Celebrity vs Princess review

[Iamcruzin]

Celebrity vs. Princess

I just returned from an 8 day Caribbean cruise on the Celebrity Summit. We choose Celebrity based on the itinerary and time of sailing. It was a reposition cruise that started in San Juan and made calls to St Maarten, St Thomas, Tortola, over night at Bermuda and disembarked at Cape Liberty New Jersey. We have done two 7day reposition cruises on the Caribbean Princess with a similar itinerary so I think with the exception of the size of the ship this is a fair comparison.

The ship

The Summit was a beautiful ship in excellent condition inside and out and tastefully decorated which could be described as understated elegance. I was not able to find any stained carpets or chipped paint that was reported on the Celebrity board. Then again I can never find any stained carpets or chipped paint on the Caribbean Princess which has been reported on the Princess board. Maybe I’m just not looking hard enough.

We had an ocean view state room that was located midship forward on deck 3. I did prefer this room to all of my rooms on the Caribbean Princess which include a balcony, ocean view and an interior. At first I thought it was going to be a problem for storage as the Summit does not have a large dressing room like the CB. I was very surprised how much space there actually is in the closets and drawers. We packed extra clothing for this trip because we knew that Celebrity did not offer self serve laundry. We had plenty of room for all of our clothing and didn’t need to use the night stand drawers like we do on Princess. We stored three pieces of luggage under the bed and had room for one of our carry-on luggage in the closet. The room was nicely decorated and the sofa and coffee table made the room comfortable to relax in. We actually spent more time in our room on this sailing than any Princess sailings including the balcony room we had.

The bathroom was amazing for a standard ocean view room mostly because of the large shower. I couldn’t believe the size of the shower. There was enough room for 2 people and the curtain did not attack you when you turned the water on. There was also plenty of cabinet space for storage. My wife was impressed that in addition to shampoo, conditioner, and body lotion Celebrity also supplied Q-tips, cotton balls and a shower cap. They also provided an umbrella in the stateroom. Thankfully there was no reason to use it. My only complaint about the bathroom is that there was no outlet for my electric razor which meant that I had to shave at the vanity/desk. The lighting was not conducive to shaving and it was just awkward. This also prevented us from getting dressed at the same time. However, to end on a positive note there was a night light in the bathroom. I don’t understand why this can’t be a standard feature on all ships.

Although the Summit is a smaller ship than CB it never felt crowed. Now that I have experienced a different class ship I can understand the complaints I have read about the public areas on the CB being over crowed. I never saw it that way because I didn’t have anything to compare it to. This was never the case on the Summit at any point during the trip. As a matter of fact most of the venues seemed empty even when there was a performance going on.

The entertainment

If I had to pick who had the best entertainment it would be Celebrity. However since I have never seen much of the entertainment provided by Princess I really can’t make that statement. The reason I haven’t attended many of the shows on Princess is because the venues were so over packed that I could never get in. On occasion I have listened to the comic on the outside of the Explorers Lounge over the voices of passengers talking. I have never had the patients to go to any event 45 minutes before the performance just to get a seat. This was not the case on the Summit. Every night at 7:00 we enjoyed the show in the theater. We would arrive 10 minutes before show time and order a drink from the waiter who approached us as we sat down. On Princess the one time we attended a show I think it was the Piano Man the waiter took our order and never returned with the drink. Ironically we had the drink package on Celebrity which was very popular especially since many passengers received it free when they booked. Yet the service did not slip. We enjoyed all of the entertainers such as Buzz Sutherland the comedian and Jason Bishop the illusionist gave a top rated Las Vegas performance. Our favorite lounge performer was Guitarist and Vocalist Brandy Paige. Every day we would check Celebrity Today to see where and when she would be performing.

Internet and photos

I know that it is not customary to review the internet or photos but from what I have experienced something has to be said. We purchased the internet package which was $50 for 90 minutes. First of all the internet was horrendous. I know that it is slow and is more like dial up but it wouldn’t even connect. I have enough experience using the wifi on Princess to know what to expect. The problem on Celebrity is that it wouldn’t even connect when we were in port. However it would eat in to your minutes while trying to connect. When it did connect it wouldn’t down load our emails. We used the computers on the ship so it wasn’t even a matter of poor wifi in our stateroom. What I did learn on this trip is that there were plenty of free hotspots on the islands. We were able to access wifi at Margarita Phil’s on St John Island and in Bermuda where we docked for a day and a half there was an inexpensive pay for hotspot. The prices were $3 for an hour $10 for 24 hours and $29.99 for a month. We saw a few crew members using this service and you are able to Skype with the service. Had I known about this I wouldn’t have even purchased the internet package. On Princess we are Platinum so this wouldn’t have been an issue.

