Carnival vs Princess: biggest differences and is the extra $$$ worth it?

[talkorpi]

Hi all,

 

So I’m considering my next vacation and thinking about booking during the next wave season. To get to the point, I love cruising but have a low budget. Therefore, I have always cruised Carnival. However, I’m not really much of a party person and feel like a line such as Princess, HAL, or Celebrity is more my style. The problem is that being a recent college graduate without the $$$ to spend on these higher-end lines, I’ve never been able to try them out to see if I really do like them more. 
 

I’m considering saving up for my next trip and trying out Princess, but I have zero experience. This is where I need your help, cruise veterans! How big of a difference is Princess from Carnival? Mainly curious about the food and entertainment. What were some big surprises? Anything positive or negative comparing the two? And finally, are the higher prices for Princess worth it?

 

Hoping you wonderful people will be able to give me some context so I can make a decision! Looking forward to hearing feedback from the community. Thank you!

[mz-s]

If you book at the right time you won't pay that much more for a Princess cruise. I realize that words like "that much" are relative. I don't feel that I paid "that much" more for my upcoming Disney cruise vs. a comparable Carnival cruise, but it was more expensive.

 

In any case don't blow the budget on the cruise ticket and then not be able to enjoy the cruise once you get there.

[Sarnti]

My first and only cruise with Princess was because it was cheaper than Carnival. I like Princess, they run a good cruise.  They had a lot of venues before and after dinner that had live music where you could sit and enjoy a drink and relax.  I didn't notice a difference in food, service, staff or entertainment.

I have been on a lot of Carnival cruises and every ship and sailing is somewhat different than the other, sometimes good sometimes bad, but never enough to ruin my cruise.

[ALWAYS CRUZIN]

1 hour ago, talkorpi said:

Hi all,

 

So I’m considering my next vacation and thinking about booking during the next wave season. To get to the point, I love cruising but have a low budget. Therefore, I have always cruised Carnival. However, I’m not really much of a party person and feel like a line such as Princess, HAL, or Celebrity is more my style. The problem is that being a recent college graduate without the $$$ to spend on these higher-end lines, I’ve never been able to try them out to see if I really do like them more. 
 

I’m considering saving up for my next trip and trying out Princess, but I have zero experience. This is where I need your help, cruise veterans! How big of a difference is Princess from Carnival? Mainly curious about the food and entertainment. What were some big surprises? Anything positive or negative comparing the two? And finally, are the higher prices for Princess worth it?

 

Hoping you wonderful people will be able to give me some context so I can make a decision! Looking forward to hearing feedback from the community. Thank you!

Carnival says they are the FUN ship. They are! A younger crowd and party orientated. Not that Princess is boring. They are for the older cruisers that like relaxation. Enjoy quieter times. Princess food is better. The upscale of Carnival.

[Ellaleah]

I will be taking my second Carnival on the Celebration 12/22.  I was impressed with my last one that was 8 years ago.  The food was very good in the dining room.  I was less impressed with the entertainment.  I have been in 4 Princess cruises, the most recent being 1/22.  The food was very good as was the entertainment.  We were 45% occupied and the service was outstanding.  It was 15 days Hawaii and there was nothing to do during the day.  It was all seniors like me.  My grandchildren that will be on the Carnival would have been very unhappy on the Princess.

[DrSea]

I am in my early thirties. I presume you are in your early 20s. Here's the breakdown:

 

Food: PCL wins by a freaking lot. They have fillet mignon in the buffet nightly. The MDR has mostly seafood though.

Shows: PCL loses by a freaking lot. It's all music reviews from the 70s or earlier

Daily Itinerary: PCL has less, but it may be more suited to you since it is more sedate

Club scene: CCL actually has one. PCL doesn't

Age range: PCL is much older. So much so that people think that I work on the ship on formal night when I walk around in my business causal clothing

Service: PCL wins but it is only by a small margin. Prior to the pandemic, they would use to get me guac when I asked in the buffet at any time the buffet is open. Now not so much now.

Spa: PCL wins.

Ships: PCL ships all feel similar and have similar design. CCL has ships that range in age and all look different with different decor. So exploring the ship is not something I really do after my first PCL cruise. I focus more on other things. Other people, exploring the ship is half the fun. Different strokes for different folks.

Alcohol: I find it easier to get free alcohol on CCL ships. I think PCL has higher end brands. I don't drink much so I am not the expert on this

 

PCL is also the love boat brand. So that may especially appeal to you.

PCL has some couples shows. But so does CCL. I am single so I can't tell you the significant difference.

PCL doesn't have things like ropes courses and etc. This is a big drawback for me. I like rock climbing and going on the slides.

 

Anyone else have anything to add? Please feel free to.

[DrSea]

For whatever it's worth, moving up the rewards ladder is SO MUCH easier on PCL. I am almost platinum after one more cruise. PCL can count each cruise, and you are Pt after 5 cruises. Easy peasy.

 

For CCL, it will take 44 more freaking days to hit Pt. Lol. That will not happen for a while for me.

