Princess any different than Carnival?

[PrincessLuver]

its like comparing a Yugo to a Cadillac.

 

More like a Ford to a Chevy......there is not that much difference in either line....basically just the passenger demographics....with the arrogance factor going to Princess cruisers regrading the comparison between Princess and Carnival....also you do not have to pay for the Sanctuary area on Carnival like you do on Princess....:cool:

[slwmjd]

More like a Ford to a Chevy......there is not that much difference in either line....basically just the passenger demographics....with the arrogance factor going to Princess cruisers regrading the comparison between Princess and Carnival....also you do not have to pay for the Sanctuary area on Carnival like you do on Princess....:cool:

 

Not even close ,its not arrogance either, I think carnival is a dump for the most part. Been 3 and will never go on one ever again.

[PrincessLuver]

Not even close ,its not arrogance either, I think carnival is a dump for the most part. Been 3 and will never go on one ever again.

 

As others have stated, and having sailed both many times, they both have strengths and have a different vibe on each one.....to call Carnival a dump is "arrogance" and I will go on almost any cruise line to cruise....I think Princess does some things well and Carnival too....and I agree with most of the descriptions that people have posted....except "yugo and dump" :rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:

Edited April 9, 2016 by PrincessLuver

[ontheweb]

As others have stated, and having sailed both many times, they both have strengths and have a different vibe on each one.....to call Carnival a dump is "arrogance" and I will go on almost any cruise line to cruise....I think Princess does some things well and Carnival too....and I agree with most of the descriptions that people have posted....except "yugo and dump" :rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:

 

Well said, although two of our best cruises were on Princess, I thoroughly enjoyed our last Carnival cruise. Let see, there was chocolate melting cake, a great excursion on the Bob Marley bus, and I came home with three trivia trophies. (And in the team competition in trivia, I led the men's team to a clean 4-0 sweep of the women. The assistant cruise director who conducted trivia said there had never been a sweep prior to that.)

[JimAOk1945]

Thanks to all who responded, more than I expected! Sounds like Princess will be more to my liking as I'm not much of a party person and have never taken part in the craziness part of Carnival.

 

Very thoughtful responses that covered exactly the information I was looking for. After this cruise, however, it's unlikely I'll cruise Princess after this one as they won't be sailing from Texas any more!

 

Yes, I think Princess will be more to your liking. We have cruised on both and prefer Princess over Carnival. It's too bad they are pulling out of Texas. The Partial Transit to Panama is an awesome itinerary.

 

Take a look at my wife's website if you have time. She takes pictures on all of our cruises and makes them into slideshows for her website. The links below will take you there.

 

Happy cruising.

[Thrak]

We have never sailed on Carnival and, perhaps, we never will. We started with Princess and it just seemed to "fit" us perfectly so we've stuck with the line. I can't say we will never sail Carnival but, if there is a similar itinerary on a Princess ship we will book with them.

 

I'm glad there are choices. There are so many different types of people. If everybody was like me I'd go insane.

[Gallivanting Souls]

Although I have not yet sailed Carnival, I want to add a few thoughts to the conversation. (Will sill sail both Carnival and Princess this coming December).

 

Formal nights on Princess are actually formal, compared to what Carnival has as their Elegant nights. From the cruises I have been on Princess, most people seem to dress up nicely. Not all do and that's ok too. My DH and I like to dress up. This is one of the few times we actually let anyone take our picture. After dinner, we change back into regular clothes, because I cannot walk long distances in heels.

 

Pizza. From my experience, Alfredo's has the best Pizza. I must keep booking more cruises to get my pizza.

[riclop]

We're going on our first Princess cruise on April 10 - the last cruise it will make out of Houston. We've cruised Carnival 12 times, always been pleased with it. I'd like to hear from someone who has cruised both lines who can tell me if there are any big differences between the two. We won the cruise from Eldorado Casino in Shreveport LA!

 

Princess is much better then Carnival in every aspect.

[OCruisers]

There's a world of difference between Princess and Carnival. ;)

[PrincessLuver]

Princess is much better then Carnival in every aspect.

 

Carnival has larger staterooms, larger theaters, friendlier staffs, free Sanctuary, better equipped health clubs, more colorful common areas, and the list goes on.....just an opinion like yours.....:cool:

[susancruzs]

I've only been on one Carnival cruise, probably a dozen with Princess but I never bash, or discourage someone from sailing a cruise line. I sail for itinerary, long cruises, not price, pretty much Princess and RCI but would not tell someone not to sail Carnival, Celebrity, Costa or NCL, other lines I've tried. My thoughts and experiences about a cruise line should not sway someone one way or the other.

