An Elite Princess tries to be a Celebrity

[baronessk]

Not Elite yet, but close. I only state that to validate my multiple Princess cruises as they are my favorite cruise line. I am just back from my first Celebrity cruise (to Alaska) as my bff won the cruise and invited me to join her, as she knows I LOVE cruising.

 

We sailed on Infinity, we knew to be an older ship, and had the extra large (like double sized) OV cabin at the very front overlooking the heli-pad. My first impression on the wardrobe area was that it is about 1/3rd less space than Princess. I was not wowed by the shower size that other posters have mentioned, but usually am in a MS on P.

 

My overall impression of the ship was "who in the hell decorated this ship"??? Orange, green, horrible artwork! There are doll type figurines encased in plexi-glass on each stair case landing that resemble star wars figurines. We commented on them to each other one day and even a crew member (fairly high up) stopped and agreed with us! And the "grand staircase/piazza/atrium" was the most underwhelming I have ever seen on any ship! The balloon drop was pitiful.

 

I agree with the OP on the buffet. But it's very deceiving. Those cooked to order stations were a cluster * and 1 person making 1 PAX's order at a time took a ridiculous amount of time. I don't think my friend and I ever ate together as one was always finished by the time the other's pizza, steak, eggs, etc. were ready, after standing in line 10-15 mins! I thought the taste of the food was good overall. It was just disorganized! One of the mornings we ate breakfast in the MDR, they had forgotten to put the hand sanitizer station out until I asked where it was!!!! I DID like the burger bar...ate their twice, and if they would have given me a thoroughly cooked, no pink inside burger, I would have been disappointed!

 

We loved sitting in the Constellation lounge at the front and just taking in the scenery and looking for whales, etc. But then they would use the same lounge to do a FISH cooking demo and the smell chased us out! In the mean time there was a VERY dark large lounge near the MDR's that was never utilized for anything and would have been the perfect place for their demo and other annoying games.

 

As for the piped in MUZAK, we found it annoying. The Naturalists encouraged everyone to get outside when we got to the glaciers and "listen for the booms and the cracking". As soon as the Naturalist stopped speaking, THAT DAMN MUZAK started playing over the speakers and you couldn't hear anything from Mother Nature!

 

We did not experience any "selling" as did the OP. We had the entry level all inclusive drinks package and one bartender on the first day asked if we wanted to upgrade, which we did not, and we never heard about it again.

 

So, what did I like? LOVED, loved, loved the Thalassotherapy pool area!!! Spent a lot of time there and it was just beautiful. Loved that you could get a CAN of Diet coke and stock your frig back in your cabin. LOVED the majority Indonesian crew. I used to live in Bali and was able to speak to many of them in their own language which they appreciated and find out where they lived and they would ask where I had lived, how long, etc.

 

Liked the Martini bar (even tho I am not a Martini drinker per se) and the iced bar. It was also a great place for whale spotting in the late evenings as it stayed light out for so long, as well as the Tea room, which we enjoyed.

 

Our cabin steward was great (not from Indo.) and cabin service was flawless. I found their embarkation flawless and the disembarkation was running ahead of schedule which I never find to be the case with P at Port Everglades.

 

Overall, I'm glad I tried X, I'm even happier it was a discounted trip. Even tho we won the cruise we still had flights from the East Coast, Hotels, etc. I'm happiest that I still have two more Princess cruises booked this year! As for Alaska, it rained 5 out of 7 days. I was not all that impressed, but have already promised my 86 y/o DM to take her next year for a bucket list cruise. I've decided Vancouver is out and we'll do the R/T from Seattle. Working on getting to Elite and enjoying the ride!!! Hope this helps others with their comparison.

[Cruise Raider]

We've sailed on both lines extensively and have actually been on the Crown and the Equinox several times for each. While we really like Princess a lot, we absolutely love love love Celebrity. No attacks on those that like Princess better, but all in all, Celebrity just seems to spoil us much more than Princess ever has. But, that is based on our experiences and ours alone.

 

I do realize that once onboard on Celebrity, everything is just more expensive. But, they also offer such great perks when booking that for us, it's actually ends up being less expensive if we were to get the same on Princess. And, I actually really love most of the food on Princess but here again, I think Celebrity is a notch above. Why do I still book so many cruises on Princess, then?? I love that Princess has kept ships available for us on the west coast, namely those out of San Francisco.

