a Princess cruise guy tries a Disney cruise...some thoughts

[tml1230]

its been my experience that.the most interesting and helpful reports/reviews on this site have included RECENT comparisons between cruise lines just travelled?..admittedly i am a princess guy, but recently some of our cruises with them have been less than WOW!

quick background...recently retired, 25 princess cruises over last 20 years ... ( many good reasons to live in florida-NO airplane travel to ship is a great one) we have been on all the major cruise lines, but always seem to migrate back to princess?.

 

we are just 2 days off a first time disney cruise (magic 4 day out of Miami) my wife and i took our son, daughter in law, and our incredible 3 year old granddaughter along quite frankly she is the only reason we chose disney , at three years of age she has a thing about minnie mouse and beautiful princesses in long dresses and sadly i cant say no to her! we paid of a LOT of extra money for the privilege and experience of disney...we had high expectations?probably too high...

please understand, i am not complaining about either cruise line ?.over the years while reading reviews i have shaken my head more than once about passenger complaints that i felt were picayune ?below are just MY observations?i have no real complaints.

EMBARCATION - princess and disney are very similar and very efficient, so its a tie?

one observation?with princess ,as you board the ship there are folks pointing and escorting you to appropriate elevators ?on disney they still do that PA SYSTEM.. WELOME ABOARD TO THE _____FAMILY...then we were immediately on your own as to finding our side of ship, elevator, and room ...no big deal for seasoned cruisers, but we just thought that was odd and below typical disney structure.

PARENTAL CONTROL OF CHILDREN it should go without saying but,there are obviously a ton more young kids on disney ...no surprise there!.the level of parental (and grand parental ) oversight in watching and controlling their kids on disney was obvious and very refreshing....it has been our observation that on princess in recent years more parents seem to let their kids go crazy with little or no supervision...all at the expense of the other passengers. NOT all parents just some. Disney the BIG winner here.

CONDITION OF SHIPS .i realize, like food, this issue is subjective?i laugh at the ? there was "dime size" piece of rust on the base of a pole on our balcony...comments on the princes reviews.we have been on a lot of the older princess ships...always found them clean and certainly some showing their age, but all overall in very good condition...you gotta look for flaws (of course ignore all of what what i just said if your toilet wasnt working on your cruise!)

on the disney magic ,which is an older ship...it was PERFECTLY and flawlessly maintained. ...one would not guess its age by its condition..every piece of furniture, every table everywhere, were as new disney wins that category.

ROOM SERVICE (food)..disney the HUGE winner here. with quality of food, the prompt 24 hour service and the options we were rally impressed...their chicken wings were unbelievable. princess selections?not so much.

ROOM STEWARDS...not a complaint here , just different...on princess these very overworked stewards are always great. they find time to greet you, talk a little and are very personable ...on disney they are professional and efficient but all business..no introductions, no ice the room...we never did find out our stewards name ...our son had a different steward but same experience.again NO complaint here, just a different style. Princess wins this category for us,... even tho our steward on disney left towel animals on bed at night...me , i would have preferred ice.but thats just me.

FOOD....as i said earlier, based on disney reviews, i probably had to high of an expectation here for disney.some items were beyond outstanding...crab claws and large fresh shrimp in the buffet...other items just about the same as princess...and some items way below princess. also to us ,on disney ,the lack of "open" hours and no evening buffets was a let down and unimpressive. On princess generally their pizza and burgers by the pool are very good....on disney the fast food, burgers and pizza were tasteless and not worth the calories...we were very unimpressed with those areas... a big surprise to us! the free coke and sodas on disney was nice tho.

i must say the one restaurant on disney PALO for $30 PP was the best service and meal my wife and i ever , ever had anywhere (including Paris!).

very out of character for me...it was so good that

we made reservations for a 2nd meal...WOW was it something.

in conclusion, recently we havent been overly impressed with our princess cruises and somewhat discouraged by the whole cruising experience....on our recent princess transatlantic cruise from southampton to NYC soured us a little more. Most of that is due to the behavior of a large group of loud, rude and obnoxious passengers traveling as a VERY large group ....not the fault of princess...but maybe cruising wasnt for us any more.

other than a south america cruise in 2018 we have nothing else booked and were thinking maybe its time to move on to a different vacation style.

this disney cruise got us back into the cruising groove (that and a ton of beer in Key West!).

