From Royal Caribbean to Princess

[NoVa Mimi]

We have sailed a number of cruises on Royal Caribbean and having just returned from Freedom of the Seas, have decided to make a change and try Princess :) Our most recent cruise was our worst to date (but still a cruise! :) ). It seems that as Royal Caribbean is getting more and more huge ships their customer service and loyalty programs seem to be suffering.

 

The problem is I know nothing at all about Princess ships, cabins, etc. and I am hesitant to book without some sort of idea as to what type cabin/balcony to get, and the Princess experience. I've read some of the wonderful accolades previously posted, but still have a few questions if someone would be kind enough to help me with. We are interested in one of the newer ships and are looking at a Caribbean cruise in July 2010. We sailed on Carnival two times a number of years ago, so I think we'd be able to get past guest reciprocal benefits, though I am not certain.

 

We enjoy the Grand Suite size on Royal Caribbean, what would be the comparable on Princess? What decks have fully covered balconies and do those decks get a lot of nose from the deck above? The suites on Royal Caribbean have very limited "extras". The one nice extra they offer is special reserved pool area loungers.

 

We travel with our 18 year old son and found that there was very little, in the way of activities, for that age group on Royal Caribbean (other than the casino and the disco drinking coke, which both get very old after a short time). Does Princess offer lectures of any type , like photography or anything? For those of you with young adult children, do they find much to do?

 

I would be very grateful for any type of information and ideas that you all might be able to offer! Sorry that this is so long.

[ggprincess2004]

We haven't sailed the mega ships of RCC, but we do love the Princess ships.

 

Princess does not offer reciprocal benefits between Carnival and Princess. Sorry.

 

Grand Suite size on RCC means one of the largest suites on Princess I believe, and they come with some pretty nice perqs, so you won't miss reciprocal benefits if you book a full suite. No reserved loungers by the pool areas though. Free laundry, free internet, priority boarding and tendering, breakfast in Sabatini's (or in your suite), stocked mini-bar and more.

 

Activities for 18 year olds - too old for the Princess kids program too. But, the vast majority of the time Princess has a get-together for the young adults. It is frequently the first evening sometime after sailaway, so be sure to check the Princess Patter upon boarding and send your young man. It is a great way to meet other young people on the same sailing. Our 19 year olds didn't suffer from a lack of things to do (they like to sleep:eek:), and enjoyed Skywalker's at night. There are a lot of activities going on, some of which may appeal to your son, and many he will probably pass on. But, there is no flow rider, no rock climbing wall, that kind of thing. Lots of pools, freshwater, MUTS even during the day...our kids always enjoyed themselves. The buffet area really is open 24/7, and the pizza is really excellent.

 

Princess has a Scholarship at sea program, and sometimes the lectures include photography, usually there is a photoshop workshop or 5, and usually a guest lecturer.

 

Give it a try - either the Emerald or Ruby is in the Caribbean for the summer and they are fantastic ships, lots of great venues.

[patseacruiser]

I have to agree with the above poster. Although there is no rock wall, flowrider, etc. your kids will meet up with others and do their own thing. I too am probably going to convert to Princess again because Royal Caribbean has been really ignoring the consumer. I don't know what their problem is but.... Princess is a very nice line and I'm going back there. Carnival doesn't reciprocate with Princess even though they own them. In fact I inquired before my first Princess trip if it would be like Carnival because I was going to cancel and she said they don't even like to mention that they are owned by Carnival. They try to keep it separate. I think rooms are comparable and if you liked the Grand Suite on RCI I am sure you would love the Aft Suite with Balcony on the Ruby or the Grand or the Emerald. So now it's just the itinerary. Just my opinion but your kids would probably meet other kids on a Caribbean trip which tends to have more families than a Europe trip.

[DMaugle]

NoVa-We just returned from the Caribbean Princess, NY RT w 4 stops, and had never before tried Princess. We had a very nice suite on the ships aft, C748, fully covered, which had a fairly long list of extra amenities. You can search this forum for the full list and it is nicer than RCL's perks IMO. We had no issue with noise whatsoever.

 

As far as kids 18-20 that remains an issue for almost all the cruise lines. These kids are adults as far as their relationship with minors. While we certainly thought of our kids as "kids" the ships do not want to mix an 18-20 yo young man with 15-17 yo young ladies and I can crtainly understand their point of view. That said it provides a very small pool of tweeners on most any cruise. We had 700 teenagers on our July cruise and that helps enormously as the sheer size of demographics will provide your son the opportunity to meet people of similar interests. I think the 8 or 9 day summer cruises from the northeast draw a lot of families and your son might benefit greatly from the choice.

