Caribbean Princess or the Carnival Victory???

[lawtyger]

Here's the deal, my wife and I will be deciding in the next couple days whether to do a southern Caribbean cruise out of San Juan November 9th.

 

We have been on the Caribbean Princess (on our honeymoon) and the ship is truly gorgeous inside and out (built 2004). We have never been on the Carnival Victory and see it is an older ship (built 2000, refurbished 2007). As you'll see in my signature, we have cruised with Carnival before (Inspiration, Valor, Legend) and enjoy the fun ships.

 

One hesitation over choosing the Carnival Victory over the Princess is age of the ship and that it generally is rated as a 4 star while the Caribbean Princess is still a 5 (and from experience we know the quality of the Caribbean Princess).

 

I guess I'm hoping to hear from anyone who has actually been on BOTH the Carnival Victory and the Princess Caribbean.

[Druke I]

Have not been on either (and don't care to go on either), but a ship that is 8 years of age is not old, and some might say is just hitting its stride.

[DonnaK]

I just came off the Caribbean Princess, and had a wonderful time!

 

On the contrary, our cruise on Carnival Miracle in 2004 does not compare in every regard, but particularly in level of service. My brother and his family were on the Victory and didn't care for it at all.

 

The Caribbean Princess was docked in front of the Carnival Victory in Halifax, and viewing them side by side, I was mighty happy to be sailing on the CB

 

I'd recommend the Caribbean Princess to a friend, and would steer my friends away from Carnival.

[newmexicoNita]

let's just put it this way: as has been mentioned a ship 8 years old is certainly not old. It may be showing its age a little bit, but not old. As for which you will like best, princess will have a more refined group on board and probably a slightly older group of passengers. Carnival, you know what to expect. whichever, I am sure you will have a good time. But it the age is the only thing that is holding you back, don't worry too much.

 

Nita

[lawtyger]

Have not been on either (and don't care to go on either), but a ship that is 8 years of age is not old, and some might say is just hitting its stride.

 

That would be a great answer if the post topic was "Is an older ship better than a newer ship." :)

[lawtyger]

newmexicoNita, as I mentioned, we took our honeymoon on the Caribbean Princess (May 2005) and the ship is beautiful to look at. None of the Carnival ships I've been on can compare. It's sort of the opposite of what you said however. Because we know what to expect on the Caribbean Princess, and don't know what to expect specifically with the Victory.

 

We found the entertainment and food better on the Caribbean Princess than any of our cruises, but the crowd was more refined. Not that refined is bad, but there is something to be said for the "fun ship" crowd. The fact remains (and I don't want this thread to get hijacked into "newer ships aren't always better") our opinion is, based on our experiences, the newer ships are better for us and add interesting amenities we hadn't yet tried (i.e. rock climbing, ice skating on the Navigator, movies under the stars on Princess, heck the Victory doesn't even appear to have a putt-putt course - may be trivial to some, but this is what in our opinion provides the "hesitation" I referred to). Put another way, after going on the Princess Caribbean before, I fear a slight let down if the older Victory is sub-par.

[flynrph]

First off, I've been on both. And to add to the fire, I have done basically the same itinerary on both, one year apart. Both good cruises. Both good ships.

So it comes down to preferences.

Balcony cabins. Princess wins hands down. Bigger balcony, and the room has a fridge. But.... the bedding on Carnival was far better than Princess, as in I slept like a baby on Carnival and my back ache came back at the end of the Princess cruise (which is still happening after a 12 day cruise on the Emerald last month!).

Food. I did traditional dining on both. On this route (and I stress this because the food was comparatively off from the usual quality of Princess on this particular cruise compared to my other Princess cruises..), Carnival had a slight edge. Food better prepared, as in not overdone.

Pools. I really don't use them much on cruises, but when I do, I prefer fresh water and heated, (yes, heated!) of the Princess ships.

Ship layout. Princess has the edge, as I like to walk after meals to work off the calories, and the CB you can walk around the whole ship. (Not on the Victory, you have to go up on the top back deck and do a lot of laps, and if its windy or raining, it's a no go.) Also it seems to be easier to get around the various decks. I really like the back of the ship bar and pool on the CB over the Victory.

