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Trying Celebrity from Princess and HAL


izdgrama
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We are exploring options for a new cruise line home. Celebrity looks like it would fit us just fine. Normally, we book balcony cabins except on TA cruises when OV are just fine. We are 70ish and enjoy cruising. Any thoughts about the best things about X would be appreciated. TIA!

 

 

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We do insides and OV's. Whatever minimum it takes to get Celebrity Go Best package. That has always meant that our cost is lower than HAL or Princess. ALWAYS. Keep in mind that we ALWAYS include the lowest price alcohol package and that , since Celebrity changed the Go Best perks to two items instead of three, our TA throws in the third perk.

 

Lately, some who book higher end cabins (suites, Aqua Class, penthouse, etc) are unhappy to find that the cost is higher than other lines - and may push them to book on more luxury lines. They find that Viking Ocean and other higher end lines have similar costs, so they switch.

 

People that don't want the alcohol package as part of the Go Best perks are understandably unhappy because it's included in the higher rate and has no real benefit for them.

 

Honestly, we would return to HAL if the pricing was similar to what we pay for Celebrity (in our cheap seat cabins). And we would still cruise X without hesitation. I don't think you can go wrong with either one.

 

haven't sailed on princess in 15+ years, so I'll not comment.

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We do insides and OV's. Whatever minimum it takes to get Celebrity Go Best package. That has always meant that our cost is lower than HAL or Princess. ALWAYS. Keep in mind that we ALWAYS include the lowest price alcohol package and that , since Celebrity changed the Go Best perks to two items instead of three, our TA throws in the third perk.

 

Lately, some who book higher end cabins (suites, Aqua Class, penthouse, etc) are unhappy to find that the cost is higher than other lines - and may push them to book on more luxury lines. They find that Viking Ocean and other higher end lines have similar costs, so they switch.

 

People that don't want the alcohol package as part of the Go Best perks are understandably unhappy because it's included in the higher rate and has no real benefit for them.

 

Honestly, we would return to HAL if the pricing was similar to what we pay for Celebrity (in our cheap seat cabins). And we would still cruise X without hesitation. I don't think you can go wrong with either one.

 

haven't sailed on princess in 15+ years, so I'll not comment.

 

 

People that don't want the alcohol package as part of the Go Best perks are understandably unhappy because it's included in the higher rate and has no real benefit for them. (You got that right. We don't drink as much as other cruisers and enjoy the free Elite happy hour, so the drink package is a non starter).

 

We haven't done Princess or HAL, but have been told that both are about on the same level as Celebrity. We avoided HAL because it was the smoker's cruise line, but not they don't allow smoking on balconies. Still, because we have the loyalty programs for Celebrity and Royal C, we will likely cruise with them (or NCL- we are Platinum) when the right cruise comes around.

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We’re fans of both Celebrity and HAL. On Celebrity, we book Aquaclass, mostly so we we can eat in BLU dining room. The food and service are better than that provided in the main dining room. There’s also more happening on the ship and a livelier vibe.

That said, compared to Aquaclass, HAL is less expensive and the itineraries are consistently more interesting.

 

 

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We really like cruising on Celebrity. We prefer to book Aqua class and eating in the Blu restaurant. This is just our choice. Some others prefer suites, some prefer OV and others prefer Balcony cabins. Celebrity, in my opinion, seems to cater to an older crowd. We also are in our 70’s. Aqua class is a balcony cabin with access to the Persian Gardens (spa) and the Blu Restaurant. There is an additional charge for Aqua vs a regular cabin. Hope this helps a little.

 

 

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We usually book standard balcony SRs. We did the same on Princess, but found the SR pretty small and the shower a killer, so we booked Jr Suite on Princess. The Celebrity balcony SRs are not much smaller than those but a smaller balcony, and met our needs.

 

Differences (not been on HAL):

- I think the Celebrity common areas are much more inviting and not as crowded as Princess

- the Celebrity theaters are much larger and you don’t have to show up an 1hr before the show to get decent seats together as we did on Princess.

- Dining I thought was about the same in MDRs, but the Celebrity buffet is much better organized and more choices. Especially on the S-Class ships.

- Few announcements on Celebrity.

- Princess had a better sandwich and snack choices but Celebrity has the El Bacio which has great specialty coffees and pasteries. Free pasteries.

- I felt Celebrity had less press on selling things. I’d go to a Princess ‘lecture’ on packing and it was a sells pitch on those vacuum things. Dumb for me.

 

Always enjoy our cruises, all Lines, but Celebrity is our 1st choice.

 

enjoy!

 

Den

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We are exploring options for a new cruise line home. Celebrity looks like it would fit us just fine. Normally, we book balcony cabins except on TA cruises when OV are just fine. We are 70ish and enjoy cruising. Any thoughts about the best things about X would be appreciated. TIA!

 

 

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Here is a wonderful comparison review by my friend Norris called Comparing Princess and Celebrity:

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2317130

 

Hope this helps.

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Here is a wonderful comparison review by my friend Norris called Comparing Princess and Celebrity:

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2317130

 

Hope this helps.

Sorry, I didn't think that thread provided much of a comparison.

 

One post that I read applauded HAL's great itineraries. Itineraries are what attracted me to Celebrity. They had cruises to S. America and around the horn; European cruises to places as diverse as the British Isles, Iceland, Norway vs. all over the MED including Israel; cruises in Asia including Japan, China, SE Asia, Singapore, India, Oman, Dubai and through the Suez Canal; Australia and New Zealand, Hawaii, Alaska; through the Panama Canal, Antartica.

