PCL & RCCL for those who have sailed both

[sunshineminnie]

Hi there! I am new to these boards and SOOOOOO confused. I was hoping to get some opinions from those who have sailed both RCCL and PCL. My only cruising experience was on Disney with my family. (I'll post my quetions on both boards.)

 

My best friend from high school and I are celebrating our 40th birthdays together. Although our budget is limited, we are trying to do it right as it may be our one and only cruise together.

 

Right now I have it narrowed down to two choices. Price is within dollars of eachother for the initial cruise. Both with balconies. The Princess Grand 7 days and the Mariner of the Seas. The itineraries are very similar except RCCL goes to Haiti and PCL goes to their private island.

 

We are looking for a fun, relaxing vacation. We will be going on dives two days. We are not as much night life kind of gals as we are sports, action. We can't wait for some spa pampering. We would enjoy seeing some good shows but can pass on the bar/casino scene. (Although we'll do a little dancing and a little gambling!)

 

I am not much of a crowd person and can certainly see myself hanging out on my balcony and watching the sea go by.

 

We love to try new foods and restraunts and can't wait for the great food!

 

So, my questions. Which rooms/balconies are better. Which port is better? Once on the ship, is one ship more expensive for the extras (shore excursions, drinks, spa and such.) Which ship do you think would offer us newly 40 year old gals the most fun, relaxing vacation with great food?

 

Thanks in advance for all of your help!:)

[mringenoldus]

The experiences would be quite comparable in almost all areas. When I first read your post, I initially thought Mariner as she receives high praise. I booked my friend in an aft cabin last June and she loved it. I have been on a girlfriend trip on the Voyager amd a family trip on the Adventure of the Seas. These ships provide a great deal of fun and activities and both of my cruises would rank high on my favorites list.

 

However, you said that activities may not be critical to you. In that case, either ship may be fine. I believe the Labadee stop on the Mariner is also a private island and people say it's beautiful. The Mariner is also quite new. I have been on the Golden twice and will be on the sapphire in 11 days. I think Princess provides an excellent experience. I love the champagne fountain and the general atmosphere.

 

I don't think you can miss with either!

[sunshineminnie]

I guess that I should add that the RCCL cruise is the last week of August and the PCL cruise is the first week of Novemeber. Which month is better?

 

Thanks again.

[mringenoldus]

I'm surprised the the prices are similar.

 

The Mariner will be in the middle of hurricane season - could be a problem if the reports on El Nino are right. Then again - could be fine.

 

The Grand will be in off season. The price should be a bit lower. (and you will be out of the hurricane season)

 

Either your cabins aren't comparable or the fact that they are the same price might be an indication of how soft the Caribbean market is right now.

 

If you choose the Grand, keep a close eye on the rate. I think you should see some substancial discounts for that month.

[sanjosebarbie]

Okay, I love both, and I've been on Princess more times, but you said you are active, and that leads me to say you should try RCCL. Granted, you can do a LOT on Princess. But, I found that the Rock climbing wall, ice skating rink, water activities, and other stuff on RCCL made my cruise more enjoyable. If you weren't referring to that kind of activity, then I would say either cruise would be great.

 

I liked the RCCL ship design a bit better than Princess, just because I really like that long indoor promenade with all of the shops (the pub, the wine shop, the coffee shop, etc), and I was able to have an indoor room overlooking the promenade, so we got indoor room price with a window and a view.

 

On the Princess side, I prefer Princess Cays to Labadee. Labadee is RCCL's own private "island" (not an island at all, but a section of Haiti). It's nice, but there are about a zillion Haitian vendors there waiting to sell you stuff, and it made me nuts. To be fair, I probably didn't give it much of a chance, because my sister and I bought our souvenir and then got our butts right back on the ship before we were harassed to buy even more stuff.

 

As to the August versus November part, I can't answer that as I have to sail either at spring break, Christmas break, or the summer.

 

Princess and RCCL are both excellent. I liked both extremely well and wouldn't hesitate to do either again (though I've been on several Princess cruises now, so I'm really hoping to get back on one of the RCCL ships again soon).

