We Tried Princess, Here's My Comparison Notes

[psupa]

After RCI pulled their unannounced, "sneaky Pete" revision of their OBC and Loyalty programs last Fall, a week after I had purchased a couple of Next Cruise Certificates while on-board an Alaska cruise, four of us decided to try Princess and effectively moved around $10,000 worth of booking revenue over to Princess instead of booking a planned cruise on RCI.

 

We recently cruised on the Emerald Princess. All other things being equal, here's what we noticed that we liked about Princess over our experiences with RCI and Celebrity:

 

First impression when stepping onboard was that the ship was more richly appointed that either Royal Caribbean or Celebrity. It was warm, beautiful, and comfortable everywhere.

 

When we boarded, there was a crew member stationed in the elevator lobby to direct people to the next arriving elevator and an attendant on each elevator to get them to the right deck. It really sped up the embarkation day elevator process.

 

Our cabin was ready when we boarded at noon. Our luggage arrived not long after and was placed inside our cabin instead of being left in the hallway.

 

In our standard balcony stateroom, the walk-in closet was six feet long, with a shelf above. There was enough storage space that we didn’t even use all of the closet, shelves, and drawers!

 

In our standard balcony stateroom, we could order a complimentary fruit bowl every day.

 

The muster drill took place inside and they insist that you carry your life jacket to your muster station so that it is easier and safer to use the stairs. Once assembled in your muster station, everyone practices putting it on together. No standing on a hot deck in the sun packed in like sardines standing underneath a loudspeaker blaring garbled information.

 

About 4/5 of the passengers ate in the two big dining rooms which are dedicated to anytime dining. We were in a smaller, much more quiet dining room with an assigned table for four.

 

The "Windjammer" buffet was open 24 hours without closing for menu changeovers.

 

On sea days, a FREE pub lunch was available in the "Schooner Bar" consisting of fish and chips, bangers and mashers, or cottage pie.

 

Each production show runs for two nights with two shows each night, and a specialty act appears in the big lounge with three shows each night. That way one can attend one show one night and the other on another night - taking pressure off the venues so that neither is over crowded.

 

The sound volume at the shows was not deafening, a welcome relief from RCI and Celebrity where they must try to mask lip syncing with TOO LOUD music.

 

Each deck has a couple of laundromats with irons and ironing boards for passenger use. (MMMM, I thought irons were a fire hazard on ships :rolleyes:)

 

We could take on one bottle of wine per person on embarkation day, and nobody objected if we replenished our supply in other ports.

 

Tip/Gratuities/Service Charge or whatever you want to call them were automatically added to our account each day. Every single staff member we encountered was pleasant, hard-working, and an excellent ambassador for Princess. They compete for service-related customer evaluation reports and were thus tuned into making sure each passenger was happy. We saw our Assistant Head Waiter every meal, not just the last night of the cruise to make sure he received his tip.

 

Bottom Line: We were so impressed that the four of us booked another Princess cruise while on-board to take advantage of a double OBC offer and have cancelled an RCI cruise that we had planned for the same period.

 

Nice observations. I agree about the cabin layout. Princess wins this hands down. I like the separate closet/bathroom area. We've cruised on Princess and I wouldn't hesitate to cruise with them again. I think the food quality is better on Princess too, but this is just my opinion. The TV programming selection is also very good.

[shopper77]

We were on the Sapphire Princess when we went to Alaska in 07. We had the anytime dinning, and it was terrible. No matter when we tried to set a dinner time, it always came down to 6 or 8:30. Even when they were empty, they kept you waiting. On the plus side, we requested the French Onion Soup on a second night, and they immediatialy brought it out to us. It was no problem. Where on RC, I have asked several times for the Sugar Free Coconut Cake, and never received it.

[cruisePRN]

I also have done quite a few cruises on both Princess and RCI. I agree that they are more similar than not but I give the nod though to Royal Caribbean of the two cruise lines these days. The Voyager class and later RCI ships are more innovative, fun and energetic than the Princess ships. RCI has something for all ages but has a younger demographic. As far as loyalty perks, the Royal Caribbean ships have the Diamond and Concierge lounges. I find the crew more friendly on Royal Caribbean and guest relations more helpful on Royal Caribbean than on Princess. When friends ask me to recommend a cruise I almost always find myself recommending a Royal Caribbean ship over a Princess ship except for Alaska and exotic cruises.

