Jump to Princess from Celebrity?

[jabrown40]

I would really appreciate any help making a decision for our 2018 Caribbean cruise - I booked the Southern Caribbean 7 day on the Summit while on our last Celebrity cruise, in a Sky suite. However, with the club class being offered to mini suite guests, I am also interested in a Princess 8 day itinerary. My husband really enjoyed our previous Celebrity Silhouette cruise, but I thought it was a little quiet in the lounges at night. We were happy with the shows, but I love the idea of the piano bars offered on Princess. He is reluctant to make a change after such a good experience on Celebrity, are there any opinions out there that can help us decide? This would be on the Crown Princess, vrs the Summit. Thank you! ( I posted this to the Princess board as well)

[kitty9]

The two cruise lines are more similar than different.

[venicecruiser]

I switched from X to Princess several years ago. Love Princess - especially the Elite benefits- and have no plans to go back to X. Just my opinion....

 

 

Claudia

[Mikeandme]

DH and I sail on both. We regularly sail on Celebrity Summit in a CS and also on Princess (Grand Class) in a mini-suite (ME) on Emerald Deck. I have no plans to upgrade to Club Class (MA) on Dolphin as I prefer the covered balcony and enjoy the food in the MDR. You will find a lot of passengers that sail on both lines who, like us, enjoy the differences as well as the similarities.

[Gracie115]

Our one Princess cruise did NOT endear me to the line, though we may try again sometime. This was on the Regal Princess, their newest ship. Select Dining was a nightmare...."here's a beeper, when it lights up we'll have a table for you"...ugh....

 

The mini suite was a nice room, so Princess got points for that.

 

We hated that there was NO WAY to walk the entire perimeter of the ship outside on any deck...none...completely blocked at the front of the ship on the upper decks with their "private" areas.

 

On the good side we loved the wine bar, Vines, and we liked the Centrum area very much...it was always active and fun. We also like Sabatini's.

 

So we'll no doubt try again, but if I was debating a very similar itinerary between the two lines Celebrity would win for us.

[chamima]

I would really appreciate any help making a decision for our 2018 Caribbean cruise - I booked the Southern Caribbean 7 day on the Summit while on our last Celebrity cruise, in a Sky suite. However, with the club class being offered to mini suite guests, I am also interested in a Princess 8 day itinerary. My husband really enjoyed our previous Celebrity Silhouette cruise, but I thought it was a little quiet in the lounges at night. We were happy with the shows, but I love the idea of the piano bars offered on Princess. He is reluctant to make a change after such a good experience on Celebrity, are there any opinions out there that can help us decide? This would be on the Crown Princess, vrs the Summit. Thank you! ( I posted this to the Princess board as well)

 

 

We also sail both lines.

They are very similar but there are different things we like on each.

There will be a lot more evening entertainment on the Crown. However, there is no indoor pool and the buffet is smaller.

There will be no "Michael's" lounge.

Also, just know that Princess is currently offering an unlimited drink package with most 2017 -2018 itineraries (summer 2017 through winter 2018) and some of the cruises are significantly more than Celebrity. Some aren't so check your cruise for a comparison.

[chamima]

Our one Princess cruise did NOT endear me to the line, though we may try again sometime. This was on the Regal Princess, their newest ship. Select Dining was a nightmare...."here's a beeper, when it lights up we'll have a table for you"...ugh....

 

The mini suite was a nice room, so Princess got points for that.

We hated that there was NO WAY to walk the entire perimeter of the ship outside on any deck...none...completely blocked at the front of the ship on the upper decks with their "private" areas.

 

On the good side we loved the wine bar, Vines, and we liked the Centrum area very much...it was always active and fun. We also like Sabatini's.

 

So we'll no doubt try again, but if I was debating a very similar itinerary between the two lines Celebrity would win for us.

 

 

Not accurate - there's a very nice walking/jogging track on Deck 16 or 17.

[Gracie115]

Not accurate - there's a very nice walking/jogging track on Deck 16 or 17.

 

It is accurate....that track will NOT bring you to the bow area of the ship.....at least on the Regal.....

Edited June 26, 2016 by Gracie115

[OCruisers]

While we've always enjoyed our Celebrity cruises, we like Princess better.

There's more lounge activity and we love the mini-suites!

For January 2018 we're booking a Club Level Mini Suite ... now called M1.

Princess currently has a "Sip 'n Sail" promotion (free All Inclusive Beverage Package), etc. which may be of interest to you.

Nice (rather similar) passenger base on both. Your husband won't go into "culture shock" taking a Princess cruise! :D

LuLu

[floridatravelersforlife]

We switched to Princess and Oceania except for holiday family cruises with the grand kids. When it's just us two, Celebrity is our last choice, even with Elite Plus.

[jabrown40]

Can you explain some of the reasons why you prefer princess over celebrity?

[compman9]

I think our upcoming trip on the Millennium will be our last until Project Edge comes to fruition

 

The itineraries are very similar every year, the entertainment really is quite poor and the quality has deteriorated on many levels over the past few years

 

That said, Celebrity are still our favourite line but a recent trip on the Harmony of the Seas maiden voyage has reminded me that there are plenty more cruise companies to try out

[joanne2]

We're Celebrity cruisers who tried Princess last year (their 50th anniversary). We did the spring TA on the Caribbean Princess and liked it so much we did the spring TA this year on the Regal Princess. On both those ships they have a piano bar called Crooners which was packed every night. I think they had more evening entertainment than Celebrity and it lasted later.

 

We've not made a permanent switch to Princess and we're doing the Panama Canal on Infinity this October but I now check them as much as I do Celebrity.

