Your Favorite Princess Ship

[janetz]

I am curious as to which ship of the Princess fleet is your favorite and why? We have sailed the CB three times and then strayed over to RC for a bit and now coming back with our next Princess cruise on the Royal. Opinions are mixed. We enjoy the adults area. We like to relax near the pool a good part of the day during sea days. It sounds like the Royal does not have enough pools! :D Thanks ahead.

[f-mattox]

Of the ships currently sailing, Sapphire Princess is by far my favorite; the ship just has an open, uncrowded, unhurried feel to it. She (and sister Diamond Princess) have the highest passenger/space ratio in the fleet.

[redtogo]

The Sapphire Princess is my favorite.

[need2cruisesoon]

My favorite:

 

[Renmar]

Check out this tread http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1804585&highlight=favorite+ship that started March 9, 2013.

 

Theo

[Pam in CA]

Favorite was the original Royal Princess. Just something about her that was special. Of the current ships, I prefer the Coral/Island because they are longer than the "big" ships but narrower, and carry 1,000-1,500 fewer passengers. Great passenger space ratio.

[avcruz]

I have to agree with Pam, the Coral/Island feel a little more intimate and yet still offer enough amenities not to get bored.

[janetz]

My favorite:

 

 

 

Why? Great pic!

[billco]

Updated Sapphire Princess is my favorite (wide Promenade, Alfredos, IC) followed by Coral/Island (also wide Promenade) and then possibly Emerald. Golden and Star in the middle.

Least favorites would be Dawn/Sea followed by Grand.

 

They are all good, just like some better than others.

[janetz]

Thank you all so much. :D

Interesting comparisons.

Renmar, thanks for the link. :)

[e71465]

Of the ships currently sailing, Sapphire Princess is by far my favorite; the ship just has an open, uncrowded, unhurried feel to it. She (and sister Diamond Princess) have the highest passenger/space ratio in the fleet.

 

I totally agree! The Sapphire is my favorite for reasons listed above! :)

[loliola]

I totally agree! The Sapphire is my favorite for reasons listed above! :)

 

unfortunately, she is unavailable for us to sail upon...

[JimmyVWine]

Of the ships currently sailing, Sapphire Princess is by far my favorite; the ship just has an open, uncrowded, unhurried feel to it. She (and sister Diamond Princess) have the highest passenger/space ratio in the fleet.

 

I agree. No extra "Riviera Deck". Has four right-sized Anytime MDRs. Has Alfredo's. Has the International Cafe. Has an indoor and an outdoor pool. Has aft pool and hot tubs. Has a full Promenade with loungers. Until Diamond has its makeover, Sapphire is our favorite.

[lovevacadays]

I agree. No extra "Riviera Deck". Has four right-sized Anytime MDRs. Has Alfredo's. Has the International Cafe. Has an indoor and an outdoor pool. Has aft pool and hot tubs. Has a full Promenade with loungers. Until Diamond has its makeover, Sapphire is our favorite.

 

Mine too for all the reasons you listed plus the extra wide promenade deck. Too bad she will be transferred to Asia soon.

[AZbeachboy]

Mine is the Grand. It was the first Princess cruise that I had been on. It had the best staff of any Princess Cruise my wife and have sailed and was just a wonderful cruise. We had a great outside cabin just behind the Art Gallery and it was quiet, not so much traffic and no cabins across from us. Just wonderful.

[argenta01]

The Emerald Princess is my favorite. Had the best cruises, staff, food, etc. Love the Grand Class ships because of the Aft Pool and Adagio Bar. :D

[OCruisers]

Favorite was the original Royal Princess. Just something about her that was special. Of the current ships, I prefer the Coral/Island because they are longer than the "big" ships but narrower, and carry 1,000-1,500 fewer passengers. Great passenger space ratio.

 

Totally agree with Pam. Exactly how we feel.

The original Royal Princess was our favorite.

Now it's Island/Coral.

 

This does not mean we don't like and enjoy other Princess ships.:)

 

LuLu

~~~~

[rdsqrl]

Coral: Wide, 360 promenade deck, fantastic library, spacious Wheelhouse Bar, open viewing platforms fore and aft, and carries fewer passengers. She just had a good vibe.

 

That said, full disclosure: I haven't sailed on every class of ship yet. In particular, I'm looking forward to experiencing the little girls, since the original Island was my all-time fave Princess ship. And I haven't sailed the Royal yet, of course (*snort*: we all know there's no way that will ever be my favourite ship).

[pris993]

Recently we have cruised the Star, Sapphire, Ruby... love the Ruby. Especially like the location of Sabatini's and the atmosphere of this restaurant.

 

Have cruised the original Royal, the old Royal, the Golden and the Grand, the Sea, the old Star and Sky Princesses.

 

Have not made to the Coral or Island maybe one of these days.

 

Don't have any interest in the new Royal, we have cruised Celebrity Equinox, Eclipse and we are booked on the Silhouette.... the new Royal looks too much like a Celebrity ship.

[need2cruisesoon]

the new Royal looks too much like a Celebrity ship.

 

Then you should feel right at home on the Royal, if you like Celebrity ships...correct?

[Sea Day Cruiser]

Of the ships currently sailing, Sapphire Princess is by far my favorite; the ship just has an open, uncrowded, unhurried feel to it. She (and sister Diamond Princess) have the highest passenger/space ratio in the fleet.

 

Here is another vote for the Sapphire. Besides the above reason I like the wider promenade deck, the four smaller dining rooms, and the covered pool. I'm really sorry Princess decided to send this ship to Asia.

[cruisequeen4ever]

Hands down, the Sapphire Princess! She is unique and fantastic!

[BRANDEE]

Another vote for the Sapphire Princess. The original Regal was also a beauty, but long gone.

[skybuffalo]

I would have to say the Sea Princess. The size was just right and very relaxing. The best feature were the balconies (they were cut out of the side so all were covered). We sailed her on a New England cruise out of New York and could still enjoy the outside when we ran into storms.

 

Now she is doing service in Asia but when she comes back, she will be at the top of my list.

[tiggerrr]

Another vote for Sapphire Princess. We just disembarked off her today after 14 days in Alaska. I love the smaller size of the dining rooms, as well as the size and layout of the Internet Cafe. It may not be rational, but I also like the design changes to remove the "spoiler" where Skywalker's was and move it above the aft pool bar. We were in port at the same time as the Star Princess once and the Golden Princess another time, and I think the Sapphire/Diamond look is sleeker.

 

The other thing we liked a lot was the separate buffet line/counter for the desserts. I think that led to a lot less crowding in the buffet line, and we never seemed to miss the slightly reduced seating.