My take on Celebrity Eclipse vs. Royal Princess

[cruisestitch]

My take on comparing Celebrity Eclipse to Royal Princess. Note that I don’t mention lots of things that others consider important, like MUTS, and Sanctuary, and Spa.

 

Staterooms, Celebrity is a clear winner as to size, Princess for storage and closet space. Beds and pillows were equally comfortable.

 

Balcony, no question, Celebrity wins. Celebrity also wins if you don’t want a balcony, just a window, since Princess has no staterooms like that

 

Bathrooms, again, with no question, Celebrity wins. The bathroom on Royal Princess was tiny. The amenities were minimal, only a “shampoo/conditioner” combo, shower gel, and a bar of soap on Princess. No lotion. No QTips or cotton buds. And Princess had the scratchiest towels I’ve ever used. Believe it or not, I’ll be bringing my own towels from home on my next cruise.

 

Elevators, what was Princess thinking? The midship elevators are airless, cramped and inefficient. The lack of midship stairs means that even if you only need to go up one level to your stateroom, you must take an elevator or walk clear to the ends of the ship to find stairs. No contest here, Celebrity wins.

 

Free food venues, Princess wins here, with special notice of Alfredos for sit-down table service, and to International Cafe for 24 hour offerings.

 

Room service breakfast, Celebrity wins, with its hot food offerings. Princess only has continental breakfast.

 

Casino, Celebrity has no smoking ever, Princess has limited smoking sometimes. Celebrity wins.

 

Loyalty program, Celebrity wins here, too, with its laundry, cappuccino, internet, breakfast hours and cocktails hours for Elites.

 

Climate control. The Royal Princess public rooms were uncomfortably warm, even hot at times. Except for the ones that were freezing.

 

Public restrooms. Princess has no attendants and only paper towels. Celebrity’s public restrooms are much nicer, and you get a cloth towel. Celebrity wins.

 

Library. The Royal Princess library was small and not well stocked. Celebrity’s selections might be catch-as-catch-can but the space on Eclipse is large and comfortable and the variety of books is huge, also there is a leave-a-book-take-a-book area.

 

Sky Lounge. Royal Princess doesn’t have one. As a matter of fact, it lacks areas with views of the seas. No place like Cafe al Bacio, for instance. Celebrity is the clear winner here.

 

Kiosks to check your on-board account. Great idea Princess! Nothing like them on Celebrity.

 

Comfort of chairs in Public Areas -- Princess has Celebrity beat here -- the chairs in the various bars on Celebrity are too low, too deep, too hard, just basically uncomfortable. Never found an uncomfortable chair in any Princess lounge or restaurant.

 

Sommaliers in the dining room -- none on Princess. As a matter of fact, the wine list was uninspired. Wines were generally cheaper on than on Celebrity, but there was much more choice on Eclipse.

 

Sauna -- Celebrity has them, Royal Princess doesn’t

 

Level of background music -- Royal Princess was delightful, Celebrity Eclipse music was loud, with heavy beats, thump, thump, thump, sometimes unpleasant, occasionally even painful. Royal Princess clearly wins here, and this is a big one for me.

 

In-room TV -- Celebrity has more Celebrity advertising stations, but also more live stations to watch, including CNN. Princess has more on-demand stations, including shows from Food Network and HGTV, also lots of old Love Boat reruns. Tie.

 

I Lounge and Internet-- Celebrity Eclipse has a large, comfortable, well-lit room. Royal Princess internet lounge is smaller and has fewer machines. But Princess wins with its ease of logging on once you establish an account, and also for its Intranet system.

 

Buffet -- Princess has tables set with napkins and cutlery, and serves you coffee, ice water and juice, with plenty of staff to keep tables cleaned and ready for next customers. On Celebrity you have to juggle your napkin and silverware as well as your drinks and plates, and its hard to find empty, cleaned tables at peak times. Princess wins this one.

 

Public announcements -- Celebrity’s “no announcement policy” is superior. On Princess, there were announcements for art auctions and other events. Each ship had a Captain’s Daily Update and a Cruise Director’s update, but on Celebrity, that’s pretty much where it ends. Celebrity is quieter.

