Why do you keep coming back to Princess?

[jac1976]

We are taking our first Princess cruise this August- heading on the Sapphire up to Alaska. I am very excited, and am trying to stay away from the few 'downer' posts I see on these boards (although admittedly, I am very much a half glass full kind of person so am not too worried.)

 

So, tell me, what makes you keep coming back to Princess? What are the things you love about Princess cruises that I can look forward to in August?

[paul929207]

For us, it is the exotic itineraries. We have done 19 so far with nine booked for the next 2+ years and not one was a Caribbean cruise.

 

Beyond that we also love the small ship, the service and the wonderful people (passengers and crew) that we meet.

[Ula]

For us, and we have cruised other lines so can say what we like about Princess. They pretty much have a 24/7 buffet. Vacation we hate schedules. So we can get up when we want and do things when we want. And eat when we want. It is freedom. I know it sounds stupid, but it appears a quirk of ours.

Just like to eat when hungry, not plan meals around when things are open. Darndest thing. But we get up early and go to bed early.

[Kinkacruiser]

The familiarity (layout of ships, routines and activities), the food, meal venues choices and meal times, itineraries and loyalty scheme for starters .

[Woobstr112G]

For us it's itineraries and price.....:):):)

 

Bob

[isujim]

Itineraries, Attitude (wonderful) and Price. And we just recently switched to Princess from Royal Caribbean although we will still sail RC if itineary and Price are right............if things are equal, we will choose Princess.

[jewopaho]

My wife of three years and I have cruised together nine times in the past three years ... seven on Princess, twice on Royal Caribbean. I've also sailed Carnival, Celebrity, NCL and even a couple of cruise lins that are no longer in business. I keep returning to Peincess for a couple of reasons ...

 

(1) Ambience. We like the "feel" of the ships ... all are designed pretty similarly, and we're quite comfortable with the product.

 

(2) Food. We believe that, overall, Princess' food is better. Of course, this is a highly subjective matter ... I'm certain that many favor the offerings of other cruise lines. That's why there's more than one to sail.

 

(3) Service. We have yet to encounter any Princess employee who has not been personable, well-trained, and eager to make our cruise the best we've ever taken.

 

(4) Price (save for Europe). Princess is the only cruise line that still permits discounting ... so with a little research, there are excellent deals to be had.

 

(5) Itineraries (to a degree). For example, there are actually two options to cruise Alaska's Inside Passage from Seattle ... the Golden and Sapphire. Some of the Caribbean cruises are also unique, especially the ten-nighters.

 

Where Princess falls short, as we see things, are in entertainment (mediocre at best ... but again, it's a very subjective component), and European cruises ... virtually all of them homeport in Southampton or Dover, and they're pretty expensive by comparison with the competition.

 

But overall, we believe that Princess offers the greatest bang for the buck, treats passengers as guests, feeds us well, and takes us to places in style. Each time we plan a cruise, the Princess website is our launching point. Pay no attention to the naysayers ... you'll find them writing about every cruise line. Get ready for a great cruise!

 

Al

[Crzn-Life]

We like:

 

1. the service--especially the special attention in the MDR
   
2. the itineraries (except we are disappointed that Princess no longer has ships in FL for the summer)
   
3. the pricing
   
4. but most of all we like the Elite benefits. It's hard to go on other lines (except Cunard where we also enjoy having the top past-passenger level) because of all of the nice things they do for us.
   

[JimnKaren]

For us, the primary goal of any cruise is the itinerary (time of year and the destination). If we like that, then the price is not a problem. After cruising on Princess, one gets to the know the layout of each ship and their sister ships. That makes for comfort. Yes, the loyalty programs are good, too.

 

However, when it comes to the primary reason we cruise more on Princess (have done HAL, Carnival, NCL, Celebrity), it seems to be the demographics of the passengers.

 

Many, many years ago, I questioned my father as to why he took only long cruises and he responded that he wanted to cruise with folks who could afford that time away and the expense of a longer cruise. And I might have a similar answer. We enjoy cruising with the folks who like the same cruises we do.

 

Jim

[Toddy709]

Itinerary

Price

Being treated like an adult (can carry on wine for in-room consumption)

Crew is friendly

No hairy chest competition

Self-serve laundry

Just a good fit overall -- not snobby; not trashy!

[shepp]

Just a good fit overall -- not snobby; not trashy!

 

Exactly. It's a good match with my partner's and my personalities. We like the finer things in life, sure, but don't view buying them as a badge of honor. Princess is just fancy enough, just fun enough, and - yes - a complete escape.

[willysgrandma]

1. The perks for repeat bookings - Princess' loyalty program is one of the best out there.

 

2. The International Cafe - my favorite spot on ships that have it.

 

3. The itineraries.

 

4. Roomy cabins - great closet storage space.

[Princess Patches]

The price and itineraries seem to always beat the competition. It has enough luxury for me (especially when we get a precious emerald deck mini suite) without breaking the bank. Finally, their repeat cruisers program is simply the best and at the elite status I hate to give up my perks by sailing on another line.

[RebelSoul]

I only have experience with one other line (so far) to compare Princess to, but the reasons why we keep booking with Princess:

 

 

• Old World ambiance on the ships
  
• The service, pretty much fleet wide
  
• Great storage space in the cabins
  
• Not a party-ship, but not sedate
  
• Always something to do, plenty of activities to pick from
  
• Food both in the MDR and the International Cafe (those cookies!)
  
• Prices
  
• So many great itineraries to choose from
  
• The perks from their loyalty program, hands down the best of the mass market cruise lines
  

DH and I do plan to venture out a bit and will be trying two other lines within the two years, but Princess will always be our first choice.