Princess has a British staff which are different in that the Brits are more serious and to the point. I happen to like their dry sense of humor, and find them straight forward. The younger demographic would gravitate to RCL, they are more family oriented. It's so close between them I look at itinerary and price to help sway me. I agree Alaska would be better on Princess because their cruiestours are far superior to RCL, particularly in Denali.

[rubrrick]

Just finished my 37th cruise last week with RCCL but have only two with Princess (total of 28 days). While I found the food and service to be generally good on both, my experience with guess services on the two Princess cruises was a deal breaker. There was little attempt to "own" and address significant problems they created. I have found guest services on RCCL generally to be responsive. I'm currently booked on another Princess cruise which for me will be their last opportunity to demonstrate appropriate customer care.

 

 

Thank you for bringing this up..........as it is the same experience that we had on our last sailing with Princess. My DW and I both felt that Princess lacked in guest services on our last cruise with them.

 

I started with Princess...........and my first cruise with them was wonderful. Even when I had nothing to compare Princess with...the care by the crewmembers on the old Pacific Princess was excellent.:)

 

On our 3rd cruise.......on the Golden Princess.........the service and attitude of the crew left much to be desired.

 

We will try Princess again........but only on their smaller ships.

 

Rick

[ChevyCruiser]

I have done 12 princess cruises and the name of the buffet is ont windjammer nor do we have a bar called somethingwith an "S" thati can not recall. hte last princess cruise the Wheelhosue bar did ont have a free lunch but I heard it has been offered since the Ruby came out.

 

quote]

 

I put Windjammer and Schooner Bar in quotes so that Royal cruisers would know what I was talking about so they could better compare - rather than tell them how the Wheelhouse Bar had a pub lunch for free on sea days.

[cruiselvr04]

I think you can have a great cruise on either line but we do prefer RCCL overall. We are close to Diamond so will continue to go for the perks that that offers for now. However Princess was $1200 cheaper for 3 of us when we tried Princess.

 

I was disappointed in the selection of food on the Princess buffet not the quality. DH thought it was fine. Loved the chocolate desserts everynight on Princess.

 

Loved MUTS but wasn't crazy about the other entertainment on board. For us Royal is much better.

 

Ship design on Princess does not compare to Royal. Traffic flow and artwork on Royal is much better. Royal ships do not creak and groan like Princess ships.

 

Since we like a little port of call variety we may go back to Princess for one of their 14 day Carribean cruises out of FLL. Airfare to San Juan is pricey to get to the southern Caribbean.

 

You do get what you pay for - if money gets tighter for us we may go for a little less quality since our Princess cruise was still alot of fun! For now we are RCCL loyal fans.

[Charles4515]

 

 

 

I put Windjammer and Schooner Bar in quotes so that Royal cruisers would know what I was talking about so they could better compare - rather than tell them how the Wheelhouse Bar had a pub lunch for free on sea days.

 

Sounds like the pub lunch is copied from the pub lunch they serve on Queen Mary 2. On QM2 it was great. I hope they have it on Crown Princess in the Wheelhouse Bar when I sail her this summer.

[BadBoysDriveAudi]

After RCI pulled their unannounced, "sneaky Pete" revision of their OBC and Loyalty programs last Fall, a week after I had purchased a couple of Next Cruise Certificates while on-board an Alaska cruise, four of us decided to try Princess and effectively moved around $10,000 worth of booking revenue over to Princess instead of booking a planned cruise on RCI.

 

We recently cruised on the Emerald Princess. All other things being equal, here's what we noticed that we liked about Princess over our experiences with RCI and Celebrity:

 

First impression when stepping onboard was that the ship was more richly appointed that either Royal Caribbean or Celebrity. It was warm, beautiful, and comfortable everywhere.

 

When we boarded, there was a crew member stationed in the elevator lobby to direct people to the next arriving elevator and an attendant on each elevator to get them to the right deck. It really sped up the embarkation day elevator process.

 

Our cabin was ready when we boarded at noon. Our luggage arrived not long after and was placed inside our cabin instead of being left in the hallway.

 

In our standard balcony stateroom, the walk-in closet was six feet long, with a shelf above. There was enough storage space that we didn’t even use all of the closet, shelves, and drawers!

 

In our standard balcony stateroom, we could order a complimentary fruit bowl every day.

 

The muster drill took place inside and they insist that you carry your life jacket to your muster station so that it is easier and safer to use the stairs. Once assembled in your muster station, everyone practices putting it on together. No standing on a hot deck in the sun packed in like sardines standing underneath a loudspeaker blaring garbled information.

 

About 4/5 of the passengers ate in the two big dining rooms which are dedicated to anytime dining. We were in a smaller, much more quiet dining room with an assigned table for four.