 

I came on Royal Princess because of Perry Grant, and I have three more cruises booked there. As long as he stays with Princess, so will I. He’s in Crooners, not a great place for him but I go where he goes, as do the other fans.

 

OH, and finally,

 

Pizza -- nuff’ said -- Princess

Waffles -- nuff’said -- Celebrity

[shredie]

Thanks for the review. We wondered what you Perry fans would do. :)

[perditax]

Thanks! As someone currently shopping the mass market lines (next up, Eclipse) I appreciated this.

[Working 2 Cruise]

You said no sauna... Did you miss the Enclave, with the thalassotherapy pool, stone loungers, saunas, etc..? I understand it's wonderful.

[gizmodog]

Thanks good review, I do love celebrity but I am sort of boycotting because of their inflated pricing I too joined princess for perry grant and I have two cruises booked on the Royal, first in January, I love the cabins on the s class ships, booked a mini on the Royal, hope I enjoy the cruise I know I will enjoy perry grant, he just makes me smile and I enjoy his music, he is an excellent entertainer.

[Retiring cajun]

who is perry grant? what kind of music?

[srpilo]

Good stuff..

 

I agree with about 90 percent of your take, but to be fair even missing the center stairway, the Royal does have three sets of elevator banks (front, mid, and back) the Eclipse only has two banks of elevators and stairwells for the entire ship

 

Thanks for sharing

Srpilo

[riclop]

Thanks for your comparisons but X was 1 and done just too boring for us.

[Oxo]

I posted this on the Celebrity CC review, too.

Fantastic review and very valid. The only two that I disagree with are listed above. There is no comparison with the Loyalty program as Princess wins here. Princess provides free laundry and dry cleaning for Elite and Internet is many more minutes on Princess compare to X. Yes, cocktail hour (5-7pm free or 3 coupons) much better on X than the Princess - cabin set up or their $5 per drink.

Celebrity has in-cabin TV to check your on-board account whereas Princess does not. That is much more convenient than Princess. Princess Kiosks are OK, but rather have the in-cabin TV capability.

Thanks for your review as it was very details and non-basis. You were very honest!

[sunsetbeachgal]

I'm not familiar with Perry Grant? Please tell more!

[pris993]

My take on comparing Celebrity Eclipse to Royal Princess. Note that I don’t mention lots of things that others consider important, like MUTS, and Sanctuary, and Spa.

 

I have not been on the Royal Princess... but have been on the Eclipse, Equniox and Silhouette. Did a comparison my self between the Ruby and Eclipse a few years ago, as I did two 7 days, back to back on the two ships.

 

Staterooms, Celebrity is a clear winner as to size, Princess for storage and closet space. Beds and pillows were equally comfortable.

 

The mini suite on Princess was a winner for us.

 

 

 

Balcony, no question, Celebrity wins. Celebrity also wins if you don’t want a balcony, just a window, since Princess has no staterooms like that

 

Bathrooms, again, with no question, Celebrity wins. The bathroom on Royal Princess was tiny. The amenities were minimal, only a “shampoo/conditioner” combo, shower gel, and a bar of soap on Princess. No lotion. No QTips or cotton buds. And Princess had the scratchiest towels I’ve ever used. Believe it or not, I’ll be bringing my own towels from home on my next cruise.

 

Elevators, what was Princess thinking? The midship elevators are airless, cramped and inefficient. The lack of midship stairs means that even if you only need to go up one level to your stateroom, you must take an elevator or walk clear to the ends of the ship to find stairs. No contest here, Celebrity wins.

 

Free food venues, Princess wins here, with special notice of Alfredos for sit-down table service, and to International Cafe for 24 hour offerings.

 

Agree, MDR on X has always been hit & miss for us. Tried BLU was not impressed .

 

Room service breakfast, Celebrity wins, with its hot food offerings. Princess only has continental breakfast.

 

We are elite on Princess, have found we can write in egg orders and they are delivered.

