Carnival freak to try Princess - Need input

[Littlegoo75]

Hi everyone. I am planning on taking my first Princess cruise aboard the Grand on November 25th. This would be my 5th cruise (I have sailed 3 times on Carnival, and once on Sitmar when I was a little kid). I will be going with my boyfriend, and it will only be his 2nd cruise. So, being that I have only really experienced Carnival, I am wondering what to expect. I was actually afraid to try Carnival at first because I heard people say it was the "Wallmart" of cruising, but I tried anyway and fell in love with it. I have only sailed 6-7 nighters and have always sailed on the newest ship at the time, so I don't know how much of a difference that makes. I was kind of hesitant to try another cruiseline, but I need to sail out of Houston, since I will be there for Thanksgiving, and I wanted to sail to both Roatan and Belize as those are my favorite ports. the Carnival itinerary didn't appeal to me......So, being that the Grand has my dream itinerary, I gotta try it.

 

So, if anyone can tell me what cruising on Princess is like, and how it compares to Carnival, and especially what the Grand Princess is like, that would be great. I'm a younger cruiser (31) and when I am on vacation, I do like to stay up late and have fun, but not TOO much fun, as I would like to remember my vacation. Does Princess have a varied age group? Also, is it mostly Texans sailing out of Houston? I sure do like Texans!

[wdblake]

I think you will be pleasantly surpirsed. Princess offers all that Carnival has and more. Many think Carnival is the "fun" ship but I have found they have no more activities than any other line. Princess offers plenty to do. They offer two different shows a night. One in the main theater and one line the rear lounge. There are numerous themed party nights.

Think of Princess as a Carnival ship with more elegant touches.

When I cruised Carnival I noticed a few annoyances. Dirty public bathrooms, no temperature control in our room, lots of drunken obnoxious rednecks. This will not be the case with Princess.

Trust me once you sail this ship you will have a tough time going back to Carnival.

[Kid Jedi]

My wife and sailed on the Carnival Glory in 2005 and thought it was the best. We too, are from the "young" crowd (I am 35, my wife is 25). Then we sailed the Princess Crown just a few weeks ago.

 

Guess what? We're going back on the Crown in 3 months! It was that good. Same level of activities, more (and better) live entertainment, and better food. I'm sure we'll do more Carnival boats again down the road, but for now my first choice will always be a Princess boat.

 

And they didn't pay me a red cent for that promo either!

[crazee4cruzin]

It sounds like you will enjoy no matter what ship you are on. I prefer Princess over Carnival. Princess is fun and there is a lot to do. The ships are tastefully decorated. I found the food to be good and I like the optional "specialty" restaurants.

 

On Princess I feel like I can go to sleep and not be awaken by noise in the hallway. One more thing, no hairy chest contests by the pool on Princess.

 

Have fun!:)

[cynbar]

Princess offers a lot for younger cruisers --- Skywalkers, the night club/disco is open until the wee hours and is usually hopping, there is a lot of evening entertainment to choose from, and the Grand is so large that it inevitably attracts cruisers from every age group. Personanlly, the Anytime Dining and the freshwater pools and 24 hr buffet are big draws, but I know that is subjective. We have sailed the major lines (RCCL, Celebrity, NCL, Windstar) but Princess is our favorite, it seems to offer the most options. No ship and no cruise line is perfect, but if you go in with an open mind and look for the strengths of each line, you'll have a great time!

[PlanoDebbie]

We were on the Sapphire Princess last June to Alaska with a large group of 14. Not one person had a single complaint about anything. Food was great. Service was great. All of the staff was polite and smiling all the time. We were spoiled.

 

Three weeks later I was on the Carnival Elation. What a difference. I liked the far more professional looking staff on Princess. On Carnival they all looked like they were heading off to DisneyWorld. Good grooming and make-up was a rare thing for the staff on Carnival. On our last day at sea, I actually witnessed two employees arguing in front of a huge crowd about who was to relieve the gal that was monitoring the pool slide. Their argument went on for over 10 minutes in front of about 400 guests. Unreal. Our cabin steward on Princess was wonderful. Anything we needed was taken care of. On Carnival our room steward left dirty glasses and dishes sit in our room for 2-3 days. We finally started putting them in the hallway like all of the other guests. That just looks so tacky and I really didn't like doing it, but it was the only way to get rid of them. Carnival often ran out of things in the buffet lines. Ice was forever empty or no glasses. Food on Princess was much better. Really exciting desserts to choose from every night. On Carnival you'll decide between apple pie and new york cheese cake. Woohoo!

