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How does Princess compare?

Bella O

By Bella O,
in Royal Caribbean International

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Bella O

Bella O

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So we have cruised NCL, Disney, Carnival, and RCCL for our ocean cruises - Royal Caribbean being our favorite. We are locked into a school vacation week, and can choose Freedom of the Seas, NCL Escape or Regal Princess. Itineraries pretty standard, so picking based on ship.

 

We have never sailed Princess and wonder if we should give it a try? How does it compare to FOS or Royal in general? I will only cruise NCL if we do the Haven, and not sure I want to spend the $$$ this year.

 

 

Thanks for any insight!

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newcruzer2

newcruzer2

Posted
Posted (edited)
So we have cruised NCL, Disney, Carnival, and RCCL for our ocean cruises - Royal Caribbean being our favorite. We are locked into a school vacation week, and can choose Freedom of the Seas, NCL Escape or Regal Princess. Itineraries pretty standard, so picking based on ship.

 

We have never sailed Princess and wonder if we should give it a try? How does it compare to FOS or Royal in general? I will only cruise NCL if we do the Haven, and not sure I want to spend the $$$ this year.

 

 

Thanks for any insight!

 

If you are interested in doing ANY activities DONT choose Princess. I did a caribbean princess and it was ok ...BUT the regal princess last December, almost made me quite cruising. There was not one thing to do , the only activity all week was a craft thing so 4 times as many people showed up as they expected , so the staff were obnoxious. Etc. And the staff were all down right mean. I've only done one allure ots and 4 ncl (and those 2 princess), but to put my money where my mouth is... I have 3 royal caribbean cruises booked and non with other lines

Edited by newcruzer2
Cancelled transatlantic on signature can't figure how to get it off LOL
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LeeW

LeeW

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We started on Princess and still sail more on that line. Never sailed NCL. Regal is a good new ship, although a few things we don't like. No Promenade that goes around the whole ship (hmm, kind of like Royal). No steak medallions available any more at dinner, although some kind of steak is always available. Adult Sanctuary area is fairly expensive, but there is a large free adult area with a pool just aft of the Sanctuary. Cabins are typically slightly larger than Royal, although showers are slightly smaller and have a nice clinging curtain. Closet in many rooms is walkin, with a large set of shelves at the far end. No Broadway-style shows or comedy club on any Princess ship. No rock walls, ice rinks, aquatheater, zip lines, flowrider. Kids clubs on Princess are not as elaborate as Royal, although kids do seem to like them.

 

On the positive side, the Regal buffet is far superior to other Princess ships or any Royal ships. Four cross corridors with food on both sides, lots of ethnic foods and probably four times the seating space of Royal ships. Buffet is open from around 6 to around 10:30. Normal dining rooms/food are quite similar to Royal, including an Anytime dining option. Grill, pizza and ice cream stations are near the main pool and can be open as late as 11. Shows are either in the theater or one of the lounges. The ship also only holds 3600 passengers. Muster drills are held in lounges and theater space, never outside. Feel of ship is similar to Navigator or Adventure. Other than the specialty dining rooms there are no reservations for anything (sometimes Anytime can make reservations by calling DINE precisely at 8 AM). Full gelato bar for extra cost. International Cafe has sandwiches, quiche, snacks, pastries, cookies 24/7. This is also the extra cost coffee outlet.

 

We sail RCI primarily because Princess no longer sails in the Caribbean in the summer time. Have done two on Disney with granddaughter but those are double the cost of either RCI or Princess.

 

Should also add that on Princess all the OBC sources are additive. So no nonsense of losing balcony discount if you are booking a sale. We routinely get booking credit for the current promotion, future cruise credit (buy onboard for $100, get $100 total deposit on next cruise plus OBC on that cruise varying with cruise length), casino credit, military credit and stockholder credit.

Edited by LeeW
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MLBFan24

MLBFan24

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RCCL is my favorite cruise line, while Princess is second on my list. I'd consider Princess more low-key with activities as well, but I still had fun with them. Also, RCCL has a competitive advantage with the unique "Promenade" and "Neighborhood" decks.

 

What demographic are you in? Married couple? Family with young children? Family with older children? Extended family coming along? etc.

 

 

Knowing these stats will determine if Princess will work for you.

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MrYellowDuck

MrYellowDuck

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Princess food is superior. The demographic is similar but more to our liking on Princess. Princess has self-serve laundries and so you can spend two minutes in the morning with an iron in your hand; we have been known to choose a cabin based on close proximity to the said iron. The Princess offering has gone down over the years just like RCL has.

 

If you need to feel like you’re at a holiday camp with a day full of exercises laid out for you then choose RCL over Princess.

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Bella O

Bella O

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Thanks for all the replies. We are a couple with a 14 yr old daughter. The Princess sailing is the best price, but am afraid daughter may be bored. We always get off ship at ports but still....may need to re-think.

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LMaxwell Great Review Rare

LMaxwell

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Princess is a bit more refined, definitely think food is better and many more complimentary options. Service equal. Rooms mostly equal (tiny balconies on Royal and Regal Princess). I think Royal Caribbean ships are easier to get around in terms of layout. Big ship to big ship I think Princess will feel classier and more traditional, RCI big ships will have more "wow" features and much better entertainment. Midsize ships I think Royal advertises experiences they can't really deliver and so I'd say Princess is better in the midsize.

