Jump to content

Cunard vs Celebrity, Princess


SoonerDog
 Share

Recommended Posts

Hello QM2 Cruisers,

 

Am contemplating a west-bound TA on one of this Summer's QM2 sailings. Have never sailed Cunard before, but have had really great cruises with Celebrity (Mediterranean) and Princess (TA- Southampton to NYC).

 

Can anyone out there who has sailed on these lines give me an 'objective' opinion on how they compare food wise & with regards to onboard activities, shows, etc?

 

Many thanks,

Mark

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hello QM2 Cruisers,

 

Am contemplating a west-bound TA on one of this Summer's QM2 sailings. Have never sailed Cunard before, but have had really great cruises with Celebrity (Mediterranean) and Princess (TA- Southampton to NYC).

 

Can anyone out there who has sailed on these lines give me an 'objective' opinion on how they compare food wise & with regards to onboard activities, shows, etc?

 

Many thanks,

Mark

 

Hi Mark,

 

Having cruised the QM2 (twice), Princess (three times), and Celebrity (29 times), I would rate them:

(Mac-O-Meter is on)*

 

MDR Food -- Celebrity 9.1; QM2 8.3 and Princess 7.9

Buffet -- Celebrity 8.8; Princess 7.6 and QM2 6.0

Alternatives -- Celebrity 9.2; QM2 8.6 and Princess 7.7

 

Ship Quality -- QM2 9.3; Celebrity 9.0 and Princess 8.2

Cabins -- Celebrity 9.0; Princess 8.4 and QM2 8.2

Ship Decor -- QM2 9.2; Celebrity 9.0 and Princess 8.1

Deck Spaces -- Princess 8.9; QM2 8.6 and Celebrity 8.3

Promenade Deck - QM2 9.9; Princess 7.5 and Celebrity 6.2

 

Overall Service -- Celebrity 9.6; QM2 9.2 and Princess 8.8

 

Entertainment Venues -- QM2 9.3; Celebrity 9.0 and Princess 7.9

Over-all Entertainment -- Celebrity 8.3; Princess 8.0 and QM2 8.0

Speakers/Educational -- QM2 9.2; Celebrity 8.9 and Princess 8.2

Formality/Dress Code -- QM2 9.6; Celebrity 8.4 and Princess 7.3

 

Itineraries -- QM2 9.4; Princess 8.4 and Celebrity 8.1

 

Overall it's hard to beat Celebrity, but for a TA QM2 wins by a mile as it is truly an Ocean Liner and the experience is second to none. The S-class ships of Celebrity could be the best bang for the buck at sea. I want to like Princess, but it hasn't happened yet -- I will keep trying. *the Mac-O-Meter is a bit silly and only has much meaning to me ;p.

 

Enjoy!

Kel

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi Mark,

 

Having cruised the QM2 (twice), Princess (three times), and Celebrity (29 times), I would rate them:

(Mac-O-Meter is on)*

 

MDR Food -- Celebrity 9.1; QM2 8.3 and Princess 7.9

Buffet -- Celebrity 8.8; Princess 7.6 and QM2 6.0

Alternatives -- Celebrity 9.2; QM2 8.6 and Princess 7.7

 

Ship Quality -- QM2 9.3; Celebrity 9.0 and Princess 8.2

Cabins -- Celebrity 9.0; Princess 8.4 and QM2 8.2

Ship Decor -- QM2 9.2; Celebrity 9.0 and Princess 8.1

Deck Spaces -- Princess 8.9; QM2 8.6 and Celebrity 8.3

Promenade Deck - QM2 9.9; Princess 7.5 and Celebrity 6.2

 

Overall Service -- Celebrity 9.6; QM2 9.2 and Princess 8.8

 

Entertainment Venues -- QM2 9.3; Celebrity 9.0 and Princess 7.9

Over-all Entertainment -- Celebrity 8.3; Princess 8.0 and QM2 8.0

Speakers/Educational -- QM2 9.2; Celebrity 8.9 and Princess 8.2

Formality/Dress Code -- QM2 9.6; Celebrity 8.4 and Princess 7.3

 

Itineraries -- QM2 9.4; Princess 8.4 and Celebrity 8.1

 

Overall it's hard to beat Celebrity, but for a TA QM2 wins by a mile as it is truly an Ocean Liner and the experience is second to none. The S-class ships of Celebrity could be the best bang for the buck at sea. I want to like Princess, but it hasn't happened yet -- I will keep trying. *the Mac-O-Meter is a bit silly and only has much meaning to me ;p.

