Ever Sail Princess before

[beach410]

I love Carnival, I really do, but I found an itenerary with Princess that I cant find with Carnival. Has any Carnival Loyals every cruised with Princess before? How would you rate Princess, what are the pros and cons? Thank you!

[julieanne]

I love Carnival, I really do, but I found an itenerary with Princess that I cant find with Carnival. Has any Carnival Loyals every cruised with Princess before? How would you rate Princess, what are the pros and cons? Thank you!

I have. Although I am not Carnival loyal, I am an equal opportunity cruiser. I have found Princess to be very overpriced. I do not know how your cost comparison is working out, but I am not a Princess lover. I know that the Princess people will probably flame me, but here goes! I find their ships to be a bit staid and snooty. The last time we sailed with them, in order to save a few bucks, they removed the fruit punch and lemonade from the buffets! Hey, when you sail with children, this is a big plus. Although the food is decent, I wouldn't say outstanding. The cabins are smaller than Carnival and if you really like the supercharged, festive environment, you will not find that on Princess. While most of the service is good, some can be downright rude. We have experienced this many a time with Princess. So, the pros would be the itinerary, the cons, I do not feel the service/experience was on par with our requirements. If the price is right, give them a try as everyone sees things differently! Don't get me wrong, I would sail with them again, but only if I got a great deal!

 

6/72 Song of Norway Caribbean 7/73 Sun Viking Caribbean 12/74 Fairsea Mexico 6/75 Golden Odyssey E. Mediterranean 4/76 Odessa Yucatan 6/76 Fairwind Transcanal 5/77 Sun Princess 8/77 Fairstar Australia/S. Pacific 12/77 Monarch Sun Caribbean 6/78 Danae Mediterranean 12/78 Festivale Caribbean 7/79 Fairstar S. Pacific 12/80 Nordic Prince Caribbean 12/82 Tropicale Mexico 10/84 Jubilee Mexico 4/88 Fairsea Mexico 9/91 Dawn Princess Ensenada 4/95 Jubilee Mexico 6/96 Century Caribbean 12/97 Song Of America Mexico 11/98 Grand Princess Caribbean 12/98 Monarch of the Seas Ensenada 11/99 Rhapsody of the Seas Mexico 4/00 Norwegian Sea Transcanal 11/00 Splendor of the Seas Caribbean 11/01 Mercury Transcanal 12/02 Sun Princess Mexico 12/03 Pride Mexico 4/04 Galaxy Transatlantic 5/05 Mercury Transatlantic 5/06 Millenium Transatlantic 4/07 Splendour of the Seas Transatlantic

[Velvet1153]

Hi! We sailed on the Diamond Princess last September on a 7 day cruise to Mexico. The ship was beautiful and the service was great! Overall, it was a great cruise, but there were some things about Princess and this particular ship that I did not care for. We have sailed mulitple times on Royal Caribbean and Carvival, so we had other ships/cruises to compare.

 

But since I don't like being negative about a cruise, here are the things I liked about Princess:

 

1. If you had let them know you were celebrating a birthday/anniversary, they decorated your door with balloons and brought a cake to your dinner table, at no extra cost!!!

 

2. Our balcony on the Caribe Deck was 1 1/2 bigger than the other decks, at no extra cost! It was half covered and half open and was big enough for a table and chairs, as well as 2 loungers. The best balcony we have ever had!!

 

3. The Coffee Card was great!! I had a Latte anytime I wanted without having to pay extra. I even came home with some left on the card but it was still worth the money I paid!

 

Okay, here are the negatives:

 

1. Many of the big draw shows were held in small lounges, which made for a very crowded room with many people standing. For instance, the hypnotist's show and the Oldie/Newlywed Game were both held in a lounge instead of the main show room. We had to get to the shows about an hour early in order to get a seat. The night before, we had arrived for a show about 30 minutes early and could not get in the room at all. Even the main show room was not as big as I thought it should be. It also would fill up quickly so you needed to arrive early.

 

2. No Piano Bar! There was a lobby area that had a piano and a gentleman playing background music, but there was no lounge with a sing-along Piano Bar. We have always enjoyed them enormously on the Royal Caribbean and Carnival cruises we have taken and were very disappointed there were none on this cruise.

 

3. No Towel Animals. :eek: Okay, I know many people don't enjoy them, but I love them! We had friends on the boat with us that were first time cruisers and I was so disappointed that they didn't surprise them with towel animals. We have since done a RCCL cruise with this couple and they thorougly enjoyed the towel animals on that ship.

