Celebrity cruiser tries Princess.....

[wa.mama]

Background – we have only cruised Celebrity in the past, yet are not frequent cruisers as we prefer independent travel. However, the parents are retired and love to cruise so we tag along occasionally. We chose Princess this time because of the itinerary. Our group consisted of a 70-ish couple, 2 “middle agers” and two kids ages 8 and 13. We sailed on the Crown Princess, southern caribbean itinerary.

 

Getting there – we did princess air, which was new for us, but princess was able to get a better-priced flight from the west coast. The flight, though long, was uneventful, transfers went smoothly, and check in was a breeze. We had 2 standard balconies and an inside; the combo worked well since the balconies could be connected and gave both easy access to the kids as well as a larger balcony. We were aft on the Riviera deck and did not experience any noise at all, and liked the convenience to the aft pool and the buffets.

Couldn’t help it – there were a lot of Celebrity comparisons going on, and the conclusions were surprising. I’ll try to categorize –

 

Décor and furnishings – Celebrity seems more upscale, quieter, more formal. Princess décor was a little too pastel and mass-market for my taste. I did like the ambiance of the dining rooms better on Princess, as they seem more intimately arranged than the large rooms on Celebrity. Couldn’t compare the staterooms as we had a different category this time than our usual, though the bathrooms were tiny.

 

Service – Our service was faultless. Both in the Dining room and with our staterooms the service was impeccable, with all needs seemingly anticipated and met before we could voice them. Celebrity service is more “white glove” but seems obsequious compared to Princess. I was worried about the quality of service due to the mandatory tip, but ended up tipping extra because I was so impressed with the level of care.

 

Cuisine – (here goes…) food was tastier, better prepared and more varied on Princess. Presentation was not as pleasing, but things did not end up tasting all the same as it does by the end of the week on Celebrity. Fruit and vegetables tasted fresher and were abundant. One of our group is a chef who trained at the Culinary Institute of America and she gave a higher mark to the food on this cruise than our previous celebrity cruises. We especially enjoyed the regional cuisine at Café Caribe as it gave us a chance to try all kinds of foods that we don’t usually come across. The pastries at the international café were OK. The kids sorely missed the Celebrity waffles, French fries, pasta bar and home made ice cream. I missed the Aquaspa. We did get ice cream and soda cards and used them quite a bit.

 

Entertainment – Kids clubs were definitely more active and structured. I liked the separation between age groups. Kid’s club rooms were well equipped with age appropriate games and activities. We mostly went to MUTS so can’t comment on the theatre productions though the one comedian we saw was just so-so. MUTS was great – sunbathing used to be so boring, now you can do it while watching a movie.

 

Excursions – Again,, can’t comment as we do our own independently and arranged them mainly around snorkeling and diving.

 

In summary, the Crown Princess was a pleasant surprise. The major components of a good cruise were strongly represented – great service, excellent food, and an interesting itinerary. We still love Celebrity, but when considering cruises will have no qualms about going on another trip with Princess.

 

snapshots from the caribbean - http://good-times.webshots.com/album/562899207MZYKCP?vhost=good-times

[cruiselovincouple]

Thanks for your post! My husband and I cruised Princess last year after cruising Carnival for our first cruise. We preferred Princess' classy relaxation to Carnival and I have been looking at Celebrity as an alternative to Princess. It seems the Celebrity ships are pretty amazing so we were wondering how they compare to Princess. It's nice to read the info!!

 

:D

[Coral]

Thanks for your review.

 

My comments about food (comparing Celebrity to Princess) are the same that I encountered. Celebrity excels in presentation but I wasn't a fan of the food for the same reasons you mentioned.

 

I think the opposite of you in reference to the dining rooms. I love the look of Celebrity's dining rooms with the big open window in the aft. I have seen pictures of the Solstice and love the look of the dining room in the brochures.

 

Did you do anytime dining or traditional dining?

 

Glad you enjoyed your cruise!

[Toto2Kansas]

Excellent comparison, thanks for taking the time to write the review. It has been many years since we sailed Celebrity. At one point we tried to cruise at least twice on all of the major cruise lines just to compare and see which we liked the best overall. We seem to return to Princess time and time again. Glad you enjoyed your Princess trial cruise, hope to see you again someday soon. ;)

[caribill]

The kids sorely missed the Celebrity waffles, French fries, pasta bar and home made ice cream.

 

 

Enjoyed reading your review.

 

Agree that Princess needs to have waffles.

 

Did the kids try the French fries available at the hamburger grill or available in the dining room?

 

The ice cream in the dining rooms at lunch and dinner as well as in the buffet arount 3:30-4:30 is home made. Are you saying that Princess homemade is not as good as Celebrity or did you not get the chance to try Princess homemade?

[wa.mama]

Enjoyed reading your review.

 

Agree that Princess needs to have waffles.

 

Did the kids try the French fries available at the hamburger grill or available in the dining room?

 

The ice cream in the dining rooms at lunch and dinner as well as in the buffet arount 3:30-4:30 is home made. Are you saying that Princess homemade is not as good as Celebrity or did you not get the chance to try Princess homemade?

