Favorite Princess Ship?

[ldubs]

5 hours ago, LACruiser88 said:

Any ship that I'm onboard!   😀

 

 I have to agree if we are talking about Princess.   We were on our first Royal Class ship, Enchanted Princess, back in March.   It was terrific.   I also enjoy the Grand Class ships.   I like the Island and Coral.  I like them all.  

[Kay S]

Since Royal class is it these days, I guess Regal is my choice among them.  It was after the Royal, the first one, and they worked a lot of the bugs out with the Regal.  (But it's still too big for me.)

[Yaya_in_Oz]

Bigger isn't better!

I like Sapphire/Diamond and Coral.

[Cruise Raider]

4 hours ago, SuzieQ521 said:

 

Thank you for this! First time sailing on the Royal in 10 days and we are on deck 8 (obstructed deluxe balcony although not really obstructed...).

 

What do you like specifically about Crooners if I may ask?

 

I like the seating arrangements and love when the piano player entertains in the evenings.  Some are better than others but a few of the, really draw the crowds!  

[mevs904]

Another Coral fan here.  We sailed on her to Alaska and the Panama Canal and were booked on her for a March 2020 South America/Antarctica cruise and then the Covid shutdown happened.  After that we like the other ships that have a wrap around promenade deck.  We’ve also sailed on the Royal and Regal but have no desire to return to them.  We don’t mind the size.  It’s the lack of a promenade deck that turns us off.  We will be sailing on the Enchanted in June because of the wonderful Mediterranean itinerary, but are currently looking at other cruise lines for future cruises whose ships have full promenade decks.

[fpsphil]

Sapphire any day of the week

[HughMann]

Sky won my heart with the stunning forward window suites.

[Kellyansapansa]

Diamond is our favourite, because of the stunning Izumi Bathhouse. It's a shame she doesn't have an International Cafe but that's a small price to pay for the Izumi experience.

 

The Coral is also wonderful. She feels very spacious, has the full promenade deck and the Sanctuary is in a great location with a lovely pool.

 

We're looking forward to comparing the Grand later this year. The only other Princess ship we have experienced is the old Sun Princess.

 

I'm not sure there's any such thing as a bad cruise ship!

Edited May 11, 2023 by Kellyansapansa

[CruizinSusan70]

We primarily cruise for the ship these days and we are new to Princess.  We spent 14 days on the Discovery to the Mexican Riviera and the California Coastal in April of 2022.  We will be spending 14 days on the Majestic in a few weeks to Alaska for the first time.  We have a reservation on the Enchanted in August of 2024 doing a 14 day repo cruise from Ft Lauderdale to Brooklyn.  We will be booking two 14 day cruises on the Sun for the fall of 2024 and the winter of 2025 while onboard the Majestic.

The passenger increase from the Royal Class to the Sphere Class is only 640 passengers, but the ship is over 30 K tons larger.  It seems like many loyal Princess cruisers are at opposite ends of the spectrum.  Many are passionate about the smaller ships and would never cruise on the Royal Class let alone the Sphere Class ships.  We, on the other hand loved the Discovery and are looking forward to our two other upcoming Royal Class cruises on the Majestic and Enchanted, but are really salivating over the Sphere Class.

The Sphere Class will raise the bar for Princess similar to how the Excel Class raised the bar for Carnival.  Those at the opposite end of the spectrum won't like it, but it doesn't matter since they will never cruise on the Sphere Class.

 

Our favorites are the Sun and whatever it's sister ship will be named.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_AS7wwY408

Above is a link during the construction process for a group of cruise YouTubers that were invited on the Sun Princess while under construction.

[CruizinSusan70]

2 hours ago, mevs904 said:

....are currently looking at other cruise lines for future cruises whose ships have full promenade decks.

NCL Prima and Viva

[Pat King]

Thanks a million to all the posters, and for the link. Wow. Now we think a Princess ship with a promenade and Alfedo's might be just the ticket.
We sailed a lot on Crystal. We now have done 5 Sky cruises, and find we don't mind the size at all. It is almost always the crew and the attitude that makes us happy.
And, the mini suite on Deck 8 of Sky seems palatial, is convenient to the wonderful Piazza, and gives us exercise if we walk the stairs to the upper decks.

