Celebrity Cruises vs Princess Cruises: Which is Best?
They also have the backing of huge corporations behind them as Princess Cruises is owned by the Carnival Corporation and Celebrity Cruises is part of the Royal Caribbean Group.
With those been the largest and second largest cruise ship operators in the world, there are lots of people who like to stick to the family of lines they have always sailed on but most cruisers when looking to take the step up from mainstream lines to premium lines- they just want the best experience.
I have been fortunate enough to sail with both lines and by using a mix of my own experience, the experiences of others I have talked to about the lines, the feedback I had gotten from viewers of the CruiseHols YouTube channel and the research I have done on both lines, I will compare the two to deem which like I feel is the best.
This is based on what I believe are the most important aspects of cruising including Pre-Cruise, Check-In, Entertainment, Onboard Experience, Food & Drink, Itineraries and the Value of the cruise.
Don’t forget though that this is based on my owns views and on how I like things to be when cruising so it may differ for you, but hopefully this acts as a good guide and you it may help you decide on the line to choose for your next cruise holiday.
Celebrity Cruises vs Princess Cruises
When it comes to the pre-cruise experience for both lines, it is incredibly similar. You book your cruise, complete things such as your personnel details, passport information and more online before sailing and you can book everything from dining to shore excursions and from speciality dining to behind-the-scenes tours via their apps or on their websites.
Both websites and apps work well for the two lines and to be honest I had absolutely no issues with either line when it comes to this category.
I hate to give a draw for any category and that means I need to get down to the very small margins to separate them and the biggest difference was the lack of a pre-cruise health questionnaire from Princess that whilst many will just lie about even if they are unwell, at least it may may some people think twice.
With that in mind, I am giving the point in this to Celebrity, but with things as close as they are, it isn’t anything to worry about for each line.
Winner: Celebrity Cruises
This is a tough one to compare for both lines as much of the check-in process is down to the terminal set up at your departure port and the local customs and regulation rules.
What I can compare is the bit that is in the control of the lines including the pre-check in information making it through to the staff and the terminal and how well the line explain then execute the check in process for their guests.
When it comes to those elements, there were once again lots of similarities but there were some differences including a major difference.
With so much done in advance, the process is pretty straightforward for both lines, but we did have a couple of issues with Princess.
That included been told to queue up to hand over our passports before boarding the ship to get to the front of the queue and then told we didn’t need to hand them over to be told onboard the ship that we would have to hand them over to our steward on a sea day.
That confusion apart, the biggest issue we had and where the two lines do separate is that whilst with Celebrity you choose a time to arrive at the terminal for your check-in, with Princess you can arrive at any time.
On the face of it that seems a great idea, but it does mean that everybody for our cruise had the same idea of getting to the port when check-in opened and that led to crowding and a long wait to board whilst when peoples arrivals are spread out, it makes it much more organised and quicker once you arrive at the departure port.
With in mind, Celebrity get the point in this one but again it is incredibly tight and only my personnel preference from my regard that separates the two, so for most it won’t matter that much.
Winner: Celebrity Cruises
This is an element of cruising that is hugely important for me and my wife as most nights we will head to the theatre to (hopefully) enjoy what is on offer.
Starting with the good for both lines, they offer professional performances including their own in house production shows and guest entertainers and if you head to the theatre, you should have a decent 45 minutes of entertainment.
Around the ships, both lines offer a range of entertainers in bars, lounges and the atriums, whilst they both also have activity programmes throughout the day and evening.
Basically, they offer everything that you need to be entertained whilst on a cruise ship but the big difference for me is that Princess plays this very safely and offers the minimum whilst Celebrity put a bit more effort in and go over and above the minimum.
With Princess, each night was very similar no matter who the guest entertainer was or what the production show was, with some songs been performed by different performers across multiple nights.
Each production show was a variant of songs with a different setting and that was actually something the performances were commenting on as I overheard them speaking in the buffet about the lack of variety.
Celebrity on the other hand do add variety to their shows and they tend to have different musical styles from their guest singers and add things such as local performers, dancers, magicians, comedians and more into the mix.
So, with that in mind, I can only give the point to Celebrity for this as they are currently far ahead of Princess for entertainment.
Winner: Celebrity Cruises
For this one, a lot of it depends on the ship you are sailing on, which does make it a tricky one for me to judge on as whilst I have been a variety of classes of ship for Celebrity, I have only sailed on the one class of ship for Princess.
You certainty can get an overall view of how the line approaches the onboard experience though and again there are lots of similarities and lots of differences.
To start with, the staff onboard the ships for both lines are both great and really do add the premium nature of the lines.
