deal breakers on princess cruises

[icyfrost]

I read other posts where others decide to choose another line due to bad mattresses or something like when ice cream wasn't free,

 

otoh, I read other posts when others decide to choose Princess due to freshwater pools or having the best pizza or because they have only cruised princess,

 

We choose for itenary/price/cruiseline

 

What is ur deal breaker to book a princess cruise

[Colo Cruiser]

I read other posts where others decide to choose another line due to bad mattresses or something like when ice cream wasn't free,

 

otoh, I read other posts when others decide to choose Princess due to freshwater pools or having the best pizza or because they have only cruised princess,

 

We choose for itenary/price/cruiseline

 

What is ur deal breaker to book a princess cruise

 

Ice Cream is free and we have never had an issue with mattress's in 46 Princess cruises and also never use an egg crate. ;)

 

Only Gelato in the IC has a small fee.

[Talisker92]

For me it would be itinerary and price. I have sailed on a number of different lines from NCL through Silverseas. Most of the "complaints" are trivial compared to the cruise experience

[Nebr.cruiser]

Price is most important to us. Since we've been to most of the Caribbean islands, some multiple times, itinerary isn't all that important--in fact, more sea days are a plus. The better the price, the more cruises we can take!

 

We also really like Princess and get a few perks,mostly free internet, because we've sailed them enough times.

 

It would take something really major, not 'no ice cream' or 'hard beds' (which I haven't noticed) to make me quit a cruise line altogether.

 

We've sailed on five different lines and liked evey one just fine. We're not that picky. There might be some little thing we like or don't like on a particular line, but nothing bad enough to ruin the cruise.

 

Maybe we've just been lucky!

[paul929207]

We are a little behind Colo, only 18 cruises. But like Colo, we sleep great on the Princess mattresses and have never ordered an egg crate.

 

We go on the exotic Princess cruises, so we are mostly concerned with the itinerary.

[Druke I]

Itinerary is the first factor I consider, then the ship/line and price.

 

That said, if it is a megaship, I will probably pass and wait for a smaller ship with a similar itinerary.

[BballinQT24]

We also choose a cruise based on the itinerary and price that works during the times we can get off from work. We search a few different lines to see what fits our needs best.

[Toto2Kansas]

25 Princess cruises for us so far with just under 300 days sailed, mainly as Princess offers the best all around cruise experience for we are looking for.

 

We don't count on one or two basic things onboard that will make or break our cruise (as I keep reading in complaints from others).

 

We hate the mattresses, and we also hate the coffee onboard. But we work around them. A few things that we don't like will not keep us from sailing Princess. We bring a mattress topper to make the bed perfect, and for years we have taken our own little travel coffee maker. There is usually a way around small problems you don't like, and a way to fix them.

 

We have tried other cruise lines, in fact most of them, and Princess was always the best for us. ;)

[cruiseron36]

28 Princess cruises, over 300 days and three booked. No such thing as a deal breaker. I sleep better on the Princess beds than at home, buy a coffee card, take on my own booze, love the Gelato, excellent food and service. Prices are competitive. I don't know how it could get any better.

[pjs9876]

We prefer Princess because it most closely matches on what I consider to be the most important issues. For us, Princess has delivered on service, comfort, itinerary,price and activities. we have sailed with Carnival (1 time only-never again), NCL, RCCL, Costa, Disney and Celebrity.

 

We choose to try the other lines due to a price difference or an itinerary. I found that we missed things like a 24 hour buffet (very annoying to return from an excursion at 3:00 and not be able to find a sandwich). I missed the oh so easy life boat drill as opposed to baking in the hot hot sun while wearing a life preserver. I missed the amount of flat surfaces in the room to put down cameras, laptops, etc. I missed having more that one plug! I missed fresh water pools and quiet nooks.

 

One major fit for us is the clientèle of Princess. On other lines, I sometimes felt like I came from a different planet. On board Princess, I make new friends and generally find lots of happy people.

 

There are things on other ships that surpass Princess in one area or another but for us nothing surpasses the total experience. That being said, and I have another Princess cruise coming in April, my next cruise is on RCCL. The reason you ask? It is only a 4 day weekend cruise that leaves from a port very close to us. So I don't really count that-it is just a stopgap until the real thing later. ;) Of course, if it turns out really well...:rolleyes: LOL

[gooch47]

We're running out of new places to go. Not bragging, just fact. So if another cruise line had an itinerary that we'd like to take and Princess didn't go there, we'd abandon Princess if the price was right.

 

One cruise line that I wouldn't go on again is Carnival. We are party poopers and seeing people having to be literally carried back to the ship after a booze cruise just totally turns us off. Not that it couldn't happen with Princess, but the odds are a lot less.

 

We've recently cruised NCL a couple of times and spent a lot of time mentally or actually making comparisons and it just didn't measure up.

 

Our recent Viking Cruise was so far off the norm that it isn't fair to compare them.

[Pam in CA]

Nothing's a deal breaker for me. I cruise both Princess and HAL, and choose according to itinerary, timing and price. No cruiseline or ship is perfect; they are all different with pluses and minus', things I like or dislike.

 

Linda, isn't that Viking trip in China awesome? That was one of my all-time favorites.

[Seal]

There really aren't any specific deal-breakers for us as far as taking Princess--wish more would be leaving out of our SanPedro/Long Beach/Los Angeles Port--15 minutes from the house can make you think about taking almost any cruise (within reason) without flying /hotel etc to embark your ship--Unfortunately the only line we see here often is Carnival--it will not be repeated for us--once was enough.--OK--there were some things I DID like--just not enough.

