Which ship to choose??

[bob-a]

We are planning to cruise transatlantic next Spring (2013) and then spend some time in England & Ireland.

There are three Princess ships to choose from - Caribbean, Crown and Emerald. We have sailed on the Grand previously, but not on any of these three. Is there anything to recommend one over the others:confused: Or are there not enough differences to make a difference? Any personal recommendations/insights would be most appreciated:)

[Cruz-OR]

All these ships are excellent so maybe you should decide which itinerary is best for you or which port you would rather arrive at.

[Mom33]

We are planning to cruise transatlantic next Spring (2013) and then spend some time in England & Ireland.

There are three Princess ships to choose from - Caribbean, Crown and Emerald. We have sailed on the Grand previously, but not on any of these three. Is there anything to recommend one over the others:confused: Or are there not enough differences to make a difference? Any personal recommendations/insights would be most appreciated:)

 

We sailed the Emerald in March in the Caribbean and had excellent service, food and entertainment. We sailed the Caribbean Princess in June and had mixed feelings about the food and service in the dining room, but service in other areas was excellent as well as the entertainment.

We have been on the Crown and also had a favorable experience.

 

The three ships are the same size and layout with the Caribbean being the oldest of the three.

 

I would pick the ship with the best TA itinerary for your needs. The northern route might be colder and rougher than a more southerly crossing.

[fishywood]

After eight years of nothing but warm weather sailings, the Caribbean Princess sailed an Eastbound TA to Southampton this April, and is en route to New York on her Westbound as we speak. There have been many, many threads here discussing the missed port calls and mechanical problems she had ths summer; Princess was not prepared for the issues (weather and otherwise) arising from sailng the North Atlantic and the Irish Sea for the first time with this particular ship and crew.

 

The Crown and Emerald are essentially twins, so I would look at the itineraries. The Crown seems to be the safest weather wise, and gives you several ports in Europe to complement your stay in the UK. But as for the Emerald, I don't know if your plans would be to disembark early in Dover or stay on through Copenahgen; if the latter, this would be my choice especially if you haven't been to Bermuda.

[caribill]

Princess was not prepared for the issues (weather and otherwise) arising from sailng the North Atlantic and the Irish Sea for the first time with this particular ship (Caribbean) and crew.

 

 

The northern route has more opportunity for missed ports due to weather no matter which ship you are on.

 

We missed four ports due to weather on a northern westbound TA on the Crown Princess.

 

It took two tries over two years to make the port of Reykjavik, with weather keeping us hundreds of miles away on the Crown one year but making it OK on the Crown the next year.

 

And sometimes it is not bad weather. We missed one port on a beautiful day in Greenland because there was an iceberg sitting where the ship needed to anchor--and the iceberg would not move out of the way.

[MsK64]

I finished a cruise on the Caribbean Princess a few weeks ago, and wrote this review. I've included the link below. There are some things specific to my itinerary, but most of it is about the ship itself.

 

Hopefully, it will help to answer some questions for you. Good luck with your choice.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1689543

 

[bob-a]

All sail from FLL (the Crown actually starts in Galveston, close to home) so all take relatively same southerly route. Ane they make many of the same stops. On Emerald, we'd get off early at Dover. The other 2 stop at Southampton. Don't know if that makes much of a difference:confused:

We have debarked at Southampton before and flown (flybe) to Dublin. From Dover, I guess one of the London airports?

With similar prices & itineraries, I wondered if there was something about the ships that might help push a decision one way or the other. Have the mechanical issues commented on from last year on the Caribbean P. been sorted out, or would they continue to be a concern?