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

[LIMPIT]

Thanks for posting a great review, we have cruised with the three lines (Not these ships though) and generally agree with your overall views and assessment.

Celebrity is our favourite line and we are sailing on Equinox in April, so your review was very helpful. 

[cachouonacruise]

I will join my voice to the chorus of thank-you! 

 

Your comparison review of three cruise ships and cruise lines for cruises experienced in a short period of time is a fantastic idea.

 

The way you presented the facts, the structure if your text, then the pictures, followed by your comments is really helpful for people who are struggling about finding which cruise experience would be suitable for them as well as for experience cruisers who could be tempted to jump ship in order to try a new experience.

 

I really appreciated your very detailed and factual review! Well done! Congratulations! 

 

 

 

 

[MikeyA53]

3 hours ago, LIMPIT said:

Thanks for posting a great review, we have cruised with the three lines (Not these ships though) and generally agree with your overall views and assessment.

Celebrity is our favourite line and we are sailing on Equinox in April, so your review was very helpful. 

 

Thanks, glad you liked it.

[MikeyA53]

56 minutes ago, cachouonacruise said:

I will join my voice to the chorus of thank-you! 

 

Your comparison review of three cruise ships and cruise lines for cruises experienced in a short period of time is a fantastic idea.

 

The way you presented the facts, the structure if your text, then the pictures, followed by your comments is really helpful for people who are struggling about finding which cruise experience would be suitable for them as well as for experience cruisers who could be tempted to jump ship in order to try a new experience.

 

I really appreciated your very detailed and factual review! Well done! Congratulations! 

 

 

 

 

That’s quite a compliment, thanks a lot.

[micheleata]

Such a great review!  Thanks for sharing!

[NemoCrownie]

6 hours ago, MikeyA53 said:

 

 

Thank you, I have covered many ports multiple times in my past reviews. Considering it took about 6 weeks to prepare this review and posting it on three forums (Princess, MSC and Celebrity) I decided to concentrate on the ships this time.

I absolutely understand. That was rather selfish on my part. I am amazed with your in-depth review.

[Silkroad]

I’ve very much enjoyed your review and photos. Since we’ve only sailed Celebrity, I especially appreciate reviews, like yours, that compare one or more lines to Celebrity. I need to read your Nieuw Amsterdam review, and I’ll look forward to your next b2b2b review. Thanks very much for spending your time writing such an organized and interesting comparison. Cheers!

[Reel Love]

I would also like to echo the many thanks expressed and give kudos for this fantastic review!!  Following avidly as we are loyal Celebrity cruisers but are contemplating other cruise lines in the future so this comparison was very valuable.  (And since my nephew was just hired by the RCMP it was cool to see in your intro that you and your wife are RCMP officers.  Thank you for your service! 🙂)

[Ginnyfyr]

Love that last photo of the two of you that you posted! This Canuck would like to thank you for a great review and for your and your wife's service keeping our great country safe 🙂 My husband and I will board the Equinox on Saturday, a long awaited cruise, so I enjoyed reading about your experience. Even more excited now to get on board and out of this cold weather (we have another 8 inches of snow coming tomorrow, apparently) on the weekend. 

[cazzi]

Great review and so easy to follow along

 

Thank you for all your time and effort in this fantastic review

[dodger1964]

Thanks again for doing great review. I find the "comparison" reviews to be very helpful.

 

What were your impressions of the actual costs of each of these cruises?

 

We have found recently that MSC prices make up (in our minds) for any perceived shortcomings they might have.

 

(and don't get me started on the prices for the Celebrity Edge!)

 

 

[MikeyA53]

19 hours ago, micheleata said:

Such a great review!  Thanks for sharing!

 

Thanks. 😀

[MikeyA53]

18 hours ago, Silkroad said:

I’ve very much enjoyed your review and photos. Since we’ve only sailed Celebrity, I especially appreciate reviews, like yours, that compare one or more lines to Celebrity. I need to read your Nieuw Amsterdam review, and I’ll look forward to your next b2b2b review. Thanks very much for spending your time writing such an organized and interesting comparison. Cheers!

 

Glad you enjoyed it. Unfortunately I did a Nieuw Amsterdam review.

[MikeyA53]

17 hours ago, Reel Love said:

I would also like to echo the many thanks expressed and give kudos for this fantastic review!!  Following avidly as we are loyal Celebrity cruisers but are contemplating other cruise lines in the future so this comparison was very valuable.  (And since my nephew was just hired by the RCMP it was cool to see in your intro that you and your wife are RCMP officers.  Thank you for your service! 🙂)

 

Thanks, Tracy and I love trying different cruise lines, they all have their pros and cons. People should not put any cruise line down unless they tried them.

[MikeyA53]

16 hours ago, Ginnyfyr said:

Love that last photo of the two of you that you posted! This Canuck would like to thank you for a great review and for your and your wife's service keeping our great country safe 🙂 My husband and I will board the Equinox on Saturday, a long awaited cruise, so I enjoyed reading about your experience. Even more excited now to get on board and out of this cold weather (we have another 8 inches of snow coming tomorrow, apparently) on the weekend. 