 

4. No Midnight Buffet food display to speak of. They had a very small display (2 tables full) but nothing like we were used to. And we would not have even seen this if we hadn't "happened upon it".

 

5. The Lido Buffet area was not set up well. All of the food was in one small area that became very congested very quickly. I often skipped some of the foods because it was just too hard to get to them.

 

6 Due to our TA not letting us know we would be on a "waitlist" for traditional dining if we changed our dining from late to early, :mad: we got stuck with Anytime Dining which we did not care for at all. The service was great but we missed the "shows" that we assumed were being done in the Main Dining rooms by the waitstaff. We had to make reservations so we would not have a long wait for a table. Consequently, we reserved the same dining room and table several evenings so we could have the same waitstaff, but it was not the same as having your waitstaff greet you by name and seat you at your table. Also, I felt a bit rushed and this is not something I have ever experienced in traditional dining.

 

Anyhow, we would probably not sail on Princess again unless we found a deal we could just not resist! We find that Carnival and RCCL offer us the ammenities that are important to us. In addition, our room is always a lot bigger on Carnival ships!

 

However, Princess does have beautiful ships and as I said before, overall, our cruise was fabulous!! I am sure there are people on the Princess thread that could tell you a hundred things about Princess that they feel make it better than all other cruiselines. It is just a matter of taste and preferences. As has been said many times, There is no such thing as a bad cruise!!!

 

Whichever cruise you pick, have a great time!!!!:)

[BigDoug]

We tried the Caribbean Princess because of a great rate. Princess wasn't for us. We enjoyed the cruise but something was missing. There was just a lack of energy onboard, not much excitement. It was just too laid back for us.

 

What ship and itinerary are you considering?

[Kurbanfan]

We tried the Caribbean Princess because of a great rate. Princess wasn't for us. We enjoyed the cruise but something was missing. There was just a lack of energy onboard, not much excitement. It was just too laid back for us.

 

What ship and itinerary are you considering?

 

You mean like the hairy chest contest, belly flop contests and singing waiters at dinner. :D

That suits me just fine.......

[MzOhioLady]

I've sailed 4 times with Carnival, 1 time with Princess and 1 time with Celebrity Cruise Line. I have to agree with everyone else that said "Something was Missing from the Princess Cruise". It doesn't have that "Fun Ship Appeal". We were also on the Caribe Deck in an Interior Cabin. I can't say that the acutal size was any smaller than that of those on Carnival or Celebrity, however, the layout is just a little different which may make it seem smaller in appearance. Princess does not have as many day activities as Carinval has, although I was not bored but if you live Carnival Idol, The Hairy Chest Contest and the Newlywed Not so Newlywwed Games, you'll be disappointed big time! The entertainment lacked as well, I was really bored after dinner each night. There's no piano bar and no karaoke. So basically you have to make your fun from the people you came with. Also the passengers were a bit "stuffy and boojie". The price is also slightly higher than Carnival.

 

But if you have found something that you think is a good Itinerary, then you should at least try it and then you can formulate your own opinion. Just make sure you have "fun" travel companions that way you can focus more on the ports and have your own fun when you all get back on the ship.

[Kurbanfan]

I love Carnival, I really do, but I found an itenerary with Princess that I cant find with Carnival. Has any Carnival Loyals every cruised with Princess before? How would you rate Princess, what are the pros and cons? Thank you!

 

 

Which ship and which itenerary?

[we2cruze]

Hi! We sailed on the Diamond Princess last September on a 7 day cruise to Mexico. The ship was beautiful and the service was great! Overall, it was a great cruise, but there were some things about Princess and this particular ship that I did not care for. We have sailed mulitple times on Royal Caribbean and Carvival, so we had other ships/cruises to compare.

 

But since I don't like being negative about a cruise, here are the things I liked about Princess:

 

1. If you had let them know you were celebrating a birthday/anniversary, they decorated your door with balloons and brought a cake to your dinner table, at no extra cost!!!

 

2. Our balcony on the Caribe Deck was 1 1/2 bigger than the other decks, at no extra cost! It was half covered and half open and was big enough for a table and chairs, as well as 2 loungers. The best balcony we have ever had!!

 

3. The Coffee Card was great!! I had a Latte anytime I wanted without having to pay extra. I even came home with some left on the card but it was still worth the money I paid!

