Celebrity... viable alternative (Princess?)

[swalsh1974]

Firstly, apologies if this is something that has been discussed widely in other posts... By the end of 2019 we will have cruised with Celebrity 3 times (no experience with anything else)... I have to say we absolutely love cruising with Celebrity... We're from the UK in our mid 40's. The relaxed 'non party' and very few children atmosphere on Celebrity is really what we enjoy. Our day to day work is hectic enough so when we're on holiday we love to relax... All our cruises so far have been Aqua class and I love the smaller dining experience... So here comes the question... Early 2020 I fancy a Caribbean cruise and think it could be a good opportunity to try a different cruise line. From my own research it seems Princess would be a good 'leap'... really interested to hear any other opinions. (I read the comparison on cruise critic between Celebrity and Princess)

[Kartgv]

We've cruised both extensively, and agree that Princess is very similar to Celebrity in many ways.   One thing to watch out for, no matter which cruise line you choose, is spring break in the Caribbean.   Usually most of March and early April will attract many families with children or college-age partiers; the shorter the cruise, the more likely that it will attract the younger crowd.   

 

If you're looking for an experience on Princess somewhat similar to Aqua Class on Celebrity, look at the Club Class mini-suites.    They're mid-ship great locations, with a true 'anytime' dining experience in a separate area of the dining room.    Service is better than the regular 'anytime' dining, plus there are one or two special food offerings each meal.    Do a search for 'club class' on the Princess forum to read comments.    

[swalsh1974]

Super, that's all really useful information - many thanks and much appreciated!

[helen haywood]

Do a search for Cruise Critic poster Bimmer09.  He does extensive reviews with beautiful photos.  He has sailed Princess a lot and has done a comparison review of his first S Class ship from a Princess cruiser perspective.

[ALWAYS CRUZIN]

Agree. About the same. If you can. The new SKY Princess might be a great upper from the Celebrity. Booked on it for January. We will see.

[Cruizen Susan]

I am a Celebrity cruiser,  but also some NCL Haven and RCI sailings.  We recently booked our first Princess cruise this coming August.  I was advised that HAL and Princess were the best lines for Alaska.   Willing to give it a try based on it's reputation, and booked the Grand suite for a special celebration this year.

[mafig]

I agree that if I were to go to Alaska I would select Princess or Holland America.

 

Otherwise, I went on a few Princess cruises  …. I just found them to be boring, overall.

(except for our first cruise on Coral Princess)

 

Plus, I cannot stand how they do their anytime dining. 

We like a table for two.  Every single time, on every single Princess ship, when we requested a table for two they would say "don't you want to share?"  Breakast...Lunch....Dinner....  NO.  A couple of times they would bring us to a large table anyway.  

They also allow (or did allow) their 

Traditional Dining people to switch to Anytime (and back). At the end of the cruise the Traditional Dining rooms were empty and the Anytime Dining had lines that seemed to go on forever!

Edited May 19, 2019 by mafig

[swalsh1974]

Thanks for the insight Mafig. Can I ask why you found them boring... sometimes one persons boring is another persons heaven!

[ALWAYS CRUZIN]

4 minutes ago, mafig said:

I agree that if I were to go to Alaska I would select Princess or Holland America.

 

Otherwise, I went on a few Princess cruises  …. I just found them to be boring, overall.

(except for our first cruise on Coral Princess)

Confused. You say select Princess yet you indicate boring?

[villauk]

More similar than different. I’d give the edge to X on food and to Princess for entertainment.

[mafig]

4 minutes ago, twodaywonder said:

Confused. You say select Princess yet you indicate boring?

I would pick them (or Holland for ALASKA).  

Yes, I do consider them boring.....that's just me, I guess.....

[swalsh1974]

I agree with the dining comments... I only want to dine with my better half and would be irritated if people are trying to offer alternatives... Blu on X is great... yes the tables are close together but my experience is that diners quickly understand who wants to chat vs. simply acknowledge and politely chat for a few minutes before focussing on ones own meal. perhaps i'm just a grumpy ***** but I enjoy 'dining out' every evening with my wife. During the day at lunch or whilst mooching around I'm more than happy to 'get involved' but dinner for me is special.

[ALWAYS CRUZIN]

4 minutes ago, swalsh1974 said:

I agree with the dining comments... I only want to dine with my better half and would be irritated if people are trying to offer alternatives... Blu on X is great... yes the tables are close together but my experience is that diners quickly understand who wants to chat vs. simply acknowledge and politely chat for a few minutes before focussing on ones own meal. perhaps i'm just a grumpy ***** but I enjoy 'dining out' every evening with my wife. During the day at lunch or whilst mooching around I'm more than happy to 'get involved' but dinner for me is special.

Agree for sure. However if someone starts talking to my wife, its all over. She has to make friends with everyone that starts talking to her. I just keep on eating. Yum!

