Tried Princess this weekend

Just got in from a one nighter repositioning cruise on the Golden Princess. I got a wicked deal, $29 CAD for an interior plus port fees ($80 CAD). I think maybe I got myself too hyped up at the idea of a higher end line but it didn't meet my expectations. I still had a good time but it didn't compare to my awesome 2013 cruise on the Carnival Breeze. I will give you a quick comparison for the two lines and if anyone has questions I will try to answer them. Keep in mind that my Breeze experience was six days and this one was a one night cruise, so that probably plays into the overall entertainment offerings on board.

FOOD

The Princess buffet was gross. The food was not hot and the overall quality level wasn't there. My travelling companion and I didn't even finish our plates and we were starving. I really enjoyed the buffet on the Breeze (enjoyed it a bit too much hehe....gained 12 pounds that week!) so this was a big disappointment. The Princess pizza was VERY good. I only had one slice but immediately regretted ever trying to end my hunger at the buffet. Main dining room atmosphere was better on Princess but the food was the same as Carnival, meaning, it was great. The Princess deserts in the MDR were better.

I was disappointed in the "branding" of the food establishments on the Golden Princess. I don't know if this is typical, but there seemed to be no distinct labelling identifying where you get hamburgers, pizza....ice cream was marked by a giant ice cream cone but the ice cream (hard is available and that is what I chose) tasted like generic although people had hyped me up about how awesome their made fresh daily ice cream is...I think, made fresh......from a giant 8 liter bottle of generic ice cream mix :p but ice cream is ice cream, so who cares :-D

DRINKS

the same. equally good on both lines, although significantly less beer selection on Princess which didn't bother me, but did bother my companion.

POOLS/SPORT

I think we all know there is no contest here, Carnival definitely wins but props to Princess for having a solarium pool, it would be awesome to hit Alaska child free on that ship!

ENTERTAINMENT

Ok...I hate Playlist Productions. totally lame...but, and I don't know if this is related to the fact that it was only a one night cruise or what, but all we had on the Princess sailing was comics every hour in the main theatre (nice to have more seating room but the crowded Carnival space seemed more festive), live music on deck (which was awesome), and some live music in the atrium. There were no announcements (and I know some of you would LOVE that!) and it made me feel a bit like I was always missing something.

STATEROOM

We booked a spa interior on the Breeze, and a regular interior on the Golden Princess. Princess upgraded us to a balcony from an interior so that was AWESOME! that being said, the room was the same size as the interior on the Breeze, and not as nicely appointed. This could just be related to ship ages. But the balcony was great, sliding doors and a large enough seating area. we slept with the balcony door open a crack to listen to the waves. Carnival mattresses and bedding were better but the Princess pillow was amazing...we wanted to shove them into our travel bags :)

GENERAL

The Golden Princess was definitely an older ship, but she was definitely clean. The spa pool and hot tubs were closed which I was really sad about. Every time we asked the staff anything they would respond with a "no we don't do that sorry....just kidding!" type response. I think they were trying to be funny but after a while it rubbed me the wrong way. I think they might not have cared as much as it was a one night sailing....they knew only $12 of autotips was expected.

The Princess loyalty program seems better than Carnival's, if you care about that sort of thing. They use # of cruises instead of days at sea, so if I do four of these one nighters a year I will move up the ranks super quick for not much $$.

The store staff also told us directly that we were allowed to take one bottle each of alcohol back to Canada. We should have checked ourselves on the government travel website so I don't blame them totally, but when we got to the border coming home the border security guy told us we could only bring a bottle over if we stayed two nights out of country. But again, I shouldn't have asked the sales guy and 100% trusted his answer. I did assume that because Princess has these one nighters between Vancouver and Seattle twice a year on multiple ships that he would know, but realistically this guy only deals with Canadians in this situation twice a year at most. Luckily we got an awesome border officer who just let us though anyway without paying the $30 in duty that we owed.

The vibe of the ship was much more sedate. Could be related to it being a westcoast departure, so I can't really make a comparison here. Some people might really prefer this vibe but I felt a bit lost with it. I think my next line to try will be RCCL because they seem to fit more with what we are looking for, but I am a huge fan of Carnival's price point so I will stick with them until I get bored :-D

So, does this mean I am officially part of the Carnival cheerleader club? And does anyone have any questions?

Glad you got to experience that. I couldn't do 1 night. Wonder if all was "up to speed" for that kind of trip.