 

Enjoy!

Kel

 

Kel,

 

I love your 'Mac-O-Meter'! Many thanks for such an informative and detailed response!

 

I do agree that Celebrity is hard to beat!

 

Mark

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This really is a personal thing. What I like may not be to your liking. It's too long since I've cruised Princess for me to compare, but I cruise Celebrity in 2016. I have cruised Cunard many times and will be on QV in 3 weeks.

 

  • Food on Cunard is better than on Celebrity.
  • Entertainment on Cunard is better than on Celebrity. This applies to the shows and to the fact that you can dance in the Queen's Room in the evening or watch the dancers. On Celebrity we found nothing to do in the evening except sit in a bar.
  • The rooms on Celebrity are quieter than on Cunard. Somehow their doors keep out the corridor noise.
  • I love the coffee shop on Celebrity and wish that Cunard had something as good.
  • I found the staff on Cunard to be friendlier and more genuine than on Celebrity.
  • I am not much of a drinker but I enjoyed the 'free' drinks package on Celebrity. You don't get anything like that on Cunard.
  • I seem to meet more people on Cunard, and make friends more easily, than I did on Celebrity. This could be because I go dancing in the Queen's Room at night and so you get talking to other dancers.
  • I love the sense of occasion on Cunard when we dress up for the evening.
  • As regards QM2, it is an experience to travel on her. She has her eccentricities but she is a genuine ocean liner and must be experienced at least once.

Personal opinion. After your cruise, please let us know which suits you most.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi,

 

I have sailed on these three lines as follows: Princess (20 sailings), Cunard (17 sailings, including 6 times on the QM2), and Celebrity (8 sailings).

 

The quality of food is fairly comparable between the lines, but the atmosphere on the QM2 is much different. The ship is much more formal and has very grand public spaces with high ceilings. Also, the QM2 has a strong sense of history and tradition. On transatlantic crossings, the QM2 excels in its daytime activities and offers a variety of interesting lectures. The afternoon tea also is an excellent daily activity. In my experience, the Cunard passengers seem to be particularly interesting. I love to discuss traveling (especially cruising) and have met many wonderful people on Cunard. The QM2 is my favorite ship that currently is in service. I recommend trying the QM2 for a transatlantic crossing.

 

Chuck

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Wonderful response kelmac. After 25 something cruises with Celebrity I call myself a Celebrity refugee ( I read that here on cruise critic by some fellow cruise and adoppted the name.)

 

X´s schips are still stunning and beautyfull- the more I cruise with Cunard ( now 7 voyages ) the more I come to love the Pormmenade Deck with the lounge chairs.

 

The way Celebrity went was just no longer the way I like to spent my money on. Loud music all over the place. Packed spaces esp. on a sunny day on the upper decks! Done away with nice traditions! The list goes on. So for the time beeing I stick with Cunard. The QM2 as a ship itself is hard to beat and hard to compare- for ship enthusiasts, like me in any case.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

The way Celebrity went was just no longer the way I like to spent my money on. Loud music all over the place.

 

We had the same problem, Germancruiser. We were on Celebrity Constellation. Four of us wanted a quiet drink in the martini bar but the music was too loud. Later, we had dinner in the speciality Italian restaurant. Again, the music was too loud and not even Italian. We complained on a comment card and then got a call from the Cruise Director to apologise for the noise. "Nothing we can do, Miami makes us do it."

