Princess VS RCCL

[Cokeman1959]

:confused: Hello, and thank you in advance to whoever takes the time to help me with my question. My family and I are happy Princess cruisers who are considering Royal Carribean for the Mexican Riviera in 2008. Princess only goes there in the spring, and we are probably looking for a summer trip. Anyway, if anyone has sailed both lines, and can help me with the pros and cons of these two lines in comparison to each other, it would be greatly appreciated.

[dclark]

I just did Princess last week. I have done RCL as well as CCL a lot.I would never do RCL down there.

Princess has the best quality food and service.

CCL has good food and the Pride is a nice ship, among the finest in the fleet.

RCL is really down there. If you like frozen pizza, do RCL, if you like it fresh, do CCL. There are lots of areas where CCL is clearly better. If you think RCL is going to be better than CCL, you must be thinking of the quality of cruise they used to give back in the eighties, when they had nightly crab cocktails,real lobster and other things.

So, you really should be comparing Princess to CCL. Princess has more staff to cruisers for better service,they make their own breads and pasta and really has a classy feel. CCL has more activities to do, a water slide and might have better entertainment. Although I have taken a rest from CCL, I have always wanted to go on the Pride. I have family that have been on the Spirit and pride and that class of ship is CCL's best; it is well designed and has more space per passenger than their other ships (like the Detiny and Conquest class) and probably better than RCL ship (isn't it the Vision that goes down to Mexico?).

One more thing to think about- I have done MR twice in the middle of summer and in the fall. You can count on your first and last sea days being cold! So, check out the ships and reviews and see if there non pool activities might keep you out of your cabin and entertained.

If you are not a pasta fan or like to eat seafood, then you won't be able to appreciate some of Princesses finest offerings. If you are sensitive to certain topics, you won't appreciate one of CCL's biggest draws- late night adult comedy comedians. The likes and dislikes of your family will determine which is best for you. Also, the people on the CCL California cruises tend to be uh, a bit better than those elsewhere. Expect a lot less smokers and more reserved, almost as good as the Princess cruisers!

[RANDIE]

Hi

We were also on the Golden 12/23 with you, As well as we were on the CCL Pride August 2006 from San Pedro to the Mexican Rivera. This was my 3rd Princess cruise, as well as one on RCL and one on NCL.

We all enjoyed the Pride the most. The food-the dining room entertainment-assigned seating-no waiting in line. Although on the Golden after 4 nights of inpersonal wait staff service-we finally found a waiter we liked on night 5 and made a reservation at 8:00 for night 6 & 7, but came at 7:30. It made the dining experience 100% better. On the 3rd night I actually asked the hostess for a nice waiter and not to be seated by the trash station, as we had abrupt waiters previous.

Carnival just has a fun enviroment. I always though of it as inferior-but proved ourselves wrong in August. The adult comedy show was good as well as that led us to an adult hypnotist show. It didn't start until 1:00 am and lasted until 3:00 (way past my bed time) but it was great. Carnival also didn't charge for ice cream and had several juices all day long at the buffet. RCL for us was also nice. NCL we were on ald ship out of Charleston SC. I love being aroung people from all over, but 80% of the people on this ship were from VA to SC only. the food was actually bad. One night a menu item was Mac/ Cheese with meatballs. The always availabe menu was Baked Chicken-Grilled vegatables and Baked Potato. EVERY NIGHT. We ate in the upgraded dining room 2 times which was wonderful, but I don't feel you should have to pay extra to get decent food. Disney was so long ago, I forget.

Does anyone know about Verizon cell phone service in the Cancun area? We had service in & out in Jamacia and only incoming in Cozumel. I was dialing 001-area code & number as Verizon told me to do prior to leaving. Now, Verizon said I didn't have international service. So I asked when Jamicia became part of the US?

Thanks

Randie

[vmom]

Hi

We were also on the Golden 12/23 with you, As well as we were on the CCL Pride August 2006 from San Pedro to the Mexican Rivera. This was my 3rd Princess cruise, as well as one on RCL and one on NCL.

