Comparing Celebrity to Princess

[dan722]

After sailing Celebrity for many cruises exclusively and having no desire to change permanently, we’re considering a partial transit of the Panama Canal on Princess. We really like the itinerary much better than what celebrity offers for the Panama Canal. We would just like to find anyone who has had any experience sailing with Princess and Celebrity on any itinerary. Is Princess better, worse, same, and how so? The sailing would be in 2017. We would appreciate any relevant information.

 

Thanks!

[Host Jazzbeau]

I can definitely recommend Princess for this route (as well as Alaska) over Celebrity. Princess "partials" go through the Atlantic locks into Gatun Lake, where you have a choice of several interesting shore excursions (we took the ferry through the rest of the Canal to the Pacific, so we had a "complete transit") or you can stay on the ship and go back through those same locks -- with Celebrity you would be forced to take a shore excursion because the port of Colon is really scary, but you can't get a complete transit. In addition, Coral Princess was designed specifically for the Panama Canal; the old Panamax standard size may no longer be relevant (it certainly made great pictures looking down at the tiny clearance on either side of the locks), but the many many outside public viewing spaces (full promenade deck plus several balconies fore and aft) are still great for the locks. Island Princess used to be a clone of Coral, but she was ruined in a recent drydock.

[El Crucero]

For our opinion comparing Princess to Celebrity, read this thread: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2290868 however not a Panama Canal transit.

[claroquesi]

Having done both I recommend Princess. Unfortunately their voyages when we are able to travel have become uninspired making us explore other lines. That said the boats and service are excellent. I have had decent times on Celebrity but I don't find the service to be exceptional. We are giving it one last try but this could be our last Celebrity trip.

[Ozzmund]

Having sailed both, we find that while we prefer Celebrity, would book another Princes cruise if the itinerary and price were to our liking.

Celebrity's smoking policy is the #1 reason we choose Celebrity over Princess.

Food is a coin toss, love the Pizza on Princess though.

We prefer Celebrity's main pools, but really enjoyed the aft pool on Princess when we could find space.

Entertainment on both has been hit or miss for us, but the Princess theaters are not as comfortable.

 

Good luck.

[Troopman5073]

My wife and I just completed a Panama Canal /South America cruise on Celebrity. Cruise, Canal and ports were fantastic. Colon tour we took was great and part of it was the view standing on the lock deck watching two freighters going through in opposite directions. Can't speak about Princess Cruises but would guess they are similar. One Princess ship followed us through the locks and we both completed the cruise in Valparaiso, Chile.

Edited January 1, 2016 by Troopman5073

[workstocruise]

We sailed the partial canal trip on the Island Princess and had a fantastic cruise.

Several years later we decided to try Celebrity and now it's our cruise line of choice, but that doesn't mean we won't sail other lines. For us the itinerary is the main reason we choose a ship.

[cynbar]

We find Celebrity and Princess to be quite similar. Some things we like a little better on one, some we like a little better on the other, but we thoroughly enjoy our cruises on both lines. If you find the itinerary you want on Princess, grab it. Plus, we find it can get a little boring to sail the same line over and over, so many things are the same from cruise to cruise--- you may enjoy some variety.

[El Crucero]

We find Celebrity and Princess to be quite similar. Some things we like a little better on one, some we like a little better on the other, but we thoroughly enjoy our cruises on both lines. If you find the itinerary you want on Princess, grab it. Plus, we find it can get a little boring to sail the same line over and over, so many things are the same from cruise to cruise--- you may enjoy some variety.

 

Good attitude and totally agree!

[KKB]

We find Celebrity and Princess to be quite similar. Some things we like a little better on one, some we like a little better on the other, but we thoroughly enjoy our cruises on both lines. If you find the itinerary you want on Princess, grab it. Plus, we find it can get a little boring to sail the same line over and over, so many things are the same from cruise to cruise--- you may enjoy some variety.

