Baltic Cruise: Royal Princess or NCL Star

[NYCcruiser65]

Hi - I'm looking at taking a Baltic cruise in August or September 2014. I've sailed with Norwegian 3 times in the past 3 years (2x on Epic, 1x on Breakaway). I've never sailed on Princess. I really love NCL, their freestyle dining concept, and their prices are a little less expensive than Princess.

 

However, I'm now looking at the Royal Princess and I'm impressed, but I don't know anything about Princess Cruise Line. The NCL ship that does the Baltic route is the Star, and it's an older ship that I've read mixed reviews on. Also, the previous NCL ships I was on had impressive thermal spas, which the Star doesn't have, but the Royal Princess does have.

 

But the Royal Princess prices are more expensive than the NCL Star. (Part of the cost may be the number of days… the Royal Princess is an 11 day cruise, whereas the NCL Star is a 9-day cruise).

 

Can anyone tell me about Princess and why I might pay the extra to cruise on it? Also, does Princess have "freestyle" dining like NCL?

 

Any other information or experience is helpful!!! Thanks!

[NYCcruiser65]

Bump. Anyone have any opinions on this?

 

 

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[Pam in CA]

This is a very port-intensive itinerary and to be honest, it almost doesn't matter which ship because you'll be crawling back onboard after a very long day, having dinner and doing it all over again the next day. :)

 

That said, the Royal is an awesome ship. The buffet is huge... really huge... with a wide variety of food choices. The International Cafe, which is open 24/7 is awesome and there's nothing like it on any other line: pastries, panini's, salads, etc. Alfredo's probably has the best pizza at sea. The main dining room food is good to excellent. These are all included in your fare. Like NCL, there are several extra-charge dining options: the Crown Grill, Sabatini's (fine Italian dining), the Crab Shack and Fondues. http://www.princess.com/news/press_releases/2013/04/Royal-Princess-Offers-Casual-Dining-Options-for-Every-Craving.html#.UvPau_Z00nU

[msmoger]

The difference in price once you factor in the 2 additional days is not that much (about $16/day for a balcony). Obviously the Royal is a new ship and has a bit of a "WOW" factor going for it if that's important to you. In my opinion the food is much better on Princess but I've only been on one NCL cruise. Also, Princess has Anytime Dining which is somewhat similar to Freestyle Dining on NCL. Princess will be a bit more formal.

 

The only disadvantage with the Royal is that it no longer docks in Stockholm, I believe due to its size. You have to shuttle in to Stockholm from Nynashamn.

 

Keep in mind this is a very port intensive itinerary and you'll be spending much less time on the ship during the day than you would on a Caribbean cruise.

 

If it was my choice I'd pick the Royal, but as you can tell from my signature, I'm a Princess fan. :)

[loma linda ca a & j]

i cannot tell you anything about ncl altho many people rave about it

 

as you can see from my list, we have only sailed on princess & carnival

 

we choose traditional dining cuz we like to know that we can go right to

our table every night and enjoy talking to the 6 or 8 others at our table -

if for some reason you did not like them you could always try for another

spot and if not available you could switch to anytime dining which

many people on princess now choose

we have loved every single cruise - we are now 68 & 72 but do not act old

stuffy or conservative - so we enjoy all the people we meet even the

fun loving party people on carnival !!

 

what is coincidental about your question - is that last year

i had originally booked an aft balcony cabin on norwegian star

TA & baltics for this may - even started a thread & was keeping a roll call list

and Alla tour lists - then we had to cancel cuz the return date was after an

important occasion in our family so then chose royal princess - inside cabin cuz

we can't afford balcony on princess but are content w/ inside - for TA & baltics

but had to cancel that for various reasons - mainly we just were not ready for

another big trip and flight after our marvelous trip last year

 

am sure you will be happy with either cruise -

i think you will love princess longer itinerary and the newness of the royal

 

Edited February 6, 2014 by loma linda ca a & j

[Jasperdo]

Also, does Princess have "freestyle" dining like NCL?

Princess has Anytime Dining which is the same idea as Freestyle. The difference is on NCL all the main dining rooms are Freestyle. Princess still offers Traditional dining as well, which means that not every dining room is Anytime. I haven't sailed on the Royal Princess, so I don't know the exact set up on that ship. But my wife and I have done Anytime Dining on all of our Princess cruises. The results have varied. Many times we have been seated immediately. (We always ask for a table for two.) Other times we have been given a pager and had to wait for an available table. The wait time has varied from 5 minutes to an hour and fifteen minutes.

 

Generally, Princess ships have two Anytime Dining Rooms. However, one is usually reserved for early Traditional seating. Which means it doesn't open for Anytime diners until around 7:30PM. The other Anytime Dining Room is strictly Anytime from 5:30PM onwards. Hope this helps.

 

I do want to point out what another poster mentioned as well. The Royal Princess doesn't dock in Stockholm, you will have a longer bus ride into the city. You will also miss out on sailing through the Stockholm Archipelago.

