Thinking about taking a Princess Cruise

[nini]

As long as you do not want a skating rink, rock climbing wall, sea world, or water slides on your ship; then you will love it! We LOVE Princess and do not want anything that I mentioned. I think you will find a nice balance and the crew is wonderfull!

 

IMHO, Celebrity is smooth and HAL does not have enough going on. However, they have a faithful clientele as well. We see all ages onboard.

[caribill]

10 hours ago, nini said:

 

IMHO, Celebrity is smooth and HAL does not have enough going on. However, they have a faithful clientele as well. We see all ages onboard.

 

The newest HAL ships (such as the Nieuw Statendam) have more than enough going on. More than Princess usually does, especially more live music.

[cruisegirl1976]

On 4/2/2021 at 1:12 PM, jondfk said:

We've sailed NCL, RCL and Princess plus a few others.  Amongst the big 3 we prefer Princess.  

 

Here's why:

We don't use and have no interest in "theme park" sorts of things.  Go cart tracks, zip lines and climbing walls hold no appeal.  Princess has none of these, the others do, to varying degree.  So folks love this stuff and it's great that there are options for them.

 

We like a more traditional dining experience, and Princess offers this on every ship.  If you prefer anytime dining, Princess has that too and the majority of folks do take advantage, but like the things above it's nice to have a choice.

 

Here are a few Princess facts that might push you away:

Dining choice.  There's no doubt NCL has more options on every ship than any Princess offering.  Some included many extra charge but overall more selection.  When we last sailed NCL we never at in the MDR and never dined the same place twice in the evening.  On Princess you WILL be using the MDR or buffet a number of nights the alternative options are typically two (steak & Italian, both with an uncharge).

 

Princess has a kids club, but without the features above, kids are left largely to find things on their own to keep busy.  Some have no issues with this, others are bored almost from boarding.

 

As for nightlife and evening entertainment, and especially how many folks take part, this has much to do with the destination.  We've been on Princess sailings to Alaska where the promenade was cranked in and the lights turned off (not literally) by 10PM, we've been on Caribbean and Med sailings where the bars were lively well past midnight.  Really depends who's on board and how lively they like to be - Princess are good IMHO at reading the wants of the passengers on a particular sailing and keeping things cranking to meet the demand (or not).  That said typical Princess passengers are 50 something, some longer cruises off season skew far older.

 

Hope this helps a bit.

Thank you for the detailed info .. appreciated. After my last cruise with NCL, we decided to try to be loyal to Royal, but I compare the prices.. and princess seems to be a little better priced.  We don't have kids, and don't eat at the specialty restaurants, we like to bounce from bar to bar at night and enjoy the activities during the day. 

[cruisegirl1976]

On 4/2/2021 at 5:29 PM, rbtan said:

In most cases, you'll find Princess(Royal class) a few steps above NCL. Food is generally better than NCL in the MDR. Some of the specialty rest. on NCL are pretty nice. Shows(which you don't care about) are generally better on the big NCL ships. Bars are pretty similar. The pools depending on the ship are similar. Chair hogs are common on both lines(actually, ALL lines) Star Princess on our Jan.-Feb 2020 trip had pool staff who actually seemed to enforce rules about leaving your chair for over 30 min..(about time!) Staff on Princess is generally second to none, & this comes from us, who cruised on Oceania & Cunard. Food on Oceania IS second to none in the "near" luxury market. We cruise Princess when the itinerary meets our needs. Age-wise, you'll find many pax older than you, but still a large group will be in your mix as well. Older pax(we're 66/59)generally like a lot of "longer trips"...10+ days for cruises. If you're a smoker, it's getting harder to smoke on many lines these days(which is fine by us) If you really want to go all out, I'd recommend the "Circle the Caribbean" trip. It's 14 days out, but you'll really get your feet wet, as they say.

Thank you 

[cruisegirl1976]

16 hours ago, nini said:

As long as you do not want a skating rink, rock climbing wall, sea world, or water slides on your ship; then you will love it! We LOVE Princess and do not want anything that I mentioned. I think you will find a nice balance and the crew is wonderfull!

 

IMHO, Celebrity is smooth and HAL does not have enough going on. However, they have a faithful clientele as well. We see all ages onboard.

I have never used the skating rink, rock climbing wall, and I haven't been on a ship with a water slide,, but I don't really care about that..lol. I tend to just hang around the pool during the day with a drink in my hand.  I like that princess included the drink package in their pricing.. unlike Royal

[cruisegirl1976]

On 4/2/2021 at 12:22 PM, dog said:

Princess sounds like a good match for you. Get the Princess Plus perks fare- on sale now— drinks, Gratuities, wifi etc

I like that everything is included in the price.

