Celebrity versus Princess

[GUT2407]

3 minutes ago, Kingofcool1947 said:

 

But you people don’t tip, correct?  

So the cost of the cruise for you people is more expensive?

I tip on a cruise.

 

neither Princess or Celebrity add auto grants on trips booked by Aussies through Australia.

 

not sure if the cost is more expensive or not, once researched the same cruise booked through Aus NZ USA and Canada by getting friends in each country to get a quote on same cabin on a few different cruises, (so mid ship balcony on four cruises) the variation in pricing was interesting. When factoring in exchange rates and gratuities, we were less at times more on other, From memory we were cheapest on one, middle on the other three, but not most expensive on any.

 

But my point was that Princess charge Aus$ on board while Celebrity charge US$ once you apply exchange rates and conversion fees I can’t think of anything we buy on Celebirty that isn’t more expensive than the same item on Princess. So if the fare on two cruises is identical Celebrity costs a little more for the same cruise when you factor in On Board spending.

 

Now that can be balanced out in some ways, ie Next cruise is Princess, the one after is Celebrity, paid slightly more per day on Celebrity, but got about $90 per day OBC, so it will be less.

 

as I said before it’s about itinerary, timing and TOTAL cost.

[Doug R.]

4 hours ago, GUT2407 said:

I can’t recall any Cruise out of Australia not having some Vegemite. (But then I’m that Aussie that can live without the stuff).

 

The beetroot is the taproot portion of the beet plant, usually known in North America as the beet and also known as the table beet, garden beet, red beet, or golden beet. It is cooked, usually sliced and used as a salad vegetable. Mostly bought in cans, though mum does her own.

 

 

Thanks, we just call them beets.

[trbarton]

On 2/7/2019 at 8:51 AM, Ferndale Girl said:

I just saw a Celebrity cruise advertised that Princess doesn't offer.  Iceland and Greenland back to back from New Jersey - no flying involved.  We've taken many Princess cruises but never one with Celebrity.  I think I read somewhere that Celebrity isn't as good.  Has anybody that has been on Celebrity have anything good to say about it?  Any comments would be appreciated.

 

I booked a Canada/New England cruise 🚢 because it was what I wanted & not what Princess offored. 

 

I liked Celebrity very much & found nothing wrong with either the cruise line or the ship. 

 

I prefer Princess because I get a generous amount of OBC with military  & stock credit by having stock in Carnival Corporation. And a generous amount of OBC is a great plus & on a long cruise 14 days or more it’s $500 that I never had before. 

 

If Celebrity had a cruise that I wanted that Princess didn’t have I would have no problem selecting Celebrity. I would go for it. 

 

Tom😀

[Cruise Raider]

We sail on both lines extensively and for us, Celebrity is our absolute favorite.  Princess has the itineraries that are perfect for us, though.  We like to sail close to home now as to where we don't have to fly to our embarkation port.  So, being close to San Francisco, we tend to sail more on Princess than on Celebrity for that very reason.  

 

Some of the things we like better on Celebrity are:

- food

- entertainment venues (large enough for the passenger load)

- no smoking policies

- coffee shop (Cafe Al Bacio) ... and coffee in general

- booking perks 

- staterooms with sofas 

- elite benefits 

- less children onboard 

- free raffles and slot pulls in the casino 

- organized lawn games - officers vs passengers 

 

Their prices are higher, though, for:

- specialty restaurants 

- alcoholic beverages if you don't have the beverage package (wine / champagne is limited to 2 750 ml bottles and corkage is higher if taken to the dining room) 

- specialty coffees if you don't have the beverage package

- laundry, as there is no self service laundromats onboard

 

The passenger mix on Celebrity tends to be slight with families ... not too many kids seen onboard in my experience.  

 

[Ken the cruiser]

What a great thread! As of late we are finding ourselves booking more cruises on Celebrity, but are also starting to book more on Princess as well as they have a better offering of longer, more unique itineraries than Celebrity. But I have to say, we love booking a sky suite on Celebrity and eating every morning and evening in their Luminae private restaurant. No need for specialty restaurants when we can eat there. However, we are also looking forward to trying club class dining on our future Princess cruises. We're just glad there are still a good variety of things to do on sea days on both X and Princess cruises, as the other two lines we used to sail frequently on really don't offer that much of a variety any more.

