Comparing Princess and Celebrity

[IECalCruiser]

Hi, I did a youtube search on Vista Suites Dolphin Deck Princess Cruises but it only showed mini suites so I can't give you a definitive answer. As the stern is vertical I think it unlikely that your balcony will differ from the one I showed on the Emerald as you are just one deck below.

 

 

 

Norris

I am sure someone has added to Norris' comment already but the Dolphin deck Vista suite balconies are deeper than the Emerald deck Vista suites. Also, although we have only been in a Dolphin deck Vista suite our friends were in an Emerald deck Vista suite and they found the wake noise to be a bit loud at times.

[DrivesLikeMario]

...Carol thinks a TA would be great ( I am not so enthusiastic) but if we did do one I would want to sail the QM2. Not many photo/video reviews of her and I'd be interested in see her service levels first hand. She's a distinctive looking ship whereas the other (QE, QV) two are cookie cutter shoebox with funnels designs like many of the HAL ships.

...Norris

 

Been there/done that. I was so disappointed after my QM2 TA! I expected so much more from the passengers. I thought they'd dress up more but every one of the four formal nights was pretty casual. There were very few tuxes, suits and fancy dresses. Most people wore smart casual dress on formal nights. The MDR food and service was a real disappointment - it was slow, inconsistent and the waiters were not familiar with the food. The buffet food was very basic.

 

The ship itself is gorgeous and very well appointed. The special-topic speakers throughout the cruise were horrible and gave out erroneous information but that could've just been those on our sailing. The library was good and the pub games were fun though. Overall, I would never do it again. Once was more than enough.

 

If you go, don't expect too much.

Edited February 27, 2016 by DrivesLikeMario

[DrivesLikeMario]

And gratuities aside, I find the statement you referenced completely backwards we waited one night on Celebrity. Every night on Princess.

 

I wasn't agreeing with his assessment of Princess' Anytime Dining. Just copied and pasted it for information on X's gratuities.

[Cruise Junky]

I wasn't agreeing with his assessment of Princess' Anytime Dining. Just copied and pasted it for information on X's gratuities.

 

That's why I said what you didn't on the X vs Princess Anytime dining.

[SheriffJoe]

I think Celebrity wins "hot Captains" category ;)

 

That's the same Captain that's featured on the bow of Silly in the New Celebrity "Marco Polo" TV ads....its good to be the King!

[Cruise Junky]

That's the same Captain that's featured on the bow of Silly in the New Celebrity "Marco Polo" TV ads....its good to be the King!

 

I thought it was him - thanks for confirming.

[Bimmer09]

I am sure someone has added to Norris' comment already but the Dolphin deck Vista suite balconies are deeper than the Emerald deck Vista suites. Also, although we have only been in a Dolphin deck Vista suite our friends were in an Emerald deck Vista suite and they found the wake noise to be a bit loud at times.

 

Hi there, thanks for the comment but I want to clarify that when I mentioned our "Emerald" vista balcony I was referring to the Emerald Princess and not Emerald deck. We were on Caribe Deck on the Emerald P. I am wondering if the suites are shorter, allowing for the deeper balcony? The aft is very close to being vertical...

 

Norris

[Bimmer09]

I have really been enjoying your comparison, and I'm finding it quite helpful as we are taking our first Princess cruise in May to Alaska, round trip out of San Francisco.

 

We have sailed on the Silhouette twice and absolutely loved her. Like you, we were impressed by the visibility and accessibility of the ship's officers. Our captain on both sailings was Emmanuel Alevropoulos, and he is an excellent ambassador for Celebrity. He has a wicked sense of humor that was showcased during Celebrity's version of Liar's Club. We also enjoyed his Q & A session and talking with him 1-on-1 several times. He's very approachable and loves to talk about sailing and his ship.

 

Hi and thanks for reading along and enjoying.

 

I'm happy to see you heading to Alaska in May on Princess so you'll see the Princess experience in Person. Hopefully you'll be pleased.

 

I agree with all you say about Captain Alevropoulos.

 

Cheers,

 

Norris

[Bimmer09]

Been there/done that. I was so disappointed after my QM2 TA! I expected so much more from the passengers. I thought they'd dress up more but every one of the four formal nights was pretty casual. There were very few tuxes, suits and fancy dresses. Most people wore smart casual dress on formal nights. The MDR food and service was a real disappointment - it was slow, inconsistent and the waiters were not familiar with the food. The buffet food was very basic.

 

The ship itself is gorgeous and very well appointed. The special-topic speakers throughout the cruise were horrible and gave out erroneous information but that could've just been those on our sailing. The library was good and the pub games were fun though. Overall, I would never do it again. Once was more than enough.