 

Princess was our first line to cruise & we have always been fans. Celebrity is our latest & we are new found fans. We find them to be more alike than different. I'd say they are tied for our 2 fav. lines overall.

 

(Allure is still our fav ship; but Adv. of the Seas is our least fav. cruise, so I'm not sure how to classify RCCL!)

[A1A]

We find Celebrity and Princess to be quite similar. Some things we like a little better on one, some we like a little better on the other, but we thoroughly enjoy our cruises on both lines. If you find the itinerary you want on Princess, grab it. Plus, we find it can get a little boring to sail the same line over and over, so many things are the same from cruise to cruise--- you may enjoy some variety.

 

Having sailed both many times (see the list below my signature), I find the response above to be exactly what my response would have been. Seeing that you exclusively sail Celebrity would also lead me to to encourage you to sail Princess. You will not be disappointed!

Cheers!

Ken

[RNCheryl]

As Host Andy said, the small Coral Princess thru the Canal is just the best fit. We, too, finished the transit of the canal. We have been from Atlantic to Pacific in the same day; how many can say that?

 

On a cruise of this duration, and with the heat/humidity year round in this area, we found it great to have self serve laundry facilities on the Princess Line. For a couple of dollars, you can have fresh, clean clothes.

 

Also like the Crooners Lounge on Princess.

 

We have also sailed Celebrity several times, and keep coming back. In fact, we currently have sailings booked on Celebrity Summit southern Caribbean and on Regal Princess Baltic. Based strictly on itinerary.

[Mytravellove]

Very interested in doing a Baltic Cruise in May 2016. Just wondering which would be a better choice....Regal Princess or Celebrity Silhouette. We have cruised on Princess several times (Platinum level) but never been on Celebrity. How similar and different are they? Both itineraries fit our goals and costs and dates are close enough to be comparable, so it comes down to which is a more comfortable ship and cruise line.

[OCruisers]

After sailing Celebrity for many cruises exclusively and having no desire to change permanently, we’re considering a partial transit of the Panama Canal on Princess. We really like the itinerary much better than what celebrity offers for the Panama Canal. We would just like to find anyone who has had any experience sailing with Princess and Celebrity on any itinerary. Is Princess better, worse, same, and how so? The sailing would be in 2017. We would appreciate any relevant information.

 

Thanks!

 

We've cruised on both. You will be totally fine taking a Princess cruise! :)

 

LuLu

[daydreamer16]

Very interested in doing a Baltic Cruise in May 2016. Just wondering which would be a better choice....Regal Princess or Celebrity Silhouette. We have cruised on Princess several times (Platinum level) but never been on Celebrity. How similar and different are they? Both itineraries fit our goals and costs and dates are close enough to be comparable, so it comes down to which is a more comfortable ship and cruise line.

 

We were exclusive Princess cruisers until we booked our Baltic cruise on the Celebrity Constellation about 5 years ago and now are big fans of Celebrity. We decided to take a chance on Celebrity since they were recommended by friends of ours. At the time the Baltic cruise on Princess left from Copenhagen for 10 days and Celebrity left from Amsterdam for 12 days and they were the same price. We were very happy with the cruise and have sailed two more times since and we have two more booked for this year.

On the longer cruise we liked having the self serve laundry on Princess and since we're Platinum we like having the internet. On Celebrity we love the welcome glass of champagne and no smoking in the casino. Both lines have good service and we always like the food. To me they are very similar and we book now by price, itinerary and perks!

[wallie5446]

After sailing Celebrity for many cruises exclusively and having no desire to change permanently, we’re considering a partial transit of the Panama Canal on Princess. We really like the itinerary much better than what celebrity offers for the Panama Canal. We would just like to find anyone who has had any experience sailing with Princess and Celebrity on any itinerary. Is Princess better, worse, same, and how so? The sailing would be in 2017. We would appreciate any relevant information.

 

Thanks!

