Is Princess great/special? +

[Millenia98]

We've only sailed on NCL and once on RCCL. How is Princess in comparison? We like a fun ship and great itineraries. We don't need fancy but like to be pampered at times, of course.

[retrembl]

We have sailed Princess several time and have always had a great experience. We usually book a Mini-Suite just because it has a Bath Tub with shower, rather that just a shower stall. The mini suites IMHO are worth the price. We are not fans of free style cruising, we prefer traditional dinning, however Princess does offer personal choice dinning in stead of traditional if you prefer.

[flamomo]

I have never been on 2 of the cruislines the OP mentioned, and only on Carnival once, but I have done over 20 Princess cruises and have 2 more booked.

 

I would describe Princess as being "classy" without being snobby. Their ships are definitely not "party ships". But there are plenty of entertainment and activity options, the food is very good (IMO), and the service is great.

Edited January 19, 2015 by flamomo

[jagsfan]

Princess is totally different from Carnival and NCL. I wouldn't call it fun, in the context of party hearty.

It's livelier than HAL, with better food than any of the three. IMHO!

It offers more opportunities to see the entertainment, lots of trivia games, excellent shore exes. Try it, you may be converted.

 

 

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[rpcv77]

This is such a subjective question, that it's difficult to answer. We all have different ideas about what is fun, good etc. I will be taking my third Princess cruise in June, and loved my first two. I have also sailed Disney and Carnival. Princess is a bit low key, which works well for me, however, if you want more action, the Patters are filled with activity from morning to night. That being said, no skating rinks, wave rides or climbing walls. For me, it feels like a cruise, not a floating amusement park/shopping mall. That's not a bad thing, just not what I'm looking for. I think the food is very good and overall service as well. Most of all, ports and itinerary are what make me choose one line over another. My June cruise is to Alaska and Princess offers lots of cruises to that area, so it was an easy choice. Have fun, whatever you choose!

[royalcruz]

I haven't sailed NCL but I've sailed RC and Princess quite a bit.

Princess has a lot of entertainment and parties, but not as high energy as RC. Princess cabins seem to be a little smaller (regular balcony vs regular balcony). There are both friendly/helpful and unfriendly staff on both lines. It's still very good, but not great/special to me. For me, if it was a choice between a Freedom or Voyager class RC cruise or a Princess cruise, I would choose RC. We sail Princess every once in a while just for a change, or if the schedule works better for us, or if it's a good deal.

Edited January 19, 2015 by royalcruz

[cnd crsr]

We have cruised NCL and RCCL as well as Princess. We much prefer Princess. But if you are looking for a party ship this is not it. The food very good. Give princess a try.

[melissa]

I have been on most of the major cruise lines. I don't think there's much of a difference. I love them all. Princess is more subdued then carnival. We like live music, good food, and to be pampered. They all fulfill that. I do love the Princess milk and cookies at 3pm.

 

 

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[MSR74]

I just got back from the Regal and had a great time overall. I am more partial to the Celebrity Silhouette for aesthetic reasons mostly (decor, larger stateroom and bigger balcony and bathroom) which I took a cruise on 2 years ago. I prefer their Solstice Class product to Princess although others may disagree. I have sailed on Royal Caribbean (Independence of the Seas) and found them to be comparable to Princess as far as service. Food is definitely better on Princess, but it has been several years since I took an RCL cruise. I would rate Princess on par with RCL in terms of service with RCL offering more amenities (wave pool, rock wall and cool promenade area). However, Princess offers a classy cruise, great entertainment and food. I found Princess lacking in stateroom size, tiny bathroom and smaller balcony than the RCL and Celebrity ships I have traveled on. I cannot comment on NCL because I haven't sailed on them. We were supposed to be on the Breakaway this year but because of logistics had to change to the Regal. Overall, I enjoyed the cruise and service. It was attentive and met my expectations without being too overly fussy.

M

[Astro Flyer]

For me Princess provides the best cruise experience within our budget but have also enjoyed RCI cruises.

 

I think that RCI was better for multigenerational groups, entertainment & variety of activities. I prefer the Princess dining (MDR, specialty, buffet, wine prices) experience, enrichment lectures & ships with a casually elegant experience. Princess onboard credits are combinable & their great military OBC adds up to $250 of onboard credit. :)

 

Opinions are very subjective & I've enjoyed all of my cruises however Princess is usually our first choice.

[JimmyVWine]

That being said, no skating rinks, wave rides or climbing walls. For me, it feels like a cruise, not a floating amusement park/shopping mall.

