Princess vs Celebrity

[ALWAYS CRUZIN]

Any offerings on your reviews between the two companies and there ships. Both are to be a step up from there respective other. Carnival vs RCCL.

My wife and I place them in this order. Lowest to the best. Carnival, RCCL, Princess, Celebrity.

[moki'smommy]

I would reverse Celebrity and Princess in your listing. My experience has been that Celebrity has very much gone to a "two tier" system and is neglecting those who do not choose to book one of the more upscale cabins. Princess has done this on a very limited level--Club Class dining is in a regular MDR and has the same menu as the "regular" cabins, with one or two extra items available. Celebrity has a totally different restaurant and menu. I like the Princess afternoon tea that is included in the cruise fare. The tea is more fancy on Celebrity, but comes with a $25 upcharge.

 

I think that the top level on Celebrity beats the top level on Princess. But the "regular" cabin deal on Princess beats Celebrity. Entertainment--best on Disney, worst on Celebrity.

Soda package--best on Disney (included in cruise fare), worst on Celebrity where they ration by being VERY slow about refills. Princess, daughter always had prompt refills in the dining rooms.

 

I've read things saying that Celebrity is a younger crowd; this was not our experience. We found the Celebrity cruisers to be significantly older than Princess with virtually no one in their 20s. There were a few families with kids. We've found a much wider age range on our Princess cruises, so that appeals to my "20 something."

 

Also, the Celebrity web site is awful, Princess is easy.

Edited June 7, 2018 by moki'smommy

[DrivesLikeMario]

They are very similar but it's funny, when we're on Princess, we think of how Celebrity does something better. When we're on Celebrity, we miss Princess. I wouldn't rank Celebrity above Princess at all. Their ships are beautiful, but Princess' ships are too. Celebrity has more of a class-system and people on their ships tend to really get "into" their status more than they do on Princess. IMO, those on Princess are happy to be there and don't care if their newly-met friends are in an inside cabin or a suite.

[Flo71]

I have only been on Infinity with Celebrity and Royal with Princess - Princess won hands down, the food choice on Celebrity was awful and the ship wasn't in the best shape, Princess would also win on entertainment. But everyone has different likes and dislikes.

[OCruisers]

We rather like Princess over Celebrity because there's a bit more activity ... things to do. :)

[skynight]

A few Princess cruises ago I dined with a couple that were Celebrity regulars. When they booked the Princess cruise they booked specialty dining for many of the evenings based on their experience with Celebrity. They quickly cancelled the reservations as they felt the DR menu was better than Celebrity DR menus. They mentioned you get very little unless you have status on Celebrity. No status required with Princess. Loyalty benefits are pretty much unrelated to any dining or activity on board.

Here is what to expect in free dining on most ships.

DR's, International Cafe open 24/7, Grill, soft ice cream & pizza by the pool open 11am to late evening every day; Buffet, open 6am until late evening never closes during that time; Pub Lunch on some sea days; Afternoon Tea every day, Royal Class ships have a "Royal" tea on formal nights for a small charge; Alfredo's waiter served pizza and other menu items on Royal, Regal, Sky, Majestic, and also the Grand and Sapphire with pizza only, open 11am to late evening every day; Room Service 24 hours.

Evening entertainment includes productions shows, guest entertainers such as comics, magic, singers and other acts. There are also trivia games, theme activities, and live music in venues around the ship.

[XBGuy]

. . . funny, when we're on Princess, we think of how Celebrity does something better. When we're on Celebrity, we miss Princess.

 

It's still early, but I'll bet this is the best comment I read all day.

 

Well done.

 

(y)

[wheezedr]

The problem with both as well as essentially all the mass market lines is the continuing cutbacks in some services or the additional fees to maintain the same service. I realize this is partially a response to their efforts to keep the base fare low but it becomes an annoyance when you keep seeing things that were once inclusive lose their value, e.g. this weeks change in the coffee card. They are becoming more like our friendly airlines where you get a minimal fare structure coupled with an add on for every service. As I said this is a general rant, not just Princess or Celebrity.

[loge23]

We like both Celebrity & Princess and appreciate the differences between the two. Overall, Princess has the edge over Celebrity, no pun intended.

 

Sent from my SM-G920V using Forums mobile app

[kendon]

We prefer Princess over Celebrity.

[neverbeenhere]

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2623179&highlight=princess+celebrity

 

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2611250&highlight=princess+celebrity

 

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2578232&highlight=princess+celebrity

 

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2585619&highlight=princess+celebrity

 

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2569018&highlight=princess+celebrity

[2theship]

We book mostly for itinerary and bounce between Princess and Celebrity. One of the earlier posters remarked on the "two tier" system on Celebrity so I have to say that we now always book Aqua Class on Celebrity, mostly for Blu, the AQ only restaurant. For very little money more (in our experience), we can enjoy a quieter venue with a menu we enjoy. We also enjoy using the Persian Garden perk that comes with AQ. We've also taken advantage of Celebrity's drink packages when we can get it as an included perk - I would never refer to it as "free".

