Comparing RCI to Ruby Princess

[waterbugohio]

Just sailed our first time on Princess. The Ruby 4 night, from Fort Lauderdale, Grand Turk and Princess Cay.

 

Going to give my honest comparison, Have done 6 cruises on Royal Caribbean.

 

First off I want to say that overall they two cruise lines are very similar. More things alike than different. With that being said, I will comment on a few areas.

 

First off we took our two bottles of wine allowed per stateroom. Imagine our surprise when each room was given a free bottle of wine as a welcome gift. Very nice gesture. Wish we had known this. Ended up not finishing the wine we carried on.

 

Decor on the Ruby was beautiful. Very rice and elegant. Probably a little nicer than RCI

 

Pool areas: while it was nice to have several different areas to go to, with a group of six women, it was hard to find each other at some times. Lots of little "areas" that you could go to without others knowing where you were at. While this would normally be a plus, was just kinda different for us.

 

Shaded areas: This is one thing we found lacking. While I am a sun lover, several in our group are not. On Royal, it seemed like there were more areas to get out of the sun. Several of the open decks have lounge chairs up along the side of the walls, therefore creating a shade area on one or the other side of a walk way. This was not the case on Princess. Just hard to find lots of shade. (unless you paid the extra for the sanctuary area))

 

Food: Probably very comparable. I think I would give Princess a little edge on the buffet area and cafes. While I think I give Royal the edge on the dining room.

 

Staff: While everyone was very nice and pleasant. We did not find that the staff on Princess were very social able. Not sure if this is more of a company policy or why. This really didn't effect our cruise, we just noticed it. We have gotten to know many a waiter and bartender on Royal, but couldn't even tell you the names of anyone on Princess. Never talked to anyone long enough to learn a name.

 

Drinks: This is the one area we really noticed a big different. This was the least we have ever spent on booze. While this was a good thing in the end, it was lacking during the cruise. I don't think I was ever asked if I wanted a drink. Whether on the pool deck, the casino, the theater or a lounge. If we ever wanted a drink we had to seek out a waiter and call them over. On Royal, I don't think they are pushy, yet they are always asking if you want drinks, even walking around with the drink of the day around the pool and around the theater. This was a very surprising thing to me, as I would assume that alcohol is a very big money maker and could not understand them not having more waiters. Kinda become a joke till the end of the week wondering if we could get someone to ask us if we wanted a drink.

 

Muster, boarding, embarkation, tender process, shows, all about equal on both lines, and I'm sure all subject to sailing and ports.

 

All said, if the ports were the same, and the price equal, I think I would probably go back with Royal. However, if finding a good deal, would have no problem sailing Princess again.

 

Anyone considering Princess and have any questions, please let me know

[LMaxwell]

What sort of room did you have and what did you think and / or find different from Royal and what rooms you had there?

 

My folks are doing B2B; the TA at the end of the month followed by the 12 nights around Britain; should be interesting. I'm getting more interested in going to either Princess or Celebrity just to try something different.

[waterbugohio]

We had three balcony rooms on the aloha deck (deck 12). Mid to aft of the ship.

 

Rooms seemed to be about the same size as royal. Have done balconies on Serenade, navigator and majesty. Sorry can't compare to allure or oasis.

 

Bathroom about the same except princess does not have shower door. While the curtains are a pain on princess it doesn't make or break a cruise.

 

Like the closet set up better on princess. Closet ran sideways and did not have doors on them. So therefore you didn't have to watch if closet was open while someone going in and out.

 

Also liked the fact that the balcony dividers could be opened. Don't understand why Royal wouldn't do this simple feature. With six women traveling together in three rooms, it made it very nice to communicate back and forth and to also sit out on the balcony.

[Shawna&Kristi]

Royal does open the dividers between balcony rooms . We have had ours open .

 

 

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[waterbugohio]

Royal does open the dividers between balcony rooms . We have had ours open .

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

What ship?

[OSULabRat]

What ship?

 

I know you can do it on Mariner, Liberty, and Oasis... You just have to ask to have them unlocked.

 

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Edited April 13, 2014 by OSULabRat

[Shawna&Kristi]

Freedom also opens them

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[FLACRUISER99]

We had three balcony rooms on the aloha deck (deck 12). Mid to aft of the ship.

 

Rooms seemed to be about the same size as royal. Have done balconies on Serenade, navigator and majesty. Sorry can't compare to allure or oasis.

 

I disagree on the room size being the same on Princess as RCI Balcony rooms on Ruby Princess are 168 sq ft and don't have a couch. Balcony rooms on Navigator are (E)184 sq ft or (D) 202 sq ft and include a couch. Serenade 179 or 204 sq ft. Majesty does not have any Balcony rooms only Junior Suites.

