Have you sailed on Princess?

[UK Cruiser]

We've cruised multiple times with both Princess and Celebrity and have been lucky enough to cruise with both to Alaska.

 

There are differences between the lines as many have already pointed out, but if you like one line, you will likely enjoy sailing with the other, as long as you are willing to embrace the differences.

 

Choose your cruise based on the itinerary, you will not be disappointed with Alaska!

[red knight]

Icy Straights is a small Island, still populated and run by the Natives. I did not take any tour offered by the line, I just went ashore, looked at their old Canning Factory, looked for souvieners, then walked/hiked a nice trail. The trail was not a challenging one but it ran through the woods and along the shore, and all was in prisitine natural condition- it was a great walk! There are no jewelry stores or Swiss Watches there, it is the way all the Alaska ports should be but sad to say they are not!

[flvol77]

Our first cruise was on Princess, but we switched to Celebrity because of the better smoking policy. To me, both were comparable, and I would recommend Princess to anyone who smokes, and Celebrity to anyone who doesn't.

 

 

This is one of the reasons why we are looking forward to cruising with Celebrity. Our last couple of cruises have been ruined by people smoking on their balconies consistently.

 

we have been on Princess many times, overall we like Princess Much better than any cruiseline we have tried before, but we needed a break for Princess, its nice to have options, can't wait to compare them come mid july.

[AnglerGirl]

 

 

Hello AAAAmerican, Thank you for the compliment and interesting information about HAL. FYI, I’m a Declaration of Independence descendent.IMO, Carnival Corp has done an amazing job at keeping HAL and Princess at the top of the game in Alaska. I'm sure many families are happy they are corporate stewards in Alaska too. We are offshore anglers, but fish in almost every destination we've traveled.

 

OP! Consider a half day fishing trip in Alaska. We found an indy operator through a Google search in Ketchikan and it was wonderful. Lots of wildlife above the waterline was seen. See pic of eagle. He came right to the boat and likely scared all my fish away but wow, what a sight!

 

Regarding X's stop at Icy Strait, (pic) I may be the only person who just didn't ‘get’ this place. I liked the old boats, got some really terrific photos, and thought the shoreline was stunning albeit a bit manmade, but I got the vibe that X wasn’t too sure what to do there either, especially when I saw there was a zipline excursion. There were some very nice walking trails though so it wasn’t worthless, just different IMO.

 

 

aNGLERgIRL,

 

Maam YOU DO WRITE NICE.

 

Alaska cruise by ship was started by HAL which did buy another Line there too which had so many nice assets including but not limited to land, buildings, train cars, engines, motorcoach etc.. they created the desirability and environmental benefits too.

 

Once one is a leader others do follow due coarse..;)

 

Do use wet and/or Dry Flys?

 

[MsJ]

Hi...we have done 7 cruises with Princess as we love the Caribe deck balconeys.....I also like the decor of the ships.....we also did Princess to Alaska in 2001 as it was recommeded as the the best line for Alaska at that time as they had been doing it for a while....we have sailed 2 times with Celebrity..Mercury in 1999 and Constellation in 2003.....we are returning to Celebrity to try something new....love Princess but we wanted a change...we are booked on the Eclipse for next February Aqua-class.......on one of the Princess trips were docked next to the Solstice and I have wanted to try S class since then....I am really looking forward to the Eclipse and especially AQ.....we have also cruised with HAL..NCL and RCL....I have no complaints about any of the cruise lines I have been on..... although right now I am a Princess loyalist..who knows...maybe next year at this time I will be a Celebrity loyalist:)

Have fun no matter what ship you are on...Marianne

[shoegal24]

Thanks everyone. Hearing about the smoking on Princess balconies has only furthered confirmed that Celebrity is where we want to be.

 

If only they would release their schedules to Alaska for 2011 so I can stop checking 20x a day :P

[AnglerGirl]

Is X's S class going to be sailing the Alaskan waters?

