compare Princess lowest full suite category to Sky Suite experience?

[39august]

I know several people who post on this board also cruise Princess. To those folks, please compare your Princess suite experience to your X suite experience. I just found out that Regal Princess is sailing from Galveston, which is a drive to port for us, so might try that at some point.  

[prmssk]

Princess doesn’t have a ship within a ship concept with a dedicated dining room, lounge, sun deck, etc. (although I think this changing when the Sun Princess comes out).  So if those things are important to your suite experience, you may be disappointed. 
 

On Princess, you get Club Class dining which is just a separate section of the dining room with one additional menu item. There is usually a nice breakfast each morning in one of the specialty dining rooms and you get one mini-bar setup.  You also get priority boarding and tendering.  There is no butler.

[Jeremiah1212]

Generally speaking the Princess suite product is similar to a combination of Celebrity's Concierge Class and Aqua Class but with a larger cabin. It's not a great value unless your primary objective is to have more cabin space.

[danceswithphones]

We did an Owner's Suite on the Sky Princess in 2019 after doing a PH on the Constellation in 2014 and 2016. I really missed the butler and having a dining table. We were on the Beyond last month and the first thing I did upon our return was cancel a pending Princess cruise. I moved that date to the Edge. No more Princess for us. 

[CruiseNYC]

We were in a Sky Suite on the Enchanted Princess last month for 14 days.  (We've also previously sailed in Owner's Suites on Regal and Royal.)  The service on Enchanted was excellent - no complaints.  I know that food is very subjective but we thought that the food in Club Class on Princess was just ok at best.  The buffet was probably less than ok.  Specialty restaurants on Princess were fine.

We've also recently cruised on Celebrity Millennium and Summit in the Retreat.  Luminae is a very nice step up from Princess' Club Class; Oceanview Cafe was very good on both Celebrity ships.  We haven't really used the services of the butler on Celebrity but the Suite Experience Manager in the Enchanted Sky Suite was very special.  Specialty restaurants on Celebrity were very good.

Would we sail again on Princess?  Absolutely.  That said, we have 4 more cruises booked on Celebrity and none on Princess.

[Ken the cruiser]

Since 2020 we have cruised in sky suites on the Edge (21 days), Reflection (14 days) and Constellation (10 days), and in a Princess aft-facing Vista Suite on the Island Princess (25 days) and Caribbean Princess (18 days). For us, we much prefer the experience (and reduced overall price) we've encountered with the suite experience on Princess over Celebrity. 

 

But at the same time, we don't use the Retreat Lounge nor need a butler. The Vista Suites are more like Celebrity Suites as there is a separate bedroom. There is also a walk-in shower in a Vista Suite as well as a tub whereas in the Sky Suites there is a combination tub/shower with an 18-24" tub wall to navigate over, except for the Edge where it's only 12". We also get free unlimited laundry in a Princess suite.

 

As far as food goes, we enjoy eating breakfast at Sabatini's when we're in a suite as well as in Club Class Dining on the Princess ships and rarely, if ever, get heartburn from eating the food there. However, it seems since cruising started back up, heartburn has pretty much become a normal thing, for us anyway, with the large portions and "well-seasoned" food served in Luminae. Because of this we only book Aqua cabins any more as the cost of a sky suite and the quality of the food is just not worth it to us anymore. However, we have booked Vista Suites on next 3 Princess cruises, ranging from 22 to 30 days in length. 

 

As a side note as we are both retired military, we each get $250 in OBC when we're on Princess cruises 14 days or longer. Celebrity gives us each $100 off the cruise fare. So there's that little perk to consider as well.

 

Update:

 

I just checked and the Ruby Princess is also going out of Galveston. I would book the Ruby over the Regal if we were able to book an aft-facing VS cabin. The balcony is huge and fully covered!! But that's just me. 😀

Edited December 29, 2022 by Ken the cruiser

[terrydtx]

3 hours ago, prmssk said:

Princess doesn’t have a ship within a ship concept with a dedicated dining room, lounge, sun deck, etc. (although I think this changing when the Sun Princess comes out).  So if those things are important to your suite experience, you may be disappointed. 
 

On Princess, you get Club Class dining which is just a separate section of the dining room with one additional menu item. There is usually a nice breakfast each morning in one of the specialty dining rooms and you get one mini-bar setup.  You also get priority boarding and tendering.  There is no butler.

Club class sounds more like the HAL Club Orange in their Neptune suites which is a total joke. We much prefer the Sky Suites on Celebrity with all the Retreat amenities, facilities plus a butler. Price is not really a consideration for us when comparing other cruise lines, we want better service, better cuisine with a private dinning venue and to be pampered when in a suite.

[George C]

The only other cruise that can match or surpass celebrity for suite perks is MSc yacht club. 