Edited July 15, 2022 by DrSea

[jsglow]

Okay talk, having sailed both let me give you my 2 cents.  For a standard Caribbean cruise we'll choose Carnival every day and twice on Sunday.  The guests, activity and general vibe skew younger and more fun.  We're in our 60s and still enjoy the energy.  Princess is much more sedate and refined. When we want to go 'upscale' Caribbean we do Windstar and get the small ship experience.  What we do use Princess for is more exotic itineraries. We consider them to be more of a 'world traveler' line so would likely take them to get to Norway, for example.  Oh, and Princess (along with HAL) absolutely dominates the Alaska market.  We're taking them up there in about a month.

[karmamule]

There's a recent thread talking about Carnival vs more 'upscale' lines and it has a ton of posts on this subject. There's lots of stuff to read through and plenty of opinions on both sides. Might be worth a read-through for the OP if you haven't seen it already:
 

 

[cruizergal70]

13 hours ago, talkorpi said:

Hi all,

 

So I’m considering my next vacation and thinking about booking during the next wave season. To get to the point, I love cruising but have a low budget. Therefore, I have always cruised Carnival. However, I’m not really much of a party person and feel like a line such as Princess, HAL, or Celebrity is more my style. The problem is that being a recent college graduate without the $$$ to spend on these higher-end lines, I’ve never been able to try them out to see if I really do like them more. 
 

I’m considering saving up for my next trip and trying out Princess, but I have zero experience. This is where I need your help, cruise veterans! How big of a difference is Princess from Carnival? Mainly curious about the food and entertainment. What were some big surprises? Anything positive or negative comparing the two? And finally, are the higher prices for Princess worth it?

 

Hoping you wonderful people will be able to give me some context so I can make a decision! Looking forward to hearing feedback from the community. Thank you!

Look at itineraries.  If they are the relatively the same, are you really that hard up for slightly different food or shows? What are your expectations for food and shows?

 

FYI. Carnival is not a party atmosphere if you don't want to party. You can find quiet areas to do whatever you wish. It's not non-stop frivolity. 

[sparks1093]

We normally book the cruise line with the lowest fare going on the itinerary we want from our departure port. In the future we will be flying to the port versus driving so that opens up more possibilities for us. When I priced Princess compared to Carnival I was pleased to find out that when I added in the things to the Carnival fare that were included in the Princess fare (drink package, wifi, gratuities) they really weren't that far apart in price. Of course, if you don't routinely buy the drink package you wouldn't add that in but if you are spending that money anyway it should be considered. Which is all a long way of saying that Princess might not be that much more than Carnival when you factor everything in. 

[CatsinShow]

I'm in my 30s, social but definitely not a party person (I won't go to the clubs and dance and crap). The experience I've had with Princess is a but more calmer and relaxing  since the demographics are a bit different.With Princess though for a young person, I found the entertainment really boring. Carnival had more fun stuff but the vibe for me isn't the same. Honestly for me I would pick one based off itinerary and price. 

[ALWAYS CRUZIN]

16 hours ago, talkorpi said:

Hi all,

 

So I’m considering my next vacation and thinking about booking during the next wave season. To get to the point, I love cruising but have a low budget. Therefore, I have always cruised Carnival. However, I’m not really much of a party person and feel like a line such as Princess, HAL, or Celebrity is more my style. The problem is that being a recent college graduate without the $$$ to spend on these higher-end lines, I’ve never been able to try them out to see if I really do like them more. 
 

I’m considering saving up for my next trip and trying out Princess, but I have zero experience. This is where I need your help, cruise veterans! How big of a difference is Princess from Carnival? Mainly curious about the food and entertainment. What were some big surprises? Anything positive or negative comparing the two? And finally, are the higher prices for Princess worth it?

 

Hoping you wonderful people will be able to give me some context so I can make a decision! Looking forward to hearing feedback from the community. Thank you!

FYI Right now is a great time to purchase 100 shares of carnival stock. A 7 day cruise gives you $100 OBC for Carnival or Princess. If you are a veteran Princess also give you another $100 OBC

[DrSea]

37 minutes ago, CatsinShow said:

I'm in my 30s, social but definitely not a party person (I won't go to the clubs and dance and crap). The experience I've had with Princess is a but more calmer and relaxing  since the demographics are a bit different.With Princess though for a young person, I found the entertainment really boring. Carnival had more fun stuff but the vibe for me isn't the same. Honestly for me I would pick one based off itinerary and price. 

I agree with this. 

 

Another thing to mention is the medallion. This is almost a deal breaker for me. All ships are medallion class ships requiring you to carry your medallion with you everywhere you go. When your medallion works, it works beautifully. When it doesn't, it becomes a nightmare. Everyone relies on the medallion to check you in to the MDR, muster station, disembark, embark, work with customer relations, ordering food/drinks to be delivered to you, etc. You can imagine how difficult life is when your medallion stops working. Your cruise comes to a grinding halt and IT at times has problems trouble shooting it. 

[greenie082756]

We will be doing our first Carnival cruise this October. Keeping an open mind 🙂

 

We have done many sailings with Princess. We enjoy Princess however we have become too familiar with their ships and have decided to try many other lines for comparison.

 

We are in our mid 60's and yes Princess is a much calmer atmosphere which is great if you just want to chill and unwind from the daily challenges.

 

We took our last cruise in April to Hawaii. It was noticeable that the staff was reduced even though they tried really hard to service the passengers with a smile. There were some differences from past cruises (it had been over 2 years since our last Princess cruise) due to covid and it was okay.

 

Whatever you decide to do just have a fantastic time!