RC vs. Princess.....A Review

[isujim]

I was on the Caribbean Princess November 6th......our first Princess cruise. I have been on the Princess boards for around a year. I promised a review to compare not so much the actual cruise on November 6th but how I felt it stacked up to RC. I was meaning to post this earlier but my Mom has been in the hospital and just moved her to a nursing facility yesterday. I'm back now and while the information is fairly fresh in my mind, I wanted to post a review to compare the two cruise lines and my perceptions on both. Again, these are just my opinions. I may do this as a continuing review depending on the length. I will rate each area 1-10 with 10 being the best.

 

Embarkation Process:

 

Princess 10

RC 6

 

RC could learn something from Princess on the embarkation process.

 

Cabin

 

Princess 8

RC 8

 

We had a mini suite AD and the cabin was nice, compares with a jr. Suite on RC and those are very nice as well........not very much difference

 

Cabin Steward Service:

 

Princess 9

RC 9

 

No difference. Our steward on Princess was very efficient but wasn't overly friendly or talkative. That doesn't bother me as long as they provide the service and he did. Have never had a bad room steward on RC either.

 

The Ship

 

Princess 6 Caribbean Princess only

RC 9 Radiance Class Ship

 

The Caribbean Princess IMO, was too large, too many passengers, with not enough public areas. (for the number of passengers on board) Anything you wanted to attend, you had to get there 30 minutes early or it was standing room only. I am not blaming Princess that I chose the wrong ship..........but I learned a smaller ship suits us better. There are not enough seating areas in the public areas for 3100 passengers.

 

I have not been on a RC Voyager class ship yet, so in fairness, those might be too large for my tastes as well. The Radiance class ships are nice and well designed with many public areas and ample seating.

 

Food Quality:

 

Princess 9

RC 5

 

I am not a foodie, but there is a noticeable difference. Princess food in general is better by far.

 

Desserts

 

Princess 6

RC 8

 

Love Boat Dream aside, desserts are better on RC, but that is not a deal breaker to me. (I don't need them anyway)

 

Personal Choice vs. Traditional

 

OK........I'm not going to rate this. I did not like PC dining. It is back to traditional for me, but I won't give Princess a bad rating because I made the wrong choice.

 

Food Service

 

Princess 6

RC 9

 

Ok, I will rate this because our service wasn't good in PC dining. We waited 25 minutes the first night just for iced tea and 20 minutes for coffee. Service in PC was the worst we ever experienced on a cruise..........since this is was our first Princess cruise, I don't know how to explain this and maybe others on our cruise had a great PC experience.......maybe we just had a bad waiter. Again, not a deal breaker to me, I now want to experience Princess traditional.

 

Horizon Court 9

Windjammer 7

 

Both very comparable..........food good, but give a slight edge to Princess for hot buffet food and selection.

 

Sterling 4

Chops 10

 

One area that RC really beat Princess..........Sterling just wasn't very good and the service again was very poor. Out of 8 people, not one person finished their steak........they just weren't very good. Again, I'm not a foodie, but if you want to be fair in a comparrison, this is the way it was on at least the night we went to Sterling.

 

Entertainment

 

Princess 6

RC 9

 

RC entertainment is better. Now don't get me wrong, it wasn't bad on Princess, I just think it is better on RC

 

Casino

 

Princess 2

RC 0

 

Neither have paid off for me! LOL!:D I give Princess an edge because at least it was larger than the casino's on RC and I had more room to lose money!:rolleyes:

 

Debarkation Process:

 

Princess 7

RC 7

 

Is there any good way to end a cruise??

 

 

Bottom Line Experience:

 

We chose the wrong ship. Too many people and not enough public area's. That is my fault. We chose the wrong dining........back to traditional for us, but again, that was our choice.

 

If you take those away, I really believe there isn't a lot of difference in service and amenities on RC vs. Princess. In fact, the product is almost identical which surprised me. At least on this one cruise and on the Caribbean Princess. I kept looking for that "Princess" difference and at least on this cruise, could never put my finger on it.

 

Now a couple of thoughts on MUTS..................

 

It is not for me..........the first day at sea I tried real hard to take a book to the pool and read at 9am but it is very difficult when NEMO is playing at 9am....or should I say blaring........at least with the RC rock wall, it is on the back of the ship and makes no noise. MUTS is not for me.

 

Another thing that surprised me is what I would call the average age. I never saw more than 30 kids (time of year I suppose) and no college kids.....as a result the average age for this ship was much higher than I would have ever guessed before we went on the cruise.........but make no mistake about it, this ship IMHO was built for the 18-40 crowd.........and there is nothing wrong with that. I guess it remains to be seen if Princess moves toward the mass market appeal with all of it's ships. I guess that is why I didn't see much difference in Princess and RC, because RC does go for the mass market approach.

 

All in all it was a good experience. The ship is beautiful (of course it is new) and plenty of bars!:rolleyes:

 

Will I sail Princess again........you bet

Will I sail RC again...............you bet

 

I will choose a smaller ship and go back to traditional dining........anyone have any suggestions for Princess cruise number 2?? And which ship??

