Comparing 2014 voyages on Cunard, Celebrity and Princess

[jimmybean]

This is a long posting. Just ended up that way and I apologize. Please go on to something else, if you are short of time or devoid of interest. It is just the sum total of my observations and thoughts, not required reading. Possibly of interest to someone. Possibly would be sleep-inducing for someone with insomnia. I just have to acknowledge it is a very long post, which isn't ideal on any message board. But, here goes...

 

We have taken three cruises (so far) in 2014.

 

A seven-day Caribbean cruise in January on a Princess ship. A thirteen-day repositioning on Celebrity in April (Florida to Spain). A seven-day transatlantic on Cunard QM2 in May (Southampton to Brooklyn).

 

On each voyage, our accommodations were midship, inside cabins.

 

We were very happy with each experience---"what it was" "for what it cost".

 

Naturally, there were differences among the ships… I'd like to share some of my impressions of how each ship compared.

 

Best price goes to Celebrity. Of course, repositioning cruises can be a great bargain and this cruise was not representative of typical Celebrity fares. We paid about $800 per person (13 days). Also, Princess offered a very, very good price--about $550 per person (7 days). Cunard wasn't a bad fare either, since we booked early--about $1,000 per person (7 days). We were happy with each fare "for what we got."

 

Best cabin goes to Celebrity. Larger. Better layout. Bigger bathroom. Very attractive.

 

Worse cabin goes to Princess: outdated decor, clean, but worn and tired. On the Princess, we had to put the small occasional table in the closet area to keep from tripping over it. The shower in the Princess bathroom was teeny tiny!

 

While an inside cabin on the QM2 is nothing to brag about, it was cozy, workable, and had adequate storage. I have nothing negative to say about our Cunard inside cabin.

 

Only, in comparison, the Celebrity cabin was just plain nicer!!!

 

All three cabins were quiet and peaceful. All were adequate for our needs and comfort.

 

Best overall service in terms of communication goes jointly to Princess and Celebrity. Their staffs were not only cheerful and eager to please, they were informed and were able to answer questions accurately and with ease.

 

Cunard (from my experience) does not invest enough time educating staff, so staff doesn't answer questions consistently and/or accurately. Compared to Princess and Celebrity, Cunard service always seems somewhat lacking to me, in general. Not for want of "trying"---more, I believe, from lack of Cunard investing in staff training and/or having adequate numbers of staff for each particular job.

 

Notwithstanding, I did overhear a very valiant delivery of outstanding service on the QM2.

 

A couple, when seated for lunch in the Britannia (out of sight from the restaurant entrance), told the person seating them that they had told their (teenage) children to meet them at the table where they were assigned for dinner, which turned out to be unavailable and was far across the room, So, could their children be informed where they had been seated instead?

 

Through untold effort I'm sure, word must have been passed among waitstaff, since the family was reunited 10 minutes later, when the children arrived for lunch.

 

I was impressed!

 

The waitstaff, who seats passengers at lunch, often become servers themselves as the restaurant fills. So, the person this couple asked to look for their children was unlikely to have remained by the door himself. Consequently, this message had to have been passed on, the children had to have been recognized, and their parents' location remembered. It had to have been a coordinated team effort and it came across as effortless. THAT is service!

 

Best steward: All three of our stewards kept our cabins tidied and restocked in a timely manner, remembering special requests and preferences.

 

...Interestingly, when asked about their work load, the Celebrity steward explained that she worked as a team with another steward and that the two of them were responsible for 20 cabins. I asked the same question on QM2 and learned that our female steward had 12 cabins to clean, all by herself.

 

The steward on Celebrity would open our room for us with her pass key, when she saw us coming down the hallway. She made towel animals (using my husband's eyeglasses) to surprise us. The Cunard steward had no time for such extra niceties and always looked tired and harried.

 

I didn't think to ask about work assignment on the Princess, but --although no towel animals created-- the Princess steward never appeared overworked or struggling to keep up.

