Royal Cruiser with Princess Questions

Hi, I'm mostly a Royal Caribbean cruiser, but I sailed the Princess Dawn in Alaska in 2000 for my honeymoon. Now that we have kids old enough to enjoy cruising, I am considering planning a family Alaska cruise for probably 2018. I understand Princess has permits for Glacier Bay, which I remember enjoying, so we may go Princess for this cruise, and I have a few ship questions (in part because my memory of these details from 2000 is fuzzy, and I didn't have kids then):

* Quality of food: I remember it being good/fine, but interested in opinions, especially compared to Royal Caribbean if you have sailed both.

* Room and bathroom sizes. Our balcony room and bathroom on Princess were extremely small on the Dawn. Are they any bigger on the newer ships?

* What is there for kids, who will be about 9 and 10?

* Are there a lot of families? And how are kids generally tolerated by other passengers? (I realize this can be different from crowd to crowd and that they need to be well-behaved - it seems someone is always compelled to point that out)

* How are the theater shows?

First, Alaska is a very port intensive cruise. You really want to pay attention to your choices of excursions, whether private or thru the cruise line, and IMHO this is not a place to skimp on excursion costs. We viewed Alaska as a once or twice in a lifetime experience and did things that we'll likely never do again--whale watching, etc.

Princess food--good, not super. Totally adequate for kids and adults. Best shipboard pizza we've experienced, good "fast food" choices on the pool deck. Celebrity had better food, but Princess was not bad at all.

Room sizes--tiny. You have to go to a mini suite to have any space in the room. On the other hand, consider how much time you may or may not be spending in the room.

We were pleased to see that Princess had a wide age range, and we cruised when most schools were in session. We saw several multi-generational families. Obviously, you'll see more kids on RCI or Disney, but in our experience it was not nearly so slanted toward the elderly as Celebrity where we saw 2 kids on our entire cruise. Princess has a kid program, and the families I spoke with (I made a point of asking) were happy with it. My daughter is now 25, so no personal experience with the Princess program.

We were on the Caribbean Princess and the shows were awful. Absolutely the worst of the 4 lines we've been on recently. We walked out on 2 variety shows. They do have a live orchestra (which is nice) and the "around the ship" entertainment was quite good. They are in the process of mounting 4 new shows produced by the guy who did the music for Wicked. The first of these is on some ships now, but we didn't experience it yet.

My experience--35+ cruises, 4 lines, approximately 400 nights. BUT 30 of those cruises were on a single line.

Opinion--Disney and RCI have the best kid programs and are the most kid friendly of any ships we've seen. Disney has priced itself beyond reality in the last 2 years, thus our exploration of other lines. We were very happy after our first Princess cruise and promptly booked 4 more! On each line, I can cite things that "this one is best" and things that could be better. I will point out that Disney has arranged some exclusive kid oriented excursions in Alaska that are not available thru any other source...but again, no GlacierBay and outrageous cost. Princess has the most choices for cruising as well as the best pricing and best opportunities for OBC. We have had very good experiences with doing EZ Air thru princess. The ships are rather bland (beige and brown) and lack the "wow" factor of some other lines. Everything on board is good and you don't feel the need to go to upcharge restaurants or other venues for a good experience. There are several "everyone" pools and at least one "adult only" pool on each ship.

Hope some of this is helpful.

Hi, I'm mostly a Royal Caribbean cruiser, but I sailed the Princess Dawn in Alaska in 2000 for my honeymoon. Now that we have kids old enough to enjoy cruising, I am considering planning a family Alaska cruise for probably 2018. I understand Princess has permits for Glacier Bay, which I remember enjoying, so we may go Princess for this cruise, and I have a few ship questions (in part because my memory of these details from 2000 is fuzzy, and I didn't have kids then):

 

* Quality of food: I remember it being good/fine, but interested in opinions, especially compared to Royal Caribbean if you have sailed both.