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We had the same problem, Germancruiser. We were on Celebrity Constellation. Four of us wanted a quiet drink in the martini bar but the music was too loud. Later, we had dinner in the speciality Italian restaurant. Again, the music was too loud and not even Italian. We complained on a comment card and then got a call from the Cruise Director to apologise for the noise. "Nothing we can do, Miami makes us do it."

How sad when they say “Miami make us do it”. We have friends who have done many Celebrity cruises and say every time they go on ship, some more of their standards have gone down.😡

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hello Mark,

 

Last April on the Celebrity Eclipse TA was my 10th Celebrity cruise. This month was my first Cunard Queen Mary 2 cruise. There were 10 days between my eastbound Celebrity TA and my westbound Cunard TA. I have been on 16 cruises total. I have to admit that cruise reviews are very personal. What one passenger loves another passenger dislikes. I thought the Mac-O-Meter above gives a good review of the ships. As I have not been on a Princess cruise in a long time I will give you my thoughts on the two above ships using the Mac-O-Meter:

 

MDR Food -- Celebrity 9.1; QM2 8.9. Lately we cruse Aqua Class on Celebrity and this QM2 we cruised Brit Club class which is about the same category. Although the food in both dining rooms were very good I think the food in Celebrity Blu was better and had a better selection. The service in Celebrity Blu and QM2 Club dining room were the same, very good.

Buffet -- Celebrity 8.8; QM2 6.0 Poor selection in QM2, very limited seating, poor service, limited hours and a lot of workers walking around doing nothing. Unoccupied tables with used plates and utensils on tables for a long time before someone would clean the table. Celebrity has a very large buffet with many food choices, very good food and very good service. In my experience once passengers left a table it was almost immediately cleaned.

Alternatives -- Celebrity 9.2; QM2 8.6

 

Ship Quality -- QM2 9.3; Celebrity 9.0 The QM2 is absolutely elegant. The Celebrity Eclipse is beautiful but the QM2 is classy.

Cabins -- Celebrity 9.0; QM2 8

Ship Decor -- QM2 9.5; Celebrity 9.0

Deck Spaces -- Celebrity 9.3; QM2 8.0

Promenade Deck - Celebrity9.0 QM2 8.0;

 

Overall Service -- Celebrity 9.6; QM2 8.0

 

Entertainment Venues --; Celebrity 9.0; QM2 7.0 I thought the entertainment in the Eclipse was much better in both the main theater and around the ship.

Over-all Entertainment -- Celebrity 9.0; QM2 7.0

Speakers/Educational -- QM2 9.0; Celebrity 8.5 QM2 had great speakers.

Formality/Dress Code -- Celebrity 9.0; QM2 7.0. I thought 3 formal nights on a 7 night cruise was too much. QM2 formal night is nice but very stuffy. I'm not sold on Celebrity doing away with their formal nights but the QM2 goes overboard. Most of the time the passengers dressed nearly formal during the entire cruise. The had breakfast in suits, ties and formal dresses. Most of the passengers dressed like they were at Harry and Megan's wedding.

 

Itineraries -- QM2 9.5; Celebrity 8.1 This is hard for me because I have been on Celebrity cruises which have taken me to wonderful ports of call. This QM2 cruise was a crossing with no ports other then getting on in Southampton and getting off in Ft. Lauderdale.

I thought the service in general was much better on Celebrity than on the QM2. On the QM2 our cabin attendant was very lax and did a poor job cleaning, especially the bathroom.

The internet service/price is much better on Celebrity. On the QM2 the internet was so slow it sometimes took 3 minutes to connect with my email and viewing web pages took for ever. Don't get me wrong all internet at sea is slow but never as slow as Cunard. The QM2 only has 12 computers in their computer room and it was always full. At times I had to wait 30 minutes for a free computer. On the Eclipse the internet speed was much faster, less expensive and there were more public computers to use.