 

We all enjoyed the Pride the most. The food-the dining room entertainment-assigned seating-no waiting in line. Although on the Golden after 4 nights of inpersonal wait staff service-we finally found a waiter we liked on night 5 and made a reservation at 8:00 for night 6 & 7, but came at 7:30. It made the dining experience 100% better. On the 3rd night I actually asked the hostess for a nice waiter and not to be seated by the trash station, as we had abrupt waiters previous.

 

Carnival just has a fun enviroment. I always though of it as inferior-but proved ourselves wrong in August. The adult comedy show was good as well as that led us to an adult hypnotist show. It didn't start until 1:00 am and lasted until 3:00 (way past my bed time) but it was great. Carnival also didn't charge for ice cream and had several juices all day long at the buffet. RCL for us was also nice. NCL we were on ald ship out of Charleston SC. I love being aroung people from all over, but 80% of the people on this ship were from VA to SC only. the food was actually bad. One night a menu item was Mac/ Cheese with meatballs. The always availabe menu was Baked Chicken-Grilled vegatables and Baked Potato. EVERY NIGHT. We ate in the upgraded dining room 2 times which was wonderful, but I don't feel you should have to pay extra to get decent food. Disney was so long ago, I forget.

 

Does anyone know about Verizon cell phone service in the Cancun area? We had service in & out in Jamacia and only incoming in Cozumel. I was dialing 001-area code & number as Verizon told me to do prior to leaving. Now, Verizon said I didn't have international service. So I asked when Jamicia became part of the US?

Thanks

Randie

 

Randi

Just a suggestion, but you may want to re-adjust you type settings. The print is so small I struggled to read it.

[Travel agent Jen]

What type of things do you like to do at home? Do you work alot, do you work out daily, do you....?

Another is what types of hotels are you used to staying at when you go on vacation?

Are you a beach person, are you a sungoddess, are you a history buff or do you just want to do it all?

 

These 3 questions...I can tell you what cruise line is good for you.

 

I think that the posts above are great...but not every cruise line fits every person. I am not going to put a honeymoon couple that likes to party on a Holland America ship! You see what I mean...

 

Different strokes for different folks....It makes a difference which ship/Cruise line you are on!

[SharC]

We have done the Mexican Rivera on both Princess and RCL. We enjoyed both. Princess has better wine prices if that interests you. I like the food on Princess better but my husband likes RCL better. One of the cruises, RCL I think, has a long day in Puerto Vallarta which is really nice. We had a wonderful dinner at a great restaurant there. One of the cruises also only have a very short time in Cabo. I think I would just choose by schedule and price and you would not be disappointed.

[dclark]

My kids loved the pizza and incream/frozen yogurt on CCL, along with a lot of other things, like their nice beds and robes. However, I have to add that my kids, ages 13/14 liked Princess best of all. There were things they missed about CCL, but some things that Princess had CCL didn't.

The only night the dining room is uh, less than ideal is the night they have beef wellington (long time CCL cruisers know what I am talking about here!). On that night, when we were on the Conquest class ships, we ate at the supper club and wow, it is really good (Pride also has one). I thought the food on Princess was better than on CCL, but CCL supper club is the best of all.

CCL also has late night parties. You should have a late night party leaving one of your mexican ports on the pool deck. The music, dancing and heat/humidity really feels good.

Compared to CCL, Princess can be downright boring. But hey, I can appreciate that! One word to describe CCL is loud. Dining rooms are loud, especially with the dancing, poolside can be loud, especially if they have a dj spinng rap records.

[wblynch]

We have sailed the Mexican Riviera on RCCL's Vision and HAL's Oosterdam.

 

Both were great cruises but the Vision is a beautiful ship with a great crew and lots of great live music all over the ship. Food was wonderful and the dining room has huge glass walls with great views.

 

All the public areas on Vision have huge windows, even the Schooner bar which most RCCL sailors consider a favorite hangout.

 

We haven't sailed Princess but whoever is disparaging the Vision probably has never sailed her.

 

Good luck with your decision and have a wonderful cruise whichever ship you take.

[critterchick]

If you're looking for a summer cruise, then CCL is your only option for a full week. Vision sails Alaska in the summer months.