[Griller]

I've tried a few lines, 40 plus cruises, and what keeps me booking Princess includes

 

Price - I book late and watch for the prices to come down, then its very economical.

Itinerary - varied and decent

They have smaller and larger ships

Service is generally excellent and friendly

Food is generally excellent, better than in normal dining on Cunard.

Ships are clean and well maintained

Passengers are normally nice people, not like on some lines

Everything runs to time, if you don't think its important try Costa or MSC.

Loyalty program and stockholder program are not bad at all.

Just generally good value, and while oldtimers say it isn't what it used to be all I can say is that the other massmarket lines have gone downhill way more than Princess.

I first cruised Princess in the mid 90's.

[better at sea]

For us it is the fact we know the staff is friendly, the food is good and we will be busy the entire cruise if we want to be. Oh and the Pizza.:D

[pris993]

We cruise Princess, Celebrity and HAL primarily. We are elite on Princess and Celebrity and 3 star on HAL.

 

Generally the "Perks" on Princess are very good. We have just taken our first Cunard cruise on the Queen Victoria. Much to our surprise we were given a $600 OBC. We enjoyed the Cunard Queen Victoria so much we booked again and got another OBC for $800. So we could not pass it up.

 

Really like the "free" internet perk on Princess -- cocktail package in our stateroom is another winner.

 

I do hope the new Royal Princess gives us a more updated ship style similar to Celebrity. I am a bit tired of the Grand class ships. We did love the Ruby Princess though. We took the first cruise on the Grand Princess in l998. It is time for a new ship style.

[cherrybear]

Having only cruised on Princess I really don’t have any basis for comparison, but they go where we want to go, when we want to go, and at a price we can afford. The passenger base appears to be a great mix of age groups and nationalities, and the crew has always been exceptional. My motto is if it ain’t broke don’t fix it.

 

Cherry

[Genessa]

we have been cruising (primarily) Princess since 2001.

 

From our first cruise, what we LOVE about Princess is the general ambience. If you want to be in the thick of things, you can be - but we don't. When we are enjoying a sea day, we like a relaxed atmosphere and usually spend our time by one of the adult only pools.

 

we usually go on longer cruises and do enjoy having fewer children - have them, love them, adore spending active time with our own young grandchildren - would rather not spend time with someone else's when we don't have ours with us.

 

 

we love the grill on the pool deck so we can eat lunch in our bathing suits.

 

we love feeling pampered by the staff.

 

we enjoy anytime dining when we cruise by ourselves and traditional when we are travelling with others.

 

some cruises we have seen every show, some we see none. Some cruises we've watched movies, some we've seen none.

 

and it's all good!

and when you add that to great itineraries, future cruise credits, past passenger and travel agent discounts, you can't beat the value!

[DeepWaterMariner]

We don't cruise Princess exclusively but more than we do on other lines. Princess keeps us coming back because the food, ambiance, varied itineraries, and activities are about the best match for our interests of any of the major lines. The Elite perks certainly add an incentive to return, especially for cruises where laundry becomes an issue. We also like going on the small Princess ships which is a unique experience among the mainstream cruise lines. Occasionally we need a break from the Princess menus and entertainment so we'll cruise on RCI, Celebrity, or HAL.

[isujim]

We obviously don't sail for perks..........we are Diamond Plus on RC and they have a pretty good loyalty program. We still think Princess is a better fit for us..........perks mean nothing.........if your cruise line ever changes directions and lets you down.;)

[Whimsy]

After taking our first cruise we knew this was the type of vacation we were going to want to take over and over.

 

I researched all the cruise lines with in our price range and feel we get the best bang for our buck with Princess. The ships have the amenities that appeal the most to us. We like the movies, coffee bars, etc. We don't feel we need to pay more for a cruise ship that has rock walls, ice skating, etc. things that we would not utilize. We like to relax on vacation and enjoy more restful surroundings with less children. The passenger make up on Princess seems to work well for us, traveling mostly in the fall.

 

I also researched the loyaty programs and felt Princess had the best fit for us with their tiers. We are open to try other cruise lines if price and itinery appeal to us but find we are very happy and don't need to look around.

 

We love the food in the dining room, the service around the ship. When we board we feel we are on our home away from home.

[rdsqrl]

As others have said, itineraries and service definitely top my list.

Plus, I love the freshwater pools and I enjoy the way the ships are designed with lots of smaller spaces to explore and with lots of open deck space. And the variety of ships -- one for every mood, from little ships to big ships.

And, I like all the ways Princess's ships remind you you're at sea and not in a boring old land resort: the tiny bathrooms, the movement and the creaking, the hard beds, the bizarrely-dysfunctional elevators, and all the other idiosyncracies and eccentricities. I'd be disappointed if those inconveniences were ever completely ironed out!

[Whirlybird]

Elegant afternoon tea service in the dining room every day of the cruise.

Broadway shows, love to sit in the front row so I can see the costumes.

Nice variety of food on the buffets, especially Cafe Caribe

Checking out a book from the library and sitting on the promenade deck reading to the sound of the ocean going by.

Hot bamboo massage, best I've ever had on a cruise ship. If you wait for the specials, you can get really good prices, I got this for 1 hour on my last cruise for $80, highly recommended.

Princess Cays, my favorite day at the beach.

[Go-Bucks!]

Itinerary, Price, Crew is friendly, and just a good fit overall -- not snobby; not trashy!

 

 

I totally agree! And they provide enough activities to keep from being bored, but also plenty of opportunities for relaxation that I go home refreshed. :)