Would i do disney again? probably not..other than that look and smile on my grand daughters face every time she saw minnie mouse, it wasnt worth the extra expense ...to us.

my wife and i now DO have a greater appreciation for princess cruise lines after this disney cruise....are they declining a little in service and quality... i thinks so,but for the cost, we have found no better cruise value than princess...my cost per cruise over the years has stayed very reasonable and consistent?. while princess operational costs surely have increased every year...they are a business ....so ...something has to give

If you have champagne tastes, but are on a beer budget... you may not be happy with princess, but for us, for what we pay. we are happy.

safe travels to all.

Edited February 28, 2017 by tml1230

[tinybiny]

Thanks for the review. I don't know why, but I see question marks throughout the entire post. It was giving me a headache, but I did manage to get through most of it.

 

I am opposite of you. I am a Disney cruiser trying out Princess. From what I've read, I do believe I will like Princess better, but I'll find out one way or the other in a few days. I have both Disney and Princess cruises on my schedule this year and next. I'm on the west coast, so pretty much stick with itineraries on this side. I am setting my expectations very high for Princess because I think it caters more to adults than to children.

 

Regarding the flavorless burgers/pizza on DCL - I think that is because they cater to children. I am looking forward to trying out an adult burger on Princess.

[tml1230]

Very sorry to all for the question marks....when i noticed them all i fixed them and resubmitted the post. They all showed up again. Personally i wouldn't read the post with all the errors, but they aren't mine! i tried to fix em

[sunsetbeachgal]

We have always wanted to try Disney Cruise Line but the prices are just too darned high! Princess provides such a nice quality product at a reasonable price. We also love a good dinner buffet here and there and for that reason prefer the Regal or Royal.

 

 

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[Colo Cruiser]

Thanks for the review/comparison. :)

[jagoffee]

Thank you for the review. We also have enjoyed Princess.

 

We are doing our first Disney cruise in August with our daughter, SIL, and two grandchildren. Just like you we are doing this for our grandchildren. It is a milestone birthday for my DW and we are certainly paying a premium for Disney.

 

One of the things that concern me is since this is our first Disney Cruise we will be the last group of cruisers allowed to make any kind of reservations. We get spoiled on Celebrity and Princess. Did you find this to be a problem? Were you able to do all the things that you wanted to do?

 

Glad you enjoyed your experience and I am sure your Granddaughter was thrilled.

[sippican]

I appreciate your review.

 

We tried Disney a couple of years ago (for the grandchildren).

I agree with some of your assessments such as embarkation, the condition of the ships and room stewards. We, however, were very disappointed in the room sevice menu - at that time on the Fantasy no hot food items were listed. We found it very limited on offerings compared to other cruise lines. We felt that parental control was almost nonexistent, worse we've witnessed by far! In fact, my grandchildren were stressed out by the running, yelling (parents and kids), pushing, long lines for meet'n greets. The children in our party were not allowed in the pools by their parents during peak times fearing the unsafe conditions. The adult pool area was just ok, not very peaceful and relaxing. Our adult children agreed that they would much rather try a different cruiseline if we are to do a family trip again, preferring to get their "dose of magic" in the parks.

 

We are "Disney fans", (season pass holders), and seasoned cruisers. We just did not feel that the expereince was worth the money spent. We all had a wonderful time but would just not choose DCL for future cruises.

 

Now, we are excited to experience our first Princess cruise!

[1emerald1]

Thanks for the review. I don't know why, but I see question marks throughout the entire post. It was giving me a headache, but I did manage to get through most of it.

 

I am opposite of you. I am a Disney cruiser trying out Princess. From what I've read, I do believe I will like Princess better, but I'll find out one way or the other in a few days. I have both Disney and Princess cruises on my schedule this year and next. I'm on the west coast, so pretty much stick with itineraries on this side. I am setting my expectations very high for Princess because I think it caters more to adults than to children.

