What Do Cunarders Think of Princess?

[Classiccruiser777]

Princess is going to be offering cruises to Hawaii r/t from San Francisco. We are frequent Cunard voyagers and would like the opinions of others that know Cunard but have traveled on Princess. How do the two compare? Thank you very much in advance.

[Kamloops50]

Princess is going to be offering cruises to Hawaii r/t from San Francisco. We are frequent Cunard voyagers and would like the opinions of others that know Cunard but have traveled on Princess. How do the two compare? Thank you very much in advance.

 

I'd to know myself.:confused: Other then the cost.

[fishywood]

There are fewer differences than similarities. Most glaringly are:

 

Nothing remotely resembling the Grills. If you are in a full suite you will have a private restaurant for breakfast only.

No ballroom. Afternoon tea is in one of the dining rooms, and you will hear not a note of (what Cunard bills as) “strict tempo” dance music.

Cabins are much smaller. You will want at least a Mini-suite to have as much room as found in most lower categories on Cunard; standard balcony cabins do not have a sitting area with sofa.

Evening dress. On a 15-night Princess cruise you will have only two or three formal nights. Compliance and enforcement are very unpredictable--and only apply to the main dining rooms. On Princess “elegant casual” simply means no tank tops, cutoffs, or flip-flops in the dining rooms.

 

But if I haven’t lost you by now, the truth is that how you occupy your time on a 15-night cruise that opens with five sea days will be the same as on Cunard—choose from whichever lectures, trivia, movies, crafts, and such that your tastes prefer. The cruise staff is definitely more hands-on and gregarious on Princess. On the pool deck there is almost always either live music or something blaring on the giant video screen (often both in competition).

 

Princess offers both fixed-seating and open-seating dining rooms. If you want a traditional 6:00 or 8:15 reserved table as on Cunard you need to book your sailing well in advance as only around 40% of passengers are assigned fixed seating, the remainder are allocated anytime dining. I find the menus having more of a variety of tastes among each evening’s starters and entrees, and there is a pretty good list of "available every day" alternatives. Afternoon tea is a lot less refined, but there is live music most afternoons—and the waiters dispense the cream and jelly from a silver pot to your plate. Late night snacks are not served at the buffet but from a café at the bottom of the atrium.

 

One other issue: I have found on Cunard that fellow passengers interact with each other much more freely. Perhaps a consequence of the informality of the evening meal, but on Princess everyone seems to be just going about their own business. I never seem to run into the same faces several days in a row, even when taking pre- and post-dinner libations at the same time and same location. Contrast Cunard where—now I may not be saying this exactly right—we all seemed to be “in the same boat” together.

[keithm]

Princess is going to be offering cruises to Hawaii r/t from San Francisco. We are frequent Cunard voyagers and would like the opinions of others that know Cunard but have traveled on Princess. How do the two compare? Thank you very much in advance.

Considering that Princess management runs Cunard & the quality drop, should tell you all you need to know.

[Ryancoke]

Princess is going to be offering cruises to Hawaii r/t from San Francisco. We are frequent Cunard voyagers and would like the opinions of others that know Cunard but have traveled on Princess. How do the two compare? Thank you very much in advance.

 

The only Princess we have been on was a 14 day Panama Canal. The main diff we noticed was Princess' inability to provide activities on sea days (elevator poker and the men's sexy legs contest notwithstanding) compared to Cunard and since sea days will be in abundance to Hawaii and back this may be significant for you. Coral Princess had a speaker in the theatre most days but literally I could have done better. Whereas Cunard will have several top notch speakers on a given crossing. Coral offered afternoon tea but not in as nice a setting as the Ballroom. A sea day between ports or the first few sea days at the beginning of a cruise are OK but after a while the difference between Cunard and everyone else will begin to show. Dress is several notches down on casual nights, anything above shorts seems to go. Formal was mostly dark suits. The decor in the atrium tends towards more chrome, glass and lights vs a more grand effect on QM2. And few dining rooms can compare to Britannia. Food, table settings and presentation were a grade or so higher on QM2. On the plus side for Princess, they have anytime dining and they really handled the airport transfers efficiently when we disembarked. The passengers were 55% US, 25% Canadian, 10% British on that particular cruise. US pax tended to be more from central parts of the country (whom I am more comfortable with) vs NE as Cunard tends to draw. Price was similar to Victoria's Canal offering (and to tell you the truth I can't recall for sure but I think Vic was a bit cheaper) but the deciding factor for me was the ports offered.

[stephy66]

After three trips on Cunard we went on the Grand Princess last summer. We won't be going again, unless we are desperate.

