Princess vs Celebrity

[robinlynn]

I am thinking about booking for next May for the British Isles Cruise on the Royal Princess based mainly on the itinerary which sounds exactly what I am looking for. However my past two cruises on Celebrity Solstice class ships to the Med were amazing and I loved everything about the ships. Unfortunately their itinerary for the British Isles missed some stops I was hoping to make and begins and ends in Amsterdam instead of Southhampton making a pre or post few days on our own in England more difficult.

But after reading many reviews and cruise comparisons, it seems Princess does not compare in several categories of service, cabins and overall design to Celebrity.

I know I should go strictly by the itinerary, but I am concerned that I will not be as pleased overall with the ship. Anyone who has done both ships or lines out there that might give me their thoughts? Are the Celebrity ships service, food and design that much better?

I would appreciare any insights from those who have travelled on both the newer Princess and Celebrity ships.

 

Thanks!

Robin

[Astro Flyer]

Searching the Princess forum there are several discussions comparing opinions about Princess & Celebrity...including this one comparing their British Isle cruises.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1997330&highlight=princess+celebrity

Edited February 9, 2015 by Astro Flyer

[kennedyd]

Having cruised on Celebrity (Solstice and Reflection) and Princess (Emerald and Royal), I think you may have answered your own question in your second sentence IF you are most interested in the ship experience rather than the ports.

Royal Princess is very nice but I did not find it up to the standards of Solstice and Reflection. Just my opinion of course but it just didn't seem to measure up.

On the other hand, if it is the ports that are of paramount importance to you, then you should definitely go with Royal and I don't think you will be disappointed.

[wally_bushy]

Having cruised on Celebrity (Solstice and Reflection) and Princess (Emerald and Royal), I think you may have answered your own question in your second sentence IF you are most interested in the ship experience rather than the ports.

Royal Princess is very nice but I did not find it up to the standards of Solstice and Reflection. Just my opinion of course but it just didn't seem to measure up.

On the other hand, if it is the ports that are of paramount importance to you, then you should definitely go with Royal and I don't think you will be disappointed.

 

I agree with this which puts the decision back with you:(

Itinerary v ship.

Which means the most?:confused:

Edited February 9, 2015 by wally_bushy

[LoriPhil]

We sailed the Celebrity Eclipse last year - thought she was a beautiful ship. Really enjoyed the central "column" of open space running from the lower floors up to the glassed ceiling that created dramatic open space. The library was also hands above anything I've seen on my Princess cruises, and we loved the lawn on the top deck. Also the couch provided in all balcony cabins was nicer than the side chair found on Princess balconies. Comfy bed as well. Very nicely designed bathroom with a curved plastic door rather than shower curtain and good storage. Adult pool area was excellent.

 

That being said we preferred the food and dining experience on Princess (subjective and personal opinion); even though the Eclipse buffet was spacious, found the food repetitive, and I remember it often being closed when we wanted a light nosh. And REALLY missed the public laundry that Princess has - sending our smalls out for washing was very pricy on Celebrity and since I don't like washing things in the sink, that was our only option. Also prefer the private "dressing area" on princess, where you duck into the open space between the closet and bathroom to dress, and don't disturb your snoozing spouse if you get up way earlier than they do. Overall we enjoyed our celebrity cruise but missed the Princess experience, so we returned to Princess and are test-cruising the Royal in 7 weeks.

 

As others have said, both lines have pros and cons so figure out what's most important to you and have a wonderful cruise!

Edited February 9, 2015 by LoriPhil

[sunshine nana]

We have the same problem as you do. We took the UK cruise from London on Princess 4 years ago and it was a great cruise! We want to do it again from London, but the reviews of the Royal do not sound good. DH likes to sit on the balcony of a mini-suite and the size of the balconies on the Royal sound terrible.

We love Celebrity and would rather do UK on Celebrity, but do not want to start and end in Amsterdam.

I am waiting to see if the 2016 Princess cruises from London are on the Emerald or Crown instead of Royal. Or if Royal is used, maybe we can book early and get one of the few minis with a larger balcony.

I really wish Celebrity would do one UK starting in London.

[geoherb]

My last Celebrity cruise was a disappointment in terms of food and service. We had three great cruises on Celebrity before then. I always look at taking another one, but Princess and Holland America have won out over the past few years.

[kimlovesfl]

I only took a 5 nt western Caribbean cruise on each line, but perhaps my thread will help:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2160917&highlight=princess+vs+celebrity

[ellie1145]

We have the same problem as you do. We took the UK cruise from London on Princess 4 years ago and it was a great cruise! We want to do it again from London, but the reviews of the Royal do not sound good. DH likes to sit on the balcony of a mini-suite and the size of the balconies on the Royal sound terrible. .

 

We sailed on Royal over New Year in a balcony cabin and thoroughly enjoyed this beautiful ship. Yes, the balcony was small but it certainly was not terrible!

