Celebrity Constellation vs Emerald Princess

[workstocruise]

DH & i are early 60's and looking to cruise to the Baltics next May, 2013. Both the Emerald and the Constellation itineraries are what I'm looking for. I've cruised several times with Princess but never with Celebrity and I don't know what to expect. I'm aware the Constellation is an older and smaller ship but is it in good shape and is there alot to do. I also realize that this cruise is port intensive and so there may not be a need for a really busy ship.

Has anyone been on both these ships and can give me some advice?:confused: Also, we are Platinum on RCI and will that get us anything on Celebrity? Thanks.

[jackdiamond]

We have cruised on both; and, they are both nice. However, with the advent of AQ on the Constellation that would be our choice.

[ellbon]

i have been on the Crown princess and the Connie.. i like celebrity but prefer the S class ships.more fun..

left princess as it was to hard to become elite.. plus all ships had the same shows so it got old. Ceelbrity ships each are somewhat different in that.

i did the baltic with Azamara- owned by RCI.. i was able to use my Celebrity elite and got lots of internet and free laundry.

Plus that cruise stays 3 whole days in St Peterburg and many late nights in ports.

If i was only using celebrity or princess i would go with the Connie for better food and better drinks.

cabin size- use the small suites which gives butlers on celebrity so no help there either.

Robin

[Esprit]

That's a tough decision as I too have been on both ships.

 

What swings me towards Emerald is the evening entertainment as it has more venues being a bigger ship.

 

The sky lounge on Connie is very good but as we like to dance every evening it's limited on Connie compared with Emerald.

 

I also think M.U.T.S is just great.

[We're The Groupnors]

We've been on both ships. We really like Princess, but feel Celebrity is a notch up in terms of service and food. If the itineraries and price are similar I'd go for the Constellation.

[jackdiamond]

That's a tough decision as I too have been on both ships.

 

What swings me towards Emerald is the evening entertainment as it has more venues being a bigger ship.

 

The sky lounge on Connie is very good but as we like to dance every evening it's limited on Connie compared with Emerald.

 

I also think M.U.T.S is just great.

But, you must arrive about 1/2 hour before the show to obtain a seat.

[Esprit]

But, you must arrive about 1/2 hour before the show to obtain a seat.

 

Ditto with Celebrity

[Denny01]

Ditto with Celebrity

 

I'll disagree with that. The Celebrity theaters, inlcuding the one on Constellation, are larger than the Princess theaters especially considering the ratio of passengers to seats. If it was a poplar show, there was no way of getting two seats together on the Princess ship unless you showed up Well before the show and sat there. The Princess ship (Island Princess) we took through the Canal and smaller than the Emerald had many blocked view seats and even smaller per passenger seating. We quit trying since I hated sitting ther for 45min.

 

On Celebrity, we could go to the show 10min before it started and get seats...not perfect in-the-center up close types, but certainly could get seated and didnt have to spend a long time just to get them together.

 

That was one of my problems with Princess. Enjoyed our 3 Princess cruises, so I'm not one of those that tried it once, had a bad experience and spend lots of posts complaining. They were all good cruises, but I found the Princess common areas to less well organized and setup, and Celebrity was not as crowded. Both had excellent service, but I thought Celebrity was a cut above. The Princess standard SRs did not have a seating area for company, so we upgraded to a Mini-Suite. Celebrity standard SRs have a couch and seats you can arrange around the small coffee table. So for us, we'd compare the standard Celebrity SR costs to the Princess Mini-Suite costs. On a port intensive such as the Baltic, may not be a big deal. Was for us, we love to meet new friends and invite them over for drink or social.

 

I liked the Princess Coffee card - Loved it, as I did the International Cafe area with all the snacks and goodies. Liked it having more of a real Promenade Deck for strolling.

 

I found Princess to be a bit more of the hardsell, with more announcements, and a press to buy the wine tasting tickets and so on.

 

Didn't take part in the MUTS, and the Baltic is a very port intensive cruise, so not sure that is a biggie...we'd be resting up for the next port!

 

Can't lose out on either one. Enjoy whatever you pick, I'd call it win-win to be able to do either one.

 

Den

[workstocruise]

Thanks for great answers everyone! I think I'll just watch fares and see who offers the best deal. It sounds like I will be happy with either ship.:)

[momofmeg]

We cruised the Caribbean Princess in 2006 when she was 2 years old. We cruised the Connie in 2007 when she was 5 years old. We preferred the Connie, a much nicer ship. A big plus to keep in mind also is - she holds 1000 less PAX- so less congestion.