 

I wrote a review on the Princess board if you'd like to read it. Please remember this was school summer holidays around the med, which will be very different to your cruise. X

[moniquet]

Princess was our worst cruise. We had a 10 day on Emerald. Main whinge was everywhere was crowded. A line for everything and never any seats in any of the bars. I think with the huge amount of people many must have been 3 or 4 to a cabin. Wouldn't go again with them, was like being trapped in some large shopping mall just before christmas:mad:

[billyvegas]

Having sailed 10 times with Cunard (4 times in the grills). We did a Caribbean on the Grand last December. We loved it! Yes the dress code is more relaxed, My Wife and I felt ourselves being looked at for being too smart sometimes, but hey, better that than too scruffy. The anytime dining was a doddle, movies under the stars was a favourite, we found the entertainment staff to be very friendly and hard working, plenty of venues to suit everybody, we had a mini suite, it was the equivalent of a Princess Grill in size and layout. We are going on the Caribbean Princess in July and the Victoria in November, so you certainly can do both and enjoy them. They are different but not in a bad way. By the way we hated Celebrity!

[Aussieflyer]

By the way we hated Celebrity!

To each his own - we like Celebrity and our one (short) cruise with Princess has convinced us never to sail with them again. We enjoyed the cruise but the ships in Australian waters (can't speak for other places) have the smallest cabins and bathrooms I have ever had. Inside on QM2 is much better. Shipmates who included a fair number of those well under the weather so to speak. Pretty ordinary food and overall cheapness - think thin toilet paper and even thinner paper towels in public toilets. Just not a quality product though as some have pointed out, we get the oldest ships down here (obviously Princess feels that they can palm them off on us). We will not consider Princess in the future. The old adage is true - you get what you pay for.

[bridge&golf]

If you're looking for an inside cabin with a sofa(love seat), then RC is the line for you. Just

make sure you do not have a connecting cabin. Then it's a chair. There are also drapes to

separate the tv area from the sleeping area. AND, lights (I forget what they're called) by

each side of the bed for individual reading. We'll be on QE in October. Haven't been on Cunard since QE2 - about 6 months before she left the fleet.

 

JUST BEING ON A CRUISE IS GREAT

 

joann

[capnpugwash]

Princess is going to be offering cruises to Hawaii r/t from San Francisco. We are frequent Cunard voyagers and would like the opinions of others that know Cunard but have traveled on Princess. How do the two compare? Thank you very much in advance.

 

Unsurprisingly some will like them and others won't. People have different experiences on the same ship and the same trip so there really is no way to tell other than experiencing yourself. It doesn't help you but I know some people who love Princess and others that don't as has been reflected by the posts on this thread.:):)

[lannp]

I used to consider Princess my second favourite but a cruise on the Grand Princess in January made me realize that the QM2 has ruined me for other ships.

As previously stated there is only a bucket chair in the balcony cabin and I have become accustomed to the small sofa in a Briannia balcony cabin. I have been booking mini suites on Princess to get a seating area because I do enjoy some quiet time in my cabin and especially in the Caribbean I can't always sit out on the balcony.

I had no problems with the food quality but Princess now closes their dining room on port days. I am a dining room diner and with food allergies dining in the buffet can be risky.

I found on sea days that their daytime entertainment was poor. I have become spoiled by Cunard's speakers and concerts. And the Cunard libraries have ruined me for what passes as a library on Princess.

The service from my room steward and dining room staff were excellent but for me no lunches in the dining room were a deal breaker.

[Queen of the Queen]

Princess is going to be offering cruises to Hawaii r/t from San Francisco. We are frequent Cunard voyagers and would like the opinions of others that know Cunard but have traveled on Princess. How do the two compare? Thank you very much in advance.

 

Hi

 

I have read all the replies so far and I think I can answer your question best. We have sailed Cunard several times and this was our first Princess Cruise.

 

Feb. 2011 we sailed r/t San Pedro to Hawaii on the Queen Victoria. Everything met our usual expectations for Cunard and we had a great trip!

 

Feb.2012 we sailed on the Golden Princess, also r/t San Pedro to Hawaii. There is no comparison or even worth considering!

 

We had a mini suite on Princess, which, as one poster compared to a Princess Suite, forget it! It is just an elongated cabin and about the same size as Britannia balcony cabin (which is fine with us) (we have sailied in Princess Suite so I can compare)

 

The food was poor to good, the buffet for lunch was no better than a school cafeteria (pre made sandwiches in plastic wrap) We found ourselves eating at the International Cafe (and paying for coffee) because the food was so much fresher and appetizing. However, seating was very limited

 

There was inadequate seating in the Theatre, so to sit together, we found ourselves having to get there a half hour or more in advance.