Nightlife. No comparison. Carnival. Period. Princess tends to attract people who are not as active overall in the evenings.

Entertainment. Since I bounce back and forth between Carnival and Princess, they are both good, but I think Princess has the advantage overall.

Staff. Dead even on this one. Both have great crews.

If you like soft serve ice cream as a snack, Carnival absolutely takes this category, as it's 24/7. Princess on the other hand has great chocolate chip cookies.

Activities. Carnival has a lot more cute and silly activities compared to Princess. (bell flop contest, hairy chest, etc... amusing to a point...)

Carnival tends to attract more families and kids over Princess. There is a lot more of energy on their cruises.

Princess is more understated elegance and a touch more reserve.

(oh, last minute edit. I'm pretty sure I saw a putt put course on the Victory upper port side aft.)

Hope this helps a bit.:cool:

[lawtyger]

Tremendous help. I'm replying from my phone. More thoughts to come.

[CruiseNut7]

I've sailed on both as well. The previous poster offers some great comparisons between the CB and the Victory.

 

I prefer Princess, but am happy on any cruise. For me (in my 50's), I would go with the Caribbean Princess.

 

Carnival does offer more of the "fun ship" atmosphere. I took my son and daughter-in-law on both ...... they're in their late 20's. They loved the CB and thought she was beautiful, but prefer Carnival for the opportunity to enjoy a bit more of the party scene.

 

I think it's very much what you're looking for ..... more refined or more clubbing! We're booked on a Carnival ship now as I'll be sailing with all 20 and 30-somethings and know they'll have a great time.

 

I'm still a fan of Princess for their beautiful ships and personal choice dining.

 

Whatever choice you make, you'll have grand time. :)

[lawtyger]

Thanks for the opinions. My wife and I are 35 and 37 respectively. In a general comparison between the two cruise lines we agree with both of you (flynrph and cruisenut7) on the points you made.

 

We always talk about wanting to go the the club on the ship and then only go in for a while, even on the fun ships. We never want to ruin our next day in port so with these cruises in particular we might be better off skipping the late night since the Victory has a port everyday and the Caribbean Princess only has one day at sea.

 

At this point we are of two schools of thought:

 

(1) We were really impressed with the Caribbean Princess (inside, outside of the ship, food and dining arrangements, entertainment). As was mentioned, the back of the ship is awesome. So, hands down we'd prefer the Caribbean Princess as I assumed (and you both, who have been on both ships, have confirmed), shipwise the Caribbean Princess is the way to go.

 

(2) You get that extra port day on the Victory. That's really what it is boiling down to because my wife and I are very active and get off the ship at each port for the entire day.

 

Right now, leaning towards a nicer ship for 7 days over the one extra port. I had no problem with the Carnival Valor or Legend, but I'm picturing the Victory being somewhere between that and the Inspiration and we tend to prefer the newer ships.

[lawtyger]

By the way, everyone keeps saying the "CB" - what is that? Wouldn't it be the CP (Caribbean Princess)?

[Druke I]

CB is the two letter mnemonic assigned by Princess to the Caribbean Princess.

 

CP is the mnemonic assigned to Sea Princess.

 

I'm sure someone will print the whole list, but some of them don't seem to make sense.

[cruise4kicks]

I have also been on both. Just got off the CB 8/24, and was on the Carnival Victory in 9/07 pre-drydock. For me -- and note I qualify this -- the CB wins hands-down. I find the service and food to be superior on Princess. I'd never before had inedible meals on a cruise, and I had TWO on the Victory. :eek: And I'm with you -- the Terrace Pool area is awesome! :cool:

[newmexicoNita]

newmexicoNita, as I mentioned, we took our honeymoon on the Caribbean Princess (May 2005) and the ship is beautiful to look at. None of the Carnival ships I've been on can compare. It's sort of the opposite of what you said however. Because we know what to expect on the Caribbean Princess, and don't know what to expect specifically with the Victory.

