This Princess Just Tried Celebrity...

[AE_Collector]

[quote name='Putterdude'][SIZE="3"]We have always enjoyed Celebrity,
[/SIZE][/QUOTE]

Us too. We find Princess and Celebrity quite comparable with certain small differences.

[quote name='Putterdude'][SIZE="3"]
Princess wins hands down with their entertainment and loyalty program. X made a major change to their loyal program last year which put us 200% behind where we were on their program when we made final. I appealed this to the highest level by letter and received an email from a minion saying 'that's tough'....needless to say we are in no rush to patronize Celebrity anytime soon.:mad: [/SIZE][/QUOTE]

We were both on that "Celebrity New Captains Club is here" topic last fall. I didn't push with Celebrity for reconsideration as I never heard of anyone getting any consideration from Celebrity after the fact. We were just returning to Celebrity from doing steady Princess cruises with a thought to alternating more between the two going forward. Worst possible time for Celebrity to pull the rug out from under us with their "New and Improved" Captains Crcle.

It would have been one thing if they announced the changes coming in three or six months but we were on the Constellation in the middle of a 27 day cruise when the change occured. We got off the ship with half the credit we exected to get when we boarded.

Maybe it is not worth worrying about but IMHO it was simply handled wrong. It infuriated me to the point that we have now been on five Princess cruises and zero Celebrity cruises since. We have Princess cruise 6, 7 & 8 booked for completion before years end.

Terry

[KruzeKrazy!]

No company should change loyalty or promotion structure in someone mid-cruise. And IMHO the right way to transition is the current program rules apply to all cruises booked (or maybe paid in full so past refund - or at the very least embarked) as of a specified date and after that new bookings/payments/embarkations go by the new program. After all, people paid with the former program in mind. I know the fine print covers it but it seems like bait and switch to sell it under one set of rules, take the money, and even embark and then reward under a different set of rules...

[AE_Collector]

My thoughts exactly. They could have announced the change was coming in a minimum of three months time so that no one who was past final payment would get less than they expected to get on their cruise.

One common opinion was that since a relatively small number if people in suites would actually get more than they expected, they had to make the switch instantly after the announcement so those passengers wouldn't be annoyed. My opinion was that they could have easily given everyone the best of either version of the program for three months time without fear of the company going bankrupt.

Changes to a loyalty program shouldn't infuriate people and cause them to leave. If that is what happens, the change was plain and simply handled very poorly.

Now, time to pack for Hawaii on Pacific Princess September 16!

Terry

[Cruise Junky]

I actually really like Celebrity's new program. I think people who book balconies + should be rewarded with more points than insides


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[geoherb]

I'm watching prices for cruises in December. There are 5 HAL, 3 Celebrity, and 3 Princess ships on my spreadsheet. Right now, we may be going back to HAL. Celebrity is pricing itself out of the equation--$800 to $1,000 more for the two of us than Princess or HAL for an inside cabin and $600 to $2,200 more for a balcony. Edited September 5, 2014 by geoherb

[KruzeKrazy!]

We've done Princess and HAL but not yet Celebrity. We love both Princess and HAL - perhaps all things being equal (which, of course, they never are) HAL a bit more. But itinerary, ship, and price drive our choice. In other words, we'd book a Princess on the right ship and itinerary at a better price over HAL on an itinerary we weren't as interested in at a highet price.

In fact, that's just what we've done our last 2 cruises after our HAL cruise...

[richsea]

I just found this thread & thanks to the OP for the honest comparisons. While Celebrity is our line of choice, we've been on 3 Princess cruises, with a 4th booked in November. I think that the 2 lines are more alike than different, with both providing the type of cruise we enjoy.

I think that when anyone who is used to one line tries another, the best, & hardest thing to do is avoid day to day comparisons. On our 1st 2 Princess sailings, we sent a lot of time comparing, & while we enjoyed ourselves, there was always the "Celebrity does things this or that way". On our 3rd Princess sailing, we decided to just embrace the differences, & not compare them. At the end of the cruise we realized what a fantastic time we had! I guess it's all in your mindset going in.

