Royal Caribbean VS Princess - Who has done both?

[KKB]

We have done 5 Princess cruises (tho not in 10 years!) & 3 RCCL. 

RCCL Mariner of the Seas was our least fav cruise ever. It was NOT a bad cruise--we can have a good time anywhere! The CD was a pompous *$$ & activities were few. 

We loved the Allure & Anthem. We like to be busy, but really aren't into ice skating & wall climbing. 

But Princess was our 1st cruise & created our love affair with cruising. 

Having done Celebrity most frequently the last 10 years we shall see if Princess still draws us.

 

Honestly, having done DCL, NCL, RCCL, Princess & Celebrity we find lines to be more alike than different. 

 

What has brought us back to Princess is the AI package. For about $50/day/pp we get drinks, internet & tips. Tips alone are $15/da/pp so internet & drinks for $35?? 

 

RCCL has offered us some free casino cruises. But $75/day/pp for the drink package, plus internet & tips...the "free" cruise is as much as Princess (with no gambling expectations)

 

So for now, we are drawn to NCL, Princess & Celebrity with the "AI" option. 

 

[JeffT237]

3 minutes ago, KKB said:

What has brought us back to Princess is the AI package. For about $50/day/pp we get drinks, internet & tips. Tips alone are $15/da/pp so internet & drinks for $35?? 

Agree, we got the Princess Plus at $40pp for our 1st Princess cruise last month and couldn't believe how affordable it was for not just the drink package portion but the included tips and WiFi.  Even at the now $50pp it's a great value to how we cruise.  We've never had a drink package on RCCL but we did enjoy that on our Princess sailing.  RCCL's high pricing vs how much we consume is never even close for us to consider, unless it was for that $18pp mistake they made a few years ago!

[Little Miss Fine]

We started off very loyal to Royal, Rhapsody, Radiance, Voyager, Oasis, Harmony, Allure and Symphony. The Symphony TA was one of the best cruises we have been on, had an absolute ball of a time.

 

Then tried Princess with a group of friends out of Fremantle (our home port) and we thoroughly enjoyed the experience. We tend to lean more towards Princess now than Royal.

 

In my very personal opinion, I believe that Royal is attempting to go to a two class system on their ships. Yes, I understand that people pay more for their suites and should get some perks. However, they seem to get perks for everything and even venues on the ship that other people are not able to access.  Also, the emphasis on Diamond Plus and Pinnacle has really turned me off Royal as well.

 

Princess cruises that we have been on there is very little emphasis on their top tier guests and you don't have that feeling of segregation you can get on the larger Royal ships.

 

Also, big bonus in Princess's favour... they have guest laundry mats on board the ship!  It saved us a fortune in laundry when we did the Antarctic cruise on Coral and we didn't have to take so much clothing with us.  40 minutes out of our day and we had clean clothes.  Royal, can cost a small fortune and we've waited 24 hours to get our washing back....

 

Cheers,
Naomi

 

 

 

[AF-1]

9 hours ago, Little Miss Fine said:

We started off very loyal to Royal, Rhapsody, Radiance, Voyager, Oasis, Harmony, Allure and Symphony. The Symphony TA was one of the best cruises we have been on, had an absolute ball of a time.

 

Then tried Princess with a group of friends out of Fremantle (our home port) and we thoroughly enjoyed the experience. We tend to lean more towards Princess now than Royal.

 

In my very personal opinion, I believe that Royal is attempting to go to a two class system on their ships. Yes, I understand that people pay more for their suites and should get some perks. However, they seem to get perks for everything and even venues on the ship that other people are not able to access.  Also, the emphasis on Diamond Plus and Pinnacle has really turned me off Royal as well.

 

Princess cruises that we have been on there is very little emphasis on their top tier guests and you don't have that feeling of segregation you can get on the larger Royal ships.

 

Also, big bonus in Princess's favour... they have guest laundry mats on board the ship!  It saved us a fortune in laundry when we did the Antarctic cruise on Coral and we didn't have to take so much clothing with us.  40 minutes out of our day and we had clean clothes.  Royal, can cost a small fortune and we've waited 24 hours to get our washing back....

 

Cheers,
Naomi

 

 

 

Great observation. I think Norwegian started the two tier system when they introduced the Haven back in 2014

[AF-1]

22 hours ago, Lady Arwen said:

Actually, there are some good prices on Apex for certain itineraries.  Celebrity Beyond, the newest ship in the fleet, is quite a bit more expensive in the Med than the other ships.  Edge class ships tend to price higher than S class and certainly more than M class.

Thank you for correcting my and I will look at pricing more closely;  have a great day and cheeers

[Reina del Mar]

Recently returned from a RC cruise (Wonder in the Med)and did a Princess  (Emerald in the Caribbean)  one at Easter. Not quite comparing apples with apples because RC was a Junior Suite and Princess was a deluxe Balcony. These are our observations.- we made a list out of curiosity while still on the ship.

 

RC better for cabin, soaps, shampoo, lotions, gowns, wardrobe, choice in buffet, in room coffee, number of sockets, balcony size, bathroom light, number of lifts available. Ice show, entertainment in general, Coastal Kitchen.

