Help choosing between Princess and Celebrity

[reedprincess]

1 hour ago, 20165 said:

Thanks for the great info everyone.  Sounds like both are a step up from the mainstream, RCL, NCL, etc.  Sorry if i misused upscale, what i really meant was a step up from they other mainstream lines.

So it sounds like X is a bit better than Princess in most opinions, but given the cabin types, Mini suite on princess vs. veranda on X, i think that may be the deciding factor.

It’s only a 7 day cruise so laundry isn’t really an issue and we aren’t gamblers so smoking in the casino isn’t an issue.  We do like getting dressed for dinner so its a bummer that its not as formal on Princess.  

Anyway, great info everyone, thanks again.

 

FWIW, Princess still has actual formal nights, while Celebrity did away with those years upon years ago..  our two almost back to back Princess then Celebrity in Feb saw no material difference in evening wear between the two, except formal night - more tuxes, suits, sport coats on Princess then Evening Chic night on Celebrity. This is, of course, all cruise by cruise. Both were 7 night Caribbean sailings.. 

[Steelers36]

4 hours ago, 20165 said:

We do like getting dressed for dinner so its a bummer that its not as formal on Princess.  

You can certainly dress up on either line.  Or not.  Princess documents that they expect it (but don't require it in fact).  X documents that it would be nice, but that smart casual is perfectly fine.  Princess is the more "formal" on paper and perhaps in reality, but neither line requires it.

Edited April 10, 2023 by Steelers36

[LibertyBella]

I am another fan of both lines, and find them more similar than different. IMO both are upscale, adult-oriented, sophisticated, and offer wonderful itineraries, always a priority for us.  I would not hesitate to book either.  

 

We dress up for our own pleasure, and always purchase a photo package.  I will dress a little more trendy/sexy for these two lines as compared to Cunard, another favorite.  Destination also has an impact on our clothes choices (warmer and lighter for hot climates.).

 

By the way, "nickel and diming" on cruises has been around forever--it is just up to the passenger to say NO.  This is my 50th year of cruising, and I pay no attention to most of the minor complaints of changes, having seen plenty of major ones.  Of course, I remember when people smoked non-stop on airplanes--YUCK.  Have fun cruising!

[Incognito1]

One thing you might want to consider is whether there will be large groups on your particular cruise.  We've enjoyed Celebrity, but it seems that the itineraries we've chosen in the past were ones also chosen by large groups that dominated the public areas (one was a children's group; they were very well behaved, but normal child noises from 500+ kids is a lot).  We haven't seen many large organized groups on Princess.  If you do a search on the date and ship you're considering, hopefully any groups will pop up.  Note that the cruise line will not give out this information under the guise of privacy.

[MissP22]

7 hours ago, Steelers36 said:

You can certainly dress up on either line.  Or not.  Princess documents that they expect it (but don't require it in fact).  X documents that it would be nice, but that smart casual is perfectly fine.  Princess is the more "formal" on paper and perhaps in reality, but neither line requires it.

We haven't been on Celebrity in years and I probably wouldn't recognize it today. It's funny how both lines accomplish the same results just with a slight difference in language. 

[Plato123]

We normally cruise in a suite on Celebrity, but only once on a newer Celebrity ship the Edge..  Also we have recently cruised in a penthouse suite with Princess on the Royal.  

We also normally have the premium drinks package.

One reason we tried Princess is we wanted a change and Princess was quite a change, both positive and negative.

From our point of view the traditional elegance of the Royal Princess was more appealing than the modern elegance of the Edge.   Food was better on Celebrity as we usually ate in Luminae and we preferred being served wine poured from the bottle in front of us than being brought a glass as was the case on Princess.  We normally do not dine in the MDR on Celebrity but did on Princess, but in Club Class.

Again from our point of view Princess is too heavily invested in tech and I saw few real benefits of the medallion system and app dependence with its frequent glitches.

From an environmental perspective Celebrity wins hands down, as plastic bottles are everywhere whereas on Celebrity it is metal or glass.  We also like that Celebrity has individual cloth towels in public washrooms rather than paper. Celebrity also has a much wider range of suites than Princess.  We liked the unlimited free laundry on Princess with our package.

From a steak perspective, we found the specialty "Grills" on Princess and Celebrity equally bad.  We found Murano and Sabatini's both to be excellent with an slight preference to Murano for "best cheese selection and service at sea" IMO.

We are planning our next Caribbean cruise on Princess because the itinerary is more appealing and relative to Celebrity the prices are more appealing too. On that cruise we will miss Michael's Club on non refurbished Celebrity ships but not the Retreal Lounge on the newer ships but the Concierge lounge on Princess will still be a nice benefit.

