First time on Celebrity

[bren51]

We are taking a cruise on the Silhouette in January. This will be our first cruise with this line since we have always sailed with Princess. How different are these 2 cruise lines. I have heard people say that Celebrity is a step or two above Princess. We did find out about purchasing the beverage package.

 

Bren

[TeaBag]

When we sailed Princess and Celebrity back in the 90's, we thought Celebrity's food was much superior. However, we have only sailed Celebrity since that time so I don't know how they compare now, but I think Celebrity has the edge based on what people say on here.

 

As for the differences, Celebrity has a strict no smoking policy (smoking only allowed in designated places). You can enjoy your balcony without getting smoked out. There is only one announcement/day at noon, given by the Captain. Celebrity does not push you to buy stuff.

 

Celebrities specialty restaurants are great and you can buy a package to enjoy them at a reduced price.

 

The S class ships (Silhouette is one) are wonderful. You might want to check this great account by Dan Askin

http://www.cruisecritic.com/blog/index.php/2011/07/22/live-from-celebrity-silhouette-mowing-through-the-lawn-club-from-grill-your-own-chow-to-giant-chairs/

 

Enjoy your cruise.

[Grumpy100]

We have sailed Princess, NCL, Carnival, Costa and Celebrity and hands down Celebrity is our personal favorite. I like all the others except Costa is not my cup of tea.

All the rest are fine but if I had my choice of the above I would pick Celebrity first because I think the food is better and I am not picky at all.

The last time we were on Princess the food was just OK. Carnival the food was good but the service was the worst ever in the MDR so we started to eat in the buffet.

We have not been on NCL for about 5 years so can't make a recent comment on them.

Happy sailing.:):):)

[emileg]

We are taking a cruise on the Silhouette in January. This will be our first cruise with this line since we have always sailed with Princess. How different are these 2 cruise lines. I have heard people say that Celebrity is a step or two above Princess. We did find out about purchasing the beverage package.

 

Bren

We love both cruise lines. It is always nice to come home to Princess. However, the Celebrity S-Class ships (especially the Silhouette) are in a class all by themselves. There is no way you could confuse an S-Class ship with a Princess ship. They are totally different in terms of decor and layout, with the exception of the theater always near the bow. The Silhouette has many private nooks and crannies for one or two people. Just stop at each deck near the atrium and you will see what I mean.

 

Service is great on both lines. MDR food is comparable. However, the Silhouette has Aqua class that dines in the Blu restaurant. It is a much smaller venue than the MDR with a better staff to passenger ratio. If you can afford Aqua (about the same price as the lower ends of Concierge class), it is definitely worth it with free access to some of the spa sections.

 

Warning: The staterooms tend to lack storage space in terms of drawers. There is storage above the bed: big, but inconvenient. BUT, the bathrooms and showers on S-class ships are to die for. Beds seem to be more comfortable than on Princess. Good wine tends to be pricey on Celebrity. Princess provides better quality wine in the $25-$40 range.

 

After 23 cruises, not counting the ports we visited, the Silhouette was our favorite cruise. The ship (as opposed to the cruise) itself ties with the QM2 for first place. The Silhouette is elegant and fun right up until the very end.

 

These are all subjective opinions and different people have different experiences. We have no hesitation sailing on either Celebrity or Princess. Princess tends to offer better value during holiday sailings.

[Denny01]

We've done 3 Princess and 13 Celebrity cruises, and two Princess cruises were within the last year. We use Celebrity as our starting point to find a cruise because we find it the most compatible with what we think is important in cruising.

 

We've loved all our cruises. I find Celebrity excells in service and in common area layout. The Princess common areas seemed more crowded and with more choakpoints, and I the theater on three different Princess ships was too small for the number of passengers...you had to get there at least 1/2 hr or more to even get seats together, let alone nice seating. On Celebrity, not nearly that much of a problem.

 

I found dining to be pretty much equal, but I think the standard Celebrity SR better laid-out. It had a couch and seating so you can have friends over. On Princess, we upgraded to a mini-suite to get enough room for entertaining.

 

I loved the Princess coffee card and the International cafe, but I felt Princess had a bit more hardsell than Celebrity.

 

Overall, both are great Lines, but for what I enjoy, Celebrity was a definite cut above.

 

I agree with the earlier comments about the Celebrity S-Class ships...fantastic.

