Just off Celebrity and wow did I miss Princess!

[PescadoAmarillo]

23 hours ago, asctony said:

Celebrity & RCI charge $3 a bag. Was free before.

Thanks!

That is just crazy, unless it’s the cleanup fee. That I could understand. 

[Boku]

On 9/10/2024 at 2:39 PM, sandancer said:

Just off the Regal British Isles cruise and the entertainment was first class. Enrichment lectures interesting and the theatre shows catered for just about every taste. We were told that the comedian onboard was very good but we never made it. Weather not suitable for movies under the stars so no comment. Overall way better entertainment than Celebrity. The other stand out is the International Cafe, open 24 hours. Cafe Bacio not as good. And yes we have cruised many times on Celebrity, we are Elite Plus but it’s Princess from now on. 

We are on Regal at the moment, IMO the International Cafe is disappointing and the coffee is terrible. We think the entertainment on Sky was better than we have seen on Regal. However Crooners bar is great on Regal, I wish they would replace Rudi’s The Catch on Sky with a Crooners bar.

[Cruise Raider]

We did a side by side cruise last year with Celebrity and then on Princess.  While Celebrity used to be our favorite cruise line, Princess won us over since the post shutdown restart.  
We walked off the Celebrity ship and onto the Princess ship in the same port and both of us said, “Now we’re home”.  We haven’t looked back since then.  Mind you, Celebrity used to be our favorite cruise line and we’re close to elite plus status.  
I’m not saying the Celebrity cruise was horrible, as a matter of fact, there were many things we did love.  It was just kind of boring.  There was really no onboard entertainment, lectures, activities, etc during the day.  No place to grab a quick bite unless we wanted to go up to the buffet.  Room service was expensive and not delivered anywhere but in your cabin as room service.  I actually missed the medallion.  
One big thing Celebrity has that Princess does not is the Apple Store onboard.  That is pretty nice!  But if you cruise often, you wouldn’t be visiting there all that often.  
The crew was great on both but, there’s no real officer engagement like there is on Princess.  The food on Princess is so much better and the venues where you can get food between the two cruiselines is like day and night.  Princess all the way on the food!  
I do love the open design closets on Princess but the cabins on Celebrity are so much better.  All cabins have a small seating area and their bathrooms are awesome, especially with the lighted mirror at night.  But all in all, cleanliness is the most important factor for us on any line and both lines have been good where that is concerned.  Only two times did we had terrible room stewards on Princess but we cruise on them many more times so, I would never judge my overall experiences based on those two. 
Also, nonsmoking in all inside venues, including the casino .. well, Celebrity all the way!  

If given a great deal on Celebrity, we would go back but if we are paying for a cruise, and we do as our gambling is very meager in their eyes, Princess has won our vote, hands down!  
 

[ldubs]

18 hours ago, Iamcruzin said:

Desserts, especially pastries have been tasteless on Celebrity, Princess and Royal Caribbean long before Covid. They all must get them from the same place the hotels get them from for their buffets

 

This is so true of the pastries.   Now that you mention it, they all do seem to be the same.  I wonder if they all use Hostess variety packs.  Haha.     

[JordanF]

We have been on Celebrity a three times, the most recent was a 9 day cruise to Aruba in 2023.  All three were excellent.  I have also been on Princess twice (with two more booked).  They were also excellent.  Lately we have been leaning Princess due to itinerary, price and the fully refundable deposit.  I had not realized what a big deal the refundable deposit was to me until recently.  We booked a February 2026 cruise in January 2024.  We fully intend to go on this cruise, but two years ahead is a long time and life can happen.  Celebrity charges a fair amount of money for a refundable deposit--a turn off to me especially when making long term plans.  Nonetheless, We have cruised with RCL, Celebrity, Princess and NCL and quite frankly, find them all to be reasonably similar and also pretty great.

[Itchy&Scratchy]

55 minutes ago, JordanF said:

  I had not realized what a big deal the refundable deposit was to me until recently. 

I fully agree.

 

56 minutes ago, JordanF said:

Celebrity charges a fair amount of money for a refundable deposit--a turn off to me especially when making long term plans.

same. Especially when school holiday dates can change at any moment when we are booking a cruise 2 years in advance.