[swalsh1974]

And I thought it was just my wife that did that!

[ghstudio]

We consider Princess and Celebrity pretty equal and recently Princess has had better, in some cases far better itineraries than the repetitive Celebrity cruises.  For us, Itinerary trumps all the other stuff......aqua dining is good (most of the time), we get better perks on Celebrity...but nothing really sets one better than the other overall.

 

As far as dining, we often join a group table to meet new people.  Some fascinating folks cruise and it's interesting to hear other's experiences.  My DW and I have plenty of meals where we can talk alone.  On cruises, I guess we are that horrid couple sitting next to you who dare say "hello, how was your day? Did you get off the ship?".  We accept if the folks next to us are not friendly and we turn to the table on the other side and say "hello............" 🙂

[Cruizen Susan]

8 minutes ago, ghstudio said:

We consider Princess and Celebrity pretty equal and recently Princess has had better, in some cases far better itineraries than the repetitive Celebrity cruises.  For us, Itinerary trumps all the other stuff......aqua dining is good (most of the time), we get better perks on Celebrity...but nothing really sets one better than the other overall.

 

As far as dining, we often join a group table to meet new people.  Some fascinating folks cruise and it's interesting to hear other's experiences.  My DW and I have plenty of meals where we can talk alone.  On cruises, I guess we are that horrid couple sitting next to you who dare say "hello, how was your day? Did you get off the ship?".  We accept if the folks next to us are not friendly and we turn to the table on the other side and say "hello............" 🙂

 

I giggled at your dining comment.  We too enjoy meeting new and often interesting people.   I am amazed at some of the most miserable folks who cruise.   Why on earth would they agree to share a table and refuse to converse, or even smile 😊  We do the same and turn the other way and have fun!!

[Redrobo]

Princess cruise lines feature on many of the "Cruising with Jane" or "The cruise returns"  see if you can pick them up on catch up. Captain Tuvo is apparently so good people book cruises just to sail with him.

My choice for a caribbean cuise would be a southern itinerary, we tend to do 14 days or more if possible just to make the airfare worth it.  

 

[yorky]

We would certainly cruise Princess again after our two previous experiences on the Dawn and Sea Princess, loved the size of the ships. We still think Celebrity is superior but Princess is not a million miles away with a simular vibe.

[GUT2407]

I like them both, I frequently say you’ll notice about as much difference between to celebrity ships as you will between a celebrity ship and a Princess ship.

[cangelmd]

We’ve done Celeb, Princess, RCCL and Carnival (that was not good and a not fair comparison).

Princess is more like Celeb than RCL - it fits a similar niche in the Carnival Corporate offerings that Celeb does in RCCL.

We did Princess in Alaska, so I cant comment as much on specific differences because we didn’t spend a whole lot of time on the ship. But the overall atmosphere was very similar.

[Bo1953]

You also can check out the Princess board here and get a feel for what the posters there think about Princess... and also visit a few others here to get their feel, as well..

 

I Am sure they will be very welcoming there and answer any questions, too.

 

bon voyage

[George C]

I find holland the closest to celebrity, I perfer rccl but princess is ok. 

[citronella]

4 hours ago, Kartgv said:

If you're looking for an experience on Princess somewhat similar to Aqua Class on Celebrity, look at the Club Class mini-suites.

 

We were on Princess 6 or 7 years ago. Assuming that balcony cabins on Princess & Celebrity are approximately the same size (haven’t been on Celebrity),  the mini suite on Princess is larger than the balcony cabin and maybe equivalent to a Sky suite on Celebrity ?? It is certainly larger than a regular balcony cabin.

 

3 hours ago, mafig said:

Plus, I cannot stand how they do their anytime dining. 

We like a table for two.  Every single time, on every single Princess ship, when we requested a table for two they would say "don't you want to share?"  Breakast...Lunch....Dinner....  NO.  A couple of times they would bring us to a large table anyway.  

 

We had anytime dining and not once, on a 12 day cruise, did we have any problem getting a table for two. 

[chill6x6]

I'd probably consider Holland America.  The Nieuw Amsterdam is a nice ship with a couple of good caribbean itineraries.  Probably a larger balcony than you'd get on a Princess ship too.  It would be a very nice cruise!

[kelmac]

With 30 Celebrity cruises under our belt, I've always considered X to be the best "bang for the buck" (or £).  We do try other cruise lines and find Princess to be our least favorite alternative.  HAL is now a good alternative, as they have fixed their smoking policy, and you might want to look into MSC in their Yacht Club.  NCL is fine if you sign up for their ultimate dining package and eat every evening meal in one of their wonderful alternative restaurants.  Royal Caribbean is improving as of late.

We've cruised Princess three times and just don't get it.  So so food, crowded buffets/entertainment venues, and really poor alternative restaurants.  I'm sure we will give them another try down the road, as many people have expressed positive experiences with their cruises.  

 

Enjoy!

Kel😄