For those who have cruise Carnival and Princess

[Dishbaby]

We have sailed with Carnival three times now, and have thoroughly enjoyed each of our cruises. We have been getting alot of promotional mail from Princess, trying to get us to take our next cruise with them. For those who have sailed both Carnvial and Princess, can you please tell me what the real differences are between the two ? I'm not looking for a whack job on Carnival - I like them. I'm just wondering what advantages Princess has over them.

 

Also, with Princess, can you still have traditional assigned dinner time and an assigned table if you wish ?

[rebeccalouise]

I have sailed both lines and prefer Princess (decor, ambiance). I think you will have a good time on Princess.

 

The problem many have encountered on Princess is that they are "wait listed" for tradional dining. Many have no choice but to do anytime. The solution seems to be to go to anytime and get a set time with the same server for the remainder of the cruise. They seem to be willing to accomodate this once on board.

 

Good luck on your next cruise. I like trying the different lines. Have done NCL, Princess, Costa, Celebrity, Carnival, Holland America, Oceania. They all have pluses and minuses.

[AtlantaKelly]

We have sailed Carnival several times and will be on our 2nd Princess cruise tomorrow! We have also sailed with Royal Caribbean and Celebrity and have loved every one. In our experience the Carnival staff was a little more lively and the other passengers a bit more of a party crowd. The age demographic on Princess is usually a bit older - but this probably also depends on what time of the year you go. We liked the fresh water pools on Princess and the afternoon teas. I think you just can't go wrong with a cruise . . . we now choose them based on ports, the type of ship more than any particular line.

[DeepWaterMariner]

I've cruised both Princess and Carnival but I'm not sure my experience with Princess is totally relevant. All my Princess cruises have been 10 days or longer so the crowds have been older, quieter, and perhaps more affluent than on my shorter Carnival cruises. Traditional dinning on Princess seems to be a bit difficult to nail down. We've been lucky with the anytime dinning so that isn't a problem for us. Certainly the dinning rooms on Carnival cruises have more of a celebration atmosphere than the quiet elegance in Princess dinning rooms.

[Julia’s Journey’s]

We have sailed both and also prefer Princess but enjoyed all our carnaval cruises too.

We love the fresh water pools and the ambience and decor on Princess.

Both have there pro's and con's.

[PhoneGoddess]

Some of the main differences that I have noticed have already been mentioned..on Princess they have fresh water pools and a more elegant and subdued decor. I always scratch my head when I read that the passengers on Princess tend to be older.:confused: I have not found this to be true on the Princess cruises that I have taken and I'm 40. Is that old?:eek: I'm sure that this just depends on the ship, time of year, itinerary, etc.

Also, most Princess ships' buffets are open 24 hours, unlike Carnival, which seems to have very limited hours for the buffet.

If you request traditional dining and are waitlisted, just go speak to the Maitre D' when you board and they usually do their best to accomodate you if they can. Oh and there isn't a "show" in the dining room each evening...no singing and dancing waiters.

[Coral]

Except for the baked Alaska parade in Traditional dining, there is no dancing waiters each night in the dining room. Service is better in Traditional dining compared to Anytime but you have the convenience of Anytime dining.

 

Don't expect towel animals in the room. Sometimes if you have kids, they may do one but it is not the norm.

 

Service overall is the same on both lines - you can get excellent or not so excellent room stewards and wait staff on both lines but overall, service is equivalant.

 

Some people argue that food is better on Carnival. I have not sailed Carnival in years but apparently they have greatly improved their food and my friends who like Princess were impressed with Carnival's food. They also preferred Carnival's buffet. Pizza is not available on PRincess 24 hours a day. There are more drink selections (free) through out the day on Carnival. Princess offers water and tea at the buffet.

 

The decor is much more subdued on the Princess ships.

[sanjosebarbie]

The replies have all been excellent. I would have to say that I agree. I think Princess is a bit more understated and I would have to say a little "classier" (I'm not using that word as a compliment, or as a slur to Carnival, but just to describe the more understated elegance of Princess versus the more vibrant and lively atmosphere of Carnival). I have a lot of fun on both lines, but the activities tend to be a bit more boisterous on Carnival. I personally really enjoy that, as I enjoy the more laid-back feeling that I've had on my Princess cruise. I've had great food and great service on both lines, and I've had an excellent time on both lines.

 

I'm sure it is possible to have bad experiences on either line, because everywhere you go, people are still people, and neither Princess nor Carnival can stop the occasional A**hole from cruising (this should be a question you have to answer before you register: "Are you a grade A butthead?"). But, I've been lucky and I've had a blast on both, and though I've met the occasional jerk on BOTH lines, most of the people have been really lovely.

 

If you're getting a great deal on a Princess cruise, go for it (I love Princess' private island, and find it worthwhile to cruise Princess just to enjoy Princess Cays). If you can get a better deal on Carnival, and you've always loved Carnival, go for that. (There are some people who don't care for the Carnival atmosphere, and for them, I would absolutely say go with Princess, because there are similar amenities with a slightly different ambience, but since you love Carnival, it sounds like a good fit).

 

Best of luck with whatever you decide to do. Cruising is 'da bomb.':D

[irwinler]

We're sailed on 5 different lines, and they are pretty equal. We think Princess and Royal Caribbean have a slight edge over Carnival. On Costa, everything was done in 5 languages, which made for a long life boat drill and interesting shows. We liked our first cruise on NCL (in '94), but our second one last year was a disappointment - poor food and lousy service in the dining rooms. As someone else said, at this point (after 14 cruises), we look at the itinerary first and the best bargain available.

