Celebrity... viable alternative (Princess?)

[George C]

I would book the mini suite if picking princess it’s a nice cabin , no real perks, we are also booked on msc yacht club but we are sailing at end of the year perks seem great similar to celebrity suites but at a much cheaper price 

[SeaHunt]

On 5/19/2019 at 3:39 PM, helen haywood said:

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.

 

+1 - he really is fantastic! 

 

Links to his Princess reviews are in his signature - but be sure and read his January Azamara review too (link below). I think he sold more people on Azamara than any brochure ever could!

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2627809-x-cruiser-sails-azamara-to-cuba-jan-15-to-24-2019/

 

We do enjoy Princess, and always have a great cruise with them. I agree about getting a mini suite (especially on the newer ships) and once was lucky to be able to grab an M6 premium mini suite M108 (Club Class so you get Club Class amenities) on the Regal, but - boohoo - had to cancel before experiencing that huge balcony (though I was warned about possible windy conditions being all the way forward, and since the balcony wall is not glass having to look over and not though).  It's still on my bucket list for the future just for the space 

Here's a picture from the Princess board - now that's a balcony (picture doesn't show it but usually has 2 loungers, table with 4 chairs, extra chairs). Just the place to have your "Ultimate Balcony Dinner" served to you:

 

[Hlitner]

We find more things comparable then not, but each line has their pros and cons.  We do walk the walk and will be on Celebrity this coming Sunday and on a longer Princess cruise this October.  One warning about HAL (we have a lot of days on that line).  HAL has recently eliminated Production Shows from all of their ships.  They substitute some Guest Entertainers and perhaps a dance troupe (this varies by cruise).  HAL has also been known to simply show a documentary movie in their main theater and call that the evening show!  

 

Hank

[yorky]

2 hours ago, Hlitner said:

We find more things comparable then not, but each line has their pros and cons.  We do walk the walk and will be on Celebrity this coming Sunday and on a longer Princess cruise this October.  One warning about HAL (we have a lot of days on that line).  HAL has recently eliminated Production Shows from all of their ships.  They substitute some Guest Entertainers and perhaps a dance troupe (this varies by cruise).  HAL has also been known to simply show a documentary movie in their main theater and call that the evening show!  

 

Hank

Really, that would actually put me off sailing with them.

[Gracie115]

On 5/19/2019 at 2:24 PM, 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.    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.    

 

 

Agree completely with this.  We did our first Princess cruise with Club Class Dining last fall and loved it.  We were on the Regal, which is only about 5 years old and the ship was great.  We've cruised mostly Celebrity for 20 years, but looking for other itineraries we decided to try Princess and now have 3 cruises booked with them.....still have a few with Celebrity too, but good to know there are other choices that we will enjoy too.

[Gracie115]

8 hours ago, SeaHunt said:

 

 

 

YES!!! we have 2 cruises booked in M108 on the Sky, can't wait!!!

[Hlitner]

8 hours ago, yorky said:

Really, that would actually put me off sailing with them.

Yep and we think it might quickly become a huge issue.  We have over 500 days with HAL so it is obviously a line we have enjoyed in the past.  HAL has long played fast and loose with entertainment with various cut-backs over the past few years.  Quartets became duets, 7 piece bands became 5 piece bands, 3 bands became 2 bands, etc.  But they also did some really good things such as creating their BB King concept.  HAL has long had some "dark nights" (no shows) but this usually happened on very long cruises and was no biggie.  But a few months ago, without any advance notice, HAL simply ceased all their production shows.  The singers and dancers were all terminated.  After reading many of the related posts it seems like they have moved towards a system of Guest Entertainers (which can sometimes be small dance troupes).  If they do not have enough Guest Entertainers to fill a schedule on a cruise they make do with other options such as showing a documentary (we had this happen on a previous cruise).  What is puzzling is that the newer HAL vessels have very nice theaters with all the usual bells and whistles.  But now, they are not being used for Production shows.  Perhaps this will change in the near future, but so far nobody on CC seems to have an inside track on the plans.

 

DW and I are already unhappy with this situation.  We have a 30 day HAL cruise (with many sea days) booked next year.  We enjoy Production shows and would normally expect at least 4 or 5 on a cruise of that length.  But now, who knows.

 

Hank

[14 months and counting]

In February 2017 we spent twenty days on Royal Princess.  The ship was beautiful - shiny and super clean.  The balcony and cabin were very small compared to HAL and Celebrity.  The meals were fine but the Lido is huge and we always seemed to be searching for a table because there is not enough seating.  Fixed dining took 2 - 2 1/2 hours.  The itinerary was wonderful but we had to wait in lines for the elevator that always seemed to bypass deck 10.  If you were interested in the shows you had to arrive 45 minutes ahead of time and sometimes we just never made it into the shows in the smaller venues.  We enjoyed the cruise because we travelled with four friends and were able to spend time with them if we didn't make it into the shows.  Last winter we headed back to Celebrity.  I have found if you reserve your cruise as soon as the itineraries are released the prices are the lowest.  The downside is that you have money tied up in deposits and trip insurance.

[Kartgv]

Don't forget that some of the differences between lines that people are discussing are very much 'ship' dependent.    There can be a huge difference between newer/more recently renovated ships and older ships on both lines.    Balcony size mentioned above is a good example - the newer Royal has notoriously small balconies, while some of the older ships are much more generous.   

 

Since HAL has entered the discussion, we just completed our first HAL cruise after many years of mostly Princess and Celebrity.    There were things we liked about it, but many we didn't.    In our case, many of both the likes and dislikes were ship dependent, as we sailed on the Volendam, one of their older, smaller ships.