Crown Princess vs. Carnival Glory?

[hubofhockey]

My final remarks on a Carnival Glory vs Crown Princess relate to price and what you get. If price is not an object, I would choose the Crown Princess. But if it's a choice of a balcony cabin on the Glory versus and inside on Princess for the same price or more, you might want to go Glory. With price savings, you'll also be able to dine in Carnival's outstanding supper clubs. There are lots of trade offs in the selection of the two cruises. I would also look at comparative itineraries and whether you like port days or sea days.

[Tatka]

While Carnival prices are cheaper, balconey on Carnival will be much more expensive than insides on Caribbean.

 

Insides on Glory could be $200 (in total) cheaper than on Princess, but there is a reason for that... ;)

[jb008]

One more thing, the reason why I am still looking at other ships after really liking what I've seen/read about the Crown Princess is that the Carnival Glory leaves out of Port Canaveral which we can fly to for very cheap vs. spending a bit more flying to Ft. Lauderdale. Also, the Carnival is cheaper overall than the Crown Princess. So I'm wondering if Princess is worth the extra $$$. Thanks again!

 

~Sara

 

Make sure getting to/from Port Canaveral factors in ground transport costs. We're doing Port Canaveral in December, and it will require us to rent a van both ways to get our party of 6 to and from Orlando to the actual port. Your travel costs may be lower than first glance if the port and airport are close to each other and you do a little planning regarding ground transports (ex. San Juan airport to the pier was $21.50 + tip for both DW and I one way via taxi, whereas the Princess transfers from ship to airport cost us $60 + tip one way).

[hubofhockey]

While Carnival prices are cheaper, balconey on Carnival will be much more expensive than insides on Caribbean.

 

Insides on Glory could be $200 (in total) cheaper than on Princess, but there is a reason for that... ;)

 

I just checked this one out of curiosity and you are wrong. Inside on Crown Princess is 848. Balcony on Glory as low as 829 per person. An inside on the Glory can be had for 499. That's a pretty big difference when you're talking two people. It sounds like you'll have a great cruise either way. But if money is an object here, the Glory is probably a very good option and Carnival is running a 3-week special on the Glory for a free stateroom upgrade.

[Tatka]

I just checked this one out of curiosity and you are wrong. Inside on Crown Princess is 848. Balcony on Glory as low as 829 per person. An inside on the Glory can be had for 499. That's a pretty big difference when you're talking two people. It sounds like you'll have a great cruise either way. But if money is an object here, the Glory is probably a very good option and Carnival is running a 3-week special on the Glory for a free stateroom upgrade.

 

 

For the same week?

[hubofhockey]

For the same week?

It's a January comparison from travelocity which follows the prices of the lines. Another thing OP should consider is that Glory is a Saturday to Saturday cruise and airfare home is much cheaper on Saturdays. I learned that this year on my cruise. My Crown Princess gets in on Sunday when flights are really expensive. I may spend Sunday in Florida and visit family and then fly back on Monday morning to save some money.

 

I think Carnival is a great line for young people taking their first cruise and the Glory is in the top level (Conquest) of the Carnival line and is still relatively new. I wouldn't go on a lesser Carnival ship class. I have taken two Liberty cruises the past two years and enjoyed them both. I am a bit Carnivaled out at this point. I'm ready for a different vacation. But to a new cruiser, especially a younger one looking out for cost, I would go with the Glory here.

[willysgrandma]

Believe it or not, Fodors has rated Carnival among the top four cruise lines in regard to food. The other three were Celebrity, Regent Seven Seas and SeaDream.

 

And among the four best for sport and fitness centers (Princess' Grand Classes were mentioned too),Speciality Restuarants, Family Cruise Line, Regular Cabins, Best Beds, Fun and Funky Activities and Shops on Board.

 

That said, I am still a pretty big Princess fan.

[Tatka]

 

I think Carnival is a great line for young people taking their first cruise and the Glory is in the top level (Conquest) of the Carnival line and is still relatively new. I wouldn't go on a lesser Carnival ship class. I have taken two Liberty cruises the past two years and enjoyed them both. I am a bit Carnivaled out at this point. I'm ready for a different vacation. But to a new cruiser, especially a younger one looking out for cost, I would go with the Glory here.

 

 

If I HAD to go on Carnival again, I would pick their Miracle, Legend, Spirit or Pride.. Ship design and lesser number of people would make this vacation ..not perfect.. but sane.

 

We paid very low price for Liberty cruise, but now that we think about it we paid very HIGH price of wasted vacation. Sorry, but we couldn't enjoy it when we wanted to hide from crowds most of the time. We felt as being herded and even disrespected (not because of bad service, it was good)... This has never happened on any other ship, big or small.

 

Conquest class ship weren't built with passenger comfort in mind. :(

[shark_bait]

If a picture is worth a thousand word's, Tatka's pictures of the pool decks says it all. That theater style seating Carnival has going, around their main pools is making me dizzy all over again, uh oh flashbacks.:D You guys sound like pool people, if so take the Fresh Water, nicely decorated pools of Princess over whatever that is that Carnival has going on with their pools.

