Thinking of booking Princess.....

[Texas_firefighter]

...so for those of you who have sailed both Princess & Carnival,will you share the main differences?I love the fact that Princess offers longer cruises than Carnival,for instance the Southern Caribbean from Ft. Lauderdale instead of San Juan.Thanks.

[WeBeGone]

Carnival has, well, a carnival atmosphere. The activity staff drinks too much coffee. :D And the decor and uniforms has a "carnival" appearance. We love Carnival cruises for fun short get-aways (we live in FL).

 

Princess is more sedate but not stuffy. Princess has fresh water pools and no water slide (thank goddness). Princess formal nights tend to be more formal than Carnival's formal nights.

 

Any cruise is wonderful but we prefer Princess for anything over 5 days.

[barbarah33]

I agree.

 

Carnival is more neon and loud - IMHO. Princess is still fun but a bit more sedate. There are plenty of activities to keep you busy and with a full schedule if that's what you want. I also think the food and service are better on Princess and with more options.

 

I would, and have, always picked Princess over Carnival if given a choice.

[paul929207]

I agree, the food and service on Prncess are much better than on Carnival.

[mizLORInj]

I have been on both and liked both. Princess is less glitzy I think. Food better on Princess. Cabins similar. Public areas have more woodwork on Princess; more chrome and colors on Carnival.

If deciding between a Princess cruise and Carnival cruise, my deciding factors would be the Carnival ship's age, and the itinerary I preferred.

[newmexicoNita]

Food is way to subjective to say which is better in my opinion. We found the entrees on Princess to be the best we have experienced in over 20 cruises but the buffets to be the worst plus very few salad selections and both mornings we ate in the dining room for breakfast service sucked, so did the food. Others on the same ship would have had the opposite experience so I normally don't put too much into what others say about food.

 

The big difference for us between the two lines: Princess is more reserved with an older crowd. Carnival is glitzy and busy. Overall most lines are more alike than different, each having a niche.

 

If it were me, I would choose the line that gave me the most interesting itinerary at a price I can live with.

 

Nita

[jpg1747]

As I've said before, I think the differences (and there are many) are not important enough to sway me one way or the other. Both have pro's and con's. But they may be to others. If you want opinions from both sides, post the same question on the Carnival boards. Then just like they do at the Olympics, throw out the top and bottom scores and average the rest.

 

I pick my cruises for the itinerary and and the best price I can find. The cruiseline and particular ship, for the most part, are secondary.

[blindrid]

I agree with most of the PP's. I think Carnival has more "fun" factor. Princess was OK but I enjoyed both NCL and Carnival better. I also felt that the service was fine on Princess just not as personal as the others. The servers don't act like they're having fun as the other lines do. Obviously, this is pretty subjective and would not talk you out of Princess as it's fine, just different than Carnival.

[TexasCPA]

My LW and I are 49. Our cruise beginning this November will be our 13th. We have one son aged 24 who has cruised with us with his girlfriend (not so much fun because I had to share a cruise with my son instead of my LW). We have nieces and nephews ages 8-13 who have cruised with us. My brother and his wife (46 and 40) have cruised with us. My parents (now in the early and mid 70's) have cruised with us.

 

We have cruised multiple times on each of the cruise lines in question.

 

Bottom line for us (I am a CPA after all :D ) is this...when we sail with kids we take Carnival. When we sail by ourselves we don't take Carnival, we primarily take Princess (or sometimes Celebrity). Here in Texas Carnival is known as:

 

The Redneck Cruise Line

The "Un-Official" Cruise Line of NASCAR

The Scream At Night, All-The-Time-Party-Time Cruise Line

 

No offense intended to anyone here, but in the end it depends on who you'll be with, and what you're looking for. Carnival seems to have a lot going for kids, teens, families, and 20-30 something partyers. When we travel with Princess its usually outside of school vacations and we are always in the bottom 15% age-wise (that does seem to be going up every year though...grrr).

 

Either way, find the itinerary you want that's best for the party that's going with you.