 

Casino, Celebrity has no smoking ever, Princess has limited smoking sometimes. Celebrity wins.

 

Loyalty program, Celebrity wins here, too, with its laundry, cappuccino, internet, breakfast hours and cocktails hours for Elites.

 

We actually prefer the complimentary mini bar in the cabin on Princess vs elite lounge on X, plus Princess also has the elite lounge.

 

Climate control. The Royal Princess public rooms were uncomfortably warm, even hot at times. Except for the ones that were freezing.

 

Public restrooms. Princess has no attendants and only paper towels. Celebrity’s public restrooms are much nicer, and you get a cloth towel. Celebrity wins.

 

Library. The Royal Princess library was small and not well stocked. Celebrity’s selections might be catch-as-catch-can but the space on Eclipse is large and comfortable and the variety of books is huge, also there is a leave-a-book-take-a-book area.

 

Now the library that is a good one on X, we found on the Silhouette it is all show, very few books of interest, no management of the library, no travel books at all. It may have been better on the Eclipse, I guess X thinks everyone is traveling with a tablet, so need to maintain a library.

 

Sky Lounge. Royal Princess doesn’t have one. As a matter of fact, it lacks areas with views of the seas. No place like Cafe al Bacio, for instance. Celebrity is the clear winner here.

 

Agree this is a big shortcoming on all Princess ships.

 

Kiosks to check your on-board account. Great idea Princess! Nothing like them on Celebrity.

 

Comfort of chairs in Public Areas -- Princess has Celebrity beat here -- the chairs in the various bars on Celebrity are too low, too deep, too hard, just basically uncomfortable. Never found an uncomfortable chair in any Princess lounge or restaurant.

 

Agree X has this new modern look but not functional!!

 

Sommaliers in the dining room -- none on Princess. As a matter of fact, the wine list was uninspired. Wines were generally cheaper on than on Celebrity, but there was much more choice on Eclipse.

 

Sauna -- Celebrity has them, Royal Princess doesn’t

 

Level of background music -- Royal Princess was delightful, Celebrity Eclipse music was loud, with heavy beats, thump, thump, thump, sometimes unpleasant, occasionally even painful. Royal Princess clearly wins here, and this is a big one for me.

 

Entertainment on X has always been hit & miss for us.

 

In-room TV -- Celebrity has more Celebrity advertising stations, but also more live stations to watch, including CNN. Princess has more on-demand stations, including shows from Food Network and HGTV, also lots of old Love Boat reruns. Tie.

 

I Lounge and Internet-- Celebrity Eclipse has a large, comfortable, well-lit room. Royal Princess internet lounge is smaller and has fewer machines. But Princess wins with its ease of logging on once you establish an account, and also for its Intranet system.

 

Buffet -- Princess has tables set with napkins and cutlery, and serves you coffee, ice water and juice, with plenty of staff to keep tables cleaned and ready for next customers. On Celebrity you have to juggle your napkin and silverware as well as your drinks and plates, and its hard to find empty, cleaned tables at peak times. Princess wins this one.

 

The buffet on X is actually the best food venue on board, lots of variety but the same every day for the most part. We find the MDR on X so noisy and crowded we skip it, prefer the buffet. Princess does vary items at the buffet from day to day.

 

Public announcements -- Celebrity’s “no announcement policy” is superior. On Princess, there were announcements for art auctions and other events. Each ship had a Captain’s Daily Update and a Cruise Director’s update, but on Celebrity, that’s pretty much where it ends. Celebrity is quieter.

 

I came on Royal Princess because of Perry Grant, and I have three more cruises booked there. As long as he stays with Princess, so will I. He’s in Crooners, not a great place for him but I go where he goes, as do the other fans.

 

OH, and finally,

 

Pizza -- nuff’ said -- Princess

Waffles -- nuff’said -- Celebrity

 

When we compared the two ships, Ruby and Eclipse, we preferred the Ruby... since the Royal is more like a X ship we have decided not to go on it. We are elite on both lines.

[Keith1010]

Thank you for your review.

