Princess vs.....Other cruise lines

Hi everyone!

DH and I have only cruised Princess (no. 11 is coming this summer). This is because (1) we've been generally happy on Princess and (2) the loyalty program is such that it makes sense to keep sailing with what makes you happy.

Like many others, DH and I have noticed a significant down-tick in the Princess cruising. Dilution of loyalty program benefits (we are Platinum), unfriendly staff, lack of good shows, etc. We are thinking of trying another cruise line, but don't really know where to start and would love some advice.

As for what we like - we are generally in the same demographic as other returning Princess cruisers, i.e., no kids (on the ship), middle aged. We enjoy being active, could not sit around a pool all day (although I don't begrudge those who do :)).

We took a peak at Oceania, and just about died over the prices...but DH thought Oceania covered more with the initial cost then other lines do with the base price?

Anyway, any feedback you can give us would be very helpful, and thank you! :D

We've enjoyed HAL's Koningsdam. Very similar passenger demographics. Their Lincoln Center and BB King's music performances are very good to excellent. Showers are spacious, although the toilet IS at a funny angle. Food is good to excellent depending of course on your own standards. Great public spaces, including a magrodome over the main pool. Staff seem to be happy to be onboard. A sister ship, Nieuw Statendam launches in December 2018.

I'm afraid all travel providers, especially airlines, are diluting their loyalty programs. I think they've figured out that we are going to still fly or cruise regardless of any "perks" offered. I know we fly first class more often since the price differences are not as extreme as years past. Airlines would much rather SELL a seat upfront than upgrading a frequent flyer (traveling for business) who has to fly regardless.

May I suggest reading a few ship reviews.

You might consider trying Celebrity or Holland. I take turns between cruise lines, but cruise Princess more often than others. I like the variety. It enjoy the differences that each line has to offer.

That said, Princess has recently brought out some new entertainment. The entertainment on the Coral in Dec and the Royal in Feb was very good. New new shows have recently been introduced, Encore and The Secret Silk , both which are different than some of the old standbys.

I have always found the cruise staff on any of the ships I have been on to be terrific. There's always one or two here and there on any ship that I think have forgotten how to smile, but on the whole I have found the staff to be friendly.

Also, regarding loyalty benefits, Frankly I think Princess offers the best loyalty benefits compared to other lines, but I think it will depend on which benefits are important to you. I love the mini-bar set up which I exchange for coffee cards and the internet package. There's also the free laundry, but I don't ever use that, I prefer to do my own.

Try out Holland America and/or Celebrity and take turns between different lines and different ships.

Your situation sounds very much like ours was a couple of years ago. We are Elite on Princess (just recently) but a few years back we felt that they had slipped (primarily in the quality of food, but a few other things as well). We decided to venture out and try something new and we chose Azamara. WOW!!! We were so impressed with this cruise line. The food is, in our opinion, head and shoulders above Princess. The service is amazing. The onboard experience is so relaxing and the people are actually friendly (we've met some pretty snarky people on Princess--no offense intended). Needless to say, the price point is higher than Princess, but includes many things that Princess charges $ for (like drinks, gratuities). We continue to sail Princess because we still like their product but for the special "bucket list" cruises we have decided to spend the extra money and go with Azamara.

Like many others, DH and I have noticed a significant down-tick in the Princess cruising. Dilution of loyalty program benefits (we are Platinum), unfriendly staff, lack of good shows, etc. We are thinking of trying another cruise line, but don't really know where to start and would love some advice. /quote]

 

Wow. We have never encountered unfriendly staff on a Princess cruise. Not one person even one time. Hopefully we never will.

Like many others, DH and I have noticed a significant down-tick in the Princess cruising. Dilution of loyalty program benefits (we are Platinum), unfriendly staff, lack of good shows, etc. We are thinking of trying another cruise line, but don't really know where to start and would love some advice. /quote]

 

Wow. We have never encountered unfriendly staff on a Princess cruise. Not one person even one time. Hopefully we never will.

 

They work long, hard hours and so we don't take it personally, but have noticed an uptick (mostly with non-steward/wait staff personnel) in the past few cruises.

 

On the opposite side, stewards and most wait staff were generally awesome and we made sure they were well rewarded with $$ and opinion cards on the last day.

Thank you for all the information above! It is appreciated. I will definitely do some homework (and check out Azamara), but thought I would ask the experts first!

We are new to Princess and have cruised HAL and Celebrity, but prefer Oceania so far. It is not apples to apples with any 2 cruiselines. This will be our first time on Princess for British Isles in June.

Oceania does have a different pricing model. Their fee includes airfare out of all the larger airports, unlimited internet and your choice of either OBC, tours, or beverage package.

