Platinum Carnival cruiser tries Princess

Stu, thanks for the review. You mentioned several things I thought were interesting.

1. No lines, but ship about 80% full.

2. Mostly 50+ year olds, isn't this normal for a 15 day TA?

Would really like to read a comparison of this ship vs. a larger CCL ship for a spring break Caribbean cruise.

Stu, thanks for the review. You mentioned several things I thought were interesting.

1. No lines, but ship about 80% full.

2. Mostly 50+ year olds, isn't this normal for a 15 day TA?

 

Would really like to read a comparison of this ship vs. a larger CCL ship for a spring break Caribbean cruise.

My sense of it was that if the ship was full (and it is full this week doing a Baltic cruise) lines if any would be substantially less than what we have seen on Carnival.

Longer cruises do attract an older crowd who are either retired or get longer vacation time.

Thank you for the insight, glad you had fun.

Not sure it is really much of a comparison though: A Carnival Carib cruise to a Princess 15 day on new ship sailing 80% full. Also the off-season which surely brought out a different clientele than what many CCL cruises have. Not that you even mentioned fellow passengers, just pointing it out. :)

Glad you picked up on that. 80% full makes a lot of difference on whether it feels crowded or not.....lol.

Princess seems to sell to a different clientele than Carnival.

 

Carnival as I see it seems to be looking for a younger crowd, who will buy lots of drinks and fill up their sign and sail account.

 

Princess, at least for this cruise, had a ship full of 60 somethings out to see the world.

 

BTW sailed the Dream this past December and even though the ship was not full had lines all over lido.

 

It appears Princess has come up with a design to prevent crowds. Will know better probably next year when we will hope to do another TA probably on a older ship.

Just consider that it was a Princess TA you were on. On Carnival TA's the clientele is also older. We are in our 60's and been on a few Carnival TA's and always felt we were one of the younger ones...lol.

Have never been on a 3 or 4 days cruise on Carnival but have heard that the clientele on those cruises are quite different than even those on the 7 days cruises.

Having been on several different cruise lines, the different demographics are apparent on all lines depending on the length of the cruise.

 

Hi Mary! We sailed together on the Magic TA. I hope all has been well.

Hi J, remember you well. Say hi to the folks and your sister.:)

Hi Stu. Glad to hear you and Sheila had a good time. Hopefully, you didn't "lose" her anywhere. :D

Thanks for the review. I did a Princess cruise last September to Alaska and my impressions were much the same as yours. I did notice, as some have mentioned, that on the Golden Princess, the buffet was smaller and a bit crowded at times, but it wasn't as bad as some of the lines on Carnival. Loved that the waiters came to ask what I wanted to drink. I also loved the International Cafe for a quick bite and I did go to the pub lunch a couple of times.

One thing I noticed was that the beds were much harder on Princess than on Carnival and the room a little smaller, but since I was cruising solo, that isn't a problem for me.

Will still cruise Carnival, but would definitely cruise Princess again.

We have cruised on both Carnival and Princess and enjoyed them both equally. There are some things we like better on Carnival and vice versa.

 

To me, the deciding factor is the itinerary.

We do Princess more often, but we also sail Carnival when the itinerary is right. IMO, Carnival does a better job with Mexico, and Princess is better with Alaska. Since we live on the West Coast (USA) we find Mexican and Alaskan cruises are more accessible. Anyway there's no such thing as too many cruises.:)

The fabled age difference is an exaggeration , IMO. It's true you will tend to find more young people on Carnival and more older ones on Princess, but there are also plenty of both on each line.

Hi Stu. Glad to hear you and Sheila had a good time. Hopefully, you didn't "lose" her anywhere. :D

 

Thanks for the review. I did a Princess cruise last September to Alaska and my impressions were much the same as yours. I did notice, as some have mentioned, that on the Golden Princess, the buffet was smaller and a bit crowded at times, but it wasn't as bad as some of the lines on Carnival. Loved that the waiters came to ask what I wanted to drink. I also loved the International Cafe for a quick bite and I did go to the pub lunch a couple of times.

 

One thing I noticed was that the beds were much harder on Princess than on Carnival and the room a little smaller, but since I was cruising solo, that isn't a problem for me.

 

Will still cruise Carnival, but would definitely cruise Princess again.

Wow will never live that one down. lol. Beds were comfortable on Princess but will say never had an issue with the ones on any Carnival ship.

