Princess vs. RCCL (RCI) comparison

[Woodsmaster]

Well, I wanted to wait until I had been aboard at least one of each to make a comparison (seemed logical). This has now come and gone. I have cruised on the Golden Princess, Enchantment of the Seas, Rhapsody of the Seas, Granduer of the Seas, and Monarch of the Seas.

 

I know this is the Princess forum, but I will post on the RCI forum as well. When I get a chance, I will also write a full cruise review.

 

There is no real comparison if you are looking for your money's worth. RCI takes it hands down. Some of the areas where there were definite pluses for RCI over Princess were: staff friendliness, food, Cruise Compass, entertainment in the main theater, friendliness of the pursers staff, hours of service for the grill/pizza "cookery", and art auctions. Areas that Princess had an advantage: The ship's cleanliness, diversity of bar activities, room layout, and bar entertainment.

 

I had never been personally insulted on a cruise ship by a staff member until I sailed on the Golden Princess. A suggestion to Rachel (Australia) of the Cruise staff concerning improvement of the layout of the Princess Patter and their need to get a copy of the Cruise Compass from RCI for an example brought the comment from Rachel, "I don't know what your problem is, but then I can read." Wrong thing to say and wrong tone of voice to say it in.... There was no play or bantering intended, she was serious. Before the situation escalated to extreme, Sly (another Cruise Staff member - Canada) stepped in and defused the situation, while Rachel slinked off to get out of harms way. Several bartenders were purposefully rude and ignored us several times, even though we were at the bar first, in front of them, before other patrons who came up later. Also, it was not a busy period. No Excuse.

 

The junior and assistant purser's seemed to be put out by having to help customers. They always told you that the Princess Patter or the dining time card could be found in your room versus giving you one at the purser's desk upon request (purser's desks on fifth or sixth floor versus room on 10th floor).

 

The food quality was average. Nothing on the menu was of excellent or exceptional quality. Even in discussions with other passengers who had been sailing on Princess in the past, the quality of the food, entertainment, and friendliness of the staff came up as a real disappointment. They opined that since Carnival had taken over, it seemed to be going downhill.

 

The entertainment was mediocre to poor with the exception of the first nights comedian (Darrell Joyce) and the act of the English juggler, acrobat, and comedian (Nick Pike). At least they were entertaining and humorous.

 

The production broadway tunes by the cruise ship's singers and dancers (Words & Music) was average, at best. The entertainment of Uber Rossi was junk. The magician/illusionist Gaetano was average. Several members of the audience said the high point of Gaetano was the looks of his assistant.

 

The master hypnotist was cute, but not that great. Wednesday night's entertainment was two movies (Intolerable Cruelty and Sing-a-long Wizard of Oz). Now that is intolerable cruelty. I wouldn't have paid to watch either of those at home. I think live entertainment is the feature of the night (on a cruise ship).

 

Peter Fernandez was not a singer extraordinaire. Mediocre at best. The Farewell Show was the combination of Uber Rossi and Nick Pike. After you got Rossi off of the stage, it was again entertaining.

 

The Cruise Director, Neil Roberts, seemed to be tired and not having a lot of fun. It showed. He did at least use a new cruise joke or two. After 11:00 p.m. he would hang out with the entertainers and not deal with the passengers. Deputy Cruise Director Kelly also lacked the enthusiam that you get used to on the RCI/Celebrity lines.

 

There were some good Cruise staff members, Sly, Mario, and Brendan come to mind. The split dining rooms for traditional and cruiser's choise dining resulted in the traditional dining room being left out of some of the old time photo opportunities. I really didn't care, but it was noted. It was also a small dining room and did not have the ambiance of the larger dining areas. Hello, no star dining. Goodbye to the ambiance of two level dining rooms with piano or string quartet accompanyment. It may be traditional in that you get to sit at the same table every night and see the same waiters, but the lack of ambiance was a major disappointment.

 

The pools were nice. Free time areas were also nice. There was a large video game area....bring your quarters. There were a number of bars and lounges. Something going on for everybody. The game and card room actually had cards and games. Poor hours for the library. Casino was a large one, but about a third of it never opened. Casino staff was friendly. Gee, I wonder why? On board shops were average. Even with the size of the vessel and the number of cruisers, it did not seem too crowded, except in the Vista Lounge for one or two shows. Internet area was ample. Thirty-five cents a minute on-line time (lower than RCI) and $1.00 per page printed (high).

 

The various stops will be dealt with in a review.

 

Unless I want to go on a specific itenery, I will place Princess below Celebrity and RCI as the cruise line of choice. And as always, even the worst cruise I have been on has been fun. Some are just more fun than others.

[JanetMarie]

Hmmm, sorry to hear. When I read through each of your issues, I thought to myself, "we had just the opposite experience."

 

Princess is our line of preference on the high seas.

[isujim]

Woodmaster:

 

I appreciate your opinions...........I will be taking my first Princess cruise in November after 7 on RC.............we haven't had a bad experience on RC but are looking forward to our first Princess cruise. I too will make a comparison after sailing.........but hope to find our experience on the Caribbean Princess different.

 

Jim

[kkorman]

 

There is no real comparison if you are looking for your money's worth. RCI takes it hands down. Some of the areas where there were definite pluses for RCI over Princess were: staff friendliness, food, Cruise Compass, entertainment in the main theater, friendliness of the pursers staff, hours of service for the grill/pizza "cookery", and art auctions. Areas that Princess had an advantage: The ship's cleanliness, diversity of bar activities, room layout, and bar entertainment.

 

When I read this I thought you were talking about the strengths of Princess Princess first... oh well, that has been my experience at least.

