Princess v Celebrity Jan 14 2007

[Bexartex]

I'm new to this but had a question for those more experienced. We only been on 6 cruises, 4 with Princess and were booked on the Caribbean Princess 1/14/07 thru Amex Platinum Travel. Long story short, Amex screwed up (or Princess, who knows??) and didn't get my final payment in on the due date (it did manage to make it onto my billing statement) and I didn't figure this out until the cruise was fully booked & our room was reassigned.

I noticed there are quite a few CC and SS cabins available for the Celebrity cruise leaving FLL on the same day also with a Eastern Caribbean route. I haven't cruised Celebrity before, but I'm perplexed as to why Princess would be completely sold out for a few weeks now, but Celebrity is not? Seems odd to me. Any ideas?

[Bexartex]

My question probably wasn't clear. My impression was that Celebrity was at least equal if not a step above a Princess...why did this Princess cruise sell out and Celebrity didn't doing the same route, same time? Also price doesn't look materially different.

[two rabbits]

I'm new to this but had a question for those more experienced. We only been on 6 cruises, 4 with Princess and were booked on the Caribbean Princess 1/14/07 thru Amex Platinum Travel. Long story short, Amex screwed up (or Princess, who knows??) and didn't get my final payment in on the due date (it did manage to make it onto my billing statement) and I didn't figure this out until the cruise was fully booked & our room was reassigned.

I noticed there are quite a few CC and SS cabins available for the Celebrity cruise leaving FLL on the same day also with a Eastern Caribbean route. I haven't cruised Celebrity before, but I'm perplexed as to why Princess would be completely sold out for a few weeks now, but Celebrity is not? Seems odd to me. Any ideas?

 

Bexartex,

Sorry to hear about your problem. Have you called Princess Customer Service and explained your situation. They usually have cancellations and maybe they would put you on some kind of a waiting list. Princess usually handles these kinds of problems very well.

As to why Celebrity has quite a few cabins available is probably just supply and demand situation, coupled with the on-going mechanical issues.

[Bexartex]

I'm allegedly first on the waiting list for a mini-suite. But I'm not hopeful as it is 32 days out and everyone is fully paid. I don't understand "supply and demand" as Celebrity is the same "supply" yet appears to have less "demand".

[two rabbits]

The demand may depend on the ship and the problems with the M-class ships. The itinerary of X in the Caribbean may also enter into it.

You are in kind of a catch22 situation, since you are past the cancellation period, if you book a different cruise and then something comes up on Princess, you would not be able to take the Princess cruise. I would keep calling Princess every day and see what they say. Princess has also been known to be very generous with free upgrades.

Given your situation, I would think this might be a possibility.

Did you make the reservations directly with Princess?

[Bexartex]

Made reservation thru Amex Platinum Travel. They really screwed the pooch. You are right, I'm kind of in no mans land

[rebeccalouise]

Having sailed both lines in recent years I whole-heartedly recommend Celebrity. It is my favorite line and I have yet to have a "pod" problem. Even if there were such a problem with the pod, the ships sails more slowly and you may miss a port but the ships themselves are so great- you probably won't mind being stranded on board.

Go Celebrity- the screwup with Princess was a happy accident.

Same thing happened to me with Princess- there was a problem with my booking and I had to switch to another line at the last minute. We sailed Norwegian Wind instead and had a fantastic time.

[Bexartex]

thanks for the input, I think we'll give it a try.

[engineering 101]

My impression was that Celebrity was at least equal if not a step above a Princess...why did this Princess cruise sell out and Celebrity didn't doing the same route, same time? Also price doesn't look materially different.

 

The answer is probably very simple:

 

For a caribbean cruise Princess is perceived as better value for the money without some of the headaches that come with a Celebrity cruise.

 

In addition Celebrity will expect you to dress formally for two nights of your 7 day cruise + a jacket and tie for three other nights which may be fine and dandy on a cruise comprised primarily of sea days. The caribbean is very casual and the last thing many people want to be doing, in my opinion, is to be dragging that many nice clothes on the plane cross country to dress to the nines after a day at the beach drinking pina colada's.

 

Fans of Celebrity may disagree, however, if you check any of their caribbean cruises they all have numerous cabins available whereas the other cruiselines are virtually sold out. For example the Galaxy christmas cruise still has a huge inventory of cabins available and it is less than two weeks out, whereas all other cruise lines have had waitlists for christmas cruises for many weeks now. I realize using Galaxy is a poor example as it is Celebrity's least desirable ship and has been relegated to sailing from San Juan with locals filling up the ship on last minute fire sales. The other ship which sails the same dates as yours is the Millenium which just entred drydock today and is supposed to be back on line this weekend after making pod repairs in what would be a record amount of time. Confidence levels on the M-class ships are very low currently which is also resulting in many cabins being available.

