Rare Ken the cruiser Posted August 18, 2019 #1 Share Posted August 18, 2019 We're in our mid 60s and over the past 7 years and 400+ days on a variety of cruise lines, we're finding Princess offers many of the things we have come to enjoy on a cruise. For example, we find ourselves enjoying cruise lengths between 21 - 35 days. We're also finding more sea days on a cruise is a positive rather than a negative as long as there is a variety of fun things to do, professional lectures to attend and a promenade to walk around. We enjoy having a balcony, a comfortable bed and a sofa, enough space not to feel overcrowded and a quality internet connection in the cabin. But most importantly, we enjoy the fact when compared with the other cruise lines we've sailed, Princess also offers a very fair price for what we get along with being able to pre-book excursions using our military and shareholder benefits OBC. So far we'd sailed on the Diamond and Crown and have future cruises booked on the Island, Grand and Coral, all in mini-suite or vista cabins. But we also know Princess has a lot more ships with different designs and character to explore. With that in mind we'd like to ask folks which Princess cruise ships they enjoy the most and why. Hopefully, with your added input we'll be able to pick future Princess cruises on some of their more preferred classy ships. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Hlitner Posted August 18, 2019 #2 Share Posted August 18, 2019 All the ships you mention are part of the "Grand" Class of Princess ships. This design has been around for about 20 years and defines a majority of the Princess vessels. That design has now been replaced by the much newer "Royal Class" which represents the newest vessels (Royal, Regal, Majestic) with 2 more coming in the next year. I will ignore the few older vessels which are no longer as popular in the US market. The new Royal class vessels are gorgeous but do have some unpopular issues such as smaller balconies and the lack of a wrap around Promanade. Personally I do not think one design or ship is "classier" then the others. For us, the real class on any ship is defined by the passengers and crew which really can make or break any cruise vacation. Many Princess fans do have their favorite ship but even those folks seem to have difficulty defining why. Personally I preferred the first few Grand Class ships (Grand, Golden, etc) because they had an all-weather pool (retractable roof). I say this even though our next two Princess cruises (Caribbean and Emerald) do not have the all weather pool feature. We choose our cruises based on itinerary with the knowledge that every ship we have cruised (I think its over 70 different vessels) had its pros and cons. I should add that many of us long time cruisers (we go back to the 70s) might say that the classiest ships were mostly older vessels...now gone. My personal favorite was HAL's Prinsendam (recently sold to a German cruise line) which was old, worn in many places, had its share of rust, did not have many of the amenities found on newer/larger ships, but she was a special vessel to many who walked on her decks. Some of our Princess fan friends put the original Royal Princess (now long gone) into a similar classier class. Hank 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AF-1 Posted August 18, 2019 #3 Share Posted August 18, 2019 (edited) Have two cruises with Princess. Emerald and Caribbean, and Sky next fall. I say whatever ship I am on is the best. I enjoy being at sea and traveling to different locations with my wife. Nothing on a ship is that special; as to make me book a cruise for that one feature. Itinerary and time of year dictates where we choose to go; not the ship. sorry can't answer your specific question. Have fun on your next cruise. Both Emerald and Caribbean were great ships and the crews were excellent. Edited August 18, 2019 by AF-1 added txt 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare MISTER 67 Posted August 18, 2019 #4 Share Posted August 18, 2019 IMHO, the Royal and the Regal. Most of the Grand Class ships are just about identical, they are all fine ships but not as classy as the Royal and Regal. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
antsp Posted August 18, 2019 #5 Share Posted August 18, 2019 My choice is the Sapphire, one less deck of passengers, covered pool, smaller Dining rooms. But to be honest where and when the ship sails will always win. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tailspintom Posted August 18, 2019 #6 Share Posted August 18, 2019 It is the passenger set that gives the ship class. I would imagine any of the Princess ships would be enhanced with your presence. Pacific Princess reminds me of classic sailing more than any of the other ships. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cruiserkenn Posted August 18, 2019 #7 Share Posted August 18, 2019 The Royal and Regal and other ships of similar design do not have walkable, sheltered promenade decks. So, for those of us who treasure promenade decks, the Royal and Regal are not worthy of consideration. Grand class and Coral are great for walking promenades. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
