Princess vs. HAL or X

[rover16]

We last cruised on Princess in 1989 aboard the old Sky Princess. Since then we've had a dozen or more cruises, but always on HAL or Celebrity.

Thinking about 2025 cruise on either Majestic Princess or Emerald Princess.

We are an early 70s couple and would like some comments from the CC experts on how we would find Princess after all these years.....dramatic changes I know just like HAL and Celebrity changed after the pandemic.

Got lots of time and just looking for some thoughts.

Thanks!

[cr8tiv1]

I am reaching the point in my life where cruising and not the destination is my primary reason for staying with Princess.  I have tried HAL and Celebrity and both have their positives.  But I can cruise more frequently with Princess since it is anywhere from 25% to 40% less than the other two.  And with my loyalty standing, I am able to enjoy many extra perks.  

 

I also enjoy the smaller ship experience and therefore have stayed away from the Royal Class ships (Majestic, Royal, Enchanted, Discovery, Regal, and Sky).

 

Only you have a check list of what is important in a cruise experience.  Planning IS part of the fun (or used to be).

[beshears]

Cr8tiv1, I agree about the smaller ship. I have been blessed to do over the past 30 years, about 20 cruises, on different cruise lines. I just like the older/smaller ship as well, especially with the atrium they have in the middle, where I don't seem to see this any more on the new ships.

[Hobby3333]

For full disclosure I have never sailed Princess.  We will go on our first Princess cruise in July and greatly looking forward to the experience.   We have sailed HAL a few times recently and really enjoyed HAL.   Older crowd and more laid back than Carnival or X.   We are looking for something in the middle with Princess.  The shows on HAL are not very good in my opinion but their music walk is very entertaining.   

[Lady Arwen]

Princess tends to be much less expensive than HAL or Celebrity.  We enjoy both, but occasionally Princess will offer a nice itinerary at a good price.  It just depends on what your expectations are.  Go with an open mind and enjoy your cruise.

[20165]

We sailed HAL and Princess pretty much exclusively in the late 90s early 2000s when we were in our 20s and 30s.  Lived in FL at the time and easy to just hop on a ship with no airfare.  Definitely the youngest people on most cruises, but we loved the laid back atmosphere and we pretty much had the bars to ourselves after 10ish. Fast forward 20 years of having kids and cruising RCL, NCL, we cant wait to get back to Princess and HAL. Although this time, we will be the ones going to bed at 10...

We have recently done a couple X cruises and we think thats a good line when our older kids go with us, 18 and 20.

We're taking our first Princess cruise in 20+ years in april so fingers crossed its still somewhat how we remember.  Im sure some things have changed.

Edited February 15 by 20165
spelling

[Cruise Raider]

We’ve cruised all three lines and on both the Emerald and the Majestic recently.  Of note, our first Princess cruise was also on the old Sky Princess back in the 1990’s. 

Recently, our Celebrity cruise was just so so, although it did have its good points, namely the stateroom bathrooms are so much larger and well appointed.  I also like having the larger cabin with a sofa in it.  The standard balcony cabins on Princess only have a desk chair.  The deluxe balcony cabins, which are not available on the Emerald, are what you have to book to get a small sofa in your cabin.  Celebrity also uses excellent glassware, so it feels more white glove.  To me, all those small things add up.  The biggest difference, though, is Celebrity doesn’t allow smoking inside on any of their ships, including in their casino.  Princess still has not banned smoking in the casino but have a small nonsmoking side.  That’s kind of like a no pee section in a public swimming pool.  I believe in Australia, there’s no smoking in the casinos on any cruise ship.  Bravo!  
 

With all that being said, our favorite cruise ship to date is the Majestic Princess, however, we cruised on the Emerald recently and she is in great shape, so I would hesitate to cruise on her again.  
Princess has very comfortable beds.  Their cabins are smaller than on other lines but provide enough room for us.  The closets are better with an open design.  The balconies are tiny in most cabins on the Majestic but there are some midship, aft and forward ones that have much larger balconies.  

I love the casual dining venues on the Majestic, which include Alfredo’s pizza, Vines and Ocean Terrace (sushi).  These are all included with the plus package (2 per cruise) and premier package (unlimited).  
I also love the specialty restaurants, The Catch by Rudi and Harmony are my favorites.  
The Majestic also has the noodle bar up by the pool!  Yummmm!  

The buffet is far superior on the Majestic over the Emerald. 

 

Princess offers a great value for the overall cost but they are all going up in price.  
You can also stack your onboard credit, including promos, shareholders, military, future cruise deposit, etc.  

 

If a wraparound promenade deck is important to you, you may want to steer clear of the Majestic, though.  You can find that on the Emerald.  Also, the Majestic doesn’t have a Crooners piano bar, whereas the Emerald does.  
 