 

[Perky1]

2 hours ago, Plato123 said:

 

Again from our point of view Princess is too heavily invested in tech and I saw few real benefits of the medallion system and app dependence with its frequent glitches.

 

Yes, it does have glitches.  But, we absolutely loved the app and the fact that we could order 5 or 6 drinks (beer) at a time and have them delivered to our room.  We love to watch sailaway from our room while getting ready for supper.  Once I ordered, and I didn’t think it went thru so I ordered again.  20 minutes later both orders arrived at our room.  No charges to our onboard account, but we did give the bar steward a good tip.  They will get the glitches worked out.  
On Celebrity we could only get 1 drink at a time and if my husband forgot my cruise card them he was charged for the second one and we had to go to bar to get them.

[Plato123]

We did like using the app to get coffee and tea delivered to our suite in the morning.  We did not like having things charged to our account that we did not order and having to get the charges reversed .  Probable cause was a transcription error when our suite number was written down incorrectly when they were unable to scan our medallion.

[20165]

We booked Princess Sky last night and i have to say, it was a pretty seamless process.  We prefer to book online, but given our kids are both under 21, we had to call to get them booked in the same cabin.  Not unexpected, same with Celebrity, RCL, etc.  I will say, on the other lines, we had to be in a cabin next door or across the hall.  Princess didnt seem to care where our, parents, cabin was located as long as we were on the same sailing.  Maybe  because my oldest is 20??

Looking forward to trying Princess again.  Fun fact, my wife found he princess loyalty card from 20 years ago, dont ask me why she still had it, but even odder, it was still valid.  Princess keeps our data a looooong time...

 

[Lady Arwen]

4 minutes ago, 20165 said:

We booked Princess Sky last night and i have to say, it was a pretty seamless process.  We prefer to book online, but given our kids are both under 21, we had to call to get them booked in the same cabin.  Not unexpected, same with Celebrity, RCL, etc.  I will say, on the other lines, we had to be in a cabin next door or across the hall.  Princess didnt seem to care where our, parents, cabin was located as long as we were on the same sailing.  Maybe  because my oldest is 20??

Looking forward to trying Princess again.  Fun fact, my wife found he princess loyalty card from 20 years ago, dont ask me why she still had it, but even odder, it was still valid.  Princess keeps our data a looooong time...

 

Congratulations!  Enjoy your cruise on Sky Princess!

[JimmyVWine]

On 4/9/2023 at 12:07 PM, Perky1 said:

We find the people, both staff and passengers are more friendly on Princess than Celebrity.  

Good answers in this thread.  On this point above, I would note is that I just finished watching a lengthy review/tour posted on YouTube by "Ben and David" of their cruise on Celebrity "Beyond" which I think is a sister ship to Apex.  They host a terrific YouTube channel of ship reviews with unbiased and sometimes painfully honest opinions.  Interestingly, they noted this exact same point about the overall friendliness on Celebrity.  

23 hours ago, reedprincess said:

The changes that took place in January 2023 are painful, to say the least:

 

$9.95+18% gratuity for any and all room service except continental breakfast, unless you're in a suite. And very limited room service menu at all. Room Service is still 100% complimentary delivery on Princess, larger menu, with a few items that have an upcharge (sushi, steak and fries, specialty restaurant items). Also, Princess has their Ocean Now, which can get room service items delivered anywhere on the ship.

 

$17.99+18% gratuity for an additional lobster tail at dinner, unless you're in a suite. 1 tail, that's it, unless you want to pay $20+ extra. Still unlimited on Princess. 

 

Martini Bar martinis are now all $1 over the Premium package limits on Celebrity. They'll  make the smaller pours so they're covered, but why raise the price of the drink packages so drastically, then raise the price of drinks to be over the limits?  Fortunately, packages are still unlimited on Celebrity..Our Feb cruise had a lot of shortages though, about a third of the Martini Bar martinis couldn't be made or had substitutions, whole brands were out at different bars, etc. 

 

Limited dining hours. Buffet is closed for different hours during the day, and Le Grand Bistro, Aqua Spa, etc all had limited hours. If you wanted a snack around 4/4:30, it was pizza, a burger or room service. If you're a late riser, nothing between 10 and 12 except room service. Buffet opens for dinner at 5:30 or 6pm, so nothing there except pizza from 4-6.

Cafe al Bacio only has desserts, no savory snacks like IC, and not 24/7.

Versus Princess buffet open continuously from 6am to 10pm. International Cafe 24/7. Lido deck options til 10 at night (and the grill has a lot more options that Celebrity's grill). 

