Leaving Celebrity for Princess ?

[Italian Nancy]

Since Celebruity has abandoned the Caribbean in the fall, my altenative might be Princess..

 

Will I regret it?

 

Should I look at the Pacific coast instead ?

 

 

Looking at November 2005 10+ days

 

suggestions ?

[Host Anne]

We sail Princess as much as Celebrity. We've never regretted any cruise we've taken. Each cruise is unique depending upon the ship, the passenger make-up, the itinerary. I know there are lots of discussions about food and quality of service but we've always had good on both lines. We prefer Celebrity a bit more but we've never been sorry on Princess. Besides, it is good to try different things once in awhile!

 

Good luck. By the way, we sail Sun Princess next week. Can't wait!

[Texed]

Infinity to Hawaii.

Galaxy out of Galveston , Panama Canal and Mexico.

Summit, LA to FLL.

:)

[Bruin Steve]

Personally, my one cruise on Princess was extremely disappointing...

I imagine most of those Princess afficianados that rave about Princess have just never sailed Celebrity...

 

Of course, I wouldn't rule them out based on that one cruise either...If all the stars aligned, I would sail with them again...it would just have to be one of their newer ships...In fact, we almost booked the Diamond Princess for March before deciding on the Constellation...We could have saved a heck of a lot in terms of airfare, travel time and logistics...and even price (would have been about $300 less for a similar balcony cabin)...But it came down to itinerary for us and my wife wanted to do the Southern Caribbean rather than a repeat on the Mexican Riviera...

 

Given the choice of comparable itineraries, I tend to go with Celebrity every time...

 

Now, if you've done lots of Caribbean cruises and never cruised the Mexican Riviera, then, by all means come over this way and sail the Mercury...

 

Heck, with hurricane season and all, I don't know if I'd want to sail the Caribbean then anyway...

 

In fact, you might want to consider going where Celebrity is positioning most of their ships: EUROPE...That's my absolute first choice in cruising anyway...

[SANDY BEACH]

I have never personally sailed Princess; however, friends of mine said Princess was there least favorite cruise. I know they have sailed Carnaval, Royal Carr and Norwegian. Their response has kept me from looking into a cruise on Princess.

[Andy]

Since Celebruity has abandoned the Caribbean in the fall, my altenative might be Princess..

 

Will I regret it?

 

Should I look at the Pacific coast instead ?

 

 

Looking at November 2005 10+ days

 

suggestions ?

 

Hi Nancy !

 

I am in the same situation you are. We totally love Celebrity, but we will have to look at other lines as well. We are very disappointed that Celebrity has made these changes.

 

We have sailed Princess many times, and we have never been disappointed. I do not think you will regret it.

 

I do not have a Princess 10 night recommendation for you, but why not go on Century for the 9 or 10 night Caribbean sailing. Perhaps that is an option for you.

[donnaw]

Personally, my one cruise on Princess was extremely disappointing...

 

I imagine most of those Princess afficianados that rave about Princess have just never sailed Celebrity...

 

 

Steve, Sorry you had a bad experience. We just got back from the Grand and just as good as ever. Having sailed both, we will choose either based on itinerary and where there is a big difference, pricing. They are different, Princess wins on some things and Celebrity others. Here is a link to a thread that covers some of those differences more thoroughly.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=122376

[Coral]

Personally, my one cruise on Princess was extremely disappointing...

I imagine most of those Princess afficianados that rave about Princess have just never sailed Celebrity...

 

Bruin Steve - most people who compare lines have actually sailed both lines. It would be pointless to compare and not have sailed both.

 

I am the opposite of Bruin Steve, my Celebrity cruise was disappointing and I prefer Princess. Definitely give Princess a try. One of these days I will try another Celebrity cruise. I have been lurking on the board trying to look at Cirque de Soleil reviews on the Constellation.

[Bisous3]

They just said here on our local newscast in South Florida that the Sun Princess has had a Norovirus outbreak this week, and many crew and passengers were quarantined. Guess she'll be nice and clean for you then when you get there- but I'd pack the compazine and Immodium just in case! Princess said a passenger lied on the the medical questionnaire and was sick on the first day.

Suzanne

[jezzdogg]

We have done 6 Celebrity cruises, 3 Princess cruises and 5 RCI cruises. By far the food and service where tops on Celebrity, while the activities and entertainment where tops on RCI.

We have been disappointed in our Princess cruises and thought maybe we had just had a "bad" week. However we found that with each cruise the service, entertainment and food has shown a significant drop.

[Bisous3]

Just wanted to add that we did the Island Princess/Pananma Canal cruise last year and loved it. There are great things about BOTH cruise lines- I let the itinerary be my guide.

Suzanne

[Casey12]

We have sailed both lines a few times and have a preference to Princess. I found that the food on Celebrity looks better and is presented better then Princess but the food tastes better on Princess. Our service has been better on Princess and the employees are friendlier on Princess. We also have found that once we are on the ship, we tend to pay a lot more for drinks on Celebrity then Princess. We prefer the dining room look on Celebrity and the Thallossopy pool on Celebrity.

[2bcruising4ever]

I sailed on the Dawn in December and really enjoyed it. The food could have been better but all in all it was a very pleasant experience. I'm sailing the Summit in April, so I will get to see the differences. I am excited to see what the "Cirque de Soleil" will be like. My girlfriend loves Celebrity, but when she cruised with me on the Dawn she said she would cruise Princess again.

