Comparing our 2017 Celebrity and Princess Cruises

[14ersco]

Comparing our Celebrity and Princess Cruises

 

After cruising with both Celebrity and Princess within four months of each other this is our families experience on both cruise lines and comparisons of which cruise line fits best for us, at this time. Our cruise choices are based on the itinerary and destinations of the cruises. We cruised on the Star Princess in August 2017; on the southbound Alaska route from Whittier to Vancouver, BC. Our Celebrity Infinity cruise was in December 2017 around Cape Horn from Buenos Aries, Argentina to San Antonio, Chile. We had chosen Princess for Alaska due to the Star visiting both Hubbard Glacier and Glacier Bay National Park. And Celebrity had the sailing date that worked best with our schedule.

 

We have previously cruised with Celebrity on two Solstice class ships and knew that we would be going on an older ship with less amenities. Also we were curious to find out if the cuts mentioned on Cruise Critic that LLP was doing to Celebrity was going to be apparent. For Princess this was our first cruise with them, and for our sailing we had onboard a Hotel Director that was announced as having 47 years of experience with Princess and who had brought out many of Princess’ ships and trained many of the other HD’s. This HD did not set a good impression of Princess or their staff training.

 

So our Celebrity and Princess experience and comparison:

 

 

Ship’s Captain: First a shout out to Princess Captain Tuvo (Bye-Bye). He has been the best cruise line Captain we have met on any line; though we have not yet met Captain Kate. Captain Tuvo seemed to be everywhere out in public, always with a smile, and willing to help. He even tried to straighten out the hassle and mess the HD did with our dining experience. Captain Tuvo also wanted to make sure his passengers got to see all of Alaska that was on the cruise itinerary description. He lingered in Glacier Bay to view the wildlife and slowly sailed on through thick fog to find a gap of clear skies in front of Hubbard Glacier.

 

Favorite Ship’s Captain: Princess

 

 

Ship’s Leadership: On the Star we had friends who had a higher category cabin than ours and they could dine anytime in their own dining area. We had anytime dining in the main dining room. Prior to our cruise both of us had each called Princess to link our reservations, had gotten assurance that we could dine together anytime in the main dining room, and that this request would be forwarded to the ship. Once onboard we attempted to verify our dining request with the Maitre’d and Guest Relations. They both said that Princess had not sent our request, that Princess would never allow such a request, and that we must not be telling the truth about such a request. The HD also stepped in and said basically the same thing; that the customer was not right. For the next few days we went back and forth, in-person and over the phone, with the HD, Maitre’d, and Guest Relations as they shuffled us among different dining venues and denied us access to the main dining room we had been assigned. Suddenly, after about half the cruise was completed a table became available for all of us in the main anytime dining room, that was our table for the rest of the cruise.

 

On the Infinity we were on the Holiday cruise where many large multi-generational family groups from Mexico and South American countries were onboard. We had previously been on a Holiday cruise with Celebrity in Australia and New Zealand which also had large multi-generational Mexican family groups onboard and never had any of the issues with those groups as was experienced on the Infinity. On our Infinity cruise these self-entitled groups took over the ship. Smokers used any and all outside decks; all ages used the adult pool; all ages ran the hallways and used the stairs as places to eat and play. Food and plates were hidden behind the artwork and chucked down the elevator shaft. These groups also had no respect for older passengers by creating disturbances in what should be the quieter areas like the café, computer room,and library. We usually avoid most of these groups, except in passing, by using public areas in the morning hours. Also these groups seemed to be mainly on the decks with the suites and upper category cabins. For those of us with cabins at the bottom of the ship it was usually quiet. Plus the indoor bars were quiet until late afternoon. Throughout the cruise we saw little of the Infinity’s leaders, usually just an evening walk-through, and only a minor amount of effort by these leaders to stop disturbances and rules infractions. About 10 days in to the cruise men with gold badges appeared in public areas, but we never saw much interaction between them and the unruly passengers.

 

Favorite Ship’s Leadership: Neither

 

 

Cruise Ship and Cabin: The Star and Infinity are comparable in size, passenger capacity, and age. At the time of our cruises both ships were approaching their next visit to dry-dock so we knew there were to be wear-and-tear issues. We noticed Infinity workers were keeping up with maintenance of the public areas, but on the Star items like handrails and walls were left unrepaired. We had an oceanview cabin on the Infinity and an aft balcony on the Star. Even with this vast difference in cabin categories the Infinity was a more pleasing and functional cabin. The Infinity had a bathroom cabinet vs. wire shelves on the Star. There was a clothes closet with multi-level shelves and drawers on the Infinity vs. open shelves on the Star. Both ships did have a shower curtains, though we know from our previous Celebrity cruises that if you had a balcony there would be glass doors on the shower. The TV in the Star was an old relic and a flat screen on the Infinity. The Infinity also had a usable desk and more storage space.

 

Favorite Ship and Cabin: Celebrity

 

 

Bars and Drink Packages: For both of these cruises we were provided the mid-level drink package. For the Star standardized drink menus were placed prominently in each bar. On the Infinity a few unique menus could usually be located or requested in the bars. Also on the Infinity not all drinks or liquors listed on a bars menu were available or could be made. Plus we noticed that since our last Celebrity cruise that many drinks and liquors were moved above the price limit; many of these same drinks or liquors were still available on the Star. Celebrity also removed canned soda off the package and the bartenders would usually try to give you opened flat warm soda. The bartenders on the Infinity also cheapened drinks by using lower-level liquors in drinks even when the called-for correct liquor was in our package. It was a hassle to specify the ingredients and watch them make the drinks to insure that they did not cut corners or use previously opened sodas.