 

The "Windjammer" buffet was open 24 hours without closing for menu changeovers.

 

On sea days, a FREE pub lunch was available in the "Schooner Bar" consisting of fish and chips, bangers and mashers, or cottage pie.

 

Each production show runs for two nights with two shows each night, and a specialty act appears in the big lounge with three shows each night. That way one can attend one show one night and the other on another night - taking pressure off the venues so that neither is over crowded.

 

The sound volume at the shows was not deafening, a welcome relief from RCI and Celebrity where they must try to mask lip syncing with TOO LOUD music.

 

Each deck has a couple of laundromats with irons and ironing boards for passenger use. (MMMM, I thought irons were a fire hazard on ships :rolleyes:)

 

We could take on one bottle of wine per person on embarkation day, and nobody objected if we replenished our supply in other ports.

 

Tip/Gratuities/Service Charge or whatever you want to call them were automatically added to our account each day. Every single staff member we encountered was pleasant, hard-working, and an excellent ambassador for Princess. They compete for service-related customer evaluation reports and were thus tuned into making sure each passenger was happy. We saw our Assistant Head Waiter every meal, not just the last night of the cruise to make sure he received his tip.

 

Bottom Line: We were so impressed that the four of us booked another Princess cruise while on-board to take advantage of a double OBC offer and have cancelled an RCI cruise that we had planned for the same period.

 

Interesting; thank you for the review.

 

I believe Carnival also has laundry facilities complete with iron and ironing board (at least when I sailed the Victory), so I knew RCL's strategy was revenue based...period!

 

I'm not much of a fan for MTD, so in that smaller DR, where there tables of 8 or 10? I'd a fan of meeting people and having lively conversation over dinner.

[ChevyCruiser]

I'm not much of a fan for MTD, so in that smaller DR, where there tables of 8 or 10? I'd a fan of meeting people and having lively conversation over dinner.

 

We were at a table for four, but there were tables for six and eight nearby so you should be fine.

 

There were more food choices on the MDR menu each night than on RCI and I found the food to be superb. We never use the specialty restaurants -why pay for food again? - so I can't comment on them.

[critterchick]

Thank you for that comparison! We have sailed mostly RCI and Princess, and have found the lines to be more similar than different.

 

For the poster who asked shat Princess ship would most resemble a Radiance class vessel, I would have to say the Grand class. Those ships carry about the same number of passengers (around 2600), and have comparable public facilities - Skywalkers on Princess vs. the Viking Crown lounge on RCI, the Wheelhouse Bar/Schooner Bar, two specialy restaurants (I greatly prefer RCI's offerings there).

 

Princess has great pizza. RCI has edible pizza, but nothing to rave about.

 

I prefer an RCI junior suite to a Princess minisuite. An RCI standard balcony cabin will have a sofa; Princess; will have a chair. Many JS cabins have walk in closets rather than the open hanging space you find on Princess.

 

The Princess Elite minibar setup is a one time thing, no matter the length of the cruise. On RCI, on ships with a Concierge lounge, you have a complimentary cocktail hour (or hours) daily, as well as complimentary cappuccino and a concierge who can troubleshoot for you, often saving a trip to guest services.

 

The laundry rooms on Princess are a nice touch. For me it's less about saving money (and it's not $10; more like $100 or more on a long cruise) but that I prefer to control the care of my garments. Some go in the dryer, some don't, and either line's laundry will just wash & dry.

 

I wouldn't hesitate to sail on either line, but I would pick my ships carefully. Many Princess cruisers love the Island Princess, but she's not really on my list. I love the Grand class, and would pick the Diamond or Sapphire over the Voyager class, but price would definitely be a factor in choosing. For New Year's 2009 a VS suite on Princess is a lot less than a GS on Mariner (we're splurging), so it's a pretty easy decision for us.

[BadBoysDriveAudi]

We were at a table for four, but there were tables for six and eight nearby so you should be fine.

 

There were more food choices on the MDR menu each night than on RCI and I found the food to be superb. We never use the specialty restaurants -why pay for food again? - so I can't comment on them.

 

That's fine because I have yet to use the specialty restaurants myself. Telling me that the options are more plentiful and quality is superb is enough to let me know MDR will be ok for me. I presume there's an early and late dining option (I prefer late)?

[Charles4515]

That's fine because I have yet to use the specialty restaurants myself. Telling me that the options are more plentiful and quality is superb is enough to let me know MDR will be ok for me. I presume there's an early and late dining option (I prefer late)?

