My Island Princess Experience (and a Comparison to my Celebrity Cruises)

[Coco Creek]

I returned on Thursday from my first Princess cruise, having previously sailed three times with Celebrity. The cruise was unqualified success. As I was making notes for writing a review of the Island Princess, I started to make some mental notes of my subjective judgments of the Celebrity and Princess. I would like to share those thoughts with you and receive your feedback when I am off mark.

 

Celebrity-Princess Comparison:

Ship: Island Princess

· Overall Appearnce of Ship: Edge to Celebrity. The Solstice is a work of art. The M Class Ships contain world class art collections. But do not downplay the appeal of the Island Princess—its big lounges and multiple entertainment venues are enticing and the entertainment itself the best I have seen in my four cruises.

 

· Rooms

o Comparable: Mini-Suite category on Princess is a great value for the space, probably of greater value than the CC class on Celebrity. The space for hanging clothes on Island Princess is much appreciated.

 

· Dining Rooms

o Edge to Celebrity: Celebrity reaches for the majestic, while Princess DRs are smaller and seem pedestrian by comparison.

 

· Lounges

o Edge to Princess: Princess invests more resources in its lounges, including live music geared to the generations of its passengers and providing more space for dancing and lounging.

 

· Pools

o Edge to Princess: More pools, fresh water and always a lounge chair to be found. The Lotus (adult pool) on Island Princess is attractive. Of course, nothing beats the T pools on Celebrity M class pools.

 

· Spas

o Comparable, with both offering much sought services, though Princess may be taking lead with the Sanctuary add-on. As a recent spa enthusiast, I have enjoyed multiple relaxing and rewarding massages on both lines.

 

· Entertainment Venues

o Comparable: Edge to Celebrity in design and function, edge to Princess in number.

 

· Casinos

o Big Edge to Celebrity: smoke free compared to cough, wheeze, you get the picture.

Food:

· Main Dining Room

o Edge to Celebrity: Continental vs. American Home Cooking. I like American cooking, but not when the food is inconsistent and on one occasion, downright greasy. The food was much improved on the final four days of our cruise If I was grading food, as the professor I am, I would give Celebrity an A- and Princess a B.

 

· Specialty Restaurants

o Big Edge to Celebrity: Celebrity makes its specialty restaurants really special with Solstice expanding to three specialty restaurants plus a venue to sit down for crepes at all hours. I tried Sabatini’s and did not really dig the format of appetizer after appetizer being piled on my plate.

 

· Lido:

o Comparable: Edge to Celebrity in layout, but edge to Princess in hours. The Horizon Court on Island Princess

 

· Service:

· Comparable: Edge to Celebrity in Staffing numbers, but both have outstanding room attendants and waiters. I certainly liked the effort of Princess Staffers to bond with its clients. Of course, I politely sat through the “speech” on both lines. Billy Hygate was the most interesting and accessible Cruise Director in my brief cruise experience.

Entertainment:

· Edge to Princess: Really subjective, but I liked the production shows and comedians of Princess a bit better. I really liked the multiple entertainment choices of venues of Princess and that multiple major entertainment choices were available on several nights.

I could not escape the impression that there was more laughter on Island Princess and more efforts to create comic situations, be it through three comedians, the CD, the DR staff dancing with the passengers and even activities that became the source of lot of joy.

Activities:

· Edge to Princess: I signed up for a pottery class and made my first piece of pottery—wow. I do not find Celebrity activities that appealing (of course, another subjective opinion).

Excursions:

· Edge to Princess: Princess had more choices comparing Caribbean to Caribbean. Excursions are a big part of a trip for me, so I value many choices, particularly the eco and action oriented tours.

Itineraries:

· Big Edge to Princess: Princess travels the world. Celebrity concentrates on Caribbean, Alaska and Europe. I want to travel the world. As you can see from my schedule, both Celebrity and Princess are part of my future.

Overall:

· If you want ambience and really good food, you will prefer Celebrity. If you want great itineraries, excursions and lots of things happening on a ship, then Princess is preferable (again, all of this is my opinion).

[Toto2Kansas]

Great comparison review. Thanks, it took a lot of thought and mental notes for such a detailed comparison between Celebrity and Princess.

[Lynda90]

Thanks for the fair comparison. Judging from your future countdown clocks, it appears you will be cruising with Princess again and again and again. :p Hope you purchased some FCC's while on board.

[rdsqrl]

Thank you so much for your head-to-head comparison -- I found it very useful and informative. I'm happy you enjoyed your first Princess cruise.

Of what are you a professor?

[Coco Creek]

Thanks for the fair comparison. Judging from your future countdown clocks, it appears you will be cruising with Princess again and again and again. :p Hope you purchased some FCC's while on board.

 

I sure did purchase FCCs onboard--great program.

[Coco Creek]

Thank you so much for your head-to-head comparison -- I found it very useful and informative. I'm happy you enjoyed your first Princess cruise.