[Putterdude]

We have been on both the Ruby and the Crown which are sisters to the Emerald and I would say that we enjoyed our experience on the Connie more than we did the other two. To a degree is subjective but overall we feel that Celebrity is more to our liking.

[nerysj]

Our first ever cruise was on the Emerald Princess...and we loved it. We cruised on the Constellation to the Baltics three years ago and loved that too. We are returning on the Connie this October. I prefer food on Princess....but am willing to give it a go again in September again! Both are brilliant ships...either would be good.

[rebeccalouiseagain]

The food on Infinity (7/6/12-7/13/12) was fantastic! I thought the food on Celebrity was perfectly good but wasn't exactly "Wow'd" by it on my previous cruises.

 

Since the Solstitized the "M" class ships over the past year- they have obviously also brought in fresh chefs with fantastic food! I loved the food on Celebrity this time. The desserts are finally to die for!!! Which maybe isn't a good thing for my waistliine. I was very impressed with the food throughout the ship.

 

I've done Princess and Celebrity and I think Celebrity wins hands down.

[dakacz]

We have done both the Emerald princess and the Constellation. We loved the Emerald. Definitely the best Princess ship we have been on. However, we prefer celebrity and being elite on celebrity only makes it better. We are on the middle level of Princess now. To me Celebrity just feels better with it's service and food. Also getting a seat at the show is easier. On Princess I always go the the big shows on their 2nd night so I can get a seat.

[hubofhockey]

We are going to face this decision for 2014. We are regulars on Princess and have never been on Celebrity. That streak could be coming to an end as we prefer the Constellation itinerary to the Emerald. The Constellation starts in Amsterdam, which is pretty convenient to Paris for pre-cruise (just an $87 ride on the Eurostar away).

 

We have been on the Emerald's sister ships (Ruby and Crown) and really enjoy those ships. It would be nice to try a Celebrity S Class ship. But that doesn't appear to be an option. Maybe that changes for us in 2014. But it makes no sense choosing between these two cruises by valuing anything other than itinerary. It's not as if you're choosing a premium line versus a budget line. Princess gives you more ports in one less day. That can be tiring and Princess port times are not very favorable either.

 

Looks like Princess is no longer doing shows on a second night and now doing shorter shows three times a night. That's what they did on our British Isles cruise earlier in the month.

[gadaboutgal]

We've sailed Constellation 98 days and Emerald for 28 days. Loved both ships-the entertainment options were great on Emerald-between the theater one night, comedy club the next, then MUTS the next, there is always something different to try. We think Celebrity's food and service are excellent - although we find Princess to have exceptional service, too.

For our Med cruises, though, Celebrity wins out as for us the port days are so busy that evening entertainment takes a back seat.

[Lori334]

Hello:

 

I hope someone still checks this thread. I have booked both the Emerald and the Constellation for next summer (2013). We have never been on Celebrity, but have been on Princess. I originally thought that Celebrity would be much more expensive, it turns out to be about the same.

 

Does someone know if it is worth the extra money for the Conceirge Veranda vs a regular veranda?...I believe the total $ difference was $300 for the cabin.

 

We are in our early 50s. Did anyone do private excursions and if you did, could you make some recommendations?

 

Thank you

Lori

[rwr235]

Hello:

 

I hope someone still checks this thread. I have booked both the Emerald and the Constellation for next summer (2013). We have never been on Celebrity, but have been on Princess. I originally thought that Celebrity would be much more expensive, it turns out to be about the same.

 

Does someone know if it is worth the extra money for the Conceirge Veranda vs a regular veranda?...I believe the total $ difference was $300 for the cabin.

 

We are in our early 50s. Did anyone do private excursions and if you did, could you make some recommendations?

 

Thank you

Lori

 

Hi,

 

Hard to make a determination about Concierge Class for you. We choose it, because we have specific cabins that we try to get (C-1 Aft/Stern)...as for the amenities...we enjoy them as well...and the extra point in Captain's Club might also be a factor.

 

We are also in our 40's and 50's...and although we did the Baltics on the Eclipse...many of the ports are the same as yours. I certainly recommend private excursions in StP. We used SPb Tours, and were thrilled ! We also used them in Germany, but didn't do Berlin....We had excellent guides, small groups, and a fantastic time.

