Princess vs. Celebrity

[SoCalGal]

I had initially booked Celebrity's Constellation for the June 2008 Northern European cruise but when I saw the Royal Princess itinerary from Rome to Stockholm I changed our reservation. The itinerary looks fabulous. How does Princess compare to Celebrity for those that have sailed on both? We have sailed on Celebrity for our last four cruises to Alaska and also one in the Mediterranean. We took our very first cruise way back in the mid-80's on a Princess "Love Boat" and we had a great time. The original Royal Princess was brand new in those days...guess she's retired and been replaced by this new Royal Princess. Any info would greatly be appreciated. Thanks!

[margord]

I had initially booked Celebrity's Constellation for the June 2008 Northern European cruise but when I saw the Royal Princess itinerary from Rome to Stockholm I changed our reservation. The itinerary looks fabulous. How does Princess compare to Celebrity for those that have sailed on both? We have sailed on Celebrity for our last four cruises to Alaska and also one in the Mediterranean. We took our very first cruise way back in the mid-80's on a Princess "Love Boat" and we had a great time. The original Royal Princess was brand new in those days...guess she's retired and been replaced by this new Royal Princess. Any info would greatly be appreciated. Thanks!

 

Of course everyone has an opnion and what you get on this board may be different that what you get on the Celebrity board. We have been on both and I love them both. Enjoy

[crusinpeg]

Both cruise lines are great but I have to give the edge to Celebrity when it comes to food and service.

[mare s.]

Honestly, there are good and bad on both. We used Celebrity to the Baltic and it was very good in entertainment, lectures, shops. The food was okay to good...spa food was excellent...desserts pretty bad. Dining room service was very good, but we happened to have a wonderful waiter and assistant waiter. We just returned from our first Princess cruise to Australia/New Zealand. Food was exceptional...as good as Holland America (which had been our favorite)...service was very good...we had anytime dining and had some wonderful wait staff. We thought the entertainment was mediocre and shops pretty bad on Sapphire and we missed the port lectures we had on Constellation (these were more than just where to shop.) However, we've already booked our next Princess cruise so you know we must have enjoyed the cruise. Come to think of it, we've enjoyed every cruise we've been on!

[janetz]

We feel Celebrity has a more "formal" feel to it. Their food and the presentaiton of it, exceptional. Celebrity Century was our first cruise, and the best. (Most first cruises are). Service, excellent.

 

Princess is less formal and offers anytime dinning which we love. We like to eat when we are ready to. We find the food very good. Love the fresh water pools and hot tubs. Service, excellent. The only complaint I have is the mattress on the bed was not comfy at all. We had to ask for an egg crate topper. No problem. The best bedding on our cruises so far goes to Carnival. Very nice.

 

Sailing Princess again next May! :D :D

[willysgrandma]

For me, the only real difference is the food. Celebrity's is much better. And I mean MUCH better.

 

Other than that, the ships and service are pretty similar.

[SoCalGal]

For me, the only real difference is the food. Celebrity's is much better. And I mean MUCH better.

 

Other than that, the ships and service are pretty similar.

 

Have you been on the Royal Princess? We also love Celebrity's food and service as we have been on the Summit 3 times and the Mille once. I've heard that the smaller Royal Princess has better food and service than the larger ships in the Princess fleet.

[mikjr]

We have said three times on Celebrity and three on Princess, with another Princess coming in 08.

 

We have always felt Celebrity was much better in several ways:

 

1) Food... we were very dissapointed this last trip... food was bland and tasteless! All the sauces taste the same, especially on fish. I'm not saying the food is bad, but it's not as good as Celebrity

 

2) Staff... this is where Celebrity shines!! when we are on Celebrity, we feel just that... "like Celebrities". They servers and general staff are much more friendly and courteous. This last cruise on Princess, my wife asked for hot tea from one of the beverage servers... he actually winched and gave her a dirty look! Obviously, he's making 15% of a $1.00 tea, versus 15% of a $7.50 alcoholic beverage, but what he didn't know, is that I always tip an extra dollar or two when we place small orders... to his loss, he DID NOT get the extra tip from us this time!

 

3) Attitude... I notice the overall attitude of the staff on Celebrity to be warmer and more willing to assist and help.

 

4) Entertainment... the production shows seem to be more professional and done better on Celebrity. I've seen the same musical performed by both, Princess and Celebrity, and hands down, the singers, musicians, sets, and costumes are much better on Celebrity

 

5) Rooms... I can't really quantify this one... but I personally believe the rooms are more spacious and nicer on Celebrity

 

So... why do we continue with Princess??? Mainly because of the nice itineraries out of So. California are handy and convenient. BUT, this is not to say that we don't enjoy our cruises on Princess, we have loved each one... we just enjoy Celebrity more!

