difference between carnival and princess

[telecheck]

On 10/6/2022 at 7:40 AM, bassmk said:

Carnival is very good for families with young kids and/or teenagers, not only because the atmosphere might be more fun for them, but also because 4 or 5 cruise fares on Carnival is much easier on the wallet than on Princess. Carnival is very good if you're on a budget or planning a quick getaway and don't want to spend a lot of money.

 

But to me, the biggest difference in atmosphere and clientele is the "party boat" experience. Carnival is branded as "The Fun Ships" and they definitely try to create a fun, party, carefree atmosphere. Take from that what you will. Sometimes it's harmless fun, sometimes it's people overindulging and creating a ruckus. 

 

In some markets, Princess is actually cheaper than Carnival. Princess has been giving out very heavy casino discounts to past passengers lately. For example, a 7-day California Coastal or Mexican Riviera may only cost you $129 per person for an interior cabin. This deal also includes $100 OBC which can be used to pay for gratuities. Even factoring in the tax and port fee, you are still only paying for $40-$50/day overall. This is ridiculously affordable.

[bassmk]

2 hours ago, telecheck said:

 

In some markets, Princess is actually cheaper than Carnival. Princess has been giving out very heavy casino discounts to past passengers lately. For example, a 7-day California Coastal or Mexican Riviera may only cost you $129 per person for an interior cabin. This deal also includes $100 OBC which can be used to pay for gratuities. Even factoring in the tax and port fee, you are still only paying for $40-$50/day overall. This is ridiculously affordable.

Oh wow! Interesting! I get casino offers from Carnival bc I used to gamble a lot on cruises, but I haven't been in the casinos hardly at all on Princess.

[Guest ldtr]

On 10/6/2022 at 7:37 AM, sloopsailor said:

 

With 70% of the cruisers choosing Princess Plus, they miss out on much of the drink revenue on those days. But you do have a point about the casino, shops and spa. However, the shops and spa are run by contractors, so Princess would only receive a percentage of those revenues, with part of it probably going to the contractor. 

When you consider that the percentage of revenue that the cruise lines are getting from on board sales (Princess plus and other similar package revenue is considered to be onboard sales) has gone up considerably as those packages have become more popular the cruise lines are certainly missing out on revenue.  It is just being locked in and banked in advance. I expect that the number of sea days will also impact the number of people willing to buy the package.  After all on a few sea day cruise, that is port intensive means more spending on shore outside of the package.

[sloopsailor]

3 hours ago, ldtr said:

When you consider that the percentage of revenue that the cruise lines are getting from on board sales (Princess plus and other similar package revenue is considered to be onboard sales) has gone up considerably as those packages have become more popular the cruise lines are certainly missing out on revenue.  It is just being locked in and banked in advance. I expect that the number of sea days will also impact the number of people willing to buy the package.  After all on a few sea day cruise, that is port intensive means more spending on shore outside of the package.

 Our Hawaii cruise has 9 sea days out of 14 full days. Being on the ship all day for 2/3rds of the cruise certainly made the beverage portion of Princess Plus package more attractive. 

[CruizinSusan70]

7 hours ago, telecheck said:

 

In some markets, Princess is actually cheaper than Carnival. Princess has been giving out very heavy casino discounts to past passengers lately. For example, a 7-day California Coastal or Mexican Riviera may only cost you $129 per person for an interior cabin. This deal also includes $100 OBC which can be used to pay for gratuities. Even factoring in the tax and port fee, you are still only paying for $40-$50/day overall. This is ridiculously affordable.

For gamblers....

[jwattle]

On 10/5/2022 at 8:54 PM, FrugalVoyager said:

What is up with Hawaii cruises being so expensive? It's crazy to me if you look at the cost/day across almost any destination the Hawaii cruises are priced way too high.. how are people affording them?

 

Also why not lower the cost of the Hawaii cruises so more people like my self can go, I know a lot of people who want to go but can't accept the sticker price.. Hawaii cruises are senslessly and not strategically priced, just basic economics would tell you to lower the price so a lot more people can go.

 

On 10/5/2022 at 9:40 PM, FrugalVoyager said:

 

I am telling you these boats must be sailing at 30% or less capacity. No one has the type of coin you need for the Hawaii prices.. like who can afford that? Listen, why charge so much for Hawaii?

 

The Hawaii cruises cost 2x Alaska cruises and 3x Carribean itineraries day/per rate.. why? Makes 0 sense.. like I really want to go to Hawaii but I need the cruise prices to be more in line with Alaska or Carribean routes Hawaii shouldn't be so expensive how can I make this point more clear?

