Coral Princess vs Celebrity?

[MSBYRDY]

Have sailed nothing but Celebrity for many years, but we're considering trying Princess for a Panama Canal trip. Anyone who has sailed Coral Princess have any input? All information greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Marilyn

[Oxo]

We have cruised on the Coral (Panama Canal) and think it is one of the prettiest ships afloat. It has many options, entertainment and one of the nicest Lounges in the back of the ship we have seen. We love Princess and have done most of the cruise lines. Food and service is so subjective that it means nothing to tell you what we think, as everyone has their own opinion. We sailed Mercury 11/05 and found Mercury to be not as good as Coral. I posted speicifics and still stand by them. For those who do not try other cruise lines, they cannot provide comparisions that are valid. What can you loose by taking any cruise or cruise line? Try it and you may like it. No cruise is a bad cruise.

[MSBYRDY]

Thank you for the quick reply, I really appreciate the info.

Marilyn

[rjg41]

Coral is very nice. As with most ships they sacrifice some things for other things. Coral and generally Princess have great public areas but a congested buffet area compared to Celebrity Millie class. Main dining room is not grand, on Coral--low ceiling. Princess has both traditional and personal choice dining. On our Panama cruise traditional 1st seating was sold out and the wait for personal choice was a minimum of 30 minutes before 8:00pm.

 

Princess entertainment was excellant but food was a notch below. Princess executive chef is no Micheal Roux. Service was excellant.

 

Celebrity is our first choice but as you can see we are doing Princess again due to the itinerary.

[rjg41]

Coral is very nice. As with most ships they sacrifice some things for other things. Coral and generally Princess have great public areas but a congested buffet area compared to Celebrity Millie class. Main dining room is not grand, on Coral--low ceiling. Princess has both traditional and personal choice dining. On our Panama cruise traditional 1st seating was sold out and the wait for personal choice was a minimum of 30 minutes before 8:00pm.

 

Princess entertainment was excellant but food was a notch below. Princess executive chef is no Micheal Roux. Service was excellant.

 

Celebrity is our first choice but as you can see we are doing Princess again due to the itinerary.

[Eliz]

Hi Marilyn. I've sailed both Celebrity and the Coral Princess. I'm a Celebrity fan but have enjoyed Princesses cruises also. I loved the Coral. The size is wonderful, great public spaces, wonderful public aft decks which are great for the Canal cruising. Food, as someone else indicated, is subjective, and in my opinion, not a good as Celebrity. I see that you're from Illinois also, doesn't a warm, sunny cruise sound great?

 

Elizabeth

[Lsimon]

I sailed the Coral's nearly identical sister, the Island, to Alaska last summer. Had a great time!

 

I loved the physical layout and decor of the ship, both public spaces and staterooms. I especially like the Princesses mini-suites.

 

Another plus is some of the entertainment, comedy acts in particular. I've seen some fantastic comedy on Princess, including an guy called Sarge who was one of the best I've ever seen live anyplace. But I'll readily admit I don't much care for Celebrity stage shows in general, and dislike the song and dance shows on any line. I also found that you had to get to the theaters half an hour early to get seats to the better shows on princess. I do like the lounge acts on Celebrity a lot more and therefore rate the entertainment better overall on Celebrity, as the lounge acts appeal to us more than the stage shows.

 

Despite these pluses for Princess, overall I like the Celebrity cruises I've taken on Summit more than any others I've taken. Overall experience including service, food and atmosphere has been #1 on Celebrity. The fact that I've booked three Celebrity cruises after taking my Princess cruise shows I prefer Celebrity.

 

OTOH, you really cant go too wrong with either ship or line, they are both great. And given that you've never been on Princess you might want to give it a try. You'll have a good time, and if nothing else it will make you sure you've made the right decision on the cruises after that!

[MSBYRDY]

Thank you everyone, we really appreciate the input. After all this deliberation, the cruise we wanted is sold out, how's that for luck? LOL

Marilyn