 

Okay, here are the negatives:

 

1. Many of the big draw shows were held in small lounges, which made for a very crowded room with many people standing. For instance, the hypnotist's show and the Oldie/Newlywed Game were both held in a lounge instead of the main show room. We had to get to the shows about an hour early in order to get a seat. The night before, we had arrived for a show about 30 minutes early and could not get in the room at all. Even the main show room was not as big as I thought it should be. It also would fill up quickly so you needed to arrive early.

 

2. No Piano Bar! There was a lobby area that had a piano and a gentleman playing background music, but there was no lounge with a sing-along Piano Bar. We have always enjoyed them enormously on the Royal Caribbean and Carnival cruises we have taken and were very disappointed there were none on this cruise.

 

3. No Towel Animals. :eek: Okay, I know many people don't enjoy them, but I love them! We had friends on the boat with us that were first time cruisers and I was so disappointed that they didn't surprise them with towel animals. We have since done a RCCL cruise with this couple and they thorougly enjoyed the towel animals on that ship.

 

4. No Midnight Buffet food display to speak of. They had a very small display (2 tables full) but nothing like we were used to. And we would not have even seen this if we hadn't "happened upon it".

 

5. The Lido Buffet area was not set up well. All of the food was in one small area that became very congested very quickly. I often skipped some of the foods because it was just too hard to get to them.

 

6 Due to our TA not letting us know we would be on a "waitlist" for traditional dining if we changed our dining from late to early, :mad: we got stuck with Anytime Dining which we did not care for at all. The service was great but we missed the "shows" that we assumed were being done in the Main Dining rooms by the waitstaff. We had to make reservations so we would not have a long wait for a table. Consequently, we reserved the same dining room and table several evenings so we could have the same waitstaff, but it was not the same as having your waitstaff greet you by name and seat you at your table. Also, I felt a bit rushed and this is not something I have ever experienced in traditional dining.

 

Anyhow, we would probably not sail on Princess again unless we found a deal we could just not resist! We find that Carnival and RCCL offer us the ammenities that are important to us. In addition, our room is always a lot bigger on Carnival ships!

 

However, Princess does have beautiful ships and as I said before, overall, our cruise was fabulous!! I am sure there are people on the Princess thread that could tell you a hundred things about Princess that they feel make it better than all other cruiselines. It is just a matter of taste and preferences. As has been said many times, There is no such thing as a bad cruise!!!

 

Whichever cruise you pick, have a great time!!!!:)

 

Princess doesn't "do" shows in the dining room.

OP, You are on the Carnival threads and will get a lot of posts that are not in favor of Princess. Personally, I enjoy Carnival and Princess. Yes, there are differences. Variety is the spice of life. Yes, Princess often costs a bit more. Only you can decide if it is worth it for the itinerary you want. My suggestion, give it a try and make your own decision. Go into it with a positive attitude and open mind and you will have a great time, then you will come out with your own opinion, which is really the only one that counts for you.

[CwuzCwazy]

Cruised the Grand Princess once...5 Yrs ago....ship was beautiful, the food was the best I ever had on a cruise ship, and anytime dining was great, HOWEVER, the entertainment was the worst I have experienced, there were more people in walkers and scooters than not, everything closed down early....closed the Casino at midnight while I was in it......NEVER again. Very lackluster cruise.

 

We now cruise Carnival exclusively, better entertainment, livlier, more overall fun....

[Velvet1153]

I agree about there not being as many fun activities on Princess. We always enjoy the trivia and other guest participation games on Sea Days.

On Princess, it was advertised that Pictionary would be held at a certain time. When we arrived, one of the Cruise Director staff just handed out boxed games of Pictionary and told us to have fun! There were about 10 people there and we were all surprised by this. We could have done that on our own by just going to the Library. The same thing happened the next day with another advertised game.

On Carnival, the Cruise Director's staff lead all of the participation games and make it so much more fun. And there is always the hope and anticipation of winning a "Ship on a Stick"!! Carnival is most definitely a much more "FunShip"!!!

[Velvet1153]

Princess doesn't "do" shows in the dining room.

OP, You are on the Carnival threads and will get a lot of posts that are not in favor of Princess. Personally, I enjoy Carnival and Princess. Yes, there are differences. Variety is the spice of life. Yes, Princess often costs a bit more. Only you can decide if it is worth it for the itinerary you want. My suggestion, give it a try and make your own decision. Go into it with a positive attitude and open mind and you will have a great time, then you will come out with your own opinion, which is really the only one that counts for you.

