Differences between Carnival and Princess?

[Eli_6]

For those of you who have cruised both, what are the main differences between Carnival and Princess?

 

I (finally) was able to book two balconies on a world cruise segment from Australia to Rome on Princess.  I have been eyeing this cruise for a very long time, but it was sold out...and two balconies (and only two) popped up this morning and I got them.  It is the one of the only world cruises that sail in the (U.S.) summer which I need so I don't have to pull my kids out of school.  It is also the largest ship that does a world cruise and, therefore, actually has activities for children/pre-teens.  My boys will be 11 and 12 at the time of the cruise.  I also was interested in it because Princess purports to have the best internet at sea and that will allow my husband to keep in touch with his office.  (He has two nurse practitioners to see patients while he is gone, but still needs to be able to be "reachable" in case of an emergency.  This was a problem when we were on the Pride in the North Sea.)  It also has laundromats and I can't go on a 36 day cruise with a family of four without doing laundry because I am not hauling that many clothes all the way around the world. 

 

When I inquired about the sailing to my TA, she asked, "Have you ever cruised Princess before?" almost as though she didn't think I would like it.  My favorite cruise ever was our Alaskan cruise so I would imagine this cruise would draw a similarly tame/older crowd. Even though my husband and I are in our 40s--albeit, my husband will be 50 at time of the cruise in 2025--we typically are in our cabin my 9 or 10 pm watching TCM. (In fact, I was quite annoyed on one of our European cruises when they didn't have TCM.) We do enjoy the comedy shows so I will probably miss those on Princess, but our choices for this type of cruise aren't Carnival vs Princess.  They are Princess vs Azamara or Silver Seas....and at least Princess has an arcade and basketball court and Kid's club. 

 

 

[mz-s]

It was recently discussed here. 

 

[Saint Greg]

9 minutes ago, Eli_6 said:

at least Princess has an arcade and basketball court and Kid's club. 

 

 

I think the biggest problem I had with Princess was a lack of places for kids to go. On Regal Princess they didn't have an arcade. They did have kids clubs. The basketball court was setup for pickleball 24/7 so the kids were never there. Instead of mini golf they really just had a putting green I never saw anyone use. No waterpark. So where were all of the kids on a sea day? lido pool. And the lido fountain turned into the waterpark. It was chaos on the lido every sea day.

 

Other than that the only things I would say Carnival beats Princess on are comedy shows, alchemy bar, and included fast food lunch options. I like Princess' pizza better but they make big ones and if the demand isn't high, the ones they're serving won't be fresh.

[Eli_6]

14 minutes ago, Saint Greg said:

 

I think the biggest problem I had with Princess was a lack of places for kids to go. On Regal Princess they didn't have an arcade. They did have kids clubs. The basketball court was setup for pickleball 24/7 so the kids were never there. Instead of mini golf they really just had a putting green I never saw anyone use. No waterpark. So where were all of the kids on a sea day? lido pool. And the lido fountain turned into the waterpark. It was chaos on the lido every sea day.

 

Other than that the only things I would say Carnival beats Princess on are comedy shows, alchemy bar, and included fast food lunch options. I like Princess' pizza better but they make big ones and if the demand isn't high, the ones they're serving won't be fresh.

This is a newer ship (2019) and I believe the kids have their own pool/water area and that it also has an arcade.  I will have to double check as I could be confusing it with a different Princess cruise ship that I looked at when I was considering a sailing to Antarctica at Christmas.  

 

Edit: Double checked and this ship does have an arcade.  The teens and kids *appear* to have their own pool/spa off the kids club area.  It is blue and looks like a pool on the ship plan, but hard to tell exactly what it is so it may not be a pool...or it may be a splash pad.  

Edited December 13, 2023 by Eli_6

[Eli_6]

I just googled and it is in fact a separate pool and spa just off the Teen Club/Kid's club. They also do have a putt putt course as well.  

 

The teen club has all sorts of games and tables....more than I have seen on a Carnival ship except for maybe the Vista class.  (Don't know what Mardi Gras/Celeb/Jubilee has as have not taken my kids on that one.) 

 

Honestly, this ship looks pretty freaking amazing in pictures.  I see why it was so inordinately expensive.

[Saint Greg]

19 minutes ago, Eli_6 said:

For those of you who have cruised both, what are the main differences between Carnival and Princess?

