Celebrity Cruiser Looking to try Princess! Help!

[Lady Arwen]

7 hours ago, suzyed said:

I kept hearing how I was going to LOVE Celebrity!  I found it nice enough but I didn't love it any more than Princess.  
Every night we went to dinner we had to wait and were given a beeper so we could go and wait and have a drink. 
The Elite lounge free cocktails were nice but 1 or 2 is all you can get in the time allotted. Drink packages eliminated the need for this. 
I'm trying to recall what was better or even equal to Princess?  To be fair I have only been on one Celebrity cruise....but have not been enticed to try them again.  Princess seems to have nicer itineraries and more bang for the buck.

To be really fair you have only ONE Celebrity cruise to compare.  You would undoubtedly encourage someone who was disappointed in their first Princess cruise to gave it another try.  I’m curious as to which Celebrity ship you sailed on.  You must have been in a suite to have had access to the Elite lounge. 

We have been sailing with Princess since 1994 and Celebrity since 1991.  In the past few years we’ve just felt that Celebrity was a better fit for us.  You prefer Princess and that’s okay.  Everyone has different tastes and expectations.  I respect yours.

 

I just wanted to correct one thing you mentioned.  Elite level complimentary cocktails are available at ANY bar or lounge and are limitless between the hours of 5pm to 7pm.  You do not have to be in the Elite lounge.  In fact, few people do so.  We always have a couple of cocktails at a bar and then we get a couple of glasses of wine to take into whichever dining room we’re eating at that evening. Absolutely no problem doing this.  So, 4 complimentary drinks, or more if you are so inclined, per day.  That is enough to satisfy many people who are light drinkers.  I just wanted to clarify for those who might have been unsure about this benefit.  
 

Elite members also get 1 complimentary bag of laundry for each passenger per seven day cruise.  Free dry cleaning and ironing of two articles of clothing.  And so many more benefits.  It works for us.

 

I wish you many more happy sailings on whichever Princess ship you choose.

[doghog]

9 hours ago, suzyed said:

Not necessarily...you can reach Elite without having to take 12 cruises if you sail on longer cruises and use days instead of sailings.  Once you get to be Elite you have free laundry as much as you want....no limit.

You can reach Elite with Celebrity taking zero cruises with Celebrity. 

 

Wrong there is a laundry limit. Elite gets 1 complimentary bag, up to 30 items that go in a Wash n Fold bag. Great for underwear and socks.  Aslo 2 complimentary pressed items. 1 complimentary dry cleaned item. 

Edited May 3 by doghog

[doghog]

1 hour ago, Lady Arwen said:

To be really fair you have only ONE Celebrity cruise to compare.  You would undoubtedly encourage someone who was disappointed in their first Princess cruise to gave it another try.  I’m curious as to which Celebrity ship you sailed on.  You must have been in a suite to have had access to the Elite lounge. 

We have been sailing with Princess since 1994 and Celebrity since 1991.  In the past few years we’ve just felt that Celebrity was a better fit for us.  You prefer Princess and that’s okay.  Everyone has different tastes and expectations.  I respect yours.

 

I just wanted to correct one thing you mentioned.  Elite level complimentary cocktails are available at ANY bar or lounge and are limitless between the hours of 5pm to 7pm.  You do not have to be in the Elite lounge.  In fact, few people do so.  We always have a couple of cocktails at a bar and then we get a couple of glasses of wine to take into whichever dining room we’re eating at that evening. Absolutely no problem doing this.  So, 4 complimentary drinks, or more if you are so inclined, per day.  That is enough to satisfy many people who are light drinkers.  I just wanted to clarify for those who might have been unsure about this benefit.  
 

Elite members also get 1 complimentary bag of laundry for each passenger per seven day cruise.  Free dry cleaning and ironing of two articles of clothing.  And so many more benefits.  It works for us.

 

I wish you many more happy sailings on whichever Princess ship you choose.

Agree. One correction. Only Elite, Elite Plus and Zenith would have access to the reserved lounge during the CC HH from 5 to 7 PM. Suites never have and still don't have access to that CC HH event. Which now is limited to only  2 or 3 evenings, depending on the length of the cruise. Suite guests only have the Retreat Lounge. 

Edited May 3 by doghog

[Lady Arwen]

9 minutes ago, doghog said:

Agree. One correction. Only Elite, Elite Plus and Zenith would have access to the reserved lounge during the CC HH from 5 to 7 PM. Suites never have and still don't have access to that CC HH event. Which now is limited to only  2 or 3 evenings, depending on the length of the cruise. Suite guests only have the Retreat Lounge. 
 