 

Jim

[LARGIN]

Thanks for the review.. I too have my reservations about the Carribean Princess. I think you would enjoy the Coral/Island a lot more and suggest that you give one of those a try.

[sue d. miller]

Awesome review!! thanks, Jim!! How about the Star???? :D And you will love traditional!! :) But Larry is also correct. That size ship is awesome too!!!

[calikak]

Thanks for the review! We have been considering trying RC and wondered how it compares to Princess, and this was very helpful information!

 

I live in Seattle so we sail to Alaska quite a bit, and enjoy it very much. If you liked the minisuites on the CP, you'd really like the ones on the Dawn/Sun. They're more like the full suites on the Grand-class ships (although, they're usually more expensive than the other ships too).

[Salty Dawg]

Jim,

 

Thanks for your review. I hope your Mom is doing better after her hospitalization - sending our thoughts & prayers to your family.

[Pam in CA]

Jim,

 

Very insightful and I agree with most of your evaluation. I've taken two RC cruises in the past couple of years, one on Explorer of the Seas and the other on the Nordic Empress (now Empress of the Seas). On both RC ships, the food and service was pretty bad. (On EOS, the Asst. Waiter brought 3 glasses of iced tea at a time and put them in front of me rather than refreshing my tea. On the Nordic Empress, granted it was an accident but two waiters didn't get their signals right and dumped a bowl of hot tomato soup all over the three of us. On New Year's Eve, there was no menu -- you got what they put in front of you whether you wanted or liked it or not.)

 

On both the EOS and Nordic Empress, my cabin steward was almost non-existant. When I boarded the EOS, I tried to find my steward and after half an hour, finally found her on her way off for the night. I couldn't get any questions answered, she wasn't there to check on my luggage, etc. until the next day. She was literally gone with no back-up.

 

I'd still go back on RC. You are right in that they are very comparable these days. We had a good time and I felt that the EOS handled the number of passengers a lot better than the Grand. Compared to the mid-sized Princess ships, I thought the Nordic Empress was pretty crowded. It had a lot more passengers for the amount of open passenger space.

 

I think you'd like the Coral/Island Princess, the Sun-class or the Regal Princess. The Coral/Island in particular have a good passenger-to-crew ratio with lots to do. You're probably better off avoiding the Star, Sapphire, Diamond, Grand or Golden as they are "almost" the same size as the Caribbean Princess and they have almost the same crowd issues.

[bdjam]

Thanks for the review – it’s always interesting to see a side by side comparison like that.

[Coral]

Interesting and a fair comparison.

 

Though I haven't sailed the Caribbean Princess (but have sailed several Grand class ships), I can understand why you rated your Radiance class ship higher (I have sailed the Radiance). A more accurate comparison would be the Coral/Island Princess which is very similiar to the Radiance class. I, am reluctant to sail the Caribbean Princess due to having 500 more passengers than the Grand class.

 

I have eaten at both Chops and Sterling and while my Sterling Steakhouse was a better experience than you had, I would rank Chops higher. Chops is more of a Ruth Chris's type atmosphere - it is fancier and more formal.

 

I think you would have had a more positive dining experience in the Traditional dining room. I have experienced both traditional and PC and my service is so much better in traditional dining. Though PC does have its advantages at times.

 

BTW - did you try the souffles on Princess? They are so good.

 

Thanks again for the comparison.

[emmy]

I enjoyed your review and liked the way you presented it. After sailing twice on RCI Voyager class ships and a cruise on Caribbean Princess last month I do agree with many of the things you said.

 

I also did not care for PC dining preferring Traditional. I had wanted tradtional but was waitlisted #547 so thought this would be my opportunity to try something different in dining but will go back to traditional. I found the service not as good and very rushed and a waiter even brought me a soup the lady at the next table had ordered.

 

Agree that desserts are better on RCI but like you said this is not an issue as to not sail on Princess for us. CP had many good points

 

I felt entertainment was better on CP with so many more options in the evening.

 

And like you said Jim "Would I sail Princess again" You bet!! I did do an onboard booking.

 

Again thanks for taking the time to give us your thoughts

 

Emmy

[spongerob]

Thanks for the great review, Jim. Sorry to hear about your mother, we're facing a similar decision here. One quick question, what is the added fee for Chops on the RC ships?

[Coral]

When I sailed RCCL - Chops was $20. When I last ate at Sterling - it was $8 (it is now $15).

 

I never compared Chops to Sterling because the pricing was so different. Now that the pricing is closer - I agree with Jim that Chops is the better steakhouse by far.

[isujim]

Rob:

 

It is more expensive........it is $20 vs. $15 for the Sterling.......but at least on this experience it was worth the extra $5. Also, and I found this very interesting, the steakhouse is right next to the main entry in and out of the Princess theatre with only a half restraining wall between the tables and the walkway...........so once the show let out, we had about 400 people or so walk right by our table as we were eating once the show let out.........it really didn't bother me so much, but I thought the layout was very strange. No privacy if you are there when the show lets out.