Photography isn’t something that is mentioned on these boards. It certainly doesn’t have a positive or negative impact on a cruise but having spent over $800 on pictures on Princess on one sailing I have to say that I was very surprised to see that the quality of photo’s on Celebrity were not up to par. I know my wife and I aren’t exactly the best subject matter for a photo. We look like the before shot of a weight loss or exercise program. However, you could have photo shopped your favorite Hollywood celebrity naked in the picture and it would still be a bad picture. On the second formal night we decided to have our picture taken against the Titanic grand staircase backdrop. Well it was a nice shot of the backdrop. The photographer chose a horizontal or landscape image as opposed to a vertical or portrait image. He pretty much amputated us at the torso. This was very unflattering and caused the backdrop to be the focus of the picture. The picture would have had to be cropped at the sides to make it balanced. I viewed other photos of passengers and they were just as bad. Some of the pictures were taken in front of the Grand Foyer staircase. I don’t know what the big attraction was to that but it just made for a bad picture because there were other passengers walking down the stairs in the background. In some shots you would see just legs walking down the stairs. They really should have roped off the top of the staircase so people wouldn’t walk down. Apparently common sense isn’t so common. Why someone would walk down the stairs when they see someone having a picture taken is beyond me. It is also my opinion that formal pictures or any picture you agree to pose for against a backdrop look better in a matte finish not a glossy finish. I realize that others may think differently. The somewhat candid shots in the MDR or lounges and the pictures they take while you are in port are fine on glossy paper.

Food and Beverages

I saved the food and beverage portion of the review for last because it was the most disappointing part of the trip. After reading rave reviews on the Celebrity board and speaking with friends and relatives who have sailed on Celebrity I was a bit confused what the big fuss was all about. We all know that food is subjective but I don’t know anyone who likes cold scrambled eggs and warm melted ice cream. My disappointment doesn’t come from the quality of the food buy more from how it was prepared. On embarkation night I ordered the prime rib. It was cooked to perfection and melted in my mouth. It was served with string beans that were fresh and crisp. They were terrific. Unfortunately that was the only meal the entire week that I truly enjoyed. On the first formal night my wife and I both ordered the Shrimp scampi. The shrimp seemed to be grilled and they were served over pasta with a cream sauce. It is my fault that I didn’t actually read the description. I just assumed garlic and oil. However the shrimp were dry and tough and the pasta was a sticky mess. Since it was the wild game menu that night I would have ordered the shrimp no matter how it was prepared. We also ordered an appetizer from the always available side of the menu because nothing on the evening side appealed to us. We ordered the crab stuffed mushrooms. I was expecting a mushroom stuffed with crab and maybe a bit of breadcrumbs. What we received was a soupy mess. Apparently Celebrity at one time served escargot every night. I guess with the price of snails so high they stopped and reinvented a way to use the escargot dishes. Basically what we were served was an escargot dish stuffed with a piece of mushroom and I didn’t even taste crab, topped with a yellow creamy sauce. It was like eating individual shots of cream of mushroom soup. I can’t believe they serve this every night. Three of the nights I ordered what the Chef recommended which was the veal chop, Chicken Saltimbocca, and Veal Cordon Bleu. These were good but nothing to rave about. The veal chop was dry and prepared like Shake n Bake. It couldn’t hold a candle to the veal chop that I ate in Sabatini’s. Another disappointment was the Rib eye I ordered on night. It was a very good cut of meat tender and not over cooked. However it was way over salted. Even my wife who practically eats with the salt shaker in her hand said it was even too salty for her. It’s a shame because I could have really enjoyed that meal. With all of this I can say I truly enjoyed all of the vegetable side dishes in both the MDR and the buffet. Maybe I just need to be vegetarian on Celebrity.

The Buffet

I knew that the buffet was not going to be the same as on Princess, just based on the limited hours that Celebrity has set. I enjoy breakfast at the buffet on Princess more than in the MDR. On Celebrity it was the complete opposite. I didn’t like the different made to order stations. I just like to pick up my food eat it and get on with the day. Everything in the buffet seemed to be a chore. There was a chef making individual omelets and eggs to order. On a port day I don’t have time for that especially since they are being made one at a time. I would skip the made to order eggs and just get the under cooked runny cold scrambled eggs. The other issue is that they didn’t have all of the side dishes with the scrambled eggs. One station had Canadian bacon and hash browns while the other station had American bacon and home fries. If you wanted a combination of American bacon, hash browns and scrambled eggs you needed to go to two stations. The waffles, French toast, and pancakes were at another station at the back of the buffet. There was just a lot of walking back and forth the way it was set up. One night we decided to eat at the buffet for dinner. My wife got a baked potato and roast beef at the front of the Oceanview Café but she had to walk to the back to get sour cream. She asked why they didn’t have sour cream where the baked potatoes were being served and the answer was that they keep it at the back station. I truly missed the full salad bar, grilled chicken, and pizza that Princess serves. Even the soft serve ice cream at scoops was better than the melted homemade ice cream that I received in the buffet and the MDR on Celebrity. Celebrity ice cream is better served with a straw than a spoon. Given the amount of time it takes to get breakfast in the buffet (15-20 minutes for an omelet) it is my opinion that the MDR is a better place to eat. However on the day of disembarkation I ordered scrambled eggs in the MDR and they were cold and runny and the ice cream in the MDR is also melted. At least Celebrity is consistent.