Princess has activities, games, events and shows pretty much all day long.  I am never bored on a Princess cruise.  You can do as much or as little as you’d like.  We didn’t really find that to be true on our latest Celebrity cruise.  To be honest, we were a little bored and heard the same from others.  We feel the cruise director and the activity staff on Princess really earn their money.  We can always find something great to do on Princess, even when the ship is in port.  
 

One of the biggest differences with Princess is the medallion app.  Just about everything can be done online.  I can order food or drinks to be ordered to a lounge, my cabin, to the piazza, up at the pool, etc at anytime.  There is a one time fee of $14.99 to activate that feature on or app.  That fee is waived if you purchase a package.  Not everyone would agree with me but I love the features  on the app.  You can watch your muster drill, shop, reserve dining, get directions,

 locate friends, bookmark events, watch movies or shows, etc etc etc .. all from your own device.  Your door opens automatically with your medallion.  I wear mine on my wrist but you can also use a lanyard, a clip, keep it in your pocket, etc. and it’s the same size as an AirTag.  
 

Whatever you decide, bon voyage!  
 

 

 

[Itchy&Scratchy]

10 hours ago, cr8tiv1 said:

But I can cruise more frequently with Princess since it is anywhere from 25% to 40% less than the other two.

not always. I booked 2 X cruises during spring break and Thanksgiving 2025 because a balcony cabin for 3 on Ascent and Beyond was cheaper than an inside cabin for 3 in a similarly or slightly more aged Princess ship. If not for the price, I would have probably stayed with Princess because we love it. Or would have found something cheaper (hopefully) as we are not all that loyal.

 

Both lines are running a 3rd and 4th person free promotion, but on Princess it applies only to select few cruises which are impossible to find and definitely not to the holidays sailings, while X applied the promotion to both of them. Without the promotion applied, Princess would have been cheaper, but still not nicely priced. Over $3K for an inside cabin for 3 people 7 nights is not reasonable to me personally.

 

It has also become very difficult to find newer Princess ships sailing in the Caribbean in April and November for a week or so when we have school breaks.

 

11 hours ago, rover16 said:

Thinking about 2025 cruise on either Majestic Princess or Emerald Princess.

I would definitely choose a newer ship. So, Majestic it is.

Edited February 15 by Itchy&Scratchy

[Ken the cruiser]

We are in our early 70s as well, and for us it’s all about which cruise line has the best 3-5 week “non-Caribbean” itinerary. See my Live From threads below for more details on our favorite cruises we've been on since cruising started back up. However, I would recommend just looking at the photos to start with, as some are quite long. 😂

 

It also depends on what type of cabin you like to cruise in. For us we like an aft-facing cabin on the Celebrity Edge-class ships, Princess Grand-class ships, NCL Jewel-class ships, and all of the HAL ships. Obviously, we like aft-facing cabins. 😁

 

As far as pricing goes, each cruise line has their own “games”. HAL has some really good perk packages the farther out you book, with the best being within 90 days of an itinerary becoming available for booking. NCL has their FAS Plus package, and when combined with their really reasonable fares, makes them an attractive option if the itinerary is an awesome one. Princess has their Plus package, which provides a pretty good combination of perks for a reasonable price, unless you are Elite and then not so much. Celebrity really doesn’t offer any real perk packages and even charges a 20% surcharge if you want to book one of their itineraries with a refundable deposit.

 

But, as far as having fun goes, we always have a great time on any cruise line we sail with. My best suggestion, which ever line you choose, is don’t compare them with any of the others you’ve cruised with in the past, but rather just embrace what that cruise line has to offer, as they are all differ in many ways.

[stevenr597]

11 hours ago, rover16 said:

We last cruised on Princess in 1989 aboard the old Sky Princess. Since then we've had a dozen or more cruises, but always on HAL or Celebrity.

Thinking about 2025 cruise on either Majestic Princess or Emerald Princess.

We are an early 70s couple and would like some comments from the CC experts on how we would find Princess after all these years.....dramatic changes I know just like HAL and Celebrity changed after the pandemic.

Got lots of time and just looking for some thoughts.

Thanks!

My wife and I are also in our 70's and we have also cruised extensively.  We are scheduled to cruise on the Nieuw Statendam a year from October in the Mediterranean as well as Israel.  We recently completed a Trans-Atlantic on Regal Princess and last year we did cruise on on Celebrity Equinox.

We have recently booked for March, 2025 on Sun Princess.

We have only sailed once before on Holland America.  Not really impressed, but our friends have told us to give a line a 2nd chance.

We do like Celebrity, but are not a fan of their new "Infinite Balcony" on their Edge Class Ships.

We have always like Princess, especially Club or Reserve Class.

We do believe that Celebrity and Princess are more alike than different.  Both are upscale cruise lines with excellent entertainment, developed more to cruising than have "rides" on top deck.

Believe that you wouldn't go wrong with either line.