Princess Suite experience compared to Celebrity

[hylas102]

Hi everyone. We typically cruise on Celebrity and are big fans of their Suite class -- we usually get a Royal Suite and love everything about it, like Suite-only dining and lounge, priority services and so on. But I'm also curious to try Princess, and we are looking into booking a suite on one of their larger, newer ships for a Caribbean cruise. I would be very interested to hear thoughts about the Princess Suite-class experience and how it compares to Celebrity's. (And if this has already been discussed at length, if you can point me to the right thread, I would appreciate it!) Thank you!

[fishywood]

Celebrity is one of the cruise lines offering the separate "ship within a ship" experience (or a reasonable facsimile) for its suite passengers.

 

Though they offer a fine suite product, Princess is not so inclined.

 

Perhaps reviewing the list of Princess Suite Benefits will be of help:

 

https://www.princess.com/downloads/pdf/ships/PrincessSuite_eFlyer.pdf

 

...but your inclination to refer to suite passengers as of a different "class" leads me to believe that Princess is too egalitarian for your tastes. First-timers and those in the less costly cabin categories are treated equally well--unlike my one experience with Celebrity.

[dbeckett]

Not sailed Celebrity but I would say not to do Princess suite on one of the newer, larger .ships. The bathroom is well worth it but the balcony definitely not.

[skynight]

You receive a nice cabin with a nice balcony. Dining is Club Class which is a separate section of deck 6 mid ship DR. The menu is the same as the rest of the DR, but service is enhanced, and there is an extra menu item each evening. The DR is open each evening and for lunch on sea days. While Club Class is open for breakfast each day the exclusive full suite mimosa breakfast in one of the specialty restaurants (Sabatini's on the Royal & Regal) is much better and personal. In a full suite you can also order room service from the full menu. On the Royal & Regal there is a concierge lounge, deck 14 interior, mid aft. Older ships do not have this lounge. There are some food selections, also coffee, tea, etc.. It isn't always staffed.

The Princess full suite experience is really one of integration with the rest of the passengers. No exclusive pools or lounging areas.

[john_galt]

I've sailed both and the bottom line is the butler. If the butler would be of no value, save the money and sail Princess. We eat every meal in the room and the difference is that Princess will let you order from the MDR menu but all courses are delivered at one time.The butler on Celebrity will serve the meal by course.

[moki'smommy]

On Princess, guest in suites get a list of perks (reference in an above post) and a larger room. As above, you can order from the MDR to be sent to your room. You will dine in the club class section of the dining room --same menu as other areas with the exception of one or two additional items each night. There is a 2 hour suite reception with munchies each night. Breakfast in Sabatini's is nice.

 

But, it is not a concierge class like it is on some lines. There is no concierge, no butler, no dedicated concierge lounge, sundeck, pool, etc. If you want the "we are in a suite and don't associate with the riff-raff" experience, Princess is not the line for you. On the other hand, Princess suites are not nearly as costly as on some other lines.

 

The dedicated line at Passenger Services was nice--there was rarely any wait at all. But again, you will have your needs met at the Passenger Services desk, not by a dedicated concierge. You'll look at your photos in the photo gallery; they are not pre-sorted and sent to your cabin for your viewing. Your steward will be very attentive, but also very busy. Bottom line--it isn't the level of service or space that it is on some other lines.

[Go-Bucks!]

I've enjoyed suites on both Princess and Celebrity....each has it's own good qualities.

 

Princess suites aren't very big compared to the upper suites on Celebrity, but many have huge aft balconies....D726's balcony on the Regal was nearly as big as the cabin! And the bathroom is large and lovely. The suite sizes are probably comparable to the Sky Suites on X. Breakfast in Sabatini's (or wherever they have it) is wonderful. No butler, but frankly, our Celebrity butler was so worthless and gave bad advice....but we had to give a gratuity! I don't need butlers...Princess stewards are fine. I liked Blu on the Infinity (they didn't have Luminae yet) but not the Silhouette; Club Class on Princess is great for quick anytime seating and having the same waitstaff, but the menu is nearly the same as the MDR. The Regal and Royal have a concierge lounge for suites and it's nice. We got snacks and lattes there, and occasionally read the newspaper. But there aren't any windows and it's not a place I'd hang out in.

 

Try a Princess suite to see if you like it. I think Princess and Celebrity are more alike than not, but each has it's own culture. I'll cruise either again.

[caribill]

There is a 2 hour suite reception with munchies each night.

 

The dedicated line at Passenger Services was nice--there was rarely any wait at all.

 

The "2 hour suite reception" on Princess is for those with elite and platinum loyalty status as well as for suite passengers. On some cruises 2/3rds of the passengers are eligible to attend although most of them do not do so. Also, the reception does not include any free beverages except tap water.

 

The dedicated line at Princess passenger services is also for elite loyalty status passengers which on some cruises can mean up to 1000 passengers can use that line.

[abbydancer2003]

I've been in both a full suite on Princess and a Sky Suite on Celebrity.

 

Sizewise, the sky suite is more like a mini on Princess. I'm not sure about the suites on the Royal class ships, but the suites on the other ships are bigger, have a walk in closet and a bathroom with both a whirlpool tub and a shower. The toilet and sinks are separated by a door to the shower/tub.

 

To my mind, there's not really a comparison between Luminae and Club Class. The extra you get in Club class may depend on the ship - we had it for our last two cruises, and on the Ruby we got an extra pasta at every meal, and on the emerald we usually had something prepared in the section (pasta, salad or flame dessert) plus an extra entree from the kitchen.

 

One of the things we really liked about Luminae was that not only could we order from their menu, we could order from the MDR menu if we liked that better.

 

And as mentioned, no butler or concierge.

[Roses2]

The suites on Princess older ships are great. However, do NOT book a suite on the new Royal calls ships expecting either the size or the usual amenities of a full suite.'

Last month we experienced a new and welcome perk when boarding the Regal. We had early boarding with an escort who carried our hand baggage and escorted us to our suite.

However, the "full suites: on the Royal/Regal are woefully short of space, the wet bar is gone, the balcony all but unusable, but have excellent large bathrooms.

Just an opinion which we have passed on the Princess management,