A loyal Royal takes A Princess Cruise.

[S.S.Oceanlover]

The biggest difference is that Princess allows you to "stack" all on board credits. with Princess you can add together your past military service,future cruise credits,stockholder credit, plus additional credit for plus 20...plus 30...plus 40...plus 50 cruises. We have gone trans Atlantic with over $700 OBC.

 

Royal will not allow even stockholder credit if you got any discount on your booking.We also have found no value in getting future cruise deposits on RCCL.The smaller RCCL ships actually have LESS variety at the buffet. Princess buffet is open virtually 24 hrs.

 

That said, RCCL is the only line that still has organized Bridge play and lectures.The DL and CL are wonderful perks not available on Princess We like both.

 

I guess when you say this you are talking about the International Cafe?

 

If so this was our experience on our february cruise on the Caribbean Princess.

 

We would watch the movies under the stars and then head to the international Cafe before retiring for the night.

 

2 nights the movies ran long and it was after midnight and the counter at the IC was empty.

 

Upon my return I mentioned that on the princess board and was told that they put everything away but if you ask they will get you whatever you want.

 

With no menu there you have no idea what they have for that night except the every day offerings and then somehow you have to get the guy to come out of the kitchen to take your order.

 

The Crab Shack was nice on the CB though.

 

Bill

[NewSalt]

We've sailed on the Emerald Princess twice, RCCL Explorer and Legend once each, and I agree with most of the opinions on this thread.

 

Buffet set-up on Princess is crowded and annoying. However the food is far superior and much more varied from day to day.

 

We always found something we liked at the International Cafe, almost never at the Promenade Cafe. The gelato in the IC was very, very good and quite reasonable.

 

Loved MUTS. Was very disappointed when we attended our first movie in a theater when we returned home and we had to sit in a regular seat, not a lounge chair, and no one came around with cold milk and warm cookies. :(

 

Also liked the coffee card.

 

Loved having a coin-operated washer and dryer available. So convenient.

 

Liked having the MDR open for lunch on the day we sailed. Not fighting the mob scene in the Windjammer really made a difference in the way we started out trip.

 

I thought the military discount was a very nice touch.

 

We did have a couch in our balcony rooms on Emerald.

 

We travel with our DD and her family in the summer, and RCCL's itineraries work best for us, and the ice show and ice rink, kiddie pools and activities, and some of the shows like the aerial one, on Royal win out.

[squadron]

You feel this is a "con"? Wow. :confused::eek:

 

I have noticed that Dr's offices and emergency rooms in hospitals don't have magazines out because of germ passing. I wouldn't want a book checked out during noro.

[JulieRose]

We obviously still haven't chosen "our" cruise line but can appreciate the differences between them. We swore we would never do RC again after our trip on the XoS but obviously the Quantum class ships changed our minds. Princess and HAL feel more "classy" as it were with the absence of silly things like belly flop contests and The Quest. HAL had some really great shows and I enjoyed going to their cooking and mixology demonstrations. I barely remember being on Princess at all, honestly. Since we got married on the ship, our experience was a bit different than most. The entire crew seemed to know our names and I know we got special treatment on more than one occasion. I do agree about the in-cabin television being superior and bad buffet set up. I would kill to have the Princess self service laundry on every ship I sail!

[Langley Cruisers]

I have noticed that Dr's offices and emergency rooms in hospitals don't have magazines out because of germ passing. I wouldn't want a book checked out during noro.

 

No, I agree. I was more saying that I found it odd she thought it was a con. Definite "pro" for me, as in pro-actively removing potential germ sources.

[temple1]

Our April cruise was our first on Princess. We were on Coral Princess for 11 nights and I would probably compare it to the Vision Class or (if I'd been on one) Radiance class on Royal.

 

I did not like their soft serve at all! Good thing for my waist line. :D The pizza was a nice addition, but I didn't think it was that much better than Royal's. I really liked the outside grill - hint hint Royal Caribbean. The casino was very tiny but the payout on the slots was pretty good.

 

Like others I felt the layout of the buffet was very constricting. The first few days of the cruise was really bad when they had a person handing out plates and flatware. The best thing was the omelet station - one on each side.

 

I didn't find much to like with their International Cafe. Only sweets in the morning.

 

The MUTS was very nice - I wonder how many people end up spending the night under the stars? :eek:

 

I will be back on Coral Princess in December - so where do we find this free ice cream?

Edited June 4, 2015 by temple1

[EmpressofPurple]

Free ice cream, as I recall, was at tea time in the buffet.

 

So many people reminded me of other princess features... The LAUNDRY ROOMS!! While the rci people say "oh I wouldn't want to do laundry on vacation," I say I don't want to PAY (exorbitant prices) fort laundry on vacation!! :-)

 

The pizza is better, the coffee immeasurably worse (though the coffee card helped)...

 

Mmm, free popcorn, cushioned loungers and blankets for evening movies on deck

 

Now let me ask this: I remember LOVING cruise ship souffles... But every time I order one on rci I'm disappointed. Am I remembering them from princess?

 

(I'm such a dinosaur, I remember parades with flaming baked Alaska, and having waiters flambee desserts tableside...)

 

And oh yeah, the tv... Princess tv was SO much better than rci (which has gotten even worse lately... Feels like they're trying to keep you out of your cabin and spending money)... Even the movies were more current on princess...

 

Sent from my SM-G900P using Forums mobile app

[buckeye rob]

I really liked the Sanctuary on The Caribbean Princess. Skywalkers nightclub was also very nice. Gerry

[crusinpeg]

The buffet on the Royal/Regal is in my opinion the best at sea!! A whole section entirely for desserts!

[LisaAtlCruiser]

 

Royal will not allow even stockholder credit if you got any discount on your booking.We also have found no value in getting future cruise deposits on RCCL.The smaller RCCL ships actually have LESS variety at the buffet. Princess buffet is open virtually 24 hrs.

.

 

Really? I just got my 100 shares of RCL stock and was very excited about getting my onboard credit. I knew if I had another onboard credit I would not get the stockholder benefit. But booking a cruise on sale? Really?

[smeck]

This past May I took my First Princess cruise I would like to make a list of things Royal and Princess do better than each other.

 

Princess better than Royal.

1. Cabins ready when you board.

2 MDR

3. Variety of shows during the evening

5. Pizza

6. Ice Cream both soft and hard ice cream no charge

 

Royal does better than Princess

1. Embarkation

2. Buffet Variety

3. Ship design

4. Balcony

5. Shows

6. Bedding and Towels.

 

Both had excellent service, and a good variety of activities. I guess my choice of cruise lines will be based on itenary. In reality both are more alike than different.

 

As others mentioned the outdoor grill Tridents is a huge plus. I don't understand Royals hesitancy to add a outdoor grill it's so popular.

[Ashland]

I wanted so much to like PCL (a main reason they still sail from San Pedro) but as hard as I tried something just seemed off..I guess I like the comfortable feeling RCI has given me over the years.

[karena1]

We like Princess also. I agree with the OP, the pizza on Princess is outstanding compared to the cardboard crap you get on Royal. I am not a pizza person and had pizza on Ruby in Dec and it was sooooooo good. Totally homemade and tasted amazing.

 

Like the WJ on Royal better than the Horizon Court on Princess, layout is better.

 

But overall, both lines are very close in what they offer. We cruise Royal mostly, but now, we look at Royal, Princess, Celebrity to determine who will give us the most bang for the buck and that is who we cruise with.

 

Hubby loved the pool grill which Royal does not have

 

Did not do MUTS but enjoyed walking there and getting popcorn!!

Edited June 6, 2015 by karena1