[loma linda ca a & j]

I do want to point out what another poster mentioned as well. The Royal Princess doesn't dock in Stockholm, you will have a longer bus ride into the city. You will also miss out on sailing through the Stockholm Archipelago.

do you think it's due to the size of the ship ?

everyone says the archipelago is so awesome -

it would be a shame to miss that experience !!!

[Jasperdo]

do you think it's due to the size of the ship ?

everyone says the archipelago is so awesome -

it would be a shame to miss that experience !!!

That would be my guess as to why the Royal goes to Nynashamn instead of Stockholm.

[sterling2]

We have sailed both Princess and NCL. We were on the Star for 38 days last fall and enjoyed it very much. We have no complaints except for the lack of variety of choices in the dining room, especially at lunch -- the menu was the same every day.

 

I agree with other posters that with a port intensive itinerary the ship choice doesn't matter so much. But I would choose the Star because of the archipelago.

 

One thing to add -- the Star crew are fantastic!

[NYCcruiser65]

I do want to point out what another poster mentioned as well. The Royal Princess doesn't dock in Stockholm, you will have a longer bus ride into the city. You will also miss out on sailing through the Stockholm Archipelago.

 

 

Thanks to everyone for the input. I'm particularly glad to hear people like the Star, even though its and older ship.

 

I realize this is a port-intensive cruise, but I have to say that I did a port intensive cruise through Europe and the spa I think is what saved me… which is why I'm considering the Royal Princess.

 

I have to ask, and excuse my ignorance, but what makes cruising the Stockholm archipelago so incredible?

 

Thanks again for all of the feedback… the decision is still hard to make!

[NYCcruiser65]

Oh, and I forgot to ask the controversial question… did Princess outlaw smoking on the balconies? This is another point in Princess' favor in my book. I know there's still smoking on NCL ships.

[suzski]

Oh, and I forgot to ask the controversial question… did Princess outlaw smoking on the balconies? This is another point in Princess' favor in my book. I know there's still smoking on NCL ships.

 

Yes - no smoking on the balconies.

[Jasperdo]

I have to ask, and excuse my ignorance, but what makes cruising the Stockholm archipelago so incredible?

The Stockholm Archipelago is a chain of 30,000 islands east of the Swedish mainland. Cruises that sail into Stockholm need to travel through this scenic chain of islands to reach the city.

[NYCcruiser65]

I'm still trying to decide between the NCL Star and the Royal Princess, but everything I'm reading about the Princess sounds like she's a great ship. It sounds a little more formal than I like to be (and no I don't mean I wear shorts and flip flops to dinner… just don't like wearing a sport coat so much). But still I like the Movies Under the Stars idea for some entertainment because I'm a movie buff, and have seen some great photos of the ship which looks beautiful.

 

Does anyone know the cost of the thermal suites on the spa. I have to call Princess to find out, but haven't had a chance yet.

[TracieABD]

I just completed a sailing on the Spirit, which I hear is comperable to the Star. I have been on several Princess cruises.

 

I was not a fan of the main dining room on the Spirit. I ended up eating in the specialty restaurants most nights, because the service in the MDR was slow and the food was cold.

 

I enjoy the specialty restaurants on Princess, too, but don't feel like I have to eat there to get great service and hot food.

 

I did have a more unique experience on NCL, as I was in a suite and that was unbelievable. I normally travel in mini-suites on Princess (which are great, but don't come with the perks that one would find in a suite on NCL).

 

I would probably choose a suite on NCL or a mini on Royal. If it comes down to price, I would pick Princess.

[sfo2008]

So much of this is personal, I did the NCL Star in 2008 and overall enjoyed it. Then I did Princess a few times and by the time we came back to the NCL Jewel in 2013, I was a bit more disappointed.

 

Basically for me:

 

• +NCL: Lots of restaurant choices (some with surcharges), if you want sushi at sea one day and a Brazilian steakhouse the next night NCL is better
  
• +Princess: Good traditional dining, I like the repetition with the same waiters (may matter less on a port intensive itinerary)
  
• +Princess: I like that they change the breakfast and lunch menus daily. Not radically, but some effort at change is appreciated.
  
• +Princess: Overall better included (no surcharge) food
  

 

Again, YMMV. You mentioned you really enjoyed Freestyle but Princess does have AnyTime so is it the lack of a fixed dining or the availability of 10-14 restaurants that you like?

[Haynecourt]

Could you evaluate celebrity from amsterdam in the choices as well? I think for 2015 it will be the silhouette. Love to read your views on which to choose. Thanks.

 

For those happy with ncl star, we are 50, 45., kids 20, 12. I understand this will be a port intensive itinerary, we are ok with that, but will it be necessary to reserve for restaurants and shows on ncl, on top of an already busy day?

 

Thanks

[NYCcruiser65]

So much of this is personal, I did the NCL Star in 2008 and overall enjoyed it. Then I did Princess a few times and by the time we came back to the NCL Jewel in 2013, I was a bit more disappointed.

