B2B2B on Royal Princess, MSC Seaside and Celebrity Equinox. A comparison review.

[MikeyA53]

3 hours ago, Captain-John said:

Those weekly spa pass prices are pretty good compared to NCL's spa pricing. I think I was charged $69 each or thereabouts for a day's entry!! It was a nice spa, and I think they know it. That said, Seaside's spa looks equally as nice, and for the price, so much the better.

 

In my opinion MSC excels in their entertainment and their spa. We did Norwegian Escape last year and I agree with you they have a nice spa, I can't remember how much we paid for the weekly pass but it was more than MSC

[frank808]

On 1/15/2019 at 7:24 PM, floridian1 said:

Wow the times the arcade area is open is terrible! Doesn't open at night until 1030?? That's crazy ...they must not want familys to play together at night because 1030 is too late for many kids.  That line is also ridiculous by the bowling alley. 

 

Thank you for the review..looking forward to our cruise.

Bowling starts so late because the lanes are above a dining room. I believe diners were complaining so MSC adjusted the hours.

[MikeyA53]

22 minutes ago, frank808 said:

Bowling starts so late because the lanes are above a dining room. I believe diners were complaining so MSC adjusted the hours.

 

You are right, this is what we were told. MSC should have foreseen that this would be a problem when they designed the ship.

[MikeyA53]

I would like to finish off this part of the review with some interesting photos and comments.

　

Royal Princess:

 

All lit up at night

 

 

 

 

I believe they have a balloon drop every cruise 

 

 

 

 

Posing at the stairs 

 

 

 

 

If you are celebrating an anniversary, birthday, etc. Princess will decorate your door. 

 

 

 

 

Walkway overlooking the water 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Isolated spot on deck 19 

 

 

 

 

 

MSC Seaside:

 

Captain and his officer. The captain welcomed the guest in 5-6 languages

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Walkway at the back of the ship

 

 

 

 

 

 Overlooking the South Beach Pool on deck 7 from deck 16

 

 

 

 

 

Aft elevators 

 

 

 

 

Celebrity Equinox:

 

　I waited until the last cruise to get my bottles of liquor. I brought a bottle back from San Juan and one from Punta Cana. Each time security did not seize it. There was no desk set up to pick up the liquor. Interesting! 

 

 

 

 

Unique directory  

 

 

 

 

Nice spot to hang out

 

 

 

 

 Enclosed pool 

 

 

 

 

 

The bar is covered with ice

 

 

 

 

 Disco room? 

 

 

 

 

 

The library and card room is conveniently situated amongst the cabins on deck 9, 10 and 11 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[MikeyA53]

Summary

 

 

Royal Princess　

 

Very good: Free in cabin movies, self serve laundry, allowed to bring wine, bottled water and soda onboard, not crowded, walking/running track, ice cream shop (Gelato)

 

Good: Ship, food, service, cabin, entertainment, gym, buffet variety, activities, staff friendliness, passenger friendliness, specialty coffee and desserts (International Café)

 

Fair: Only 2 specialty restaurants

 

Bad: Spa and gym on different decks

 

Very bad: Balcony

 

 

 

　

MSC Seaside:

Very good: Entertainment, spa, ship, activities, cruise critic party, embarkation

 

Good: Food, gym,

 

Fair: staff friendliness, passenger friendliness, pre-cruise laundry special, crowded at times,

specialty coffee and desserts (Venchi Cioccogelateria-Coffee Bar)

 

Bad: Activity prices (bowling, cinema, etc.), buffet selection, noisy at time, in cabin movies $8

 

Very bad: No walking/running track, specialty restaurant menu and prices

 

 

 

 

 

Celebrity Equinox:

 

Very good: Food, cabin, balcony, passenger friendliness, buffet variety, gym, allowed to bring

wine, bottled water and soda onboard, embarkation, not crowded, specialty coffee and desserts (Café al Bacio)

 

Good: Staff friendliness, service, cruise critic party, ice cream shop (Gelateria)

 

Fair: Ship, walking/running track

 

Bad: Entertainment, activities, in cabin 6 free movies (others $15), activities

 

Very bad: Best laundry special was $49

 

 

 

 

 

After returning home someone asked Tracy which ship she preferred and her answer was MSC Seaside because of the entertainment. I can’t decide between Princess and Celebrity. Princess had lots of things that were either very good or good but being a ‘foodie’ Celebrity’s cuisine was first rate.

