Celebrity/Hal/NCL cruiser taking first Princess cruise on Golden next Saturday

[flashdog_1]

I really like what I've been reading on the Princess board, but if you've traveled any of the 3 I have, please share with me any big differences that I will notice, or need to be prepared for.

 

Please no bashing of a cruise line. I've enjoyed all of them with no exceptions. They are what they are. I would just like to hear from people who've done them and Princess. Thanks.

[Happybywater]

We have cruised Princess most but have also cruised NCL a few times and Celebrity once. We found NCL less formal than Princess and Celebrity of be similar to Princess. Princess lacks seating in normal state rooms, you need a suite to get settee/sofa.

 

Service on Celebrity was excellent and on the recent Crown Princess was also excellent, but it can vary from Ship to Ship. Similar with Entertainment.

 

We found storage in cabin on Celebrity limited compared to Princess.

 

We disliked the centre layout of the Celebrity Eclipse and where they had entertainment outside the theatre was in small spaces. The Crown has the Explorer's Lounge and Club Fusion and the Disco in Skywalkers is complete separate from the other areas.

 

We enjoy the Cooking Demonstration which was very funny on our last voyage.

 

It will depend on what you like.

[capecodder2]

We have sailed Princess 8 times and Celebrity 2 (0 NCL). We felt Princess and Celebrity were comparable. We stopped cruising with Princess 5 years ago when we had enough of the liberal smoking policy and began to cruise Oceania which was far more pleasant with regards to that issue. BTW, Princess will be putting in a more restrictive smoking policy Jan 15 and we may give them another try in 2013. Celebrity was very nice and their smoking policy and their beds were much better than Princess. Food and entertainment, as well as ships, were on a par, in our opinion.

[flashdog_1]

We have cruised Princess most but have also cruised NCL a few times and Celebrity once. We found NCL less formal than Princess and Celebrity of be similar to Princess. Princess lacks seating in normal state rooms, you need a suite to get settee/sofa.

 

Service on Celebrity was excellent and on the recent Crown Princess was also excellent, but it can vary from Ship to Ship. Similar with Entertainment.

 

We found storage in cabin on Celebrity limited compared to Princess.

 

We disliked the centre layout of the Celebrity Eclipse and where they had entertainment outside the theatre was in small spaces. The Crown has the Explorer's Lounge and Club Fusion and the Disco in Skywalkers is complete separate from the other areas.

 

We enjoy the Cooking Demonstration which was very funny on our last voyage.

 

It will depend on what you like.

 

Thanks. I should have said we like classical music and love Celebrity for that.

 

We like B1G1 drinks of the day, but if Princess' drinks are as low as I've read, who needs a B1G1?

 

We like spa specials of the day, too, surely the same on all lines.

 

We like the wonderful food we've enjoyed on Celebrity.

 

We like the freestyle of NCL where you do as you want (within reason) when and with whom you want. Sounds risque, doesn't it? It's not! Just go to dinner when you're ready. More "regular food" on NCL, simple knife, fork, spoon, instead of European settings like on Celebrity. When we know that's how it will be it does not bother us, but we prefer Celebrity. We're hoping Any time dining will give us what we want.

 

We loved Blue Lagon/Cadillac Diner on NCL, a 22 hour open comfort food restaurant. I'm hoping International Cafe will be even better.

 

Some of the things we've liked about a line have disappeared, though.

 

Celebrity still gives you champagne when you board. NCL did that one year only. I've not read anything about Princess doing so.

 

NCL had espresso and capuccino included with the fare for a year or so, but the machines are even gone in the buffet now. Only suites get espresso machines. NCL had coffee makers in all cabins for a while. Now only balcony and above have them. sure this stuff varies from ship to ship and year to year.

 

These were little extras that made you feel you'd made a good choice.

 

We like lectures, which I understand Princess will have. NCL does not have them and it was a sore change from Celebrity.

 

Passengers in general were friendlier on NCL. I hope to feel welcomed on Princess next week.

[Terre]

We've sailed on NCL, Celebrity, and Crown Princess. They are all about the same. In my opinion, none of these has really good food and the last time we sailed on Celebrity, the service had dropped tremendously from our first Celebrity cruise.

