Next Cruise, RCI or Princess???

[eots44]

So I'm trying to plan another cruise. I would like to sail Royal again, but I'm looking around. So far the two I seem most interested in given my criteria are a 10 night Caribbean cruise on Serenade of the Seas, or an 8 night Caribbean cruise on Crown Princess.

 

I loved my Explorer of the Seas cruise, and wouldn't hesitate to book again had they not taken it out of Cape Liberty. My parents who sailed Explorer with us went on Anthem in March and said it was a great experience, however Explorer was far superior, so I'm not looking in the NJ/NY area anymore. From what I understand Princess seems to be very well regarded, possibly even more so than Royal.

 

I would be booking a Mini Suite on Crown Princess or a regular Balcony on Serenade. Also important to note, Princess is offering a deal which includes some kind of free dinning and beverage package with the booking. I'll also throw in there that I'm tossing around the idea of a 12 night Caribbean cruise out of Baltimore on Grandeur which would eliminate any air fair costs. All in all the three cruises would come out to around the same price per person without air fair or any added costs factored in.

 

One concern I have is spending 12 nights on a Vision class ship, there's nothing wrong with them, but they're older and smaller which would make me believe they offer the least amount of activities and things to do. What do I know, anyone sail on a Vision class ship that long? How was it? I may come up with some more questions/concerns as I look into them more, but any input or suggestions?

[Desert Cruizers]

We have sailed Princess 3 times and have always had a very nice cruise with them. My main complaint with Princess is their standard size balcony cabins are smaller then RCCL, as they include the balcony in their overall size of their rooms. We are presently booked on the Freedom of the Seas b2b for April 22 & 28, 2018. We have a JS for both sailings and our cruise will cost us less then a standard balcony on a Princess cruise with equivalent number of days. We prefer Radiance Class or larger over a smaller and older Vision class but that is our personal opinion.

Edited July 4, 2016 by Desert Cruizers

[emory2001]

The only time I sailed Princess was my first cruise in 2000 (Alaska). It was wonderful, but also I had nothing to compare it to. We had a balcony room, and both the room and bathroom were incredibly small, ESPECIALLY the bathroom. One person could barely turn around in it. Royal Caribbean bathrooms are noticeably bigger, and the RC main dining rooms are more elegant and upscale than Princess was. I remember the entertainment being sort of lacking on Princess too, but maybe that has improved.

[Lessa123]

We haven't sailed on RCI yet but our last cruise was on the Coral Princess. I found we were bored all the time. Really nothing to do day or night. We were more than ready to get off the ship at the end of the cruise. We have sworn off Princess for that reason.

[iluvcruzin]

S

 

 

I would be booking a Mini Suite on Crown Princess or a regular Balcony on Serenade. Also important to note, Princess is offering a deal which includes some kind of free dinning and beverage package with the booking. I

 

If you are going to book the Crown Princess Mini Suite you need to do that by tomorrow July 5th in order to get the free specialty restaurant with the sip & sail promotion. What you can do is make a deposit on a cabin and decide later. That way you won't lose the promotion.

 

As far as activities it depends on what time of the year you are going and to where. I've been on ships where there were lots of activities on both RCCL and Princess. I've been on some like the Radiance where we were at sea 5 days and I was ready to get off by the 3rd sea day.

 

Since this will be your second cruise, you can't go wrong picking either one.

 

If you decide Princess - you might want to remove "loyal to Royal" from your signature. ;) There is no shame being one who loves variety. :)

[Desert Cruizers]

I was surprised to see our friends junior Suite and it was a long and narrow room. Even our balcony cabin on the Baja Deck was wider. In 2014 when we did the Radiance from Sydney, Australia for the Transpacific and Hawaii to Vancouver, it was non stop activities and some wonderful shows.

[Saab4444]

Please consider that Serenade is not a Vision Class ship.

 

 

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[Cruzaholic41]

I have cruised all the ships you mentioned and I recommend the Serenade. Personally, I think Princess is 1 step behind RCI. I say that because most of their ships, including Crown, have a very dated look inside. The cabins are a lot smaller than RCI so in order to get a room the size of a standard balcony on Serenade, you would have to book the mini suite on Crown. Crown's standard balcony rooms do not have couches. Serenade is a much nicer ship and is also a lot easier to get around.

 

Plus, 10 nights is better than 8.

 

Please consider that Serenade is not a Vision Class ship.

 

The Vision Class comment by the OP was in reference to a 12 night Grandeur option.

[George C]

10 is better than 8, I also prefer RCCL in general, we did do a cruise on Crown on mini-suite , my complaint on Crown is it seemed crowded hard to get into shows, most were standing room only when we got there, but it is a nice ship, food id about equal on the 2 lines

[eots44]

Thank you everyone for all the responses! It's funny about the comment regarding smaller staterooms because I was noticing that while looking at the virtual tours of staterooms on Crown, the mini suite looks about the same size maybe a tad bigger than our balcony room on Explorer. I also found a 9 night Caribbean cruise on Navigator of the Seas which would come out to about $700 less per person than the other cruises, so that's becoming a strong possibility as well. Being in the same class, if Navigator is any bit similar to Explorer, I know we would enjoy spending 9 nights on her!