Should we pay extra to travel on the Crown princess rather than the Sea princess?

[honeymoon06]

We have been trying to decide between a 10 night caribbean cruise on the Emerald or a 14 nights carribean cruise on the Sea Princess. We decided we wanted to cruise for 14 nights. The longer the better!

 

The cruise will be during March 08 easter holidays.

 

But i have now seen we could do a 14 night caribbean cruise on the Crown Princess at the same time. But it will cost £400 more than the Sea Princess cruise (in total, not per person). I must add this includes airfare from the uk.

 

Would you personally pay the extra to travel on the Crown Princess?

 

My husband and I are both in our twenties and we have previously travelled on the Coral Princess which we very much enjoyed.

 

We definately want to sail for 14 nights so its between the sea princess or the crown princess! A hard decision to make.

[CruisinChris]

Sailing that time of March means that there will be HUGE numbers of teens and children sailing as part of the US spring break. It would seem to me that since Sea Princess is being marketed primarily toward the UK that you might encounter fewer kids, if that's a concern. I know first-hand that this changes the ambience onboard. If you're not overly concerned then the newer ship, Crown P., is certainly worth the money for more amenities. However, this ship definitely attract families because - 1. it's newer with better facilities for kids, 2. Crown Princess sailings are marketed as 7-day cruises in the US which are manageable for families (your 14 day is actually two 7s back-to-back), 3. Puerto Rico has been known to attract large local family groups on holiday sailings.

 

I'd actually recommend you go about two weeks earlier to avoid the mad crunch of spring break altogether. Both ships are lovely but from different eras, so to speak. If you want a laid-back vacation, a great pool and nice evening options go Sea. IF you need tons of options and latest greatest, go Crown but be prepared for a scene.

[CPMichael]

Is the cruise on the crown princess a B2B cruise?

 

I think either would be a great choice, however the Crown is much newer than the sea princess. If you enjoyed the intimacy of the coral princess, you will probably enjoy the Sea Princess as well.

 

I think the itinerary would play a big part.

[honeymoon06]

Thanks for your replies.

 

Yes its a B2B cruise.

 

Can you tell me what the dates are for US spring break in march 08? We woud be travelling on the 21 March until 6 April which is the UK Easter school holidays. I work in a school so unfortunately i can only take holidays in school holiday time!

 

We did really enjoy the intimacy of the coral so maybe the sea princess is better for that.

 

BUT we were only on the coral for 9 nights. So i'm a bit worried we may find 14 nts on the sea princess a bit 'boring' if it has alot less amenities.

 

Does the entertainment differ much on the smaller ships and the larger ships?

 

I don't fancy being overrun by kids. But if the sea princess is geared towards the british there may also be alot of kids on there because its the easter school holidays.

 

Do the bigger ships feel very crowded? I know they have more space but they seem to have alot more passengers.

[Cruise Junky]

Another thing to keep in mind, if you do the Sea Princess you will completely bypass US Immigration which can be a PAIN!!

[Pam in CA]

If it were me, I'd book the Sea Princess in a shot. You appear to be from the UK and you'll find the food and entertainment on the Sea Princess much more amenable.

 

The Crown is newer but MUCH bigger (about 2x the number of passengers). The Sea Princess is a nice ship, albeit older, that has some wonderful spots on it that the Crown doesn't have. For instance, there is an open public area at the back of Aloha deck with loungers in both the sun and shade, with few kids in sight. Waitstaff from the deck above come down and take soft hard drink orders. I also love the Promenade deck which is a true promenade deck where you can walk completely around the ship and which has padded loungers so you can relax and watch the water go by (or see whales, as I did.)

[criuisingurl079]

Well, if you would like my 2 cents, I'm also in my twenties, and just was on the Crown 9 night for my honeymoon. We had such a great time, and the kids didn't bother us a bit. We normally cruise in the months that the kids are in school, but the wedding was in June, so that's when we went.

Awesome ship, tons to do, great service! Out of all our cruises this one was the favorite hands down!

Is this B2B a Southern Caribbean cruise? I don't think they are known to get as many children then the ones out of Florida?

Either way, u will have a grea time!

 

EnJoy! :D

[honeymoon06]

Thanks so much for your replies.

 

We've decided to go for the Sea Princess.

 

We are from the UK so it does sound like entertainment may be more geared towards our taste. But the real reason is we loved the intimacy of the Coral Princess and fear we would lose that on a much larger ship.

 

Plus the extra money we save can be used for spa treats or excursions.

