Carnival vs. Princess

[brquick]

Planning a cruise to Eastern Caribbean. Choices for the week we are going are Carnival Triumph or Crown Princess. What are the differences between the cruise lines? (have only been on one carnival cruise) I have heard the Princess crowd is an older crowd vs. carnival crowd. Is that true? Even during spring break time?

[Kurbanfan]

Planning a cruise to Eastern Caribbean. Choices for the week we are going are Carnival Triumph or Crown Princess. What are the differences between the cruise lines? (have only been on one carnival cruise) I have heard the Princess crowd is an older crowd vs. carnival crowd. Is that true? Even during spring break time?

 

Crown Princess hands down!! We sailed on her in Dec. and was our best cruise to date. The age difference was no different then Carnival.

The ship is gorgeous! And we have been on 10 Carnival cruises.........

[Captain Funtime]

Princess..... without question !

[firefly333]

Iv been on the Caribbean Princess which is supposed to be similar to the Crown Princess. Loved it a lot. Great ship. Everything was tip top.

[criuisingurl079]

Just off the Carnival Liberty in Dec, after the Crown Princess last June.... Definetly pick the Crown! Out of all our cruises, it was our favorite hands down!! You will love it!!:D

[RatherBFishin]

Planning a cruise to Eastern Caribbean. Choices for the week we are going are Carnival Triumph or Crown Princess. What are the differences between the cruise lines?

 

I think this is an Apples to Oranges comparison, as they don't really cost the same. Crown Princess is 7 years newer and honestly one of the nicer ships out there. It's also about $250 more per person on any given week, across all the cabin classes (except for suites, which ironically are about the same).

 

I think it's a basic case of you get what you pay for.

[TennisLover]

I am a loyal Carnival cruiser also looking at a Princess cruise. Please help me with cabin comparisons (I already posted earlier on the Princess board).

 

We usually have a balcony cabin on Carnival. For our next cruise on Carnival (Fascination) we got a cat 12 -- wanted more room!

[TennisLover]

Oops - somehow sent that too quickly.

 

Here's the dilemma. In looking at the Princess ships (Ruby, Crown, Sapphire), the mini suite does not look much bigger than the standard Carnival balcony cabin. And the regular suite on Princess is really big buck.

 

Can someone who has had experience on Carnival and on Princess (in a mini suite) comment for me?

 

We are looking at Spring Break 09.

[yaletown605]

if price is not an issue. Then Princess all the way.

[VentureMan_2000]

Things to consider:

 

Princess staterooms are smaller than Carnival

 

Princess pricing verses Carnival pricing.

 

Princess has fresh water pools.

 

Carnival has salt water pools.

 

Princess has less children on board.

 

Carnival passenger's average age is 45... 7 years younger on average.

 

 

Personally, Price is the number one consideration I take. I also like Carnival's large staterooms. The rest doesn't matter to me.

[Kurbanfan]

Things to consider:

 

Princess staterooms are smaller than Carnival

 

Princess pricing verses Carnival pricing.

 

Princess has fresh water pools.

 

Carnival has salt water pools.

 

Princess has less children on board.

 

Carnival passenger's average age is 45... 7 years younger on average.

 

 

Personally, Price is the number one consideration I take. I also like Carnival's large staterooms. The rest doesn't matter to me.

 

This coming from someone that never sailed on Princess:rolleyes:

[Kempa]

If the prices and itineraries are the same, I recommend Princess.

 

Unless you love the hairy chest contest. :eek:

[RatherBFishin]

If the prices and itineraries are the same, I recommend Princess.

 

Unless you love the hairy chest contest. :eek:

 

The main difference is that on Princess, the Hairy Chest contest is for the women :)

 

(kidding, just kidding!)

[VentureMan_2000]

This coming from someone that never sailed on Princess:rolleyes:

 

 

I think it's just YOU having a hard time realizing that you do not need to actually cruise Princess to have information about it.

 

Let me help you out here on other resources:

• Cruise Critic
  
• Princess Web site
  
• Experience and knowledge of others

My Parents sail princess a lot... usually two or three cruises a year... and have sailed Carnival as well. So we have plenty of discussions and comparisons of the two cruiselines.

 

But thanks for your post just the same... :rolleyes:

[Clutterlady]

Went on my first Carnival cruise, last year. Had a great time, would go back again. But, if I had to choose between Carnival and Princess.....hands down Princess!

[dclark]

There are lots of little things that are better on Princess and they all add up.

When you are at the pool, the loungers all have cushions. Sometimes the buffet has good food like prime rib and crab. Dining room has more of the "expensive stuff" like large scallops, huge shrimp and hey, who can not like king crab that they serve mid week?

The champagne waterfall, though corny, is still classy. Return toy your room and you get higher quality chocolate on your pillow and the shampoo and conditioner are high quality, like you find in a better hotel. I have never seen a hairy chest competition on Princess, but I do like the matini demonstration. Last Dec on the Dawn, they had a contest between the men and the women, everyone who played got a free drink made with top quality liquor. At the very least, give your self a break from CCL and give Princess a try. You might like it more, or, maybe not. I liked having dinner without it being interrupted with "dancing " waiters, but I still missed the comedians and entertainment that CCL has.Ymmv...

[Kurbanfan]

I think it's just YOU having a hard time realizing that you do not need to actually cruise Princess to have information about it.

 

Let me help you out here on other resources:

• Cruise Critic
  
• Princess Web site
  
• Experience and knowledge of others

My Parents sail princess a lot... usually two or three cruises a year... and have sailed Carnival as well. So we have plenty of discussions and comparisons of the two cruiselines.