 

We are planning another B2B2B for November 2019. We prefer to cruise on a different ship every time we cruise, in other words we do not like to repeat the same ship twice. We looked at Princess, Celebrity, Royal Caribbean (never been on RC) Norwegian, Holland America and Carnival. We prefer cruising out of the cruise capital area of the world (Miami & Fort Lauderdale). It makes it easier to combine cruises together. When booking a ship we look at the ship itself (Prefer newer ships), the prices and the itineraries. We wanted to include another Celebrity ships if possible but because most of their ships do not stick with a 7 day schedule (The length of their cruise keeps changing from week to week) it was not feasible to include them. The ships we looked at from Norwegian and Holland America were too expensive and Carnival was not a good fit.

 

Finally we booked a 7 days cruise on Royal Caribbean Allure of the Sea leaving from Fort Lauderdale on Nov 3, 2019, with stops at St. Kitt, St. Thomas and Coco Cay. Then on Nov 10 we embark on Regal Princess for a 7 day cruise out of Fort Lauderdale to Princess Cay, St. Thomas and St. Maarten. Finally on Nov 17 we take an Uber to Miami and get on MSC Meraviglia for a 7 day cruise to Ocho Rios, Jamaica, Grand Cayman Islands, Cozumel and Ocean Cay.

 

However, approximately 6 weeks after booking MSC Meraviglia we got a notice advising that our 7 day cruise had changed to a 4 day and a 3 day cruise with only Ocean Cay as a port for each cruise. They offered us $100 OBC for the inconvenience but we declined and cancelled. We then booked Crown Princess leaving on Nov 17 for a 10 day cruise out of Fort Lauderdale to Bonaire, Curacao, Grenada, Dominica, St. Thomas and Grand Turk.

 

Overall we are happy with the change, all three cruises are leaving on three consecutive Sundays out of Fort Lauderdale. Fortunately we have an aft cabin on Regal Princess  with a large balcony and on Crown Princess we also got lucky and got a balcony cabin on the Caribe deck which has large balconies compared to the other decks.

 

In closing I would like to post my favorite sunrise and sunset photos taken over the course of our cruises. Cheers! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

San Juan

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bye

 

 

 

[Captain Canuck]

great review...think you will love the Allure..lots of stuff on board...can see you doing the zip line and the rock climbing wall....I could barely take pictures my fear of heights is that bad.....Regal is sister ship of Royal so you should like it too..enjoy.  

[MikeyA53]

36 minutes ago, Captain Canuck said:

 great review...think you will love the Allure..lots of stuff on board...can see you doing the zip line and the rock climbing wall....I could barely take pictures my fear of heights is that bad.....Regal is sister ship of Royal so you should like it too.. enjoy.  

 

 

Thank you, we are looking forward to the rock wall, we have done in the past on Norwegian. Yes, you are right there should be lots to do on Allure. 

[MrFunInTheSun]

Great review. Glad to see them again. Seems just like yesterday in one of your older Carnival reviews Tracy was just training to be a Mountie.

Think you will really enjoy the Allure of the Seas. Those class ships are by far my favorite.

Thanks again, looking forward to your future trip reports.


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[kiminey65]

As always, a fantastic review. I've read many of them over the years and am also branching out from Carnival, NCL to MSC Seaside. I am interested in checking out Koningsdam myself as well as RCI Oasis class or Symphony... I think I too prefer the newer Mega ships. I'd also love to spot you two sometime on one of my sailings, which tends to be late winter for us (Northern NY winter escape plans!!!)

[MikeyA53]

19 hours ago, MrFunInTheSun said:

Great review. Glad to see them again. Seems just like yesterday in one of your older Carnival reviews Tracy was just training to be a Mountie.

Think you will really enjoy the Allure of the Seas. Those class ships are by far my favorite.

Thanks again, looking forward to your future trip reports.


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Please excuse any typographical errors.

 

Thanks, it already has been 7.5 years now since she finished  her training. Time does fly.

 

4 hours ago, kiminey65 said:

As always, a fantastic review. I've read many of them over the years and am also branching out from Carnival, NCL to MSC Seaside. I am interested in checking out Koningsdam myself as well as RCI Oasis class or Symphony... I think I too prefer the newer Mega ships. I'd also love to spot you two sometime on one of my sailings, which tends to be late winter for us (Northern NY winter escape plans!!!)

 

Thanks and don’t be shy, come and say hello. 

Edited January 28, 2019 by MikeyA53

[CruiseIreland]

Thank you for your really thorough, balanced and entertaining review. I enjoyed it although I sometimes got confused as to which ship 'I' was on! I will be on Seaside next Saturday week. Ken

[MikeyA53]

4 hours ago, CruiseIreland said:

Thank you for your really thorough, balanced and entertaining review. I enjoyed it although I sometimes got confused as to which ship 'I' was on! I will be on Seaside next Saturday week. Ken

 

Thanks Ken, have a good cruise.