[hubofhockey]

If I HAD to go on Carnival again, I would pick their Miracle, Legend, Spirit or Pride.. Ship design and lesser number of people would make this vacation ..not perfect.. but sane.

 

We paid very low price for Liberty cruise, but now that we think about it we paid very HIGH price of wasted vacation. Sorry, but we couldn't enjoy it when we wanted to hide from crowds most of the time. We felt as being herded and even disrespected (not because of bad service, it was good)... This has never happened on any other ship, big or small.

 

Conquest class ship weren't built with passenger comfort in mind. :(

 

I don't consider my Liberty cruises to be wasted vacations. But you and I might cruise for different reasons.

 

First, as far as comfort goes, if you're not going to get a mini-suite or above, Carnival cabins are bigger and balcony cabins all have sofas. Second, the Liberty has an outstanding specialty restaurant. Third, if you're into a more port intensive vacation, you are certainly better off with bigger cabins and Carnival's itinerary. Fourth, OP has already let on that money is a factor since she is considering Orlando as a preferable embarkation port due to cost.

 

Carnival does have drawbacks. The Liberty's breakfast buffet is awful. The Lido restaurant also gets crowded for lunch. But my dinners in the dining room were superior to the ones I had on my RCCL cruise in terms of quality and selection. With respect to crowding, the Liberty (and probably the Glory too) has a central pool area that gets crowded and is full of chair hogging. But you can always find a chair somewhere and some quiet if you need it. It is incredibly hard to have a bad time on a Conquest ship. You have to try very hard at it.

 

To many young people, money is a factor. The Crown Princess offers more than the Glory. But if the OP isn't interested in all of the activities on the Crown Princess and was more interested in just going out dancing, seeing shows, or to other clubs, than the Glory is a great buy and a good option. To some people, saving $500 to $1,000 per couple is important. We all come into this with different expectations and requirements of our cruise vacations. The Glory and the other Conquest ships certainly fill that for many different kinds of people. I will say this. When we go to Europe in the next couple of years, I will look to the new Carnival Splendour first (Freedom second) and I know I'll be able to get a good sized balcony cabin at a reasonable price and I know I can use the savings on doing better things at European ports.

[DonnaK]

If I HAD to go on Carnival again, I would pick their Miracle, Legend, Spirit or Pride.. Ship design and lesser number of people would make this vacation ..not perfect.. but sane.

 

We paid very low price for Liberty cruise, but now that we think about it we paid very HIGH price of wasted vacation. Sorry, but we couldn't enjoy it when we wanted to hide from crowds most of the time. We felt as being herded and even disrespected (not because of bad service, it was good)... This has never happened on any other ship, big or small.

 

Conquest class ship weren't built with passenger comfort in mind. :(

 

 

This is how we feel about our Carnival Miracle cruise. It simply was not up to par with our cruises on other lines. Yes, the food and shows were excellent, but that's about it - the ship/crew seemed unable to handle the number of passengers, and this was evident in the atrocious level of service we received, esp in the dining room.

[S.S.Oceanlover]

I have a 2 year old daughter who does enough jumping on my head in one day to last me a lifetime :p

 

Thanks for the reply, I guess I should stick to my gut instinct and go Princess!

 

Yep we all know there are tons of kids cruising in January.:rolleyes:

 

Princess has the better pools and they are fresh water. Food I'd say is a tossup.

 

Anytime dining on Princess is a plus for us.

 

I wouldn't expect a diverse crowd on Princess in January.

 

Bill

[Tatka]

But you and I might cruise for different reasons.

 

I cruise to relax, to be in nice place, to have fun..

 

First, as far as comfort goes, if you're not going to get a mini-suite or above, Carnival cabins are bigger and balcony cabins all have sofas. Second, the Liberty has an outstanding specialty restaurant. Third, if you're into a more port intensive vacation, you are certainly better off with bigger cabins and Carnival's itinerary. Fourth, OP has already let on that money is a factor since she is considering Orlando as a preferable embarkation port due to cost.

 

Restaurants, even regular one, were fine by me. Cabin - we always sail in inside cabin so we can compare them all. Inside on Liberty didn't feel bigger than on Princess or RCCL Explorer although they both listed as 160 sq ft vs 180 on Liberty... Liberty's cabin didn't have sofa, while RCCL's had.

 

But it's not the problem. We just sailed on the ship with THE smallest cabins ever (NCL Spirit) and some cleaning service problems, but it was much more of a vacation. Nicer pool area, nicer ambience, better overall entertainment etc, no crowds everywhere - and this was spring vacation with 800 children on 78K tons ship.

 

We are always watching the cost of our cruise, don't play in casino much, dring expensive drinks etc (we would pay for some great excirsions though) this allows our family of three to have 2 cruises per year, but ambience is very important to us.

 

OTOH, if OP sails in January, they might have less problems with crows than we did.