A one night cruise is not a good cruise to take to really experience a Princess cruise . You should take a 7 day cruise and then compare apples to apples . Not apples ( 7 night) to oranges (1 night) . Your probably rushed to see a lot of what Princess offers in one night. To me a 1 nighter would be a party cruise.

A one night cruise is not a good cruise to take to really experience a Princess cruise . You should take a 7 day cruise and then compare apples to apples . Not apples ( 7 night) to oranges (1 night) . Your probably rushed to see a lot of what Princess offers in one night. To me a 1 nighter would be a party cruise.

Agreed. A one night cruise is not much of anything. ;)

I went expecting a party cruise and maybe that's what they usually are but this one wasn't. I did have a good time and I totally agree that the 6 nighter and 1 nighter couldn't be the same. I have the Princess Patters and I'll upload a pic when I have a chance to scan it. I think my hopes were set too high because we had a really great cruise on the Breeze.

Princess doesn't tend toward the party crowd. Short Princess cruises depending on the location might attract a more party hardy group.

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I'm not sure you can really compare a 1-nght cruise to...well...anything.

Did you even have time to unpack? Actually, did you even pack at all?

A one night cruise is not a good cruise to take to really experience a Princess cruise . You should take a 7 day cruise and then compare apples to apples . Not apples ( 7 night) to oranges (1 night) . Your probably rushed to see a lot of what Princess offers in one night. To me a 1 nighter would be a party cruise.

I was about to say the same thing.

And Princess is way better with pools, since they have more of them. Probably not the hairy legs, bellyflop contest you are used to on CCL though.

Bill

I doubt a real comparison can be made from a one-night experience. I don't think we all know that Carnival pools are way better. Princess has two primary pools that are way bigger and they are fresh water. Additionally, there are two other smaller pools. I like sailing Carnival, but the Princess pool arrangement is superior.

Where to find burgers, pizza, ice cream is actually quite easy on Princess. The grill and pizza place are just about side by side on the Lido deck near one of the pools. Ice cream is just to the side between the pools. If the cruise had a second day, you would know exactly where they were to be found.:)

The pools are fresh water and heated. And there are more of them. I have been on the Golden twice and both times were great. The international cafe had great food. But in my opinion basing your feelings of a cruiseline on a one night repositioning cruise is ludicrous.

At least with Carnival you could have gotten drunk and seen the hairy gut contest. Wasn't the Titanic a one nighter? That didn't goes so well either. I'll take Princess any day.

I have been on the Golden a couple of times and the sister of the Breeze, the Magic (Breeze is next month :D ). Anyway, I agree with others that you aren't comparing apples to apples. A 1-day cruise will be nothing like a week-long cruise. Also, Carnival's newest and largest ship that has all the bells and whistles won't have the same features as one of Princess' older and smaller ships, which is elegant but basic. In one day you didn't even discover Princess' homemade ice cream, which is really delicious. It is the product you get in the dining rooms -- with toppings of your choice. Did you even try the MDR? You might have been in for a treat. It's true, of course, that Breeze has many more food options on and off the Lido, and it really needs to given the number of passengers on board.

I'm not saying that Princess is better than Carnival, or that Carnival is better than Princess. I've sailed both a handful of times, and love both Carnival and Princess cruising experiences, for different reasons. I'm just saying before passing final judgment, take a comparable cruise -- for a similar period of time, and perhaps on a more comparable ship. That way you can learn to appreciate what is good about the cruiseline and make an informed comparison.

Happy cruising!

While I do hope you won't base your opinion of Princess on a one night cruise, at least you were open minded enough to give Princess a try.

LuLu

I'm not sure at a one day is grounds for comparison. not sure I could do a 1 dayer on any ship or line. if day one is bad it skews your opinion on a ship or line so you may never try them again.

I was on the same cruise. Had a blast, it was a lot for the $29 I shelled out. I have to agree with you, the buffet food was cold. We only ate there one time and that was as we were leaving the ship. As I was not impressed with the

buffet, the rest of the cruise was nice.

http://clarkanddeb.blogspot.com/

OP was your cruise on the Breeze a 1 nighter as well, or are you comparing a "blip" cruise to a normal cruise?

Thanks for the review. It's a little hard to compare the two lines by such a short cruise, but I appreciate your effort. One day isn't enough time to find all the highlights of a ship. I wish you could have sampled the food at the International Cafe. It's one of our favorite spots.

