Princess vs. Royal Caribbean

[vickie_bernie]

Princess' product is a great one and that is why I keep coming back. I love the ships and being able to find a quiet area to have a drink or read. The entertainment at night is not focussed around just one major production show but many different events in different venues.

 

I understand RCL Diamond lounge for drinks, but prefer getting the mini bar set up in my cabin at elite level, where I can choose the beverages and enjoy them in my cabin.

 

Love that Princess has laundry facilities on board for all. Even better Elite members get free laundry service.

 

Cabins are ready as soon as you board.

 

Can bring on wine and champagne to enjoy in your cabin or pay corkage fee to enjoy in lounge.

 

Princess has more longer itineraries - 10 days, 14 days , 20 days

 

I too will say that at first when I checked out pricing for 2012 I was shocked but a quick email to my TA, or a call, and I found the prices to be very good - TA was able to provide discounted price and obc.

 

Enjoy whichever line you choose.

 

Vickie

[toberman]

First cruise - on Ruby - coming up in March. Am I reading the deck plan wrong? It seems to show a "Princess Theater Lower Level" on Fiesta Deck 6 and a "Princess Theater Upper Level" on Promenade Deck 7.

 

It's only 1 theater with entrances from 2 different decks... you can enter from one deck and exit to the other.

[JaxLuck]

I have 5 Cruises on RCI and 11 on Princess. I think generally the entertainment is better on RCI, the food is a tie and the service is probably better on Princess. We have had 3 Princess Cruises within the last 2 months and I feel that they have lost their way as it relates to customer focus. As an example Princess until recently had the dining rooms open for lunch everyday. They have abandoned that and now only have the DRs open only on sea days. I think this is one area which differeniated Princess from RCI in the past. Further, Princess' current strategy is to also abandon true 14 day cruises and instead combine two 7 day cruises into a 14 day cruise using different ports but the same DR menus,entertainment , buffet sections etc for each 7 day segment. There is a requirement to disembark at the original embarktion port to be processed by US Customs. This requirement was never disclosed by Princess prior to our sailing. I have just returned form one of these 14 day cruises out of San Juan and can only say that I am very disappointed in Princess.

Hope this helps.

[1 HappyCruiser]

After the big reduction in length of the Princess entertainment lately RCI just might have the upper hand on all of Princess's shows. :(

[kicker]

7 RC cruises, one Celebrity (last January). We'll be doing Crown Princess 1/14/12, and right now the reviews are enough to scare the bejeebers out of anybody! Not really Princess' fault - Noro problems.

 

Here's what I'm expecting after reading these threads for a long time:

 

1). Food comparable

2). Better entertainment on Royal

3). Service about equal

 

I think Royal's done a great job with their private island (Labadee), where Princess Cays sounds like what I saw in Labadee years ago. Princess seems to have a better embarkation & debarkation process.

 

We chose Princess because of its itinerary (seems every Royal cruise went to San Juan, St. Thomas...). I will certainly post a review after returning offering my thoughts on Princess vs Royal.

 

Now that I'm back, let me address a few things:

 

1). Food: I actually liked the food better on Princess. Have spoken to some former Royal cruisers and the basic feeling is Royal was always "same old, same old" for menus, while Princess was quite varied inn the main DR. Pizza on Princess much better; buffet nod goes to Royal though. Now, if all I cruised was Princess I'd prob feel the same about their food, but it was a nice change from Royal's menus.

 

2). The production shows far exceeded my expectations - at least equal to your basic Royal (I'm not counting Freedom or Oasis class). The CD had more trivia and activities going on than any ship I've been on.

 

3). I still give Royal an edge for overall service. We had no problems - our waiters and room stewards were great, but (as I put in my review), Royal's service was always 100% great, Princess 98%. I attribute that to Princess seeming to have a much younger crew, at least on our cruise (Crown).

 

I would do either Royal or Princess in the future with no qualms (our one Celeb cruise was nice but Celeb wouldn't be my personal choice). Price and Itinerary would be determining factors. but I'd be happy with either cruise line.

[J & G]

Now that I'm back, let me address a few things:

 

1). Food: I actually liked the food better on Princess. Have spoken to some former Royal cruisers and the basic feeling is Royal was always "same old, same old" for menus, while Princess was quite varied inn the main DR. Pizza on Princess much better; buffet nod goes to Royal though. Now, if all I cruised was Princess I'd prob feel the same about their food, but it was a nice change from Royal's menus.

 

2). The production shows far exceeded my expectations - at least equal to your basic Royal (I'm not counting Freedom or Oasis class). The CD had more trivia and activities going on than any ship I've been on.

 

3). I still give Royal an edge for overall service. We had no problems - our waiters and room stewards were great, but (as I put in my review), Royal's service was always 100% great, Princess 98%. I attribute that to Princess seeming to have a much younger crew, at least on our cruise (Crown).

 

I would do either Royal or Princess in the future with no qualms (our one Celeb cruise was nice but Celeb wouldn't be my personal choice). Price and Itinerary would be determining factors. but I'd be happy with either cruise line.

 

Thanks so much for coming back and reporting your findings! Many say they will, but it seems few ever really do.