 

If you go, don't expect too much.

 

Thanks for your response and your last line in particular. As the QM2 has a 70% approval rating in members reviews (Still higher than Royal Princess) I can see that they can't live up to their advertising and meet everyone's expectations.

 

A TA is a retirement itinerary so I am no rush.

 

One thing that keeps me reading the Cunard boards is my curiosity on how a British line competes today. I left the UK 30 years ago (March 86) at a time when "service" in my everyday experience was begrudging. The phrase "It's the least I can do" was surely coined in the UK as that was generally what I experienced in restaurants and pubs-the least someone could do to serve me. I never stayed in an expensive hotel but in a lot of B and Bs. I have only been back to the UK 3 times in 30 years so am not up to speed on how things are now. Better I hope.

 

Of course I don't imagine the bulk of the service crew on QM2 to be cheery Cockneys.

 

Thanks again,

 

Norris

Edited February 27, 2016 by Bimmer09

[wowzz]

Hi Norris.

I think that you'll find that the service industries have had a seismic shake up in the last 20 years or so, here in the UK. You will still find the odd miserable sod, but overall service levels are now much closer to those found in the US, but perhaps without the ubiquitous 'Have a nice day' platitude.

[foodsvcmgr]

Norris you are sadly correct. You will be hard pressed to find a Brit working on Cunard Line today other than the officers.

 

The multi-national service staff I have found to generally be competent, but not particularly friendly on QM2.

[Bimmer09]

Hi Norris.

I think that you'll find that the service industries have had a seismic shake up in the last 20 years or so, here in the UK. You will still find the odd miserable sod, but overall service levels are now much closer to those found in the US, but perhaps without the ubiquitous 'Have a nice day' platitude.

 

Thank you for this contribution and welcome aboard!

 

A phrase still rings in my head from the UK- "more than my job's worth mate".

A way of saying something is too much trouble. It's the opposite of "sure, no problem" which is what I hope to hear and what I heard during my first meal in Miami in 1985 when I joined the Song of Norway crew.

 

I'm glad to hear that the service industry in the UK has seen the light!

 

Norris.

[Bimmer09]

Norris you are sadly correct. You will be hard pressed to find a Brit working on Cunard Line today other than the officers.

 

The multi-national service staff I have found to generally be competent, but not particularly friendly on QM2.

 

Thank you for this.

 

Competency requires some work and energy. Being friendly should come naturally and costs nothing. Poor supervision and training is my pet peeve on cruise ships.

 

The white uniforms with the shoulder stripes look nice though.

 

Cheers!

 

Norris

[DrivesLikeMario]

Thanks for your response and your last line in particular. As the QM2 has a 70% approval rating in members reviews (Still higher than Royal Princess) I can see that they can't live up to their advertising and meet everyone's expectations.

 

A TA is a retirement itinerary so I am no rush.

 

One thing that keeps me reading the Cunard boards is my curiosity on how a British line competes today. I left the UK 30 years ago (March 86) at a time when "service" in my everyday experience was begrudging. The phrase "It's the least I can do" was surely coined in the UK as that was generally what I experienced in restaurants and pubs-the least someone could do to serve me. I never stayed in an expensive hotel but in a lot of B and Bs. I have only been back to the UK 3 times in 30 years so am not up to speed on how things are now. Better I hope.

Of course I don't imagine the bulk of the service crew on QM2 to be cheery Cockneys.

 

Thanks again,

 

Norris

 

Yes, your hope is correct. I've been to England 4 times in the past few years and I've noticed a change in service just in the past 4-5 years. On the QM2, the crew were very good. I never ran into a crew member that wasn't doing his/her job. Most were friendly enough. I think it's just the way the MDR and the buffet were set up and that the crew wasn't staffed enough to do a good job. You could tell in the dining room that the waiters were stretched to their limits. It, and the buffet, had very stressed out servers.

Edited February 27, 2016 by DrivesLikeMario

[ar1950]

.....................

 

If there was a way to scan my 1986 RCCL brochure without taking the pages apart I would so you could see the amenities and sparse cabins and the 1986 prices (they haven't moved much since)................................

 

Norris

 

Take pictures of it? It won't be as high of a quality as a scan, but, would still be fun to see it.

[Bimmer09]

The pool area on cruise ships tends to be the hub or center of activities on deck and in the interior there is a central hub which draws people not seeking a tan.

On the Princess Grand class ships it's called the Piazza. It spans 3 decks and on those decks (5,6 and 7) are the shops, cafes and bars and customer related desks, such as Guest Services, Future Cruises, Internet and such. it makes an impression at first sight. You may say WOW.

