Should devoted Celebrity cruiser try Princess?

[Robrph]

Having tried Celebrity, NCL, Carnival and RCL, and preferring Celebrity to all the rest, we are contemplating our first Princess cruise on the Golden in December. The price can't be beat for a balcony (our first) and we like the itinerary. Can we expect much of the same that we like so much about Celebrity- i.e. service, food and just plain "classy" feel of the whole cruise experience? The ship is HUGE in comparison to the Summit we've cruised on- how can they maintain service with over 2800 passengers? Your input is appreciated.

 

Rob

[catmand]

They do it somehow........we have sailed Star and Sapphire, both Grand Class ships and 2600 pax. There are many things that Princess offers and Celebrity does not. We would sail either line at any time. We have found the service on Princess top notch, is it better or worse than Celebrity? I guess it depends on what one expects, we have been more then satisfied. Go for it, it is a chance for a new experience.

PS: The ships do not have hugh public areas like two story high ceiling dining rooms or large open atriums, so there are many smaller intimate lounges and places to "hide". You wouldn't think with all the passengers you could find "empty" places but you can. The ship never seems crowded.

[traveller99]

Hi, Rob. Interesting scenario, much like us. We had sailed 2 Celebrity Ships - Millennium and Zenith. Both cruises were outstanding. We sailed the Golden Princess in August 2004 in the Southern Carib. It was quite nice. Food, service, etc. The Personal Choice dining was very nice. We met some folks and had an inpromptu "Group Dinner" on a couple of nights, with no problem. You will hear those that complain about the wait - Yeah, at the most 10 minutes! If it is offered, pay the extra few $$ for the Specialty Restaurant. We did the Italian and I've never seen so much QUALITY food. It was formal night and I had to go back to the cabin for an hour to rest! Food was great and the service was good all around. NO COMPLAINTS, AT ALL. (Well, the crusie could have lasted for another month) It worked for us and would do a Princess sailing again. You should like the Golden. It's a big ship, but they do keep the intimacy to it somehow. Drop me a note if you have some other questions. ENJOY!

[Host Anne]

Absolutely you should try Princess! We have sailed Princess and Celebrity each five or six times. While we give the slight edge to Celebrity overall, we still thoroughly enjoy Princess. And for the great rate and good itinerary, we wouldn't hestiate to sail Princess. I have to admit, we prefer the smaller Celebrity ships (and Princess' smaller ships - Sun Class) over the Golden (Grand class) but we've sailed three time on Grand class ships and enjoyed those cruises as well.

 

Go with an open mind and have a great time.

[cands]

There's lots to like about Princess. Our last three cruises have been on Princess (Pacific/Star/Royal). Even though the Grand class ships hold so many people, they don't, for the most part seem crowded. Sometimes there can be a bit of a wait to disembark by tender, or even in ports where the facilities are not up to par. You can still choose to do traditional set time dining in one of the dining rooms if you wish.

 

We're trying Holland America and Celebrity back to back later this year, (first time for both) so cannot say yet how Princess compares directly with Celebrity.

 

One thing I can say is that the balcony cabins are great. We had a Dolphin deck mini suite which had extra space in the cabin and a huge balcony. (yes, it was overlooked). The cabins on Caribe deck were regular sized with a larger than normal balcony. Those on Lido, Aloha and Baja were regular sized with a moderate balcony.

 

Have a great time!

[Vic The Parrot]

There's lots to like about Princess.

 

 

Good morning

 

Pardon the intrusion, but I need to satisfy my curiousity about something. I'm getting confused as to how many folk are comparing X to Princess.... as well as why??

 

I don't mean to sound churlish, but I've read many things regarding Princess that didn't impress me one bit.

There have been numerous postings on the Princess board regarding

everything from food to inadequate service.

 

One client stated "I wouldn't put a dog on that ship"

 

 

And on my research, I found there are these little things like an almost non-existant room service menu. Bread and water for breakfast and lunch doesn't do it for some people, I guess.

 

:rolleyes:

 

 

The biggest complaint was Princess charges a considerable amount for the privelege of sailing with them, but in return they give the passenger almost nothing for the price paid.

As my colleague put it, 'So I got a balcony, big whoop!'

He felt kind of short-changed, to put it mildly.

 

 

Yet there are those who always have praise for Princess.

This is where the confusion begins.... are those pax lying about the real experience? Were they bribed?

 

I know there are different tastes, but from what I've witnessed so far, not everyone is that easy to please. I gave some serious thought on trying Princess, never sailed with them. I would, but the conflicting messages are enough to make anyone back away.

