How do suites on Regal Princess compare to NCL’s Haven or Celebrity’s Retreat?

[Carolinabanker]

We are looking at doing a cruise on the Regal Princess and I am trying to get a sense of how the offering compares with NCL’s Haven and Celebrity’s Retreat.

• How do suites compare against a mid grade suite on these other lines? 
• Is there a butler?
• What is the lounge like?
• What is the dining experience like?
• Are there any other perks you really thought set it apart?

[suekel]

there is no comparison.  

No butler

dining is in a corner of a main dining room

while Princess suites are lovely, they do not do the ship within a ship like the other lines.  the new ships are trying but if you book a suite on princess expecting the Haven or Retreat, you will be disappointed.  

[qoap24]

It is nothing like being in the Retreat on Celebrity. Don't get me wrong, the service in suite portion of the dining room is great, but it still does not compare to Celebrity. 

[latebloomer56]

We had the best suite ever on Regal wrap around corner aft cabin two separate room, awesome. However everything else is nothing even close to NCL Haven.

[Sox Fan Cruiser]

And you are still just eating the same dinning room menu as everyone else.  It's not a special restaurant with it's own menu.  They say that there is an extra dish here or there but the quality is the same as the MDR.  

 

There is no separate sun deck.  And the lounge is a joke.  It's room with no windows and it about the size of my bedroom.

 

As suekel said "there is no comparison".

[Carolinabanker]

So other than the square footage is there any real advantage over a mini suite?

[suekel]

3 minutes ago, Carolinabanker said:

So other than the square footage is there any real advantage over a mini suite?

If you are not elite, there are some advantages that overlap with status.   In-room afternoon tea, free laundry, breakfast in one of the specialty restaurants every day, priority boarding and tendering, afternoon happy hour (if not elite or platinum), free mini bar, much faster room service with the ability to order from the main dining room (lovely balcony dinners), wonderful shower and maybe a jetted tub (depends on ship).  so yes.  

[Mark_K]

Don’t know anything about the Haven. But just finished a 12 day cruise in a Premium Suite on Regal Princess, and comparing it to 12 days in a Sunset Sky Suite on Celebrity Eclipse…

 

Luminae for dinner is clearly better than Reserve Dining. It’s also better for lunch on sea days, but it wasn’t that noticeable a difference. Service was good both places, food was better at Luminae.

 

Breakfast in Sabatini is about equal to Luminae, I didn’t notice much difference there.

 

No butler, but our room steward was very helpful, and we didn’t really miss the butler.

 

The Concierge Lounge was small, but generally was not crowded, and we got great service. More limited drink selection than the Retreat Lounge.

 

You have to pay for a drink package on Princess, but it comes with gratuities.

The balcony on the Sunset Sky Suite was a lot nicer.

The things better on Princess …

 

A one time drink set up, three airplane bottle liquors, two beers, two soft drinks.

 

Free Laundry. Especially nice in a longer cruise.

 

Free specialty dining on embarkation night.

 

The suite was actually a suite with two separate rooms, and a door to get to the toilet from the living room without going through the bedroom. As opposed to just being a larger room with a nicer bathroom.

Overall, I’d say base your decision on price and itinerary, and not on suite amenity differences.

[suekel]

1 hour ago, Mark_K said:

Don’t know anything about the Haven. But just finished a 12 day cruise in a Premium Suite on Regal Princess, and comparing it to 12 days in a Sunset Sky Suite on Celebrity Eclipse…

 

Luminae for dinner is clearly better than Reserve Dining. It’s also better for lunch on sea days, but it wasn’t that noticeable a difference. Service was good both places, food was better at Luminae.

 

Breakfast in Sabatini is about equal to Luminae, I didn’t notice much difference there.

 

No butler, but our room steward was very helpful, and we didn’t really miss the butler.

 

The Concierge Lounge was small, but generally was not crowded, and we got great service. More limited drink selection than the Retreat Lounge.

 

You have to pay for a drink package on Princess, but it comes with gratuities.

The balcony on the Sunset Sky Suite was a lot nicer.

The things better on Princess …

 

A one time drink set up, three airplane bottle liquors, two beers, two soft drinks.

 

Free Laundry. Especially nice in a longer cruise.

 

Free specialty dining on embarkation night.

 

The suite was actually a suite with two separate rooms, and a door to get to the toilet from the living room without going through the bedroom. As opposed to just being a larger room with a nicer bathroom.

