Royal vs. Princess

[George C]

1 hour ago, vjmatty said:

I’ve been to the WJ on Anthem and Enchantment….both extremes lol and I found them to be better than most buffets. Never tried the buffet on Oasis because we had CK access. 

Because we now sail just oasis class we can eat in CK but also buy UDP so dinner is in specialty and some lunches, have not been in WJ in a long time.

[SportsFanatic]

42 minutes ago, Russ Lomas said:

Looking forward to trying another line just shaking things up.  My not like it, may love it.  Will not know til we try.  Thing is that if RCCL had not cut their food selection and quality so much (as well as other cuts we did not like - the way they handle MTD, cutting cover bands in the Music Hall, etc.), along with doubling and tripling their prices, we likely would be sailing on RCCL instead of Princess in March.

 

We tried Celebrity and loved some things and did not like others.  We did the same with NCL and really enjoyed it overall, but pricing was always about one and a half times RCCL, so we stuck to RCCL (now NCL is half the price of RCCL, we would likely look at NCL first).

 

Do not get me wrong.  We still enjoy RCCL.  We have 3 upcoming cruises booked with them, but the first of those 3 is not until next summer.  Hopefully, RCCL starts to realize by then that insane demand for cruising now (due to a lack of cruising during the pandemic) will likely subside somewhat and they will have to do something to try to bring back their loyal customers that wandered elsewhere when they decided to downgrade the quality of their product and over price it as well.

Well, you’ll have to let us know how you liked it. What ship are you going to be on? We were on a newer ship, the Discovery , and the washer and dryer were free so that was kind of cool. Also, you can go up and drop your luggage off as soon as you get on the ship even if the rooms aren’t ready yet.  There was a lot of entertainment  going on throughout the ship at all times . Make sure you check out the pizza.  Enjoy 

[Russ Lomas]

3 hours ago, SportsFanatic said:

Well, you’ll have to let us know how you liked it. What ship are you going to be on? We were on a newer ship, the Discovery , and the washer and dryer were free so that was kind of cool. Also, you can go up and drop your luggage off as soon as you get on the ship even if the rooms aren’t ready yet.  There was a lot of entertainment  going on throughout the ship at all times . Make sure you check out the pizza.  Enjoy 

We are booked on the Regal Princess.  Looks like the same class as Discovery, but 8 years older.

[Its the journey]

Just my opinion but

Royal is more fun, I am an adult who loves flowriders and slides, whereas Princess is more relaxing, I love the sanctuary where I can have a reserved lounger, on the other lines people are vicious in trying to grab your chair if you so much as shift in your seat.  And I can have whatever I want delivered wherever I am.  The app has always worked seamlessly for me and I have trouble sailing without it now.

 

Princess has far better food. Royal has deleted the premium choices from their dining room.  No more lamb chops, no more veal, the entrees that cost $$ have been replaced by casseroles and the like that cost as much as dog food to prepare.  And are just about as appealing.

 

Princess still offers twice a day room service.  I openly admit this is very important to me.  

 

Royal has a better rewards program, however the executives are thinking of making changes that will eventually make their rewards much less rewarding.  

 

I was loyal to Royal, but am mostly moved to princess.  Will itch royal completely if their rewards lose value.

 

[moposh]

16 hours ago, Itried4498 said:

Consistently or just on the Oasis class?  I've been on 3 RCL ships and none featured live music during their production shows.

I was on Vision in August and Explorer in April and both had bands who played during shows, either at back of stage or were in the orchestra pit.  Cruise director Clo specifically mentioned the live music and how important it was to have it.  I've been on other Royal ships that also have live music.

Edited September 29, 2023 by moposh

[Russ Lomas]

16 hours ago, Its the journey said:

Just my opinion but

Royal is more fun, I am an adult who loves flowriders and slides, whereas Princess is more relaxing, I love the sanctuary where I can have a reserved lounger, on the other lines people are vicious in trying to grab your chair if you so much as shift in your seat.  And I can have whatever I want delivered wherever I am.  The app has always worked seamlessly for me and I have trouble sailing without it now.