[floridakeith]

We have just come back from our second Princess cruise, are about to go on our second Celebrity cruise and have booked another Celebrity cruise next February so we have some experience of both. Celebrity's food is definitely superior but that doesn't mean that Princess is bad. In fact we prefer Princess's main dining food to Holland America, but Holland America's lido buffet is superior. In our view it's pluses and minuses every time and none are perfect. We choose between Celebrity, Princess and Holland America based on itinerary and price. We are happy with an inside cabin as we prefer to use the saving to cruise more often so fancy balcony cabins or suites are irrelevant for us (and yes we have tried them). What matters to us is the ambience, sophisticated but not stuffy, good food but forget about paying extra for it, an absence of lots of intrusive announcements and good entertainment. We have found from trying them that while we prefer Celebrity we will happily book a bargain cruise on Princess or Holland America that looks an interesting itinerary. They are all good cruise lines in slightly different ways.

[Casey12]

Good morning

 

Pardon the intrusion, but I need to satisfy my curiousity about something. I'm getting confused as to how many folk are comparing X to Princess.... as well as why??

 

I don't mean to sound churlish, but I've read many things regarding Princess that didn't impress me one bit.

 

Maybe you should try Princess. We actually prefer Princess to Celebrity. We found the service more friendly and prefer the food in the dining room and the flexibility about dining on Princess over Celebrity.

[AFT_LOVER]

12 cruises on Princess, on what was a wonderful cruiseline until THE WAR! November 2001 while on a Thanksgiving cruise W Carib on Grand, the Captain announced they were merging with RCCL/Celebrity to the applause of hundreds. By the time we exited the ship & flew home Carnival was placing a hostil takeover. For some reason stockholders chose Carnival & Princess went downhill fast! Our last 3 cruises were the worst! Minisuites with no robes for 4 days, No butlers for suites & mini suites, no more mini bar complimentary until your 16th cruise, during the 2001 cruise we purchased the innagural Coral Princess Panama Canal cruise set for May 2002, which was moved to Oct 2002, then to December 2002 before they cancelled it due to pods. So they put us on Island Princess for 2/2003 innagural & 2 weeks later that was cancelled, also pods. So my friend & TA has to deal with them & their poor treatment of platinum member so now we are on Grand sailing Meditterean 5/2003 & the next day I get a press release that Grand is staying in Carib over Med. So 3 cancellations in under a month! NO FREE CRUISE EITHER!!!

 

So we except the Golden sailing Med 5/2003 in a mini suite with wrap around balcony at the rear of the ship. When we boarded the stateroom was over 100 degrees, the door handle inside was hot to touch. We told the Pursers desk about it & went to lunch and walked around Venice & returned for dinner stopping at our mini suite which was even hotter. Back to the Purser who tells us the technician stated nothing wrong with A/C & I notice they have the visit to 233 & we are 223!!! So I took the pillow & blanket & made a bed on the sofa in front of the Pursers desk, which got them moving to find us a new stateroom. Dinner was quite horrid, as they serve according to the location we are at from Greek to Turkish to British, etc. They had -0- American not even a steak since they cannot be delivered. We purchsed excursions, that we showed to learn they were cancelled but Princess refuses to refund money stating they would have moved us to another one. Then the flight home from Barcelona to Frankfort was fine, but Frankfurt to Chicago we are told by Lufthansa that we have STANDBY TIX! 8 other couples got the same. I phone Princess to be told "Our air comes in on Monday, today is Saturday so call back on Monday". I go into my "get 'em mood" and walk looking for a boss & found a lovely man in Armani with Lufthansa tag. He speaks english & I tell him about our problem with other couples. $2500 for air per couple isn't standby! SO he takes all our tix & checks his computer & has seats for all of us. So I was a heroine!

 

Then we did S Carib out of Puerto Rico & NWA went on strike giving a month's notice. So Princess knew to change air for all but didn't. So over 20K people are sitting around the airport & outside it with no flights. We had trip insurance with CSA so a phone call (collect) to them go us on Continental. Princess never refunded our air!

 

Then E Carib cruise (our last) we arriive to be told we DO NOT HAVE A CABIN but our tix show mini suite, etc. They virtually told us to exit or they'd call security since we did not have a stateroom. Luckily we knew the Captain named Bernie Warner who was walking in & we waved at him & he came over. I gave him our packet of tix & he asked the clerk what the problem was that they are Platinum mebers with minisuite 223 reserved for 6 months. She stated someone else is in the room. So he tells her to get us a suite, and an apology for poor service. He leaves, she refuses. So now I want her boss, and when the boss stated he was busy I told him to contact Bernie since his instructions were not being followed. 3 hours later we finally get a suite but twin beds, not pushed together & very poor service. Steaks that could go on the bottom of shoes as soles.

 

We get home, tell our TA about the problems & she stopped selling Princess switching us back to "X". TransAtlantic last Sept, Mexico last Xmas, and this is HEAVEN! Concierge Class makes for a very special feel to a cruise. Excellent serives, the food is marvelous, the staff is like family & we are home!