[TRLD]

3 hours ago, ldubs said:

 

This is so true of the pastries.   Now that you mention it, they all do seem to be the same.  I wonder if they all use Hostess variety packs.  Haha.     

Hostess packs have more flavor.  With  food expense averaging less than $18 per passenger per day, including crew, for food I think that they would be too expensive.

Edited September 11 by TRLD

[TRLD]

3 hours ago, Cruise Raider said:

We did a side by side cruise last year with Celebrity and then on Princess.  While Celebrity used to be our favorite cruise line, Princess won us over since the post shutdown restart.  
We walked off the Celebrity ship and onto the Princess ship in the same port and both of us said, “Now we’re home”.  We haven’t looked back since then.  Mind you, Celebrity used to be our favorite cruise line and we’re close to elite plus status.  
I’m not saying the Celebrity cruise was horrible, as a matter of fact, there were many things we did love.  It was just kind of boring.  There was really no onboard entertainment, lectures, activities, etc during the day.  No place to grab a quick bite unless we wanted to go up to the buffet.  Room service was expensive and not delivered anywhere but in your cabin as room service.  I actually missed the medallion.  
One big thing Celebrity has that Princess does not is the Apple Store onboard.  That is pretty nice!  But if you cruise often, you wouldn’t be visiting there all that often.  
The crew was great on both but, there’s no real officer engagement like there is on Princess.  The food on Princess is so much better and the venues where you can get food between the two cruiselines is like day and night.  Princess all the way on the food!  
I do love the open design closets on Princess but the cabins on Celebrity are so much better.  All cabins have a small seating area and their bathrooms are awesome, especially with the lighted mirror at night.  But all in all, cleanliness is the most important factor for us on any line and both lines have been good where that is concerned.  Only two times did we had terrible room stewards on Princess but we cruise on them many more times so, I would never judge my overall experiences based on those two. 
Also, nonsmoking in all inside venues, including the casino .. well, Celebrity all the way!  

If given a great deal on Celebrity, we would go back but if we are paying for a cruise, and we do as our gambling is very meager in their eyes, Princess has won our vote, hands down!  
 

We started cruising on Celebrity, but these days they do not pop up that often for itineraries that fit our needs.  Did get a very good deal on a TA next spring on the Apex so we took it to try out that class ship. We may be on a Celebrity ship once every 12 to 24 months.  On Princess more often.

[SCX22]

2 hours ago, JordanF said:

I had not realized what a big deal the refundable deposit was to me until recently.

 

People are taking advantage of the privilege by booking multiple cruises and canceling as they see fit.  Not fair to the cruise lines.  It's why RC and X can have sold out sailings years in advance.  Very few pay the extra for a refundable deposit, so they lose if they cancel, so they don't.  Airlines do the same thing.  If you want a refundable fare, you pay extra.  Hotels will give you a discount if you choose a nonrefundable rate and pay upfront.  Same difference.

[Jazzbo]

We are long-time Celebrity cruisers (almost exclusively since 2003), and thoroughly enjoyed our last two cruises on Reflection: a 13-night Transatlantic from Barcelona to Ft. Lauderdale in fall 2022 and a 9-night Med from Barcelona to Rome in fall 2023. I did notice a decline in the quality of some of the food and a few misses in the otherwise stellar service last fall. Some of that would have been the difference between Blu (2022) and MDR (2023). My cousin, who has celiac disease, and her husband were with us on the Med cruise. She was impressed with the way they helped her avoid gluten and brought her the next night’s menu each evening in the MDR and offered modifications to dishes that had gluten.

Entertainment is not a big deal for us. The Med cruise was so port-intensive that we were really tired at night and happy to sit in a longe with a drink and some quiet music.

On the TA, we went to a few shows, but mostly enjoyed meeting and chatting with other passengers.

We are doing an 8-night ABC cruise on Reflection in January to celebrate a big birthday and retirement for me with my brother and his girlfriend, but after that, we have 2 Princess cruises booked: a TA from Ft. Lauderdale to Southampton on Regal in April, and an 11-night Alaska cruise tour end of August, beginning of September on Sapphire. I’m looking forward to trying Princess, and based on reviews from cruisers who regularly cruise both lines, I think we will enjoy Princess.

