RCL vs Princess

[Troy86]

Hi everyone,

 

we are considering 2 cruises departing from San Juan. One is aboard RCL's Serenade of the Seas and the other is aboard the new Crown Princess. We have been on 3 of the older RCL ships before (Legend, Splendour and Monarch), but we have never travelled aboard any Princess ship. The itineraries are identical, and the pricing is consistent enough not to be an issue. So, which ship would you recommend and why?

 

Thanks,

 

Troy 86

[bobbie0253]

I would do the Serenade. I love Princess, but the Jewel (sister ship to the Serenade) was the most amazing ship.

 

Princess has anytime dining, fresh water pools, and a 24 hour buffet. We also felt the food was a little bit better. We are not food snobs by any means though.

 

Either way I am sure you will enjoy your cruise. Both are great cruise lines.

[love2cruiseseattle]

We had previously cruised on RCCL 4x and decided to try the Golden Princess Southern route out of San Juan last October. The ship was beautiful, but we were not impressed at all by the service, food or entertainment. We are going back to RCCL The Radiance this year. I would go with the Serenade. One thing I can say for sure is you will love the Southern route, lots of fun in the sun.:)

[TexasMom2]

Bear in mind also that the Grand class (Golden) was not a wildly successful large ship design for Princess. The Crown adds another deck of passenger cabins but doesn't add any significant public space to balance out the additional passengers. This fact might not be important to some people, but it's something to consider. Food was good to very good on Princess, but the buffet layout was weird at best. The stations are set up in a small oval and access is INSIDE the oval. Things pretty much die down by midnight and the activities are quite different than what you are probably used to. That said, I would choose Princess again if the itinerary/price were right, and they are cheaper than RCI these days in many markets.

[Troy86]

Thanks to everyone for your comments. After some additional research and comments, we have decided in favor of the RCL ship. Maybe we will cruise on Princess at a future time.

 

Thanks,

 

Troy86

[caviargal]

The Serenade is a beautiful ship. Enjoy!