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Observatons on Celebrity and Princess From A Newbie (kinda long)


mnocket
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About Us: My wife (semi-retired) and I (retired) just started cruising after 10+ years of no vacations due to the demands of a small business. In less than a year we have taken 3 cruises.

 

 

  • · April ’17 Celebrity Reflection TA
  • · Oct ’17 Celebrity Equinox southern Caribbean
  • · Jan ’18 Coral Princess Panama Canal

Prior to that we did an Alaska cruise 15 years ago and I did a Caribbean cruise as a child in the early 60’s on Canard.

My main purpose in this post is to offer some observations on the differences we saw between Celebrity and Princess based on only a few cruises. I realize, and readers should keep in mind, that the Reflection and Equinox are larger ships than the Coral Princess. As a result, my observations don’t hold true across the entire fleets. After two Celebrity cruises, I was curious about how Princess would differ. I’ve tried to present my observations below. We are not loyal to any line - our next cruise is on Azamara and I keep watching for an affordable cruise on Oceania. I’ll start by briefly mentioning a few observations on Reflection and Equinox.

 

 

Reflection – Equinox Observations: These are sister ships, but there are a few differences.

 

 

  • We much preferred the layout of the Sunset Bar on Reflection.
  • We LOVED the Lawn Club Grill on Reflection and really missed it on the Equinox. I see that many people here like the glass show on Equinox (occupies the LCG space), but when I heard that the glass show was closed for renovation, I was hopeful that the Lawn Club Grill was coming to Equinox too. No such luck. The hot glass show just changed from a free demonstration to a paid hands-on experience.
  • The Mast Grill on Equinox is more enjoyable because there is less wind due to design differences at the front of the deck.

 

  • Cellar Masters on the Reflection is rarely used and the Gastro Pub on Equinox is a much better use of the space.
  • Reflection has a small area on Deck 9 called Game On. It has several tables for card games, but what we really liked was that there were several gaming tables with large touch screens on the surface. These gaming tables had a variety of games that you could play. We liked a game that was pretty much like Word Search. The nice thing is that both people could play simultaneously. I looked for a home version of this kind of electronic gaming table but couldn’t find one. Seems to me like a good product opportunity for the video game industry. We were disappointed to find that Equinox lacks this feature.

Given a choice we prefer the Reflection over the Equinox.

 

Celebrity – Princess Observations: Admittedly based on a limited exposure to each.

 

· Embarkation: We arrived at the terminal at about 10:30am for each cruise. On both Celebrity and Princess we completed registration quickly and painlessly. On Celebrity we immediately boarded the ship, but the rooms were not ready until 1pm. On Princess we had to sit in a waiting area until about noon before we could board, however the rooms were ready when we boarded.

 

· Cabins: The big difference between Celebrity and Princess balcony cabins is the bathroom and the sitting area. We liked the bathroom on Celebrity much better – especially the shower size and shower door vs curtain. The sitting area on Celebrity had a love seat. On Princess you needed to book a mini-suite to get a love seat, otherwise there was just a single chair.

 

· Bars (getting to the really important stuff 😊): We really enjoyed the Marini and Sunset Bars on Celebrity and thought we would miss them on Princess. To our surprise we found the selection of bars on Princess to be superior. We also found the bartenders on Princess to be more personable. After a few days, many of the Princess bartenders didn’t even ask to see our cards as they told us “we know your number”. The bartenders on Princess seemed to really enjoy their jobs, on Celebrity – not so much. One disappointment on Princess is the mixes they use. Generally subpar. The worst is the pina colada mix. We drank a lot of pina coladas on Celebrity. On Princess it only took one to convince us to switch to something else. The margarita mix was OK, but not great. All-in-all we still preferred the bars on Princess – service goes a long way, we just had to be more selective about what we ordered.

 

· The Sanctuary: Not a comparison, because Celebrity has nothing like it. We had a lot of sea days on the Princess Panama Canal cruise and, having heard good things about the Sanctuary, we headed straight there upon boarding to book afternoons for every sea day. We loved it! I hate to rave about it because I like to keep “my favorite fishing hole” secret. The Sanctuary on the Coral is particularly nice because it has its own little pool.