 

This is where I come down as well. Princess does an excellent job of maintaining the "at sea" aspect of its cruises as opposed to the "in your face activities/shopping/chain restaurants" aspect. I don't want to eat at Johnny Rockets when I am on a cruise. Really. Until the launching of the Royal Princess and Regal Princess, Princess did the best job of any cruise line in its price range of building ships with a bent toward looking outward to the ocean instead of inward toward the dining/shopping venues. The Promenade on Princess is an outdoor walking deck that puts you in touch with the sea. The Promenade on RCCL is, well, I'll just quote from their own website so as not to suggest any bias: "An iconic area on many Royal Caribbean ships is the Royal Promenade, a boulevard of shops, restaurants and bars." You just have to decide if you favor the hustle and bustle of amusements and shopping or the quiet solitude of the open ocean. There is no one right answer. But in general, Princess will be more of a "classic" at sea experience and RCCL will be more of a go-go-go experience.

[TracieABD]

I have done one NCL and several Princess. I loved my NCL cruise, but I have to add the disclaimer: We were on the Spirit, which is a very traditional ship. We were also in a suite, which is a different experience.

 

If someone offered me a NCL or a Princess cruise, in comperable state rooms, and I could only pick one--- I would pick Princess. I like the calmness, the lack of constant announcements, the ability to do laundry, and the trivia.

[Hobbsey]

We've only sailed on NCL and once on RCCL. How is Princess in comparison? We like a fun ship and great itineraries. We don't need fancy but like to be pampered at times, of course.

 

I think you need to define "FUN" for us to get a satisfactory answer - Very subjective.

 

NCL is the pioneer of Free Style cruising and has many more choices for dining and they will (in most cases) have a more active night life (note the discussion in this thread about the Disco being closed at night on some itineraries). In the same vein there is another thread discussing the loss of organized Bridge tournaments on Princess - as far as I know that was NEVER even an option on NCL in the last 2 decades.

 

So, what does FUN mean to you?

[Steppy08]

Princess is totally different from Carnival and NCL. I wouldn't call it fun, in the context of party hearty.

It's livelier than HAL, with better food than any of the three. IMHO!

It offers more opportunities to see the entertainment, lots of trivia games, excellent shore exes. Try it, you may be converted.

 

 

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Pretty much our experience too. We just did our first Princess cruise last week. The food was the best overall on any line we've tried (taking into consideration the buffets, MDR, and specialty restaurants).

 

The decor was more subdued than either Carnival or NCL (this is a good thing!)

 

We were most surprised at how calm and relatively quiet the pool areas on deck were.

 

I thought the service was better than any of the lines we had tried previously, but I know that can also vary greatly by ship/personnel.

 

We're not hard core party people, so Princess was a good fit for us... More low key than NCL/Carnival/Royal, not quite as geriatric as HAL. :)

 

 

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[Cruisin' Chick]

I think you need to define "FUN" for us to get a satisfactory answer - Very subjective.

 

NCL is the pioneer of Free Style cruising and has many more choices for dining and they will (in most cases) have a more active night life (note the discussion in this thread about the Disco being closed at night on some itineraries). In the same vein there is another thread discussing the loss of organized Bridge tournaments on Princess - as far as I know that was NEVER even an option on NCL in the last 2 decades.

 

So, what does FUN mean to you?

 

Looking at your list of cruises, it seems you haven't actually been on a Princess cruise. Now, I'm not looking for a late night life every night, but on my last three Princess cruises, I've been to night time deck parties and parties in the grand atrium with live music and plenty of dancing.

 

And as someone else said, at least with Princess, you have a choice between anytime dining (which we didn't care for, the one time we had it) and traditional dining (which we love). And there's plenty of other dining options, including the always open International Cafe.

[shredie]

We like a fun ship and great itineraries.

 

What's "fun"? What's "great"?

Edited January 20, 2015 by shredie

[Hobbsey]

What's "fun"? What's "great"?

 

Exactly my point, those are experiences that are subjective.

[Hobbsey]

Looking at your list of cruises' date=' it seems you haven't actually been on a Princess cruise. Now, I'm not looking for a late night life every night, but on my last three Princess cruises, I've been to night time deck parties and parties in the grand atrium with live music and plenty of dancing.

 

And as someone else said, at least with Princess, you have a choice between anytime dining (which we didn't care for, the one time we had it) and traditional dining (which we love). And there's plenty of other dining options, including the always open International Cafe.[/quote']

 

And silly me, I thought the web site was called Cruise CRITIC. And yet when folks make a critical comment they are called out on it.

 

Nope, no Princess cruises yet - but lots of cruise experience and I have booked other folks on many more (even on Princess).

 

I am going on my first Princess next week and expect I will LOVE it because the tone and style seems to fit mine. But just like Chocolate and Vanilla, no one flavor is right for everyone. So I simply asked the OP (not anyone else) what they meant by fun and gave some examples of how Princess will be different than NCL.

[AE_Collector]

We agree with pretty much everything that has been said here so far. Our very first cruise was on Norwegian, 2nd on Celebrity and 3rd & 4th (B2B) on Princess. We haven't tried any other lines but are now at 1 on Norwegian, 4 on Celebrity and 21 on Princess if that says anything. Our last 8 in a row were on Princess and we are 12 days away from our longest adventure yet, 3 more B2B's on Princess totalling 49 days onboard.