 

Oh yes, the kids tried the french fries many times ;) so I can't believe they were all that bad. The grill waiters are very nice and would make up a hot fresh batch for them anytime. I'm not a fries expert so can't compare. We did try all the ice cream venues :eek: - the ice cream bar (good milkshakes, can't get those on Celebrity) the gelato, the free afternoon ice cream and the dining room service. I think it was more of a flavor issue, as we missed certain flavors that Celebrity has, and that the 5 or 6 flavors change every day.

 

Then again, by the amount of junk the kids ate I'm sure their complaints were more symbolic than anything else. We find ourselves missing this cruise more than others we've been on. Sometimes we arrive home and are happy to be back, but not this time!

[we2cruze]

They have waffles on RCI Mariner of the Seas. When we ask my son (now 6) which cruise he liked best he always says the Mariner of the Seas. When asked why, he says because they have waffles. He is a waffle and Macaroni and cheese fanatic. :p The pancakes on Princess are okay as is the french toast, but waffles would be nice.

We've yet to sail Celebrity, so thank you for the comparison. We like Princess alot for a variety of the reasons with the food being high on the list. We've always had good service on Princess and we like the atmosphere. Hopefully as we cruise more, we will get to try more lines.

[caribcruiser787]

We went from Carnival to RCCL. Now we're trying Princess for the first time and, judging from our research, we're expecting to like it even more. We've considered Celebrity and will probably cruise with them some time, but all of our friends who have experienced both prefer Princess. Thanks for the review!

[YoPhilly]

Thanks for taking the time to write your observations. We all appreciate your thoughtful comments. I'm a longtime Princess cruiser and have been tempted to try Celebrity. You know how it goes....the grass is always greener. Well, maybe not so much greener!! ;)

[Peace2U]

So glad you like Princess. We love it but definitelywant to try Celebrity in the future.

[readytogo2]

Our first cruise was with Celebrity,which we had a great time. Everything was more than I expected. I find Princess right up there with Celebrity. The biggest difference is that I can book a balcony room on Princess for less than we paid for that inside on Celebrity.

[jff50]

I did like the ambiance of the dining rooms better on Princess, as they seem more intimately arranged than the large rooms on Celebrity. Couldn’t compare the staterooms as we had a different category this time than our usual, though the bathrooms were tiny.

 

Cuisine – (here goes…) food was tastier, better prepared and more varied on Princess. Presentation was not as pleasing, but things did not end up tasting all the same as it does by the end of the week on Celebrity. Fruit and vegetables tasted fresher and were abundant. One of our group is a chef who trained at the Culinary Institute of America and she gave a higher mark to the food on this cruise than our previous celebrity cruises. We especially enjoyed the regional cuisine at Café Caribe as it gave us a chance to try all kinds of foods that we don’t usually come across. The pastries at the international café were OK. The kids sorely missed the Celebrity waffles, French fries, pasta bar and home made ice cream. I missed the Aquaspa. We did get ice cream and soda cards and used them quite a bit.

Glad to see that there are others that prefer Princess over Celebrity for dining (atmosphere of the dining room, variety and taste). So many people give Celebrity such high marks for their food, but I have consistently preferred Princess.

[roe2ship]

Thanks for the very detailed review. I have been wanting to try Celebrity but could not match up an itinerary for the time of year we can cruise. Hopefully with their new Solstice class ships being built they can offer more options.

[WeBeGone]

Interesting comparison as we're going on our first Celebrity cruise on Monday.

[Mintycake]

Thank you for writing. We're trying Celebrity for the first time and I am a little scared because we love Princess. However, for our TA cruise, we could not get a better deal on Princess so it was a cost factor plus Celebrity will have a brand new ship. I have heard the service is more "white glove" than Princess.

 

I hope you sail with Princess again!

[sammiedawg]

We've sailed many lines and we thought Celebrity was way overrated. Esp the condition of the ship which was shabby and run down. Their food and service in the DR were more formal and as someone mentioned the waiters wear white gloves. Beyond that service is fairly comparable on Hal, Princess, X ( unless you are a suite passenger or you pay extra for concierge on X) . When people rave about X, I'm thinking they are concierge level and they have paid a big premium for this extra level of service.

And I agree Princess needs to get waffles.

[TorontoTL]

Thanks for posting your review. It is nice to read a positive review from someone with a fresh set of eyes (not sailed with Princess in the past).

[StitchesToo]

I must admit surprise in reading so many positive comments regarding the food on the Crown. My last cruise on the Crown, there were six of us, and none of us were impressed with the food. We all thought the beef dishes were really poor....not nearly as good as you can get at Outback or Longhorn steak houses. My friends did think that the seafood was good. (I don't care for seafood.) Also, we all liked the fettucine and many of the appetizers. But the entrees, besides the seafood, were a disappointment. There was very little chicken served on this cruise. They had I think it was a roasted chicken breast as a standard available every day, but that was it. This was surprising because when on the Island Princess there was a lot of chicken dishes. The pork was as bad as the beef and my vegetarian friend was very disappointed in the lack of variety.