[villauk]

7 hours ago, Cruise Raider said:

 

 

The passenger mix on Celebrity tends to be slight with families ... not too many kids seen onboard in my experience.  

 

 

I think this is totally dependent on the time of year and itinerary you sail. We cruise X as a family and at peak times, so far more families onboard than at other times of the year. Our last Princess cruise in August was to Alaska and there were far less children onboard than our X European sailing at the same time the previous year.

[villauk]

4 hours ago, Ken the cruiser said:

We're just glad there are still a good variety of things to do on sea days on both X...

 

We have found there is less and less on sea days with X since they reduced the activity staff down to 2 . Mostly shop sales on the dailies now.

[SouthLyonCruiser]

On ‎2‎/‎7‎/‎2019 at 12:08 PM, c-boy said:

Do they serve escargot, rack of lamb, chair in the cabin to sit in and change your bed sheets every day?

Changing bed sheets every day is asking a bit much of overworked stewards who have to do as many as 18 cabins twice a day as it is. Do you change your bed sheets at home every day?

[Ken the cruiser]

4 hours ago, villauk said:

 

We have found there is less and less on sea days with X since they reduced the activity staff down to 2 . Mostly shop sales on the dailies now.

We just got off the Reflection after a 21 day B2B in the Caribbean and there were 2 professional lectures, at least one shore excursion lecture, and at least 4 different trivias every sea day along with an early and late production show with a interactive game show in the middle. The CD, Eddy Jenkins, also had 3 very visible assistants. But you are also right, there were also plenty of diamond, watch and spa lectures thrown in there as well which, if you can believe, had pretty good attendance.

 

But, then again with 3,300 people on the ship, they've got to have something for folks to do on sea days. We're hoping the same is true for Princess as they usually have a lot more sea days on the longer itineraries like the one we'll be on next January on the Island Princess.

[villauk]

3 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

We just got off the Reflection after a 21 day B2B in the Caribbean and there were 2 professional lectures, at least one shore excursion lecture, and at least 4 different trivias every sea day along with an early and late production show with a interactive game show in the middle. The CD, Eddy Jenkins, also had 3 very visible assistants. But you are also right, there were also plenty of diamond, watch and spa lectures thrown in there as well which, if you can believe, had pretty good attendance.

 

But, then again with 3,300 people on the ship, they've got to have something for folks to do on sea days. We're hoping the same is true for Princess as they usually have a lot more sea days on the longer itineraries like the one we'll be on next January on the Island Princess.

 

 

Glad you had a good cruise 😉. We’ve found the entertainment and sea day activities to have reduced greatly on our last few X cruises. The production shows in the theatre have been dire since they decided to produce their own - not the actual performers, but the storylines (or lack of) themselves. We also found Reflection was much more crowded than any of the other S class ships, and we’ve sailed them all at least once, not a single inch between the bodies lying all over the lawn (not a free sun lounger to be found either). Presume this will increase when the ‘Retreat’ is installed and a whole sun deck is altered for suite class passengers use only. Perhaps because we sail at peak season times it makes a difference 🤷‍♀️?

[cruise4mom]

We booked on first cruise on Princess for the fall of this year but I have been on Carnival, Celebrity, HAL, Premier (no longer in business) and to be honest my favorite one was Celebrity. The boat was great, the rooms (we had 2), food was excellent,  high tea was one of the highlights. The only issue we had was in Grand Caymen several passengers missed the tenders for the tours. Originally there was some back and forth over reimbursement for missing the excursions but eventually we were given a refund due to the number of people who "missed" the announcement. Celebrity had the most diverse group of passengers of all of the boats I have been on. HAL caters to the older crowd, Carnival the younger and families, Celebrity had a little bit from every age group. The advantage on Celebrity was even though there were infants and children they didn't run wild all of the ship nor did you experience a baby screaming either. We chose Princess for our cruise this year as it was difficult to find a cruise to the Panama Canal and the Caribbean with the things we wished to do. It worked out that we were able to get a B2B on the Caribbean Princess in November. I am looking to discover the differences between the two also but I loved Celebrity. 

[deultgen]

We are in our late 40’,s have cruised 8 times, and enjoy time to relax with good food and wine.

