Sadly, our cruising days are over, but "jackewatch" we have such great memories of our travels and pictures to boot and that's what it's all about isn't it? Going through the tree tops of the jungle in Dominica, seeing the sun set over the Arno River, Sunday on a glorious day in Rome at the Spanish steps, La Rambla in Barcelona, Machu Picchu in 1986 before it became overun, the Pyramids... and the wonderful people we have met on this board and on our trips who have been so helpful. So, I say to you all....ENJOY

Hi...Princess and Celebrity are two different lines with two different feels. The good news is that I don't believe you will be dissatisfied with any cruise on Princess. Both lines have great dining (I'll let others argue which is better) and they both have great service. I've sailed on the Grand Princess and the Celebrity Mercury and found both to be wonderful means to see remarkable destinations. Have a great trip.

PM: I certainly hope your days of posting here are not over. I've always enjoyed your posts. Larry :-)

Hopefully Larry I can still help other cruisers the way people on this board especially have helped me.. I believe in playing it forward.

I hope so too. You are awesome!

The newer grander ships are better assignments for the crew, so you are always going to feel you have more attentive service on them.

Crews bid for the jobs on different ships, they prefer the newer more "gleaming" ships.

As for comparisons between them, the truth is service is the luck of the draw at times, the cruiser composition is also important and sometimes that is determined based on the port the ship departs or returns to.

From what I have been told by crew members that the more experienced and older staff are transferred to the newer ships.. One waiter had told us he wanted the Equinox because it was closer to his home in the middle East, unfortunately, he was kept on the ship we met him on which only does the Caribbean. What I continue to wonder about is with all these cruise ships where is all the staff coming from. I did meet a young lady who gave up her job in Europe because of the economy and said it was a chance to get to visit many countries, learn english and to have a steady job.. She loves cruising and has met many new friends among the crew members and was a complete delight and excellent enough that she was stationed evenings in the Murano restaurants.

With any cruise line, there are better and worse trips, cabin stewars, etc. But for me, Princess wins, hands down. They have wonderful food in the dining room and buffet and their trattorias are the best alternative restaurants I have experienced on cruise ships. Afternoon tea is lovely. They are good at making sure everything goes smoothly. There are port talks and shore excursion talks. There is plenty of on-board entertainment. Their itineraries are good with a generous number of port stops. I highly recommend Princess.

We recently took our first Celebrity cruise. Having been on various cruise lines (including Princess to Alaska). I'd go Celebrity hands down. The staff is extraordinary. Ship was immaculate. Food was mixed but most good with some very good. Enjoy, whichever you choose!

We used Celebrity only once and will never, ever, ever use it again. The other couple we traveled with use Princess and they feel it is the best. The ship we were on was the Infinity and we were sick the whole time because of their faulty sewage system and poor sanitation. The corporate response to our complaints was nil. You only get once to make a good first impression.

After reading these replies, I have to add that you will be traveling with friends, both lines are very good. Attitude and expectations go a long way to making any travel fun and interesting. We have been very lucky to have traveled the world on cruises and land trips and never had a bad one. Keep that smile on your face, a good sense of humor, and expectations realistic and you will have a grand time no matter what.

I thank everyone for their comments. An update is that another couple and we booked a Mediterranean cruise for mid September on Princess. We're both celebrating our 40th anniversaries and decided to do something very different. Princess had the itinerary we both wanted. So we're hoping to get recommendations about that cruise in the near future. Right now our concern is whether to book anytime dining or the late seating since most of the land tours are very long. We are used to early seating but that's been in the Caribbean where most tours were 3-5 hours. We've read that anytime dining may involve more than 30 minute waits Comments?

Unless you want to eat with the same people at the same table every night, you do not have to choose your dining ahead of time. You can reserve on the ship every day for the time you want that day. We have always choosen anytime dining. In three cruises on Princess, only a couple of times did we not get right in with anytime dining. Once, we had to make a reservation for a little later. Once we had about a ten minute wait. You also do not have to choose early or late seating. You can choose a time and reserve that time every day.

We love being on the water and the views, so enjoy being on the open deck in nice weather. I found the buffet food quite good at dinner, and sometimes DH and I chose to get food there and sit out on the back deck that is reserved for adults so we could be outside and enjoy the sunsets while we ate.

Sometimes, we choose dining times/venues based on our plans for the day. Sometimes, we based it on what shows we wanted to see and the times they started.

The advantage is flexibility, you are not stuck at a table with a group you may not enjoy and you can meet new people. The disadvantage is your waiter does not get to know you or your tastes - if that is important to you.

What ship will you be on? What cruise? We were on Star Princess on our Med/Greek Island cruise, and did the one that departs Venice and ends in Rome.

We will be on the Ruby princess on the 12 day Grand Mediterranean cruise. It starts in Barcelona and ends in Venice.

Can you ask for a table for four in anytime dining or is it only large tables?

teacherD,

You must choose an option for dining. Anytime dining can provide you with a table for four. There might be a wait during the popular times 6 pm on. Or, you can choose to 'sit with anyone' and that will get you in almost immediately.