Caribbean Princess or CCL Valor

[mitchatwrk]

Anyone been on both? Same itinerary, same price. Which is nicer? Room size, food, entertainment. No bashing just honest opinions. I have never been on a Princess boat, I have done Carnival numerous times and never had a bad time. I am torn.

[10X]

Since I've done neither cruise I'm not sure that I can answer your question. However, I might be able to offer a suggestion.

 

Determine what age bracket you are interested in cruising with. Carnival has a reputation for attracting the younger crowd while Princess attracts those who are more middle age, 40-60. However, I just completed a 15 Hawaii on the Diamond Princess and at 60 years old I felt like a youngster. The average age was probably well into the 70s. Lots of wheelchairs, walkers, etc .

 

Cruise activities are usually in line with the age bracket for those onboard.

[Pia1913]

Anyone been on both? Same itinerary, same price. Which is nicer? Room size, food, entertainment. No bashing just honest opinions. I have never been on a Princess boat, I have done Carnival numerous times and never had a bad time. I am torn.

 

I haven't been on the Valor, but have been on many Carnival cruises. We are partial to Princess, but I think you will find Carnival has the larger cabin size in comparable catagories. As for the Caribbean Princess per se'..............loved it. Fantastic ship.

 

Pia

[ssantow]

Just one thing to say. Princess is a step up from Carnival.

 

If they are the same price for the same cruise in the same cabin, it is a no brainier, take The Caribbean Princess.

[Momma Mojito]

Anyone been on both? Same itinerary, same price. Which is nicer? Room size, food, entertainment. No bashing just honest opinions. I have never been on a Princess boat, I have done Carnival numerous times and never had a bad time. I am torn.

 

We took our daughter and granddaughters on the Valor August 2006. We had a good time except because of some bad weather we missed the ports we were scheduled to visit . Then this past September my husband and I did the Caribbean Princess. Both times we had balcony rooms. The way Carnival rooms are set up they lokk bigger but I'm not sure they are. I wouldn;t we would never cruise Carnival again, but Princess really won us over! We have also done Royal Caribbean and Celebrity and enjoyed those cruise lines

[dclark]

I have been on the Valor. Nice ship, but it feels crowded. Princess is more relaxing, you'll notice this when you are eating and your waiter on CCL goes off to "dance".

CCL has better entertainment, Princess has better service and food. I prefer Princess, but that doesn't keep me from enjoying CCL (sailig with them again this summer).

[addicted to cruising]

Im a diehard Carnival fan....been on many a cruise with them. Either with family or DH and I alone. Did Valor in 05 with DH and my 2 sons who were 10 and 13. Loved it Loved it! This is a rockin vessel with great ports.

 

right now Im booked to do Dawn Princess in April with DH and myself.

 

We made the decision based on the fact that we are gonna be in San Diego at a set time already and the Dawn was our only choice. With that being said, Im excited to try a new line and see what I think.

 

Overall I hear the Princess crowd is more mature....50's + (we are 41 and 50) service, food, attention to detail probably better. Rooms ? maybe alittle smaller...I dont see a big difference. Price for us comparable.

 

If I were younger...not sure this would be my first choice or if traveling with children. think if you enjoy action and the party then pick Carnival.

Carnival is the Fun Ship....usually lots going on. Younger crowd who like to party. Not over the top but very upbeat.

 

Im excited to try Princess, Ive heard great things and think we are at a point in our cruising that its appropriate for us. We have been to alot of ports and really are gonna focus on just enjoying our cruise and chilling at each port of call...not to mention Im sure Im gonna be drinking my fair share of tequila.

 

I really believe you cant go wrong on a cruiseship...you will have fun no matter what.

[manlie]

I have been on both and enjoyed both. It really depends on what is important to you in a cruise.

-In my opinion Princess offers more ethnic food on their buffet (but there is still plenty of American food). I personally love trying other foods, the BF does not.

-If you don't care to dine with strangers at a set time Princess has the Anytime Dining option. We did not care for our table mates on the Valor and our waiters were not that friendly - perhaps because of how rude our table mates were - so ended up eating at the buffet most nights. With Anytime dining if you don't find a fabulous waiter you have another chance the next night or if you decide you want to dine alone you can do so.

-If you want a balcony the Valor has larger (or seemingly larger) basic balcony rooms, but Princess has larger balconies (especially if you get the Caribe deck).

-even though the crowd was older (60's) on the CB, they had WAY more energy and drank more than we did (we are 36 and no stranger to nights of drunken debauchery).

-I found the friendliness of the staff the same on both.

