We’re so used to Princess now, that we don’t want to try other lines

Over the past few days, I’ve tried to plan a cruise to Cuba in 2019. Princess doesn’t sail there, so we looked at other options, but once we realized that we’d have to pay for coffee and there would be no robes or no laundry rooms, we came to really appreciate what we’ve taken for granted for the past cruises. All of the little things like the captain’s reception, the platinum/elite lounge, etc....they all add up.

Cuba will have to wait, we are “Princess People”.

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I'm Princess too when it comes to big cruises. BUT--expand your horizons! We took a wonderful land tour with International Expeditions to Cuba. I would not have wanted to do it on a cruise ship.

When I’m on Princess I miss Celebrity. When I’m on Celebrity I miss Princess. All lines have their strengths, and all have weaknesses.

4cats is right--I find something on each line that it better than all the others. Part of the question is how much you want to pay. For the money, I think Princess is great. There are better lines, but not in the Princess price range....just my opinion.

Just my opinion but you miss a lot of interesting places if you won't go there because the only cruise line that you will travel on doesn't go there. Just think of what you are missing. Try picking your cruises for the destination or itinerary and not for the ship or cruise company. That is what I do. I have absolutely no brand loyalty at all.

DON

If I was to go to Cuba, I would probably do a land trip there.

Many of us here have tried multiple lines. No reason not to. You will either find a line you like better or it will reinforce the fact you like Princess. Or a third option, you like multiple lines.

One other option is to step up to one of the higher lines for this cruise such as Azamara, Oceania, etc....

Just my opinion but it is silly not to go to a place because the only cruise line that you will travel on doesn't go there. Try picking your cruise lines for the destination or itinerary and not for the ship or cruise company. That is what I do. I have absolutely no brand loyalty at all.

 

 

 

DON

What works for you and what works for me are two different things. That’s what makes life so interesting. You enjoy your life and I’ll enjoy mine, but I’ll never say your preferences are silly.

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I find Princess has bettter itinarys then most cruise lines.The one disadvantage is they dont stay in ports long. I am booked on an Iceland?Norwegian cruise next year which I compared with Oceana. The only go to one port in Iceland while Princess does three. From time to time I consider other cruise lines but so have not done it, other than A dissapointing Holland America cruise in Alaska about 15 years ago.The devil you know is sometimes thought to be better than the devil you dont.

Our first cruise was on Princess. Our second cruise was on a different cruise line. All the rest of our 34 cruises have been on Princess. I am sure there are some things that are better on other cruise lines than on Princess. It would be useful to Princess to acquire current intelligence on the ships of other cruise lines and learn what things those other cruise lines do or offer that is better. My wife and I hereby volunteer to go under-cover and gather that intelligence. Princess only needs to pay for the cruises and air travel and we will spy for them and provide reports and photos showing what we discover.

There may be other loyal Princess cruisers who would also agree to become paid spies for Princess. How about it Thrak and the Captain of the Rowboat???????

We are also Princess lovers. We love their itineraries all over the world.

We too are Princess people who had an opportunity to try the Norwegian Dawn last month. Here are some of the things we liked about Norwegian:

1. The photo gallery. There were monitors set up in the gallery for you to view your photos. There's no hunting through racks of photos to find your own. Just swipe your cruise card in the monitor's card reader and bingo....a folder with your photos pops up for your viewing pleasure. You have the option to print what you'd like to purchase or select the option put them back in the folder.
   
2. Numerous selections on the evening dinner menus. We also tried 3 of their specialty restaurants and weren't disappointed.
   
3. Large theater for production shows.
   
4. Larger selection of cocktails. There's nothing like a Pain Killer cocktail by the pool before noon. LOL
   

These are a few things we felt Norwegian missed:

1. Organization at embarkation. It was a disaster. Not enough staff to direct passengers or answer questions. No signs for priority boarding or any indication of an area for handicapped passengers needing assistance. We observed several passengers so frustrated they were in tears.
   
2. The Garden Cafe (the equivalent of Horizon Court) lacked ambiance and reminded me of a high school cafeteria. There's no beverage service in the buffet, it's self-serve: coffee, tea, juice, or water. This wasn't a problem for us, just an observation.
   
3. Lack of a spacious atrium. A Coffee Bar/Bar was almost centered in the atrium leaving very limited seating for people wanting to listen to the entertainment in the evening.
   

I give the nod to Princess in size of staterooms, areas for folks to gather for conversation, reading, etc., self-serve laundry rooms, and the International Cafe. To us, Princess feels like home. Will we cruise Norwegian again? Maybe, if the price and itinerary is right.

We choose our line based on itinerary and price. Before we cruised Princess, we cruised on Carnival, Royal Caribbean, NCL, and Renaissance. Then we cruised Princess and haven't gone back to the others.

I love Princess also, but there is one thing that I don’t love about Princess. The inside rooms, the ocean view rooms and the normal balcony rooms don’t have comfortable seating in the room. On all of my cruises on Celebrity and Royal Caribbean there was a small couch in each room. The Princess ships usually have one chair for the desk. This is not comfortable for relaxing or watching the television. Please don’t tell me I should book a deluxe balcony or something higher to get my comfortable seating. There should be comfortable seating in each and every room.

