Princess vs RCCL?

[Luv my furbaby]

Your opinion - RCCL or Princess? Have done 5 cruises with RCCL, 2 Princess, 1 Celebrity and 2 Norwegian. Currently prefer RCCL so should I jump ship and try Princess again? What do you think Princess does better/worse? Thanks all!!!;)

[geocruiser]

In Dec we were on Explorer of the Seas. !/3/15 on Ruby Princess followed by Enchantment of the Seas on 1/19/15. For us it was hands down we love Princess. with the cruises so close together we were better able to compare the ships. The food on RCCL was, to be nice, just not good. Princess wins hands down for food.

[nukesubsailor]

Your opinion - RCCL or Princess? Have done 5 cruises with RCCL, 2 Princess, 1 Celebrity and 2 Norwegian. Currently prefer RCCL so should I jump ship and try Princess again? What do you think Princess does better/worse? Thanks all!!!;)

 

I have sailed on both Princess and Royal Caribbean. Everything is subjective and can vary from ship to ship so you need to go with what you have experienced and prefer. Your age can have a big difference in which cruise line you would best enjoy. If you are getting close to some additional perks in the RC loyalty program then getting them might outweigh some reasons why you might want to cruise on Princess.

In my case, I prefer Princess. I think the food is better on Princess. I have no use for rock climbing walls or surfing pools like on RC. Also, I felt more crowded on the Voyager of the Seas than I did on any of the Princess ships I have been on. My favorite thing on RC was the Johnny Rockets restaurant.

[jagsfan]

Apples and oranges. They both excel in different areas. RCCL offers more excitement, and better, I think, entertainment, Princess has better food and service. The only time I've gone to a show after dinner in years was on Oasis, and I went to everything. I enjoy switching between the two lines, to vary my cruise experience.

[Mikeandme]

Your opinion - RCCL or Princess? Have done 5 cruises with RCCL, 2 Princess, 1 Celebrity and 2 Norwegian. Currently prefer RCCL so should I jump ship and try Princess again? What do you think Princess does better/worse? Thanks all!!!;)

DH and I regularly sail on Princess and Celebrity and tried Explorer of the Seas. We definitely prefer Princess to Explorer. We found the food to be better on Princess, and there was smoke odor in the Promenade that drifted up the stairs that connected the Casino to the Promenade. It made the Promenade undesirable for me, and that did not enhance my cruise experience. Also, since I sailed in an OS, I thought I'd be supplied with a pen and a pad that I could use to write down the names of new friends I'd met. Apparently, I was wrong.

[joeyancho]

Having taken 31 cruises overall, 15 rccl, 15 carnival, and one princess, I would choose princess. Rccl has good entertainment, but princess has superior food and a higher level of service. Rccls ships have a great wow factor. But princess ships are nice too. You really can't go wrong with either but for us princess is a great fit. As for Carnival, they are cheap.

[Hlitner]

This might sound a bit strange, but we think that RCI has (for the past decade) focused their marketing (and ships) on customers who really do not want a cruise....but rather a floating mega-resort/shopping mall. Princess, on the other hand, still does go after those of us who simply love to cruise.

 

Hank

[OCruisers]

Princess wins by a long shot for us.

There are a few things on RCCL we like as much as we do on Princess BUT there is nothing on RCCL that we like better than we do on Princess. ;)

LuLu

Edited February 13, 2015 by OCruisers

[JimmyVWine]

This might sound a bit strange, but we think that RCI has (for the past decade) focused their marketing (and ships) on customers who really do not want a cruise....but rather a floating mega-resort/shopping mall. Princess, on the other hand, still does go after those of us who simply love to cruise.

 

Hank

Doesn't sound strange at all. Pretty much what I was going to say. It is common to hear or read that "today's cruise ships are like floating resorts." That is more true on Royal Caribbean than on Princess. Princess still provides more of a "looking out toward the sea" feel whereas RCCL provides more of a "looking inward toward the central commercial zone" feel. Some people prefer the former and some the latter. Personally, I prefer to focus on the sea.

