Carnival or Princess

[IflyWithDi]

Why Carnival instead of Princess?Just looking for other peoples opinion.

[mrdood]

Price!

[toz]

I am definitely not an expert on this subject, but I can relate my personal experience. I sailed on the Carnival Miracle in May,2006; then on the Caribbean Princess, in August, 2006. The food, service, etc was superior on the Miracle. I did not care for anytime dining on Princess (although I thought that I would, prior to the cruise). The food on the CB was overly sauced and too salty...fine dining is important to me. The CB was a beautiful ship, but the food and service left much to be desired(even the specialty restaurants were so-so). The service on the Miracle was excellent; we mingled with some of the senior officers...they were very professional and friendly. I would not hesitate to cruise on the Miracle again; I'd have to get a "steal" to board the CB another time. As far as staterooms are concerned, I had a balcony cabin on Miracle, and a Mini-suite on the CB: both accommodations were very nice. You might find this hard to believe, I paid a lot less for the mini-suite on the CB than for the balcony on Miracle...we got a great , special deal on CB, but booked the Miracle at the last minute. If you're not registered at the Princess web-sit, try doing so--they might offer you a special new-comer's deal , I think that's what happened in my case. Good luck.

[JLC@SD]

Why Carnival instead of Princess?Just looking for other peoples opinion.

Post Deleted

[kdrosend]

Princess all the way. I have been on Celebrity Zenith, Star Princess, Royal caribbean's explorer of the seas & Carnival Valor. Considering everything princess is my favorite. Just a whole different type of people than on Carnival. They each have their own strong points, but all in all Princess is the best.

[truecruiser]

Princess all the way. I have been on Celebrity Zenith, Star Princess, Royal caribbean's explorer of the seas & Carnival Valor. Considering everything princess is my favorite. Just a whole different type of people than on Carnival. They each have their own strong points, but all in all Princess is the best.

 

huh?:confused: Not sure what you mean by that. What happened on the Valor to cause you to make that statement?

[serene56]

huh?:confused: Not sure what you mean by that. What happened on the Valor to cause you to make that statement?

 

This opinion I have is based on reading Princess boards. I am heading out on my first Princess come February--

 

Peopl eon a princess cruise are more laid back and the ship folds up their carpets early...unlike Carnival where you can find something to do all all hours.

 

My Princess cruise cost just as must as a carnival cruise- I want to try anytime dining instead of being tied to my dinner schedule. I still get the same menu as traditional dining but can go to 2 different rooms to eat that menu-- or go to 2 specialty places which cost extra// (go to both places for what carnival charges for the 1 supper club)

 

Princess has a seafood buffet the first night where i can eat crab legs, lobster shrimp etc. On carnival I have to wait for formal night to experice the lobster.

 

Carnival has free ice cream 24 hoiurs a day- Princess has free ice cream 1 hour each day--except for the dining room where you can get it free as a dessert.

Pizza is better on carnival.

 

PS-- you will get different replies based on where you posted your question. If you post this on Princess more people there will tell you that Princess is a better choice.

[truecruiser]

This opinion I have is based on reading Princess boards. I am heading out on my first Princess come February--

 

Peopl eon a princess cruise are more laid back and the ship folds up their carpets early...unlike Carnival where you can find something to do all all hours.

 

My Princess cruise cost just as must as a carnival cruise- I want to try anytime dining instead of being tied to my dinner schedule. I still get the same menu as traditional dining but can go to 2 different rooms to eat that menu-- or go to 2 specialty places which cost extra// (go to both places for what carnival charges for the 1 supper club)

 

Princess has a seafood buffet the first night where i can eat crab legs, lobster shrimp etc. On carnival I have to wait for formal night to experice the lobster.

 

Carnival has free ice cream 24 hoiurs a day- Princess has free ice cream 1 hour each day--except for the dining room where you can get it free as a dessert.

Pizza is better on carnival.

 

PS-- you will get different replies based on where you posted your question. If you post this on Princess more people there will tell you that Princess is a better choice.

 

i was asking kdrosend why s/he made that statement. looks like s/he has only been on one carnival cruise -- the valor -- and it was fairly recent. so, what happened on that cruise to cause that opinion?

[Cruzman]

I think that the implication is that , at least in his/her opinion, Carnival folks are rednecks, and Princess folks are sophisticates.

[L2J]

I still get the same menu as traditional dining but can go to 2 different rooms to eat that menu--

 

When I was on her last year we were assigend to the Palm dining room based on our cabin location. Have they changed - allowing folks to choose which anytime dining room they want to go to?

