Princess vs Royal Caribbean

We sailed island princess to Alaska a few years ago. The food was absolutely atrocious. I’ve sailed Disney, RCCL, Celebrity, and Holland America, and I’ve never had such awful food on a ship. Maybe it’s because the head chef was German? Everything else was great onboard, but we lost weight.

We sailed on the CORAL Princess a couple years ago....

I seem to remember that the head chef was of some German heritage.

The MDR, where they do standard 'Princess' was EXCELLENT!!!!!

We, too, would have starved if we had been limited to the buffet. It was AWFUL.

If this is the same guy..... Maybe it is time to hire some new culinary experts!!!!!

We will be on the Adventure. Still looks like a fun ship though.

 

 

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oops...better not assume...well the Navigator class is one of our favorites...what a blast everyone will have.....I love the upbeat vibe on the Royal ships...always so many new cruisers having a wonderful time.

Hello all,

 

For those of you who have sailed on both, are there any noticeable differences between Royal and Princess? I have always believed that Princess was a step above Royal... I am asking for my mother, who booked a mini suite on the Golden Princess sailing to Alaska. I have sailed Alaska, so I have been advising her on shore excursions (White Pass, whale watching). I've looked over all the different ships with her, and advised her to choose Princess over Royal (About myself - I've been on 6 cruises, 3 with Carnival and 3 with Royal-, never sailed on Princess). I'm hoping I made a good choice. She will be sailing with a friend who has terminal cancer, so I am really wanting this cruise to be perfect. It will be her first cruise, my mother's 2nd but her 1st was 20 years ago.. How are the shows? The food? Are there any can't miss activities? It is to my understanding that her friend tires fairly easily, so I would think she would just do what she is capable of. Thanks!!

9 Princess and 4 RCI cruises. Will probably may never take another RCI again. I realize all Cruise lines are cutting back, but in the main dining room the food on RCI was fair at best. Service very disorganized, dishes piled up on the table and sat around long enough without even being offered coffee or dessert. This happened on our last two RCI cruises. We would have eaten in their specialty restaurant but they charge you an upcharge on top of the upcharge for steak and some seafood.

I must say we have noticed on Princess the cut backs taking place. Entertainment on our last cruise was sort of very limited. Like the same quartet playing in the Piazza every day? Shows just not up to par. I knew the Cruise director from a previous cruise and asked about that. Her response was...we have to work with what they allow me . Another words they can't spend as much anymore.

9 Princess and 4 RCI cruises. Will probably may never take another RCI again. I realize all Cruise lines are cutting back, but in the main dining room the food on RCI was fair at best. Service very disorganized, dishes piled up on the table and sat around long enough without even being offered coffee or dessert. This happened on our last two RCI cruises. We would have eaten in their specialty restaurant but they charge you an upcharge on top of the upcharge for steak and some seafood.

I must say we have noticed on Princess the cut backs taking place. Entertainment on our last cruise was sort of very limited. Like the same quartet playing in the Piazza every day? Shows just not up to par. I knew the Cruise director from a previous cruise and asked about that. Her response was...we have to work with what they allow me . Another words they can't spend as much anymore.

I have noticed on the larger RCI ships the dining service is disorganized in the dining rooms. I know when Oasis and Allure came out eight years ago we expected some disorganization since they had not done cruises with that many passengers; however, I still hear stories of MDR issues. As far as Princess goes; have only been once and that was last year. It was a great cruise with great food and staff was excellent. Entertainment was ok but not what it used to be. Thanks for your feedback

Thank you all for your responses! I think the opinions of RC are fair and pretty much spot on. I sailed Alaska on Radiance of the Seas, back in 2001. I agree that something gets lost as the ship gets bigger - but I still have fun. All of their excursions are booked and they're very excited. To be honest, I'm actually a little jealous. Even though Radiance is my favorite ship, Golden Princess looks spectacular. I'm fixing to get married, so I hope to go back with my wife. Whenever I do, I will be sailing on Princess!

Princess does Alaska best. Also a few notes, please make sure that you ask your room steward on the day of embarkation for two extra blankets. This way sitting on the balcony or sitting on the bed or couch with the door open will be more comfortable for the lady who is ill. Also, it can get chilly in the room at night during Alaska cruises. Those blankets help. Also, Princess still has free room service as opposed to Royal Caribbean. Any time of day, one can order room service (even for a wee cuppa tea). No so on Royal Caribbean. Only the cold continental breakfast is free now on Royal Caribbean. All other room service requests carry charge of $7.95. Princess is Best for Alaska. They also have great pizza.

I wonder if it was an off cruise. While cruise food has gone down hill on all lines, I have cruised Princess HAL, Celebrity, RCCL, Carnival and Crystal. Celebrity had the worst cruise of my cruises but I hear it was an unusual cruise. I prefer Princess's food to RCCL but any week can be off for food on any line. I have friends who hate the food on HAL and they have been on at least 3 cruises with them.

Interesting that you named Celebrity as your worst, it was the same for us. We have sailed P&O, Carnival, Princess and Celebrity - whilst I enjoyed the service and entertainment on the Celebrity infinity, the ship needs some work and the food wasn't good at all. The only cruise we have ever been on where we have been disappointed by the food. I may still try another Celebrity ship in the future as others rave about the line but for now Princess and P&O top our list.

