Royal Princess (new) or Ocean Princess??

[floridarob]

I'm trying to decide between 2 very similar cruises pricewise, or so they seem... once I figure in the air and staying 2 nights in CPH after the Royal... going directly home after the Ocean.

 

 

The Ocean does do the Kiel Canal though and both overnight in St Petersburg.

 

Ocean is 14 days Royal is 11 days.

 

Royal leave from Copenhagen- Easy to get to the port from airport

Ocean leaves from Dover.... never been to any of the ports they are doing.

 

So it now depends on the feedback I get from you guys... will be booking inside cabin (I'm not rich)

 

 

Thanks!

 

Ocean Itin=

 

14 Day Scandinavia & Russia Collection Roundtrip from London (Dover), England

Starting in London (Dover), England; with stops in Amsterdam, Netherlands; Kiel Canal, Germany; Stockholm, Sweden; Tallinn, Estonia; St. Petersburg, Russia; Helsinki, Finland; Riga, Latvia; Klaipeda, Lithuania; Copenhagen, Denmark; London (Dover), England

 

Royal Itin=

 

11 Day Scandinavia & Russia Roundtrip from Copenhagen, Denmark

Starting in Copenhagen, Denmark | with stops in Oslo, Norway | Gothenburg, Sweden | Berlin (Warnemunde), Germany | Tallinn, Estonia | St. Petersburg, Russia | Helsinki, Finland | Stockholm (Nynashamn), Sweden | Copenhagen, Denmark

[caribill]

14 days vs 11? I would pick 14.

 

All ports I have never been to? I would pick that itinerary.

 

Getting to Dover? Princess has xfers from the London airports and also from central London itself.

 

The Ocean is a great little ship. Good in the Baltic as many less people wanting to get off the ship at the same time in every port. Also, it will dock in Stockholm itself, not miles away. The sailing into and out of Stockholm is very pretty and the Royal passengers do not get to see it.

[KruzeKrazy!]

I second the 14 vs 11 days and the new-to-you ports unless, of course, the newness and features of the ship itself play a huge role in your vacation preference.

[floridarob]

I've never done any of the ports on either cruise...

 

I am USUALLY a night person and like to stay up late drinking but since both have many port days, I might not be able to do that.

 

If I do the Royal, I will stay in Copenhagen for 2 nights the weekend after the cruise... Ocean would be fly in/out.

 

Tough decision but I appreciate the input about things like sailing in/out of a port being pretty and because the ship is small can get closer....

[caribill]

There is a big difference between 3000+ passengers wanting to go through Russian immigration at the same time in St. Petersburg and less than 700.

[goody1]

Hi,

My wife and I have cruised the Baltic 3 times and also cruised through the Kiel Canal once. Since this is your first time, I would definitely choose the Ocean Princess. We cruised on her in 2012 on a 16 night cruise out of Dover to the Norwegian Fjords and Spitzbergen and had a fabulous time.

The Guest Speakers were superb and although being a small ship, we were never short of something to do.

Regarding the itinerary, the sail in/ sail away from Stockholm is in my humble opinion one of the best.

Riga is not often visited on Baltic itineraries, we spent 4 nights here a few years ago and it has a great old town and fascinating Museum from the days of Soviet Occupation prior to the Baltic States Uprising in the late 80s.

Hope this is of some help.

[sunsetbeachgal]

I love both ships but prefer the itinerary of the Ocean a bit better and of course like the fact that the cruise is longer! As prior poster said, the sail in and out of Stockholm is breathtaking, and think you miss this on the Royals itinerary.

 

One of the Only things we did not like about the Ocean was that it had only fixed seating dining at night. We really like Anytime and the flexibility to eat when you want, especially on a port intensive itinerary like we also had. There is a bistro option in the buffet area at night with a limited menu that we did one evening and no one in our group thought it was very good. Maybe it has changed? also, if you are a fan of night life, it is limited on the Ocean.

 

But that being said, we absolutely loved the Royal. We love the buffet, the International Cafe' (none on the Ocean), the piazza, the interactive TV's in the rooms, the decor, Alfredo's, etc It is a gorgeous ship.

Edited June 4, 2014 by sunsetbeachgal

[OnVacation11]

Another plus is that the Ocean docks right in the center of St. Petersburg. Getting off the ship for independent excursions was a non-event.

At night you can sit on deck at 10pm with a drink, getting a tan and watch locals stroll by the river. Some people on our cruise stayed up late enough to watch the bridges being open at night.

Edited June 4, 2014 by OnVacation11
spelling

[ggprincess2004]

The Ocean, it is a port intensive cruise. Fewer passengers, shorter lines. And 14 days - sounds like a winner!

[rljan]

The Royal is large (3,560 passengers).

The Ocean is small (672 passengers).

The Royal will be more stable in rough seas, The Ocean will let you know you are sailing.

Both have pros & cons.

[Minoushka]

The ocean is a very small ship ...if you want to meet interesting people this is the ship because you will bump into them on a regular basis. It does not have the glitz the other big ships have .it is good for a port intensive itinerary

Choose the itinerary first then the ship

[floridarob]

Thanks for everyones help... Booked Ocean

[ontheweb]

14 days vs 11? I would pick 14.

 

All ports I have never been to? I would pick that itinerary.

 

Getting to Dover? Princess has xfers from the London airports and also from central London itself.

 

The Ocean is a great little ship. Good in the Baltic as many less people wanting to get off the ship at the same time in every port. Also, it will dock in Stockholm itself, not miles away. The sailing into and out of Stockholm is very pretty and the Royal passengers do not get to see it.

 

We will be on the Ocean Princess this summer in the British Isles. I'd like to make one correction to your post. Though Princess has transfers from the airport to Dover, they do NOT have a transfer from central London to Dover.

[dorisis]

Loved the Ocean but was not impressed by the Royal.very different ambience.