New Princess Cruiser

[navybaby1113]

I'm researching cruises to Alaska and I've heard Princess is a good choice. We've only ever cruised Carnival, so it's weird for me to be researching other lines.

 

Could you tell me about Princess? What are your favorite things about the line? Least favorites?

 

We love trivia and nighttime entertainment (shows, comedy, etc.). I'm also a foodie, so the quality and selection of food is pretty important to me.

 

Thanks for your time!

[chrysalis]

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2041445

 

...and the Princess website has sample menus from various venues.

[navybaby1113]

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2041445

 

...and the Princess website has sample menus from various venues.

 

Perfect. Thank you.

[paul929207]

Since Princess and Carnival are both owned by Carnival Corp, you get the same Shareholder OBC, if you have 100 shares of Carnival Corp.

[navybaby1113]

Since Princess and Carnival are both owned by Carnival Corp, you get the same Shareholder OBC, if you have 100 shares of Carnival Corp.

 

Oh, very good to know!

[skynight]

I'm researching cruises to Alaska and I've heard Princess is a good choice. We've only ever cruised Carnival, so it's weird for me to be researching other lines.

 

Could you tell me about Princess? What are your favorite things about the line? Least favorites?

 

We love trivia and nighttime entertainment (shows, comedy, etc.). I'm also a foodie, so the quality and selection of food is pretty important to me.

 

Thanks for your time!

 

Princess does Alaska well. Princess and HAL have been there the longest, and they have it down. If you plan a cruisetour (land tour and then ship) Princess has all their own lodges. The train ride is really nice. An Alaska cruise is a port and sightseeing cruise, not anything like a Caribbean cruise.

 

Daytime activities will include trivia, probably twice a day and all the other normal activities, Don't expect to see pool activities, like a belly flop contest.

 

Depending on the ship you will have production shows and guest entertainers in the Princess Theater as well as other shows like comics in either the Vista Lounge or Explorer's Lounge. The Wheelhouse Bar, Crooner's, Explorers, Club Fusion also have live music, game shows, theme nights, evening trivia, karaoke it all depends what the CD can fit into a 7 day cruise. Skywalker's will have a DJ starting around 10PM. There will also be live music in the Piazza each day, as well as a Captain's welcome party and maybe some other evening events.

 

I think you will find the food at least as good as Carnival, if not better. There is no extra charge to dine in the MDR's, International Cafe, Pub Lunch (in the Wheelhouse Bar or Crown Grill depending on the ship), Trident Grill, Prego Pizza, Horizon Ct Buffet, Alfredo's if you are on the Grand Princess, room service except for the $3 delivery charge for a pizza. Vines has free sushi and tapas with a purchase of a drink. MDR's serve breakfast and dinner each day and lunch on sea days. Dinner can be traditional fixed seating or anytime dining, you choose when you book.

 

Surcharge Dining includes the Crown Grill Steak, Chops and Seafood and Sabatini's which have been $25/pp, Crab Shack has been $20/pp. Other special dining includes the Chef's Table, Ultimate Balcony Dining (Dinner or Breakfast). Reservations recommended for all surcharge dining. Make on board by calling the dine line or visiting the dining areas.

[navybaby1113]

Princess does Alaska well. Princess and HAL have been there the longest, and they have it down. If you plan a cruisetour (land tour and then ship) Princess has all their own lodges. The train ride is really nice. An Alaska cruise is a port and sightseeing cruise, not anything like a Caribbean cruise.

 

Daytime activities will include trivia, probably twice a day and all the other normal activities, Don't expect to see pool activities, like a belly flop contest.

 

Depending on the ship you will have production shows and guest entertainers in the Princess Theater as well as other shows like comics in either the Vista Lounge or Explorer's Lounge. The Wheelhouse Bar, Crooner's, Explorers, Club Fusion also have live music, game shows, theme nights, evening trivia, karaoke it all depends what the CD can fit into a 7 day cruise. Skywalker's will have a DJ starting around 10PM. There will also be live music in the Piazza each day, as well as a Captain's welcome party and maybe some other evening events.

 

I think you will find the food at least as good as Carnival, if not better. There is no extra charge to dine in the MDR's, International Cafe, Pub Lunch (in the Wheelhouse Bar or Crown Grill depending on the ship), Trident Grill, Prego Pizza, Horizon Ct Buffet, Alfredo's if you are on the Grand Princess, room service except for the $3 delivery charge for a pizza. Vines has free sushi and tapas with a purchase of a drink. MDR's serve breakfast and dinner each day and lunch on sea days. Dinner can be traditional fixed seating or anytime dining, you choose when you book.

 

Surcharge Dining includes the Crown Grill Steak, Chops and Seafood and Sabatini's which have been $25/pp, Crab Shack has been $20/pp. Other special dining includes the Chef's Table, Ultimate Balcony Dining (Dinner or Breakfast). Reservations recommended for all surcharge dining. Make on board by calling the dine line or visiting the dining areas.