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Thorben-Hendrik

Thorben-Hendrik

Posted
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So we have cruised NCL, Disney, Carnival, and RCCL for our ocean cruises - Royal Caribbean being our favorite. We are locked into a school vacation week, and can choose Freedom of the Seas, NCL Escape or Regal Princess. Itineraries pretty standard, so picking based on ship.

 

We have never sailed Princess and wonder if we should give it a try? How does it compare to FOS or Royal in general? I will only cruise NCL if we do the Haven, and not sure I want to spend the $$$ this year.

 

 

Thanks for any insight!

Princess is for dead people that like food they can still chew ;p

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Thorben-Hendrik

Thorben-Hendrik

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Yep Princess was just dead, dead, dead only cruise I ever felt so bored I watched TV 📺!

Even the movies under the stars were old!

Movies by the pool and bingo were the - only- entertainment on a lot of nights so after 8pm the TV in the stateroom was the most exciting thing happening on the ship:D

I have to admit their meats were always very tender.... I guess they have to do that! ;p

Edited by Thorben-Hendrik
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MrsKC08

MrsKC08

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If you are interested in doing ANY activities DONT choose Princess. I did a caribbean princess and it was ok ...BUT the regal princess last December, almost made me quite cruising. There was not one thing to do , the only activity all week was a craft thing so 4 times as many people showed up as they expected , so the staff were obnoxious. Etc. And the staff were all down right mean. I've only done one allure ots and 4 ncl (and those 2 princess), but to put my money where my mouth is... I have 3 royal caribbean cruises booked and non with other lines

 

Completely disagree with this. Princess actually used to be our favorite cruise line before we tried Royal and we would sail on her ships again anytime...matter of fact, we are doing our big anniversary trip on her later this year. There is always something to do and fun theme nights as well. I'm sure the OP would find plenty of things to keep them busy during their cruise! Oh, and we love the movies under the stars and the pizza is much better than it is on Royal.

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spunks

spunks

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We are Elite on Princess and D + on RCCL. There are good things about each. I find little difference in the food, service, shows or specialty restaurants. I do think RCCL has more for younger people such as rock climbing walls, flow riders, water slides etc, but otherwise about equal.However, when Princess advertises a sale, it is an actual sale(meaning you can save money)

 

The biggest differences come about in the loyalty programs. On Princess with 5 cruises (or 50 dys) you get virtually free internet. With 15 cruises (or 150 days) you get free unlimited laundry With RCCL after 80 cruise points you get the free unlimited happy hour in the D lounge You also get 1 free day of internet.

 

Princess ships have laundrymats on every floor. Princess also allows you to "stack" OBC regardless of getting a sale or not.Sometimes on trans Atlantic cruises we have had $1000.00 OBC

 

If you want to drink LOTS go RCCL and get to D level. If free unlimited laundry plus lots of OBC is more important, go princess

 

Doug

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caribbeanboy

caribbeanboy

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Food is better on Princess.

Shows and activities are way better on Royal.

Staff depends on the sailing.

MUCH older crowd on Princess.

 

Food used to be better on Princess, but not any longer. Buffet on both Anthem & Allure were far superior from what I got earlier this month on the Royal Princess!

 

Even the (buffet) food on Norwegian Escape (Sept) and Norwegian Breakaway (Oct) were much better that Royal Princess..

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mikegrip

mikegrip

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Both have their ups and downs that many have mentioned already. We liked our sailings on Princess, however I found I did read a lot more of the books I brought with me those cruises than when on Royal due to the activities/experiences offered. Princess passengers we felt were many couples travelling together and seemed to stick to themselves. We mostly have stuck to Royal as it feels more multi-generational which is how most of our trips end up being. The kids clubs on both were nice, just more kids on RCCL. TV is much better on Princess than RCCL. Another difference for us is many times we have three in a cabin and the third prefers a sofa bed rather than climbing for a drop down berth. On Princess-you pretty much have to reserve a Mini-suite in order to guarantee this where as RCCL has Sofa beds in many of their regular balcony cabins.

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deliver42

deliver42

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My wife and I just got off the Regal 2 weeks ago. I'm 75, and got board with nothing much to do. IMHO, the buffet is a disaster. It's divided into 2 parts, and to find anything takes patients and fortitude.I didn't find Princess' food to be better or worse than any other cruise.The crew was friendly. If you go Princess, stay away from blue cheese dressing. When it comes, you'll ask "what's this". It isn't even white, and has NO cheese. By the way, at 75, I was on the younger side of the demographics.

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F27TW

F27TW

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Posted
Yep Princess was just dead, dead, dead only cruise I ever felt so bored I watched TV 📺!

Even the movies under the stars were old!

Movies by the pool and bingo were the - only- entertainment on a lot of nights so after 8pm the TV in the stateroom was the most exciting thing happening on the ship:D

I have to admit their meats were always very tender.... I guess they have to do that! ;p

 

 

LMAO .. you funny ... I bet you get alotta snippy reponses from the uptight ones on here just like I do. :')

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