Tax and port fees are included (NEVER in addition to the fare) Their food is a huge portion of expense. Unlimited lobster all the time! You want 2 full maine lobsters in the diningroom . . . just ask. 5 grilled lobster tails in the buffett, they will grill them up. Specialty restaurants are free, high quality ingredients, prime rib, filet whatever you like. Their strength is the food. Entertainment is mediocre as the stage and ships are smaller than main-stream vessels. Cruisers are well traveled and upper income. No formal nights, no photographer, all nonalcoholic drinks included. Very few children onboard. Rooms are decent sized on the 2 larger ships.

But this all comes with a higher price point. After 8 cruises we found we wanted to branch out and try other lines. Do we want one cruise per year with Oceania or one with HAL and one with Princess? This year we are going with 2;)

We will cruise with whatever line has the itenerary and price point we are looking for. We enjoyed HAL and Celebrity and expect to enjoy Princess, but so far the food on Oceania is tops for us.

if you're a foodie, and it certainly sounds like you are...Princess will be a huge disappointment for you.

We've cruised on other cruise lines ... but always go back to Princess because it's the best fit for us. :D

if you're a foodie, and it certainly sounds like you are...Princess will be a huge disappointment for you.

I was on the Royal and found the food to be quite good. Never been on Oceania, but from what I hear its great for foodies, but the entertainment is just so so and it comes with a greater cost.

Each line has its pros and cons, which is why cruising more than one line can be the best solution.

We have enjoyed Celebrity (Millennium class) and Royal Caribbean (not the behemoths of the Sea).

I'm not convinced that we've found the perfect line for our family, and indeed there may not be one. However, at present we keep bouncing back to Princess for the best combination of cost and quality....as well as perks from repeat cruises. In addition to Princess, we have 30 cruises on one other line and a smattering of a few others. Celebrity is probably the closest to Princess, but their entertainment left a lot to be desired and their website is a nightmare.

ALL lines seem to be cutting back on loyalty perks and decreasing quality. I've made the choice that, for now, I'd rather have 3 cruises on Princess than one on an upscale line. And we do like the various Princess itineraries.

I think it is always good to try other cruise lines when the timing is right.

I may make you appreciate Princess more then you do or you might discover that there is another line you like more or at least the same which would give you an additional choice.

We select another lines when the itinerary is a driver.

A book that I do find very helpful in learning about other lines and ships is Berlitz Cruising & Cruise Ships written by Douglas Ward and published by Berlitz. It is updated annually. We order it every few years from Amazon.Com at:

https://www.amazon.com/Berlitz-Cruising-Cruise-Ships-Guide/dp/1780049781/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1520238435&sr=8-1&keywords=douglas+ward

Keith

We are new to Princess and have cruised HAL and Celebrity, but prefer Oceania so far. It is not apples to apples with any 2 cruiselines. This will be our first time on Princess for British Isles in June.

 

Oceania does have a different pricing model. Their fee includes airfare out of all the larger airports, unlimited internet and your choice of either OBC, tours, or beverage package.

Tax and port fees are included (NEVER in addition to the fare) Their food is a huge portion of expense. Unlimited lobster all the time! You want 2 full maine lobsters in the diningroom . . . just ask. 5 grilled lobster tails in the buffett, they will grill them up. Specialty restaurants are free, high quality ingredients, prime rib, filet whatever you like. Their strength is the food. Entertainment is mediocre as the stage and ships are smaller than main-stream vessels. Cruisers are well traveled and upper income. No formal nights, no photographer, all nonalcoholic drinks included. Very few children onboard. Rooms are decent sized on the 2 larger ships.

But this all comes with a higher price point. After 8 cruises we found we wanted to branch out and try other lines. Do we want one cruise per year with Oceania or one with HAL and one with Princess? This year we are going with 2;)

We will cruise with whatever line has the itenerary and price point we are looking for. We enjoyed HAL and Celebrity and expect to enjoy Princess, but so far the food on Oceania is tops for us.

Thanks for posting this. We have a 20-night booked on the Nautica in their PH suite which are the minis on the Pacific Princess. Excited to be trying them out to the British Isles, Iceland, and Greenland. Cost of that cruise is about the same as our Owner's suite on the Pacific Princess for an 18-night to Norway.

Like many others, DH and I have noticed a significant down-tick in the Princess cruising. Dilution of loyalty program benefits (we are Platinum), unfriendly staff, lack of good shows, etc. We are thinking of trying another cruise line, but don't really know where to start and would love some advice. /quote]

 

Wow. We have never encountered unfriendly staff on a Princess cruise. Not one person even one time. Hopefully we never will.

 

 

I'm with you, Thrak!

 

Forty-plus Princess cruises and it's never happened to me. Everyone seems to go out of their way to be pleasant and helpful.