I seriously cannot imagine bad food on Celebrity. On our 5 cruises with them it was the best out of all 8 lines we cruised with (Princess, Celebrity, Cunard, Holland, Royal, Norwegian, MSC and Carnival). Only Princess buffets beat it, and only because of variety of seafood.

Hello all,

 

For those of you who have sailed on both, are there any noticeable differences between Royal and Princess? I have always believed that Princess was a step above Royal... I am asking for my mother, who booked a mini suite on the Golden Princess sailing to Alaska. I have sailed Alaska, so I have been advising her on shore excursions (White Pass, whale watching). I've looked over all the different ships with her, and advised her to choose Princess over Royal (About myself - I've been on 6 cruises, 3 with Carnival and 3 with Royal-, never sailed on Princess). I'm hoping I made a good choice. She will be sailing with a friend who has terminal cancer, so I am really wanting this cruise to be perfect. It will be her first cruise, my mother's 2nd but her 1st was 20 years ago.. How are the shows? The food? Are there any can't miss activities? It is to my understanding that her friend tires fairly easily, so I would think she would just do what she is capable of. Thanks!!

Caribbean princess has got to be one of the worst ships princess has i would go with rccl anyday in the Caribbean

Caribbean princess has got to be one of the worst ships princess has i would go with rccl anyday in the Caribbean

Funny, we sailed on the Caribbean Princess and thought it was excellent, that was a few years back so anything can change. But I do not even see mention of that ship. (My last two rccl cruises were my last.) Just got back from a Caribbean cruise on the Crown I rated it 4.5 out if 5. You do know that Princess has many more than one ship in the Caribbean?

And if you get a chance definitely do the Royal Princess, larger ship but really beautiful and accommodating.

You do know that Princess has many more than one ship in the Caribbean?

For June, July, August and September this year there is only one Princess ship in the Caribbean, the propulsion limited Caribbean Princess.

We absolutely loved our three cruises on Caribbean Princess in 06, 09, 10

For June, July, August and September this year there is only one Princess ship in the Caribbean, the propulsion limited Caribbean Princess.

Sorry, we never cruise the summer months so I take back what I said about having more than one ship in the Caribbean. I was referring to the winter cruising season, Jan, Feb and March.

On our first RCCL cruise, they were auditioning chefs so the food was exceptional at every meal. I didn't realize it wasn't the norm until the next (and next, etc) cruise. The food was passable, but not a highlight of the cruise, and for us, food is a big part of vacationing. I was excited about the Flowrider. It was fun -- for the 90 seconds you get on it. The wait was more than 30 minutes. They run it for private parties most of the time, so unless you're willing to pay, you don't really get to play. The shows on RCCL are Broadway-quality. They are really amazing. The coffee sucks on both lines. Royal has non-stop entertainment and it feels frenetic. Yes, it's fun, but you need a vacation to recuperate afterwards.

On our last Alaska cruise, Princess had us extremely close to the glacier. The captain and crew were accessible to passengers, and every effort was made to make sure passengers were attended to. We've never had a bad steward on Princess (horrible one on RCCL), and there is a deferential quality that seems to be missing on RCCL. Princess closes down before midnight. The ship is extremely quiet between 12-6. Just about everyone on Princess goes on excursions in the ports; on RCCL, a lot of people stayed onboard, which I found odd. The pace is considerably more relaxing; the library actually gets used and people generally DO listen to the quartets, piano players, and lounge singers.

It's a matter of preference. We initially moved from RCCL due to the political donations their CEO was making (while Princess supports vets and veteran's organizations); I highly doubt we'll go back.

I have sailed both lines both have their up and downs. Depending on your particular needs one line may be better than the other. If your sailing with grandchildren you may want to cruise RCCL if your looking for a sedate more traditional experience Princess is the way to go. I personally enjoyed both lines, to make a carte Blanche statement is I believe a disservice to the kind of cruise you may want. I wonder what kind of answers you would get on the RCCL boards?

I like Princess for the military benefit.

I sailed on RCL for the first time this spring and will sail with Princess for the first time in the fall. This may not apply to your mother but the Alcohol package, including coffee, water and non-alcoholic drinks was much cheaper on RCL than it is on Princess. I was on the Grandeur and the included eats were only in the MDR and buffet, all others were extra while Princess (Emerald) appears to have a lot more dining options at no charge.

Princess "knows" some sharing will go on since they do NOT require both/all passengers of drinking age in a cabin to buy the package...hence, the higher price..

what other lines allow that?

Princess "knows" some sharing will go on since they do NOT require both/all passengers of drinking age in a cabin to buy the package...hence, the higher price..

 

what other lines allow that?

So does that mean the person who has the package can order two drinks at a time?

So does that mean the person who has the package can order two drinks at a time?

no, not at all..

but if both just happen to like the same drink...beer, whatever...well...there's lots of bars on board...

now I drink mostly beer, cab wine and scotch...so if I ordered a mojito, would that raise a flag??

Princess "knows" some sharing will go on since they do NOT require both/all passengers of drinking age in a cabin to buy the package...hence, the higher price..

 

what other lines allow that?