 

Our family of four had plenty of room to stand and watch sailaways, we ate afternoon tea on the balcony, and there was room for two chairs and a small table so we had no complaints. I don't understand the bad reviews of Royal. The crew were wonderful, happy, smiling and helpful and the food was amazing - the new buffet knocks spots off all the ships we have sailed in over 40+ cruises. Our only disappointment was the entertainment and our awful cruise director, but that was not enough to ruin our vacation.

 

If you want a larger balcony then try for a different grade of cabin such as a suite.

 

We loved our cabin on Solstice, but found the crew miserable and unhelpful, the food was mediocre, and the buffet closed down constantly so if you were late back from a trip it was shut. No such problem on Princess.

 

Everybody's experience is different, so it is really difficult to advise one ship against another, it just depends what is more important to the OP.

 

Hope you have a great time.

[JahHaus]

As a long-loyal Celebrity fan fresh back from my first-ever Princess cruise, I must say that the Regal Princess is awesome...more life on board, fun activities, nothing 'over the top'...everything was 'just right' with the Serenity Pool' a great place to get away from it all. I will say that specialty restaurants on Celebrity out-shine those on Princess...

Edited February 9, 2015 by JahHaus

[eandj]

If you want a particular itinerary and are flying so far to see the posts, I would not NOT choose Royal. You will be busy at ports. The time you spend on the ship will be less than a Carib itinerary with lots of sea days. So in your case go for itinerary.

 

We do the same. We took a larger ship on Princess to the fjiords and north cape. Didn't want to, but dh really had the ports in mind first. And we had a great time. Another cruise we used HAL for the itinerary (Spain). Had a great time even tho X did similar ports, not all the ones we wanted. So by choosing ports in both of these cruises we got what we wanted and certainly did not have bad experieinces on the ships.

 

When it comes to busy "far away" or exotic itineraries, we choose by itinerary first...ship second. And by the way, Princess is very close to X. It's not like you are comparing NCL to Celebrity.

[DrivesLikeMario]

I've been on both cruise lines and I wouldn't hesitate to book either. Princess is my favorite because of their buffet service, superior cabin stewards and past passenger perks but as you can see in my signature, when Princess doesn't go somewhere, Celebrity is my next choice.

 

Every cruise line does some things really well. Go for the itinerary since that seems to be your main focus. When you're doing a lot of port stops, the cruise line isn't quite as important as if you had a lot of sea days. I doubt you'll be disappointed with Princess. Appreciate what they do really well.

[kendon]

Princess. I have not been happy with the Royal Caribbean product.

[Working 2 Cruise]

We have the same problem as you do. We took the UK cruise from London on Princess 4 years ago and it was a great cruise! We want to do it again from London, but the reviews of the Royal do not sound good. DH likes to sit on the balcony of a mini-suite and the size of the balconies on the Royal sound terrible.

We love Celebrity and would rather do UK on Celebrity, but do not want to start and end in Amsterdam.

I am waiting to see if the 2016 Princess cruises from London are on the Emerald or Crown instead of Royal. Or if Royal is used, maybe we can book early and get one of the few minis with a larger balcony.

I really wish Celebrity would do one UK starting in London.

 

You're going to have a major problem with this... the Emerald is going to Australia and the Crown is now based on the West Coast and, as such, going to Alaska for the summer.

 

You should consider the Royal.

[lovevacadays]

Having cruised on Celebrity (Solstice and Reflection) and Princess (Emerald and Royal), I think you may have answered your own question in your second sentence IF you are most interested in the ship experience rather than the ports.

Royal Princess is very nice but I did not find it up to the standards of Solstice and Reflection. Just my opinion of course but it just didn't seem to measure up.

On the other hand, if it is the ports that are of paramount importance to you, then you should definitely go with Royal and I don't think you will be disappointed.

 

 

I really enjoy reading cruisers thoughts on different cruise lines. I have thought about booking Celebrity's Solstice class ships. Can you expand upon why you enjoyed the Solstice class over the Royal Princess?

[Astro Flyer]

...but the reviews of the Royal do not sound good. DH likes to sit on the balcony of a mini-suite and the size of the balconies on the Royal sound terrible.

I've sailed 27 days on the Royal (and have 17 days booked this spring on the Regal) & had great cruises. However if I based what ship to sail based on Cruise Critic "reviews" then I would rarely sail. :p I've read too many reviews saying a cruise was terrible when we had a great experience on the same cruise.

 

There was a big uproar from some who were unhappy with the Royal & posted accordingly...including some who had never sailed on her. The only thing I am aware of that was added to the Regal is a small aft splash pool which looks more like an overgrown hot tub to me. ;) To us the overreaction to a new class of ship resulted in poorer ratings for the Royal but better ratings for the Regal...basically the same ship.

 

Guess you've read the reviews about the "terrible" balcony sizes but they were acceptable to us & we even enjoyed another Ultimate Balcony Dinner. Most balconies are the same 9'x4" size which to us wasn't that much different than a standard 9'x5' balcony on most variations of the Grand-class ships so it wasn't a deal breaker for us but it may be for your husband.

