Princess cruiser wants to know what you love about Royal Caribbean

[lovevacadays]

Hello,

I love cruising and my second cruise back in 1989 or so was on Royal Caribbean. I did two or three more with Royal. I loved each and every experience. I have always thought they are a great cruise line. But, then I ended up booking many Princess cruises because of itinerary from the West Coast, pricing, etc. Once I had booked many Princess cruises it was hard to look at others as I was getting a few of the nice Princess perks. However, I am kind of wanting to experience a change from the typical Princess ship layout, etc.

 

So, tell me what do you love about Royal? What ships do you love? Also, make recommendations to someone, like me, who is 53, single and typically cruises with a friend or my niece who is 31. I don't like to cruise with alot of kids on board. Not concerned about rock climbing walls, water slides, etc. I do like poolside activity, I love to listen to the bands on board more than I like the Production shows in the evening. I like a really good comedian. I love eating in the specialty restaurants. I love a nice martini bar (or from what I remember - my mom and I enjoyed a nice Champagne Bar on Royal - not sure if they still have those). Another thing I like about Princess ships is that whether I'm walking inside or outside there is alot of windows and views of the ocean. Really important to me.

 

Hoping to hear from you. I'm thinking of all the other cruise lines out there, Royal would be the one I would take as a venture away from Princess.

Michelle

[lrn2cruise]

I live in Texas and wonder the same thing about The Grand Princess coming our way. I priced it for my Mom and was shocked at the sticker price.

*FOS was less expensive in the summer than the GP.

 

I would not go on some of the RCI ships in the summer. We were on FOS this summer and kids are everywhere. Including in the elevators riding, hitting buttons for all floors, etc. We have an 11 yr old and where we were in the MDR, we were surrounded by famlies with kids. It was somewhat chaotic.

 

Dont get me wrong. We love and needed the family atmosphere for us. We needed the mini golf, flowrider, bigger pools, etc.

 

I think if you try a ship when most kids are in school, you will have a more adult experience. That is my guess anyway.

 

There were not enough animities for us on the GP with our 11 yr old. Seems to have some great restaurants though. Not my sons cup of tea though

 

RCI is huge on famlies.

 

Hope you can find a fun RCI cruise!!!

[lrn2cruise]

Correction: I just check crusiegalveston.com. The Crown Princess is coming to Galveston, not the Grand princess.

[lovevacadays]

Correction: I just check crusiegalveston.com. The Crown Princess is coming to Galveston, not the Grand princess.

 

Just as an fyi - I prefer the Crown over the Grand but I don't think Princess ships have the same types of things for kids that RCI has. I know Princess has some kids/teens programs but from what I can see RCI ships have some many more kid friendly amenities.

 

If you ever decide to cruise without kids try out the Crown. She is an absolutely beautiful ship with some awesome bars and lounges plus an adult's only aft pool area that is wonderful.

[masonpips]

From what I've read, the Jewel, Radiance group are the ones with all the glass on RCCL (we've done Voyager and Freedom class, about to do Oasis) and if you go off season you won't have nearly as many kids. Since you have cruised on RCCL you should be at least Gold and could be higher, see if you can find anything old w/your sailing date/info and they should be able to link you up. We are in the same boat (haha) w/RCCL, we are Diamond and the perks are hard to leave, but are getting to the point that there seem to be limited options on RCCL for those w/kids in school and limited cruising times.

 

The Champagne bar does still exist and is a favorite of ours. Another option is you could look at Celebrity (RCCL sister company and your status on RCCL converts to something on Celebrity) and they have a true Martini Bar on some ships (and it is AWESOME). They also cater more to adult-oriented cruises and don't typically have as many kids

[Mr_Cruise]

From what I've read, the Jewel, Radiance group are the ones with all the glass on RCCL (we've done Voyager and Freedom class, about to do Oasis) and if you go off season you won't have nearly as many kids. Since you have cruised on RCCL you should be at least Gold and could be higher, see if you can find anything old w/your sailing date/info and they should be able to link you up. We are in the same boat (haha) w/RCCL, we are Diamond and the perks are hard to leave, but are getting to the point that there seem to be limited options on RCCL for those w/kids in school and limited cruising times.

 

The Champagne bar does still exist and is a favorite of ours. Another option is you could look at Celebrity (RCCL sister company and your status on RCCL converts to something on Celebrity) and they have a true Martini Bar on some ships (and it is AWESOME). They also cater more to adult-oriented cruises and don't typically have as many kids

 

I too would most strongly encourage you, the OP, to travel with Celebrity on any of their Solstice Class ships. They'd be a MUCH better fit for you than anything Royal Caribbean has to offer in their fleet (I've cruised with each 4 times, as well as with Princess and many others).

[Nan1052]

Hello,

I love cruising and my second cruise back in 1989 or so was on Royal Caribbean. I did two or three more with Royal. I loved each and every experience. I have always thought they are a great cruise line. But, then I ended up booking many Princess cruises because of itinerary from the West Coast, pricing, etc. Once I had booked many Princess cruises it was hard to look at others as I was getting a few of the nice Princess perks. However, I am kind of wanting to experience a change from the typical Princess ship layout, etc.