 

But as far as comparisons go, we prefer RCI to Princess by the merest of whiskers. There are some exceptions to each preference posted below, but in general:

 

1. RCI has better service

2. RCI has the better buffet, food and layout-wise

3. RCI has better dining room food and superior specialty restaurants (none on Vision)

4. Princess has the better pizza, no comparison

5. RCI usually has the better pier in San Pedro, for embarkation purposes. They both can be challenging at disembarkation.

6. Productions shows seem to be the same; Princess has better lounge musicians

7. It used to be that Princess had fewer annoying announcements for bingo, art auctions, etc., but our last few cruises on RCI have seen way fewer such intrusions, so perhaps they got the hint.

8. The loyalty programs offer different perks at the Platinum & up level - RCI gives discounts on balcony & up sailings; concierge lounge for Diamond (no lounge on Vision yet), better coupon book. Princess gives free Internet, laundry (Elite)

9. Princess has fresh water swimming pools; RCI's are salt (ugh)

10. Both have spas run by Steiner (double ugh)

11. RCI is installing new bedding in all cabins (Vision has it already), Princess only in minisuites and higher.

12. RCI has a greatly overpriced wine list, although the offerings have improved somewhat in the last year. Princess has more reasonable prices, but I haven't had enough of their wines to comment on the entire list.

Suffice it to say that we've never been thirsty on either line!

13. Princess allows you to openly bring wine & champagne onboard (although they may now limit the amount). RCI forces you to be creative.

 

That's all I can think of for now.

[Tak8]

I like them both, but I like Princess a little bit more.

Princess: 24 hour pools and freshwater, overall dining room food, slightly better service, paddle tennis, Sabatini's

Royal: ice skating rink, rock climbing wall, buffet, Southern Caribbean route every summer

[TexasMom2]

There is a possibility that summer RCI 2008 sailings to the Mexican Riviera will feature a Radiance class instead of Vision class. The Liberty debuts this May and they are going to be shuffling things around. At any rate, those schedules will come out in April/May and you'll have a better idea what the choices will be.

[dclark]

CCL is better than RCL and Princess is better still. Rather than just say it, I'll give examples. My last RCL cruise was on the Explorer of the seas.

1) CCL has 24hr freshly made pizza, RCL had frozen. CCL would make hamburgers on the pool deck as people wanted them, RCL cooked them ahead of time and let them sit in a heated pan. CCL has a deli that makes sandwiches to order, RCL has them premade turkey finger sandwiches. CCL offered a real lobster tail, RCL has langostino type small one, none on 3/4 day cruises. CCL has free espresso/capuchino in dining room, RCL doesn't. CCL has soft serve icecream or frozen yogurt, RCL has some sort of frozen thing.CCL also spends more on food per passenger than RCL.

2)Rooms- CCL bigger, beds are so comfy that they sell them on the 'net.

3) Captains party CCL gives you a choice of cocktails or will even make anything that you want. RCL only gives cheap champagne.

There are many other areas where CCL kicks over RCL, but this is a start. The RCL of today is nothing like the RCL of the 70's/80's, nor is CCL like the CCL of the 70/80's. The difference is that RCL has been cutting corners and sliding downward, and CCL has actually improved (although I still miss the rum swizzle parties and baked alaska that CCL still has in the late 90's).

[LUCY55]

Went on the Carnival Valor expecting to be disappointed and wasn't. It was a great trip. If you take Royal Caribbean go on a Voyager class so you can see the ice show--it was fantastic. We took the Voyager to Canada and was a downer because of all the fog. It didn't seem right for a cruise. I think the entertainment (evening shows) were very good on the Voyager and on the Valor and can't remember the shows on the Golden Princess. Maybe Princess is a little classier, but sure had fun on RCCL and Carnival.

[RANDIE]

V MOM

I am sorry and very confused. When I post i use Cosmic sands font and change it blue size 2. It always looks so big to me. I wonder if everything I posted is tiny.

 

I will change font below to what I use and this is the default.

PLease email & let me know

Thank you

Randie

Randie4620@aol.com

 

 

This is the font I use in all my postings