 

good luck. There's no such thing as a bad cruise, except maybe the maiden voyage of the Titanic;)

[sept10dsm]

The last week of Aug might tend to have more children. We live in NJ and that last week of Aug is a big vacation week for families since most day care is closed. A cousin was on an NCL cruise the last week of Aug in 2006 and over 1/3 of those sailing were under 18. Granted the cruise was out of NY but you still will have more of a younger crowd most likely.

 

I have sailed Princess and RCCL. They are very similar in nature. They do have subtle differences. There have been quite a few comparisons recently on these boards. I have listed many of these in previous threads as well as a number of other CC members.

[Cruising Greek]

Hi there! I am new to these boards and SOOOOOO confused. I was hoping to get some opinions from those who have sailed both RCCL and PCL. My only cruising experience was on Disney with my family. (I'll post my quetions on both boards.)

 

My best friend from high school and I are celebrating our 40th birthdays together. Although our budget is limited, we are trying to do it right as it may be our one and only cruise together.

 

Right now I have it narrowed down to two choices. Price is within dollars of eachother for the initial cruise. Both with balconies. The Princess Grand 7 days and the Mariner of the Seas. The itineraries are very similar except RCCL goes to Haiti and PCL goes to their private island.

 

We are looking for a fun, relaxing vacation. We will be going on dives two days. We are not as much night life kind of gals as we are sports, action. We can't wait for some spa pampering. We would enjoy seeing some good shows but can pass on the bar/casino scene. (Although we'll do a little dancing and a little gambling!)

 

I am not much of a crowd person and can certainly see myself hanging out on my balcony and watching the sea go by.

 

We love to try new foods and restraunts and can't wait for the great food!

 

So, my questions. Which rooms/balconies are better. Which port is better? Once on the ship, is one ship more expensive for the extras (shore excursions, drinks, spa and such.) Which ship do you think would offer us newly 40 year old gals the most fun, relaxing vacation with great food?

 

Thanks in advance for all of your help!:)

 

I've been on both Princess (Diamond Princess, Tahitian Princess) and RCCL (Navigator of the Seas). While I had great cruises with both lines, I felt that I have had a better experience with RCCL.

 

The crew on the Navigator (sister ship to the Mariner) provided better service when compared to the Princess crews that I experienced. The promenade defintiely made the ship feel much more spacious, and was a great hand out with the cafe, shops and pubs.

 

The shows on the Navigator were great, including the comedians and the Ice Show should not be missed!!!

 

I've had similar staterooms on the Diamond and Navigator. Both had similar sized balconies and amenities. The only thing that I liked better was that the Navigator had a shower door instead of the shower curtain on the Diamond Princess.

 

The food was also a small step above on Royal Caribbean, including in the Windjammer and Cafe Promenade. Drinks were similarly priced on both lines. However, the spa was a bit more affordable on the Diamond Princess.

 

Overall, you can't go wrong on either ship. If I had to pick, I would go on Mariner, just because I felt that RCCL had that "little extra" that gives it an edge.

[sunshineminnie]

Wow! You guys are great! Thanks for all of the replies! It seems like I can't really go wrong... maybe just a little more right on one ship over the other. :rolleyes:

[KikiKruiser]

We are looking for a fun, relaxing vacation. We will be going on dives two days. We are not as much night life kind of gals as we are sports, action. We can't wait for some spa pampering. We would enjoy seeing some good shows but can pass on the bar/casino scene. (Although we'll do a little dancing and a little gambling!)

 

I am not much of a crowd person and can certainly see myself hanging out on my balcony and watching the sea go by.

 

We love to try new foods and restraunts and can't wait for the great food!

 

 

I have sailed many times on both Princess and RCI, and am keying in on a few words you used, to offer my opinions:

- "not much of a crowd person" - consider the Grand Princess has 2600 passengers and the Mariner 3100 passengers. And if you sail in August, there will be lots of kids among them.

- "sports and action (kind of gals)" - the edge goes to the Mariner there.