 

Granted, the job was done correctly on each ship and we were satisfied and without complaint, but I have issue seeing stewards appear overburdened. Honestly, I don't care about the towel animals kind of "extras" but I wish Cunard would decrease the stewards' workload to something more humane.

 

...I have no idea how stewards who service Grills staterooms appear--whether overworked or not-- but the task seems unnecessarily grueling for the Britannia cabins.

 

Just my ongoing opinion (after over 100 days on Cunard ships), but one which the numbers (10 cabins per steward on Celebrity vs 12 on Cunard) seems to support.

 

Maybe, the Britannia stewards are paid more generously by Cunard than by other cruise lines---I have no way of knowing---but by all appearances (in my opinion) our Cunard steward certainly had to work much harder than stewards on other ships.

 

The daily gratuity charge was slightly higher on the Celebrity. Maybe, $12 per day instead of $11.

 

Best food. Really a wash in my opinion. I read on CC that beef was not good on Celebrity, nor on Princess, so I avoided it on those ships. DH ordered a few beef meals and was disappointed. Cunard and Princess offered more and better fish meals, which I prefer anyway, given the choice. Princess did shine in the department of desserts, which was dangerous, since I have a sweet tooth, but they were delightful.

 

I never went hungry nor had a "bad meal" on any of the three ships. There were always lots of choices. Yes, over 10 years of cruising, we have seen changes in food served in the MDRs. Yes, it can be more like very good cafeteria food, in many instances, than food prepared in a top-quality restaurant. In general, however, food was tasty enough, pleasing to the eye, and never created any gastric distress. Solidly in the "good" category, but few items to rave about. Still nothing whatsoever to warrant complaint.

 

I didn't gain weight on any of these the voyages. But, I might have, if I had stayed on the Princess ship much longer!

 

…My guess is that the Grill and Blu offer much better food (they ought to !!!), but I lack first-hand experience from which to make comparisons. Not the point of this thread, anyway.

 

The buffet on Princess ran more smoothly because passengers were given large plates to carry, instead of bulky trays, and were served beverages by waitstaff at their tables. On both Celebrity and Cunard, in the buffet there were SELF-SERVE beverage stations located away from food stations, requiring a second trip, after dropping one's tray off at the table---not as smooth nor as well thought out as on Princess. Physically, the buffet on the Celebrity was a larger area, so that gave an advantage for maneuvering about, foraging, without coming shoulder to shoulder with masses of other passengers, squeezed into a smaller area (like on the QM2). The buffet on the QM2 is cumbersome, particularly for first-time passengers.

 

Best Dinner Service: The Princess ship provided the best-paced, all inclusively superb dinner service. Not obtrusive, but extremely attentive. Of course, looking around, many of the surrounding tables were empty (people, no doubt, choosing "anytime" options, instead, or the buffet), so our waitress had fewer people to serve, making her job easier. Still, she put time and effort into providing service, not chatting with other servers or daydreaming in the background.

 

Celebrity packs tables and passengers in like sardines in their MDR. The waiters hustled to serve and worked very diligently, which resulted in solidly very good, if not excellent, service. Many (Celebrity) MDR tables were massively long, not conducive, I would think, for any table-wide conversation.

 

Cunard waitstaff didn't refill our water glasses during our first two dinners. Didn't check back, after service, to see if "everything was alright." This improved, leading us to wonder if there had been a waiter shortage (maybe due to illness) at the beginning of the voyage.

 

Service areas on the QM2 don't seem well-placed and the kitchen was a long distance from our assigned table. Service in the Britannia seems to involve staff struggling with poor design, rather than having bad attitudes. I don't know if it is my imagination, but I felt like I remembered more food "drop-off stations", when we first traveled on the QM2. Or, maybe, there used to be additional staff, who bought food to the waiters' stations. Or, maybe, they have decreased numbers of waitstaff. Maybe, different areas of the Britannia benefit, or suffer, from their distance to the kitchen and our latest table was on the far-side of the dining room.