 

· Main Dining Room: I know, I know, food is subjective so skip this section if you wish. Let me start by saying I am not one who expects fine dining on a mainstream cruise ship. When serving 1000’s of diners it’s unrealistic to expect much more than high end banquet food. In general, this is what both Celebrity and Princess accomplish. It’s fine. The menus are a bit boring, but I can always find something that sounds good. I do think Princess should be a bit embarrassed about replacing steak on the every day menu with a hamburger - but that’s just me. I’m always amazed at how both cruise line kitchens manage to serve properly cooked fish. It must be magic. I’d never order fish at a banquet hall. There were a couple fails on Princess. One was Beef Wellington where the pastry was totally soggy. The other was short rib that was so tough that it was hard to even cut. That aside, the MDR experience on Celebrity and Princess are pretty much comparable. We eat late (8-8:30pm) and anytime dining on both lines worked fine.

 

· Specialty Restaurants: On Celebrity we…… Love the Lawn Club Grill, quite enjoy Murano, were surprised by Sushi on Five, Sushi on a cruise ship? That can’t be fresh. But, it was actually much better than expected, Tuscan Grill is loved by many – but not us. On Princess the choices were more limited. Many people rave about Sabatini’s, but my wife didn’t care for the menu at all. Imagine…. An Italian restaurant where someone who loves Italian food hates the menu. The Coral also has the Bayou Café & Steakhouse. Ate there once. It was OK. We did miss the Crab Shack and the occasional pub lunches which people seem to really enjoy. The best thing the specialty restaurants have going for them on Princess is the price.

 

· Entertainment: Princess does a much better job of offering live entertainment at multiple venues throughout the ship. As a result, I’d say Princess is much livelier at night. As for the main showroom – I like the layout of the Celebrity showrooms better. Particularly the larger size. I didn’t like having to show up at the Princess showroom early in order to get a seat. That said, I heard that Princess has better shows. The first cast show proved that to be true. The singers were much better than those on Celebrity (Celebrity tended to have one decent male and female vocalist and the rest were mediocre). The Princess cast was clearly more talented however, the following two cast shows were not good fits for the cast. The Universe Lounge on Princess was a really strange design. We sat on the balcony level which has comfy chairs and sofas. The problem is that the floor is flat. You could either sit in the front row where you could see the stage (except for the annoying railing that ran at eye-level), or you could sit on a nice sofa in the second row and look at the back of the heads of the people in front of you - with absolutely no chance of seeing the stage which was too low and not in line-of-sight. Looking down on the main level, there were also comfy chairs and love seats, but again the floor was rather flat and the stage was only raised about a foot or so. It seemed likely that those sitting in the back would have a hard time seeing the performance. Just a really strange design.

 

· Casino: The casino on Princess was smaller, but this didn’t really prove to be too much of a disadvantage. I play blackjack and there were only two blackjack tables - a $10 table and a $25 table. I initially thought this would be a problem, but it really wasn’t. I rarely had trouble getting a seat at the $10 table. The casino staff were great on both lines. My wife liked the slot selection on Celebrity better. The larger size of the Celebrity casino is nice too. One real plus for the Princess casino is that you can charge casino play directly to your cabin account without any added service fee (Celebrity charges 5%). On Celebrity I carry cash for the casino – no need to on Princess.

 

Website: I just can’t pass up an opportunity to slam Celebrity for their unimaginably poor website. I’m sure more than a few new cruisers, after having experienced Celebrity’s website, quickly decided to move on to other cruise lines. It’s a real shame because the on-board experience is so much better than the pre-cruise.

 

So there you have it, some observations from a relatively new cruiser. All-in-all both Celebrity and Princess do a good job providing an enjoyable cruising experience. They could certainly learn some things from one another. Still, as many have said, they are more alike than different. I would gladly return to either line.