- "can't wait for great food" - this is very very very subjective, but I think Princess pays a tad more attention to the presentation of their dishes than RCI. Goes hand in hand with their attention to the overall menu as well.

- "spa pampering" - the edge goes to the Lotus Spa, their treatments, and products.

Having said all the above, whichever you choose, you can't go wrong. Princess and RCI are more alike than unalike, so you will have a great cruise either way!:)

[SoFloDeb]

We have sailed Voyager, Mariner and Majesty (RCI) and we also sailed Sky Princess, Star Princess, Golden Princess and Caribbean Princess 2 X. Very similar experiences as stated by the other posters, however, we prefer the food on Princess. We also cruise for "down time" so the activities are not very important to us. We found the pace on the Mariner and voyager to be quite "frenetic" (sp), and the pace on Princess to be much more relaxed. We prefer that type of atmosphere, and we still think the Voyager class ships are fun, but will probably not sail one again.

 

Also, we have been fortunate with cabin stewards on Princess and always seem to have a great one, but we had a few "not so great" on RCI.

 

We very much prefer the food on Princess, but really love the dining rooms with their staircase and chandeliers on the Voyager class ships.

 

Hope this helps without being too confusing.

[AZbeachboy]

I have been on both serveral times and we are going on princess again this summer.

 

First, I was on the Grand four years ago, it was the best ship our of eight that I have been on. Good service, the staff was a bit snobby but had one of the best cruises. Food is much better on Princess, expecially the buffets and the opportunity to get snacks.

 

You could get almost anything you wanted on RCI as well but on both ships you have to fight and argue for it. The initial reaction to a request was we don't have have. Any they were not outlandish request. I would said I was disapointed and they would send the head waiter over and he would say "no problem" and I would bet what I requested. We should not have to get so asertive for simple request.

 

Our expierence on both RCI ships we were on was the buffets were not very good at all.

[Smasher]

I haven't sailed with RCCL for a couple of years, so maybe things have changed.

 

One of the highlights of having a balcony is to have breakfast in the privacy of your cabin while enjoying the view from your balcony. With that said, RCCL served a hot breakfast via room service (as of two years ago), while Princess offers only fruit, rolls, coffee/tea/milk, juice, yogurt and cereal. Carnival's room service offered no hot food for breakfast either, but you could get smoked salmon and bagels. Assuming RCCL still provides the bacon/eggs/omlette/lox and bagels option, I'd give them a nod in this regard.

 

I haven't been to RCCL's private beach in Haiti, but I can tell you that Princess Cays is extremely nice. HOWEVER, you have to take a tender to get there, the lines are long and the last tender back to the ship leaves at 3 p.m. In our situation, we got off the ship at noon and headed back at 2 p.m. -- too short. If RCCL offers a longer stay, that might give them an advantage over Princess.

 

Princess (at least on the Star) had beverage stations (coffee, tea, ice tea, water) available only in the Horizon Court, while RCCL had beverage stations in the buffet, and in the pool areas, which was much more convenient (RCCL also offered fruit punch and/or lemonade, ie: mixer).

 

I found Princess pizza and burgers/fries to be better than RCCL. Dining room food both equally good, while both buffets could use improvement.

 

Food, entertainment, activities, pools, lounges, spa, etc., are going to be pretty close to the same.

 

On the Princess side of the scale, they allow you to bring as much wine/champagne on board as you wish. RCCL did not, at least as of two years ago. Big nod to Princess on the wine policy.

 

Close to a coin toss, with the edge to RCCL (at least for me). And I found Carnival to be suprisingly good as well, with its own set of positives and negatives. I wouldn't rule out the Fun Ships either.

 

As for hurricane season, I'd avoid it. However, if you're sailing in Aug-Sept., I'd definately invest in a $70 trip insurance policy to cover weather cancelations and flight delays. But then, I wouldn't take a cruise without the insurance, no matter what time of year.

