Princess or Royal Caribbean

[tryptaker]

I am back and forth between these two cruise lines trying to pick one! They both provide the itinerary that we want for our first cruise and the right dates but I just don't know which line is best. Had heard some reports of the Caribbean Princess needing a facelift. The Royal Caribbean ship would be the Adventure of the Seas. If anyone has any details on either or both, I'd appreciate hearing your advice! Thanks.

[Harry and Lucille]

I don't know about these ships, however, I would suggest that you check the boards for roll call on your sailing dates for both. This will give you great insight for both. If your date is not listed, start your own thread with your questions. Cruise lines are hurting in this economy and are going to great lengths to improve all aspects of their fleets. Hope this helps and welcome aboard. Harry:cool:

[JanineM]

Have you read the reviews here at Cruise Critic? That's how we make our decision when we are wavering between itineraries and ships. The members reviews will be very current and generally unbiased!

[satxdiver]

I was on the AOS last September. It is a voyager class ship with a promenade down the middle of the ship and is open from the 5th deck to the 8th deck. Inside rooms on the 6th, 7th and 8th decks have windows overlooking the promenade (this is just the rooms in the center of the ship). The ship has a lot of glitz but holds 3500 pax. It is a nice ship.

 

The staterooms are arranged differently for balcony rooms. On RCL ships the bed is located near the outside door not leaving a lot of room to get around the end of the bed to the balcony. On Princess the bed is located near the bathroom with a seating area next to the outside door to the balcony.

 

The major complaints that I have with the AOS is there is no place to sit outside the buffet and eat your meal. I love to be outside. They close the buffet by locking the door which means you cannot use the tables for cards or anything else. I like to sit at the tables in the buffet when the line is closed because it usually is very quiet and few are around. Living in the southwest I use a lot of ice. When the buffet is closed the only sources of ice is your stateroom or the bars. It reminds me of having to beg for it! To make matters worse when the buffet is open, you have to ask for it and the waiters act like you are asking for the world.

 

On Princess the buffet is open 24x7. You are free to use the tables at anytime. The ice is self serve and there are tables just outside the buffet to eat your meals if you want to be outside. They have coffee always available and they always have something on the buffet line to eat. Late at night they have fast food available. Incidentally if you want room service on the RCL ships between midnight and 5:00 AM, they charge!

[RunnerNic]

I've sailed AOS in 2007 and 2008 and loved it. The ship is gorgeous and clean and the service is great! I have done 6 RCCL cruises and never had a "real" problem. On the Aventure we had a horriblw waitor the first night, but that was taken care of in no time!

 

My grandparents cruise Princess every year AND cruised with us on AOS. They love both EXCEPT RCCL does NOT have open dining where as PRincess does. They liked open dining b/c they can eat when they want. Also, RCCL is more geared to families where Princess is more geared towards couples and 40+

 

Hope this helped a little

[PhoneGoddess]

I am back and forth between these two cruise lines trying to pick one! They both provide the itinerary that we want for our first cruise and the right dates but I just don't know which line is best. Had heard some reports of the Caribbean Princess needing a facelift. The Royal Caribbean ship would be the Adventure of the Seas. If anyone has any details on either or both, I'd appreciate hearing your advice! Thanks.

 

The Caribbean Princess was just renovated this year. It is an absolutely beautiful ship with some very nice amenities. I have never sailed on AOS, so I cannot comment but I thoroughly enjoyed my one RC cruise as well.

Whatever you choose, enjoy! :)

[SheriRo]

I just did AOS last week and did the Princess 2 years ago. So far my favorite is the Princess. The food was better, they had an outdoor movie theatre and played movies all day while you lounged by the pool, and the shows were better. Don't get me wrong, the AOS is a beautfiul ship, we loved the mall area on the promenade deck, but as much money as you pay for a good cruise, you want the food to be fabulous. And the Princess had several options. The AOS had 1 Italian fine dining restaurant and Johnny Rockets, a hamburger joint. We liked having more options to choose from. The Princess was an older crowd, didn't seem to be as many kids. I noticed a lot of kids on the AOS ship and sometimes the pool areas got pretty crowded and loud. There was an adult area but they didn't have any music playing there, so we usually just stuck it out with the kiddos so we could enjoy the island music. Both are good ships, but I have to say the Princess was more impressive to me. Good luck deciding and enjoy wherever you go!

[TrentS]

Been on them both, they're both very well maintained, but of the two I'll always go with a RCI Voyager or Freedom class ship. Adventure of the Seas is spectacular and has much more to do onboard.

[yesaccasey]

Carnival :)