How we came to choose Princess

[sonomaphil]

I’ve been reading many reviews of different ships on many different lines and have come to a few conclusions. Some background: My wife and I are in our early forties with no kids. I have never cruised before and my wife has been on two cruises with Carnival about 10 years ago in her single days. I have no experience on water except a ferry boat ride or two my wife used to have a sail boat. When we travel, we’re Hilton and Hyatt people. We like good wine and good food. We travel to New York for Broadway shows.

 

When we decided to get into cruises I did a lot or research. We think we figured out that you can make a generalization of putting Carnival, Royal Caribbean and Norwegian in the same class. More of a party and activity atmosphere. More families and a younger crowd. Nothing wrong with that at all. In fact I want to travel on all three of these lines and I’m sure we will. We are already looking into some short “samplers”. We put them in a class of Holiday Inn, Sheraton and Ramada.

 

We then put Princess, Celebrity and Holland in the same class. A more relaxed atmosphere but still with a traditional cruise slant. Less families, more couples, less of a party type atmosphere. A more relaxing atmosphere. More to our age group crowd. This is where we think of Hyatt and Hilton.

 

We then put Cunard and the other lines of that type in one category. Someone we know referred to it as the “diamonds and diapers” crowd. We liked that analogy. Here we put Ritz Carlton as a comparison.

 

We decided on Princess for many reasons, some are the perks that frequent cruisers get. Platinum in 5 cruises is appealing. We can achieve that in about a year with some shorter repo cruises. We like the idea of Anytime Dining, we not into structure. We liked that Princess has fresh water pools and that they are open all the time. We liked that fact that Princess has so many balcony cabins. We won’t let the lack of towel animals ruin our cruise! :D

 

I’ve learned some valuable “tricks and secrets” here. Since we’re not bound by summer vacations, we know that summer cruising may not be for us nor would spring break. I learned when the “off season” is and how to take advantage of the pricing differences. I’ve leaned why TA’s are very helpful. This web site is invaluable for information!

 

I know I’ve made some generalizations here, but reading some people experiences it seems like they go into a cruise with unrealistic expectations. Relax, it’s a vacation! Find what works for you and enjoy! Keep in mind my first cruise is in 9 days! I reserve the right to change my opinion! :p

[Floflegs]

Like your reasoning. Have a great cruise!:)

[barbarah33]

Congratulations on deciding to go for it and booking your first cruise. Hopefully you won't be disappointed. A fair warning though: it is addictive. The way you have 'categorized' the lines seems pretty good. I would say that Celebrity and Holland may be the Hyatt but they are on the concierge level of the hotel. Yes, they can both be a step above Princess. I am very similar to you except that I am not married. I have been with my SO for over 13 years but we are happy with the way things are so why mess with it? We have done some of the other lines - me much more than him, and last year I booked us on his first Princess after 4 Celebrity in a row. He was very impressed with our mini-suite on the Caribbean. So much so that he called me to ask me to check out the Crown - which we are sailing on next month.

 

I hope it's everything you are hoping for!

[Clutterlady]

I know you will have a fantastic cruise! Love your reasoning and think you hit the mark just right. Please come back and give us an honest review of your first cruise. Happy sailing:)

[katier825]

Good for you doing your research! When it comes to cruises, "one size doesn't fit all" if you know what I mean. There are so many different cruise experiences out there that it can be mind boggling to select one. Even on the same ship, very cruise is different from the next due to the passengers/crew personalities.

 

You should try NCL sometime also, since the "freestyle" appeals to you. Our first cruise was on NCL Sky (now renamed as one of the Hawaii ships). There were very few positive comments about NCL that we almost cancelled. I'm so glad we didn't, it was awesome!!! We had booked another NCL, but changed our minds when we saw the brochure for Golden Princess. I just HAD to go on the Golden! We've been on Princess 5x now, #6 is in Nov. We thought Princess had a slight edge on food/entertainment, plus love the freshwater pools. Also tried Carnival Glory because we live less than an hour from Port Canaveral. We were disappointed in Carnival, spent alot of time comparing it to Princess. I'd like to do another NCL again; will probably pass on Carnival; would love to try RCCL if the price was right.

 

If you can be flexible w/vacation time (during hurricane season), you can get great deals for Sept-Nov. cruises.

 

Hope you have a great cruise! :)

[cruzinchris]

We then put Princess, Celebrity and Holland in the same class. A more relaxed atmosphere but still with a traditional cruise slant. Less families, more couples, less of a party type atmosphere. A more relaxing atmosphere. More to our age group crowd. This is where we think of Hyatt and Hilton.

 

I tend to agree with your cruiseline/hotel comparisons, but I would have appreciated seeing Marriott in this category. DH and I are Marriott Rewards members and choose these properties whenever we travel.

Chris

[jad7984]

Thanks for your post. I have been on many cruises and my two favorite have been the Explorer on RCCI and the Crown Princess.

 

I have found that with RCCI, you get OK food and great entertainment/nightlife. With Princess, you get excellent food with OK entertainment/nightlife.

 

Enjoy your cruises!:)

[Casshew]

Nice post, happy planning and I hope you love your cruise.

