How Do You Compare Princess' Dining Rooms?

[roe2ship]

If you have cruised with other lines, I am curious on how you feel about the Princess dining rooms compared to other lines. I have only seen pictures of the other dining rooms, but they certainly look stunning, and a bit more elegant. It seems as most of the ships have multi-levels with pillars, larger windows, and appear to be brighter. So what is your overall feeling in the comparison? Thanks

[Dreamer333]

Besided Princess, the only other cruise line I sailed with was Disney... their dining rooms were "fun" and we moved (along with our entire table and wait staff) from dining room to different dining room each night.

The dining rooms on Disney had a different theme each night... for example, one of the rooms we were in had black and white disney characters on the walls... as the evening went by, they would slowly add color, so by the end of the dinner, the disney characters were all in color.

While this was really cute, I can't imagine it working on any other cruise line except Disney.

 

This is a good question, because I too, have seen photos of elaborate dining areas... so I'm curious to see what others report!

[Druke I]

We were on Oceania's Regatta in August, in the Baltic. She is a sister ship of Tahitian & Pacific Princess, and we found the dining rooms to be almost identical in decor. We had been on Pacific Princess (new) Nov 03.

 

I do think Holland American's dual level dining rooms are a little fancier, and they are a bit darker than Princess.

 

 

Regal Princess' dining room, before the recent remodel, was crowded and very noisy. It is now marginally quieter and has a little more elbow room than in its orginal incarnation.

[catmand]

We have sailed two Princess and two celebrity ships. This is going to sound like a cop out, whichever ship we are on, that's the room we enjoy. When on Celebrity we do traditional dining and the meal is 2 plus hours and the room and the company is great. Princess we do "anytime" and we usually get in, eat , and get out to enjoy other things on the ship.

There is a lot of empty space with the large opulent rooms, Princess with the smaller rooms uses that space elsewhere. The Princess rooms may be much smaller but we have always enjoyed the design and decor. I guess we would "vote" for the Princess rooms, give us another bar!

[2theship]

I've seen some spectacular two level dining rooms and they do allow you the opportunity to make a grand entrance. If your table is in a good location you can enjoy a more open, airy ambiance. However, if you get stuck in a corner on the first level, it's like being in any other dining room. I think the Princess dining rooms are a little boring but as long as the service is good and I'm not cooking dinner, it works for me!

[Iamthesea]

From the Princess photo's, we also thought the dining rooms to look small and drab. Once we were aboard the Coral, we were pleasantly surprised at how beautiful and quiet they were. Food was also good!

Overall, we prefer the Celebrity RCCL dining rooms because they are extra beautiful, but as another poster stated, if you get stuck in the side, it's not so great.

[TimmyRocks]

Princess included rooms were terrible and I mean terrible!!!!

 

I think WAY too loud and buss stations EVERYWHERE............the buffet was nice though!

 

Even the $20.00 per person Italian restaurant was so unimpressive we passed on it all together even after all the great reviews.

 

Tequila's on the other hand was perfect in every way............

[spongerob]

I have to say that I really enjoyed the change in decor Princess used in the Palm Dining room (aft dining room on Deck 6) on Caribbean Princess. I thought the dark woods and more subdued lighting made the room feel a little more upscale. My biggest complaint about the single-level dining rooms is that it can become very noisy and difficult to hear people across the table. It seems to be worse at some locations than others.

[septrack]

I've also noticed the relative modesty of Princess dining rooms compared to other lines. My biggest complaint is that they all seem to be the same. A little imagination would go a long way, even if they decide to keep the one level modest concept.

[Pam in CA]

I've been on two RCCL ships over recent years and I much prefer the Princess dining rooms. I didn't enjoy being in the middle of a huge room where people could (and did) look down on what we were eating and doing. I didn't think they were "elegant" at all -- just big with a lot of wasted space. The piano player, while a nice touch, was very loud and distracting.

 

I much prefer the Princess dining rooms which are configured for a more personal, intimate feeling so that you don't feel you're in a vast space.

[Breezey]

Having one level dining rooms on the Grand did make for a bit of a not grand entrance. While it was one large dining room, it did have several sections with tons of serving areas which made it a bit crowded. We didnt find it loud.

 

Luckily we were able to sit at the same table each night at the back of the room in a small alcove area which made it a bit more intimate.

 

I found the dining room on the Celebrity Mercury to be more classy though, less obvious bus stations and higher ceilings making the rooms all that more open.

