Now that we
are back on dry land in Vancouver, it is the perfect time to compare our
experience on the Emerald Princess against the Celebrity’s cruise ships which
we have taken in the past.
Embarkation
The
embarkation process for Princess was flawless. It was quick and trouble
free. Celebrity’s embarkation process is
also very smooth. Of course it could
also be the terminal layout of Vancouver that made the Princess embarkation
process slightly smoother. Unfortunately
Princess withheld Marg’s suitcase because they mistakenly thought she was
trying to bring in more than one bottle of wine.
In the
final analysis there is no significant difference in their embarkation process.
The Cabins
There is
very little difference in the cabin décor and setup between the two ships. The balcony on the Emerald is slightly bigger
but we’ve noticed that the balconies on the 10th floor are larger
than the balconies on the other floors on the Emerald.
I think
that there is slightly more storage space in the Emerald cabin than on the
Infinity.
Both beds
were extremely comfortable.
The in-room
TV selection had more variety on the Celebrity ship.
In the
final analysis Princess comes out on top for their storage space.
The Ship’s
Officers
The
Emerald’s captain seems to be very personable and compares favorably with some
of the other outstanding captains we’ve had on Celebrity cruises in the way he
communications with the passengers. What
I have noticed though is that officers on the Celebrity cruises and much more
accessible than the officers on Emerald Princess. It is not uncommon to see one the Celebrity
officers walking among the passengers, whereas I don’t remember seeing an
Emerald officer other than on the first formal dinner night.
In the
final analysis Celebrities officers are superior for their accessibility.
The Ship’s
Crew
Our cabin
stewards have all been excellent. They
all have been friendly, efficient and thorough.
The same can be said about our wait staff in the dining room. In many cases the wait staff have left such a
favourable impression that we remember them long after the trip is over.
It seems to
me that the bar and public restaurant staff are much more friendly on the
Celebrity cruises. The staff on the
Emerald Princess are polite and quick but they just don’t seem to interact with
the passengers as much as staff on the Celebrity cruises.
In the
final analysis we think that Celebrity’s crew is better, which is not to say
that Princess’s staff was not excellent.
Food
The food
found in the main dining rooms on both cruise lines is excellent. There is always a wide variety of delicious
starters, entrees, and of course desserts. The food is accompanied by a good
selection of wines of various varieties. We prefer the set sitting in the
evening and usually go to the anytime dinning for lunch.
Where
Princess fails miserably is in its buffet room, where you can get breakfast,
lunch or dinner if you don’t feel like going to a restaurant type setting. We tried the Horizon Court buffet a couple of
times and found, especially for breakfast, that they served the same food each
day, there was no variety in the daily dishes, it was not fresh and the setup
of the buffet was disorganized. In comparison Celebrity’s buffet always had a
minimum of three different styles of food, the menu changed daily. For lunch
there was a pasta bar where you could get any type of freshly cooked pasta with
any sauce you want.
Both ships
have omelet stations, but it is rare to find anyone manning the station on the
Princess Cruise.
Most people
I heard talking about the coffee served on board stated that the coffee on
Princess was terrible.
In the
final analysis we think that Celebrity’s food service is far superior.
Bars
Each boat
has numerous bars and lounges, some small and intimate and others large and
lively. You can get any type of drink,
or brand of alcohol. Service is usually exceptional.
In the
final analysis I don’t think there is much difference between the cruise lines
to recommend one over the other.
Live
Entertainment
Each cruise
liner has a theatre where they stage Broadway type productions and other lounge
acts.
We’ve found that the Princess’s Broadway shows are better, both in the
professionalism of the performers and the costumes.
We feel
that the star performers that Celebrity brings on board are much better than
the acts employed by Princess.
On board
there are many other acts that range from classical music to dance music. They perform at the lounges and poolside bars
on regular basis. I would have to say
that the Princess house band known as Pinnacle is the best we’ve seen. The
other acts are all good with no noticeable difference in their professionalism.
Both cruise
lines show movies under the stars on a huge screen. The projection system is for Princess is far
superior.
Of course
both cruise lines offer audience participation sessions with trivia being one
of the most popular things to do during sea days. Both Princess and Celebrity do this very
well.
In the
final analysis, it would depend on the style of entertainment you like. Our
preference would be Celebrity.
Recreational
Facilities
Both cruise
lines have similar setups for their swimming pool decks. Each has two sets of swimming pools with two
hot tubs associated with each pool in the middle of ship. They both have a pool
and hot tub located in the bow of the ship. The major difference is that on
Princess both are outdoor pools, whereas on Celebrity one of the pools is
enclosed. This comes in handy on cruises
to Alaska or fall cruises north of the Caribbean, when it can get a bit cool.
We can’t compare the Spa or Gym on these ships
because we’ve never been to either.
In the
final analysis we give the edge to Celebrity for the covered pool.
Internet
Services
On the
Celebrity Infinity the internet service ranged from slow to OK. On the Emerald Princess you would not be
incorrect to say it ranged from totally ineffectively to non-existent. Princess needs to fire their network IT shop
and replace it with qualified engineers and pour a lot more money into the
service. The internet has become a daily
fixture in most people’s lives and needs to be treated as such with sufficient
capacity to meet the demand.
In the
final analysis we think that Celebrity’s internet service is far superior and
the service provided by Princess is an insult.
Local
Culture
When you
are going to a different culture it is nice to have educational seminars and
culinary experiences that reflect the culture of the destination. Both provide great seminars but Princess is
better at providing local food in their fine dining areas.
In the
final analysis, Princess comes out ahead based on their locally themed meals in
the dining room.
Shore
Excursions
As the
shore excursions are run independently of the cruise line, it is up to the
cruise line to vet the excursions to ensure that they meet their
standards. For most part the excursions
we have been on are informative and interesting.
Unfortunately
Princess seems to believe that shore excursions must also include
shopping. They employ a high pressure
sales pitch at each port, trying to get you to go the local jewelry shop or
souvenir stand. They actually employ
someone who has hour long seminars to tell you what to buy in each port. After awhile it become annoying.
Interestingly
enough I just received an email from Princess telling us about a change to the
tour to Pearl Harbor. Hello Princess we
took the tour five days ago.
In the
final analysis Celebrity offers a better shore experience because you are not
harassed by some stupid barker from the ship.
Décor
Princess’s
décor is usually brown with dark rich wood in many of the lounges and
restaurants. It gives the ship a classy sophisticate feeling. Celebrity on the
other hand deploys a more modern flashy look in most of their bars and
restaurants.
In the
final analysis both are excellent and it would be a matter of personal
preference, if it mattered at all.
As you can
see it boils down to what you want in a cruise.
For our personal preference we would usually select Celebrity.
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