Royal Caribbean -vs- Princess

[Zaffaris]

I will be cruising the Eastern Caribbean in January. I am undecided on Royal Caribbean or Princess. I have not cruised with either of these companies before, although I have heard pros and cons about both. I would be either taking the Star Princess or the Explorer of the Seas. Has anyone cruised with both companies and/or both vessels? Anyone have any preferences and why they prefer one over the other?

[CrusinElf]

Hi Zaffaris. If you notice my signature lines, you'll see that all of my listed cruises are either RCI or Princess. I'm probably not going to be much help to you since I love both lines. I feel they are very comparable overall, but, yes, there will be certain things about each line that I prefer over the other. Nothing major though. I haven't sailed on the Star but was on the Explorer last March. The Voyager class ships are my favorites and Explorer didn't disappoint. The food (very subjective, I know) was better on Explorer than on Adventure of the Seas also. That most likely depends on the chef though. Let us know some areas of concern to you and I, or others, will help you out. :) Either way - I don't think you can't go wrong!

 

Elf

[superjerryw]

I've sailed numerous times on both cruise lines. They are more similar than they are different. The quality of food, service, entertainment is about the same on both lines. The Explorer has features not found on any Princess ship such as an ice skating rink, rock climbing wall, inline skating track, etc. If these features are of no importance to you then you will be happy on either ship. Make your decision based on iitinerary and price.

[negc]

You might as well ask which is better - chocolate or vanilla.;) Both cruiselines offer similar cruise experiences but some people will find that Princess best suits their tastes while others will prefer Royal Caribbean. Some might even have a preference for still another line.

I have sailed on both lines, as well as several others, and while overall I prefer RCI, I would certainly not turn down a cruise on Princess if the right situation arose. Clearly the Voyager class ships offer many unique features but only you can decide whether or not those things are a plus or a minus as far as you are concerned. In the final analysis the only way you can be certain as to which is the better fit for you, is to try both and then, perhaps, do it again, since one experience may not be sufficient to give you a true picture of that line. Pick an itinerary that appeals to you and compare the ships doing that itinerary, decide what type of cruise you are looking for and see which ship seems most likely to meet your needs. Good luck and happy cruising.:)

[cruising couple nyc]

We are loyal RCCL cruisers, but this summer decided to try to the Crown Princess because of its "newness", cost and leaving from Brooklyn. Well, I am sure you know what happened (the LIST) and I have to say that after the way Princess treated us, I would NEVER recommend Princess to anyone. Their customer service is non-existant and when push comes to shove, I wouldn't give my money to a company who does not care about the safety of it's pax. None of the stateroom TV's were secured nor was many of the heavy bar mixers or gym equipment resulting in many unnecessary injuries from the list. If you look over at the Princess board, you'll also see die hard Princess fans complaining about the lack of customer service

 

That being said, the ship it self was beautiful, the onboard service excellent (accept for the Purser's office who was rude and dismissive even BEFORE the list) and food good (the buffet was horrible though). It is a little different than RCCL in that there isn't as much to do onboard and it seems to move at a slower pace...

 

So, from now on I'll remain loyal to a cruiseline who puts my safety first, and who responds to incidents with the customer in mind.

[737NG]

What happened to the Crown was bad and customer service should of handled it better but I really don't think they were at fault for not having everything nailed down..I'm sure RCI has ships sailing out there that can have the same thing happen to them with items falling over.

[cruising couple nyc]

What happened to the Crown was bad and customer service should of handled it better but I really don't think they were at fault for not having everything nailed down..I'm sure RCI has ships sailing out there that can have the same thing happen to them with items falling over.

 

Yes, I do think they are to blame when all the stateroom TV's came flying off the wall hitting passengers. All it would have taken to secure them was a cheap L bracket and some screws. Next time you are on a RCCL ship, take a look at the TV's in the room... every ship I've been on (Radiance & Voyager class) the TV's have been secured. There is also no reason why heavy gym equipment shouldn't at least have some sort of attempt at securing it. As a Paramedic, after the list I went down to assist in the medical center and trust me, a lot of the injuries could have been avoided by things being secured.

[RCCLCARIB]

I have never been on Princess Cruise Line, but have been on 11 cruises with RCCL and 5 more booked. To give Princess Some Credit, I really do love the exterior of their ships. They look very very nice and elegant. From people who have been on Princess, I have heard rave reviews on how this and that was great. All I can say about RCCL, and in my opinion, whether it is your 1st or your 50th cruise, the service and the overall cruise experience will not change: It will always be a just AMAZING!!

 

So, in my opinion, just take a look at what type of cruise experience you want. If you want a cruise vacaion that is VERY classy and nice, but offers an elegant ship with lots of activities and amenities, then I would give Royal Caribbean's Explorer of the Seas a try.

 

If you want a cruise vacation that is also very relaxing and elegant, but don't want to have the amount of activities and amenities on the ships like Royal Caribbean does, then I would go with Princess Cruise Line's Star Princess.

 

Have fun deciding and give us an update on which on you choose.

[Zaffaris]

I want to thank everyone who came by to give their opinion here. After reading what everyone’s thoughts and feelings were I have decided to go with Royal Caribbean. The deciding factor was that everyone seemed to believe that while the overall experiences were similar, there was more to do activity wise with RCCL than with Princess. That sold it for me. I hate being bored on sea days. Plus, with the seven night itinerary on RCCL there are only two at sea days while there are three with Princess. So, again, thanks to everyone.