Princess vs "the other lines"- WHY Choose Princess?

[Cajuntraveler]

18 minutes ago, Rick&Jeannie said:

Going to have to show my ignorance here...what is "music walk"?  If it's a typo I couldn't figure out what was really meant...

The music walk on HAL is a section of the ship that you can walk from one music venue to another.  They have classical music, BBKings blues club (Great blues bands!), Billboard on Board (usually 2 piano players/singers) and Rolling Stone Rock room.  In the evening there is continuous music at these venues. I find HAL's theater productions are not as good as other lines, but when I sail on other lines, I really miss the music walk.

[Guest ldtr]

21 minutes ago, Rick&Jeannie said:

Going to have to show my ignorance here...what is "music walk"?  If it's a typo I couldn't figure out what was really meant...

HAL's main night time entertainment is different music venues such as Lincoln Center (classical), BB King Blues Club (Jazz),  Rolling Stone Rock Room, Billboard on Board (Piano).  There are some changes over time, there are differences with some ships, but in general they are the music walk.

[Guest ldtr]

1 minute ago, Cajuntraveler said:

The music walk on HAL is a section of the ship that you can walk from one music venue to another.  They have classical music, BBKings blues club (Great blues bands!), Billboard on Board (usually 2 piano players/singers) and Rolling Stone Rock room.  In the evening there is continuous music at these venues. I find HAL's theater productions are not as good as other lines, but when I sail on other lines, I really miss the music walk.

Too bad they do not have a Zydeco venue. 🙂

[chefchick]

It has been many years since I have sailed on a Princess ship, but have an upcoming cruise to Alaska on the Royal.  For those of you who say you prefer the nightly entertainment on Princess, can you elaborate?  Live music? Theater shows? Comedians? Piano bar?  All of the above?  I have sailed to Alaska MANY times and on many different lines so day and nightly entertainment, food, cocktails and service is important to me…I also like to try new (to me) ships.  Is there something (particularly in regards to entertainment) you think Princess does better than most or that I shouldn’t miss?

[BobnJaci]

My only two reasons for our upcoming trip on sky princess are as follows:1- the cruise dates worked perfectly into our schedule, the place on this ship are ones we've been to and know where we want to go beforehand at ports. 2- the Spa / pool area for us with the hydrotherapy makes it perfect. Why? well we always get an inside stateroom and use the  spa for bathing as it is spacious and enjoying the therapy pool . Our go to ships started with the Magic, then to Holland america. the Walk area on HAL makes it perfect to enjoy a complete night of music. We will see what the princess line is about, but for us it's Holland( yep, and the age group is changing fast!) followed by who is going to the places we wish to go to....

[teecee60]

19 hours ago, FrankieJayIII said:

There seems to be a lot of critics...  but lets discuss something that will bring us joy.

 

What makes you choose Princess over the other lines.   What is GREAT about Princess?

 

What can you really tell the difference in compared to other cruise lines...   

 

List your PRO's about Princess...  What makes it your go-to cruise line?

 

With the hassle of packing and flights, I just won't book a cruise unless it is 14 nights or longer.

 

Princess gives me $250 OBC for military, $250 OBC for shareholder and $150 to $250 OBC for FCDs. So there is an absolute MINIMUM of $650 OBC... PLUS whatever I get from the travel agency, usually another $100 to $400. 😁

 

Princess offers the BEST "bang-for-your-buck" in the cruise industry. Right now you can get an inside cabin on the 14 night Regal transatlantic for $499pp with that $650 OBC. (or a balcony for $701pp with a total of $800 OBC) Pay with your Costco credit card for ANOTHER $100 cash back. 😵

 

Their newer ships are stunningly beautiful, their service is great, the food is pretty good in the MDR and QUITE good in the Crown Grille. AND their martinis are very, VERY good! 😊

 

Their rooms are efficiently laid out and the beds and bedding are both surprisingly comfortable. 🙂

 

They offer very reasonable airline travel through Princess EZ Air. Depending on the airline you book, pay for the air with that airline credit card for free bags and extra miles. 😉

 

To top it all off... Princess has the the BEST enrichment speaker programs on astronomy. 😎

 

After cruising on NCL, Carnival, Royal and Celebrity... I absolutely LOVE Princess.