By the way, it was real nice reading this thread without the "my line is better than yours" bickering.:)

[maggie.1008]

I have been on 42 cruises. Many were luxury but have been on most mass market ships as well. My only problem is with the Princess mini suites. All you get is a larger room. On Celebrity mini suites ( called Sky Suite ) Comp. bottle of wine, dinner in Specialty Restaurant, butler service that brings you Latte to you room. along with many other services throughout the day. High end bath products, ect. Celebrity does a great job if you like to book mini suites.

[Mulege]

[quote name='MsSoCalCruiser']Hello. I just disembarked today from my first Celebrity cruise. I won't be writing an actual review but thought I would compare my last cruise, four weeks ago, on the Sapphire Princess to my first Celebrity cruise on the Celebrity Century. Some of the topics don't have anything to do with either line but I just thought I would throw it out there.


Century has been sold and leaves the fleet in April 2015. I find the S class ships comparable in some ways to the Royal and Regal. I am Elite on Princess but tried Celebrity years ago and glad I did. I enjoy both lines but have gravitated to Celebrity lately. Love the near all inclusive way to sail with the 123 Go package. Edited September 5, 2014 by Mulege

[Bently57]

I love both Princess and Celebrity. I have had many wonderful trips on both. I had a horrific experience once on the Ocean Princess. I had a horrific experience once on the Millennium. Bottom line: just like restaurants, where you can hit an 'off' night, the same is true for cruise vacations. You can hit an 'off' week on a cruise ship.


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[RocketMan275]

[quote name='maggie.1008']I have been on 42 cruises. Many were luxury but have been on most mass market ships as well. My only problem is with the Princess mini suites. All you get is a larger room. On Celebrity mini suites ( called Sky Suite ) Comp. bottle of wine, dinner in Specialty Restaurant, butler service that brings you Latte to you room. along with many other services throughout the day. High end bath products, ect. Celebrity does a great job if you like to book mini suites.[/QUOTE]

Sky Suites are not mini-suites. They are 300 sq ft and cost around $2400 PP seven day Caribbean. The Concierge or Aqua class are much more comparable to the mini-suites.

[maggie.1008]

I have sky suite on Summit for a 7 nt. cruise for $1199. Prices has gone up since I booked.

[maggie.1008]

Rocketman, This $1199. I paid on Celebrity is the same price I am paying for my mini suite on Princess Crown on Oct. 4th. 7nts. Sky suite on the Summit is 251 sq. ft and 57sq.ft. balcony. Celebrity is still the best mini suite ! Have you been in both to compare ?

[helenb]

[quote name='MsSoCalCruiser']But I have to say I really missed the IC, the cookies, and most of all the ultimate drink card. I love the mocktails! Also on the Sapphire, the buffet and the grill are open much later in the evening.[/QUOTE]

I'm surprised that no one has yet mentioned this, but Celebrity has an 'ultimate non-alcoholic drink card'. Actually, they have 3 different 'soda card' packages. They are more expensive than the packages on Princess, but they also offer more.

Soda Only package - $8 pppd + 15% gratuity More expensive than Princess, but you can get cans. This is a huge bonus, as you can grab a can when you are at a bar and bring it back to your stateroom and have it at your convenience. I have also gotten cans in advance and brought them onshore when we are in port.

Classic Non-Alcoholic package - $16 pppd + 15% gratuity Again, more expensive than Princess, but in addition to having cans of soda, you can have fresh squeezed *and* bottled juices, bottled water, and premium coffees and teas. The UKP package on Princess does not include bottles or cans of anything, nor does it include premium coffee and tea (only hot chocolate).

Premium Non-Alcoholic package- $20 pppd + 15% gratuity Clearly far more than the Princess packages, but it includes pretty much everything non-alcoholic: everything from the previous packages, as well as bottles of Evian, Perrier, San Pellegrino, mocktails and smoothies, cans of Red Bull and bottles of Vitamin Water.

I get that if all you want are unlimited mocktails, the price for the UKP on Princess is much cheaper. However there is a lot more available with the Celebrity packages. Some people will prefer one, some the other.

I love the International Cafe on Princess, but the Cafe al Bacio on Celebrity shouldn't be discounted for wonderful, fresh-made treats. In the mornings they have croissants and muffins fresh from the ovens, and at lunch they have pastries and cakes that are wonderful! Also on Celebrity's S-class ships, the Bistro on 5 is a gem. There is a $5 pp charge, but it is very reasonable for the fantastic crepes you can have there, at any time of day.