Every time that we have sailed there, we have been at capacity, so obviously they aren't going to lower the prices. Their algorithm seems to work.

[telecheck]

On 10/10/2022 at 11:17 AM, bassmk said:

Oh wow! Interesting! I get casino offers from Carnival bc I used to gamble a lot on cruises, but I haven't been in the casinos hardly at all on Princess.

 

On 10/10/2022 at 4:15 PM, CruizinSusan70 said:

For gamblers....

 

You don't really need to gamble too much to get this offer. My friend who had only spent $100 at the casino earlier this year also got it. It was actually her first and only cruise with Princess.

 

Princess has been very generous lately. Maybe they have trouble filling up their ships now.

[cruisingguy007]

Party of the seas vs convalescence of the seas, choose wisely. 😁 

 

 

  

 

[tja273]

On 9/29/2022 at 11:41 AM, Kay S said:

I have loyalty on Carnival and Princess.  Princess is "classier."  Carnival, IMO, has better food.  I really miss the deli on Carnival when I'm on Princess. Room service breakfast on Carnival is better.  Guy's burgers are so superior to Princess's, it's not even a contest. I have also had better customer service with Carnival, on balance.  Both are good with kids, though Carnival caters to them more.

 

I agree that we liked the food choices on Carnival better. Multiple different restaurants (included and extra) plus the sndwich bar at the buffet, the large dessert choices at the buffet, etc.

 

I also noticed the MDR dinners all seemed to be more "fancy" on Princess...usually more fancy than really appealed to us. We only ate dinner once in the MDR on Princess. We ate at the MDR almost every night on Carnival.

 

[tja273]

We also really enjoyed the medallion program on Princess. Having drinks delivered to us wherever we decided to sit on the ship was nice. Not needing a card key swipe for anything (even room entry) was nice, too. Hopefully, since they are the same company, Carnival starts something similar soon.

[grabien]

On 10/6/2022 at 4:40 PM, bassmk said:

Carnival is very good for families with young kids and/or teenagers, not only because the atmosphere might be more fun for them, but also because 4 or 5 cruise fares on Carnival is much easier on the wallet than on Princess. Carnival is very good if you're on a budget or planning a quick getaway and don't want to spend a lot of money.

 

But to me, the biggest difference in atmosphere and clientele is the "party boat" experience. Carnival is branded as "The Fun Ships" and they definitely try to create a fun, party, carefree atmosphere. Take from that what you will. Sometimes it's harmless fun, sometimes it's people overindulging and creating a ruckus. 

Agree on this one completely. 

[dreaminofcruisin]

On 10/6/2022 at 9:40 AM, bassmk said:

Carnival is very good for families with young kids and/or teenagers, not only because the atmosphere might be more fun for them, but also because 4 or 5 cruise fares on Carnival is much easier on the wallet than on Princess. Carnival is very good if you're on a budget or planning a quick getaway and don't want to spend a lot of money.

 

 

I was thinking Carnival would be cheaper also. However, just today I booked us on a Princess Caribbean family cruise for 2024. We were on Carnival earlier this year. Carnival was cheaper, but with the Plus fares, if you plan to book Beverage packages and WiFi, you really need to do some price comparisons. For the adults (with the Plus package), Princess is actually cheaper than adding the same benefits to Carnival. The one thing cheaper on Carnival is that the 3rd and 4th person are $259, while on Princess they are  $499. This is not to mention the current Princess 'sale' including $100 per person excursion credit.

 

I've also noticed Carnival deposits appear to be non-refundable? I don't know if that's always the case, but on Princess generally they are refundable.

 

One thing that is more difficult on Princess is finding 4 person cabins--much easier on Carnival.

 

 

[KeepCalmBearOn]

On 10/5/2022 at 9:40 PM, FrugalVoyager said:

I am telling you these boats must be sailing at 30% or less capacity. No one has the type of coin you need for the Hawaii prices.. like who can afford that?

 

Just got off a Princess Hawaii cruise two weeks ago and the ship was near capacity. It actually might have been 100% sold out of what they offered.

 

Also found it quite reasonable cost wise.

 

On 10/5/2022 at 9:40 PM, FrugalVoyager said:

The Hawaii cruises cost 2x Alaska cruises and 3x Carribean itineraries day/per rate

 

Not even close to 2x or 3x more expensive. Maybe it was 10% more.