 

Of the things I love of each line:

- Itineraries - Princess (as above) but love the overnights in port offered by Celebrity

 

- Ships - Celebrity, hands down but haven't sailed on the Royal class as of yet but do have one booked so may revise that in a couple of years. The best maintained and most beautiful ship on which I have sailed was on RCCL. I love the lawn area on the S-class ships where they host wine&cheese sail away parties with live music. Wow ... not too much can beat that!! I also like the hot glass show they have on Celebrity, every one of them is different than the last one.

Princess does get an extra point for the Sanctuary, though.

 

- Food - again, Celebrity for me. Specialty dining restaurants are offered at discounts and packages are available but are definitely much more expensive if you pay full price. The best pizza, though, is on Princess. The pub lunch on Princess is also a winner .. especially the second one.

I love that in the buffet, Princess has grilled vegetables available for breakfast. But, no turkey sausage to be found, whereas it is plentiful on Celebrity. I love the cook to order stations for pastas and stir fry on Celebrity. But, I actually was in line at the stir fry station and this lady was complaining how all the food was 'rubbish' .. so that just proves that food is quite subjective! I called it excellent, she called it rubbish ... same food, mind you!

 

- Cabins - Celebrity. Each cabin has at least a mini sofa if not a full sized sofa. And for the balconies, I just hate that blue matting that Princess uses. It is nothing but a filth collector. The closets are much better on Princess, though.

The bathrooms on Celebrity win hands down ...from their storage, to their shower doors and automatic nightlight, etc.

Have not yet had the pleasure of sleeping on the new Princess mattresses but think they will win that race. Love the pillow menu we've gotten on Celebrity.

 

- Room service - Princess all the way here!! I like how they even have a slip to sign so you can add a tip. Plus, their orders are delivered in a timely manner and are usually accurate. We've not been so lucky on Celebrity so never bother anymore.

 

- Casinos - slight edge goes to Celebrity only because they are constantly having free events such as tournaments, raffles, etc. Machines have paid off better on Princess for us, though.

 

- Captains Club / Captains Circle Host - Celebrity wins out here. Even though I have nearly twice as many sailings on Princess as I do on Celebrity, I doubt if we've ever had the Captains Club Hostess even say hi to us on Princess. The Hostess on our Celebrity cruises always makes a concerted effort to meet and know everyone that attends the elite+ events by name. And, they have never failed to send special invitations or goodies to the room for us since attaining our elite status.

 

Entertainment - probably Princess for this one. I do like the venues for entertainment on Celebrity much more, though. On Princess, if you don't go an hour ahead to get seats for some shows or events, oftentimes you are skunked out.

 

Pools - the indoor pools are so much nicer and more relaxing on Celebrity as they are adults only with limited hours for families to join in. The last time on Princess, the adult pool had no water in it the entire sailing. Also, hot tubs on Princess are usually cold to lukewarm with very weak jets / bubbles ... if, in fact, they don't have a netting over them.

The outdoor pools with MUTS on Princess is a winner in my book, though. And, the popcorn served at night at the movies, the milk and cookies that come around in the afternoon ... ahhhh... so awesome. On hot cruises, I like when Celebrity comes around with their little cups of sorbet, though, too.

 

Room stewards - we've had poor to beyond excellent on Princess. We've never had a bad room steward on Celebrity.

 

Embarkation and disembarkation ... had both good and bad experiences on both. I do love the Bon Voyage Experience on Princess, though. Such a great idea so guess this one goes to Princess.

 

Cabin categories - ahhhh, I would say Celebrity wins. Without spending an arm and a leg, you can book Aqua Class for a deck with cabins for two only, Blu, access to the Persian Gardens and relaxation room, etc. I believe Princess is attempting to imitate this with their new Club Class categories. Haven't tried that as of yet, though so may revise this later down the road.

 

Spa services -- Princess for this one. At these their port specials are discounted. I've even had a poolside massage for a decent price on Princess.

 

Martini bar -- I would say Crooner's on Princess wins this one. I love those piano players that engage the crowd.

 

Coffee bar - Celebrity wins hands down. I just don't like the coffee on Princess, even those from the international cafe. I do like that the IC has food other than sweets offered during the day, whereas Cafe Al Bacio only seems to carry sweets all day.