 

We love the Princess perks which really start to kick in after your fifth cruise. The combinability of On Board Credits really adds up to offset some of the onboard expenses and in our mind the service and the crew just seem to get better and better with each cruise.

 

We love the Princess Big ships for not being too big and we really love the Princess small ships and are sad that they will soon be a thing of the past.

 

Everyone is different though so the only real way to find out is to give it a try if it sounds like a potential good fit for you.

 

Terry

Edited January 20, 2015 by AE_Collector

[marazad16]

We've only sailed on NCL and once on RCCL. How is Princess in comparison? We like a fun ship and great itineraries. We don't need fancy but like to be pampered at times, of course.

 

We have been on 3 of your past ships. Different itineraries for 2 of them as we did Epic in the Caribbean. The Jade was similar it was a 10 day Italy, Turkey, Greece itinerary.

 

We have since experienced Princess last year for the first time after 23 years on NCL and RCCL. We were on The Ruby 2X and most recently on The Royal last month. To throw in a comparison we are just off NCL's Breakaway yesterday.

 

Princess is special and pampering and a perfect fit for us. I do wish they would increase their entertainment options but other than that I find some other lines hard pressed to match the quality of our experience on Princess.

 

Give it a whirl - you just may love it! :)

[shepp]

I don't want to eat at Johnny Rockets when I am on a cruise.

 

Me neither. In-N-Out Burger, however….

[shepp]

I think you need to define "FUN" for us to get a satisfactory answer - Very subjective.

 

As is "great itinerary." To me, boarding in San Francisco and getting off a month later in Buenos Aires was a great itinerary, and neither NCL nor RCCL offers anything California-to-Eastern-South-America similar, AFAIK. I'm booked on 17 days around Japan, something I believe none of the other lines offers.

 

I've never been on a Princess cruise I didn't like, no, love...but I couldn't convince someone else it would be "fun" for them.

Edited January 20, 2015 by shepp

[swedish weave]

You will find more differences in the various ships on any cruise line than you can find between cruise lines. It will be more beneficial to compare ships than cruise lines because you eliminate the concept of brand loyalty that permeates these boards.

 

I have spent 40 days since the beginning of November on both Princess and NCL ships and can see very little difference in the two ships I cruised on. Service and food were very good on both. Many of the crew members have worked on both cruise lines during their careers.

 

However, if I were to compare some of the newer ships on either line with the older ones on the same line, the differences are obvious.

Edited January 20, 2015 by swedish weave

[LovetheSea]

A few years ago I would have said Princess is on par with RCCL. But not anymore. I have noticed a decline in service, food, and ship cleanliness. We have cruised RCCL, Celebrity and Princess mostly and have noticed these things personally.

[abisha]

I've been a Carnival cruiser for the past few years (and had taken 1 RCCL about 10 years ago). All of my Carnival cruises were wonderful. However, I have been disappointed in their entertainment offerings lately, and also wanted to try something different. I just cruised on the Ruby Princess this past November and absolutely loved it (so much so, I booked the Regal for April).

 

What others stated above is true...whereas Princess is not a huge "party-like" atmosphere as Carnival, but it is not dull and boring either. My cruise had many couples/adults/middle-ages folks due to time of year (not many kids as they were in school). It was a ship for grownups on this particular sailing, which I liked (I'm mid 50's). I also loved the entertainment throughout the ship and really liked the piazza area.

 

The Ruby had the promenade that encircles the entire ship (Carnival Breeze does as well) which was nice, but Royal and Regal do not.

 

The décor was subdued on Ruby, yet classy, which was very appealing, although for me personally, décor is not that important to me. The food is very important, to me and I really loved the food on Princess..especially the buffet, which I found to be much much better on Carnival..they are like apples and oranges. The selection and quality and cooked (vs. processed on Carnival) from scratch. I liked that there were several venues for food included in cruise fare, and the for-fee dining venues to be reasonably priced (similar to Carnival).

 

I also loved that Princess buffet area had a somewhat of an MDR feel to it, where the waitstaff came around and filled your water glass, got you coffee/tea, etc. and the table was set...very nice.

 

I found cabin stewards to be just the same as Carnival, but no, they don't do the towel animal thing, but they do leave the chocolates.

 

I also got a fantastic deal for my 5 night cruise for November on the Ruby...for an inside, I paid $199 (plus the tax), and $400 onboard credit for the cabin! Carnival would probably only give no more than $25 per person for an inside.

 

Also, for my Regal sailing, my TA was able to give us $50 OBC for the cabin (even though Princess didn't have a promo for an OBC at the time)..something Carnival doesn't allow.

 

I'll still be sailing on Carnival every now and then as there are still things I do like about them and some things even better than Princess (Carnival also has a great new internet package out...includes being able to text each other while onboard as well), but Princess is my new favorite cruise line! I didn't find one thing negative on my Ruby sailing.

 

I think you should at least give them a try.