 

Favorite Bar and Drink Package: Princess

 

 

Dining and Food: For the buffets on both ships the layout was older and didn’t include islands. On the Infinity the food areas are stretched along the edge of the kitchen with direct access along the walkways whereas on the Star the food areas were behind walls with carousel lines to reach the food. So you had to walk the length of the kitchen on the Infinity to find all of the food serving areas, but you could at least pop in to get an item without a wait. For the Star you had to queue up even to get one item and on our cruise the queue at times reached 30 plus people. It seemed appropriate to have a queue and carousal line on the Star because the buffet food was as bland and unappetizing as any found at an amusement park. Many of the items were also cold and either dried out or dripping meat juices. This was the first cruise buffet where walked away from plates of food.

 

In the main dining room Celebrity still offers a wine steward and we let Komany choose our wine, which he did splendidly. Our dining team on the Infinity, Edgar and Anwa, worked together seamlessly. For the Star the head waiter was still training the assistant waiter while trying to serve the meals. Also the Star assistant waiters were in charge of the drinks though they had no clue about what wines were offered or what would pair with the meal we had chosen. For the Infinity there were more entrée choices every evening and a larger everyday menu. Edgar knew how the entrees were prepared and would provide recommendations. On the Star the head waiter spent his time training the assistant. Our friend’s meal on the last night sums up the service and food quality on the Star. Our friend ordered the meatloaf and first appearances it seemed to be a nice entrée, but when he cut into the middle it was raw hamburger. When our friend showed the raw meat to the waiter the waiters reply was that was how meatloaf was served by Princess.

 

There were only two food venues where Princess stands out above Celebrity; Tea Time and the Ultimate Balcony dinner. On the Star afternoon tea was served in the main dining room with all of the usual sandwiches and desserts. The Infinity would switch out a sign on part of the buffet for tea time and place a selection of foods; no special teas just the usual tea in the beverage areas. We had the Ultimate Balcony dinner for our evening traveling south from Juneau through the Inside Passage. Our head waiter worked with us to choose our menu and plan the evening. This was our only great meal on the Star. If Princess put as much care into food prep and serving for their main dining venues as for our balcony dinner I might not have lost weight on this cruise; which has never happened on any previous cruise or cruise line.

 

Favorite Dining and Food: Celebrity

 

 

Conclusion:

So after cruising on the Star Princess and Celebrity Infinity in 2017 our favorite line is still Celebrity; though with the LLP cuts Celebrity is starting to slip in providing a good customer experience. Princess did provide a better bar experience, but with the ship leadership’s attitude that Princess is always right and not the customer; plus the unappetizing food and challenge to find safe, edible food we will not be sailing on Princess anytime soon. Though as I said in the beginning our family’s cruises are destination driven and if there is an unique sailing that only Princess offers we might once again consider Princess.

 

Overall Cruise Line Favorite: Celebrity

Edited February 9, 2018 by 14ersco

[FamilyMooner]

Thanks for sharing your experiences and perspective. I have one cruise on Royal Caribbean and two on Celebrity (both on 'S' class ships). I am curious about the Princess and Holland America products. I really like the service, food, and cabin layout on Celebrity but have found the evening entertainment options to be limited and fairly sedate...

[Clarea]

Thank-you for the detailed comparison report.

[Bo1953]

Thank you for the review, much appreciated.

 

Bon voyage

 

Sent from my P00I using Tapatalk

[Denny01]

Well presented evaluation. Although so much of how we compare different Cruise Lines is subjective, this was excellent.

 

We’ve cruised on both Lines and enjoyed both, and agree with the OP. I found the Celebrity common areas to be better set up and more accessible. The Princess ships just felt more crowded. The big difference I experienced was the Princess main theater was too small and to get decent seats or even seats together on popular shows, you had to show up very early, at least 45min or more.

 

Also, I found the Princess standard Veranda SR to be smaller and less handy than the comparable Celebrity SR. When we cruise on Princess, we get a Mini-Suite, so when we compare costs, we compare a Princess Mini to a standard Celebrity Veranda. Yes, the Mini-suite is bigger and much bigger Veranda, but we like to have company over and the Princess standard SR doesn’t hack it. And I may be wrong, but the Princess shower seemed to be more restricted and I spent a good deal of time pushing the shower curtain off me.

 

There is no bad cruise, and we found Celebrity met what we were looking for in cruising. Now that we get more benefits from Celebrity, that sells us also.

 

Den

[shukapaw]

Great report. Thanks for taking the time to write it!

 

~Brian

[upwarduk]

We tried Princess for the first time in 2017 (Crown)

We are back to Celebrity for 2018, I certainly prefer the ‘S’ class ships and my Elite status for the laundry perks .

I won’t rule out Princess for the future, as they have a superior web site and better internet minutes allocation, as we have earned Platinum level, thanks to previous P&O sailings.

[chemmo]

Thanks for such a well balanced report! It is so nice you continued to focus on the positives of each cruise experience despite the issues you had....

[portofrome]

Thanks so much for your comparisons!

[kim826]

We love the free adults only pool area with the comfy loungers on Celebrity vs. the pay for on Princess.

[Keith1010]

I enjoyed your report.

Keith