Forced to cruise on Princess

[maggie.1008]

I just booked a cruise on Princess/ Pacific Coastal for Oct. I take my 83 yr. young dad once a year and need a cruise that does not have a long flight involved. We live in California so LA or San Diego ports work best. Alaska is out of the question as he is a warm weather cruiser and we have done that 3 times. I am loyal to Celebrity and sure wish they did more 1 week cruises from the West Coast. Made the mistake of looking at reviews on CC of the Crown Princess , not good !

[Phxazzcruisers]

I hope you have a great time. We also wish Celebrity would do some more West Coast cruises other than Alaska. Did Alaska over three time, it is enough. WE love the short one week Pacific Coast Wine Cruises.

[Shake]

With practically no Celebrity west coast availability I would make a Florida flight somehow work out. ;)

[HazyDavy]

I just booked a cruise on Princess/ Pacific Coastal for Oct. I take my 83 yr. young dad once a year and need a cruise that does not have a long flight involved. We live in California so LA or San Diego ports work best. Alaska is out of the question as he is a warm weather cruiser and we have done that 3 times. I am loyal to Celebrity and sure wish they did more 1 week cruises from the West Coast. Made the mistake of looking at reviews on CC of the Crown Princess , not good !

 

I've sailed on Princess a few times, several ships including the Crown. While Princess wouldn't be my first choice of lines and the Crown not my first choice of Princess ships, Princess offers a decent product and the Crown is certainly not a scow. Some differences to but not much better or worse than the Infiniti or Millennium. Just an older ship showing its age a bit but not run down by any means. Adjust your expectations accordingly and you'll have a great time with your dad.

[CoffeeHound]

We did a pacific coastal on X both last year and this year. Would have gone again next year, but it was not to be. We too are looking at Princess. I just want to be able to squeeze in 1 cruise a year that does not require 1-2 days of travel on both ends!

 

Please let us know how it goes!

[maggie.1008]

We live near Palm Springs Ca. There are no nonstop fights to Florida. Takes all day to get there.

[rebeccalouiseagain]

I love Celebrity but you will have a great time on Princess. I'm sure you will be pleased with it. The weakest area on Princess is the buffet. It's probably the worst I've encountered (terrible flow, limited selections) but the rest of the food is very good. I especially like the pub lunch.

 

Highlights are the entertainment on the Princess fleet. There are lots of games and Princess does nice excursions.

 

Have fun and don't sweat it.

 

My advice on any ship with an older person is get a cabin midship and lower because most of the activities are on the lower decks.

[OCruisers]

This past January (2014) we had an absolutely wonderful time on Crown Princess and would cruise on her again in a heartbeat! :)

Most people who like Celebrity also like Princess.

We prefer Princess but also very much like Celebrity.

LuLu

[KirkNC]

It's not the end of the world. You will find some things you like better, some not so much. We prefer X over Princess but certainly would cruise on Princess in the right circumstances,

[richstowe]

How terrible for you Maggie.

Luckily you are going into it with the right attitude.

[BosoxI]

How you'll suffer, Maggie. :) You can "force" me to cruise on Princess any day of the week. X or Princess = six of one, half dozen of the other. I'm sure you'll have a good time.

[partyhats]

We just returned from a Celebrity Silhouette cruise after having been on a Princess cruise 2 months prior. The Princess, it was Ruby, had better food & more importantly better, friendlier service than X. That being said both were quite enjoyable & I wouldn't hesitate to go on either line again.

[maggie.1008]

I will have a great cruise with my 83yr. young dad. Maybe the word forced was not the best choice. However I will miss my Elite plus benefits.

[A1A]

I've sailed on Princess a few times, several ships including the Crown. While Princess wouldn't be my first choice of lines and the Crown not my first choice of Princess ships, Princess offers a decent product and the Crown is certainly not a scow. Some differences to but not much better or worse than the Infinity or Millennium. Just an older ship showing its age a bit but not run down by any means. Adjust your expectations accordingly and you'll have a great time with your dad.

 

I have sailed Princess a few times and don't think the picture you painted is fair. First off the Millennium (which I have sailed) was launched in 2000 and the Infinity 2001. The Crown was launched in 2006 and is a much newer ship. The Infinity and the Crown were both refurbished 3 years ago. My parents just off the Crown were thrilled with the ship and the condition she is in currently.

 

Princess is a great cruise line and offers a very comparable product to Celebrity. As you can tell from my signature line we love both lines and the OP should not feel too bad about having to sail this ship or this line. I understand that she may have read some reviews that didn't reassure her that she made a good choice, but if you use the topics posted here on the Celebrity board you would think Celebrity has gone to hell in a hand basket! The negativity that exists on boards and some reviews is incredible and we all know that our final opinions may vary.

 

My advice to the OP is to go in with a great attitude and enjoy everything Princess has to offer. More importantly enjoy the time you have with your father, I think it's wonderful you are going with him!

 

Ken

[MVPinBoynton]

We have not cruised on Princess for seven years. It used to be our favorite line, then we found Celebrity. Since Celebrity doesn't cruise to Glacier Bay, we are going on the Island Princess in a couple weeks. I am looking forward to seeing how they compare after cruising so many times on X. I am sure we will enjoy the cruise.