 

Hi...we have done 7 cruises with Princess as we love the Caribe deck balconeys.....I also like the decor of the ships.....we also did Princess to Alaska in 2001 as it was recommeded as the the best line for Alaska at that time as they had been doing it for a while....we have sailed 2 times with Celebrity..Mercury in 1999 and Constellation in 2003.....we are returning to Celebrity to try something new....love Princess but we wanted a change...we are booked on the Eclipse for next February Aqua-class.......on one of the Princess trips were docked next to the Solstice and I have wanted to try S class since then....I am really looking forward to the Eclipse and especially AQ.....we have also cruised with HAL..NCL and RCL....I have no complaints about any of the cruise lines I have been on..... although right now I am a Princess loyalist..who knows...maybe next year at this time I will be a Celebrity loyalist:)

Have fun no matter what ship you are on...Marianne

[Aunt Tina]

I sailed on Celebrity's Infinity last August. The naturalist on board, Brent Nixon, made the cruise. Every night he gave a talk on the different animals we would see, and one evening he did a whale watch from the lounge in the front of the ship. His talks were fantastic, he filled the theater. The information he gave made the trip so much more interesting. He talked while we were in Hubbard Glacier about the history of the glacier.

 

I don't think all the cruises have a naturalist the whole trip.

[AnglerGirl]

Thanks everyone. Hearing about the smoking on Princess balconies has only furthered confirmed that Celebrity is where we want to be.

 

If only they would release their schedules to Alaska for 2011 so I can stop checking 20x a day :P

 

Shoe, X will sail Alaska mid May to about the end of September 2011. You will have so much fun planning for this trip. If you leave from Vancouver, be sure to stay a day or so at the beginning or end of your cruise. It's a lovely city. Seattle ain't to shabby either though!

[AnglerGirl]

You are so correct about this! The Naturalist on board our Alaskan voyage was fantastic. We were in the observation lounge on Infinity during our Hubbard Glacier approach and his lecture was great. You pose an excellent question. Do all the lines offer a naturalist?

 

I sailed on Celebrity's Infinity last August. The naturalist on board, Brent Nixon, made the cruise. Every night he gave a talk on the different animals we would see, and one evening he did a whale watch from the lounge in the front of the ship. His talks were fantastic, he filled the theater. The information he gave made the trip so much more interesting. He talked while we were in Hubbard Glacier about the history of the glacier.

 

I don't think all the cruises have a naturalist the whole trip.

[royalcruz]

I've only sailed in the Caribbean, but we much prefer Celebrity to Princess. Without being specific, everything about it feels classier, and we like that.

[AlanAllyn]

Is X's S class going to be sailing the Alaskan waters?

Not anytime soon. The S ships don't fit through the Panama Canal.

 

OP: I have sailed both and prefer Celebrity. But, I think you should choose Alaska based on itinerary. I would not do a cruise unless it goes to either Glacier Bay or Hubbard Glacier. We will be first timers on HAL Amsterdam this summer -- 14-day round trip Seattle -- which goes to both.

[MsJ]

Is X's S class going to be sailing the Alaskan waters?

 

Im sorry....we are sailing the Caribbean on the Eclipse.....

[AnglerGirl]

Not anytime soon. The S ships don't fit through the Panama Canal.

 

OP: I have sailed both and prefer Celebrity. But, I think you should choose Alaska based on itinerary. I would not do a cruise unless it goes to either Glacier Bay or Hubbard Glacier. We will be first timers on HAL Amsterdam this summer -- 14-day round trip Seattle -- which goes to both.

 

Alan, I wondered why MsJ would bring up S class to the OP who is taking her honeymoon in Alaska when S class is not even going there. Obviously she was stating her own interest in the S class and not addressing the OP's question really.

 

MsJ, I hope you enjoy your cruise on X's S class. I was on the first New Year's cruise aboard Solstice. It's a large ship with lots of places to roam.

[AnglerGirl]

I've only sailed in the Caribbean, but we much prefer Celebrity to Princess. Without being specific, everything about it feels classier, and we like that.

 

Princess wins for best pizza though. :D

I've only been on Princess once and still crave that pizza at the pool deck.

