Princess loyalist - just returned from a Celebrity Carribean Cruise - Compare and Contrast!

[miched]

You were in a SS and had perks.  Why did you have to pay to upgrade to the premium?   Normally the promo for suites is all 4 perks that includes the premium, but it is a promo and not standard.  
 

Happy cruising 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌅

 

 

 

[cheeseclan]

We are elite members with Princess but decided it was time to try something else.  We are on the Reflection this week in an Aqua suite.  Cant wait to be on board.  Will have to post after the cruise and let everyone know what i thought too.

[OCruisers]

5 minutes ago, cheeseclan said:

We are elite members with Princess but decided it was time to try something else.  We are on the Reflection this week in an Aqua suite.  Cant wait to be on board.  Will have to post after the cruise and let everyone know what i thought too.

 

We'll be looking forward to your report after the cruise.  

[Silkroad]

1 hour ago, ian441672 said:

Yes, it was lovely and clean on the casino! Princess allow smoking in casino except for 2/3 smoke free nights per cruise. Else where it seemed similar for both ships. On some princess ships, there is a small smoking lounge and bar in an enclosed room, but I think they may be disappearing. 

Thanks. This is good to know. In 2006, we took our first cruise to celebrate a special anniversary. We had narrowed it down to a Mediterranean itinerary on either Celebrity Millennium or Grand Princess.  We chose Celebrity for two reasons. Their smoking policy was much more restrictive, and several friends had said the food was better. Since then, both lines have restricted smoking to fewer areas, but for DH and myself, Celebrity still wins in this regard.

[cachouonacruise]

Thank-you very much for the detailed comparison between Princess and Celebrity. So far, beside X, we only sailed HAL and RCCL. This said, we are curious about Princess and NCL and your detailed review was quite hepful! 

[Pushka]

We’ve been on 3 Princess cruises and 3 Celebrity ones and for us, in a basic Balcony cabin, Celebrity runs rings around Princess especially entertainment and atmosphere. I hate the Princess buffet both food and set up. We are in a Celebrity Sky suite next time and now we won’t revisit Princess again. 

[Pushka]

6 hours ago, miched said:

You were in a SS and had perks.  Why did you have to pay to upgrade to the premium?   Normally the promo for suites is all 4 perks that includes the premium, but it is a promo and not standard.  
 

Happy cruising 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌅

 

 

 

Not in the Sky suites all the time. He doesn’t specifically mention the 4 Perks, just the Perks which may simply be referring to Priority embarkation and dining room and butler. 

Edited January 27, 2020 by Pushka

[ian441672]

6 hours ago, miched said:

You were in a SS and had perks.  Why did you have to pay to upgrade to the premium?   Normally the promo for suites is all 4 perks that includes the premium, but it is a promo and not standard.  
 

Happy cruising 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌅

 

 

 

Hi. When I booked this with X direct online in the uk about 18 months ago, it was just standard beverage package, Wi-fi and gratuities, nothing else. 

[abbydancer2003]

We're elite on both Princess and Celebrity.  We give X the slight edge.  

 

We book minisuites on both.  Lately, we've been doing Club Class minis.

 

If you book a regular minisuite on Princess, you get basically more space.  That's it.  The bathroom is very nice, but X bathrooms (even balcony rooms) have better storage ie, drawers.  Closets are better on Princess.

 

If you book a club mini, you do get the Club dining, which is nice, although I think Luminae is better - the service is a little more upscale, although we've found service in CC dining to be great.  On X, you do get the amuse bouch as well as the assistant waiters bringing a platter of 3 bread choices, just like the Michelin starred restaurant we go to once a year for our anniversary.

 

So, the minisuites and sky suites don't compare - X wins by a landslide because you get suite perks.

 

However, the elite perks win by a landslide on Princess.  I get one bag of laundry on X - unlimited on Princess.  

 

Right now, our model is short low travel cruises on Princess, longer more exotic ones on X.  (Except the one week one I do every summer with my sister - that's on X).

 

[terrydtx]

19 hours ago, ian441672 said:

Club vs Luminae? They are different - yes, Club is a 'roped off area' from the MDR, with a separate entrance and queueing system, with minimal / no wait. They have the same menu but the head waiter also prepares some 'specials' every night, table side, purely for CC. In reality this is a make shift hob / kitchen and prep area, where he/she will cook and create a fresh dish for you and deliver it to your table. This includes (some delicious) king prawn dishes, scallops and pasta, steak Diane and so on, not on the regular menu. Its a nice touch can be a main, appetiser size or dessert.

