Princess compared to Celebrity

[Guindalf]

I'm looking at an Alaskan cruise out of Seattle in early September next year and the whole package prices and offerings are considerably better on Celebrity.

 

Comparing a Penthouse Suite on Princess to a Sky Suite on Celebrity for almost identical dates and itinerary, the former would cost $7400 with $$425 OBC vs. $7300 with $1400 on the latter (through a TA) with today's offers. The latter also offers a butler, Luminae restaurant and a better looking overall experience. One advantage to Princess is the cost of the specialty restaurants with the main ones costing $30 compared to $60 plus gratuities for Murano on X. The OBC takes care of that, though.

 

Celebrity has more accessible options with things like automatic doors (essential with a mobility scooter!), whereas Discovery Princess only appears to have ONE accessible suite on the whole ship!

 

I admit that the Solstice is an older ship than Discovery, but we'll e on the former next month, so we can assess 

[TwyLady]

We are regular Celebrity cruisers (albeit pre Covid) who tried Princess for the first time this year. We also like the calm, quiet aspect of Celebrity.

These are the differences we felt noteworthy

 

differences in Princess’ favour:

 

we loved the medallion, particularly being able to order a pre dinner glass of wine to our room!
 

the international cafe (cafe Al bacio equivalent) served salads and sandwiches as well so pastries, which was handy for a light lunch

 

the entrance to the buffet had wash basins, with a member of staff asking everyone to wash their hands before entering.

differences in Celebrity’s favour:

 

We found the buffet on Princess no where near Celebrity standards, I appreciate that we haven’t cruised with Celebrity post Covid, so may not be a fair comparison.

 

very hard to find anywhere on princess for a quiet post dinner drink. Most bars open on to the central foyer, where we found the music to be very loud & the performers quite poor. We generally went to the jazz bar, music was still loud (and often not to our taste) but the musicians were very good.

 

the general cleanliness of the ship was disappointing. (Our room was spotless). On Celebrity there are always staff cleaning the stairs, scrubbing the decks etc, on Princess I don’t think I saw much general cleaning at all & there was a general “grubbiness” - decks scuffed and stained, for example.

 

At the moment, we are happy to cruise with either line - and just basing our choice on itineraries. 
 

 

 

[davekathy]

7 hours ago, C4HCG said:

Thanks to everyone for the responses, much appreciated. Conclusion at this point in time is we will try Princess one day but perhaps not for Hawaii. Maybe a land based island hopping holiday would work for us there to avoid the sea days but recognising long flights first to the US then there.

 

thanks again 👍

Speaking only for us, we would never base our decision to book or not book a cruise line, ship, itinerary, etc. based on other cruisers positive or negative opinions and experiences. I do find it interesting to read about other cruisers likes and dislikes and reasons. 

[Lady Arwen]

3 minutes ago, TwyLady said:

We are regular Celebrity cruisers (albeit pre Covid) who tried Princess for the first time this year. We also like the calm, quiet aspect of Celebrity.

These are the differences we felt noteworthy

 

differences in Princess’ favour:

 

we loved the medallion, particularly being able to order a pre dinner glass of wine to our room!
 

the international cafe (cafe Al bacio equivalent) served salads and sandwiches as well so pastries, which was handy for a light lunch

 

the entrance to the buffet had wash basins, with a member of staff asking everyone to wash their hands before entering.

differences in Celebrity’s favour:

 

We found the buffet on Princess no where near Celebrity standards, I appreciate that we haven’t cruised with Celebrity post Covid, so may not be a fair comparison.

 

very hard to find anywhere on princess for a quiet post dinner drink. Most bars open on to the central foyer, where we found the music to be very loud & the performers quite poor. We generally went to the jazz bar, music was still loud (and often not to our taste) but the musicians were very good.

 

the general cleanliness of the ship was disappointing. (Our room was spotless). On Celebrity there are always staff cleaning the stairs, scrubbing the decks etc, on Princess I don’t think I saw much general cleaning at all & there was a general “grubbiness” - decks scuffed and stained, for example.

 

At the moment, we are happy to cruise with either line - and just basing our choice on itineraries. 
 

 

 

Exactly what we do, too.  If we’re going for the shipboard experience only, Celebrity wins hands down.  If itinerary is the consideration, we usually choose whichever  line gives us the most for our dollar.  Alaska itineraries go to Princess as well as British Isles.  Caribbean goes to Celebrity, as well as the Med.

[KeepCalmBearOn]

3 hours ago, Guindalf said:

I'm looking at an Alaskan cruise out of Seattle in early September next year and the whole package prices and offerings are considerably better on Celebrity.

 

Curious, have you sailed on both Celebrity and Princess before in premium suites?

[CasinoInvitee]

3 hours ago, Guindalf said:

I'm looking at an Alaskan cruise out of Seattle in early September next year and the whole package prices and offerings are considerably better on Celebrity.

