We Tried Princess, Here's My Comparison Notes

[woneill63]

I have done Princess before also, and there are options on their ships that I really liked, such as the laundry mats on each floor and the poolside grill. The service and food were basically the same. The major difference that I noticed were the average passenger's age, Princess obviously appeals to a much older crowd than RCCL. On the first night of a seven day sailing on Princess, we went to the disco at about midnight and there may have been ten or twelve people there. When I am older, probably 60 or 65 years of age, then I will start to sail with Princess on a regular basis.

[LuvMyVette]

kooljamming:

Thank you very much for posting the mini-suite pictures. Looks like a nice size cabin. What is across from the sofa? Would I be able to fit a Pack-N-Play in that area? The picture of the closet you posted, is that in the mini-suite? Sorry to ask so many questions.

Sea ya!

[DGNY]

Dancing was a concern for me. It's definitely not your shake you booty, drop it like it's hot ship. However one is only limited by their determination. Before going I placed a call out for people wanting to dance on the roll call. I met a group of ladies who were willing to party to the sounds of the live band to the disco. I got my share of dancing in but it was more by luck of the call. I was out until 12 to 1 am a few nights. I am still tired:D

 

Skywalkers had shake your booty, drop it like it's hot music going the few nights we checked it out. I'm sure how crowded it gets depends on ship, itinerary and time of year.

[geologygeek]

However, Princess, for some reason, doesn't sail the Caribbean after April:confused:.

 

Hurricanes.

[BadBoysDriveAudi]

I've never been on Princess, but my parents are frequent Princess cruisers - they are now 75. Last month they cruised on the new Ruby Princess. My mom said there were plenty of people in their 30's, and families pushing strollers. I think it may be starting to change, as far as the age they attract. I work with people who have sailed Liberty of the Seas, ranging from their 30's to 50-ish with teenage kids, so looks like Royal attracts many ages. Personally, I like more to do, so I'm looking forward to my RCL cruise in Oct. with 3 sea days, as I'm planning to climb the rock wall, boogie board on flow rider, ice skate, and hit the gym. (I think after this cruise, any other cruise line will seem boring to me because it won't have as much to do!) My last cruise was on Carnival, which had a mixed crowd. I saw people from their 20's on up to their 70's, and plenty of kids, but definitely more younger folks than older.

 

That's been my exact experience. Carnival has ages all over the place but more younger than older. I also got bored on the ship because the largest pool was about the size of the Princess adult only pool shown earlier in the thread. It had a water slide, but the slide was rather "weak".

 

Then I sailed on the Freedom and got spoiled. My sea days were filled with activities at the back of the boat. :D The Majesty doesn't compare, but at least it had half-court basketball and a rock wall.

 

From the sounds of it, the Princess ships will at least have basketball, mini golf and larger pools like on Majesty and Freedom so I think I'll be fine activity wise - and from the sounds of it, the age range will be fine.

 

I have an opinion regarding Royal's business strategy but I think it prudent to keep it to myself for now (should they actually read this thread).

[BadBoysDriveAudi]

I have done Princess before also, and there are options on their ships that I really liked, such as the laundry mats on each floor and the poolside grill. The service and food were basically the same. The major difference that I noticed were the average passenger's age, Princess obviously appeals to a much older crowd than RCCL. On the first night of a seven day sailing on Princess, we went to the disco at about midnight and there may have been ten or twelve people there. When I am older, probably 60 or 65 years of age, then I will start to sail with Princess on a regular basis.

 

And therein lies my concern. ;)

 

Maybe I'm going about this all wrong and need to manage my own expectations. This is, after all, a ship - not a nightclub that I'll find in Miami, Manhattan or LA. Ya think?

[flvol77]

I have done Princess before also, and there are options on their ships that I really liked, such as the laundry mats on each floor and the poolside grill. The service and food were basically the same. The major difference that I noticed were the average passenger's age, Princess obviously appeals to a much older crowd than RCCL. On the first night of a seven day sailing on Princess, we went to the disco at about midnight and there may have been ten or twelve people there. When I am older, probably 60 or 65 years of age, then I will start to sail with Princess on a regular basis.

 

Average age is a lot closer than you think - honestly it really depends when you cruise. In the middle of summer the Mariner's night club was dead every night and there was a lot more older ones than I expected. IMO there was no difference between Princess passengers and RCL - Carnival was an interesting group and I would rather stay at home than cruise carnival during spring break.

