Celebrity vs Princess: a comparison by an inexperienced cruiser.

[kimlovesfl]

My DH and I took our first cruise last year, on the Celebrity Constellation, Jan 25-30, in an oceanview cabin, visiting Key West and Cozumel. This year, we sailed on the Caribbean Princess, Jan 26-31, in a balcony cabin, with stops in Costa Maya and Cozumel.

 

 

Embarkation: Check-in and embarkation went quickly and smoothly with Celebrity. There was almost no one in line, we checked in, got our keys, had our photos taken, and were on board in about 10 minutes. We were greeted with champagne, mimosas, and orange juice. Our cabin wasn't quite ready yet, so we hung out for a bit (giving me time finish that mimosa), and within 30 minutes, we were ready to unpack.

 

 

Despite what appeared to be a rather long line, we were checked in and on board the CB in about 15 minutes. Our photos were taken as soon as we stepped on the ship, but other than a warm welcome, there was no champage, mimosas, or orange juice. Celebrity wins this one.

 

 

Cabins: I had heard over the years how tiny cruise ship cabins are, so I expected to be sleeping somewhere the size of a closet while on the Connie, but was pleasantly surprised when we opened the door. There was a queen size bed, love seat, coffee table, small desk with a chair, loads of storage space and a decent sized closet. The bathroom was more spacious than I expected, with lots of space under the sink for toiletries, a nice shower and shower head, and lovely amenities such as soap, shampoo and conditioner, shower cap, lotion. We had a large window, and the room was nicely decorated, clean, and well-maintained. We were cabin 210.

 

 

My first thought when we entered our cabin, A526, on the CB, was how tiny it was. A queen sized bed, no love seat, small desk with a chair, but with a large closet. There was still plenty of storage space even with the small size. The balcony, while not huge, suited me fine, and had 2 chairs and a table, and was covered. But the bathroom, wow, I didn't think they could get a shower in an airplane bathroom. It was almost impossible to shave your legs, and my elbows hit the walls while washing my hair. The amenities were few-a shampoo/conditioner blend that left my hair a tangled mess, a decent shower gel with, thankfully, no overwhelming fragrance (both in pump bottles attached to shower wall) and hand lotion. The space was tight for a slender girl like me, I can't imagine what people with larger body dimensions do. I think those were the quickest showers I ever took in my life. Celebrity wins the cabin award hands down.

 

 

Food: The Connie has a wonderful buffet, with several “scatter” stations throughout the buffet restaurant, with several different selections throughout the scattered areas, and plenty of seating. There were windows with lovely views, and a large outdoor dining area in the aft of the ship. The food was excellent, and changed every day, and there was always plenty of fruit to choose from for a rabid fruit eater like me. Service could sometimes be slow when getting a drink, but that was the only fault.

 

 

The MDR was lovely! It is a 2 story venue in the aft of the ship, with many large windows, and one 2-story window on the back wall. Traditional diners sat downstairs, select dining upstairs. The longest we waited for a table was 10 minutes on the first night, and we always dined at a table for 2. The food was very good (except for the terrible cobia I got one night, so tough I couldn't cut it), and the service was attentive and not rushed.

 

 

We did not eat in any other venues.

 

 

The buffet on the CB was not well organized at all. Each buffet station offers the same food, and, although this ship holds 1000 more passengers than the Connie, it has far fewer seats. We had to eat poolside on embarkation day because there were no seats, and it was cool and so windy that our napkins blew away. When we asked a server if there were seats anywhere, he just shrugged and said maybe someone would vacate their table. There were often lines to get food, and they funnel everyone in one way and out another, which exacerbates the problem. Service was slow, and they don't give you spoons. The table settings are a knife and fork folded up in a linen napkin, but no spoon, so for every meal I had there, I had to go on a hunt for a spoon. The food was decent, but didn't change much from day to day.