 

Comparing a Penthouse Suite on Princess to a Sky Suite on Celebrity for almost identical dates and itinerary, the former would cost $7400 with $$425 OBC vs. $7300 with $1400 on the latter (through a TA) with today's offers. The latter also offers a butler, Luminae restaurant and a better looking overall experience. One advantage to Princess is the cost of the specialty restaurants with the main ones costing $30 compared to $60 plus gratuities for Murano on X. The OBC takes care of that, though.

 

Celebrity has more accessible options with things like automatic doors (essential with a mobility scooter!), whereas Discovery Princess only appears to have ONE accessible suite on the whole ship!

 

I admit that the Solstice is an older ship than Discovery, but we'll e on the former next month, so we can assess 

$7400 for one person or for both?

[Tedferg]

9 hours ago, C4HCG said:

Thanks to everyone for the responses, much appreciated. Conclusion at this point in time is we will try Princess one day but perhaps not for Hawaii. Maybe a land based island hopping holiday would work for us there to avoid the sea days but recognising long flights first to the US then there.

 

thanks again 👍

This is not a Princess v Celebrity comment but more concerning Hawaii. We are fortunate to live in California and prefer to fly to Hawaii and spend more time in the islands and avoid five days at sea.

[reedprincess]

9 hours ago, C4HCG said:

Celebrity itineraries don’t appeal due to the number of sea days which we could cope with but not sure about the climate during June when we’d like to go. Coming from England we need hot weather on hols as generally cold and miserable here!

June is hot. In Hawaii, CA, and in between.

Hawaii is always hot. It's a matter of temps at the starting/ending port. 

Princess HI cruises generally are round-trip CA - HI and have 4 sea days on the way to HI and 4 sea days on the way home.

Cabin size which is very frequently mentioned between Celebrity and Princess, is a matter of preference. Overall, by square footage, Princess cabins (balcony)  are actually larger, they're just laid out differently than Celebrity - much larger walk-in closet area with dressing are separating bathroom and living space versus having a sofa and much smaller closet.  You can check square footage yourself, not difficult.  On newer Princess ships, there's Deluxe Balcony cabins which have small soda sitting area (same huge closet, etc). . if a couch is important, it's either a Royal class ship on Princess (or s mini-suite on older ships) or Celebrity.

Also, big differences between the lines when it comes to suites.. Celebrity offers a whole lot more for suite guests than Princess. By far.

And specialty dining is more varied and more options on Celebrity, by far..

Princess doesn't charge for room service (except a few specific items), has the International Cafe which is included and 24/7 small bites, lower charges for specialty dining, limits the drink packages to 15 alcohol drinks a day unlike Celebrity's unlimited packages, etc. 

Otherwise, more similar overall.. 

 

 

[CruiseTitan]

I have done both the Celebrity Apex and the Discovery Princess this year. They are both similar in terms of quality and demographics, and I would sail either cruise line depending on the cost for a similar cabin. Below are the areas I feel each line is better.

 

Princess

• Better buffet. It is larger and has more options. The Princess buffet is open all day and the Celebrity buffet will close leaving you with limited dining options. Also, the Princess buffet is full service and the staff will take your drink order and deliver your food to you. On Celebrity, it was an ordeal to wait around for your omelets and get your drinks.
• Better desserts. The included desserts at dinner is significantly better on Princess and rivals the specialty dinning desserts on Celebrity. The desserts at the International Café is free and offers great variety throughout the day. Celebrity offers a limited desert menu at the café. The Ice Cream on the Celebrity Apex was very bad and had large ice crystals. 
• Better service. Celebrity has great service, but I feel that Princess slightly edges them here. I am not sure if it has anything to do with the medallion, but the staff on Princess are always looking to make your day better.
• Princess Medallion. You can order anything from anywhere, and it will be delivered to you. This makes a huge difference on your cruise in getting anything you want at any time. I was able to send requests to my room steward for wine glasses or extra hangers.
• Self service laundry. If you are taking a longer trip, going to the beach, or having pool days, this is a life saver.
• Closet in room. I love the walk in closet and you should be able to hang all of your cloths no problem.
• Cheaper specialty restaurants.

 

Celebrity

• Better ships. I like the design of Celebrity over Princess and their dinning rooms are more inventive. Also the viewing angles on Celebrity are significantly better than the newer Princess ships. Princess really failed in creating any good viewing areas that is not an up charge. There are a ton of great viewing areas on a Celebrity ship if you are doing a sight seeing cruise. Also, the Celebrity ship has a covered pool and the newer Princess ships don't have a solarium. If the outside weather isn't ideal on a Princess ship, you can expect the indoor spaces to be crowded.
• Bathroom in room. Does not have a shower curtain. Everyone hates the shower curtain on Princess.
• Better main dinning room. I love that there are 4 main dinning rooms with different menus. This made dinner exciting every night knowing that we are eating in a new venue. The food quality I felt was just as good as Princess for the standard main dinning room.
• Better drinks. Celebrity has a great variety of included drinks that you can access throughout the day. Also, the free coffee is great on Celebrity and the free coffee on Princess is a major let down. 
• Focus on rest and relaxation. The solarium is amazing and is included in your cruise fare. You have to pay for a similar experience on Princess and it is outdoors. 