 

Whatever, something was wrong (on the QM2) when, at a table for eight, there was often 7-10 minutes between the time when the first tablemate was served until the last person also received his plate.

 

Best Dinner Companions We had great companions at our assigned tables on all three ships. Very different people, but all nice and friendly and interesting. Dinnertime can be a highlight of ship travel.

 

Easiest boarding experience. Celebrity was an immediate "walk on" winner. BUT, going onto the ship very early (11:30) didn't mean access to our cabin, which wasn't ready for two more hours. Princess and Cunard don't invite new passengers onboard until all cabins are prepared. Given the choice, I really prefer being able to go to our cabin, immediately, and drop off hand-carry-ons and my purse, but sitting and waiting onboard the Equinox was easier than standing in a cruise terminal queue for an hour (as we did boarding the Crown Princess)…. So, Celebrity is the winner...

 

Best laundry goes to Cunard. Free usage --with supplied soap-- and all machines in running order on our deck during our May 9th crossing.

 

Celebrity has NO self-serve laundry on any of their ships! We brought Woolite and washed socks et cetera in the bathroom sink on Celebrity (a story in itself).

 

Princess has self-serve laundry rooms onboard, but charges for machine use and for soap. On a seven-day cruise, however, we had no need to use their laundry.

 

After a busy 12 days traveling through Spain and France, we were VERY happy to spend time in the QM2 laundry. It is a great ship for people who have been traveling before boarding (as compared to the folks who just left home and board with a suitcase full of clean clothes).

 

Best entertainment: scant opinion, but Cunard comes up on top. We skipped most offerings on all three ships and found much evening entertainment descriptions to be similar to cruise ship industry standards, in general.

 

Classical music, however, was best on Cunard. Love the harpist, Fiona. Enjoyed the violinists on stage in the Royal Court Theater.

 

...Interestingly, one subtle difference between Cunard and Celebrity passengers was evidenced in the response to a string quartet performing in the main lobby of each ship. On Celebrity, no one applauded. Reaction was no different than if canned music was being played over a loudspeaker. On Cunard, the string quartet in the lobby was rewarded with applause at the end of a piece. They seemed to be recognized as performers, not merely creators of background music.

 

Celebrity offered a multiple-deck-down egg drop (with a prize) as Easter entertainment in their lobby. Cunard's entertainment offerings seem more subdued and (perhaps) cerebral. Maybe it is my age (over the hill) but I prefer the tone of Cunard activities. I don't condemn less subdued activities on Princess or Celebrity, I just don't prefer them, personally.

 

Daytime lectures: Cunard is head and shoulders above other cruise lines. Hands down, this is the area where Cunard shines and one of the reasons Cunard is our overall favorite cruise company. We attended lectures faithfully and they were a highlight, for us during the May '14 crossing.

 

Library The library on Princess was small and dismal in appearance with the cases holding books locked, every time we wandered in there. On Celebrity, the library was a pretty room with very few books on their open bookshelves. Fortunately, we brought a number of books, ourselves, when on those ships.

 

In comparison, the QM2 library was quite large and a very pleasant space as well as filled with a great selection of books. QM2's library is one of her greatest assets! I read two books during our May 9th crossing.

 

Ship layout and appearance: Cunard (QM2) was classy and beautiful. An absolute pleasure! Grand! Spacious! With two theaters (the Royal Court and the Illuminations) the QM2 had wonderful options for comfortably seating large groups for performances, lectures, movies, as well as a maximum of (I think) five different planetarium shows. The Queens Room was a beautiful space for dancers. The Commodore Lounge was magnificent for viewing the sea, reading a book, or (even) having a drink.

