Switched from Celebrity to Princess for Alaska 2011

[klingoncruiser]

Hi:

 

Well, I did it. I just cancelled my reservation on Celebrity and switched to Princess for Alaska 2011. Three reasons:

 

• I'll be sailing out of Seattle instead of Vancouver (more convenient and cheaper)
  
• You pay for what you get. With 17 years of trips to Alaska, Seattle is the worst choice for a cruise. Cheap prices for a reason.
  
• It's a Saturday departure instead of a Sunday departure (gives me one day to decompress before starting the work week)
  
• Understandable
  
• I'll visit Glacier Bay instead of Hubbard Glacier (I understand it's a more stunning location)
  
• While both have strong points and weak points, (JMHO) Hubbard is much better Glacier.
  

 

Of course, I'm having a bit of "remorse" thinking that maybe I should've stuck with Celebrity.

 

I have never cruised on either Celebrity or Princess, but some friends comment that Celebrity is worth the extra inconveniences listed above.

BTW, price is not a consideration. The difference in price between the two was a grand total of $27 per couple!

 

For those of you who've had a chance to sail on both these cruise lines, what are your thoughts?

 

THANKS!

 

(I'll be posting on the Princess board to get their opinion as well)

 

Princess is a fine line. However (JMHO) I don't like the layout of the ships or the food. They do a great job in Alaska though.

[donnablue]

We just completed a fabulous 14 day cruise on the Celebrity Millennium. Although the ship is showing it's age (built in 2000), the service, food, and entertainment were spectacular! The cruise director, captain, and hotel director were so wonderful the way they mingled with the pax. Great new show in disco called "Dancing with the Stripes". Competition where pax danced with senior officers. Judges (cruise director, captain, and food & bev. mgr) were hilarious. Also, that forward disco called Cosmos has fabulous views where we watched for whales many days with the ship naturalist telling us where to look. Celebrity has naturalists onboard who also do several Alaska-related seminars, and Princess does not. We were on a two week cruise, however, which was definitely the way to go (more ports) if you can. We got a great deal as it was the first cruise of the season. We left out of San Diego and the cruise ended in Vancouver. Hubbard Glacier was awesome!!! The captain took us real close and it is HUGE!!! Also liked fairly new port called Icy Strait Point.

In fairness, we have not been on Princess in awhile, although when we did the 4 night land pkg followed by cruise in 2000, we enjoyed it on Princess. At this point, I will check out Princess with a Caribbean cruise and do Alaska again with Celebrity. Hope this helps! Donna

[Cruise Junky]

Celebrity has naturalists onboard who also do several Alaska-related seminars, and Princess does not.

 

Not sure where you're pulling that info from, but Princess has both Naturalists and Rangers onboard for Alaska.