 

But thanks for your post just the same... :rolleyes:

 

Let me just say I thought the same way you did UNTIL I experienced Princess myself.

Ya know the older crowd, no night life, bad food, more expensive etc........all from knowledge of others......

All not true in our case.

And I love Carnival.........

Oh and since you are a drinker Venture........guess what? Beer is cheaper on princess.....

[grandmato4]

If price and itinerary were exactly the same we would always choose Princess but that is not to say that we don't have a good time on Carnival.

 

Rooms are larger on Carnival, balcony seems a bit larger on Princess but not sure that's really true. Our experience has been that the staff and service were equally good on both with Princess's seeming to be a bit more reserved and Carnival's a bit more outgoing. Princess pop card and drinks a bit less expensive than Carnival. Food is SO subjective and I'm sure so different from week to week but on our Carnival cruise 3 weeks ago we certainly found enough to eat in the dining room and never left hungry but at the same time didn't come home raving about anything we ate and we still talk about the meals we had on Princess last summer. While we enjoy the traditional dining on Princess they do offer anytime dining and Carnival does not which many find a big plus for Princess.

 

Our Princess experience has been that the "dress code" was observed more often in the dining room than on Carnival. Key words being more often, not entirely. IF you don't choose to observe formal night on Princess you can still go to the 24 hr buffet and often have at least some of the same items served in the dining room (not all items) while not finding that on Carnival.

 

I'm trying to find the correct words to avoid misunderstanding or offending anyone-- Carnival is a family cruise line and families also travel on Princess. Our experience has been that there is no doubt what-so-ever when on a Carnival 7 day or less cruise (haven't done Carnival for more than 7 days) you are on a family cruise while on Princess we feel as if we are on a cruise where some people also choose to bring their children. Hard to define the difference, but we very much felt it. Overall demographics older on Princess but on a 7 day cruise still finding people of all ages on both.

 

Things to do on both after 11 pm and people still doing them, but more planned activities and people still doing them on Carnival after 11 pm.

 

Booking excursions through Carnival means paying when you book the excursion through a credit card. You can cancel up to 3 day(?) before sailing but may take some time before it shows up on your credit card or you can cancel once you board the ship(up to 24 hours before your excursion) but they can choose to charge a 25% cancellation charge at the point. If you book excursions through Princess on-line you are not charged until sailing so if you wish to change your mind you can just go back on-line and cancel and change to another excursion or none at all. Can also cancel up to 24 hours before the excursion on board with no penalty as the cost of your excursion is not charged to your sail and sign card until the day of the excursion.

 

I think you'd be fine with either cruise for the Caribbean, just depends what's most important to you and how much you want to spend unless you've found prices the same for both.

[VentureMan_2000]

Let me just say I thought the same way you did UNTIL I experienced Princess myself.

 

 

 

Somehow, you think I diss'd Princess. I didn't say anything derogatory about Princess. I only pointed out things to consider on both Carnival and Princess. Not sure why the attack.

 

Oh well.

[agrip76]

I have been on both. I am 31. I will put it this way. If you want the feel of an old people's home, do Princess. Even the 60 year olds felt young on our cruise. I think the average age was 80. The ship was dead by 10pm. The dining room was no fun. There were no fun games or activities unless you like bridge or fox trot lessons. Mostly, I never heard SO MUCH COMPLAINING than on this cruise. They complained about everything, the temperature, the food, the coffee the lines, the service the rooms. Ridiculous.

 

Carnival is fun. They offer more things for free, it is more of a party atmosphere which at 31, that's what a vacation should be.

[simkoreb]

After 3 carnival sailings we tried a Princess this past Feb on the CB. We are in our late 20s, and we really missed Carnival! We spoke to a couple about 50 on the cruise, and they said they felt like the youngest couple until they met us! (It was a much older crowd than we anticipated)!! However, maybe there is a younger crowd during spring break? MUTS is great tho!!!!!

I really missed the Carnival bedding too!!! I'm not sure if all Princess ships are like the CB, but the bed was the worst thing I've ever slept on.

 

I'm glad we tried something different, and I know the Crown is a little newer than the CB, but I LOVE Carnival!

[Captain Funtime]

I would have to respectfully agree with a previous poster re: If you haven't cruised on both lines...how can you compare.... even if your parents have. I have cruised on both (Platinum on Princess and Carnival) It is impossible to compare cabins you have not experienced. All that said....there is NO COMPARISON. Princess is much ahead.

[agrip76]

I think you are totally wrong. I have been on princess 5 times (not by choice) and carnival 10. There is no way that Princess is better. Unless of course you like to complain. Or have no fun.

[TCF]

....half a dozen of the other ...as they say.

We cruised Carnival Triumph...7 day western Caribbean, then six months later, Coral Princess....10 day Panama.

We had as much fun on the Triumph as we did on the Coral! Dining room meals on Triumph were better....buffet meals on Coral were better. Entertainment in the theatres on Triumph was better...public rooms and lounges were better on Coral.

Triumph had as many jerks as Coral....Coral had as many great fun people as Triumph.

At the end of it all we liked Coral a little better...only because the decor and interior decorating was more to our liking than that on Triumph...but that is so subjective and personal it is not even worth comparing the two on!

As far as we are concerned both lines are great!! Our advice....chose on itinerary and price and you can't go wrong!!

[Race Track Rick]

I think you are totally wrong. I have been on princess 5 times (not by choice) and carnival 10. There is no way that Princess is better. Unless of course you like to complain. Or have no fun.

 

Well that was insightful and helpful!