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I am often asked is Princess Cruises or Celebrity Cruises better? Both of these premium cruise lines are popular and attract similar cruise travellers, but which offers the better cruise experience, value, ships and on-board facilities. I have cruised with both again recently, and this is what I found and think.
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0:00
if i gave you these daily programs from
0:02
the recent cruises i booked on on these
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two lines you would see they're offering
0:06
and doing all the same things on board
0:08
on the surface these two cruise lines
0:10
appear to be interchangeable with little
0:13
to differentiate one from the other
0:15
however one of these lines princess
0:17
cruises and celebrity cruises is better
0:20
than the other as i'm going to show you
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if you're new here welcome aboard i'm
0:24
gary bembridge and my goal is to make it
0:26
easier and more fun to discover plan and
0:29
enjoy unforgettable cruise vacations if
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i covered up the cruise line name on
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their daily programs you would
0:36
absolutely struggle to tell which was
0:37
princess cruises and which was celebrity
0:40
cruises they have the same range and
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types of activities quizzes game shows
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deck games enrichment talks cooking
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demos movies out on deck art auctions
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bingo fitness classes fitness seminars
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shopping deal events and so on they have
0:54
the same entertainment live music around
0:57
the ship on the pool deck and in the
0:58
bars and lounges the main theater shows
1:00
are the same too they're all song and
1:02
dance review shows on the newer ships
1:05
with more modern theaters the shows are
1:07
a bit bigger and glitzier like rock
1:10
opera on princess and kaleidoscope on
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edge they have guest entertainers with
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the usual singers magicians and so on
1:17
they have big casinos their dress codes
1:20
follow a classical and traditional
1:22
cruise approach with a mix of smart
1:24
casual and dress-up nights on princess
1:26
it's called dress to impress and on
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celebrity it's evening chic dining is
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also largely the same as a mix of
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included dining venues and some
1:35
specialty restaurants with added fees
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there are main dining rooms with early
1:39
late or anytime options for dinner a
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buffet restaurant called ocean view on
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celebrity and horizon gordon princess
1:46
they have both informal dining venues
1:48
around the swimming pools the specialty
1:50
restaurants are also broadly similar
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princess has sabatini italian crown
1:56
grill steakhouse and bistro seller mare
1:59
their french bistro celebrity has the
2:01
tuscan grill italian marana which is
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french and petty chef both have sushi
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restaurants the sea view barn princess
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and sushi on five on celebrity they have
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their signature coffee shops
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international cafe on princess and cafe
2:17
albachio on celebrity spa and fitness
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centers and so on and so on on this
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basis there is really very little to
2:25
choose between them if you like a
2:27
classic cruise experience and ship which
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i do
2:30
neither in my view is better
2:33
however
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during my cruises as i settled in and
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probed deeper i experienced some
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differences that has affected which i'm
2:42
actually choosing as being better and i
2:45
think you should factor this into your
2:47
thinking too on checking i found that
2:50
both cruise lines have fleets of the
2:51
same size princess has in service or
2:54
about to come into service at the time
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of recording 15 classic traditional
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cruise ships celebrity cruises also has
3:01
15 ships 13 classic cruise ships and
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three expedition ships in the galapagos
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both offer sailings all around the world
3:09
on those classic cruise ships princess
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has the upper hand they call on 380
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ports in 100 countries while celebrity
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calls on 80 fewer ports so 300 in 79
3:20