 

Celebrity (Equinox) was very, very attractive. Very nice. One problem we had, though, was trouble finding comfortable chairs, where we could read our books during the daytime. Chairs in every location had such a large scale (in their seat depth) that our backs were never supported. (We are 5'4" and 5'10" so not unusual in our heights) We joked that Celebrity didn't want people sitting too long in any particular location and made their chairs uncomfortable to assist with this goal.

 

Another drawback on the Equinox was only two banks of elevators on the entire ship. The Celebrity Equinox had an adequate number of individual elevators, they just weren't spread through the ship--just clumped together in only two locations. Passengers at one end of the ship had to walk quite a distance to get to the elevators-- which would be troublesome for someone with difficulty walking.

 

In comparison, the Princess has three banks of elevators and the Cunard QM2 has four. Lesser numbers of elevators in one place, but more locations that offered elevators.

 

Princess (Crown Princess) decor was very outdated and uninspired, but ship space is functional and furnishings very comfortable. In my book, "comfortable" outranks "pretty" after a very short time. Give me a chair when I can sit for more than 20 minutes before my back begins to hurt!

 

Fitness Facility: All in all, the fitness facilities on all three ships were adequate and my husband enjoyed using them. Asked to rank-order them, DH ranked (1) Princess (2) QM2 (3) Celebrity.

 

He found fault with the Celebrity gym, because half of the treadmills were unavailable until after 9 a.m. These treadmills were located over cabins and would have disturbed sleeping passengers. This created a situation of fewer treadmills available than were in demand by people, like my DH, who liked to exercise early. This is nothing that could be rectified. It was shortsightedness in the ship design and ability to soundproof. And, certainly, my DH didn't want his exercise to create noise for cabins below…. But, with too few treadmills, exercise needed to be abbreviated, since others were queuing to use the machines. Didn't make my DH happy!

 

There were adequate numbers of treadmills on both the Princess and Cunard ships. The only (not terribly significant difference) was that the Princess treadmills were placed with a view of the ocean, which DH enjoyed, while the banks of treadmills on the QM2 faced mirrors.

 

Finally, the QM2 gym lacked space for floor stretches--requiring a bit of creativity. Not insurmountable, but lack of thoughtfulness in design.

 

I have to mention the magnificent mural by the treadmills on the QM2… which shows runners running from England to New York. It's clever and attractive. Even if you don't exercise, stop in the Fitness Room, next time you are on the QM2, and check it out.

 

Passengers: There were different vibes on each of these ships. Not better or worse, just different. Cunard passengers are more subdued and Princess less so. Celebrity somewhere in the middle. We made "friends" on all three ships and had good times socializing. Cunard passengers as a totality were definitely more compliant in regard obeying the formal dress code. A number of Princess and Celebrity passengers were more relaxed in their interpretation of "what is formalwear." There were more gamblers on the Princess ship--the casino was busier.

 

I felt that some Celebrity passengers were less well-traveled than passengers on Cunard, but that could have been overhearing a couple on Celebrity complaining because (they learned at one of the ship's "lectures") shops in Cadiz, Spain weren't going to accept American cash (as if everyone, everywhere in the world should!)

 

We talked to people on each ship who were taking their first cruise and we talked to people who were very experienced travelers. People on each ship appeared to be having a good time. Different vibes, but much in common, too. Sea life.

 

Disembarkation We did self-disembarkation at the end of each of these cruises. Celebrity was very early---BEFORE 7 o'clock--kind of a shock! Otherwise, self-disembarkation was pretty much the same --- equally easy from each of the ships.

 

Conclusions DH and I book first according to itinerary and price and secondly by cruise line. Cunard is our favorite, because it meets a standard which makes us comfortable, because we dearly enjoy the daytime enrichment lectures, and because we love sailing on the QM2, whenever possible.

 

The Celebrity sailing was a first for us. We liked it. We have sailed on Princess five times, all in the Caribbean (in the winter).