[Pam in CA]

Well, if you would like my 2 cents, I'm also in my twenties, and just was on the Crown 9 night for my honeymoon. We had such a great time, and the kids didn't bother us a bit. We normally cruise in the months that the kids are in school, but the wedding was in June, so that's when we went.

Awesome ship, tons to do, great service! Out of all our cruises this one was the favorite hands down!

Glad to hear you had a great time on the Crown but since you've never been on the Sea Princess, which is very different since it's more of a UK product than US, I'm not sure you can knowledgably compare them as to which you would recommend for the OP.

[Pam in CA]

We've decided to go for the Sea Princess.

 

We are from the UK so it does sound like entertainment may be more geared towards our taste. But the real reason is we loved the intimacy of the Coral Princess and fear we would lose that on a much larger ship.

You've made the right choice for you. Our British tablemates on the Sea Princess felt sorry for us that the comedians were so geared towards the UK that most US passengers didn't get the jokes but the UK passengers were roaring. :) Plus, you'll find "British" bacon in the buffet rather than US bacon. FYI, you'll also find UK electrical outlets in the cabin in addition to the US outlet.

[Dena]

If it were me, I'd book the Sea Princess in a shot.

 

The Sea Princess is a nice ship, albeit older, that has some wonderful spots on it that the Crown doesn't have. For instance, there is an open public area at the back of Aloha deck with loungers in both the sun and shade, with few kids in sight. Waitstaff from the deck above come down and take soft hard drink orders.

 

I also love the Promenade deck which is a true promenade deck where you can walk completely around the ship and which has padded loungers so you can relax and watch the water go by (or see whales, as I did.)

 

 

Yes! The Sea Princess gets my vote (if she is a sister of the Dawn) - and it isn't even close! THe Dawn Princess has a Promenade deck with loungers (this means shaded loungers), the Crown does not - only upright chairs. We've never sailed the Crown, but have sailed Diamond and Sapphire - the Crown is even larger. Service on Sapphire and Diamond did not compare to service on the Dawn - on a positive note, both Diamond and Sapphire have wide enough promenades for loungers. I guess Crown and Emerald had to sacrifice some of this width in an attempt to provide more space in the bars etc to accommodate some of the people from that extra deck of cabins. Also the Captain of the Dawn kept the pools around 87 degrees - this info was on the TV in the cabin; the Diamond and Sapphire pools were not so warm. Bar service was easily available on the promenade deck of the Dawn, not so on the Sapphire and Diamond. The crew were also much happier on the smaller ship. Much happier.

 

People talk about all the so-called extra features of the larger ships - none of them are of any value to DH and me. In fact, I am very jealous that most of the Sun class ships are being deployed to ports that are inconvenient for us (Australia, Barbados).

[britsbest]

The Sea Princess flights are charter so you will be restricted to one case @ 23 kilos where as scheduled allow 2 cases. This was a major concern and is why we decided to do the cruise below

[Tatka]

Thanks so much for your replies.

 

We've decided to go for the Sea Princess.

 

We are from the UK so it does sound like entertainment may be more geared towards our taste. But the real reason is we loved the intimacy of the Coral Princess and fear we would lose that on a much larger ship.

 

Plus the extra money we save can be used for spa treats or excursions.

 

 

We sailed on Caribbean Princess which is almost like Crown.

 

We sailed on Carnival Liberty before and were afraid, that CB would lack intimacy as well. We were very WRONG!

 

Princess ships looks hige, but they split into small zones, and each o them cozy.. I am talking especially about pool areas.. CB had the best and most number of pools out of all ship we saild. It had 4 main pools (2 of which were strictly adult). Then there are severall smaller but cozy restaurants and I am not even talking about number of bars/lounges with live music.

 

All and all it was the best cruise for us....:)

[KreinKrunker]

Personally, I would pay more to sail on Sea Princess. I just happen to like the smaller ships more than the larger ones. The Sea was built in 1998, but sailed under the P&O flag, as the Adonia, from 2003-2005. When she came back to Princess, most of the changes made for P&O remained, and Princess markets the ship to the Brits. As mentioned already, by taking this cruise, you do not step foot in the US, and won't have to go through US Customs and Immigration. Being a 14 dayer there probably will not be many school age kids from the US, even if it is over the Easter holiday.

 

If you sail on Crown Princess, it can be broken into a seven or a 14 day cruise. The shorter the cruise, the larger the chance for kids. The only thing that might help to reduce the number of kids, is that it sails from San Juan. The cruises that leave from the mainland will have more kids on them.