Considering Coming Back to Princess

[GStonelake]

All, cruised last 10 years with Celebrity with a few Royal Caribbean sprinkled in. Before that ... 3x with Princess. Considering doing 2x 10-day balcony B2B on Princess next year. Can anyone that has cruised both recently (more recent than me) list what you prefer and why? Maybe a pro/con.

 

 

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[Cruise Raider]

All, cruised last 10 years with Celebrity with a few Royal Caribbean sprinkled in. Before that ... 3x with Princess. Considering doing 2x 10-day balcony B2B on Princess next year. Can anyone that has cruised both recently (more recent than me) list what you prefer and why? Maybe a pro/con.

 

 

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We sail mostly on Princess and Celebrity and once in awhile on Royal Caribbean. I have taken one of each of these in 2016.

 

I love Celebrity ... everything about it!! I love both the M-class and S-class ships. I never feel crowded and I like the designs of their ships. The service is great and the food and entertainment is also very good for the most part. Their cabins are roomy and soundproof.

I love being able to play bocci up on the lawn and they separate their smoking and nonsmoking sections pretty well. Plus...no smoking in the casino!

Their theaters are usually able to handle the number of attendees for the shows. And ... I can always find a quiet little corner outside to relax or read a book.

 

Our last cruise on Royal was fun but the ship was just too big for my tastes. There were lines and crowds for everything!! Service was so so! Food was just ok, except at the specialty restaurants. Beautiful ship, but not my style.

 

As mentioned, we sail a lot on Princess ... mostly because they sail out of our home port of San Francisco. Aside from that, on our last cruise, the service was phenomenal and the good ranged from ok to excellent. I love their daily happy hours and the waiters there make it a lot of fun. Everyone is so friendly and they pretty much go out of their way to make sure to say hi and be pleasant. I am not crazy about their ship they have home ported in SF, but lots of other things they do so well to overcome an old ship. I like the open closet style better on Princess but the cabins are much more cramped and only offer a chair, if even, and not a couch like on Celebrity and Royal. Princess has excellent pizza by the pool and I love watching a movie or football game by the pool.

 

But as mentioned, I would jump over to Celebrity exclusively if only they would begin and end their cruises in San Francisco more often. The Captain's Circle / Club Hosts have definitely spoiled us on Celebrity, whereas on Princess, they don't bother to know our names.

[Carolyn R]

Are you looking at the Royal Princess in the Caribbean? Fabulous ship! The deluxe balcony cabins have a loveseat sofa. Most balconies are very small, but a few larger ones can be located by checking the deck plans.

[GStonelake]

Cruise Raider ... thanks, exactly the type of feedback I was looking for.

Carolyn R ... yes, looking at the Royal Princess.

 

 

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[4cats4me]

Cruise Raider ... thanks, exactly the type of feedback I was looking for.

Carolyn R ... yes, looking at the Royal Princess.

 

 

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I agree with cruiseraider. We sail out of San Fran because it is also our home port, and we love Celebrity, and even though we love Celebrity, we loved the Grand Primcess back in Oct, even though she is old, but service and food were EXCELLENT. We didn't think the service on the Regal was so great back in April, however. we spoke with many employees on the Grand, and when asked if they would like to be on the Regal instead, they all emphatically replied NO. They said it is just too big, not laid out well

In fact, they told us that most of the employees on the Regal a Royal are kind if unhappy due to the challenges of working on those two ships

We had great service on the Regal in 2015, however, and are booked again for 20-7

 

 

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[jeromep]

All, cruised last 10 years with Celebrity with a few Royal Caribbean sprinkled in. Before that ... 3x with Princess. Considering doing 2x 10-day balcony B2B on Princess next year. Can anyone that has cruised both recently (more recent than me) list what you prefer and why? Maybe a pro/con.

 

 

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Which ship will you be on for the B2B cruises? That has a lot to do with how crowded the ship will feel. The new Royal class of ships are very large by Princess' historical standards, as compared to the Grand class and it's various derivatives. There are quite a few more people on a Royal class ship as compared to the largest of the Grand class ships, and that makes a huge difference in how things feel in terms of lines and waiting.

 

Princess is still laid back yet elegant. It remains a calm, understated line. Food quality and presentation is very subjective, but it remains better than average to excellent, all depending on the kitchen crew and the food and beverage managers' skills.

 

Ships remain well maintained. Princess has doubled down on atmosphere and interior design on their ships, focusing on attractive and ever larger Piaaza public spaces and has eschewed many of the things that RCCL is strong at, like capital intensive on-board attractions: sky cranes, ice rinks, water follies, etc. Not that there is anything wrong with that, but it isn't Princess' bag.

 

Aside from the specialty dining venues, most food on board remains included in your fare. Princess is starting to further segment travelers by offering a special class for selected mini-suite passengers, Club Class, but that isn't line wide yet, but will be by the end of 2017. This is still rolling out. There are lots of threads that cover this with many opinions flying about. We've dined in specialty restaurants and MDR and find that food in both locations is basically excellent. Most of the time specialty restaurants are a cut above the MDR, and a nice change of pace, but if you absolutely don't want to pay a cover charge for any meal while on board, you'll not suffer with MDR and buffet food.