countries and while they both cover most
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popular cruise regions princess also
3:24
runs world cruises that celebrity don't
3:27
but
3:28
i found at both future cruise sales
3:30
desks they could pretty much find every
3:33
itinerary that i was looking at i
3:35
decided that although princess probably
3:37
caused more ports it does have an edge
3:39
there but it's probably not
3:41
significantly the better but what they
3:44
are doing with their ships does make a
3:46
big difference
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as princess adds new ships
3:50
they're sticking to an existing style
3:53
and format the newer ships are getting
3:56
bigger
3:57
but ships like sky princess enchanter
4:00
princess discovery princess they are the
4:02
same layout the same format as a
4:05
slightly older and previous royal
4:07
princess regal princess and so on they
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basically have an extra deck
4:11
they have the same look
4:13
the same venues the same facilities
4:16
princess focus instead is on
4:18
making the way things work on their
4:20
ships better through technology with
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their medallion and medallion class
4:24
updates now the medallion is a wearable
4:27
device
4:29
and an app it basically speeds up your
4:31
check-in it opens your cabin door it
4:33
enables you to order drinks and food
4:35
wherever you are it enables the crew to
4:37
provide a more personalized service now
4:40
i have a video about this in more depth
4:41
so i won't dwell on the detail here
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princess is sticking with what is
4:46
familiar to current and past guests
4:50
celebrity is taking a different tack on
4:53
one hand they have the millennium and
4:55
the solstice classes which makes up the
4:58
bulk of their fleet and from the outside
5:00
and also inside
5:02
have very traditional cruise ship look
5:04
and layouts but all their newer ships
5:07
are very different as celebrities expand
5:09
their fleet unlike princess they have a
5:12
brand new class of ships the edge class
5:14
with celebrity edge celebrity apex and
5:16
celebrity beyond these ships are very
5:19
different and divide opinion especially
5:22
with existing celebrity passengers that
5:24
i've spoken to they have new hull shape
5:27
the magic carpet on one side and big
5:29
changes to the cabins with infinity
5:31
cabins which don't have balconies you
5:33
walk out onto there are big decor
5:36
changes that are much more modern
5:39
and definitely trendier they have new
5:42
venues on them like eden which again
5:44
divides existing cruise passengers it's
5:45
a three-level venue which has quirky
5:48
entertainment more avant-garde food and
5:50
drinks they've ditched the one main
5:53
large dining room and replaced it with
5:55
four smaller dining rooms which you move
5:57
between tuscan which is more italian
6:00
cosmopolitan which is kind of modern
6:02
american cuisine mediterranean and
6:04
cyprus and more french cuisine in
6:06
normandy if i step on a princess ship no
6:09
matter where in the world no matter
6:12
which ship it is it will be very
6:14
familiar every single time it will look
6:17
the same have pretty much the same
6:18
layout the facilities everything will be
6:21
incredibly familiar if i go on celebrity
6:23
what it looks feels like and many of the
6:25
facilities will be very different based
6:28
on which ship i go on this makes in my
6:30
view one line
6:32
better based on who you are and what
6:34
you're looking for princess are focusing
6:36
on one type of traveler which may be you
6:39
they're focusing on couples probably
6:41
multi-generational travelers princess
6:44
cruises are definitely appealing to a
6:46
more traditional cruise traveler profile
6:48
those that are likely to probably be in
6:50
their 50s 60s 70s people who want a
6:53
predictable consistent and very familiar
6:56
experience which is great a lot of the
6:57
time celebrity i think as they also make
7:00
no bones about it are trying to attract
7:02
a younger more diverse traveler
7:04
including solo travelers they've
7:06
introduced solo cabins with balconies on
7:08
their new ships for example they're
7:10
pushing social media stars like their
7:11
captain kate to engage with that more
7:14
trendy social media active community you
7:17
see in their advertising you see it in
7:18
their design they're trying to become a
7:20
more youthful appealing cruise line
7:23
they're also trying to be more luxurious
7:24
they've upgraded the design they've
7:26
upgraded the food they've upgraded the
7:29
service and they're trying to attract
7:31
users i think who are more driven
7:33
towards the luxury end of the premium
7:35
larger ship cruise lines but are not
7:37
quite at the ultra luxury seabourn
7:39
silversea region seven seas level which
7:42
is better well i think that depends on
7:44
what you like do you want something more
7:46
familiar perhaps a bit more traditional
7:48
or do you want something that is much
7:50
more modern and much more kind of out
7:52
there do you want to know that no matter
7:54
which ship you step on from the line any
7:57
itinerary anywhere in the world when you
7:58
step on that ship it will be familiar
8:00
and the same now why you think about
8:02
that because i struggled with that
8:04
because both of those have merits there
8:06
is another issue that did help me decide
8:09
which was best and may help you resolve
8:11
that conflict both lines have a very
8:13
wide range of cabins on their ships
8:15
inside right up to suites on most of
8:17
these ships however i could see on my
8:19
