Princess cruiser trying Celebrity

[usha]

Wasn't that a short, like a 5 night cruise? I've seen the worst chair-hogging on short cruises like that.

[DeepWaterMariner]

It was an 11 night cruise

[JWJs]

The Zenith in February 2007.

 

Were you on the last or close to the last Zenith cruise? I know a lot of people loved the Zenith.

[usha]

It was an 11 night cruise

Hmmmm. You know, come to think of it, we saw some terrible chair hogging on an 11 nighter on Millennium. There was a massive group of South Americans (please, I'm NOT bashing South Americans!) who pretty much took over the ship, including the deck chairs. It seems that the larger the group, the worse the mob mentality.

[DeepWaterMariner]

These chair hogs were from the good old USA (or maybe Canada, but they are usually too nice to do that). It was the Zenith's last season. A very nice cruise in all other respects.

[TomBeckCruise]

Thanks for posting the list Pescadoamarillo.

 

We will be sailing on Princess for the first time soon. That is after 5 Celebrity, 5 HAL, 2NCL, 1RCCL. I expect to have a good time, and I hope there is some difference.

 

I have not found Celebrity to be stuffy at all.

[Buddy604]

I did a short juant on Celebrity that I didn't really care for, but I suspect it had more to do with the ship than the line. I was on the Mercury, and found it to be a little tired, and, for me, small.

 

I'm not a big fan of traditional dining, and found their buffet to be inconsistant - more selection than Princess, but I always seemed to show up as the pulled the blinds down and closed off all but one small section. Usually just as the shore excursion were returning after lunch, ensuring a massive line-up.

 

I was probably just in a bad mood. :D

 

The food was great though. I'm sure the new ship will be spectacular.

[lizaj1]

We have sailed both Celebrity and Princess although we are Diamond on RCL. Princess is more reserved then RCL and Celebrity is more reserved than Princess. I missed the dancing barmen on Celebrity. I have always enjoyed a quiet cruise and have never even considered Carnival for that reason. None of these lines are stuffy, just not party central. Of course a lot depends on the time of year you travel and the company you keep. I have found that you can have as much quiet or as much activity as you want on any of these cruise lines. You set your pace and pick your spaces.

 

We have just booked a repo cruise on Princess and I'm looking forward to the change.:)

[megessey]

Celebrity is more reserved than Princess. I missed the dancing barmen on Celebrity.

 

To me, this sounds like a contradiction in terms, but then again I guess it depends on the type of dance they were doing :eek:

[ellbon]

8i have been using princess fro years and now booked o n the Solstice. I realize the cabin is smaller:( and no bathtub. i wanted to try AQ and all the skysuites were gone.:(

 

But i never use the buffet or movies-seem them or not interested. But I think some of the great extras we will get and all the new shows will be so worth it.

[mallbucks]

Hi,

 

We've been on Celebrity Constellation and found it a bit more formal than HAL or Princess. The one thing that stands out on Celebrity is the food and service in the dining rooms. It definitely was better than HAL or Princess by far. We found the cabin steward more friendly & efficient than on Princess. We've only been on 3 cruise lines and I would rank HAL best overall for service and Princess the worst. We've going on Princess again this year to Hawaii and are hopeful that it will be better than the Emerald we were on last year on the Southern Caribbean itinerary. Hope this helps.

 

I have just booked the new Celebrity Solstice for next February. As a little background, I have cruised with Princess 10 times and HAL 4 times and like both lines very much. I cruise with my mom every year and we tend to stick with Princess because we like it and we enjoy the perks she gets as an Elite past passenger as well as the free internet for me as Platinum as I need to keep in touch with my DH and kids. I have heard good things about Celebrity and have thought about trying them, but am put off by their policy of not allowing TAs to discount their cruises so have never seriously looked into them until now. We found a group cruise on the Solstice where we will have workshops to make cloth dolls (a great passion of ours) and figured since we would be paying a premium with no chance of discounts anyway to go with the group it would be a good time to try Celebrity.