 

Our waiter had 3 tables that I know of.......our party of 8, another pary of 8 and a party of 4.........I don't know, this being our first cruise if that is standard or not, but she had problems keeping up with these tables. On RC you had more wait staff and less tables. We noticed each night we ate in Chops it was only half full............I asked and RC said they space reservations so they have proper wait staff for the people dining.

 

Still it wasn't a bad experience or meal..........I just thought Chops was by far better.

[Coral]

Princess theatre with only a half restraining wall between the tables and the walkway...........so once the show let out, we had about 400 people or so walk right by our table as we were eating once the show let out.........it really didn't bother me so much, but I thought the layout was very strange. No privacy if you are there when the show lets out.

.

 

OK - Princess experts - Is the Sterling Streakhouse on the Caribbean Princess in the same place as the Southwestern Restaurant (now Sterling Steakhouse) on the Grand class ships? I would have hoped they would have fixed this on the Caribbean Princess but it doesn't sound like it.

[mek]

Yes, Sterlings on the Caribbean Princess is in the same location and layout as the SW on the Grand, and Sterlings on the Star.

[Coral]

Yes, Sterlings on the Caribbean Princess is in the same location and layout as the SW on the Grand, and Sterlings on the Star.

 

This is a bad design flaw! I wish they would have corrected this on the Caribbean Princess.

[IKE]

I liked the way you did your review using the number system to grade each segment of your cruise. I have sailed RCCL and Princess and enjoy both. I found Food was much better on Princess and shows better on RCCL. Glad you enjoyed your cruise.

[mek]

Coral - I believe the design made more sense for the SW restuarant. Kind of a casual place, with live music. Not so great for Sterlings, but I imagine the Caribbean Princess was too far along by the time they realized this, since they only made the switch on the Star last year.

[Coral]

Coral - I believe the design made more sense for the SW restuarant. Kind of a casual place, with live music. Not so great for Sterlings, but I imagine the Caribbean Princess was too far along by the time they realized this, since they only made the switch on the Star last year.

 

Mek - that could be. Though I have to admit, I found it irritating also when I ate there. I didn't have 400 people walk by but there was a constant stream of people.

 

The last time I ate at Sterling - it was on the Sun Princess and the restaurant was outside. It will be interesting when I eat at Sterlings on the Star Princess. I thought it was a great meal for $8 - I will see if I feel the same when I pay $15. What I also don't know is if Sterling on the Star or Caribbean Princess is more formal than it was on the Sun Princess - on the Sun, it was as casual as the SouthWestern restaurant.

 

I will let you know in a few weeks :)

[jenny368]

Thanks for the review Jim. Now I know what to look for when choosing a Princess cruise. We will definately try it some day.

[CariBlue]

This review bolsters my opinion of MUTS--it's the PITS. Not 30 kids on board (out of 3000), and they blare a stupid Disney cartoon all day, thereby ruining the pool area for the passengers. I don't understand it and never will. Why can't people simply not watch TV for a week? They act like they will die without their precious movies and sports. What a bunch of couch potatoes. I will not sail Princess if they continue to put these atrocities onboard.

[Coolcruise02]

I agree with most of your observations between the lines. For me I give a slight edge to RCCL. The people seemed to be more our age on RCCL and they have a lot more activities that interest us. We think the aft area of the Golden is the best of any ship we have been on. :)

[LARGIN]

This review bolsters my opinion of MUTS--it's the PITS. Not 30 kids on board (out of 3000), and they blare a stupid Disney cartoon all day, thereby ruining the pool area for the passengers. I don't understand it and never will. Why can't people simply not watch TV for a week? They act like they will die without their precious movies and sports. What a bunch of couch potatoes. I will not sail Princess if they continue to put these atrocities onboard.

I suggest you look into the Island or Coral Princess.. 15 feet longer, 1140 less passengers, better staff to passenger ratio than the Carribean and No MUTS !!

[bdjam]

Mek - that could be. Though I have to admit, I found it irritating also when I ate there. I didn't have 400 people walk by but there was a constant stream of people.

I thought the Caribbean Princess deck plans showed that Sterling’s was walled off from the walkways. I agree, it’s an unfortunate design error for these ships if it’s still a promenade…sidewalk dining is one thing…this is another!

This review bolsters my opinion of MUTS--it's the PITS. Not 30 kids on board (out of 3000), and they blare a stupid Disney cartoon all day, thereby ruining the pool area for the passengers. I don't understand it and never will. Why can't people simply not watch TV for a week? They act like they will die without their precious movies and sports. What a bunch of couch potatoes. I will not sail Princess if they continue to put these atrocities onboard.

:D :D

[Missybud]

I wonder if MUTS is Princess' solution to the chair hog situation?!

[AlainBob]

Thx for your great review ! We are considering trying RC some day...

 

As for a suggestion for your Princess Cruise #2, I would suggest one of the Sun class ships (Sun, Sea, Dawn) or the newer Coral or Island. We have cruised on 3 of them (Sea, Dawn and Coral) and we stick with them. Never been on the Grand class and, even if they are great and beautiful, I don't think we will go on them.

 

Alain R.