Loyal to Royal tries Princess

[crusinthrough]

There were two bath robes in the room.

 

 

 

Plenty of hangers in the closet but no closet doors.

 

 

The safe is small.  A 13 in computer could barely fit.

 

 

 

Princess provides stationary and pens in the room.  I have not seen either on my last few RC ships. 

 

[crusinthrough]

While RC and Carnival are racing to bottom to have the worst tv programming, Princess has the best tv  at sea. 

 

 

• TV Movie Categories - Holiday, Action, Comedy, Drama, Family, Pirate Quuen’s Pix, Romance, Thriller,  Documentary, Destination, Open Caption 
• TV Shows - Animal Planet, Discovery Communications, A&E History, Life Style Channel, TV Comedy, TV Drama, TV Classic 
• 

All the all demand and movies and shows are free. 

 

[crusinthrough]

 

[crusinthrough]

There was a bottle of champagne in the mini fridge.  I think it's included in a mini suite.

 

 

[dani negreanu]

Thank you for taking the time to review, very interesting. I've done one Princess cruise, didn't like it, but I'm still curious to see if my first impression was "spot on"....

[mcgore83]

Great review so far.  Looking forward to reading more.  Thank you for sharing.

[suesnake2002]

Was the medallion an upcharge??

[mickeygirl78]

Thanks for posting, I’m looking forward to reading the rest. I’ve been on several RCCL cruises and I’m going on my first Princess Cruise next month on the Regal Princess.

[Beav1279]

I'm so excited for your review/comparison! DH and I were just looking at this exact ship and itinerary because we have place tickets to California that we need to use soon. We've never been on Princess so I'm loving the comparison you're making. Thank you so much for sharing!

[PCWalton1]

Thank you for posting your review. We are also long time Royal Caribbean but are on this ship May 2nd for the same ports.

[Tom47]

Thanks for your review.  I cruise for itinerary and am considering a Princess Baltic itinerary.

[alexkrn46]

I am loving your review, thamks

[Lorey2007]

Thanks for the review I am thinking about this itinerary with either Princess or NCL. 

[mommysoncruiser]

3 hours ago, suesnake2002 said:

Was the medallion an upcharge??

The medallion is not an up charge and is included in your cruise fare. Loved the medallion when I went on princess. The internet was great but the service was lacking. 

[Iamcruzin]

Thanks for your review. I have sailed many times with Princess and agree with your perception. Princess ships are 50 shades of beige and the balconies on the Royal Class ships are the size of a postage stamp. Thankfully you have a mini suite because if you had a regular balcony room you would be very cramped. Princess has the worse rooms at sea.

[mkam2821]

We tried Princess some years back when we did an Alaskan cruise as we were told that Princess controls the shore excursions (not sure if this was true or not).  At the time the Sapphire was a new ship. We found the ship beautiful, the "mini-suite" no bigger than HAL's large outside cabin except that it contained 2 tvs, the food mediocre to poor and the customer service both at the desk and in the dining room AWFUL.  They made us wait 3 days for a coupon book that they had at hand in their drawer, they assigned us to a table where the other guests were a family of 8 and when we asked to be relocated the next night, they moved the entire table so we were still with the other family. It took 2 days but we eventually got a table for 2. Shore excursions were excellent though.

It was a bad enough experience to turn us off Princess forever.

[matj2000]

Another " This is not as great as Royal"  disguised as review.

 

I have done Princess several times and my family always had a great time.

 

Not every cruise line has to be RC to be any good especially if you go into it with a sour face.

 

But I could have an excellent time on HAL.    Someday....

 

[mafig]

1 hour ago, mkam2821 said:

 they assigned us to a table where the other guests were a family of 8 and when we asked to be relocated the next night, they moved the entire table so we were still with the other family. 

It was a bad enough experience to turn us off Princess forever.

 

 

Actually, that's pretty funny.😀

[ATG]

We did Princess in Alaska last summer.  I missed the royal promenade, the atrium was small.  It was difficult to get decent coffee.  But, I thought the specialty restaurants were much better and about half the price of Royal.  We were in a suite and had breakfast in Sabatinnis each day.  Service and food were great there.  
I still prefer Royal, but am willing to try other lines.  We even have a Carnival cruise planned on the new Panorama.  Haven’t been on carnival for decades!

[A&L_Ont]

19 hours ago, crusinthrough said:

While RC and Carnival are racing to bottom to have the worst tv programming, Princess has the best tv  at sea. 

 

I don't think it would take much to improve RC TV options, however Princess seems to have a great selection.  I can't wait to see your take on their pizza and entertainment differences.  We used to only sail on Princess, until we discovered Oasis Class.  Other than Panama Canal with them we have not returned.  We really liked them, but is hard to compare certain aspects.

 

Matt is right though, one has to go in with eyes open to appreciate what you have in front of you.

Edited January 6, 2020 by A&L_Ont

[vacationlover_mn]

Thanks for continuing your review here!  Very interesting!!

[critterchick]

On 1/5/2020 at 6:59 AM, Tree_skier said:

I'll enjoy this review... I'm scheduled for my first Princess cruise Sept 20 on the Star Princess, same class of ship as the Crown Princess.

 

Crown is larger than Star. Much of the layout in the common areas is similar, but the extra deck of passengers cabins on Crown make it seem quite a bit more crowded at peak times.

[jagsfan]

We sailed on Crown in April in Club Class. 

That’s midship minisuites. Loved it. 

The Club section of the MDR was small and quiet, with very personal service and an off menu item cooked tableside. 

Our meals were always looked forward to. 

We’ll be on Harmony in March, 3rd time on Oasis class, but first time in a Jr Suite. 

That will be a new experience, too. 

 

[Judyrem]

8 hours ago, matj2000 said:

 

 

But I could have an excellent time on HAL.    Someday....

 

I had an excellent cruise on HAL in November, apples and oranges in many ways.

BTW, their pizza was FAB!

 

HAL also had on demand FREE TV with movies and shows.

 

I have also been on Princess, good cruise line IMO, but agree the balcony rooms are cramped.

Edited January 7, 2020 by Judyrem

[Tom47]

8 hours ago, matj2000 said:

Another " This is not as great as Royal"  disguised as review.

 

I have done Princess several times and my family always had a great time.

 

Not every cruise line has to be RC to be any good especially if you go into it with a sour face.

 

But I could have an excellent time on HAL.    Someday....

 

I have only cruised on RCI, Celebrity and Azamara, but am considering Princess and HAL.   Nothing in this balanced review stops me from Princess