 I was just trying to understand how someone on their first and only Celebrity cruise had access to the Elite Lounge.  I know that suite guests can access this lounge if accompanied by an Elite member, as can a non Elite passenger who is occupying the same cabin as an Elite member.  We were on Ascent in January and enjoyed the HH every evening.

[Retired-N-Happy]

9 hours ago, suzyed said:

I imagine it is easier to do on a 7-10 day sailing but I can't imagine doing 15 drinks/day on a 25-32 day sailing!  You may have to check in to Betty Ford's when you get home!  LOL!

Some people, mainly on Carnival look at the 15 as a target that they try to get to so that they get the "best value" out of their package.  I can still enjoy myself if I don't start drinking until after dinner and only drink 5 or go for most of the day and possibly hit double digits.  The value is so much easier to obtain on Princess since the 60.00 covers so much more.  The 60 on Carnival is just their drink package.  Once you factor in tips on drinks, general tips and wifi, the comparable cost on Carnival would be double the price on Princess.

[JordanF]

We have been on a few "mass market" cruise lines: RCCL, Celebrity, Princess and NCL.  While there are certainly differences worth discussing, I think that the cruise lines at this level are more similar than different.  The prices are overall similar, the included and extra fee items are pretty similar, and the general experience is also kind of similar.  Give or take a water slide, I think if someone painted over the ship name with another name, it would be hard to tell the difference.  

 

This is not a criticism of the lines--I actually love cruising and think they all generally do an excellent job at a good value.  Our last cruise was on Celebrity (Aruba) and our next cruise is Princess (Hawaii).  Our previous experiences on both lines have been excellent.  The only downside to our lack of loyalty is our low to middling loyalty status on multiple lines.

[Retired-N-Happy]

13 minutes ago, JordanF said:

We have been on a few "mass market" cruise lines: RCCL, Celebrity, Princess and NCL.  While there are certainly differences worth discussing, I think that the cruise lines at this level are more similar than different.  The prices are overall similar, the included and extra fee items are pretty similar, and the general experience is also kind of similar.  Give or take a water slide, I think if someone painted over the ship name with another name, it would be hard to tell the difference.  

 

This is not a criticism of the lines--I actually love cruising and think they all generally do an excellent job at a good value.  Our last cruise was on Celebrity (Aruba) and our next cruise is Princess (Hawaii).  Our previous experiences on both lines have been excellent.  The only downside to our lack of loyalty is our low to middling loyalty status on multiple lines.

We have sailed on all four of the lines you mentioned, plus Carnival many times and MSC twice.  There are many similarities if you compare an apple to an apple since the more modern ships in each fleet are certainly different than the rust buckets.  

It's more difficult to compare the lines with regards to their packages.  RCI and Carnival don't have them and Princess is the only one of the six lines mentioned that includes the crew appreciation as part of their plus or premier package.  For the cost of 60 for the plus, it would cost over double that on the other five lines for what is included on the Princess plus package.  Because of this fact 11/15 of our future cruises are booked on Princess.

[memoak]

11 hours ago, suzyed said:

I imagine it is easier to do on a 7-10 day sailing but I can't imagine doing 15 drinks/day on a 25-32 day sailing!  You may have to check in to Betty Ford's when you get home!  LOL!

Watch me. We always take 14-21 day cruises and rarely have less than 8-12 drinks each even on port days 

[doghog]

3 hours ago, Lady Arwen said:

3 hours ago, doghog said:

Agree. One correction. Only Elite, Elite Plus and Zenith would have access to the reserved lounge during the CC HH from 5 to 7 PM. Suites never have and still don't have access to that CC HH event. Which now is limited to only  2 or 3 evenings, depending on the length of the cruise. Suite guests only have the Retreat Lounge. 
 

 I was just trying to understand how someone on their first and only Celebrity cruise had access to the Elite Lounge.  I know that suite guests can access this lounge if accompanied by an Elite member, as can a non Elite passenger who is occupying the same cabin as an Elite member.  We were on Ascent in January and enjoyed the HH every evening.

Exactly my point I was making that suite guests do not have access to the CC HH if in a reserved lounge. The suite guest or any other guest may be allowed access only if staying in the same cabin as an Elite or above and that still is at the discretion of the CC Concierge. IMO, that practice needs to stop. 

[suzyed]

2 hours ago, memoak said:

Watch me. We always take 14-21 day cruises and rarely have less than 8-12 drinks each even on port days 

But 15?

[suzyed]

4 hours ago, Lady Arwen said:

4 hours ago, doghog said:

Agree. One correction. Only Elite, Elite Plus and Zenith would have access to the reserved lounge during the CC HH from 5 to 7 PM. Suites never have and still don't have access to that CC HH event. Which now is limited to only  2 or 3 evenings, depending on the length of the cruise. Suite guests only have the Retreat Lounge. 
 