 

Mike

[Shifra]

I have not been on Royal Princess but she is one of the newest ships. It is my understanding that Royal is different from other princess ships and is more luxurious, and of course quite a bit smaller with more personal service.

 

I enjoy my Princess experiences much more than my past celebrity cruises. Having said that I know I will still do a celebrity cruise if the price was right.

[cruise182]

Celebrity was better for me. I liked the food and the ships better. staff was better too. :)

But then again, I have been labeled a Princess basher.;)

[CrossMyHeart]

I think Celebrity makes European vacations more enjoyable

[argosy]

Celebrity is good. It's pointless to talk about food taste and quality, in my opinion, because everyone's taste is so different. I love brussels sprouts; my partner does not. So who is to say which person is right?

 

I enjoyed the Celebrity cruises I have taken, but I found the service to be very aloof and (in my opinion once again) I don't find that to be my taste. They just don't seem as 'friendly' to me. Princess seemed much more involved.

 

The ships are equally beautiful in different ways. The rooms are equally nice. Entertainment options are equal.

 

Princess has freshwater pools; Celebrity has salt. I like both just fine.

 

The only real con I have with Celebrity is that their largest ships have pod problems continually, and even when they are working, they seem to cause much more vibration than anything I've ever experienced on any other cruise line. The smaller Celebrity ships don't seem to have that issue.

[DeepWaterMariner]

We like them both. The things that are standouts on Celebrity in our opinion are the service overall (dinning room service is about the same on both), excellent continental cuisine (but boring after several days), nice buffet features such as the fresh made waffles and pasta bar, activities that fit our tastes, the Cova Cafe, and generally a lounge with a nice outside view (the new Royal Princess I think has this but most of the other Princess ships do not). Things we don't like with Celebrity are continental cuisine every night (Princess cuisine is more varied), more formal nights and the only mainstream cruise line with informal nights (Princess has less formal nights on longer cruises and no informal nights), and a little stuffier atmosphere.

 

Entertainment is about the same although Celebrity usually does a better job of having up close and personal contact with the performers. Princess offers more variety of evening entertainment on their larger ships.

[geoherb]

I always say I'd gladly book another cruise on Celebrity or Princess or Holland America. Each has its strong points and its weak points. If you're the type of person who can go with the flow and not dwell on how things were so much better on another ship, then you will have a great cruise.

[SoCalGal]

I always say I'd gladly book another cruise on Celebrity or Princess or Holland America. Each has its strong points and its weak points. If you're the type of person who can go with the flow and not dwell on how things were so much better on another ship, then you will have a great cruise.

 

You're probably right about not dwelling on comparisions....just interested if anyone has been on the Royal Princess and what they thought about the ship, service and food. I understand that the ship was previously Renaissance/Swan Hellenic before being sold to Princess. I think the other R ships were sold to Celebrity and they are the new Azamara ships. Correct me if I'm wrong. Thanks again!

[gillianrose]

...We took our very first cruise way back in the mid-80's on a Princess "Love Boat" and we had a great time. The original Royal Princess was brand new in those days...guess she's retired and been replaced by this new Royal Princess. Any info would greatly be appreciated. Thanks!

 

We took our first Princess cruise on the original Royal Princess, too, when she was very new. She now sails as the Artemis for P & O.

 

The "new" Royal Princess is the former R8, most recently the Minerva II, and was built in 2001.

 

The "Love Boats" were the Island Princess and Pacific Princess, twin sister ships, as I recall. We toured the Pacific Princess, but did not sail on her. I remember that Jean-Michel Cousteau was a featured lecturer on the cruise on the PP that we toured. I really miss being able to so easily tour the ships in San Francisco like we used to do. It made for a wonderful start to a day and evening in San Francisco.

[PTC]

The only difference we can find is that with Celebrity there is the "pod" problem with certain ships within their fleet which seems not to go away. If we book, will we end up missing half of our cruise due to problems or not be able to cruise at all?

Haven't heard a problem like this with Princess. They may miss ports but that's typically due to weather.

 

PTC

[Poulsbo Cruisers]

Princess has three of the former Renaissance ships. They are the Pacific Princess, the Tahitian Princess and their latest addition, the Royal Princess. Since these are smaller ships with only one dining room, they do not offer anytime dining. The Royal Princess carries a few more passengers since she does not offer mini suites as does the Pacific and Tahitian Princess.

