How does Princess compare

[Bigjake722003]

I have been on NCL and Carnival. I am 21 and like the nightlife and was wondering what Princess is like as far as average age, party scene and activity level?

[paul929207]

Princess has cruises all over the world. They attract passengers with different demographics. Where are you looking to go?

[Bonnie J.]

WE were on our 3rd Princess cruise last February. Had no problems with the 1st two, 2nd was 10 days. But in February we felt we were the YOUNGEST on the ship and we are 67! We went to the Wheelhouse lounge but the trio playing there LEFT at 7:15 for an hour for their dinner! We then couldn't find music. There was one couple at the disco. WE ended up watching Marmaduke in cabin.

WE really like Carnival but check out Royal Caribbean. That has a good group of all ages!

[CruiserBruce]

You can read up on Princess by going over to the Princess board, here:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=197

 

and compare for yourself.

[Hunter22a]

We typically cruise once a year and normally for a minimum of 14 days, normally longer. We are blessed in that we can afford a suite when we go. I like the suite perks on Princess. Until I started using it I had no idea just how much of an internet bill you can rack up at sea. I don't live on the net but in a 16 day cruise to the far east just sending one e mail a day to our daughter with no more than 3 pictures attached could have cost me almost $800 if it wasn't free. I don't know of another cruise line that gives unlimited internet to suite passengers but I may be wrong. Breakfast at Sabatinies is a treat. We eat early, typically as soon as it opens. Never more than 3 other people in the place and the service was second to none.

 

As for demographics, in our early 50's and yes we are the teens on most of our cruises. We go to relax and not be involved in activities 24 hours a day. Others look for a busier schedule. The longer the cruise, the more exotic and expensive it is the older the crowd for the most part. Lets face it, we are the ones without the parential responsibilities anymore, not likely to have a mortgage or other large debts and thus have the disposable income to enjoy while we can. Trust me, my two married girls are not getting all of it!

 

I typically get involved in whatever golf challenges are going on and my wife loves the thermal suite the spa and anything to do with fitness. Other than that we are both just as likely to be out on the balcony catching up on a years woth of reading as doing a scavenger hunt or playing trivia.

 

If high activity youthfull activites are what you are interested in than shorter cruises with a less structured freestyle type of environment are the way to go. Just not for us.

[Hlitner]

We have done a lot of cruising (over 2 years worth) with many cruise lines. Sometimes we actually feel a little sorry for young adults who get stuck on cruise ships where there is little late night activity and few contemporaries. As to the best ships for your age, we think its more a factor of when and where. Your best bet will always be short cruises (7 days or less) in the Caribbean. If you time this around the spring break period you are likely to get plenty of other passengers in your age group (mostly college kids). Otherwise you just need to wait a few years when everyone will seem younger to you :) As to Princess, it is very comparable to RCI as long as you stick to their 7 day cruises.

 

Hank

[trish1c]

We usually sail NCL. We sailed Princess last trip b/c we loved the itinerary. The nightlife was non-existent. Almost all the bars were empty & they closed at midnight. By closed I mean put the liquor away & took down the taps. The only thing that stayed open was the disco, Skywalkers, in the back. It's a real disco -- dark, ice cold, lots of lights & LOUD music. Although we enjoyed our cruise the boring, sedate night life will make us think twice before booking another Princess cruise.

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

You will be very happy on Princess

[geoherb]

If you sail on a 7-night cruise from Florida, you'll most likely be happy--especially if it's a time of year when there are more families and young people, such as spring break or Christmas.

[Leafpeeper]

We love Princess, but we are taking NCL in Oct, Carnival in early January, and RCCL in early Febraury. We like different ships on each line. We would be bored sailing with the same line with the same shows and same decor. Variety is the spice of life for us.

 

We are bargain shoppers and often book an inside cabin on Carnival for short cruises. We save the balcony cabins for our 10 day cruises on NCL and RCCL. If Princess sailed from NY in winter, we would book them too. My dd and I both agree that RCCL Radiance Class ships like Jewel of the Seas tend to be very similar to the Crown Princess ship we sailed. We love them both. I am not crazy about the jumbo ships because I get too tired with all the walking.

 

Caribbean cruises tend to be a younger crowd on every line--especially 7 days or less. We had lots of late night activities on our cruise on Crown Princess and loved it. We would do the production show and then go to kareoke and after 11 go to the nightclub near the theater to hear a comedian or dance at midnight. We never went to the 20-30 year old dance club.

 

You have to try things yourself because it's like getting somebody's opinion about pizza--everybody's favorite is different.

 

I've noticed that Mexican Riviera cruises tend to be an older crowd from the Midwest during the winter. I was glad when our dd didn't go with us because it was an older crowd.

 

Real the CC boards about the cruises and see what you can learn. Great info.

[dpump]

My husband had always been one of those 'I hate cruising, was in the navy, enough ships' until we went on a South American cruise that included the ability to go to the Galapagos Islands. He loves cruising now. We had a mini suite with a balcony and he loved being able to just sit on the balcony and watch the world go by and relax. For our upcoming cruise, we're trying Holland America, in a suite with all the bells and whistles. With Princess, didn't feel the pressure to 'dress to the nines' as I'm feeling as I read the boards here for Holland. We'll see, that stuff has never really bothered me, will keep an open mind.

[aprilivy]

Voyager of the Seas is our only RCCL experience - stuffy crowd - we felt out of place and young at 60...

Carnival is more party...but we don't do that...yet do like being a spectator.

Princess was locked up at night, but we enjoyed just sitting on the balcony in the quiet watching for whales with sunset at 10:00 p.m. and sunrise at 4:00 a.m.

[trish1c]

You will be very happy on Princess

 

If you sail on a 7-night cruise from Florida' date=' you'll most likely be happy [/quote']

 

I really don't understand how anybody could tell the OP a 21 year old male who expressly asked about the nightlife & "party scene" that he would be happy on Princess. I am not knocking Princess; they deliver a quality cruise but it is far from the party scene he seeks. IMHO, he'll be miserable & should cruise another line like Carnival, NCL or maybe RCL which will offer what he wants. There is minimal nightlife & no party scene on Princess. All the bars except Skywalkers close at midnight & Skywalkers shuts down at 2. That is not party scene.

[Bonnie J.]

I agre completely with Trish1c. Go to back Carnival. That is now our favorite line as the passengers are all ages and all the activities are lively and don't end at midnight, the disco just keeps going. And as I said earlier, we were the youngest, at 67, on February's Princess cruise, at night we ended up watching "Marmaduke" in our cabin it was do dead at night!

[Dancer Bob]

If the OP was happy with Carnival, I agree that's his best choice. I too am astonished that anyone could tell the OP he'd be happy on Princess.