 

Keith

[cruisestitch]

As to the loyalty program, I was trying to look at the two programs overall, not just my status with each. There doesn't seem to be any breakfast with mimosas, bloody mary's etc. on Princess, while for Elites and above on Celebrity there is. I haven't seen the evening event on Princess yet, but I understand from those Perry fans who were higher level Princess cruisers that Celebrity's is better. That part may or may not be true.

 

And those midship elevators on Royal Princess -- what I can't figure out is why they aren't connected together. There are three separate circuits. One circuit connects four elevators, while each "panoramic" elevator is on its own circuit. What happened is that people would press all three sets of buttons, and then of course take the first elevator that came along. Then the other elevators would stop on that floor, but of course the people were already gone. It was very inefficient and with no stairs there was no other option if you were midship.

 

I forgot one other thing I noted -- there were no daily newspapers as on Celebrity -- not talking about the Patter, what I missed was the news from home, which was available in US, Canadian, British, and other editions.

[cynbar]

I'm not familiar with Perry Grant? Please tell more!

 

Perry Grant is a singer/musician/entertainer. He specializes in "piano bar" entertainment ---- songs, some jokes, a lot of interaction with his audience, and he is usually found in Crooners when on Princess. I believe he was on Celebrity for awhile but has recently returned to Princess on the Royal. We find him entertaining, but he has a large core group of fans who seem to follow him and cruise just to see him. I think he is also planning a "group cruise" next year where his shows and other events will only be open to group members. Check him out on Facebook.

[chamima]

As to the loyalty program, I was trying to look at the two programs overall, not just my status with each. There doesn't seem to be any breakfast with mimosas, bloody mary's etc. on Princess, while for Elites and above on Celebrity there is. I haven't seen the evening event on Princess yet, but I understand from those Perry fans who were higher level Princess cruisers that Celebrity's is better. That part may or may not be true.

 

And those midship elevators on Royal Princess -- what I can't figure out is why they aren't connected together. There are three separate circuits. One circuit connects four elevators, while each "panoramic" elevator is on its own circuit. What happened is that people would press all three sets of buttons, and then of course take the first elevator that came along. Then the other elevators would stop on that floor, but of course the people were already gone. It was very inefficient and with no stairs there was no other option if you were midship.

 

I forgot one other thing I noted -- there were no daily newspapers as on Celebrity -- not talking about the Patter, what I missed was the news from home, which was available in US, Canadian, British, and other editions.

 

 

I agree with much of what you said.

However....

We are Elite on both lines and prefer the Princess Loyalty benefits. Laundry and dry cleaning are unlimited, we don't find the morning or evening Elite get togethers on Celebrity convenient to go to and we like the extra internet minutes from Princess (250 vs. 90).

As far as the midship elevators - try booking a cabin more towards the front or rear of the ship. Those elevators are on connected circuits AND there are stairs alongside that you can use if you choose.

 

Also, after sailing on the Royal the central lobby area of the Eclipse now feels dark and enclosed.

There also seems to be many more venues with evening entertainment on Princess.

 

All that being said, we still love both lines and look forward to sailing on both of them.

[keithm]

who is perry grant? what kind of music?

Funny entertainer. Liberace style of entertainer. If you see him & he calls you up to light his "ball", He'll then ask about your house...Make sure you have granite counter tops & stainless steel appliances. If not, we'll all have pity on you! Great fun overall.We saw him on the Eclipse in '014.

[Oxo]

I agree with much of what you said.

However....

We are Elite on both lines and prefer the Princess Loyalty benefits. Laundry and dry cleaning are unlimited, we don't find the morning or evening Elite get togethers on Celebrity convenient to go to and we like the extra internet minutes from Princess (250 vs. 90).

As far as the midship elevators - try booking a cabin more towards the front or rear of the ship. Those elevators are on connected circuits AND there are stairs alongside that you can use if you choose.

 

Also, after sailing on the Royal the central lobby area of the Eclipse now feels dark and enclosed.

There also seems to be many more venues with evening entertainment on Princess.

 

All that being said, we still love both lines and look forward to sailing on both of them.

Sorry to disagree with you on the Internet minutes.