 

 

You'll find Customer Service here, open 24 hours

.

 

 

When there are no acts appearing it's just a good place to sit with friends and relax with a coffee and pastry from the International Cafe (open 24 hours).

 

 

It's elegantly appointed and speaks of luxury.

 

 

 

Come to the Piazza for the Special Events- Captain's Welcome etc, live bands, dance classes, jugglers, acrobats, fruit carving demos, parlor games, solo pianists and those sidewalk sales that cruise lines can't live without (oops there goes the "luxury" feel)

 

NEXT The Silhouette's Grand Foyer.

[Jasperdo]

Thanks Jasperdo. I notice an NCL one time event in your early days too.

We enjoyed our cruise on the Southward. It was just a 4 day out of LA. We took our oldest son with us as a graduation from high school present. The Southward was a small but beautiful ship. The only thing I didn't like about that cruise was it was only 4 days. The first and last time we took a cruise that short. NCL seems to have changed quite a bit since then. I know it gets a bad rap at times, much like Carnival. But I enjoyed our cruise on NCL, and if the right opportunity arose, I would sail with them again. Same with Carnival. We've enjoyed all 3 sailings we did with them.

[midwestchick]

The pool area on cruise ships tends to be the hub or center of activities on deck and in the interior there is a central hub which draws people not seeking a tan.

On the Princess Grand class ships it's called the Piazza. It spans 3 decks and on those decks (5,6 and 7) are the shops, cafes and bars and customer related desks, such as Guest Services, Future Cruises, Internet and such. it makes an impression at first sight. You may say WOW.

 

 

You'll find Customer Service here, open 24 hours

.

 

 

When there are no acts appearing it's just a good place to sit with friends and relax with a coffee and pastry from the International Cafe (open 24 hours).

 

 

It's elegantly appointed and speaks of luxury.

 

 

 

Come to the Piazza for the Special Events- Captain's Welcome etc, live bands, dance classes, jugglers, acrobats, fruit carving demos, parlor games, solo pianists and those sidewalk sales that cruise lines can't live without (oops there goes the "luxury" feel)

 

NEXT The Silhouette's Grand Foyer.

 

 

 

It's gorgeous.

Is this how the Star Princess looks?

[Bimmer09]

The Grand Foyer occupies 3 floors on the Silhouette but is a less Grand affair than Princess.

 

 

There's a staircase from deck 4 to 3 but when there's a band playing and people dancing you'd be better off taking the elevator.

 

 

It's a long narrow space often taken up by Park West art auctions

 

 

Seen from a distance the carpeted area is really wasted space most of the time-Park West are sorting out their paintings in this shot.

 

 

It doesn't gather the crowd you would see in the Princess Piazza. Cosy chairs around the perimeter of the decks above don't encourage crowds to gather.

 

 

The Shore excursions and Guest Relations desks are on the lowest floor but set away from the hub, as are the shops, unlike in the Piazza where everything's laid out before you in one pass of the eye.

 

With a band playing dance music in the evening. You can see that the red carpeted area serves little function and is blocked by the band set up.

 

 

I saw some bands play here, some dance classes/exercise classes and art auctions but less variety of events than on Princess. To me it lacks the WOW factor. It doesn't make you want to linger to see "what's coming next"

 

CENTRAL HUB?

 

ADVANTAGE PRINCESS

 

(FOR IT'S SCALE, THE WOW FACTOR, THE VARIETY AND NUMBER OF ENTERTAINMENTS THERE AND CONCENTRATION OF SHOPS AND OFFICES)

[Bimmer09]

It's gorgeous.

Is this how the Star Princess looks?

 

I haven't been on the Star but she's a sister ship of the Caribbean Princess which I have reviewed and which looked like this also. They are all the work of the same interior designer, Teresa Anderson.

 

Norris

[midwestchick]

I haven't been on the Star but she's a sister ship of the Caribbean Princess which I have reviewed and which looked like this also. They are all the work of the same interior designer, Teresa Anderson.

 

Norris

 

Do you know what class the Star is?

[ar1950]

It's gorgeous.

Is this how the Star Princess looks?

 

Pretty much the same.

[ar1950]

Do you know what class the Star is?

 

Grand class.

[Jasperdo]

It's gorgeous.

Is this how the Star Princess looks?

Here are a few photos of the Piazza area on the Star Princess. It's very similar to the Ruby:

 

 

[midwestchick]

Here are a few photos of the Piazza area on the Star Princess. It's very similar to the Ruby:

 

 

 

 

 

Thank you. I love the elegant look and prefer it over the contemporary look of X Solstice class.

Edited February 27, 2016 by midwestchick