 

Ps I’ve posted to both Celebrity and Princess boards. I hope this isn’t against the rules.

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Gotta say that I totally agree about the Celebrity website. I cruised once on them a few years ago--no memory of the web site then. Recently I was trying to compare some Princess and Celebrity offerings and after a few minutes on the Celebrity web site, I just switched and booked on Princess. It had nothing to do with the cruises or prices; it had to do with the inability to do the research I wanted on their site.

 

OK, question. What is so good about the Sanctuary? How is it different than basically a chair with limited traffic?

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Gotta say that I totally agree about the Celebrity website. I cruised once on them a few years ago--no memory of the web site then. Recently I was trying to compare some Princess and Celebrity offerings and after a few minutes on the Celebrity web site' date=' I just switched and booked on Princess. It had nothing to do with the cruises or prices; it had to do with the inability to do the research I wanted on their site.

 

OK, question. What is so good about the Sanctuary? How is it different than basically a chair with limited traffic?[/quote']

It's a secluded area- very calm and quiet. reserved lounge with very comfy cushions. Attentive staff who really look after you - bring drinks, refill cucumber/lemon ice water, bring lunch off special menus, serve afternoon tea (tea, scones, mini-sandwiches, large selection of deserts). If you're looking to relax - it's hard to beat.

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Enjoyed your review.

With regards to the important stuff...we found the margarita mixer much too sweet and asked the bartenders to use sweet and sour mixer instead. Much more to our liking. Margaritas are one of our favs.

I didn't think of that. Great idea for next time.

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Bravo to the OP!). We really enjoyed your capsule comparison and agree with much of what you posted. And, we also agree with the way you jumped into cruising by booking a variety of cruise lines (we have been doing the same for over forty years).

 

One comment about the Sanctuary (on Princess). While we agree its a nice area to escape the hustle and bustle of the ship....we have never been happy with the fact that one must pay a lot of money to get a decent lounger in a relatively quiet place.

 

Hank

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I have sailed a few times with X and have been stunned by how perfectly the fish is always cooked. That is not easy, especially when producing hundreds and hundreds of servings.

We will sail Princess for the first time in a few months and if their fish is as good as Celebrity's I will be a very happy diner indeed.

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I read your post with interest because while very familiar with Princess (Our first cruise as Elites is next week!) We have only sailed on Celebrity once (On the Summit in 2016). However, for our very special 15th Wedding Anniversary Cruise in December 2019 I have booked the Solstice (South Pacific out of Sydney).

 

The Coral and her sister, The Island, are very different from the rest of the fleet. Their passenger to space ratio is excellent compared to say the Royal or the Regal. I do agree that the Sanctuary is heaven on earth, and I for one am willing to pay extra for my dedicated lounger, and personal space. I thought that some if not all of the Solstice class ships had an area that one could reserve an outdoor seating area that came with a picnic lunch and wait staff? Of course the Solarium is adult only and fee free, and is very lovely (And it has a heated indoor pool, something that many of the newer Princess ships lack). Celebrity's new ship, Edge, will have a nice outdoor area called the Retreat, but its reserved for suite guests only. I much prefer Princess' Sanctuary, open to all willing to pay for it.

 

Happy travels.

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Good balanced review. Strange how preferences between lines and ships differ, mainly I would say due to particular sailings. I state this as Reflection is our least favourite X ship, and we’ve sailed all the current ships in the fleet except from Summit. We find Reflection too crowded - you can definitely tell there is an extra deck of cabins placed on this S class ship. We sailed on her in the Med during the peak summer months and the experience actually prompted us to look at other lines. It would have to be a very special itinerary for us to sail her again in Europe during July/August ;).

 

We’ve only sailed Princess once previously but have decided to give her another try for this year.

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Thanks for sharing your thoughts, mnocket. Really enjoy objective well thoughtout posts like this. We have not sailed on Celebrity but do want to give it a try soon, although we do like Princess and all the extra perks we receive.

