Princess vs. RCCL

[kruz gal]

Hello all,

We have cruised RCCL 9 times, but are considering a Princess cruise in May. We have loved RCCL, but since we have no kids, we are hoping for a more quiet experience... more adults and fewer kids. Could anyone provide comparisons? We've always done 7-night Caribbean itineraries, and always in May. Also, any comparisons on the food? Seems that the quality of food on RCCL has declined a bit in recent years, but since the prices have remained really good, I suppose that is one way they might continue to make it an affordable bargain for us! Thanks,

[Tasha999]

You didn't mention which ship you are considering, or from what port you would be sailing. We are Diamond with RCCL, Norweigen once and Carnival twice. January 2007 my husband wanted to try Princess. We booked a Premium Suite on the Grand Princess, Western Caribbean. It sailed from Galveston, Texas. I don't think I will go on Princess again, at least not on an older ship, nor from Galveston. I like the ambiance of the RCCL ships much better. I do not think Princess is understated elegance I just thought it was plain. The food is about the same in the dining room, although Princess gives it a better presentation. Windjammer is a better buffet with better selection, but food is personal choice. RCCL's specialty restaurants were much better. you had to go formal on the formal nights to the Italian restaurant on Princess. The one outstanding perk they had for suites was free laundry and dry cleaning. There is very little music poolside during the day at sea, they ran PG movies. I did like the movies under the stars on Princess at night. It was the best entertainment onboard. The Grand is an older ship, I may have liked something else better.

 

Tasha

[elemon]

It is all a matter of preference, everyone likes different things, goes on different ships and has different experiences (even on the same cruise).

 

We just got back from RCI on Friday-Majesty of the Seas. We had gone on Princess last year- the Grand out of Galveston. We only have the two to compare but we prefer Princess overall for many reasons.

One thing I did say that RCI had a little better was service in the dining room and buffet. They were very helpful and always trying to please us. I think the food on Princess is better- especially the pizza! It is great!

 

*The rooms were bigger, there was a laundry room on our floor with irons- very nice to have. The flexibility of when you can eat is great! We never had to wait for a table. Also, Princess allowed you to preorder alcohol and you could keep it in your room and drink it all week. RCI does not allow that. Plus in Princess we had a refrigerator, not on RCI.

 

*To compare ships- Princess is bigger and felt more open and spread out. More pools and hot tubs. The crowd was older, maybe had something to do with the time of year too. There were a lot of young- Spring Breakers. Im not old, Im 30 and my boyfriend is 29 but its kinda annoying to be around drunk 20 year olds.

I could go on and on- if you want to ask me any specific questions let me know- lemon76@hotmail.com

 

I would say to give Princess a try- then you will know for sure and if you like Princess more then you can go on Princess all the time! We won't be going on RCI again anytime soon if ever at all. I just wish more lines offered the shorter cruises like RCI and Carnival do.

[barbarah33]

I am diamond on RCCL and platinum on Princess so I have been on both lines several times – and both lines in the past 4 months. Of course this is only my opinion and I’m sure there are many who would disagree with me. I do think Princess has an older crowd with less kids on board. Royal Caribbean advertises things for kids and runs ads with families in them where Princess does seem to aim for the more intimate type of vacation. You won’t find rock-climbing walls, trampolines or skating rinks on a Princess ship – all things that would attract families with children. If you go on Princess’s newest ship, the Crown Princess, or the Emerald – being introduced this year, you will find The Sanctuary which is an adults only area on the pool deck with very personalized service, bigger better padded chairs, food service at your seat, etc.

I prefer the dining room food on Princess but RCCL has a better buffet – and their newer ‘Windjammer Café” is a great concept. Princess does offer anytime dining as well as traditional so you can chose which type you prefer. I happen to enjoy eating at the same time at the same table with the same people every night of my cruise but lots of people prefer to pick when they want to eat each night. When it comes to pizza and the poolside grill I think Princess has the edge. Both lines have a steak restaurant and an Italian for specialty dining with similar cover charges. The steak place on Princess is better and the Italian is really a matter of personal preference. On Princess it is a multi-course meal where you are expected to spend at least two hours enjoying your meal. On Royal it’s more like a regular Italian restaurant where you order what you want and make the meal as long or quick as you desire.

Princess offers larger cabins all-around. (Royal Caribbean has some of the smallest over-all cabins at sea.) And if you enjoy the mini-suites I think Princess’s are top notch with plenty of space for storage, getting ready, dining on your verandah, etc. (Princess does offer ‘balcony breakfasts and dinners’ for an additional charge which are really quite special and romantic.)

I prefer Princess’s itineraries to Royal Caribbean’s. I think they offer more islands in the Caribbean and a variety of destinations to chose from where often RCCL’s are very ‘generic’ for eastern and western itineraries. Both lines have a private island in the Bahamas but Royal does have a second one – Labadee, in Haiti, which means you have more of a chance of going to a private island on more itineraries if you enjoy those days.

The décor on Princess is more of a classic and traditional look with lots of wood, glass and brass. They go for subtle and elegant. That’s not to say Royal is loud like Carnival but I do think they are ‘louder’ than Princess. I also think Princess offers better, more personalized service. They really make an effort to memorize your names, preferences, etc. In defense of Royal Caribbean I have never had a problem on one of their ships I just feel as though I personally get better, more attentive service when I sail with Princess.

Both lines are great and I can’t imagine a bad cruise on either but I do give the edge to Princess over Royal Caribbean. If you have any specific questions I would be happy to try and answer them. Good luck and enjoy your vacation whatever you chose.