 

We found the entertainment and food better on the Caribbean Princess than any of our cruises, but the crowd was more refined. Not that refined is bad, but there is something to be said for the "fun ship" crowd. The fact remains (and I don't want this thread to get hijacked into "newer ships aren't always better") our opinion is, based on our experiences, the newer ships are better for us and add interesting amenities we hadn't yet tried (i.e. rock climbing, ice skating on the Navigator, movies under the stars on Princess, heck the Victory doesn't even appear to have a putt-putt course - may be trivial to some, but this is what in our opinion provides the "hesitation" I referred to). Put another way, after going on the Princess Caribbean before, I fear a slight let down if the older Victory is sub-par.

I still maintain an 8 year old ship isn't old, and yet with your feelings you might be better to go on PRIncess. I am not comparing the ships, but the lines. Yes, every line has a niche and Princess is more refined. Now I have to ask, why are you even asking us, it sounds like you have made up your mind? You like newer ships, many people do, that is ok. My point simply is: compare ship per ship, not line per line. I do think you have your mind made up; as you put it, Victory may be sub-par. What that means I am not sure.

 

Nita

[DanJ]

I've also been on both and would choose Princess again all other things being equal. The Victory was our second Carnival cruise, and really saved Carnival in our opinions of whether we would sail them again. Nice ship, and as others have said, 8 years is nothing in terms of age. It's how they keep it up and it has been refurbished. I liked the Victory's cabin better than any we had on Princess (taking out of the equation the balconies we had on Princess). Food was a wash. I liked the sandwich bar on Victory when it was open. I didn't like the limited opportunities to eat outside of regular meal hours. Pizza and burgers was it, where Princess has the buffet open all the time. I liked Princess' layout better and found it easier to get around the ship. On Princess, it's harder to get into the main theater for showtime, as it's quite small, where Victory's easily holds half the passengers at one time. Not sure if Victory has a specialty restaurant yet like Princess with Sterling/Crown Grill and Sabatini's. That may or may not matter based on personal choice. Carnival has free lemonade and soft serve ice cream in the lido restaurant. Princess is supposedly rolling out lemonade, but not sure off the top of my head the status of that.

 

Another posted mentioned the wrap around promenade deck. Princess' wraps around the back of the ship, then goes up a deck at the bow, and is quite often closed at sea. The outdoor promenade on Victory just goes down either side of the ship, but not around the front or back. Not really a big deal in either ship because on both you can walk down the side, in a door, across the ship, out the other door, and down the other side of the ship. I found there to be more daytime activities on Princess than on Carnival, where the Carnival activities focused more on squeezing a bingo game in here and there. That was our experience on both Carnival cruises we took.

 

Since you've sailed on Valor, the Victory is very simlilarly laid out. It's a tad smaller than Valor but bigger than Legend, although Legend is longer.

[lawtyger]

Hi this Jessie (wife). Another question... for those of you that have been on both ships.... I see that the Caribbean Princess visits Tortola, and Victory visits Dominica and St. Kitts. (We are really torn on the ship so... ship aside, how are these ports? If Tortola and one of the Victory ports are similar but the other Victory port is just OK, then we're back to the decision based on the boat, but if the ports are better on one ship over the other, that is definitely a factor. Thanks :)

[lawtyger]

Since you've sailed on Valor, the Victory is very simlilarly laid out. It's a tad smaller than Valor but bigger than Legend, although Legend is longer.

 

Dan - how would you compare the inside of the ship, decor, etc. on the Victory? Would you say it's similar or comparable to the Valor or the Legend?

 

Thanks :)

[lawtyger]

 

Since you've sailed on Valor, the Victory is very simlilarly laid out. It's a tad smaller than Valor but bigger than Legend, although Legend is longer.

 

 

Dan - how would you compare the inside of the ship, decor, etc. on the Victory? Would you say it's similar or comparable to the Valor or the Legend?

 

Thanks :)

[Clutterlady]

Been on both ships! The Victory is very glitzy "green" inside!! Since you have been on Carnival, it is typical Vegas!! The CB is understated elegance.

 

We really enjoyed the Victory, but the food cannot compare to the CB....from dining room to buffet food. Must say that the beds on the Victory were heavenly compared to Princess.