 

Regarding the flavorless burgers/pizza on DCL - I think that is because they cater to children. I am looking forward to trying out an adult burger on Princess.

The Trident Grill burgers are very good, but in my opinion the ones in the MDR are better. Just depends on how long you want to devote to lunch. My favorite though are the hot dogs at the Trident Grill, love them!

[AF-1]

Thanks for posting your review. I appreciate the two differences between the lines. I did not notice any punctuation problems. Disney is overpriced; but people flock to them for the Brand Loyalty. Disney is like Apple; they know they have a great product so they don't discount.

[AbbyGirl]

We love Princess as well and did Disney Dream last Sept with our DS (4) and some friends with DD (3 and 5). The kids LOVED the kids area and the adults did too... We even enjoyed the adult area side of Castaway Cay while the kids played. We really enjoyed the cruise other than the fact that we did a 4 day to accommodate our friends. I'd never do a 4 day again, just not enough time to enjoy everything.

My husband who never wanted to cruise on DCL before our son even though I did made the comment on board that he wonders if we'll enjoy our Princess cruise now that we've experienced DCL. I know we will! We had great service the entire time we were on board until that dreadful day they made us disembark and my son cried because he was leaving the Aqua Duck behind!

Yes the cost of DCL is much higher than we'd prefer to pay but my goal is one more aboard the Fantasy and then that will be it.

This is will our DS's first Princess cruise (he has also been on Carnival) so it will be interesting to now cruise on Princess with a child for the first time.

Princess is by far our favorite cruise line and we will continue to cruise in the future.

[yags]

To be honest, I do not have paternal instincts. I do not have kids and Kids (untill about the age of 12) make me nervous. Going on a Disney cruise with that many kids in a confined space (even with adult areas) would be like the Voyage of the Damned. Have a great time and enjoy the kids and grandkids.

[hollydog]

Thank you for posting this comparison review. We are long-time Princess cruisers and have tossed around the idea of taking our almost 8-year-old granddaughter on a cruise. Debating between Disney and Princess. Your review has convinced us to probably stay with Princess.

[luv2gonow]

Thanks for posting. I have cruised Carnival, Royal, NCL and Disney. We are trying Princess for the 1st time on the Majestic. Not sure if this is a good start with Princess......I am certainly nervous about a new ship and any kinks that need to be worked out.

But I have never had a bad cruise. If I have smoothish seas, decent weather and I make it back for my return flight....I am sure this cruise will be amazing as well.

 

I also think the buffet situation on DCL is terrible. Shows are great....atmosphere is Disneyhappy. But I will not pay DCL prices to sail consistently. I am a DVC member and love WDW but hey...lots of other lines for similar experience (except characters) for WAY cheaper.

Thanks

Kerri

[justafem]

To be honest, I do not have paternal instincts. I do not have kids and Kids (untill about the age of 12) make me nervous. Going on a Disney cruise with that many kids in a confined space (even with adult areas) would be like the Voyage of the Damned. Have a great time and enjoy the kids and grandkids.

 

I'm the same way, only I have a kid (she's now 31) and for no apparent reason I adopted another (when she was 17, she's 34 now). Always despised those parasites and a ship full would make me go into full melt-down.

 

The only reason we haven't tried disney is BECAUSE of all the vermin.

[OCruisers]

Thanks so much for your excellent comprehensive comparison! (y)

[jeromep]

Thanks for the review. I don't know why, but I see question marks throughout the entire post. It was giving me a headache, but I did manage to get through most of it.

 

I am opposite of you. I am a Disney cruiser trying out Princess. From what I've read, I do believe I will like Princess better, but I'll find out one way or the other in a few days. I have both Disney and Princess cruises on my schedule this year and next. I'm on the west coast, so pretty much stick with itineraries on this side. I am setting my expectations very high for Princess because I think it caters more to adults than to children.

 

Regarding the flavorless burgers/pizza on DCL - I think that is because they cater to children. I am looking forward to trying out an adult burger on Princess.