[traveling1969]

I posted this on another thread but it may be of interest to you as well

Every cruise and most ships are different so it's difficult to generalize. That said, we have cruised at least twice on Carnival, RCCL and Princess so I'll share some thoughts. Princess decor is a bit more reserved and elegant than the other lines. Carnival decor is much more garish (think Las Vegas) while RCCL's is more colorful. I think Princess' food and service is just a touch better. They are a bit more expensive than Carnival and comparable with RCCL. Their itineraries are the best in the business (our opinion) and they offer an excellent variety of on-board activities. Carnival has the best prices (especially for us as we qualify for their military discounts) and there is a certain party atmosphere on Carnival's cruises. RCCL has the best ships by far and the breads served with dinner are tops. In our opinion RCCL's specialty restaurant, Portofino, is the best of the three lines. RCCL is also more kid-friendly. One drawback for RCCL is that their dining rooms are closed on port days; a real disappointment for us as we don't do many excursions and eat all our meals in the dining room. Princess balcony cabins are the smallest of the three but still adequate. Princess has the best Eggs Benedict and their fetuccini Alfredo is to die for. We also like the fact that Princess pools are all fresh water. We've enjoyed every cruise we've taken, regardless of line so none of these points weigh too heavily. We're sure you'll enjoy cruising with Princess. Bon Voyage!

[Merion_Mom]

This subject comes up rather frequently.

 

The first link is *my* comparison, posted last July.

 

The others are all from this past month alone.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=384375

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=488179

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=500799

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=495674

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=491735

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=482391

[negc]

Comparing the Majesty of the Seas and the Grand Princess isn't a fair comparison. If the comparison were between the Radiance, Voyager, and Freedom class ships, you would find that RCI's outside staterooms with balconies are noticeably larger than the similar category rooms on Princess. You need to book a Princess mini-suite to get a room that is equal in size to an E or D category room on RCI. Our outside stateroom with balcony on Sapphire Princess had a barrel chair in place of the loveseat or couch provided in our E or D rooms on Royal Caribbean. and to get out to the balcony we had to move that barrel chair from in front of the balcony door to in front of the refrigerator. To access the refrigerator the barrel chair had to be moved back in front of the balcony door. A small but irritating situation in a room where space was already a problem.

I found the food in the dining room on Princess to be as good as, and in some cases, better than the food in the dining room on RCI, but the Windjammer setup and food and drink selections was superior to what we experienced on Princess. Opinions about food are, of course, almost completely subjective, and different people will have different opinions.

Traffic patterns on the Princess ship were not as well thought out as they seemed to be on Radiance and Voyager class ships. None of that "up over and down" to get to places on Deck 6 that we experienced on Princess. Service was very good on both lines but seemed a bit friendlier on RCI (again that is an impression that might not hold true for everyone on every cruise). We were fortunate enough to get traditional dining, which we prefer, on our Princess cruises, but we know of people who complained about having long waits for a table in the anytime dining rooms because they chose to dine at a popular time and weren't allowed to make reservations for the times between 6:30 and 8:30pm. Being handed a beeper to let me know when my table is ready is something I have experienced at land-based restaurants and is not something I look forward to on a cruise ship.

Both lines offer similar cruise experiences with food, entertainment, activities etc. more alike than different. It is important, however, to compare similar ships and I encourage people to try both lines to determine which, if either, is the best choice for their particular tastes. I don't think you will be terribly unhappy with either line, but one may be a better fit for you than the other.

[Italy52]

Just returned from Vision of the Seas and had a very nice time. We have a total of 20 cruises under our belt; of those, we are Platinum with RCCL and Princess. I agree pretty much with the other posters about Princess. A couple of minor notes we observed:

 

Casino on RCCL pays out more than Princess! However, Vision of the Seas was extremely smokey compared to Dawn, Sapphire, and Island Princess ships. Not sure if it is a design flaw, or just too many smokers in one place.

 

Windjammer beats out the Horizon Court on Princess hands down. We enjoyed the layout and the variety.

 

Food is very similar; quality also.

 

Absolutely LOVE personal choice dining. Works well with our schedule--however, we know it is not for everyone. We like the fact that we do have a choice.

 

Staff on RCCL a bit more friendlier, but nothing that would make or break the cruise.

 

Princess Loyalty agent far more friendlier than the one on the Vision of the Seas. Also, Princess agent has brochures available for us to take and Vision agent had none. In our opinion, Princess has a better future cruise reservation policy in effect than RCCL. We only put down $100/pp for a future cruise, we get onboard credit based on cabin we chose, and it is fully refundable if we don't use it within four years. With RCCL we were forced to chose a date in 2007 so we can get onboard credit (we will rebook when '08 pricing comes out), and pay $250/pp towards our future cruise.

 

Everyone's experience will be different. The only real solution to your question is to cruise both lines and then make up your own mind.

 

Good luck with your quest.

[kruz gal]

Thank you all VERY much for the great info... you have confirmed what I had hoped about Princess, and I think we will give it a try! We have never had a bad experience with RCCL... we always just feel lucky to be on vacation and having a chance to rest, relax, enjoy some time in the sun, and to avoid cars, cooking, and work!! The only thing that would have made any of them better would be a bit less activity and noise, and it sounds like Princess might suit us. I agree with the target marketing by RCCL... definitely going for the kids/families business.

 

Planning on the Caribbean Princess in early May; hoping to take my parents along.

 

Thank you again for the info; exactly what I needed! :)