Just one very small correction to OP's statement on the Princess loyalty program. It isn't by the number of cruises alone.

Gold is 1-3 cruises

Ruby 4-5 cruises or 31-50 days

Platinum 6-15 cruises or 31-150 days

Elite +16 crises or 151 days

Nice to know the comparisons to food and beverages and stateroom bedding -- in one day, I would think you could compare, that!

And I would think a one night cruise, was trying to convert non cruisers to cruising, or know that other line cruisers were trying it out, and it would really put all they had out there...

Just got in from a one nighter repositioning cruise on the Golden Princess. I got a wicked deal, $29 CAD for an interior plus port fees ($80 CAD). I think maybe I got myself too hyped up at the idea of a higher end line but it didn't meet my expectations. I still had a good time but it didn't compare to my awesome 2013 cruise on the Carnival Breeze. I will give you a quick comparison for the two lines and if anyone has questions I will try to answer them. Keep in mind that my Breeze experience was six days and this one was a one night cruise, so that probably plays into the overall entertainment offerings on board.

 

FOOD

 

The Princess buffet was gross. The food was not hot and the overall quality level wasn't there. My travelling companion and I didn't even finish our plates and we were starving. I really enjoyed the buffet on the Breeze (enjoyed it a bit too much hehe....gained 12 pounds that week!) so this was a big disappointment. The Princess pizza was VERY good. I only had one slice but immediately regretted ever trying to end my hunger at the buffet. Main dining room atmosphere was better on Princess but the food was the same as Carnival, meaning, it was great. The Princess deserts in the MDR were better.

 

I was disappointed in the "branding" of the food establishments on the Golden Princess. I don't know if this is typical, but there seemed to be no distinct labelling identifying where you get hamburgers, pizza....ice cream was marked by a giant ice cream cone but the ice cream (hard is available and that is what I chose) tasted like generic although people had hyped me up about how awesome their made fresh daily ice cream is...I think, made fresh......from a giant 8 liter bottle of generic ice cream mix :p but ice cream is ice cream, so who cares :-D

 

DRINKS

 

the same. equally good on both lines, although significantly less beer selection on Princess which didn't bother me, but did bother my companion.

 

POOLS/SPORT

 

I think we all know there is no contest here, Carnival definitely wins but props to Princess for having a solarium pool, it would be awesome to hit Alaska child free on that ship!

 

ENTERTAINMENT

 

Ok...I hate Playlist Productions. totally lame...but, and I don't know if this is related to the fact that it was only a one night cruise or what, but all we had on the Princess sailing was comics every hour in the main theatre (nice to have more seating room but the crowded Carnival space seemed more festive), live music on deck (which was awesome), and some live music in the atrium. There were no announcements (and I know some of you would LOVE that!) and it made me feel a bit like I was always missing something.

 

STATEROOM

 

We booked a spa interior on the Breeze, and a regular interior on the Golden Princess. Princess upgraded us to a balcony from an interior so that was AWESOME! that being said, the room was the same size as the interior on the Breeze, and not as nicely appointed. This could just be related to ship ages. But the balcony was great, sliding doors and a large enough seating area. we slept with the balcony door open a crack to listen to the waves. Carnival mattresses and bedding were better but the Princess pillow was amazing...we wanted to shove them into our travel bags :)

 

GENERAL

 

The Golden Princess was definitely an older ship, but she was definitely clean. The spa pool and hot tubs were closed which I was really sad about. Every time we asked the staff anything they would respond with a "no we don't do that sorry....just kidding!" type response. I think they were trying to be funny but after a while it rubbed me the wrong way. I think they might not have cared as much as it was a one night sailing....they knew only $12 of autotips was expected.

 

The Princess loyalty program seems better than Carnival's, if you care about that sort of thing. They use # of cruises instead of days at sea, so if I do four of these one nighters a year I will move up the ranks super quick for not much $$.

 

The store staff also told us directly that we were allowed to take one bottle each of alcohol back to Canada. We should have checked ourselves on the government travel website so I don't blame them totally, but when we got to the border coming home the border security guy told us we could only bring a bottle over if we stayed two nights out of country. But again, I shouldn't have asked the sales guy and 100% trusted his answer. I did assume that because Princess has these one nighters between Vancouver and Seattle twice a year on multiple ships that he would know, but realistically this guy only deals with Canadians in this situation twice a year at most. Luckily we got an awesome border officer who just let us though anyway without paying the $30 in duty that we owed.