Princess provides:

VOYAGE MINUTES

7 days or less 150

8-20 days 250

21+ days 500

Celebrity provides: Based on Level. Elite get 90 minutes and Elite+ get 200 regardless of the voyage duration.

We do enjoy the morning breakfast on X and alos the evening Free Happy Hour on X. Would rather have the X Happy Hour than the in-cabin setup. Don't feel that Princess' $5 drink is really that much of a perk. Other than that, yes, Princess has the better perks than X. Just trying to compare what we like and enjoy on both cruise lines.

[chamima]

Sorry.

We tend to sail 10 -14 (or longer) day cruises so I just gave the internet minutes from those.

Edited October 25, 2015 by chamima

[Oxo]

Sorry.

We tend to sail 10 -14 (or longer) day cruises so I just gave the internet minutes from those.

 

OK, I was just trying to clarify the minutes. Like I said in many of my postings. Both, in fact, all cruises lines have their pluses and minuses in perks. We like RCI for their Happy Hours which run from 5-8, free drinks and food every night. Whereas X does not have theirs on embarkation nite and Sr. Officer Party nite.

[Frflatt]

Thank you for the review - I found it interesting having sailed on the Eclipse a month ago and on the Royal in the spring. I agreed with much of what you said; my comments would be:

 

I love the piazza on the Royal and found the central area on the Eclipse rather dark and too enclosed.

 

I loved the panoramic lifts on the Eclipse - the ones on Royal are not really that panoramic!

 

Horizon Court on the Royal is bigger, better designed and has more choice than the buffet on the Eclipse and it far easier to find a table even at busy times - I used to dread having to find a table at lunch on sea days!

 

The variety and amount of entertainment on the Royal is far greater than on the Eclipse - there is always something going on and so much choice in the evenings.

 

The bathrooms in the cabins were a delight on the Eclipse, far superior than on the Royal, and I loved the shower doors rather than curtains.

 

I really enjoyed the solarium - if not the annoying music - especially when it was windy or chilly outside - nothing like it on the Royal.

 

The International Cafe on the Royal is fantastic, we love getting a sandwich or salad after getting back from an excursion - I missed this on the Eclipse and didn't really want sweet food - also the staff were very rude and the queuing system was nonsense (can't get food/drink at the counter if you are sitting down to eat only if taking away).

 

I really loved the Eclipse and felt that it was an even match with the Royal with all things taken into consideration.

 

However, I wouldn't sail with X again because I found many of the staff rude and frankly unhelpful - many seemed to struggle with understanding English - not that I can understand or speak any other language with any proficiency!

 

Also, we found the staff constantly trying to sell us things, sometimes in an underhand kind of way, so much so that we actually made a complaint and received a refund when we were mis-sold something.

 

As well as this the princess website is so much easier to use and makes booking and preparing for a cruise a joy rather than a struggle.

 

I love the princess product, ethos and way of caring for their customers - I went on X hoping that having a second cruise line would give us more choice but was sorely disappointed.

[srpilo]

I'll say one more thing, like many posting here, we're Elite on both Princess and X also, and IMO there significant differences in the X elite laundry and elite Princess laundry, X basicly folds everything and returns it in a big pile wrapped in paper, where as Princess puts most shirts and pants on hangers which come back much less wrinkled than the folded pile that X returns

 

Minor thing ? Maybe, but it seems much more seamless on Princess where all your clothes are returned ready to wear again, and not just clean and folded like a land side Fluff & Fold.. For us being able to pack lighter and know we can actually wear our laundered clothes again is a big plus

 

Srpilo

[Oxo]

Thank you for the review - I found it interesting having sailed on the Eclipse a month ago and on the Royal in the spring. I agreed with much of what you said; my comments would be:

 

I love the piazza on the Royal and found the central area on the Eclipse rather dark and too enclosed.

YES!!!

 

I loved the panoramic lifts on the Eclipse - the ones on Royal are not really that panoramic!

YES!!

 

Horizon Court on the Royal is bigger, better designed and has more choice than the buffet on the Eclipse and it far easier to find a table even at busy times - I used to dread having to find a table at lunch on sea days!