 

On 10/13/2022 at 4:07 PM, tja273 said:

I agree that we liked the food choices on Carnival better. Multiple different restaurants (included and extra) plus the sndwich bar at the buffet, the large dessert choices at the buffet, etc.

 

I think you have to compare ship to ship, not cruise line to cruise line. The Carnival Miracle has no more choices than the Crown Princess. The Carnival Panorama has a lot more, but Princess doesn't have an equivalent ship (yet). The Panorama is competing with NCL Bliss, RCL Oasis of the Seas, etc.

 

My last Carnival cruise I thought the food was dreadful and I said 'never again', but the Panorama, Celebration may get me back to try Carnival again.

 

On 10/13/2022 at 4:07 PM, tja273 said:

I also noticed the MDR dinners all seemed to be more "fancy" on Princess...usually more fancy than really appealed to us. We only ate dinner once in the MDR on Princess. We ate at the MDR almost every night on Carnival.

 

Again, I think there is a difference based on the cruise. On my just ended Hawaii cruise on Sapphire, there was nothing fancy at all about the MDRs. We ate mostly at the International Dining Room, a few times at the others and I wore a Hawaiian shirt and slacks every night except formal nights, when I put on a sport coat.

 

As to the original question, we prefer Princess over Carnival for ambiance, production shows and our fellow passengers.

 

Earlier in the year we were in one port on a Mexican Riviera cruise at the same time a Carnival ship was. Walking around town it was pretty easy to spot who came off which ship and my first thought was, 'boy am I glad I am not on the Carnival ship'.

[MsSoCalCruiser]

On 9/29/2022 at 3:58 PM, Thrak said:

Don't believe I've ever heard the "f bomb" dropped on a Princess cruise. I'm told it's fairly common on Carnival. I've never seen a fist fight on Princess but have seen several videos of this "activity" on Carnival.

 

Full Disclosure: I've never sailed on Carnival.

I have heard the “F bomb” dropped on a princess cruise. The worst cruise that I have ever been on was a Princess cruise that had a kickball organization on board. It was a huge group. They were ALL trashed the entire time and they took over the entire ship. It was beyond awful.

[MsSoCalCruiser]

On 10/1/2022 at 11:13 AM, Kay S said:

 On the analogous Princess shorties, drunks were never a problem.  I attribute much of that to the age demographic.  Carnival passengers tended to be young adults and Princess passengers were more "mature." 
 

 

 

Unfortunately, this is incorrect. One of the worst cruises that I have ever been on was a Princess shortie.  There was a large group on board that was totally trashed  the entire cruise and they ruined it for most of the other passengers.  I had invited several people on that sailing that had never cruised before. Their very first cruise Sail-away involved watching people with blowup dolls on the Lido deck. This was a Princess cruise.  

[KeepCalmBearOn]

On 10/1/2022 at 11:13 AM, Kay S said:

I live on the West Coast, and for years, our Carnival choices consisted largely of the Inspiration and Imagination (both on the scrap heap now) with short cruises to Mexico and maybe another stop in the US (San Diego, Catalina Island).  These were the infamous "booze cruise" voyages that helped give Carnival its bad name.  I have done Mexican Riviera cruises on some larger ships (the Spirit was a favorite) and fair share of those shorter trips.  I never saw a fist fight, but I did see plenty of drunks.  On the analogous Princess shorties, drunks were never a problem.  I attribute much of that to the age demographic.  Carnival passengers tended to be young adults and Princess passengers were more "mature."  Whether this is a function of geography, I don't know.  Are East Coast departures any different?

 

48 minutes ago, MsSoCalCruiser said:

Unfortunately, this is incorrect.

 

It is NOT "incorrect". It is Kay's experience and observations.

 

You cannot argue that Carnival doesn't draw a much younger demographic than Princess. It simply does. That there is a different maturity level between young adults and older adults isn't really arguable either. Yes, there are exceptions, but when was the last time you saw a fight at a Lawrence Welk concert....

 

48 minutes ago, MsSoCalCruiser said:

One of the worst cruises that I have ever been on was a Princess shortie.  There was a large group on board that......

 

That is a one time experience and anecdotal. Not helpful for someone debating between Princess and Carnival.

 

My two "worst cruises" were on Carnival and they were fine, I'd have gone on either one again in a heart beat.

 

Neither of my "best cruises" were on Princess, but I've never had a bad Princess cruise and I've never had a bad cruise.