 

Edited March 27, 2023 by teecee60

[Guest ldtr]

1 hour ago, chefchick said:

It has been many years since I have sailed on a Princess ship, but have an upcoming cruise to Alaska on the Royal.  For those of you who say you prefer the nightly entertainment on Princess, can you elaborate?  Live music? Theater shows? Comedians? Piano bar?  All of the above?  I have sailed to Alaska MANY times and on many different lines so day and nightly entertainment, food, cocktails and service is important to me…I also like to try new (to me) ships.  Is there something (particularly in regards to entertainment) you think Princess does better than most or that I shouldn’t miss?

There is the main theater which can be a production show, comedian or other type shows.  There is often a second show in Explorers loungs which is often the Comedian or another entertainer doing a second night.  There is usually activties like trivia or game show type events.  There is also live music in at least two different venues as well as other activities in the Piazza.  Usually 3-4 different things going on.

[caribill]

1 hour ago, teecee60 said:

 

They offer very reasonable airline travel through Princess EZ Air. Depending on the airline you book, pay for the air with that airline credit card for free bags and extra miles. 😉

 

The other cruise lines also have their equivalent of EZAir.

 

And if the airline is giving you the benefits of free bags and extra miles, it is not because of the credit card you used as that credit card is not used to pay the airline, it is used to pay Princess.

[Honolulu Blue]

4 hours ago, teecee60 said:

 

With the hassle of packing and flights, I just won't book a cruise unless it is 14 nights or longer.

 

Princess gives me $250 OBC for military, $250 OBC for shareholder and $150 to $250 OBC for FCDs. So there is an absolute MINIMUM of $650 OBC... PLUS whatever I get from the travel agency, usually another $100 to $400. 😁

 

Princess offers the BEST "bang-for-your-buck" in the cruise industry. Right now you can get an inside cabin on the 14 night Regal transatlantic for $499pp with that $650 OBC. (or a balcony for $701pp with a total of $800 OBC) Pay with your Costco credit card for ANOTHER $100 cash back. 😵

 

Their newer ships are stunningly beautiful, their service is great, the food is pretty good in the MDR and QUITE good in the Crown Grille. AND their martinis are very, VERY good! 😊

 

Their rooms are efficiently laid out and the beds and bedding are both surprisingly comfortable. 🙂

 

They offer very reasonable airline travel through Princess EZ Air. Depending on the airline you book, pay for the air with that airline credit card for free bags and extra miles. 😉

 

To top it all off... Princess has the the BEST enrichment speaker programs on astronomy. 😎

 

After cruising on NCL, Carnival, Royal and Celebrity... I absolutely LOVE Princess.

It seems that you've found your forever home. I admire and respect this. 👍

[PurpleTraveller]

Princess has self service laundries, the International Cafe, the Piazza and Future Cruise Deposits. All big pluses for me!

 

[BamaVol]

I will sail Princess again because of the way my special dietary requirements were handled, from just after booking until I disembarked.  I have also sailed Royal Caribbean and Norwegian. Neither offered me an opportunity to communicate my needs in advance, nor did they have a dedicated employee in the MDR to take my order the night before and prepare my food to my requirements.  Maybe it’s there, but Princess made it simple.  
 

I’ve not been on HAL.  I live in an active 55+ community where the average age is 75.  My trip on the Caribbean Princess felt like home.  Lots of older folks, lots of impaired mobility.  

