TwyLady

There is an alternative rote to Windsor, which is faster & cheaper, although you do have to change trains twice. It is not complicated though. southamton to Reading, then Reading to Slough - virtually every fast train to London stops at Slough (usually the only stop). Then you can catch a train to Windsor- it’s a branch line that just shuttles between Slough & Windsor. The whole trip is about 2 hrs. Windsor is great to visit - do pre-book the castle, if you are planning to visit it, as otherwise the queues are very long.

We are regular Celebrity cruisers (albeit pre Covid) who tried Princess for the first time this year. We also like the calm, quiet aspect of Celebrity. These are the differences we felt noteworthy differences in Princess’ favour: we loved the medallion, particularly being able to order a pre dinner glass of wine to our room! the international cafe (cafe Al bacio equivalent) served salads and sandwiches as well so pastries, which was handy for a light lunch the entrance to the buffet had wash basins, with a member of staff asking everyone to wash their hands before entering. differences in Celebrity’s favour: We found the buffet on Princess no where near Celebrity standards, I appreciate that we haven’t cruised with Celebrity post Covid, so may not be a fair comparison. very hard to find anywhere on princess for a quiet post dinner drink. Most bars open on to the central foyer, where we found the music to be very loud & the performers quite poor. We generally went to the jazz bar, music was still loud (and often not to our taste) but the musicians were very good. the general cleanliness of the ship was disappointing. (Our room was spotless). On Celebrity there are always staff cleaning the stairs, scrubbing the decks etc, on Princess I don’t think I saw much general cleaning at all & there was a general “grubbiness” - decks scuffed and stained, for example. At the moment, we are happy to cruise with either line - and just basing our choice on itineraries.