 

Den

[debandbruce]

The Silhouette is amazing and you will love her. We have only sailed Princess once on the Emerald and although we loved the ship we found the staff did not seem to be very attentive and we did not care for the food at all. Our tablemates and fellow cruisers made the same observations so at least we weren't the only ones. Once we tried Celebrity and saw how beautiful the ships are, the food is excellent and the staff is amazing we knew that X was going to be our favourite line. Having said that though we found a wonderful itinerary on the Emerald Princess for this November so we are going to give her another try hoping our previous issues were just on that one cruise.

[rebeccalouiseagain]

Variety is the spice of life. I have sailed various lines and tend to like Princess and Celebrity the best. The both deliver a good product. Give Celebrity a try- I am sure you will like it.

[COMBOY]

We are taking a cruise on the Silhouette in January. This will be our first cruise with this line since we have always sailed with Princess. How different are these 2 cruise lines. I have heard people say that Celebrity is a step or two above Princess. We did find out about purchasing the beverage package.

 

Bren

 

Only you can determine if Celebrity is a step above Princess. Cruise lines like food are highly subjective. You might be sorely disappointed with Celebrity or pleasantly surprised. Everyone cruise line/ship has different layout/crew/passenger demographics, decor, food, entertainment etc. It's like saying what's the different between an apple and orange. Neither are bad; just different and only you can determine what you prefer. I've been on both Princess and Celebrity. I just off the Celebrity Summit. It was a wonderful cruise...no major complaints, but I wouldn't say it was vastly better or a step above Princess. They both have their strengths and weaknesses. I always say if you are going to try a new cruise lines always go with an open mind. Celebrity isn't going to be like Princess. It may be better or worse or the same. I've been on all the major cruise lines and I've yet had a bad cruise..but clearly different experiences. Some people are able to "go with the flow," but many can't and boy do you hear about it hear on Cruisecritic. :( I guess it's just human nature. I always recommend you read as many reviews of your ship to get the feeling for what others experienced.

 

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/getreviews.cfm?action=ship&ShipID=594

[emileg]

We love both cruise lines. It is always nice to come home to Princess. However, the Celebrity S-Class ships (especially the Silhouette) are in a class all by themselves. There is no way you could confuse an S-Class ship with a Princess ship. They are totally different in terms of decor and layout, with the exception of the theater always near the bow. The Silhouette has many private nooks and crannies for one or two people. Just stop at each deck near the atrium and you will see what I mean.

 

Service is great on both lines. MDR food is comparable. However, the Silhouette has Aqua class that dines in the Blu restaurant. It is a much smaller venue than the MDR with a better staff to passenger ratio. If you can afford Aqua (about the same price as the lower ends of Concierge class), it is definitely worth it with free access to some of the spa sections.

 

Warning: The staterooms tend to lack storage space in terms of drawers. There is storage above the bed: big, but inconvenient. BUT, the bathrooms and showers on S-class ships are to die for. Beds seem to be more comfortable than on Princess. Good wine tends to be pricey on Celebrity. Princess provides better quality wine in the $25-$40 range.

 

After 23 cruises, not counting the ports we visited, the Silhouette was our favorite cruise. The ship (as opposed to the cruise) itself ties with the QM2 for first place. The Silhouette is elegant and fun right up until the very end.

 

These are all subjective opinions and different people have different experiences. We have no hesitation sailing on either Celebrity or Princess. Princess tends to offer better value during holiday sailings.

Oh, just one more thing. Celebrity ships lack the wrap around promenade decks that I enjoy on Princess. The view from the outdoor promenade on the Silhouette is blocked by the lifeboats. But the boats themselves provide some interest and the deck is beautiful in the early evening and at night. There are some wide areas on the deck that have nice views of the sea and deck chairs to enjoy them from.

 

Note that the port side of the promenade is one of the few areas of the ship where smoking is allowed. Celebrity also provides carpeting on the promenades. This thoughtful feature makes the promenade more conducive for my wife to walk on while wearing high heels after dinner or after the show.

