Princess vs Celebrity?
Island Princess Cruise Review to Panama Canal, Central America
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Staff Captain
Cruises: 7+ cruises
Reviews: 25
Helpful Votes: 527
15 Night Panama Canal - Ocean To Ocean (Los Angeles To Ft. Lauderdale)
Sail date: May 11, 2023
Ship: Island Princess
Cabin type: Oceanview
Cabin number: E614
Traveled as: Couple
Reviewed: 1 year ago
Review summary
We've been on a couple Celebrity cruises recently so let me compare our Princess experience to our last Celebrity. The Island Princess is their oldest smallest ship so I should compare it to our recent Celebrity Millenium (similar size and age) ship experience but if I did, Princess would win easily so I will compare it to the Solstice (a little newer and bigger) ship which was a more comparable experience for us. We like all cruise lines and they all have their pros and cons. Celebrity does a lot of things well and so does Princess. Here is my two-cents on comparing what I remember. Your experience may vary and so could mine next time.Embarkation
Our embarkation group time was 11 am. We got an email notice that things were going to be held up so get there at 2:30 or something like that. Got there about noon. Lots of people had already boarded. We are Platinum so directed to the Priority line. Problem is that they have two lines, regular and priority. Princess has lots of priority guests so that line was actually longer and took longer so don't expect much if you get priority boarding. Something happened with their computers and everything stopped. Waited for 45 minutes to reboot their system then started moving. You must precheck-in through the app so all they had to "check" at the port is to actually see your physical passport so don't know why we had to wait for computers to do that.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
FYI, neither line's buffet offered the same dishes as being served in the MDR. Breakfast buffet: Not much can go right or wrong on a cruise breakfast buffet. Nothing wrong with Princess' with lots of choices and quality but Celebrity had an Eggs Benedict bar that we really liked so an edge to Celebrity.... Lunch buffet: I would give overall quality to Princess but on sea days Celebrity did ethnic food themes that had some great options. Pretty even. Dinner buffet: Celebrity must assume nobody wants to eat dinner in the buffet so they don't even try. Very small with few, sad choices. Princess however, goes all out for dinner buffet. They had ethnic food themes nightly with a food bar that had amazing entrees. I always walk through the buffet before going to the MDR and often wished I could eat in the dinner buffet on Princess (I did get some "samples" of course). I never had that urge on Celebrity. The big difference in the buffets is that Princess doesn't close it between 5:30 am and 10 pm. It is always open! Celebrity's buffet, like most lines, closed for a couple hours between meals. The Lido hamburgers and hot dogs were similar, but Princess also had a few extra choices like tacos. Pizza was good on Celebrity but small, only available in the buffet, and it often ran out. Princess pizza was almost as good but always available next to the pool and large slices. MDR quality was similar but overall, I liked Princess' choices better. I usually found at least one entry I wanted on Celebrity but typically saw 2 or 3 that I wanted on the Princess MDR menu. The desserts are way better on Princess. Not bad on Celebrity but they don't have much imagination. The Chocolate Journey type desserts on Princess are amazing. I would not starve on Celebrity and in fact enjoyed their food but Princess just has more going for it.
Onboard Activities
We didn't do a lot this last Princess cruise and I don't know if that is because we didn't want to or there wasn't much that interested us. Princess did have an enrichment speaker with some great topics but he was not that entertaining of a speaker. I typically fell asleep. We did go to several of the Celebrity activities so maybe they were just better.
Entertainment
Both these ships, Island Princess and Celebrity Solstice happened to have brand new singer/dancer casts on the cruises we went on. The difference was that Celebrity sent their new cast out with only knowing one show, so we only saw one production show that cruise. The new Princess cast already knew three shows before being sent out. Celebrity and Princess both did great and we enjoyed them but quantity clearly goes to Princess. The other comedians and entertainers were all great on both cruises. I love how the Princess cast stands in front of the theater to greet you and answer your questions before each non-production show. I don't remember that on Celebrity.
Children's Programs
No kids with us but the children we saw on board seemed to be having fun and very well mannered.
Service and Staff
I can't fault either line as they both really do a great job in service. I think the Princess MDR waiters happened to be more experienced and interactive this time but nothing wrong with Celebrity's.
