What RCI does better than Princess

[Finabear]

My opinion based on sailings listed below!!!!

 

Things RCI does better:

Muster - no life jackets and at actual station

Buffet food - layout and taste

Food in general hot and tasty

Multiple coffee/tea beverage areas

Activities/pool bands

Solarium pools more weather tight and usable in cold weather

 

Things Princess does better:

Self-serve laundry

Cabin access when embark

Walk-in closet/cabin layout

International Cafe and coffee cards

Smoke-free areas - especially casino

[MAJPLO]

Can I add mine?

Royal does everything better than Princess. Except maybe pizza and coffee. I also agree that it is nice that you can get in your room on Princess right away. We also had a great kids club experience on Princess. However, overall, service, food, and total experience was much better for us on Royal.

[LMaxwell]

Princess also allows you to combine shareholder OBC with anything else. Royal hardly allows any combining at all.

[JF - retired RRT]

Princess also allows you to combine shareholder OBC with anything else. Royal hardly allows any combining at all.

Allows combining almost ANY OBC. TA, veterans, OBC from Princess AND shareholders. On a 15+ day cruise that can be more than $800.

[OCruisers]

On Princess you do not have to prepay for shore excursions. :)

LuLu

Edited December 14, 2014 by OCruisers

[LMaxwell]

On Princess you do not have to prepay for shore excursions. :)

LuLu

 

You are also not forced to prepay gratuities with anytime dining; meaning that you can use OBC to pay gratuities. You can not do this with Royal Caribbean.

 

Many things come down to personal tastes and preferences (food, entertainment, ship decor, etc) but generally speaking Princess is a LOT more guest friendly with their policies.

[molsonschooner]

Muster on Royal might be at the actual station or it might be someplace else such as the Aqua theater, MDR or some other area inside ship

[FLACRUISER99]

Muster on Royal might be at the actual station or it might be someplace else such as the Aqua theater, MDR or some other area inside ship

So, same with Princess.

[Paulette3028]

Muster on Royal might be at the actual station or it might be someplace else such as the Aqua theater, MDR or some other area inside ship

 

But if your Muster station is the Aqua theater, MDR or some other area inside the ship -- that is your real Muster station.....if you mean that some of the Muster stations are not directly near the lifeboat -- that is accurate.

[Yurita]

Things Princess does better?

Movie under the stars (with their blankets, cookies, etc). General TV options; Princess offers a nice variety of early release movies. Royal's TV options leave a lot to be desired.

Also Princess' international Plaza, pizza, and in my opinion, Princess's food is superior.

 

Things Royal does better:

Shows (especially on Oasis), general activities/things to do around the ship, Royal Promenade.

[Paulette3028]

On Princess you do not have to prepay for shore excursions. :)

LuLu

 

You don't have to prepay for shore excursions; just take the chance of not getting the shore excursion you want. I have no problem booking a shore excursion in advance and paying for the guarantee that I will be on the excursion that I want.

[molsonschooner]

So, same with Princess.

OP said RCi does it better

[George C]

As said Princess much better pizza

But my big gripe on Princess is the shows on both Princess Crown and Caribbean I could not get seats for any shows and the ships seemed much more crowded than RCCL . Food and service I thought was equal

[FLACRUISER99]

OP said RCi does it better

I know, but why does the OP think RCI does muster better?

[reney313]

You don't have to prepay for shore excursions; just take the chance of not getting the shore excursion you want. I have no problem booking a shore excursion in advance and paying for the guarantee that I will be on the excursion that I want.

 

When I pre-book an excursion on Princess, I am guaranteed the excursion. I can pre-pay or wait until I'm onboard and it's added to the Onboard account. That doesn't affect the availability.

 

On RCI, if I pre-book an excursion, I have to pay at that moment.

 

I much prefer the Princess option for pre-booking. It's nice to use OBC for the excursions I have pre-brooked (and I am still guaranteed, unless of course, the excursion is cancelled for other reasons).

[reney313]

I agree with most comments. I prefer RCI over Princess primarily for the ships themselves.

 

However, Princess certainly has some better guest policies as well as onboard pluses:

 

Princess:

Not required to pre-pay gratuities in Anytime dining or excursions booked online.

I prefer Princess food in the MDR over RCI, but I'm fine with RCI's food too

Pizza, hands down

I like the burger and pizza being poolside with long hours

International Cafe is great as well as the coffee card

MUTS with cookies, popcorn, blankets, etc.

Definitely better TV programming, although I rarely watch TV onboard

Combination of benefits is sometimes a deciding factor from a financial perspective.

 

Royal Caribbean:

More WOW on the ships, I much prefer the layouts on all ship classes

More activities, a lot more "fun", late night options

Production Shows much better

Pool side activities, live entertainment

C&A benefits are better for our needs

Generally younger, more active passengers

 

While the lists might be lopsided, I value the few items on Royal Caribbean more than those on Princess. I will still continue to sail both lines as they both offer a great product for the money.

[tomatosauce]

I would like to add in that RCI does My Time Dining on all ships but Princess sometimes only has fixed dining.

[bmc alabama]

My opinion based on sailings listed below!!!!

 

Things RCI does better:

 

Buffet food - layout and taste

Food in general hot and tasty

 

 

We felt that on MDR food, they were about equal, but the Princess buffets were much better than we had on Serenade. I also missed the grill and pizzeria.

 

Layout is not as good on Serenade (no aft elevators/stairs)

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[RocketMan275]

You are also not forced to prepay gratuities with anytime dining; meaning that you can use OBC to pay gratuities. You can not do this with Royal Caribbean.

 

Many things come down to personal tastes and preferences (food, entertainment, ship decor, etc) but generally speaking Princess is a LOT more guest friendly with their policies.

 

If you have dynamic dining on Royal, you also do not have to prepay gratuities either. I booked a cruise on Oasis with DD and did not have to prepay gratutities.

[Cruzin Carol]

My Time dining is much better on RCI as you can make reservations in advance. On Princess you have to call the same day and you can't get them between 6 & 7:30 that's if you can even get someone to answer the phone. I found it very annoying. RCI has the concierge club & diamond louge which are really nice to have. You get the free bar set up at elite with Princess but the liquor options are set and you can't get what we want which is rum so we end up changing it all for beer.

[JamesEM]

Princess has larger balconies and a better selection of TV options. RCL has better entertainment and a better buffet layout.

[L454S]

Princess has good room service and good wait service at the buffet. RCI has neither.

 

Princess pizza is a lot better than RCI and Carnival.

[Finabear]

I prefer the muster on RCI because lifejackets are not required and I get to see EXACTLY where my lifeboat is. It just makes sense to me.

Going to a lounge or theater (on princess) does not help me - what if that is where the fire is? What do I go then? I have no idea what to do then. Yes, yes, I know the staff will tell me, but I rather know and see for myself. Plus getting and lugging the life jacket around is a pain.

[Finabear]

We found the service in the buffet on Vision OTS better than the Golden Princess.

[MAJPLO]

Princess has good room service and good wait service at the buffet. RCI has neither.

 

 

 

Princess pizza is a lot better than RCI and Carnival.

 

 

I know every ship and staff is different. On Sapphire Princess we had ABOMINABLE service. With no self serve drink station we found that we never ended up with beverages at the buffet before we were about ready to leave after finishing our meal.

 

On Royal we only went to WJ once for breakfast on one of our very last days so I can't say for the comparison.