[cruisegirl1976]

On 4/2/2021 at 5:40 PM, rbtan said:

Big difference in ship. CP is a lot older & needs some TLC. Regal(our first Princess trip) is a big ship. We found Royal class ships to have much better food overall(we're both foodies) Regal had the most varied & largest buffet we ever saw on a ship. This was in 2016, so I can't say how the food is now. Our most recent trip on the Star had by far the most bland food(except Ultimate Balcony dinner) The buffet on that ship was pretty bad. I would definitely recommend the Regal in this case. Much more diversity in scale of the ship. The "Grand" class is, I think, being slowly phased out. I believe the Star is going to P&O if it hasn't already.

Good to know.. thank you

[cruisegirl1976]

On 4/2/2021 at 10:37 PM, trbarton said:

The Explores Lounge might have one program & then dancing later. Club Fusion is another good place with different programs & usually dancing. The Wheel House bar also has dancing. For a real disco club there is Skywalkers at the top of the ship. If there is a special occasion there will be live music in the Atrium. One place that is usually crowded is the piano bar. Many places with a bar opened. 
 

Whatever ship you decide to cruise on make sure you look for a thread for that cruise I sign up for the Meet & Greet to meet other people from Cruise Critic. 
 

Any questions that you have please ask. 
 

Here’s my photo. 
 

Tom😀
 

 

Thank you Tom , love your shirt  🙂

[nini]

12 hours ago, cruisegirl1976 said:

I have never used the skating rink, rock climbing wall, and I haven't been on a ship with a water slide,, but I don't really care about that..lol. I tend to just hang around the pool during the day with a drink in my hand.  I like that princess included the drink package in their pricing.. unlike Royal

Then I think you will really love Princess.

[jennybenny]

We have been cruising Princess since our 20s? I think. It is our preferred line. We’ve done Carnival, Royal Caribbean and Disney, so we haven’t tried too many lines, but we do love Princess. Holidays definitely have more multigenerational families on them, but other times of year and depending on itinerary, it does tend to lend to an older crowd, but it’s never been a problem. The downside to that is that there is no real nightlife on Princess. The “night clubs”, Skywalkers or Club Six are not very busy. I think we’ve had one or two cruises where there were some people in there but often times it’s the really young of the multigenerational families. We’ve been known to close down Crooners or Wheelhouse most nights on a cruise. It’s 10 PMish? It’s been so long, I don’t remember, but don’t think it’s ever been later than 11. 

When not traveling with my kids, I prefer the Adult Pool on the Royal Class ships. However, there’s never been a cruise I didn’t like. 

We enjoy specialty dining and tend to book it for nights we don’t love the MDR menu. We always book the first night of the cruise. You don’t need to prebook, there is always availability that first night. Its the same night the suites get it for free. 
 

I think you will enjoy Princess.

 

 

[caribill]

18 hours ago, cruisegirl1976 said:

 I like that princess included the drink package in their pricing.. unlike Royal

 

18 hours ago, cruisegirl1976 said:

I like that everything is included in the price.

 

It is not included. You are paying extra for it.

 

The base cruise fare is called Princess Savers fare.

 

By paying $40/person/day more than the Princess Savers Fare, you get the beverage package, gratuities and Internet. In a way it is included, but it is included for an extra $40/person/day.

 

That may be a bargain add on, but it is definitely extra.

[cruisegirl1976]

5 hours ago, caribill said:

 

 

It is not included. You are paying extra for it.

 

The base cruise fare is called Princess Savers fare.

 

By paying $40/person/day more than the Princess Savers Fare, you get the beverage package, gratuities and Internet. In a way it is included, but it is included for an extra $40/person/day.

 

That may be a bargain add on, but it is definitely extra.

yeah.. I do get that.. I know there is always a catch. With Royal.. I always have to book the booze package separately and hunt for a bargain.

[nbsjcruiser]

On 4/2/2021 at 9:39 AM, cruisegirl1976 said:

Hello .. I have sailed RCCL and Norwegian.. and was thinking about taking a princess cruise, to the Caribbean, just wondering if princess is similar to the other cruise lines.. I am in my mid forties and hubby is 50, we usually hit the bars on the ship at night, and hang by the pool during the day, we don't really do any of the theater shows, just wondering what age group tends to sail on princess (heard before it was for an older crowd).  Any help would be great.