[kooljamming]

Skywalkers had shake your booty, drop it like it's hot music going the few nights we checked it out. I'm sure how crowded it gets depends on ship, itinerary and time of year.

 

On 70 night, this past week, we rocked the boat. I dropped it and it took me a while to pick it back up:D. If there is music and a few willing to get things started things can only get better.

 

kooljamming:

Thank you very much for posting the mini-suite pictures. Looks like a nice size cabin. What is across from the sofa? Would I be able to fit a Pack-N-Play in that area? The picture of the closet you posted, is that in the mini-suite? Sorry to ask so many questions.

Sea ya!

 

Since the sofa folds down into a bed that should give you enough toom for a pack and play. The closet is in a balcony room but i think the large closet is standard. The mini-suite has a tub so bathing smaller children.

[kooljamming]

And therein lies my concern. ;)

 

Maybe I'm going about this all wrong and need to manage my own expectations. This is, after all, a ship - not a nightclub that I'll find in Miami, Manhattan or LA. Ya think?

 

Princess is a wonderful "SAILING" vessel...not a mega mall, theme park or night club on sea. I realized since I wanted to dance but wasn't going to a nightclub to be proactive about it. I ended up dancing more than I did on any other vacation; land or sea. I even went out on the dance floor by myself and others join me. I wanted a rocking time and I took charge of it. I am sure at 65 I will be moving it on the dance floor.....so I am asking for dance partners here and now!

[Beanie01]

And therein lies my concern. ;)

 

Maybe I'm going about this all wrong and need to manage my own expectations. This is, after all, a ship - not a nightclub that I'll find in Miami, Manhattan or LA. Ya think?

 

I lived in Manhattan 16 years ago and have been to some clubs (Studio, The Underground, The Red Parrot). Yes, it's a cruise ship, not a NYC club!

[woneill63]

Everybody has different expectations of what a cruise should be, for some it is the partying, gambling, hanging out by the pool, etc... If 60 or 70 percent of the passengers are over the age of 60, the entire cruise will be different than if the average age was 30 to 35. I just got off a 4 day Navigator sailing, which was almost boring compared to last year's, because the average age was around 55 to 60. I am sure the ailing economy had a lot to do with it. Next year we will do a Carnival 4 day.

 

Badboysdriveaudi, Dude, if I were you, I would not book a Princess cruise. I only did it because it was a family reunion, there were 21 of us, and the price was right.

[LuvMyVette]

kooljamming:

Since the sofa folds down into a bed that should give you enough toom for a pack and play. The closet is in a balcony room but i think the large closet is standard. The mini-suite has a tub so bathing smaller children.

Thank you for the information. I will definitely need a tub to bathe our future son/daughter.

I checked out your Webshots cabin pictures and I have a question regarding the mini suite. I noticed that the balcony was huge and would like to know (if you don't mind) what cabin number is that. DH/I enjoy spending time on the balcony and since the little one will be taking naps we'll be spending more time in our cabin. Are there many cabins with that size balcony? Any information would be appreciated. Thank you!

Sea ya!

[cot427]

Wow, thanks for your comparisons. A lot of that was suprising for me. I always wanted to try other lines, such as NCL or Princess, but I just love Royal so much, I don't think I could.

 

Anyways, thanks again!

[barjolov]

After RCI pulled their unannounced, "sneaky Pete" revision of their OBC and Loyalty programs last Fall, a week after I had purchased a couple of Next Cruise Certificates while on-board an Alaska cruise, four of us decided to try Princess and effectively moved around $10,000 worth of booking revenue over to Princess instead of booking a planned cruise on RCI.

 

 

 

I was actually waiting for a thread like this. We did the same thing! 6 of us cancelled our Liberty cruise 10/09 & booked Emerald for the same week.

Sounds like RCCL is losing a lot of revenue! They denied us our military discount AND $200 balcony discount!!:mad: So we moved on......

 

Why did they deny your military discount and when did they do it?

[Dapzilla]

kooljamming:

... Are there many cabins with that size balcony? Any information would be appreciated. Thank you!

 

Sea ya!

 

LetsParty: Our minisuite balcony on the Crown Princess was HUGE. Ours was E730, but you'll see lots of great balcony information if you hop over to the Princess boards vs. here on the RC boards. :) Good luck!