 

Thank you so much for all the information! I'm completely okay with no pool activities. My least favorite part about Carnival is how busy and loud the main pool area gets.

 

Couple questions:

- I've heard on some cruise lines you have to have a reservation for anytime dining. Is that true with Princess or is it like Carnival when you can just walk in when you're hungry (depending on whether there's a table available or not)?

- Can you get warm food through room service or is it all cold?

 

I'm ridiculously excited about the thought of this pub lunch. My family is British and I love pub food!

 

The ship that we would be on would most likely be the Crown Princess. Anyone have any pictures of a balcony room?

[hockeygal54]

Anytime dining is designed so that one shows up when one wants to eat and has a reasonable wait time to be seated. This has not been my experience on last 2 Princess cruises so have opted out of that choice. Part of the problem lies with the reservation policy. It seems to vary with one Maitre D to another. Also some folks were allowed to have "standing reservations" for their group every nite the whole voyage and that's not how it's supposed to be done. If you want to eat early or later, say 8+ then ATD is a non issue. If you're more into the 6-7P frame it can be a problem. Just my 2 cents. Many will agree, many will disagree. Just stating what I discovered on 2 voyages in January and March.

 

 

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[birdiebill]

If you go on Princess, make sure that your itinerary takes you into Glacier Bay. Not all roundtrips from the West Coast go into Glacier Bay. If you go northbound or southbound Whittier-Vancouver or vice versa, you will go into Glacier Bay.

 

We have been on Princess to Alaska twice as well as two other cruises on Princess. We have always had anytime dining; we are willing to share a table with any size group, and usually eat when the anytime dining room opens. We have never had to wait (other than in line) and have always been seated in a timely manner. We reserved a table for two one time when our anniversary occurred while on board.

[AzJenn]

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Edited May 16, 2014 by AzJenn

[AzJenn]

Hi there! I'm usually a lurker however I've been in your shoes when trying out a new line, I'm a huge foodie!!! I'm in my early 30's and primarily cruise celebrity and princess. They are my two favorites primarily because of food and service.

 

Crown grill one of the specialty resturants is my favorite for fee restaurant on princess. They have a great shrimp dish in a whiskey chili marinade. I thought the steakhouse and sabatinis ( there italian venue) are good just not my fav.

 

The MDR is excellent, the love boat dream is a chocolate dessert signature of princess, and I have always found something delicious every time for my entree.

 

The buffet can be hit or miss for me. I was on the crown princess in 2010 and it was fantastic. The piazza is the main central area in the atrium, also where you'll find the international cafe. The chocolate donuts are DELICIOUS!! They have other offerings for lunch, sandwiches and pasta salads.

 

For entertainment for me personally I think the shows are just okay, i think princess could do better however if you enjoy movies the movies under the stars venue is great and they serve popcorn, cookies, milk, pizza while you are relaxing under blankets they provide. Trivia has always been fun.

 

For Alaska my fav excursion was in Juneau, with Harv and marvs for their whale watching tour, we ran into a resident pod of orcas and hung with them for over an hour.

[Jasperdo]

- Can you get warm food through room service or is it all cold?

Room Service does have some hot items. Here's the menu:

 

Star Princess - Hawaii Cruise by Jasperdo, on Flickr

 

Star Princess - Hawaii Cruise by Jasperdo, on Flickr

[navybaby1113]

If you go on Princess, make sure that your itinerary takes you into Glacier Bay. Not all roundtrips from the West Coast go into Glacier Bay. If you go northbound or southbound Whittier-Vancouver or vice versa, you will go into Glacier Bay.

 

Glacier Bay is actually the main reason we're looking at Princes. Carnival only does it on a couple sailings and it's normally their first and last. My DH is a teacher, so we can't go during those sailings.

[navybaby1113]

Hi there! I'm usually a lurker however I've been in your shoes when trying out a new line, I'm a huge foodie!!! I'm in my early 30's and primarily cruise celebrity and princess. They are my two favorites primarily because of food and service.

 

Crown grill one of the specialty resturants is my favorite for fee restaurant on princess. They have a great shrimp dish in a whiskey chili marinade. I thought the steakhouse and sabatinis ( there italian venue) are good just not my fav.

 

The MDR is excellent, the love boat dream is a chocolate dessert signature of princess, and I have always found something delicious every time for my entree.

 

The buffet can be hit or miss for me. I was on the crown princess in 2010 and it was fantastic. The piazza is the main central area in the atrium, also where you'll find the international cafe. The chocolate donuts are DELICIOUS!! They have other offerings for lunch, sandwiches and pasta salads.

