Which Would You Choose? Discovery Princess or Celebrity Summit

[KellyCz]

Planning a 5-night mother/daughter trip in February (adult daughter). Looking at Discovery Princess (RT Los Angeles) or Celebrity Summit (RT Miami). With flights added, total trip cost is approx. $3000 Princess [balcony, as no OV available] and $2,700 Celebrity [ocean view]. Goal is primarily relaxation--reading poolside with a drink in hand, swimming, enjoying the hot tubs, eating in MDR, taking in some shows, and hitting a disco/dance club once or twice.

 

We've never sailed either cruise line. What things should we consider? Would you recommend one of these cruise lines/ships over the other?

[TM]

While many things will be similar, these ships are very different from each other,  Discovery Princess is new and large.  The summit is older and much smaller although it still holds about 2,000 passengers.  While we haven't sailed on this class of Princess ships, we have sailed twice on the Summit, both times to Canada/New England.  Our last time was about 3 years ago, and we had an amazing cruise.  The food was good, the staff was great, but what we liked most was the overall variety of musical entertainment going on around the ship from about 2:00 pm - midnight.  

 

Whichever one you choose I'm sure you will have a great ladies trip,

[tserface]

The Discovery is a really nice new ship and larger than Summit.  We love Celebrity and Princess and mostly base our trips on itinerary, but given the choice I love the newer bigger ships with all the new stuff.  We also found the Summit to be cumbersome to get around.  There are times where you're going down a hallway of rooms to get to a specialty restaurant and some hallways end up in dead ends when you think they might get you through.

 

All that said, Summit has Martini Bar 🙂

 

The pool facilities are much  nicer on Discovery.

 

To me, the food, service, etc. are all pretty similar so you really can't lose if you don't mind the older ship.  Enjoy the time with your daughter.  The times together are precious.

[NownZen]

You might also consider that February is winter in California and sometimes it gets down to 50 degrees and there has been rain at times.

In any case, you will have a hard time being unhappy on either ship.

[Kay S]

Is the 5 day Princess to Mexico?

[SF Cfan]

13 minutes ago, NownZen said:

You might also consider that February is winter in California and sometimes it gets down to 50 degrees and there has been rain at times.

In any case, you will have a hard time being unhappy on either ship.

 

 

I was just about to post something similar.  I'll add that the Pacific Ocean water temperature is cold a fair way down Baja.  Your two at sea days in February may not be ideal sit by the pool with a drink reading a book type weather.  Cabo itself will be delightful.

Edited September 21, 2022 by SF Cfan
added 'about', 'sit'

[candy4040]

I'd probably go with the Miami trip because you're able to enjoy the hot weather immediately.  I've cruised out of LA and sometimes it's taken at least two full days of sailing to really enjoy the pool/sun.

 

[KellyCz]

56 minutes ago, Kay S said:

Is the 5 day Princess to Mexico?

Yes. Cabo San Lucas.

[KellyCz]

1 hour ago, tserface said:

The Discovery is a really nice new ship and larger than Summit.  We love Celebrity and Princess and mostly base our trips on itinerary, but given the choice I love the newer bigger ships with all the new stuff.  We also found the Summit to be cumbersome to get around.  There are times where you're going down a hallway of rooms to get to a specialty restaurant and some hallways end up in dead ends when you think they might get you through.

 

All that said, Summit has Martini Bar 🙂

 

The pool facilities are much  nicer on Discovery.

 

To me, the food, service, etc. are all pretty similar so you really can't lose if you don't mind the older ship.  Enjoy the time with your daughter.  The times together are precious.

Thanks very much for these insights! The Martini Bar does weigh heavily in my decision. 🙂 Plenty to consider, ship-wise. But either way, I will definitely enjoy the precious time with my daughter, as you said. I feel fortunate that, at age 22, she still wants to travel with mom.

[Username0123]

If the Miami one goes through St. Maarten, and your daughter is into movies, book dinner with Yoda Guy (or just visit his museum/gift shop).  When I took my early-20s daughter, she said it was the highlight of her trip. http://thatyodaguy.com

[Kay S]

1 hour ago, KellyCz said:

Yes. Cabo San Lucas.

Cabo is warm pretty much year round.  We will be doing the Cabo cruise in Nov., and I plan to stay on the ship the whole time.   I've been to Cabo many times.  Since we will be going for the ship rather than the itinerary, the ship facilities become that much more important.  I'm thinking the Discovery will be just fine for us.  I'm planning to visit the Crown Grill, the excellent upcharge steak house.

[cr8tiv1]

I am not a fan of the Royal Class ships.  The Discovery carries twice as many passengers if the Summit carries 2000.

 

Princess and Celebrity are very similar companies.

 

Itinerary.  You really only have one day in Cabo (Princess).  Although it is advertised as two, you really can't get to town back to the ship in a timely manner on the second day.  In my opinion, there isn't a lot to see and do in Cabo.

 

For Miami, you would almost most definitely have to factor in a hotel the night before since flying out of Wisconsin could be iffy in February.  I guess that would be also true for San Pedro (Wisconsin being the issue).  I would fly in to Long Beach instead of LAX.

 

If the fares are similar, I would do Celebrity (although I am also not a Caribbean person either).