[matj2000]

I disagree on the room size being the same on Princess as RCI Balcony rooms on Ruby Princess are 168 sq ft and don't have a couch. Balcony rooms on Navigator are (E)184 sq ft or (D) 202 sq ft and include a couch. Serenade 179 or 204 sq ft. Majesty does not have any Balcony rooms only Junior Suites.

 

 

I am so glad somebody caught you trying to give Princess an unfair advantage over RC in the stateroom size.

Telling people the room is "about the same size" when it is clearly smaller.

That is just dishonest.

Thank god we have someone with statistics to prove you are wrong......

[OCruisers]

Thanks for your review! You told us your feelings -- the good & bad -- in a nice way. :)

LuLu

~~~

[waterbugohio]

I disagree on the room size being the same on Princess as RCI Balcony rooms on Ruby Princess are 168 sq ft and don't have a couch. Balcony rooms on Navigator are (E)184 sq ft or (D) 202 sq ft and include a couch. Serenade 179 or 204 sq ft. Majesty does not have any Balcony rooms only Junior Suites.

 

Sorry, I didn't have my tape measure along on the cruise to measure the difference. I guess I just don't spend enough time in the cabin to really notice that it was smaller.

 

Thanks for your review! You told us your feelings -- the good & bad -- in a nice way. :)

LuLu

~~~

 

Thank you. While I knew I would risk getting "called out" on something, I tried to just give my honest opinion. Just glad some appreciated it.

[Aquahound]

Thanks for your comparison, waterbugohio. I also went on Princess for the first time, 4 nights on Ruby, in February. A lot of things seemed off, especially with service. The MDR was a disaster for us, as was Crown Grill. Knowing what I know about cruises though, I chalked it up to being a 4 night cruise. I don't think Princess has the short cruise thing down yet.

 

What I really didn't like was the crowded feeling. It had to be the most crowded ship I've ever been on. On the other hand, the dedicated MUTS screen with a few daily shows was a nice touch.

 

I thought the ship was beautiful, with the exception of the theater and staterooms, which I thought were very dated. I didn't find a new favorite in Princess, but I certainly did find another option.

 

And yes, while our balcony room was somewhat smaller than RCI, the walk-in closet design was nice.

Edited April 13, 2014 by Aquahound

[waterbugohio]

Thanks for your comparison, waterbugohio. I also went on Princess for the first time, 4 nights on Ruby, in February. A lot of things seemed off, especially with service. The MDR was a disaster for us, as was Crown Grill. Knowing what I know about cruises though, I chalked it up to being a 4 night cruise. I don't think Princess has the short cruise thing down yet.

 

What I really didn't like was the crowded feeling. It had to be the most crowded ship I've ever been on. On the other hand, the dedicated MUTS screen with a few daily shows was a nice touch.

 

I thought the ship was beautiful, with the exception of the theater and staterooms, which I thought were very dated. I didn't find a new favorite in Princess, but I certainly did find another option.

 

And yes, while our balcony room was somewhat smaller than RCI, the walk-in closet design was nice.

 

Aquahound,

The crowdedness of the ship is something we never noticed. In fact the only time we seemed to be in a crowd was on getting tender tickets for Grand Turk and the line to leave. Otherwise we commented on how empty the ship seemed. Most shows were not full at all, and no lounges every seemed crowded. We commented that there were several things going on at the same time, which may have kept people spread out.

 

However, the final night they had the "adult comedy" show. Phil Tag was great the first night and when he did the adult only show it was completely packed. Couldn't believe they allowed people to stand in all the aisle ways and sit on all the steps. But we had gotten there early and got a good seat.

 

And I do agree the MUTS movies were a nice touch. Enjoyed Mama Mia the one afternoon.

 

And maybe the short cruises on Princess are the reason why the staff was not as friendly. Just know that we really missed the friendliness we have received on RCCL, even all the short cruises.

[coordinator23]

I am so glad somebody caught you trying to give Princess an unfair advantage over RC in the stateroom size.

 

Telling people the room is "about the same size" when it is clearly smaller.

 

That is just dishonest.

 

Thank god we have someone with statistics to prove you are wrong......

 

 

Been on many RCI cruises (Diamond+) and some Princess cruises. That being said, because of the "closet set up" the rooms do feel about the same size. We were mid Baja deck (one floor down from Aloha) and the room does feel about the same size. Same for Diamond Princess. On Diamond we had 4 cabins in a row opened up to each other and had a ball. Some RCI ships have balconies that can connect and, as it has been stated/complained about on these boards, sometimes you are not allowed to open them. I found the people working on the ship to be very personable, but then we had traditional dining and liked the piano bar area (bar), so that may have made a difference.