 

For entertainment for me personally I think the shows are just okay, i think princess could do better however if you enjoy movies the movies under the stars venue is great and they serve popcorn, cookies, milk, pizza while you are relaxing under blankets they provide. Trivia has always been fun.

 

For Alaska my fav excursion was in Juneau, with Harv and marvs for their whale watching tour, we ran into a resident pod of orcas and hung with them for over an hour.

 

Thanks for the food recommendations!

[navybaby1113]

Room Service does have some hot items. Here's the menu:

 

Star Princess - Hawaii Cruise by Jasperdo, on Flickr

 

Star Princess - Hawaii Cruise by Jasperdo, on Flickr

 

Omg! That room service menu makes me ridiculously happy. I rarely get room service from Carnival because they only have sandwiches and other cold things.

 

Is there a specific breakfast room service menu? I would be giddy if it happened to have hot items on it as well.

[hockeygal54]

Not much on breakfast room service. Run up to Horizon Court and get ANYTHING u want! Cooked to order eggs, omelette, you name it they have it!

 

 

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[Jasperdo]

Is there a specific breakfast room service menu? I would be giddy if it happened to have hot items on it as well.

As hockeygal54 said, the breakfast room service menu isn't that great. The only hot item is a breakfast sandwich similar to the Egg McMuffin. Some people have said they've written in hot items on the menu and have gotten them, but I've never tried. Here's the breakfast room service hang tag:

 

Coral Princess by Jasperdo, on Flickr

[rpcv77]

I have cruised Princess 2x and Carnival 2x. On my first Princess cruise I did traditional dining (with a large family group) but did anytime on my second cruise. We had only a very short wait on a night we didn't make reservations. On the other nights, we called the dine line and made reservations that fit in with our plans for the day/evening. We will be taking our 3rd Princess cruise in 2015 and chose anytime dining. Overall, I liked the food on Princess more than Carnival and loved the International Cafe.

[Colo Cruiser]

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[Cali_Mum]

Not much on breakfast room service. Run up to Horizon Court and get ANYTHING u want! Cooked to order eggs, omelette, you name it they have it!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

 

I think I am going to be going up there many mornings! Are they open 24 hours a day?

[Roxymax]

On Princess a coffee card is a must.....free items for breakfast also at coffee place.....yummy....

 

The pub lunch at the Crown Grill is a must!!!!

[skynight]

 

Couple questions:

- I've heard on some cruise lines you have to have a reservation for anytime dining. Is that true with Princess or is it like Carnival when you can just walk in when you're hungry (depending on whether there's a table available or not)?

 

I'm ridiculously excited about the thought of this pub lunch. My family is British and I love pub food!

 

The ship that we would be on would most likely be the Crown Princess. Anyone have any pictures of a balcony room?

 

ATD, yes you can make a reservation. Call the dine line in the morning. On most ships reservations are limited to certain times only, for example 5:45, 6:00, 7:45, 8:00. Also, it is much easier to ask for a table to share rather than a table for two. Another thing is the passenger demographic on the cruise. We have been on cruises where it is easy to just walk in a 6:00pm and on other cruises where by 5:30 the DR is full. You have to feel it out and then make reservations as needed. We have never had an issue when we wish to eat late. We determine approximately when and where we wish to eat depending on the evening's activities. We fit the dining around the activities rather than visa versa.

 

The Pub Lunch is nice. They have a few different menus. Some items are good, some like the ploughman's lunch, not so good. Fish & Chips, yes they have it, order as many plates as you like. The Pub Lunch is walk in, but there will be a line when they first open. It's free, but most order a beer or drink to go with it.

 

Balcony Cabin: search on line for any Princess Balcony cabin. Cabins on the Crown, Star, Golden, Emerald, Ruby, Caribbean, Sapphire, Diamond, Island, Coral are pretty much the same. On the Crown balcony cabins on the Caribe deck have 9'x9' balconies.

[navybaby1113]

Are free options for drinks water, lemonade, tea, and coffee like Carnival?

[rdsqrl]

Are free options for drinks water, lemonade, tea, and coffee like Carnival?

Hot coffee, hot tea, and iced tea are available free in the dining room at mealtimes. In the buffet, the above are available and free all day long, plus lemonade. You may need to ask a waiter to get you the lemonade; some ships have dispensers out in the beverage area and others don't.

 

Water is available everywhere for free, dining venues and bars alike.

[geocruiser]

I'm researching cruises to Alaska and I've heard Princess is a good choice. We've only ever cruised Carnival, so it's weird for me to be researching other lines.

 

Could you tell me about Princess? What are your favorite things about the line? Least favorites?

 

We love trivia and nighttime entertainment (shows, comedy, etc.). I'm also a foodie, so the quality and selection of food is pretty important to me.

 

Thanks for your time!

 

I see your screen name has navy in it. Princess does give a military OBC, so if you were in the military at all you can get it.