Mediterranean Cruise 2008- Princess, RC, or Carnival??

[GVSU]

Hello everyone,

 

My husband and I took a wonderful vacation on RC's Adventures of the Seas this summer and are now planning our second cruise to the Mediterranean. Can anyone share some feedback on which cruise the best between RC, Carnival and Princess? Carnival has great prices but I don't want to sacrifice quality and service. I hear Princess is awesome, but do the prices ever come down? Please help. Thanks for the honest feedback.

[ssbeagle]

I have checked itineraries on all 3 for Med cruises and Princess seems to have the best in my opinion. Unless they have trouble filling the ships the prices will usually not come down. We are doing a transatlantic during a time when it is difficult for them to fill the ship so have gotten some very reasonable prices. We love the Star Princess's itinerary because it combines 9 ports and a total of 7 sea days and the price is very reasonable. I was looking at Carnival and didn't particularly care for their ports and they didn't stop at as many. Same for RCL. It depends on what you are looking for and have to compare each one against the other.

[madepaz]

GVSU,

I have had the opportunity to travel on all three cruiselines that you have mentioned and would recommend Princess. I am 30 years old and have been traveling on Princess the past 5 years. Carnival tends to have an average of younger passengers and many more children then Princess. I traveled on the Grand Princess Mediterranan Cruise in August-September of 2005. If you compare the duration at ports of all the cruise lines you mentioned, Princess stays the longest at each port. And believe me, there is a lot to see at each port. Regarding prices, yes, Princess is a little more expensive but you can not compare the service and the dinning experiences. It is worth the price difference. Prices are a little lower during the Autumn months. If you have any other questions, please ask.

[S.S.Oceanlover]

GVSU,

I have had the opportunity to travel on all three cruiselines that you have mentioned and would recommend Princess. I am 30 years old and have been traveling on Princess the past 5 years. Carnival tends to have an average of younger passengers and many more children then Princess. I traveled on the Grand Princess Mediterranan Cruise in August-September of 2005. If you compare the duration at ports of all the cruise lines you mentioned, Princess stays the longest at each port. And believe me, there is a lot to see at each port. Regarding prices, yes, Princess is a little more expensive but you can not compare the service and the dinning experiences. It is worth the price difference. Prices are a little lower during the Autumn months. If you have any other questions, please ask.

 

Did you cruise Carnival to the Med? I really don't think the amount of kids and average age of pax would be the same as a cruise to the Caribbean.

 

At the end of the day I'd book Princess too.:)

 

Bill

[catergirl]

hi, we were looking at med cruises ourselves and thought we might like to try another line for a change, but after checking out the other itineraries we found princess seems to have them beat! most seem to start and stop in the same port, going in a loop, backtracking over the same area. for my money, since im going that far i want to see more ports! what are you wanting to see? what is a must? then you chose! have fun!:)

[CruisinfromNapoli]

Ciao! We are booked into the Nov 21 Rome roundtrip on the Star Princess. This works out great for us, since we live in the Naples area. Even with a roundtrip itinerary, we will be in 7 ports during the 12 night cruise. I'm just now looking at the shore excursions, any advice on Egypt and Turkey?

[YoPhilly]

Ciao! We are booked into the Nov 21 Rome roundtrip on the Star Princess. This works out great for us, since we live in the Naples area. Even with a roundtrip itinerary, we will be in 7 ports during the 12 night cruise. I'm just now looking at the shore excursions, any advice on Egypt and Turkey?

 

Napoli, check out our Roll Call. One of our members has organized a great overnight excursion in Cairo.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=360036&page=62

[sunsetbeachgal]

Original Poster,

 

We prefer Princess for Med Cruises also, and have always taken a careful look at all lines and itineraries. Agree 100% with a prior poster who said that Princess ships tend to start at one port and end at another, minimizing time at sea. There is much too much to see in our opinion to spend days at sea-you can do that on a Caribbean cruise! Princess also does have longer port times which you need-seldom do you feel rushed in port!

 

As far as cost, not sure how much more Princess costs, but if you compare the total cost of the trip (airfare, shore tours, tips, cruise fare, etc, etc, etc) the cost differential between the lines really might be a small percentage of the total. Med Cruises really add up, and you want it to be special and wonderful! Good luck with your choices (ps-the Princess Med/Greek Isles cruise we took last fall was the best we have taken-check it out!

[nomars_girl]

I've only been on one cruise, but it was Rome to Venice on the brand new Emerald Princess. It was the most incredible vacation I have ever been on. I would not hesitate to recommend it.

[MercedMike]

We love RCI and cruise on it frequently, but for the Med we chose Princess and were very happy. It was a wonderful trip.

 

Check out our trip report and pics at

http://www.elite.net/~thehalls/med.html

 

Have a GREAT cruise!

[ranchette]

we just booked Holland America for next sept.

[crusinbanjo]

Best cruise for the money is the Med on the Royal Princess. We sailed on the Royal, 12 days, in June 2007, nice ship, 700 passengers, (means NO LONG LINES). Itierary was fantastic, Bacelona, St Tropez, Portofino, Rome, Sorrento, Malta, Santorini, Chinakkelle Turkey (not very good), Istanbul, Ends in Athens. I looked at a lot of lines and Itineraries, this one was the best IMHO:)