First time on Princess

[CarolR]

We are going to book the Caribbean Princess for next April after several cruises on Carnival and one on Royal Caribbean. We are forty somethings and although not avid partyers do enjoy good music and shows. How does Princess compare to Carnival as far as entertainment, food etc. We have always enjoyed our Carnival cruises but we're ready to try another line. Any comments and tips would be appreciated.

[Firefly2353]

We are going to book the Caribbean Princess for next April after several cruises on Carnival and one on Royal Caribbean. We are forty somethings and although not avid partyers do enjoy good music and shows. How does Princess compare to Carnival as far as entertainment, food etc. We have always enjoyed our Carnival cruises but we're ready to try another line. Any comments and tips would be appreciated.

 

Hi Carol.....

 

We just returned from our cruise last week to the Mexican Riviera on the Sapphire Princess. We've sailed several times on RCI and Carnival as well as NCI and Princess, as well. My DH and I are also not avid partiers either and found Princess to be a nice fit for us. Yes, some of the entertainment is a little on the hokey side but the music was terrific as were several of the shows. We cruised on the Carnival Pride and found that ship's food was far better than the Sapphire but as a whole, we were pleased with the latter, as well, especially Sabatini's, the specialty Italian restaurant.

 

Hope this info helps a little.

 

Ruth

[negc]

While it has been quite a while since we cruised on a Carnival ship, we do sail frequently on Royal Caribbean and just completed a cruise on the Sapphire Princess. In that regard, I think you will find your Princess cruise very comparable to what you experienced on your Royal Caribbean cruise. There are many similarities and where one may be better (in your opinion) in one area the other line may provide you with a better experience in another area. I thought the food in the Sapphire Princess' traditional dining room was more to my taste than what I have found on some Royal Caribbean cruises. However, the food and physical layout inRoyal Caribbean's Windjammers for both breakfast and lunch, was definitely superior to what we found on Sapphire Princess. Production shows are very much alike and will depend on the individual cast members as far as which provide a better performance.

I also found the traffic patterns on the Voyager and Radiance class ships to be better than what we encountered on Princess. Sapphire Princess provided more pools than RCI ships, but the mostly canned music on Princess was louder and more intrusive than what we have experienced on RCI. Skywalkers and the Viking Crown lounges are both beautiful and provide fantastic views from high above the water. Liked both very much.

Room service menu was more extensive and included hot items for breakfast on RCI, not so on Princess. Our BA category stateroom with balcony on Sapphire Princess was noticeably smaller than either an E1 or D1 balcony stateroom on RCI and storage space was more limited. It was however, adequate for a seven night cruise. Princess offered more and different audience participation games on sea days. We found the servers on Sapphire Princess to be friendly and outgoing but some of our fellow passengers felt that service was more cool and reserved than they liked. I guess it depends on who you encounter.:confused:

No one line is the right one for everyone, but if you enjoyed your RCI cruise, I think you will be quite happy with your time on Princess. It may be that you will like it even more. If not, you will at least have experienced three of the major cruiselines and have some idea of which, if any of them, is best for you.

[mollyanne]

We are going to book the Caribbean Princess for next April after several cruises on Carnival and one on Royal Caribbean. We are forty somethings and although not avid partyers do enjoy good music and shows. How does Princess compare to Carnival as far as entertainment, food etc. We have always enjoyed our Carnival cruises but we're ready to try another line. Any comments and tips would be appreciated.

 

Carol:

 

We have only done one cruise on Carnival - to appease our then 17-year old and make it a fun time for him. We enjoyed it a great deal but find Princess much more appealing. It is more refined - not as party-going - but you will definitely find yourself in a fun environment. We find the food to be consistently good. The crews are wonderful. Entertainment can be summed up in 2 words - "Bert Stratton" :) . He makes the CB a fun place to be - don't miss his show! The ship itself is beautiful and new. There will be a lot of people sharing your cruise but you will never really feel crowded. Go and enjoy!

 

mollyanne:)