[californiagirl]

Having lived most of my life in SoCal I concur with the comments regarding chilly weather in February.  Some years we had unusual February heat waves but those were exceptions.  Last February I took a 7 day Mexico cruise leaving from LA on Majestic.  It was cold the first and last sea days…going to and from the Cabo area.  Much too cold for lying around the outdoor pools.  It warmed up south of Cabo.  Discovery doesn’t have the enclosed Hollywood conservatory that Majestic has.  Discovery’s main pools are on the open deck.  The retreat pool on Discovery is semi-enclosed.  It is surrounded by cabins but open above.  
 

I have not been on Summit so I can not comment on her.

[MauiLvrs]

 I'd almost have to say the Summit as the Promenade deck on the Discovery really sucks compared to the Summit.

[KellyCz]

10 hours ago, cr8tiv1 said:

For Miami, you would almost most definitely have to factor in a hotel the night before since flying out of Wisconsin could be iffy in February.  I guess that would be also true for San Pedro (Wisconsin being the issue).  I would fly in to Long Beach instead of LAX.

Yes...we'll fly in a day early for either destination.

[ghstudio]

Easy decision....Celebrity.  The royal class ships have no place to sit, enjoy music, dance at night while looking out at the sea.  The Royal class ships (we are just off the Sky) get very crowded in the evening with everyone at all their inside venues.  Entertainment and food are (subjectively) much better on Celebrity.  The Martini bar is a very social, friendly space...nothing like it on the discovery. When on the Summit or it's sister ships, we love sitting in the lounge at the front of the ship watching the sea ahead, enjoying a drink, etc. While we dislike the new celebrity ships with the infinity balconies, the Summit, Millenium,.... are great cruise experiences.    The only downside on Celebrity...drink prices and special dining rooms are much more expensive, however they have a far far better choice of wines and liquors than Priness.  For us, it would be a no brainer....book the Summit.

[jc foster]

Celebrity. Its the little things like meeting you with a glass of wine when boarding ship. I have had Princess do the same but then hand me a bill when I did not have a drink package.

[OC SeaPA]

9 hours ago, jc foster said:

Celebrity. Its the little things like meeting you with a glass of wine when boarding ship. I have had Princess do the same but then hand me a bill when I did not have a drink package.

Celebrity all the way!  I'm almost elite on Princess, and have to say the food and service I've had on Princess are definitely not up to celebrity standards.  I've had problems on the last 3 Princess cruises, and if not for the FCC I need to use I wouldn't be on this next cruise on Princess.  They just don't seem to have their act together, at least when it comes to my booking & my cruise.  I cruise all the time, and don't have problems on Carnival, Celebrity or Oceania.  

[KellyCz]

You all have convinced me...we are booking the Summit! Thanks for your helpful insights.

[cruisequeen4ever]

Hands down, Discovery Princess! It’s a 1 year old ship, and the Summit is about 20 years old. The Royal Class ships, of which the Discovery is a part, are gorgeous, have an amazing buffet, and are full of places to relax. We have experienced light years better food and drinks on Princess than we did on our Celebrity cruise. As an example, on Celebrity, my first meal onboard consisted of a watery strawberry Daquiri, a burger that was red inside, and a slice of cake that looked fancy but tasted flavorless. It may be different on the newer Celebrity ships and in the higher class staterooms like Aqua and Suites, but the ordinary food was just not great in our experience. 

[ghstudio]

yes, the princess buffet is good....albeit, not the desserts which aren't great.  Our first meal on the Sky was a hamburger that had been cooked to death and left in a pan for hours prior to appearing on our plate....and that was in club class.   I didn't mention that Celebrity has real ice cream available (free) during the day....Princess has vanilla/chocolate or mixed soft serve. I'll stick with my celebrity recommendation.

[Lady Arwen]

5 hours ago, KellyCz said:

You all have convinced me...we are booking the Summit! Thanks for your helpful insights.

Sailed on Summit several times to Bermuda and we love her!  Food is great, service is outstanding.  Martini Bar is awesome.  Discovery Princess is nice, but cannot compare to Celebrity.  You will have a marvellous time!

[lhsail]

Sailed on the Summit five cruises last summer and fall. Can’t say enough good things about it.  She has been completely renovated, just beautiful. Fantastic food and service. The Move Up process opens 21 days before sailing and you might be able to get a balcony upgrade for not a lot of money. 

[seacruise9]

Hi, 

 

Even though the Celebrity Summit is an older ship, it was completely refurbished fairly recently and looks great. I cruised aboard the Summit in 2010 and again in July 2021 (one of the ship's first cruises following the COVID shutdown). I was very pleased with the ship and impressed by the refurbishment.

 

I have not cruised aboard Discovery Princess, but I have cruised aboard four of her sisters: Royal, Regal, Majestic and Sky Princess. These are very nice ships, but I think the food and service are better on Celebrity.

 

Chuck

[Expo67]

Definitely siding with the others as Celebrity has it hands down over the new Princess ships. Larger Balcony size does it for us and it does not hurt they have wine sommeliers, better wine selections with their all inclusive drink packages and use good grade wine glasses rather than the cheap bulk grade wine glasses Princess uses.