[JordanF]

13 minutes ago, SCX22 said:

Not fair to the cruise lines.

As Clint Eastwood might have said (Unforgiven): Fair has nothing to do with it.  Or maybe the Godfather: It's not personal, it's business.  I get that the downside to the Princess deposit policy (to Princess) is people booking and then cancelling cruises.  But Princess (and its gigantic owner, Carnival), presumably knows this, and apparently decided that the benefits of attracting more bookings outweighed the costs of more cancellations.  My hunch is that RCL and X are having a great time of it these days, and can afford a more demanding deposit policy.  Or how about Viking?  It requires payment in full many months in advance (although you can get most of it back if you cancel in time).  Perhaps Princess needs refundable deposits to boost bookings?  They zigged while RCL and X zagged?  In any event, we have booked two cruises on Princess that we fully intend to go on, but likely would not have booked them without this policy.  So fair or not, Princess successfully stole me away from other cruise lines.

[SCX22]

18 minutes ago, JordanF said:

As Clint Eastwood might have said (Unforgiven): Fair has nothing to do with it.  Or maybe the Godfather: It's not personal, it's business.  I get that the downside to the Princess deposit policy (to Princess) is people booking and then cancelling cruises.  But Princess (and its gigantic owner, Carnival), presumably knows this, and apparently decided that the benefits of attracting more bookings outweighed the costs of more cancellations.  My hunch is that RCL and X are having a great time of it these days, and can afford a more demanding deposit policy.  Or how about Viking?  It requires payment in full many months in advance (although you can get most of it back if you cancel in time).  Perhaps Princess needs refundable deposits to boost bookings?  They zigged while RCL and X zagged?  In any event, we have booked two cruises on Princess that we fully intend to go on, but likely would not have booked them without this policy.  So fair or not, Princess successfully stole me away from other cruise lines.

 

You still paid a premium for your refundable deposit with Princess.  The lowest category locations categories that are the cheapest (which Princess has also made guarantee only), as of the past few years, have NON-refundable deposits.  So you could have gone with X and paid a little more for a refundable deposit like you did with Princess.  For example, on Princess, the price difference between BF (guarantee/non-refundable deposit) and BB (ability to choose your cabin/refundable deposit) is $300 to $400 per cruise.

 

Pricing is a completely different story.  Princess per day is still cheaper than RC or X.  Having said that if Princess' per day rates start equating to X for similar cruises, I'm choosing X.

Edited September 11 by SCX22

[ATL_Miami_Cruiser]

On 9/9/2024 at 3:22 PM, kaerofan said:

My adult daughter and I just got off the Celebrity Reflection and were really disappointed.  Princess is usually our favourite line but we were just wanting a short getaway out of Florida.  Lack of entertainment and things to do, price gouging at every turn, mediocre food (terrible pizza) and an overall dark and dismal vibe made us really appreciate Princess.

We also did two recent Celebrity Reflection 3-day sailings, one for Memorial Day and the other for Labor Day. I have the same complaints and it definitely doesn't feel like a "premium" line like they advertise. Celebrity is more like a higher level Royal Caribbean and is great for what it is, but it isn't Princess.

[IndyKid]

The wife and I are relative newbies when it comes to cruising, we've only done RCI a couple times and Princess. We really enjoyed our first trip on the Caribbean Princess last December - the food was great, whether it was the buffet, MDR and the two specialty dining venues. And I thought they offered quite a bit of entertainment options for a smaller ship. We're trying out the Sun Princess next May for an Eastern Med trip.

[commodoredave]

We had a very enjoyable cruise on the Celebrity Eclipse in May, and will soon be sailing on the Sun Princess. We loved the food on Eclipse, mainly because we dined in a small restaurant (Blue) which is exclusive to AquaClass cabins. The Martini Bar with the frosted counter was our favourite place for pre-dinner cocktails, but sometimes difficult to snag 2 bar stools there.