 

 

The Caribbean Princess has 3 MDRs-one for traditional dining, one for anytime dining, and one that has early traditional seating, and then opens for anytime later. They are located mid-ship. The few windows are covered with heavy curtains, which are often closed. I am on the ocean, I want to see the ocean, not look at stuffy curtains. The food was pretty good, although the entrees never excited me too much, so I had appetizers/soup/salad every night but the last. Desserts were of a high quality, and my husband being a pastry chef, we have pretty high standards. The service often felt rushed, but when one saw the lines to get in, it is almost understandable, but if you are willing to share a table, your wait is greatly reduced. We only dined alone one night, and although I am shy and quiet, we had a great time meeting all kinds of interesting people. The biggest complaint would be the ice cold butter, impossible to spread.

 

 

The CB also has afternoon tea, and it was a chaotic disaster. Proper tea has an order of service-scones, finger sandwiches, petit fours and desserts, all of a small size. Scones are to be served with clotted cream and strawberry jam. Items can out higgeldy-piggeldy, with our table being served dessert first (which I declined, and told the server to come back later), then scones, but we had to flag down the server with the clotted cream and jam because she kept passing our table, and then we got sandwiches, but only after much effort and asking servers to please bring the sandwiches our way. All of the items were too large for a tea, and no choice of tea was given. I would suggest to Princess to either put all items on a tiered serving piece on each table, or have a self-serve buffet area, or to have ALL servers bring out the same things at the same time. If there had been an extra charge for this, I would have demanded a refund.

 

 

Celebrity wins food, but Princess isn't far behind.

 

 

Entertainment: The shows on Celebrity are mediocre, with some productions shows, a comedian, and a magician on varying nights. Their nightclubs are often deserted with nothing going on, but sometimes there is trivia (I won luggage tags in a movie poster contest), or a Latin band with dancing, and sometimes the same band plays at the pool. There was also the usual bingo, sales of crappy jewelry and clothes, etc.

 

 

Princess has a LOT going on! The shows are mediocre, pretty much interchangeable with Celebrity, but shorter, like, only 30 minutes long. But the bars and lounges ALWAYS had something going on in the evening, and in the daytime-karaoke, a steel drum player, dancing, trivia, bingo, etc. And MUTS! I LOVED this! I am a huge movie fan, and I loved having several choices of films each day. R-rated films are shown in the Princess theater. We saw Gone Girl there, and at MUTS, we saw Back To The Future one afternoon, and that night, watched The Fault In Our Stars. I also went to the stargazing presentation, which was fun, after the bridge figured out how to shut off the lights. No question here, Princess wins on entertainment.

 

 

Public areas-The Connie has subtle, sophisticated décor, lots of windows inside, and nice secluded deck areas outside. There is a decided lack of chairs around the pool, so I never spent any time there, but if I had wanted to cook in the bright blazing sun (it was quite warm and sunny on that trip), the upper levels usually had loungers available. All areas of the Connie are non-smoking, including the casino, except for a lounge and some deck area.

 

 

The CB has LOADS of deck space, loads and loads of it, on several different levels and locations, with several pools and hot tubs. Very nice, and even on what seemed to be a sold out ship, there were always loungers available (maybe because it was windy and a little cooler?). But, the interior spaces felt dark and closed in, and the décor was kind of Vegas tacky-chic. Smoking is allowed in the casino, Churchill's, and a small deck area

 

 

Even with the somewhat tacky décor, I am going to give Princess the upper hand on this one, mostly because of the large amount of open deck space.

 

 

Staff: If anyone has sailed the Connie, you are familiar with Captain Tazos. What a fun, funny guy. He made announcements throughout the day, and spent time out and about with the public, and even participated in The Liars Club. We saw the Executive Chef eating at the buffet almost every day, and saw most of the officers many times throughout our cruise.

 

 

The crew felt more welcoming on the Connie, and the service was impeccable. The future cruise sales was an actual decent sized room with several staff members.