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Only thing I would say is that if you buy a large number of pay extra restaurant dinners on Celebrity you can often get a big discount bringing the cost down to about $22 as opposed to Princess never discounting and charging at least $29.

That's what we did last fall on Summit. And we loved the Tuscan Grill. Best filet mignon ever.

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· Main Dining Room: .... I do think Princess should be a bit embarrassed about replacing steak on the every day menu with a hamburger - but that’s just me.

 

 

Not just you. Probably 99+% of posts about this have would rather have the steak option.

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Very nice comparison.

 

I've been on most Princess ships, and last year I branched out to Celebrity (Equinox and Reflection).

 

I think I liked the Equinox better - I liked the Gastro Pub, and the Sky Lounge was bigger. (Although I wish the Equinox had the Lawn Club Grill).

 

The Coral is one of my favorite Princess ships, and the only one (since they butchered the Island) with the two story Universe Lounge. I've never tried to see a show there, though.

 

One think I'll mention about that rooms where Princess beats Celebrity in the balcony room - closets. Princess rooms have an open area closet that can comfortably hold 3 suit cases on the floor, and a very long rack for hanging things.

 

I like both lines, and find them more similar than different.

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Not just you. Probably 99+% of posts about this have would rather have the steak option.

 

The NY strip or the Cowboy steak, in the MDR are often terrible quality. Tough and gristly,

Princess should be embarrassed about the cheap low quality meat they buy.

 

Just like the lobster its something we do not order any more, or look forward to on a cruise, we now eat better quality food at home than on Princess.

 

Didn't use to be like that, our home cooking has improved while some of Princess's ingredients have declined.

 

I feel sorry for the Executive Chef on board, trying to produce good meals with what the accountants at head office send him as ingredients.

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Here's a couple of differences -

 

The always available on Celebrity included escargot and steak each night.

 

Celebrity has a covered adult pool included for no extra charge. That area also has a small healthy eatery. Princess has more fresh water pools including an adult pool.

 

Celebrity's casino is no smoking.

 

Love having differences.

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The casino on the Coral is smaller than most because they chopped it down in size to make room for the International Cafe.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

I didn't know that. I wouldn't give up the International Cafe for a larger casino.

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Thanx for the review/comparisons, appreciate it.

 

We are sailing on the Coral soon, first time on Princess.

 

Question on the casino, do they have craps and Texas hold em?

Yes to craps. I'm not sure about Texas hold em. I seem to remember there was an electronic poker table for Texas hold em, but I could be wrong. There was a 3-card poker table.

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Very nice comparison.

 

I've been on most Princess ships, and last year I branched out to Celebrity (Equinox and Reflection).

 

I think I liked the Equinox better - I liked the Gastro Pub, and the Sky Lounge was bigger. (Although I wish the Equinox had the Lawn Club Grill).

 

The Coral is one of my favorite Princess ships, and the only one (since they butchered the Island) with the two story Universe Lounge. I've never tried to see a show there, though.

 

One think I'll mention about that rooms where Princess beats Celebrity in the balcony room - closets. Princess rooms have an open area closet that can comfortably hold 3 suit cases on the floor, and a very long rack for hanging things.

 

I like both lines, and find them more similar than different.

You're so right about the closets. I meant to mention that, but forgot.

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About Us: My wife (semi-retired) and I (retired) just started cruising after 10+ years of no vacations due to the demands of a small business. In less than a year we have taken 3 cruises.

 

 

  • · April ’17 Celebrity Reflection TA
  • · Oct ’17 Celebrity Equinox southern Caribbean
  • · Jan ’18 Coral Princess Panama Canal

Prior to that we did an Alaska cruise 15 years ago and I did a Caribbean cruise as a child in the early 60’s on Canard.

My main purpose in this post is to offer some observations on the differences we saw between Celebrity and Princess based on only a few cruises. I realize, and readers should keep in mind, that the Reflection and Equinox are larger ships than the Coral Princess. As a result, my observations don’t hold true across the entire fleets. After two Celebrity cruises, I was curious about how Princess would differ. I’ve tried to present my observations below. We are not loyal to any line - our next cruise is on Azamara and I keep watching for an affordable cruise on Oceania. I’ll start by briefly mentioning a few observations on Reflection and Equinox.