 

Thanks Ginny, hope you have a wonderful cruise. 

[MikeyA53]

16 hours ago, cazzi said:

Great review and so easy to follow along

 

Thank you for all your time and effort in this fantastic review

 

Thanks

[MikeyA53]

7 hours ago, dodger1964 said:

Thanks again for doing great review. I find the "comparison" reviews to be very helpful.

 

What were your impressions of the actual costs of each of these cruises?

 

We have found recently that MSC prices make up (in our minds) for any perceived shortcomings they might have.

 

(and don't get me started on the prices for the Celebrity Edge!)

 

 

 

Thanks. I agree with you concerning MSC, overall their price were substantially cheaper and we got a lot of extras with the fare.  We did get a good price for Celebrity Equinox and it included the drink package. Royal Princess was about $400 more but is was an 8 day cruise to the ABC islands. In addition we got free gratuities and $ 250 on board credits. Overall very happy with all three. You are right about Celebrity Edge, we checked their prices for this November and it was about 50 % more than the other cruises we booked.

[MisterBill99]

On 1/28/2019 at 3:58 PM, MikeyA53 said:

 

Thanks. I agree with you concerning MSC, overall their price were substantially cheaper and we got a lot of extras with the fare.

 

FYI, I believe they've gotten rid of the 12 free drink vouchers that you got.

[travellink]

I  just found your reviews and wanted to thank you for all the time and effort involved in posting these.  I always like your photos and  your commentary on the ships and the ports. Celebrity is our favorite line along with Royal Caribbean but we just tried Norwegian for the first time and I really liked the Getaway. Happy sailing, and I am already looking forward to your next reviews. Hope you and your family are all well.

[ladylemondrop]

Fantastic review, thank you for sharing, just one question, how does your wife keep her figure with all that amazing food?! She is an inspiration to us all, and I can only dream of a b2b2b2b.......maybe one day, but I would need incredibly stretchy trousers! (Thats pants to you guys) 

[Fogfog]

@MikeyA53

 

I had saved your thread since you did a great job comparing. 

We largely sail Celebrity and have just booked a B2B with MSC

Advice on tipping on MSC...?? did you do that at the bar etc in cash or did you have to sign a tab?

We are sailing YC and evidently while "included", we will get a tab sign sign at bars outside of YC. 

I noted on MSC website they discourage tipping crew directly-- however we are used to doing this for exceptional service. Normally in cahs the night before disembarkation... 

OTOH if we are at bars around the ship, we don't know when we will see a bartender next and so tipping on the spot makes sense.

Thoughts? 

 

Also you mention a "smaller menu" for the specialty restaurant ... we are looking at Butchers Cut. Any input there?

 

TYIA

[MikeyA53]

On 5/28/2019 at 1:54 PM, travellink said:

I  just found your reviews and wanted to thank you for all the time and effort involved in posting these.  I always like your photos and  your commentary on the ships and the ports. Celebrity is our favorite line along with Royal Caribbean but we just tried Norwegian for the first time and I really liked the Getaway. Happy sailing, and I am already looking forward to your next reviews. Hope you and your family are all well.

Thank you,  we are doing very well and looking forward to our next cruises B2B2B on Allure of the Sea, Regal Princess and Crown Princess this November as well as our B2B on Ovation of the Sea in 2020 in the South Pacific.

[MikeyA53]

On 5/28/2019 at 3:05 PM, louise1809 said:

Fantastic review, thank you for sharing, just one question, how does your wife keep her figure with all that amazing food?! She is an inspiration to us all, and I can only dream of a b2b2b2b.......maybe one day, but I would need incredibly stretchy trousers! (Thats pants to you guys) 

She works out every day and she eats very healthy when we are at home. Cheers

[MikeyA53]

On 5/29/2019 at 11:44 AM, Fogfog said:

@MikeyA53

 

I had saved your thread since you did a great job comparing. 

We largely sail Celebrity and have just booked a B2B with MSC

Advice on tipping on MSC...?? did you do that at the bar etc in cash or did you have to sign a tab?

We are sailing YC and evidently while "included", we will get a tab sign sign at bars outside of YC. 

I noted on MSC website they discourage tipping crew directly-- however we are used to doing this for exceptional service. Normally in cahs the night before disembarkation... 

OTOH if we are at bars around the ship, we don't know when we will see a bartender next and so tipping on the spot makes sense.

Thoughts? 

 

Also you mention a "smaller menu" for the specialty restaurant ... we are looking at Butchers Cut. Any input there?

 

TYIA

 

Yes I did tip in cash at the bar and I usually sought out the same bartenders if possible. In regards to the smaller menu at Butcher’s cut, if you pre purchase a dining package you will be picking your meal from a smaller menu unless you want to pay extra and pick from the regular menu if you are paying a la crate then you have access to the regular menu but the prices are high.