 

We would take each of these cruises, again, for the reasons we booked them in the first place. Was the anniversary cruise of the QM2 "better" than a cheap week on Princess in January? Not necessarily. Princess took us to Aruba when it was minus-something at home (and the QM2 was off on her world cruise unavailable to take us anywhere).

 

Different cruises at different times for different reasons. Not without some faults. But, basically: all good. Good voyages. Good ships.

[Oahucruiser]

Awesome! Excellent and clear writing ability and great comparisons. I learned a lot and agree with your thoughts as we have been on all three lines also. These thoughts were all based on your experiences, involvement and observations and gave a fair and full explanation of how you saw things. Well done!

[pmb1]

Thanks, jimmybean, for providing such a wealth of information, observation, and thoughtful opinion. Much appreciated.

[DreamflightPat]

Very informative report and thank you for taking the time to write it. I have cruised with all those three cruise lines and would agree with your comments. My preferred line is Cunard as well now. I do like the formal nights and the serenity of their ships. Personal preference I know.

[Rileyspike]

Thank you for taking the time to write such a comprehensive and thoughtful post, I enjoyed reading it.

 

I have only ever travelled with Cunard so its nice to read a balanced comparison between the different cruise lines.

[bananavan]

Extremely good comparisons.

We have sailed all three lines. We disembarked from QM2 on Friday.

We were in Grills. Sadly, this is where the best service is hidden. It should not be that way, but it is. We had been in Brittania two years ago and found the service and quality sorely lacking.

We will sail Celebrity again next spring as I have a good deal on an Aquaclass cabin. There too the main dining room service is dreadful so we will be interested in Blu restaurant service and quality. We are top level loyalty with Celebrity so our perks are wonderful.

For lower cost, better itinerary, overall great service and food quality, I choose Princess with any time dining. We have always found a wonderful waitstaff on the first night and arranged our dining reservations every morning so that we had the same table etc. Our trips are never less than 14 days though.

There is no comparison with Cunard's speaker series. Truly brilliant. Nor it there any comparison with the house entertainment. The singers and dancers are the best anywhere. Truly world class.

I think that all cruise lines should scrap the comedians though. So passe and it seemed like the jokes had been passed from one to the other. Crooners need not apply any more either, unless Michael Buble himself wishes to entertain. :D

Thanks for your truly comprehensive review.

[Keith1010]

Thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts.

 

In the end, each of us needs to figure out what cruise lines/ships work best for us. For some it is one line or a couple of lines and for others there are more.

 

Thank goodness there is a lot of choice out there.

 

Keith

[safarigal]

Thank you for such a wonderfully comprehensive and informative review :)

[canter168]

Thanks for spending the time to write such a knowledgeable and comprehensive article. I enjoyed reading it.

 

We will be traveling on Royal Princess in Sept. this year. It is a 17 days TA cruise. We also just got our assigned cabin from a Guaranteed cabin. The cabin is "Right Underneath" the Buffet Restaurant. Does anyone have any experiences with their cabin right below the Buffet Restaurant. We are light sleepers and with 17 days cruise, I do want to get good sleeps.

Please advice. Stephen

[Chunky2219]

Just to add a bit of a comparison at the other end of the scale. We've pretty much alternated Cunard and Celebrity over the last three years (next is Cunard in November). But we've been doing Grills / Royal Suite.

 

Celebrity has been very impressive but without going to speciality dining at an extra charge the MDR doesn't reflect the price you are paying. Also, the lack of free sodas and water in the suites is a major error when you have paid quite a bit for real estate.

 

From April 2015 Celebrity are fixing all that. There will be separate dining which (hopefully) will be comparable to the Grills. If not, there will be free speciality dining and all the alternative restaurants are very good. There will be a separate lounge with a concierege. Also add a completely free premium drinks package for suite guests plus free internet and it might start to look like strong competition for Cunard. Don't even get me started on price drops - with Celebity if the price falls so does the price you pay. You even get money off for being in the Captains' Club.

