Princess vs. Royal Caribbean

[remdog]

I have booked RCI's FREEDOM OF THE SEAS cruise & Ruby Princess, both Caribbean cruises, for the same time period in Feb. I am going to cancel one, but b4 I do, wondering what the differences are between them (aside from the itinerary)? They are both similar in price. We are a family of 4 (kids 10 & 12). What would YOU do?

[cantwait2cruize]

Freedom of the Seas!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:)

[remdog]

why??????? :-)

[janina]

We need more information about you. Such as your age, likes and dislikes on a cruise. Just in general the Ruby is much newer ship...food better on Princess.

[remdog]

my wife and I are 40. I am a foodie, so if one has better food than the other, that is a factor. Other than that, we're pretty easy--great beaches mixed with a bit of touring and lots of easygoing fun on the ship for us & the kids is great. oh, and this is our first time cruisin.

[highflyingrealtor]

With kids that age, RCI's the way to go from what I've heard.

[hubofhockey]

I have booked RCI's FREEDOM OF THE SEAS cruise & Ruby Princess, both Caribbean cruises, for the same time period in Feb. I am going to cancel one, but b4 I do, wondering what the differences are between them (aside from the itinerary)? They are both similar in price. We are a family of 4 (kids 10 & 12). What would YOU do?

 

My kids are roughly the same age and we brought the on the Ruby's sister ship last year. We (parents) love Princess. Our kids found the Crown not to be "kid friendly" and prefer RCI or Carnival. If this decision is about the kids, I'd lean to the Freedom. But we parents have a much better time on Princess. We were on the Ruby this summer without the kids and had a great time. The Ruby has great freshwater pools and a good mix of entertainment at night. The FOS will give you the rock climbing walls, flowrider, ice skating, and ice shows. You'll have a great time on either ship.

[mlbcruiser]

Veteran of 27 cruises here, incl. 12 on RCI and 4 on Princess. While both lines are nice & very similar in quality, it's no contest. Your kids will have more fun and more to do on RCI for sure.

[matj2000]

Why don't you go to the "review" section on this site and read many reviews from each of these particular ships.

[Cruzaholic41]

I have booked RCI's FREEDOM OF THE SEAS cruise & Ruby Princess, both Caribbean cruises, for the same time period in Feb. I am going to cancel one, but b4 I do, wondering what the differences are between them (aside from the itinerary)? They are both similar in price. We are a family of 4 (kids 10 & 12). What would YOU do?

 

Been on both. Freedom of the Seas is your ship. FOS is substantially larger and has a lot more to do, especially if you are traveling with kids. They are both beautiful ships, but the Flowrider, H2O Zone, and Solarium are superior to Ruby's amenities. Plus, FOS's ice show is a must see. The kids area on FOS has got to be the largest at sea.

[cruiseman40]

Well I'd pick FofS over Ruby(2004) because of size and it's slightly newer(chistened). Since it almost similar in price I'd pick FoS(2006). Not sure if you decided Western or Eastern Caribbean itenirary with the FoS in picking, but I'd go with FoS Western Caribbean itenirary over Ruby.

 

 

 

 

I have booked RCI's FREEDOM OF THE SEAS cruise & Ruby Princess, both Caribbean cruises, for the same time period in Feb. I am going to cancel one, but b4 I do, wondering what the differences are between them (aside from the itinerary)? They are both similar in price. We are a family of 4 (kids 10 & 12). What would YOU do?

[Hlitner]

Well, we are Diamond with RCI and Elite with Princess and would recommend both ships. As to the kids, we would give a slight edge to RCIs kids program, but Princess also has an excellent kids program. One factor would be which week in Feb. Keep in mind that most people do not pull kids out of school for cruises, but the President's Day week is an exception for many. Most kids' enjoyment is related to the friends they make among other kids and the worse thing that can happen is for your kids to find very few playmates.

 

Hank

[hubofhockey]

Well I'd pick FofS over Ruby(2004) because of size and it's slightly newer(chistened). Since it almost similar in price I'd pick FoS(2006). Not sure if you decided Western or Eastern Caribbean itenirary with the FoS in picking, but I'd go with FoS Western Caribbean itenirary over Ruby.