[Bexartex]

Engineer,

Thanks for the excellent analysis, that all makes good sense to me. I'm thinking now about the 10 day S Caribbean on the Constellation 1/19/07. Any feedback on the ship and route w/be appreciated. I had been somewhat incentivized to get the 5th trip in w/Princess to gain Platinum but now am not sure

[Drew B]

It's also very possible that many people don't bother shopping around and just booked a cruise that sounded good to them (in this case, on Princess) without ever checking if X was available or affordable. It may or may not mean a lot if it's just this one particular cruise. If it's a trend, as engineering suggests, his explanation makes sense.

[engineering 101]

I'm thinking now about the 10 day S Caribbean on the Constellation 1/19/07. Any feedback on the ship and route w/be appreciated.

 

We took the Constellation out of San Juan on a ten day cruise in April 2004. We actually had a real good time and immensely enjoyed the ship, the food, the room, everything. We took Galaxy out of Galveston in November 2005 and truly did not enjoy the experience one bit. We were supposed to go on Infinity in September but ended up being bumped in favor of a drydock to replace/repair pods. We have a free cruise coming to us but after that I think we may look at other options - Princess being one of them.

 

Historically, Constellation has not had any pod problems and probably is a good safe bet mechanically compared to the other M-class ships. We liked it but that was 2 1/2 years ago. Things have been changing on a daily basis at Celebrity and from what I have seen on these boards not all of the changes have been good.

 

Have you checked out Oceania - they cruise the caribbean in the winter. If you look at their boards and the review recently posted by the Editor of Cruise Critic, Carolyn Spencer Brown, they have been getting rave reviews of late. They have a ten day on January 2nd and then two 16 day cruises after that which are Miami to LA and then return.

[rebeccalouise]

Engineer,

Thanks for the excellent analysis, that all makes good sense to me. I'm thinking now about the 10 day S Caribbean on the Constellation 1/19/07. Any feedback on the ship and route w/be appreciated. I had been somewhat incentivized to get the 5th trip in w/Princess to gain Platinum but now am not sure

 

I sailed the Constellation in April of this year and it was my favorite ship yet. My second favorite was the Millenium. I can't think of one negative about either ship, the service, the food or any other aspect. You will have a wonderful time on Constellation. It has spoiled me for other ships.

[Bexartex]

I'll check Oceania also...thanks for the feedback.

[Rev22:17]

Bexartex,

 

I'm new to this but had a question for those more experienced. We only been on 6 cruises, 4 with Princess and were booked on the Caribbean Princess 1/14/07 thru Amex Platinum Travel. Long story short, Amex screwed up (or Princess, who knows??) and didn't get my final payment in on the due date (it did manage to make it onto my billing statement) and I didn't figure this out until the cruise was fully booked & our room was reassigned.

I noticed there are quite a few CC and SS cabins available for the Celebrity cruise leaving FLL on the same day also with a Eastern Caribbean route. I haven't cruised Celebrity before, but I'm perplexed as to why Princess would be completely sold out for a few weeks now, but Celebrity is not? Seems odd to me. Any ideas?

 

It sounds like you might as well go ahead and book the Celebrity cruise. A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush, as they say!

 

That said, you will notice a few differences between Celebrity and Princess.

 

>> 1. Celebrity offers only traditinal dining, so you'll have to choose either first or second seating.

 

>> 2. As another poster noted, Celebrity still has a couple "informal" evenings (sport coat and tie for gents) in addition to the "formal" evenings. You can expect three "casual" evenings on a seven night Celebrity cruise -- the firse evening, the evening o the tropical deck party, and the last evening.

 

>> 3. Overall, Celebrity draws a somewhat dressier crowd than Princess so tell any ladies in your party to err on the side of overdressing rather than underdressing, especially in the evening.

 

Otherwise, the lines are pretty similar so you probably will feel pretty comfortable on Celebrity if you like Princess.

 

And, on the bright side, you'll get to see a different set of production shows and headliners!

 

Norm.

[Andy]

Hi Bexartex !

 

Quick question... are you committed to the Princess Cruise in any way ? Can you get all of your funds fully refunded ? The reason I ask, is that if you decide to book Millennium or any other ship, you will be inside of 70 days, and you will need to make final payment almost immediately. You would need to be free and clear of your Princess booking before you make final payment with Celebrity, or elsewhere.

 

Assuming you can get your money back from Princess, I would give Millennium a try. I have been on Princess several times, and I feel both lines will give you an excellent Cruise. Millennium is an excellent ship, and I do not think she will let you down.