[Putterdude]

We have done the required 15 cruises with Princess and are now Elite with them. Princess's loyalty program is extremely generous and hard to beat. That said we have become a bit disenchanted with Princess and their cutbacks recently and decided this winter to reacquaint ourselves with Celebrity. We were extremely impressed, our cabin was the best fitted out we have ever had. While subjective in nature we found the food much more to our liking and the overall cruise experience much more classic than that of Princess. Things like hand scooped ice cream and juices are free on Celebrity and while we ordinarily don't do buffets, I did go to the breakfast buffet a couple of times and wow is it extensive. We also found the service better and staff more friendly and courteous on Celebrity. Where we feel Princess excels in their production show but that is about it. We will certainly cruising more with Celebrity.

[BKFlowerMound]

We have been on both Celebrity and Princess. Compared to other lines that we've sailed (HAL, Disney, Carnival, NCL), Celebrity and Princess are the most alike. If you liked one, you'll probably like the other. We prefer Celebrity to Princess, but you're opinion could differ.

 

Here are some of the things that you might notice as differences:

 

- Cabin Experience. X's cabins will seem larger than Princess cabin's in the same category (or even square footage). My belief is that's because Princess devotes more room to the hall/closet area. Conversely, you'll think that X has less storage than Princess. It might not actually be more on Princess, but because of the separate hall/closet design, it seems like more. X devotes that space to a couch. X's bathrooms (especially on X class) will seem larger and the shower with a door is clearly superior to Princess's design. The Princess boards are full of hard mattress complaints. You don't see that over here. In my opinion, X has more comfortable beds.

 

- Crowds. Perhaps it's design, but you'll see fewer choke points on X than on Princess. Moreover, the main theater is larger and you won't see the complaints about not finding a seat here on the X board that you see on the Princess boards.

 

- Buffet. Much better on X in terms of layout, variety, and, in my opinion, quality of offerings.

 

- Ice Cream. The free ice cream on X is more widely available (e.g., 11 am to 10 pm) with more choices and a better product. Princess offers free ice cream for an hour or so a day and it's just a couple of varieties in a make-shift area of the buffet. Ice cream is also available from room service.

 

- Lounge chairs. More padding and a little classier on X. The "Sanctuary" like product -- the Solarium -- is free on X, but it is entirely indoors.

 

- Pools. There are generally more of these on Princess than a comparable X ship. They are also spread more about the ship on Princess than on X. No MUTS on X. Silhouette has three pools. Two are right next to each other in the center of the ship. One is adults only indoors in the Solarium. Grand class ships generally have an additional pool at least.

 

- Niceties. When you reboard X in port, they'll be a cold hand towel and a cool drink waiting for you. You're greeted upon embarkation with sparkling wine.

 

- Inroom Dining. At dinner on X, you can order off the MDR menu. On the other hand, there's no such thing as the ultimate balcony dinner.

 

- Coffee. While most people seem to think that the X coffee ain't so hot, you'll not see the number of coffee threads here than you see over on the Princess boards. All the coffee served is brewed coffee. There's none of that syrup stuff like on Princess. Now, there's no coffee card either and the coffee that you get on X is, in my opinion, not as good as the brewed coffee that you get in the one place on Princess that you can get brewed coffee (for a charge). On X, you can get one of the drink's packages that covers coffee.

 

- MDR. Comparable. Overall I give the edge to X but like the number of souffle offerings on Princess (practically every night)

 

- Specialty Dining. We don't usually indulge but there are more options on Silhouette (6 extra charge venues), than the 2 that are typically on Princess ships. So long as the MDR experience is comparable, it's a good thing to have more choices.

 

- Smoking. Princess seems to have now adopted the policy that X has had for a few years. Both now have highly restrictive policies. X goes a step farther by only permitting smoking in a few (2-3) outdoor areas on the ship. Neither permit smoking on balconies or any stateroom.

 

- Average Age. Now this varies more based on cruise length, time of year, and location, but, in my experience, the average age of a passenger on Princess is slightly younger (5 years or so) than on Celebrity. Both are much younger than HAL, in my opinioni.

[NewSalt]

As PPs have pointed out, each lines has its strong and weak points. The areas in which I prefer Celebrity:

 

Staff was a little friendlier. On P, you got a few fewer "Good morning's," and smiles.

 

Loved the cold cloths when returning to the ship on a hot day.

 

Liked the set-up of the buffet much better; easier to navigate and less congested.

 

The sushi.

 

OTOH, on Princess, I liked:

 

Movies under the Stars. I never watch a movie more than once but I saw two twice just so I could recline on the lounge chair and have milk and cookies brought to me. I haven't enjoyed a movie in a theater since.