Edited March 28, 2023 by BamaVol

[Honolulu Blue]

24 minutes ago, BamaVol said:

I will sail Princess again because of the way my special dietary requirements were handled, from just after booking until I disembarked.  I have also sailed Royal Caribbean and Norwegian. Neither offered me an opportunity to communicate my needs in advance, nor did they have a dedicated employee in the MDR to take my order the night before and prepare my food to my requirements.  Maybe it’s there, but Princess made it simple.  
 

I’ve not been on HAL.  I live in an active 55+ community where the average age is 75.  My trip on the Caribbean Princess felt like home.  Lots of older folks, lots of impaired mobility.  

Thanks for sharing.  I had a Carnival cruise a few years ago and dined in the MDR with a cruise buddy with special dining needs.  She had someone cater to her (I think it was one of our three waiters, but it could have been someone separate), including offering special menus a day in advance.  I thought this was standard procedure on all cruise lines.  Maybe it isn't.  Maybe the others just hide it more than they should.

 

As for your second paragraph, it offers me a few places to go if I dared, but I just want to thank you for stating your perception of the truth on Princess.

[caribill]

56 minutes ago, Honolulu Blue said:

Thanks for sharing.  I had a Carnival cruise a few years ago and dined in the MDR with a cruise buddy with special dining needs.

 

Each time we were seated on a Carnival cruise we were asked for our cabin number. The hostess then printed out a slip of paper with our dietary requirements on it.

 

We handed the slip to our waiter, so at every meal in the dining room the waitstaff were aware of special dietary needs.

[no1racefan1]

Our upcoming cruise will be our 5th cruise, over three different cruise lines. Why we chose Princess for this cruise:

1. Really wanted to go to Glacier Bay, which narrows down the list of cruise line options.

2. We own CCL stock so that narrowed it down even further if we want to get shareholder credit.

3. Dates aligned with when we wanted to go.

4. I've been eyeing a British Isles cruise on Princess for several years so this Alaska trip will allow me to see how I enjoy the Princess experience and if I want to book them for BI.

 

We've enjoyed every cruise we've been on. Our favorite was on Carnival--excellent food, service, and pricing. No party animals here, every experience is what you make it.

[Wander58]

We have been on 15+ Princess cruises, with 2 more planned for this year.  Princess generally has excellent itineraries, which is what I look at first when booking a cruise.  We also cruise Azamara and Viking, which are both considerably smaller ships, but it still comes down to the itinerary.

 

Service is the same across all 3 lines - outstanding!  While Princess cannot compete in some areas, they are also no-where near the price.  So it's a trade-off.   We have never been the least bit disappointed with any Princess cruise.  The new, big ships with about 3600 passengers never seen crowded and are surprisingly easy to navigate.  

 

However, in my opinion, there a few things Princess does better than any cruise line:  Movies under the Stars, Production Shows, Guest Entertainers, Pizza, and Fettucine Alfredo.  If you choose to, you are never at a loss for something to do.  It is still our favorite cruise line!

[no1racefan1]

2 hours ago, Honolulu Blue said:

Thanks for sharing.  I had a Carnival cruise a few years ago and dined in the MDR with a cruise buddy with special dining needs.  She had someone cater to her (I think it was one of our three waiters, but it could have been someone separate), including offering special menus a day in advance.  I thought this was standard procedure on all cruise lines.  Maybe it isn't.  Maybe the others just hide it more than they should.

 

As for your second paragraph, it offers me a few places to go if I dared, but I just want to thank you for stating your perception of the truth on Princess.

Carnival was amazing with DH's dietary needs. They offered him the menu the night before and he was never turned down for a single dish that he wanted, they just made them custom for his allergy. He really enjoyed the dining experience. Before this we had always done any time dining, but the absolute excellent way his allergy was handled converted us to being set time/table/wait staff people.

 

I'm hoping Princess will be just as easy and enjoyable for him. I'm a little worried with the way Dine My Way is set up, but we'll see!