 

Princess has far better food. Royal has deleted the premium choices from their dining room.  No more lamb chops, no more veal, the entrees that cost $$ have been replaced by casseroles and the like that cost as much as dog food to prepare.  And are just about as appealing.

 

Princess still offers twice a day room service.  I openly admit this is very important to me.  

 

Royal has a better rewards program, however the executives are thinking of making changes that will eventually make their rewards much less rewarding.  

 

I was loyal to Royal, but am mostly moved to princess.  Will itch royal completely if their rewards lose value.

I love the flowrider and I would expect to miss it a fair bit on our upcoming Regal cruise.  I really have no need for one if the cruise is port intensive, but the one out of Galveston is not.

 

I cannot wait to try the app on Princess to order drinks (the app on RCCL is very poor).  We got the PLUS package, so we will put that app to the test.

 

I am excited to see what you say about the food.  The Princess menus (even if people on this board say the food has taken a big step backwards) sounds far more creative and enticing than the current RCCL ones.

 

I miss the twice per day cabin service.  We keep the room very tidy, so the extra cleaning probably should take the cabin steward 5-10 minutes at most.

 

We are Diamond with Royal and love the Diamond lounge, free 8x10 photo and 4 drinks per day at our loyalty level.  RCCL renamed their Diamond lounge the Crown Lounge today, so if they remove our access to that lounge in the future due to the name change, that is one less thing RCCL's loyalty level would offer us and be one less thing that keeps us loyal to Royal usually.

[mycalpal]

Diamond, soon to be Diamond+ on Royal.  Had my first back2back cruises on Anthem this spring, transatlantic and Norway.  A dear friend flew over and booked herself a balcony on my Norway Fjords cruise.  As my study tour in the Holy Land had cancelled I booked a cheap cabin on her side by side Princess cruise out of Southampton, European Capitals 12 nights.  My first Princess cruise and taking it side by side with Anthem so easy to compare getting off one ship and getting on another!  Anthem (2015) is a newer ship and has already been refurbished, sports ship to shore power and was a beautiful modern cruise ship with many activities and great entertainment.  Caribbean Princess (2004) is an older ship that has been well maintained.  Entertainment was really lacking not only compared to Anthem, but even compared to a Royal ship of similar age and size, such as Explorer.  Food on both was good, but Anthem’s buffet closed way too early at 3pm.  Returning from shore in the afternoon, other than Pizza and hot dogs, there were only nice sandwiches at 270, but they were running out even before closing.  The only way to get a cheeseburger was paying extra at Johnny Rockets.  On Princess the Buffet was open all day and had better selection.  Princess offerred afternoon tea in the Diniing room on Sea Days as well as serve yourself in the Buffett.  The pool grill was open all day and served mostly food cooked to order.  The pizza was next door on the pool deck, and was also open till late.  Passengers returning late from the Berlin excursions at 9:30-10pm were able to go to the Buffet for dinner.  Princess dining room was good, but was inconsistent, as one of the dining rooms had better, faster service.  Still, while I like Royal’s dining room menu selections better, Princess won on food.  The cruise “vibe” is way better on Royal.  Princess’s crew was mostly helpful and polite, but just not as friendly and upbeat as Royal.  I like the classic look of Caribbean Princess and the outdoor promenade, but she had limited indoor spaces.  This became an issue on the one day the weather went south.  Bottom line is I still prefer Royal, but happy to cruise Princess again.  Will check out a newer ship. 

[malba2366]

We did Princess last year for Alaska and I would agree about the food (outside the pizza which was excellent) being pretty bad.  The on ship experience is also not as good as Royal.  Princess has a better Alaska itinerary than others, with Glacier Bay included which was quite spectacular; they also offer cruises to a lot more destinations than the other mainstream cruise lines.

[scouse mouse]

Princess have really good beds so you get a good sleep.

Royal beds are the pits.  Just back from a weeks cruise on Anthem of the Seas and every bone in my body is sore from the beds (much to hard).  This is stopping me from ever booking RCI again even though the service (dining room) and food was good.