AOS or Crown Princess??

[Jedimindtrick]

Good afternoon all!

 

I'm new here, but not new to cruising.

 

Family (myself, hubby, 1 teen & 1 tween) are looking for a Southern Caribbean cruise-Feb 2008. We are set on either the Crown Princess or Adventure of the Seas.

 

Can anyone who has cruised either of these 2 ships/itineraries provide some info to help with my decision?

 

Thanks kindly!!!!

[Merion_Mom]

I don't know anything about you.

 

I have never sailed the Southern Caribbean itinerary.

 

I have never sailed on the Adventure, although I have been on Explorer and Voyager.

 

I have also sailed on the Crown Princess.

 

With a teen and a tween, I recommend Royal Caribbean. I think that you will just be happier, as a family.

[Ocean Boy]

I don't know anything about you.

 

I have sailed the southern caribbean itinerary.

 

I have sailed Adventure.

 

I have never sailed Crown Princess or any other Princess ship for that matter.

 

Kids or not, on similar itineraries I would take a Voyager class ship over any other cruise line's ships just about anytime and anywhere. I LOVE the Voyager class ships. And if you want to experience a design of ship that you will find nothing like on any other cruise line I would say give Adventure a try.

[Aquahound]

I don't know........oh, forget it. 3 times probably wouldn't be funny.

 

In all fairness, I have not cruised Princess. But I have cruised the Adventure and loved it - and have it booked again. With a teen and a tween, this is definately your ship.

[pmshirl]

I have been on both the Adventure(back 2 back, 14 days) and the Crown, and I would go with the Adventure. The Voyager class ships have a lot more to offer for the teens. I enjoyed the shows better on the Adventure ( a lot more seating in the theater) , and the crew seemed to be more friendly. I loved the southern caribbean itinerary. Which ever you choose, have a great Cruise.

[maggieq]

I went on the golden princess (not the aruba route) and the aos (aruba route). I would go with the aos.

 

While the service and food was much better on the golden (jmho), the choices for entertainement, bars, food choices, can't be beat with the voyager size ships.

 

We went in May for the golden and april for the aos and they have been the top two for weather out of the cruises we have taken.

 

I'm sure the crown is alot nicer and being new has that certain something but I am really sold with rccl.

[celebrity]

I have sailed the Southern route & have been on both AOS & the Crown. I was so excited to try Princess last year on a brand new ship & I was sooo disappointed. The ship is beautiful but there is a lot less to do than on AOS. I hated that the pools were sectioned off & that there was no jogging track on the top deck like RCCL. The track was in a strange spot with a wall that blocked views of the sea. The dining room has very low ceilings and the food was disappointing. The coffee on Princess is undrinkalbe..UGH!! BTW. I sailed with my Husband & 2 sons in their 20's. Needless to say we are back on RCCL this summer sailing on Explorer. Oh, one more thing, they charge you for the adults only pool area. HTH.

[CecilCtyCruiser]

For what it's worth...

 

We sailed on the Crown Princess last September - our only time on Princess. We were so excited to be on a brand new ship, and we did have a good time. But overall, I think I have enjoyed other ships more. We had a balcony cabin, and I hated the way the balconies were laid out. They were staggered, with the lower balconies jutting out further than the upper ones, so you always had an audience. Pools were okay, but always so crowded because the ship was so large, and hard to find a chair. We did enjoy the dining room, and had a wonderful waitress, Florentina, who really spoiled us. But overall, we prefer a smaller ship (is the AOS similar in size to the Crown?) and I think we liked Royal Caribbean more than Princess.

[Merion_Mom]

I have sailed the Southern route & have been on both AOS & the Crown. I was so excited to try Princess last year on a brand new ship & I was sooo disappointed. The ship is beautiful but there is a lot less to do than on AOS. I hated that the pools were sectioned off & that there was no jogging track on the top deck like RCCL. The track was in a strange spot with a wall that blocked views of the sea. The dining room has very low ceilings and the food was disappointing. The coffee on Princess is undrinkalbe..UGH!! BTW. I sailed with my Husband & 2 sons in their 20's. Needless to say we are back on RCCL this summer sailing on Explorer. Oh, one more thing, they charge you for the adults only pool area. HTH.

Oh, they do NOT. There is an optional charge if you want to hang out in the Sanctuary, which is a lounge area NEAR but not IN the adult pool. There are two adult pools back there, and there is NO charge to go in either one. The charge is for a thick, reserved, padded lounge chair in a special area (with astroturf and plastic plants :rolleyes: ).

[MCLuv2Cruise]

I have never sailed on Princess, but I can tell you that our cruise on AOS was one of the best. The food and entertainment was excellent. The atmosphere onboard was fun.....we really had a great time and plan on booking AOS again to do our 2nd southern cruise.

