Is Princess becoming the new X?

[keithm]

Princess is becoming like X in another way, having different classes or service for higher paying passengers.

 

For example, on the Ruby which just introduced Club Class, only Club Class passengers can have lunch in the dining room on embarkation day.

You want to see class differential? Check out the villas on the big NCL ships. The whole top of the ship is just for them. It all boils down to: You get more when you pay more. If I paid $10000 for a suite, I'd like something a bit more upscale than the standard MDR. I did the Queens Grill on the QM2 in 2010. I've still not seen anything to match that level of service.

[geoherb]

We're going on HAL next after a cruise on the Caribbean earlier this month. Price was one of the deciding factors--$800 less to sail on HAL than Princess for a similar itinerary. We had a great time on the CB but are looking forward to being back on a HAL ship. We'll enjoy the smaller ship. I'll miss some of our Elite perks--internet minutes and laundry especially. But I figure that into the equation before booking.

 

I haven't sailed on Celebrity in a long time. Our last X cruise was a let-down in terms of food and service. I did research a cruise on Celebrity this time--but it was sold out by the time I was ready to book.

[Cruise Junky]

We're going on HAL next after a cruise on the Caribbean earlier this month. Price was one of the deciding factors--$800 less to sail on HAL than Princess for a similar itinerary. We had a great time on the CB but are looking forward to being back on a HAL ship. We'll enjoy the smaller ship. I'll miss some of our Elite perks--internet minutes and laundry especially. But I figure that into the equation before booking.

 

I haven't sailed on Celebrity in a long time. Our last X cruise was a let-down in terms of food and service. I did research a cruise on Celebrity this time--but it was sold out by the time I was ready to book.

 

Please report back after your HAL cruise to let us know how it was...I'm very curious how you find it.

[UpcountryTravelers]

We've sailed 19 Princess, one X (another coming) and found them, at least on that comparison, to be pretty equal. Some things better on one, some on another. I'll know more after our upcoming X cruise.

 

As for RCCL, it's definitely middle class....not up to Princess and Celebrity, much better than Carnival. Again, very different, and I would venture better for family cruising.

 

Carnival dining was mentioned.....MDR not bad. Buffet TERRIBLE! A grade school lunchroom feel with just a little more variety!

 

We see them this way: Carnival for the 20s party crowd. Royal Caribbean for the family. Princess and Celebrity for the more sophisticated and experienced cruisers. YMMV

 

(I would like to try HAL, but milady says they are for the older crowd, and we're just in our 70s.)

Edited December 31, 2016 by UpcountryTravelers

[RDC1]

We started on Celebrity, then switched to Princess when Celebrity started making their ship within a ship changes. Noticed several negative changes in the dining room and other public areas after they started allocating more space for special dining rooms for various classes of passengers and making Michaels a private area.

 

Now that Princess has made their first move in that direction it will be interesting to see if the changes start to negatively impact our experience in the MDR. This year we have already reduced the number of planned cruise days from 48 to 7 and increased the number of land tour days significantly.

[reney313]

 

Now that Princess has made their first move in that direction it will be interesting to see if the changes start to negatively impact our experience in the MDR. This year we have already reduced the number of planned cruise days from 48 to 7 and increased the number of land tour days significantly.

 

I will be really disappointed if this is the case. One of the reasons we have sailed Princess more frequently in recent years is because they have not gone that direction. It has never thrilled me on NCL. RCI has moved that direction recently as well. We love cruising, but they might price us out soon if we have to pay for suites to get the same level of service and experience we have had in the past. Maybe we have just been spoiled over the years and it's time for the market to change.