This sounds a lot like HAL's new Club Orange which on all ships except the new Pinnacle Class, is just a roped off section in the MDR. More an afterthought and is not exclusive to only Suites, any passenger willing to pay $35-50 pppd can use. Now I know where HAL got the idea for CO.  This is why we are leaving HAL and doing our first X cruise in 10 years next year. We are booked in an AQ Class cabin and will get exclusive use of the Blu restaurant. Also got the 4 free perks which we never got with HAL. 

 

I enjoyed your comparison of both Princess and X, we have never been on a Princess cruise and I doubt we will in the future. We are hoping we fall in love with Celebrity after our cruise next year so that it can become our go to cruise line. We have gotten totally bored with HAL and we fit their demographics since my wife and I are both retired and 70 years young. Maybe after our Infinity cruise next year I will do write a similar comparison between HAL and Celebrity.  We are doing a Viking Ocean cruise this year just to try at least once a Premium Cruise line.

Edited January 27, 2020 by terrydtx

[terrydtx]

12 hours ago, Torfamm said:

THIS!  I totally forgot to mention that I was stunned to realize that Princess allows smoking in the Casino.  It is horrible.

Except for a couple of ships, HAL still allows smoking in the casino, which keeps me from wasting any money in them, LOL The big problem on HAL is that you have to walk through the smoke choked casino when you leave the shows in the theater. 

[villauk]

6 hours ago, ian441672 said:

Hi. When I booked this with X direct online in the uk about 18 months ago, it was just standard beverage package, Wi-fi and gratuities, nothing else. 

 

 

Always check on on both sides of the pond before you book - you may be pleasantly surprised 😉.

[ian441672]

10 hours ago, cachouonacruise said:

Thank-you very much for the detailed comparison between Princess and Celebrity. So far, beside X, we only sailed HAL and RCCL. This said, we are curious about Princess and NCL and your detailed review was quite hepful! 

 

Thank you, and thanks to everyone who has expressed their thanks and enjoyment in reading it. I enjoyed re-living it, and making the comparisons. The points I raised in my piece were questions I knew I would be asking myself, so I am glad I could have helped others, as others have helped my on many occasions - especially on this board, when helping to decide a room for this cruise and amenities to avail myself of.

 

Thanks again.

[Esprit]

A well balanced comparison. Thank you.

We too prefer Princess but love the Solstice class ships and were wowed by Celebrity Edge.

 

After a three year absence I can't wait to get back on a Princess ship, and like you we will be on Enchanted Princess but not until this August.

I agree with you the £35 per day deal for drinks, Wifi, and gratuities was excellent news.

 

When we return to Celebrity it will be aboard an Edge class ship but only after weighing up itinerary and cost compared with Princess.

 

[miched]

7 hours ago, ian441672 said:

Hi. When I booked this with X direct online in the uk about 18 months ago, it was just standard beverage package, Wi-fi and gratuities, nothing else. 

Many posters from UK also write about the differences in booking with Celebrity than what is offered in the USA.  You would think it would be the same but it may have to do with government regulations.  
 

one example is buying a vehicle in the USA.  Many years ago the delivery fee was based on how far you lived from the factory.   I worked at Cadillac Motors in Michigan and people from out of state could travel to the plant and pick up a car to save the delivery fee that could save up to $1000 on a car that cost about $6000 at the time.    Then the government made a regulation that everyone pays the same delivery fee no matter where you lived.   
 

Happy cruising 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌅

[ian441672]

27 minutes ago, Esprit said:

A well balanced comparison. Thank you.

We too prefer Princess but love the Solstice class ships and were wowed by Celebrity Edge.

 

After a three year absence I can't wait to get back on a Princess ship, and like you we will be on Enchanted Princess but not until this August.

I agree with you the £35 per day deal for drinks, Wifi, and gratuities was excellent news.

 

When we return to Celebrity it will be aboard an Edge class ship but only after weighing up itinerary and cost compared with Princess.

 

Thank you.

 

Edge seems very fabulous, but very expensive. When on board, I priced up with the Future Cruise Consultant a 9 day Med cruise on the Apex next year coming out at over £10k for a Sky Suite! (When I priced it myself on my tablet, using that days exchange rate for £/$, I got it £900 cheaper, but still very expensive). It was 40% more expensive than what I paid for my 10 day Caribbean cruise! I know it is a revolution in cruising, so they say, but it put us off. Hopefully prices will fall.  Enjoy the Enchanted, I cannot wait!