Newbie to Cunard

[Kamloops50]

We have taken about 15 cruises ( mostly on Princess). What would be the biggest difference between Princess & Cunard. We booked for a 15 day Panama Canal cruise (Feb 2015) from FLL to LAX in a balcony on the Queen Victoria . We have done cruise this twice before .

Any and all comments or recommendations accepted.

Edited November 6, 2013 by Kamloops50

[alibabacruisers]

Although I have never been on Princess, I would still say the difference would be formal nights more often and more formal than Princess, generally speaking. Most people tend to dress up on the formal nights wearing beautiful gowns and nice suits and even some tuxedos. It is a wonderful sight to see.

 

Have fun on your cruise! I hope you love Cunard as I know I do.

 

Barbara

[skyhawk352]

I've been on many Princess as well as Royal Caribbean cruises. This past September, I took my first Cunard voyage on the QM2. There were two major differences I found:

 

First was in the attire onboard. With Princess they typically have Formal, semi formal, and casual. With Cunard it's Formal and Semi formal. After 6pm, in public areas you're not to be in shorts, jeans, etc. Regardless of the attire for that night, unless you're in the one public area on the ship that permits it. With the formal nights, people do go all out with gowns, tuxes, etc.

 

Second was the entertainment. With Princess (and Royal Caribbean), I found the entertainment to be geared toward a lower age bracket. Both with the shows as well as the music styles. On Cunard, there was a flautist, a harpist, tenors, plus a comedian/singer, and a former gymnast/juggler/cirque du solei style. I could be wrong, but I've never seen a flautist as a headliner on the other cruiselines.

 

I know the music styles and entertainment acts can appeal to all types, all ages, etc. I'm not saying they were bad in any way, just different than what you would have seen in the past on the other cruise lines.

 

Karin

[Scrapnana]

We have taken about 15 cruises ( mostly on Princess). What would be the biggest difference between Princess & Cunard. We booked for a 15 day Panama Canal cruise (Feb 2015) from FLL to LAX in a balcony on the Queen Victoria . We have done cruise this twice before .

Any and all comments or recommendations accepted.

 

I will be on the QE World Voyage in January and in the approximately two weeks between Florida and California, we have four formal nights and three of them are theme nights. We also have one informal night that is a theme night.

[lannp]

Cunard vs Princess. Cunard dining rooms are open for lunch on port days (except for embarkation days), last year Princess did not open their dining room in port.

Formal on Princess is not really formal, formal on Cunard is definitely a huge step up.

[QM2 fan]

Having done both, Cunard wins hands down. I like to dress up, it would appear most Cunarders do,the Princess trip we took, well ..... some people seem to think Primarni counts as "formal".. Not many jackets and ties in evidence...not a fan of Princess personally.

[Salacia]

This is only based on my limited experience in the past 5 years (12 QM2 voyages compared with one Princess cruise and two on Holland America): one difference I felt was that on QM2, passengers acknowledge each other by exchanging friendly greetings, even in passing, such as "hello", "Good Morning", etc. A brief chat in the elevators or while waiting in line at the Pursar Deck, even when waiting for a bus to load on a tour is far more common amongst passengers on QM2 compared to those other ships on which I've sailed.

 

Again, my experience is limited. I wonder if others have a similar impression regarding my perceived difference? -S.

Edited November 10, 2013 by Salacia

[QM2 fan]

I found people still chatted in lifts etc on Princess, but although I didn't notice it at the time, you are right, they were less quick to greet in corridors etc.