 

The vibe of the ship was much more sedate. Could be related to it being a westcoast departure, so I can't really make a comparison here. Some people might really prefer this vibe but I felt a bit lost with it. I think my next line to try will be RCCL because they seem to fit more with what we are looking for, but I am a huge fan of Carnival's price point so I will stick with them until I get bored :-D

 

So, does this mean I am officially part of the Carnival cheerleader club? And does anyone have any questions?

We did a one night Princess cruise for our first sailing with them. It was nothing like a longer Princess cruise. You can get the same experience with Bon Voyage Experience, where you can go on the ship for a few hours in the port of embarkation.

I can't comment on the buffet food... I wasn't there. However, the only time I went to the breakfast buffet at Horizon Court, it wasn't that good. On the other hand, you can order any hot items from room service breakfast by writing them manually on the breakfast card.

While the Carnival mattresses are better, Princess' new mattresses in Suites, Minisuites and random staterooms to replace the old ones as needed are much more comfortable than their old ones. On our last Princess sailing, we asked for the new pillowtop mattress toppers instead of the egg crates and the problem was solved.

If you spent more than one night on the ship, you would know where everything is... especially on a new ship/class, let alone a brand new cruiseline.

I don't think Carnival wins for the pools. You have two main pools on the Lido deck, a terrace pool that overlooks the aft/water/wake that is adults only, the Lotus Spa pool right next to the Sanctuary that is adults only, a pool a few decks above the Terrace Pool and two hot tubs next to each pool. They are all freshwater and heated, as well as one usually being empty.There also isn't a DJ blasting rap/hip hop music for you.

In my opinion, Princess has very good production shows and they are much better than Playlist Productions. On our one night cruise, they did have comedians playing all night, but on our two night cruise right after, we had a production show. The crowded space from the Punchliner's seemed more festive because the room sets the tone and Carnival's onboard demographic reacts more lively to adults only comedy than family friendly comedy in the Princess theater. There is live music in nearly every public area at most times of the day. As far as the announcements, Princess doesn't have many. You perhaps missed a lot, due to the high number of activities they pack into a one night cruise? By the time you board and finish lunch, its almost time for dinner if you chose traditional early.

The loyalty program is done by both number of cruises and days at sea, whichever you reach first. The perks are much more impressive than those in the VIFP program and don't stop once you reach Elite. You get more perks, such as onboard credit, for every cruise after 21. After 21, 31, 41, 51 cruises you will receive an onboard credit of $25, $50, $75, $100 per stateroom respectively for every following cruise. Also, sailing solo will give you an extra cruise credit, as well as sailing in a full suite.

Just like Carnival and nearly every single cruise line, the onboard shops are run by a third party operating participant. However, this doesn't excuse the fact that the employee didn't know the answer. Instead of saying what the procedure is for most cruises, he should have reached out to someone to find out the correct procedure.

Now that you are a past guest with Princess, you will begin seeing discounted cruise fares on their website which can be very comparable with Carnival and occasionally less. In addition, high volume travel agents are empowered to discount the cruise fare, unlike Carnival. Usually most discount it 10-20%, but some can discount it even further.

If you try Princess again, you will find a longer cruise will give a much different experience than a one night cruise. Even on Carnival, it would be completely different.

We are "trying" a 1-nighter on Grand Princess in a couple of weeks. :D

How can you give a reasonable review for just 1 night? Go on a 7 day or longer cruise then give an accurate review. The food on Princess is very good, the smokeless balconies are wonderful, DH enjoys Movies Under the Stars, rarely any children running amok. JMHO.

Just got in from a one nighter repositioning cruise on the Golden Princess.. . . I think maybe I got myself too hyped up at the idea of a higher end line but it didn't meet my expectations. - - -

Your problem was assuming that Princess was a higher end line. Mass market lines are mass market lines, six of one and half a dozen of another. Your expectations should have been that it was just like Carnival.

Where does one fine 1 day cruises for that cheep? Since the closest port to me is NYC, I doubt that I would be able to try this :(

Where does one fine 1 day cruises for that cheep? Since the closest port to me is NYC, I doubt that I would be able to try this :(

They reposition in between Seattle and Vancouver at both the start and the end of the Alaska season. There is usually a 2-4 night cruise going to(from) California from(to) Vancouver before/after the one night cruise, depending on the time of year.

Add me to those who think Princess is way above Carnival. I do not think there could be anyway of comparing a one nighter to a longer sleepover. Cruising I mean!