 

The specialty coffee card suited my needs much better than any of X's beverage packages.

 

While I didn't see any great difference in the food on either ship, P's baked goods were a little better IMO.

 

I really liked having the laundry facilities on board. It was so easy to take care of a wrinkle or two in DH's dress shirt without having to send it out and wait for its return.

 

The maintenance of the ship seemed a little better; I'm curious to see if this has changed since the Summit was refurbished.

 

We don't smoke but had no issue with the smoking on board.

 

The one area in which X far excelled, for me, was in the Guest Relations area. We had a fairly significant problem on X, and when I went to GR it was rectified quickly and completely to our satisfaction. We travelled on P with several older friends, and when one of our quieter, less assertive friends went to GR with a problem, she was told there was no solution. When we returned with her and insisted the situation be corrected, it was.

 

I wouldn't hesitate to sail either line again.

[Celebrity Cruises]

Thank you loyal cruisers for helping out our newest guest! It is so exciting that you all have such wonderful things about our ships and service. It’s great that some of you share our same passion for our culinary options and we are more than happy to fulfill those needs!

[tserface]

I was going to write all of this, but BKFlowerMound did it for me :rolleyes:.

 

I just want to add a few trivial things. We've been fortunate enough to do two cruises this year (Silhouette and Star Princess). We enjoyed both immensely. I agree with everything BK wrote, but just want to add:

 

Princess has better donuts and cookies and the International Cafe food on Star Princess for snacks was better than the similar cafe on Silhouette. Of course, Silhouette wasn't bad. There also weren't as many healthy choices. I also really liked the coffee card since it made it so convenient to not worry about coffee. On Celebrity you have to pay like $54 a day for a drink package. We didn't since we could never drink enough to make it worth it. The $30 (for 15 coffees) card on Princess was a less drastic choice.

 

I missed having a sofa in the room on Princess. We had a big balcony (Caribe deck), but the room seemed smaller as BK said. The closet was great and we actually didn't mind that Princess didn't put doors on the closet. It made it much less cumbersome. The closet on the Silhouette is annoying.

 

Showers way better on Silhouette.

 

We enjoyed similar trivia and other games on both cruises.

 

We liked the cruise director staff better on the Star, but the captain on the Silhouette is the best ever (could easily be an entertainer)

 

Bistro on 5 is a definite plus on Silhouette. Best $5 we spent on the cruise.

 

Qsine, on Silhouette was really fun (although a bit pricey). We really liked it. Princess didn't have any sort of "fun" venue like that, but the Crown Grill was very nice for a steak house.

 

Movies under the stars on the Star was fun for one night. It was kind of cold going to Alaska so not as useful, but I could see it being really great on a Caribbean cruise.

 

Ice cream on Princess was the really creamy soft kind that I love. It was not as good on Silhouette, but not really bad either.

 

Silhouette is a beautiful and classy ship (and brand new). From a ship perspective it is pretty hard to beat. They did a few odd things like have Zumba classes that made it impossible to use the stairs in one section where lots of other things were happening, but ...

 

We did Select dining on Silhouette and Anytime on Princess and they were about the same. The food on both was better than we're used to eating at home so we couldn't complain at all.

 

I think the passengers on Princess were a little more friendly. The Celebrity passengers tended to be a bit rude at times (little stuff like not letting you off the elevator before they try to crowd on and cutting in lines).

 

Celebrities Elite benefits are the best. Free drinks, free specialty coffees, parties, internet, laundry (you don't even have to do yourself), etc.

 

The TV was lame on Princess. Celebrity allowed you to watch OnDemand movies (tons of them), had better programs, you could plan excursions, check your bill, make reservations, etc. You know, stuff you would expect with modern technology. On Princess we couldn't do anything like that (just a few old shows and the Cruise Director reading the daily news to you) Silhouette is a newer ship so maybe that has something to do with it, but it was sort of like Hilton vs. Motel 6 in tech.

 

Bottom line: I'd cruise either and be really happy, but if I had my preference I'd stick with Celebrity just because of the slight edge in luxury (it is a vacation after all)

 

That's my two pesos.

 

Tom

 

We have been on both Celebrity and Princess. Compared to other lines that we've sailed (HAL, Disney, Carnival, NCL), Celebrity and Princess are the most alike. If you liked one, you'll probably like the other. We prefer Celebrity to Princess, but you're opinion could differ.