My wife is handicapped and needs a wheelchair to board and disembark the ship. On Celebrity there is usually about a 15 to 20 minute wait for a wheelchair. Cunard was horrible! Even though Cunard gave us a time to board at their wheelchair location we sat there for an hour and 45 minutes waiting to board the ship. It was the worst that I have ever seen. Disembarking was not much better. Again Cunard gave us a time and place to disembark by wheelchair and we arrived 20 minutes early and still waited one and a half hours. The staff (non Cunard) scheduling the wheelchair dismenbarkment on the ship were rude and disrespectful. Absolutely terrible.

For all that I have heard about the QM2 being an ocean liner for the first four days this ship was the worst. You could hardly walk down the corridors without being bounced from one side to another. Items fell off the tables due to the rocking of the ship. Many people stayed in their cabins for days with seasickness. This was my 4th TA and absolutely the worst. I was told on the QT that one engine was down and this caused all the turbulence.

As far as I am concerned Celebrity is much better. I would never book a cruise on Cunard again.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Not exactly on topic, but as one who has been looking at Cunard TAs this summer, I can tell you that they are filling quite quickly, based on what's left on offer.

If you choose Cunard, I'd act sooner than later; as the crossings fill up, prices can only rise or even get to the point that they are no longer on offer. This happened us; I was an hour late booking and could not get the category I wanted, so we opted for another date.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Many Thanks to all of you who took the time to respond- the info and varied opinions are appreciated. I will definitely post a review and/or comparison if we make the crossing.

 

Just as an aside; My lone Celebrity cruise was several years ago (2006) and was 9 nights Barcelona to Dover. It was absolutely perfect in every way. Interestingly, when the wife and I arrived at the cruise terminal in Barca, there were a bunch of people complaining about having to wait an extra 1/2 hour to start boarding. One of the Celebrity employees (a well-dressed young lady) came up and apologized to us for the delay. We told her we understood things happen, and that we weren't bothered in the least. 3 nights later, we ended up at the 'Captain's Table' and discovered she was responsible for having arranged it. Just goes to show that a little kindness can pay dividends.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Over recent years, we've mostly cruised Cunard but have revisited Celebrity, HAL, and Princess (Celebrity for a 14 day cruise, but our recent sailings on the latter were short jaunts). Each line has their own personality (bland though it may be on Princess) and here are some thoughts. Note - in the current fleet, the QM2 is the only Cunard ship on which we've traveled.

 

- THE SHIPS & DESIGN

Cunard QM2 - Grand winner. Simply nothing like her. Cunard owns the classy classic crown.

(Celebrity - Wow winner in chic design, Princess - Blandly impressive with signature atria)

All ships are well-designed. The QM2 has some quirks (I love quirks) due to her design, like funny pass-through half-deck passageways through the MDR and Showroom and awkward spaces for the buffet. For a crossing, there is literally nothing like her.

 

- CABINS (Standard Balcony)

Celebrity wins here, if for nothing else than the night lights in the bathrooms!

(Princess signature open, transverse closet is nice, Hate that Cunard has attached clothes hangars)

Again, mostly all winners here. Especially with the Celebrity Silhouette class, lots of storage and convenient features. Big demerit to Cunard for the gawd-awful new drawer pulls on the post-refit QM2.

 

- FOOD

Winner (near miss by all)

Cunard - best service and sommelier. Loses points for so-so execution and limited menu (Always available items are not printed in the Britannia menu to make Britannia Club seem more special)

 

Celebrity - menus are best in business, Unfortunately, the plate too often bore little relationship to the menu description. Sommelier was horrible and overworked. Buffets nice, but borderline hostile, abruptly closing at surprising times.

 

Princess - My prime rib on my last cruise summed up Princess. It looked even better than expected and was served promptly and correctly. It was a perfect medium-rare with not too much fat. And it had no flavor. At all. (I don't even like overly-grassy, aged, strong tasting beef) Princess always-open buffets continue to be a signature strong point.