BTW sailed the Dream this past December and even though the ship was not full had lines all over lido.

 

It appears Princess has come up with a design to prevent crowds. Will know better probably next year when we will hope to do another TA probably on a older ship.

The Dream just "seemed" crowded to me no matter where I went. The elevators always had a line. Trying to get anywhere on the ship was a nightmare. I would love to know who the brain surgeon was that made it impossible for me to get from one end of the ship to the other without have to go up around and then back down.

I never once tried the Mongolian Wok because the line was a mile long.

Okay my rant is off and I am glad you had a great cruise. I will say the Legend with the 2.0 upgrades seemed much less crowded and the Lido was actually very easy to navigate on her.

oops no way to now comment on this comment without a new post.

 

 

 

We were on the Glory this past Feb and even with Guys and other venues along lido, had lines inside at all places. And rumor had it ship was not full.

Interesting. I happened to check out the specs on the Royal Princess. The same amount of pax as the Conquest, but larger by 30k tons. That could surely make a difference as well.

By the way, sounds like a great cruise, glad you enjoyed it!

Kevin C

The Dream just "seemed" crowded to me no matter where I went. The elevators always had a line. Trying to get anywhere on the ship was a nightmare. I would love to know who the brain surgeon was that made it impossible for me to get from one end of the ship to the other without have to go up around and then back down.

 

I never once tried the Mongolian Wok because the line was a mile long.

 

Okay my rant is off and I am glad you had a great cruise. I will say the Legend with the 2.0 upgrades seemed much less crowded and the Lido was actually very easy to navigate on her.

Trick to mongolian wok is to go early say 11 45 and before people realize it is there

Interesting. I happened to check out the specs on the Royal Princess. The same amount of pax as the Conquest, but larger by 30k tons. That could surely make a difference as well.

 

By the way, sounds like a great cruise, glad you enjoyed it!

 

Kevin C

Seemed to me visually the ship was wider than others so more rooms for tables and less crowding. However lines of people getting food were just never there.

Friends from our roll call are doing the second part of the itinerary and the ship is full so will be interesting to see if it is more crowded now

We cruised with Princess several years ago, when we did Alaska. Definitely a different vibe than Carnival, but the demographics of an Alaskan cruise are different than a Caribbean cruise. Overall, I would say Carnival (and NCL) suits us better than Princess, (not because we're hard partiers, just very laid back!), but we will cruise with Princess again! They have some GREAT itineraries! And when we do, I'm hoping it will be on Royal or Regal...awesome looking ships!!!

I also remember there were a LOT more sea day activities that interested us on Princess....I mean, how many hairy chest contests can one watch??? And the activities were more educational, and entertainment was WAY better than what Carnival offers! Of course, we still sail Carnival also....we just typically bring more books to read on a Carnival cruise!

Seemed to me visually the ship was wider than others so more rooms for tables and less crowding. However lines of people getting food were just never there.

 

 

 

Friends from our roll call are doing the second part of the itinerary and the ship is full so will be interesting to see if it is more crowded now

Thanks for the review Stu, glad you enjoyed it. Sounds very nice. Was there an active roll call for your TA?

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This Platinum cruiser is trying Royal Caribbean for a change and something different

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Thanks for the review Stu, glad you enjoyed it. Sounds very nice. Was there an active roll call for your TA?

 

 

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A very active and large one thankfully. People became group leaders of tours and we joined them for each port.

Otherwise might have been very difficult to find good tours.

We had CC meet and greet, luncheon, cabin crawl and were constantly meeting CCers all over.

Stu,

Could you contact me at wgc41@yahoo.com when you get a chance please.

Thanks

Bill

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Stu,

 

Could you contact me at wgc41@yahoo.com when you get a chance please.

 

Thanks

 

Bill

 

 

 

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done

Stu...you may have missed my welcome back...too long winded as usual...LOL.

I hope Sheila loved it...and it sounds like the regular balconies room wise were perhaps a tad bit larger then the Grand class...how much view was blocked?

Stu...you may have missed my welcome back...too long winded as usual...LOL.

 

I hope Sheila loved it...and it sounds like the regular balconies room wise were perhaps a tad bit larger then the Grand class...how much view was blocked?

We both had a great time. Balcony blocked by lifeboat underneath us but can easily see out so no big deal especially since it was free upgrade.