We are looking forward to our Princess cruise on the Sun and expect it will equal or surpass our most recent experience with Celebrity. 
Bottom line: we would sail with both anytime.

 

[laslomas]

I am enjoying this thread, and I am also following one on a social media site from someone who recently sailed on Princess and really missed Celebrity.

 

I usually sail with Celebrity but have recently booked on Princess for 2025. Last time I sailed with Princess was my first ever cruise, in 1998. I love Celebrity and only jumped ship due to the poor choice available with Celebrity from Southampton. From reading the various posts I feel the two cruiselines are on a par with each other (I hope) with most people noticing the few cuts since 2020, but still a bit more upmarket than the larger kid friendly ships. I will miss the Martini Bar but will hopefully find somewhere similar on Sky Princess.

 

A very helpful thread, putting aside loyalties, I think I will enjoy Princess too.

[Cruise Raider]

18 hours ago, TRLD said:

We started cruising on Celebrity, but these days they do not pop up that often for itineraries that fit our needs.  Did get a very good deal on a TA next spring on the Apex so we took it to try out that class ship. We may be on a Celebrity ship once every 12 to 24 months.  On Princess more often.

Celebrity, by a huge margin, used to be our preference.  We started cruising on Princess mainly because of their itineraries.  They were ones that sailed out of San Francisco consistently.  How things have changed onboard both Princess and Celebrity is apparent.  Or maybe it’s us that changed in our likes and wishes.  
We are not foodies but I’ve always thought the food was better on Princess.  

We do love to be entertained, whether it be by a live entertainer, activities staff, lecturer or an on demand movie up our cabin.  Princess for the win. 
We love good wine and even though it doesn’t have to be a Reidel, a nice glass makes any wine better.  At first, Celebrity would have gotten that point but now, Princess has upped their stemware.  They each get a point for that. 
WiFi goes to Princess hands down!  
Celebrity has better cabins for 1/4 point goes to Princess for the open closet design.  
Overall goes to Princess now although, now they seem to be limiting the OBC on some sailings depending on the promotion used.  My CVP recently posted that the Princess Picks promotion cruises no longer qualify for Military or Shareholders OBC additions. Celebrity never used to allow stacking of OBC (don’t know about that now) .. so that one is a tie.
The medallion app and the little medallion itself, although some don’t like it, is ingenious.  Princess for the win.  
Nonsmoking in the casino goes to Celebrity hands down.  I don’t know why Princess still allows it .. they had the perfect opportunity to keep it banned during the pandemic.  Princess did send out a targeted survey regarding the casino recently, so maybe they are thinking about going to nonsmoking.  Who knows?  




 

[chisoxfan]

6 hours ago, commodoredave said:

We had a very enjoyable cruise on the Celebrity Eclipse in May, and will soon be sailing on the Sun Princess. We loved the food on Eclipse, mainly because we dined in a small restaurant (Blue) which is exclusive to AquaClass cabins. The Martini Bar with the frosted counter was our favourite place for pre-dinner cocktails, but sometimes difficult to snag 2 bar stools there.

We are looking forward to our Princess cruise on the Sun and expect it will equal or surpass our most recent experience with Celebrity. 
Bottom line: we would sail with both anytime.

 

We thought Aqua Class on S class X ships was about perfect for us and did a bunch. These ships are now getting older and we were sad to see the new Edge Class ships did away with true balconies for AQ. So we did some X Retreat cruises but with crazy pricing and non refundable discounts we aren't really looking to X in the future. Excited to try the Sun Sanctuary suites but are concerned with the myraid changes on a brand new ship. I guess the takeaway is that in todays rapidly changing cruise market it doesn't make sense for one  to 'standardize' on one cruise line. MSC YC has remained (for us) the most consistent product.... less changes to the YC experience and more consistent pricing in the past 6 years than Princess and X have shown in just the past year.

[Iamcruzin]

3 minutes ago, chisoxfan said:

 I guess the takeaway is that in todays rapidly changing cruise market it doesn't make sense for one  to 'standardize' on one cruise line. MSC YC has remained (for us) the most consistent product.... less changes to the YC experience and more consistent pricing in the past 6 years than Princess and X have shown in just the past year.