 

The one and only time I sailed with Celebrity, my DW and I felt it was the best cruise we had ever taken. The next year we sailed with Princess and now Princess is our favorite line. You can't go wrong with either.

[m steve]

Having sailed both I feel that X has larger balcony cabins: the standard or Concierge class is larger than Princess unless you pay $500 more for mini suite. I think that the food is about equal since X quality has dropped a lot. Coffee better on X. Shows equal. I think that I will stay with Princess for a while until I hear that X has really improved. They seem more concerned with Azamara than their core ships.

[vince_g]

I had initially booked Celebrity's Constellation for the June 2008 Northern European cruise but when I saw the Royal Princess itinerary from Rome to Stockholm I changed our reservation. The itinerary looks fabulous. How does Princess compare to Celebrity for those that have sailed on both? We have sailed on Celebrity for our last four cruises to Alaska and also one in the Mediterranean. We took our very first cruise way back in the mid-80's on a Princess "Love Boat" and we had a great time. The original Royal Princess was brand new in those days...guess she's retired and been replaced by this new Royal Princess. Any info would greatly be appreciated. Thanks!

 

 

IMO, asking that question is ridiculous... you are going to get so many different answers. You are going to get answers from loyalists on both sides. Why not just wait and see for yourself! Personally I enjoy them both, and you probably will too.

[gillianrose]

Having sailed both I feel that X has larger balcony cabins: the standard or Concierge class is larger than Princess unless you pay $500 more for mini suite. I think that the food is about equal since X quality has dropped a lot. Coffee better on X. Shows equal. I think that I will stay with Princess for a while until I hear that X has really improved. They seem more concerned with Azamara than their core ships.

 

Azamara is a very promising new line, and it is only natural that there is a lot of focus on getting it up and running efficiently. I only wish Princess would do with her Tahitian Princess, Pacific Princess and Royal Princess what Oceania and Azamara are doing. Upscale, adult cruising.

[mikjr]

IMO, asking that question is ridiculous... you are going to get so many different answers. You are going to get answers from loyalists on both sides.

 

Being loyal may be one thing, but what is wrong with identifying good and bad differences on cruiselines? Isn't this site called the "CRUISE CRITIC"???

 

The word CRITIC means:

1) anyone who expresses a reasoned judgment of something

2) a person who offers a value judgement or an interpretation

3) one who evaluates.

 

Aren't we doing all three on this site. I find it interesting the some get upset when bad things are said about Princess.

 

I have spoken with several that have cruised both, Princess and Celebrity, and hands down, Celebrity comes out on top! Does that mean Princess is bad??? NO... it means that Princess does things different, and to some, the difference is not as good!

 

Personally, I believe change happens for the better when the customers (we the cruisers) speak up about issues that are not good.

 

I will continue to cruise Princess and Celebrity, and enjoy them both for their differences, whether that be bad or good

 

mike

[rebeccalouise]

Here are the things I personally like about Celebrity (but others wouldn't care about these things).

 

I like...

Champagne and escorts to the stateroom upon arrival.

I like that the buffet area has plenty of seating close to the food and that they provides trays. I like that the crew is right there asking to help you with you trays, coffee refills and are very cordial.

I like the choice of free beverages in the buffet.

I like the set dining with the same servers and same passengers each night. Makes me feel that I am on a ship- on a grand adventure.

I like that people dress nicely by day and seem to enjoy dressing for dinner at night.

I like the poolside sorbets.

I like the Kids program better than any other line I've sailed.

I like that the ships are like Ocean liners and not floating resorts.

 

What I did like about Princess..

Staterooms are laid out better than Celebrity.

The ships are lovely- at least as pretty as Celebrity.

I liked the wrap around Promenade in the shade.

The aft hottubs were really nice and very large.

 

What I didn't like...

Anytime dining.

The service was lackluster.

Sapphire was too compartmentalized.

Embarkation and disembarkation were painfully slow.

[vince_g]

Being loyal may be one thing, but what is wrong with identifying good and bad differences on cruiselines? Isn't this site called the "CRUISE CRITIC"???

 

 

All I mean is good and bad in whose opinion? I truly believe everyone needs to form their own opinion instead of listening to other's biased opinions. You left out the most important thoughts out of my post when you quoted me, and that was "Why not wait and see for yourself?". There is nothing wrong with saying that, and it's as valid an answer as anyone else's. I do not need to be lectured on my response.

[sandysav]

Celebrity is a few steps above princess and their customer service is great and never been on a celebrity ship (or any other) that smelled bad like star princess did.