[grandpaiscruising]

Princess and Celebrity are very close in quality with Celebrity a little better on the food front. Princess does go to more places. If you want to do the west coast or Hawaii it is now Princess. I last sailed on Celebrity to Hawaii on the Century and enjoyed it. Too bad they are letting that ship go.

 

 

Royal Princess, 10/18/14 Canada/NE, HAL 56 days, RCCL 104 points, NCL 28 days, Princess 214 days, Royal 14 days, Cunard 49 days, Celebrity 570 points

[Iamcruzin]

Funny thing is I sailed on Celebrity for the same reason you are sailing on Princess. Princess doesn't offer anything other than Canada New/England on the North East coast. I think both lines are more alike than different. On Summit I found the rooms to be nicer with a larger shower and small sofa for sitting.We actually spent more time than we usually do in our room because it was comfortable. I prefer the food on Princess but that is very subjective. Celebrity had better entertainment and passenger to space ratio. Princess has more pools two of them adult pools. I am sure you will enjoy your experience on Princess. I feel the service is equal on both lines.

[koolforkatz]

I think they are pretty comparable although I might give a slight edge to Celebrity. But the way they are evolving and with recent cutbacks, I may have to reassess that.

 

One thing I like about Princess, and maybe I've just been lucky, but I am much more likely to get upgraded with them than Celebrity.

[OCruisers]

I will have a great cruise with my 83yr. young dad. Maybe the word forced was not the best choice. However I will miss my Elite plus benefits.

 

When I'm cruising on Celebrity, I put all of the Elite perks I get with Princess totally out of my mind. I couldn't enjoy the cruise I was on if I went around thinking about the things I missed about Princess. :)

LuLu

[cormike1]

We have sailed mostly on Princess but took advantage of a great SA package with Celebrity on the Infinity this past Feb/March for 28 days. We tried not to compare but of course you do. We just love to cruise so it really didn't matter which line did what better. I was chuckling at comments about Celebrity's buffet being better as we found the layout on the Infinity not as organized as the Princess buffets. Maybe just us but it still didn't stop us from finding the food lol. Go with an open mind and remember how lucky you are to be able to afford the cruise and you have a Dad to be able to take with you. I am happy just to be on vacation and who cares if there is a bit of rust showing or a railing needs a paint job...you are on a cruise!!! Enjoy being with your Dad.

[maggie.1008]

Please believe me, I know how lucky I am. We worked hard all our lives and now enjoy retirement. We did not win it in the lottery. My mother passed away of brain cancer 8 yrs. ago. My father is still grieving. They knew each other since they were 10 yrs. old. A true love story. I promised my mom I would take care of my dad. He thought he would never cruise again. I will take him on a cruise once a year as long as he is able.

[disgirl]

I feel the same about my upcoming cruise on the Century. I leave in 3 weeks for Alaska. I am Elite on Princess and just sailed with them 2 weeks ago (yes, I will miss all the Elite benefits!). I have read nothing but bad reviews on the Century and Celebrity of late.

 

Will I let that effect my cruise? Heck no! Im going in with an open mind to make my own decision about things.

Drink package changes? Ok, Im not a huge drinker so hopefully I wont notice them.

Staffing issues? Give me a lounger and a book and I am happy.

Loud music? Let me sit out on my balcony for some peace and quiet if I need.

 

Im cruising with someone who has Alaska on their bucketlist...it is going to be awesome to experience it with them (its my 3rd time up there). I have cruised Celebrity before and they havent. I am going to be on a cruise and out of the office for a week ;) Nope, not letting those reviews bother me before I go!

 

My friends were just on the Crown a few weeks ago and had a lovely time. They didnt have any complaints. I enjoy both lines :)

[disgirl]

Please believe me, I know how lucky I am. We worked hard all our lives and now enjoy retirement. We did not win it in the lottery. My mother passed away of brain cancer 8 yrs. ago. My father is still grieving. They knew each other since they were 10 yrs. old. A true love story. I promised my mom I would take care of my dad. He thought he would never cruise again. I will take him on a cruise once a year as long as he is able.

 

Awww that is lovely that you are able to do that with him. I hope you guys have an amazing time!

[grandpaiscruising]

I think they are pretty comparable although I might give a slight edge to Celebrity. But the way they are evolving and with recent cutbacks, I may have to reassess that.

 

One thing I like about Princess, and maybe I've just been lucky, but I am much more likely to get upgraded with them than Celebrity.

 

A few years ago I did the Eastern Canadian/NE cruise on the Crown Princess and booked an mini-suite and a week before we cruise I was upgraded to a penthouse suite. Best cruise ever, even had the hotel manager take out to dinner in the steak house. Best upgrade on Celebrity was 2 categories.

 

 

 

Royal Princess, 10/18/14 Canada/NE, HAL 56 days, RCCL 104 points, NCL 28 days, Princess 214 days, Royal 14 days, Cunard 49 days, Celebrity 570 points

[maggie.1008]

WOW. I would love if that happened to me !