[terrydtx]

34 minutes ago, George C said:

The only other cruise that can match or surpass celebrity for suite perks is MSc yacht club. 

We have friends who have cruised in the MSC Yacht Club and confirmed it was very close to the retreat product but that the food quality was not even close to Luminae and was more like standard MDR food.

[Ken the cruiser]

6 hours ago, 39august said:

I know several people who post on this board also cruise Princess. To those folks, please compare your Princess suite experience to your X suite experience. I just found out that Regal Princess is sailing from Galveston, which is a drive to port for us, so might try that at some point.  

If I might add in many instances, we will usually book a Princess cruise over a Celebrity cruise if they offer similar itineraries, whether we book a VS or a CC mini-suite, because of their more unique itineraries, whether it’s cruising 4 days around the Antarctica peninsula rather than 2 like Celebrity does, or going to multiple glaciers on Princess’ Alaska Voyage of the Glaciers cruise where Celebrity just does the typical 7 day north/south cruises, or going to Longyearbyen where Celebrity never goes, or going from Ft Lauderdale through the PC and onto Easter Island before winding up in Santiago, Chile.

 

Don't get me wrong, we cruise quite a bit with Celebrity as well, and when comparing the suite environments on each line, Celebrity definitely offers a quality product. But for us the itinerary plays an important part in the equation as well, and that’s where Princess excels IMHO. 

 

[riffatsea]

We just booked our first Celebrity cruise with a sky suite

I've been looking at videos and was disappointed to find it is nowhere as nice as our penthouse suites on Princess

We enjoy the whirlpool tub and stall shower on Princess

We enjoy the lounge chairs and dining table on the balcony where we can order breakfast or dinner

We enjoy having 2 tvs and a separate bedroom

We spend time in our cabin and are not sun worshipers so a separate sun deck area doesn't excite us although a quiet pool area would be nice

We will still keep,our sky suite because moving up to a Celebeity suite seems a big jump in price that isn't worth it to us

The Celebrity suite looks more comparable to,our penthouse suite but it's way more money

Oh well!

I still want to try Celebrity so well see how I feel after that cruise

 

[Treasure Hunter]

The Regal Princess has always been our favorite ship. It just has magic. The feeling on the ship is happy. The entertainment staff goes all out. Princess full suites are wonderful with great storage and large bathrooms ( big shower). The food on Princess has gone steadily downhill and is ok not as good as MDR on Celebrity. There is smoking in the casino ( really terrible). Entertainment on Princess is better than Celebrity especially the comedians ( but not as good as NCL). Itineraries much more interesting on Princess. They have a lock on Alaska. If you can get the Sanctuary ( a big if) you will be in heaven but even you have an owners suite you have to run with the bulls to get signed up. There is no butler, no suite restaurant ( just club class roped off section) no free suite sundeck . The suite concierge  on the Regal and newer ships can be very helpful and they host a happy hour. Princess is much less expensive. We have cruises Princess 35 times since 1990 but now book Celebrity suites two to one. No smoking in the casino is important to me. 

[George C]

2 hours ago, terrydtx said:

We have friends who have cruised in the MSC Yacht Club and confirmed it was very close to the retreat product but that the food quality was not even close to Luminae and was more like standard MDR food.

I agree on the food but I do think Luminae is superior although my cruise a month ago on beyond was extremely mediocre for Luminae . Lounge and outdoor area was better than celebrity retreat , loved there live music in there lounge from about 5 to 11 pm. 

Edited December 30, 2022 by George C

[jagoffee]

9 hours ago, 39august said:

I know several people who post on this board also cruise Princess. To those folks, please compare your Princess suite experience to your X suite experience. I just found out that Regal Princess is sailing from Galveston, which is a drive to port for us, so might try that at some point.  

The major points for me as I cruise in suites on both Princess and Celebrity.  Princess’s entry level full suite (Vista) is significantly larger and has a better layout than Celebrity’s Sky Suite.  Princess wins by a large margin.

 

The overall Celebrity Retreat (suite) benefits are vastly superior to Princess’s Suite benefits.  Celebrity wins by even a greater margin.  
 

When  Princess has an itinerary that I love, I cruise with Princess. I suggest to try a Princess cruise and try not to compare the two experiences until you are home from the cruise.
 

Good luck.  
 

[NMTraveller]

3 hours ago, Ken the cruiser said:

If I might add in many instances, we will usually book a Princess cruise over a Celebrity cruise if they offer similar itineraries, whether we book a VS or a CC mini-suite, because of their more unique itineraries, whether it’s cruising 4 days around the Antarctica peninsula rather than 2 like Celebrity does, or going to multiple glaciers on Princess’ Alaska Voyage of the Glaciers cruise where Celebrity just does the typical 7 day north/south cruises, or going to Longyearbyen where Celebrity never goes, or going from Ft Lauderdale through the PC and onto Easter Island before winding up in Santiago, Chile.