[MaryPoppinz]

I have to say that I really enjoyed the change in decor Princess used in the Palm Dining room (aft dining room on Deck 6) on Caribbean Princess.

 

The tables adjacent to the aft windows in that dining room are nice, too.

[Geema]

We've been on 6 Princess and 3 RCI cruises and I personally liked the RCI dining rooms a little more than Princess. The last 3 Princess cruises, 1 Grand and 2 Golden, we found the dining rooms to be noisier than RCI. However, the food was better on Princess. Just our personal observation!

[cynbar]

We've done 2 Celebrity and 1 RCCL cruises with the big, 2 story DRs, and honestly, I prefer the Princess style. We were on the bottom floor all 3 times, and I found it noisy and distracting with so many people milling about. I do wish that princess would vary the decor a little more, however.

[Dreamer333]

However, the food was better on Princess. Just our personal observation!

 

Good point. I'd much rather have better quality food than a better quality dining room appearance!

[jbond]

We have sailed Princess seven times and we think that their dining rooms are elegant and better than any land based dining room we have been in, in a long time. However, they pale in comparison to RCI's dining rooms. The grandeur and elegance of RCI's dining rooms blows away anything we have ever experienced. But that's just our choice. We just sailed Coral Princess and Brilliance of the Seas almost B2B, six days in between. Brilliance dining room was far more spectacular and elegant than Coral. We also preferred the food on Brilliance.

[HighLordDave]

I liked the dining room on Mariner of the Seas better than Star Princess. The space was bigger and more open. We ate in the Amalfi dining room on the Star (fixed seating, early time) and on the middle level on the Mariner (I forget what they call it; Top Hat & Tails, or something like that).

 

I did not notice either room being too noisy and I thought the food was comparable, although the service on the Star was much better.

 

There were not as many windows on the Star and the ceilings were lower. The space was more intimate and more romantic, but I felt a little cramped. We were also seated right along one of the serving lanes on the Star while we were near one of the big bay windows on the Mariner so that might have something to do with enjoying the dining room on Royal Caribbean more.

[roe2ship]

Thanks all..........I guess the seating location controls some of the quiet/noise issue. I do recall that when we were seated in the center of a Princess dining room it was a little bit noisier than being seated at the far end back, side or corners, never thought about it before.

 

I am hoping that I can experience each cruise lines dining room to make my own comparison.:D

[Coral]

I loved the look of the dining room on the Millennium - so beautiful! There is a huge 2 story window in the front that you can watch the ocean and sunset. But the logistics were strange. Our waiter had to take an escalater up with our food to our table and it seemed to take forever to get something replaced or if he forgot something. Our food often arrived cold. This has probably been fixed but when the ship left a port and when we were in the dining room - we had to hold on to our glasses because the vibration was huge...

 

I found the RCCL Explorer dining room gorgeous but very loud. We were right next to the opening and we could barely hear each other.......

[spongerob]

I do recall that when we were seated in the center of a Princess dining room it was a little bit noisier than being seated at the far end back, side or corners, never thought about it before.

 

I think you're right, and I hadn't made the connection either. Near the back or on the sides, we've had no problem. In the middle, it gets noisy. Thanks!

[Donna S]

If one has anytime dining, are you able to go to the Palm Dining Room one night and another dining room the other night ? Is the Palm the dining room with the best service?

[Coral]

If one has anytime dining, are you able to go to the Palm Dining Room one night and another dining room the other night ? Is the Palm the dining room with the best service?

 

I don't think there is better service in any particular dining room. The waiters switch dining rooms periodically so if the Palm dining room had the best service one week, it may be different the following week.

[cruzinchris]

The first time that I entered a Princess dining room (Star), I remember feeling a bit like Chicken Little - "The sky is falling, the sky is falling!!" The ceiling seemed very low and dark, and, with those twinkling lights, it definitely had an aura of a forboding doom.

 

DH and I haven't sailed on ships other than Princess since 1998, so we aren't familiar with any of the multi-level dining rooms that some have mentioned. I've gotten past the Chicken Little stage and find the Princess dining rooms satisfactory, but not particularly elegant or inviting.

 

Bon Voyage!

Chris

[Starbright]

The first time we were on a Grand class ship was the Golden. We had a table by a window and loved it. Recently we were on the Grand where we had a table in the centre of the room. However, we found it to be extremely noisy. It was difficult to converse with the people at the table except for the ones sitting next to you. I think the low ceiling probably has something to do with it. At the tables by the windows I think you are shielded from the noise somewhat.