Thanks 

We're in our late 50's and started looking seriously at Princess about 10 years ago. Previously we were mainly RCI with the odd NCL thrown in here and there. The last NCL ship we were on was the Getaway and while the food and service was excellent, we both found the ship too chopped up and noisy for our liking. We don't need anything more than  a quiet day at sea, a nice dinner and some great stops. When we went on the Regal Princess I knew this was the line for us. You'll find the pool deck not as crowded with some of the usual nonsense things like belly flop contests but they dont overtake the pool deck. You'll find a chair in the sun or shade anytime you want provided you dont have to sit right next to the pool. The food is excellent IMO and I find the dining room to have better options and service than RCI or NCL. We have found that picking a desired dining time seems to be better than anytime dining. I find anytime dining tends to be too hectic with little time to just sit and enjoy yourself. We typically pick 6PM dining. The buffet is on par with what you'll experience on NCL or RCI and the shows (if you happen to stumble in to one) are usually quite good. For the age group you'll find they tend to be 50 and up for the most part but its not unusual to see some kids and families but even in spring break the ship tends towards a more adult experience. They dont really cater to the kids with slides, bumper cars, wave runners, splash pads and so on - thank God. 

 

I think based on your requirements that Princess will be what you hope it will.

[cruisegirl1976]

3 minutes ago, nbsjcruiser said:

We're in our late 50's and started looking seriously at Princess about 10 years ago. Previously we were mainly RCI with the odd NCL thrown in here and there. The last NCL ship we were on was the Getaway and while the food and service was excellent, we both found the ship too chopped up and noisy for our liking. We don't need anything more than  a quiet day at sea, a nice dinner and some great stops. When we went on the Regal Princess I knew this was the line for us. You'll find the pool deck not as crowded with some of the usual nonsense things like belly flop contests but they dont overtake the pool deck. You'll find a chair in the sun or shade anytime you want provided you dont have to sit right next to the pool. The food is excellent IMO and I find the dining room to have better options and service than RCI or NCL. We have found that picking a desired dining time seems to be better than anytime dining. I find anytime dining tends to be too hectic with little time to just sit and enjoy yourself. We typically pick 6PM dining. The buffet is on par with what you'll experience on NCL or RCI and the shows (if you happen to stumble in to one) are usually quite good. For the age group you'll find they tend to be 50 and up for the most part but its not unusual to see some kids and families but even in spring break the ship tends towards a more adult experience. They dont really cater to the kids with slides, bumper cars, wave runners, splash pads and so on - thank God. 

 

I think based on your requirements that Princess will be what you hope it will.

Thank you 🙂

[deliver42]

I think you'd feel right at home on a Princess ship.

[nini]

14 hours ago, jennybenny said:

We have been cruising Princess since our 20s? I think. It is our preferred line. We’ve done Carnival, Royal Caribbean and Disney, so we haven’t tried too many lines, but we do love Princess. Holidays definitely have more multigenerational families on them, but other times of year and depending on itinerary, it does tend to lend to an older crowd, but it’s never been a problem. The downside to that is that there is no real nightlife on Princess. The “night clubs”, Skywalkers or Club Six are not very busy. I think we’ve had one or two cruises where there were some people in there but often times it’s the really young of the multigenerational families. We’ve been known to close down Crooners or Wheelhouse most nights on a cruise. It’s 10 PMish? It’s been so long, I don’t remember, but don’t think it’s ever been later than 11. 

 

I think you will enjoy Princess.

 

 

Skywalker's was usually packed on the Crown and Golden (now gone from the fleet) when we cruised Alaska those two times.

[jennybenny]

5 hours ago, nini said:

Skywalker's was usually packed on the Crown and Golden (now gone from the fleet) when we cruised Alaska those two times.

Hawaii, Mexican riviera, Eastern Caribbean, Panama Canal was not during most of our cruises. Alaska was a long time ago on Coral Princess and come to think of it, it did have more people! Maybe Alaska itineraries have more people in there 🤷🏻‍♀️

[nini]

There is no  Skywalker's on the Coral.

[jennybenny]

1 hour ago, nini said:

There is no  Skywalker's on the Coral.

Wasn’t there a  “club” of some kind? I could have sworn there was something but I could be mistaken, thought maybe explorers or something else??

either way, let’s not pretend Princess has an exciting nightlife 

 

Edited April 7, 2021 by jennybenny

[nini]

2 hours ago, jennybenny said:

Wasn’t there a  “club” of some kind? I could have sworn there was something but I could be mistaken, thought maybe explorers or something else??

either way, let’s not pretend Princess has an exciting nightlife 

 

Actually, Skywalker's was really crowded, great music and drinks flowing when we were on the Golden and Crown. They space is elevated with great viewing in the daytime... It is the "shopping cart handle" on those ships with fabulous views.

[skynight]

8 hours ago, jennybenny said:

Wasn’t there a  “club” of some kind? I could have sworn there was something but I could be mistaken, thought maybe explorers or something else??

either way, let’s not pretend Princess has an exciting nightlife 

 

Evening events are held in either Explorer's Lounge or in the Universe Lounge. In the past there were also dance parties in the Piazza which is kind of small on the Coral.