 

You have that backwards. The Ruby is two years newer as it was placed into service in 2008.

[DonnaK]

We love both Royal Caribbean and Princess, but my kids (who are teenagers) like Princess and LOVE Royal Caribbean. If having a stronger kids program and more things for kids to do around the ship is important to you, then Freedom of the Seas is the better choice. Also, even though it has more passengers, it is much larger, so it feels a lot less crowded.

 

Whichever you choose, they are two great ships/cruiselines and you'll surely have a great cruise on either one.

[remdog]

Wow, thanks for all the feedback. Before getting all this feedback, we were leaning towards the Princess simply because of the itinerary: Princess stops in Cays, St Maarten, ST Thomas, Grand Turk--4 stops--vs RCI's 3 stops CocoCay, ST Thomas, St Maarten. That, combined with hearing that food is better on Princess, probably will make us go with Princess. Any other feedback?

[remdog]

Been on both. Freedom of the Seas is your ship. FOS is substantially larger and has a lot more to do, especially if you are traveling with kids. They are both beautiful ships, but the Flowrider, H2O Zone, and Solarium are superior to Ruby's amenities. Plus, FOS's ice show is a must see. The kids area on FOS has got to be the largest at sea.

 

 

What about the food? Would you say one is better than the other?

[pg.]

My dd loved the kids program on Princess when she was 10, this past cruise she was 13 and went to the teen club and only found it ok,, there were very few kids on ship that week (it was our spring break but not Americans) . This was on Caribbean Princess( when she was 10) and Sapphire(13).

 

I love that fact that Princess pools are fresh, not salt water, and that they allow you to bring wine onboard.

 

With kids I would choose four ports of call, heck, actually I would without kids too, I love port days as much or more then sea days( which are still very nice!)

[DonnaK]

Wow, thanks for all the feedback. Before getting all this feedback, we were leaning towards the Princess simply because of the itinerary: Princess stops in Cays, St Maarten, ST Thomas, Grand Turk--4 stops--vs RCI's 3 stops CocoCay, ST Thomas, St Maarten. That, combined with hearing that food is better on Princess, probably will make us go with Princess. Any other feedback?

 

What about the food? Would you say one is better than the other?

 

 

 

We don't agree that the food is better on Princess. We've found that the food on both lines are comparable; sme things are better on Royal Caribbean and other things are better on Princess so it all balances out. Princess has more seafood/shellfish, RCI has better pasta choices. RCI has a wider variety of offerings in the buffet. We like the desserts on Princess better, and we like that the buffet is open late at night for light snacks - it was nice to take a plate of cheese and fruit, or chips and salsa/guacamole, outside by the Terrace Pool late at night.

[vmom]

I have cruised with both RCCL and Princess. I'd say with kids, I'd go on the Freedom of the Seas. They will love it. If it was just for you and your spouse and you are both foodies, I'd go with Princess.

 

The activities for the kids onboard the Freedom make up for the extra port stop (Grand Turk).

[hubofhockey]

Wow, thanks for all the feedback. Before getting all this feedback, we were leaning towards the Princess simply because of the itinerary: Princess stops in Cays, St Maarten, ST Thomas, Grand Turk--4 stops--vs RCI's 3 stops CocoCay, ST Thomas, St Maarten. That, combined with hearing that food is better on Princess, probably will make us go with Princess. Any other feedback?

 

I am a big fan of Princess and the Ruby Princess. But your kids will have a better time on FOS. If you went without the kids, I'd pick the Ruby in a second. It's a newer ship. The design is great. The pools are great and Princess has great entertainment choices at night. Grand Turk is a decent port. But the cruise line (Carnival Corp, which owns Princess) pretty much controls the port. There is a nice combo Reef & Ray excursion where you do some great snorkeling before a nice stingray encounter. Our kids had a great time with that excursion. We went to Orient Beach in St Martin, ferried to St John from St Thomas, and had a nice time at Princess Cays. But mine would have preferred RCI or Carnival and they let us know that.