 

Our Feb cruise was short staffed, much more so than the Regal cruise 2 weeks beforehand.

 

Filet available on the kids menu every night on Celebrity (little known secret). 

Celebrity menus are much more extensive than Princess, even with the big cutbacks over December and January.

 

"Sommeliers" on Apex we're glorified bartenders, except one in Cosmopolitan. And a bit annoying that wait staff couldn't take any drink orders, had to go through sommelier, which meant long delays - even when we brought our own wines.  Bonus though, no corkage fee if you have a drink package.

 

The Retreat takes up a lot of deck space - only one outdoor pool for non-Retreat guests and the chair situation was ridiculous. Fortunately, a couple awesome deck staff who very much policed the towel game.  

The solarium is lovely, but the chlorine smell gets too much at times and have to leave. Losing so much deck space to Retreat guests only really shows at times.. 

 

The no smoking casino is amazing. No complaints, although higher table limits than Princess.  

 

Shows are fantastic, we always go on Celebrity, rarely on Princess. 

 

Lots of differences. Overall, we'd sail either depending on itinerary. But the Celebrity product of even 2022 is quite different now, and loads more extra charges, etc. We'd sail Princess first, itinerary being similar.  Lots less extra onboard charges, and not so many restrictions, plus - so far - less class system... 

 

Those Edge class ships are spectacular though.. 

 

The Ben and David review echoed much of this as well.

 

And one other note that may or may not make a difference to you.  With the Royal Class of ships, Princess shifted away from an "outward looking ship" to an "inward looking ship" where the focus became more on the interior (revenue generating) spaces.  You could take an entire vacation and not really appreciate that you were out on the water.  Well, the Edge Class ships on Celebrity (and probably the Sun Class ships to come for Princess) take this a step further.  Your attention is drawn to the resort-like atmosphere of the interior of the ship and is pulled away from the joy of just standing outside and admiring the quiet of the ocean.  To many that doesn't matter one bit.  To me it does. 

[royalcruz]

I prefer Celebrity but cruise Princess to break up the monotony. Celebrity seems more upscale in decor and ambiance. The specialty dining feels more special. I describe Princess decor as "vanilla". On Princess we book a day in the Sanctuary to make it special. I love that all Celebrity ships  have nice  solariums that are free, with very comfortable loungers, in the shade. I do love the Princess Royal class buffet though. 

[Boatingmom]

Princess better for family. Took my children and inlaws 2 x. 

[Doubt It]

On 4/10/2023 at 1:24 PM, JimmyVWine said:

Good answers in this thread.  On this point above, I would note is that I just finished watching a lengthy review/tour posted on YouTube by "Ben and David" of their cruise on Celebrity "Beyond" which I think is a sister ship to Apex.  They host a terrific YouTube channel of ship reviews with unbiased and sometimes painfully honest opinions.  Interestingly, they noted this exact same point about the overall friendliness on Celebrity.  

 

The Ben and David review echoed much of this as well.

 

And one other note that may or may not make a difference to you.  With the Royal Class of ships, Princess shifted away from an "outward looking ship" to an "inward looking ship" where the focus became more on the interior (revenue generating) spaces.  You could take an entire vacation and not really appreciate that you were out on the water.  Well, the Edge Class ships on Celebrity (and probably the Sun Class ships to come for Princess) take this a step further.  Your attention is drawn to the resort-like atmosphere of the interior of the ship and is pulled away from the joy of just standing outside and admiring the quiet of the ocean.  To many that doesn't matter one bit.  To me it does. 

OP - your important point about ship design is a major reason we have cancelled Celebrity.

The lack of open space, the elimination of the forward viewing lounge (ie just how do you watch going through the Panama Canal for example).

This is all a deliberate decision by cruise lines to create revenue.

We now only cruise the Premium lines with small ships, 360 outside views, linkage to the sea, guest speakers who talk about the ocean, the upcoming ports.

We totally reject the main cruise lines. We also reject the main cruise lines due to their class Apartheid decision, not participating.

In the end, to each their own.

[rbtan]

We've liked both lines There are differences, however. Celebrity really does not offer anything quite like Club Class(now called Reserve) In the suites level, Celebrity wins hands down. Only the new Princess Sky suites come close. Perks on Princess for suites are few, with the exception of a large cabin. No Butlers/no Luminae Rest. Just a "special" seating in the main Rest. Food on Princess is mediocre at best. You'll find USDA Prime in specialty rest.on Celebrity. On Princess it is USDA Select.(they actually won't tell you the grade)Much more nickel & diming on Princess & more annoying photographers. Entertainment is better on Celebrity, but not what is was several years ago.