Like many others, DH and I have noticed a significant down-tick in the Princess cruising. Dilution of loyalty program benefits (we are Platinum), unfriendly staff, lack of good shows, etc. We are thinking of trying another cruise line, but don't really know where to start and would love some advice. /quote]

 

Wow. We have never encountered unfriendly staff on a Princess cruise. Not one person even one time. Hopefully we never will.

 

Same here....we have done a lot of Princess cruises and never experienced anything but professional, positive and helpful staff.....not the same can be said for some of the passengers though....:halo:

We go back and forth between Princess and HAL. I'd also consider Celebrity again if the price were right. We took four cruises on Celebrity. The last one was disappointing in terms of food and service.

The things I enjoy on Princess are the entertainment and activities. The food is usually very good. It's never going to be a 5-star dining experience when the chefs are preparing food for that many people. Holland America doesn't have as many activities. It does offer some guest entertainers that I like better than the comedians and singers Princess tends to have.

There is always a first time with an unfriendly or just plain nasty staff member. After 60 Princess cruises and never ever complained about anyone, we had a room steward that fit that bill on the Coral Princess in January this year. Unfortunately we were on the ship for 30 days(B2B) and didn't want to register a complaint while he was still servicing our room. Waited to the last morning and turned in a letter to the Hotel manager. Wish I could have seen the Room Steward's face when they confronted him. He was such a good liar.

Hopefully I was believed.

In case you want to know, never vacuumed, forgot to leave towels at night, dirty glasses,

didn't change sheets on turnaround day and said he did(I had a makeup stain on it and was still there). Then he told me a couple of days later, they didn't give him enough sheets.

Complained he had too many suites and mini's to get to our balcony room and make it up in the morning (we were early risers and out of our cabin long before the others.

So unfriendly and downright nasty , he fit the bill.

if you're a foodie, and it certainly sounds like you are...Princess will be a huge disappointment for you.

Food on the Regal 2016 was really quite good. Food on our recent Oceania cruise was...wow!!! Yup, we're foodies & in the food industry. We had a 14 day cruise booked for next Jan. on the Celebrity Reflection. It's cancelled now for a 14 day trip on the Riviera. You're right, the prices are higher: $3500PP for an inside. The Reflection is $2550PP for 14 nights as well. Add the cost of the specialty rest. & other things on board & it's still really not much of a bargain over Oceania. I usually drop about $1500 extra on Celebrity. I dropped less than $600 on Riviera. All specialty rest. except La Reserve(which pairs wine with the meal)are part of your cruise. ALL soft drinks/mineral water are included as well. You can spend a lot on those on other lines.

I think it is always good to try other cruise lines when the timing is right.

 

I may make you appreciate Princess more then you do or you might discover that there is another line you like more or at least the same which would give you an additional choice.

 

We select another lines when the itinerary is a driver.

 

A book that I do find very helpful in learning about other lines and ships is Berlitz Cruising & Cruise Ships written by Douglas Ward and published by Berlitz. It is updated annually. We order it every few years from Amazon.Com at:

 

https://www.amazon.com/Berlitz-Cruising-Cruise-Ships-Guide/dp/1780049781/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1520238435&sr=8-1&keywords=douglas+ward

 

Keith

Thanks for the "nod" on the Berlitz guide. We get it every year. Really the standard for cruise ships. I think he's a bit biased towards Cunard(well,me,too!)

There is always a first time with an unfriendly or just plain nasty staff member. After 60 Princess cruises and never ever complained about anyone, we had a room steward that fit that bill on the Coral Princess in January this year. Unfortunately we were on the ship for 30 days(B2B) and didn't want to register a complaint while he was still servicing our room. Waited to the last morning and turned in a letter to the Hotel manager. Wish I could have seen the Room Steward's face when they confronted him. He was such a good liar.

Hopefully I was believed.

In case you want to know, never vacuumed, forgot to leave towels at night, dirty glasses,

didn't change sheets on turnaround day and said he did(I had a makeup stain on it and was still there). Then he told me a couple of days later, they didn't give him enough sheets.

Complained he had too many suites and mini's to get to our balcony room and make it up in the morning (we were early risers and out of our cabin long before the others.

So unfriendly and downright nasty , he fit the bill.

I can't imagine why you waited till the end of the cruise to register your concerns.In 41 Princess cruises we had one room steward who was not getting it done.I did not want to create an issue for him so I spoke to an officer that I knew about the issue.The next day he had a supervisor helping him and he was fine after that,It turns out he was just starting a new contract and he did fine after that.

Hi everyone!

 

DH and I have only cruised Princess (no. 11 is coming this summer). This is because (1) we've been generally happy on Princess and (2) the loyalty program is such that it makes sense to keep sailing with what makes you happy.