What works for you and what works for me are two different things. That’s what makes life so interesting. You enjoy your life and I’ll enjoy mine, but I’ll never say your preferences are silly.

 

 

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I totally agree with you.

Tony

We started mostly on ocean cruises (mainly on Princess), then started mixing in river cruises. Recently have been mixing in more land based tours and Independent travel as well. We wanted to go to Cuba and went on Oceania in December and had a wonderful cruise and would sail on Oceania again with right itinerary and price. Many will say Oceania is much more expensive, but we booked a Concierge balcony and with what was included (versus paying for it separately), it really wasn’t that much more expensive than a comparable Princess cruise in a Club Class mini, and the food was outstanding. We also want to try Viking Ocean but haven’t been able to match up itineraries and dates. Should get easier with all of the new ships Viking has on order.

Our first cruise was on Princess. Our second cruise was on a different cruise line. All the rest of our 34 cruises have been on Princess. I am sure there are some things that are better on other cruise lines than on Princess. It would be useful to Princess to acquire current intelligence on the ships of other cruise lines and learn what things those other cruise lines do or offer that is better. My wife and I hereby volunteer to go under-cover and gather that intelligence. Princess only needs to pay for the cruises and air travel and we will spy for them and provide reports and photos showing what we discover.

There may be other loyal Princess cruisers who would also agree to become paid spies for Princess. How about it Thrak and the Captain of the Rowboat???????

Well.... Even though I am a "Pretty, Pretty, Princess" kind of cruiser I might be persuaded, in the spirit of research you understand and if Princess was willing to foot the bill, to cruise other lines as an undercover Princess representative. Of course it would be necessary to sample different cabin types - suites for instance. Some ships have amazing suites available. We would also need to compare the different drink packages and such. While it would be a bit of a hardship, we would be willing to give it a try. Now, if you can only convince Princess to fund this program... :cool:

So far, we have only sailed 9 times but all have been on Princess ships. We have a couple more cruises booked but they aren't sailing until the mid October of 2019 so we definitely need to slip one or two more in before that. (Of course I can't interfere with the summer land trips my wife plans for us. Nope, nope, nope. Must have our land trips - camping in our teardrop. :D)

I had a good experience on Royal Caribbean to Cuba in July 2017.

We are also “Princess People” even though we are only Platinum. We wanted to do a Cuba cruise so we booked with Norwegian last October and had a great time. Couldn’t help but compare everything on the Norwegian Sky to the Princess ships and definitely prefer Princess. But if the date and itinerary are right, we’ll book! The worst day cruising on any line sure beats sitting home.

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When I’m on Princess I miss Celebrity. When I’m on Celebrity I miss Princess. All lines have their strengths, and all have weaknesses.

That is too funny and too true! No matter what cruise line we're on, we feel the same way but I try to appreciate where we are at the moment.

For us, it's more important to cruise for the itinerary. That's what draws us.

FWIW, DW and I have done about 30 cruises, mostly mainstream lines, with a couple boutique small ship cruises, which realy can't be compared. 10 or so of our cruises have been on Princess, and to us we call it going home.

I haven't sailed on any other cruise lines that have compared to Princess! I'm in love with Princess... and when I'm on other ships, all I can think about is what's missing! I'd still love to try all of the other cruise lines though. I just love Princess a lot :)

We're Elite on Princess but we've also cruised on Celebrity, HAL, P&O, Cunard, NCL, and MSC so no real loyalty to any brand. For us it's all about itinerary then price.

Based on 30 cruises best food and service HAL, best drink value P&O, best entertainment Celebrity, best itineraries MSC, best overall cruise experience Princess.

I love Princess also, but there is one thing that I don’t love about Princess. The inside rooms, the ocean view rooms and the normal balcony rooms don’t have comfortable seating in the room. On all of my cruises on Celebrity and Royal Caribbean there was a small couch in each room. The Princess ships usually have one chair for the desk. This is not comfortable for relaxing or watching the television. Please don’t tell me I should book a deluxe balcony or something higher to get my comfortable seating. There should be comfortable seating in each and every room.

And yet there are some people who rave about ordering a full dinner to enjoy in their rooms.

Even most of the balconies on the Regal & Royal are to small to allow for eating anything more than a snack.

Strange?

I'm so glad I expanded my horizons. I can't imagine anymore using robes and coffee as a reason to skip another line's experience. Once we broke the mold, DH and I have been excited to try new things, such as the Crystal Symphony next year.

The Crystal Serenity was my favorite "ship experience". I am sure you will love the Symphony!

We're going to be new to Princess in a month and very much looking forward to it. That said, I have enjoyed all of my cruise experiences ranging from small sailing vessels (Star Clipper) to luxury 'yachts' (Star Pride) to Carnival vacation boats. Each has a place and a purpose. Each has strengths and weaknesses. I'm sure that will be true in May as well. Sail on.