So my question for those of you who have sailed both Princess and Celebrity... what are the things that Celebrity does well? We normally book minisuites or full suites on Princess but will be in a verandah cabin on the Solstice (with three of us... yikes!). It is a Eastern Caribbean itinerary though I am not into Caribbean cruises and hot weather, so I may not even get off the ship in port. If that is the case, what are some neat things to do when everyone is off the ship?

 

Despite not being excited about the itinerary (give me Europe or Alaska anyday!) I am looking forward to the cruise and trying Celebrity.

[PescadoAmarillo]

I did a short juant on Celebrity that I didn't really care for, but I suspect it had more to do with the ship than the line. I was on the Mercury, and found it to be a little tired, and, for me, small.

I'm wondering if you did one of the Pacific NW cruises out of Seattle last year? I had previously spent 8 weeks on 4 different cruises on the Mercury, and love that ship (ok, a big part of my love affair is that I am Elite and get to use the AquaSpa Tpool for free, and that luscious steam room), but when I did B2B PNW on the Mercury last fall, I was left feeling a bit disappointed too. All the rain didn't help, but, really it was the atmosphere of the 3 and 4 night cruises that just felt very off, and the service was similarly disconnected. And the ship felt even older to me, having previously been on the Summit for 2 weeks in April. I'm not anxious to return to the Century class ships, and will probably never try a cruise that short again with any cruise line.

[RANCHOVISTA]

Celebrity is by far superior to Princess. Princess is the worst in the cruise industry. The Island Princess is the worst ship in their fleet, avoid at all costs. Save yourself $$$ and book elsewhere, you'll be happier, and save yourself alot of grief. This is from someone who's been there. Princess...never again.

[DeepWaterMariner]

Celebrity is by far superior to Princess. Princess is the worst in the cruise industry. The Island Princess is the worst ship in their fleet, avoid at all costs. Save yourself $$$ and book elsewhere, you'll be happier, and save yourself alot of grief. This is from someone who's been there. Princess...never again.

 

Have you cruised on every line? Have you cruised on every Princess ship? We've done dozens of cruises and haven't managed either, but we are Elite on both Princess and Celebrity and like them both. Your assertions are not credible. Looks like a troll to me.

[Colo Cruiser]

Celebrity is by far superior to Princess. Princess is the worst in the cruise industry. The Island Princess is the worst ship in their fleet, avoid at all costs. Save yourself $$$ and book elsewhere, you'll be happier, and save yourself alot of grief. This is from someone who's been there. Princess...never again.

 

 

HUH?? :confused:

[CQG67]

I very much disagree with the person who said Celebrity was stuffy - that person needs to go on something loud and disgusting like Carnival. We just did a transatlantic on Celebrity in April (our 4th on that line) and loved every minute of it. They are a very very nice line and do a lot of special little things that Princess doesn't do and they don't push the sales of merchandise and arts auctions as much as Princess. Also, the food was fabulous. They have a new head chef for the line and it was superb. I like Princess and have cruised with them more than any other lines - but as a person in my mid 60s I do like the fact that Celebrity is more adult oriented and has fewer kids - Princess is more into families and kids. I was on a Princess cruise in April of 2004 in the Caribbean and there were 700 kids onboard - and you knew it. It almost ruined the cruise. On our Celebrity cruises we have had a handful of kids onboard and frankly I found that to be quite attractive. Please, I like children but not running all over the ship, taking over the pool and invading my space while I am on my "trying to relax" vacation.

[Donray]

Celebrity is by far superior to Princess. Princess is the worst in the cruise industry. The Island Princess is the worst ship in their fleet, avoid at all costs. Save yourself $$$ and book elsewhere, you'll be happier, and save yourself alot of grief. This is from someone who's been there. Princess...never again.

 

 

Me and wife loved the Island Princess through the Canal in January this year.

What got your pants in twist about the Island Princess and your February cruise through the Canal? You seem upset.

