Ruby vs Eclilpse

[scoob]

We are trying to decide between the Ruby or the Eclipse for the March 3rd sailing . Any thoughts? Which has younger people? We are looking for good entertainment and great dining. Please advise.

[Pam in CA]

We are trying to decide between the Ruby or the Eclipse for the March 3rd sailing . Any thoughts? Which has younger people? We are looking for good entertainment and great dining. Please advise.

The average passenger age is probably the same on both ships. It's more determined by the length of the cruise and the itinerary. As for "great" dining, you would probably have to book on Crystal or one of the other premium cruise lines for great dining. In my experience, Princess has good to excellent dining, Celebrity has "just OK" to good dining. I wasn't impressed by any of the meals on Celebrity and overall, think Princess is much better. Our dinner dining staff on the Summit was excellent and made up for some very strange entrees that were served that looked nothing like what was on the menu. Food and service are very subjective, however, and you'll get as many different opinions as there are passengers.

[Caribensun]

Agree with Pam on age of people and food and anytime dining is much better on Princess, Celebrity hasn't got it yet. Princess is a more laid back. Some things better on each. We loved our AQ cabin, amenities seemed more like a Princess suite, liked the glass shower. Depends on what you want. Much dressier even on semi formal nights. We dressed country club casual on all but formal nights and fit right in. Formal nights gowns and tux. Prefer balconys on Princess rooms.

[royalcruz]

Specialty dining on Celebrity S-class is awesome, especially Murano. The age range is the same. Princess has more entertainment/activity IMO.

[pris993]

Agree with comment above.

 

We are booked on the Eclipse for the 3rd of March, booked AQ because we want to try BLU - have not been impressed with the MDR in the past. We did like the buffet for lunch when we cruised on the Equinox, a sister ship.

 

After we disembark from the Eclipse, we are booked on the Ruby, leaving Ft Lauderdale on March 11th. We have been on the Ruby before and enjoyed the ship a lot.

 

We like the entertainment on Princess better, more traditonal Las Vegas style. Celebrity seems to be more creative; sometimes it missed the mark.

 

We find Princess is more flexible in responding to special requests in the MDR.

 

We like the beauty of both ships, do enjoy the lounge at the top/front of the ship on Celebrity, wish Princess had a similar room. The disco at the back is not the same.

 

We also enjoy the small combo bands on Celebrity for dancing in the evening.

[avalon1025]

Also on March 3rd Eclipse in AQ, and just off Grand Princess. Having sailed the Eclipse before there is no comparison between the physical ships. The Eclipse is stunning, the GP, just nice. Also the alternative restaurants on the Eclipse far outshine those on the GP (think mall based restaurants). Overall, I couldn't wait to get back on the Eclipse. I could pass on sailing the GP again

[littlesteelo]

Also on March 3rd Eclipse in AQ, and just off Grand Princess. Having sailed the Eclipse before there is no comparison between the physical ships. The Eclipse is stunning, the GP, just nice. Also the alternative restaurants on the Eclipse far outshine those on the GP (think mall based restaurants). Overall, I couldn't wait to get back on the Eclipse. I could pass on sailing the GP again

 

The Solstice class ships are definitely nicer than the Grand class. They have a real 'wow' factor. More open space inside, and a lot less passengers for the size of the ship. Ruby Princess carries 3500 passengers when full, and Celebrity Eclipse carries 2850 passengers. Both ships are a similar size. Ruby is 116,000 GT, Eclipse is 122,000.

[Kirsten T]

Have been on both, and if I had the choice I'd pick Eclipse. X veranda cabins are substantially nicer than a standard veranda on Ruby, especially the bathroom (roomy glass shower enclosure, storage cabinet, even a real rose in Concierge Class.) If you check the Celebrity board you'll see that a number of Eclipse verandas are much bigger than standard; we had one on the aft bumpout and it really was great. Celebrity does do a sort of "anytime" dining - half the upper level of the MDR is open seating. Princess does it better, with dedicated dining rooms, but you can now dine when you want on Celebrity. Eclipse (and all Solstice-class ships) blows Princess out of the water in the buffet department; the Eclipse buffet area was amazing. We loved the various "stations" where you could get made-to-order pastas, sandwiches, salads, Mexican, Indian curries, pan-Asian stir fries and noodle dishes - substantially more choice and significantly better quality food than the Horizon/Caribe buffets on Ruby. We thought the MDR food was comparable to Princess, perhaps a little better. Tuscan Grill was a beautiful space and had excellent food; specialty dining is expensive on X but they do offer discounts the first 2 days, and is worth the money. The pool areas are visually more interesting on Eclipse, with more shaded seating available (and no movie screen, which personally I loathe.) We have only done 10-day trips on Ruby-Emerald and a 7-day on Eclipse, and I think the demographic has more to do with the length than the ship. More families and people in their 30s-40s on Eclipse, with the shorter cruise. And even thought it sounds gimmicky, the glass blowing demonstrations and the lawn in general were really, really fun. We ended up going to most of the demos and enjoyed them thoroughly. We like Ruby's wine bar better than Eclipse's, mostly due to location (Vines on Ruby is in the atrium and is more lively. Princess is likely to cost significantly less, alas, which is why we're on Crown this March instead of Eclipse. We enjoy both lines, but Eclipse is a huge cut above Ruby in my experience. It was a knockout in so many ways.

Cheers,

Kirsten

[chisoxfan]

We are trying to decide between the Ruby or the Eclipse for the March 3rd sailing . Any thoughts? Which has younger people? We are looking for good entertainment and great dining. Please advise.

 

Eclipse is a spectacular ship and balcony rooms (especially AQ) are a step above Princess IMHO. As stated earlier by other posters I would think age and overall food quality are similar. X has better and more varied specialty dining. That said it has been my experience that X is more expensive than comparable Princess offerings and that is where a decision may come in. I personally would pay 250 a couple more for X Solstice vs. Princess standard balconies and 300-400 more for CC or AQ based upon a 7 day Caribbean itinerary. That is just my opinion for what the difference is worth, itineraries being equal. I do like the Princess Cays stop with Princess where the Solstice Class ships do not stop a 'private island'. X CC class and AQ will have a hot breakfast room service optionm not offered on Princess. The bottom line and most important thing is that you should have a blast on either cruise line. It is a little like deciding whether you should eat at Morton's or the Capital Grille or maybe Bennigan's vs. Applebee's.