 

Wine bar -- it's a tie but some of the Celebrity ships have replaced their wine bar with the Gastro Bar, which we don't like as much so guess this one goes to Princess. We do like that they still have sommeliers on Celebrity, though ... so that one goes to them.

 

Pricing -- It's a tie as we've gotten some screaming deals on both but I do like that Princess has so much more flexibilty with stacking their promotions and future cruise credits. Celebrity has discounted cruises based on your play in land based casinos (as well as onboard play) whereas Princess has discounts based on your play onboard. Decent savings can be had with either.

 

So, probably missed quite a bit here and there ... and always, different strokes for different folks applies. We are all just so lucky to have had the opportunity to compare and contrast and what is the best fit for us. Cheers!!

[floridalover5623]

I suppose you're right. I would just like to hear a "of course" or "certainly" like I do on other lines when we say "table for two."

I just gave up & answer them when questioned.

I even got to know one hostess by name at the desk & would say hello my name each night.

It didn't make any difference.

She still asked the same old question each evening. :D

I think it's just a programmed reaction. ;)

[mek]

We did the MSC Divina. It is a gorgeous ship with many positives. Entertainment was excellent from an afternoon opera performance to big shows. Shopping easily far better than most with a liquor store that compared with St Thomas in price and choices; high level shops. Problem was food and dining service which had not acclimated to US market. Balcony stateroom we had the included shower and separate tub and it was not high category.

We are elite on Princess and love it and 3 star on HAL. We stopped doing HAL because there was little to do. A couple we introduced to cruising on HAL said they weren't interested in cruising if others were as "dead" as the Eurodam was.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

 

That's so funny about Eurodam - we felt the same way after our December 2016 Caribbean Eurodam cruise. We've sailed on HAL in the past and know their ships are low keyed, but after that one, I was really ready to take a break from cruising for a while and really didn't intend on taking any this year and then we took a spur of the moment cruise on Equinox three weeks ago and had a really great time.

 

I will probably stay away from HAL but they have the best price on a South American cruise that we would like to take next year. Princess is our overall favorite line, but their price for this itinerary is considerably more than HAL.

[Thrak]

I appreciate the honest review. It likely won't matter to us as I am a confirmed "pretty, pretty Princess". It just feels "right" to me.

[kendon]

Completely agree with the above poster..."who decorated the Celebrity ships"? The artwork is quite bizarre. Princess has a more clubby and nautical feel, which is right for us. I'm on a ship and I want to feel like I'm on a ship.

[Lucky TGO]

Thanks for sharing.

Tony

[lovevacadays]

OP thank you for your review. It is very informative. I have really enjoyed reading this thread. I love all the comparisons. :):)

[GUT2407]

We like them both.

 

Because we are in Australia Princess has been our preference for a few reasons...

 

1. Prices are in Aus$ whereas celebrity are in US$ and then costson board are similar for most things so that means we pay about 30% more on Celebrity for drinks etc

 

2. Princesshave ships here year round, Celebrity only for half the year, and usually only the one ship.

 

3. Till this year there were added gratuities on Celebrity not on Princess, so if price is the same (and there not usually a lot of difference) on a 10 day cruise we end up paying $US 270 extra and that comes out to about $AU350. ILL be watching Celebrity pricing now they are not charging daily gratuities on cruises here.

[4cats4me]

BaronessK, the Infinity's horrible artwork has never left my mind, and it's been 16 years. One of their special pieces of art hangs in a stairwell, affectionately known as the potato art. It is old potatoes which sprouted and are bronzed or sprayed with some metallic paint and enclosed in a showcase. Quite a conversation piece for all.

[villauk]

We're in the opposite boat to you :D. We've just booked a Princess cruise for next year having sailed mostly X. Thanks for your review as it gives us balanced insights in to the differences between the lines. We're bound to compare - it's only human nature ;).

 

We have previously cruised once with Princess, a good few years ago, and were underwhelmed with the experience at that time. So, we've decided to give her another try - after all, changes do happen over time and we're at a stage when we feel we need to vary our experiences. It also helps that Princess is offering an alternative embarkation port and a longer itinerary. All lines have their good and bad points; it's just finding one that suits you best at that particular time in your life - that's the key ;).

 

It will be interesting to see if we are converted. We're going in with an open mind and any day cruising is better than being at work ;p.

 

Thanks again.