 

I don't doubt that prices will rise to reflect all this "free" stuff, but I'm already checking out the options for next year, particularly voyages that Cunard just don't do.

 

 

.

[bananavan]

Chunky:

I totally agree with your assessment.

The Suites on Celebrity cost more for the location and square footage but gave nothing in return as to dining . The new changes will be interesting.

Our loyalty to Celebrity (Not hard to attain either) gives us money off, internet packages, free specialty coffees in the am and free cocktails in the pm along with priority boarding etc. We will travel Aqua Class because of the dining option. If that does not work, we will go suites in future.

On Cunard if you do not know the benefits of the Grills, nobody tells you. We had to ask for the water delivery in PG. We were not told about the benefits of the Concierge Lounge nor the Queens Lounge High Tea service. (I knew about all of that but a couple who we met and became friends with were surprised because nobody told them about any of that.)

Our PG experience was wonderful for the most part. But then again the amount of extra money that PG costs should give you that level of service.

[DWhit]

I don't doubt that prices will rise to reflect all this "free" stuff, but I'm already checking out the options for next year, particularly voyages that Cunard just don't do..

I have sailed with Celebrity several times, but not yet with Cunard. In my opinion,Celebrity would like to hold on to its position as a line that is a step or two above the mass market lines. But from what I have seen that position is slipping due to having to compete with these same lines to keep full,especially as they add newer big ships. Food quality and service in general has been stressed lately, and they are resorting to frequent promotions (eg Free Drinks) to keep their ships booked. I know right now they seem to be trying to attract younger, affluent folks (and who wouldn't) with their "Modern Luxury" marketing campaign, which meshes well with their modern design Solstice class ships (martini bars, gastropubs, etc)

 

It's interesting to see in you post that it looks like they are turning to several of Cunard's more traditional grill class system approaches. But with Cunard basically out of the Caribbean, maybe they see that as a gap to be filled. It will be interesting to see if they can do this and still hold on to their Modern Luxury marketing approach.

 

I am really looking forward to my first Cunard cruise this October to see what Cunard brings to the table and how they compare with Celebrity. I know they will beat Celebrity hands down in the dance floor category, which is important to us. Celebrity really missed the boat in that category. I suspect the food and service category will also be a better on Cunard as well (even though it's no Grills for us on this trip).

[maria1963]

A great post. We did grand princess to the carribean in january 13 and loved every second , even though on the day of my special birthday in aruba , it poured down! As first timers we had no frame of reference but were more than satisfied with everything. We have skipped a year this year, despite getting the bug, we had other holiday plans for this year. However we have just booked a week on the QV next June to Italy, Corfu and the Dalmatian Coast. So your comparison was fascinating. Its a long time to wait but we are so excited and love the look of the Victoria . I'm devouring any related posts at the moment.

[keithm]

Chunky:

I totally agree with your assessment.

The Suites on Celebrity cost more for the location and square footage but gave nothing in return as to dining . The new changes will be interesting.

Our loyalty to Celebrity (Not hard to attain either) gives us money off, internet packages, free specialty coffees in the am and free cocktails in the pm along with priority boarding etc. We will travel Aqua Class because of the dining option. If that does not work, we will go suites in future.

On Cunard if you do not know the benefits of the Grills, nobody tells you. We had to ask for the water delivery in PG. We were not told about the benefits of the Concierge Lounge nor the Queens Lounge High Tea service. (I knew about all of that but a couple who we met and became friends with were surprised because nobody told them about any of that.)

Our PG experience was wonderful for the most part. But then again the amount of extra money that PG costs should give you that level of service.