Never having been on grand class cannot tell you the difference but will say we had enough room for the two of us.

Rushing to comment here and also catch up on work so sorry not to comment on your first post which I did see.

Hi Stu! I was looking forward to your comparison of CCL and Princess. Did Princess honor any "sister line" discounts? Past guest, etc? I am glad you enjoyed your cruise - and a TA at that! We have been "spreading our wings" with 2 different lines, as CCL shows/food/ports have become a bit old- but still good enough and price-efficient for a getaway from work.

Glad to hear you enjoyed your Princess cruise. The entertainment IMHO beats Carnivals new playlist and Hasbro hands down.

No plans for us to sail Carnival but sailing Princess again this year. Also looking at RCCL which we have never sailed.

To another poster who wondered about paying more for Princess than Carnival, our 14 day cruise on Princess is cheaper than a 14 day cruise on the Carnival Liberty due to Princess's great military obc and TA's being allowed to discount the cruises.

Hi Stu! I was looking forward to your comparison of CCL and Princess. Did Princess honor any "sister line" discounts? Past guest, etc? I am glad you enjoyed your cruise - and a TA at that! We have been "spreading our wings" with 2 different lines, as CCL shows/food/ports have become a bit old- but still good enough and price-efficient for a getaway from work.

We did get a past guest discount and of course the stockholder obc for long cruises is awesome.

Almost the entire ship were either platinum or elite so we were one of the only newbies on the ship. Felt so strange but if we do 4 more 15 day cruises we become platinum and get free internet minutes.

We both had a great time. Balcony blocked by lifeboat underneath us but can easily see out so no big deal especially since it was free upgrade.

 

Never having been on grand class cannot tell you the difference but will say we had enough room for the two of us.

 

Rushing to comment here and also catch up on work so sorry not to comment on your first post which I did see.

So glad to hear your "great" description....thanks and take it easy on re-entry!!!:)

We did get a past guest discount and of course the stockholder obc for long cruises is awesome.

 

Almost the entire ship were either platinum or elite so we were one of the only newbies on the ship. Felt so strange but if we do 4 more 15 day cruises we become platinum and get free internet minutes.

Stu, you can still obtain status by number of cruises. It is 5 completed for Platinum and 15 completed for Elite.

Thank you for your review. We are on Platinum on Princess and Diamond on Carnival. Really looking forward to trying the Royal Princess also. :)

 

To be fair, Lido on the Royal Princess from what I have read is quite different from the rest of the Princess ships. On the rest of the Princess, Horizon Court is quite small and crowded. On ships with Cafe Caribe, it is another option and for some reason, was never crowded whenever we ate there. Maybe, because it is at the back of the ship and some people don't know about it???::confused:

 

One point you made is so true. Cruising is sometimes more about the friends you cruise with and / or meet rather than the ship or cruise line.:)

Not true. We are one cruise away from being Plat on Princess and we are Plat on Carnival.

We have been on the Crown several times . the Star and the Caribbean princess for a New Year's Eve cruise which was the most fun cruise we have ever taken.. We love the Crown which is a sister ship to the Emerald and the Royal.

the Lido buffet has a marked entrance with staff by it.....and an exit. The line breakers cannot come in and just pick a spot. Ditto one family member being joined by 12 others. You can choose from a station with breads...one with entrees...one with fruits and salads...one with sides...one with pre made sandwiches..one with salad doings..lots of them One with desserts. And it never seems to get crowded. No lines that are longer than a few people. OK. At the Omelet station. I have seen some people lined up..but not long.

I admit I have never sailed on the small ships. The Star was our smallest and we loved it. We were on for ten days and hated to get off. And that is the truth.

We like Carnival too. But if Princess was as close to our home as Carnival, there would be not comparison. Princess also costs more. We like it because.......More closet space. ( but shower stall is the pits) Food is better. I like Carnival food. But Princess is just a little better. The bacon is a little leaner. The salad fixings a little more elaborate. More desserts.

And Trivia. Is more fun. Themed. Lots of competition. great activities staff. We won the Jeopardize Trivia on the New Year's Eve cruise. We played with a group of people we had never seen before we set foot on the ship. After a week of playing together, on the last night, we took pictures and got teary eyed. A great cruise.

And my second favorite cruise would be on the Dream. so......both great lines.

But then I like NCL and I like HAL...and Celebrity........I am a hopeless cruise addict.