 

Princess won on cabin and pool towels, pool/deck area, Princess Plus- Drinks, wi fi, tipping package, space in both buffet and MDR, library, laundry rooms.

 

Both were equal regarding staff professionalism, fridges, food in general, steward service in cabin and around ship.

 

If travelling as a couple I would probably go with Princess but as an extended family with young adults and children would choose RC.

 

Everything is subjective and depends what you are looking for. 

[vjmatty]

3 hours ago, Reina del Mar said:

Recently returned from a RC cruise (Wonder in the Med)and did a Princess  (Emerald in the Caribbean)  one at Easter. Not quite comparing apples with apples because RC was a Junior Suite and Princess was a deluxe Balcony. These are our observations.- we made a list out of curiosity while still on the ship.

 

RC better for cabin, soaps, shampoo, lotions, gowns, wardrobe, choice in buffet, in room coffee, number of sockets, balcony size, bathroom light, number of lifts available. Ice show, entertainment in general, Coastal Kitchen.

 

Princess won on cabin and pool towels, pool/deck area, Princess Plus- Drinks, wi fi, tipping package, space in both buffet and MDR, library, laundry rooms.

 

Both were equal regarding staff professionalism, fridges, food in general, steward service in cabin and around ship.

 

If travelling as a couple I would probably go with Princess but as an extended family with young adults and children would choose RC.

 

Everything is subjective and depends what you are looking for. 

 

This is a very good summary of the differences between the two.  As a retired couple, we have been sailing RC and Celebrity more than Princess lately in spite of better status on Princess, but that is only because Princess doesn't serve the northeast as well as the other two lines do.

[LarryL]

We have sailed both several times and each line has attributes we enjoy. As others have said, the activities on Royal seem more upbeat and lively while Princess is more subdued and relaxing. The food is similarly on par with each other. We've sailed on RCL Vision, Radiance, Voyager, and Freedom class ships. Of those, we liked the Rhapsody and Liberty the best. On Princess we have sailed R, Coral, Grand and Royal classes. Our favorites, hands down, are the Grand class ships. The layouts, aft pools, and Caribe extended balconies are a big plus for us. We're looking forward to our upcoming cruise on the Caribbean Princess. While we like the Pacific Princess, it felt a little small. I hope, someday, Princess will introduce a class ship similar to Viking with a passenger count of around 930-1,000. We're not fans of mega-ships unless it's advantageous to do a TA on one. 

Edited June 10, 2022 by LarryL

[cruisequeen4ever]

Personally, I highly prefer Princess’s food to Royal’s. As for daily activities, they’re very similar, except Royal Caribbean has way more attractions like the water slides etc. Royal’s crowd skews younger. If you would like a reprieve from a ton of kids onboard, Princess will deliver. 

[blondee419]

When travelling with my mom, we are loyal to Princess, and select cruises based on itinerary. Princess is just the right speed and general atmosphere, excursions, etc. for us.  They also have smaller ships, which is nice. 

I did RC with my friends for our 40th birthday year, and it was a younger crowd. We also were going to party, not so much escape and visit different/new to us ports. On RC we did the shows, the water slides, etc., which Princess doesn't tend to have comparable offerings for.  

Enjoy whichever ship you end up on! 

[OSUZorba]

On 6/8/2022 at 7:45 PM, Little Miss Fine said:

We started off very loyal to Royal, Rhapsody, Radiance, Voyager, Oasis, Harmony, Allure and Symphony. The Symphony TA was one of the best cruises we have been on, had an absolute ball of a time.

 

Then tried Princess with a group of friends out of Fremantle (our home port) and we thoroughly enjoyed the experience. We tend to lean more towards Princess now than Royal.

 

In my very personal opinion, I believe that Royal is attempting to go to a two class system on their ships. Yes, I understand that people pay more for their suites and should get some perks. However, they seem to get perks for everything and even venues on the ship that other people are not able to access.  Also, the emphasis on Diamond Plus and Pinnacle has really turned me off Royal as well.

 

Princess cruises that we have been on there is very little emphasis on their top tier guests and you don't have that feeling of segregation you can get on the larger Royal ships.

 

Also, big bonus in Princess's favour... they have guest laundry mats on board the ship!  It saved us a fortune in laundry when we did the Antarctic cruise on Coral and we didn't have to take so much clothing with us.  40 minutes out of our day and we had clean clothes.  Royal, can cost a small fortune and we've waited 24 hours to get our washing back....

 

Cheers,
Naomi

 

 

 

Before I ever cruised is a Suite on Royal, I also thought they were pushing a two tier service. After doing a few suites with them, I think they just want it to look that way. Most of the suite perks are just okay. The pool sitting is probably the nicest thing, if the pool is really busy, but if it isn't busy there are better seats to be had. Similar in theater. I figured out on my last cruise that there is basically no difference in what is offered in the Suite lounge and Diamond lounge, except for some extra space.

 

Haven't done a suite on Oasis class, so that might be different, but did on Odyssey and didn't really get any major advantages.