Have you sailed on Princess?

[denims]

We have sailed Princess 3 times and Celebrity 4 times.

Overall, IMHP, you can't go wrong with either!:) They both have their pluses and minuses.....but mostly pluses!!!:)

Happy sailing!!!!!!!!!

[kek123]

Pick Celebrity if great food, service, surroundings, an enforced NO SMOKING policy and a place where any issues are addressed promptly and with a smile. People remember your name in addition to your drink and staff actually seem happy doing their jobs.

 

Pick Princess if you want to be yelled at, threatened and blatently discriminated against by staff members. Where problems (big and small) are alternately ignored, slought off to "somebody else" or just told to write a note on your survey. Pick Princess if you want to be subjected to a constant haze of smoke because nobody had the willingness or ability to actually enforce posted NO SMOKING signs.

 

Pretty clear who my favorite is. I am planning my next Celebrity cruise right now and wouldn't take another Princess cruise if they gave me their best cabin for free!

[GITC]

Pretty clear who my favorite is. I am planning my next Celebrity cruise right now and wouldn't take another Princess cruise if they gave me their best cabin for free!

 

Wow, big on hyperbole are ya? :rolleyes:

[Working 2 Cruise]

Pick Celebrity if great food, service, surroundings, an enforced NO SMOKING policy and a place where any issues are addressed promptly and with a smile. People remember your name in addition to your drink and staff actually seem happy doing their jobs.

 

Pick Princess if you want to be yelled at, threatened and blatently discriminated against by staff members. Where problems (big and small) are alternately ignored, slought off to "somebody else" or just told to write a note on your survey. Pick Princess if you want to be subjected to a constant haze of smoke because nobody had the willingness or ability to actually enforce posted NO SMOKING signs.

 

Pretty clear who my favorite is. I am planning my next Celebrity cruise right now and wouldn't take another Princess cruise if they gave me their best cabin for free!

 

I really have a problem believing any of that nonsense! This person is yet another rabid anti-smoking person and it revolves around her/his/its preferences...

[texkan]

We sailed Princess Coral Alaska Aug '09. We enjoyed the ship but the food was not as good

as Celebrity. We chose Princess as the ship went to Glacier Bay and Celebrity did not.

We did a land tour with Princess prior to cruising and we give Princess an A for their lodges,

train and buses.

[ECCruise]

Pick Celebrity if great food, service, surroundings, an enforced NO SMOKING policy and a place where any issues are addressed promptly and with a smile. People remember your name in addition to your drink and staff actually seem happy doing their jobs.

 

Pick Princess if you want to be yelled at, threatened and blatently discriminated against by staff members. Where problems (big and small) are alternately ignored, slought off to "somebody else" or just told to write a note on your survey. Pick Princess if you want to be subjected to a constant haze of smoke because nobody had the willingness or ability to actually enforce posted NO SMOKING signs.

 

Pretty clear who my favorite is. I am planning my next Celebrity cruise right now and wouldn't take another Princess cruise if they gave me their best cabin for free!

 

Hilarious.

Have spent well over 100 days on each of these cruise lines and can't see a single word in this "review" AKA slam, that I recognize.

[gerig]

I sailed both and find both wonderful cruise lines, but if the itinerary and price were the same - I believe Celebrity has the edge in service and food. They just have a way of making you feel special.

[Seapoint]

Done 5 cruises on Princess and 14 on Celebrity.

Would choose Celebrity hands down!

 

The Princess ships are very disjointed in layout, with smaller public rooms with low ceilings and faux art. Celebrity have million dollar art collections and a Wow! factor. Big open multi level public spaces with high ceilings.

 

On our last cruise on emerald in the Baltic, food in MDR was not edible. So bad that we begged the specialty restaurants for reservations, and even ate in the ports. Food in MDR on X is generally good to very good.

 

 

Lido food court on Princess is a disaster. Lousy food, miserable selection, all with long lines in a tiny, cramped, overheated poorly designed space. The new X ships have an open, flowing lido with islands for different foods. Virtually no lines. Food selection and prep is very good.

 

Princess has 4 pools. They all have issues. MUTS at main pool renders it noisy and usually overwhelmed with kids. Pool at stern has limited seating and almost no shade. Enclosed pool also has limited seating. Spa pool is very small, and unless you are sitting in The sanctuary, out of the way. Pool area on X far bigger and better, with lots of shade at main pool. Solarium pool is beautiful and tranquil. On X you can take as many fresh pool towels as you like. On Princess you get one towel to use all day, no matter how wet or sandy it may be. Ugh!

 

As adults, the only shady and quiet spot we could find was The sanctuary on princess. It really is a lovely area, as long as it is not windy. However, as it only seats 50 or so people, and you have to reserve your lounger each day, by the end of the cruise one had to be in line to reserve a lounger before 6am!!

 

The mini suites on Princess are excellent value. X has nothing comparable.

 

I thought entertainment was similar on both.