 

All of this is a generalization, of course because Princess' newer ships compared to RCCL's older ships reverse many of these sterotypes.

[Thrak]

We have only cruised Princess but, having checked out pictures, reviews, advertisements, etc. for other cruise lines I can't imagine wanting to cruise on a floating shopping mall. The idea of having a balcony that overlooks the shopping mall in the interior of a ship is horrific to me.

 

I realize there are many different sorts of people and many of them would hate to cruise on something that feels like a "ship" and see all that seemingly endless water surrounding them but I think that's what cruising should be all about. I'm so very glad we took our first cruise on Princess. Otherwise (depending, of course, on what line, itinerary, etc. we did start with instead) we may never have cruised again. We know people who took their first cruise on Carnival, in the Caribbean, during spring break. They will never cruise again!

Edited February 13, 2015 by Thrak

[Bimmer09]

Having taken 31 cruises overall, 15 rccl, 15 carnival, and one princess, I would choose princess. Rccl has good entertainment, but princess has superior food and a higher level of service. Rccls ships have a great wow factor. But princess ships are nice too. You really can't go wrong with either but for us princess is a great fit. As for Carnival, they are cheap.

 

Well I'm glad you found Princess in the end!

It's all I know currently but am not tired of it yet. I will definitely try another line in the near future though. Azamara calls perhaps.

 

Norris

[Bimmer09]

Doesn't sound strange at all. Pretty much what I was going to say. It is common to hear or read that "today's cruise ships are like floating resorts." That is more true on Royal Caribbean than on Princess. Princess still provides more of a "looking out toward the sea" feel whereas RCCL provides more of a "looking inward toward the central commercial zone" feel. Some people prefer the former and some the latter. Personally, I prefer to focus on the sea.

 

All of this is a generalization, of course because Princess' newer ships compared to RCCL's older ships reverse many of these sterotypes.

 

New Princess builds are disappointing to me which is why I have avoided them and am already repeating some Grand Class ships as I like to connect to the sea by walking along the Promenade Deck with the wind (or at least a hair-dryer) blowing my hair. I also like Multiple Pools to thin out the crowds and a MUTS that can be avoided on the pool deck. But the new ships have plenty of takers so it's all good. Royal's Radiance class is a beautiful design to me. I don't even go into shops on land if I can help it so the Royal Promenade holds no appeal.

 

Let me see the sea. And feel it. And hear it.

 

Norris

[RickEk]

And OP, ask this question on the RCCL board and you'll get diametrically opposed answers.. :)

[senior lady]

if your taking kids, then RCCL will keep them very busy. Lots of ""family"" stuff to do. To much pre-booking of stuff on RCCL for me. I like to just relax.

Eat when I want to and do things when I want to.

 

Nothing wrong with Royal and if the itinerary was right I'd sail on them again:cool:

[Helenalee]

I am no experience sailer like the others and had only sailed once with Princess (Sapphire) and once with RCCL (Mariner)....

 

We decided to book our third cruise with Princess, simply because of the quality of food and service.

 

I recall there was another post few weeks ago about combining the goods between Princess & RCCL.... and I'm going to repeat it again.

 

Princess: food, services, itinerary

RRCL: shows, activity & size of room

 

If I'm bringing kids with me, definitely RCCL would be our first choice. Otherwise... Princess it is! :)

 

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

Edited February 14, 2015 by Helenalee

[mizzoufinal4]

Also, since I sailed in an OS, I thought I'd be supplied with a pen and a pad that I could use to write down the names of new friends I'd met. Apparently, I was wrong.