[whale-watcher]

We have sailed on both lines, and find them to be very similar. Princess seems a bit more relaxing, but the rock wall is a blast! Overall, however, we do prefer princess for the anytime dining and 24hour buffet (which we thought had more variety than RC)...especially with just 2 people, you should be able to walk into the anytime dining room and join a larger table whenever you are ready to eat (and with only minimal wait times...we never waited more than 5 minutes on the coral last month)...we hated constantly having to "watch the clock" on RC, so I would give the edge to princess...also, as other posters have stated...you will have a much quieter and more relaxing cruise with princess in Nov than with RCI in August!

[Tak8]

I have sailed both and prefer Princess, but both offer a good cruise. Based on your description, I would lean Royal except for the months you are comparing. If my choices are August or November, I'd take November. The only August cruise I ever took, I lost half the time in St. Marteen and the full day in St. Thomas. You could end up losing dive time depending on how hurricane season is this year.

[sunshineminnie]

We booked the November Grand Princess cruise. It seemed like it was a toss up. The dates ended up working a lot better for us. Thanks for all of the advice.

 

:D

[vplsh]

We're booked on Freedom of the Seas for this July, but I'm contemplating changing to the same itinerary on Caribbean Princess- it's a difference of almost $1000!!! Now, I know I'm not comparing apples to apples with the ships, as there isn't much to compare Freedom to, but does anyone have an opinion on the value?

 

The cruise is for my birthday- just my husband and me (late 40s)

 

Thanks.

[dulcineahong]

I would pick PCL and I'm not partial to either cruiseline... I feel PCL has better food and service compared to RCCL.

 

Also, I would go with PCL because:

1. Cruising in August is HOT and not exactly relaxing with all the kids who will be cruising with their families! In general if I want relaxation I would NEVER cruise during summer break. RCCL is also tends to attract alot of families because they are in general less expensive than PCL.

 

2. PCL has less annoucements, this could be a factor if you don't like to be interrupted while lounging around

on deck by the pool

 

3. PCL has personal choice dining which means you have more flexibility to dine when you want, and attend shows w/o a bunch of people also fighting to get out at the same time to catch the same shows!

 

4. There's a bunch of nice things about personal choice dining aside from being able to meet more people, and not be stuck with the same ppl every nite.

 

5. PCL has better balconies, pick Caribe deck balcony rooms and you'll get all the privacy you want plus the extra large balcony!

 

Good luck with your choice...

[Teeara]

If you are into physical activities, then I think RCCL is the way to go. There is so much more to do on the Mariner than on any Princess ship. The rock wall was amazing and being able to ice skate on a sea day is a lot of fun.

 

I thought the food was better on RCCL than on Princess. I did, however, like the coffee card on Princess which RCCL doesn't offer (and they should).

 

The Promenade in the center of Mariner is a great place to go and hang out as well. Nice sandwiches, pizza, fruit and cookies at Cafe Promenade. But Princess has a real "afternoon tea" whereas Mariner does not.

 

I am attaching a link to my Mariner pix to give you some views. We had a interior Promenade cabin and it was fun. Here's the link: http://travel.webshots.com/album/436118018cAapnM

 

Whichever you choose, make the most of your cruise and have a wonderful time!

 

Theresa

[sandysav]

I have been on Mariner and Poopy oops meant Star Princess. Mariner is an unbelievable ship and service was much better than Star even though it is much bigger and I dont know if it is the same captain, but the captain on mariner was a hoot. Another bonus is that mariner has no sewage smell.;)

[griswalds]

We have been on RCI 5 times and Princess 4 times. All great cruises. We often find RCI a bit higher in price though, not sure why.

 

You can't go wrong on either line. We were disappointed with HAL.

 

Griswalds.

[Beach4me]

RCCL wins for me. While I have to say that our room steward on Princess last month was one of the best - if not the best - we've ever had, that was the only area that topped RCCL.

 

We've sailed both cruise lines within the last 4 months. I found the food to be more consistently good on RCCL, the buffet area to be cleaner, and the activities to be more to my liking with RCCL.

 

For some reason, the RCCL ships never seem to be as crowded as other ships even though th ones I've been on carry more passengers. Interesting.

 

Enjoy your voyage.