Royal Caribbean v Princess

[Jo and Rob]

We had our first ever cruise in February on the Crown Princess and absolutely loved it. We are considering Royal Caribbean in the Med next Summer and wondered how they compare.

 

We loved the free room service, the Anytime dining, the formal nights, the shows, the beautiful Piazza, the International cafe (24h pastries and desserts) you get the picture, we loved cruising!

 

Our next cruise will be with our children who will be 9 and 6 in August 2011 so information on the kids clubs would also be appreciated.

 

Many thanks in advance

[bigeagle12]

Can't address the kid's club.

 

Here is just a quick comparision (our opinion) of the 2 and we would not hesitate to take either cruise line (Note: our recent expereince on RCCL is on the Voyager class ships):

 

Embarkation - equal

Disembarkation - advantage Princess

Muster Drill - adavantage Princess

Food - slight advantage to Princess - little better quality and more variety

Dining Room (service) - equal

Dining Room (decor) - advantage Royal

Cabins - advantage Princess - bigger closet - better layout

Entertainment - equal

Ship (Promenade vs Atrium) - advantage Royal

Casino - advantage Royal

Service (Dining Room) - equal

Service (Windjammer vs Caribe) - advantage Royal

Service (cabin) - equal

Johnny Rockets vs Trident Grill - advantage Princess (free)

Movies Under the Stars (MUTS) - advantage Princess

Promenade Cafe vs International Cafe - advantage Princess

Pizza - advantage Princess

Bars/Lounges - advantage Princess

Onboard Activities - advantage Royal

[LegalEagle2012]

Having cruised with both Princess and Royal Caribbean with children I would favour Royal Caribbean.

 

In fact, on our Iceland and Norway cruise last year my 10 year old was not even interested in going in the Crown Princess Kids Club as it was at the rear of the ship and suffered from major vibrations. We signed her up for it but she never wanted to go.

 

I would add that even though this cruise was in UK school holidays there was not an awful lot of children on board.

 

K

[NH Cruisers]

I don't know what RCI ship you are considering, but if it's a voyager class or bigger, treat your family to RCI. Royal ships are IMO much more impressive and the WOW factor. Princess is a great cruise line, no problem with them at all. I just feel if you haven't been on a big RCI ship you don't know what you are missing. A cruise is what you make of it and different folks have different expectations. You may feel different about it than me. I like to try different cruise lines and different ships. The Voyager class ships are some of the most impressive.

 

If you are considering a Radiance class ship, they are a very beautiful ship. Take the sea very well and are not overly aged. Its a hard choice to pick between Radiance class and a Grand Class princess ship. The Grand class are considerably larger, but don't feel like it once onboard.

 

It's a choice you must make on your own. I would definitly Try RCI if your choice includes any Voyager or bigger ship.

 

Jon,

[MrChuckFL]

If you are going to go with the kids Royal Caribbean is a better bet. More for them to do and better kids programs.

 

Although Princess does have kids programs and activities I think they are more geared towards adults traveling without kids.

[momzcruzing]

Having been on more than 25 cruises, most with RCL and Princess, I feel they offer a very similiar experience, however, when booking a cruise last month for my entire family I chose RCL.

 

The ships have more WOW factor, the centrum rises higher, the windjammer (same as the horizon court) is better laid out and more spacious. You still have 24 hour dining opportunities, tho ships that have Johnny Rockets charge $4.95. per person.

 

The entertainment of RCL has always been a bit better, and I understand the kids program to be a bit more exciting for the kids.

 

I wouldn't hesitate to book a RCL cruise, I think you'll be happy. :)

[junglejane]

Just yesterday we finished our first RCI cruise (Mariner/Mexico), and have previously done the same itinerary 3 times on Princess. Comparing the two was a focus throughout our cruise, and we may start our own thread. Very quickly:

 

Princess wins: dining room food selection/quality; specialty restaurants; production shows; stateroom layout; bringing-beverages-onboard policy.

 

RCI wins: wow factor; dining room decor; buffet layout/assistance; getting crowds "energized"; sun/pool party layout and scene.

 

As for activities, Princess has MUTS (and seems to play more movies generally), while RCI has the rock climbing wall, ice skating, inline skating and better miniature golf. The art auction seems to be a much bigger deal on Princess. The main RCI theatre was bigger and better-sized than Princess, but for trivia and similar, smaller activities the RCI venues seemed too small and crowded.

 

We thought the kids programs were pretty similar in terms of staffing and facilities and attractiveness to children. (Our kids are 9 and 13). Parents should know that, on RCI, kids under 13 must have an adult physically present with them (not just a signed waiver) in order to rock climb or skate, so parents with little kids may spend a lot of time at these activities.

[Gotribe]

If I had active kids I would take them on one of Royal Caribbean's big ships over Princess. I think Princess tends to have a bit of an older and more sedate crowd than Royal Caribbean.

And the big Royal Caribbean ships have the rock climbing wall, flow rider for body boarding, full court basketball and the ice rink. Princess ships don't have those items. Your 6 year old might be too young to do stuff like the rock climbing wall but your 9 year old should be able to.

[NH Cruisers]

 

As for activities, Princess has MUTS (and seems to play more movies generally)

 

Of the three cruises I have been on with a MUTS or similar, the only one I paid more than a minute or two of attention too was on Carnival Dream at the laser show. Although I think it's neat they exist on some ships, I would not even consider it a factor in deciding a cruise ship. Yeah MUTS is a bonus, but an indoor theater is the same to me. I guess I just get more enjoyment just watching the ocean pass by. I could sit all day on deck with binoculars and scan the sea.

 

Jon,

[spongerob]

Both are more similar than different. Neither line excels at everything. RC does better in the ship design and entertainment departments, while Princess had overall better service and dining. Both are eminently enjoyable.