[Texas_firefighter]

My LW and I are 49. Our cruise beginning this November will be our 13th. We have one son aged 24 who has cruised with us with his girlfriend (not so much fun because I had to share a cruise with my son instead of my LW). We have nieces and nephews ages 8-13 who have cruised with us. My brother and his wife (46 and 40) have cruised with us. My parents (now in the early and mid 70's) have cruised with us.

 

We have cruised multiple times on each of the cruise lines in question.

 

Bottom line for us (I am a CPA after all :D ) is this...when we sail with kids we take Carnival. When we sail by ourselves we don't take Carnival, we primarily take Princess (or sometimes Celebrity). Here in Texas Carnival is known as:

 

The Redneck Cruise Line

The "Un-Official" Cruise Line of NASCAR

The Scream At Night, All-The-Time-Party-Time Cruise Line

 

No offense intended to anyone here, but in the end it depends on who you'll be with, and what you're looking for. Carnival seems to have a lot going for kids, teens, families, and 20-30 something partyers. When we travel with Princess its usually outside of school vacations and we are always in the bottom 15% age-wise (that does seem to be going up every year though...grrr).

 

Either way, find the itinerary you want that's best for the party that's going with you.

 

 

Interesting.Thanks.Thanks to the other posters,I find it all really helpful.I know we will try Princess at some point,and probably RCI as well.I also agree that itenerary and price are really what matters,especially itenerary IMO.

Would love to hear from others. Doesn't seem as though I read as much smuggling alcohol threads on the Princess board either :rolleyes:.

[cmalibu1]

We are also new to princess this year. Having always cruised carnival before we thought we would try something different. (Especially because its our honeymoon) I know when I was curious about booking I asked the same questions.

 

The impressions I got were all similar to what the above posters said. Princess seems to be more upscale in atmosphere. When looking at pictures of the inside of their ships, they seem more classy and less shiny!

 

The people who frequently cruise this line seem to LOVE it, and thats good enough for me. I love cruising, love meeting the people, and while night life is important to some extent, we also want to wake up the next morning and be coherent and actually remember the ports!!

 

This line seems wonderful and really can cater to a relaxing atmosphere for a couple of any age. But, like I said, from what I understand there are things to do at night for those who enjoy a after dinner drink and some music!

[Texas_firefighter]

This line seems wonderful and really can cater to a relaxing atmosphere for a couple of any age. But, like I said, from what I understand there are things to do at night for those who enjoy a after dinner drink and some music!

 

Any opportunities for dancing?

[cmalibu1]

I know on some of the ships there is a night club called ''skywalkers''. They are usually open. I have heard the crowd can really range from being full to hardly anyone..lol.

 

But we dont care, if we want to dance, we will dance!!

[magsis]

It depends what kind of vacation you are looking for. I've sailed on both. I would pick princess but have sailed on carnival when my sister was making the arrangements. I had a good time on both for different reasons. On carnival the decor is gaudy and loud. You are going to find more people consuming larger amounts of alcohol. There's nothing wrong with this. My sister and her family love carnival. She says it's more fun. Maybe I've gotten old and stuffy but I want to go on a cruise to relax and spend time with my DH and see and do fun things and eat good food while being pampered. OK just isn't good enough. I want to go to interesting lectures in elegant surroundings and sip a good gin gimlet. I'm starting to sound like a bit of a snob but I'm not. I enjoy having a sams and reading my book on deck while the band is playing. I just don't want to see hairy chest contests or lets see how many balloons you can stuff in your swimsuit while drinking bud.

 

There ya go after this long winded explanation:

 

Carnival is sitting on deck, drinking bud, watching goofy pool games.

 

Princess is sitting on deck, drinking sams, reading your book and enjoying the band.

 

 

If my sister sees this reply she's gonna blast me and call me old, poopy, no fun, I'm just waiting...

[ChrissyBTX]

OK, here's my two cents.

 

I have been on five Carnival cruises and went on my first Princess cruise this past April (the Golden). Four of my five Carnival cruises have been fabulous. One was awful (the Destiny). Here are the differences that I noticed. Keep in mind that I can only comment on my one and only Princess cruise so I'm sure there would be differences on their other ships, just like their could be on different Carnival ships.

 

Carnival - bright/loud decor - Don't care for it, but it isn't so bad that it ruins my cruise.

Princess - more subdued - Liked it better than Carnival.