 

The scheduling was awful for the shows, either had to go at 7:00 p.m. before dinner, thus having to get dressed so much earlier or, as in most cases we missed the entertainment since we met our friends at 8:00 /8:30 for anytime dining.

 

Another problem with scheduling: The dining rooms closed at 9:00 a.m. for breakfast, with so many sea days we found we had to get up early and rush to make it to breakfast.

 

We went to tea only once, they reserve just a few tables in the corner of the dining room and we had to wait on line, since they don't want to "mess" the rest of the dining room. The service was nice, but the attitude made you feel as if they were doing us a favor and we were cutting into time they might have been off. No comparison to the Queens Room Tea!

 

Most of the activities were also scheduled for 9:00 to 10:00 a.m., so we could only participate in one, and the rest of the day we "winged it"

 

As far as dress code, there was NONE! :mad:Those that chose to dress looked quite nice, but the others took the term casual much too far! Lots of shorts and tee shirts. The night of the Captains Fairwell Party, (which was lovely) there were those in tuxedos/suits/gowns/dresses and then the rest in shorts/tee shirts and flip flops on the dance floor and in the dining venues.

 

I must say the staff on the Princess were the friendliest, most courteous and very accommodating.

 

I know "Princess Cruise Line Lovers" will disagree with me, but if you like Cunard, in my opinion, you will not be happy with Princess line and especially on sea days.

 

Lorraine:)

[moniquet]

Queen of Queen I agree with most of what you say. I found the buffet dire, especially the cling wrap sandwiches...bit like a railway station snack bar.No there is no dress code, many were in T shirts on formal nights.Can't compare with Cunard even though I had issues with them.

[Ryancoke]

I bought CCL shares last fall and I expect to go on the 4 main lines and get obc as a perk. Cunard and Princess so far. Holland America and Carnival yet to come. I think Cunard will remain my fav partly because we did it first, enjoyed it immensely and will measure each line against it. But each will have good aspects. With Cunard the ship can stand on its own with the ports being a bonus. I expect the other lines will rely on the ports as a major part of the experience.

[Austcruiser84]

I'm surprised by some of the negative comments about Princess on this thread. Granted, they all seem to be related to cruises in the Americas.

 

I was aboard an Australia/New Zealand cruise a few years back on the Diamond and it was fantastic. I was in an inside room but I was greeted by my steward for several minutes on arrival and the cruise director came and spoke to me several times throughout the cruise. I honestly had thought that kind of treatment would be reserved only for those in the suites. The director remembered me by name. I was impressed.

 

The food was quite good and nobody went hungry. Granted, I'm not a fussy eater. I found the entertainment fantastic and particularly liked the musical numbers. Bingo was also fun (and I'm young). There was also a great selection of lectures. A history of ocean liners, globalisation, Aztec history and world political figures were all very interesting subject areas (to me). Relaxing in and by the pools was also good and I tended to see some shows twice where possible (sometimes a 3pm show was featured before dinner).

 

The passengers I dined with we're a very interesting bunch. We had self made business people, a man who had been reasonably high up in a government department and a few other people with professional jobs. A few retirees too. Conversations were not low brow by any means and everyone usually met up on sea days for lunch or afternoon tea.

 

The on shore excursions were great. One kayak adventure was cancelled due to wind but they fully refunded my money and gave me $100 credit to boot. They didn't have to do that, but certainly they made an impression by doing so. I'm planning to sail with them next year again after my Cunard voyage.

 

Yet to sail on the QM2 (6.5 months to go) but my inside on Diamond was perfectly fine. It was big enough for me and had everything I needed.

 

Perhaps my experience was - without wanting to appear rude - better because of the location? It seems to me that the Australian cruise market is quite different to the Americas in terms of attitude, behaviour and tastes. True, we have the thongs and tank top crowd, but they all sail P&O which is seen here as cheap, dirty and for bogans (rednecks/hillbillies for American readers).

 

So I loved Princess. And if Cunard truly is a cut above it then I know I'm going to LOVE the QM2.

[3rdGenCunarder]

We have done only one Princess Cruise, and that was the Crown to Bermuda and the Caribbean out of NYC.

 

We have not been back on Princess and it's unlikely we ever will be. Our issues:

 

No place to sit quietly on deck except our tiny balcony. If we hadn't had a balcony, I probably would have gone out of my mind. Or paid the $10 fee for 3 hours in the "sanctuary." There was loud music all day by all but one of the free pools. One pool was quiety until they started the kiddie movies, and then the soundtrack was very loud.

 

Very little by way of daytime activities. "ScholarShip at Sea" consisted of opportunities to paint ceramics. How scholarly is that???????