 

Nancy:D

[geoherb]

Price is our first criterion. It doesn't matter how great an itinerary it is if a cruise is out of our price range. I generally look at cruises on Celebrity, HAL, and Princess to compare what is available for the dates we can go. Then the best price determines which one we choose.

 

The exceptions have been when we wanted to go on a particular cruise because of the itinerary. For instance, we're taking the Island Princess for Christmas this year even though it was a couple of hundred dollars more per person over a HAL cruise of the same length because it's going to the Panama Canal. The HAL cruise was a western Caribbean cruise going to a couple of the places we just went in March: Cozumel and Roatan.

[DeepWaterMariner]

Over the years we have sailed on 15 cruise lines, many of them long gone, and have enjoyed them all. Our preferences have changed over the years but we are experienced enough to book cruises that will match our tastes and interests. Itinerary is number 1 for us, but price also counts too. As we have aged we also like convenience in getting to and from the embarkation and debarkation ports. The only recent example of where we have decided against a particular cruise line or lines has been with regard to Cunard or Crystal because they are to dressy for us at this stage in our lives. We seem to fit best with Princess.

[spyro1952]

I have cruised other lines but have built loyalty with Princess so the elite perks make cruising with them worth it. I like the clientele that gravitates toward Princess. I do not like cruising with a bunch of kids (little kids or college kids). I do not like cruising with people who think it's fun to get ----faced 24 hrs a day, and like the OP said, have to be carried back to their rooms to sleep it off.

 

I also find all of the staff and crew helpful, always well groomed, clean and neat. I say this because the one Carnival cruise I did go on, the maitre'd had such BO, you couldn't eat in the DR without wanting to throw up. OP's came to the MDR for dinner in shorts, sleeveless t-shirts, baseball caps. It was like dining at McDonalds in your local Walmart.

[cruisinalong001]

We have taken 5 day Caribbean cruises with RCL because, with travel time included, our grown children can't manage any more vacation days at one time given the fact that they like to do other vacations during the year too. Getting the 3 of them togther at the same time and coordinating vacation days is quite a feat! Having us altogether, at least for dinner, and taking up to date pictures is wonderful. Priceless as they say.

 

Princess doesn't offer any 5 day Caribbean cruises or we would take them. I do wish they would try that out.

 

Sooo, as far as taking our grown children cruising, the length of their cruises is a deal breaker.

[DrivesLikeMario]

Unfortunately, our deal breaker is a high price. :( With two 'kids' in university and no free financial aid, price has to come first with us for awhile. :(

[Thumper69]

We have cruised on several lines with no true loyalty to any one cruise line in particular, mostly they're all good. We traveled once on Carnival, never again. I witnessed management totally rude to passengers and for one week of a 12day Hawaii cruise the glass in the sliding shower door was hanging out of the frame with the raw edge of the glass exposed. We reported it several times but they never fixed it. I was worried about cutting myself every time I showered. Safety is a deal breaker for me. One strange thing was that they also closed bars for crew use only. Very annoying going to the nightclub and told no entry because it was closed for a crew party.

 

Anthony

[Times Prince]

We haven't found a deal breaker for Princess. Every cruise is different, and the passenger population and entertainment possibilities (especially music) match us.

 

We had one cruise on another line that was the only one where we came off the ship feeling it was not money well spent - for a variety of reasons. That has never been the case on Princess, which is part of the reason we've stuck with them.

[gacruisergal]

We have 29 cruises under our belts and 2 more booked. Crown Princess in May for a TA from Fort lauderdale to UK and MSC Opera in Sept to the Black Sea. (First on MSC and we look forward to the experience). Actually we have enjoyed Princess, Celebrity, & RCCL, because of the top perks we have obtained but we always look at itineraries to where we haven't previously visited. However, it is getting slim and unsafe for those we haven't been to. Princess is great for future cruises as we can pay $200 each deposit and keep changing itineraries as we find new things and have the 3 years to make up our final desitination plans.

 

We used to be Celebrity fans years ago after being on the Meridian a number of times. The food in the old days was fantastic,then it slowly began going south. We have also had some problems with the wine stewards on Celebrity the last few cruises with them. Never had the wines we ordered with dinner and kept trying to get us to buy premium bottles. We are not wine snobs and a decent priced bottle is just right for us. We save getting the really good stuff for special occasions. The Princess waitstaff handles the wines and are great about the service and very knowledgable as far as we are concerned.

 

Our last two cruises were on Diamond Princess last November from Bangkok to Sydney and Clebrity Infinity from Santiago to Fort Lauderdale in March. Between the two, Princess was hands down the better.

 

As for deal breakers we would definately say price. We are both retired and still love to cruise more than anything else. Have been on many cruise lines and have never had a bad cruise........It is what you make it!

[califgary]

Itinerary then Price - we are in the middle of picking between HAL and PRINCESS on a 14 day hawaii in 2012 - same cabin type. Price diff is about $2000 bucks. Although I think the HAL experience is a bit better, for $2000 we can deal with Princess who we like as well.

[wizard-of-roz]

Location, Location, Location......if it cruises out of L.A., Long Beach, San Diego or San Francisco [we've even driven to Seattle to cruise to Alaska].......We'll be there.

We won't fly anymore [unless an emergency], so it's up to Princess or any other line to make cruising out of these ports interesting to me and the many thousands more who like to cruise and want to be able to drive to the port.

[califgary]

Have to agree that we also love those west coast departures so much less hassle overall.

[iancal]

All things being equal in our minds....itinerary, cruise line, ship etc, the deciding factor is PRICE. We are not married to any one cruise line. We have a few favorite lines and ships-if the cruise falls into that bucket price becomes king. We were predisposed to Celebrity because not too long ago price drops after final payment would be taken care off in the form of additional OBC's if you asked...however this practice has recently been discontinued.