[GoodAsGold]

Well, I guess there won't be a point of rushing to board the ship like I originally planned then. We'll just stay at the hotel a little longer and then take the shuttle over around Noon. I just can't see lugging my wheel-on and draping my garment bag over my arm, trying to juggle food in the Windjammer buffet. Thanks for the heads-up!

 

I think maybe in the suites you can get in early but not in the lower cabins. In fact, they block off the entryways with a fire door to the cabins so you can't even drop your stuff off and go explore or eat. A real PIA to lug your carry-ons around until 1:00 or 1:30 and they open the fire doors to let you in your cabin.

 

We've only done Princess once and I enjoyed it. Now that RCI has pulled the plug on combination of benefits (right after I made Diamond, too), I will sure be looking at them in the future. If you own Carnival stock, you can get OBC with that.

 

Tucker in Texas

[GoodAsGold]

And, yet we had no issues with the service and attitude at all on the Golden. In fact, my daughter hung out with many crew members at night after hours and we met up with a group of them in Cabo. Seemed like nice people. And, our actual service on the ship was fine. But, then I know that can change with each sailing. There could have been a changing of the guards, so to speak, and we could have experienced different crew members.

 

Thank you for bringing this up..........as it is the same experience that we had on our last sailing with Princess. My DW and I both felt that Princess lacked in guest services on our last cruise with them.

 

I started with Princess...........and my first cruise with them was wonderful. Even when I had nothing to compare Princess with...the care by the crewmembers on the old Pacific Princess was excellent.:)

 

On our 3rd cruise.......on the Golden Princess.........the service and attitude of the crew left much to be desired.

 

We will try Princess again........but only on their smaller ships.

 

Rick

[GoodAsGold]

I'm thinking I may even lose weight on my upcoming Mariner of the Seas cruise! :p I am so used to being able to pay a VERY late night visit to the Horizon Court and basically be able to eat another full dinner (if I wanted, and have). :o I'm not a huge 'sweet snack person' ala Promenade Cafe. But, give me a buffet where jumbo shrimp and salads and "main course" type selections are always available and I'm there! Like I said, I'll probably lose some lbs. That's not exactly a BAD thing in my case....:rolleyes: I'll just miss those midnight meals. :(

 

In December of 2007 my wife and I, Princess Platinum members, tried our very first RCI cruise aboard the Mariner of the Seas. We had a great time and will be sailing Eastern Caribbean aboard the Liberty of the Seas in less than 3 weeks. At the time I posted a detailed review, here on CC, re our impressions of RCI vs. Princess:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=677107&highlight=

 

We like Princess; we liked our one cruise on RCI.

 

In sum, of the greatest negatives on our one sailing on MOS (vis-a-vis Princess) were:

 

Dearth of off-hours availability of food.

The quality of the offerings at Cafe Promenade.

The complete lack of opportunities to ballroom dance.

Princess pizza is the bomb; MOS pizza was the pits.

 

Hard to imagine anyone not having a great time on either of the two lines.

[GoodAsGold]

On the Golden and Star Princess (Grand class) they have two MAIN pools and other smaller ones. Gorgeous pools with mosaic tiles and an underwater, sea-theme. There is a main OUTDOOR pool close to the Horizon court lido buffet and bars. And, on the same deck, but on the other side is another same size pool with a retractable roof. Sometimes they keep it covered and other times it's open. Great for colder weather or at night. They're called Dolphin and Neptune pools. They keep their pools open all the time for late-night swimmers. I prefer to lay our near the outdoor pool during the day. That's where they have pool games and live music, too. Plus it's close to FOOD and DRINK! Soooo convenient. :D

 

I'm not so sure I would like the MUTS being there during the day, though. At night-yes. But, I don't want a huge screen blaring at me all day while I'm sitting there with my beach read and beverage.

 

Great - thank you. I can do without the rock wall or FlowRider as long as I'm able to ball it up and DG is able to lay out by the pool on sea days. I prefer to stay outdoors instead of in the gym on vacation. :D

[GoodAsGold]

My in-laws have sailed twice in a Princess Grand-class mini suite with their young sons and it was more than adequate for them. Me, I always book the "cheap seats" or an obstructed view cabin and it's always been fine, too.