cruise that celebrity is dedicating much
8:21
more energy on differentiating between
8:24
the cabin classes for example if i
8:26
travel on princess in a mini suite i
8:28
don't have any dedicated specific areas
8:30
but on celebrity their equivalent is
8:32
aqua class and they have a dedicated
8:34
restaurant called blue and then special
8:35
access to the spa and so on if i travel
8:37
on a suite on princess i obviously have
8:40
the suite which is great i have a
8:42
smallish concierge lounge i have an area
8:44
allocated in the main dining room for
8:46
sweet guests but with the same menu
8:48
mostly i can eat breakfast in sabatini's
8:51
but i don't have lots of dedicated
8:53
facilities as a sweet guest beyond that
8:55
celebrity however has what they call the
8:56
retreat experience obviously i had my
8:59
suite i had a dedicated deck which on
9:02
the edge class actually has a little
9:03
plunge pool ships on the others just has
9:05
a hot tub i had a large retreat lounge
9:08
which is on a much bigger scale than the
9:10
princess concierge lounge i had a
9:11
dedicated restaurant alumini which had
9:14
its own kitchen now in my experience if
9:16
i was planning cruising a suite again
9:18
excuse the pun here celebrity i think
9:20
has the edge here for that possibly in a
9:23
mini suite too but for the rest of the
9:25
grades i think no difference really in
9:27
reality between the two however
9:30
even taking that into account there is
9:31
another obstacle that i came up against
9:34
and when i asked people on my channel
9:36
their preference between princess and
9:37
celebrity the issue of fairs came up and
9:40
that shifted opinions in my view on who
9:42
offers better value when looking at
9:45
which cruises to book ahead celebrity
9:47
was costing more for the same grade on
9:49
the same itinerary at the same time than
9:52
princess was now on the plus side for me
9:54
as i like this both now offer more
9:57
all-inclusive fares celebrity has always
9:59
included fares that includes wi-fi
10:02
gratuities and includes a drinks package
10:04
and then depending on the grade
10:06
you're traveling the amount of wi-fi or
10:08
the level of the drinks package gets
10:09
higher and higher princess have an
10:11
opt-in princess plus fare which includes
10:14
the same things but unlike celebrity
10:15
there's also a basic fare that princess
10:18
does that doesn't include those so if
10:20
you don't drink much or use the wi-fi
10:22
much or even at all this could make them
10:24
better for you but if you prefer more
10:27
inclusive or inclusive fares like i do
10:30
both offer that however
10:32
i'm likely to have to pay a premium
10:35
celebrity over princess in return a
10:37
problem getting a slightly more
10:38
luxurious experience so which
10:40
is the best line depends on how i or you
10:44
define value and balance all those
10:45
elements so where did i knit out
10:48
taking all of these things into account
10:50
now the problem that i still faced was
10:51
like many of you
10:53
even after this i like both lines i've
10:55
enjoyed the cruises on both of them i
10:57
found it really hard to choose between
10:59
them but as i started to plan future
11:01
cruises it did become clearer i've
11:04
actually booked both of those for two
11:06
very different experiences and two
11:08
different reasons
11:09
let me explain i booked a majestic
11:11
princess to alaska because princess
11:13
cruises they are the experts in alaska
11:16
they haven't owned facilities on land
11:18
lodges trains buses and so i booked a
11:20
balcony cabin on a majestic princess to
11:22
go to alaska because i think they will
11:24
give me the better experience because
11:27
they have much more expertise
11:29
and the familiar experience will
11:30
actually be welcome because i can slip
11:32
into that very quickly and i can
11:33
actually just focus on the destination
11:35
alaska which is the reason i'm going
11:36
however
11:38
i also booked celebrity edge in the
11:40
summer in the mediterranean it's a peak
11:42
season it's when ships are full
11:45
destinations are busy and for this i've
11:46
booked a retreat suite first because a
11:50
special occasion with my partner as part
11:52
of our wedding anniversary celebrations
11:54
secondly we actually know the ports that
11:56
we're going to and so the ship itself
11:58
plays a bigger role on this trip
12:00
and i do think their suite experience
12:02
has the edge and thirdly this is a peak
12:04
season and having retreat facilities
12:06
will be a bonus and a retreat literally
12:09
when things are so hectic so with
12:11
everything that i discovered the better
12:13
line became obvious
12:15
when i was looking at what i wanted to
12:17
do
12:18
at a particular point in time and for
12:20
whatever set of reasons that helped me
12:22
see which made the best value now is
12:24
this a cop out possibly
12:27
but i don't think so because both offer
12:30
a premium cruise experience on similar
12:32
size ships both have the overall same
12:35
daily program and facilities as i
12:37
discussed at the start
12:39
both offer all-inclusive fares and to
12:41
get the best value experience what i'm
12:43
doing
12:44
where and when
12:46
drives which is actually the better
12:47
value the right line for the right trip
12:50
determines where the princess or
12:52
celebrity is actually better now to see
12:54
what i mean join me as i dive more into
12:57
princess and celebrity in this two video
13:00
playlist one focus video on each i start
13:02
where i talk about the biggest change
13:05
that princess has made
13:06
that takes some getting used to see you
13:08
over there
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