 

I'm wondering what dishes people have particularly liked. I'm curious, did you order a lot of seafood? I am just wondering if that is what makes the difference. Does anyone think the beef in the regular dining rooms is any good? Is it a lot better if you go to the specialty restaurant?

[heartofamerica]

Glad to see that there are others that prefer Princess over Celebrity for dining (atmosphere of the dining room, variety and taste). So many people give Celebrity such high marks for their food, but I have consistently preferred Princess.

 

I have sailed Celebrity, HAL, RCCL and just recently Princess (I was on wa.mama's cruise but we didn't get a chance to meet). Prior to this, I felt Celebrity had the best food, but I was amazed at the quality and flavor of the food on Princess...even in the buffet. My only complaint was with the "toasters" that seemed to take forever and only warmed the bread.

[wa.mama]

I have sailed Celebrity, HAL, RCCL and just recently Princess (I was on wa.mama's cruise but we didn't get a chance to meet). Prior to this, I felt Celebrity had the best food, but I was amazed at the quality and flavor of the food on Princess...even in the buffet. My only complaint was with the "toasters" that seemed to take forever and only warmed the bread.

 

 

Sorry we didn't get a chance to meet! We arrived in the afternoon and it was go-go-go from that minute onward.

 

I had heard Princess "dissed" so much that I had been less than enthusiastic about the cruise prior to going. May I add that I found the passengers on Princess to be friendly, well-behaved, and there wasn't one mullet in sight....

[jaynak]

Hello Mama - I enjoyed your review and was anxious to read what you had to say as we are Celeb. fans too - just had our first experience with Princess too - on the Emerald.

 

We missed: the AquaSpa Cafe and Thalasotherapy Pool on the M class ships, the ánytime'wonderful'free ice cream, the cold drinks and face towels when you come back from an excursion, the folio balance posted on the interactive TV so you always know what your balance is - less chance or errors, much more extensive room service/also on interactive TV, much more beautiful dining rooms (imho...)

 

We loved: the far superior buffets, MUTS, longer pool hours, far more organized disembarking at each port and tendering, the International Cafe, the coffee card.

 

Conclusion: who will we book with next time? - its a toss up - it'll be price and itinerary dependant for sure :)

 

Jayna K

[dforeigner]

Thank you for taking time to write a review.

[sammiedawg]

We did 1 X cruise and while we met some very nice people we also met a few that made very condescending remarks about any other line besides X. They had only sailed X and thought it was the be all and the end all.

The X cruise director was constantly talking about the Excellence of Celebrity, it was mentioned anytime he introduced a showm, event and this was the constant theme on the pre recorded TV events . I heard tablemates quoting the CD " on the excellence of Celebrity" as if it was gospel

I dont like to hear people put down what they have not tried and its great to try different lines

Very nice review , OP did a very nice evaluation , I have not been on the Crown and hope to try it

[KKB]

Service – Our service was faultless. Both in the Dining room and with our staterooms the service was impeccable, with all needs seemingly anticipated and met before we could voice them. Celebrity service is more “white glove” but seems obsequious compared to Princess. I was worried about the quality of service due to the mandatory tip, but ended up tipping extra because I was so impressed with the level of care.

 

We have loved our 2 Princess cruises, and look forward to the Crown...sounds like the food is even better!

 

I am curious about your "mandatory tip" comment...while certainly EXPECTED, there is no mandatory tip. It is put on your account, but you have the right to remove it and give your own tips as you see fit. (in theory, not tip at all:eek: ). I like the convenience of the tip on the account, and we always give an extra $20 or so to any crew member who has made our cruise very memorable.

 

Glad to here your comparison. My parents still rank Celebrity as their fav, followed by RCCL, then Princess and NCL a distant fourth. They were more impressed by Celebrity and RCCL than the Coral Princess. I would like them to try another ship. I would personally like to try another line, but Princess keeps sending me terrific deals that no other line can touch! (around $500pp for each of our Princess cruises!)

[watergal]

I found your response interesting as we have been contemplating a Celebrity cruise for some time. We are Platinum Princess cruisers and were on the Golden for the Mexican Riviera in mid-February and were sorely disappointed in the dining room food. We had Anytime Dining and often left the table disillusioned with the quality of the food as presented. Generally always cold and one can only complain so many times so we assumed it was due to the thousands of bodies onboard - consequently we will avoid the grand class in future.

There were lots of young people throughout the ship and all well behaved. The only problem folks were the smokers who lit up anywhere and everywhere it pleased them ~ poolside, any and all lounge chairs, and it was most foul outside the casino where people would try to browse in the shops. One of the bar employees (12 year tenure with Princess) said the smoking issue is being addressed as currently there are over 600 employees onboard who smoke and they were bringing in a professional to help them quit. It will be a great day when smoking is banned entirely on all ships - as it is in most public venues because it is a health issue for everyone not a personal vendetta against smokers.

 

Watergal.