First time on Princess Questions

[readytotravel44]

Hello!  

This will be our 18th cruise but our first on Princess.  We have cruised on Disney, Norwegian, Royal, and Carnival.  We are Platinum on Carninval.    Anyone have any particular tips we should know?   We will have a 7 year old with us.  Do they have a good kid's club?  Carnival is has a lot of trivia games and ship sponsered games.  Does Princess have activities like that?  Are there medals and trophies?  How are the shows, the food, the pool?  Any and all advice appreciated!  

Thank you! 

[MrSchwump]

I think the biggest difference between Princess and Carnival, besides the passenger demographic (Princess skews older) is the buffet.  You get better service in the Princess buffet.  Servers bring you drinks, clear plates, etc.  On Carnival that seemed largely self service.  I think the selection in the buffet is better on Princess.  I didn't see that much a difference in the MDR between the 2.

Princess does have trivia contests but alas, no ship on a stick.

 

[JF - retired RRT]

No kids (all grown), but it's been reported here that the kid's clubs are excellent.

Ignore the email that you'll get with "your decks" boarding time. Go to the port when you want.

Lunch is served in one of the dining rooms as well as the buffet. The crew will insist only the buffet is open. The back of your Patter will have which MDR is open.

You can order off the kid's menu at lunch/dinner. Spaghetti and meatballs is very good and the Volcano (similar to a banana split) is a must have.

[OCruisers]

Actually, Princess & Carnival do have differences.

Princess is more laid back and way less hetic.  

While there is an older passenger base, there are still quite a few children especially in the summer and school breaks.  

Princess has a very good kid's program.  Our children and now our grandchildren loved going.

While there are pool activities, no "hairy chest" sore of things. 

Always there is trivia but you can't win a "ship on a stick".  Other ship sponsered games as well. 

The way Princess does the buffet is so better.  Waiters bring your drinks and napkins, knives.forkes, & spoons, etc.  ....  and  keep the area very clean.  

Not constant announcements ... some but not all day long every 15 minutes like on Carnival.  

Look forward to having a wonderful time on your Crown Princess cruise in June! 

Edited February 17, 2019 by OCruisers

[readytotravel44]

Thank you so much for the info!  I'm writing all of these tips in my notes.  This is our 4th European cruise.  It will be interesting to compare.  I'm thrilled the kid's program is thought of well.  My child is 22, but a friend with us is bringing her 7 year old.  I was a little worried there would not be activities for him.

 

Is it necessary to bring a power strip?  Carnival is always short on outlets.  Are robes issued?  We will sure miss our Platinum Status when it comes to the front desk and free laundry!

 

Thank you for mentioning Princess's famous dessert!  We'll try a Volcano for sure.

 

Is there a 24 hour Pizza place?     

[Bonnie1222]

DH and I are platinum Disney and just booked Alaska in 2020 on the Coral Princes. We were on 1 other Princes cruise 15 years ago but MIL paid for everything so I have lots of questions as well.

 

Disney has soda stations and I see Princess sells a soda package.  Do you have to pay for soda at the restaurants too or just at non meal times. I mostly drink water but DH likes iced tea and w/ breakfast he likes juice and I like coffee.

 

And Disney has under bed storage for the suit cases. Does Princess have this? Every picture I see online I never see a suitcase.

 

Last Disney's formal nights are relaxed and optional. How strict is Princess. And since we picked a set dining time do we keep the same servers.

 

Thank you 

 

[Bonnie1222]

DH and I are platinum Disney and just booked Alaska in 2020 on the Coral Princes. We were on 1 other Princes cruise 15 years ago but MIL paid for everything so I have lots of questions as well.

 

Disney has soda stations and I see Princess sells a soda package.  Do you have to pay for soda at the restaurants too or just at non meal times. I mostly drink water but DH likes iced tea and w/ breakfast he likes juice and I like coffee.

 

And Disney has under bed storage for the suit cases. Does Princess have this? Every picture I see online I never see a suitcase.

 

Last Disney's formal nights are relaxed and optional. How strict is Princess. And since we picked a set dining time do we keep the same servers.

 

Thank you 

 

[rdsqrl]

4 minutes ago, Bonnie1222 said:

DH and I are platinum Disney and just booked Alaska in 2020 on the Coral Princes. We were on 1 other Princes cruise 15 years ago but MIL paid for everything so I have lots of questions as well.

 

Disney has soda stations and I see Princess sells a soda package.  Do you have to pay for soda at the restaurants too or just at non meal times. I mostly drink water but DH likes iced tea and w/ breakfast he likes juice and I like coffee.

 

And Disney has under bed storage for the suit cases. Does Princess have this? Every picture I see online I never see a suitcase.

 

Last Disney's formal nights are relaxed and optional. How strict is Princess. And since we picked a set dining time do we keep the same servers.