 

Service far more polite and accomodating on X. We were the only people in one of the lounges on emerald during the Captains Party, held elsewhere. A video of the party was blaring on a screen in the lounge. As the only patrons, we asked if the noise could be lowered. No way:eek: We were rudely informed that it was company policy to broadcast the party throughout the ship. So put up and shut up.

 

Net, unless itinary was unbelievably compelling, would not go back to princess. In fact, even if it was compelling, would not go back to Princess!!

[kek123]

I really have a problem believing any of that nonsense! This person is yet another rabid anti-smoking person and it revolves around her/his/its preferences...

 

While I don't smoke I am hardly a "rabid anti- smoker". What I do expect is for any establishment to enforce what is posted. I also expect a working toilet every day, towels in the bathroom to be replaced when removed, not to be walked in on in my room by staff members and to be seated when requested someplace other than directly in front of the service area slop bucket. All of which I experienced on my Princess cruise. Complaints about said issues I would also expect to be addressed promptly and with a smile. None of which happened. I am sure Princess does a better job much of the time as many people will attest to. They failed miserably in my opinion and I will say it again, I would not take another Princess cruise if they gave me one for free.

 

Celebrity on the other hand has found another fan and I look forward to many more voyages with them in the future!

[fillmore]

Hi Everyone,

 

As I agree with alot stated here, I was not Wowed with X as my TA said I would be. I found the storage space very limited. Thought we would have to leave some of the clothes in the suitcases. Found that even though only 33 kids on the ship and I personally never even noticed them, found out that some had got yelled at by the older passengers. My understanding is that the kids are just as welcome as the older passengers. Hate to have them on this weeks cruise we just got off over 300 kids on the Equinox this cruise.

 

I found the pool area small really only one main pool. Also that 30 minute rule of towels and things gone if no one noted in the chair, not true. I saw more security than pool attendants and chairs were left unoccupied for hours with no one touching anything from the staff. You had to be out at 7am to get even a chair 3 decks up and away from the pool. I found the outside pool to be cloudy which turned me off especially with infections on ship today.

 

Also upset that our room was left open when we returned from an excursion ashore. I as a passenger knew that the door did not slam shut and made sure it was shut each time we went out. My surprise when left open from the time room done up til our return about 3pm. This is something this steward should have known and had fixed. He's in and out of that room numerous times daily.

 

But overall as I already stated very close with Princess the mean age is a little older on X but if you don't want to do much in the evening will be fine.

 

We all have our opinions, yes I'm cruising with them next year the price was right and the itinery great and it's going out of San Juan for 10 days.

 

Either one for a first time cruise will be nice. A young couple just off our cruise enjoyed it for their first cruise but found it quiet at night and the age factor was an issue for them. They were in their 20's.

 

Enjoy

Lisa

[BlueCat1105]

I've not been on Celebrity, but just returned from a Holland America cruise and have cruised twice on Princess. I fully expected to have far and away better everything on Holland, but that was not so. Holland was nice, mind you, but I came away preferring Princess BECAUSE the stewards were so in tune to our comings and goings, and never interrupted us once in our staterooms. They were very stealthy about scurrying in and tidying the room very nicely practically every time we left. Our room and balcony was spotless.

 

I didn't notice any blatant disregard for smoking policies at all. That said, I know your question was regarding a comparison of Celebrity & Princess, and I don't know that answer.

[Minoushka]

I have done 7 on Princess 1 on Celebrity

I did not like the GALAXY

Food displays appeared skimpy to me .

Whenever we returned in the pm there was no food available other then pasta and sushi GREAT on the first day but EVERY day for 12 days is a bit much

Dinners were good but do not be late ...we were ....missed it

no buffet >>>NOTHING except room service ...did not like that!!!

IMO Food on Princess better and always available

I did like the Itinerary

Celebrity was VERY boring .Nothing to do at night Casino closed very early

I read 7 books got my son got hooked on reading too .Our cabin was near the library

Entertainment was hohum

I prefer Princess entertainment

I found Galaxy not a pretty ship ...very bland ...esp dining room

The nicest dining rooms are Costa some Carnival ones are also quite nice

 

Enjoy your wedding .Enjoy your cruise choice .Alaska is Wonderful.. If you can drive to YUKON ...WOW!!!!

[shipfriend_max]

Princess: summer 2009 British Isles 12 night (Crown Princess)

Celebrity: summer 2009 Baltic 14 night (Celebrity Constellation)

 

Both were good...:)

[Cruise Junky]

We've cruised both and like both. When booking a cruise it's always Princess and Celebrity's itineraries we look at first. Our first choice though is Princess. It's a better fit for us. We like the options of different pools, other than the S class there's far more dining options on Princess. We like MUTS and the huge seller for us is the size of the Caribe balconies. We spend a tremendous amount of time on our balcony and would go nuts on the tiny one's on Celebrity (other than an aft or a sweet 16). However, I still recommend Celebrity to a lot of my friends (sent 4 separate groups on Mercury last year). Both are good but for us, Princess is a better fit.

[socialworker]

Have done many cruises on both Princess and Celebrity. On any given day, one may be better than the other in a specific category, but for the most part you can't go wrong with either line. Pick the itinerary you like and go!