[rhblake]

#1 - Grand

#2 - Sapphire

[nini]

10 hours ago, Kellyansapansa said:

 

 

The Coral is also wonderful. She feels very spacious, has the full promenade deck and the Sanctuary is in a great location with a lovely pool.

 

 

 

Strange; we felt very cramped on the Coral.

[Kay S]

3 hours ago, nini said:

 

Strange; we felt very cramped on the Coral.

Well, some people like one thing and some another.  Strange?

 

Coral has the best buffet!  The views!

[nini]

15 minutes ago, Kay S said:

Well, some people like one thing and some another.  Strange?

 

Coral has the best buffet!  The views!

 

Again, to each his own. We did not have views due to the humidity pf the Panama Canal route and lack of window cleaning schedule in this area of the buffet, therefore, no views.

And the buffet on the Regal beats all, hands down.

[hawk/hornfan]

On the ship I am on. Only 1 Princess cruise to date, Sapphire 2005, and 1 coming up in Oct Regal. Have sailed CCL x 4, RCL, X, HAL, Big Red Boat, & NCL (my least fav). All good times

 

[KLM3164]

Majestic Princess is my favorite because it has the Hollywood Pool (covered) and the Hollywood Conservatory which is free to all instead of the Sanctuary. It also has my 4 favorite cabins.,,,club class forward facing mini-suites with huge balconies,

[patterson3]

For people that have cruised a few Princess ships, which were your favorite and why?

[DCThunder]

I'd done 4 cruises on Enchanted and 2 on Regal and since they're sister ships (essentially) I liked them equally.  Perhaps Regal a bit more because it had Vines and Enchanted didn't, when I was on her.

[rjack22]

I have been on the Coral, Caribbean, Royal and Sky.   I think I liked the Coral the best because it was smaller.  Next favorite would be Sky.

[nattie]

We have been on Tahitian (no longer sailing 😞 ), Caribbean, Crown, Ruby, Emerald, Coral, Regal, Royal and Discovery. My personal favorite is Discovery. Used to be Regal, but last cruise was a bit disappointing. Looking forward to Enchanted in August, she might be a contender for fave ship with addition of Rudy's and 360.

[jaycruising]

Emerald is my favourite so far, because of the team on it, they were the best crew I have ever had.

[Kay S]

1 hour ago, patterson3 said:

For people that have cruised a few Princess ships, which were your favorite and why?

Mine is gone.  Of the current supply of really big ships, I like the Regal.  It was the second of the Royal class ships and they fixed the bugs from the first one (Royal).  It was also before they got too nutty with all the bells and whistles of the later ships.  

[LACruiser88]

Below is a link to a thread from last week on the same topic...

 

 

 

[mreasier]

Agree, my favorite, the Pacific, is gone.

 

My ranking of the current fleet:

 

#1 - Coral - Smallest and least crowded ship with almost all the Princess features we like including the International Cafe.  Lacks Skywalkers but has the Universe Lounge.

#2 - Sapphire - Next smallest ship.  Extra wide Promenade  deck.  All the Princess features we like including the International Cafe and Alfedos.

#3 - Grand - All of the features we like except Skywalkers.

#4 - Diamond - Sister ship to Sapphire but lacks International Cafe and Alfedos.

 

Next in line would be the "Super Grand" ships - Caribbean, Crown, Emerald and Ruby.  They are very similar to the Sapphire and Diamond but they have an extra passenger deck adding about 500 passengers.

 

We do not care for the Royal class ships - Royal, Regal, Majestic, Sky, Enchanted and Discovery.  They lack good forward and aft viewing areas, have small balconies and seem more crowded.  We do have a cruise booked on the Sky solely due to a unique itinerary.

 

And last would be the Island Princess.  It was identical to the Coral until they butchered it by adding about 100 cabins (200 passengers) while removing one of the 2 show lounges and burying the gym in an area with no windows.  Also lacks the International Cafe.