 

Overall we found Princess very comparable to RCL and Carnival as far as service/food/entertainment/passengers and we had a great deal of fun on our trip. Good luck with your choices. Regards, DMaugle

[FLACRUISER99]

Carnival doesn't reciprocate with Princess even though they own them. In fact I inquired before my first Princess trip if it would be like Carnival because I was going to cancel and she said they don't even like to mention that they are owned by Carnival.

Carnival Cruise line does not own Princess, HAL, Cunard,etc, All of these Lines Including Carnival Cruise Line are owned by Carnival Corporation a large holding company and all the lines are run as separate companies.

[NoVa Mimi]

Thank you all so much for the wonderful information! I am really very excited about trying something new and it seems that Princess will suit us very well :)

 

The only other bit of information that I am wondering about is the balcony configurations. I understand some are exposed, partially exposed and completely covered. We would like to have a balcony that is completely covered. Are those on a specific deck (Emerald or Ruby), or on several decks?

 

Anything else that anyone can share would be very much appreciated! Thanks you again!

 

Tami

[kimchee1212]

Thank you all so much for the wonderful information! I am really very excited about trying something new and it seems that Princess will suit us very well :)

 

The only other bit of information that I am wondering about is the balcony configurations. I understand some are exposed, partially exposed and completely covered. We would like to have a balcony that is completely covered. Are those on a specific deck (Emerald or Ruby), or on several decks?

 

Anything else that anyone can share would be very much appreciated! Thanks you again!

 

Tami

 

Usually the Aloha Deck has completely covered balconies.

[Shifra]

On the grand/gem class ships most balconies are covered. The standard balcony cabins on caribe deck are half covered/half open, and larger than other balconies. All other standard balcony cabins are covered.

 

If you want a mini-suite the covered balcs are on emerald deck.

[JPRLHR]

Thank you all so much for the wonderful information! I am really very excited about trying something new and it seems that Princess will suit us very well :)

 

The only other bit of information that I am wondering about is the balcony configurations. I understand some are exposed, partially exposed and completely covered. We would like to have a balcony that is completely covered. Are those on a specific deck (Emerald or Ruby), or on several decks?

 

Anything else that anyone can share would be very much appreciated! Thanks you again!

 

Tami

 

If you were to take an aft suite as suggested previously as the comparable suite to that which you're used to on RCCL, they are full covered. They are of a very good size and deep too with a wooden dining table and chairs plus two sun longers.

[ggprincess2004]

The best balconies for regular cabins are on the Caribe deck where they are partially covered, partially open. They are larger than the balconies on all the other standard cabin with balconies. Minisuites on Dolphin have larger balconies but they are completely uncovered, minisuites on Emerald with covered balconies book quickly.

[jkmcmom]

I'm a recent convert from Royal to Princess. I was on a girls getaway in February - we had a balcony cabin. Then, in May went with DH on a cruise to Alaska on Star Princess. Absolutely loved Princess! I liked all the areas on Star where one could find to just get away & feel secluded.

This was DH's first "civilian" cruise - he had sailed with the Navy for 28 years. He's definitely a convert to sailing on Princess now!

We had no children traveling with us so I don't know about activities for them.

One major difference that I really liked on Princess is the dining options. We took anytime dining. This was perfect - we didn't have to worry about getting back for a specific dining time. We had all the pleasantries of traditional, just not a definite time or a specific table.

DH really enjoyed the buffet too.

I don't believe RCI has afternoon tea. I went with my bf one afternoon on Star while our husbands were off enjoying a beer. This was a pleasant relaxing break.

Also, the buffet is open 24/7. And Princess does not charge for room service delivery at night like RCI now does.

The only thing we didn't have that I had on RCI is towel animals. I'm sure if I had told our steward I needed a towel animal, one would have appeared. It just isn't something I needed to enhance my cruise experience.

I personally experienced a much better attitude from the dining room staff at breakfast than I did on RCI. I'm an early riser & would go to breakfast by myself - with a book to read. The maitre'd on RCI did not appreciate my request to sit by myself & proceeded to attempt to sit me with a large group. I took a chair away from the group at the end of the table & had solitude. When on Star I went to breakfast & the maitre'd assured me it was no problem for me to sit alone - no attitude, no problem. I only ate breakfast once in the dining room as the other times we ordered room service so we could enjoy our balcony & watch the beautiful scenery of Alaska as we sailed by.

There are some great threads here on CC that describe cabins and lots with actual pictures. Do a search & you'll find the info you're looking for.

DH & I are looking forward to our next cruise - we know it will be on Princess, we're just not sure exactly where we'll be going. Enjoy your cruise - let us know what you think!