 

Basically for me:

 

• +NCL: Lots of restaurant choices (some with surcharges), if you want sushi at sea one day and a Brazilian steakhouse the next night NCL is better
  
• +Princess: Good traditional dining, I like the repetition with the same waiters (may matter less on a port intensive itinerary)
  
• +Princess: I like that they change the breakfast and lunch menus daily. Not radically, but some effort at change is appreciated.
  
• +Princess: Overall better included (no surcharge) food
  

 

Again, YMMV. You mentioned you really enjoyed Freestyle but Princess does have AnyTime so is it the lack of a fixed dining or the availability of 10-14 restaurants that you like?

 

 

I don't like fixed dining. I find that I don't really always like to eat at the same time, and often don't find myself eating until later, so I like to be flexible. Also, on the Epic and Breakaway, I really did like the number of specialty restaurants they had. I didn't mind paying extra for Moderno because I love the Brazilian steakhouse idea. However, I'd be open to the Anytime dining idea.

[sfo2008]

I don't like fixed dining. I find that I don't really always like to eat at the same time, and often don't find myself eating until later, so I like to be flexible. Also, on the Epic and Breakaway, I really did like the number of specialty restaurants they had. I didn't mind paying extra for Moderno because I love the Brazilian steakhouse idea. However, I'd be open to the Anytime dining idea.

 

 

So you might miss all of the options; that said the Star is smaller than Epic by quite a bit so fewer choices.

[Jasperdo]

It sounds a little more formal than I like to be (and no I don't mean I wear shorts and flip flops to dinner… just don't like wearing a sport coat so much).

Princess isn't as "formal" as you might think. On a 12 day Baltic cruise there should be 2 Formal Nights. And that is only if you intend to eat in one of the main dining rooms. You can go to the buffet or one of the extra fee specialty restaurants those nights. They are casual even on formal night. And in the lounges and showrooms on formal night you will find a number of people who are dressed in what I would call resort casual. Even some who do dress for formal dinner dress down again for the remainder of the evening. I wouldn't let the formal nights be the only thing to keep you from choosing Princess.

[Go-Bucks!]

do you think it's due to the size of the ship ?

everyone says the archipelago is so awesome -

it would be a shame to miss that experience !!!

 

 

Last summer we missed docking in Stockholm (and going thru the archipelago) while on the Crown because of bad weather. Even smaller ships aren't immune from missing this port. We docked in Nynashamn and the bus ride was about 45 min. into Stockholm.

[sweetsleep]

This would be a tough decision for me.

Docking in Stockholm with the sail away through the archipelago was magical.

The Emerald Princess is doing a 14 day itinerary roundtrip from Southampton and it ticks all of the must see ports on a Baltic trip.She is not too big to dock in Stockholm but the Royal is.

I usually choose anytime dining on Princess. It was an epic fail on my recent Emerald Caribbean cruise. They were very short on crew in the MDR every night-some crews were delayed getting to Ft. Lauderdale due to flights. Very new crew too and service was soooo slow.

That being said, a Baltic cruise is very exhausting and this is one of the few cruises that I would book early fixed dining-walk on the ship,go straight to dinner,go to the cabin,shower,bed then get up and repeat the next day.If you go with Celebrity I would book early dining too. They also dock in Stockholm.

I saw most passengers do this on our very long port days.

We were too tired to go to comedy or production shows.

[RJ2002]

I sailed on the NCL Star on the same itinerary last year. We enjoyed the cruise very much. As has been mentioned, this is very port intensive, so not as much time to really relax on the ship as other cruises.

 

NCL has its "Freestyle" of course, so everything is open seating, and formal night is optional.

 

We primarily sail HAL and Princess, and have just recently taken a couple of NCL cruises due to itinerary and timing. Our last NCL cruise was in a suite, which is a very nice experience. Of the three lines, NCL is our least favorite in terms of MDR and Lido food. Our MDR was often lukewarm, bland, and the meats could be tough. On the other hand, NCL's surcharge specialty restaurants were very good. For the money you save sailing NCL, you can eat in the specialties each night and still come out ahead.

 

The ship is older, and the cabins can look a little worn around the edges, but the ship is maintained very well. Service was very good. Great entertainment.

[GoVikes]

For those happy with ncl star, we are 50, 45., kids 20, 12. I understand this will be a port intensive itinerary, we are ok with that, but will it be necessary to reserve for restaurants and shows on ncl, on top of an already busy day?

 

Thanks

When we did the Baltic on the NCL Sun, it was not necessary to reserve for the shows. I believe it is only on the newer ships that you do need to reserve(we had to on the Epic).

[NYCcruiser65]

I forgot to ask an important question… on NCL, there's a $12-12.50 per day charge for gratuities that is divided among the staff. Of course, I always tip my room steward extra above that because I know how hard they work.

 

How does Princess handle gratuities, esp. with the anytime dining?

 

Thanks again for all of the input!