 

We generally prefer Celebrity Cruises for:

 

·         Aqua Class staterooms:   (PIC 1)

                  o   Blu specialty dining room every night included in the fare   (Pic 2)

                  o   Persian Garden and Relaxation Room  (PIC 3 and 4)

·         Slightly younger demographic

·         Overall nicer and more upscale experience for us.

·         Very nice balcony staterooms – balcony with foot stools and large table

·         Daily lectures – last cruise had a former US Ambassador on Mexico and Caribbean politics, history, and culture as well  as a retired NFL Referee

·         The indoor “solarium” adults only pool   (PIC 5)

 

 

We like Princess Cruises for:

 

·         Specialty Restaurants like Share and sometimes Crown Grill at a much lower price  (Pic 6)

·         The Sanctuary   (pic 7)

·         The Thermal Suite  (pic 8

·         Base cost is lower for us for a balcony cabin

·         Sail out of California regularly

 

 

So, in general an Aqua Class balcony cabin on Celebrity with dedicated dining in Blu, and the other perks included in the fare is about the same cost as a standard balcony cabin on Princess, then paying for nightly Specialty Dining (about $200 pp) and the Sanctuary every day (about $120 pp) and Thermal Suite (about $75 pp). If it was the exact same itinerary, same dates, same price, etc, we would choose Celebrity.  At the same time, we have always enjoyed our cruises on Princess. 

Edited February 13, 2019 by deultgen

[WAMarathoner]

On 2/10/2019 at 1:24 PM, GUT2407 said:

I’d suggest trying them again them again but researching so you don’t end up on another group cruise.

How do you research them?  They wouldn't give us any information when we called for the second one.  I didn't find anything in a search engine for the dates.  I wish cruise lines would notify if there are groups larger than, say, 500 onboard.  They don't have to say which ones (though one of them would have had us book another cruise), but it would be helpful to know.

[happy cruzer]

Celebrity pluses for us:

MDR, really enjoy their always available menus with escargot and steak

Cabins

Interactive parties with the entertainment staff

Large adult pool area

Multi story dining rooms with wow factor

Buffet area has made to order items including steak at night

 

Princess pluses for us:

Cruise line airfare booking is easier and cheaper

Platinum insurance upgrade

itenaries

Carry on wine with corkage fee

Simpler Beverage package rules

International cafe

 

so pluses on both so usually pick based on value and intenary.  There is no one answer.  Enjoy whichever one you are on.

Edited February 14, 2019 by happy cruzer

[ChicagoCruisin]

Celebrity has been our favorite line for years.  But our first Princess cruise in November was awesome.  The service on Princess was the best we have ever had, including Celebrity. 

I would say Celebrity is slightly nicer and upscale, but we found the value on Princess to be better (we found we got more for our money on Princess).  Better value than Carnival, RCI, and HAL as well.

 

All in all, go for it, I think you will really like X!!

[california and cruising]

My husband and I just got off the Celebrity Eclipse. It was fabulous. We were in a Aqua class stateroom. We enjoyed Blu every evening. The food was fabulous. No rushing to make a traditional seating. Loved that the mainstream bathrooms had cloth towels. The buffet were so varied, lots to choose from. The shows were also excellent. The captain was present often as well as the cruise director. The drink prices were high in comparison to Princess. The staterooms did not have enough drawer space. Loved the shower with a glass enclosure instead of a curtain. The food compared to Princess of late was a step above. Even the cleanliness of the cabins was much better. These are our observations and we have taken 10 Princess cruises to 3 Celebrity. Celebrity wins.

[DCGuy64]

My wife and I are planning a cruise to Japan in 2021 and we are considering Princess and Celebrity (along with a few other lines) for this trip. So far, Celebrity is MUCH more expensive than Princess (at least $2500 for an inside cabin on X vs less than $2000 for a mini suite on Princess-Celebrity's OV was over $4500 pp!). I have heard good things about both lines from friends (one is a work colleague who only goes on X and the other is my TA who has sailed on Princess). We are not beholden to any particular line but we plan based on our availability, pricing, reputation and itinerary. At this point, Celebrity is just WAY too much money for us. If we find a good deal, we'll certainly consider them. We just don't have the budget for Aqua class-we take several trips a year and could go to Europe for the price of an Aqua class cruise! (Celebrity was even higher than Oceania, if you can believe it) 