 

We tried their Anytime dining on the Regal and it was wonderful. We usually ate around 8:00 and there were NO lines. After that trip I switched our Infinity reservation from Traditional Late to Select.

[PLW0520]

Going on our first Celebrity cruise in Nov and am beginning to get worried as we also enjoy the lounge entertainment at night. We have sailed on Princess NCl and RCI and they all have had great lounge entertainment. Is there none on Celebrity?

[TomTN]

You really should try both. The difference will probably not be that great, but you might decide that you prefer one over the other.

 

We will sail on Princess again, but not the Caribbean Princess. Way too crowded.

[denatravels]

Going on our first Celebrity cruise in Nov and am beginning to get worried as we also enjoy the lounge entertainment at night. We have sailed on Princess NCl and RCI and they all have had great lounge entertainment. Is there none on Celebrity?

 

 

I've been on NCL, RCI, Celebrity, and going on princess in two weeks-- so far, the entertainment on NCL is far superior to the others. Celebrity was the weakest in this area.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

Edited June 26, 2016 by denatravels

[jabrown40]

When we were on the Silhouette, the lounge singers were a solo guy with a guitar, kind of quiet and so so. The other act was a young man and woman, also very quiet. It was more like background music. I think they had a jazz group in there also, but we missed that.

[Gracie115]

We tried their Anytime dining on the Regal and it was wonderful. We usually ate around 8:00 and there were NO lines. After that trip I switched our Infinity reservation from Traditional Late to Select.

 

We tried to eat anytime between 6 and 7:30 and there were always lines.....twice we were handed a beeper so we could wander around until it went off.... by the time we left it was always quieter but we don't like eating late and have never had to wait on Celebrity in Select dining...the other thing we didn't like about Princess Select dining was that we were never seated in the same section with the same wait staff which Celebrity AND Royal have always seemed to do and which we like.

 

The Regal was a beautiful ship....and I think others that mention there being more entertainment on Princess are correct, but we do still prefer Celebrity as we think their service in general is better and their food also......but we do like some itineraries that Princess offers so will probably wind up on one of their ships in the future.

[richsea]

It is accurate....that track will NOT bring you to the bow area of the ship.....at least on the Regal.....

 

Where can you walk to the bow area of any Celebrity ship? (Without an invitation from tge Captain or CC hostess)

[florisdekort]

I never understood the concepts "jump from", "switch", etc. It seems like brand loyalty gone crazy or cheerleading to me. If the itinerary, price and specifics of the cruise line (4* or more, preferably smaller ships) are right for me, I book.

[eandj]

We are elite on Celebrity but have done more Princess cruises as of late. (Alaska coming in Aug) We wanted a change, even from the newer X ships and Princess seemed ( and IS ) close enough.

We now look to both lines. We have cruised often using 4 different lines. So we look to itinerary first. And we initially concentrate on Princess and X ships. Either works for us. They are both more than satisfactory in amenities and service. Altho I will agree that Princess seems to have livelier entertainment options.

That being said, the 14 day Carib itinerary that we are doing for the 3rd time on X's Eclipse has always been one of our favorite winter breaks. Princess can't compare with their "back to back" itineraries.

 

I would recommend anyone needing a change to look at trying something new. Each line and ship class offers pros and cons. We have never had a 100% perfect cruise. But darn close.;)

Edited June 26, 2016 by eandj

[robsmom]

We have done both. I actually liked the Royal Princess better than Celebrity S class. My husband prefers Celebrity. I can not compare the two you are looking at per se. What I liked was the non-buffet daytime food options. They had an international cafe mid-ship, Pizza/pasta at Alfredo's and pizza and burgers at the pool as included choices and also for pay seafood. I liked the layout of the mini-suite and my teenager loved the curtain to divide the room and the 2 tv's. My husband likes the Celebrity sanctuary better than the Princess retreat as it is easier to get seats. We both thought the crown Grill was excellent, but we also like Celebrity's specialty restaurants. Entertainment was better on Princess. In general the are very comparable. We would do either again.

[Kartgv]

We're elite on Celebrity, platinum on Princess and cruise both lines depending on which one has the itinerary, timing, and price we want at any particular time. We've done a 29 day cruise on the Crown Princess and a 14 day cruise on Celebrity Solstice, plus several shorter cruises on both lines. As others say, they are much more similar than different and both give a good cruise experience if you focus on the things that are important to you in choosing. We've had great meals and exceptional service, as well as poor meals, service 'fails', and occasional management and plumbing issues on both lines. Of the ships we've been on, the Summit is our least favorite - just didn't like the ship's layout; we enjoyed both the Crown and the Solstice. I'd give a slight edge to Princess on entertainment and pizza, to Celebrity for ice cream!, but everything else is pretty comparable.

 

Even though you didn't mention RCI, we also cruise with them frequently and find them usually similar in quality. We love the Radiance class ships for all the openness and their somewhat smaller size. We have no desire to cruise on the new huge megaships on any cruise line.

Edited June 26, 2016 by Kartgv

[need2cruisesoon]

Living on the west coast makes it much easier to cruise Princess than X. Sometimes where you live does factor in when making a choice.

[Gracie115]

Where can you walk to the bow area of any Celebrity ship? (Without an invitation from tge Captain or CC hostess)

 

Well....the absolute FRONT of the bow is at the helipad on most X ships, which we have been lucky enough to be invited to a few times.

 

But I was speaking of the upper decks where you can walk to the center at the front of the ship, above the bow area, overlooking that helipad. It's a wonderful spot in the evenings to stand and feel the wind blowing through your hair when the ship is at sea....

 

You can't do that on a Regal or Royal Princess ship.