 

Carnival - Pool area seems to be somewhat louder with more games, i.e. the Hairy Chest contest & some others which I don't care for. I avoid the pool area when the games are being played. They don't continuously have games at the pool so there are quieter times to be out there.

Princess - Pool area was quieter. I liked it. Altho, I could never find a lounge chair due to the chair hogs.

 

Carnival - Buffet area - Haven't eaten at the buffet in ages, so I really can't comment. From what I can remember it was pretty darn good. (just to add this in, RCI's buffet food was unedible, ugh).

Princess - Ate lunch at the buffet as soon as we boarded the ship. Everything was fabulous. That was the only meal I had at the Princess buffet.

 

Dining Room - To me Carnival and Princess are IDENTICAL in quality of food. Most all of it was very good. Had steaks on both cruise lines and they were all bad. Service on Carnival has been excellent. One night on Princess it took us 2 1/2 hours to get through our dinner. Very slow. Other nights I would say about 2 hours, maybe a little less. Both cruiselines had friendly staff in the dining room. Carnival has the singing and the waiters parade around the room. Princess doesn't do this. I'm not fond of it, but no big deal. It doesn't last that long.

 

Cabin stewards - awesome on both lines.

 

This was a shocker to me. On formal night I found that more people on Carnival dress up. I was amazed at how MANY people were underdressed on Princess. They weren't slouchy or wearing jeans, but they definitely were not wearing formal or even cocktail attire. I'd say about 90% were under-dressed. Altho, there will be some on Carnival that try to come into the dining room way under-dressed and some will get away with it, unfortunately.

 

Cabins on both cruiselines are very similar. The balcony size was the same on both cruise lines. The balcony cabins are a little smaller on Princess, but no big deal. Now to the bedding. Carnival's beds can't get any better. Best beds I've ever slept in. Princess beds couldn't get any worse. Most uncomfortable beds I've ever had.

 

Carnival has announcements on the intercom constantly it seems like, always trying to get you to buy this or that. I absolutely hate it. I don't recall hearing one announcement on my Princess cruise. It was heavenly.

 

Entertainment (live music specifically). I like my days to be a little quieter and subdued for relaxing, but at night I love to hear live music, particularly Oldies. Carnival has had some great bands in the lounges. Princess had two different bands in two separate lounges. They were both bad and both lounges were practically empty. We didn't stay longer than 10 minutes in either place. Carnival has a Piano Bar. I didn't see one on my Princess cruise. Princess did have the Skywalker bar and they had a DJ that played some good music for an hour or two, but then he would switch and play a lot of rap music. The place emptied out when that started. Not too many rappers on a Princess cruise and I don't like it either.

 

I have not taken any cruises during the summer months when school is out nor do I cruise during spring break. I have not encountered any drunks on any of the cruises that I can recall. Yes, I think folks tend to drink more on Carnival, but I never saw anything that was out of control or obnoxious.

 

Overall, I think Carnival was a little louder during the day, but great at night. I thought Princess was pretty dead at night when it came to music and dancing. BTW, I'm in my 50's.

 

So, it all depends on the atmosphere you are looking for. I, like many others, choose a cruise for the ports. That's my priority. I like both Carnival and Princess. My least favorites were RCI and NCL.

 

I don't think it's fair to call Carnival the Walmart or Nascar or Red Neck of cruising like my fellow Texan pointed out. If it were, you wouldn't dare catch me on one of their ships. But, I did seem to notice that some of the people on Princess seemed somewhat classier overall, but then again, I have seen classy people on Carnival as well. As a friend of mine in the cruise travel business pointed out, the different ports will attract a different type of people. In the south (Galveston, New Orleans, Alabama) I think you may see a slightly different crowd (yes, some rednecks) compared to other ports you might sail from. And, if you sail from NY, I'm sure you'll see a different type of people. I'm not saying it's good or bad, it's just a different crowd sometimes. I also feel that the 3-4 day cruises will attract a different type of crowd than the longer cruises.