Overall, I’d say base your decision on price and itinerary, and not on suite amenity differences.

wow, if you only got 3 airplane bottles, 2 beers and 2 soft drinks, you did not get the full mini bar set up.  should have been 8 airplane bottles, 2 beers, 4 soda pop, 2 perrier, 2 tonic water and 2 bottles of water.  

[Mark_K]

24 minutes ago, suekel said:

wow, if you only got 3 airplane bottles, 2 beers and 2 soft drinks, you did not get the full mini bar set up.  should have been 8 airplane bottles, 2 beers, 4 soda pop, 2 perrier, 2 tonic water and 2 bottles of water.  

That was per person. I thought maybe they shorted us an airplane bottle, but then I thought maybe four was the elite amount not the suite amount.  There were also varying water bottles, I didn’t pay attention to those. The room steward brought us more regular water bottles every day, so we never ran dry.

 

The Concierge also sent us a bottle of Prosecco mid cruise, I’m not sure if that was standard.

[suekel]

7 minutes ago, Mark_K said:

That was per person. I thought maybe they shorted us an airplane bottle, but then I thought maybe four was the elite amount not the suite amount.  There were also varying water bottles, I didn’t pay attention to those. The room steward brought us more regular water bottles every day, so we never ran dry.

 

The Concierge also sent us a bottle of Prosecco mid cruise, I’m not sure if that was standard.

Mini bar is a mini bar whether elite or suite, with the exception of being elite in a suite and then you get 2.  so, double what I posted.  

[JGmf]

16 hours ago, Carolinabanker said:

We are looking at doing a cruise on the Regal Princess and I am trying to get a sense of how the offering compares with NCL’s Haven and Celebrity’s Retreat.

• How do suites compare against a mid grade suite on these other lines? 
• Is there a butler?
• What is the lounge like?
• What is the dining experience like?
• Are there any other perks you really thought set it apart?

 

I've done NCL Haven many times and suites in Princess too (on the Enchanted).

 

They are kind of apples and oranges.  As others have said, your Princess suite doesn't have a butler or a meaningfully large lounge/bar/restaurant along with dedicated pool, hot tubs, and sundeck, etc.  No butler either.

 

The Princess lounge is small and, to me at least, was a transitory place to pop-in to get a snack, coffee, or soft drink and maybe discuss an issue or book something with the concierge.  However, if your room is far enough away, you probably aren't using the lounge at all.  We didn't.

 

Reserve Princess dining -- part of your suite perk -- is not anything to rave about.  It's sort of like a somewhat notched-up MDR experience.  That's it.

 

That said, I bailed on the NCL Haven as way too costly...and self-indulgent..and also full of kids, so it lost its luster.  We pivoted to club balcony and Vibe passes on NCL instead.

 

As for Princess - the Princess suite room was larger than NCL's and they do a great job with providing whatever canapes and fruit bowl (and mini-bar set-up) you like. 

 

While it reads like I don't like Princess, that's not the case. It's my new cruise line of choice: I like the more abundant and deeper pools, better buffet, pizza (!) on the Lido deck, coffees at International Cafe, better casino offers, way fewer kids, and generally more adult-focused experience.

 

Good luck in your choice and enjoy your cruise.

 

 

Edited Thursday at 07:06 PM by JGmf

[Treasure Hunter]

We cruised Princess 35 times and then drifted to Celebrity retreat and NCL Haven. We are back on Princess. I hated Luminae and found I was ordering off the MDR menu. NCL Haven is great if you like kids ( although the 16+ sundeck is great). Both Retreat and Haven are double the cost for smaller rooms than a Princess Penthouse suite ( our go to). The service, entertainment and casino offers are far superior on Princess. The friendly vibe is like coming home. Take the lower price and eat in the specialty restaurants a few more times.

[Sox Fan Cruiser]

I should say that we are Elite so yes, a lot of the other suite perks we already get. And I do have two more cruises in that awesome aft balcony suite so I can’t hate it too much!  🤪

[latebloomer56]

2 hours ago, Sox Fan Cruiser said:

I should say that we are Elite so yes, a lot of the other suite perks we already get. And I do have two more cruises in that awesome aft balcony suite so I can’t hate it too much!  🤪

So after our cruise this year we are Elite does that mean next years cruise we would get two mini bar set ups? We are in an aft suite, love aft balconies. I also booked the plus package maybe rethink that if this was true.