N&L

[daveco58]

I have cruised both, and enjoyed both. Princess' ship was definitely "nicer" in an elegant way, but Carnival is way flashier, and I like that too.

Come to think of it, the service could be described the same way for both.

But, truth be told, I was disappointed in the food on Princess. Not that it wasnt good, but that it really wasnt any better than Carnival.

(And I cruised Princess, before Carnival bought them)

[suziehmkr]

Our last two cruises have been on Princess & Carnival. Both during the holidays. However Princess was a 15-day which is a little bit hard to compare to a 7-day. Although our favorite is Royal Caribbean, we give Carnival the edge over Princess in many areas. However, Princess does many things well. It is their customer service both on & off the ship that has kept us from rebooking with Princess. I am not saying we won't ever cruise with them again, but it will be a while.

 

Here are the differences that we noted:

 

* Age on Princess was definitely higher. Again, this can also be attributed to the length of the cruise.

 

* The decks seemed to roll up around 10:00 or a little later each night. I think there was only one deck party and that was when we cruised past the lava flow. We often found large blocks of time that really didn't have much planned... however, the weather was nice and we used that time to enjoy the pool. The ship always seemed to be hoppin' on the Pride - we had a blast!! We are not late night party people, but we like to find fun things to keep us occupied.

 

* We preferred our dining experience on the Island Princess over the Carnival Pride. We had anytime dining and I think this is one thing that Princess does very well. We loved the flexibility and when we found a waiter we liked, we could call and make a reservation. Our particular waiter on Carnival wasn't that great. That could be an oddity - but we will find out in December we we sail the same ship again.

 

* Call us wierd, be we found that the staff on the Carnival Pride was much more attentive to our needs than the Island Princess. When we some complaints on the Island, we either didn't receive a response for days or were ignored all together. This continued after the cruise with my letter to the home office. Please note, that we were on the holiday cruise that was overrun by a large family. However, on the Pride, our only complaint was that the people above us left their small children in the cabin while they were out and the kids were jumping from the bed the floor for long periods of time. Carnival responded and even sent an apology letter the next day.

 

I am hoping that our experience with Princess was not the norm, and someday will give them another opportunity to show us that it wasn't.

 

With all of that said, I think the biggest difference that you will see is the amount of activities on the ship, especially later in the evenings.

 

Have a GREAT cruise, no matter what you choose!

[Umbarger]

I have been on 4 Carnival and 4 Princess.

 

The things I like about Carnival...

The great atrium's

Larger cabins

hot chocolate, cappuccino, espresso, lemonade, fruit punch, good coffee and 24 ice cream all included.

 

The things I dislike about Carnival....

Too many kids

ships are untidy

Immature adult behavior

 

The things I like about Princess....

ships looks and feel cleaner

less kids

mature adult behavior

 

The things I dislike about Princess........

Unimpressive atrium

smaller cabins

All the additional charges. Hot chocolate, cappuccino, espresso, lemonade, good coffee and anytime ice cream are all additional. You can buy a coffee card and a ice cream card which will cost around $100 for two people.

[Admiral Horatio Nelson]

I have worked for both cruiselines you mentioned and I feel the main differences are in the:

 

1 guests, younger more roudy on Carnival

2 more party atmosphere,

3 decor is a bit tacky 'shiny'

4 More for kids on Carnival

 

1 Princess is a bit more refined in it's decor and crew attitude (no dancing etc)

2 not as much hard sell onboard as on Carnival

3 Generally older people on Princess, although still relatively young compared to other cruiselines.

 

Ask youselves what it is about Carnival that you like most and list them here, that would help to know if you will enjoy Princess.

 

Hope this helps

[Charliesmom]

We have taken two cruises on Carnival and 15 on Princess.

 

Our first cruise on Carnival was on the Victory for a 3 day cruise from Boston (our home city) to Halifax, Nova Scotia and back. The ship was loaded with kids who were all very well behaved. The ship was new, poorly maintained and the food was so bad that my husband, who usually gains weight on a cruise, lost 3 pounds. However, they did have the best French Fries I have ever been tempted to taste. The staff were lovely and our balcony room was very nice and a lot larger than a balcony room on Princess.

 

Our second cruise on Carnival was on the Miracle. The food in the buffet was marginal, but they had a great deli sandwich station. The food in the dining room, while severely limited in selection, was well prepared and very good. I also had the very best attention to my food allergies I have ever had. They did not make a single error. In this way they performed far better than Princess does today. In the past Princess has done a great job with my allergies.

 

What we noticed on the Miracle was that everything was LOUD! The amplifiers were all turned up to maximum decibels. We thought we would go deaf! We had to leave the theater during a show because it was so loud. We went to a late night comedy show and got blasted out. All announcements over the PA were loud. The music at the pool was so loud we had to leave.

 

The Miracle is a beautiful ship. We had a minisuite that was beautifully decorated. Minisuites on both ships have bathtubs. My sister's balcony room had a couch in it and was quite comfortable.

 

Princess has a theater at one end of the ship and a show lounge at the other end. There is the Wheelhouse lounge with dance music in it and they have a disco. The larger ships (we prefer the smaller, quieter ships) have a nightclub high up on the ship. The Island and Coral also have a couple of alternative dining venues which are very nice. We ate in Sabatini's on the Island and we ate in the Sterling Steak House (converted from the Horizon Court) on the Sun Princess. The food in both was excellent.

 

You will never know whether or not you like Princess until you try it. Also realize that the experience on each ship of each line is different.

 

Roberta