 

Our 1st Princess cruise was in 1992, our most recent was the Ruby in 2012. We could tell their new owner was implementing changes on board, i.e. Carnival. The experience, tho not bad, was no where near the quality we get with Celebrity. If you sail without the expectation of it being like Celebrity, you should be ok. I will have a hard time getting the wife to consider Princess again in the foreseeable future.

EW

[chamima]

We have 27 cruises on Princess and about 7 on Celebrity.

We like different things on each line.

The last several years we do B2Bs with one of each.

If I judged Celebrity by one Eclipse cruise we took 2 years ago i would tell you they were the worst cruise line ever. Service was terrible everywhere. We decided to hope it was a one off and so far it seems it was.

That said, we still find the service a little more personal on Princess and a little more "corporate" on Celebrity.

 

I think the Coral Princess (which is the ship I would try to take for that itinerary) is a great ship and you would really enjoy your trip on her.

[DonRobertoSanJuan]

After two great cruises with Celebrity and two disappointing ones with Royal, we tried Princess last year, from Vancouver to Alaska. It was the most boring, uninspiring cruise ever and we felt we were too young for this senior citizens home (we are in our late sixties):D. The food and service in the MDR was worse than the buffet and the noise from the one man band in the Crooners Lounge was so loud, you could not carry a conversation. The whole experience was SABENA (Such A Bloody Experience Never Again).:eek:

[denatravels]

After two great cruises with Celebrity and two disappointing ones with Royal, we tried Princess last year, from Vancouver to Alaska. It was the most boring, uninspiring cruise ever and we felt we were too young for this senior citizens home (we are in our late sixties):D. The food and service in the MDR was worse than the buffet and the noise from the one man band in the Crooners Lounge was so loud, you could not carry a conversation. The whole experience was SABENA (Such A Bloody Experience Never Again).:eek:

 

 

Curious as to what month you took your Alaska cruise, what the itinerary was, and whether you've previously been there.

Edited January 3, 2016 by denatravels

[DonRobertoSanJuan]

Curious as to what month you took your Alaska cruise, what the itinerary was, and whether you've previously been there.

 

We were on the Coral, departing wonderful Vancouver on June 24, going to Whittier, via Ketchikan, Juneau and Skagway. We had been to Anchorage and Whittier before, taking the 26 glacier cruise and going to Denali.

 

It was so bad, we were complete alcoholics at the end of the cruise (also because of the unlimited drink package).:D

[dan722]

Thanks for all of your replies! It seems the vast majority think that sailing with Princess will be somewhat similar to Celebrity. If this itinerary were offered by Celebrity we would book it in a minute. We’ll probably do the princess one after hearing the pretty much positive replies.

 

Thanks again, Dan

[UpcountryTravelers]

Thanks for all of your replies! It seems the vast majority think that sailing with Princess will be somewhat similar to Celebrity. If this itinerary were offered by Celebrity we would book it in a minute. We’ll probably do the princess one after hearing the pretty much positive replies.

 

Thanks again, Dan

 

We've done both Celebrity and Princess. While Princess remains our favorite we have (as you can see below) booked another Celebrity based on our WONDERFUL cruise on the Reflection. (OK...... NO during Mardi Gras was a major drawing point). We find them to be very similar, while Celebrity is more contemporary in design, and Princess is more nautical in design. Food and service are VERY similar. All a matter of taste.

 

Our best cruises have been the 2 Coral Princess to Alaska, followed by the Mediterranean on the Regal and UK on the Ocean. Coral is a favorite, both due to food and amenities.

 

Of course we have never had a bad cruise on any of the 4 lines we have used. We WILL do more Celebrity in the future, simply because we will broaden our horizons.

Edited January 4, 2016 by UpcountryTravelers

[GUT2407]

In my opinion, you will find as much difference between two ships from the one line as you will between two ships, one Celebrity the other Princess.

[NOSaints1]

Who would you say as a better loyalty program?

[GUT2407]

Who would you say as a better loyalty program?

 

It will depend what matters to you.

 

Personally I'd much rather a discount or OBC, than the rubbish they give now.