Soooo... not getting a pen and paper in your OS put a bad taste in your mouth huh? lmao :rolleyes: Yeah my cruise was ruined because I only had 7 hangers in the closet and I expected 8! Geesh...:rolleyes:

[Loucat]

For our first cruising years we stayed with Royal Caribbean. We needed to try other options as the quality of food continued to decline to the point I asked myself "why am I spending money to be so upset over food?". Note we are "foodies". DH could be a food critic and I mean that in a good way. He is an incredible cook.

All cruisers have different expectations. Kids would have to love Royal.

We tried X and loved the upscale benefits of an Aqua class stateroom.

We tried Princess and first time we were upgraded to a suite and loved that experience and will continue to sail on that line. Overall, the quality of service and food based on our experiences was much better.

They are different but have attractions depending on what you want.

I do not need an amusement park and love the experience of sailing on medium size ships.

[tcdcruiser]

Princess for me. My last RCCL was on the Freedom with 1800 persons under the age of 18. Kids were all well behaved but they we everywhere.

 

Great for families and teens, but I prefer something more adult.

[AZbeachboy]

I have two with RCL and sixth going to be seven with Princess. The food and service are so much better with Princess. That is a big part of why we cruise. I was thinking of trying RCL again, but then I was reading about the Dymanic Dinning fisaco and decided it was not for me. I am more of a traditional type cruiser. The relaxation and good service are a main reason why I cruise.

[caribill]

Some comparisons in my (humble) opinion. For RCI, I am only referring to the Voyager Class.

 

Food:

Main dining rooms -- food and menu variety about the same on both

Buffet -- On the Royal and Regal the buffets are superior in quality, variety and seating areas. For the other Princess ships, RCI is better in variety and seating.

International Cafe vs RCI equivalent: IC is better

Hard to get a decent hamburger on RCI without going to Johnny Rockets and paying a cover charge.

Pizza is much better on Princess.

 

Cabins:

About the same even with different layouts. This is for standard inside and balcony cabins.

 

Staff:

Excellent on both

 

Entertainment:

Production shows on the Royal and Regal are the best. For the other Princess ships, RCI is better in production values (props, scenery), but the perfomers are essentially equal in quality.

Guest entertainers -- about the same

Princess has three venues on many ships for evening entertainment: main theater, aft lounge, and explorer's/Princess Live! RCI has just one, the main theater.

Ice show on RCI is worth seeing. No equivalent on Princess. On the negative side, had to line up for over an hour a few days prior to the ice show to get tickets.

Games (trivia, etc) -- about the same. However RCI has "The Quest" which may not be to everyone's taste.

RCI had a much superior putting course (not just some holes in fake grass), but has been removing these to put in FlowRiders.

 

Ship layout:

As far as getting around, about equivalent. Yes, many people get confused on many Princess ships about not getting to the aft dining room on deck 6 from deck 6 in the atrium, but RCI has the same problem.

RCI has the inside promenade deck as a shopping mall with bars, restaurants and shops. It is also used for entertainment parades. I like Princess' deck 7 (Grand class and later) much better than the RCI mall. RCI also does their cooking show on the mall, but only about 10 people can actually stand around the table and see it.

Elevators on the Princess Grand Class and later are forward, center and aft. On RCI just forward and aft, but about the same total number of elevators.

 

Casinos: About the same.

 

Pools: RCI's adult only area has no charge.

 

Sports court: Full size and well used on RCI. Much better than the 1/2 size on most Princess ships.

 

Internet: About the same speed on both. Princess has an Internet Cafe manager to help with problems. RCI only has the Passenger Services desk personnel to answer your questions.

 

Doing a B2B:

RCI will not carry over onboard account from one segment to the next. Same with unused Inernet package minutes.

On Princess if you are in Traditional, your headwaiter asks if you want the same table for the next segment. On RCI we had to line up one morning a few days before the end of a segment to make this known.

Although on Princess your waitstaff can be reassigned between segments, most of the time they will have the same tables on the next segment. On RCI the waitstaff is likely to be reassigned every segment. Main reason is to even out the experience of being far from the galley and close to the galley so that going back and forth will not always be the long path.

