Princess or RCCL

[tapdancer_pm]

found this question posted on the RCI board, and thoughts were weighted towards RCCL of course. Interested in seeing the opinion of diehard princess cruisers who have cruised both lines (especially Grand Class vs. Voyager class) for comparison. We have only sailed Princess, and would like to try RCCL voyager class with our kids next. They always sailed with us. Thanks

[ck3mcpherson]

I am getting ready to sail on the Caribbean Princess in June. This will be our first cruise with princess after always sailing with RCCL. We went on the Explorer of the Seas and loved it. After going on a big ship like that we hate to go back to do much smaller. The reason we chose princess is because we dont want to do the exact ship again. The ship with RCCL was beautiful. Seemed to a lot of wasted space through the middle of the ship (because it is all open). But the activities were great, food was great, staff was great, and all the rooms were very elegant. We are very pleased with RCCL. WE just wanted to try something different for this trip. I hope princess can live up to Royal Caribbean.

[FreQuentKruser]

We have over 20 Princess cruises and 5 RCCL cruises, (plus have been on other lines such as Crystal, Costa and others). In fact we just got back from an RCCL cruise last week. We are diehard Princess cruisers however we have been very impressed with RCCL in almost every aspect and that has surprised us, we thought we would never enjoy another cruise line as much as we do Princess. We were just talking about the comparison between the 2 lines last night, and we couldnt decide which one we prefer because in our opinion they are very comparable. There are things we like better on RCCL, and things we like better on Princess .. but overall we decided it is a draw as to which one we prefer, we like them both!

 

We always cruised with our children too, they are grown now. But we did check out RCCL's kids program, we went to the youth center and the manager gave us a tour and it was fantastic! We are thinking of bringing our grandchildren on a cruise next year and we are leaning towards RCCL because their children's program and the layout of their activity rooms is really great!

[tapdancer_pm]

I am getting ready to sail on the Caribbean Princess in June. This will be our first cruise with princess after always sailing with RCCL. We went on the Explorer of the Seas and loved it. After going on a big ship like that we hate to go back to do much smaller. The reason we chose princess is because we dont want to do the exact ship again. The ship with RCCL was beautiful. Seemed to a lot of wasted space through the middle of the ship (because it is all open). But the activities were great, food was great, staff was great, and all the rooms were very elegant. We are very pleased with RCCL. WE just wanted to try something different for this trip. I hope princess can live up to Royal Caribbean.

 

We are trying RCCL for the same reason. Sailed the CB princess in March, you will love it and we hope that RCCL can live up to Princess! Dont forget to post a review and comparison when you return.

[ambergj]

I have taken a total of 3 cruises. My first on Princess, we thought that we would try something new...so we tried RCCL (hated it) and then went back to Princess and will ONLY stay with Princess.

 

The service on the Princess was much more exceptional than RCCL.

[mfd062450]

DW and I along with friends have gone on two RCCL and 2 Celebrity cruises. This will be our first on Princess when we sail to Alaska in July. I have heard both positives and negatives about every line. Heck my sister did a two week South America cruise on Crystal and found reason to complain. My philosophy is that you make your own good time and as long as your cruising, it's all good.

[yancycruiser]

We have cruised on Princess, RCCL, Carnival, and NCL. We are big fans of both Princess and RCCL and pick the cruise based on price and itinerary.

[rollingstone]

Having been on both, I would definitely choose RCCL for children.The activities and facilities for children are excellent. On their private island they have a special section where they play and eat. There was a pajama party on board one night. It was on one of the formal nights so the parents could have some alone time! There was a lunch outing to Johnny Rockets and one afternoon some of the smaller children were having a party at the pool area dressed and painted as pirates. I took many pictures of the "children only" areas and passed them out to people I knew who wanted to take their children on a cruise. Also, the children are separated into age groups for all activities. The teenagers have use of the disco (the vault) until 11pm.

This is all in addition to the rollerblading , ice skating, rock climbing, mini golfing etc.

I personally prefer Princess for "adult" cruising but their childrens program cannot begin to compare with what they offered on the Voyager.

Nancy

[tapdancer_pm]

Having been on both, I would definitely choose RCCL for children.The activities and facilities for children are excellent. On their private island they have a special section where they play and eat. There was a pajama party on board one night. It was on one of the formal nights so the parents could have some alone time! There was a lunch outing to Johnny Rockets and one afternoon some of the smaller children were having a party at the pool area dressed and painted as pirates. I took many pictures of the "children only" areas and passed them out to people I knew who wanted to take their children on a cruise. Also, the children are separated into age groups for all activities. The teenagers have use of the disco (the vault) until 11pm.

This is all in addition to the rollerblading , ice skating, rock climbing, mini golfing etc.

I personally prefer Princess for "adult" cruising but their childrens program cannot begin to compare with what they offered on the Voyager.

Nancy

 

 

Kids programs sound much the same as on Princess, without the ice skating. My kids, (14 and 9) loved the Princess kids programs.

[Coral]

I have sailed 2x on RCCLL (Explorer and Radiance) and many times on Princess. I prefer Princess.

