Is Princess becoming the new X?

[teecee60]

 

Best entertainment.....on Princess? That's when you know those awards aren't accurate.

 

Just off a 15 night Star Princess to Hawaii cruise and the entertainment was thoroughly enjoyable! :)

 

 

That is a subjective comment, but hardly definitive.

 

Again my opinion is subjective and hardly definitive.

 

Again subjective.

 

 

Just like opinions/comments on door decorations. :eek: :D :rolleyes:

Edited December 31, 2016 by teecee60

[jagoffee]

In general, yes, I do agree. But best overall? No freakn' way. RCI's entertainment blows away that of both Celebrity and Princess.

 

I concur.

[El Crucero]

Just like opinions/comments on door decorations.

 

Yep, thoroughly tacky.

[El Crucero]

But Princess still does use pre-recorded sound tracks for most of their production shows...just like Celebrity and HAL.

 

Every Celebrity cruise I have been on, both M and S class, have had live bands for their stage shows and 8 to 10 cast members. In fact, last September, I shared a cab with the band members into Hilo. We had a nice chat. They are not Celebrity employees. They contract with a booking company for a specific period of time.

[Rob the Cruiser]

Yeah, we do hear ya. Tis the secret of a long and happy marriage.

 

Hank

 

Correct but it is our job to have the last word:

 

"Yes, Dear"

 

- or -

 

"Whatever you say, Dear."

 

This has served me well for over 34 years and counting!

[sippican]

Going in being ok with 'Half as much' you should be safe.;) it will be on par with your Carnival experience's

 

If only the Princess cruise cost half-as much!!!!!

Don't even suggest it will be on par with Carnival. Thinking our 1st Carnival experience was a fluke, we gave them a 2nd chance, it was worse the 2nd time around! :eek: (We are not big DCL fans either, which completely shocks some.)

We re not super picky, so will go with an open mind.

Edited December 31, 2016 by sippican

[HS2BS]

We are very frequent (retired) cruisers on both lines, elite on Princess and elite plus on Celebrity. All of the prior post have valid comparisons and personal opinions also. This year(2016) we did 14 days on Eclipse in Aqua, 28 days (south Pacific) on the Crown and two weeks ago on the Silhouette, oh, and one for the grandkids on RCCL for another seven.

There have been transatlantics on both lines, east and west, b2bs and ship changes for extended cruises.

There is no such thing as a bad cruise, but there is an old saying "when man ceases to grieve he ceases to exist". Do I complain - yes and then continue to cruise on both lines because there is nothing that compares to a cruise. February b2b Aqua on Equinox 21 days 2017, May 2017 Equinox 11 day not Aqua because the menu never changes.

So be happy that you have experienced the ability to make comparisons and the health to enjoy whichever.

 

Happy New Year, safe travels and enjoyment

 

Hal

[jagoffee]

Every Celebrity cruise I have been on, both M and S class, have had live bands for their stage shows and 8 to 10 cast members. In fact, last September, I shared a cab with the band members into Hilo. We had a nice chat. They are not Celebrity employees. They contract with a booking company for a specific period of time.

Actually I believe some of the newer production shows do not have a live orchestra. When was your last Celebrity cruise?

Edited December 31, 2016 by jagoffee

[ChucktownSteve]

Every Celebrity cruise I have been on, both M and S class, have had live bands for their stage shows and 8 to 10 cast members. In fact, last September, I shared a cab with the band members into Hilo. We had a nice chat. They are not Celebrity employees. They contract with a booking company for a specific period of time.

 

There you go again spouting things that are currently totally wrong but acting as if you know everything. Celebrity took the shows in house. They hire individual performers to form the group which stays together for the entire eight month contract. On the Equinox earlier this month there were 17 performers in the group. they are a combination of singers, dancers and aerialists.

