Only been on the qm2, so how do these compare...?

Having enjoyed our transatlantic last month on QM2, we've decided to have a little carribean cruise at half-term in October. We have two options really. Freedom of the Seas with Royal Carribean, or Emerald Princess with Princess Line.

I've posted this question here as I've only travelled Cunard to date and value your opinions...if you've been on either cruise line, or both, please tell me off your experiences and help us to make our decision on the best choice.

Thanks,

Nick

they do compare, but not that much.:Dprincess food and service should be simmilar to cunard while the emerald princess is not as nice as the QM2! (nothing is!) royal caribbean is more party, than sofistication, while princess falls in the middle. if i were you i would try princess, looks nice, but RCL is not our type of cruise.:)

I second Pumpkin's sentiments. We went on Princess for the first time after numerous QM2 cruises/crossings, and loved it! I'm not familiar with Emerald Princess specifically, but the cruise line was a pleasant surprise. Royal Caribbean would be a bit of a disappointment, I would think, from hearing of its characteristics and how it would compare to QM2.

Good luck!

I was just on a RCL cruise in May and it does not compare to QM2. About 80% of the people on formal night would dress up for dinner and then afterwards go change their clothes. The food was good but nothing like Cunard.

Do ypu have children? If so they will enjoy RCI.

I did a med cruise on the Independence of the seas, had a wonderful, wonderful time, it is a party ship , as bettyboop says, 80% did change after dinner which was odd I though, however the night life went on till 3 or 4 am if you wanted it too.

I found the restaurant, the food and service was as good and sometimes a tad better than QM2,

Out of the 2, I would say for sure that QM2 is the best, and you can cruise the caribbean on her , we are in Novemeber, if you want a change then RCL is wonderful.

I have a dvd of our med cruise on bliptv.com under rob6852, it shows the ship, the food etc , so go and have a look, also my link on the post will take you to the photos.

Why not go back to QM2 if you enjoyed it last time?

Thanks for all the advice and comments. The TA suggested that Princess is probably better than RC, but as always opinion is subjective.

Why not go on QM2? This is an easy one...With school age children, we have to go at half-term, and I can only have about one week off at that time also. We were tempted by the QM transatlantic around that time, but only Grill's were available - too expensive, and we fancy some warm sunshine.

Thanks

Thanks for all the advice and comments. The TA suggested that Princess is probably better than RC, but as always opinion is subjective.

 

Why not go on QM2? This is an easy one...With school age children, we have to go at half-term, and I can only have about one week off at that time also. We were tempted by the QM transatlantic around that time, but only Grill's were available - too expensive, and we fancy some warm sunshine.

 

Thanks

Well a shame you cant go with QM2 again, I have not been on princess, but I would say that the kids on RCCL we so well looked after, hardly saw or heard on in 2 weeks

Having enjoyed our transatlantic last month on QM2, we've decided to have a little carribean cruise at half-term in October. We have two options really. Freedom of the Seas with Royal Carribean, or Emerald Princess with Princess Line.

 

I've posted this question here as I've only travelled Cunard to date and value your opinions...if you've been on either cruise line, or both, please tell me off your experiences and help us to make our decision on the best choice.

 

Thanks,

 

Nick

So glad to hear that you enjoyed your TA last month on the QM2. She is a wonderful ship, isn't she!

I have sailed on both RCCL and Princess as well as Cunard. Both RCCL and Princess will be more casual experiences. I have not sailed on any of the huge new RCCL ships but they seem to offer quite a bit that children would enjoy. I have sailed Princess recently and have enjoyed all my Princess cruises. Princess also offers great programs for children.

I would suggest that you go to the "Review" section of these boards and read reviews for both the ships that you are considering. When I am considering a particular ship, I find the reviews of others to be very helpful. From the review, you should be able to learn more about the typical "Princess experience" and the typical "RCCL experience". If you decide to sail on either line, don't try to compare the new ship with the QM2. Go with the idea that you want the very best Princess cruise possible or the very best RCCL cruise possible.

You have not told us the most important considerations for you and your family in choosing the next ship. What are you looking for?

Beth

So glad to hear that you enjoyed your TA last month on the QM2. She is a wonderful ship, isn't she!

 

I have sailed on both RCCL and Princess as well as Cunard. Both RCCL and Princess will be more casual experiences. I have not sailed on any of the huge new RCCL ships but they seem to offer quite a bit that children would enjoy. I have sailed Princess recently and have enjoyed all my Princess cruises. Princess also offers great programs for children.

 

I would suggest that you go to the "Review" section of these boards and read reviews for both the ships that you are considering. When I am considering a particular ship, I find the reviews of others to be very helpful. From the review, you should be able to learn more about the typical "Princess experience" and the typical "RCCL experience". If you decide to sail on either line, don't try to compare the new ship with the QM2. Go with the idea that you want the very best Princess cruise possible or the very best RCCL cruise possible.

 

You have not told us the most important considerations for you and your family in choosing the next ship. What are you looking for?

 

Beth

I have to fully agree with Beth on this, dont try to compare, they are all different, I would choose QM2 over all the others, but I loved the independence of the seas, even NCL , I would like to try P&O, they are all different.

At the moment we are leaning towards Princess as there are no balcony rooms available on Freedom of the Seas unless we go for a suite at £5700. We can have a balcony room on Emerald Princess for £3800 - and we would really like a balcony for enjoying the carribean sunshine, maybe in reality we won't use it much?

Whichever cruise we take, we won't even try to compare it to QM2. We are seeing this forthcoming trip as a test to see if we actually like cruising! QM2 was a voyage and we all loved it - planning a B2B transatlantic next year.

Myself, I'm not keen on the idea of getting off a ship at every port of call, but would prefer relaxing on-board whilst the ship is quieter...

At the moment we are leaning towards Princess as there are no balcony rooms available on Freedom of the Seas unless we go for a suite at £5700. We can have a balcony room on Emerald Princess for £3800 - and we would really like a balcony for enjoying the carribean sunshine, maybe in reality we won't use it much?

 

Whichever cruise we take, we won't even try to compare it to QM2. We are seeing this forthcoming trip as a test to see if we actually like cruising! QM2 was a voyage and we all loved it - planning a B2B transatlantic next year.

 

Myself, I'm not keen on the idea of getting off a ship at every port of call, but would prefer relaxing on-board whilst the ship is quieter...

Myself, I'm not keen on the idea of getting off a ship at every port of call, but would prefer relaxing on-board whilst the ship is quieter...[/quote]

In that case, QM2 would be the ship, the one thing for sure is that you have the peace and quiet, RCCL would be a wonderful cruise, but very overcrowded, this is the only down side for me, hard to find sun loungers, etc, I can say for princess,