memoak Posted August 18, 2019 #8 Share Posted August 18, 2019 Pacific Princess is a truly class ship 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LoriPhil Posted August 18, 2019 #9 Share Posted August 18, 2019 (edited) After 18 Princess cruises we’re sailing on Pacific Princess this spring. From what I’ve read she harkens back to earlier times, with about 650 passengers in well-appointed facilities and a warmly welcoming crew. Edited August 18, 2019 by LoriPhil 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Ken the cruiser Posted August 18, 2019 Author #10 Share Posted August 18, 2019 Thanks everyone you your thoughts and insights. So far we have enjoyed all of our Princess cruises as well as those we've taken on other lines. But as of late, Princess is really starting to stand out in a multitude of ways for us. We were really impressed with the MedallionNet internet service we used on our recent UK cruise on the Crown, especially when I was using it on our balcony during prime time. We also enjoyed the fact we didn't get heartburn once on our 12 day cruise where it was a common occurrence on the Oceania cruises we've recently been on. I guess rich food just doesn't agree with us. And then I can't think of any cruise line we've been on where the CD had 6 assistants, all comedians in their own right!! Hank, you also motivated me to make this chart listing all of the Princess ships with some associated data I found via Ms Google. Hopefully it's all close to being correct. For what it's worth the Berlitz ratings were as of the 2016 version my DW has on her iPad. Ship Class Capacity Crew Age Refurb Prom Tons Berlitz Sun Sun 2,000 924 1995 7/18 Yes 77 1408 Sea Sun 2,000 910 1998 11/17 Yes 77 1414 Grand Grand 2,600 1,150 1998 3/19 Yes 107 1417 Golden Grand 2,600 1,100 2001 4/18 Yes 108 1420 Star Grand 2,600 1,100 2002 12/17 Yes 108 1417 Pacific R Class 670 375 2003 6/19 No 30 1442 Coral Coral 2,000 895 2003 1/19 Yes 91 1439 Island Coral 2,200 900 2003 12/17 Yes 92 1437 Diamond Gem 2,670 1,100 2004 2/19 Yes 115 1448 Sapphire Gem 2,670 1,100 2004 3/18 Yes 115 1437 Caribbean Caribbean 3,140 1,200 2004 5/19 Yes 112 1430 Crown Crown 3,080 1,200 2006 4/18 Yes 113 1427 Emerald Crown 3,080 1,200 2007 4/19 Yes 113 1442 Ruby Crown 3,080 1,200 2008 10/18 Yes 113 1434 Royal Royal 3,560 1,346 2013 12/18 No 142 1528 Regal Royal 3,560 1,346 2014 No 142 1527 Majestic Royal 3,560 1,346 2017 No 143 Sky Royal 3,660 1,346 2019 No Enchanted Royal 3,660 1,346 2020 No 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Ken the cruiser Posted August 18, 2019 Author #11 Share Posted August 18, 2019 1 hour ago, LoriPhil said: After 18 Princess cruises we’re sailing on Pacific Princess this spring. From what I’ve read she harkens back to earlier times, with about 650 passengers in well-appointed facilities and a warmly welcoming crew. We've sailed on Oceania's Nautica and Sirena, both sister R-class ships to the Pacific, and really enjoyed our cruises, especially when we could dine outside up at their (Terrace Café) lido deck. Hopefully there are similar places on the Pacific as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Ken the cruiser Posted August 18, 2019 Author #12 Share Posted August 18, 2019 2 hours ago, MISTER 67 said: IMHO, the Royal and the Regal. Most of the Grand Class ships are just about identical, they are all fine ships but not as classy as the Royal and Regal. We just booked a 21 day family Med cruise on the Enchanted Princess for Jul 2021, and are really looking forward to cruising on a new ship!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MixerDave Posted August 18, 2019 #13 Share Posted August 18, 2019 4 hours ago, Ken the cruiser said: We're in our mid 60s and over the past 7 years and 400+ days on a variety of cruise lines, we're finding Princess offers many of the things we have come to enjoy on a cruise. For example, we find ourselves enjoying cruise lengths between 21 - 35 days. We're also finding more sea days on a cruise is a positive rather than a negative as long as there is a variety of fun things to do, professional lectures to attend and a promenade to walk around. We enjoy having a balcony, a comfortable bed and a sofa, enough space not to feel overcrowded and a quality internet connection in the cabin. But most importantly, we enjoy the fact when compared with the other cruise lines we've sailed, Princess also offers a very fair price for what we get along with being able to pre-book excursions using our military and shareholder benefits OBC. So far we'd sailed on the Diamond and Crown and have future cruises booked on the Island, Grand and Coral, all in mini-suite or vista cabins. But we also know Princess has a lot more ships with different designs and character to explore. With that in mind we'd like to ask folks which Princess cruise ships they enjoy the most and why. Hopefully, with your added input we'll be able to pick future Princess cruises on some of their more preferred classy ships. Is classiest even a word? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colo Cruiser Posted August 18, 2019 #14 Share Posted August 18, 2019 7 minutes ago, MixerDave said: Is classiest even a word? Most expensivest? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colo Cruiser Posted August 18, 2019 #15 Share Posted August 18, 2019 We like the Regal mostest now. 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
USCAdventurer Posted August 18, 2019 #16 Share Posted August 18, 2019 my favourite princess ships would be the grand class ships for one main reason. i only book the aft mini-suites on the starboard side. ex. e729, e731. those are great cabins for me. everything else about princess is wonderful especially the pub lunches 🙂 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Ken the cruiser Posted August 18, 2019 Author #17 Share Posted August 18, 2019 48 minutes ago, MixerDave said: Is classiest even a word? Ms Google says it is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare geoherb Posted August 18, 2019 #18 Share Posted August 18, 2019 Our favorite ship is the Sapphire Princess, although we haven't sailed on it since it moved Down Under. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Ken the cruiser Posted August 19, 2019 Author #19 Share Posted August 19, 2019 29 minutes ago, USC Adventurer said: my favourite princess ships would be the grand class ships for one main reason. i only book the aft mini-suites on the starboard side. ex. e729, e731. those are great cabins for me. everything else about princess is wonderful especially the pub lunches 🙂 We saw those and would definitely book one of those too if they were available as we definitely prefer a covered balcony over an uncovered one! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capriccio Posted August 19, 2019 #20 Share Posted August 19, 2019 4 hours ago, Ken the cruiser said: We've sailed on Oceania's Nautica and Sirena, both sister R-class ships to the Pacific, and really enjoyed our cruises, especially when we could dine outside up at their (Terrace Café) lido deck. Hopefully there are similar places on the Pacific as well. Aft of the the buffet (deck 9) on the Pacific Princess is a partially covered outdoor area with tables and chairs according to the deck plan (https://www.princess.com/deckPlans.do?shipCode=PA). We will have our first cruise on it in October 2020 but we were on her sister ship (the old Royal Princess) ten years ago and enjoyed that area very much. Here's a picture from Google: 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare 4cats4me Posted August 19, 2019 #21 Share Posted August 19, 2019 4 hours ago, MixerDave said: Is classiest even a word? Yes. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brisalta Posted August 19, 2019 #22 Share Posted August 19, 2019 5 hours ago, MixerDave said: Is classiest even a word? Except as classiest is a superlative you do not say "most classiest". 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Ken the cruiser Posted August 19, 2019 Author #23 Share Posted August 19, 2019 19 minutes ago, brisalta said: Except as classiest is a superlative you do not say "most classiest". You are correct. Thank you so much for pointing this out. If I had the capability to correct the title of my thread, I would remove "most" from the title. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nini Posted August 19, 2019 #24 Share Posted August 19, 2019 We have been on the Golden 3X, the Crown once, the Coral once and the Regal once. Our favorite is the Regal because it is an updated classy version of the Golden minus Skywalker's. However, we love Skywalker's on the Golden and the Crown because of the fabulous private time and views. The Regal offers a fabulous Horizon Court. We did not care for the Coral, actually because of its size and no aft balconies. The Horizon Court was at the front of the ship and because it was a Panama Canal cruise, the windows were usually fogged over offering no views. And the windows were slanted; not a great design in our opinion. The Golden Crown, and Regal were much more open; never seemed crowded when the Coral actually did. Note: Many people love the Coral- not us. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lucky TGO Posted August 19, 2019 #25 Share Posted August 19, 2019 My first cruise with Princess was on the Dawn Princess. For me the Dawn Princess is the most ‘’Classiest.” My Rowboat is the most Classiest rowboat 😁. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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