[CruzVinnieCruz]

We were on Princess and I will say the atmosphere is different than on Carnival. I did not care for it much at all. My DW loved the room and she will say it was one of her favorite cruises. I found the food was so so and still consider Carnivals food better than most other lines. If you like going to bed early that was the cruise to do it. Anytime dining is not what it is cracked up to be but we selected the traditional dining and from all the complaining from other passengers we were glad we did. Any time dining is a good idea but when you hundreds of passengers showing up for anytime dining at the same time, well it looks like self disembarking (another fine idea on paper).

[serene56]

When I was on her last year we were assigend to the Palm dining room based on our cabin location. Have they changed - allowing folks to choose which anytime dining room they want to go to?

 

I guess- We have the option of going to the Palm or the Coral dining rooms. Both start seating at 5:30 and last one in at 10pm.

What I dont understand is they take reservations for anytime dining rooms. To me that kind of defeats the purpose of anytime dining.

The traditional dining room is the Island dining which has two dining times 6:00pm or 8:15 dining.

 

Did you have anytime dining and had to go to one place all week??

[L2J]

What I dont understand is they take reservations for anytime dining rooms. To me that kind of defeats the purpose of anytime dining.

 

Did you have anytime dining and had to go to one place all week??

 

It is kind of odd isn't it, and yes I did make a reservation. I kind of like the idea myself becuase if you have a busy day in port, it gives you a chance for a little nap before dinner.

 

Yes we were limited to the Palm but I think we only ate in the dining room a couple of times. We had the lobster buffet although I don't remember if it was the first night or the second (Princess Cay was the first stop) but trust me if it is offered on your cruise don't miss it :D

[truecruiser]

I think that the implication is that , at least in his/her opinion, Carnival folks are rednecks, and Princess folks are sophisticates.

 

that's what the post seems to say to me too. Hmmm, how can one post that kind of remark here and not expect it to be questioned. :rolleyes:

[serene56]

It is kind of odd isn't it, and yes I did make a reservation. I kind of like the idea myself becuase if you have a busy day in port, it gives you a chance for a little nap before dinner.

 

Yes we were limited to the Palm but I think we only ate in the dining room a couple of times. We had the lobster buffet although I don't remember if it was the first night or the second (Princess Cay was the first stop) but trust me if it is offered on your cruise don't miss it :D

 

First night is cold buffet-- the second night is hot.. (I hate to think they jsut heat up last nights leftovers to make it the hot buffet.

 

Princess Cay is our last stop on Sat before we get off on Sunday- First time ever being in a port and have to pack up to get off.

 

Did you make reservations for that whole week or just one night?

[L2J]

First night is cold buffet-- the second night is hot.. (I hate to think they jsut heat up last nights leftovers to make it the hot buffet.

 

Princess Cay is our last stop on Sat before we get off on Sunday- First time ever being in a port and have to pack up to get off.

 

Did you make reservations for that whole week or just one night?

 

I think it must have been the second night. Sitting here thinking about it, I just remembered we almost missed sailaway (had to take a nap)

 

I think we initially made them for the entire week with the exception of formal night (supposed to have had the ultimate balcony dinner - but that's a different story LOL) and even managed to get a two-top but cancelled them if we didn't need it.

[S.S.Oceanlover]

It is kind of odd isn't it, and yes I did make a reservation. I kind of like the idea myself becuase if you have a busy day in port, it gives you a chance for a little nap before dinner.

 

Yes we were limited to the Palm but I think we only ate in the dining room a couple of times. We had the lobster buffet although I don't remember if it was the first night or the second (Princess Cay was the first stop) but trust me if it is offered on your cruise don't miss it :D

 

That's a first for me. Having anytime dining and they wouldn't let you eat in one of the anytime dining rooms?:confused:

 

Bill

[L2J]

That's a first for me. Having anytime dining and they wouldn't let you eat in one of the anytime dining rooms?:confused:

 

Bill

 

Correct. We were assigned to a specific dining room based on cabin location.

[mosel]

As you can see from our siqnature we have been on many Carnival cruises and 1 Princess. The Caribbean Princess. Actually we did not find a major difference between the two. There were things that Princess did we liked better than Carnival and there were things that we really missed when we were on Princess. As for the Anytime dining, we did not do that because we had a large group and we noticed that the larger the group the longer the wait. It would be nice to just pick what time you wanted to eat and go get a table but we di not see that happening, you pick what time to eat and then go wait for a table. With our traditional dining we knew when we went to dinner that we were going to eat when we got to the dining room. Worked much better for us. In the end for price ( especially Carnival's military discount) and what you got we still pick Carnival as the overall better cruise for us. We have been considering RCCL or Celebrity but it is really hard to pay the extra money when we are happy right now with Carnival. Cindy

[cruisin4fun323]