 

They train for three months in Miami as a troupe and then go on the ship. They have a couple of days at the beginning of their ship transfer to work through blocking and work on getting the shows rehearsed on board for performance every two days at first. If one performer gets sick or injured, they alter the performance to accommodate the reduced performance of that entertainer or replace them with another cast member. Everyone is an understudy for the other performers so the show can go on. If seas are rough, they do alter the show to make it safer such as lower heal shoes or changing the aerialist's program.

 

Unlike the show performing troupe, the musicians around the ship are hired individually and put together by Miami. Even though they are given generic performing names, they are individual performers who have their own contract. They are continually replaced one person at a time but the group name remains the same.

 

We were told that Miami does read all the comment cards regarding the entertainment. They do alter or cancel shows if there are enough negative comments. They mentioned one show in particular which had a short run but I don't remember the name.

 

If you bothered to take the free back stage tour you would have known this as well. Your info is outdated.

Edited December 31, 2016 by ChucktownSteve

[Hlitner]

Every Celebrity cruise I have been on, both M and S class, have had live bands for their stage shows and 8 to 10 cast members. In fact, last September, I shared a cab with the band members into Hilo. We had a nice chat. They are not Celebrity employees. They contract with a booking company for a specific period of time.

 

Not sure when you last cruised but it is no longer the case. The main Production shows have all their sound tracks laid down stateside. In fact, once the sound person starts the recording, it runs uninterrupted until the end of the show. The cast generally consists of 4 singers (sometimes we have had 5 because of contract overlap) and a number of dancers (varies depending on the size of the ship. The prerecorded shows are the new standard...and we have experienced similar with both Princess and HAL in the past year.

 

Sometimes there will be show with the ship's cast, which is primarily based on the singers (this is not a big time song/dance production show). For those shows they will usually use the ship's band and we have even seen that supplemented with some other contracted onboard musicians. This is also the same on most other mass market lines when they do this type of simple show that showcases the singers.

 

You are correct that the cast are contract employees....but the truth is that just about everyone who serves passengers (cabin stewards, waiters, etc) are on contracts. And quite a few onboard employees work for third party companies...such as the photo folks, spa staff, hair dressers, shop employees, shore excursion folks, etc. In fact some cruise lines even use outside catering companies to provide much of the food related staff. Apollo Catering, for many years, was known for staffing several major cruise lines.

 

To a great degree the "big" production shows are sophisticated Karaoke. Since the sound tracks are prerecorded, the singers and dancers have to pace themselves with the music...with no ability to have modifications...as you can get with a live band.

 

Hank

Edited December 31, 2016 by Hlitner

[beltane]

As you will see in my signature, Hubs and I have only done one Princess cruise. It was relaxing but was a tad too quiet for our preferences right now. I had an inkling we were in trouble the first breakfast at sea in the MDR when everyone else at our large table (and I'm not kidding) plopped their weekly pill dispenser packs on the table as soon as they sat down and proceeded to discuss what medications they were presently on. This cruise happened over Valentine's Day and their "big event" in the main nightclub had been advertised all week. We headed up around 11 p.m. that night and the place was near empty. Seriously. I counted 8 people in the whole place! I found that every night around 9 p.m. when I would head to our cabin to change from heels to flats, you could shoot off a cannon from one end of the hallway to the other and not hit a single soul. All the doors had their "do not disturb" signs and their morning room service menus hanging on the doorknobs! It certainly was a relaxing cruise, good food, but just a tad too quiet for our liking right now. We aren't party animals, but my goodness that Princess cruise was a sleeper! I'm not ruling it out when we are in our 70s, but we're not ready for another cruise like that for a while yet.

 

For now Celebrity is our perfect fit. Good food. Love the drink packages. Love the music. Not a lot of pushy "selling" while on board. Always seem to find a lounger around the pool. We are still happy with Celebrity for now...