[sonomaphil]

I tend to agree with your cruiseline/hotel comparisons, but I would have appreciated seeing Marriott in this category. DH and I are Marriott Rewards members and choose these properties whenever we travel.

Chris

 

You're right. Marriott is very easily in this category. As a matter of fact we'll be at the Renaissance Seattle before our cruise from Vancouver.

[kendon]

Which ship did you choose?

[sonomaphil]

Which ship did you choose?

 

We booked the Diamond in December for a 7 day Mexican Riviera cruise. About a week after booking that we decided to go to Seattle for a quick weekend and cruise back home from Vancouver to San Francisco on the Dawn. A 2 night repo cruise. Just under 9 days now!

[VaBeachCruisers897]

Enjoy your cruise... It will be your first of atleast 30.

 

My first cruise was (4) days, I was not sure if I would like it. I could stay on a ship for a year if i did not need to pay :eek: . When the internet service improves I may need to work remotely......

[cruzinchris]

You're right. Marriott is very easily in this category. As a matter of fact we'll be at the Renaissance Seattle before our cruise from Vancouver.

 

Thank you, sonomaphil.

 

We are booked at the Courtyard Fisherman's Wharf the night before we sail on the Dawn (1/25/07). The location is perfect for a stroll to the Wharf and Ghirardelli Square on the day of our arrival. A short cab ride to a fine Italian restaurant that evening, and a really quick cab ride to the pier the following morning :D .

 

Bon Voyage!

Chris

[kendon]

I booked the Diamond for February, also the MR itinerary. Let us know what you think. Princess is a nice line, enjoy.

[Psee]

Glad you got it right the first time! :cool:

 

As far as the first cruise, make sure you take in all the beauty of the sea (sunrises, sunsets, etc.). Just like many things in life the first time is the best.... :)

[sonomaphil]

Glad you got it right the first time! :cool:

 

As far as the first cruise, make sure you take in all the beauty of the sea (sunrises, sunsets, etc.). Just like many things in life the first time is the best.... :)

 

Thank you Psee, my wife and I agree that was a beautiful thought!

[NAS-KARR]

Welcome to Princess Phil....like your reasoning, it fits Princess. I have a strong hunch u'll like our line-up of ships and the PRINCESS shipmates.

 

Have a great cruise..

 

CIAO,

[hommebronze]

why we luv Princess

 

http://www.photoshow.net/watch/Pe4RU3AE

[willysgrandma]

I know I’ve made some generalizations here, but reading some people experiences it seems like they go into a cruise with unrealistic expectations. Relax, it’s a vacation! Find what works for you and enjoy! Keep in mind my first cruise is in 9 days! I reserve the right to change my opinion!

 

You are my kind of cruiser! A cruise is no different than any other vacation - there can be problems that crop up anywhere. If you are a person who can roll with the punches, you'll do just fine.

 

There are people who expect white glove service anywhere they go. It isn't going to happen on the majority of cruise ships, nor will it happen on many other vacations. If you want white glove service, you should go with Seaborne.

 

Any vacation experience is what you make of it. People that are not going to be happy no matter how far people go out of their way to accomodate them will find something to complain about no matter what they do, whether on vacation or eating at a restaurant in their hometown.

 

We had an awful cruise once where our rooms were over the disco. We laugh about it and learned after that to make sure we see what is above and below any rooms we booked on all future cruises. We could have let that ruin our vacation, but we actually laughed about and took naps during the day around the pool.

[fleeflicker]

I liked your post, it sounds good to me. In the past we have traveled on Carnival and will be trying our first Princess next May. I honestly don't want to sound negative and I sure don't think that I am better than anyone. However our group was on Carnival last year and to be honest it appeared to us that is was fastly going from Holiday Inn to Motel 6. Please don't take it the wrong way, as stated in an earlier post, everyone has different taste. We tried Celebrity last October and well lets just stay it was more our style. I hope this post doesn't offend anyone, because I certainly don't want to do that.. Happy sailing

[fleeflicker]

hommebronze, loved the video.. thanks for sharing

[cusyl]

why we luv Princess

 

http://www.photoshow.net/watch/Pe4RU3AE

 

Loved your photo show. That's why we love Princess too. You make a lovely couple.

[sonomaphil]

why we luv Princess

 

http://www.photoshow.net/watch/Pe4RU3AE

 

Very nice!

[mortysmama]

Homme...I loved the photoshow. I'm going to try to learn to do it myself. What a wonderful way to present your picture memories. Thank you for sharing.

 

Sonomaphil...I'm so glad you chose Princess for your first sailing experience. I'm sure you won't be disappointed. We'll be taking our 14th cruise in March, our 4th with Princess. Altho many of the ships we've sailed were beautiful and we had wonderful cruises Princess remains our all time favorite. Have a great vacation, but remember...you've been warned..."cruising is extremely addictive".

[Sandytoes]

I viewed the Photoshow on another thread sometime ago.... It was nice seeing it again....It says it all --

Why We Choose Princess....

 

I just wish I could do it more often.....But, between cruises I come here to read what others feel, experience, enjoy about Princess....

It's nice to know others feel the same why I do.....:)