[JNLROSE]

I'm going to give Princess a try from Celebrity too. We REALLY want to do the Tahiti to Hawaii trip & they have the best itinerary. We love Celebrity but will give Princess a try, I have heard a lot of good things about them & I have my own first hand experiences with Celebrity and they are not ALL 100% positive, we have had some disappointments as well.

[argosy]

Personally, my one cruise on Princess was extremely disappointing...

I imagine most of those Princess afficianados that rave about Princess have just never sailed Celebrity...

 

I've certainly been on both, and they have their own strengths and weaknesses. It just depends on how these strengths and weaknesses fit into your own personal list of priorities; your own hierarchy.

 

As for me, I like both but prefer Princess overall.

[greydog]

Based on the range of comments above, it seems a practical solution (guy-wise) is:

Marry X but have Princess as a mistress.

This thought was suggested by post's title 'leaving X for Princess' - happens all the time - the broken homes - tender little lifeboats forced to choose, cast adrift on a sea of troubles - tying up on weekends, etc.

 

My personal fantasy: a 'menage a trois' - I guess I better start an exercise program - last thing my ego could handle would be "Mrs X" or the 'mistress' getting on this board to complain about my 'short comings'.

 

And I'd hate to be 'flamed' in a tender area!!

[jonrake]

Hi Nancy,

 

Been on 4 Celebrity cruises and 1 Princess ... if you keep an open mind you will not go wrong. Was on 7 day wester caribbean cruise on the Caribbean Princess last June with my two older daughter. The ship was new, clean pretty, 5 pools choices, dinner whenever you like. Maybe a notch below Celebrity on food, but way above on entertainment. There private island, Princess Cay was excellent.

 

jon

[Charles4515]

Personally, my one cruise on Princess was extremely disappointing...

I imagine most of those Princess afficianados that rave about Princess have just never sailed Celebrity....

 

You imagine wrong. I have been on six Celebrity and six Princess and prefer Princess. But only a little bit. I find them both fairly interchangable. Have also been on RCI five times and once on Carnival.

[isujim]

You know Nancy the first question is

 

Do you want to abandon the Caribbean?? Not sure you can compare the Mexican Riviera to the Caribbean REGARDLESS of the cruise line. Once you answer that question........then Princess or anyother cruiseline becomes relevant.

[tuggers]

Greydog,

 

Loved your post! Good luck with the exercise program!!

[AFT_LOVER]

Grand Princess, W Carib. The Captain announces that they were merging with RCCL/Celbrity. The crowd cheered. By the time we got off the ship Carnival was a hostile takeover. Next few cruises were disappointments, from Coral Princess innaugural that was May 2002, moved to October 2002, then December 2002 (we got -0- for all the moves) then cancelled in November.

 

So Princess puts us on Island Princess innaugural May 2003 and 3 weeks later that also was cancelled. So now we will cruise in May 2003 on Grand Princess Med cruise. 2 hours later they announce she will stay in Carib. So 3 cancelled cruises in a month! Our TA Lori & *****.com gave Princess a bashing with the way they have trashed a platinum member cancelling 3 cruises in a month. She will put us on Celebrity to the Med.

 

So 2 weeks later we get a call from some Brit guy offering us Golden Princess doing Med cruise for $708 for a mini suite. But we have to pay for our air. So we did, saving plenty. Stateroom was overheated & 11 hours for them to move us to a cooler room. Food was awful! If we didn't know the Captain, we would have gotten off. At least he got us good food.

 

Since Carnival, Princess has gone down the tubes in our book. We are so spoiled on Celebrity with their Consierge Class, and their new award system for Captain's Club, we cruised 3 times & are Select (mid level) and after our Panama Canal cruise in November we will be top level ELITE. Just purchase CC category & get 3 cruise credits for over 12 nights. Not 10 cruises with Princess to be Platinum...............

 

So take your pick!

[Charles4515]

Since Carnival, Princess has gone down the tubes in our book. We are so spoiled on Celebrity with their Consierge Class, and their new award system for Captain's Club, we cruised 3 times & are Select (mid level) and after our Panama Canal cruise in November we will be top level ELITE. Just purchase CC category & get 3 cruise credits for over 12 nights. Not 10 cruises with Princess to be Platinum...............

 

So take your pick!

 

Hey Brenda. How come you changed your handle from Awesome One to MACOP. You still are recognizable though. Same old, same old.

 

I have been on Princess and Celebrity since the takeover and I have to disagree. Princess has not gone down the tubes. I suggest that Italian Nancy try Princess and decide for herself. It won't be leaving Celebrity. No reason at all to stay with one particular cruise line.

[Queenk2]

I have been on many -20-Princess cruises however not since they were bought by Carnival . Also having been on Celebrity and Rccl I can think of many reasons to like all vessels. Princesss of yore no longer exists,however neither does the original Hal experience or the old Cunard. Cruising has changed and I still have a great time.

[HeatherInFlorida]

Only by chance I've not cruised Princess and I love Celebrity (1) and HAL(2). I have friends who had only cruised Princess and they say it's the best cruiseline in the world. Last year they cruised on Celebrity Millennium in the Mediterranean and I told them they would be awestruck. They were terribly disappointed and they're back to Princess. Yet I continually hear negatives about Princess, so to each his own I guess!

[Charles4515]

Only by chance I've not cruised Princess and I love Celebrity (1) and HAL(2). I have friends who had only cruised Princess and they say it's the best cruiseline in the world. Last year they cruised on Celebrity Millennium in the Mediterranean and I told them they would be awestruck. They were terribly disappointed and they're back to Princess. Yet I continually hear negatives about Princess, so to each his own I guess!

 

To each their own is true. One persons preference can be anothers disappointment. You never will know though if you don't try other lines.