 

Announcements. Lots of them. Cunard trusts you to be a grownup and read the daily program. Princess nags you. "Bingo this afternoon, don't forget!" "Bingo in an hour!" "Bingo in a half hour!" "Bingo in five minutes, better get your cards now!"

 

Shows were poor and overamplified. We tried two of them and were so disgusted, we gave up trying. Our tablemates said the third show was worse than the first two, so we made a good decision.

 

Food and service were good at dinner (fixed dining). We thought the Lido was OK. We tried breakfast in the MDR only once. Chaos! It was the second-worst example of disorganized service I've ever seen in a ship's dining room. The prize winner for worst was afternoon tea. They served sweets, then 10 minutes later we got tea. We finally ate the sweets, figuring that there would be no sandwiches, but sandwiches arrived another 15 minutes after the tea. THAT would never happen on Cunard.

 

People did not dress for dinner the way they do on Cunard, but it wasn't as bad as I've read about here. But this was 4 years ago, I think, so it's possible things have gone downhill sartorially since our cruise.

[hmh60]

I have been on many Princess cruises and this year had an opportunity to go on the QM2. We cruised to Southampton on the Grand Princess...14 days, stayed in Southampton for a week and then boarded the QM2 for our crossing to NYC.

 

On the Grand we were in a suite which was lovely. Loved the free Internet, laundry and minibar setups. No, they don't have a butler or separate dining room, but we survived.

 

On QM2 we were in Brittania in an in hull stateroom. I was pleased at the set up of the room. Really liked the little settee, but I have to say that the balcony was absolutely useless. Loved the Brittania Restaraunt but next time would want table on the main level.

 

We almost cancelled because we read so many bad reviews of the QM2. People complaining about the food, service, dress code, etc. The reason we stuck with it is because we had a fabulous Maitre d' on Princess named Generoso who once worked on QM2. He told us how beautiful the ship was and to give it a try. We did and we loved it.

 

Cruising is all in your attitude. If you think that a cruise line is not going to live up to your expectations, think again and give them a chance. Go into it with an open mind and take all the advice you get on these boards with a grain of salt.

 

As far as a Brittania cabin on QM2 and a mini suite on Princess, I don't think they compare. A mini suite is definitely larger. The cabins on the smaller Princess ships, Ocean and Pacific, are just like the Brittania cabins on QM2.

 

Next year we are doing a QM2 crossing from NYC to Hamburg and then picking up the new Royal Princess in Venice to do the transatlantic cruise back to FLL. I enjoyed different things about each line and I am glad that I have broadened my cruising options. Thinking about checking out Celebrity.

 

I hope people will look at different cruise lines for the differences they offer and not to compare everything. There are so many choices out there. Make up your own mind.

[hmh60]

Unsurprisingly some will like them and others won't. People have different experiences on the same ship and the same trip so there really is no way to tell other than experiencing yourself. It doesn't help you but I know some people who love Princess and others that don't as has been reflected by the posts on this thread.:):)

 

Always the voice of reason. So sorry we didn't meet on the April crossing.

[Underwatr]

I'll know more in a month, but so far one significant difference is that it's trivial to access the Cruise Personalizer on Princess compared to Cunard. Email & password brings up a list of booked cruises and you just select the one you want to work on. It's always irritated me a bit how Cunard requires you to have your confirmation number on hand. Princess has also streamlined the process to apply for the veterans' OBC where on Cunard it seems like you have to do it manually.

 

In July we're booked in a regular balcony stateroom but for the longer trip out in 2014 I'm thinking that we'll need the extra sitting room so we're in a mini-suite then.

 

The big difference I'm expecting is that the normal evening wear is "Pants [sic] and open-neck shirts for men." They just don't want ballcaps or frayed jeans... I still plan to pack a tux for the two formal nights...

[Mapu]

Princess has a larger more varied fleet. The small ships, ocean and Pacific Princess offer a very different experience than the largest ships. Dress code is more observed on the small ships and service is more personal. The Oceam and Pacific each carry about 700 passengers.

[billyvegas]

Hi

 

(we have sailied in Princess Suite so I can compare)

 

 

 

Lorraine:)

 

So have we!

[keithm]

Hi

 

I have read all the replies so far and I think I can answer your question best. We have sailed Cunard several times and this was our first Princess Cruise.

 

Feb. 2011 we sailed r/t San Pedro to Hawaii on the Queen Victoria. Everything met our usual expectations for Cunard and we had a great trip!

 

Feb.2012 we sailed on the Golden Princess, also r/t San Pedro to Hawaii. There is no comparison or even worth considering!