 

So I say forget Princess unless you want another version of Carnival.........

but if they are cheap, which Carnival stated they were doing was RCCL/X is doing, go for it so you can say what I do.

 

Oh yes, how could I forget...... Princess takes $100 PP deposits for future cruises so you get onboard credits. We purchased one on Med cruise & another on E Carib. So $400 tha they have. So Feb 2005 I call them to refund my money & they state it was from 2003 & 2004 & you never used it? I remind them that they state they are good for 4 years then refund if not used. Well they have no record of them since I didn't book cruises. So my TA takes over with the booking numbers faxed to her & they still have no record. So I phone AMEX who had the charges & they charged them back crediting my account $400 - END OF STORY - END OF PRINCESS!

[Andym]

We love Celebrity, and have tried lots of other lines, but never Princess.

 

BUT

 

Perhaps now we will judging by the recent prices.

 

Celebrity Millenium Aug 14 05 for 12 nights Med....OV $4555

Grand Princess Aug 18 05 for 14 nights Med ....OV $2405

[Alan2504]

We are great Celebrity fans, however owing to schedules and holidays we were on the Golden last summer for 2 x7days B2B.

 

We had a great time,friendly staff,good food, plenty of quiet spots on board ,its hard believe there are so many passengers on board.

 

We were unable to be allocated traditional dinning and had to do "personal choice"? dinning. Just a little tip if this happens...go and see one of the assistant maitre'ds in the restaurant of your choice and you can organise to have the table you want and at the time that you want or else you'll end up in long queues(lines) to get a table at popular times. We had a table booked for 4 booked for 19.45 each evening and were just ushered past the long queues(lines) straight to our table every night not many people onboard seemed to realise you could organise this.

 

Of course pre-tipping the Maitre'Ds may have helped somewhat ;)

 

If I remember correctly the two assistant Maitre'Ds we found most helpful were Jack (from South Africa) and Paulo (from Spain)

 

Alan

[CaptData]

You will have more dining choices and there is a 24 hour food area. Their buffet is good and no charge for it (even at night). Pools are fresh water only and some open 24 hours.

[duke052]

I was on the Grand several years ago and had a great time. We have also sailed with X 10 times . It seems that X is paying less attention to there loyal passengers than ever before. If you buy into conceirge you will get top service . Captain Club means very little today. This Dec we will be sailing on the Star and are very much looking forward to it.

[alpal1993]

We love Celebrity.We are off to the Baltic in 3 weeks on the Century.But it comes down to Itinerary,availability and price.Looking into Bermuda for next year.Not much choices.I can cruise NCL Crown in a Suite for less then I will be paying for an inside on the Zenith.I like the itinerary better I like that Crown still leaves out of New York.Yes passing the Statue is a big deal for us.So the service won't be as good or the food.as goumet.We will have a great time.

I never signed a contract with Celebrity to sail them exclusuvely.I don't understand why so many people feel that they are traitors,by not sailing with them.

Yes !I would definetly sail Princess if the correct criteria were there.

[marco]

We pretty much alternate between "X", Princess, and HAL. Some features we prefer on one line, some on another. We decide based on time/ininerary/price. Picture this: It's February, the sun is out, the water is blue, the temperature is 80 degrees. I have a clean bed to sleep in and there is enough food around to keep me from going hungry. I'm sitting next to the pool with some foo-foo shi-si drink in my hand with a little pink paper umbrella in it. What line am i on? Who cares!!!!

[geoherb]

We've sailed twice on Celebrity and four times on Princess. I'd book either again. And when I'm ready to book our next cruise, it will come down to itinerary and price.

 

When I'm on a Celebrity ship, there are some things I miss about Princess: 24/7 pools and hot tubs, 24/7 buffet, afternoon tea every day in the dining room, more variety of entertainment in the evening. When I'm on Princess, I miss some things about Celebrity: saltwater pools, wine stewards, guaranteed traditional dining, slightly better menu and service at dinner, no announcements.

[usha]

Golden is the only Princess ship I've cruised on, and it was my least favorite of 17 cruises. The service was a let-down, and the ship felt so jammed fulll of people it was ridiculous. I've never felt crowded on any of Celebrity's ships, even during full sailings. I was impressed by the food on Golden, but didn't care for the personal choice dining; way too long a wait for a table some nights and so-so, impersonal service. I'd pick traditional dining if I had to do it again. All that said, having tried Princess once, I'm in no rush to try Princess again. That's just my opinion, though.:cool:

[Leela]

foo-foo shi-si

Don't take this personally, I was curious and just looked it up myself and so thought I'd share, but it's "froufrou" and "chichi." Interestingly enough, I also found out that while just about everyone uses "froufrou" to mean frilly and/or over-ornamented, it also means the sound that the rustling of a woman's skirts makes.