 

Thank you 

 

You always have to pay for soda; it's not an included beverage any time or anywhere unless you have the package.  If you have the package, it only includes soda from the bar gun, no cans, so it may limit your choices (I don't drink soda; hopefully, someone who does and who knows the package details will chime in on this).

 

Water is always available, obviously, and iced tea is available free in the buffet and all dining rooms.  You can always serve yourself iced tea in the buffet all day long, not only their pre-made version (which can be very strong), but they also have a large selection of tea bags, so you can brew your own iced tea.  I personally like iced tea made from Bigelow's Lemon Lift tea -- very refreshing on a hot afternoon.

 

Suitcases will fit under your bed, although if your suitcase is tall, you might have to leave it open to fit.  Also, the closet space is huge; you can stand up two cases on the floor of the closet and slide carry-ons on the shelf and still have plenty of room for shoes. 

 

Formal nights are not optional but the dress code is not strictly enforced.  That topic really gets people wound up here.  Let me just say, as someone who's a formal-night traditionalist, if you choose to dress more casually on formal nights, you probably will be admitted to the dining room as long as you're making a half-hearted effort.  However, shorts and holey jeans are probably a bridge too far.  And there's always the potential to run into a maitre d' who's having an authoritarian moment.

 

You'll have the same servers and same table assignment each night.  Princess doesn't do the rotation thing that Disney does.

 

Hope this helps.  Enjoy your cruise; the Coral is a fantastic ship!!

[webzila]

3 hours ago, readytotravel44 said:

Hello!  

This will be our 18th cruise but our first on Princess.  We have cruised on Disney, Norwegian, Royal, and Carnival.  We are Platinum on Carninval.    Anyone have any particular tips we should know?   We will have a 7 year old with us.  Do they have a good kid's club?  Carnival is has a lot of trivia games and ship sponsered games.  Does Princess have activities like that?  Are there medals and trophies?  How are the shows, the food, the pool?  Any and all advice appreciated!  

Thank you! 

 

What time of year are you traveling?

My wife and I have done 16 cruises similar to you on Carnival, Royal, NCL, and Disney. Just now did our first cruise on Caribbean Princess.

 

We are in our 30's and found much of the passengers to be much older...like my grandparents age. It's not a bad thing and that's what we wanted to get away from our kid and other kids. There were barely any kids onboard ...I could probably count them all on my hand. We passed by and peeked into kids club several times especially the one for 6 yr olds since that is how old our son is and they were always completely empty... nobody there.

 

We also didn't find many activities that related to us. Not saying that there aren't any. There was a really funny commedian but he was only there 1 night. 

[readytotravel44]

We are going this June.  I was sort of assuming the crowd would be a little older than Carnival.  Princess is a little more expensive, so less affordable for many families.  I'm eager to try something new.  The itinerary was what attracted us.  We'll be sailing the British Isles.     

[satxdiver]

We have taken our DGD on several Princess cruises and she loved the youth clubs.  Sign your 7 y/o up for the youth club now to assure a spot.  The DGD liked it so well that sometimes when we wanted her to hang out with us in the afternoon, she insisted on going to the youth group instead.  I suppose grandparents are not all that fun to hang with.  

 

There will be two trivia games a day both on sea days and port days.  They don't award a ship on a stick however.  The usual reward for winning any game is a trinket or sometimes a bottle of bubbly.  Princess has several audience participation games like the marriage game (uses another name) particularly at night.  

 

The pax tend to be older than what is on Carnival with less drinking and silly pool games.  Announcements during the day on the lido deck is few so you will be saved from the sales and other messages.  Most pax on sea days engage in quiet activities.  Sunbathing, reading, playing cards etc are the most popular activities.

[KBS1607]

I love the trivia on Princess!  I did the cruise long trivia on our Panama Canal cruise and our team came in second. It was a lot of fun. I won chip clips that I use all the time.  And pens. 

[JF - retired RRT]

On 2/17/2019 at 3:53 PM, readytotravel44 said:

 

 

On 2/17/2019 at 3:53 PM, readytotravel44 said:

Is it necessary to bring a power strip?  It depends on how many electronics you want to charge at the same time. There are 2 plug ins at the desk, but they're very close together. There was a recent thread discussing this and several posted pictures of what they bring. 

Are robes issued?  Yes. Order in the Personalizer pre-cruise or ask your steward once you board. You may not get one the first day, since they're all out being washed.

 

Is there a 24 hour Pizza place?     Not 24 hours, but something like 11 to 11.

See above

[ppeckham]

I've cruised both on Carnival and Princess when my children were younger.  The children enjoyed the kids activities on Princess much more than Carnival. 

[thegoaliegirl]

My kids absolutely love the kids club and are currently 5 and 7. That is all they can talk about for their next cruise- going back to the kids club.