Edited September 13, 2019 by DCGuy64
added add'l pricing info

[susieg]

I cruised on Celebrity Eclipse earlier this year, and while I loved the ship and the cruise, I don't think it's worth that much more money. Is your only option Aqua class? We were in a Sunset Veranda and really loved it. If you love a wake view and don't mind a bit of a walk to the elevators, that location is hard to beat. I liked the room so much that we've booked it again for a future cruise. We've primarily cruised Princess and only recently tried Celebrity. I think both lines are fairly comparable and you'll be happy with either choice. Each does certain things well and it's up to the individual what matters most to them. For us, we will consider both lines when booking a future cruise.

Edited September 13, 2019 by susieg

[DCGuy64]

7 minutes ago, susieg said:

I cruised on Celebrity Eclipse earlier this year, and while I loved the ship and the cruise, I don't think it's worth that much more money. Is your only option Aqua class? We were in a Sunset Veranda and really loved it. If you love a wake view and don't mind a bit of a walk to the elevators, that location is hard to beat. I liked the room so much that we've booked it again for a future cruise. We've primarily cruised Princess and only recently tried Celebrity. I think both lines are fairly comparable and you'll be happy with either choice. Each does certain things well and it's up to the individual what matters most to them. For us, we will consider both lines when booking a future cruise.

I don't know if you were responding to my post or not. However, I was quoting Aqua class cabins since that's what others on this thread have said they cruised in, and thought it was a superior experience to Princess's. My point is that when a cabin costs $3,000 more per person, it sure as heck better be a superior experience! 🤣 I agree it's up to the individual and what matters most to him/her. We also always keep an open mind regarding which cruise line we will use. Actually, they've all been good. Currently we have two MSC cruises booked, but for Japan we are considering Princess, NCL, Oceania, and Celebrity at the moment. Other cruise lines also go there (HAL, Cunard, Costa, MSC, and RCL) but for various reasons we liked the others better. One advantage Princess has for us is that their Diamond Princess is based in Yokohama, the mix of passengers is about 50% Japanese and their whole emphasis is on Japanese food and culture. Since Japan is the main reason for the cruise, that might be the best option for us since we like the whole immersion aspect of it. 

[susieg]

23 minutes ago, DCGuy64 said:

I don't know if you were responding to my post or not. However, I was quoting Aqua class cabins since that's what others on this thread have said they cruised in, and thought it was a superior experience to Princess's. My point is that when a cabin costs $3,000 more per person, it sure as heck better be a superior experience! 🤣 I agree it's up to the individual and what matters most to him/her. We also always keep an open mind regarding which cruise line we will use. Actually, they've all been good. Currently we have two MSC cruises booked, but for Japan we are considering Princess, NCL, Oceania, and Celebrity at the moment. Other cruise lines also go there (HAL, Cunard, Costa, MSC, and RCL) but for various reasons we liked the others better. One advantage Princess has for us is that their Diamond Princess is based in Yokohama, the mix of passengers is about 50% Japanese and their whole emphasis is on Japanese food and culture. Since Japan is the main reason for the cruise, that might be the best option for us since we like the whole immersion aspect of it. 

Yes, I did mean to respond to you. I haven't experienced Aqua class, so I can't say whether it is worth the extra money. I can say that I think both lines are great. I'm sure you'll have a great time no matter which line you choose. Hope you have a great cruise!

[Ken the cruiser]

1 hour ago, DCGuy64 said:

My wife and I are planning a cruise to Japan in 2021 and we are considering Princess and Celebrity (along with a few other lines) for this trip. So far, Celebrity is MUCH more expensive than Princess (at least $2500 for an inside cabin on X vs less than $2000 for a mini suite on Princess-Celebrity's OV was over $4500 pp!). I have heard good things about both lines from friends (one is a work colleague who only goes on X and the other is my TA who has sailed on Princess). We are not beholden to any particular line but we plan based on our availability, pricing, reputation and itinerary. At this point, Celebrity is just WAY too much money for us. If we find a good deal, we'll certainly consider them. We just don't have the budget for Aqua class-we take several trips a year and could go to Europe for the price of an Aqua class cruise! (Celebrity was even higher than Oceania, if you can believe it) 

If you go with Princess, make sure you book at least aPremium Balcony if you want to chairs to sit on in your cabin. 