RED NECK where do you get off saying that????? Personally, I would not cruise Princess again if I were given a free suite. There were so many Jazzy Scooters on that cruise you could not move!! Cruises have all types of people from many different origins. Thats what makes it fun. As far as service I would have to say Carnival employees are much better at making people happy. We have never left a Carnival cruise without feeling like the staff, i.e. cabin staff, dinner staff, bar staff, casino staff, tour staff have not made our experience memorable. We decided to go on Princess in January of this year to experience the "Love Boat" well it was not what we expected. The staff is not greeting you on the deck with drinks, no pillow animals, (lets face it they do make you smile before bed), no menu on the TV to check out dinner for the evening, they do not come get you in your cabin for the Muster Station drill, (as 4 of the balcony cabins on my floor were all outside on the balcony talking), they definately don't know how to make a Bahama Mama their version is (Pina Colada) if you take it back they will argue with you that they are right, anytime dining not good in my opinion they put the training waiters in there and you don't always get the same one every night therefore its not as personal, the big TV on deck is great but you have to get there early for a seat. Not much action during the days on ship. Carnival has someone on speakers telling you about all the action. I could go on and on but everyone has their preferences and there is a little redneck in all of us. So cruise and have some fun and don't worry about your neighbor and if their neck is red if it weren't for the differences in people who would we have to watch. I will wait another 20 years when I am 60 and will probably love Princess. But for now I must party with CARNIVAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Booked Feb 3rd on the Triumph (I hope they are able to get the SUPERBOWL)

:D ;) :rolleyes:

[ppeckham]

Keeping to the facts, I've found these differences after 4 Carnival cruises and 1 Princess cruise.

 

1. Carnival has soft serve ice cream 24 hours a day. Princess has hand dipped at the buffet during a couple hours in the afternoon. Princess had hand-dipped available for a small fee. A 16 oz chocolate shake was $3, if memory serves.

2. Carnival has salt-water pools. Princess has fresh water pools.

3. Carnival's standard balcony cabins were larger than the standard balcony cabin on Princess. Carnival had a little more storage for clothing.

4. The Princess Lounge on the Grand had no seats with obstructed views. In each of the 4 main lounges I've seen on Carnival, pillars were in the way of some seats.

5. Princess had a few more instructive sessions - ceramics, computer classes, napkin folding. Some were an additional fee of $10.

6. My 16-year-old son preferred Carnival's pizza over Princess's pizza. (Okay, an opinion but he seems to be an expert in pizza based upon how often he eats it.)

7. Princess has the anytime dining. This works well for a small group. Larger groups have trouble getting seated even with reservations. We were able to eat in either one of the anytime dining rooms, just not the traditional dining.

 

As far as the passengers on both cruiselines, I saw the same type of people. Families, young couples, older couples, singles. Average Joes and Janes.

 

Both cruise lines are terrific. It's a vacation where you are pampered - no cooking, no washing dishes, no making beds, constantly being entertained.

 

P.S. On Princess we were directed to our cabin by multiple people as we boarded. Didn't have to search for it and the elevator like we did on Carnival. Plus our Princess cabin steward carefully explained the muster drill procedures well before the actual drill. We met in a lounge to review the muster requirements instead of having to go out on deck and be squished like sardines as we tried to listen to the instructions. (Some people really should use deoderant daily.)

[steve777]

Been on five princess cruises, planning a trip on the Carnival Liberty in May.I like anytime dining, we did it at quarter to six so we wouldnt have to wait in line. True, princess and thier sophisticated crowd, plus my daughter said she never saw so many old people in her life. Hopefully at 46 I will be the old people on the Carnival Liberty. Steve

[TCF]

Old people. Young people. Fat people. Skinny people. Well behaved kids. Nasty little buggars! Good food. Bad food. Rude people. Pleasant people. Carnival ships. Princess ships.

I never could understand folks trying to compare cruises based on such superficial criteria. It just makes no sense to me!:(

On Carnival we met some fun people and some rude people...the fun people helped make the cruise better. The rude people we forgot quite quickly. Were all the meals good...no. Were most of them good...yes. Did we get good service from every member of the crew for seven days....no. Did we get good service from most of the crew for seven days...yes. Did we get our money's worth....absolutely. Would we cruise carnival again...of course we would. But next April we're going to give Princess a try. Why? Because we can!:D

If you need to compare cruise lines by all means do so! But 200 lbs packed into spandex looks just as scary on Carnival as it does on Princess!!!:eek:

Compare by price, itinerary, cleanliness, cabin size, food and service. Those are what you pay your money for! All the rest is personal likes and dislikes. To each their own!!! (I apologize to those who think 200lbs packed into spandex is attractive!:D )

Tom:)