 

The last time you cruised Princess I suspect that the International Cafe was not present on all the ships, so you may or may not have had it on your most recent sailing. That has gone fleet wide and for some time now. It is located on the main level of the Piazza on most ships and is the only 24/hour food source, aside from room service. Food items there are all complimentary unless otherwise labeled. Brewed coffee and coffee drinks like lattes and mochas are all for a fee. You can purchase a coffee punch card which makes lattes and mochas a fixed price per drink and is a good value, especially if you use up your punch card during the cruise. The punch card also entitles you to unlimited brewed coffee from the IC and I think also hot tea. Don't mark my words on the hot tea because I'm not a huge tea drinker.

 

I've never had a bad cabin steward and feel that cabin service is still efficient and attentive. And, depending on how much you ask of your cabin steward, basically almost invisible.

 

Long time cruisers can document all the changes that have occurred on Princess, but I have never seen the changes as all that negative, just the normal ebb and flow of a business that is growing and adjusting to changes in the market.

 

If you like the itinerary, you should definitely book the cruise with Princess.

Edited January 7, 2017 by jeromep

[satxdiver]

I have never been on X but have been on RCCL voyager class ships. Princess is much better suited to our tastes as the ice rink, climbing wall etc has no appeal. We also did not like the idea that there were no windows looking out at the sea on the royal promenade and several other venues. Princess has seemed to be more open to the sea at most locations.

 

The Royal/Regal and soon to be Majestic are different design ships than the earlier ships in the fleet. The deluxe balcony cabins all have a love seat while the earlier ships do not. This is the one thing I missed that RCCL had. I also loved the new layout of the HC which is a vast improvement over the older ship's HC and the RCCL voyager class ships.

 

As for Princess in general I have found them much easier to deal with in booking a cruise and making changes later like when a sale comes up. The other great feature is that Princess allows pax to stack OBC so that you can get the FCD OBC, shareholder OBC and military OBC. Any veteran of an armed forces can get a generous military OBC so if the OP is a veteran, you need to claim it.

[keithm]

All, cruised last 10 years with Celebrity with a few Royal Caribbean sprinkled in. Before that ... 3x with Princess. Considering doing 2x 10-day balcony B2B on Princess next year. Can anyone that has cruised both recently (more recent than me) list what you prefer and why? Maybe a pro/con.

 

 

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We usually now cruise on Celebrity(the Eclipse)Due to a scheduling issue, we did a 14 day B2B on the Regal last Feb. My Pros: The ship is quite gorgeous inside, especially the Piazza. Crooners is a great place to grab a nice drink & people watch as everyone pretty much has to walk by to visit parts of the ship. The STAFF!! Just outstanding! We've never seen staff that were less than very good(we're both in the food/hospitality fields)on any line, but they just seemed so interested & concerned that your trip was as good as it could be. The Horizons Café(Lido)Best selection of food we've seen on any line..Cunard/Celebrity. The Sky Walk(not for those afraid of heights, but much fun)Overall excursions. Reasonably priced compared to Cunard/Celebrity. Choices are a little wanting, though. Great Special Tea(served on the lower level of the Piazza. About $25 & worth it. Decent tea service served daily in one of the dining rooms.(Cunard wins hands down here!) "MUTS"..Really decent & recent films to watch out on the deck. The "Sanctuary". What a great place to relax!! Worth the price!($ 20 half day/$40 full day) Negatives: No central stairways can cause big log jams when going to dinner or a show. Food was good but, not quite up to the Eclipse level(exception: Seafood, which was excellent)No "wow" factor in any dining room. There were 3(one is for traditional set times)Alternative rest.(Sabatini's/Crown Grill had very good ambience, but the steaks were just OK.) Do check the menu in Wheelhouse bar. Once a cruise they offer a "British Pub" experience. Really good. Another let down was the fact that the menu "repeats" for the second leg of the B2B(even if going to a different part of the Caribbean)Shows were rather limited, as the theater is amazingly small for such a large ship. No drink service or place to put a drink if you carried one in. Real loss in revenue here!! musicians/bands were kind of small but their talents made up for the size. Overall, I think you'll have a good to very good cruise on the "Royal" Class ships. Not being on any other Princess ship I really can't opine on them.

Edited January 7, 2017 by keithm
additions

[patrickmoran]

All, cruised last 10 years with Celebrity with a few Royal Caribbean sprinkled in. Before that ... 3x with Princess. Considering doing 2x 10-day balcony B2B on Princess next year. Can anyone that has cruised both recently (more recent than me) list what you prefer and why? Maybe a pro/con.[/url]

 

I don't think you would be happy with the size of the Royal's balcony cabin. Storage is better but the inside cabin size is significantly smaller than S-class balcony cabins unless you step up to a deluxe or a mini-suite. The balcony size is very small, maybe 4 feet deep for most.

I like Royal's buffet better but MDR was better on the Silhouette than the Royal (B2B, 2 weeks each in Med).