 

They are two totally different ships....no comparisons. With the right attitude you will have a terrific time on either ship:)

[DanJ]

Dan - how would you compare the inside of the ship, decor, etc. on the Victory? Would you say it's similar or comparable to the Valor or the Legend?

 

Thanks :)

 

I haven't been on the Valor or Legend, so I can't compare. The Victory doesn't seem as "out there" in decor as some of the pictures I've seen of other Carnival ships. The first Carnival ship we were on, which is now a Costa ship, was totally 80's cheesy decor. When we went on Victory 7 months later, it was like a totally different cruise line.

[mizLORInj]

I've been on both. Since Victory's just been refurbished, and I heard Caribbean Princess is up for its refurb in January, I'd let the ports influence which I chose.

[andychris]

I just came off the Caribbean Princess, and had a wonderful time!

 

On the contrary, our cruise on Carnival Miracle in 2004 does not compare in every regard, but particularly in level of service. My brother and his family were on the Victory and didn't care for it at all.

 

The Caribbean Princess was docked in front of the Carnival Victory in Halifax, and viewing them side by side, I was mighty happy to be sailing on the CB

 

I'd recommend the Caribbean Princess to a friend, and would steer my friends away from Carnival.

 

We are trying to figure out if we should go on the miracle or caribbean Princess. We have been on the miracle twice and had a great time. We are in our early 40's and have children who will be 14 and 12 next summer when we are thinking of going. Any advice? We are so confused we do not know which to pick. We like both itineraries. It is different than our last trip since we were diverted because of a storm. HELP!!!

[uglybutgoodbakery]

let's just put it this way: as has been mentioned a ship 8 years old is certainly not old. It may be showing its age a little bit, but not old. As for which you will like best, princess will have a more refined group on board and probably a slightly older group of passengers. Carnival, you know what to expect. whichever, I am sure you will have a good time. But it the age is the only thing that is holding you back, don't worry too much.

 

Nita

 

 

I haven't been on Carnival yet, but I was on the Caribbean Princess twice, and I have to say I didn't find the other passengers "refined" in any way. I saw a lot of bad behavior, in young and old. Not in the way of public drunkedness or anything like that, but just rude behavior, pushing and shoving unnecessarily in the buffet, the neverending saving of the pool lounges, pretending to not notice that there was a line for the tender, speaking loudly and shouting across the lounge obnoxiously while Bert was performing.....

 

These things happen everywhere, not just on lower class ships. I loved my cruises with Princess, so much so that I'm taking another one, but I'm not going to buy into believing that Princess is the more elite cruise line, just because that's what their marketing wants me to think.

[lawtyger]

Just an update to this thread I started.

 

Right now, we are leaning towards the Victory. We are the type of cruisers who will have fun on any ship or cruise (yet still try to make the best decision possible). The extra port is what is really doing it for us, plus, while we remain impressed with our CB cruise before, there's something nice about adding another ship to our list.

 

Haven't pulled the trigger yet though.

[newmexicoNita]

I haven't been on Carnival yet, but I was on the Caribbean Princess twice, and I have to say I didn't find the other passengers "refined" in any way. I saw a lot of bad behavior, in young and old. Not in the way of public drunkedness or anything like that, but just rude behavior, pushing and shoving unnecessarily in the buffet, the neverending saving of the pool lounges, pretending to not notice that there was a line for the tender, speaking loudly and shouting across the lounge obnoxiously while Bert was performing.....

 

These things happen everywhere, not just on lower class ships. I loved my cruises with Princess, so much so that I'm taking another one, but I'm not going to buy into believing that Princess is the more elite cruise line, just because that's what their marketing wants me to think.

I certainly didn't mean one line was lower class (strange way to put by the way) than another, I was simply giving my experience. I am the last person to say one line is more elite than another. Most would agree though, Princess is geared to a slightly older group and does not have many drunks roaming around. I have cruised 20 plus times, all mass marketed lines plus I have been a travel agent for many years, each line does have a niche and a certain demographic profile. I am simply saying how Princess is normally thought of. BTW, I am not a strong Princess supporter nor was I down playing Carnival.

 

NIta