-I think the CB has more pools (I could be wrong). I am a TV addict and liked the big screen by the pool on the CB.

-when booking your flights, check into Miami vs. Fort Lauderdale. We prefer Miami for a port (where the Valor sails out of I believe) and availability of cheap hotels (via Priceline).

[howard6933]

I HAVE been on both ships.....was on Caribbean Princess Dec 2007 and on Valor April 2006. I am a great fan of Princess and my wife and I are both Elite members of Captain's Circle having sailed on 19 cruises with Princess.

Last cruise on Caribbean Princess was not as good as previous Princess cruises. Something was missing which I cannot put my finger on. The food was OK, the shows were excellent (even though I had seen some of them on other Princess ships), the service in the dining room and cabin were excellent, but somehow, something was missing. We had a balcony cabin on CB and also on Valor, and the one on the Valor was larger. I think I read someplce on these boards or in a magazine that Carnival and HAL have the most spacious cabins of all the lines. We had great tablemates on Valor and every evening meal was a blast. We still correspond with the group we were sitting with. The food on Valor was better than I expected......I had sailed several years ago on Carnival and the food was blah!!!! Much better now.

Rosie's diner is the cafeteria on Valor and they have a deli with hot sandwiches, also a fish and chips one flight up in Rosie's, which is a "don't miss" place for lunch. Each time we ate at fish n' chips, a lot of the ship's officers were eating there, so that should give you an idea of how good it is.

If I were to choose betwen the Valor and CB, I would choose Valor regardless of my loyalty with Princess. I will say one last thing.......whichever one you go with, you'll definitely have a great cruise. ;)

[Oh2Travel]

We have been on both ships (the Caribbean Princess twice) and 17 cruises over all. Carnival and Princess are apples and oranges. There is nothing wrong w/ Carnival but Princess has been our preference to date. Princess is a "premium" line and Carnival "mainstream". What does that really mean?

Carnival tends to have a younger crowd, more entertainment venues and more of a party atmosphere w/ a wide range of cruisers. Children's programming seems to be very good and the children always seem to be having a wonderful time. Princess is a little quieter, the passengers on average a bit older. Overall service, food and attention to details are a step up on princess. The Movies Under the Stars is also a great feature! Princess ships are designed/decorated more to our liking w/ beautiful art work, light woods, calmer colors while Valor and CCL ships in general are louder w/ darker colors and neon in some areas. Carnival's rates tend to be lower and that's what keeps people coming back. It has made us cruise w/ them a half dozen times. It really depends on what you prefer.

Biggest disappointment on Valor: Our room was directly under Rosie's restaurant and we heard rolling food carts and high heels throughout the night.

Biggest disappointment on Caribbean Prin: The poorly designed main showroom which only has seats for around 800 passengers. No seats can be found 30 mins prior to show start times. What were they thinking?

[royalcruz]

I've been on the CB, and on the Liberty, which I believe is a sister ship to the Valor. There isn't much noticable difference in room size, but most CB rooms have a chair instead of a couch. I like the open closets on the CB. I prefer the food on Carnival, but many people would disagree. The pizza on Princess is better, and the buffet was open 24/7. I preferred the entertainment on the CB; the shows were similar, but the other entertainment was more "civilized" than on Carnival. Personally, I just don't find a room full of screaming people to be entertaining. Also, the Liberty had a bunch of lounges that were closed in, which made them too smokey, and I felt conspicuous walking into them. There also didn't seem to be as much seating in common areas outside of the lounges. The CB has more open lounges, which I prefer, as well as seating outside of lounges. The CB has a lot of different entertainment venues going on around the ship. You didn't ask about the pool area, but here's an important factor for me: I found the deck chairs to be much more comfortable on CB, and there were many shaded chairs available that were in the middle of all of the fun. I'm sure you'll have fun whatever you choose

[caribbeanboy]

And if you like to party, you will love the Skywalker nightclub on the CP

[PsychDoc]

We've been on both and previously were pretty big Carnival fans. The Valor does feel very crowded, though, and for some reason, the CB, even fully booked, doesn't feel that way. Overall, the CB has been our favorite ship overall - the best food we ever had (well, second to Crystal). We'd vote for the Caribbean Princess. Either way,you'll have fun!

[Scooter-n-GB]

I would vote for the CB over the Valor. CB has a more refined interior, and I thought that the guests on the CB were a little more polite. Also fewer children on Princess, and as others have mentioned, the CB is designed in such a way that it feels less crowded.

 

Whatever you decide, have a great time! :)