X HAS A VERY EXCELLENT BUFFET AND IN MANY WAYS BOTH ARE EQUAL. PEOPLE WHO SAY THAT X BUFFET IS ALWAYS THE SAME IS BECAUSE THERE IS SO MUCH TO CHOOSE FROM.

 

The variety and amount of entertainment on the Royal is far greater than on the Eclipse - there is always something going on and so much choice in the evenings.

YES!!

 

The bathrooms in the cabins were a delight on the Eclipse, far superior than on the Royal, and I loved the shower doors rather than curtains.

YES!!

 

I really enjoyed the solarium - if not the annoying music - especially when it was windy or chilly outside - nothing like it on the Royal.

YES!! THIS IS ONE BIG PLUS ON X.

 

The International Cafe on the Royal is fantastic, we love getting a sandwich or salad after getting back from an excursion - I missed this on the Eclipse and didn't really want sweet food - also the staff were very rude and the queuing system was nonsense (can't get food/drink at the counter if you are sitting down to eat only if taking away).

YES!!

 

I really loved the Eclipse and felt that it was an even match with the Royal with all things taken into consideration.

YES!!

 

However, I wouldn't sail with X again because I found many of the staff rude and frankly unhelpful - many seemed to struggle with understanding English - not that I can understand or speak any other language with any proficiency!

NO!!! TOTALLY DISAGREE AS WE SEE MORE X STAFF WALKING AROUND, MEETING WITH PEOPLE, ETC. NEVER ENCOUNTERED WHAT YOU SAY HERE.

 

Also, we found the staff constantly trying to sell us things, sometimes in an underhand kind of way, so much so that we actually made a complaint and received a refund when we were mis-sold something.

THIS IS TRUE ON ALL CRUISE LINES NOW!!

 

As well as this the princess website is so much easier to use and makes booking and preparing for a cruise a joy rather than a struggle.

YES!!

 

I love the princess product, ethos and way of caring for their customers - I went on X hoping that having a second cruise line would give us more choice but was sorely disappointed.

MAYBE YOU SHOULD TRY AGAIN. We are Elite+ on X and Elite on Princess and feel both are both good and bad.

Edited October 25, 2015 by Oxo

[caribill]

 

And those midship elevators on Royal Princess -- what I can't figure out is why they aren't connected together.

 

This is consistent with what has been done on most other Princess ships, but there is no reason to do so on the Royal and Regal.

 

On the other ships that do this, the panoramic lifts do not go to all the fllors that the regular elevators do, so if one button called all, you could get on an elevator that would not take you to the floor you want.

 

However, on the Royal and Regal they all can go to the same floors. You are correct, there is no logical reason not to have the call buttons connected.

I forgot one other thing I noted -- there were no daily newspapers as on Celebrity -- not talking about the Patter, what I missed was the news from home, which was available in US, Canadian, British, and other editions.

 

Princess used to have New York Times news summaries, but eliminated them to save $$$ saying that you can get news on your TV.

 

Obviously those that said this never tried to find real news on the ship's TV. CNN, Fox and even BBC rarely have much news. Plenty of opinion shows and criminal trial news and hour specials such as farming in Sri Lanka, but rarely a good summary of current news, especially USA news.

[Mom33]

Thanks to the OP and all those posting in this thread for sharing your opinions on X versus Princess. It has become apparent to me that should we try X, we will have a nice cruise. We don't mind the differences expressed here and would probably adjust quite readily should we find an itinerary and price that entices us to cruise with X. We have been very happy with the Princess product and have not yet needed to book elsewhere.

:D

[DavyJoneses]

My take on comparing Celebrity Eclipse to Royal Princess. Note that I don’t mention lots of things that others consider important, like MUTS, and Sanctuary, and Spa.

 

Staterooms, Celebrity is a clear winner as to size, Princess for storage and closet space. Beds and pillows were equally comfortable.