[Guindalf]

2 hours ago, scottca075 said:

 

Curious, have you sailed on both Celebrity and Princess before in premium suites?

 

Only on Celebrity. We were on the Apex in an accessible Sky Suite in January and loved the experience.

[Guindalf]

1 hour ago, CasinoInvitee said:

$7400 for one person or for both?

 

Both. The noticeable difference is a total of $200 refundable deposit on Princess and a non-refundable $500 on Celebrity. We'll wait until after out cruise on Solstice next month before deciding, but given that she's due to be 'revolutionized' in May, it's leaning that way. 

[ldubs]

22 hours ago, iamaqt2 said:

The biggest and most glaring difference between Celebrity and Princess IMO is in the MDR.  Celebrity has dedicated wine stewards who quickly learn your favorite wine and rarely leave your glass empty. And their servers aren't harried by this task.  Princess expects your servers to take your wine or beverage order and bring it back all while trying to get food orders taken and delivered to multiple tables.  It might be 20-30 minutes before that glass of wine shows up. 

I find the quality of food on Celebrity to also be slightly better.  

For the night owls Celebrity also offers more evening activities after 9 pm than Princess.  My personal favorite is the Silent Disco.

But Princess has better enrichment lectures and the 24 hour International Cafe. 

I think this is a pretty good description of the difference.  Considering the OP's preferences, I think Princess is a good alternative.  

[C4HCG]

1 hour ago, Tedferg said:

This is not a Princess v Celebrity comment but more concerning Hawaii. We are fortunate to live in California and prefer to fly to Hawaii and spend more time in the islands and avoid five days at sea.

That’s the way our thinking is going too. Not a cruise question but hopefully it won’t get me into trouble with the moderators but is it possible to get ferries between islands? Have seen you can fly between them on small planes which we don’t fancy!

[KeepCalmBearOn]

2 hours ago, reedprincess said:

June is hot. In Hawaii, CA, and in between.

 

Celebrity's Hawaii cruises are one way, starting or ending in Vancouver BC, which I think is the OP's issue with Celebrity. June is not hot in Vancouver.

 

33 minutes ago, C4HCG said:

but is it possible to get ferries between islands? Have seen you can fly between them on small planes which we don’t fancy!

 

There are no passenger ferries in HI besides the one between Lanai and Maui. MOST of the planes that fly interisland are Boeing 737 or Boeing 717, not small planes.

[Tedferg]

1 hour ago, C4HCG said:

That’s the way our thinking is going too. Not a cruise question but hopefully it won’t get me into trouble with the moderators but is it possible to get ferries between islands? Have seen you can fly between them on small planes which we don’t fancy!

As Scott said, 'There are no passenger ferries in HI besides the one between Lanai and Maui. MOST of the planes that fly interisland are Boeing 737 or Boeing 717, not small planes.' I would also suggest just two islands so only one inter island flight.

[jagoffee]

8 hours ago, Guindalf said:

I'm looking at an Alaskan cruise out of Seattle in early September next year and the whole package prices and offerings are considerably better on Celebrity.

 

Comparing a Penthouse Suite on Princess to a Sky Suite on Celebrity for almost identical dates and itinerary, the former would cost $7400 with $$425 OBC vs. $7300 with $1400 on the latter (through a TA) with today's offers. The latter also offers a butler, Luminae restaurant and a better looking overall experience. One advantage to Princess is the cost of the specialty restaurants with the main ones costing $30 compared to $60 plus gratuities for Murano on X. The OBC takes care of that, though.

 

Celebrity has more accessible options with things like automatic doors (essential with a mobility scooter!), whereas Discovery Princess only appears to have ONE accessible suite on the whole ship!

 

I admit that the Solstice is an older ship than Discovery, but we'll e on the former next month, so we can assess 

The Princess Penthouse Suite cabin is significantly bigger and nicer than a Celebrity Sky Suite.  You are certainly correct that the Princess Suite benefits are much less. 

 

Has your Princess PH quote been discounted by your TA, just to make sure that you are comparing Apples to Apples.  

[milolii]

13 hours ago, C4HCG said:

Thanks to everyone for the responses, much appreciated. Conclusion at this point in time is we will try Princess one day but perhaps not for Hawaii. Maybe a land based island hopping holiday would work for us there to avoid the sea days but recognising long flights first to the US then there.