 

On Princess they have three main dining rooms which by the way are not as elegant as the main dining room on Royal Caribbean. In two of the dining rooms they have anytime dining and one they have traditional with early and late seating. The setup is fine if you have or prefer anytime dining. If you prefer traditional dining, it is harder to get. And even if they tell you in advance you have late seating, many get on the ship and find out they have been reassigned to anytime dining. Try to get changed from anytime to traditional, lots of luck. They really push anytime because of the two anytime dining rooms versus one traditional dining room.

[8373seth]

Your review is interesting. We're trying Princess this fall. My only hesitation is that I find their ships to be very bland-looking and full of pastels and murals. That said, some rooms feel different in person than in pictures so we have high hopes.

 

It's interesting that you can get right into your rooms upon boarding. What time does that mean you have to be out of them on turn-around day? There has to be some time for the maids to work if they're cleaning them thoroughly between guests.

 

We had heard that the reason that Princess re-shows all their shows was because the theatre is smallish and they couldn't possibly accommodate as many. Any tips on not having to scramble for seats? On HAL, people actually lined up for the theatre to open, which I really don't want to do.

 

While I have no interest in saving $10 by spending part of a vacation that cost hundreds (or thousands) doing laundry, it's nice to see that they accommodate those that want to spend their holiday that way. My understanding from a couple of documentaries is that these laundry rooms are lined in fire retarant material. I doubt still that they allow irons in folks' individual rooms still.

 

Thanks for the tips.

 

p.s. We always have fruit in our room on RCL. A simple call to room service gets that done.

 

We just got off of RCI's Liberty. We've been on Princess. We enjoyed RCI and we also enjoyed Princess. We will continue to sail Princess and RCI in the future. One thing we noticed (and this may be specific to our sailing) was that Princess on both cruises we were one had a hosted FOD (several in fact) with champagne or wine. RCI's FOD was not hosted and was at 12:00 midnight on the first night in the Catacombs. While the crew on RCI was very friendly we felt Princess goes one step further with the hosted FODs.

 

This may change for RCI as we heard on our recent cruise that the president of RCI perhaps wants to follow Princess's idea of having at least one hosted FOD each cruise.

[Cruise Junky]

On Princess they have three main dining rooms which by the way are not as elegant as the main dining room on Royal Caribbean. In two of the dining rooms they have anytime dining and one they have traditional with early and late seating. The setup is fine if you have or prefer anytime dining. If you prefer traditional dining, it is harder to get. And even if they tell you in advance you have late seating, many get on the ship and find out they have been reassigned to anytime dining. Try to get changed from anytime to traditional, lots of luck. They really push anytime because of the two anytime dining rooms versus one traditional dining room.

 

Where do you get this crap from? It's only been my last Princess cruise that's I've intentionally booked Anytime, other than that, I've booked and had late seating every time. The dining rooms may not be as elegant as some of the high end lines, but they certainly hold their own against royal caribbean.

[Charles4515]

Where do you get this crap from? It's only been my last Princess cruise that's I've intentionally booked Anytime, other than that, I've booked and had late seating every time. The dining rooms may not be as elegant as some of the high end lines, but they certainly hold their own against royal caribbean.

 

I get it from going on a lot of Princess cruises. Like three times on Grand, twice on Crown, Sea Princess, Island princess, Pacific Princess, etc...... Princess dining rooms are one story rooms with somewhat garish large italian style paintings on the wall. Royal Caribbean has elegant three story dining rooms. On my Princess cruises I met many people who could not get assigned seating and were not happy about it.

[Cruise Junky]

I get it from going on a lot of Princess cruises. Princess dining rooms are one story rooms with somewhat garish large italian style paintings on the wall. Royal Caribbean has elegant three story dining rooms. On my Princess cruises I met many people who could not get assigned seating and were not happy about it.

 

Well maybe they should book earlier, I've never had a problem booking and getting what I want.

[ellbon]

I have done 12 princess cruises and the name of the buffet is ont windjammer nor do we have a bar called somethingwith an "S" thati can not recall. hte last princess cruise the Wheelhosue bar did ont have a free lunch but I heard it has been offered since the Ruby came out.

 

quote]

 

I put Windjammer and Schooner Bar in quotes so that Royal cruisers would know what I was talking about so they could better compare - rather than tell them how the Wheelhouse Bar had a pub lunch for free on sea days.

thanks for telling me because i was lost as a loyal Princess child. i will be on my first RCI cruise tomorrow. sorry about the spelling before. i knew the names of your bars and eating palces befroe i even booked a cruise. nowi get to learn if the cabins are really bigger. booked a JR this tiem and a GS next. my big concern is dinner. not that i loved Celebity's food.

