Celebrity V Princess

[maxsales]

:pMy TA promised us our autumn cruise as first-timers on Celebrity would be pampered, dreamy, delightful, overwhelming service, 1 staff to 4 passengers, blah, blah. We'd been on RCCL and HAL and Princess previously.

 

A. Hated it.

B. Surly crew and steward(a female) who couldn't seem to manage anything or any arrangements. I swear, we arrived in Costa Maya for snorkeling, hiked this great long pier to meet the operator, and were told snorkeling was cancelled; how about Mayan Ruins? Now, why they couldn't post this at shore excursions or at the gangway at least, I don't know. I noticed that they offered many excursion choices, but most excursions were cancelled!

C. The satellite was ALWAYS down. Nothing could be that down.

D. The guest service host didn't show up for the tour of the ship -- I phoned Guest Services from a bar phone and he rushed in about 10 minutes later.

E. Three people at our table had something stolen while at the buffet area: glasses, cell phone, cruise card.

F. Most of the other passengers looked like they'd all come from Hot Coffee, Alabama. Tractor caps, beer tee shirts, grubby sneakers worn everywhere, bad dyed blonde jobs, and chain smokers. They called me "sweetie."

G. The whole ship smelled like smoke. I heard they'd stopped that now, but I'll always remember that.

H. I saw our Captain almost every day, and wherever he was, he looked worried and was chain smoking. A worried captain is a worry.

I. The so-called gym was about the size of my living room.

J. Never had a worse ride -- the stabilizers were probably down along with the satellite.

K. The dining room was so squeezed for room that I was practically sitting at the next table too. The squeeze between chairs was inches. Our waiter was a darling, though. Plus, they had the nerve to put "extra charge" desserts on a little card on our table: for example, creme brulee.

L. You get what you pay for, and definitely in cruising. Nothing could ever make me go on Celebrity again, not even if it was free and they gave me the owner's suite.

M. One of our tablemates, a New Yorker, lost his temper with the dining venue and yelled, "There are SIX people at this table every night and every night they bring FIVE rolls. Why don't you bring SIX rolls?" I was just humiliated.

 

Great post! You rip Celebrity but don't even mention what ship or sailing?

 

Most people would totally disagree with you about the smell of smoke, as Celebrity has the most restrictive smoking policy at sea.

 

Rolls at dinner? Just ask for more never had a problem once.

 

Captain chain smoking? I have never seen a Celebrity officer with a cigarette in public. Never!!

 

Extra cost desserts? Doesn't happen, Creme Brulee is on the dinner menu every night, no extra charge.

 

I totally agree that Princess is the line for you. Leave Celebrity for the rest of us.

[LoriAB]

Wow, that poster had a lot of negativity. I have been on Celebrity, RCCL, and Carnival, with Celebrity definitely topping the experiences. I noted lots of complaints about lots of ships on that post. As my mom always says, "Some people would piss and moan at a free beer party." For me, a week away from kids, dogs, work, and cell phones with someone else cooking my food and cleaning up after me, can't be a bad experience. That's just how I feel when I hear people complain. I feel blessed because I have been fortunate to have been able to cruise. We have a small trailer at the beach. I have a sign inside that says, "If you're fortunate enough to be by the beach, you're fortunate enough". Same thoughts for cruising.

[Denny01]

Now getting back to a rational discsussion on comparing Lines....by the way, the ratio is 2 to 1, not 4 to 1.....there are two recent threads on this forum started by Celebrity cruisers that recently took Princess (one yours truly) and the threads have a good discussion comparing the Lines. Try those and ignore the 'hate it' posts. Silly rants.

 

I enjoyed Princess and will cruise Her again as you can see from my signature. Personally, I will cruise Celebrity unless there is a specific itinerary or to join friends to go on another Line. But that has to do with Personal choice. The more restrictive smoking on Clelbrity is part of it along with a number of relatively minor differences.

 

Now, since Im a Celebrity cruiser and I just got off our Princess cruise I'll put away my ascot and blazer and break out my tractor ball cap, t-shirt and dirty sneakers....and told my wife to hold off on getting her hair done - just love the two-tone roots.

 

Enjoy cruising all ya 'sweeties'!

 

Den

[Snorkel Dawg]

* One thing we enjoyed on the Ruby Princess was the specialty coffee card. I can't remember if it was $18 or $20? Regardless, it was a very good deal. Loved starting the day with a specialty coffee & a couple danish in the International Cafe while the DW & DD were still sleeping. We enjoyed cappuccinos, lattes, espressos, & frappuccinos (afternoons) all were very good and compareable to Starbucks in our opinion. A great value too!