On a positive note the coffee in the buffet is fresh ground coffee not the on tap swill that Princess serves.

We decided to order the classic alcohol beverage package because it wasn’t much more in price than what we have paid for drinks as we go on Princess. This turned out to be a good investment as I used the package in way that I didn’t expect to. One morning I couldn’t find half and half at the buffet. They had milk and the individual coffee cream that I need to use 8 of to make my coffee light enough. Then the light bulb went off. I had a drink package. The Sunset bar was just steps away. From that point on I had Baileys in my coffee every morning. Another night at around 11:00 pm I wanted a cup of coffee. I went up to the buffet that has coffee and tea 24 hours. The only station that was open was out of coffee. Yep, just my luck. Then I remembered that I had a drink package and Café Al Bacio was on deck 5. I wish I would have thought of it sooner since my room was on deck 3, and the buffet was on 10. My simple cup of coffee turned into a cocktail with Baileys. I ordered it to go and walked down 2 flights to my room. I never have a problem with drinking the ships water but on several occasions the water tasted like it came from the hot tub in the solarium. It was over chlorinated. We decided to order bottled water for the remainder of the trip. Something I never needed to do on Princess. Surprisingly the service at the bars and lounges was excellent considering that many passengers received the drink package free when they booked the cruise. The package worked out in our favor for this cruise but if I was sailing a more port intensive itinerary such as Europe I wouldn’t purchase it.

 

Conclusion

As far as service, overall ambiance and passenger demographic I think both lines are alike. While we prefer the stateroom on Celebrity the food on Princess can’t be beat. If given the same itinerary for the same price I would choose Princess over Celebrity, However Celebrity seems to be offering better Caribbean itineraries at this time so until Princess can meet my needs I will continue to monitor other lines.

[Quo Vadis?]

Thank you for comparing both lines and how each ranked according to your expectations. Is it not wonderful that we have a choice?

[mcrcruiser]

Good that you chose Celebrity .One thing to note is that Celebrity space ratio in public areas between guests is better than Princess . Meaning on equal size vessels Princess will have a larger capacity volume of pax

[Keith1010]

Thank you for taking the time to write and share your review.

 

Keith

[Debathome]

I sail both lines as well, although Princess outnumbers the Celebrity cruises.

I agree on most points although I prefer the layout in the Celebrity buffet over Princess, although I much prefer the staff in the Princess buffet over Celebrity. Princess can never do enough for you.

 

I like the cupboard space on Princes better, the layout of the cabin on Celebrity.

 

I like that I can prepay my tours etc. on Celebrity and have it paid off before we go. I prefer the way that Princess conducts the tender process and the way they are always so organized when it comes to line ups etc.

 

So many small differences, neither good/nor bad, just different.

 

I am thankful that I have different lines that live up to my expectations without being carbon copies of each other.

Now the itinerary and cost play a much larger role than cruise line and I am happy that I can choose by that and know that I will have a great cruise on either line.

 

Happy sailing on either/or! :)

[Lady Arwen]

We sailed on the CB in January and we were on the 8 day repo cruise on the Summit. Our observations were pretty much the same as yours, except we loved the food in the MDR. We were booked in Aqua class and after 2 nights, we decided that Blu was not all that we had hoped for. We moved to the MDR and were very happy we did. Great service and very good food.

 

The food on the CB was also very good, and the buffet was better than Summit's. We also ate in the Crown Grill on the CB and it was excellent.

 

I do find that Princess' itineraries are lacking and, for now, Celebrity seems to be a better fit for us. We have two upcoming cruises book with the 123 drink package promo, so it's really a no brainer for us.

 

We will consider Princess again, depending on price and itinerary.

[KaththeTaff]

We have saile don the Crown Princess and the Celebrity Silhouette. There's no question that the latter was far less crowded!

 

Overall, we preferred Celebrity and have booked to go again this year. However, Princess did beat Celebrity on a number of food and drink things:

 

1. Late night snacks can't be beaten on Princess! The choice of food, including some left over from dinner, is far better than the rather limited pizza/pasta selections in the Celebrity buffet.