[Duanerice1]

Recently cruised for 10 nights on the Eclipse. Fabulous cruise. I don't understand how anyone can complain about the service. We had great service. The cabin steward, although not talkative at all, did his job and fulfilled our minor requests quickly.

 

But, I've never taken a cruise that I didn't like. Celebrity is our favorite but I've had great cruises on RCCL, NCL and Carnival. We've never had bad food or bad service. Yea, I might not like something on the menu but overall the food was fine on all my cruises.

 

I think all these cruise lines are much closer than they used to be and I wouldn't hesitate to sail any of them.

 

I'd really like to sail Disney one time but can't pull the trigger since I get so much more for my money on the other lines. Someday I will :)

 

I'm not a suite person so I am for the most part comparing normal cabins.

[Lastdance]

if you look for the good, you will find it; however, if you look for the bad and ugly, you will find that too. Those who are most resilient will enjoy life the most IMHO. if something is not up to par, do something about it and make it better, especially if it is that important to you!:cool:

[sippican]

Not sure when you last cruised but it is no longer the case. The main Production shows have all their sound tracks laid down stateside. In fact, once the sound person starts the recording, it runs uninterrupted until the end of the show. The cast generally consists of 4 singers (sometimes we have had 5 because of contract overlap) and a number of dancers (varies depending on the size of the ship. The prerecorded shows are the new standard...and we have experienced similar with both Princess and HAL in the past year.

 

To a great degree the "big" production shows are sophisticated Karaoke. Since the sound tracks are prerecorded, the singers and dancers have to pace themselves with the music...with no ability to have modifications...as you can get with a live band.

 

Hank

 

We did sail very recently (November) and there was a brand new production show onboard - Pearl, along with two other production shows. There were more than 4 singers involved in the four shows.

I can say without a doubt that the music was live.

[jagoffee]

We did sail very recently (November) and there was a brand new production show onboard - Pearl, along with two other production shows. There were more than 4 singers involved in the four shows.

I can say without a doubt that the music was live.

 

You were on the Silhouette TA? We were on the Reflection TA.

 

Just to confirm what you are saying all the production shows on the Silhouette had a live band/orchestra? Interesting because this was not rue on the Reflection. I will pay very close attention on my upcoming Eclipse cruise if I go to the shows.

 

I am not complaining about the change n some of the production shows because it was no big deal. I am just surprised that the new Production shows on the Silhouette are different in this regard.

[Mynki]

Wow, great points on both sides..... Glad to hear that the Ruby was one of someone's favorite ship...... ;)

 

Remember that cruise critic members represent just a small percentage of those who sail on a line.

 

I'd take a look at pricing and how many cabins are available just before sail date.

 

From what I can see prices are on the increase yet the ships are sailing full. That speaks volumes compared to a few posts on a forum IMHO. :)

 

Another thing to bear in mind is that the suite class experience on X is different to a regular cabin experience. What cabins are you looking at?

[Woodinville]

I would agree with the observation that Princess is moving up ...

We just stepped off the Ruby Princess and had what we describe as one of the best overall experiences ... and .. as seen from our signature, we are Holland America fans ...

 

I've not tried Celebrity ... but Princess exceeded our best Holland experience during the 22-30 December Ruby Princess cruise.

 

Enjoy the New Year ...

[klfhngr]

Remember that cruise critic members represent just a small percentage of those who sail on a line.

 

I'd take a look at pricing and how many cabins are available just before sail date.

 

From what I can see prices are on the increase yet the ships are sailing full. That speaks volumes compared to a few posts on a forum IMHO. :)

 

Another thing to bear in mind is that the suite class experience on X is different to a regular cabin experience. What cabins are you looking at?

 

C Class on X and a balcony on Princess... Not picky but happy with a balcony.

[klfhngr]

Someone made a great point: Most of these cruise lines are closer in comparison than further apart, i.e., in the past there seemed to be more of gap in class, low end to high end. Now, these lines seem to be in par to one another... hope that makes sense.