 

thanks again 👍

Agree with this conclusion.  We owned a vacation home in Hawaii for 10 years.  We went over three or four times a year from California.  There is lot to see.  Agree to visit at least 2 islands staying a minimum of 10 days.  

 

Here is website to help with planning.  
https://www.hawaii.com.  Decide what you want to see and then book your flights. 
 

 

 

 

 

[milolii]

I primary look at specific information posters may offer in their replies.  But I value their opinions  as well.  I think this is what the OP is looking for as well.  Many of posters in this thread have offered great information. 
 

[villauk]

Some good advice by many on here. We’ve sailed both lines (check my signature for specific ships) and feel Princess and X are more similar than different - each has their good/bad points. Having said that, we have also visited Hawaii, but on a land-based holiday where we flew between the islands. (My DH is usually stir crazy after a couple of sea days 😁.) We stayed on the west coast of the US to break up the long journey to Hawaii from this side of the pond - something we usually do with most of our cruises: a pre/post stopover.
 

We sail for itineraries and decide which cruise to take based on that and value for our money. On the other hand, the new X IV cabins hold no interest, which is a shame as we’d like to try the ships but I like proper balconies, not cabins with a pull-down window. I’m sure you’d like Princess and it’s worth giving them a shot on an itinerary you really fancy.

[Sox Fan Cruiser]

We are Elite on both Celebrity and Princess and while we are moving away from Princess in favor of Celebrity, we do still cruise with Princess from time to time. (In fact booking both a Princess cruise and Celebrity cruise today.)

 

Princess is comforting.  We feel like family. We get to know bartenders and other crew and interact with them more. Sometimes service slips but we forgive them because we are on a cruise!

 

Celebrity is all about professionalism. The service is mostly top notch and we feel more taken care of. We don’t get to know the crew as much but we never have to “forgive” mistakes. 
 

So when we want to feel special and taken care of, we cruise with Celebrity. When we want to feel like we are coming home when we step on a ship, we sail with Princess. 
 

Lately, we are feeling the Celebrity vibe more, but do go back to Princess every once in a while. 

Edited December 13, 2022 by Sox Fan Cruiser

[RobertoF]

I think Sox Fan Cruiser's description of Princess being about family and Celebrity about professionalism hits the nail on the head.  Both have great service but Princess feels a bit warmer and personalized, and Celebrity is military-style precise.  I like the newer Edge class Celebrity ships to the newer Princess ships, although Medallion gives Princess the tech edge.  In my experience Princess has better small venue entertainment and Celebrity has better main venue entertainment (including Eden).  Celebrity has better casinos.  I won't say much about food because it is so subjective, but both are excellent in main dining, buffet, and cafes.  You really can't go wrong with either.  We are addicted to the Edge class ships right now but are always looking to get back on Princess ships for that classic experience, especially for our next trip to Alaska, which Princess does better than anyone.

[shubsens]

We have been on one Celebrity and one Princess so its not as much experience as most people on these forums.

Celebrity Equinox 2017 (Aqua)
Princess Discovery 2022 (Balcony)

 

Ships are very similar, staff all great, service great, entertainement similar, food choices similar, fitness choices the same. Most of the time you would most likely not notice if you were on a Princess or Celebrity cruise. In our opinion

 

Celebrity

 

Pro
Food quality slight edge
Wine quality by far
Embarkation/Debarkation very smooth
Aqua Class (Blue resturant)
 
Con
Internet
No self laundry
Covered Adult pool (which allows kids sometimes)

 

Princess

 

Pros
Self service Laundry
Free food seems so much better like pizza for example
Adult pool is outside and no kids allowed

 

Cons
Embarkation/Debarkation not great
Wine at the bars
Internet

 

[latebuyer]

Just a comment i know someone who experienced a 3 day typhoon going from vancouver to hawaii. So i know some people dislike the poa, but i wouldn’t want to risk having potentially rough sea days.

[one.new.island.a.year]

On 12/12/2022 at 2:45 AM, C4HCG said:

Thanks to everyone for the responses, much appreciated. Conclusion at this point in time is we will try Princess one day but perhaps not for Hawaii. Maybe a land based island hopping holiday would work for us there to avoid the sea days but recognising long flights first to the US then there.

 

thanks again 👍

We did a 2-week land vacation to Hawaii last summer (June ‘22) and loved it! We had many early morning & evening experiences that we would have missed if we were on a cruise. Enjoy!

[caribill]

On 12/11/2022 at 3:13 PM, BettyCruiser said:

While Celebrity and Princess are very similar, a notable difference is that Princess has indoor smoking areas, specifically the casino. Princess does usually offer a non-smoking casino on formal nights. 

 

 

Recent "live" reports say that formal nights no longer are non-smoking in the casino.