 

We had a mini suite on Princess, which, as one poster compared to a Princess Suite, forget it! It is just an elongated cabin and about the same size as Britannia balcony cabin (which is fine with us) (we have sailied in Princess Suite so I can compare)

 

The food was poor to good, the buffet for lunch was no better than a school cafeteria (pre made sandwiches in plastic wrap) We found ourselves eating at the International Cafe (and paying for coffee) because the food was so much fresher and appetizing. However, seating was very limited

 

There was inadequate seating in the Theatre, so to sit together, we found ourselves having to get there a half hour or more in advance.

 

The scheduling was awful for the shows, either had to go at 7:00 p.m. before dinner, thus having to get dressed so much earlier or, as in most cases we missed the entertainment since we met our friends at 8:00 /8:30 for anytime dining.

 

Another problem with scheduling: The dining rooms closed at 9:00 a.m. for breakfast, with so many sea days we found we had to get up early and rush to make it to breakfast.

 

We went to tea only once, they reserve just a few tables in the corner of the dining room and we had to wait on line, since they don't want to "mess" the rest of the dining room. The service was nice, but the attitude made you feel as if they were doing us a favor and we were cutting into time they might have been off. No comparison to the Queens Room Tea!

 

Most of the activities were also scheduled for 9:00 to 10:00 a.m., so we could only participate in one, and the rest of the day we "winged it"

 

As far as dress code, there was NONE! :mad:Those that chose to dress looked quite nice, but the others took the term casual much too far! Lots of shorts and tee shirts. The night of the Captains Fairwell Party, (which was lovely) there were those in tuxedos/suits/gowns/dresses and then the rest in shorts/tee shirts and flip flops on the dance floor and in the dining venues.

 

I must say the staff on the Princess were the friendliest, most courteous and very accommodating.

 

I know "Princess Cruise Line Lovers" will disagree with me, but if you like Cunard, in my opinion, you will not be happy with Princess line and especially on sea days.

 

Lorraine:)

The fact that you sailed on 2 same style trips on 2 different cruiselines, I think says a lot. The cruises were the same,but you really showed the true differences between Cunard/Princess. Our TA does a lot of cruising(FAR more than us!)He & his family have cruised Celebrity/Princess/NCL/RCCL. They haven't tried Cunard as yet??? They saw Princess really going down hill. They found NCL to be pretty average(older ships)They liked the huge RCCL ships(Oasis/Allure)Their favorite by far were the "Solstice" class Celebrity ships. The only down side for Celebrity is the food qiality has slipped quite a bit in the MDR. It seems to get the really good quality, you need to do the "Alternative" rest.

The 2 concerns that I have with Cunard is that Princess MGT. has taken over much day to day running of Cunard & the slipping of quality is becoming quite noticable to me. We always used to have cloth towls in the rest rooms. Not so much, except on formal nights. I know that doesn't sound like much, but that's where the "cuts" begin..where they think people won't notice. The rolls used to be great in the Britannia room.They're pretty bland now. Still great quality in the Grills, but we only do them on rare occasions.

My other concern is, due to my work(catering business)we can only really travel late fall to early spring(our slower season). Cunard has cut way back on their Caribbean trips. Even the Holiday festival from NY through the Caribbean is now 12 days,down from 15-16 days. Far fewer port calls to be found. We're now looking at Celebrity/HAL/Oceania for our Caribbean trips. I guess if you all miss what Cunard used to be then check out Saga cruises..that's where much of Cunard's MGT staff has wound up. Not as elegant, but they uphold the true British way of cruising.

[Aussieflyer]

We always used to have cloth towls in the rest rooms. Not so much, except on formal nights. I know that doesn't sound like much, but that's where the "cuts" begin..where they think people won't notice .

There were no cloth towels in rest rooms on Dawn Princess. They were the hardest, thinnest paper towels I have ever encountered - just awful. I was actually quite shocked that the company used such poor quality as I had heard good things about Princess and was keen to see what cruising on them was like.

[avalon1025]

I'm diamond on Cunard and Elite on Princess, Last year I sailed the QM2 queens grill and Grand Princess in a suite (QM2 in October, GP in December). I felt the princess experience was very mass market and nothing I wanted to repeat. The ship was ok, but there was nothing special about the ship, food or service. Even the alternative restaurants on the Grand were equal to a mall based chain restaurants. No princess ship compares to a Cunard vessel. I sorely missed a forward facing lounge and I can do without a 300 ft TV over the pool. I can't wait to return to a Cunard ship, princess I can do without. I prefer celebrity's new ship over princess for an alternative to Cunard. Princess was as bland as one can get at sea