 

It is all about personal experience, opinions and everyone is entitled to theirs, however, calling a very successful cruise product a dump isn't very helpful to the OP's question.

[framer]

My brother-in-law cruises Carnival, we cruise with Princess. It comes up at the family Christmas party every year:eek:.

 

framer

[PrincessLuver]

My brother-in-law cruises Carnival, we cruise with Princess. It comes up at the family Christmas party every year:eek:.

 

framer

 

Didn't your parents ever tell you not to talk about politics, religion, sex or cruiselines at family gatherings?? :D

[Jean17]

We have cruised RCCL, Holland, Celebrity, Norwegian and Carnival. We will take our first cruise on Princess in September to Alaska. I will be very disappointed if our Princess cruise isn't better than our two Carnival cruises. In Carnival's defense they were on smaller, older ships, but they were not clean, food choices were boring, and hardly any entertainment. We had lots of sea days a virtually nothing to do on ship.

[Valiamo]

We're going on our first Princess cruise on April 10 - the last cruise it will make out of Houston. We've cruised Carnival 12 times, always been pleased with it. I'd like to hear from someone who has cruised both lines who can tell me if there are any big differences between the two. We won the cruise from Eldorado Casino in Shreveport LA!

 

Congrats and enjoy! We have been on both while there are differences, they are more the same than one might think.

 

Cabins are much the same. I found more room for hanging stuff on the Princess, but less space for folded clothing. When you get into your cabin they have a leatherette pad on the bed for your suitcase which is nice. You get chocolates on your pillows at night..

 

Crew, they are the same, without the badges, you would be hard pressed to tell them apart. They all serve you well and are happy to be on board with you.

 

Food - MDR is the same on both ships, Tho I did prefer the food in the Windjammer vs the Horizon court. Specialty dining is very much the same, we did the Crab Shack, and it was very good.

 

The ships are laid out way differently, and you have to get used to getting around. I do like the Promenade on RCI ships vs the Piazza on Princess. HINT: Print yourself a map of the ship, and us it!

 

Other - Princess does do special occasions better than RCI, we celebrated our anniversary on board, and they put balloons and streamers on the door on our anniversary date (very nice touch and no added cost). In the MDR they made a fuss over us during dinner with a special dessert.

 

Embarkation or Dis-embarkation - Same old and it all depends on the crowds when you arrive or leave. Customs can delay the disembarkation real quickly.

Edited April 10, 2016 by Valiamo

[satxdiver]

Carnival is like staying in a holiday inn and Princess is like staying at a Marriott resort. :D

[Skai]

Carnival is like staying in a holiday inn and Princess is like staying at a Marriott resort. :D

 

Truth be told, I believe that Carnival's cabins (similar category) are a little nicer than those on Princess.

 

Up until Princess recently decided to upgrade their matresses on some ships(including our recent sailing on the Ruby), it wasn't even debatable which line had better beds.

 

As for bathrooms (specifically the size of one's shower)...One only has to have that icky shower curtain cling to one's backside once while bathing to realize that they're not in luxurious digs in Princess' micro-showers.

 

Additionally, needing to purchase a mini-suite just to get a couch/sofa in one's cabin on Princess is also a demerit IYAM.

[dmdiver]

Truth be told, I believe that Carnival's cabins (similar category) are a little nicer than those on Princess.

 

Up until Princess recently decided to upgrade their matresses on some ships(including our recent sailing on the Ruby), it wasn't even debatable which line had better beds.

 

As for bathrooms (specifically the size of one's shower)...One only has to have that icky shower curtain cling to one's backside once while bathing to realize that they're not in luxurious digs in Princess' micro-showers.

 

Additionally, needing to purchase a mini-suite just to get a couch/sofa in one's cabin on Princess is also a demerit IYAM.

 

I have to agree on that last point. I just booked a balcony on Regal & noticed no sofa. I thought it was odd, since the fares are higher on Princess than Carnival. I like the extra drawers under the sofa for dirty laundry storage. Anyway, maybe I can come back at the end of the year & add my on-ship observations.