 

Burgers and dogs on the Lido on Princess are excellent. Aside from a couple very expensive craft burger places I've been to on land, nobody really compares. I find that the burgers served in the MDR, especially for lunch, are also excellent, and different from the burgers found on the Lido.

 

Yes, Princess caters to adults, but they have strong kids programs, just no tie ins to entertainment companies with characters.

 

Very sorry to all for the question marks....when i noticed them all i fixed them and resubmitted the post. They all showed up again. Personally i wouldn't read the post with all the errors, but they aren't mine! i tried to fix em

 

 

I think the question marks some are seeing may be a text interpretation issue inside the web browser that you may be using to view the site. Your text is perfectly clear to me without any outstanding formatting issues. Edit: I see them now, I guess I just subconsciously ignored them. Either way, nice insights. I think the question mark issue might be related to the font, maybe the device you are using to type the message. Maybe it doesn't matter.

Edited February 28, 2017 by jeromep

[klfhngr]

To OP, our of curiosity, why haven't you cruise on X yet?

[SheriffJoe]

Thanks for the review. I don't know why, but I see question marks throughout the entire post. It was giving me a headache, but I did manage to get through most of it.

 

I am opposite of you. I am a Disney cruiser trying out Princess. From what I've read, I do believe I will like Princess better, but I'll find out one way or the other in a few days. I have both Disney and Princess cruises on my schedule this year and next. I'm on the west coast, so pretty much stick with itineraries on this side. I am setting my expectations very high for Princess because I think it caters more to adults than to children.

 

Regarding the flavorless burgers/pizza on DCL - I think that is because they cater to children. I am looking forward to trying out an adult burger on Princess.

 

 

I wouldn't get too excited about Princess burgers as they are just OK, nothing much better than any other cruise ship burger....

[JimmyVWine]

Thanks for the comparison. I sailed on the Disney Magic before I ever stepped foot on a Princess ship and assumed that I would be a DCL "lifer"....until I looked at prices. It is hard for me to do an "even up" comparison between the two lines given the extraordinary price difference. There are lots of areas where I would give the edge to DCL, but in probably the three most important areas for me, (emphasis on ME), which are price, food and personal wine allowance (but not necessarily in that order :D), Princess wins all three areas, so we haven't been back to DCL in quite some time.

[easyboy]

Thank you for sharing your experience.

[Corinda]

Thanks for the review - I'm a princess person but always like to see what other people like about other lines.

[yags]

I'm the same way, only I have a kid (she's now 31) and for no apparent reason I adopted another (when she was 17, she's 34 now). Always despised those parasites and a ship full would make me go into full melt-down.

 

The only reason we haven't tried disney is BECAUSE of all the vermin.

 

 

Thanks for the post. I knew there were others out there.

[sunny2runner]

Thanks for your insight! We are Disney cruisers. We are Platinum level on Disney but the prices of DCL continue to skyrocket that we are looking at other options. We are going on our first Princess cruise in April with our 2 kids, ages 11 and 13.

 

We tried NCL for Christmas and loved the food options. So much better than Disney! Disney really needs to add a dinner buffet and extend its lunch buffet till 3PM. We always find that we are about to miss lunch or totally miss lunch with the lunch only being open till 2pm. As others have said the options for deck grill food are totally undesirable on Disney. The burgers and pizza are very poor tasting.

 

On NCL the buffet food was amazing and open for dinner and later in the evening. The deck food was better than Disney's. Where Disney bets NCL is the service and happy factors as well the entertainment. Disney has so much on board entertainment and we always felt like there was more than enough to do. NCL had very little evening entertainment and what they did have was always so crowded or booked way in advance and not worth the hassle of the crowds.

 

I am very excited to try the Royal Princess with hopes that their service is high, food is amazing and entertainment is wonderful.

[lovevacadays]

Thank you for your review. I always enjoy reading comparison reviews. :):):)

[Yosef42]

Thanks for the post. I knew there were others out there.

 

 

Don't doubt it for a moment.