 

Let me add some things about princess. The main thing that surprised me was the amount of activities they had and the engagement between guests and officers. Throughout the week they had guest vs. officer competitions which I though was cool. 

 

When I'm talking about activities I mean they had things on a run of the mill western caribbean cruise that I would expect to only see on a Carnival journey cruise...or maybe not at all. Letctures, culinary demonstrations, more Q&As than I would see on Carnival. After the CD Q&A we got to go tour the stage and backstage of the theater. After a culinary demonstration we got to tour the galley. 

 

On Carnival I have to fight my steward because I like evening service and they all want to get everything done in the morning. Not an issue on Princess. Twice a day service.I didn't have to ask for ice. It's just there.

 

For drinks they have the 15 day limit but they also will deliver to you anywhere on the ship. So on a long port day when I got back to the room and knew I wouldn't hit 15 drinks that night, I'd order six beers to the room 7-12 min delivery time. Then on the last day after I hit 15 I still had 10 beers in my fridge.

 

Their coffee shop butter pecan latte is my favorite cruise coffee now. I'm going to miss that on other ships.

 

The main thing I liked about the medallion is my door would unlock when I approached the room. Very handy when you have your hands full.

 

Oh another thing I didn't like about Princess is with the medallion it's supposed to be where you walk up to the bar and they know who you are because your picture pops up on their screen. I guess they had problems with charging drinks to the wrong people. So until a bartender gets to know you, they ask your room number. And they don't just have the numbers. They have the letters. So just get used to saying baja instead of B. otherwise its  D? E? oh B.. It was annoying to me.

 

Apparently charging people for things that should've been included is a big problem. Happened to me twice. Once with water and once they put me down for two lunches at alfredos when I was alone.

 

A lot of movies. They pretty much have movies all day in two locations.

 

I wasn't a big fan of their MDR breakfast. They have two specials each day so that's what I would look for and order off of. The rest of the menu stayed the same. But they did have MDR breakfast, lunch and dinner every day. No lines like Carnival. Dinner was about the same quality I thought. 

 

I felt like the age thing is overblown. Maybe older overall but plenty of 30's-40's people. Less families but the kids are very noticeable on lido with no other place to go. I usually went to bed in the 11pm hour and things were still going on around the ship.

 

I felt like Princess entertainment was better. They had entertainment I would only expect on an excel class ship or a journey cruise with carnival like a magician and jugglers. I feel like there's a better rotation in evening entertainment because most of it was fly on acts. Like we had a Jerry Lee Lewis guy one night, and Elvis guy another night, and a combo of the two on the last night. I know the next cruise and an Aretha Franklin. The production shows were good. Especially bravo. They showcased some really high quality singers in that one and have expensive costumes.

 

Some little things like having to sign for towels on Carnival. I think that's just a Carnival thing. But going ashore you just grab towels. Coming back they hand you wet face clothes and there's a place to drop off your dirty towels.

 

The balcony rooms on Regal are smaller than Carnival. No couch. That may have helped me get a cheap upgrade to a balcony which is great for me. No usb ports in the room was kind of surprising considering all of the tech they have onboard.

 

TV options were better. On demand options were amazing and all included.

 

Princess plus package includes wifi, gratuities, two casual meals, specialty coffees and their most expensive alcohol for less than just the drink package would be on Carnival. The nickel and diming on Carnival and raising the price of everything is really making NCL and Princess a better value for me.

 

[Saint Greg]

34 minutes ago, Saint Greg said:

 

Other than that the only things I would say Carnival beats Princess on are comedy shows, alchemy bar, and included fast food lunch options. I like Princess' pizza better but they make big ones and if the demand isn't high, the ones they're serving won't be fresh.

 

Another thing for Carnival. Sports. Princess just has the Sport 24 channel. Which mostly shows soccer and tennis. They would have one NFL game on at a time. Three college games on Saturday at different times. You did get the sport channel in the rooms and a special event channel on which they showed the cowboys game. But I like having the ESPN channels at the bars on Carnival and their variety of NFL games better.

 

Edited December 13, 2023 by Saint Greg

[Eli_6]

@Saint Greg  Thank you for your very thorough review of the difference!  I really appreciate it. It actually sounds like Princess concentrates on everything I love and where it lacks are things I don't like (i.e. sports).  I am looking forward to my cruise now and sad it is 500+ days away, lol. 