 

IMHO, Princess not "doing" shows in the dining room is just another sign of their being a bit more stuffy and less fun than Carnival. :)

 

BTW, Princess does not always cost more. Our Diamond Princess cruise was less expensive than those of RCCL and Carnival, and we booked it 8 months in advance.

 

As I mentioned earlier, it was a great cruise and we all had a good time! But if you are looking for a cruise that offers lots of activities and the little "fun" extras, both during the day and the evening hours, Princess may not be the best choice.

[Kurbanfan]

IMHO, Princess not "doing" shows in the dining room is just another sign of their being a bit more stuffy and less fun than Carnival. :)

 

 

Yeah all the more reason to get excited about my Crown cruise in Dec.:D

[beach410]

Thanks everyone, stuffy is not for me! I like having fun and even though I dont particpate in much, I really enjoy watching shows and hairy men contest. O, I do however participate with the piano sing along. But another reason I was looking at this ship is because of the freshwater pools and the size of them. WE just returned from Fantasy, but my DS 14 was not thrilled with how crowded the pool was and also that is was salt water. He spent exactly 10 minutes going down the slide and then some time in the hot tub. He spent most of his time playing ping pong. I was looking at the Eastern Carribbean on the Caribbean Princess. But you are right, I am sure we would make the best of any cruise. There are just so many things on Carnival that I look forward to, the last time we tried RC, I swore thats it for me, I was sticking to CArnival. We will have to just see, it will be awhile before we go again anyway, just dreaming! Thanks for you feedback!

[BigDoug]

You mean like the hairy chest contest, belly flop contests and singing waiters at dinner. :D

That suits me just fine.......

We are just off the Carnival Legend. We really appreciated our "singing" waiters. Much better than the stuffy with attitude Princess waiter we had. The menu was much better too. On 9 Carnival cruises, I have yet to witness a belly-flop contest or hairy chest contest. If you are not at the main pool during the 20 - 30 minutes on a sea day that these occur, you will not be bothered by them. I did appreciate MUTS on the CB. Watching movies at night under the stars is a great way to relax. The British CD's humor was definitely British. Not much laughter at his attempts at humor. Give me John Heald anyday. Each cruise line has a different personality. Princess wasn't for us. I guess it is too Continental while Carnival is more American.

 

BTW, reviews of the Crown have definitely been mixed.

[Donna - dsw]

The only thing I like about Princess is the fresh water pools and they keep the pools and hot tubs open late. Just got back from Star Princess on 3/10 and we loved it.

 

However - I haven't been on a cruise yet that I didn't! lol

 

Hubby still thinks Carnival is the best.

[LovetheSea]

We have been on the Sea Princess, Sapphire Princess and the Coral Princess. I loved the Coral P. Less crowded, fantastic crew, great food, wonderful cruise! I could not say one bad thing about the whole experience. We went to Alaska. Our 3rd time in Alaska and I thought they did it the best. Very informative when we were in the Glacier Bay. If you go on an Alaska cruise try and get an itinerary including Glacier Bay. There is just nothing like it. We were lucky and were there on a sunny day in May. :)

I really liked the pools. I loved being able to swim in the beautiful indoor pool at 6 am. I had the whole place to myself!

I didn't find the staff or passengers STUFFY at all?

I really don't get this whole "loyal to one cruise line". You aren't getting married. I am sure if you don't book their line once they will not crumble. I like to try differnt lines. It gets old taking the same Cruise line to the same place over and over. If you cruise a lot. All the lines have their weaknesses and strong points.

[Kurbanfan]

We are just off the Carnival Legend. We really appreciated our "singing" waiters. Much better than the stuffy with attitude Princess waiter we had. The menu was much better too. On 9 Carnival cruises, I have yet to witness a belly-flop contest or hairy chest contest. If you are not at the main pool during the 20 - 30 minutes on a sea day that these occur, you will not be bothered by them. I did appreciate MUTS on the CB. Watching movies at night under the stars is a great way to relax. The British CD's humor was definitely British. Not much laughter at his attempts at humor. Give me John Heald anyday. Each cruise line has a different personality. Princess wasn't for us. I guess it is too Continental while Carnival is more American.

 

BTW, reviews of the Crown have definitely been mixed.

 

Well I KNOW we will have a great time. We have a great time on any cruiseline or ship.... That's just us. Just been cruising Carnival too much lately and need a change from the samo samo.