* Room and bathroom sizes. Our balcony room and bathroom on Princess were extremely small on the Dawn. Are they any bigger on the newer ships?

* What is there for kids, who will be about 9 and 10?

* Are there a lot of families? And how are kids generally tolerated by other passengers? (I realize this can be different from crowd to crowd and that they need to be well-behaved - it seems someone is always compelled to point that out)

* How are the theater shows?

* Quality of food: I remember it being good/fine, but interested in opinions, especially compared to Royal Caribbean if you have sailed both.

I would rate the food better on Princess.

* Room and bathroom sizes. Our balcony room and bathroom on Princess were extremely small on the Dawn. Are they any bigger on the newer ships?

The rooms and bathrooms on the 10 different Princess ships I have been on are a comfortable size but I have only booked a balcony or larger cabins and have not had a 3rd person in the cabin. I have not sailed on the Dawn Princess. I prefer the Princess rooms to what I had on Royal Caribbean.

* What is there for kids, who will be about 9 and 10?

I never cruised when my children were not yet grown but from what I have seen and the comments of others with children, Princess has good programs for children. The programs are divided into 3 age groups.

* Are there a lot of families? And how are kids generally tolerated by other passengers? (I realize this can be different from crowd to crowd and that they need to be well-behaved - it seems someone is always compelled to point that out)

There will be a lot of families aboard a Princess ship on an Alaskan cruise. The children seemed to be well behaved and well tolerated by the passengers.

* How are the theater shows?

The theater shows are very good aboard Princess. You will want to get to the theater early if you want a good seat.

I generally agree with nukesubsailor on the areas of food (better than Royal Caribbean) and entertainment (very good).

I found the entertainment on the Allure of The Seas to be better than what I saw on the 2 Princess ships I've been on (Royal and Emerald), but I would still say the Princess entertainment has been quite good.

I don't have the experience to comment on the other areas.

I think you will have a fine time!

OK Here is my take. Sailing on RC with friends who had children was very good. Princess also good BUT more in activities geared toward children on RC. (At least are more visible to everyone with parades, rock climbing,ice skating and so forth However, going to Alaska I would choose princess. Just came back about 6 weeks ago and can find no fault with cabin (We had 3 in a mini suite and snatched E730 which has a huge balcony) Food is better on Princess, entertainment is a toss up, both lines are good. Overall, if on a Caribbean cruise I might prefer RC with kids, but for Alaska, I'd take Princess. I like both lines, but prefer Princess with over 25 cruises on her.

When our kids were young we cruised with RCCL. As our kids became adults, we switched to Princess. RCCL much more oriented for kids. Food, I would give the nod to Princess. For overall service, Princess blows RCCL out of the water!

Hi, I'm mostly a Royal Caribbean cruiser, but I sailed the Princess Dawn in Alaska in 2000 for my honeymoon. Now that we have kids old enough to enjoy cruising, I am considering planning a family Alaska cruise for probably 2018. I understand Princess has permits for Glacier Bay, which I remember enjoying, so we may go Princess for this cruise, and I have a few ship questions (in part because my memory of these details from 2000 is fuzzy, and I didn't have kids then):

 

* Quality of food: I remember it being good/fine, but interested in opinions, especially compared to Royal Caribbean if you have sailed both.

* Room and bathroom sizes. Our balcony room and bathroom on Princess were extremely small on the Dawn. Are they any bigger on the newer ships?

* What is there for kids, who will be about 9 and 10?

* Are there a lot of families? And how are kids generally tolerated by other passengers? (I realize this can be different from crowd to crowd and that they need to be well-behaved - it seems someone is always compelled to point that out)

* How are the theater shows?

Food -usually quite good, they do have the best pizza at sea.