 

Here are some of the things that you might notice as differences:

 

- Cabin Experience. X's cabins will seem larger than Princess cabin's in the same category (or even square footage). My belief is that's because Princess devotes more room to the hall/closet area. Conversely, you'll think that X has less storage than Princess. It might not actually be more on Princess, but because of the separate hall/closet design, it seems like more. X devotes that space to a couch. X's bathrooms (especially on X class) will seem larger and the shower with a door is clearly superior to Princess's design. The Princess boards are full of hard mattress complaints. You don't see that over here. In my opinion, X has more comfortable beds.

 

- Crowds. Perhaps it's design, but you'll see fewer choke points on X than on Princess. Moreover, the main theater is larger and you won't see the complaints about not finding a seat here on the X board that you see on the Princess boards.

 

- Buffet. Much better on X in terms of layout, variety, and, in my opinion, quality of offerings.

 

- Ice Cream. The free ice cream on X is more widely available (e.g., 11 am to 10 pm) with more choices and a better product. Princess offers free ice cream for an hour or so a day and it's just a couple of varieties in a make-shift area of the buffet. Ice cream is also available from room service.

 

- Lounge chairs. More padding and a little classier on X. The "Sanctuary" like product -- the Solarium -- is free on X, but it is entirely indoors.

 

- Pools. There are generally more of these on Princess than a comparable X ship. They are also spread more about the ship on Princess than on X. No MUTS on X. Silhouette has three pools. Two are right next to each other in the center of the ship. One is adults only indoors in the Solarium. Grand class ships generally have an additional pool at least.

 

- Niceties. When you reboard X in port, they'll be a cold hand towel and a cool drink waiting for you. You're greeted upon embarkation with sparkling wine.

 

- Inroom Dining. At dinner on X, you can order off the MDR menu. On the other hand, there's no such thing as the ultimate balcony dinner.

 

- Coffee. While most people seem to think that the X coffee ain't so hot, you'll not see the number of coffee threads here than you see over on the Princess boards. All the coffee served is brewed coffee. There's none of that syrup stuff like on Princess. Now, there's no coffee card either and the coffee that you get on X is, in my opinion, not as good as the brewed coffee that you get in the one place on Princess that you can get brewed coffee (for a charge). On X, you can get one of the drink's packages that covers coffee.

 

- MDR. Comparable. Overall I give the edge to X but like the number of souffle offerings on Princess (practically every night)

 

- Specialty Dining. We don't usually indulge but there are more options on Silhouette (6 extra charge venues), than the 2 that are typically on Princess ships. So long as the MDR experience is comparable, it's a good thing to have more choices.

 

- Smoking. Princess seems to have now adopted the policy that X has had for a few years. Both now have highly restrictive policies. X goes a step farther by only permitting smoking in a few (2-3) outdoor areas on the ship. Neither permit smoking on balconies or any stateroom.

 

- Average Age. Now this varies more based on cruise length, time of year, and location, but, in my experience, the average age of a passenger on Princess is slightly younger (5 years or so) than on Celebrity. Both are much younger than HAL, in my opinioni.

[bren51]

Thank you everyone for all the comments on Celebrity vs Princess. As for smoking I think all the cruiselines are limiting where you can smoke. I quit smoking 3 months ago. Does Celebrity serve lobserter or prime rib in the MDR like Princess does on formal nights? I am really looking forward to sailing with a different line just for a change.

[debandbruce]

I must be the only weird one who hates that Princess doesn't have closet doors. Most people say it doesn't bother them but I don't like walking in the cabin and seeing the open door, it just looks untidy to me. Oh well guess I'm just quirky, doesn't stop me from having fun though! :D

[psyfi]

I have done 2 of each. We prefer Celebrity but have no problem going on Princess as they have a better selection of itineraries. I have not sailed silhouette but on Eclipse we love Bistro on 5 for lunch on Embarkation day, and Q Sine is very unique. To with a group of people from your roll call if you can. A larger group will let you try more things. We find the food in general to be better on X, but as people say, that is a personal thing. We found the Eclipse to have a pulse that we have not seen on a ship. They did parties in the main atrium instead of just piano or 4 string quartets that made it fun. We found there were more activities we were interested in on the Eclipse. The molecular bar made fantastic drinks. It was the first ship where I would have loved to be on a TA so I could enjoy more of the ship. You will have a wonderful time.