 Princess has more caring staff, who are really concerned you are having a good time.(among the nicest staff we've seen anywhere)Princess has better & more reasonably priced excursions. Itineraries are often better. The new Sun Princess should show where the line is headed in the future.

 For us, we choose Oceania most often. A little more pricey, but worth it. We've met a lot of cruisers who have jumped from Princess to Oceania. We do prefer the smaller ships & the much more elegant feel. That & the great food. We're both in the food industry & it's an important issue for us that the food be excellent. All 3 lines have their schtick so to speak. I suggest a 7 day cruise to get a feel for Princess. Do it on the Royal Class. The older ships look & feel old. Royal class on Princess & Solstice class on Celebrity offer a similar feel. Choose the one best for you.

[GonzoWCS]

On 4/10/2023 at 9:31 AM, 20165 said:

We booked Princess Sky last night and i have to say, it was a pretty seamless process.  We prefer to book online, but given our kids are both under 21, we had to call to get them booked in the same cabin.  Not unexpected, same with Celebrity, RCL, etc.  I will say, on the other lines, we had to be in a cabin next door or across the hall.  Princess didnt seem to care where our, parents, cabin was located as long as we were on the same sailing.  Maybe  because my oldest is 20??

Looking forward to trying Princess again.  Fun fact, my wife found he princess loyalty card from 20 years ago, dont ask me why she still had it, but even odder, it was still valid.  Princess keeps our data a looooong time...

 

Awesome.  Enjoy it!

 

Cheers

[fabby50]

When things started to have deep discounts because of COVID and we were thinking of retiring, I decided to book every line that sails regularly out of Los Angeles so I could figure out which line we liked the best and would like to book regularly in the future, the advantage to us is no air fare, we can drive to the port.  We have gone on Celebrity, Royal Caribbean, Princess, Carnival and NCL all within the last six months.  We preferred Carnival Panorama overall, followed by Princess Discovery, then Royal Caribbean, and lastly, Celebrity.  I didn't include the NCL cruise because we took the one out of Hawaii and it is a unique experience on its own.  My only disappointment with the Panorama is they only do one route, while the others will do various Mexico routes as well as California coastals.  I am booked on a solo on Discovery Princess in November and we're booked on Crown Princess for a Pacific Northwest for an extended family cruise next April.  I mention Los Angeles because the RCCL and Celebrity ships that sail out of here are older and probably not a good example of an experience you might have on a newer ship.  We were on the first sailing of the Panorama as well as the first sailing after the COVID restart.  Discovery is a nice ship too with lots of dining venues.

[ldubs]

On 4/9/2023 at 7:03 AM, Lady Arwen said:

If you enjoy the casino on Celebrity then you may not love the casinos on Princess.  Smoking is allowed and it’s overpowering!  Just walking through the casino is nauseating.  Celebrity for a big win!

 

Food on Celebrity is better, now that Princess has cut back on quality.  Celebrity wins.

 

Mini suites on Princess are quite nice with a large bathroom tub/shower combo.  I prefer the large glass showers on Celebrity.  Standard Princess cabins, interior, ocean view and balconies, are very basic.  Bathrooms are tiny with shower curtains.  Celebrity wins.

Entertainment on Celebrity is very good.  Entertainment on Princess is okay.  

 

Celebrity has the Solarium, free to all adults with covered pool and  Aqua Spa Cafe for light meals or snacks.  Princess does not have anything like this without a fee for use.  Celebrity wins.

 

Service is equal, both very good.

 

Celebrity has a more upscale feel.  Princess is more traditional.

 

Princess does have some itineraries that are preferable.  Princess does Alaska better in terms of ports.  We love Southampton for British Isles cruises on Princess.
 

Princess is usually quite a bit less expensive than Celebrity.  Edge class is very expensive, compared to Princess.  

 

Will you enjoy Princess?  Probably, you will.  As much as Celebrity?  Only you know what is important to your family.

 

Wishing you happy sailings on whichever ship you choose.

 

 

 

Thanks for sharing this.  I enjoy Princess and Celebrity quite a lot.   I've been on a couple of Princess cruises since Covid, but none on Celebrity.   While I enjoy the food on both, I would also give Celebrity the edge (no pun etc).  We do enjoy using the lido deck buffets.   I wonder if you have recent experience with the Celebrity's OV buffet?