 

 

Reflection – Equinox Observations: These are sister ships, but there are a few differences.

 

 

  • We much preferred the layout of the Sunset Bar on Reflection.
  • We LOVED the Lawn Club Grill on Reflection and really missed it on the Equinox. I see that many people here like the glass show on Equinox (occupies the LCG space), but when I heard that the glass show was closed for renovation, I was hopeful that the Lawn Club Grill was coming to Equinox too. No such luck. The hot glass show just changed from a free demonstration to a paid hands-on experience.
  • The Mast Grill on Equinox is more enjoyable because there is less wind due to design differences at the front of the deck.

  • Cellar Masters on the Reflection is rarely used and the Gastro Pub on Equinox is a much better use of the space.
  • Reflection has a small area on Deck 9 called Game On. It has several tables for card games, but what we really liked was that there were several gaming tables with large touch screens on the surface. These gaming tables had a variety of games that you could play. We liked a game that was pretty much like Word Search. The nice thing is that both people could play simultaneously. I looked for a home version of this kind of electronic gaming table but couldn’t find one. Seems to me like a good product opportunity for the video game industry. We were disappointed to find that Equinox lacks this feature.

Given a choice we prefer the Reflection over the Equinox.

 

Celebrity – Princess Observations: Admittedly based on a limited exposure to each.

 

· Embarkation: We arrived at the terminal at about 10:30am for each cruise. On both Celebrity and Princess we completed registration quickly and painlessly. On Celebrity we immediately boarded the ship, but the rooms were not ready until 1pm. On Princess we had to sit in a waiting area until about noon before we could board, however the rooms were ready when we boarded.

 

· Cabins: The big difference between Celebrity and Princess balcony cabins is the bathroom and the sitting area. We liked the bathroom on Celebrity much better – especially the shower size and shower door vs curtain. The sitting area on Celebrity had a love seat. On Princess you needed to book a mini-suite to get a love seat, otherwise there was just a single chair.

 

· Bars (getting to the really important stuff 😊): We really enjoyed the Marini and Sunset Bars on Celebrity and thought we would miss them on Princess. To our surprise we found the selection of bars on Princess to be superior. We also found the bartenders on Princess to be more personable. After a few days, many of the Princess bartenders didn’t even ask to see our cards as they told us “we know your number”. The bartenders on Princess seemed to really enjoy their jobs, on Celebrity – not so much. One disappointment on Princess is the mixes they use. Generally subpar. The worst is the pina colada mix. We drank a lot of pina coladas on Celebrity. On Princess it only took one to convince us to switch to something else. The margarita mix was OK, but not great. All-in-all we still preferred the bars on Princess – service goes a long way, we just had to be more selective about what we ordered.

 

· The Sanctuary: Not a comparison, because Celebrity has nothing like it. We had a lot of sea days on the Princess Panama Canal cruise and, having heard good things about the Sanctuary, we headed straight there upon boarding to book afternoons for every sea day. We loved it! I hate to rave about it because I like to keep “my favorite fishing hole” secret. The Sanctuary on the Coral is particularly nice because it has its own little pool.

 

· Main Dining Room: I know, I know, food is subjective so skip this section if you wish. Let me start by saying I am not one who expects fine dining on a mainstream cruise ship. When serving 1000’s of diners it’s unrealistic to expect much more than high end banquet food. In general, this is what both Celebrity and Princess accomplish. It’s fine. The menus are a bit boring, but I can always find something that sounds good. I do think Princess should be a bit embarrassed about replacing steak on the every day menu with a hamburger - but that’s just me. I’m always amazed at how both cruise line kitchens manage to serve properly cooked fish. It must be magic. I’d never order fish at a banquet hall. There were a couple fails on Princess. One was Beef Wellington where the pastry was totally soggy. The other was short rib that was so tough that it was hard to even cut. That aside, the MDR experience on Celebrity and Princess are pretty much comparable. We eat late (8-8:30pm) and anytime dining on both lines worked fine.