2. We agree the Princess ice cream is superior!

3. Serving a British pub style lunch on sea days is something Celebrity should consider!

 

Conversely, we preferred Celebrity for the following reasons

 

1. Cafe al Bacio!

2. Better variety and range of alcoholic drinks, for example craft beers, martinis and molecular bar.

3. Breakfast in the buffet far better (we like the individual stations - each to their own!)

4. Superior room service

5. Interactive TV!

 

If that sounds like we wouldn't sail Princess again that's not the case, but this is a comparison so we have compared the two lines and prefer Celebrity!

 

Of cours,e despite what I've written, it may be that if we sail Princess in the future we might prefer it to Celebrity. The offerings of all lines are constantly evolving and yes, Mr & Mrs X, it's lovely to have so many choices out there!

[Mulege]

You can order full hot meals during BLD hours from room service.

[OCruisers]

Thanks for posting your very good review on both the Celebrity and Princess forums! :)

 

LuLu

~~~~

[tserface]

Cafe Bacio is nice, but very expensive if you don't have a drink package. The $3.50 drink I normally get at Starbucks was over $5 on the ship. At least Princess has a coffee card and the same drink was around $2.50 on the Star Princess (I'm sort of boring and always have Vanilla Latte).

 

The International Cafe on Princess is wonderful and has the best cookies, donuts, and desserts. Princess also offers snacks like trail mix and chips and you can't find anything like that on Celebrity (at least we couldn't). They do occasionally have crunchy snacks in bars on Celebrity, but you have to ask for them.

 

Celebrity drinks are expensive as well without a package. We paid $8 for a not very good Mai tai. A normally $4 gin and tonic was $6 and there was no concept of a happy hour. Having Elite status on Celebrity saved us the problem of needing a happy hour, but other cruisers wouldn't be as lucky.

 

Interactive TV on the new Celebrity ships is nice. You can watch part of a movie and pick it up later up to 48 hours hence. The TV shows last week on Solstice were pretty abysmal. We had the choice between "Married With Children", "2 1/2 Men", or "Family Guy" or yesterday's Cruise Director video or out dated shore excursion videos. Not very family oriented (unless you really like dysfunction).

 

All that said, I'd sail on either line any day.

 

Tom

 

We have saile don the Crown Princess and the Celebrity Silhouette. There's no question that the latter was far less crowded!

 

Overall, we preferred Celebrity and have booked to go again this year. However, Princess did beat Celebrity on a number of food and drink things:

 

1. Late night snacks can't be beaten on Princess! The choice of food, including some left over from dinner, is far better than the rather limited pizza/pasta selections in the Celebrity buffet.

2. We agree the Princess ice cream is superior!

3. Serving a British pub style lunch on sea days is something Celebrity should consider!

 

Conversely, we preferred Celebrity for the following reasons

 

1. Cafe al Bacio!

2. Better variety and range of alcoholic drinks, for example craft beers, martinis and molecular bar.

3. Breakfast in the buffet far better (we like the individual stations - each to their own!)

4. Superior room service

5. Interactive TV!

 

If that sounds like we wouldn't sail Princess again that's not the case, but this is a comparison so we have compared the two lines and prefer Celebrity!

 

Of cours,e despite what I've written, it may be that if we sail Princess in the future we might prefer it to Celebrity. The offerings of all lines are constantly evolving and yes, Mr & Mrs X, it's lovely to have so many choices out there!

[rkacruiser]

Thank you for your comparison! You have done what I need to do comparing my most recent Holland America cruise with my February Celebrity Eclipse cruise.

 

I agree with your comment about the buffet set-up. Lots of exercise in going from station to station in search of items that should all be together. I never did in 14 days figure out where everything was. Much prefer HAL's Lido Restaurant set-up.

[dread_pirate]

Thank you so much for your reviews. We also took the Caribbean Princess this winter, and are booked on Celebrity Reflection in December and Connie in February. It will be interesting to see if our experience matches yours.

[KaththeTaff]

Cafe Bacio is nice, but very expensive if you don't have a drink package. The $3.50 drink I normally get at Starbucks was over $5 on the ship. At least Princess has a coffee card and the same drink was around $2.50 on the Star Princess (I'm sort of boring and always have Vanilla Latte).

 

I admit it! We had the drinks package!

 

The International Cafe on Princess is wonderful and has the best cookies, donuts, and desserts. Princess also offers snacks like trail mix and chips and you can't find anything like that on Celebrity (at least we couldn't). They do occasionally have crunchy snacks in bars on Celebrity, but you have to ask for them.

 

It's very subjective isn't it? We are more interested in the quality of the teas, which we foudn to be brilliant in Cafe al Bacio, than the snacks!

 

Celebrity drinks are expensive as well without a package. We paid $8 for a not very good Mai tai. A normally $4 gin and tonic was $6 and there was no concept of a happy hour. Having Elite status on Celebrity saved us the problem of needing a happy hour, but other cruisers wouldn't be as lucky.

 

We found the drinks expensive on both lines to be honest, though the pain was lessened with the drinks package on Celebrity as we didn't have a bill to pay at the end of the cruise.

 