 

 

We saw none, and heard none (other than the cruise director) of the officers on the Caribbean Princess. Couldn't tell you their names, wouldn't know them if I saw them. Service was spotty and inattentive, almost aloof. One poor woman did future cruise sales out of a small office.

 

 

The Connie wins this one, no question.

 

 

Disembarkation: Quick and easy on the Connie. We had a very small wait once we got our luggage and headed to customs.

 

 

The process was pretty easy on the CB, but the groups in the Explorers Lounge were running about 15-20 minutes behind schedule, but no big deal. There was quite the line for customs, but it moved very quickly and we were through it in less than 15 minutes. Gotta give this one to Celebrity, but it's close.

 

 

Gosh, I hope I covered everything, and I hope I didn't bore you all. I did prefer Celebrity, and really felt a close tie to the Constellation, not something I felt with the Caribbean Princess, but we still enjoyed it, enough so that we took advantage of the future cruise deposit program, and are already thinking about our next trip on Princess (and also looking at a Celebrity cruise).

 

 

We didn't do any ship-sponsored excursions, so I won't rate the ports here.

 

 

Thanks for reading.

[windsor26]

Interesting Thank you

It is a few years since I sailed Celebrity and I did think they were a half star above P&O with whom I had sailed previously However with the difference in price between the same cruises of Princess and Celebrity I think the difference is not worth the extra cost.

 

I agree about the evening entertainment and have found the daytime choice on Princess far exceeds, P&O, P&O Australia, Celebrity, RCI and HAL ships Give me Princess day time everytime

[mamaboss]

Excellent comparison review! I have only sailed Princess, CB twice with 3rd cruise on her in a few weeks. Thank you.

[eandj]

Having cruised both ships, your thoughts are very close to ours. ;)

Wondering how you would feel about Celebrity's newest class of ships. And then in comparison to Princess' newest.

[baldercash]

Having cruised both ships, your thoughts are very close to ours. ;)

Wondering how you would feel about Celebrity's newest class of ships. And then in comparison to Princess' newest.

 

Hard to compare Princess ships to Celebrity if you go by size a X Solstice class ship would be closer to the Caribbean Princess then to Royal Princess.

 

Royal Princess is a close match to the RCI Quantum in size, both are new and both got scathing reviews upon launch.

[OCruisers]

Thanks very much for your time to do this comparison which seemed completely fair and balanced to me!

While Princess is a better fit for us, we also enjoy cruising on Celebrity.

Bottom Line: Both Princess and X are both good cruise lines. :)

LuLu

[itzmered]

I thought that was a pretty good comparison and very similar to our experiences. We have sailed on the several of the Princess ships and just did our first cruise on the Celebrity Summit the sister ship to the Connie. I have considered Princess to be my favorite cruise line but have to say the experience on Celebrity won us over enough that we just booked two more cruises with them. I compared prices to similar itineraries and cabin category and I have to say that Celebrity won out. Now if Celebrity would just install MUTS style screens I would very happy :p

[Cruise Junky]

Thanks. Our next cruise is in Connie. And if you liked her bathrooms you'd do cartwheels over the S class bathrooms.

[Colo Cruiser]

Thanks for the comparison.

[geoherb]

Thanks for posting your comparison. We've enjoyed all our cruises on Celebrity. Our last one had a few hiccups. I still look at what Celebrity is offering, but Princess usually wins out on price for us, followed next by Holland America.

[kimlovesfl]

I know the ships aren't exactly equal, because the CB is much larger, but the lines are kind of similar. Princess is sometimes cheaper, but for the TA cruise I am considering on the Silhouette next year, Celebrity has a better price by far, for a great itinerary before you cross the waters.

 

Should I also post this on the Celebrity board?

[WEGL81]

Now if Celebrity would just install MUTS style screens I would very happy :p

 

^^^This^^^ Having sailed on both ships twice in the past year, my only criticism of Celebrity is the lack of movie viewing experience.