I have sailed in polar regions with both, and they both brought regional specialists onboard to give lectures and to narrate cruising through areas out outstanding natural beauty, which again really adds to those sorts of getaways.
Both are aimed at adults and those who are wanting a slower paced getaway, so you are not going to get ice rinks, go-karts and water parks with them.
That’s not to say they don’t have lots to offer, as they do, but once again this is something that Princess tends to offer the bare minimum in certain areas whilst Celebrity offers that bit more.
With Celebrity, you get things such as roof top gardens, glass making, the Eden area and more divisive aspects such as the magic carpet whilst with Princess you won’t find anything that you don’t get with any other line, but they do all of those things well.
Another big difference is Celebrity have Chic nights whilst Princess have formal nights and whilst the difference is relatively small, by having more flexibility for people to dress more how they like, Celebrity keep things more relaxed whilst we did witness some snobbery onboard Princess.
Another huge negative for Princess is that they still allow smoking in the casino which is not only not great for the health of everybody onboard but it means the smell travels through the ship and those expensive clothes you brough for formal night now stink.
The onboard experience is just a little bit better in every aspect for me with Celebrity, so whilst not bad in any way, shape or form with Princess, Celebrity pick up a comfortable win for this one.
Winner: Celebrity Cruises
This is another area that is hugely important to me and is another aspect of both lines that they both do well with. To start with, you are not going to go hungry with both lines as they both offers a wide range of food places including grab and go spots, a buffet, main dining rooms, speciality dining and included cafes.
Both also offer plenty of places to get drinks around the ship including bars and lounges but as is always the case when it comes to cruising, some things cost extra.
So, for this point, I am going to stick to what is included in the base fare, so I won’t include speciality dining or drinks only included in a drinks package.
Both offer a good range of included drinks in the buffet and main dining including teas, coffee, water and fruit juices and there are other places to grab an included drink around the ship.
In the main dining rooms, you are going to get a mix of western dishes and global dishes and whilst Princess perhaps play this one a bit safe again, both are excellent.
There is a big difference in the buffet however as there is much more variety with Celebrity, which helps to stop a bit of food boredom especially on longer cruises but something I always appreciate about Celebrity is that they offer a few dishes based on the ports you are visiting.
Again, both do this one well but Celebrity just do food and drink that bit better or more to my liking if you prefer, so they get the point again in this one.
Winner: Celebrity Cruises
This one is incredibly close, and it will depend on the region that you like to cruise in as to which is the best. To start with, both have lots of options in the world’s busiest cruise regions such as the Mediterranean and the Caribbean.
Away from that, they also both have lots of options for those wanting to sail in far less popular places such as South America, the Far East, the Indian Ocean and in the polar regions.
Both also offer a range of repositioning cruises and round-trip itineraries from both massive cruise port and smaller out of the way ports and both visit ports often overlooked by other lines.
Basically, the chances are that no matter where you want to visit, both lines will go there, and it is an area both excel in.
As has been the case for a lot of these point, one whilst both do well, one stands out and just excels that much more but in this case it is Princess as they offer World Cruises and they also offer easy to book back-to-back cruises including back-to-back repositioning routes where you keep traveling new areas and visit new ports.
Winner: Princess Cruises
This is something that is so subjective and that is so dependent on lots of different variables that it is difficult to really compare it.
To try and keep things as fair as possible, I will use my experience of two similar cruises to compare the two which was a transatlantic cruise from Iceland to Boston via Greenland and Canada onboard the Celebrity Millennium with a roundtrip from Buenos Aires to Patagonia and Antarctica onboard the Sapphire Princess with Princess Cruises.
I will ignore the extra costs and time for heading down to Antarctica, so that leave two similar trips, in similar regions on similar ships.
With all of that housekeeping out of the way, the two trips actually cost roughly the same for the cruise element of it and for what you get and the quality of what you get, both were decent value in my opinion.
They are both premium lines, so you do pay a bit more than that, but you do get things that I value for that extra cost including less crowded ships and great food.
Once again though, with things been so tight, it is all of those small things that makes the difference in this one and with Celebrity just doing everything that bit better in my opinion, with the base costs been so similar, you simply get better value from them.
Winner: Celebrity Cruises
So overall, it looks like quite a comfortable win for Celebrity as Princess only came out on top in one category, but it really is much closer that that perhaps makes it seem.
It really does come down to the Celebrity just doing the small differences more to my way of cruising or to match my preferences and that will more than likely not be the case for you, so it maybe Princess comes out on top for you.
If either line have an itinerary that you are interest in for the right price, I will say book it as I am sure you will have a great time.
In fact, at the time of writing this comparison, I have a getaway already booked with both lines which should back up that view.
Winner: Celebrity Cruises