[toban]

We have sailed on Carnival, Celebrity and Princess. In our opinion we would put Princess a distant last in most respects except for their freshwater pools and larger cabins. It was our misfortune to have sailed on the Princess Regal in Jan/05 when she was wa a a y past her prime. We found that all the things that made Celebrity outstanding are not on Princess. Yes, Princess claims to have a 24 hour buffet but the choices are slim, in fact most of it closes down; the same for room service, and the food quality in the dining room was so bad our table sent our dinners back and it has to be pretty bad before we do that. I am not exaggerating when I say it was spit out in your napkin "bad".

 

Evening entertainment like Karoake, etc., was held in a bar where the air was blue with cigarette smoke and the non-smokers had to stand in the corridor to watch. How pathetic! On the plus side - the Panama Canal/Central America is a wonderful itinerary, just the wrong cruise line for us.

 

This was our experience and its unlikely we would consider Princess again.

[Longboysfan]

No. If you ever run into problems the princess land help is useless.

[jglass]

Having experianced 2 Princess cruises, I can saw I much prefer Celebrity, for the many small, but to me significant, quality differences. These include quality of food, trays at the buffet, service at the buffet, pools, dining rooms, pool towels, etc. If its Princess or no cruise, I'll take Princess. But if its Celebrity or Princess, I'll pay more to go on Celebrity.

[Blazerboy]

Hey, Leela- thanks for looking that up- seems like it's one (two actually) of those terms that keeps evolving. In my former work world (a million years ago as a chef) frou-frou's were those toothpicks that you stick in a club sandwich with the frilly celophane at the end- guess that works with your definition. But the other term I hear all the time is "foofy" which seems to have the same basic meaning- even heard it in movie dialogue back as early as the '80's- the dialogue was "Does this make me look too foofy?", so it's possible that like the game "Telephone," the words keep changing!

 

Back to the matter at hand: I didn't really care as much for Princess based on a few experiences (yes, I'm a platinum member, for whatever that's worth) when comparing them to Celebrity, but we're actually considering Princess for a port intensive intinerary in the future for the cost factor. It's not that I'm not picky, but I know basically what to expect. If you ask me what I'd choose with money not an object, or what I'd choose if I only cared about the food, or what I'd choose if all I wanted to do was dance and drink and swim, I'd give three very different cruise choices as answers. People rave about Celebrity's food. To me, it's o.k.,even pretty good, with the specialty rest. being better- liked that quite a bit. I'm not wild about Princess food, but did have had a few good meals while on board. Just simply that food is only one of the factors in my choices. Nothing is absolute (although if I had MACOP's experiences, I might think twice;) ). What matters to me most might not be your cup of tea, and vice versa. If you have very particular standards- and there's nothing wrong with that- just make sure you find the line that meets them. :) Hopefully, these boards help rather than confuse.:D

[L11]

I much prefer Celebrity and thankfully I am able to pay for CC service (and once in a while a Sky Suite). Nothing like that is available on Princess in any room class.

 

That having been said, I would sail again on Princess. They have a fairly good product at a much lower price than X on most occasions. I loved the fact that Princess had fettucine alfredo available every night (yum!) and served souffles in the dining room (available only in the specialty restaurants on X). My DH actually prefers their Personal Choice dining (we disagree on that one).

 

Bottom line, if the price is right, give it a try.

 

Linda

[cands]

To the OP,

 

It would be really interesting to see the responses to the original post if it was placed on the Princess Board. Have you considered doing that?

 

There have been wildly variable responses here. I wonder what the tone would be there?

 

Thanks for starting this thread. As a previous Princess cruiser looking for something different/better, I am finding this thread fascinating.

[Robrph]

As I mentioned earlier, I HAVE posted this question on both the Celebrity and Princess boards with decidedly different responses. On the Celebrity board, most people are adamant about Celebrity's superiority, and as you have read, sometimes trashing Princess. On the Princess board, the attitude is mostly very different. Most responders on that board feel the two lines are prettyy much equal, Celebrity leading in service and food, with Princess sometimes having better itineraries and cheaper prices. I must say the Celebrity people who have responded so far have been mostly very loyal to Celebrity, while the Princess people, for the most part, will choose either line depending on their situation.

 

That being said, as a long-time Celebrity cruiser, I have tonight booked the Golden Princess for its Southern Caribbean route in December. We really like the itinerary with places we haven't visited(Grenada and Caracas), ports we loved before(Aruba and St Kitts) and St. Thomas, that we've missed for awhile. The fare was excellent and we've secured a balcony, a first for us. We're a little intimidated by the size of the ship, but I'm sure we'll get used to it quickly.

 

Thanks so much for everyone's responses. It's been fun reading them on BOTH boards!

 

Rob