[Tom/Nancy]

NOT A PRO/CON SMOKING REMARK. We always stay at non-smoking hotels and non-smoking resorts. We were excided about Celebrity’s new smoking policy (We ran into a lot of balcony smoke on NCL in Hawaii and recently on Princess in Alaska.). This past February we went on the Celebrity Summit. Got a balcony on the starboard side - room 8080. We couldn’t use our balcony on 2 nights. It appears that a cabin 3 doors forward and another cabin 8 doors forward enjoyed smoking cigars on their balcony. The first night I called service and had them spray my balcony to kill the cigar smoke. The second night I went to service and obtained a bottle for my use. The third night I go a telephone message that an officer had spoken to the people and reminded them of the rules and we got 6 chocolate covered strawberries (which unfortunately included a lone fruit fly). I guess no matter how hard a cruise line may try it’s not possible to enforce the smoking rules. If anyone knows of a smoke free ship that has been successful in this endeavor – could you post the info. on it? Thanks.

PS: we still prefer Princess.. guess it's kinda like if you started on an Apple computer - you prefer Apple; PC starters prefer a PC.

[AnglerGirl]

NOT A PRO/CON SMOKING REMARK. We always stay at non-smoking hotels and non-smoking resorts. We were excided about Celebrity’s new smoking policy (We ran into a lot of balcony smoke on NCL in Hawaii and recently on Princess in Alaska.). This past February we went on the Celebrity Summit. Got a balcony on the starboard side - room 8080. We couldn’t use our balcony on 2 nights. It appears that a cabin 3 doors forward and another cabin 8 doors forward enjoyed smoking cigars on their balcony. The first night I called service and had them spray my balcony to kill the cigar smoke. The second night I went to service and obtained a bottle for my use. The third night I go a telephone message that an officer had spoken to the people and reminded them of the rules and we got 6 chocolate covered strawberries (which unfortunately included a lone fruit fly). I guess no matter how hard a cruise line may try it’s not possible to enforce the smoking rules. If anyone knows of a smoke free ship that has been successful in this endeavor – could you post the info. on it? Thanks.

PS: we still prefer Princess.. guess it's kinda like if you started on an Apple computer - you prefer Apple; PC starters prefer a PC.

 

Cruise Critic keeps a run down, as best they can, on the smoking policies. There are no non smoking lines, just lines with more restrictive smoking policies. http://www.cruisecritic.com/articles.cfm?ID=225.

[MsJ]

Alan, I wondered why MsJ would bring up S class to the OP who is taking her honeymoon in Alaska when S class is not even going there. Obviously she was stating her own interest in the S class and not addressing the OP's question really.

 

MsJ, I hope you enjoy your cruise on X's S class. I was on the first New Year's cruise aboard Solstice. It's a large ship with lots of places to roam.

 

I was responding to what I perceived as a general question about the differences between the Princess and Celebrity cruise experinces

[Solstice23]

We sailed Princess in August and it WAS NOT CELEBRITY, now they had some nice things it was not a bad cruiseline, but what we enjoy the most on Celebrity was not to be found on the Caribbean Princess. After the past week on Solstice we realize Celebrity is our home!

[djquog]

We've sailed on Princess 4 times and love the line. Alaska last June was our last cruise. The food in the dining room and more important the wait staff are the finest we've had. The staff in the dining room are eager to help and cater to special needs and requests. In 12 cruises never have we enjoyed the dining room more than on a Princess ship. We've sailed RCI, Princess and Celebrity. The last time we sailed Celebrity is 1 1/2 years ago and saw so many changes that we found nothing special about Celebrity anymore.

[Texed]

I was on the first New Year's cruise aboard Solstice.

 

You were? :cool:

[oldmanbob]

We did Princess to AK in 09, and Celebrity to AK in 2008. Itineraries were similar and equally enjoyable, except X did have one port we did not care for. (Prince Rupert)

I can’t believe that no one has mentioned the waffles on Celebrity. Yes ,Princess may have waffles on my 7 days to AK, but they only had them two days… the waffle machines were broken, or some other excuse, not to mention they were located outside of the buffet and the waffles were cold by the time you sat down. After having the waffles on X the year before I had thought they must be part of every ships offerings. I was wrong and very disappointed. Celebrity’s waffles are heavenly.