 

As for the pod problems that others are commenting about, Millennium is in Drydock this week, to repair some mechanical issues, so all should be fine for a January sailing. I would not worry about that aspect too much.

 

Good luck, and please keep us posted !

[Bexartex]

Hi Andy,

No not committed to Princess. Amex Platinum Travel (or Princess) dropped the ball when my final payment was due...Amex billed my charge account & says they sent it...Princess says they didn't get it...net result, my booking was reassigned and I didn't figure it out until a few weeks later when I noticed the crusie booking had disappeared from the Princess website. So while I am 1st on waiting list for a mini...I am not obligated & can book elsewhere. I'm leaning towards the 10 day on 1/19 on the Constellation.

Thanks for the comparisons of the 2 lines, that's helpful.

[Andy]

Hi Andy,

No not committed to Princess. Amex Platinum Travel (or Princess) dropped the ball when my final payment was due...Amex billed my charge account & says they sent it...Princess says they didn't get it...net result, my booking was reassigned and I didn't figure it out until a few weeks later when I noticed the crusie booking had disappeared from the Princess website. So while I am 1st on waiting list for a mini...I am not obligated & can book elsewhere. I'm leaning towards the 10 day on 1/19 on the Constellation.

Thanks for the comparisons of the 2 lines, that's helpful.

 

Hi Bexartex !

 

If you can make the 1/19 Constellation sailing happen, that would clearly be my first choice, including anything that Princess has to offer. The 10 night Ultimate Caribbean itinerary is FAR better than Millennium, and is one of Celebrity's best Caribbean options. I was on Constellation 2 weeks ago, and overall (other than horrible weather) had an excellent Cruise !

 

By all means, if you can go with Constellation, I would suggest you take that option. Good Luck !

[Bexartex]

Hi Andy,

Just booked the 1/19 ten day on Constellation. This will be our 1st Celebrity cruise. Really looking forward to it. The itenerary looks great & I'm eager to see how service, food and general feel of the cruise measures up/compares.

Thamks again to all for the input.

[Lsimon]

Engineer,

Thanks for the excellent analysis, that all makes good sense to me. I'm thinking now about the 10 day S Caribbean on the Constellation 1/19/07. Any feedback on the ship and route w/be appreciated. I had been somewhat incentivized to get the 5th trip in w/Princess to gain Platinum but now am not sure

 

We took the Summit (nearly identical sister ship) on the same Caribbean 10 day itinerary three years ago - it was our all time favorite itinerary, and a great cruise. We took our 5th trip on a M class ship on the Connie last October and thought the Connie was fantastic. Had great service and entertainment. We're scheduled on the Connie again in March on the same 10 day itinerary as you're considering and are really looking forward to it.

 

We've never had a hint of pod problems, although we recognise that sometimes there are mechanical problems on any line and that the incidence of this particular problem on the M class ships is a little higher than others. But we consider the risk low enough that it doesn't enter into our decision process.

 

We also cruised Princess last year, and four times overall. We feel that overall the cruises are at a similar level, although there are lots of differences. Overall we prefer Celebrity, although we'd consider Princess again. In our view Princess has the lead in overall ship decor and layout, and stage show entertainment (although we REALLY liked a couple of the acts on the Connie last October). Celebrity has better overall service and ship-board atmosphere. We personally prefer the traditional dining experience on Celebrity. We recognise that there are others who have different tastes and prefer these same items on Princess. If you search for Princess on this forum, or Celebrity on the princess forum, you'll find lots of threads comparing the two.

[Bexartex]

Thanks Larry,

I agree, love the sea days at start & finish. We were in Barbados once and have wanted to return. St. Lucia will be a new one for us and we always enjoy the shopping & beaches in St Thomas & St. Martin.

I'm not sure about St. Kitts, we've done 4 land vacations in Nevis & St. Kitts was just the place we shuttled thru from the airport to take the water taxi to Nevis. I need to do some homework or maybe just shoot over to Nevis for a round of golf at the 4 Seasons!

[geoherb]

We're about to go on our fifth Princess cruise next week. I looked into taking our third cruise on Celebrity, but the itinerary of the Princess ship plus a few other factors made that one our choice.

 

I noticed a few weeks after we booked (which was after final payment in late September) that our ship was sold out. The Celebrity ship still has cabins available for next week.

 

Two years ago when we sailed on the Century for Christmas and New Year's, I booked that cruise in October and had many cabins to choose from. And last year, we booked our Christmas cruise on Holland America the week before Thanksgiving.

 

My thinking is that Princess heavily promotes last-minute offers sooner than the other cruise lines. It's better to sell available cabins to get people on the ship than to sail with empty cabins.