Help -- RCL or Princess

[granite-stater]

I would very much appreciate any help or thoughts that anyone might offer me on this issue. I am a first time cruiser and, I must say, all of the information out there can make your head spin. (Not to mention that I am a little nervous about cooping myself up on a cruise ship, having never done it before).

 

I am a 47 y/o Dad taking my daughter on a cruise for her Senior year present. She's 17, although she will turn 18 on the cruise. I have narrowed it down to two possible choices which, itself, was difficult, but making the last choice seems almost impossible with all of the information out there. Sooo . . . I was hoping for some personal insights.

 

The two cruises are the RCL Mariner on March 11, or the Caribbean Princess on the same day. At present, I am leaning towards Princess because, I have heard:

 

(1) RCL doesn't do as good a job of managing the crowds as Princess;

 

(2) A number of postings have suggested a decline in RCL service (cost-cutting) in the last year;

 

(3) The activities on Princess, while not quite as good as RCL (rock-climbing wall), look pretty suitable (like Movies Under the Stars, for example);

 

(4) The itinerary, Eastern as opposed to Western Caribbean, I am told is better and less likely to be affected byweather in March;

 

(5) I was told that the Princess food, service and cabins are better than RCL.

 

My only concerns about Princess are:

 

(A) Will the group be suitable for a younger girl? My daughter is cool about hanging with me, but I am sure she'll want some kids her own age too. From what 've read, Princess caters to a slightly older crowd, but other reviewers have noted that, this being Spring Break week, there will be no shortage of teenagers in tow with parents;

 

(B) The itinerary, because of distance, cuts out one port of call and your entire first two days are at sea. Again, maybe not a big deal if the ship has lots to do, and also kind of a wash if, on the Western side, you'd lose a day to weather potentially, but it does case me some thought.

 

I would really appreciate any help anyone sees fit to offer.

[isujim]

I have been on both..........both provide a nice cruise experience....

 

Personally, I found the service on RC above and beyond Princess.

 

I found Movies Under the Stars very Annoying..especially at 9am when we were on the cruise.......

 

I will give Princess credit their food was better........although not by much, but it was better

 

The specialty restaurants on RC were twice as good as what you find on Princess.

 

Having said all this, this is very subjective..........JMO.........and as I said to begin with, you can't go wrong with either.........but I prefer RC.

 

What is the source of "what you have heard"?..........that could make a difference as well.

 

Good luck with your choice.

[TexasMom2]

I also agree that the Mariner may be the best choice. Princess is nice, but for teens, RCI wins hands down.

 

The space ratio per passenger is greater on the Mariner. The Caribbean Princess added 500 passengers and a deck of cabins onto the Grand platform, but didn't add any extra public space. Some reviewers claim it's more crowded than Grand class, others say it doesn't make a difference.

 

The cabins will be similar but the RCI's are better laid out, IMO, and have a shower door vs. the icky shower curtain on Princess. The food and entertainment are similar, but the biggest difference will be the programs for your daughter.

 

To expand on movies under the stars, there are a few other pools you can go to if you don't like the noise during the day. We watched a movie on the Grand after a shore excursion but never made it at night when the screen is clearer.

 

My teen son loved the Adventure and we wouldn't consider taking him on a cruise again unless it was Voyager-class. Your daughter will have great memories with her Dad, though, whatever you choose. Good luck!

[vmom]

We've been on both the Carribean Princess and the Navigator, which is sister ship to the Mariner.

 

Both times we went with our 3 daughters, ages mid teen through early 20's and they had a great time on both ships. It would be hard to decide which they liked more. We found the activities simialar on both. Princess had a comedian in the Explorer's lounge every night that they enjoyed in addition to the show in the Princess theater, but RCCL had something along the line of the American Idol which we attended and they really enjoyed. I found service and food to be similar. During the day on the Princess ship they had country line dancing lessons and ballroom dancing lessons where we learned salsa and the tango. All 5 of us had a ball with the lessons.

 

The Carribean Princess attracts a younger crowd than some of the other Princess ships and I did not notice any major difference in age demographics between the Carribean Princess and Navigator, except that the Carribean Princess did not seem to have as many younger families...families with little kids. We travelled the Navigator in March and the Carribean Princess in August. My main concern is that the RCCL ship may attract more little -mid range age kids than Princess. I think Princess does a better job in enforcing the rules when kids mis behave. RCCL tends to just look the other way.

 

Rooms on both were simialar. One had this, the other had that, it was a wash.

 

RE: eastern vs western carribean- We've been in the Western Carribean in March and the weather was perfect. They tend to have their rain in the fall, usually ending in November, so I don't think weather should be an issue in either case. Snorkeling is better in the Western Carribean.

[vmom]

double post

[cruiseky]

After 5 cruises with RCCL(3 of them on Voyager Class Ships), we decided to sailed on the Caribbean Princess for a change of pace. We wanted to have something to compare our RCCL experiences to.

 

 

These were our observations:

 

The first thing that we noticed when we were checking-in at the Caribbean Princess cruise terminal, was how much older the passengers were, than on any of our previous cruises.

 

We liked the layout of the Mariner much better than the Caribbean Princess. When you step onto the Mariner, you can't help but be "wowed".The Mariner is much more open and the public areas are larger. The Caribbean Princess is very closed-in. The sports deck on the Caribbean Princess doesn't even come close to the sports deck on the Mariner. As soon as my 14 year old son saw the sports deck on Princess, he turned to me and said, "That's no sports deck!".

 

We thought that the cabins were similar in size and layout.

 

The service was slightly better on our RCCL cruises.

 

We liked the food selection and quality better on RCCL.(remember, this is only my opinion)

 

Princess did a good job of keeping the kids out of the adult-only area, but there were not near as many kids for them to deal with.

 

Princess started recycling there activities about half way through the cruise. We much prefered the activities on the Mariner. The one thing that Princess had that we wished RCCL had was the MUTS, which we really enjoyed.

 

As far as itineraries, there are good and bad ports on both sides of the Caribbean. We personally love St. Thomas and St. Maarten on the Eastern side and Grand Cayman and Cozumel on the Western side. (If you go to Grand Cayman, you have to swim with the Stingrays)

 

Over all we enjoyed our Princess cruise, just not as much as our RCCL cruises.

[LLindaC]

Hi there! We sailed 5 times on Eagle class ships, Mariner twice. Last year, we tried the Caribbean Princess. While it was nice, it didn't compare to the Mariner.

!. Entertainment often held in smaller venues and if you didn't get ther 45 min early you couldn't get a seat

2. While waiting for shows, you just sat. RCCL had cruise comics who kept you entartained

3. The Promenade was a great spot to sit, have a drink, meet people...very nice

4. The movie thing was fun, but not that big of a draw. My kids enjoyed daily movies in the thatre on the Voyager!

5. Much better sports facilities

6. Loved the "wow" factor, too...I love the art on the Mariner. I thought the CP was rather dull...all that wood. (this doesn't make it a bad cruise, though)

7. Shows, production....especially the fabulous ice show...just all around better on RCCL.

8. Princess got very crowded at times, especially coming from the pool deck and piano bar area. Much better design on Mariner.

 

I thought the food was about the same, the Windjammer buffet was LOTS easier to navigate than Princess. (who designed THAT?) I also like the Jade option at the buffet.

 

Your kids will love the Mariner!