Carnival vs. Princess for 3-4 day cruise

Any advice on which cruise line to take?

What's your opinion of hairy chest contests?

Edited January 8, 2015 by Underwatr

Ship? Location? Your interests?

Not a Princess fan and would take Carnival any day over one of their ships.

 

Signed,

Been on a dozen cruises on many lines from budget to luxury including Carnival. Only once walked by the hairy chest contest and it was no big deal. Just people having a good time in an activity with a stupid name. Other lines, including Princess, have similar contests but give them less offensive names.

Any advice on which cruise line to take?

 

Done both numerous times and I whole heartedly recommend Princess. 3-4 day Carnival cruises are scraping the bottom of the cruising barrel. The short Princess cruises are actually pretty nice.

Edited January 9, 2015 by Cruzaholic41

Princess does not do inane "contests" like the hairy chest thing.

Speaking as one who has taken 27 Princess cruises, and has 2 more booked, Princess is classy .... but never snobby or boring.

 

I did do one 4 day Carnival cruise with family a few months ago, and it was just okay ..... but would be willing to do another IF the price was cheap enough and it was a family thing.

Last year, I did a 3 night Caribbean Princess cruise and a 4 night Ruby Princess cruise. When it comes to short cruises, these rank up there at the top. For 3/4 night cruises, I recommend either Princess, Celebrity or Royal Caribbean. Avoid Carnival and NCL.

We took 3-day and 4-day cruises on the Caribbean Princess last week and enjoyed both. They're more relaxed than a weeklong cruise. And there were hairy chest contests and other poolside activities that people think of more in line with Carnival. We did a short Carnival cruise a couple of years ago for spring break. (DH teaches at a community college.)

 

I say look at your options and try to get the best deal you can. Generally we prefer Princess. I don't know of many people who prefer Carnival over Princess, but there are a few of them out there.

What's your opinion of hairy chest contests?

 

 

Princess has their off-color poolside contests also. Passing by on the Golden I just shook my head at some of the games.

 

Just off a Carnival Inspiration 4day and did the almost same route doing B2B 3 day on the Golden in November and last October.

 

Carnival has a vibrancy that Princess doesn't have. The pax on Carnival come from all walks of life. Haven't seen that variety in Princess.

 

Will sail on Princess if the price is right or if the itin is different.

We found most our Princess cruises to have lots of vibrancy (even the December one that had a definitely older crowd!!!)

 

I have not done Carnival, nor have I done anything less than 5 days. But from all my reading here, Carnival is overall more of a party line, especially the short Caribbean cruises.

 

We have cruised Princess & Celebrity at spring break--both a lot of fun being had, never saw any out of control.

Carnival is the Fun Ship. Princess is the Love Boat.

While it was a quality product, we were bored on our Princess cruise. It felt like they rolled up the hallways & everybody went to bed at 11 pm which was not our idea of a vacation. We have never taken a Carnival cruise so I can't speak to that.

 

By reputation only if you want more of a party, sail Carnival. If you want something more sedate take Princess. Personally, I'd probably pick the one with the lower price.

3/4 night Princess cruises, just like the other cruise lines, have a much younger and more diverse crowd on board. On both of mine last year, the activities went well into the night. I don't know what time Skywalkers closed, but it was after I turned in....which was well after midnight.

While it was a quality product, we were bored on our Princess cruise. It felt like they rolled up the hallways & everybody went to bed at 11 pm which was not our idea of a vacation. We have never taken a Carnival cruise so I can't speak to that.

To us it felt like Carnival really wasn't prepared for someone to be up at 8 or 9 in the morning. They serve "brunch" rather than breakfast on sea days and if you do want something like a bloody mary they have to go find a drinks waiter who's awake (I swear I am not making this up).

Any advice on which cruise line to take?

 

You don't say whether you're looking at the West Coast from L.A. to Ensenada or Florida cruises to the Bahamas. If you're talking about the California-Mexico cruises, I like Princess better, but really for just one reason: The Princess ships that make this run have balcony cabins, and the Carnival ships do not (except for suites).

 

We were able to get a balcony cabin on Princess for the same price as an ocean view on Carnival.

 

You will probably find Princess has an older, more subdued crowd, but I didn't see a huge difference. As far as hairy chest contests, I can't imagine anything mattering less. You can go or not go, same as the insipid "shopping talks" that just steer you to kickback stores and those obnoxious art auctions.

 

Jim

While it was a quality product, we were bored on our Princess cruise. It felt like they rolled up the hallways & everybody went to bed at 11 pm which was not our idea of a vacation. We have never taken a Carnival cruise so I can't speak to that.

 

By reputation only if you want more of a party, sail Carnival. If you want something more sedate take Princess. Personally, I'd probably pick the one with the lower price.

 

When, where & how many days did you cruise Princess? We have not felt this on any of our 4 Princess cruises (even our Dec. one where the crowd was definitively older...) We hit the night club until 2AM most nights!

I have cruised a lot on both. And others.

I'd go on either--for me it would depend on which ship I think.