 I was just trying to understand how someone on their first and only Celebrity cruise had access to the Elite Lounge.  I know that suite guests can access this lounge if accompanied by an Elite member, as can a non Elite passenger who is occupying the same cabin as an Elite member.  We were on Ascent in January and enjoyed the HH every evening.

I had access to the Elite CC HH because I was Elite on my one and only Celebrity cruise since I am Diamond on Royal Caribbean and they status match.  (As does MSC)

Edited May 3 by suzyed

[suzyed]

4 hours ago, doghog said:

You can reach Elite with Celebrity taking zero cruises with Celebrity. 

 

Wrong there is a laundry limit. Elite gets 1 complimentary bag, up to 30 items that go in a Wash n Fold bag. Great for underwear and socks.  Aslo 2 complimentary pressed items. 1 complimentary dry cleaned item. 

Wrong on Princess?  No, correct.  On our last sailing we sent out laundry at least twice a week and sometimes multiple bags at a time.

Edited May 3 by suzyed

[suzyed]

6 hours ago, Lady Arwen said:

To be really fair you have only ONE Celebrity cruise to compare.  You would undoubtedly encourage someone who was disappointed in their first Princess cruise to gave it another try.  I’m curious as to which Celebrity ship you sailed on.  You must have been in a suite to have had access to the Elite lounge. 

We have been sailing with Princess since 1994 and Celebrity since 1991.  In the past few years we’ve just felt that Celebrity was a better fit for us.  You prefer Princess and that’s okay.  Everyone has different tastes and expectations.  I respect yours.

 

I just wanted to correct one thing you mentioned.  Elite level complimentary cocktails are available at ANY bar or lounge and are limitless between the hours of 5pm to 7pm.  You do not have to be in the Elite lounge.  In fact, few people do so.  We always have a couple of cocktails at a bar and then we get a couple of glasses of wine to take into whichever dining room we’re eating at that evening. Absolutely no problem doing this.  So, 4 complimentary drinks, or more if you are so inclined, per day.  That is enough to satisfy many people who are light drinkers.  I just wanted to clarify for those who might have been unsure about this benefit.  
 

Elite members also get 1 complimentary bag of laundry for each passenger per seven day cruise.  Free dry cleaning and ironing of two articles of clothing.  And so many more benefits.  It works for us.

 

I wish you many more happy sailings on whichever Princess ship you choose.

Thank you...we continue to sail mainly with Princess. Different strokes for different folks! Thankful we all have a choice!

And no, we were not in a Suite.  Being Diamond on Royal Caribbean grants one Elite status on Celebrity (at least at this time).  As far as the free drinks anywhere during 5-7, nope, didn't know that.

[suzyed]

2 hours ago, memoak said:

Watch me. We always take 14-21 day cruises and rarely have less than 8-12 drinks each even on port days 

Go for it!  More power to ya!  

I can only speak for ourselves!  I'm more concerned about the calories rather than getting tipsy!  LOL!

[Lady Arwen]

51 minutes ago, suzyed said:

I had access to the Elite CC HH because I was Elite on my one and only Celebrity cruise since I am Diamond on Royal Caribbean and they status match.  (As does MSC)

Yes, I’m aware of the status matching.  I just never pictured you as a Royal Caribbean cruiser!   To get to Diamond level you would need a few cruises under your belt.  I’m very surprised that you prefer RCI over Celebrity!  Like, I said, everyone has their own wants and needs and that’s a good thing.

[Lady Arwen]

45 minutes ago, suzyed said:

Thank you...we continue to sail mainly with Princess. Different strokes for different folks! Thankful we all have a choice!

And no, we were not in a Suite.  Being Diamond on Royal Caribbean grants one Elite status on Celebrity (at least at this time).  As far as the free drinks anywhere during 5-7, nope, didn't know that.

Yes, that’s a great benefit, especially for those folks who only want a few cocktails and wine in the evening with dinner.  Unfortunately, we have to pay for the drinks we indulge in during the afternoon.  Oh well, you can’t have it all!

[Retired-N-Happy]

8 minutes ago, Lady Arwen said:

Yes, I’m aware of the status matching.  I just never pictured you as a Royal Caribbean cruiser!   To get to Diamond level you would need a few cruises under your belt.  I’m very surprised that you prefer RCI over Celebrity!  Like, I said, everyone has their own wants and needs and that’s a good thing.

Yep.  80 nights needed to reach Diamond.   Most of RCI's cruises are 7 days, so 11 cruises @ 7 days and a short 3 day , so it could take a dozen cruises to reach Diamond.  Even if you somehow averaged 8 days with a few longer ones, it would still take 10 cruises to become Diamond and you'd get those free four drinks on cruise 11.