 

Helsinki, Stockholm, Tallinn and Copenhagen are quite doable on your own. We took an Electric Bike tour when we first arrived in Copenhagen...highly recommend...(Bike company was a mere 10 steps from the ship) and then spent the rest of the day/evening walking to all the places we had seen on the bikes that we wanted to return to.

 

Hope this helps as a start....Hopefully, you have joined your Roll Call, and will no doubt get some great advice there.

 

Enjoy.....it is a wonderful itinerary !

 

Woody

[Lori334]

Thank you

[kobecat]

Thank you to everyone who has posted on this thread. We are "Princess people" really - have elite status and doing our first Celebrity this October on the Solstice. We have just booked 3 B2B on the Constellation next June - Baltic, Arctic Circle and Norway and after reading these posts I am even more excited.

 

Beryl

[rebeccalouiseagain]

Bon Voyage! You will love Connie.:)

[Banjo]

We did Emerald Princess Baltic cruise last September. It was our first European cruise but have done several Princess cruises in the Caribbean. Never done Celebrity before but we are booked for a Mediterranean cruise on the Solstice October 2nd.

 

I have to say that was best cruise I ever took. I realize cruising in Europe is very different then Caribbean cruising. European cruising is usually very port intensive. Also, the passengers are from all over. One of the things I did enjoy concerning the ports was they had an historian on board. He gave a kind of a historical perspective of the port, how to get around if you are doing a diy day in port, tips on shopping (things like open air markets, not the recommended stores we get on Caribbean cruises), etc..

 

In regard to the ship, we experienced for the 1st showing you did have to arrive at least 30 minutes early but the 2nd showing I don't recall a problem getting 2 seats together just prior to the show. I like Princess's coffee card. Food was good and if you did anytime dining, which we did 2x because getting back late, we never waited more then 5 minutes for a table. Also, this definitely made the trip more enjoyable, when we checked-in in Copenhagen, they upgraded us from a obstructed ocean view room to a balcony room on the Lido deck. Taking in the sights with a bucket of beer of going down the Fjord from Oslo, or down the archipelago from Stockholm and leaving St Petersburg was fantastic. For September we had very nice warm weather.

 

That spoiled me so much that when we booked the Solstice we got a veranda :D

 

You won't go wrong if you select the Emerald.

[Mulege]

Hello:

 

I hope someone still checks this thread. I have booked both the Emerald and the Constellation for next summer (2013). We have never been on Celebrity, but have been on Princess. I originally thought that Celebrity would be much more expensive, it turns out to be about the same.

 

Does someone know if it is worth the extra money for the Conceirge Veranda vs a regular veranda?...I believe the total $ difference was $300 for the cabin.

 

We are in our early 50s. Did anyone do private excursions and if you did, could you make some recommendations?

 

Thank you

Lori

 

Concierge class cabin is 191 and 41 sq ft for balcony compared to regular veranda is 170 and 38 sq ft for balcony.

[Mulege]

DH & i are early 60's and looking to cruise to the Baltics next May, 2013. Both the Emerald and the Constellation itineraries are what I'm looking for. I've cruised several times with Princess but never with Celebrity and I don't know what to expect. I'm aware the Constellation is an older and smaller ship but is it in good shape and is there alot to do. I also realize that this cruise is port intensive and so there may not be a need for a really busy ship.

Has anyone been on both these ships and can give me some advice?:confused: Also, we are Platinum on RCI and will that get us anything on Celebrity? Thanks.

 

Your platinum will be converted to equal status on X. Not sure you know but on X your room service includes full in room dining off the lunch an dinenr MDR menus plus hot breakfasts. Nice after a long day on tours to have dinner in your room or on your balcony. X also has all inclusive beverage packages for sale. I would go on X.

[Stelladoro]

We've sailed on both ships and have to say, enjoyed them both. For the Baltic cruise, we were initially booked on the Constellation, but after watching the prices prior to final booking date, the Emerald was considerably cheaper for one less day of sailing. Also, since we had a land trip prior to the cruise, the departure from Copenhagen suited our plans a bit better. We were also able to get a reasonable air price out of Copenhagen for a direct flight.

The Emerald had lots of empty cabins, and we were upgraded from an inside to an obstructed oceanview at check in time. Nice surprise. As this was a very port intensive cruise, we didn't partake in too many ship amenities, as we were pooped at the end of each day.

 

Enjoy your Baltic cruise, whichever ship you choose!