which one has the itenerary and price we are looking for.

[Mike2131]

Hi again!

I thought I would make a few further comments on both of these areas.

Excursions and Embarkation - In the past, we had found Princess really had the efficient movement of passengers down to a science. The cruise on the Coral did not quite live up to those standards. Perhaps it was due to some new crew members or other factors but the procedure seemed a little less organized than I expected. Celebrity has definitely improved in this area, but the edge probably still has to go to Princess (but the gap is narrowing).

Service - The overall advantage still has to go to Celerity. I would not term the Celebrity service necessarily more formal, just more refined and well thought out in their approach. One example would be someone to carry the trays for older passengers (actually for anyone) at the buffets. On the Coral, there were no trays, only oversized plastic platters that were handed to you as you entered.

Have a great cuise!

[amyr]

All the replies above are dead on, I think, so I'll just add a few things to it. I've only been on two cruises in recent years, Celebrity Infinity to Alaska (2000 passengers) and Pacific Princess South Pacific 24 days (600 passengers). The two types of cruises couldn't be more different, and the PP isn't a Princess built ship, but here goes anyway:)

 

With limited experience, we felt that Celebrity had better food in the dining room for dinner with a better experience overall, but we enjoyed the lunch buffet, pool hamburgers, pizza, etc., on Princess more than Celebrity. Points to Celebrity, though, for their Aqua Spa Cafe on M class ships. Also, Celebrity has someone from the bar come in separately to take drink orders, on Princess you rely on your overworked waiter/asst. waiter for this and it can take longer.

 

On Celebrity, our cabin steward kept a water carafe full at all times for us, on Princess there was a $2.50 bottle of water (this may have changed on Celebrity)

 

I think on most Princess ships you can eat nearly 24 hours (doesn't the Horizon Court stay open on most ships?) but on Celebrity we really had to pay attention to what times things opened and closed.

 

Doesn't matter for short cruises, but the laundry rooms on Princess are nice for the longer ones.

 

You can check your onboard account on Celebrity via the room TV, on Princess, unless you visit the purser's desk, it's a mystery. Speaking of TV, Princess wins hands-down on this. Again, doesn't really matter on short cruises, but with 17 sea days on our PP cruise, I was grateful for all the channels on Princess. Five new movies a day, all sorts of Discovery Channel, TLC, sit-com packages, etc. On Celebrity we had pay-per-view movies, two or three free movies that repeated, and the same Raymond/King of Queens/Touched by and Angel package over and over.

 

Celebrity has three types of dinner dress codes. Some nights are dress casual, some are semi-formal, and, of course, formal nights. Princess just has dress casual and formal. I found the Princess style to be much easier, especially when packing for a long cruise. Men, especially, can either take one suit or rent a tux on board Princess and not really worry much about the rest of it.

 

Celebrity seems to have nicer touches and a feel of better service. I enjoyed the fact that there were pool towels all around the pools on Celebrity. On our Princess cruise, they were in the room, and we took them with us. Our cabin steward was in charge of changing them out.

 

On Celebrity, the crew was much more interactive, and we were amazed at how many remembered our names, etc. We were only on board a week, but were constantly engaged in conversation by various officers and they used our names! Also, by day two, we didn't even need to get out our room card to charge drinks at certain bars, they already knew us. It wasn't as personal on Princess, but I was fine with that too.

 

All in all, I loved both lines, and I think it boils down to itinerary and price. We've already got a Millie trans-Atlantic booked and are hoping to book another on the Golden when the Summer 2006 schedules come out.

 

Speaking of itineraries, Princess wins again on this one. If you like long exotics, they are much better at this.

 

Oh, one more thing -- I think the reward program on Princess is better (better perks), but it takes longer to get to a level to enjoy it. I really coveted that Platinum free internet on my Princess cruise, but only have one cruise credit towards it. One credit per cruise, regardless of length. On Celebrity we'll get (I think) two credits for the longer cruise coming up as well as another credit for having a CC class cabin.