Ship Quality
Cleanliness is always great but the Island Princess ship is just different. It is old and small (which I like) but was laid out weird. The buffet was in the front. The gym was down low in the back with no windows. It was a basic, sweaty gym which is all you need but not pretty. There was no International Cafe on this ship. We got used to the ship but I would definitely pick the Solstice or even the Millenium ship over the Island for the ship itself.
Cabin / Stateroom
We upgraded from an inside to an Oceanview Obstructed on the Island Princess. Minimum bid was $50 pp. I bid $60 and it was quickly accepted. These cabin views are very obstructed by lifeboats. We luckily had a sliver of view but cabins either side of us could see only sky. The cabin itself was fine with lots of closet space (typical of Princess) but the bathroom was tiny with the smallest shower we have ever encountered. We are not big people but struggled even turning around. The curtain sticks to you and you had to turn off the water to get shampoo because the dispensers are right under the water spray so it would wash away the shampoo as you pumped it out. The bathroom on the Celebrity Solstice was probably twice as large, the room size was similar. Bathroom on Solstice was a huge win over Island Princess.
Ship tip
Really study the Island Princess layout before you sail because it is very different. There are Secret decks in front on decks 10 and 11 and in the rear on decks 8 & I think 9. Great for coming in or out of port or other vista opportunities. If you are trying to decide between Princess and Celebrity, you can't go wrong with either. For me on these two ships at least, I enjoyed Princess a little more but wouldn't hesitate to sail on the Solstice again.
Thumbs up
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Ports of call
San Pedro (Los Angeles), California
We just walked to the beach close to port. Look for big sign pointing to the path to the beach in the old market area. Just brought towels from the ship and sat on the sand. Water was pretty, warm, weather was beautiful.
Love this port and would live there if I could. A great excursion is to hire a small boat to take you to the hidden coves and beaches, etc. This time we went to Secrets Resort for a day pass. Take a taxi from port. It should only be about $6, prices are posted in the cab but in pesos so know your exchange rate, our driver to the resort cheated us. The Day Pass rate was 1450 pesos I believe so about $80 US. (You may get a little better deal through "ResortPass" type websites) That gives you full food and drink privileges, use of all the pools, beach chairs, etc. It was really great and we had a wonderful time. Food was not that special though.
The beach in town is terrible. Water is not clear, sand is more of dirt than sand. There are excursions but require a long bus ride. We just walked along the malacon to the Punta Pirata "Beach Club" at the west end of the peninsula. It is a large pool area where you pay about $10 to use their facilities. You can buy a food package if you wish. It was a nice way to spend the day for a low cost. Walking back we got the local "Churchill" soft drink which was tasty. We happened upon a street fair and parade while we were there so that was really cool. Not a pretty port or town and I wish they could find somewhere better in Costa Rica.
Good thing is that they have a dock now so you don't need to tender. Bad thing is it is a construction zone still and they need to take you to the old port on a bus. All that takes as long as the tender process used to take. We went on a local tour together with some people we met on the ship. For six people we negotiated a guide all day for $200. We were told he had a van but turned out to be a small SUV with very cramped back seats so ask to see the vehicle before you settle on a price. The guide was pretty bad and just kept saying, "Where do you want to go?" Ask what you will see and do before agreeing to a price. Really great country and nice people.
This time we went in the old locks and it was better. It is much more interesting to watch with the "mules" and old gates, etc. The old locks have two lanes so you can watch the ships next to you as you pass. This Princess ship had a narrator but very hard to hear and not a lot of info. Best to study the history before you go.
We only went to the bird/animal sanctuary at the port. It is free and really amazing. You could spend hours there admiring the animals and exhibits.
Ft. Lauderdale (Port Everglades), Florida
Got a rental car for the day. There is a free shuttle but the area is packed with grumpy people trying to get on the shuttle. You may need to wait a while. Next time I would just get an Uber to the Car Rental place. Fun to drive around and go to the beach.
Disembarkation
Pretty quick and uneventful, just how I like it.
11 Comments
windy2day 1 year ago
Thanks for your informative review. We have cruised on Princess and Celebrity and your comparisons are on point. We are going on the Island Princess in July for the first time and were hesitant because of the lack of the International Cafe but booked it for the itinerary. I heard the gym was nothing special but serves it’s purpose.