Thanks

[Sox Fan Cruiser]

44 minutes ago, latebloomer56 said:

So after our cruise this year we are Elite does that mean next years cruise we would get two mini bar set ups? We are in an aft suite, love aft balconies. I also booked the plus package maybe rethink that if this was true.

Thanks

Yes!  I was after two cruises in a suite before I knew that you get one mini bar set up for being in a suite and then can ask for another because of elite. I learned it on here. 

Edited Friday at 12:26 AM by Sox Fan Cruiser

[latebloomer56]

52 minutes ago, Sox Fan Cruiser said:

Yes!  I was after two cruises in a suite before I knew that you get one mini bar set up for being in a suite and then can ask for another because of elite. I learned it on here. 

Thanks not that big of a drinker this year we plan to ask for all can soda. We have the package but this way my husband has cans in the cabin. I prefer someone else making my drinks 😊.

[voyager1964]

I would add a few of aspects for Princess as compared to Haven/Retreat

1) Princess seems to employ European chefs, e.g., on our recent cruise on Enchanted, the main Chef was from Bulgaria. This can make a significant difference - practically all the meals we experienced be them in the Reserve collection or in the special restaurants, were tasty (to us).

As a counter example, we experienced chefs from e.g., Indonesia or New Orleans (think Creole cuisine) on Celebrity - the presentation was beautiful, but sorry not the taste.

 

2) Medallion technology on Princess: it seems like light years ahead of the traditional card-based system. You can track the location of your cabin mate in real time, the waiters will know you are coming, the screen near the elevators will greet you, the cabin door will blink in green light and unlock for you..

 

3) You have real pools on Princess, and the Retreat pool is adults only, it was practically empty whenever we visited.

 

4) If you want a butler, you can book a Sky suite. It costs ~ a bit higher than the Celebrity suite on X, certainly less expensive than either Royal suite on X or H2 on Haven, but they will take care of you similar to the RCCL's Genie for their upper suites. 

 

5) Princess Thermal Suite and Enclave blows Celebrity's Thermal Suite out of the water. Physically, it is ~ similar to NCL's Spa (you get co-ed only saunas on Princess though), but do not forget that Princess does not have spa-related cabins. You can only gain access to the Enclave by purchasing a pass, with all the consequences.

 

6) The special restaurants on Princess charge reasonable fees, like $35-$40 pp (except for the 360°).

 

7) Unlike S- or E-class on X and Getaway+ class on NCL, Princess has three banks of elevators.  

[Treasure Hunter]

If Money was no object I would cruise NCL Haven in an Owners suite every time but I can go four times on Princess in a Penthouse suite with a great casino offer instead. Is the food as good as the Haven restaurant? No but we have no problem eating  in The Crown Grill etc with our savings. The Sabatinis suite breakfast is outstanding. We never take the drink packages just pay as we go for substantial savings as in a suite ( and Elite) we get two set ups ( turned in for Diet Coke and water) plus two waters a day. And the free laundry is wonderful. 

[cr8tiv1]

18 hours ago, latebloomer56 said:

So after our cruise this year we are Elite does that mean next years cruise we would get two mini bar set ups? We are in an aft suite, love aft balconies. I also booked the plus package maybe rethink that if this was true.

Thanks

Being elite in a suite will garner you 2 minibars.  Technically 20 alcoholic mini bottles and 20 non-alcoholic drinks PLUS 2 bottles of water every night. More than enough to swap out. I have done it both ways. On my next 16 night cruise, I have Plus. 
 

I wanted my wifi (I know, cheaper with 50% elite).  I pay crew appreciation, and I wanted a drink or two. Losing money but gaining convenience.  I’m good with either. 
 

I don’t care about the other Plus perks. 

Edited Friday at 05:49 PM by cr8tiv1

[cruzsnooze]

Princess suites are essentially just nicer real estate. The perks lack in comparison to other mass marker cruise lines. My favorite perk on RCL is reserved theatre seating every night.

[Mark_K]

3 hours ago, cruzsnooze said:

Princess suites are essentially just nicer real estate. The perks lack in comparison to other mass marker cruise lines. My favorite perk on RCL is reserved theatre seating every night.

Interesting how different things are important to different people. I’ve had reserved theatre seating multiple times on three different cruise lines and never used it.