Liberty of the Seas or Caribbean Princess?

[Beachiekeen]

I am fresh off my first cruise and already planning my next one for 2016. Since we want to cruise out of our home state, these are our choices (since we don't want to cruise Carnival again).

 

The Liberty seems to have more amenities, dining choices, and is newer. Itinerary would most likely be Roatan/Belize/Cozumel on either in late February, summer or fall.

 

Any thoughts on these two ships? Most important to us are dining choices, adult area, pools, and condition of ship, in that order. Many thanks.

[George C]

I am diamond on RCCL but have not sailed liberty yet ( have her booked in nov 2015 and April 2016) . I did sail Caribbean Princess and a couple of her sister ships, the Crown is a pretty ship but public areas were way to crowded and trouble trying to find a seat for any show and saw a fight break out on saving seats , I have been on bigger RCCL and never felt that crowded and never had been unable to see a night time show because I could not get seats, Food and service similar, Princess does have much better pizza

[NightOne]

I am fresh off my first cruise and already planning my next one for 2016. Since we want to cruise out of our home state, these are our choices (since we don't want to cruise Carnival again).

 

The Liberty seems to have more amenities, dining choices, and is newer. Itinerary would most likely be Roatan/Belize/Cozumel on either in late February, summer or fall.

 

Any thoughts on these two ships? Most important to us are dining choices, adult area, pools, and condition of ship, in that order. Many thanks.

 

I perused your Magic review to see what you thought and noted your most important things above and I would recommend the Princess ship based on that alone. Pools on Princess are freshwater as opposed to saltwater and the back pool and area is adults only. Food will meet your tastes in my opinion and the ship might be a little bit more peaceful and tranquil compared to the Liberty.

 

Just my 2 cents and not redeemable for that amount. :)

[ldl05]

I was on CP last month, and am going on the Liberty next month for the 4th time. I prefer Liberty. Caribbean Princess was very nice, albeit a bit boring with an older clientele. I am 45, and was traveling with my 69 year old mom, who said to me, "There sure are a lot of old people on this boat!" They are 2 different products. I find the food and service on both ships very comparable, but the vibe is much more upbeat and fun on the Liberty. It just depends on what your looking for.

[Beachiekeen]

Thanks for the feedback! We had fun on Carnival but we want to try something new with more dining choices. There seem to be alot on Liberty and hubby has cruised RC before (but not out of Galveston) and said the food was much better. Our friend likes Princess. Price and dates may end up the determining factor and right now the Liberty has many more dates to choose from.

[ldl05]

OK, I just read your review on the Magic, and in no uncertain terms, think you'd have a much better time on the Liberty! No doubt! :p

[paulh84]

We did Liberty for our first cruise in January and liked it a lot. I too read through your Magic review (very nice btw!) and think you'd like Liberty.

 

We watched a Princess ship sail away next to us and one of our friends joked that everyone on that ship must have been asleep. Maybe our cruise was a bunch of newbies who had been at the bar too long, but on the Princess ship there were VERY few people outside for sail away. No apparent excitement at all. Some other people we met thought Princess was generally boring as well.

 

We didn't think the dining on Liberty was spectacular, but we only did one specialty restaurant. However, some of your food pictures from Magic did not exactly look appetizing! I hope you ate a little bit off that plate with slice of carrot and a flouret of broccoli before that picture was taken haha! Just based on your pictures, I'd say the dining on LOS would be a big step up.

 

The ship itself was in great shape. The Solarium was nice but we had a very small number of kids onboard, two pool areas, the cantilevered hot tubs, lots of activities to choose from or you could always find a quiet spot and a drink if you'd rather go that route.

[Aquahound]

I've been on both within the past year. There is no comparison. Liberty blows away Caribbean Princess in almost all areas....ship, staterooms, common areas, lounges and most of all, entertainment.

[Beachiekeen]

Wow thanks for the great feedback! Getting excited already even though it won't be until next year!

[ldl05]

I've been on both within the past year. There is no comparison. Liberty blows away Caribbean Princess in almost all areas....ship, staterooms, common areas, lounges and most of all, entertainment.

 

 

So true! I was trying to be nice, because I really loved the crew on the Caribbean Princess, they were super, but the Liberty as a whole does blow CP out of the water!

[Cruzin-K]

I'm following this thread to see what people have to say. I might be making the same choice next winter, although for me it might come down to price :(

[skyking]

I have been on several Princess cruises and also the Freedom a few times, I vote Liberty.

[pseudoware]

I've been on both. Unless you've got issues w/~4500 pax on a ship, Liberty for sure. Honestly, LOS never really seemed that crowded to us. That's a lot of people, but the logistics and layout of the ship never made it seem anymore crowded that ships w/only ~2500 pax.

 

The only reason I'd consider CP is if the itinerary was more desirable for us. It's the reason we'll be on Vision this summer (all due respect to her). Have a great cruise!

[Marleycruiser]

I have personally been on both ships and the Caribbean Princess is the ship I fell in love with my now wife. CP was and is a great ship, very luxurious with lots of dark woods and blue theme throughout the ship; however, when comparing to the LOTS, I would say LOTS wins hands down in nearly every category. LOTS is bigger (which doesn't always mean better) however, she carries more people but feel less crowded than the CB. I also think there is so much more to do on the LOTS and food (excluding specialty restaurants) is about the same. But the WoW factor, ship itself, entertainment, and amenities on the LOTS far outweigh the Caribbean Princess.

 

Hope that helps

[ivanrocko]

Liberty !!!