[scottsol]

4 hours ago, MsSoCalCruiser said:

Unfortunately, this is incorrect. One of the worst cruises that I have ever been on was a Princess shortie.  There was a large group on board that was totally trashed  the entire cruise and they ruined it for most of the other passengers.  I had invited several people on that sailing that had never cruised before. Their very first cruise Sail-away involved watching people with blowup dolls on the Lido deck. This was a Princess cruise.  

On a true luxury cruise blow up dolls would not be allowed. Only premium quality silicone or TPE dolls would be permitted.

[West Coast Gal]

We are in our 60's and have been on 5 cruises this year -  Carnival, Princess and Holland, which are all owned by Carnival now.  Here is just my opinion.

Longer cruises always have less children and young adults because of who can afford the cruise.  And all 3 of them are great, it just depends on You and your wants.

Carnival has better desserts, come on chocolate lava cake every night, Yes!  Grin  Comedy Club is a big plus.  We don't hang at the pool usually because it can get rowdy but find other places to sit and enjoy the ocean.  Furnishings are a little less grand than Princess or Holland.

Princess, I like because they do have so many activities to choose from, music venues, games etc, even if you don't participate, watching is fun also.  They seem to use all their venues well.  I have notice that since Carnival bought them that the food quality and service are not as exceptional as it used to be but is still good.

Holland, rolls up the sidewalks at 9 pm, or so it seems, but they have the best, I mean the best service of all three.  And if you like classical music, their Lincoln Center is unique to just that line.

[CruizinSusan70]

On 11/3/2022 at 10:50 AM, MsSoCalCruiser said:

Their very first cruise Sail-away involved watching people with blowup dolls on the Lido deck. This was a Princess cruise.  

Since this was a Princess cruise, did the blow up dolls wear tiaras?

[Bobbiegentry]

Simply put, day v. night.  

[marie94949]

Carnival,  bigger more comfortable staterooms and beds,  more lively especially the dinners, younger, chocolate melting cake and towel animals on your bed.  Carnival ship interiors also tackier, more gaudy, cheaper looking.

[bdever]

On 9/29/2022 at 12:03 PM, cali-croozer said:

Here's one thing: Carnival has recently cut back on late night buffet options, and room service items, after 10am, are no longer complimentary (they still offer coffee and continental breakfast room service in the morning free). There have been complaints that after dinner, the only option, besides paid room service sandwiches, is pizza, and the line is long because of that.  

This! Sailed with Carnival 12 times and with the cut backs and additional costs and fees being added to what is offered or used to be included in the cruise fare I decided to switch to Princess. Honestly, besides a Havana Cabana on Vista Class ships I really have no incentive to stay loyal to Carnival anymore. I can’t wait to try something different. 

[sparks1093]

Interesting thread with a lot of good info (and the usual kerfluffles between members, of course 😉).

[justafem]

On 10/5/2022 at 8:54 PM, FrugalVoyager said:

What is up with Hawaii cruises being so expensive? It's crazy to me if you look at the cost/day across almost any destination the Hawaii cruises are priced way too high.. how are people affording them?

 

Also why not lower the cost of the Hawaii cruises so more people like my self can go, I know a lot of people who want to go but can't accept the sticker price.. Hawaii cruises are senslessly and not strategically priced, just basic economics would tell you to lower the price so a lot more people can go.

We've done the Hawaiian several times.  To get the best price, you're going to have to book after final payment.  Our last Hawaiian was $900 per person by using this strategy.   Also book through an online TA, no I can't tell you who to go through, but there's a hint of cruise compete .  They will have multiple online TA's telling you what their absolute best price is.  I go through and check every one, because most of the time, their fares are even cheaper than the original offer.  

 

It's a matter of just keep looking.  That's how I always cruise and I cruise a lot!

[rbtan]

On 11/3/2022 at 10:50 AM, MsSoCalCruiser said:

Unfortunately, this is incorrect. One of the worst cruises that I have ever been on was a Princess shortie.  There was a large group on board that was totally trashed  the entire cruise and they ruined it for most of the other passengers.  I had invited several people on that sailing that had never cruised before. Their very first cruise Sail-away involved watching people with blowup dolls on the Lido deck. This was a Princess cruise.  

Never do a "shortie" on any line. This is where the worst pax will normally be found. Cruises less than 5 days usually have the denominator of class. I don't know why, but it seems to happen. Now I'm NOT saying all behave this way but a larger number will.