[villauk]

On 2/13/2019 at 10:31 PM, deultgen said:

balcony with foot stools and large table

 

 

Not any more. X are removing these as their ships are being ‘Edgesized’. 

The new cut back is in-cabin movies - ‘pay to view’ only at $14.95 a movie. They are in the process of axing this from all the fleet (there are a few threads currently of the X board confirming this). They don’t want you to stay in your cabin as you’re not generating further income; they need you out spending 😉.

 

 

2 hours ago, DCGuy64 said:

far, Celebrity is MUCH more expensive than Princess

 

Word of warning, X often charter their Japan itineraries. Do a search and you will see pax that have been bumped two or three times from Japanese itineraries.

 

I think there are swings and roundabouts with booking either line.

[Ken the cruiser]

44 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

If you go with Princess, make sure you book at least a Premium Balcony if you want two chairs to sit on in your cabin. 

Princess prices without a doubt are better than Celebrity most of the time. I don't know how long of cruise you like, but we recently booked a 30 day Princess cruise on the Grand that leaves Oct 24, 2020 from LA with stops in Hawaii, Guam, Japan and a few stops in China to include Beijing before reaching Shanghai Nov 24th when we fly back home.

 

Here are the starting prices: Oceanview ($3,899 or $130/day), Balcony ($4,699 or $157/day), Premium Balcony ($5,231 or $174 per day), Mini-suite ($5,749 or $192 per day) or Suite ($8,499 or $283 per day). This includes the 3 for Free promotion with includes free gratuities which is a $400+ pp value. 

Edited September 13, 2019 by Ken the cruiser

[villauk]

6 hours ago, california and cruising said:

These are our observations and we have taken 10 Princess cruises to 3 Celebrity. Celebrity wins.

 

 

We feel that X are definitely doing some major cut-backs across the fleet - just like it appears many of the other mass lines are. X used to be way above the others, however, that line is now becoming very blurred.  Their new ships are filled mainly with cabins without a proper balcony too. I know many Princess cruisers complain that the balconies are small on Royal class ships, but you don’t get one at all on X’s Edge class unless you pay for a suite, book an SV or the odd ‘cut-out-of-the-hull’ type.

 

 

6 hours ago, california and cruising said:

We were in a Aqua class stateroom. We enjoyed Blu every evening.

 

You do realise that Aqua Class was only introduced as X had some cabins in very undesirable locations beneath the overhang? They offered Blu as a separate restaurant for booking one of these cabins and voila - a true marketing success! They have done the same with the S3 suites on the Edge class ships: they are located right behind the Magic Carpet machinery but because those cabins have full access to all the suite perks, they have been ‘flying’ off the shelf (so to speak) 🤣. Pax aren’t bothered that they have a huge orange contraption running up and down outside their window as they have all the suite access perks. Bet whoever thought of these clever, marketing ideas floated away with a wonderful bonus 😉. 

[california and cruising]

1 hour ago, villauk said:

 

 

We feel that X are definitely doing some major cut-backs across the fleet - just like it appears many of the other mass lines are. X used to be way above the others, however, that line is now becoming very blurred.  Their new ships are filled mainly with cabins without a proper balcony too. I know many Princess cruisers complain that the balconies are small on Royal class ships, but you don’t get one at all on X’s Edge class unless you pay for a suite, book an SV or the odd ‘cut-out-of-the-hull’ type.

 

 

 

You do realise that Aqua Class was only introduced as X had some cabins in very undesirable locations beneath the overhang? They offered Blu as a separate restaurant for booking one of these cabins and voila - a true marketing success! They have done the same with the S3 suites on the Edge class ships: they are located right behind the Magic Carpet machinery but because those cabins have full access to all the suite perks, they have been ‘flying’ off the shelf (so to speak) 🤣. Pax aren’t bothered that they have a huge orange contraption running up and down outside their window as they have all the suite access perks. Bet whoever thought of these clever, marketing ideas floated away with a wonderful bonus 😉. 

Maybe so, our cabin was quiet and in a excellent location. We loved the Blu and the quality. For us it was a win win.