[shofer]

We made a lot of comparisons on our first cruise with the Princess line after 6 cruises with Celebrity. This is what we found:

 

The bathrooms on Celebrity were bigger with shower stalls that were more rectangular in shape and height adjustable shower heads. Celebrity also had dispensers on the walls in the shower with shampoo and conditioner. Princess had all the bath amenities in cardboard containers on the vanity. We had 3 sets of towels in the bathroom on Celebrity but only 2 sets on Princess.

 

The Princess room was lovely. I was surprised at how spacious it seemed. There was a very large, open closet with lots of hangers and a cupboard which contained the safe and shelves for our clothes. There were drawers in the nightstands and in the desk. There was bottled water to purchase in the room and an ice bucket in the small fridge but no pitcher of ice water changed twice daily like on Celebrity. The trash baskets had plastic liners on X but not on Princess which made you hesitate to throw anything messy in the container.

 

Celebrity had robes in the room. We had to ask for them on Princess. We have since discovered you can request them online prior to departure. But we still had to request them from the cabin steward even after doing this.

 

The freshwater pools were great with plenty of deck chairs. Celebrity has saltwater pools. Celebrity also has unlimited pool towels out on deck. On Princess the pool towels placed in your room also doubled as your beach towels. Beach towels were separate on X and were bigger and thicker.

 

I thought the food on Celebrity was more upscale. I was surprised to see plain white rice served with some of our entrees. We liked that the alternative selections were printed on the menu and you did have your option of white rice, French fries or baked potato with your entrée On Celebrity you get whatever is plated by the chef with your entrée. But they will bend over backwards to give you boiled or baked potatoes or any vegetable that you request. It may not be at that meal, but every meal after that.

I LOVED the dessert soufflés on Princess. Some other differences we noticed was that hot cocoa was free on Celebrity whereas you pay for it as a specialty drink on Princess. Of course it is served in a tall glass with whipped cream and sprinkles on top.

You also had to pay for ice cream when you finally found the counter by the Spa pool. It was free at certain times in the buffet but we really never made an effort to find it since they moved the location around and did not direct the passengers to it. They would rather you paid for the sundaes and shakes by the pool. It was always available in the buffet on X as well as softserve.

The service is more formal on X. If my DH chose not to order an appetizer or soup, they brought his salad out while we were eating the other items. On X, he would be served the same course with everyone else. The bus boy acted as your wine steward, no sommelier making suggestions. The wine list on X is much more extensive. .

We liked the dispensers for the hot beverages which came out very hot. This made for a nice cup of tea. The cups were also bigger than on Celebrity which offered a barely 4 ounce cup. Princess had a decent sized cup for coffee or tea. The coffee ranged from the merely adequate to the downright execrable. I stick to tea bags since I can control what I actually get.

Celebrity does have nice trays with cloth placemats and cloth napkins in the buffet and waiters to carry it for you instead of just large platters that you have to juggle with your drink. They also have a sandwich station all during lunch where they will make your sandwich to order. They would have these scrumptious pretzel rolls that we would keep going back for. It seemed that Princess only had sandwiches from 3-4 PM in the buffet. I didn’t see it as a food option in the Princess Patter. Maybe it was only for those coming back from a late shore excursion.

The pizza on the Coral Princess was very good with an excellent crust and they would make you whatever you wanted, just like Celebrity would.

I do have to hand it to Princess for the continuous buffet even if I don’t see the need for it to be 24 hours. Celebrity would shut down breakfast an hour before lunch where on Princess they would close one side of the buffet to get ready for lunch and continue serving breakfast on the alternate side until lunch was up and running. We never tried the buffet for dinner as we prefer the dining room experience for that meal.

Shore excursions: Princess really shines on this part of the experience. The shore excursions were many and varied, with some unusual choices. You could be as active or sedentary as you liked. Celebrity’s excursions are rather humdrum with more of an emphasis on shopping.

When coming back from shore excursions on Celebrity there is a tent set up on the dock for passengers where you could get a drink of cold water and/or fruit punch and a cold cloth for your fevered brow when you are returning to the ship. There was nothing like that on Princess.

The production shows were terrific on the Coral Princess and most of the other entertainers were also pretty good . We liked the option of 2 different shows a night but the seating in both theaters was limited. The theater only had a capacity of 600 on a ship with 1980 passengers. The sightlines were excellent but this was not set up as a "show lounge" like the Universe Lounge. If you were not sitting on the aisle, you could forget about that after-dinner drink as the theater was stadium seating and the poor drink servers would have to crawl over several people to serve you. Because we had early seating we found ourselves racing to the theater a half hour before the show if we wanted to get 4 seats together.

Celebrity’s theater will hold half the passengers on the ship and is set up as a “show lounge” with loveseat style seating and small tables to hold your beverages. It was much more conducive to ordering that after dinner drink.

Princess also crams in a lot more passengers per ship ton than Celebrity. Makes the pool areas and the buffet areas very crowded on sea days.