 

If it were my choice, and Princess sailed out of Galveston year round, they would be my cruise choice. Unfortunately, Carnival and RCCL are it for us. We were going to book on RCCL and give them a whirl, but I let my TA talk me into getting a larger cabin on Carnival with a balcony for about the same price. So, here we are, giving Carnival another chance to redeem themselves. Keep your fingers crossed that the crew on the Conquest is much better than the Elation. Ugh.

[Umbarger]

the differences I have found on Princess and Carnival....

 

Carnival needs to take some lessons from Princess about getting people on and off the ship at the beginning and end of cruises. Much less 'hassle' on Princess.

 

Carnival cabins are larger.

 

Princess ships have more elegant decor. Carnival is more Vegas style.

 

Princess ships atriums are underwhelming. Only three decks compaired to Carnival's 10 deck atriums.

 

No 24 ice cream on Princess. They only have ice cream in the dining room and one hour during the day on deck.

 

Nothing to drink at buffet on Princess except water, coffee and tea. No lemonade or fruit punch. You can get lemonade on Princess but it will be at an additional cost.

 

Expresso, cappacino and hot chocolate are at an additonal cost in the dining room on Princess. On Carnival it is included.

 

Night life on Princess is much quieter than on Carnival. Skywalkers was always dead when I went and the music was awful in my opinion.

 

Passengers on Princess seem to be more upscale than on Carnival. So practically no kids running around unsupervised and less "redneck" (to quote a previous poster) behavior by fellow cruisers.

 

Each cruise line has its pros and cons. Princess and Carnival are just........different. I like trying different cruise lines to make my own decision. Give Princess a try.

 

Linda

[Quilting_Cruiser]

I liked the far more professional looking staff on Princess. On Carnival they all looked like they were heading off to DisneyWorld. Good grooming and make-up was a rare thing for the staff on Carnival. On our last day at sea, I actually witnessed two employees arguing in front of a huge crowd about who was to relieve the gal that was monitoring the pool slide. Their argument went on for over 10 minutes in front of about 400 guests. Unreal. Our cabin steward on Princess was wonderful. Anything we needed was taken care of. On Carnival our room steward left dirty glasses and dishes sit in our room for 2-3 days. We finally started putting them in the hallway like all of the other guests. That just looks so tacky and I really didn't like doing it, but it was the only way to get rid of them. Carnival often ran out of things in the buffet lines. Ice was forever empty or no glasses. Food on Princess was much better. Really exciting desserts to choose from every night. On Carnival you'll decide between apple pie and new york cheese cake. Woohoo!

 

Debbie, I hope your next Carnival cruise is more to your liking. We've cruised with Carnival four times and have experienced none of the issues youre talking about--except I can't comment on the uniforms as I haven't seen the Princess uniforms yet to compare--soon enough!!:D In my experience, the buffet has always been well stocked, my cabin stewards have been great, and whenever I see cheese cake on Carnival, I grab it--I've seen a variety of other desserts, but alas, rarely cheese cake. :(

 

I'm hoping the staff of the Conquest is better all around!!

 

Cheers!

Jayne

:D

 

k

[Hebejeebe]

Are you going on the Carnival Conquest or a Princess ship in November? I've been on the Miracle and Valor (sister ship to Conquest) and have had a great time. The waiters, stewards and food were great. My kids loved the decor and the activities. But, the activities (e.g., hairy chest contest) leave something to be desired IMO. We are trying the Caribbean Princess in August. Looking forward to an equally good or better time.

[Toto2Kansas]

It might just be us here, but we find there is a huge difference between the two cruise lines.

We find Carnival to be brash in their ship decor. Almost (exuse the pun) Carnival like. Too gaudy for our tastes, even when we were younger.

 

We have sailed Carnival many times but stopped years ago never to return.

We found the food to be lacking in most aspects compared to Princess, including the shows in the diningroom which we thought were just plain tacky. We witnessed things like 'food fights' in the buffet lines and things that just turned us off to the Carnival Line.

 

What you will find very different in the two lines will be cabins. Princess has much smaller cabins unless you book a mini suite or above in comparison to Carnvial. Princess does not supply little goodies (sample sizes) in the bathroom but only the basics such a shampoo, soap, etc.

 

What you should find a pleasent surprise on Princess is their anytime dining and buffet food. Much nicer buffet then I have ever had on a Carnival ship.

