Princess Left an impression

[M&MCruisin]

I have to say, as I am 3 months away from my NCL cruise, I keep thinking about my cruise on the Caribbean Princess this past May. Dont get me wrong, Im excited about my upcoming cruise, but I cant help but think...I wish I was on the new Crown. We loved our Princess cruise so much that I cant imagine how anything else will compare. I love everything about the Caribbean Princess. My room steward was amazing, the food was incredible and I just about lived at MUTS. Princess has made a big impression on us and we are sure to sail with them again....probably the new Crown! Happy sailing all!

[katier825]

Our 1st cruise was on NCL Sky (Now one of the ships in Hawaii). It was awesome! We had booked another cruise while onboard, but changed our minds once we saw pics of the Golden Princess. We gave a slight edge to Princess and just completed our 6th Princess cruise. Being platinum on Princess is great...preferred boarding (ahead of the rest of the line), free internet (that adds up quickly as connections are slow), etc.

 

I'd love to go on NCL again, but they haven't had an itinerary that fit my preferences. Since I live in FL, I don't want to fly to get the ship. They have limited cruises out of Miami now. Not much variety.

 

Have a great time!

[Psee]

Funny how Princess grows on you! :D

[Julia’s Journey’s]

We were on DCL docked in St.Thomas behind the Grand Princess and DH said that would be our next ship, we did 2 cruises on the Grand, loved them both, loved the anytime dining and everything about Princess, we have since cruised on the Diamond Princess 3 times and booked for a 30 day cruise on the SUN - Princess is our line of choice, we still cruise on DCL but they are much more $$

[Tatka]

CB has also impressed us so much, we are thinking about Crown out of NYC!!!

[Colo Cruiser]

It is not too late to change. :D

[Coral]

Hi,

 

When I was on Radiance - when in port, I kept looking over at the Princess ships and wished that I was on a Princess cruise.

 

So I know exactly what you mean.

 

Theresa

[the_dylaness]

Perhaps I should go back to an RCI ship to sense the difference? Honestly when we were on the Legend in January of '02 I had just as much (actually more) fun than on the CB this past December. I suspect that it had more to do with the itinerary (Aust/NZ) and the half-full ship than the cruise line, but I do remember missing a few RCI things whilst aboard the CB (ordering the dinner menu as room service w/o being in a suite-sweet!). That being said, the CB is a nicer ship and I definitely want to try MUTS on our upcoming Grand cruise (we never made it to MUTS on CB b/c we didn't like any of the movies that were playing.) Ahh, I guess I'll just have to keep cruising to compare!

[willysgrandma]

I am booked on an RCCL in September and then a Princess in 2008 and I can't wait to get back on Princess.

 

We have done an NCL and the service and ship didn't compare to Princess, but it is good to experience different cruise lines so you appreciate ones that go a little bit above and beyond.

 

We liked the Crown very much and would love to do another cruise on her in the future.

[cusyl]

It's really amazing that in 34 cruises I haven't been on a NCL ship. I don't know why, but will have to try one for sure. I haven't been all that faithful to any one line, other than Princess where I am Platinum and Cunard where I will be Platinum next year. I've been on RCL, it was wonderful..Celebrity and HAL were great too , Disney, Carnival plus many other odd assorted cruise lines. Maybe I will get lucky and win a NCL cruise :D

[seadrifter]

Our first cruise was on the Dawn Princess and we fell in love with cruising in general and Princess in particular. While onboard we booked a future cruise and that turned out to be our Panama Canal cruise on the Coral (loved the Coral and we will be on her in 2008 for a repositioning cruise). We just completed our third Princess cruise on the Crown and really enjoyed MUTS and the Piazza (Vines was great - we had sushi and wine flights there).

 

All that being said, we have also taken two cruises on Holland America and they were wonderful also. We cruised the Baltic during the summer of 2005 and the Mexican Riviera on the Oosterdam in January of 2006 (and were upgraded to a full suite - now that was really wonderful:D). HAL's staterooms are very nice.

 

Between all our great cruises on Princess and HAL, we really don't have the desire to try another cruise line (except maybe taking NCL out of Philadelphia to Bermuda - that has a lot of appeal - not having to fly to the ship).

 

Happy cruising everyone.

 

Virginia

[Clutterlady]

Took our first Princess cruise last year..........fell in love with Princess. Took a NCL cruise this year, nice cruise, but Freestyle is not for everyone!! ;)

[bickee]

I am having the exact same dilemna! My best cruise yet was our cruise last year on the CB...have a Christmas cruise on RCL and then another on RCL in Feb...and I can't stop pressuring my hubby about going on the Crown! Now I am SURE RCL will be great and hey...maybe I'll like them even better! But a secret little part of me wishes I was at the spa pool on the CB sipping a drink...

[geoherb]

We enjoy going on different cruise lines. As long as you don't keep reminding yourself about what you miss from Princess you should be able to have a good time.

[2boyzmom]

We were on the NCL Jewel last February and it was fantastic! Some things NCL had which I hear Princess does not offer are toiletries in your bathroom, free ice cream, great free lattes, priority tender tickets for mini suites. We loved the freestyle experience !