Drink prices are lower and tastier drinks on P but easier to get a drink package as part of the fare with X.

[keithm]

I don't think you would be happy with the size of the Royal's balcony cabin. Storage is better but the inside cabin size is significantly smaller than S-class balcony cabins unless you step up to a deluxe or a mini-suite. The balcony size is very small, maybe 4 feet deep for most.

I like Royal's buffet better but MDR was better on the Silhouette than the Royal (B2B, 2 weeks each in Med).

Drink prices are lower and tastier drinks on P but easier to get a drink package as part of the fare with X.

S class cabins bathrooms ARE far nicer, true. We've done inside rooms on the Regal & Eclipse. We found storage MUCH better on the Regal. That being said we still prefer the Eclipse quite a bit more.

[TracieABD]

I like the new builds- with two exceptions- I miss a proper Prominade Deck- and I don't like how the passageways on the stateroom decks are not a contiguous, straight line. (OK- that just makes me sound like a dork- but hey, if the shoe fits...).

 

You will do a lot more walking on the new builds- but at least the Royal now has a center staircase designated for passenger use!

Edited January 8, 2017 by TracieABD

[MisterMet]

All, cruised last 10 years with Celebrity with a few Royal Caribbean sprinkled in. Before that ... 3x with Princess. Considering doing 2x 10-day balcony B2B on Princess next year. Can anyone that has cruised both recently (more recent than me) list what you prefer and why? Maybe a pro/con.

 

 

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I recommend you read Bimmer09 review comparing Celebrity and Princess. Well done and VERY informative.[emoji122][emoji122][emoji106][emoji106]

 

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=49382255

 

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Edited January 8, 2017 by MisterMet

[TracieABD]

I recommend you read Bimmer09 review comparing Celebrity and Princess. Well done and VERY informative.[emoji122][emoji122][emoji106][emoji106]

 

 

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Here is the link to Norris' thread:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2317130

[FTLcruisers]

Add us to the folks that love Celebrity but just recently went on 2 Princess cruises with another coming up in April. We cruised Princess for the first time back in the 90s and had a horrible experience on one of their new ships - never went back since their response to our complaints was 'things happen on cruise ships'. We had sailed RCL a few times and found 'things weren't happening' on their ships so continued until we discovered Celebrity. About 2 years ago we were given a free 5 night cruise on a Princess ship and had a nice time, food and shows were good, service was good so decided to give them another try and went on a 21 day TA - had an excellent time, again food, shows & service were very good. Of course, things are done differently on the 2 cruise lines but what has us going back again is the ability to combine OBCs. Celebrity restricts you to 1 - we are stockholders but often can't use that OBC if we have gotten another deal. We will be going on our next Princess cruise with $1,200 OBC - $250 because my husband was in the military, $600 because we booked a balcony during their recent sale, $300 since we booked a 'future' cruise on our last sailing and $60 travel agent credit. Will we become exclusive Princess cruisers - no - but if we get the right deal and/or itinerary, we'll certainly be booking with them.

 

Marianne

Edited January 8, 2017 by FTLcruisers

[Flafun888]

I don't have nearly the cruise experience of other folks on this forum, but have sailed on Princess Grand, did the bon voyage on Coral and sailed on two Celebrity ships - Silhouette and Constellation. We thought both lines were very enjoyable. Wouldn't hesitate to book on either.

 

I like P's more reasonable drink prices and it's so nice to have lunch in the dining room on first day vs dealing with the buffet crowds on Celebrity. Their website and land team seem far better/more accommodating than Celebrity. Their pizza is sooo good - I see why it was voted best at Sea! I loved their little specialty pizzeria place inside - can't remember the name but it was included - no separate price and was very good. And always crowded.

 

But overall, if choosing between two similar itineraries, I'd likely give the slight edge to Celebrity for us - felt the food, entertainment, service level and public spaces were a touch more sophisticated. I also feel they offer great value for the money spent: I love the bev packages - it's perfect for us, since they include wine, cocktails, specialty coffees and bottled water - all of which we drink - especially lots of espresso and bottled water! It's so nice not to have to worry about the cost of each.

 

We have no military experience, are not stockholders, and haven't been cruising long enough to have any special loyalty perks on any line, so OBC stacking advantage Princess offers doesn't benefit us. The two perks we were able to choose for the Celebrity balcony fare we paid was more than reasonable, compared to other mass market brands like RC, Princess and others. We paid about the same - give or take $100 - as it would cost for a balcony on the same length of sailing on RC and Princess - only those lines didn't include the bev package and only had about 1/3 to 1/2 the OBC.

 

I don't shop for the cheapest rate - it's about the quality of the experience too. But if both experiences are enjoyable and reasonably comparable and one comes at a much better value, that's a win-win.

Edited January 8, 2017 by Flafun888

[Flafun888]

Here is the link to Norris' thread:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2317130

 

This is a wonderful comparison - he also wrote an in-depth review of his Silo cruise last year. It's very long but so interesting. I'm hoping he does another review after his Reflection voyage this Jan.

Edited January 8, 2017 by Flafun888