Royal Caribbean or Princess?

[Addictedtwo]

Having only ever cruised with NCL (12 cruises) we are looking at adding another week to our 2010 cruise of Panama and Mexician R.

 

However because the "Star" will be relocated on Feb 6 due to Olymipic games

we have the option of Princess line on 2/6 or Royal C. on 2/7 both doing Mexican R. embarking from LA. For us cruising b2b is a way of avoiding some of the Canadian winter and taking advantage of our expensive flight costs.

 

What we like about NCL is the freestyle dining in that we don't have to dress up and we don't have to select a set dining time and we have the choice of the paid restaurants. I'm sure there won't be much of a difference between the bars, entertainment etc.

 

Which of these lines will give us the above and is similiar to NCL?Thanks.

[red lobster]

My vote is RCI. Royal is more relaxed in my opinion then Princess. I have been on RCI over 12 times, but I am by no means a cheerleader for them, my Princess experience was only this last October on the Crown and I just wasn't that impressed. I am not saying I would never cruise Princess again, the ship was nice, the staff was nice, the food was o.k., I really enjoyed the MUTS, but nothing about the cruise stood out as great.

[Tideone]

My wife and I are doing a back to back on the Sky in June to get platinum status on NCL... while searching for a way to get to Key West... I saw a four day RCL cruise from fort lauderdale which goes to key west, cozumel and a sea day...

We have done one princess cruise and a few lines that are not in existence any more. The rest of our cruises have been on NCL and we just don't know what it would be like to cruise on anything else...

[mizLORInj]

I prefer Princess over RC.

They have anytime dining, and for their formal nights sometimes we dressed up; sometimes felt like a nice top and slacks were as fancy as we wanted to go and that was just fine. Never had a problem.

Food was better on Princess than RC in my party of six's opinion. I love Movies Under the Stars on Princess too and they have the best pizza on a cruise ship. Other than that, the 2 lines are much more alike than different. I will definitely go on Princess again soon; RC maybe.

[noreddye]

Have you tried posting this question on the RCCL and/or Princess boards? You might get some additional insight that this NCL board might not be able to provide to you.

Hopefully that sounded right, I definitely do not mean this in a derogatory way.

[CruisinMaterial]

I prefer Princess over RC but NCL over both! :D The food on RCI overall (including their new Celebrity Solstice) has slipped since they've gone to mega ships. Princess has done the same but for comparable menus and probably cheaper prices I'd stick with Princess over RCI.

[Addictedtwo]

Have you tried posting this question on the RCCL and/or Princess boards? You might get some additional insight that this NCL board might not be able to provide to you.

 

Hopefully that sounded right, I definitely do not mean this in a derogatory way.

 

I thought about posting on the other boards but I felt I would get a better comparison from NCL folks, which looks like I did. Thanks for all the input.

 

I think it will be Princess which also means we can just get off the Star and go wait for Princess and not have to worry about hotel and transportation for 1 night.

[Zimomiller]

We have cruised all three lines in the last couple years.

 

I was disappointed in the food and service on RCL Adventure of the Seas, a very noticeable change since we last sailed with them.

 

Princess would be my choice if I was making the decision based upon our experience on the Caribbean Princess vs the AOS. (assuming there was not a huge price difference)

[negc]

I think you might find the Mariner of the Seas much more spectacular than whatever Princess ship you are considering. The ice show and the Royal Promenade are unlike anything you will find on other lines. We have experienced Personal Choice dining on Princess and My Time Dining on RCI and found that RCI seemed to have their act together even though the system is much newer to them than Personal Choice is to Princess. While I might have given the food in the Sapphire Princess' dining room the edge over the menu in the main dining room on Royal, the Horizon Court, even though it may be open 24/7 suffered significantly in comparison to the Windjammer Cafe on Royal Caribbean, and the Sterling Steakhouse cannot compete with Chops in style, ambience, or menu offerings. In most other aspects of cruising there is not that much difference between the two lines, so it may depend on what things mean the most to you when you have to decide between them. Whichever you choose, I am sure you will have a great cruise.:)

[drsb]

I think based on what you like about NCL that you would like Princess better.

[Linda the Book Lover]

We sailed Princess to the Panama Canal and I wanted to weep when we had to disembark because it was such a great time. Princess gets my vote and the price was less expensive for a balcony. If money and time premitted I would sail to the Panama Canal again but a repositioning on the exact same ship! We only sailed a small 4 day with RCL and it did not make us overjoyed but the price was excellent for a quick get away.

[Teacherloves2Cruise]

The Mariner of the Seas is my all-time favorite cruise ship. And, RCI has flexible dining now. In my opinion, the RCI food was better than NCL food. I haven't been on Princess. . . yet.

[KBG]

If I were deciding between RCCL and Princess with the same itinerary and price, I would choose Princess without hesitation. I have also sailed the majority of my cruises on NCL.

 

The dining options on Princess are more varied and flexilble. I especially liked how the large dining rooms on the Caribbean Princess were broken down into more intimate areas, so you felt like you were dining in a restaurant as opposed to a banquet hall. The dining experience on Princess resembles NCL more than RCCL does, although RCCL is becoming more flexible, depedning on the ship.

 

That said, I have enjoyed both RCCL cruises I've been on immensely. If RCCL and Princess were sailing the same itinerary and RCCL was significantly less expensive, I would go with RCCL and be very excited about it!

 

Have fun!

-KBG

[Addictedtwo]

Thanks again to all for your comments.