 

Either way, have a great time! :)

[celebrity]

Oh, they do NOT. There is an optional charge if you want to hang out in the Sanctuary, which is a lounge area NEAR but not IN the adult pool. There are two adult pools back there, and there is NO charge to go in either one. The charge is for a thick, reserved, padded lounge chair in a special area (with astroturf and plastic plants :rolleyes: ).

 

Hi Merion Mom. Yes you are correct that you can go in the adults only pool for free but to spend time in the Sanctuary you DO PAY as you mentioned. AOS doesn't charge for their adult area. That was my point. I recall that you were on the infamous "list' sailing. I followed your cruise and it was shortened by 2 days. Would you sail her again? Just curious..

[Ocean Boy]

But overall, we prefer a smaller ship (is the AOS similar in size to the Crown?) and I think we liked Royal Caribbean more than Princess.

 

The Voyager class ships are larger and carry more passengers than Grand class (and whatever class Crown belongs to). However, they are designed to handle the number of passensers that they carry amazinging well. There are times on Voyager ships when we have felt like we had the whole ship almost to ourselves.

[lmmn]

I have been on both. I much preferred the Crown Princess. The Crown itinerary cannot be beat!! Although, I would normally pick a RCCL voyager class ship, I felt the AOS seemed a bit tired, and was the only voyager ship I did not like much. I would hands down pick the Crown over AOS. Newer ship, better itinerary, slightly better food. Loved adjoining balconies, lots & lots of seafood, we just loved it. They also have one person in charge of your reservation who will call and make sure you are very well taken care of. The only thing I did not care for was the loud large screen by the pool area....however, there are other pool options which we loved. The Santuary on the Crown is for those who like complete quiet....I thought more of a romantic setting, like to read and relax in complete silence, or for those who like to sleep during the day. Too quiet for our group.

[addictedinflorida]

I have been on both. I much preferred the Crown Princess. The Crown itinerary cannot be beat!! Although, I would normally pick a RCCL voyager class ship, I felt the AOS seemed a bit tired, and was the only voyager ship I did not like much. I would hands down pick the Crown over AOS. Newer ship, better itinerary, slightly better food. Loved adjoining balconies, lots & lots of seafood, we just loved it. They also have one person in charge of your reservation who will call and make sure you are very well taken care of. The only thing I did not care for was the loud large screen by the pool area....however, there are other pool options which we loved. The Santuary on the Crown is for those who like complete quiet....I thought more of a romantic setting, like to read and relax in complete silence, or for those who like to sleep during the day. Too quiet for our group.

 

Glad to hear a good review for the Crown. We are sailing our first Princess cruise during spring break 08 and picked the Crown for the intinerary. I have sailed the AOS and loved it too, but looking to try something different. :)

[barbarah33]

I love the Crown Princess and thought she was just gorgeous; better looking than any RCCL ship I have sailed on. And her itinerary is great. However, with your children I think RCCL is a better choice. They seem to have more things for the 'kids' to do not to mention those activities like the rock climbing wall which are unique to Royal Caribbean. I think they focus more on families and offering enough to keep everyone happy no matter what their age.

[celebrity]

As I previously mentioned. i vote for AOS but a previous posyer mentioned that the Crown has a lot of seafood so if that's important to you...It is a disaster for vegetarians like me though. Not a heck of a lot of variety in the evenings as far as I am concerned. The formal nights were nothing special on the Crown either.

[kathanderik]

Hi,

 

I've been on both ships and with kids, I would book the Adventure of the Seas. We did back to back cruises last Nov on the Crown. It is a lovely ship and the ports were great, however, there was less to do and we just thought it was less fun, overall. We really disliked where we docked in St. Thomas, I think it is called Havenport or something like that but it is futhur from town , it took longer to get places and the cabs were more expensive. The coffee on Princess is horrrible, but the comfort food is better. There seemed general that there less kids on board than on RCCL and it seemed like an older crowd. We liked Muts, but it was difficult to hear during the day and the sun made it difficult to watch movies during the day. I think Chops and Portifinos are better than thier specialty resturants. Food in the dining room was about the same. One week the entertainment was good, the other week so -so. It seemed like princess was slightly more expensive- the excursions are a little more I think. We went to a couple of shows and the newly wed game and I think the counterparts were better on RCCL. I thought the ship was very choppy- lots of small spaces, and hard to walk from one place to the other. Fresh water pools, we liked the salt water ( from Mass and we are use to the ocean). There seemed to be less activites and we missed that. Just our preferance, but unless there was an itinerary that we really wanted we would book RCCL over princess.