[suzyed]

5 minutes ago, Lady Arwen said:

Yes, I’m aware of the status matching.  I just never pictured you as a Royal Caribbean cruiser!   To get to Diamond level you would need a few cruises under your belt.  I’m very surprised that you prefer RCI over Celebrity!  Like, I said, everyone has their own wants and needs and that’s a good thing.

We haven't sailed RCI in almost 12 years, but we live in Florida and we would many times spur of the moment drive down to port and take a 3,5,7 day cruise on both RCI and even Carnival!  It was just so easy!  Actually I don't believe Pinnacle was even a thing when we last sailed on RCI.  Many of our sailings were with our family.  We like to try out different expiriences, having also sailed on Cunard 5 times, MSC 3 times. In 2010 when we first sailed on the Ruby Princess we were very pleased with the Princess product.  A few more cruises and we were hooked on Princess with a sprinkle of the others in there!  We just love their itineraries, the price point, the onboard culture, the crew, the staff, etc.  Is it perfect...no way, but we feel at this time it's perfect for us!
BTW, one of my best friends sails almost exclusively on Celebrity but she's a gambler and likes the smoke free casinos.  Not saying there was anything wrong with Celebrity and we may try it again but right now we're content with our choice.

[suzyed]

10 minutes ago, Retired-N-Happy said:

Yep.  80 nights needed to reach Diamond.   Most of RCI's cruises are 7 days, so 11 cruises @ 7 days and a short 3 day , so it could take a dozen cruises to reach Diamond.  Even if you somehow averaged 8 days with a few longer ones, it would still take 10 cruises to become Diamond and you'd get those free four drinks on cruise 11.

I believe we had 10 cruise credits but back in the day you would get two points for being in a Jr. Suite, so that helped.

[Lady Arwen]

2 minutes ago, suzyed said:

We haven't sailed RCI in almost 12 years, but we live in Florida and we would many times spur of the moment drive down to port and take a 3,5,7 day cruise on both RCI and even Carnival!  It was just so easy!  Actually I don't believe Pinnacle was even a thing when we last sailed on RCI.  Many of our sailings were with our family.  We like to try out different expiriences, having also sailed on Cunard 5 times, MSC 3 times. In 2010 when we first sailed on the Ruby Princess we were very pleased with the Princess product.  A few more cruises and we were hooked on Princess with a sprinkle of the others in there!  We just love their itineraries, the price point, the onboard culture, the crew, the staff, etc.  Is it perfect...no way, but we feel at this time it's perfect for us!
BTW, one of my best friends sails almost exclusively on Celebrity but she's a gambler and likes the smoke free casinos.  Not saying there was anything wrong with Celebrity and we may try it again but right now we're content with our choice.

Thank you!  That explains it perfectly.  If I lived near a cruise port I would be sailing on any damn ship!

[voljeep]

2 minutes ago, suzyed said:

We haven't sailed RCI in almost 12 years, but we live in Florida and we would many times spur of the moment drive down to port and take a 3,5,7 day cruise on both RCI and even Carnival!  It was just so easy!  Actually I don't believe Pinnacle was even a thing when we last sailed on RCI.  Many of our sailings were with our family.  We like to try out different expiriences, having also sailed on Cunard 5 times, MSC 3 times. In 2010 when we first sailed on the Ruby Princess we were very pleased with the Princess product.  A few more cruises and we were hooked on Princess with a sprinkle of the others in there!  We just love their itineraries, the price point, the onboard culture, the crew, the staff, etc.  Is it perfect...no way, but we feel at this time it's perfect for us!
BTW, one of my best friends sails almost exclusively on Celebrity but she's a gambler and likes the smoke free casinos.  Not saying there was anything wrong with Celebrity and we may try it again but right now we're content with our choice.

looking forward to the CB out of PC? - not us - we'll wait on SKY P

[suzyed]

8 minutes ago, Lady Arwen said:

Thank you!  That explains it perfectly.  If I lived near a cruise port I would be sailing on any damn ship!

And we have 5 cruise ports in Florida!

[suzyed]

13 minutes ago, voljeep said:

looking forward to the CB out of PC? - not us - we'll wait on SKY P

The SKY  is such a nice ship!!

[Retired-N-Happy]

29 minutes ago, Lady Arwen said:

Thank you!  That explains it perfectly.  If I lived near a cruise port I would be sailing on any damn ship!

But if you cruised on any "damn" ship, that would lock you into HAL.  😄

[Lady Arwen]

26 minutes ago, Retired-N-Happy said:

But if you cruised on any "damn" ship, that would lock you into HAL.  😄

Actually, we also cruise with HAL.  Love the Pinnacle class ships, especially Rotterdam.  Variety is the spice of life! lol