 

All in all, both cruise lines offer wonderful experiences. If any of the above has changed, I hope someone will correct me. It's been a couple of years since my Celebrity cruise, so if things have changed, I'd love to know.

 

Sorry for being so long-winded,

Amy

[Richard Stein]

I have elite status on both lines and sailed on both the Sapphire and Horizon last year. Celebrity may have better food in the main dining room. Princess has smaller more intimiate dining rooms and more dining choices. Princess has better pizza and pasta. Service and entertainment on both are fine. More affordable balconies on Princess. Princess goes to more places with more ships and more cabins. The repeater benefits on Princess are better in my class, but Celebrity has some benefits Princess does not have. If the cruise, cabin and price are the same I book with Celebrity. With a significant price difference I go with Princess. I will not go in an outside cabin when I can have a balcony on Princess. Princess does not go to Bermuda so I go on Celebrity. I am booked on a Star Princess to Europe and Horizon to Bermuda this year. Both cruise lines are acceptable to me. I have done 41 cruises since the 80's on lines lines Home and Royal that no longer exist, but were better than these two.

[Druke I]

I think DeRon does a pretty good job of noting the differences between the lines.

 

In my opinion, Princess production shows are much better than Celebrity's.

 

Having boarded both lines in San Francisco, a terminal not well set-up for cruise ships, I must say I appreciated Princess' handling of embarkation - it was much more efficient than Celebrity.

 

Princess, with more ships, has a better variety of itineraries, I think, and their price is usually better than Celebrity (read less expensive).

[Coral]

I have sailed on the Millennium (sister to Constellation) and actually like Princess better.

 

Our service was significantly better on Princess. My worst wait staff and room steward was on Celebrity. This was the only cruise where I didn't give the recommended tip. I love Princess' decor to Celebrity's. I like the light pastel colors to the dark wood on Celebrity's Millennium. Though I am not a buffet person, the times on the buffet on Celebrity were pretty restrictive. We often returned to the ship at 3 pm and our only choice for food was room service or hamburgers. I like that Princess has their buffet open all the time.

 

I love fresh water pool verses Celebrity's salt water pool.

 

I also found everything on board Celebrity more expensive than Princess (drinks, transfers, shore excursions, etc. . )

 

I am sticking with Princess for the time being. It would take something huge to get me back on Celebrity.

 

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On the flip side, the dining room is gorgeous on Celebrity's Millennium class and our aft balcony had an awesome balcony.

[JRoeT]

Can anyone comment on the comfort-level / quality of the cabins themselves between these two lines? Updated, soft fabrics? Comfortable beds? Better quality linens on either one? Plastic deck chairs vs. wood on balconies?

[Deckers]

Hi all;

 

My experience echos most of the comments above. With respect to rooms - I did not notice much difference.

 

We would not hesitate to cruise either line but my vote would be Princess. The ability to choose different Dinner times depending on the way you feel that day suits us better. Vacation for us is a time to relax and ignore timetables, dress codes etc.

[DeRon]

My cruise with Celebrity was back in '97, but I remember the room being a nicer quality than Princess. Lighting and colors seemed a richer feel than on Princess. I remember the showers on Celebrity were absolutley fantastic!

 

Can't answer on bed quality (don't remember).

[Richard Stein]

The rooms on both lines are similar in size. Celebrity does have a good and bigger shower. If you are in a CC cabin or Suite on Celebrity you get a choice of 4 different pillow types. No difference in the bed or their comfert. Many CC cabins on Celebrity's older ships do not even have a balcony. Had my worst steward ever in a CC balcony cabin on Celebrity. Never had a similar problem on Princess.

[MDG]

Thank you all for your comments.

 

Your feedback has put my mind at ease.

 

MDG

[flowy]

Was on the Island Princess in December. Everyone we met on the ship who sailed Celebrity, thought Celebrity was better. We agreed. Celebrity has more class, style, etc.