We found it very difficult to locate any Happy Hour on the Crown, and when we did the drinks choice was so limited as to be virtually useless. But we did hear that it varies by cruise.

 

Interactive TV on the new Celebrity ships is nice. You can watch part of a movie and pick it up later up to 48 hours hence. The TV shows last week on Solstice were pretty abysmal. We had the choice between "Married With Children", "2 1/2 Men", or "Family Guy" or yesterday's Cruise Director video or out dated shore excursion videos. Not very family oriented (unless you really like dysfunction).

 

We only watch the films! We saw several last year, and as you say it was great to be able to leave a film and return to it later.

 

All that said, I'd sail on either line any day.

 

Tom

 

So would we Tom!

[Quo Vadis?]

Oh I forgot. We loved the lunch time panzerottis on Princess. Are they still offered?

[anandaindonesia]

Congratulations! You've written a well balanced review, which is not very easy as many cruisers are fans of just one line.

 

Thank you for sharing. May you have more cruises, and more reviews :) !

(try other lines, too).

[portofrome]

Thanks for your review and comparisons.

[jacketwatch]

Thanks for the review. We have sailed Princess B4 and are new to X having sailed twice, most recently last Oct. on the Equinox. Personally we felt like this cruise was the best we've ever had in terms of service, food and the amenities and wow! factor of the ship. However we have been treated very well on Princess before and are likely to cruise with them again given the acceptable itineray and ship. I would like to try the Royal Princess one day. Both companies have very good products IMHO. I would give a sl. edge to X in terms of CS, but only slight. As for food overall is to close to call though I will say the buffet on the Equinox IMHO was the best we've had, even better that the Tahitian Princess, now the Ocean Princess which has a much smaller capacity, about 700 passengers, vs. 3K++ for the Equinox so that is an achievement.

 

Again thanks for this review. Its balanced and fair.

 

Happy sailings! :)

[hughdm]

Food is so subjective! Recently we have cruised Princess the most. Their food is good. I learned to avoid beef in Princess MDRs, as it usually was fair to poor. The steakhouse is usually good at an extra charge.

 

Our only Celebrity comparison is Solstice about a year ago. Except that I missed escargot, we felt the food was a notch above Princess in most areas. The MDR beef and lamb was several notches above. Our dinner in Murano rivalled the best land-based French restaurants we have been to.

 

We will be on Summit in a couple of weeks and will see how that goes...

[vickykay]

We were on the Caribbean Princess two summers ago. We had a wonderful cruise and enjoyed the MDR.. However, we really did not like the buffet at lunch time at all. Felt it was very closed in and like going thru a HS cafeteria line and found the selections very limited. We much prefer the variety of choices on Celebrity, but that's just our opinion. We did love the coffee card and had wonderful service. The one thing that will keep me from going on Princess is the beds - we found them to be extremely hard and uncomfortable. Wondering if the new ship coming out will have different mattresses.

[jagoffee]

Thank you for your well written review and comparison. I cruise on both Princess and Celebrity, but never on the CB. If you decide to take another Celebrity cruise you might want to try one of the Solstice Class ships. They are my favorite and I am really looking forward to trying the new Royal Princess.

[royalcruz]

Has anyone else noticed the difference in the mixed drink pours between the 2 lines? Princess carefully measures each shot and puts too little liquor in the drinks. X bartenders pour freehand and the drinks taste stronger. So X drinks therefore are better value.:D

[Cruise Junky]

We were on the Caribbean Princess two summers ago. We had a wonderful cruise and enjoyed the MDR.. However, we really did not like the buffet at lunch time at all. Felt it was very closed in and like going thru a HS cafeteria line and found the selections very limited. We much prefer the variety of choices on Celebrity, but that's just our opinion. We did love the coffee card and had wonderful service. The one thing that will keep me from going on Princess is the beds - we found them to be extremely hard and uncomfortable. Wondering if the new ship coming out will have different mattresses.

 

I'm not sure which ships have been done yet, but princess is in the process of replacing all of their mattresses. Royal Princess will have Pillow top mattresses.

[Iamcruzin]

Has anyone else noticed the difference in the mixed drink pours between the 2 lines? Princess carefully measures each shot and puts too little liquor in the drinks. X bartenders pour freehand and the drinks taste stronger. So X drinks therefore are better value.:D

 

I have witnessed exactly what you stated on both lines. I didn't think the drinks were any stronger on Celebrity even with the free pour. What I did notice several times is that they don't mix the liquor with the frozen drinks. They prepare the frozen drink and then pour the alcohol on top of the mixture free pour. It looks like they are giving you a floater but in reality they didn't add alcohol to the drink when they were blending the ice and the mix. I drank like a fish. Morning cocktails, coffee with baileys, 3 glasses of wine at dinner, Vodka Martini's at the shows and lounges and I never felt a buzz never had a hangover. The only time I felt tipsy was from the one glass of rum punch that was provided at the end of an excursion. At home It only takes one Martini or a glass of red wine to knock me out. Maybe my wife is slipping something extra in my drink at home.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Solstice23]