 

Like any ship, there are pros & cons that each of us consider when selecting a cruise. For us the Royal & Regal have many more pros than cons but others will feel differently. They're merely "opinions" which everyone has but they're not how we determine which cruise is best for us. :)

[OCruisers]

While we very much prefer Princess, we never have a problem cruising with X. :)

LuLu

[RDC1]

Have sailed on both Solstice class and Royal Princess.

 

I like the indoor pool on the Solstice class for northern cruises. However since this one is rather port intensive not much of an impact.

 

It really comes down to what you like to do on the cruise. If you like sitting in the lounges then that seems to be the focus on Celebrity S- Class.

If you like having a lot of choice in activities at night then Princess might be the choice.

 

I preferred the buffet on Royal Princess. The Main Dining rooms were similar in quality, the one on the Solstice was noisier.

 

Solstice has a few better features in the rooms themselves (sofa, shower doors), but I don't spend very much time there. Though Princess has better storage layout.

Edited February 10, 2015 by RDC1

[paluni]

There was loud, real loud, and not so loud noise everywhere on the Regal. No quiet places, including the Retreat pool. The pool was nice but played recorded music. The walking track had banging booming music and I like to be out in the peaceful quiet ocean. Some people don't mind. The food is excellent on the ship, balcony cramped. Apparently Regal is improved in various ways on the Royal. My husband and I would never go on the Royal, and we're doubtful about going on the Regal again.

[blue manc]

We sailed the Celebrity Eclipse last year - thought she was a beautiful ship. Really enjoyed the central "column" of open space running from the lower floors up to the glassed ceiling that created dramatic open space. The library was also hands above anything I've seen on my Princess cruises, and we loved the lawn on the top deck. Also the couch provided in all balcony cabins was nicer than the side chair found on Princess balconies. Comfy bed as well. Very nicely designed bathroom with a curved plastic door rather than shower curtain and good storage. Adult pool area was excellent.

 

That being said we preferred the food and dining experience on Princess (subjective and personal opinion); even though the Eclipse buffet was spacious, found the food repetitive, and I remember it often being closed when we wanted a light nosh. And REALLY missed the public laundry that Princess has - sending our smalls out for washing was very pricy on Celebrity and since I don't like washing things in the sink, that was our only option. Also prefer the private "dressing area" on princess, where you duck into the open space between the closet and bathroom to dress, and don't disturb your snoozing spouse if you get up way earlier than they do. Overall we enjoyed our celebrity cruise but missed the Princess experience, so we returned to Princess and are test-cruising the Royal in 7 weeks.

 

As others have said, both lines have pros and cons so figure out what's most important to you and have a wonderful cruise!

 

Having cruised with both lines I think this post is spot on. However, I must added the importance of the itinerary I.M.O. and instead of making comparisons, just enjoy the experience.

[baggal]

We cruise for the itinerary first and foremost, budget and ship choice next. A British Isles cruise is very port intensive so you'll be off the ship most days anyway.

 

But, it sounds like you already prefer Celebrity. Stick with Celebrity then. Otherwise you'll be making comparisons throughout the cruise and that can sometimes lead to disappointment.

[Astro Flyer]

A British Isles cruise is very port intensive so you'll be off the ship most days anyway.

 

When we have a port intensive cruise like the British or Greek Isles with only a day or two at sea we book inside cabins & use our savings to more fully enjoy the ports.

[robinlynn]

Since we have decided on this cruise to finally get to visit the British Isles, I realized the only sensible thing is to take the cruise that will offer the best port experiences and itinerary that is closest to my desired stops. The Royal Princess fits the bill. I am hopeful the ship experience is close to Solstice class

standards, even if they still use shower curtains!

Thanks for all of the.advice. Seems that Princess cruisers are really friendly and helpful!!

Robin

[luvabeach]

Having just returned from a Caribbean cruise on the Royal, with the 2 previous cruises being on the Equinox, my personal preference is unequivocally the Equinox. The Royal is just too big ........my DH and my opinion. Being only 18 months old, the "wear and tear" is more noticeable than any ship I've ever been on. It seems there are too many people using a limited space. We also felt the crew was phenomenal, but totally understaffed and overworked. Maybe this is just a sign of the times...however, never felt that on Equinox.

Agree with previous posts that there are definite pros and cons for both lines. Love laundry on Princess and way prefer bathrooms on Celebrity. Food, in our opinion, was better in Horizon Buffet vs. celebrity buffet, while main dining room no comparison.....celebrity wins here hands down. Also love specialty restaurants on celebrity.

The general layout of Equinox, once again just our opinion, better flowing, easier to navigate and more to our liking.

Saying that, it does seem that Princess has better itineraries, but we love sea days, so am going to stick to Celebrity for now.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[need2cruisesoon]

Thanks for all the good information. We just decided to cancel our Royal 7/15 cruise in favor of the Silhoutte embarking Amsterdam for the British Isles.

 

The overnight in Edinburgh and good reviews of the Silhoutte were the deciding factors.

Edited March 13, 2015 by need2cruisesoon