Plan on cruising Hal next:eek:

[beach410]

I guess I will have to try broadening my experiences, maybe comparing only one RC cruise isnt enough.

[Kurbanfan]

I guess I will have to try broadening my experiences, maybe comparing only one RC cruise isnt enough.

 

Heck yeah.....that's my plan:)

[Thamsey]

I love Princess although my upcoming trips are with Carnival it is only because of the great price I get solo. Take Princess any day over Carnival but because of the prices appreciate that I can travel, so thanks Carnival for that.

[PAULNJILL]

we have done 2 P &O , 3 Princess and 1 Cunard

 

Princess is way out infront of any of the others

 

although we are trying HAL this year

 

I would have no hesitation in recommending Princess to anybody although I would go for the smaller ships not the giants

[crusinpsychRN]

We sailed Grand Princess and had the WORST food ever, over and over. Each night we sent food back and got not much better. Changed tables due to lack of service by wait staff. Much better service but even the server didn't like most of the menu. Shows were lackluster. Ship was beautiful.

[Craigster-diver]

In the last 12 months, we've sailed with Carnival, Holland America, and Princess.

 

Each line seems to have its own place in the world.

 

Here are my observations :

 

Cabins

* Carnival balcony cabins are bigger than Princess ocean-view. Holland America deluxe verrandah suites are bigger than Carnival's balcony AND Princess' ocean-view cabins combined (big thanks to the upgrade fairy !!).

* I can live without towel animals. Having or not having doesn't make or break my cruise experience.

* Cabin stewards work hard on all lines, and are all friendly. Everyone smiled and addressed us by name, and the cabins were kept cleaner than we keep the house.

* Bathroom on Carnival and Princess are similar and small. I think I found Carnival's physical layout worked better.

* Beds were all comfy cozy.

 

Food

* Both Princess and Carnival had less menu choice than Holland America, particularly desserts.

* All lines served food which was on par with, or usually better than I'd expect from any restaurant that I'd choose to eat at (with and without kids), if going out for dinner at home.

* I preferred Carnival's lido buffet layout and selection.

* Kids really liked the soft-serve ice cream machines.

* I preferred Carnival's lido grill to HA's and Princess'.

* I like "anytime" dining option on Princess, hopefully that catches on with at least Carnival (can't see it happening on HA).

* I liked Carnival's "relaxed" atmosphere in the dining room, Princess was a little more formal, while HA was most formal even on a non-formal night.

* I found that on Carnival AND Holland America I wasn't being constantly bombarded to buy drinks. Bar staff were always around, but rarely in your face. I found Princess' roaming bar servers annoying.

 

Ships

* My wife appreciates the larger ships (Sapphire Princess, Carnival Pride, 2200 pax +/-) vs the smaller Holland America (Amsterdam) class ships. More room, less motion. We didn't find the large ships to be crowded at any time or place.

* Kids liked the heated fresh water pools on Holland America compared to Carnival's cold, salt water pools.

* Waterslide was "too slow" for 9 & 11 y/o's to really enjoy, and the refreshing spray of cold salt water in the face at the end of the ride wasn't really appreciated.

* Decor on all lines is on par with, or better than the interior of a 4+ star hotel. Everything is kept clean, and ship-shape.

* Kids preferred the Club HAL vs Camp Carnival. Perhaps the ratio of kids to program staff is better with HAL, perhaps being able to access the video games 24/7 on HAL is a factor ?? (kids didn't travel on the Princess cruise)

 

That's a quick +/- from my p.o.v. I'd sail on any of these lines again, just for the simple joy of being on vacation.

 

Ciao for now,

Craig

[basketsiam]

We sailed on the Caribbean Princess eastern, same cruise you're looking at. The ship itself was absolutely beautiful. Our kids loved the freshwater pools and the teen club that's located at the aft of the ship. Overall, however, there did seem to be something missing. Less "energy" on the ship left you to make your own fun (which we had no difficulty doing;)). The food was not as good. The pizza, burgers, and much of the steaks, etc. were overcooked, tough, and tasteless. We found the service in the dining room to be less than we expected, but that can vary between different ships in the same line or with different weeks. I would cruise with them again if the price was right, but so far, we've been back to Carnival.....

[sandysav]

Went on our first princess cruise in january. Good things were food, hottubs open late, nice decor. Bad: not as lively as carnival and our hallway and room smelled like poopies for an entire week due to Black water emissions going through the ac apparantley and pursers desk and princess customer care service sucks big time.:cool: