how does Royal Caribbean compare to princess

[ckr31]

I just seen a show on the travel channel it was about cruises and they feature Royal Caribbean cruise lines(radiance of the sea) how does princess compare to this cruise line just curious if anyone had done both not necessary this ship

[GottaLuvCruising]

We've done three on Royal Caribbean and are booked on our third Princess. We very much enjoyed both. IMHO Royal Caribbean has a bit of an edge in entertainment and certainly in hard-wired activities (rock wall, skating, etc). But I prefer the food on Princess, both dining room and buffet. In other areas (decor, atmosphere, service) I consider them equal.

[vjm]

Hi Ck31,

Just returned this Spring from a Southern Caribbean cruise via San Juan, Ports of Call great and it was on the Seranade of the Seas. Ship was nice, cruise was great but I like princess better, been on Caribbean Princess & Golden Princess and there pricing is better.

[paul929207]

RCCL does not have the cruises to the exotic places around the world that Princess visits.

[ckr31]

Thanks keep info coming how are the mini rooms on princess compare to rccl mini state rooms

[hubofhockey]

Travel Channel has some good shows on but they always seem to feature Royal Caribbean ships. I don't always agree with their conclusions and tips about cruising either. But they are fun to watch and get something out of them.

[Solstice23]

Junior suite on RCCL is better size then mini suite on princess

 

Service I find better on RCCL, food about same depends on ship. RCCL nicer ships on the new ships.

[Ziggy7]

I like Princess better! Better decor, better food, better service and better shows! Far better customer service for sure!!!:)

[Solstice23]

ummm decor??? LOL if you like the TV show golden girls....even the new princess ships, are all pastel...and brass everywhere...BORING. The radiance calls of RCCL wins design hands down. Ohhh and I work in retail design.

[envy4u]

I would think on this forum more people will say they like Princess more and if you go on the RCCL forum more will say they like RCCL.

 

I would say they are more similar than different.

[DonnaK]

We enjoy both lines equally. There are some things we prefer on Princess, and other things we think that RCI does better, but it all balances out to an equivalent cruising experience.

[Solstice23]

I agree they are similar, we prefer cleaner simple design and thus sail Celebrity esp the Solstice class. But Princess and Rccl are similar but Rccl has better ship design, princess has movies under the stars.

[Ziggy7]

ummm decor??? LOL if you like the TV show golden girls....even the new princess ships, are all pastel...and brass everywhere...BORING. The radiance calls of RCCL wins design hands down. Ohhh and I work in retail design.

To each their own, I called it as I see it. Just because others do not see it as you do, does not mean any more or less. And last I looked the topic wasn't called criticize those who don't agree with you.

[hubofhockey]

I agree they are similar, we prefer cleaner simple design and thus sail Celebrity esp the Solstice class. But Princess and Rccl are similar but Rccl has better ship design, princess has movies under the stars.

 

I didn't think pool area or pools on RCI come close to Princess (fresh water) pools or Princess' pool areas. But that's just me.

[ckr31]

seems like for all the post that both ships are very good.they both have pro's and con's.I guess if i was to cruise rci(which I have not)I could not go wrong

[cflutist]

Have been on RCCL (Voyager, Radiance, Adventurer) and Princess (Star x2, Tahitian x2, Regal, Coral x3) and think that RCCL has more beautiful ships e.g. 3 story dining rooms with guilded columns and chandeliers, elevators that face the sea, the Promenade down the middle of the ship etc., but like the quality of the food and service on Princess better.

 

RCCL has balcony cabins with small sofas while Princess does not (exception on the Tahitian/Pacific). RCCL has rounded glass shower doors while Princess has the dreaded shower curtain (lots of stories about it sticking to your body :D) . RCCL ships have more activities (yes hubby has gone rock climbing and we have both gone ice skating) but we don't really need to do that during a cruise.

 

Princess has the Caribe Deck with it's huge balconies ... however we did snag a balcony cabin on the Radiance in the bump out section with enough room for 2 loungers.

 

Princess has Anytime Dining (which we don't use) while RCCL does not.

 

RCCL allows you to check your account on your stateroom TV, Princess does not.

 

Princess gives us free Internet, don't know if RCCL does to its repeat cruisers.

 

Overall, I'd give my vote to Princess but would cruise RCCL again.

[DonnaK]

Princess has Anytime Dining (which we don't use) while RCCL does not.

 

 

Just an FYI: RCI now has My Time Dining on all its ships

[Worn out mailman]

You know, I've been on 4 cruises...on a different ship each time. 3 different RCCL ships and one Princess. Each time I've cruised I've missed something from the previous ship I've been on. On Enchantment of the Seas (2nd cruise) there was much less entertainment around the ship than on Adventure (my first cruise), though everything else about the ship I enjoyed more than Adventure. While on my 3rd cruise (Serenade) I missed the pool area from Enchantment, which was awesome (though other things were better on Serenade than on Enchantment). I was ultimately pleased on the Ruby Princess just 9 weeks ago, but I missed the outdoor dining at the buffet that was available on Serenade. Catch my drift? Both cruise lines are great. Neither are perfect. You'll enjoy cruising either. Ship decor, etc, is subjective.