 

aks368:

 

Thank you very much for the detailed information on the suites. My concern is storing our items for us, our future child (we are trying to adopt) and having enough space where we aren't tripping over each other. Traveling with a little one is not easy due to packing so many items but if we have the opportunity to do so we will when he/she is old enough to cruise. I do like the bathroom setup since that would work out well and the walk-in closet. DH/I have stayed in the E and D categories on RCI with the loveseat or sofa setup. We are hooked on balcony cabins (especially aft) and do take advantage of sitting out there and enjoying the beauty around us. As you said, the sofa/loveseat is across from the vanity area with a table and it's tight. With two of us is hard... with three... it will be a comedy! Thank you again!

Sea ya!

[GoodAsGold]

So far, on all of my cruise on three lines---Carnival, Princess and one NCL---I've found the age mix of passengers to be all about the same. A nice variety. I think it also depends on the time of year you sail. Naturally, there will be more families and a younger crowd during the summer and holiday breaks. That's when I've sailed. If you go through the Panama canal or to Alaska or anywhere, for that matter, in the off-season, I imagine the age mix on ANY ship will be different (usually more retired people.) Or LONGER itineraries will often include older passengers. I found that to be true just going from a 7 to a 10 day sailing. But, overall, I've never felt that my cruises on Princess were more "mature adult" oriented. Heck, when we sailed on the Star Princess for a spring break in 2002 to the Mexican Riviera, there were 600 kids on board! Lots of families and honeymooners, as well.

 

I thought the food on Royal Caribbean was better than Princess, but food is such a matter of personal taste...

What I can say is that I don't really recommend Princess to young adults. My husband and I are 34 and 42, and we were very much the "young" people on board the Crown Princess. Princess is "elegant" to be sure, but "action?" not so much.

[GoodAsGold]

I LOVE Afternoon Tea on Princess! You can go into the dining room in your (covered swim wear) and still be able to enjoy this white glove service as if you were dressed for a grand ball. It's such a special way to enjoy some goodies and to be pampered in the late afternoon. And those little scones with whipped cream and preserves are beyond delectable!

 

We're sailing for the first time on RCCL this April. We've been on Princess a few times and found the following to be really nice options:

 

1. You can book your excursions and spa appointments on line 120 days prior to sailing. They are charged to your OBA, not pre-paid like RCCL.

 

2. MUTS

 

3. Afternoon tea in the dining room. This is not just some tea set up with some scones in the buffet area. This is white glove tea service with finger sandwiches, petit fours, scones with clotted cream and nice hot tea. (In our opinion- this is not to be missed.)

 

We sailed the Caribbean Princess and absolutely loved it. Our server was so outstanding that we were disappointed when we sailed the Crown. We were seated at a table for 8 - our server was spread very thin with apparently the Anytime Dining people. A few nights there was a party of about 16 people that they assigned to our server. No way she could give us the proper service.

 

Hope that helps those who are planning their Princess cruises.

[GoodAsGold]

My 32+ year old daughter will attest that she danced until the wee hours of the morn up at Skywalkers. That's the ship's "rockin' disco". :) Me, I prefer the lower key music and energy of the Wheelhouse Bar or other clubs downstairs. But, I've never been to bed before 1-2 AM on any cruise, and that includes Princess. After the clubs, you can always go up and grab a whole meal at the Horizon Court it you wanted. Or play a few slot machines in the casino.

 

Thank you. So I guess I have another question and I believe you're the one to answer it (seeing how you had another thread open about dancing).

 

What exactly is the nightlife like? Is it like Holland where it dies off at 11 pm or can I find people in party mode at 2 am?

 

I'd be a fool to exclude other people who've cruised Princess from answering, so I'm accepting answers from anyone with specific knowledge. :D

[GoodAsGold]

When I went up to Skywalker's Lounge a couple times with my 32 year old daughter, it was definitely booty shaking! I got into it the first night, but then decided to leave that for the younger crowd! She chose to dance there every night, mostly with crew members who were off work. The CD, assistant cruise directors and the ones who ran places like the photo shop, etc. She had a blast and was amazed that these guys could stay out all night and still be up to do their job in the morning.

 

Dancing was a concern for me. It's definitely not your shake you booty, drop it like it's hot ship. However one is only limited by their determination. Before going I placed a call out for people wanting to dance on the roll call. I met a group of ladies who were willing to party to the sounds of the live band to the disco. I got my share of dancing in but it was more by luck of the call. I was out until 12 to 1 am a few nights. I am still tired:D

[GoodAsGold]

Exactly! I agree with what you said here on all accounts.

 

 

Skywalkers had shake your booty, drop it like it's hot music going the few nights we checked it out. I'm sure how crowded it gets depends on ship, itinerary and time of year.