Celebrity vs. Princess

I just returned from an 8 day Caribbean cruise on the Celebrity Summit. We choose Celebrity based on the itinerary and time of sailing. It was a reposition cruise that started in San Juan and made calls to St Maarten, St Thomas, Tortola, over night at Bermuda and disembarked at Cape Liberty New Jersey. We have done two 7day reposition cruises on the Caribbean Princess with a similar itinerary so I think with the exception of the size of the ship this is a fair comparison.

The ship

The Summit was a beautiful ship in excellent condition inside and out and tastefully decorated which could be described as understated elegance. I was not able to find any stained carpets or chipped paint that was reported on the Celebrity board. Then again I can never find any stained carpets or chipped paint on the Caribbean Princess which has been reported on the Princess board. Maybe I’m just not looking hard enough.

We had an ocean view state room that was located midship forward on deck 3. I did prefer this room to all of my rooms on the Caribbean Princess which include a balcony, ocean view and an interior. At first I thought it was going to be a problem for storage as the Summit does not have a large dressing room like the CB. I was very surprised how much space there actually is in the closets and drawers. We packed extra clothing for this trip because we knew that Celebrity did not offer self serve laundry. We had plenty of room for all of our clothing and didn’t need to use the night stand drawers like we do on Princess. We stored three pieces of luggage under the bed and had room for one of our carry-on luggage in the closet. The room was nicely decorated and the sofa and coffee table made the room comfortable to relax in. We actually spent more time in our room on this sailing than any Princess sailings including the balcony room we had.

The bathroom was amazing for a standard ocean view room mostly because of the large shower. I couldn’t believe the size of the shower. There was enough room for 2 people and the curtain did not attack you when you turned the water on. There was also plenty of cabinet space for storage. My wife was impressed that in addition to shampoo, conditioner, and body lotion Celebrity also supplied Q-tips, cotton balls and a shower cap. They also provided an umbrella in the stateroom. Thankfully there was no reason to use it. My only complaint about the bathroom is that there was no outlet for my electric razor which meant that I had to shave at the vanity/desk. The lighting was not conducive to shaving and it was just awkward. This also prevented us from getting dressed at the same time. However, to end on a positive note there was a night light in the bathroom. I don’t understand why this can’t be a standard feature on all ships.

Although the Summit is a smaller ship than CB it never felt crowed. Now that I have experienced a different class ship I can understand the complaints I have read about the public areas on the CB being over crowed. I never saw it that way because I didn’t have anything to compare it to. This was never the case on the Summit at any point during the trip. As a matter of fact most of the venues seemed empty even when there was a performance going on.

The entertainment

If I had to pick who had the best entertainment it would be Celebrity. However since I have never seen much of the entertainment provided by Princess I really can’t make that statement. The reason I haven’t attended many of the shows on Princess is because the venues were so over packed that I could never get in. On occasion I have listened to the comic on the outside of the Explorers Lounge over the voices of passengers talking. I have never had the patients to go to any event 45 minutes before the performance just to get a seat. This was not the case on the Summit. Every night at 7:00 we enjoyed the show in the theater. We would arrive 10 minutes before show time and order a drink from the waiter who approached us as we sat down. On Princess the one time we attended a show I think it was the Piano Man the waiter took our order and never returned with the drink. Ironically we had the drink package on Celebrity which was very popular especially since many passengers received it free when they booked. Yet the service did not slip. We enjoyed all of the entertainers such as Buzz Sutherland the comedian and Jason Bishop the illusionist gave a top rated Las Vegas performance. Our favorite lounge performer was Guitarist and Vocalist Brandy Paige. Every day we would check Celebrity Today to see where and when she would be performing.

Internet and photos

I know that it is not customary to review the internet or photos but from what I have experienced something has to be said. We purchased the internet package which was $50 for 90 minutes. First of all the internet was horrendous. I know that it is slow and is more like dial up but it wouldn’t even connect. I have enough experience using the wifi on Princess to know what to expect. The problem on Celebrity is that it wouldn’t even connect when we were in port. However it would eat in to your minutes while trying to connect. When it did connect it wouldn’t down load our emails. We used the computers on the ship so it wasn’t even a matter of poor wifi in our stateroom. What I did learn on this trip is that there were plenty of free hotspots on the islands. We were able to access wifi at Margarita Phil’s on St John Island and in Bermuda where we docked for a day and a half there was an inexpensive pay for hotspot. The prices were $3 for an hour $10 for 24 hours and $29.99 for a month. We saw a few crew members using this service and you are able to Skype with the service. Had I known about this I wouldn’t have even purchased the internet package. On Princess we are Platinum so this wouldn’t have been an issue.