[Charles4515]

Well maybe they should book earlier, I've never had a problem booking and getting what I want.

 

The problem is that two thirds of the dining room seats are Anytime and one third are Traditional. So Traditional seating is limited.

[Cruisin-Family]

Well said. We are Diamond and RCCl shareholders. We WERE Loyal Royals until RCCL made it very apparent that they don't value our loyalty. We have, so far, cancelled two cruises with RCCL and moved our cruise plans to Princess.

 

 

We too are Diamond members returning in kind the (lack of) loyalty Royal no longer extend to us...we still have one cruise with Royal booked, but don't see us returning again anytime soon. We also steer friends and family to other vacation (cruise) alternatives which is a big change; we used to "sell" Royal to friends and family - no longer.

[Cruise Junky]

The problem is that two thirds of the dining room seats are Anytime and one third are Traditional. So Traditional seating is limited.

 

Yet in my 6 cruises with Princess, I've always booked and had Late Traditional. It wasn't until 2 weeks before sailing that I switched to anytime on our Greek Island cruise. I guess the smaller ships that weren't built for anytime, you might have an issue, but I certainly haven't run into it.

[Projunior]

In December of 2007 my wife and I, Princess Platinum members, tried our very first RCI cruise aboard the Mariner of the Seas. We had a great time and will be sailing Eastern Caribbean aboard the Liberty of the Seas in less than 3 weeks. At the time I posted a detailed review, here on CC, re our impressions of RCI vs. Princess:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=677107&highlight=

 

We like Princess; we liked our one cruise on RCI.

 

In sum, of the greatest negatives on our one sailing on MOS (vis-a-vis Princess) were:

 

Dearth of off-hours availability of food.

The quality of the offerings at Cafe Promenade.

The complete lack of opportunities to ballroom dance.

Princess pizza is the bomb; MOS pizza was the pits.

 

Hard to imagine anyone not having a great time on either of the two lines.

[8373seth]

We just got off of RCI's Liberty. We've been on Princess. We enjoyed RCI and we also enjoyed Princess. We will continue to sail Princess and RCI in the future. One thing we noticed (and this may be specific to our sailing) was that Princess on both cruises we were one had a hosted FOD (several in fact) with champagne or wine. RCI's FOD was not hosted and was at 12:00 midnight on the first night in the Catacombs. While the crew on RCI was very friendly we felt Princess goes one step further with the hosted FODs.

 

This may change for RCI as we heard on our recent cruise that the president of RCI perhaps wants to follow Princess's idea of having at least one hosted FOD each cruise.

 

Sorry for the poor grammar, I am tired from our flights home. I meant to say:

 

One thing we noticed (and this may be specific to our sailing) was that Princess had a hosted FOD (several in fact) with champagne or wine.

[flvol77]

The thing I noticed about Princess vs RCL is Princess in the Caribbean is more seafood driven, they take a lot of pride in their food, they have cooking demonstrations and even have a cook book. If you are a huge fan of being pampered Princess not only has Specialty restaurants (Crown Grill is our favorite) but they have balcony dining experience along with chefs table which are at an extra cost but are a wonderful experience.

 

We like how Princess can break up 3000 passengers up and make it seem like you are on a smaller ship. That is part of their large ship, small ship feel theme they have.

[dmdicato]

After RCI pulled their unannounced, "sneaky Pete" revision of their OBC and Loyalty programs last Fall, a week after I had purchased a couple of Next Cruise Certificates while on-board an Alaska cruise, four of us decided to try Princess and effectively moved around $10,000 worth of booking revenue over to Princess instead of booking a planned cruise on RCI.

 

 

 

I was actually waiting for a thread like this. We did the same thing! 6 of us cancelled our Liberty cruise 10/09 & booked Emerald for the same week.

Sounds like RCCL is losing a lot of revenue! They denied us our military discount AND $200 balcony discount!!:mad: So we moved on......

 

How did you do this transfer? Please give more details!

Thanks in advance.

[Kikkycat]

The thing I noticed about Princess vs RCL is Princess in the Caribbean is more seafood driven, they take a lot of pride in their food, they have cooking demonstrations and even have a cook book.

 

I hope to one day sail on Princess and be able to compare the two lines for myself directly.

 

It should be pointed out that RCI also has a cookbook, Savor, and they are currently on the second volume, Savor II.