This has been my mind set since I first started cruising in 1986. I go for biggest bang for the buck which has allowed me the freedom of not worrying about loyalty status and to have new experiences. You will never hear me complain about diluting the loyalty program or when are they going to change the MDR menu. Each line has their plus and minuses but the important thing is, are they going where I want to go at a time and price that I can afford?  I look for the total price by day, with a refundable deposit and if they offer a reduced deposit better yet. 

[sandancer]

On 9/11/2024 at 4:35 AM, ericosmith said:

I dunno, I've enjoyed some of the guest lecturers on Celebrity in the past.  I remember one who had a series on the real CSI.  I find it refreshing to have an activity that's not trying to sell you something.  

Guest lecturers on the Regal were a guy who worked with rock bands for many years. The other had been a butler to the Queen. No one asleep. 

[asctony]

1 hour ago, Iamcruzin said:

This has been my mind set since I first started cruising in 1986. I go for biggest bang for the buck which has allowed me the freedom of not worrying about loyalty status and to have new experiences. You will never hear me complain about diluting the loyalty program or when are they going to change the MDR menu. Each line has their plus and minuses but the important thing is, are they going where I want to go at a time and price that I can afford?  I look for the total price by day, with a refundable deposit and if they offer a reduced deposit better yet. 

You posting sounds just like if we wrote that. Started in 1986 and cruise most of the lines except Carnival.

No favorite as like you said, they all have their pluses and minuses.

Happy Cruising!

[Iamcruzin]

1 hour ago, asctony said:

You posting sounds just like if we wrote that. Started in 1986 and cruise most of the lines except Carnival.

No favorite as like you said, they all have their pluses and minuses.

Happy Cruising!

Carnival and NCL is where I draw the line, especially after seeing some YouTube videos of couples in their late 20's claiming that they have gotten so expensive now with all the add ons that they are now trying Celebrity and Princess.  I never say never because now that I have a grandchild I never know where I will wind up.

[Iamcruzin]

On 9/11/2024 at 2:07 PM, JordanF said:

We have been on Celebrity a three times, the most recent was a 9 day cruise to Aruba in 2023.  All three were excellent.  I have also been on Princess twice (with two more booked).  They were also excellent.  Lately we have been leaning Princess due to itinerary, price and the fully refundable deposit.  I had not realized what a big deal the refundable deposit was to me until recently.  We booked a February 2026 cruise in January 2024.  We fully intend to go on this cruise, but two years ahead is a long time and life can happen.  Celebrity charges a fair amount of money for a refundable deposit--a turn off to me especially when making long term plans.  Nonetheless, We have cruised with RCL, Celebrity, Princess and NCL and quite frankly, find them all to be reasonably similar and also pretty great.

I agree with you about the refundable deposit. What I have found on Celebrity is that prices are cheaper when the itineraries are first released so booking refundable can be equal in price to booking non-refundable later on closer to the cruise. Also I find sometimes it's less expensive to add insurance than to pay the refundable fee and at least you are getting something for your money. If there is a choice between Princess with a refundable deposit and Celebrity with non-refundable I book Princess.

[PescadoAmarillo]

23 hours ago, SCX22 said:

 

People are taking advantage of the privilege by booking multiple cruises and canceling as they see fit.  Not fair to the cruise lines. 

People pay a premium to have a choice. I don’t see how that is unfair to the cruise lines. Besides, the cruise lines set the rules. If they are unhappy, they can certainly change their policies.

 

It’s the same with group space. TA’s are allowed to book group space, theoretically for 7 cabins, lock in an advantageous price and then sell only one or two cabins. It happens all the time. That seems intrinsically more unfair, and yet the cruise lines tolerate (actually, encourage) that. 

 

Years ago I saw a CLIA article that said the average cruise ship cabin turned over seven times prior to sailing. I suspect that has dropped, and the cruise lines are securing higher fares for the privilege of doing something that used to be free. Hardly unfair at all. 

[IndyKid]

On 9/11/2024 at 4:57 PM, SCX22 said:

Not fair to the cruise lines. 

Aww, da poor wittle cruise lines, making money hand over fist by fleecing us mean, old cruisers...🙄