Room and bathroom - if your cruised the Dawn, you experienced a slightly smaller stateroom and bathroom than the Grand, super Grand and newest ships feature. That being said, personally I would get a balcony stateroom on Caribe (on grand and supergrand they have larger balconies) as well as an inside. Two bathrooms, not 4 people in one room and - do check pricing - but most likely to be a reasonably priced alternative to two balconies, etc, and even a minisuite with 2 additional passengers.

kids - the Alaskan cruises have great kids programs, they have destination based activities and in Glacier Bay they bring the National Park service rangers on board and provide a jr. rangers program. Not only for kids, they have a puppies in the piazza experience (sled dog puppies) and a few other great features.

Families - Alaska is a great family destination and when school is out, yup, lots of families on board. Your kids will find friends.

Theatre shows - pretty good, but some evenings you will want to enjoy the scenery. We have enjoyed the entertainment on board.

Most importantly, pay attention to your shore excursions. The port towns are tiny as you might recall, so get out of town into the great outdoors and enjoy. You will find certain excursions marked as kid friendly, don't worry too much if there is something that seems really great and it isn't shown as kid friendly. You know your kids.....and it has been our experience that kids are awed by Alaska. Enjoy.

Balcony sizes are roughly 4x9 on most ships, except some of the Grand class ships that have 9x9 partially covered on Caribe deck. Closets are quite large, maybe 7' long with space for luggage and overhead shelf. Large cabinet with about six shelves and safe. Bathroom tiny, with 2x2 shower.

Regal/Royal have smaller than normal balconies, since these ships have vertical sides instead of the wedding cake design. Deluxe cabins have a sofa. Smaller closet and fewer drawers available. Slightly larger bathroom and shower. Buffet is far better than on other Princess ships. Gelato bar in atrium and multiple pizza locations.

A single balcony room would be tight for four people, although you really don't spend much time in there. Check into a balcony and an inside across the hall.

Agree with others - budget for your tours. The best are helicopter and seaplane tours, but these can be over $400pp. Check what you are interested in and look at the Alaska board for ideas on non-Princess tours. Biggest difference you will see between RCI and Princess is that you do NOT have to pay for tours in advance (although the bill at the end of an Alaska tour can be really high).

Princess/RCI food is very similar, but pool deck locations are open much longer on Princess (often til 11). Pizza, softserve ice cream, grill and buffet all included in price. Best fries anywhere and burgers/chicken/brats/dogs cooked for you (no large trays of precooked stuff). Large salmon and reindeer chili buffet for one lunch on deck. LARGE dessert buffet on deck usually on Glacier Bay day.

Alaska cruises are mostly in-port, so less need for entertaining the kids. When not in port people are watching for whales, bears and eagles. Or glacier calving in Glacier Bay. Kids tend to hang out together rather than concentrate in the kids area.

We took our kids to Alaska on Princess when they were 9 and 10. We went with a mini suite because it gives you a king bed, sofa bed, and 1 upper plus a really nice bathroom. I believe inside, Oceanview, and balcony have 2 lower and 2 upper beds plus the standard bathroom. I think Princess rooms are laid out better space wise, but like the little couch Royal has.

Food much better on Princess. I'm not a foodie by any means. Everything is usually great as long as I'm not cooking, but Royals good tasted blah to me. It could have just been me or it might have just been that cruise. It also seemed like the desserts were all sponge cake and pudding. Princess desserts are always really good

Activities for kids better on Royal, but my kids were not bored and begged to go to camp! I do wish Princess had more athletic activities. I did like the guide Princess brought in for our glacier day went to the kids club and talked to the kids. I think they got more educational info from that encounter than from the whole trip!

We only saw a couple of the shows as we utilized every minute in port, but I would say Royal and Princess shows are equal. Pick the ship with the itinerary and cost you like:)

I've been cruising with RCCl for 30 years. But I also have many years and cruises on other lines as well. Simply put, Princess does Alaska right. They were the first ones to cruise Alaska. It would be a great educational experience for your kids. There will be other kids onboard. The suggestions in cabin selection is good.

I don't know what ship besides the Radiance that is cruising Alaska. I used to love that ship. I was on it for the transpacific before Alaska sailings. Hands down I would go on Princess before that ship. It is truly showing its age.