 

We have been primarily RCCL cruisers, too, with =X= and HAL thrown in here and there. We were attracted to Princess by the itinerary.....Egypt and Istanbul!! Both on my bucket list! We depart in May. Since we've not actually been on a Princess cruise yet, I can't do a fair comparison, but here's my experience to this point:

 

- Princess customer service and booking agents are WAY more helpful, polite, and accommodating than RCCL.

 

- Princess and HAL itineraries are MUCH better.

 

- Anytime Dining on Princess seems to be a cluster mess.....we chose Traditional for the first time in many cruises.

 

- The upgrade fairy visits Princess and HAL much more often than RCCL.

 

- Cabins of comparable category and price seem smaller on Princess and HAL. We've had to move up a category to get a little more space.

 

 

Again, thanks for reporting back.....we really appreciate knowing what to expect.

Edited February 2, 2012 by J & G

[tpbf]

1. Princess pools are fresh water.

2. Princess is more port intensive, both more ports -fewer sea days - and better tours.

3. Food about the same, but the Tutti salad bar at lunch sea days and daily granola bar in RCI dining rooms are pluses.

4. Better access to watching the sunrise from the buffet dining rooms on Princess, even without the 24 hour buffet. RCI closes off the buffet when not serving and there is no sea view from the cafe in the promenade. Do like a sea view with my 5am coffee.

5. Entertainment to RCI, but lounge bands and shows to Princess.

6. Both with good service at all levels.

7. Can't email Princess with questions before you leave. You seem to have to call. Email access at RCI with good, prompt (2 days tops) replies even for the dumbest questions.

8. Muts is nice, especially in warm weather.

9. RCI is very strict about bringing of wine/water. Princess very easy going about this. However, we $$ this out on RCI over the recent holiday and found bringing your own does not really save much cash. Must mean you drink more when you can bring your own.

10. The couch/chair is a nice touch on RCI, does not a suite make. Nice when you want to have some company in.

11. Both have the tight fitting showers. Be thin or get a suite.

12. Get right to your room to embark on Princess. Need to wait until 1:30 or so on RCI. Luggage arrival a crap shoot on both.

13. Not wild (personally) about that promanade mall on RCI, but it is a good gathering place for some events providing seating/view of what is happening. (as in New Year's Eve)

[austinlw]

First cruise - on Ruby - coming up in March. Am I reading the deck plan wrong? It seems to show a "Princess Theater Lower Level" on Fiesta Deck 6 and a "Princess Theater Upper Level" on Promenade Deck 7.

 

The one large audience area is sloped so that there are side entrances on deck 6 and rear entrances on deck 7. There are no balconies like there are on RC or Celebrity ships. Balconies allow more people to be closer to and have a better view of the stage, as opposed to being more rows back away from the stage.

[DeloreanGirl]

We have sailed on Royal Caribbean in the past for all cruises. We are looking to cruise in the spring sometime on Ruby. My question is: Is Princess a little above Royal as far as service, ship features etc. Which one would you cruise on??

 

Hi Shammy,

 

It really depends on a lot of things. :)

 

Do you have kids? If so, Royal Caribbean has great kid programs and fun family stuff to do onboard.

 

Do you like fine dining? Princess seems to up it a notch with food (depends on who you talk to!)

 

Are you sailing with your family? Royal Caribbean might fit you better.

 

Are you sailing with a spouse or are over the age of 40? Princess all the way.

 

To me, Royal Caribbean is more of the fun, family-oriented cruise line with just enough class and just enough fun to make it a comfortable fit. When hubby and I went on Princess, we were the youngest ones on the ship. Don't get me wrong, Princess is classy, it just depends on what "feel" you're going for on the cruise. Hubby and I will be sailing with Princess this May simply because Princess had the best itinerary for the British Isles (heck, the only itinerary for British Isles).

 

Where are you looking to go? Princess might offer a better itinerary for your trip. Hope this helps!

Edited February 2, 2012 by DeloreanGirl

[jacksonwayne]

RUBBISH ! It upsets a little bit when people make statements without actual knowledge.......referring to an earlier post..

After sailing on Star Princess, Golden Princess, New and Old Royal Princess, Crown Princess, Ruby Princess, Emerald Princess, Caribbean Princess, Island Princess, Ocean Princess (Sun Class), Sapphire Princess; saying that all Princess theaters are one level is pure Rubbish. I can't speak for the small ships Princess bought (R1,etc and has slowly phasing out) but all of the Bespoke Princess ships have two level Princess Theaters.

[Oxo]

From what you say & what I've found so far I'm beginning to believe that. It just makes it more difficult to get pricing now that I have to call for each trip.

 

i have found that you never get the real price for a cruise by just going and checking on-line. That applies to both the Cruise Line and a TA sites. I use the on-line price as a base line and go from there. Some say that you can not get a discount, however, it depends on the cruise. I always email for a quote from my TA. My experience this year alone is based on:

1 RCI cruise

2 Celebrity cruises

3 Princess cruises

 

In fact, sometimes it is better to book a B2B on the same ship than booking a 14 day cruise. So, there is no 1 rule is always true.