Caribbean, Crown, or Emerald, which ship do you prefer?

[HRM]

Between these three "Grand-class" ships, which do you prefer and why?

 

And what makes or breaks your cruise more? The itinerary and ports or the ship itself?

 

And for you frequent cruisers, do you think sailing on the newest ship in the class typically provides a better cruise?

[Cruisinrog]

I just got back last week off the Caribbean Princess and I sailed last year on the Crown. I've never been on the Emerald Princess. Between the two, I much preferred the Crown. Service and personel was terible on the Princess. At dinner some nights we couldn't find our waiter and had to pour our own wine. The cabin steward was terrible. When we initially boarded we only had one bath towel in our cabin and it took 3 days to get robes. We used room service several times and didn't get what we ordered. There were a lot of little things that could have been better. There were a lot of complaints from the passengers. We've been on about a dozen cruises and I must say this was the worse. The Crown, on the other hand, was great. Great service, food and friendly personell. But we have decided Princess is not for us. Thier "Small Ship" feel means the theater is small, only 800 seats, which makes almost impossible for all 3,100 passengers to see any shows. Twice we went, once an hour early and still couldn't get a seat. The pools are small and if you don't camp out there by 7:00 am, you don't get a chair or lounge. Small venues for just about everything. Definetly a different experience.

[MaryPoppinz]

I've been on all three and I would probably put it Emerald, Crown, Caribbean -- if you're talking strictly about the ship.

 

We had the same dining management on all three ships, so there was very little difference there. In terms of entertainment, I would put Caribbean and Emerald neck-and-neck, with Crown slightly behind. The improvements on Emerald and Crown put them ahead of Caribbean overall.

 

But, I think the itinerary (and the way that affects passenger demographics) was the biggest factor in the differences for us.

[ellbon]

I have been on the Crown-going again due to ports and the CarPrincess. I loved the cooners piano player on the car princess over any other Princess ship. Due to the fact that carnival now owns Princess food and service has changed. but i go for new ships. take the ports you want and go for that and do ont complain about the food. but upscale dining is great on lal ships.

[Colo Cruiser]

I agree, Emerald/Crown/CB. :)

[HRM]

Thanks for your replies, keep them coming!

 

I'm leaning towards the CB because of the southern itinerary/ports next winter, and because the price is right. But we made the mistake of going on an older ship for our last cruise and it was a little disappointing. I was really hoping to try out one of the newer ships with all the latest bells and whistles for our next cruise. We definitely want to try out MUTS, but were also hoping for The Sanctuary. Now that the CB dry dock is cancelled, we're not sure what renovations will occur, if any, before next winter. So if we book CB, we are doing so with the understanding that we will get her as-is, with no improvements.

 

If we've never sailed the Crown or Emerald, only on Diamond and Star, do you think we will we be disappointed with the CB?

[Colo Cruiser]

Thanks for your replies, keep them coming!

 

I'm leaning towards the CB because of the southern itinerary/ports next winter, and because the price is right. But we made the mistake of going on an older ship for our last cruise and it was a little disappointing. I was really hoping to try out one of the newer ships with all the latest bells and whistles for our next cruise. We definitely want to try out MUTS, but were also hoping for The Sanctuary. Now that the CB dry dock is cancelled, we're not sure what renovations will occur, if any, before next winter. So if we book CB, we are doing so with the understanding that we will get her as-is, with no improvements.

 

If we've never sailed the Crown or Emerald, only on Diamond and Star, do you think we will we be disappointed with the CB?

 

 

Hopefully if you do pick CB that the upgrades will be done on her by then. :)

[Pam in CA]

Between these three "Grand-class" ships, which do you prefer and why? -- none of these. Prefer the smaller ships.

 

And what makes or breaks your cruise more? The itinerary and ports or the ship itself? -- depends on whether I'm taking a "working" cruise with lots of interesting and exotic ports or a "vacation" cruise with lots of sea days. I do both.

 

And for you frequent cruisers, do you think sailing on the newest ship in the class typically provides a better cruise?

Absolutely not. To me, being on the newest ship has no correlation to whether it's a better cruise. It's just (usually) a more expensive one because the perception is that it's better. It's not.

[HRM]

Thanks Colo Cruiser, I hope so too. I'm just not going to count on it.

 

Thanks Pam. I think we'll have a good time either way. I was starting to focus so much on getting the lowest price that I figured I might be sacrificing too much. I've read so many great reviews and posts about both these ships (and of course some negative ones), we'll just have to make it a great cruise no matter what.

[MaryPoppinz]

If we've never sailed the Crown or Emerald, only on Diamond and Star, do you think we will we be disappointed with the CB?

 

Not at all.

 

I think all bets are going to be off when CB changes itineraries.