When doing a cruiseline you NEED to read the brochures!! It will tell you what your particular line offers. Most people don't know that fruit is available daily on Cunard. Same with Shrimp cocktail at night. We always did Cunard until this past year. Due to my only able to cruise in the winter most of the Caribbean trips were done away with. Too much competion. We did Celebrity this past Jan.(the Eclipse) & found it to be better than Cunard in nearly all areas, especially the food. We found portions on our last Cunard trip(QV)to be rather small. The last "formal" dinner was actually quite poor. The staff was not really too willing to accomodate in extras.We especially liked the "Celebrity Favorites" list, which featured Escargots, among other choices. The favorites is something of an Al a Carte addition to the menu as a whole. Without a doubt the Grills are the way to go. We did a P-1 & Q-6 & found the service unmatched. Pricewise, the Grills are only for a rare occasion for us. Entertainmaint is better on Cunard(though the shows need changing!)Speakers are much better on Cunard as well. Celebrity's band of musicions are smaller, but pretty talented. We found that 14 day trips on Eclipse were very similar to the 10-11 day trips on Cunard in regards to the pax on board & the dresscodes. Not as many tuxes, but very well dressed pax as a whole. The staff did a very good job of policing pax who were not dressed properly on formal nights. No hesitation in asking pax to leave & dress properly. On the shorter trips, I'll be it's more lax. Agewise on the 14 day trips on Celebrity, I'd say the age was a little higher than on Cunard. If Cunard would do more 10-11 day Caribbean trips, we'd go back. The holiday festival trip is hard to do, as we're very busy in our catering co.with holiday parties.

[pris993]

Thank you for your informative and thoughtful review. Agree with you on many points. We are elite on Princess and elite on Celebrity and have cruised on the Queen Victoria twice a year or so ago. Considering the QM2 in the future.

 

We generally book mini suite cabins, we find Princess best choice relative to this type cabin. When we cruise on Celebrity, we are booked on the Silhouette in October, we are now booking a delux balcony vs a higher end cabin (CC or AQ class) because all the cabins are the same.

 

We too have found the MDR on Celebrity crowded, tables are too close together. Consequently, when on Celebrity we stick with the buffet which is excellent. We tried BLU once did not seem to be worth the price. We also find Celebrity does not do a very good job of responding to requests to order "off" menu in the MDR. This is important for us, for health reasons. Our experience has been just the opposite on both Princess and Cunard. Both lines have always responded well to requests for ordering off menu. Our experience on the Queen Victoria was outstanding considering we were new to Cunard and in the MDR.

 

Of the three lines we thought the entertainment was best on Cunard, Princess comes in 2nd for us.

 

We have 30 years of cruising on 9 different lines, so we are not really partial to any line. We look for an itinerary we like, explore which lines are doing a similar route and select based on the best value.

[jimmybean]

Oahucruiser, pmb1, DreamflightPat, Rileyspike, safarigal and maria1963--thank you for your kind comments regarding my posting.

 

Chunky2219, bananavan, pris993, and DWhit thank you for expanding discussion to the other end of the spectrum --suites and grills. Your insights were very interesting to me!

 

keithm, I wholeheartedly agree with your advice to "read about the details on each cruise line in the brochure beforehand"--This is both fundamental and extremely wise. I appreciated learning your experiences have much in common with my own.

 

Keith1010--you are always the voice of reason. Preference IS highly individualized. I agree it is great to have some many choices : )

[jimmybean]

Thanks for spending the time to write such a knowledgeable and comprehensive article. I enjoyed reading it.

 

We will be traveling on Royal Princess in Sept. this year. It is a 17 days TA cruise. We also just got our assigned cabin from a Guaranteed cabin. The cabin is "Right Underneath" the Buffet Restaurant. Does anyone have any experiences with their cabin right below the Buffet Restaurant. We are light sleepers and with 17 days cruise, I do want to get good sleeps.

Please advice. Stephen

 

Hi Canter168,

 

My dear husband is careful to check what is above and below our cabins, but sometimes we book in a location where there might be some occasional noise. Our remedy has been to always include earplugs in our packed supplies. I've never seen them for sale in any ship store. We have only had to use them on one occasion, but they contributed greatly to our ability to relax and sleep well.