[golfb4cruzing]

Going back to Carnival after 4 year hiatus from a flooded week long cabin in 2012. I really enjoy everything about Princess, so going back for 6 days is stressing me a bit. I'm not looking forward to drunks in the hallway at 3am. Luckily we are back on Princess in October. We started out on Carnival, learned the ropes and then after awhile it got stale and we moved on and I say up. But every year on the same line can be the same-o same-o. If I want Frenzy, it's Carnival. If I want soothing, it's Princess.

[mamkmm2]

Going back to Carnival after 4 year hiatus from a flooded week long cabin in 2012. I really enjoy everything about Princess, so going back for 6 days is stressing me a bit. I'm not looking forward to drunks in the hallway at 3am. Luckily we are back on Princess in October. We started out on Carnival, learned the ropes and then after awhile it got stale and we moved on and I say up. But every year on the same line can be the same-o same-o. If I want Frenzy, it's Carnival. If I want soothing, it's Princess.

 

Our experience between Princess and Carnival was not favorable to Carnival. It wasn't hideous but we figure it had a lot to do with the itinerary and the clientele on that particular trip. Drunks in the hall at 3 am? Try drunks in the hallway at all hours ... ALL hours. Every hour on the hour. On all decks. There was no escape. And I'm not a prude but honestly some of the "outfits" that both genders were wearing gave me a the huge ick factor considering they were traipsing through the food areas while wearing (not wearing) said outfits/clothing.

 

I will say I haven't taken a Princess cruise in the Caribbean but the above was our experience on Carnival in the Caribbean.

[PrincessLuver]

Truth be told, I believe that Carnival's cabins (similar category) are a little nicer than those on Princess.

 

Up until Princess recently decided to upgrade their matresses on some ships(including our recent sailing on the Ruby), it wasn't even debatable which line had better beds.

 

As for bathrooms (specifically the size of one's shower)...One only has to have that icky shower curtain cling to one's backside once while bathing to realize that they're not in luxurious digs in Princess' micro-showers.

 

Additionally, needing to purchase a mini-suite just to get a couch/sofa in one's cabin on Princess is also a demerit IYAM.

 

I agree totally.....Princess people just need someone to kick because they cannot afford Seabourn........:D:D

[shredie]

We have cruised RCCL, Holland, Celebrity, Norwegian and Carnival. We will take our first cruise on Princess in September to Alaska. I will be very disappointed if our Princess cruise isn't better than our two Carnival cruises. In Carnival's defense they were on smaller, older ships, but they were not clean, food choices were boring, and hardly any entertainment. We had lots of sea days a virtually nothing to do on ship.

 

Those small older ships are pretty bad sometimes. The larger, newer Carnival ships are much nicer (although still pretty gaudy). I do like having the sofa on a Carnival ship, but it's just a matter of balancing one wish over another. I still prefer the overall ambiance of a Princess ship.

[nlktx49]

I'm the original poster asking for the comparison of Carnival to Princess. We got back from our Princess cruise last Sunday - for some reason we weren't able to get off the ship until after 11:00 a.m., but had to be out of our cabins by 8!! We were also late departing the previous Sunday. I can see why the Houston port is closing to cruise ships! The Caribbean Princess was nice enough, but certainly a much older crowd. My husband and I are both 67 but we seemed like youngsters on this cruise.

 

Fewer activities, overall pretty boring. We had an interior cabin which was a little smaller than a Carnival interior, but I was shocked by the size of the bathroom. It half the size of Carnival's, or less. I don't know how some of the people I saw were able to shower. Amazing. At breakfast one morning we were discussing the size of the showers and one woman said don't try to put soap on yourself, just rub it on the walls of the shower and turn around a few times!

 

We met a lot of very nice people at meals, although some had issues like Alzheimer's that had them in the care of their spouse.

 

The food was mediocre, service was good, the ship wasn't quite as clean as the ones we've cruised on with Carnival. The robes in the cabins that you had to request were not as good quality as the ones on Carnival. No beach towels were in our room, we had to go get them from the Lido deck, then return them there. There were no facial tissues in the cabin, we had to request those as well as an ice bucket.

 

Overall, we prefer Carnival. Certainly the prices for cruises on Carnival are lower than Princess. Since Princess won't be cruising out of Texas anymore, it doesn't really matter! Thanks to you all for your responses.

[Lucky TGO]

You're going on a free cruise :D Don't worry about what cruise line your on Princess or Carnival :eek: just go you're going to have a great time.

Tony