[Mynki]

C Class on X and a balcony on Princess... Not picky but happy with a balcony.

 

I'll be honest with you I'm not completely comfortable writing this because I run the risk of being misunderstood and coming across as snobbish which is absolutely not my intention.

 

But in concierge class and below you're never going to see the best of Celebrity. I don't recall reading any negative posts about Michael's Club other than it being a little less exclusive these days and the vast majority of comments relating to Luminae and even Blu are very positive.

 

I appreciate that to do a fair comparison you need to compare similar staterooms between the lines, but I'm not sure how valuable an opinion of an entire cruise line is without having first hand experience of the best they have to offer is. I really hope that makes sense!!! :)

[ChucktownSteve]

I'll be honest with you I'm not completely comfortable writing this because I run the risk of being misunderstood and coming across as snobbish which is absolutely not my intention.

 

But in concierge class and below you're never going to see the best of Celebrity. I don't recall reading any negative posts about Michael's Club other than it being a little less exclusive these days and the vast majority of comments relating to Luminae and even Blu are very positive.

 

I appreciate that to do a fair comparison you need to compare similar staterooms between the lines, but I'm not sure how valuable an opinion of an entire cruise line is without having first hand experience of the best they have to offer is. I really hope that makes sense!!! :)

 

That makes total sense. Even within the same cruise line, experience will differ based upon ship to ship or even same ship but crew contract to contract.

[mafig]

I'll be honest with you I'm not completely comfortable writing this because I run the risk of being misunderstood and coming across as snobbish which is absolutely not my intention.

 

But in concierge class and below you're never going to see the best of Celebrity. I don't recall reading any negative posts about Michael's Club other than it being a little less exclusive these days and the vast majority of comments relating to Luminae and even Blu are very positive.

 

I appreciate that to do a fair comparison you need to compare similar staterooms between the lines, but I'm not sure how valuable an opinion of an entire cruise line is without having first hand experience of the best they have to offer is. I really hope that makes sense!!! :)

 

Didn't used to be so, unfortunately. Before Lumina (and to a lesser degree Blu) you could experience the best of Celebrity in a Concierge or below cabin.

 

I'm not going to fight them, but join them. If I cruise X again, it will be in a suite (if the one I'm looking at ever goes down at least a little in price) or at least Aqua.;)

[Christine Frances]

Yes, the cabin assistants have been eliminated but the number of cabins each cabin attendant has to clean has been significantly reduced. On our recent cruise our guy had only 11 cabins. As a result, service has improved.

 

Have people been complaining about this?

 

Totally agree. Our steward on the Silhouette was really pleased with the change. He could attend to his assigned cabins and make sure they were up to his standards. He did not have to go back and check on the world the ass't did and was able to manage his time better. . Our rooms were perfect every day..

[UpcountryTravelers]

Agree that Princess theaters are a weak point. They are too small for the ships & unless you arrive early, seating is a problem, as well as finding a place to put your drinks. Nothing beats thr M class theaters with their coctail tsbles & ample room to enter/exit rows without disturbing others.

 

....

 

That is true ONLY on Royal and Regal. Flip out tables at every seat on all the others, and more room. That is one of our main disappointments on the new Royal Class Princess ships.

[Christine Frances]

Have not sailed Princess but really don't want to because:

 

1) Syrup coffee in the Buffet!!! really? Mgmt decision to force everyone to buy a coffee card.

 

2) Smoking in the Casino:( But I guess they make the stnch stay in the Casino.

 

3) Pay to use the "Adult Only" area on the ship What??

 

4) No live music in the Theatre

 

5) Small that re, short shows, and you have to get there a half an hour at least to get a seat.

 

6) Blue plastic on balcony decks. Yuck

 

7) Except for the Royal class, 1980's Florida condo decor

 

8) Royal class has istsy bitsy balconies

 

 

I know Princess followers don't care so much about these points but they are important to us.