[Honolulu Blue]

1 hour ago, caribill said:

Each time we were seated on a Carnival cruise we were asked for our cabin number. The hostess then printed out a slip of paper with our dietary requirements on it.

 

We handed the slip to our waiter, so at every meal in the dining room the waitstaff were aware of special dietary needs.

That's different than what happened to us, but our circumstances were different - we weren't in the same cabin, our bookings weren't linked, and we dined together nightly on an ad hoc basis - either we'd meet up and go in together, or one of us would grab a table and the other would stop by and join.

 

I'll conclude this diversion with my sincere hope that everyone who needs or wants special dining arrangements gets treated as well as my buddy did or @caribill and their party did, whether on Princess, Carnival, or any other cruise line.

[BamaVol]

1 hour ago, no1racefan1 said:

Carnival was amazing with DH's dietary needs. They offered him the menu the night before and he was never turned down for a single dish that he wanted, they just made them custom for his allergy. He really enjoyed the dining experience. Before this we had always done any time dining, but the absolute excellent way his allergy was handled converted us to being set time/table/wait staff people.

 

I'm hoping Princess will be just as easy and enjoyable for him. I'm a little worried with the way Dine My Way is set up, but we'll see!

Thee is nothing to be concerned about.  Even in the buffet, when I asked a server about ingredients, he grabbed someone from the kitchen to point out the foods I could safely eat and which to avoid.

 

For the MDR, you are given a card (it’s in your cabin when you arrive) to hand to a headwaiter who will manage your food for you.  You just eat in the same MDR so that headwaiter is available each night. 

[Eamon Chute]

I used to worked 30 years in the travel industry (including one cruise line), and my job required me to take frequent cruises (just over 60) and provide detailed reports on the ships and the cruise lines themselves. I then spent 10 years in a police department. During that time, and now that I have to "open my wallet" and pay for my travel, I choose to spend that money with Princess.

 

The style of cruising on Princess suits me....it's comfortable and has  a familiarity about it that I enjoy. The overall quality of the food has been extremely good, the entertainment (for the most part) is enjoyable, the prices for the ancillary services are not out of line, the cabins are roomy and generally well taken care of, and they frequently have itineraries to destinations I now wish to travel to. Not to mention the ships' themselves are appointed in a stylish, but not over-the-top gawdy fashion.

[Ken the cruiser]

We like booking with PCL for many of the reasons others have posted earlier. We started with HAL back in 2012 with a few Celebrity (Galapagos and Alaska), Princess (Australia/NZ), and Crystal (Mexican Riviera and SE Asia) cruises mixed in between them. But we finally made the full switch to X and PCL when HAL implemented their Music Walk strategy back in 2017 in their effort to target a much younger crowd. We now cruise mostly with Celebrity, mainly on their transoceanic and Caribbean B2B itineraries, and Princess on a variety of unique 3-5+ week itineraries. Heck, we even tried Oceania for a while, but determined their ships were just too small and "relaxing" for us, and we could get a full suite on PCL for the same price with all of the perks as an Oceania (A1) balcony cabin.

 

In fact, over the next 18 months most of our upcoming B2B cruises to Japan, New England/Canada, Antarctica, Alaska and the Baltic are with Princess. Why? They offer more diversity than the other lines we have cruised with when it comes to their longer itinerary combinations and at a fair price.

 

As far as monetary booking perks go, I will also note that their Military OBC perk is awesome, as we are both retired, as well as their SHB and FCD OBC perks. On many of our cruises, we usually have at least $1000 in OBC available in our account to prebook excursions, not counting the 7+% we get taken off the cruise fare when we book through our TA.

 

Of course, I would be remise if I didn't make note of their very funny cruise directors and staff that continually strive to keep us laughing at the various entertainment events while cruising from port to port!

 

And finally, there is that loyalty carrot that's dangling out there. Free laundry once we make Elite. Did I mention we like to go on 3-5+ week cruises! 🤣