 

Also the coffee barrista on Ruby had a wonderful personality and was a pleasure to speak with each morning

[SMURF57]

Just a huge thanks to all those who have taken the time to reply to these threads--- they all make very interesting and informative reads -(excepting Saintpat - we can't believe all that - and think he would moan even if he owned celebrity----

 

We are on the eclipse in July having previously sailed with Princess and RCCL - both very good (except the drinks prices). We are looking at the caribbean for feb 12 either with X or poss the Grand Princess - however we have read several really poor reviews regarding the Grand and wondered if anybody could give a definitive view -- thanks in advance.

[lightsleeper]

have sailed Princess over a dozen times and have been on the Grand three times ( Will be on the Constellation for our first time on Celebrity).

What ships have you sailed on Princess so I can give you a comparison?

By the way, the Grand has recently had an upgrade and is scheduled for another..

I personally was trying to book the Grand for a 14 day, but since it now only does 7 day trips we Celebrity. I would gladly book the Grand again.....

[SMURF57]

Thanks for replying lightsleeper. Ref Princess we have only been on The Sea Pcess - very good and we had a great time.

 

Main reason for asking is that the Caribbean P (not the grand - sorry) is offering a good itinerary for early 2012 for 14 nts

 

However we have been reading a lot of very poor reviews recently ref the caribb P regarding general rules or lack of and also a predominance of children.

 

We love children and have done the family holiday bit, but now would prefer a cruise where children are in lesser numbers.

 

Thanks in advance

[lightsleeper]

SMURF57:

 

the Sea Princess carries approximately 2000 passengers, and was/is a beautiful ship. We also sailed on the Dawn and Sun, sisters to the Sea.

the BIG difference is the Caribbean Princess carries 3000 passengers, thats 1000 more then the Sea.

The Caribbean has MUTS (Movies under the stars)... you lie down on a lounger, are given a blanket and free popcorn and watch a movie at night poolside....great if you are into this.

The Caribbean also has an adult area only aft near the gym..

There is also " the Sanctuary" a restricted area which there is a charge for.

There is also the "Piazza" on deck 5. Street performers are "on" throughout the day. Also there is a (for better words) a "shop" which offers free baked cookies daily (they are delicious) and sells other items....they have a chicken salad (free) which is heavenly.

Since there aee 3000 passengers, the lido buffet can get crowded. Princess now serves food similar to that served in the dining room at the buffet..

To see the main show on opening night, you need to get to the theater AT LEAST 30 minutes before showtime. We always go to the alternate venue (Vista Lounge) that night and see the show the second night so you can walk in and get a seat 10-15 minutes before showtime.

We do anytime dining and have had no trouble getting a table for 2

Princess also has self-service laundries.

 

Some of the negative views may come from the fact that if the ship does not sell out, they offer the "locals" some very good rates... And the 'locals' can PARTY!!!

 

As for children, depends on th etime of year... Late January/ early February you will not find a lot of kids...and there is the adults only area.

 

Flights to San Juan can be expensive. As an alternative if you want to consider it, look at the Emerald Princess which doea 10 days out of Florida...you may ssave enough money on the airfare to do a 10 day back to back

 

 

hope this helps alittle...

any more questions fire away

[TeaBag]

I can't believe that post about Celebrity. Smoke in the halls? Creme Brulee you have to pay for? Did he get another line beginning with C mixed up with Celebrity?

[roe2ship]

I am trying Celebrity for the first time so I enjoyed reading some of the comparisons here.

:p You get what you pay for, and definitely in cruising. Nothing could ever make me go on Celebrity again, not even if it was free and they gave me the owner's suite.

Wow.....I often wonder how one can say I wouldn't go back on such and such cruise line even if it was for free. I mean how "bad" could it have actually been?:rolleyes:

 

I think you are too kind. The Caribbean Princess might be the worst disigned cruise ship afloat today. It isn't possible to add 500 passengers, and not increase the size of public areas without having congestion problems.

The buffet is is so overcrowed people have to wait for a table often. The main theatre fills 45 minutes before the shows. Many people give up on seeing a show. Passage ways near gridlcck in the evenings. Not to say you cannot have a good time on Princess, but I would stay away from the Caribbean P or any of their other ships that were modified like the Car. p.

Interesting......I have NEVER experienced what you described in the post....I must be very lucky!:rolleyes:

[StartrainDD]

I have a six page log/review written but it's not yet polished enough for submittal. This is my summary:

 

We have no plans to return to Princess. TOO CROWDED. Before the cruise I read all these reviews about how the ship is so well designed it never feels crowded. NOT TRUE. The public rooms are too small to handle the number of passengers. Deck chairs? Better bring your own. Need an elevator to move the 10 decks from the dining room to the spa? Hope you have lots of time. Want to see what the desserts are before you order? Hope your neighbors table gets theirs first as they don't bring around dessert trays.

 

Yes, some things were nice, and the "Secondary" entertainment venues were enjoyable (if you could get a seat), but we will be back to Celebrity or HAL next time.