comparing the Caribbean Princess to the Celebrity Summit?

[shod]

Has anyone here been on both? can you tell me about the differences as far as the kids club and the balcony rooms go? We have 6 princess cruises under our belts and none with celebrity.

 

thanks

[junglejane]

We've been on both, although not on the Caribbean Princess since 2005 (when our kids were 4 and 8). We were on the Summit in 2008. The Caribbean Princess is a significantly bigger ship (approx. 3100 vs. 2000 pax).

 

Balcony cabins: Basically pretty similar. On Princess, we've always done two side by side BB or BA balconies on Caribe deck and connected via the door in the balcony partition. On the Summit we had two side by side connecting 2C balcony cabins. The Caribe deck balconies are huge, so they were much bigger than we had on the Summit, which were more comparable to a regular Princess balcony (e.g., on Aloha or Baja decks). The rooms themselves were pretty similar, although I prefer the layout of the Princess room because the closet doesn't open up right by the door to the hallway. On the other hand, I really liked the fact that on the Summit we had rooms that connected with an interior door. Much more convenient with young kids.

 

Kids Program: Again, pretty similar for the 3-8 age groups. One of my daughters preferred Princess because on Celebrity they want everyone participating in each activity at the scheduled time, whereas on Princess they were more willing to let her "opt out" of an activity she didn't like and just play a video game or something. The other daughter liked them equally. I actually liked the Celebrity program a lot because they took them out of the Fun Factory fairly often on "field trips" around the ship, which didn't happen much on our recent Princess cruises. Also, Celebrity was easygoing about the pickup time. If you didn't pick them up at 10 pm, they just automatically rolled over into the slumber party after hours program and you were billed for it. On Princess they would get all bent out of shape if you hadn't signed up for the after hours program much earlier in the day. Cruisinmama06 has posted a lot of sample newsletters for the kids programs, incl. both Princess and Celebrity here: http://s204.photobucket.com/albums/bb196/cruisinmama06/

 

Here are my general comments about Celebrity vs. Princess:

 

Things we like better on Celebrity:

slightly more polished, formal feel to the dining room service

food was slightly better, including in the buffet

trays and linen napkins in the buffet

overall the ship had a more upscale ambiance

less "in your face" upselling (e.g., no interrupting our dinner to try to sell us wine packages, etc.)

full room service breakfast is another big plus

specialty restaurant on the M-class ships is outstanding

 

Things we like better on Princess:

better cabin layout in standard balcony cabins

freshwater pools on Princess

self service laundries

dining room open for breakfast and lunch on port days

greater variety of evening entertainment options

better perks for repeat passengers

better choice of itineraries (at least for us)

 

Have a great cruise whatever you choose!

[WeBeGone]

Ditto to junglejane - very well put.

[shod]

thanks for taking the time to post such a complete review!

 

not relevant to this thread but I must ask: what were the sleeping arrangement when your kids where 4 & 8 in 2 adjoining rooms on the Princess? (if you read my other thread - you will understand why I ask and how I got to the summit :) )

[junglejane]

Yes, I have followed your other thread! We have always slept with one adult in each room on Princess. Now that they are 13 and 9, I would feel comfortable with them in their own room. But IMHO, rooms that connect with an interior door are ideal. Celebrity and RCCL seem to have a lot of them. I don't know why Princess doesn't. We love having two bathrooms and prefer two rooms versus four in a minisuite. :)