 

Balcony, no question, Celebrity wins. Celebrity also wins if you don’t want a balcony, just a window, since Princess has no staterooms like that

 

Bathrooms, again, with no question, Celebrity wins. The bathroom on Royal Princess was tiny. The amenities were minimal, only a “shampoo/conditioner” combo, shower gel, and a bar of soap on Princess. No lotion. No QTips or cotton buds. And Princess had the scratchiest towels I’ve ever used. Believe it or not, I’ll be bringing my own towels from home on my next cruise.

 

Elevators, what was Princess thinking? The midship elevators are airless, cramped and inefficient. The lack of midship stairs means that even if you only need to go up one level to your stateroom, you must take an elevator or walk clear to the ends of the ship to find stairs. No contest here, Celebrity wins.

 

Free food venues, Princess wins here, with special notice of Alfredos for sit-down table service, and to International Cafe for 24 hour offerings.

 

Room service breakfast, Celebrity wins, with its hot food offerings. Princess only has continental breakfast.

 

Casino, Celebrity has no smoking ever, Princess has limited smoking sometimes. Celebrity wins.

 

Loyalty program, Celebrity wins here, too, with its laundry, cappuccino, internet, breakfast hours and cocktails hours for Elites.

 

Climate control. The Royal Princess public rooms were uncomfortably warm, even hot at times. Except for the ones that were freezing.

 

Public restrooms. Princess has no attendants and only paper towels. Celebrity’s public restrooms are much nicer, and you get a cloth towel. Celebrity wins.

 

Library. The Royal Princess library was small and not well stocked. Celebrity’s selections might be catch-as-catch-can but the space on Eclipse is large and comfortable and the variety of books is huge, also there is a leave-a-book-take-a-book area.

 

Sky Lounge. Royal Princess doesn’t have one. As a matter of fact, it lacks areas with views of the seas. No place like Cafe al Bacio, for instance. Celebrity is the clear winner here.

 

Kiosks to check your on-board account. Great idea Princess! Nothing like them on Celebrity.

 

Comfort of chairs in Public Areas -- Princess has Celebrity beat here -- the chairs in the various bars on Celebrity are too low, too deep, too hard, just basically uncomfortable. Never found an uncomfortable chair in any Princess lounge or restaurant.

 

Sommaliers in the dining room -- none on Princess. As a matter of fact, the wine list was uninspired. Wines were generally cheaper on than on Celebrity, but there was much more choice on Eclipse.

 

Sauna -- Celebrity has them, Royal Princess doesn’t

 

Level of background music -- Royal Princess was delightful, Celebrity Eclipse music was loud, with heavy beats, thump, thump, thump, sometimes unpleasant, occasionally even painful. Royal Princess clearly wins here, and this is a big one for me.

 

In-room TV -- Celebrity has more Celebrity advertising stations, but also more live stations to watch, including CNN. Princess has more on-demand stations, including shows from Food Network and HGTV, also lots of old Love Boat reruns. Tie.

 

I Lounge and Internet-- Celebrity Eclipse has a large, comfortable, well-lit room. Royal Princess internet lounge is smaller and has fewer machines. But Princess wins with its ease of logging on once you establish an account, and also for its Intranet system.

 

Buffet -- Princess has tables set with napkins and cutlery, and serves you coffee, ice water and juice, with plenty of staff to keep tables cleaned and ready for next customers. On Celebrity you have to juggle your napkin and silverware as well as your drinks and plates, and its hard to find empty, cleaned tables at peak times. Princess wins this one.

 

Public announcements -- Celebrity’s “no announcement policy” is superior. On Princess, there were announcements for art auctions and other events. Each ship had a Captain’s Daily Update and a Cruise Director’s update, but on Celebrity, that’s pretty much where it ends. Celebrity is quieter.

 

I came on Royal Princess because of Perry Grant, and I have three more cruises booked there. As long as he stays with Princess, so will I. He’s in Crooners, not a great place for him but I go where he goes, as do the other fans.

 

OH, and finally,

 

Pizza -- nuff’ said -- Princess

Waffles -- nuff’said -- Celebrity

 

Very interesting post...that's for taking the time. I don't think I have seen a comparative post like this before.