[M&MCruisin]

Thanks everyone! Glad to know others can relate. I am super glad to hear that NCL has free ice cream. That drove us nuts on Princess. Its was cheap for ice cream, but surprised I had to pay. See, if I try hard enough, I could find things I like and dislike about every ship. I think I will just stick to thinking my NCL cruise will be great and then book another Princess cruise too! Maybe even give RCCL a try as well. I AM HOOKED! Happy cruising everyone.

[Clutterlady]

We were on the NCL Jewel last February and it was fantastic! Some things NCL had which I hear Princess does not offer are toiletries in your bathroom, free ice cream, great free lattes, priority tender tickets for mini suites. We loved the freestyle experience !

 

We had free toiletries on the Golden compared to dispensers in the shower on NCL. Free ice cream was just ok, but very long lines for the free ice cream. I paid for my latte....should have looked for the freebies! Liked freestyle, but again.....certainly not for everyone!;)

[flarad]

I've never sailed Princess but we're booked on the Crown in March. Can't wait to experience it. We've sailed Carnival, NCL and Disney. We've found something we liked about each ship. Carnival was not for families as much as the others, at least that's what we found, too much adult partying and drunks. Disney quality was fabulous. NCL had the best rooms (minisuite) and lots of freebies. You're right, the coffee on the Jewel was really good and I had icecream with every meal. The kids, a teen and a tween, liked the kids programs on the Jewel the best. I think because it was spring break and very active. Disney children's areas are just too crowded. We found the Jewel to be the perfect size for us and we loved the flexibility of freestyle. But, part of the great thing about so many ships being out there is there's lots to experience and you can cruise until you find one that's perfect for you. We like to try them all.

[GoodAsGold]

I doubt if I will ever sail on an NCL ship again. I wasn't altogether pleased with our cruise on the NCL Star last year. As for the free ice cream...yuck. Long lines is right. And, then you end up with a small, mushy ice cream cone. The flavors weren't that great, either. Princess does have free ice cream in the Horizon Court in the late afternoon. They have sundae fixins', too. I made a delicious Blizzard.

Of course, my experiences don't necessarily reflect everyone else's who cruised these lines. :p

 

 

We had free toiletries on the Golden compared to dispensers in the shower on NCL. Free ice cream was just ok, but very long lines for the free ice cream. I paid for my latte....should have looked for the freebies! Liked freestyle, but again.....certainly not for everyone!;)

[dforeigner]

Thanks everyone! Glad to know others can relate. I am super glad to hear that NCL has free ice cream. That drove us nuts on Princess. Its was cheap for ice cream, but surprised I had to pay. See, if I try hard enough, I could find things I like and dislike about every ship. I think I will just stick to thinking my NCL cruise will be great and then book another Princess cruise too! Maybe even give RCCL a try as well. I AM HOOKED! Happy cruising everyone.

 

FYI: Princess does offer free ice cream on a daily basis for about one hour. It is not openly advertised and it is not the cheap soft ice cream either. If I recall correctly, you can find it in the restaurant where they have the buffet, on the side of the restaurant where there is no buffet after lunch time.

[mii]

I really understand just what you mean. I have seven Princess cruises under my belt and thought I would also try another line of which I did because of the itineries. After doing 2 cruises on the other line and have one next May, we have decided that Princess is for us so will be going back next Nov. on her. While there was nothing wrong with our Celebrity cruises we just feel like we are back home with Princess. So enjoy yourself on NCL and then you can come back to Princess.

 

Marilyn

[M&MCruisin]

The funny thing is, we were all set for a Princess cruise in 2007. I had it all planned out and was ready to book, but then we decided on a big family cruise and when you have 8 people with opinions, PHEW! So I will surely enjoy the NCL cruise and DEFINITELY book another Princess cruise. I might be stuck on the boats with MUTS though...it was the best!

 

All...Thanks for the tips on the free ice cream on Princess. Ill check it out next time.

 

Happy sailing everyone.

[DrivesLikeMario]

NCL does have some good points too. Their pizza is much, much better than Princess' IMO, they have nicer, bigger suites with better suite perks, cappuchino machines in the cabins, a wide array of dining choices and the private pool on the newer ships is wonderful.

 

Go with an open mind and think about the positives that NCL has and appreciate those things. Try not to compare the two lines, but respect each cruise for what it is. :)

[2boyzmom]

We are going on our first Princess Cruise in 2 months and am so excited about trying a different cruise line! I love change and surprises. I can't wait to see MUTS and expierence all the positives Princess has to offer :)

[smoothdancer]

I felt the exact same way while we were getting close to sailing NCL this past summer. I chose NCL because we could drive to the port and a desire to go to Bermuda. I must tell you we had a very good time and I was not at all dissappointed with the line.

 

If I were to pick something I did not like it was the buffet. It was not that I did not like the food, but when it was available. The buffets were only available for certain hours and you had to pay attention and read your dailies for when it was open or you would miss it. I seem to eat in off hours and it did not work well for me. We sailed the Crown, a small ship and I think this was why the buffet had certain hours. They used public rooms for multiple purposes... But really, this was my only disappointment.

 

Here is a link to our NCL picture review that might get you excited!.. We were in the owners suite which was wonderful! We sail the Golden in 2 weeks and I will try not to compare the two experiences.(hard to do)

 

http://www.justcruisin-sv.com