 

We had cruised NCL, but they didn't go to a lot of those places. The Princess cruises we saw were not a widespread and not at the beat of times. We were not interested in the Caribbean.

HAL had most of the same places as Celebrity, that was a plus, but I book early and discovered that HAL's prices tended to be high early and only get really low close to the cruise date. Not what we wanted.

 

The big kicker was smoking. HAL was the smoker's paradise and from what we were told by people that did HAL, many people on the cruises smoked. NOT for us. In fact, when we did Alaska in 2016, we were in Denali going on the Tundra tour that is basically on a school bus. We stopped at a hotel and picked up about 40 HAL people (they all had badges). The odor of cigarette smoke was awful. We couldn't open the windows of the bus much and that was not good.

I know HAL has changed its policy and doesn't allow smoking on balconies, but still in the casino (like NCL). We have learned on NCL not to go through the deck where the casino is located.

 

Another item that shows up in a lot of cc post in comparison is that HAL tends to likely have the highest average age of cruisers. I am 70 and don't mind cruising with fellow retirees, but I don't want it to seem like I am in a nursing home.

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We started cruising on HAL...at that time, their prices were hard to beat. Service was superior, food was excellent, and at that time...entertainment was typical cruise line stuff.

 

We met some friends on board and they convinced us to try Princess. There were lots of passengers from UK. Princess offered great deals on B2B for those that had to fly to the US to board the ship. Very nice people, great food, service was okay and entertainment again was typical.

 

Next we tried RCI. Totally different population. Still a great product but not at the same level as HAL and Princess.

 

Then Celebrity. Maybe because this was after RCI but it was wonderful. No announcements every hour. Read your daily paper if you want to be active...otherwise...relax without all of those announcements all day long! Food again was great, service great...but we do notice that with each passing year..things are a little bit less than the year before. Not a problem...the same situation exists on land.

 

I think Celebrity has a great product with different itineraries, good service, good food and satisfactory entertainment. We would try HAL again...not sure if we would do Princess? There was never a problem with Princess but...we just preferred Celebrity and HAL.

 

Overall...I still say that we have not been on a bad cruise. Our worse was NCL Norway when the company was approaching bankruptcy...repair parts for this older ship were not plentiful, toilets overflowed...hallway carpets got wet..they used cardboard boxes over the wet areas... rolls were from the local grocery store.s mass produced line of bakery items.. Definitely not representative on NCL today.

 

We definitely prefer cruising to taking land vacays!

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Sorry, I didn't think that thread provided much of a comparison.

 

 

 

One post that I read applauded HAL's great itineraries. Itineraries are what attracted me to Celebrity. They had cruises to S. America and around the horn; European cruises to places as diverse as the British Isles, Iceland, Norway vs. all over the MED including Israel; cruises in Asia including Japan, China, SE Asia, Singapore, India, Oman, Dubai and through the Suez Canal; Australia and New Zealand, Hawaii, Alaska; through the Panama Canal, Antartica.

 

 

 

We had cruised NCL, but they didn't go to a lot of those places. The Princess cruises we saw were not a widespread and not at the beat of times. We were not interested in the Caribbean.

 

HAL had most of the same places as Celebrity, that was a plus, but I book early and discovered that HAL's prices tended to be high early and only get really low close to the cruise date. Not what we wanted.

 

 

 

The big kicker was smoking. HAL was the smoker's paradise and from what we were told by people that did HAL, many people on the cruises smoked. NOT for us. In fact, when we did Alaska in 2016, we were in Denali going on the Tundra tour that is basically on a school bus. We stopped at a hotel and picked up about 40 HAL people (they all had badges). The odor of cigarette smoke was awful. We couldn't open the windows of the bus much and that was not good.

 

I know HAL has changed its policy and doesn't allow smoking on balconies, but still in the casino (like NCL). We have learned on NCL not to go through the deck where the casino is located.

 

 

 

Another item that shows up in a lot of cc post in comparison is that HAL tends to likely have the highest average age of cruisers. I am 70 and don't mind cruising with fellow retirees, but I don't want it to seem like I am in a nursing home.

 

 

 

We’ve been on multiple cruises on both HAL and Celebrity. Regarding itineraries, our experience is that HAL visits more exotic ports, while Celebrity tends to stick with the “usual suspects.” One reason is that Celebrity’s cruises are more often than not two weeks or less, so they want to hit the highlights.

 

When we’re traveling to a far corner of the world for a cruise, my wife and I prefer a longer voyage, ideally about three weeks. HAL is perfect for that. And as a result, their cruises can mix lesser known ports with more familiar ones.

 

Re the age factor, we were also warned initially about the older HAL demographic. We’ve found that it’s just about the same as Celebrity. We also cannot stand smoking, and have never been bothered on either line.

 

I also think the HAL price point is better.

 

 

 

 

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I've only sailed with HAL for 3 days (part of a cruise tour), but we very much enjoyed our short time on there. Itinerary options, service, classic decor, and food, all seemed on par or a notch above Celebrity. Celebrity stands out as having more entertainment options, refreshments when rebounding the ship, inviting modern decor, booking perks, and general innovations. Two lines focused on quality and destination experience, they seem like the closest alternative to each other to me.

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Have sailed one cruise each with HAL and Celebrity, but getting ready to do our 2nd Celebrity cruise. Would not hesitate to sail HAL again, but feel like Celebrity is "home" for now. Just like the casual style of Celebrity. Again, wouldn't go wrong with either. Price and itinerary would probably be the defining factor.

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