Photography isn’t something that is mentioned on these boards. It certainly doesn’t have a positive or negative impact on a cruise but having spent over $800 on pictures on Princess on one sailing I have to say that I was very surprised to see that the quality of photo’s on Celebrity were not up to par. I know my wife and I aren’t exactly the best subject matter for a photo. We look like the before shot of a weight loss or exercise program. However, you could have photo shopped your favorite Hollywood celebrity naked in the picture and it would still be a bad picture. On the second formal night we decided to have our picture taken against the Titanic grand staircase backdrop. Well it was a nice shot of the backdrop. The photographer chose a horizontal or landscape image as opposed to a vertical or portrait image. He pretty much amputated us at the torso. This was very unflattering and caused the backdrop to be the focus of the picture. The picture would have had to be cropped at the sides to make it balanced. I viewed other photos of passengers and they were just as bad. Some of the pictures were taken in front of the Grand Foyer staircase. I don’t know what the big attraction was to that but it just made for a bad picture because there were other passengers walking down the stairs in the background. In some shots you would see just legs walking down the stairs. They really should have roped off the top of the staircase so people wouldn’t walk down. Apparently common sense isn’t so common. Why someone would walk down the stairs when they see someone having a picture taken is beyond me. It is also my opinion that formal pictures or any picture you agree to pose for against a backdrop look better in a matte finish not a glossy finish. I realize that others may think differently. The somewhat candid shots in the MDR or lounges and the pictures they take while you are in port are fine on glossy paper.

Food and Beverages

I saved the food and beverage portion of the review for last because it was the most disappointing part of the trip. After reading rave reviews on the Celebrity board and speaking with friends and relatives who have sailed on Celebrity I was a bit confused what the big fuss was all about. We all know that food is subjective but I don’t know anyone who likes cold scrambled eggs and warm melted ice cream. My disappointment doesn’t come from the quality of the food buy more from how it was prepared. On embarkation night I ordered the prime rib. It was cooked to perfection and melted in my mouth. It was served with string beans that were fresh and crisp. They were terrific. Unfortunately that was the only meal the entire week that I truly enjoyed. On the first formal night my wife and I both ordered the Shrimp scampi. The shrimp seemed to be grilled and they were served over pasta with a cream sauce. It is my fault that I didn’t actually read the description. I just assumed garlic and oil. However the shrimp were dry and tough and the pasta was a sticky mess. Since it was the wild game menu that night I would have ordered the shrimp no matter how it was prepared. We also ordered an appetizer from the always available side of the menu because nothing on the evening side appealed to us. We ordered the crab stuffed mushrooms. I was expecting a mushroom stuffed with crab and maybe a bit of breadcrumbs. What we received was a soupy mess. Apparently Celebrity at one time served escargot every night. I guess with the price of snails so high they stopped and reinvented a way to use the escargot dishes. Basically what we were served was an escargot dish stuffed with a piece of mushroom and I didn’t even taste crab, topped with a yellow creamy sauce. It was like eating individual shots of cream of mushroom soup. I can’t believe they serve this every night. Three of the nights I ordered what the Chef recommended which was the veal chop, Chicken Saltimbocca, and Veal Cordon Bleu. These were good but nothing to rave about. The veal chop was dry and prepared like Shake n Bake. It couldn’t hold a candle to the veal chop that I ate in Sabatini’s. Another disappointment was the Rib eye I ordered on night. It was a very good cut of meat tender and not over cooked. However it was way over salted. Even my wife who practically eats with the salt shaker in her hand said it was even too salty for her. It’s a shame because I could have really enjoyed that meal. With all of this I can say I truly enjoyed all of the vegetable side dishes in both the MDR and the buffet. Maybe I just need to be vegetarian on Celebrity.

The Buffet

I knew that the buffet was not going to be the same as on Princess, just based on the limited hours that Celebrity has set. I enjoy breakfast at the buffet on Princess more than in the MDR. On Celebrity it was the complete opposite. I didn’t like the different made to order stations. I just like to pick up my food eat it and get on with the day. Everything in the buffet seemed to be a chore. There was a chef making individual omelets and eggs to order. On a port day I don’t have time for that especially since they are being made one at a time. I would skip the made to order eggs and just get the under cooked runny cold scrambled eggs. The other issue is that they didn’t have all of the side dishes with the scrambled eggs. One station had Canadian bacon and hash browns while the other station had American bacon and home fries. If you wanted a combination of American bacon, hash browns and scrambled eggs you needed to go to two stations. The waffles, French toast, and pancakes were at another station at the back of the buffet. There was just a lot of walking back and forth the way it was set up. One night we decided to eat at the buffet for dinner. My wife got a baked potato and roast beef at the front of the Oceanview Café but she had to walk to the back to get sour cream. She asked why they didn’t have sour cream where the baked potatoes were being served and the answer was that they keep it at the back station. I truly missed the full salad bar, grilled chicken, and pizza that Princess serves. Even the soft serve ice cream at scoops was better than the melted homemade ice cream that I received in the buffet and the MDR on Celebrity. Celebrity ice cream is better served with a straw than a spoon. Given the amount of time it takes to get breakfast in the buffet (15-20 minutes for an omelet) it is my opinion that the MDR is a better place to eat. However on the day of disembarkation I ordered scrambled eggs in the MDR and they were cold and runny and the ice cream in the MDR is also melted. At least Celebrity is consistent.