[dinansm3]

Good review of the 2 lines, last April my wife and I took our first cruise on the Celebrity Reflection in a concierge class balcony room then in late September we cruised on the MSC Divina in a rear hump out full balcony room.Now this April we will be on the Royal Princess in a BB balcony room. I am excited to compare the 3 lines, but I will say we loved the Reflection.

[BJS]

Great comparison review.

We took our first cruises on the Silhouette this past Aug after years and years on Princess.

 

We also found the rooms and especially the bathrooms with glass shower doors vs the friendly curtains on Princess a real positive. This is comparing only balcony staterooms (we have not been in the new Deluxe balcony rooms on Princess new ships which appear to have similar features as Celebrity) as Princess Mini-suites are very different in size and features. The closets are much larger and better located on the Princess ships.

There was one very bad feature with the Celebrity rooms and that was the round corners on the mattress which made it too short to be comfortable.:(

 

The captain's question & answer session and the visibility of ship's captain and officers was a real positive on Celebrity. We rarely see the captain or officers on Princess and often the captain doesn't even make the daily announcement.

 

For us the embarkation is better on Princess because we never have to wait for our stateroom to be ready. We did not like the hour for our stateroom to be ready and having champagne, mimosas, or orange juice is of little importance. Princess champagne welcome in a Mini-Suite is a nice touch but not high on our list.

 

The food on Celebrity in the MDR we found was not nearly as good as Princess but the buffet food and lay-out wins hands down on Celebrity (again we have not been on the Roayl or Regal with the new lay out and features). The Crown Grill on Princess is very similar to the Steakhouse on Celebrity but with a much warmer feeling but we found them each very good.

 

Entertainment on Celebrity was lacking for us and we found little of interest during the few days we were at sea. We enjoy the movies inside on Princess during sea days and the lectures.

 

DH felt the crew was much friendlier and happier on Celebrity until we took our last two cruises on the Star Princess and he also found very friendly and happy crew.

 

We had to change cabins on the b2b and this was where Celebrity really fell down. The room steward piled our hanging clothes on a flat dolly and dropped some of them going down the hallway resulting in black marks on the legs of several pairs of pants. I asked him to get a rolling rack to hang the cloths on and he said they did not have any.

 

When we have had a problem with our room on Princess it has been fixed immediately but on Celebrity we had a toilet flushing issue and all they did was come to instruct us on how to flush the toilet....2 days later the blockage on the decks above us finally closed the system down and the problem was resolved.

 

Future cruise promotion: Princess wins hands down with their 100% refundable future cruise deposits.

 

Price comparison: The reason we sailed with Celebrity was that their price for these b2b cruises was less than 2/3 of what Princess wanted. It is interesting that looking for future cruises Princess prices are less for every cruise we have looked at.

 

Agree both cruise lines offer a great product. We will continue to look first at Princess but should Celebrity have another "great deal" we would not hesitate to sail with them again.

Edited February 2, 2015 by BJS

[I_r_a]

Thanks for your review, Kim.

 

Ira

[kimlovesfl]

I didn't think Celebrity had a program like Princess's future cruise deposit, which we took advantage of. We are now looking at going on the Regal (will be nice to be on a brand new ship for a change) in November, and *hopefully* we can swing a TA on the Silhouette Nov. 2016.

 

I don't know, those rooms on Princess, especially the bathrooms, are so damn small that the extra cost of Celebrity kind of makes it worth it. Food is subjective, but the general consensus seems to be that Celebrity's buffet set up is much better.

[Paula_MacFan]

Thanks for taking the time to post a detailed review. We've never sailed Celebrity but have given it serious consideration. Your post helps our decision - thanks!

[LovetheSea]

We are Elite members on Celebrity. When the prices went way up on their cruises we switched to Princess. Better deals. Also the itineraries are different which was another big reason we switched. But if I won a free cruise and could have my choice, I would choose Celebrity over Princess hands down.