 

We also enjoyed the Constellation lounge on X where we could have wonderful views arriving /leaving ports, going through the inside passage and other great viewing opportunities. WE have been on both the Golden and Ruby in the last year and they do not offer such a great place to relax, read a book and enjoy such a wonderful view.

 

I also dislike the balcony setup on Princess where many of the upper deck balconies allow the passengers to easily look down and see the balconies below . The balconies seem to be arranged in a stair step fashion.. the deck below jutting out further than the deck above, and so on all the way up. This offered little privacy if any unless you are on a top deck, and most of the mini suites are on the Dolphin deck below.

 

We also thought the food on X was a bit better in the MDR, and much better in the buffets, although I enjoyed Princess Specialty rest more. One thing that irked me on Princess was the waiters pushing carts with cold bottled water selling the water bottles as they strolled through the buffet. (Picture cigar, cigarettes, Tiparillos girls in Vegas)

 

Princess does have a great Piazza that had great munchies all the time with fresh baked goodies and small sandwiches and such that were wonderful.

For a similar price of a concierge cabin on X one can possibly get a mini suite on Princess and while the room size is comparable, the mini suite had a full sized tub / shower that we preferred. No attacks by the shower curtain while in a Princess mini suite.

Both lines are very good, but me thinks X has the edge by far. But to each their own opinion.. what I think is great may be of little appeal to others.

 

But the observation lounges, waffles and a feeling of bit more elegance brought us back to X and we have our first S ship cruise in 6 weeks and are very excited. Yes, silly as it sounds, the waffles have a special appeal that help make me come back to X.

[AnglerGirl]

You were? :cool:

 

Ha! Remember the pool deck on NYE? I've never seen anything like it, nor have I ever experienced such a throbbing headache the next day. :eek:

[Wingtips56]

We've done several Princess cruises, but switched last year to NCL for the itinerary (and have booked two more cruises on NCL :)).

 

We were on the Pacific Princess to Alaska (Vancouver-Whittier) on an upgraded cruise-tour package sold as a Kirkland Signature package by Costco. (It was a great deal, better goodies on the land-portion.)

 

If your cruise is port-intensive, try the Princess small ships Pacific, Ocean (ex-Tahitian) and Royal. These are former Renaissance ships (same as Azimara and Oceana), that are a little flossier than normal Princess decor. Being a small ship, you run out of things to do quickly, but it was perfect for our cruise as it was able to go places the bigger ships couldn't do. We did tighter bays and went up much closer to the face of the glaciers, being able to turn on a dime.

 

The food... well, it was the same menu as we'd had on all the others, including the theme nights and same old Baked Alaska schtick on the last night. However the food quality was much less and tasteless on this ship/itinerary. Maybe it's the Alaska catering as my sister in-law really complained about the food on another Princess a few years earlier.

 

They did have a really good naturalist on-board doing the glacier cruise days, and we were blessed with what he said was the best weather in his 20 years of doing the cruises. Obviously no cruise can depend on the weather in Alaska being nice, but we sure lucked out!

 

On arrival in Whittier, we walked through the terminal and straight abord the upgrade Alaska Railway train cars for the trip to Talkeetna and the stay at the Mt. McKinley Lodge. Wonderful food!!!!! After that, we got on the private Princess railcars (very fancy) for the ride to the Denali Lodge and again to the destination in Fairbanks. Everything at the Princess Resorts was teriffic and all connections for trains and tours like swiss clockwork.

 

I think we saw Celebrity's logo on some other nice rail cars, but can't vouch for it. HAL and others share.

[skandls]

We have cruise to Alaska on both X and Princess. X was rt Vancouver. Princess was Vancouver to Anchorage. Princess can go to College Fiord (beautiful need to be seen). A must is the land tour (must do Denali - Wilderness Tour - 8 hours on a bus but so worth it). I would go with Princess (if you are a member the big C box store has had great deal on a cruise/land tour with Princess).