Princess or Carnival

[Micahs Grandad]

That was helpful...Thanks...I'm pretty sure we are going with Princess

 

One of the nice things about Princess is the Int Cafe located on deck 5. Can get coffee or desserts (and cookies) or other food items 24/7 and quality is awesome.

[Cruisegirl6]

Everything is much better on Princess, glad to be of help and you choosing the right ship/cruise line.

[ferfoodle]

Everything is much better on Princess, glad to be of help and you choosing the right ship/cruise line.

 

I loved my Princess cruise, easily one of my top two cruises to date. But to say "everything is much better on Princess" is a little overstated. Every Carnival ship I have been on has better stateroom features - excluding décor. Balcony to Balcony, Carnival's room is bigger, the shower more user friendly and has more daytime seating. Princess' balcony itself has been larger (not so on the Royal and Regal) but the deck chairs on Carnival better. There are several other things others have mentioned, such as the comedy club, where Carnival gets the edge over Princess.

 

With that said, I too would choose Regal over Magic if the prices and itineraries were similar. However, for several years now, I haven't been able to get even within $1,000 for the "similar" sailings for the time/places I have chosen to cruise between the two lines. And trust me, I am constantly looking for the next cruise. IMO DH says it best. "Is Princess better than Carnival? Yes. Is it $1,000 better than Carnival? No."

[golfb4cruzing]

Movies under the Stars with Princess, padded loungers, thick blankets, popcorn, warm cookies, current movies.. The cruiselines have kind of the same "product" but it's at different levels. Princess we come back refreshed and not frenzied after a week.

Edited January 31, 2016 by golfb4cruzing

[Tripper10]

We liked them both.

 

Overall food and service much better on Princess' date=' entertainment better on Carnival.[/quote']

 

This ^^^^^^

 

 

That being said, I would pick Princess every time price being equal.

[sanmarcosman]

One of the nice things about Princess is the Int Cafe located on deck 5. Can get coffee or desserts (and cookies) or other food items 24/7 and quality is awesome.

Stu, the cookies and desserts and sandwiches are included in the cruise fare but the coffee is an extra charge, even for the freshly brewed in the IC.

 

We tried Princess last November and weren't impressed with the MDR food. It was the same quality of meat and seafood as Carnival. We have more fun on Carnival too. We sailed out of LA on the Crown and the guests impressed us as mostly middle-middle class folks with delusions of grandeur. Back to Carnival for us.

[AmberTeka]

Google Renmar's web site of obstructed cabins for Princess

Wonderful. shows you a photo of what your cabin looks like.

 

The one and only time of my life when I had NORVO was on Princess Crown. YOU are wise to avoid it. Half of the ship was sick. and Half of the crew.

 

Princess Regal.........We had an ""obstructed"" cabin. I went to the Renmar web site and it showed the balcony as basically unobstructed. We took it

 

IT WAS HUGE. It was bigger than the balcony on an Ocean Suite with Carnival. My DH, My DD, My GD and SIL could sit or stand on that balcony with the baby ( then 3 years old running around0 OBSTRUCTION. part of the promenade deck with three floors below. But to the sides ..and to the front NO Obstruction at all.

 

HUGE bargain. It was on the Emerald Deck. 447 I think

[golfb4cruzing]

The Crown does appear to have more than it's share of Noro. I read it has it again.

[Micahs Grandad]

Stu, the cookies and desserts and sandwiches are included in the cruise fare but the coffee is an extra charge, even for the freshly brewed in the IC.

 

We tried Princess last November and weren't impressed with the MDR food. It was the same quality of meat and seafood as Carnival. We have more fun on Carnival too. We sailed out of LA on the Crown and the guests impressed us as mostly middle-middle class folks with delusions of grandeur. Back to Carnival for us.

 

When you buy the coffee card the freshly brewed coffee at the int cafe is no charge.

[min2758]

I haven't been on Princess in 10+ years, but I have been on 2 Princess cruises (I was in my 20s) and found them to be very boring. I don't think my son would have a good time on Princess, but I also think that's generalizing quite a bit and a lot depends on the destination as far as the overall age of the group. Princess had a ton of old people and I couldn't find anyone my age to socialize with back in my early 20s, being too old for a teen group and too young to enjoy shuffleboard and art auctions.

 

My family and I just got off the Breeze yesterday and had a blast. I'd consider Princess for a Mexican Riviera itinerary over Carnival though because all the Carnival ships on that route look older/party/booze cruises. I certainly don't want that for my son.

[sanmarcosman]

When you buy the coffee card the freshly brewed coffee at the int cafe is no charge.

Stu you always make me smile with your pithy comments, I've missed them. Yes, you do have to pay for the coffee because you paid for the coffee card :)

Edited January 31, 2016 by sanmarcosman

[sanmarcosman]

I'd consider Princess for a Mexican Riviera itinerary over Carnival though because all the Carnival ships on that route look older/party/booze cruises. I certainly don't want that for my son.

Not true of Carnival Miracle which cruises 7 day and longer Journey cruises to Mexico and Hawaii from Long Beach.

[Bases5]

I live and breathe Carnival. We really like them.

But any time I can get close to price it's Princess all the way

After 32 cruises our 2 favorite was Princess.

Edited January 31, 2016 by Bases5

[deborahjo]

We have sailed 11 cruises on Carnival and just sailed Princess in September to Alaska.