[Tobleronebar]

We were parked on a pier with a Princess ship in Jan 23. Our Carnival ship horn went “honk, honk.” Princess ship horn played the Love Boat theme. Everyone on both ships laughed and sang along. May us want to try Princess just to hear the horn 🙄🤪😂

[ARcruisin2]

One thing on Princess that was confusing, was food options in the atrium. Like pastries etc in a single case where some were free and some had a charge. In general trying to get a straight forward answer had us feeling like we were playing Who's on First, What's on Second with interactions.

Example: In the atrium on the ship they had a wine bar. We were walking by on a sea day and saw them putting sushi in a case, so walked over to see if DH could get some... convo went something like this:

How much is the sushi?

It's free

ok - we would like some

oh, it's only free when you buy wine

ok - how much is a glass of wine?

we're not open yet, you'll have to come back. 🤦‍♀️

 

Anyway, might talk to kids about asking if what they want has a charge, for example if you set them a limit for the day.

[Eli_6]

3 minutes ago, ARcruisin2 said:

 

Anyway, might talk to kids about asking if what they want has a charge, for example if you set them a limit for the day.

Yes, I am hoping you can do a charge limit like on Carnival. My kids don't roam around the ship on their own but even when my husband takes them to the arcade, he doesn't pay attention to how much things cost.  

[Saint Greg]

8 minutes ago, ARcruisin2 said:

One thing on Princess that was confusing, was food options in the atrium. Like pastries etc in a single case where some were free and some had a charge. In general trying to get a straight forward answer had us feeling like we were playing Who's on First, What's on Second with interactions.

Example: In the atrium on the ship they had a wine bar. We were walking by on a sea day and saw them putting sushi in a case, so walked over to see if DH could get some... convo went something like this:

How much is the sushi?

It's free

ok - we would like some

oh, it's only free when you buy wine

ok - how much is a glass of wine?

we're not open yet, you'll have to come back. 🤦‍♀️

 

Anyway, might talk to kids about asking if what they want has a charge, for example if you set them a limit for the day.

 

 

I know they recently changed some stuff. Like sushi and alfredo's apparently used to be free but now they're $15....but you get two free "casual" meals with princess plus. 

 

International Cafe it's my understanding that everything under the glass is free. Except maybe the huge slices of cake. I only got something from there once on an early port day. But it's very similar to what they have at javablue on Excel class ships.

 

Edited December 13, 2023 by Saint Greg

[TravelGirlinDallas]

2 hours ago, Eli_6 said:

For those of you who have cruised both, what are the main differences between Carnival and Princess?

We have cruised both Princess and Carnival this year. First and foremost, the cleanliness and general condition of the ship was FAR better on Princess. Secondly, I appreciate that Princess still has twice-a-day cabin service. The Princess buffet was much better and had many more choices. MDR food was similar for both, although the Princess MDR was nicer with better ambience.

 

This is probably silly to most people, but Princess ships still have real flower arrangements throughout the public venues. I really loved that.

[Homosassa]

For a shopping analogy, it is like going from Walmart to Dillard's for shopping.

 

There is a different socioeconomic customer base and better quality in goods offered.

[TxTeach79]

4 hours ago, Saint Greg said:

 

I think the biggest problem I had with Princess was a lack of places for kids to go. On Regal Princess they didn't have an arcade. They did have kids clubs. The basketball court was setup for pickleball 24/7 so the kids were never there. Instead of mini golf they really just had a putting green I never saw anyone use. No waterpark. So where were all of the kids on a sea day? lido pool. And the lido fountain turned into the waterpark. It was chaos on the lido every sea day.

 

Other than that the only things I would say Carnival beats Princess on are comedy shows, alchemy bar, and included fast food lunch options. I like Princess' pizza better but they make big ones and if the demand isn't high, the ones they're serving won't be fresh.

 

It looks like they've turned Churchills into an arcade and Club 6 into a casino annex since we sailed. KInda crazy timing. As far as your question, @Eli_6, I think you'd enjoy it. The medallion thing is very cool (when it works like it's supposed to), food is good, and honestly entertainment options are pretty similar. It's less of an upbeat "fun" crowd, but it's by no means a nursing home either. They're my two favorite lines for all their differences. 