 

Don't get me wrong, we cruise quite a bit with Celebrity as well, and when comparing the suite environments on each line, Celebrity definitely offers a quality product. But for us the itinerary plays an important part in the equation as well, and that’s where Princess excels IMHO. 

 

Yep.  I just compared Princess to HAL to X.  Both beat out X in itineraries.  X itineraries were short and unimaginative.  The smaller ships beat out all 3.

Edited December 30, 2022 by NMTraveller

[39august]

Thanks so much to all. This is so helpful. Sounds like the overall suite experience is quite superior on Celebrity. But we might try Princes once out of Galveston, just so we can cut out the air expense. Can anyone tell me what the specialty restaurants cost if you are in a suite on Princess? Sounds like the main problem with Princes is the food. 

[prmssk]

2 minutes ago, 39august said:

Thanks so much to all. This is so helpful. Sounds like the overall suite experience is quite superior on Celebrity. But we might try Princes once out of Galveston, just so we can cut out the air expense. Can anyone tell me what the specialty restaurants cost if you are in a suite on Princess? Sounds like the main problem with Princes is the food. 

In my experience, suites get the first night of the cruise in specialty dining included. Otherwise, they just increased to $35-40 pp depending on the restaurant. 

[Treasure Hunter]

Yes first night free for specialty. The  Suite concierge can change reservation as to time and restaurant as soon as you board. Once they actually changed the day too. One cruise we ate every night in a specialty restaurant because the overall cost of the cruise was so low. The food is not bad in the MDR. Something’s they always made well. Pasta, soups, cake, salads, turkey dinner, fried chicken . When they serve lobster tail, tell them to leave off the strange white sauce. Alfredo’s pizza is terrific and in a suite you will get an outstanding special breakfast every morning with a mimosa included at Sabatinis.

[39august]

Great news about breakfast!

[terrydtx]

43 minutes ago, Treasure Hunter said:

The food is not bad in the MDR. Something’s they always made well. Pasta, soups, cake, salads, turkey dinner, fried chicken

Not what I expect in the MDR when we cruise, this sounds more like a Denny's. In 2018 we did a 14-day Perillo tour of Italy and one of the included dinners in Sicily was roast turkey or fried chicken, I was not happy about that being our choices in Italy either.

Edited December 30, 2022 by terrydtx

[39august]

I agree with the Denny's remark. I was really looking forward to trying Princess out of Galveston until I started seeing all the food comments. 

[CalTexCruiser]

If one is used to the Celebrity Suite experience, then the Princess Suite experience will likely be disappointing.  Following compares Celebrity's Sky Suite to the lowest suite on Princess:

 

1) Physical space: Princess wins here because their lowest level suite will be larger than SS (separate living room and bedroom, although the separation is a curtain).

 

2) Luminae wins hands down, in terms of ambiance, service level, and food.  The Club Class restaurant is an extension of the MDR--food is meh in our experience, typical main dining room fare.  Service in Club Class is better than MDR, but not to Luminae's level.  But Princess' breakfast in Sabatini's for suite passengers is a good benefit.

 

3) Retreat lounge/sundeck on Edge class is the big winner here.  No dedicated sundeck on Princess, and the lounge for suites on the Royal class ships is small and a bit claustrophobic (no window to the sea).

 

4) Celebrity's butlers if used are wonderful.  No butlers on Princess.  There is a concierge in the lounge, but the service is nothing like the over-the-top pampering that some butlers can provide.

 

5) Amenities offered by Princess not available with SS:  Princess suites have first night specialty dining, one-time bar setup with mini liquor bottles and beers, unlimited laundry

 

 

 

Edited December 30, 2022 by CalTexCruiser

[terrydtx]

8 minutes ago, CalTexCruiser said:

5) Amenities offered by Princess not available with SS:  Princess suites have first night specialty dining, one-time bar setup with mini liquor bottles and beers, unlimited laundry

On our two Sky Suite cruises post covid our butlers kept our mini fridge stocked up with our choices of wine, beer, Evain bottled water and mini bottles of liquor all at no extra charge. In both cases we were told by the butler this was included with the Premium Drinks package in a suite. There seems to be some who dispute this, but it was our experience on the Equinox Aug 2021 and Reflection August this year.

Edited December 30, 2022 by terrydtx

[Ken the cruiser]

@39augustIf I might ask which Princess cruise associated with Galveston are you considering?

 

Cruise Search Results - Princess Cruises

 

[39august]

None at the moment. I see that both Ruby and Regal have itineraries out of Galveston. Just trying to decide if I want to try one of them. Don't care about ports at this point in my 83 year old life. So the ship experience is what we cruise for now.  Are there any drinks included with suites other than the bar set up in cabin? A bar in the concierge/suite lounge?