Celebrity vs Princess pricing for things such as wifi and specialty dining

[kywildcatfanone]

A question for the Celebrity crowd.  Taking our first Celebrity cruise in a few weeks, and compared to Princess, the price of wifi and things like Specialty Dining seem significantly higher on Celebrity.  I was looking at the Tuscan grill, and it's $49 vs $29 for the Crown Grill.  I think Princess wifi is around $12/day and it's $30 in Celebrity.  Drink packages seem higher overall too although not as much.

Am I missing something with this?  Just curious really, but many of these items are double what they are on Princess, so I was just curious.

 

I do have some OBC that came with my booking, and would I be better off upgrading internet before I board from the basic to the streaming?  I have read that streaming isn't always streaming, but I would want to try. Princess wifi overall seems pretty good in the evenings if we want to watch a movie on our computer. 

My understanding is Celebrity on demand programming isn't that great compared to Princess who has a lot of movie and TV show options.  I'm also assuming any OBC not spent on services could be spent on stores onboard?

[canderson]

If you book the Always Included Rate, which is the more typical, and specifically do NOT book the Sail Only rate, you'll find that basic WiFi, the classic drink package,and gratuities are all thrown in as part of the deal.  The drinks and WiFi can be upgraded if you need to, but that's a topic we should consider  separately after we discover what you already have.

 

And yes, the specialty restaurants aboard a Celebrity ship run more than they usually do at Pricess.

 

So first, check to see what fare you've booked.  If you'll tell us what the weird looking codes with +''s and -'s are on your invoice, we can decipher them for you and tell you what package you're signed up for.

 

Edited August 18, 2022 by canderson

[ClaudiaB]

You can spend your on board credit on restaurants, bars, internet, the stores, spa, excursions (but best to do independent in my opinion), and probably more that I'm leaving out.    If it's refundable and you don't use it, it will go back on your cc.   We've never sailed Princess so I can't answer your other question.   

Have a great time!   

Just be sure to spend all your non-refundable credit.   Even if you have to go on the last evening and buy a black Michael Kors bag with a gold chain so you don't lose the OBC.   

[kywildcatfanone]

1 hour ago, canderson said:

 

So first, check to see what fare you've booked.

I do have the elevate or whatever it's called with tips, wifi, and drinks included, but I was just more referring to the general prices being what seems like significantly higher across those items.  Just surprised me a bit. 

I do wonder what the cost of upgrading the wifi to streaming and should I do that before boarding?  Advantage either way for anyone without status on Celebrity?

[jelayne]

We just upgraded wi-fi from surf to stream pre-cruise and it was $13 per day before our loyalty discount.  

 

[Tee & Chilli]

Celebrity is also higher than Royal Caribbean for those items. 🤔

[Mississippian]

I agree, Celebrity is much higher on all their add-ons. On Princess you can get a bottle of Jim Beam bourbon delivered to your stateroom for about $18.00 for 375 ml, or $36 for 750 ml. On Celebrity the same bottle(s) would cost more than $100. Their specialty restaurants seem to be priced with the idea that they are serving you a $40 meal in the MDR, so for $29 or $39 extra they will serve you an $70-80 meal.

 

I upgraded to the Premium drink package and found the upgrade price reasonable, $9.50 per day. The wifi upgrade was substantially more expensive, and I've resisted the impulse to upgrade. I like to be connected, but $13 per day extra on top of what I've already paid just seems pricey.

Edited August 19, 2022 by Mississippian

[rj59]

I just finished my first Celebrity cruise, after being Elite on Princess. Specialty dining is much more expensive, but they have a la carte sushi with ramen and other things, and I believe some of the restaurants have a cheaper lunch menu. Le Petit Chef also has animated chefs on your dishes before serving the actual food, which you might find worth the novelty factor. I found drinks are mostly more expensive than on Princess, both for cocktails and beer, since they want to encourage people to upgrade to premium packages, and basic espresso drinks were $5. On the other hand, they allowed two bottles of wine per person to be brought onboard, and they don't have restrictions on bringing soft drinks on board. Things I found cheaper on Celebrity were pre-purchased non-alcoholic package, with $9/day for soda and $15 for coffee/soda, and what I also really liked is that they allowed me to use some OBC ahead of time to purchase a package. I found that everyone on the ship goes into hard sell mode the first few days of the cruise for those who don't have all-included or some sort of package, as well as pushing specialty dining, which I've never had on Princess. After spending $5/day for elite internet on Princess, I couldn't bring myself to buy internet on Celebrity at their prices, even with a 25% discount for loyalty benefits (my RC status transferred to Celebrity, a nice touch). Most of my cruises have been on HAL and Princess, since Celebrity has never been able to compete on price for me as a solo cheapskate, but I found 4 Mexico cruises on Solstice that beat any price for a solo inside, and a deal on Apex in March.  Other things I found that Celebrity does better: a great app (unlike the Princess nightmare), a spacious buffet with things I like like Indian food and even a special one evening with 5 flavors of freshly-torched creme brulee, a covered solarium for cold weather with it's own cafe, forward-view Sky Lounge (I hate that most Princess ships lack a free forward viewing area), and a bit of a younger crowd than Princess, without the fleet of mobility scooters parked outside the dining room every evening. As a West Coast cruiser, it's nice to have a Celebrity presence in Mexico and 3 ships in Alaska now.

[kywildcatfanone]

6 hours ago, rj59 said:

a spacious buffet with things I like like Indian food and even a special one evening with 5 flavors of freshly-torched creme brulee

I'm glad to hear that.  We haven't gone to a DR for a few years on Princess, instead just eat all our meals either at one of the poolside options or the buffet.  We aren't that picky overall, but on our last cruise on Emerald Princess in the spring, the buffet was pretty meh overall, many same selections each day.  Others have commented about the Celebrity buffet being better, so we are looking forward to that.

 

Can anyone comment on the on demand TV options?  We really enjoy how Princess does this, lots of movies and TV shows to choose from.

[hcat]

Celeb does not excel in free movies and tv options.  

Ok but limited..they do show movies on board at  outdoor locations.

Too bad they no longer have the small indoor movie theater afaik.....,used to be fun..popcorn machine and all..I think now used for live comedy on some ships????

[PTC DAWG]

One line is owned by Carnival, one is not.  Tells me all I need to know.  

[cruisequeen4ever]

Celebrity is more expensive for virtually anything onboard.