 

We have slept under the buffet on the QM2, never on a Princess ship, and the noise we heard was during the night, when they must have been cleaning the floor with some machine. We never heard any "passenger noises" when the buffet was used during mealtimes. The night noises were not disturbing to us---not that loud and not that long in duration. Nothing that required us to pull out the earplugs.

 

Have a wonderful 17 day cruise : ) How wonderful!

[jimmybean]

A great post. We did grand princess to the carribean in january 13 and loved every second , even though on the day of my special birthday in aruba , it poured down! As first timers we had no frame of reference but were more than satisfied with everything. We have skipped a year this year, despite getting the bug, we had other holiday plans for this year. However we have just booked a week on the QV next June to Italy, Corfu and the Dalmatian Coast. So your comparison was fascinating. Its a long time to wait but we are so excited and love the look of the Victoria . I'm devouring any related posts at the moment.

 

Maria, Your upcoming (next June) cruise on the Victoria sounds wonderful! DH and I typically book cruises quite a while in advance and then enjoy anticipating the voyage. Our longest-in-advance booking was 18 months out… It is great to have something (like a cruise) to look forward to doing. Also, it is good to have plenty of time to plan the port days. Depending on the port, DH and I sometimes take a tour and other times we plan our own activities. There are cruise critic boards that describe specific ports and details of cruise critic members' experiences on shore. Also, on the cruise critic roll call for your cruise, you can find other people with whom to arrange private tours. ….I've learned so much--both about ship life and also about specific ports--- reading cruise critic!

 

We have not been on the Victoria yet (we loved the Elizabeth, though, which is very very similar in design) and we have haven't taken a Mediterranean cruise yet. So, I will be looking forward to reading YOUR review after you return home. : )

 

Have a spectacular second cruise (hopefully the second of many many many)!

[maria1963]

Thanks for your lovely reply jimmybean, just seen it!

[ItalianGuest]

Thank you very much for your post. :)

I also love X and Princess and now I'm sure that I'll be not disappointed by Cunard!

Regards

ItalianGuest

[bunkrest]

Really enjoyed reading your post,very informative.

 

 

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[applevalleyjoe]

Your very excellent review was both well-written and timely. We are taking the QE2 New England/Canada cruise on 10/16/14 and the Transcanal cruise on the QV in 2/15. We've cruised the Western Mexico coast four times, twice with the Royal Caribbean and twice in Celebrity. We were disappointed with the Celebrity ship (don't remember its name) but I heard that after our second cruise that ship was sold off to another line. It was obvious to me (military background) that the ship was not as well maintained as it should have been...a reflection on the ship's leadership. Otherwise, we enjoyed our trips...more mature patrons, better food, etc. We are eagerly looking forward to our Cunard experience. :)

[jimmybean]

Your very excellent review was both well-written and timely. We are taking the QE2 New England/Canada cruise on 10/16/14 and the Transcanal cruise on the QV in 2/15. We've cruised the Western Mexico coast four times, twice with the Royal Caribbean and twice in Celebrity. We were disappointed with the Celebrity ship (don't remember its name) but I heard that after our second cruise that ship was sold off to another line. It was obvious to me (military background) that the ship was not as well maintained as it should have been...a reflection on the ship's leadership. Otherwise, we enjoyed our trips...more mature patrons, better food, etc. We are eagerly looking forward to our Cunard experience. :)

 

Welcome to Cruise Critic, applevalleyjoe!

 

Hope you know that Cunard gives a military discount in the form of cruise credits. : ) (There was a thread about this recently, but I see your join-date is relatively new, so you might have missed it).

 

I hope you have a wonderful time on both ships.

 

Jimmybean

[Shellback801]

Despite being new to cruising (read: haven't been on one yet, US and Royal Navies notwithstanding) I appreciate well-written and thoughtful reviews as I research future vacations for our retirement.

 

So thank you.

Edited August 8, 2014 by Shellback801