[Lady Arwen]

1 hour ago, ldubs said:

 

Thanks for sharing this.  I enjoy Princess and Celebrity quite a lot.   I've been on a couple of Princess cruises since Covid, but none on Celebrity.   While I enjoy the food on both, I would also give Celebrity the edge (no pun etc).  We do enjoy using the lido deck buffets.   I wonder if you have recent experience with the Celebrity's OV buffet?

We typically don’t do buffets very often.  When we did, specifically on Edge class, I didn’t see too much difference.  You should ask on the Celebrity boards as lots of Celebrity sailors talk about the buffets.

[ldubs]

29 minutes ago, Lady Arwen said:

We typically don’t do buffets very often.  When we did, specifically on Edge class, I didn’t see too much difference.  You should ask on the Celebrity boards as lots of Celebrity sailors talk about the buffets.

 

Thanks.  I read quite a bit of negatives, and positives, not long ago on the Celebrity board.  I appreciate your opinion.  

[davekathy]

We would never book or not book a cruise line, ship, itinerary, etc. based on others positive or negative opinions or experiences. I read and respect others reviews and posts about their cruises but... Threads like this are great examples why. 

Edited April 16, 2023 by davekathy

[20165]

18 minutes ago, davekathy said:

We would never book or not book a cruise line, ship, itinerary, etc. based on others positive or negative opinions or experiences. I read and respect others reviews and posts about their cruises but... Threads like this are great examples why. 

Then what info do you base your decisions on?  We haven’t been on Princess in 20+ years and i think the info on this tread was wonderful and greatly appreciated.  While i understand its opinions, i also dont think people are giving wrong info.  Some of the call outs regarding celebrity we experienced last year on Edge and Silhouette.  

Thanks again everyone.  We are looking forward to trying the Sky later this year.  

[fabby50]

In regards to the Celebrity buffet, it appeared to me that budget cuts are noticeable and the "nice to haves", at least ones I enjoy, have been trimmed.  A few examples, if you wanted grapes, you had to take them off the decorative display by the cheese, there were no berries, kiwi, etc., just apples, oranges, grapefruit, etc.  The only dried fruits were raisins, no nuts, just sunflower seeds.  The cooked food was lukewarm, a problem a lot of ships have, but to get hot food, I would go to the stir fry or pasta station and have them make me something.  They do have ice cream, which was very popular, but I thought it was low quality, not much flavor to it.  The thing Celebrity does have, that I really enjoyed and wish other ships had, as far as food, was the spa cafe.  The fruit plates, lunch salads (the Thai noodle salad is yummy), breads, just about everything there I greatly enjoyed and I wish they were open for dinner too.  I love the concept of having an area of healthier food options, especially lower sugar and sodium.  I got to where I would go in the morning and get a fruit plate to put in my in room refrigerator.

[davekathy]

5 hours ago, 20165 said:

Then what info do you base your decisions on?  We haven’t been on Princess in 20+ years and i think the info on this tread was wonderful and greatly appreciated.  While i understand its opinions, i also dont think people are giving wrong info.  Some of the call outs regarding celebrity we experienced last year on Edge and Silhouette.  

Thanks again everyone.  We are looking forward to trying the Sky later this year.  

Itinerary and our own personal experiences. We took our first cruise in 1991, 5 cruises and ten years before I joined CC. CC is the only social media I belong to. The only mistake we made booking our first cruise was selecting late TD dinning. 

 

No where did I imply or express info shared on CC or even this thread is wrong info. Reread my post you quoted and you'll see what I said about others opinions, experiences and respect. 

Edited April 17, 2023 by davekathy

[reedprincess]

12 hours ago, ldubs said:

 

Thanks for sharing this.  I enjoy Princess and Celebrity quite a lot.   I've been on a couple of Princess cruises since Covid, but none on Celebrity.   While I enjoy the food on both, I would also give Celebrity the edge (no pun etc).  We do enjoy using the lido deck buffets.   I wonder if you have recent experience with the Celebrity's OV buffet?

In February, on Apex, limited hours. Breakfast 6-10.

Lunch 12-2:30.

Tea 3:30-4:30.

Dinner 6-9. 

Pizza 12pm-1am 

The typical stations they've had in the past but the cooked to order stations were only one type per lunch or dinner, not several as in the past. Ie pasta station at lunch or dinner, not pasta or stir fry or grill. Just the one, and it rotated.. some days pasta, some days stir fry, some days grilled to order minute steaks or chicken breast..  fairly decent selections of buffet items. Just limited hours, particularly if you're more accustomed to Princess buffet which is open continuously from 6am-10pm (one side or section may be used while it turns over but at least a decent portion is open continuously).  

Better salad bar than Princess, comparing Regal and Apex 2 weeks apart..