RCL vs. Princess

[Labmom3]

Thank you we were thinking of trying Royal Caribbean but decided to stick with Princess. As the mom of two teens I like the 1 AM curfew on Princess last year the teen center was open until 4 AM. My daughter did not stay out that late but I like the idea of the ship setting and I hope enforcing a teen curfew.

[joand452]

I have to second the opinion on the size of RCI junior suites. We decided to try one on last year's Mariner cruise (our 1st Mariner cruise was in a D1). We were expecting something like our AA mini on Sapphire, but were blown away by the size. The regular balcony cabins on RCI are much larger than a regular balcony on Princess (which we had on our Crown cruise). It was disappointing to have just one little chair in the cabin. But I like the closet layout better on the Princess ships.

 

We're going back to an AA mini-suite on Ruby.

 

I also like the layout of the buffets (Windjammer) better. More individual food stations in a more open space. Hate the small area on Princess.

 

We'll make do -- we'll be on a cruise!

[skellis]

I was on the Brilliance of the Seas a year ago, and I have to say that the food was substantially inferior to that of Princess. I ate one dinner in the dining room and the rest of the cruise ate in Portofino speciality restaraunt for Dinner where the food was great. (I did complain that my osso bucco was overdone, and not only did they change the entree to one better suited to my tastes, but the Chef (who was evident in both of the specialty restaraunts) sent a tray of cookies to my cabin to apologize. However, both Sabatini's and Crown Grill are superior.

 

The buffets were bland and not to my taste with little of the variety and quality of the Horizon Court and Cafe Caribe. To get a freshly grilled hamburger you had to go to Johnny Rockets and pay $4.95, as the buffet ones were precooked and put in chafing dishes. Breakfast in the dining room was also buffet style. They didn't have the waffle station or bagels with lox and cream cheese.

 

The ship itself was appealing because of the outside glass elevators facing the water. My balcony room was bigger than a Princess balcony cabin but was showing some age in the linens. The shows were par for the course

and about equivalent to Princess.

 

All in all, Princess suits me better, and other than itinerary (Canary Islands and Spain) and an unusual incident in Granada where I became ill and couldn't get my breath, the ship's staff who accompany each ship's tour helped me with my physical problem and showed significant concern for my wellbeing both during the incident and after it was resolved. Princess wins hands down.