 

The entertainment, ports of call and everything else is pretty much he same. From what I remember of Celebrity, there is not much going on after 10:00 or so in the evening. I think you will have plenty to do in the late evening hours on Princess. You will like the Crown, it's a beautiful ship. Be sure to check out the International Cafe, I think you will like it.

[flashdog_1]

Terre,

Your review of Golden to Alaska helped me prepare. Thanks. As someone on the NCL boards says every week (she's a travel agent): "the cruiselines are more similar than they are different from one another."

 

On our last Celebrity cruise, 2 years ago to Alaska, our waiter, with 30 years experience, was embarrassed, and almost apologized for the compromises that had been made to the menu to save $. He just recommended we not order the tougher cuts of meat! That's a good rule for newbies to any line. We p lan to enjoy ourselves. I like to be prepared and just wanted to know anything glaring that would be different on Princess.

[4cats4me]

Both Celebrity and Princess deliver when it comes to Alaska. I'd give the edge to Princess. I still yearn for another Celebrity cruise . Loved their food. International Cafe nothing to write home about. good for a small snack or dessert. that's about it. I prefer the Horizon Court. Plenty of fresh fruit and cheese and wonderful fresh bread and good salads. Enjoy the 24/7 buffet as opposed to limited buffet hours on Celebrity. More swimming pools on Princess, which we actually DO use in Alaska.

X is more elegant. X has better beds and bathrooms. Princess has better storage space and nicer bath products that X did, IMHO.

Food is very subjective, but we've been generally pleased with the choices on Princess, although the beef dishes have taken a nosedive, particularly in the last year -- very tough cuts of beef. One thing I liked about RCCL is you could order a good steak off the main dining room menu from Chops Restaurant and pay $15. No such option available with Princess. You'd have to go to the Crown Grille to get a decent steak.

Sabatini's specialty restaurant is good, but way too much food for us.

Good hamburgers and pizza at the outdoor pool. Waffle station at the ice cream bar in the morning is good.

Shows are some good, some bad. Definitely more activity on Princess, which we like. Celebrity a bit more laid back.

Champagne at embarkation on Princess if you are in a mini-suite or better.

You can bring on a couple bottles of wine or champagne per person on Princess. People bring cases of wine on sometimes. :eek:

Beds are HARD AS A ROCK on Princess. Princess has in-room movies for free, an art channel, and TV shows. CNN, no FOX news.

Princess usually starts boarding around 11:30 to 11:45 even though it says 1:00 p.m.

 

I will be on the 7/9/11 Golden Princess cruise as well.

[Pam in CA]

Thanks. I should have said we like classical music and love Celebrity for that.

 

We like B1G1 drinks of the day, but if Princess' drinks are as low as I've read, who needs a B1G1? -- HAL has a drink card ($45 for $50's worth of drinks or $90 for $100's worth of drinks); Princess doesn't. I'd say that Princess drinks are the equivalent to HAL but cheaper, and smaller and cheaper than Celebrity.

 

We like spa specials of the day, too, surely the same on all lines. -- There are spa specials but as I've never gone, I don't pay attention to them.

 

We like the wonderful food we've enjoyed on Celebrity. -- Overall, I've found the food on Princess better than on HAL and my recent Celebrity cruise. There are some dishes I like on HAL and there were a few excellent ones on Celebrity, but overall, I think Princess is consistently better. Food is subjective so take this with a grain of salt.

 

We like the freestyle of NCL where you do as you want (within reason) when and with whom you want. Sounds risque, doesn't it? It's not! Just go to dinner when you're ready. More "regular food" on NCL, simple knife, fork, spoon, instead of European settings like on Celebrity. When we know that's how it will be it does not bother us, but we prefer Celebrity. We're hoping Any time dining will give us what we want. -- HAL's "As You Wish" dining is almost exactly the same as Anytime on Princess, and better managed. On Princess, passengers in Traditional dining are allowed to go to Anytime which can really mess things up. The table settings on Princess are similar to HAL and not like Celebrity where they give you all of your utensils at once. On Princess, like HAL, they adjust the silverware and give you the utensils for your course.