 

Of what are you a professor?

 

I am retired and teaching occastional law related courses in a MBA program.

[cynbar]

Thanks for your review, I really appreciated how you outlined the strengths in each line. Too many reviewers seem to think it's a black and white, one cruiseline is better overall decision. We also enjoy both Princess and Celebrity, and have not found a cruise line that is superior in every category.

[Infi]

As another Celebrity cruiser who recently tried Princess, I have to say your review was fair and spot-on. The comparison format was great, too. I agree completely that both lines have their areas where they excel. Glad to see you enjoyed your experience and that more Princess cruises will be in your future. :)

[sunsetbeachgal]

Thanks-very interesting comparison!

[Gypsy025]

We have been on Princess and Celebrity, as well as other cruise lines, quite a number of times and have found that the quality and service standards can vary significantly from ship to ship within the line's fleet.

IMO, the implimentation of the Company's policies and procedures, on a cruise, start "at the top" with the Captain and on down with the Hotel Manager and Cruise/Entertainment Director. These men and/or ladies set the "tone" of the cruise experience.

[dinosaurdem]

Having sailed with both, I think that your comparison is pretty much spot on. While I prefer Celebrity, the limited itineraries are a serious problem.

[Colo Cruiser]

Thanks.

[elou]

Great review. I'm going on Island in October. Do they still have someone giving lectures on Panama? This was done on the Coral. Also, if you have the patters, could you post them. Thanks again.

[firefly4423]

cool little comparison. Glad to see two sides of something!

[ggprincess2004]

Thanks for taking the time to do such a thoughtful comparison. One note - Island is not one of the newest ships in the fleet, although I believe Solstice is one of Celebrity's newest offerings. The newer ships on the Princess fleet might be more fairly compared physically to the Solstice amenties. That being said, Island and Coral are our two favorite ships in the Princess fleet. Appreciate having such a good overview of a comparison in the event we are in a position to give Celebrity a try. :)

[Coco Creek]

Great review. I'm going on Island in October. Do they still have someone giving lectures on Panama? This was done on the Coral. Also, if you have the patters, could you post them. Thanks again.

 

There was a "port" lecturer and a Panama Canal narrator. There were no other enrichment lectures.

[City_Woman]

I really appreciate this comparison.

 

I have been on the Island Princess and will be going on Celebrity Equinox in April 2010.

 

Judy

[Coco Creek]

We have been on Princess and Celebrity, as well as other cruise lines, quite a number of times and have found that the quality and service standards can vary significantly from ship to ship within the line's fleet.

IMO, the implimentation of the Company's policies and procedures, on a cruise, start "at the top" with the Captain and on down with the Hotel Manager and Cruise/Entertainment Director. These men and/or ladies set the "tone" of the cruise experience.

 

I agree with you. From my limited experience, I have concluded the Cruise Director and the CD subordinates make a huge difference in how the cruise is perceived.

[Solstice23]

Thanks for the comparison

 

But I feel Celebrity Solstice has better Bars, then the Grand did, And for rooms yes mini suites are better value the CC, But nothing compares to the SKY suites on Celebrity, the butler is amazing.

 

Thanks for the comparison, My wife and I are not as nervous for our Princess cruise this August, But we still will always prefer Celebrity.

[Solstice23]

And for itineraries, Celebrity does a good job with half the ships of Princess. Celebrities Caribbean 2010 is far better and leave from varied departure ports, But Keep in mind Celebrity does not have as many ships as princess! so they have to choose itineraries that are sellable

[Andy]

Hi Coco Creek !

 

Thanks very much for your comparison. I agree with much of what you mentioned. I feel that both Celebrity and Princess have the edge in various areas, but you probably wont go wrong with either choice. Welcome Home !

[Andy]

And for itineraries, Celebrity does a good job with half the ships of Princess. Celebrities Caribbean 2010 is far better and leave from varied departure ports, But Keep in mind Celebrity does not have as many ships as princess! so they have to choose itineraries that are sellable

 

Hi Toronto !

 

Thats a very good point. As Celebrity currently has several less ships than Princess, they do not have the luxury of taking chances with itineraries and deployments. As for Celebrity's exotic itineraries, that's what Azamara is for. As Celebrity's fleet grows, with the 5 Solstice Class ships, it should give them far more flexibility over the next 3-4 years. We will see what happens.

[Grego]

I'm glad you took the time to do this review. I don't think I have bothered to read a comparison with Celebrity before. My impression was that Celebrity had very lush ships with great cuisine. Personally, I don't take cruises for the food or how a ship looks - just being on a ship and enjoying the ports of call are enough.

[highflyingrealtor]

Terrific info. How about cost? For similar category comparisons of course. I've always assumed that Celebrity is more but I am interested in hearing some feedback on this. Thanks...

[WeBeGone]

Thanks for the review.