 

HAL - A contender for leader of the bunch. The menus were a bit less trendy than Celebrity, less fancy-schmancy than Cunard, there was less wow, but the preparation was perfect and tasty. Service may be a tiny bit less polished than Cunard but gains points for warmth and helpfulness There were more choices than Cunard. Buffet was good (but I missed the old signature bread pudding)

 

- ENTERTAINMENT & LECTURES

Cunard wins, but not solidly. Cunard's shows are good for hate-watching and later snarky laughs over drinks, but they gain MAJOR points for their live music throughout the ship. At shows, in the lounges, at afternoon tea, excellent live music is available. Lectures are by far the best. Also, the unique design of the QM2 provides the excellent Illuminations for lectures.

 

Celebrity's shows are better, but where Cunard's signature may be a classical pianist, Celebrity's would be a DJ. Personally, I'd like a bit more live music on Celebrity and more life in the music on Cunard, but oh well. Celebrity's lectures are very good, but demerits for the need for lecturers to market themselves.

 

Princess is strongest in shows and deserves credit for pop-up entertainment in the atrium and around the ship. We haven't been on long trips recently but I don't remember lectures being big on Princess.

 

HAL has embarked on a major co-branding agreement binge which has colored its entertainment and some presentations. (Billboard for piano bar and some shows, BB King's Blues for dance band and shows, Lincoln Center for classical music, America's Test Kitchen for cooking demos) I found this initially off-putting, but found the ATK demo well-structured and full of valuable takeaways and the BB King dance band was the best I've seen in 30 cruises. Because the recent experience was too short, I'm withholding final judgement.

 

- ONBOARD ATMOSPHERE

All winners

Cunard wins for classy atmosphere and well-trained service staff. I enjoy their aggressively formal atmosphere, but your mileage may vary. The public rooms are unbeatable, especially on a crossing,

Celebrity has buzz and snap, but service seemed to suffer from understaffing.

HAL still retains the atmosphere of warmth from her well-trained Indonesian and Filipino staff

Princess has continuously built upon their "big ship small feel" product with an attractive no-surprises experience. It consistently delivers what people want but has never really impressed us.

 

In summary - all of the lines provide a quality experience that is more alike than different in the key areas of cabin, food, itinerary, and entertainment. Yet, each retains its own personality and has distinct positive and negative points. Because of personal interests and situation, there's literally noting I like more than a North Atlantic crossing on the QM2, and I adore her atmosphere and history. I also treasure experience on the other lines and would readily book a cruise on any of them. I expect to do so.

Edited by MarkBearSF
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Over recent years, we've mostly cruised Cunard but have revisited Celebrity, HAL, and Princess (Celebrity for a 14 day cruise, but our recent sailings on the latter were short jaunts). Each line has their own personality (bland though it may be on Princess) and here are some thoughts. Note - in the current fleet, the QM2 is the only Cunard ship on which we've traveled.

 

- THE SHIPS & DESIGN

Cunard QM2 - Grand winner. Simply nothing like her. Cunard owns the classy classic crown.

(Celebrity - Wow winner in chic design, Princess - Blandly impressive with signature atria)

All ships are well-designed. The QM2 has some quirks (I love quirks) due to her design, like funny pass-through half-deck passageways through the MDR and Showroom and awkward spaces for the buffet. For a crossing, there is literally nothing like her.

 

- CABINS (Standard Balcony)

Celebrity wins here, if for nothing else than the night lights in the bathrooms!

(Princess signature open, transverse closet is nice, Hate that Cunard has attached clothes hangars)

Again, mostly all winners here. Especially with the Celebrity Silhouette class, lots of storage and convenient features. Big demerit to Cunard for the gawd-awful new drawer pulls on the post-refit QM2.

 

- FOOD

Winner (near miss by all)

Cunard - best service and sommelier. Loses points for so-so execution and limited menu (Always available items are not printed in the Britannia menu to make Britannia Club seem more special)

 

Celebrity - menus are best in business, Unfortunately, the plate too often bore little relationship to the menu description. Sommelier was horrible and overworked. Buffets nice, but borderline hostile, abruptly closing at surprising times.