 

Like many others, DH and I have noticed a significant down-tick in the Princess cruising. Dilution of loyalty program benefits (we are Platinum), unfriendly staff, lack of good shows, etc. We are thinking of trying another cruise line, but don't really know where to start and would love some advice.

 

As for what we like - we are generally in the same demographic as other returning Princess cruisers, i.e., no kids (on the ship), middle aged. We enjoy being active, could not sit around a pool all day (although I don't begrudge those who do :)).

 

We took a peak at Oceania, and just about died over the prices...but DH thought Oceania covered more with the initial cost then other lines do with the base price?

 

Anyway, any feedback you can give us would be very helpful, and thank you! :D

Princess is a GOOD overall line. We noted a BIG drop in Celebrity quality on our 2017 Eclipse cruise. We've done 1 Regal Princess cruise. Liked the ship. Loved the staff. Among the warmest & nicest people we've seen.(tied with Oceania here) this year we did the Oceania Riviera. It was somewhat pricey: $2300PP for a 10 day trip. We got a $200PP upgrade to a B-1 Veranda. definitely worth it! Food was simply the best we've had since the Queens Grill on the QM2. Soft drinks/bottled water all complimentary. Same for the specialty rest. except La Reserve, which pairs wine with your meal. Entertainment is pretty lame..Food IS the entertainment on this line. We're in the food industry so we had a blast. First cruise where I saw NO child! Never had issues with kids on any line, but feel they'd be bored on Oceania. Great lecturers. Learned so much about the Mayans & Aztecs(the region we cruised) The deck loungers are great. All of them are like those cushy padded ones in the Sanctuary on Princess. No chair hogs either! Staff will remove all belongings left unattended for over 30 min. NO exceptions. Staff with "balls" what a concept! Though we LIKE to dress up, we did like Oceania's "Country club" dress style: NO tuxes/suit/ties required. A few wore suits. Surprisingly pax would dress up more for the specialty rest. The opposite of what most do on the other lines. I will tell you, that while jeans are fine during the day, they are banned in ALL rest. at night(exception the buffet)The buffet, by the way serves the same food as the Grand dining room. For you New England Lobster fans, pig out baby! It's all waiting for you. Want a Kobe burger? It's there waiting for you at the pool side grill.

Here's what I noticed on Princess: No wine Sommeliers/paper towels in rest rooms/NO butlers for suite pax(yet they cost as much as other lines)a lot of smokers, compared to Celebrity/Cunard/Oceania/Terrible bath towels in cabins. The worst we've seen on any line.

We do like being pampered & felt we were on Oceania. We used to feel that way on Celebrity. Where does Princess shine?(using the Regal)Great staff. Great bars to just sit & people watch. Really gorgeous ship inside. Probably the best run excursions in the business. Decent entertainment. Loved "MUTTS". Overall, Princess is a decent line, but perhaps try another line for a taste of something different. No cruise line totally bad, but some are simply better than others & unfortunately it usually comes with a higher price tag.

We are Elite with Princess, Elite Plus with Celebrity and 5 Star Mariners with HAL...and have cruised all of these lines within the past 6 months. All 3 lines have made numerous cut-backs... To be honest we have never understood this "loyalty" stuff as we simply choose cruises that have the itineraries and prices that we like.

But for those unhappy with Princess, I am not sure HAL or Celebrity is going to make them overjoyed :(. Many of us who cruise multiple lines on a routine basis are simply discouraged by all the mass market lines...who seem to be racing each other to the bottom. We actually think that Princess is doing better than the others....although replacing steak with a hamburger on the everyday MDR menu was a very low blow...that might be symbolic of the future.

So what to do? Many of us are starting to explore other options. Richard Branson will soon be starting up Virgin Cruises which might be good for those seeking a short Caribbean cruises. MSC is really working at establishing itself in the US market and have another 10 (yes 10) ships under contract or option for the next few years. Viking Ocean Cruises is quickly growing by adding new ships and has already impressed many cruisers. On the HAL board we have noticed quite a few long-time HAL fans now talking about Oceania and Viking.

We will also mention that having been active cruisers for over forty years, we know that the cruise industry is very dynamic (always changing). So what you get today, may not be anything like what you will get next year. Folks vote with their dollars, and cruise line's will do what they have to do to attract customers. What I am saying is that "the worm will turn" and as one mass market line decides to make vast improvements (and it will happen) the others will also make changes to compete. As to now, perhaps its a good time to take a land trip, try an All Inclusive, or spend a little more money and try one of the premium or luxury lines.

Hank

I agree with Keith. Princess is a GOOD middle of the road cruise line.

There are lines that we won't cruise because they are just too "mass market" with the emphasis on drunken masses. There are lines we haven't tried due to cost. Princess, so far, is doing a decent job in the middle of the road, although some of the recent changes are troubling.