 

I love Carnival and Princess both. Have not tried HAL or Celebrity yet, but plan to eventually. If I were totally loyal to one cruise line in particular I sure would be missing out on a lot of ports and cruises. I was interested in booking the Crown Princess in October. All balcony cabins were sold out. Therefore I chose the Carnival Miracle, which has received rave reviews. The ports on both cruises were good, but I had to have my balcony and could only cruise in October this year, so I opted for Carnival. I'm sure it will be great. My favorite place to cruise is the caribbean and Carnival has more choices in that area. I wish that Princess would have more.

 

If you have a bad cruise on a cruise line, try it again, different port, different ship. If they're bad the second time, then don't go again. My worst cruise was on Carnival and I swore I'd never go again, but I broke down and went and I'm glad I did because I had a great time. I'm sure I'll give RCI another try as well one of these days.

 

OK, what did I forget? I think I've typed way too much. :D Happy cruising whichever cruise you decide on.

[Texas_firefighter]

OK, what did I forget? I think I've typed way too much. :D Happy cruising whichever cruise you decide on.

 

Not at all ! Thanks for the time you took,I enjoyed reading your "2 cents"

BTW,I see you're in the Woodlands, my daughter just moved there to do her internship before finishing grad. school. So,needless to say,we'll be over there quite often :D.

[hughdm]

I don't know if you're still collecting opinions, but I'll add mine. I even have what I consider to be a significant difference: Carnival will hit your credit card for excursions as soon as you reserve them. Princess will take a reservation but will charge them to your shipboard account after you get on and actually go. I prefer the Princess method. Both work flawlessly, but if Carnival cancels or changes something, I don't want to worry about what's going to happen with my money. Otherwise, I'll reinforce what others have said: glitzier decor ( I liken it to Cheesecake Factory) on Carnival, whereas Crown Princess is by far the most beautiful of the ships we've been on. Food and service seem similar. Carnival has more of what we consider "antics" such as singing waiters, hairy chest contests, etc. The cabin on Process was nicer, but we booked a higher category (minisuite), too. The Carnival cruises we've been on definitely had more kids on board. All in all, we preferred Princess, but will take Carnival if the price and intinerary are right. We went on Carnival Destiny this spring, and while she is a little old and care-worn, we had a great time anyway. Also, Carnival has intineraries from Galveston, which saves us plane fare!

[fathercop]

...so for those of you who have sailed both Princess & Carnival,will you share the main differences?I love the fact that Princess offers longer cruises than Carnival,for instance the Southern Caribbean from Ft. Lauderdale instead of San Juan.Thanks.

 

No matter what you chose or do, I think you will have an enjoyable cruise all the way around.

 

Good luck to you and enjoy your cruise.

[ChrissyBTX]

Not at all ! Thanks for the time you took,I enjoyed reading your "2 cents"

BTW,I see you're in the Woodlands, my daughter just moved there to do her internship before finishing grad. school. So,needless to say,we'll be over there quite often :D.

 

What part of TX are you from? The Woodlands is very nice, but it's becoming a bit overcrowded if you ask me.:) I see you've been on Conquest and Destiny. Looks like you've been sailing out of Galveston also. I just got burned out on the Galveston cruises. Can't wait to head to FL for my next one.

 

If you like Carnival at all, I think you'll really like Princess. I'm looking forward to sailing on Princess again. Just need to figure out when and where! Would really like to do the Mediterranean.

[Texas_firefighter]

Carnival will hit your credit card for excursions as soon as you reserve them. Princess will take a reservation but will charge them to your shipboard account after you get on and actually go.

 

Nice feature.

 

What part of TX are you from? The Woodlands is very nice, but it's becoming a bit overcrowded if you ask me.:) I see you've been on Conquest and Destiny. Looks like you've been sailing out of Galveston also. I just got burned out on the Galveston cruises. Can't wait to head to FL for my next one.

 

We are in Beaumont Colony,20 miles north of Beaumont.Yes,we started cruising just in recent years,and started with what was close by.We loved the Conquest but not so much the Ecstasy,although we had fun on her.We're branching out now,as our next one is leaving from Hawaii,and we have one planned from Ft.Lauderdale in 2010.Would like to do a Canada/New England within the next few years.Always looking,and would like to try Princess soon.