[Cruise Junky]

ummm decor??? LOL if you like the TV show golden girls....even the new princess ships, are all pastel...and brass everywhere...BORING. The radiance calls of RCCL wins design hands down. Ohhh and I work in retail design.

 

Hmm, maybe you should reserve your judgement until you've been on more than one Princess ship 6 years ago.

[Cruise Junky]

We've sailed both lines and our favourite is Princess. Lots of things stand out which have already been listed. Love the Caribe balconies. However, the Radiance Class ships are beautiful and not as geared towards families that the other mega RCL ships are. I think it depends what you're looking for. Princess to us is far more suitable to a couple. RCL probably more for a family. Princess also allows you to bring on Wine and you can buy a bottle of liquor for your room, whereas RCL you can't do either which is a 100% deal breaker for us.

[NH Cruisers]

We've sailed both lines and our favourite is Princess. Lots of things stand out which have already been listed. Love the Caribe balconies. However, the Radiance Class ships are beautiful and not as geared towards families that the other mega RCL ships are. I think it depends what you're looking for. Princess to us is far more suitable to a couple. RCL probably more for a family. Princess also allows you to bring on Wine and you can buy a bottle of liquor for your room, whereas RCL you can't do either which is a 100% deal breaker for us.

I know what the rules state for RCI, but I have never had a problem with bringing on board in plain sight a six pack of brew and the wife bringing on a bottle of wine. Just our experiences. Every port we go to we have done this with no questions.

 

Jon

[Caramel1398]

We took our first cruise (and my parents third) on Princess and then took our next on Royal Caribbean. While we had a great time on Royal, we're going back to Princess for our next cruise. Granted, there's NOTHING that can compare to your first cruise but we just felt that overall the service was better on Princess. Princess crew members are committed to making sure their guests have the best experience possible. Customer service seemed to be somewhat of an issue on Royal. For example, we attended a show one night and when one of the servers came around and asked if there was anything he could bring us, my mom asked if it was possible to get a cup of coffee and the guy simply responded "We don't do that" and walked away. So, we got up, walked the fifteen steps out the door to the coffee bar and got her a cup of coffee. Why the server couldn't accomodate that request was beyond me. As small and petty as it may seem, we couldn't help but talk about how that would never have happened on Princess.

There was also an issue with being charged $12 for a drink on embarkation day when I had the receipt showing it was only $4.50. Granted, it was the ONLY drink I'd bought from the bar the entire trip so it was very clear to me that it was a mistake. It took me three phone calls, two trips to the pursers desk and a snotty comment from the man behind the counter of how it was "only $8 dollars" to get it resolved. We had a similar issue on Princess with being charged for something (can't remember was it was) and when we brought it to their attention it was cleared up immediately, no questions asked.

These are just a couple examples of service issues we noticed. Overall we're happier sailing with Princess and can't wait to get back onbard with them. The food was always excellent (although I will say Royal had the most unbelievable fresh fruit in the buffett everyday- I'll never know how it was consistently so fresh!) and I think it's just a more relaxing atmosphere on Princess.

 

Sorry, that turned out to be a longer answer than I had planned. Have a great cruise!

 

Caramel1398

[NH Cruisers]

Have been on RCCL (Voyager, Radiance, Adventurer) and Princess (Star x2, Tahitian x2, Regal, Coral x3) and think that RCCL has more beautiful ships e.g. 3 story dining rooms with guilded columns and chandeliers, elevators that face the sea, the Promenade down the middle of the ship etc., but like the quality of the food and service on Princess better.

 

I think this too is subjective. I just got off Star Princess yesterday. Best weather for an Alaska anyone could ask for. The ship is beautiful. The food: Average, just what I expected from the main dinning room. Same as any I have had on any RCCL ship. The Horizon Court buffett had the least choice I have ever had on a cruise. The food I ate was good, but not much choice. We actually opted for the awsome pizza at the pool and burger and fries at Trident for lunch over the buffett a couple days. Who likes squid meatballs, beef tongue sandwiches, greassy fried mackerel, or squid ball soup? This all may appeal to a lot of you, but I don't know personally anyone who likes that stuff. As far as service, ever since the pre-paid gratuities went into effect service is not the same. In the past our waiters knew us by name, not now. Our best ever experience with ships waiters was on Caribbean Princess in 2006. Our cruise we just got off of,dinning room sevice was not memorable in the long run. We have had good and bad in the past. I seems now its just average service both cruise lines.

 

Princess dinning rooms design and decor can't compare to the main dinning rooms on RCCL ships. That is really the biggest dissapointment to me.

 

Jon,

[DAVLIB007]

Hmm, maybe you should reserve your judgement until you've been on more than one Princess ship 6 years ago.

 

 

exactly

[unklez]

I think you can not go wrong with either. I'd choose for itinerary, ship, convenience and price.