 

So, tell me what do you love about Royal? What ships do you love? Also, make recommendations to someone, like me, who is 53, single and typically cruises with a friend or my niece who is 31. I don't like to cruise with alot of kids on board. Not concerned about rock climbing walls, water slides, etc. I do like poolside activity, I love to listen to the bands on board more than I like the Production shows in the evening. I like a really good comedian. I love eating in the specialty restaurants. I love a nice martini bar (or from what I remember - my mom and I enjoyed a nice Champagne Bar on Royal - not sure if they still have those). Another thing I like about Princess ships is that whether I'm walking inside or outside there is alot of windows and views of the ocean. Really important to me.

 

Hoping to hear from you. I'm thinking of all the other cruise lines out there, Royal would be the one I would take as a venture away from Princess.

Michelle

 

You might actually be a better fit for Celebrity Cruises.

[Nan1052]

Sorry, Mr. Cruise. Didn't see your post, but totally agree.

[Traveling Library]

We love the Jewel of the Seas. It is just the right size and has lots of sunlight and glass. That being said we usually cruise during non-school vacation times and for cruises of 9+ days. We've never been overwhelmed by children on any RCCL or Celebrity cruise by following those 2 "rules". Yes there are families on the 14 day cruises but they are in the minority.

[bigboffs]

Royal has gone a long way to make its ships family(kid) friendly and they have succeeded. If you want a cruise experience without that emphasis, as many have said, Celebrity is a good choice as is Princess

[Mr_Cruise]

Sorry, Mr. Cruise. Didn't see your post, but totally agree.

 

No problem at all! It seems we're all in agreement with respect to our recommendations, so it's all good.

[dz9yvr]

It's all about personal taste, I'm not sure what has drawn you back to Princess but here's what I like about RCCL. RCCL is following the example of a restaurant in North America that adverises "there are no rules". My vacation should be all about me and I like the option to do waht I want whenever I want. I like going late to the MDR and the staff doesn't care that I've disrupted their work and it doesn't matter if I disturb my tablemates dinner. I really don't like to dress up forformal nights, so I just wear what's comfortable for me. If I feel like shorts and ball cap, RCCL doesn't care. I enjoy smoking my cigar in just about any place and no one seems to care. It's also my kid's vacation, so I don't enforce any rules on them. My kids have the run of the entire ship without any adult supervision. All of my children really like the CL just before dinner. I really don't like learning about new ports, so RCCL's limited Carribean itineraries are just perfect for me. We go to the same 3 or 4 ports on every cruise, it's just perfect. As long as we are on the subject of choice, I like the same menu on every cruise on every ship. RCCL keeps the same menu across the fleet every week. I've been very lucky in my business, so price doesn't matter, additional cost for specialty restaurants or all of the pool towels my kids lose doesn't really bother me. If this sounds good to you Welcome Aboard.

[Bakincakes]

Hello,

I love cruising and my second cruise back in 1989 or so was on Royal Caribbean. I did two or three more with Royal. I loved each and every experience. I have always thought they are a great cruise line. But, then I ended up booking many Princess cruises because of itinerary from the West Coast, pricing, etc. Once I had booked many Princess cruises it was hard to look at others as I was getting a few of the nice Princess perks. However, I am kind of wanting to experience a change from the typical Princess ship layout, etc.

 

So, tell me what do you love about Royal? What ships do you love? Also, make recommendations to someone, like me, who is 53, single and typically cruises with a friend or my niece who is 31. I don't like to cruise with alot of kids on board. Not concerned about rock climbing walls, water slides, etc. I do like poolside activity, I love to listen to the bands on board more than I like the Production shows in the evening. I like a really good comedian. I love eating in the specialty restaurants. I love a nice martini bar (or from what I remember - my mom and I enjoyed a nice Champagne Bar on Royal - not sure if they still have those). Another thing I like about Princess ships is that whether I'm walking inside or outside there is alot of windows and views of the ocean. Really important to me.

 

Hoping to hear from you. I'm thinking of all the other cruise lines out there, Royal would be the one I would take as a venture away from Princess.

Michelle

 

 

I'm agreeing with everyone else about RCI..you would probably be much better served sailing on X or Holland. RCI is becoming or trying to become more like Disney..they've even added "characters" on some of their ships.

 

My sister just debarked form the Allure and she said there were lots of kids onboard, even this late in the season.

[vickykay]

I agree with some previous posts regarding giving Celebrity a try. The Solstice class are just beautiful and they have a martini bar and a molecular with very unusual and good martinis (as well as several other bars of course). We just came off the Caribbean Princess (our first Princess cruise, we primarily cruise on Celebrity) and while we enjoyed it, we much prefer the design of Celebrity ships and total overall experience. That being said, we will be on our second RC cruise early March on the FOS - I don't think we would go during a school vacation.

 

Enjoy!

[bplazo]

One of my favorite cruise ships is the Serenade of the Seas out of San Juan. However, as others have commented, RCCL is going to family friendly and ignoring the cruisers who are cruising without children so I would also recommend X or staying with Princess. I know I will be looking for something else. I do not want to see Shrek and his buddies on a ship.