[RvrCrzr]

Alright...since you are a fellow firefighter...and I used to live in TX....I'll give my views on the two. :)

 

I prefer PRINCESS to CARNIVAL. PRINCESS ships are much nicer, and more traditional. If I were to choose a line for the best ships...the hands-down winner would be ROYAL CARIBBEAN...who's ships really Kick Butt! RCI has the biggest, baddest, boldest, and most elegant ships afloat.

 

Best things about CARNIVAL? The veterans discount. The price of their cruises is lower. Lots of itineraries, with more sea days. I thought the food was great. Service ok.(onboard anyway) Beds comfy. But I really hate that Carnival orange color.

 

The worst things about CARNIVAL? Many of the fellow cruisers were lacking in manners...such as sitting around a beautiful atrium bar in a swimming suit and no shirt? Walking around a buffet in the same manner...with no shoes?

Talk about weird...they played the game "Cornhole" in the middle of a spectacular atruim area. You won't find that on PRINCESS.

 

PRINCESS is much more sedate as far as 'party atmosphere'. I'm not saying they can't show you a good time...they have great parties too. But come 11-12pm...it can get pretty slow if you are used to kickin' it all night. I take PRINCESS cruises to relax, and pamper. They have the very best itineraries, and aren't afraid of cruises longer than 7-8 days. RCI has most of their ships doing the same crappy 7 day itineraries! (the good ships anyway)

 

To me, PRINCESS and CARNIVAL are completely different products. IF they weren't, CARNIVAL would just rename them, slap on a red funnel and lower the prices. (they own Princess)

Good luck. I love all cruises...but CARNIVAL happens to be at the bottom of my list. Still a good product at a great price...but you get what you pay for sometimes.

[Texas_firefighter]

Alright...since you are a fellow firefighter...and I used to live in TX....I'll give my views on the two. :)

 

Talk about weird...they played the game "Cornhole" in the middle of a spectacular atruim area. You won't find that on PRINCESS.

 

 

OK,I got a quick vision of that!:eek:

 

We seem to keep selecting Carnival due to the itenerary we were looking for at the time.As soon as the right itenerary is there for Princess,we are there.We are interested in a little longer cruise than a 7 day.We'll probably not do a 4 day ever again!

[ChrissyBTX]

Nice feature.

 

 

 

We loved the Conquest but not so much the Ecstasy,although we had fun on her.We're branching out now,as our next one is leaving from Hawaii,and we have one planned from Ft.Lauderdale in 2010.Would like to do a Canada/New England within the next few years.Always looking,and would like to try Princess soon.

 

I loved the Conquest also.

 

Had a great time on the Ecstasy, but it's not one of my favorite ships. I did the 5 day. I would definitely choose a Princess cruise over the Ecstasy for sure. I'm just not fond of the shorter cruises. They seem to use the older ships for those and the ports aren't as good either. But, hey, when you (we) live so close to the port you can hop on one of those at the last minute for practically nothing. It was great. But now I'm tired of it.

 

To Jollymon: It always seems Carnival and Princess are pretty similar pricewise. At least they have been when I've looked. RCI is always much higher. My RCI Splendor of the Seas was my 2nd worst cruise I've taken. Won't go into details here, but I don't have one positive thing to say about that entire cruise, seriously! I'd like to go back and try RCI again, but I keep getting flashbacks of my bad experience and then to have to pay a few hundred dollars more to go back, I keep saying "no, no". OK....it was an older ship, a smaller ship and it was a 5 day cruise. Maybe that was the problem.

[Texas_firefighter]

Thanks for all the responses.Any insight into what is included or not,as the case may be,as compared to Carnival?

[jpg1747]

I prefer to prepay as much as I can before I cruise, so I like the Carnival method for booking shore excursions and prepaying tips. I don't prebook the spa because I like to take advantage of the daily specials.

 

When you're comparing the passengers, make sure you're also comparing the time of the sailing (summer v. fall for example) and the length of the cruise (shorter cruises on any line tend to be rowdier).

 

On my first 4 Princess cruises (1989-1992), I was with a group of about 100 baseball boosters and some ballplayers. Things might be different now, but back then those Princess cruises got very drunk and rowdy, at least for our group. I can remember passengers missing the ship in Mazatlan after spending the day in Senor Frog's.