 

As for party atmosphere, I think they will be compariable sailing on the Grand from Texas, as from what I have read, it will be in the running with Carnival.

 

Not sure when you are sailing, but you mentioned Thanksgiving. If you plan to sail during Thanksgiving vacation from schools, expect a lot of families with small children onboard.

 

I hope you find it to your liking! Enjoy your cruise.

[Cruise-a-holic444]

As luck would have it, I've been on both ships and enjoyed both cruises!

 

My first cruise was on the Carnival Elation in Feb of '05 (W.Carib)- loved the fun staff, had really good food for the most part in the dining room, and in general just had a big time! Really enjoyed the Sushi bar and the Mozart coffee bar with outstanding giant desserts for $2 (better than anything I've had in either Princess/Carnival dining rooms).

 

Went on the Grand in April '06- the first thing I noted was the white gloved greeting of the crew- and even being escorted to the elevator. Within minutes of getting in our room, our room steward came in and introduced himself and asked about special requests! We almost fainted. (Do ask for an eggcrate mattess pad- the beds are so-so without). The bedroom area was bigger, little bit less closet space and the bathroom is tiny but doable. Enjoyed having the minifridge too to bring fresh fruit from the Horizon court.

 

A couple of differences I want to mention: Carnival has a lot more photo opportunities. At the time it annoyed me, but in retrospect, we had lots of cute photos compared to the more formal settings of Princess.

 

The food in the buffet on the Grand (Horizon court- take the Aft Elevator up to ?14 or 17 deck?) can't remember is AWESOME- especially the fresh fruit- it's also open (I think 24/7 or close to it- we would go late and get fresh guacamole and chips as well as any of the specialty restaurants or dining room leftover foofoo desserts! ha!). The food in the dining room on Elation was MUCH better (we all agreed and were shocked) as was the fun service. However, that said, LOVE LOVE LOVE the Anytime dining, premium restaurants (Sterlings Steakhouse- steak pretty good, giant shrimp cocktail worth the price of admission! and Sabattini's (a 2-3 hour long Italian specialty restaurant-fun and elegant!) and DAILY Afternoon tea on the GRAND! (loved it! very fun!). Room service is better on the Grand too.

 

The pools: KEY here: FRESH WATER and there is a small pool AFT (once again go straight to the back of the boat and take the AFT elevator) that is for Adults only. There is a LOVELY (and I mean that) enclosed pool (retracting roof) w/ 2 hot tubs called (I think) the Conservatory- fantastic.

 

The overall look (especially the beautiful staircase of the Elation) is toned down- no "Wow" factor when you first get on- but sort of quiet loveliness. Lots of cozy conversation areas.

 

Significantly better concierage and housekeeping on the Grand but NO TOWEL Animals which I loved on the Elation- (how fun is it to come back to your room and see that little Elephant on the bed!).

 

The theatres are NOT nearly as nice on the GRAND as the Elation, but the quality of entertainment is.

 

The drinks: 1000% better on the GRAND- especially the Pina Coladas and all tropical drinks- no comparison. That said, there is none of the famous delicious hot chocolate in the Horizon court and no free lemonade either.

 

All that to say- I would not hesitate to take another Carnival cruise if I liked the itinerary or a newer ship (like the Liberty)- lots of fun and a great deal! HOWEVER, that said, I'm pretty much a Princess girl now due to fresh water pools, service, overall quality:p etc. Have fun and Bon Voyage!!

[serene56]

Little goo-- Congrats on booking your first Princess.

We booked our first Princess for February 2007 and its been mighty fine reading these boards and finding the difference between Carnival and Princess.

 

Anytime dining is why we are trying Princess. Want to see if there is a difference to not being tied to a schedule for dining.

 

No 24 hours free ice cream on princess. except during designated times but food is availabe 24 hours a day. (on Carnival you will find it hard to find something between 2:30 and 4:00 unless you want burgers or pizza)

 

room service menu looks incredible but like Carnival its limited.

Soda cards are by far way cheaper then carnival so we will be getting one of those.

Category of cabins was hard to understand- Carnival is by far the easiest to understand.

EVERYthing on carnival ships are fleetwide. Here on Princess it varies from ship to ship-

[Upandadam]

the differences I have found on Princess and Carnival....

 

Carnival needs to take some lessons from Princess about getting people on and off the ship at the beginning and end of cruises. Much less 'hassle' on Princess.

 

Carnival cabins are larger.