[lolane1]

OP, so much of what you posted is subjective and so is my assessment. I have been on the Constellation twice and its sister ship the Millenium once (or vice versa) plus several other X ships. And I have sailed on the Caribbean Princess 5 times pllus other Princess ships. I absolutely prefer Princess mostly because of the quality of the food. (again this is subjective).

 

I also prefer the super large balconies on the Caribe deck over anything Celebrity has provided me.

 

Yes, I loved the champagne on Celebrity but I liked the fact that my room was ready on Princess when I boarded and I didn't have to wait around drinking with my carry-on until they gave us the go.

 

From experience, embarkation can vary widely on any line and the same ship depending on what time you show up. Not an issue for me.

 

I did not like the food on the Constellation and Millenium mostly because the steaks were always grey, tough, and were delivered tepid. The staff seemed to struggle with the food service every time. Not a typical problem on Princess.

 

Don't get me wrong, I still like Celebrity but haven't been back since I found Princess. I do like Celebrity's smaller ships and had a wonderful experience years ago on the Meridian in the 80's when Vishyssoire and Madrilene were served. But fast forwarding to the now, I just think they struggle with food service on the larger ships.

 

OP. thanks for your review. Different perspectives are always a good thing.

[scienceteacher]

We sailed on the Celebrity Equinox in 2013. It is the most beautiful ship we have ever seen. The service was amazing. The food was fabulous. The entertainment was disappointing. My only experience on Princess was 11 years ago. I don't remember anything negative. We are looking forward to our cruise of the Panama Canal on the Coral Princess. I have heard great things about this ship.

[lucky cal]

Good review of the 2 lines, last April my wife and I took our first cruise on the Celebrity Reflection in a concierge class balcony room then in late September we cruised on the MSC Divina in a rear hump out full balcony room.Now this April we will be on the Royal Princess in a BB balcony room. I am excited to compare the 3 lines, but I will say we loved the Reflection.

 

I have to agree with you about the Celebrity Reflection. I sailed on Reflection with my mother and sister last June in the the Eastern Mediterranean and the ship is absolutely gorgeous. The cabins were great, staff was wonderful, and entertainment was good. Dining was good in the MDR and very good in the specialty restaurants. I can't really think of anything negative about our experience except for the cost of photos onboard and I'm sure that's pricey on all lines. I also find Celebrity's 123go! promotions to be more generous than Princess' or any of the other lines I compared for our upcoming Alaska cruise.

 

Despite our great Celebrity experience, we are sailing on Coral Princess in July mainly because we want to visit Glacier Bay, and I'm looking forward to seeing how Princess compares and how it has changed over the years. Our last cruise on Princess was in 1995, so I'm sure things are quite different now.

 

Thanks to the OP for your comparison of the two lines. It will help me to know what to expect this summer.

Edited February 2, 2015 by lucky cal

[hllwdcruiser]

Thank you for your fair and balanced comparison. After sailing NCL and RCCL we found our "fit" with Princess and have sailed them exclusively since then. I think we are ready for a change though and after Alaska in June on the Coral, we will most likely give Celebrity a go.

[lucky cal]

Thank you for your fair and balanced comparison. After sailing NCL and RCCL we found our "fit" with Princess and have sailed them exclusively since then. I think we are ready for a change though and after Alaska in June on the Coral, we will most likely give Celebrity a go.

 

I hope you will provide a report on your June Alaska cruise on the Coral. Are you doing the northbound or southbound itinerary? We are sailing southbound in July and I'm looking forward to reading others' impressions of the ship and Alaska before we go!

[schlot]

it's interesting review. I always find it interesting to see what other people see as important to them when they review or compare ships. A few things you mentioned would not even have registered with me. Such as the curtains in the main dining room.

 

Cost and itineraries are extremely important to me and I wish more of these items will be reviewed

[Hobbsey]

You did a great job here Kim - excellent and balanced presentation.

 

I was on Connie a year ago as well and found her levels of service to be above Caribbean Princess as well.

 

Like you too, I really appreciated CBs open deck space and the sense of never being crowded (except in Horizon Court or around the Atrium).