On a positive note the coffee in the buffet is fresh ground coffee not the on tap swill that Princess serves.

We decided to order the classic alcohol beverage package because it wasn’t much more in price than what we have paid for drinks as we go on Princess. This turned out to be a good investment as I used the package in way that I didn’t expect to. One morning I couldn’t find half and half at the buffet. They had milk and the individual coffee cream that I need to use 8 of to make my coffee light enough. Then the light bulb went off. I had a drink package. The Sunset bar was just steps away. From that point on I had Baileys in my coffee every morning. Another night at around 11:00 pm I wanted a cup of coffee. I went up to the buffet that has coffee and tea 24 hours. The only station that was open was out of coffee. Yep, just my luck. Then I remembered that I had a drink package and Café Al Bacio was on deck 5. I wish I would have thought of it sooner since my room was on deck 3, and the buffet was on 10. My simple cup of coffee turned into a cocktail with Baileys. I ordered it to go and walked down 2 flights to my room. I never have a problem with drinking the ships water but on several occasions the water tasted like it came from the hot tub in the solarium. It was over chlorinated. We decided to order bottled water for the remainder of the trip. Something I never needed to do on Princess. Surprisingly the service at the bars and lounges was excellent considering that many passengers received the drink package free when they booked the cruise. The package worked out in our favor for this cruise but if I was sailing a more port intensive itinerary such as Europe I wouldn’t purchase it.

 

Conclusion

As far as service, overall ambiance and passenger demographic I think both lines are alike. While we prefer the stateroom on Celebrity the food on Princess can’t be beat. If given the same itinerary for the same price I would choose Princess over Celebrity, However Celebrity seems to be offering better Caribbean itineraries at this time so until Princess can meet my needs I will continue to monitor other lines.

 

Thank you for your review

 

I suggest solstice class for a fair comparison for the amount of times you have sailed on Princess

 

We have sailed on summit I think 7 times and although not our favourite we prefer the food, the specialty dining options on Summit over the Caribbean Princess. The Caribbean princess is our least favourite ship from design and style to service and staterooms we have ever sailed

 

On ruby princess this past fall the food again was blah nothing cool only good thing fettichini. Buffet set up on princess also a disaster and The specialty dining an upscale Applebee's

However we did enjoy the Italian dude making the pizza :)

 

I guess food is subjective. And can change from ship to ship within Any cruise line. We enjoyed the food better on the ruby versus the Caribbean Princess but Also the guest versus space ratio the solstice class is large then the ruby and Caribbean princess but with way less guests.

[Cruise Raider]

Loved your review....fair and very balanced.

We used to rank Princess amongst the best food on the high seas (of the major cruiselines). That seemed for us to go by the wayside -- especially on the Star about a year ago. Dreadful choices!! We have since sailed on the CB and it was much better but still very disappointing in comparison to what it used to be.

We just sailed on the Equinox and were hit with the WOW factor at every turn. Celebrity didn't used to have great food but it certainly was better than before. But, we did have the drink package as well so everything was just better all the way around. ;)

I must admit, though, the buffet on the Infinity was better than the buffet on the Equinox. I did see some cutbacks.

I do like the walk-in open type closet of Princess a lot but the bathrooms on the Equinox were so much nicer than those on Princess.

The internet on both lines is just dreadful....

The entertainment venues on Celebrity seem to be quite a bit more suited for an after dinner crowd -- never had to fight for a seat like you do on Princess.

MUTS on Princess gets a winning score -- but the indoor pools on Celebrity get top ratings. The bands by the pool on Celebrity win hands down -- as do the variety of seating options by the pool. Those Solstice Class ships rock with the hot glass show and the lawn club -- especially back by the Sunset Bar.

The room stewards on Princess are hit or miss but had not such a great one on Celebrity this last time and one of the best ever on Princess last year.

The room service on both lines is awful -- used to be decent but neither one is any good anymore. The choices are better on Celebrity -- if they ever bring it.

The beds on Celebrity win hands down!! Period -- no comparison.

Well, now -- I didn't mean to steal your thunder and hi-jack your very excellent review. :rolleyes: sorry about that