 

My most unpleasant cruise on Princess was on the Royal and I don't wish to ever sail the Royal or Regal in the future. However, we really enjoy many of the other Princess ships, particularly those where we can book the extra large balconies on the Caribe deck. We also think that the Princess specialty restaurants beat Celebrity's by a mile both in quality and price. But, since we usually dine in Blu on Celebrity, it does not affect us much.

 

We currently have two cruises planned; one is on Celebrity and one is on Princess. Both were booked based on itinerary.

[hughdm]

We like both and tend to get suites. Celebrity does suite class much better, but you pay. Luminae is an outstanding restaurant on a par with a nice land French restaurant. We are looking forward to trying Club Class dining on our upcoming Princess Alaska cruise.

[Bootman4U]

Sorry, but this whole "two tier system" whine is just that. You pay more and you should GET MORE. Next thing you know we'll be told that people who book inside cabins are on a first tier and those who book outside oceanVIEWS are 2nd and balcony cabins third, and on and on

[moki'smommy]

Sorry, but this whole "two tier system" whine is just that. You pay more and you should GET MORE. Next thing you know we'll be told that people who book inside cabins are on a first tier and those who book outside oceanVIEWS are 2nd and balcony cabins third, and on and on

The point was not that there is anything wrong with the two tier system. The point is that on Celebrity, the system has resulted in a decrease in quality for those who choose a "normal" cabin, or at least that the quality decrease occurred simultaneously wit the introduction of the new system. That is no so on Princess where Club Class is an area of the MDR with the same menu that everyone else gets.

[keithm]

Any offerings on your reviews between the two companies and there ships. Both are to be a step up from there respective other. Carnival vs RCCL.

My wife and I place them in this order. Lowest to the best. Carnival, RCCL, Princess, Celebrity.

Both are pretty similar(Royal class v/s S-Class)Regal had the best buffet we ever saw on ANY ship. I can't compare the smaller ships from either line as we chose the largest class ships on both. Food is close. Celebrity specialty rest. are better(but cost a LOT more)Celebrity entertainment has been declining as of late. Neither line is going to give you Las Vegas entertainment. I'd say itinerary is what will make some choose one over the other.

[keithm]

The point was not that there is anything wrong with the two tier system. The point is that on Celebrity' date=' the system has resulted in a decrease in quality for those who choose a "normal" cabin, or at least that the quality decrease occurred simultaneously wit the introduction of the new system. That is no so on Princess where Club Class is an area of the MDR with the same menu that everyone else gets.[/quote']

I would have thought Club class would give you a bit better food & certainly better service for the price.

[moki'smommy]

I would have thought Club class would give you a bit better food & certainly better service for the price.

 

The food is the same menu as the MDRs from the same kitchen. There is one extra entree each night, usually made in the CC area by the head server. Our service was excellent, but we've always had good service on Princess. Not so on Celebrity.

[TheRabbit]

It's still early, but I'll bet this is the best comment I read all day.

 

Well done.

 

(y)

As they say, the grass is always greener.....

 

15 years ago, I would put Celebrity ahead. Now days, Princess has moved up about a quarter to half star and celebrity has fallen at least a half star starting several years after they were sold.

[moki'smommy]

As they say, the grass is always greener.....

 

15 years ago, I would put Celebrity ahead. Now days, Princess has moved up about a quarter to half star and celebrity has fallen at least a half star starting several years after they were sold.

This is a perfect explanation. Exactly what I've seen, except that our first Princess cruise was less than 15 years ago.

[TheRabbit]

This is a perfect explanation. Exactly what I've seen' date=' except that our first Princess cruise was less than 15 years ago.[/quote']

We didn't see much improvement in Princess 12 to 15 years ago. I would say about 10 to 12 years back we started to see very small changes to the good mostly.

[moki'smommy]

We didn't see much improvement in Princess 12 to 15 years ago. I would say about 10 to 12 years back we started to see very small changes to the good mostly.

But I've definitely seen the slip in Celebrity and the improvement in Princess...exactly as you said.

[Tatka]

I have only been on Infinity with Celebrity and Royal with Princess - Princess won hands down, the food choice on Celebrity was awful and the ship wasn't in the best shape, Princess would also win on entertainment. But everyone has different likes and dislikes.

 

 

Both lines are our favorites although we are sailing with Royal Caribbean more lately.

 

I’m not sure what happened on your cruise, but Celebrity is famous for its food. Seafood selections on new Princess ships beat anything though.

 

As much as I loved Royal Princess they created inadequately small theater for such crowd. We were not impressed with shows, although we usually enjoy Princess entertainment.

 

What I really enjoy about Princess is all dancing on Piazza.

[TheRabbit]

But I've definitely seen the slip in Celebrity and the improvement in Princess...exactly as you said.

Yep:eek:

[Jeremiah On a Cruise]

I'm still a novice, but have tried both.

 

If you're going to get a suite (really, Aqua on Celebrity or better), I think you should lean towards Celebrity. Blu (Aqua Class's special dining) remains the highlight of any cruise I've taken. For that reason, Aqua is superior to Club Class IMO - though CC was enjoyable...

 

If you're not going to get a suite, I'd lean towards Princess. Slightly better food, slightly better service and a better logistics. It may be harsh, but I think Princess is simply a better run company, and that really shows when it's an apples-to-apples comparison.