[Saint Greg]

6 minutes ago, TxTeach79 said:

 

It looks like they've turned Churchills into an arcade and Club 6 into a casino annex since we sailed. KInda crazy timing. As far as your question, @Eli_6, I think you'd enjoy it. The medallion thing is very cool (when it works like it's supposed to), food is good, and honestly entertainment options are pretty similar. It's less of an upbeat "fun" crowd, but it's by no means a nursing home either. They're my two favorite lines for all their differences. 

 

Whoa. Really? Churchill's doesn't surprise me. I peeked in once and it was just officers hanging out in there. I think that's a good move. But the Club 6 was where they had a lot of events and where people went to watch football. 

 

Edited December 13, 2023 by Saint Greg

[TxTeach79]

Just now, Saint Greg said:

 

Whoa. Really? Churchill's doesn't surprise me. I peeked in once and it was just officers hanging out in there. But the Club 6 was where they had a lot of events and where people went to watch football. 

 

Yeah, same. The Churchill's changeover was happening while I was onboard, but I thought the same... Club 6 was the nightclub, the Elite Lounge every day, games shown in there... but I've seen stuff from people onboard saying all that moved to Vista the last couple cruises and they're turning it into a casino annex now like it is on some other Royal class ships. The bar stays, from what I gathered.

[Saint Greg]

5 minutes ago, TxTeach79 said:

 

Yeah, same. The Churchill's changeover was happening while I was onboard, but I thought the same... Club 6 was the nightclub, the Elite Lounge every day, games shown in there... but I've seen stuff from people onboard saying all that moved to Vista the last couple cruises and they're turning it into a casino annex now like it is on some other Royal class ships. The bar stays, from what I gathered.

 

Well Vista they were already showing football in there. I guess they can move the veteran's gathering there if nothing else is going on. But now it's going to be the elite lounge? With all of the other things they have scheduled in Vista?  I don't see how they can make that into a night club with the stage and seating. I guess no more movies in Vista.

 

 

Edited December 13, 2023 by Saint Greg

[TxTeach79]

8 minutes ago, Saint Greg said:

 

Well Vista they were already showing football in there. I guess they can move the veteran's gathering there if nothing else is going on. But now it's going to be the elite lounge? With all of the other things they have scheduled in Vista?  I don't see how they can make that into a night club with the stage and seating. I guess no more movies in Vista.

 

 

I guess they may leave the small dance floor/bar area? Here are some pics from someone onboard now. Its weird.:

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2978655-regal-casino-expansion-into-club-6/

[Saint Greg]

6 minutes ago, TxTeach79 said:

I guess they may leave the small dance floor/bar area? Here are some pics from someone onboard now. Its weird.:

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2978655-regal-casino-expansion-into-club-6/

 

Ah...so they've only taken half of club six. If they put a wall and a door there I think it would be fine. You'd just have a smaller area and could still use it for some events, sports and a night club. But the fact that they've changed that bar to the double down bar makes me think they may just keep it open like that.

 

 

Edited December 13, 2023 by Saint Greg

[ontheweb]

2 hours ago, Homosassa said:

For a shopping analogy, it is like going from Walmart to Dillard's for shopping.

 

There is a different socioeconomic customer base and better quality in goods offered.

🤦‍♂️, oh no, not another Walmart of the seas post. I thought that had all been hashed out earlier.

[Homosassa]

2 hours ago, ontheweb said:

🤦‍♂️, oh no, not another Walmart of the seas post. I thought that had all been hashed out earlier.

LOL - and your immediately assumption is that Carnival is the Walmart in the analogy.

[ontheweb]

1 hour ago, Homosassa said:

LOL - and your immediately assumption is that Carnival is the Walmart in the analogy.

No, that's the analogy that has been used for a long time.

[Saint Greg]

1 hour ago, Homosassa said:

LOL - and your immediately assumption is that Carnival is the Walmart in the analogy.

I would’ve guessed the rust bucket with kids running wild, puke in the urinals, and people taking formal pictures in shorts and large sombreros

 

 

 

 

[jsglow]

I like both @Eli_6. You've already gotten a lot of good input. You'll enjoy your cruise. Princess is a fine product.