[RocketMan275]

[quote name='maggie.1008']I have sky suite on Summit for a 7 nt. cruise for $1199. Prices has gone up since I booked.[/QUOTE]

I don't doubt your numbers but we compared two different cruises and two different time frames. A Sky suite for March 2015 on Reflection is $4398 for two people. You priced a sky suite on Summit for Oct. Different dates and different ships and fall cruises will be usually much cheaper than a Spring cruise. A mini suite on Emerald Princess for Mar 2015 is $3082 for two people. My point is that it is incorrect to call (or compare) a sky suite to a mini-suite. A better comparison would be a concierge to a mini suite or a vista suite to a sky suite.

I've not been on Celebrity but I have toyed with the idea of booking a Sky (S1) suite. Quite frankly, the only thing holding me back is that I think Celebrity may be a bit too formal for me.

[tserface]

I fully agree. I'd go on Celebrity or Princess any day. One thing I like on Princess is the coffee card. It's not much, but it's inexpensive and a good deal and convenient. I don't drink much soda so those deals never appealed to me.

I don't think the cafe on Celebrity compares to Princess. It's not bad, but the International Cafe is so much better and almost always open.

We love Bistro on 5, but I've heard the price has gone up to $7. Still an amazing deal though.

Like I said, I'd go on either any day and enjoy either for many of the same and different reasons. For example, Princess wins for cookies and donuts.

:)

Tom

[quote name='helenb']I'm surprised that no one has yet mentioned this, but Celebrity has an 'ultimate non-alcoholic drink card'. Actually, they have 3 different 'soda card' packages. They are more expensive than the packages on Princess, but they also offer more.

Soda Only package - $8 pppd + 15% gratuity More expensive than Princess, but you can get cans. This is a huge bonus, as you can grab a can when you are at a bar and bring it back to your stateroom and have it at your convenience. I have also gotten cans in advance and brought them onshore when we are in port.

Classic Non-Alcoholic package - $16 pppd + 15% gratuity Again, more expensive than Princess, but in addition to having cans of soda, you can have fresh squeezed *and* bottled juices, bottled water, and premium coffees and teas. The UKP package on Princess does not include bottles or cans of anything, nor does it include premium coffee and tea (only hot chocolate).

Premium Non-Alcoholic package- $20 pppd + 15% gratuity Clearly far more than the Princess packages, but it includes pretty much everything non-alcoholic: everything from the previous packages, as well as bottles of Evian, Perrier, San Pellegrino, mocktails and smoothies, cans of Red Bull and bottles of Vitamin Water.

I get that if all you want are unlimited mocktails, the price for the UKP on Princess is much cheaper. However there is a lot more available with the Celebrity packages. Some people will prefer one, some the other.

I love the International Cafe on Princess, but the Cafe al Bacio on Celebrity shouldn't be discounted for wonderful, fresh-made treats. In the mornings they have croissants and muffins fresh from the ovens, and at lunch they have pastries and cakes that are wonderful! Also on Celebrity's S-class ships, the Bistro on 5 is a gem. There is a $5 pp charge, but it is very reasonable for the fantastic crepes you can have there, at any time of day.[/QUOTE]

[maggie.1008]

My sky suite on the Summit is on April 11th. My mini suite on Crown Princess is Oct 4th.Mini suite on Princess is larger than sky suite on Summit. Both at $1199. Granted I can go anytime as I am retired and have time to shop for the best deal.

[RocketMan275]

[quote name='maggie.1008']My sky suite on the Summit is on April 11th. My mini suite on Crown Princess is Oct 4th.Mini suite on Princess is larger than sky suite on Summit. Both at $1199. Granted I can go anytime as I am retired and have time to shop for the best deal.[/QUOTE]

Congratulations on your retirement. Isn't it great? Thank you for the information. Guess I'll stick with Princess for now.

[geoherb]

[quote name='RocketMan275']I've not been on Celebrity but I have toyed with the idea of booking a Sky (S1) suite. Quite frankly, the only thing holding me back is that I think Celebrity may be a bit too formal for me.[/QUOTE]It's not that more formal than Princess. I've taken my tuxedo on some Celebrity cruises but on others I wore a sports coat with a dress shirt and tie and did not feel out of place.