 

· Specialty Restaurants: On Celebrity we…… Love the Lawn Club Grill, quite enjoy Murano, were surprised by Sushi on Five, Sushi on a cruise ship? That can’t be fresh. But, it was actually much better than expected, Tuscan Grill is loved by many – but not us. On Princess the choices were more limited. Many people rave about Sabatini’s, but my wife didn’t care for the menu at all. Imagine…. An Italian restaurant where someone who loves Italian food hates the menu. The Coral also has the Bayou Café & Steakhouse. Ate there once. It was OK. We did miss the Crab Shack and the occasional pub lunches which people seem to really enjoy. The best thing the specialty restaurants have going for them on Princess is the price.

 

· Entertainment: Princess does a much better job of offering live entertainment at multiple venues throughout the ship. As a result, I’d say Princess is much livelier at night. As for the main showroom – I like the layout of the Celebrity showrooms better. Particularly the larger size. I didn’t like having to show up at the Princess showroom early in order to get a seat. That said, I heard that Princess has better shows. The first cast show proved that to be true. The singers were much better than those on Celebrity (Celebrity tended to have one decent male and female vocalist and the rest were mediocre). The Princess cast was clearly more talented however, the following two cast shows were not good fits for the cast. The Universe Lounge on Princess was a really strange design. We sat on the balcony level which has comfy chairs and sofas. The problem is that the floor is flat. You could either sit in the front row where you could see the stage (except for the annoying railing that ran at eye-level), or you could sit on a nice sofa in the second row and look at the back of the heads of the people in front of you - with absolutely no chance of seeing the stage which was too low and not in line-of-sight. Looking down on the main level, there were also comfy chairs and love seats, but again the floor was rather flat and the stage was only raised about a foot or so. It seemed likely that those sitting in the back would have a hard time seeing the performance. Just a really strange design.

 

· Casino: The casino on Princess was smaller, but this didn’t really prove to be too much of a disadvantage. I play blackjack and there were only two blackjack tables - a $10 table and a $25 table. I initially thought this would be a problem, but it really wasn’t. I rarely had trouble getting a seat at the $10 table. The casino staff were great on both lines. My wife liked the slot selection on Celebrity better. The larger size of the Celebrity casino is nice too. One real plus for the Princess casino is that you can charge casino play directly to your cabin account without any added service fee (Celebrity charges 5%). On Celebrity I carry cash for the casino – no need to on Princess.

 

Website: I just can’t pass up an opportunity to slam Celebrity for their unimaginably poor website. I’m sure more than a few new cruisers, after having experienced Celebrity’s website, quickly decided to move on to other cruise lines. It’s a real shame because the on-board experience is so much better than the pre-cruise.

 

So there you have it, some observations from a relatively new cruiser. All-in-all both Celebrity and Princess do a good job providing an enjoyable cruising experience. They could certainly learn some things from one another. Still, as many have said, they are more alike than different. I would gladly return to either line.

 

Ps I’ve posted to both Celebrity and Princess boards. I hope this isn’t against the rules.

 

Really enjoyed your comparison of Celebrity and Princess. We cruise both though Princess is our first love and the one we have cruised most with but we are sailing on the Equinox this January so we do look for good pricing and itineraries on both lines.

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I have sailed a few times with X and have been stunned by how perfectly the fish is always cooked. That is not easy, especially when producing hundreds and hundreds of servings.

We will sail Princess for the first time in a few months and if their fish is as good as Celebrity's I will be a very happy diner indeed.

 

I was amazed how perfectly cooked the Salmon on the every day menu was! One person at your table liked it so much he ordered it almost every dinner. I finally decided I had to get it one night and it was just perfectly cooked. I will be ordering the Salmon more often on my future Princess cruises! This was on the Grand on a 15-day cruise to Hawaii.

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