 

We loved Blue Lagon/Cadillac Diner on NCL, a 22 hour open comfort food restaurant. I'm hoping International Cafe will be even better. -- No other cruiseline that I'm aware of has anything like the International Cafe. It's FAR better than Celebrity's Cova Cafe.

 

Some of the things we've liked about a line have disappeared, though.

 

Celebrity still gives you champagne when you board. NCL did that one year only. I've not read anything about Princess doing so. -- Really? There was absolutely no champagne when we boarded the Summit a month ago. If you have a mini-suite or a full suite on Princess, you will receive glasses of champagne for sailaway.

 

NCL had espresso and capuccino included with the fare for a year or so, but the machines are even gone in the buffet now. Only suites get espresso machines. NCL had coffee makers in all cabins for a while. Now only balcony and above have them. sure this stuff varies from ship to ship and year to year. -- On Princess and HAL, espresso and capuccino are "specialty drinks" and are not free. No coffee makers on HAL, Celebrity or Princess.

 

These were little extras that made you feel you'd made a good choice.

 

We like lectures, which I understand Princess will have. NCL does not have them and it was a sore change from Celebrity. -- Yes. Lectures just like HAL and Celebrity.

 

Passengers in general were friendlier on NCL. I hope to feel welcomed on Princess next week.

The biggest differences between HAL, Celebrity and Princess are the cabins, buffet and room service.

 

When people board a Princess ship and go to their cabin, their first impression is that the cabin is small. Actually, they aren't. They are configured differently. They are wider than HAL or Celebrity and instead of wardrobe closets in the hallway from the door to the main living area, Princess cabins have a large, open closet that acts as a dressing area outside the bathroom. I've been on several HAL ships and IMHO, it's six of one, half a dozen of another. You'll have far more storage space in a Princess cabin than on HAL or Celebrity but you'll have less "living" space. The bathroom is about the same size as the one I had on the Summit but the shower in a Princess bathroom is a bit smaller.

 

The buffet on Princess is open 24/7. There's no down time. You can get a full breakfast up until 11am or lunch until 3pm but then there's a wide variety of food available at other times. On HAL, I find myself frustrated when I came back from a tour at about 2pm and not be able to have lunch other than go to the grill, get pizza or room service. On Princess, the buffet will be fully open and you'll have a large choice. On HAL, the buffet closes up tighter than a drum at 8pm whereas on Princess, it's open all evening.

 

On Celebrity and HAL, the food in the buffet is prepared by staff in front of you and served to you. Often, this means a line to get a salad, a line to get a sandwich, a line to get hot food, etc. On Princess, almost everything is true buffet-style where you can jump in anywhere, get what you want and go on to the next item. Almost no lines or waiting. Also on Princess, the buffet tables are set with tableware, napkins and cups, so you don't have to go searching throughout the buffet for them. Someone will come by almost immediately to ask whether you want tea, coffee, juice (at breakfast), a soda, iced tea (at lunch), etc. I much prefer the salad bar on Princess to that on HAL or Celebrity. Far more choices of lettuce and additional goodies to put in the salad, and far more choices of dressing, both regular and low-fat.

 

HAL has the best room service around, IMHO. You can order a full breakfast, lunch or dinner, including anything from the dining room menu. I didn't use room service on Celebrity. On Princess, the room service options are far more limited than on HAL but then you have the buffet open all the time so I think it's again six of one, half a dozen of another.

 

Over the years, I've had better service on Princess than HAL, both cabin steward and waitstaff. Some have been OK, some have been great. On HAL, I've had OK and awful.

 

Please cruise Princess with an open mind and, I hope, appreciate the differences. When we were on Celebrity, my sister kept saying, "Princess is better at this, Princess is better at that" until I told her to zip it. I can have a great cruise no matter what, and I've had some doozies on Princess, HAL and Celebrity.