[lovevacadays]

[quote name='Putterdude'][SIZE="3"]We have always enjoyed Celebrity, likely the very best cabin we have ever had was on the Silly in January. Everything about our H/C cabin was extremely well thought out. We find the food on X just more to our taste. However, there is no question Princess wins hands down with their entertainment and loyalty program. X made a major change to their loyal program last year which put us 200% behind where we were on their program when we made final. I appealed this to the highest level by letter and received an email from a minion saying 'that's tough'....needless to say we are in no rush to patronize Celebrity anytime soon.:mad: [/SIZE][/QUOTE]

What is a H/C cabin?

[quote name='maggie.1008']I have been on 42 cruises. Many were luxury but have been on most mass market ships as well. My only problem is with the Princess mini suites. All you get is a larger room. On Celebrity mini suites ( called Sky Suite ) Comp. bottle of wine, dinner in Specialty Restaurant, butler service that brings you Latte to you room. along with many other services throughout the day. High end bath products, ect. Celebrity does a great job if you like to book mini suites.[/QUOTE]

Would you mind sharing if the Princess mini-suite cabins typically are the same price as the Celebrity Sky Suites? I have done a few searches on Celebrity and it seems like the Sky Suites are expensive. They sound great, though.

[Cruise Junky]

Rocketman, definitely not more formal now it probably was back in 2005 on my first Celebrity cruise but not now.

[AE_Collector]

[quote name='Cruise Junky']I actually really like Celebrity's new program. I think people who book balconies + should be rewarded with more points than insides
[/QUOTE]

I have no problem with the actual changes to the Captains Club on Celebrity. Granted, most of us are going to take many more cruises to move up through the ranks but it is much more fare now to give points by the day and more points for a more expensive room category.

My problem is 100% with the way the change was implemented. We had booked a fairly long 27 day B2B in Balcony and then a Concierge Balcony to add some serious points towards making it to Elite. We shouldn't have had to find out once we arrived home that we really didn't make much progress at all towards Elite on this cruise afterall. That just isnt right. I am surprised that someone didn't start a class action lawsuit aginst them for misrepresenting the rewards that would be received for booking. I guess Loyalty Rewards are just too small of an item to get bent out of shape about but that still doesn't make it right.

Terry Edited September 6, 2014 by AE_Collector

[Putterdude]

[quote name='Cruise Junky']I actually really like Celebrity's new program. I think people who book balconies + should be rewarded with more points than insides


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk[/QUOTE]


[SIZE="3"]No question there were winners and losers when the program changed. In our case when we booked our balcony in concierge and went final we we very conscious of the fact that we were one 7 day concierge cruise away from Elite. When we got on the ship we became painfully aware that we had slipped thru the cracks and now needed 21 days in concierge to reach Elite. Those who we spoke to on the ship understood the problem but of course there was nothing they could do. In our case Celebrity took a loyalty program and inadvertently turned it into a disincentive program for some. Now I don't for a moment think that Celebrity will miss us but we have the satisfaction of not returning anytime soon.[/SIZE]

[Cruise Junky]

[quote name='Putterdude'][SIZE="3"]No question there were winners and losers when the program changed. In our case when we booked our balcony in concierge and went final we we very conscious of the fact that we were one 7 day concierge cruise away from Elite. When we got on the ship we became painfully aware that we had slipped thru the cracks and now needed 21 days in concierge to reach Elite. Those who we spoke to on the ship understood the problem but of course there was nothing they could do. In our case Celebrity took a loyalty program and inadvertently turned it into a disincentive program for some. Now I don't for a moment think that Celebrity will miss us but we have the satisfaction of not returning anytime soon.[/SIZE][/QUOTE]

But...you only needed 10 cruises on Celebrity to become elite vs 15 on Princess. 3 cruises short and you stop cruising them seems kind of strange

[MsSoCalCruiser]

Thank you everyone for each and every thank you.

I really liked doing this comparison. I am looking forward to giving Celebrity another try and at the same time I can't wait until my next cruise on the Golden Princess!