[rebeccalouise]

Eighteen is a tough age. If there wasn't much to do on Royal- there is even less for this age on Princess.

 

I don't like Royal and I love Princess but it there aren't many activities for 18-20s. Just being honest.

 

My son at age 17 was in the cabin with other teens drinking alcohol that they purchased and brought back to the ship. We were on NCL

 

I wasn't aware of this until I found some photos on my digital camera!

[NoVa Mimi]

You all are some of the nicest folks that I've had the pleasure of "talking" with on CC! :)

So many helpful answers, thank you! I really appreciate your help and patience as well!

 

It seems that we'll choose between Emerald and Caribbean (6/10, 7/10 or 8/10). Any pros/cons about either ship? Is one much different than the other?

 

In reading posts it seems that the Sanctuary is VERY popular. Are deck chairs really that difficult to find at the pools without going to the Sanctuary? We usually go out to the pool at about 9am on sea days and stay until about 12-1.

 

Thanks so much again.

[ggprincess2004]

Emerald is newer than Caribbean, but Caribbean is just out of dry dock, itinerary would be the deal maker for me.

 

Loungers are not hard to find if you don't need to be in the first rows around a pool, but sailing in the summer means kids. If you want "Sanctuary" from the noise and poolside activities at the two midship pools, there is the aft adult only pool (loungers might be taken by real bodies in them, not just towels or books) and the forward adult only pool, where there are not whole lot of loungers and they are usually pretty well spoken for. But there are plenty of loungers one deck up all over the ship.

 

We happen to love Sanctuary, so for us it is worth the $15 per day for the entire cruise, and we try to book it as soon as we get on board and try to be on board among the first.....not having it would in no way ruin our cruise. Honestly, it is just a "little" luxurious indulgence that we truly appreciate, and before they had a Sanctuary the loungers by the pools were just fine, thank you very much. If we cruised over school vacations (we didn't) we would have lived in Sanctuary.

 

Don't misunderstand - never been on a Princess ship where the kids were a problem.The kids program is strong enough to keep the vast majority of them occupied and happy. Which I suppose is also a blessing for their parents, who can enjoy a little well-deserved alone time.

[NoVa Mimi]

GGPrincess, I understand what you mean about the children :) On our recent Royal Caribbean cruise there were 1200 children onboard!

 

Thanks for the info!

[rebeccalouise]

I have a child and fortuneately when we sailed on Independence of the Seas in January there were only 300 kids. My son loved the cruise- but I was told that there were usually 1200 kids on holidays and in summer- yikes. I really don't want to be on a ship with that many kids.

 

Back to the OP- The 18-20s are simply not going to be that happy on any cruise. It is a bad age- since they are too old for the youth program but too young to hang out with the adults.

 

If I was going with an 18-20- I'd make sure that they brought a friend along and then I think they would have a much better time. If it is port intensive- they will probably enjoy the cruise more because they can go to the beach, actually drink alcohol in some of the ports, etc.

 

As for cruise lines- they all have something to offer. I wouldn't base it soley on the 18 year old. My favorites so far are Celebrity and Princess. And to a lesser degree Cunard.

[cynbar]

Re your choice between the Caribbean and the Emerald, if both itineraries are satisfactory, I would choose the Emerald. It is a newer ship, and I really like some of the design changes that were made---- the larger and more authentic steakhouse feel of the Crown Grille in the middle of the Promenade deck, and the much nicer venue for Sabatini's at the top of the ship with the lovely Adagio lounge alongside. The Wheelhouse Lounge is also bigger and more attractive on the Emerald. Just my two cents......

[DMaugle]

Choosing between the two is also the choice of 9 vs 7 days. You can drive to NY the day of the cruise while I do not think you could drive to Ft. Lauderdale. Essentially you get away from the two days flying and replace them with two days at sea. We have done it twice, once on Princess and once on RCL and found it really makes for a more relaxing holiday. Just my $.02. You'll be fine regardless. DMaugle

[marypat01]

Re your choice between the Caribbean and the Emerald, if both itineraries are satisfactory, I would choose the Emerald. It is a newer ship, and I really like some of the design changes that were made---- the larger and more authentic steakhouse feel of the Crown Grille in the middle of the Promenade deck, and the much nicer venue for Sabatini's at the top of the ship with the lovely Adagio lounge alongside. The Wheelhouse Lounge is also bigger and more attractive on the Emerald. Just my two cents......

 

I was on the Thanksgiving (2008) and the Easter (2009) cruises aboard the Emerald - loved it! Would do it again but the Ruby Princess is getting me for the next New Year's cruise - of course, the Ruby and Emerald are sister ships, so I will not have to relearn the decks! :)

 

Patrick