Meanee

Last cruise with Carnival, we did Chef's Table. I can honestly say that it was most memorable part of the cruise (other than ports) and I would love to do it again.

I am going to be on Royal Princess on December 15, but I do not see anything in regards to Chef's Table. Only information I keep getting is that special table in MDR or something.

So, is there something equivalent with Princess?

Breakaway sure sounds nice. I just wish it was not NY based. I am in NY myself, and not really looking forward few days at sea just to reach 1st island.

I am a Princess fan and I have not cruised on Celebrity. I have a suggestion. Don't limit your looking at Princess to the Royal. Other Princess ships are large too, but are not Mega ships like Allure and Oasis. They probably carry 3-4 thousand passengers. They have elegance, good food and dining choices and lots of activities too. Ruby Princess comes to mind for the Caribbean. Please do yourself a favor and read all the posts about the Royal before making a decision.

My booking time is very limited by girlfriend's school schedule. While I am more flexible at work, she cannot take time off when school is in session. So my choices were pretty much limited to Celebrity and Princess. We already went on Displacement of the Seas and loved them, but would rather experience something new. Also were considering NCL but our TA suggested Princess and Celebrity mostly due to sales.

Can you elaborate on what you mean by "bad food options"?

Oh where do I start...

Buffet - It's large, but half of it is always closed. Very bland variety. For breakfast, they ration out bacon. If you ask them for 2-3 strips more, they look at you like they are cutting it off their family pig or something. And their timing sucks. Buffet was always closed when we got back on the ship. So all hungry people just off the shore excursions/activities were forced to go to other venues.

Other venues.

Pizza stand: The "stand" part is right. You stand in line for 30-40 minutes for fairly poor pizza. And I am the person who is ok with Papa Johns, arguably one of the crappiest pizzas out there.

Sandwich shop: Custom, made-to-order sandwiches. That's what paper said. And that what was delivered. Not in a good way. There are 3-4 sandwich types that they will make for you. Want something else? Tough luck.

Tandoori: Delicious Indian food, finger-licking good. If you manage to find it open. It's open/closed times are closely-guarded secret sequence of numbers, seemingly random-generated by ship's computer.

Pasta bar: Heard so much about it. Saw it once. It is actually open for 1 hour longer during port days than sea days. And it's open in a middle of the day, when most folks are on the shore. That will bring up the time it's open to 3 hours, instead of 2, per day. Once we managed to get there, were told that it's 1 hour wait.

I cannot say anything bad about MDR (other than hosts did not bother to ask us if we have anytime dining and just told us to go find our table. When we did, we were politely told to get the hell out since we are anytime and this table is for reserved dining), food was good. Chef's table was great as well.

(this post is about Carnival Dream, not Princess, so don't let this scare you)

I personally like bigger ships. I feel there's more to do. Allure and Oasis were great. Dream was big, but it was very meh experience. So I THINK (but correct me if I am wrong), RP would be a good fit. She's bigger, and looks like more upscale.

We do not have children. And if a cruise ship does have wall, ice skating rink, flow rider, I will use it. But if it does not, I will not be upset about it.

My main concern with Carnival was lack of decent onboard entertainment, bad food options.

There won't be as many activities for children on either Princess or Celebrity. Both the Silhouette and the Royal Princess are newer ships. I've been on the Celebrity Equinox which is a sister to the Silhouette. The new Celebrity ships are very sleek and modern. Beautiful ships and they have a lot of fans. I found my cruise experience to be very sedate. I find Princess to have more activity, but nothing like the Carnival experience you describe. You won't find belly flop contests on either Princess or Celebrity. You also won't find rock climbing walls, flow riders, parades, ice skating rinks, etc. There are a ton of Princess vs. Celebrity threads on Cruise Critic. You can check those out. There a lot of posts about the new Royal Princess. You may want to read up on that. If you love the activities on the Allure/Oasis, I'm not sure you'll be happy with either of these ships you're thinking of. Princess is my favorite, but both Celebrity and Princess offer a good experience.

Thank you for that answer.

I am actually looking for something a bit higher class and sophistication with this vacation. And my TA is telling me that Princess/Celebrity are in same "market space". As in something higher class than my previous experience.

What was the straw that broke camel's back on my last cruise with Carnival was their "Airplane" event on a final day. Being an aviation fan and a private pilot, I was hoping for something fun. Yet, I get there and we are supposed to "fold paper airplanes and hit the target". This was the activity on their Fun Times! Along with bad food options (who closes their buffet when people come back from shore?) and lack of things to do on board is why I won't go back.

So this is why my TA suggested these cruises. I've been to St Thomas (but I was sick and spent 2 hours on shore) and St Maarten. Just hope I won't get bored in Princess Cays.

Hello.

Me and my girlfriend are fairly inexperienced cruisers. 2 cruises behind our backs. 2 on RCCL (Oasis and Allure) and one on Carnival (Dream).

We loved RCCL but not so much with Carnival. In fact, we agreed never to cruise with Carnival again. From limited food options, confusing ship layout, kids getting hurt in the pool (one had a concussion right in front of us), and a feel of a nonstop college kegger, I think it's just not for us.

I have a vacation coming up that I have to take, otherwise days will burn up. So we decided to try something else. Either Princess or Celebrity. So we will be either on Royal Princess or Celebrity Silhouette.

So, what should we expect from Princess? What would be differences from RCCL and Carnival?