[rdsqrl]

I've done NCL once (my first cruise) and now Princess. I thought the food, in terms of creativity, menu selections, and preparation, was head and shoulders better on Princess. Since that first cruise on Princess, years ago, I'm sure the quality has decreased on both lines, as it has everwhere, with cost-cutting and so forth. But I continue to be very pleased with the food.

And I will second what Pam said about the salad bar at the Horizon Court -- it's terrific. Good lettuce (not just iceberg), all kinds of veggies and toppings -- I have a big salad for lunch almost every day of a cruise; it's one of the culinary delights onboard I most look forward to. The dressings are mostly all homemade; the selection out changes slightly every day -- look out for the red wine vinaigrette, which is awesome. There are always low-fat options, too, and if you don't see one you like, ask, as they'll bring you something else from the back.

I love the freshwater pools; the NCL ship I sailed on did not have that. It really makes a difference if you're into swimming -- at least it does for me.

[Pam in CA]

Rdsgrl, I'll definitely meetcha at the salad bar in March. :) I add some cheese, sliced roast beef and ham from the sandwich-making station for a chef's salad. Yum! Something I really look forward to. :)

[rdsqrl]

Hmm, since I'll have been aboard for 14 days already by then, I'm thinking the Star better load on more than her usual amount of produce in Valparaiso . . . !

[shepp]

Celebrity still gives you champagne when you board. NCL did that one year only. I've not read anything about Princess doing so.

 

Hey, if you have a yen for cheap bubbly, Princess will provide all you can swill at least once per cruise at the Waterfall whatsis, at least twice if you're a past passenger.

[rdsqrl]

Hey, if you have a yen for cheap bubbly, Princess will provide all you can swill at least once per cruise at the Waterfall whatsis, at least twice if you're a past passenger.

Hey, it's not cheap, it's free! Which in my book makes it delicious, even if in reality (i.e., on land) I wouldn't use it to make salad dressing. Yes, my name is rdsqrl, and I have a champagne addiction.

[flashdog_1]

Thanks for the very detailed listing of differences you have experienced.

 

Must be that X has stopped the champagne upon boarding. I haven't been on in 2 years. Sorry.

 

No one has addressed the classical music unless the comment that X was more elegant encompassed that aspect of cruising on X.

 

4cats4me, hope to see you next week. Are we getting together for a meet & greet that you know of?

[Pam in CA]

Phyllis, there is usually a string quartet that plays in the Atrium on Plaza (5) deck, usually a couple of times a day. But, they don't play all day. There is other entertainment, sometimes corny, sometimes fun, in the Atrium near the International Cafe. The Princess ships with an Adagio Lounge have a piano player in the evening rotating with a classical guitarist; one night one, the other night the other. The Golden doesn't have an Adagio Lounge. :(

[Terre]

Terre,

Your review of Golden to Alaska helped me prepare. Thanks. As someone on the NCL boards says every week (she's a travel agent): "the cruiselines are more similar than they are different from one another."

 

On our last Celebrity cruise, 2 years ago to Alaska, our waiter, with 30 years experience, was embarrassed, and almost apologized for the compromises that had been made to the menu to save $. He just recommended we not order the tougher cuts of meat! That's a good rule for newbies to any line. We p lan to enjoy ourselves. I like to be prepared and just wanted to know anything glaring that would be different on Princess.

I'm glad my review helped...I have noticed over the last two to three years the cut backs on all the lines and although I understand their reasons, I hate to see some of the very things we loved about cruising disappear or become a lesser quality...but I guess that's the economy today.

 

Like you say, enjoy the cruise, enjoy yourselves and be glad you can still afford to take a cruise! You are going to love the Golden and Alaska -- I guarantee it.

[Cruisin' Chick]

We were on the Golden in December. The Piazza is where you'll find the International Cafe, along with entertainment much of the day (there was a quintet that played just about every day, mostly classical).

 

I haven't been on the other lines you've mentioned, but Princess does have mini-fridges in every cabin, and a self-service laundry on almost every deck that has cabins. Those two aspects, along with the 24-7 Horizon Court buffet, makes Princess a great choice for us. I'll try to have a salad at least once (sometimes twice a day) and the salad bar in the Horizon is a nice option.