 

Princess - My prime rib on my last cruise summed up Princess. It looked even better than expected and was served promptly and correctly. It was a perfect medium-rare with not too much fat. And it had no flavor. At all. (I don't even like overly-grassy, aged, strong tasting beef) Princess always-open buffets continue to be a signature strong point.

 

HAL - A contender for leader of the bunch. The menus were a bit less trendy than Celebrity, less fancy-schmancy than Cunard, there was less wow, but the preparation was perfect and tasty. Service may be a tiny bit less polished than Cunard but gains points for warmth and helpfulness There were more choices than Cunard. Buffet was good (but I missed the old signature bread pudding)

 

- ENTERTAINMENT & LECTURES

Cunard wins, but not solidly. Cunard's shows are good for hate-watching and later snarky laughs over drinks, but they gain MAJOR points for their live music throughout the ship. At shows, in the lounges, at afternoon tea, excellent live music is available. Lectures are by far the best. Also, the unique design of the QM2 provides the excellent Illuminations for lectures.

 

Celebrity's shows are better, but where Cunard's signature may be a classical pianist, Celebrity's would be a DJ. Personally, I'd like a bit more live music on Celebrity and more life in the music on Cunard, but oh well. Celebrity's lectures are very good, but demerits for the need for lecturers to market themselves.

 

Princess is strongest in shows and deserves credit for pop-up entertainment in the atrium and around the ship. We haven't been on long trips recently but I don't remember lectures being big on Princess.

 

HAL has embarked on a major co-branding agreement binge which has colored its entertainment and some presentations. (Billboard for piano bar and some shows, BB King's Blues for dance band and shows, Lincoln Center for classical music, America's Test Kitchen for cooking demos) I found this initially off-putting, but found the ATK demo well-structured and full of valuable takeaways and the BB King dance band was the best I've seen in 30 cruises. Because the recent experience was too short, I'm withholding final judgement.

 

- ONBOARD ATMOSPHERE

All winners

Cunard wins for classy atmosphere and well-trained service staff. I enjoy their aggressively formal atmosphere, but your mileage may vary. The public rooms are unbeatable, especially on a crossing,

Celebrity has buzz and snap, but service seemed to suffer from understaffing.

HAL still retains the atmosphere of warmth from her well-trained Indonesian and Filipino staff

Princess has continuously built upon their "big ship small feel" product with an attractive no-surprises experience. It consistently delivers what people want but has never really impressed us.

 

In summary - all of the lines provide a quality experience that is more alike than different in the key areas of cabin, food, itinerary, and entertainment. Yet, each retains its own personality and has distinct positive and negative points. Because of personal interests and situation, there's literally noting I like more than a North Atlantic crossing on the QM2, and I adore her atmosphere and history. I also treasure experience on the other lines and would readily book a cruise on any of them. I expect to do so.

 

Nice Job Mark! :D

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I will willingly concede that I've not been on recent Princess ships. and this comparison is with the broadest of brushes. However, I can say that with a glance at their atrium photo, I can identify a Princess ship at 40 paces. You're right about HAL, specifically the break from the ships descended from the Statendam hull and those from the Vista hull. There are variations within all lines' fleets. But to paraphrase a famous Supreme Court ruling on (CC censored the term for depictions of a prurious subject), "Princess style? I know it when I see it"

 

- Mark

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Please sign in to comment

You will be able to leave a comment after signing in



Sign In Now
 Share

  • Forum Jump
    • Categories
      • Welcome to Cruise Critic
      • New Cruisers
      • Cruise Lines “A – O”
      • Cruise Lines “P – Z”
      • River Cruising
      • ROLL CALLS
      • Digital Photography & Cruise Technology
      • Special Interest Cruising
      • Cruise Discussion Topics
      • UK Cruising
      • Australia & New Zealand Cruisers
      • Canadian Cruisers
      • North American Homeports
      • Ports of Call
      • Cruise Conversations
×
×
  • Create New...