 

Princess ships have more elegant decor. Carnival is more Vegas style.

 

Princess ships atriums are underwhelming. Only three decks compaired to Carnival's 10 deck atriums.

 

No 24 ice cream on Princess. They only have ice cream in the dining room and one hour during the day on deck.

 

Nothing to drink at buffet on Princess except water, coffee and tea. No lemonade or fruit punch. You can get lemonade on Princess but it will be at an additional cost.

 

Expresso, cappacino and hot chocolate are at an additonal cost in the dining room on Princess. On Carnival it is included.

 

Night life on Princess is much quieter than on Carnival. Skywalkers was always dead when I went and the music was awful in my opinion.

 

Passengers on Princess seem to be more upscale than on Carnival. So practically no kids running around unsupervised and less "redneck" (to quote a previous poster) behavior by fellow cruisers.

 

Each cruise line has its pros and cons. Princess and Carnival are just........different. I like trying different cruise lines to make my own decision. Give Princess a try.

 

Linda

 

All in all an excellent comparison. I might add one thing though. Princess (in particular the Grand) in my opinion has a rather boring decor. Some call it understated elegance. I call it boring.

[Mike A]

I have sailed 4 times with Carnival and once with Princess. I would cruise on both in a heart beat. I think both provide an excellent vacation. I give Carnival the nod on entertainment as well as size of room (not that much bigger) I like Princess's more refined (understated elegance) decor and cuisine. I found service to be equal (both excellent). Overall, slight advantage Princess.

[blga]

I have been on carnival twice & just weeks ago got off Princess (Caribbean), I am 45 but travel with multi ages from 16 to 78. I too was afraid of Princess., thought I would be bored. I loved Carnival!! Here is my take.

Personally although all ships were beautiful...the Princess was most impressive, but that could be because it was the largest & newest....and I had a balcony room.

 

I thought princess theater was much smaller, but liked that it had no "dead spots" (poles that blocked vision). I thought the Carnival ships theater looked more impressive, but actually liked watching shows in the Princess better because it was easier to see.

 

Hands down both carnival ships had way, way better entertainment. Princess had a few comedians, an entertaining juggler, and several nights shows of the "Princess dancers" which even to my untrained eye, was not even remotely "broadway show" like. On Carnival (Elation & Triumph) I felt most of the shows were "broadway" quality. Princess did have things going on in the lounge too, but to be honest they did not hold many people & you could never get in to see them unless you showed up an hour in advance (this might be because the theater shows weren't that good so many people went to the lounge instead) There was always people standing 3-5 people deep around the edges of the lounge attempting to see the lounge shows that could not get in because it was full

 

I liked the food on Carnival, I do have simplier tastes. I liked the buffets & the dinners on Carnival better, with the exception that Princess had not only lobster one night, but crab another night (and I didn't have to crack the legs which was a real treat!) I thought the wait staff were very good on both, but missed the dancing and maccarena after dinner that we had on the Carnival ships. I also missed Carnival's ice cream & the free drink choices.

 

I loved my Princess room but again, it was probably because it was a balcony & newer. Otherwise I did not see a huge, huge difference. All the room stewarts on all ships were "top notch" and friendly. I, too missed the towel animals from Carnival when I was on Princess.

 

I did feel that Princess was more "classy", and I loved the fact that I did not have to get up at dawn to rush up for a lounge deck chair on Princess. Although the ship had more people, there was never a shortage of deck chairs, which always irked me on Carnival. I thought the decks were nicer on Princess (again, could be because it was a newer bigger ship) but it seemed alot less "crazy". I love children but I did find children running all over the carnival ships & being really intrusive without anyone stopping them in the hot tubs etc. on the carnival. I have to say that I thought the "youth security" on Princess did a really nice job of making sure that everyone had fun but respected each other's space. I did not notice one unruly kid. Again, I adore kids (I own a children's store) but nobody wants a trip ruined by kids taking over a ship. I saw this much, more on Carnival and even wrote a complaint about it after the last cruise.

 

 

There was lots of contests & fun around the pool on both ships, including the Princess, (I personally enjoyed the hairy back contest..I thought it was funny on Carnival, but Princess had lots of strange things as well. (a pool survivor contest where males pitted against females had to grab floating fruit in the pool and stuff it in thier swimsuits for points. That was funny so Princess does have fun as well

 

 

So I think that pretty much sums it up. I think I would try Princess again before Carnival. Not even sure why but I do agree they both have thier charms/