[junglejane]

Be sure to look at Cruisinmama06's page where she posts the kids program activity sheets for several cruise lines: http://s204.photobucket.com/albums/bb196/cruisinmama06/

[WelcomeAboard2003]

I have been on Princess 8 times and love it. Recently, we have been doing RCI for a change in pace. I think Princess has better food and service, for the most part. But Royal has a younger, more upbeat feel. Instead of classical music greeting you as you enter the ship on princess, royal has top 20 music playing. the crowds are younger on royal, as well-so much better for kids. we still love princess, but are staying with royal for awhile. we leave in 3 days for a 9 night on EOS and I can't wait!

[SmokinActuary]

We had our first ever cruise in February on the Crown Princess and absolutely loved it. We are considering Royal Caribbean in the Med next Summer and wondered how they compare.

 

We loved the free room service, the Anytime dining, the formal nights, the shows, the beautiful Piazza, the International cafe (24h pastries and desserts) you get the picture, we loved cruising!

 

Our next cruise will be with our children who will be 9 and 6 in August 2011 so information on the kids clubs would also be appreciated.

 

Many thanks in advance

 

As you can see my last cruise was on the Crown and my next cruise is on Royal's Brilliance in a couple of months. If you want me to I can give you my take after the fact?

 

That being said - I think you should base your choice on itinerary more than ship.

 

Good luck!

[Windy56]

Just yesterday we finished our first RCI cruise (Mariner/Mexico), and have previously done the same itinerary 3 times on Princess. Comparing the two was a focus throughout our cruise, and we may start our own thread. Very quickly:

 

Princess wins: dining room food selection/quality; specialty restaurants; production shows; stateroom layout; bringing-beverages-onboard policy.

 

RCI wins: wow factor; dining room decor; buffet layout/assistance; getting crowds "energized"; sun/pool party layout and scene.

 

As for activities, Princess has MUTS (and seems to play more movies generally), while RCI has the rock climbing wall, ice skating, inline skating and better miniature golf. The art auction seems to be a much bigger deal on Princess. The main RCI theatre was bigger and better-sized than Princess, but for trivia and similar, smaller activities the RCI venues seemed too small and crowded.

 

We thought the kids programs were pretty similar in terms of staffing and facilities and attractiveness to children. (Our kids are 9 and 13). Parents should know that, on RCI, kids under 13 must have an adult physically present with them (not just a signed waiver) in order to rock climb or skate, so parents with little kids may spend a lot of time at these activities.

 

We are thinking of booking the Mariner Christmas cruise. I've done three cruises with RCCL and two with Princess. I agree that the ship's WOW factor for RCCL is higher. Entertainment onboard Princess was very, very good. I enjoyed the overall Princess experience but found the average age of the cruisers to be high. That , in itself wasn't a problem. However, the crankiness quotient, that went along with some of these older cruisers, was a problem at times.

 

Please start a thread about this cruise. I am eager to get information from recent Mariner cruisers!

[Mack2]

By far, my favorite line has been Royal.

I did cruise aboard the Grand Princess 3 years ago with my kids.

 

Pretty much, the lines are more similar than different.

Still, I prefer the RCI experience to the Princess experience.

 

Princess was a wonderful cruise. My personal gripe was that my 8 year old was in an older kid's club which was held in one of the ship's conference rooms while the younger kids were in the proper kid's club.... but he didn't seem to mind.

 

I did have a bad experience aboard Princess with another passenger. My eldest son has a juvenile form of macular degeneration called Stargardt's Disease. We were given permission to sit in the front rows of the Princess theatre and a crabby old guy complained to us about following the rules (since kids under 12 are asked not to sit in the first 5 rows)

When we explained that we had permission because our son is partially sighted, the crabby old guy told us that instead of teaching our son to break rules, we should teach him to deal with it.

 

Around that time, I decided that maybe the age of Princess's average passenger was too old for us.

[Queen of Oakville]

My favorite hands down is RC! We sailed on the Grand Princes about 8 years ago, and were told be an older man at lunch one day (while we were discussing cruiselines) ..."that you get a different class of people on Royal". weeeellll, excuse me!

 

I know I can't use that comment to paint the entire princess experience, but we felt overall that we were more instride with the Royal experience. At the time, I would have been in my early 30's and princess felt too old and stuffy for me.

 

Just returned from the Carnival Dream (with our 2 and 4 year olds) and .... wasn't too impressed. We'll be sticking to Royal from now on.

[Windy56]

My favorite hands down is RC! We sailed on the Grand Princes about 8 years ago, and were told be an older man at lunch one day (while we were discussing cruiselines) ..."that you get a different class of people on Royal". weeeellll, excuse me!

 

I know I can't use that comment to paint the entire princess experience, but we felt overall that we were more instride with the Royal experience. At the time, I would have been in my early 30's and princess felt too old and stuffy for me.

 

Just returned from the Carnival Dream (with our 2 and 4 year olds) and .... wasn't too impressed. We'll be sticking to Royal from now on.

 

Hey Queen! Fellow Oakvillian, here! I am in complete agreement with you about Princess. You'll love this site, if you do a lot of cruising! Invaluable source for all kinds of information.

[mfantasia]

Like you, I took first a Princess cruise and then a Royal one as my second, both with my daugther.

I liked the kids club in Royal better than in Princess. I think that Princess is less prepared for children than Royal. They are not bad at all, but Royal was great.

Now, IMHO, services in general were better in Princess than in Royal, again, both were great, but Princess was better from the steward to the waiters.

Overall, I think that Royal is better for travelling with children. Also, onboard activities are great too.

I think that the most important is the itinerary, I had a wonderful time in both cruises, is true that I enjoyed Royal more than Princess, but I think that was becasue I was more prepared this time that in my first one.