 

I prefer the flexibility of dining options on Princess. I also prefer fresh water pools on Princess.

 

Maybe it is just the ships I have sailed on RCCL, but I have found the ships to seem very crowded to me and also very loud. I also don't like the promendade area on RCCL - it reminds me of a shopping mall and that is the last thing I want when I am on a cruise.

 

I also prefer the food on Princess. Hopefully RCCL has replaced their ranch steak.

 

Princess just seems classier to me.

[snickmcfee]

My wife and I have been on several Princess and RCCL ships. Each experience is different. While we like the Personal Choice on Princess, we have fallen in love with the large RCCL ships. We used to spend too much time comparing the two lines, remember is it your vacation, relax, enjoy.

Don't sweat the small things!

 

Caribbean Princess (May 2005)

Spendor of the Seas (August 2005)

Monarch of the Seas (2)

Song of Norway (2)

Song of America (2)

Sovereign of the Seas (2)

Legend of the Seas (2)

Nordkapp

Sea Princess (2)

Grand Princess (2)

Sun Princess

Star Princess

Pacific Princess

Sun Viking

Nordic Prince

Viking Serenade

Grandeur of the Seas

Legend of the Seas

Norwegian Sea

Mariner of the Seas

Voyager of the Seas

[MGilly]

We've sailed three times on Carnival and four times on RCCL. December will be our first cruise on Princess. Three of our RCCL cruises were on Voyager-class ships, and all of our Carnival cruises were on their largest class ships. While Carnival is better geared to 20-30-year-olds, RCCL was vastly superior to Carnival in all other respects, in our opinion! We're just hoping that Princess can live up to RCCL!

 

(I know you didn't ask about Carnival, but having sailed on only those two lines, it helped us to see that it IS possible to make comparisons.)

[ocean lover]

We were just on R.C.Adventure of the seas and I wouldn't hesitate if you are taking your kids. We saw very few kids on our last Princess cruise,and it was during spring vacation. I think there is sooo much more for kids on R.C. I LOVE Princess for my husband and I, but R.C. was much better suited when we took our kids. Have a great cruise! Bertz

[RvrCrzr]

To sum up my opinion...I love them both equally.

 

I do think it's more about the cruise/intineray/ship/crew you pick and less about the cruise line. They are so similar in all respects.

 

When I feel like relaxing...I like Princess. I think it's geared more toward older passengers as far as entertainment and bar action. (It was a 10 day trip, and that may have been why) I didn't feel like I had to rush anywhere to do something. Very laid back. Love the fresh water pools, and they always seemed to be open. Even late night.

 

When I feel like having fun, kicking it up...I take RCI. They know how to throw a party! If you are bringing teens or older children...these Voyager Class ships are the ticket. My teens had the time of their lives on Navigator, and can't wait to sail again. There is so much to do...you can't do it in a week. Fast paced fun. You have to remember to relax!

[negc]

I have taken a total of 3 cruises. My first on Princess, we thought that we would try something new...so we tried RCCL (hated it) and then went back to Princess and will ONLY stay with Princess.

 

The service on the Princess was much more exceptional than RCCL.

I'm glad that your service was great on both of your Princess cruises. We sailed on the Dawn Princess twice. On the first in Alaska, the service was exemplary. The second, through the Panama Canal, was extremely dissatisfying. I don't know which was more typical of the service I should expect from Princess, although I am willing to believe that the second cruise was an aberration. However, I must say that on over twenty RCI cruises, I have, with very few exceptions, received wonderful service from a crew that seemed happy to be onboard and happy to see and serve us. I must say also that when we wrote Princess after our second cruise, primarily to commend one of the land-based personnel who went above and beyond to help us out in a situation that arose out of Princess' failure to provide us with the correct connections from the ship to the airport, their response barely noted the good report we gave their employee, but spent paragraphs trying to blame the situation on everyone except themselves. That, I thought, was not the sign of good customer relations. :(

[vacationhappy]

We like both Princess and RCCL, however the edge goes to Princess because of the fresh water pools, self-serve laundry and personal choice dining.

 

We had early seating on our RCCL cruise and felt rushed every evening after coming back from port to dress for dinner. If we had a later seating, it would have worked better but we were traveling with extended family the later seating was too late for the younger children.

 

We also felt like RCCL VOS was 'crowded' but we believe it is due to the open layout of the ship. The open layout definitely has the "awe factor' but the downside is that you actually see all the people. The Grand Class ships has smaller public spaces but we never feel overwhelmed by the sheer number of passengers.

 

There are more pools on the Grand Class ships - I think 5 versus 3 on the RCCL ships. We have had a hard time finding chairs on RCCL but not on any of our Princess cruises.

 

We like RCCL because of the high level of activity on the ship - rock climbing, ice skating, roller skating. We also found a broader selction of 'active' shore excursions. RCCL has live music at the pool for a good portion of the day.

 

We found the kids programs are comparable as well as service and food. A slight edge goes to Princess for their pizza and burgers while an edge goes to RCCL for their coffee. If itinerary and price were equal we would go with Princess however we would not hesitate to go with RCCL if the itinierary was better.