 

Tipping: About the same auto-tip amount on both lines. However, if you are in RCI's My Time Dining (their anytime) you must prepay the gratuities. That means OBC cannot be used for this purpose.

 

Shore excursions: Excursions booked pre-cruise must be paid for at the time of booking. That means OBC cannot be used for this purpose.

 

Other:

RCI does not have passenger names outside of the cabins.

RCI does muster drill by the life boats vs Princess doing it inside.

 

After Princess we have sailed the most on RCI and would be willing to do more on RCI in the future if the itinerary is right.

Edited February 14, 2015 by caribill

[GUT2407]

Some comparisons in my (humble) opinion. For RCI, I am only referring to the Voyager Class.

 

Food:

Main dining rooms -- food and menu variety about the same on both

Buffet -- On the Royal and Regal the buffets are superior in quality, variety and seating areas. For the other Princess ships, RCI is better in variety and seating.

International Cafe vs RCI equivalent: IC is better

Hard to get a decent hamburger on RCI without going to Johnny Rockets and paying a cover charge.

Pizza is much better on Princess.

 

Cabins:

About the same even with different layouts. This is for standard inside and balcony cabins.

 

Staff:

Excellent on both

 

Entertainment:

Production shows on the Royal and Regal are the best. For the other Princess ships, RCI is better in production values (props, scenery), but the perfomers are essentially equal in quality.

Guest entertainers -- about the same

Princess has three venues on many ships for evening entertainment: main theater, aft lounge, and explorer's/Princess Live! RCI has just one, the main theater.

Ice show on RCI is worth seeing. No equivalent on Princess. On the negative side, had to line up for over an hour a few days prior to the ice show to get tickets.

Games (trivia, etc) -- about the same. However RCI has "The Quest" which may not be to everyone's taste.

RCI had a much superior putting course (not just some holes in fake grass), but has been removing these to put in FlowRiders.

 

Ship layout:

As far as getting around, about equivalent. Yes, many people get confused on many Princess ships about not getting to the aft dining room on deck 6 from deck 6 in the atrium, but RCI has the same problem.

RCI has the inside promenade deck as a shopping mall with bars, restaurants and shops. It is also used for entertainment parades. I like Princess' deck 7 (Grand class and later) much better than the RCI mall. RCI also does their cooking show on the mall, but only about 10 people can actually stand around the table and see it.

Elevators on the Princess Grand Class and later are forward, center and aft. On RCI just forward and aft, but about the same total number of elevators.

 

Casinos: About the same.

 

Pools: RCI's adult only area has no charge.

 

Sports court: Full size and well used on RCI. Much better than the 1/2 size on most Princess ships.

 

Internet: About the same speed on both. Princess has an Internet Cafe manager to help with problems. RCI only has the Passenger Services desk personnel to answer your questions.

 

Doing a B2B:

RCI will not carry over onboard account from one segment to the next. Same with unused Inernet package minutes.

On Princess if you are in Traditional, your headwaiter asks if you want the same table for the next segment. On RCI we had to line up one morning a few days before the end of a segment to make this known.

Although on Princess your waitstaff can be reassigned between segments, most of the time they will have the same tables on the next segment. On RCI the waitstaff is likely to be reassigned every segment. Main reason is to even out the experience of being far from the galley and close to the galley so that going back and forth will not always be the long path.

 

Tipping: About the same auto-tip amount on both lines. However, if you are in RCI's My Time Dining (their anytime) you must prepay the gratuities. That means OBC cannot be used for this purpose.

 

Shore excursions: Excursions booked pre-cruise must be paid for at the time of booking. That means OBC cannot be used for this purpose.

 

Other:

RCI does not have passenger names outside of the cabins.

RCI does muster drill by the life boats vs Princess doing it inside.

 

After Princess we have sailed the most on RCI and would be willing to do more on RCI in the future if the itinerary is right.

 

 

Thanks for that very informative.