 

We loved the extended balcony on Princess and the food was very good. Other then that we will be sticking with Carnival.

 

We find we like the ships better and there are so many more things to do on Carnival. (Age 52 and 58)

[Micahs Grandad]

Stu you always make me smile with your pithy comments, I've missed them. Yes, you do have to pay for the coffee because you paid for the coffee card :)

 

If you have my email address please email me. I dont think I am who you think I am.

[mcgratru]

Princess, Princess, Princess.....unless you plan to stay drunk, join the hairy chest contest and eat burgers for 6 days.....then go with Carnival....just very different experiences.

[golfb4cruzing]

We have sailed 11 cruises on Carnival and just sailed Princess in September to Alaska.

 

We loved the extended balcony on Princess and the food was very good. Other then that we will be sticking with Carnival.

 

We find we like the ships better and there are so many more things to do on Carnival. (Age 52 and 58)

 

We're stepping back on Carnival briefly, after 4 years, then back to Princess. What is there to do on Carnival that isn't on Princess?

[Love#13]

We booked with Princess...Dec 11th on the Regal Princess...With gratuities, taxes and insurance Carnival was about $300 more...We did an obstructed balcony cabins E516 & E518 for 7 days going to Amber Cove, St Thomas and St Marteen and it was $2186..And we had a $100pp deposit and $350 in on board credit..So I'm happy with it...Thank you everyone for your advice it's helped me alot and I appreciate the tips...

[Love#13]

Princess, Princess, Princess.....unless you plan to stay drunk, join the hairy chest contest and eat burgers for 6 days.....then go with Carnival....just very different experiences.

 

I don't do any of that but I am going to miss Guys Burgers and the burrito stand a little

[golfb4cruzing]

I think Princess has the best pizza on the seas and I owned a pizza shop. Never had a Guys Burger but do visit the IC often on Princess. So I think you stepped on on the eats. I'm glad you put your costs on here. Everyone thinks Princess is so much more when many times it is not the case. Enjoy your trip.

[Tapi]

Everyone thinks Princess is so much more when many times it is not the case.

 

 

A big reason why we sailed on Princess for our 10th anniversary was because of price. There was a similar Carnival itinerary departing on the same exact day, for the same number of nights, departing from the same port, and aboard a considerable older and smaller ship, yet it was 50% MORE expensive than Princess [emoji848]. Needless to say, it was a no brainer to go with Princess.

Edited February 1, 2016 by Tapi

[Love#13]

I think Princess has the best pizza on the seas and I owned a pizza shop. Never had a Guys Burger but do visit the IC often on Princess. So I think you stepped on on the eats. I'm glad you put your costs on here. Everyone thinks Princess is so much more when many times it is not the case. Enjoy your

We havent been able to find a Princess cruise anywhere close to the price of Carnival before so when we found this pricing it made a difference. .We booked through ************* ....Atleast now I can just look forward to getting on the ship. .

[deborahjo]

We're stepping back on Carnival briefly, after 4 years, then back to Princess. What is there to do on Carnival that isn't on Princess?

 

I am really tired of people saying all the Carnival people do is drink. I rarely drink while my husband drinks no alcohol. On Carnival we enjoy the different food venues, dancing, going to the shows, we play the games and do a lot of people watching.

 

You can get just as drunk on Princess as on Carnival or NCL or RC. People just love to be negative about Carnival. Well I can be just as negative about Princess. We sailed on the Corral to Alaska and found the same food over and over. The population was extremely older then we are accustom to on Carnival. Three nights security had to pull people out of the clubs because of their mouths and behavior. They were blitzed out of their minds. These men we older then us.

 

Being negative gets no one nowhere. Most people just want an honest review and most people here would rather say how many drunks there are on Carnival then talk about their experience.

 

For us we get up have breakfast in the dining room. Go back to our room and change into our swim wear pick up our ipods and head out to a quiet place on deck and enjoy the sun. After a while we go take showers put clothes on and head for lunch. be it Guys, Lido, dining room we have lunch. We always pack cards or travel games. After lunch we usually find a quiet place on the ship and start a game of cards. Usually before we are done we have a lot of people playing. (nice way to meet people) We usually do a lot of people watching during this time.

 

If there are trivia games going on that we might enjoy we go play those. Or we just walk around the ship site seeing.

 

We go to ATD because the evenings are very busy for us. Once we are dressed for dinner, we do the formal night attire, we get a drink and go to dinner. We try not to spend more then an hour at the dining room because we do like one or two pictures taken. We go to the evening shows, piano bar and dancing in the lobby. After that it is pretty warm so we take a stroll on the outer decks to see if we can see any ships around us and do some star gazing.

 

We always end our evening the same way. We go to the pizza shop, get 2 pieces of pizza, hot chocolate and 2 ice cream cones. Then back to the back to finish our night.

 

Just a typical sea day for us.

[sanmarcosman]

If you have my email address please email me. I dont think I am who you think I am.

We met you and Sheila on the Ruby Princess. Sorry to read the news from Blacksburg at VPI.

 

We still prefer Carnival and have no plans to sail Princess in the near future.

[Micahs Grandad]

We met you and Sheila on the Ruby Princess. Sorry to read the news from Blacksburg at VPI.

 

We still prefer Carnival and have no plans to sail Princess in the near future.

 

Trying to remember you and circumstance. What is your name?

Edited February 1, 2016 by Micah's Grandad