I have been on twenty Princess cruises and find them better than Carnival and HAL. Although I enjoyed both Mediterranean Carnival Cruises, the food is better on Princess. Carnival was OK, but not better than OK.

Since Princess is a Carnival line like HAL what was your problem?

You are posting this stuff all over with no explination. What is your problem?

[motherchic]

Hi,

I certainly cannot add anything to what everyone has posted. I am dealing with just the opposite. We have always cruised on Celebrity and are considering booking a cruise on the Ruby for Feb.

I know we will have a good time but I too have had my questions.

I can tell you that I am 52 and love celebrity. You will find some wonderful people. Absolutely join in on the roll call. We have made some wonderful friends that we have kept in touch with for many years. That being said you will also meet complainers...... just walk away from them !!!!

The food is very good. We loved the spa area, the thallo pool and the spa food.

Go to the coffee stand( specialty coffees cost extra but the pastries are free and wonderful. Ice cream is available everyday. Its homemade and very good.As stated on sea days the waiters come out with silver trays and pass out homemade dollops of sherbet.

The service is excellent.

We have had fabulous waiters and some times so-so. Luck of the draw.

Our last cruise, 14 day Panama canal we had an aft cabin. It was great. The balcony could hold 20 people easily.

For me the only negative was a lack of things to do during the day. I would have liked more. Being your first cruise on celebrity, it wont be as noticeable.

 

All said and done we have loved the "royal" treatment we received on Celebrity. I know you will too.

As a Princess cruiser can you give me any tips on what to do, what not to miss, some of the best foods to eat efc.... I feel as though I know Celebrity as well as I can. If you have any questions please ask. I have never stayed in a suite but have seen them. very nice.

Nadine

[Canadianhey!]

I too like motherchic am a celebrity cruiser and will be also going on the Ruby in April. My first cruise was to Alaska and my third cruise was to Mexico (3 years later). On the Mexico cruise we had a lounge waiter come up to us on our first night and call us by name and he even remember what we drink (coors light and rum and coke nothing fancy). How is that for service? I still can't believe that the guy remember our names and drink 3 years later. You will enjoy celebrity, as I am sure that I will enjoy princess. We will be cruising with Ruby and then have one day off then off with Solitice for a week. Really looking forward to it. I am with the guy that said "There ain't no bad cruise"

[Ethel5]

Celebrity is by far superior to Princess. Princess is the worst in the cruise industry. The Island Princess is the worst ship in their fleet, avoid at all costs. Save yourself $$$ and book elsewhere, you'll be happier, and save yourself alot of grief. This is from someone who's been there. Princess...never again.

 

This guy does a copy/paste of the same post every chance he gets but never gives a reason for his opinions. Troll.

[CruisingJs]

I'm really amazed at your comments/comparisons when I look at your sig and see a total of 5 cruises. .

 

Pia

 

How many cruises do you need to take before you're allowed to have an opinion?

[Buddy604]

I'm wondering if you did one of the Pacific NW cruises out of Seattle last year? I had previously spent 8 weeks on 4 different cruises on the Mercury, and love that ship (ok, a big part of my love affair is that I am Elite and get to use the AquaSpa Tpool for free, and that luscious steam room), but when I did B2B PNW on the Mercury last fall, I was left feeling a bit disappointed too. All the rain didn't help, but, really it was the atmosphere of the 3 and 4 night cruises that just felt very off, and the service was similarly disconnected. And the ship felt even older to me, having previously been on the Summit for 2 weeks in April. I'm not anxious to return to the Century class ships, and will probably never try a cruise that short again with any cruise line.

Yes, it was one of those short trips, and the atmosphere was quite off, even compared to the Princess 3 and 4 day trips. But, like you, that can be partly explained by my being Elite on Princess and used to all the goodies on there. Though when I took a short HAL trip on the Oosterdam, I loved it even moreso than Princess.

 

I'm planning to give the Millenium a try at some point - would love to see the panelling from the RSM Olympic.