[wyocruiser]

We were on the Golden Princess on the July 4 sailing; and unfortunately, I agree with most of your comments (with the exception that we found the staff to be friendly). Also, the artist Juan Carlos was amazing, and I'm sorry if you missed him on the first night.

 

I made many of the same comments myself in an earlier post comparing the Golden Princess to the Caribbean Princess (June 26). The CP was basically a better experience in most areas, including the quality of the food preparation and the entertainment.

 

We have been on RCI cruises and most of our experiences have been very good. However, last New Year's we had a disappointing cruise on the Serenade. The entertainment was worse than on the Golden, and there were drunken teenagers actually involved in physical altercations (one with a waiter). Not to mention that on New Year's Day there were quite a few passed out on lounge chairs and broken glass all over the deck.

 

Anyway, I understand how you feel after your experience on the Golden because our experience on the Serenade makes us hesitant to sail with RCI in the future. We had never had a disappointing cruise until the Serenade and then the Golden wasn't up to Princess' usual standards either, which makes me wonder if the quality of cruiselines in general is slipping.

[spongerob]

I'm sorry to hear that things weren't up to par. Your comments are 180 degrees from my experience on the Golden - it was the best of all our Princess cruises.

 

I agree that Rachel's comment was completely out of line.

 

I have to admit that I would have to be extremely impressed by another line if I chose to sail them; otherwise, I would likely be quite critical in any comparisons.

[beachnative]

It will be interesting to see how the replies to your comparison unfold now that "Laura S" has placed her sticky and given a warning.

 

We sail for the sailing experience and the design of the ship, the food, and the staff are very important to us. The dining rooms on the voyager class of RCCL and Celebrity millenium class are beautiful, elegant, and spectacular. The Princess grand class ships have stayed with the smaller, low ceiling rooms that may make the diner feel more casual. The promenade (mall like area) of the voyager class of RCCL is awesome.

 

The Caribe deck balconies and the offerings of the Caribe Cafe on the Caribbean Princess are wonderful and the "Ultimate Balcony Dinner" is the best thing on the seas for romantics.

 

I guess in our eyes these lines have their good and better points and it is a pleasure to sail on any of them.

 

Staff? Any individual staff member on any line can have a bad day and treat passengers in a way that if reviewed on video tape would be embarassing to them. It is unfortunate that you encountered such. We have been very fortunate not to have experienced that which you have descirbed on any of the lines you have travelled

[Woodsmaster]

I am now puzzled about a Laura S Warning sticky.......What is it?

 

Have I somehow posted something inappropriate? No intention to do so. No intention to fight or harrass anyone. Just my honest experience.

 

As to RCI critiques..... I have several posted at other sites that will show that I am not playing favorite with RCI versus Princess. I have been critical of RCI as well. I would hope that people would want to hear the truth and not the company rhetoric.

[Fredrik]

I´m fairly new to cruising. Took my first real cruise a year ago and we´re already doing our fifth with RCCL in September. We´ve stayed with the line because we really liked them, but eventually you get a little tired of the same things all the time, even if they are great. (Our next cruise with RCCL is in seven weeks and I already know what kind of food I´m eating for that entire trip....)

 

So you want something different. I found your post so interesting because almost all the comment on the Princess side is taking sides saying it ain´t so, and all the comments on RCCL side agrees with you. It is very, I´d say almost impossible to get unbias information about the different lines.

 

Dem. wise I guess I`m RCCL, wouldn´t be too comfortable aboard Yachts of Seabourne (well you never know), or even QM2 that has different classes. (That´s not really PC is it) :)

 

I think we have to book a Carnival cruise and compare. Either we have missed out on something good, or we´ll find out what was bad and we´ll return to RCCL. I know it might be corny, but I really like their repeaters program and the perks they have.

 

Whatever you decide to do...

 

Live, love, cruise,

 

Fredrik

[MVPinBoynton]

I don't see enough difference in the various cruises we have been of with both lines. I will happily sail with either line. For the most part they are both a pleasure. The RCCL ships we have been on are prettier than the Princess ships we have been on; but we haven't been on the Coral yet. I think the Princess food is better; but the production shows on RCCL are hard to beat. The ship activities seemed more varied on Princess, which is nice if you have a lot of sea days. I have never had what I would consider bad service on any cruise ship. Gosh, I wish I hadn't started talking about this, now I really need another cruise.;)

[Cruisin'40]

I think perhaps the only thing one can do is to form their own opinion, thus you would need to take a cruise on every cruiseline..hmm.... sounds like a winner to me...

 

We have only done Princess so far. Due to the fresh water pools. We haven't had an unpleasant experience or bad meal, so I guess I tend to think when you are spending that kind of money and you know you like a cruiseline it makes it hard to go elsewhere. But I believe we will have to do some sampling.

 

;)

[taxatty]

An unfair comparison in our case--the older Majesty of the Seas and the brand new Diamond. We thought that the food and service were comparable (very good and excellent, respectively), that Princess had better evening entertainment, but that RCI had a somewhat broader range of daytime "at sea" activities. Comparing the ships and cabins wouldn't be fair in this case, but the Majesty did provide a quality cruise experience. I would sail either one again anytime.

 

Les

[Coral]

Interesting. I have sailed both RCCL (2x - Explorer and Radiance) and Princess (several times) and I have no desire to sail RCCL again. My experiences on Princess were far superior to my RCCL cruises.

[ruvidu]

We have never sailed on RCCL but I agree with everything you say you observed on your Princess cruise. We spent 7 days on the Coral in May doing a South Bound in Alaska.

Food was mediocre at best, our servers were rude and the entertainment was somthing from the Holiday Inn.

We have only sailed DCL in the past so we may have been jaded.

We will try HAL and RCL but never again on Princess.