Coming from Princess to RC - have a few questions

Am looking at booking a March 2019 back to back out of Galveston on the Liberty. Prior cruises have all been with Princess. I have a few questions.

Can you bring your own pop/water with you? With Princess I have been able to put a 6 back of Pepsi or water in my carry-on with no problem.

Does RC have self serve laudromats onboard? We usually do laundry mid-way on a 14 day.

Does RC ever offer free gratuity promotions? On Princess these are usually bundled with their "3 for free" promotions.

Would love to hear of any differences between the two that others who have cruised both might want to post.

Thank you!

Liberty does not have self-serve laundry and has no cabins that would offer free gratuities (some of the Star-Class suites on other ships offer gratuities included). There are promotions that would get you OBC, which you can use for your gratuities.

I've only been on one Princess ship, and I wasn't that fond of it. I really enjoyed the Liberty of the Seas. The ship is laid out well, and there's a lot to do.

Am looking at booking a March 2019 back to back out of Galveston on the Liberty. Prior cruises have all been with Princess. I have a few questions.

 

Can you bring your own pop/water with you? With Princess I have been able to put a 6 back of Pepsi or water in my carry-on with no problem.

Does RC have self serve laudromats onboard? We usually do laundry mid-way on a 14 day.

Does RC ever offer free gratuity promotions? On Princess these are usually bundled with their "3 for free" promotions.

 

Would love to hear of any differences between the two that others who have cruised both might want to post.

Thank you!

While bringing soda and water onboard is prohibited, they normally do not enforce that rule.

While bringing soda and water onboard is prohibited, they normally do not enforce that rule.

Looks like the bottled water is much more expensive than on Princess.

Looks like the bottled water is much more expensive than on Princess.

Yes, I think the price for bottled water onboard is ridiculous.

Am looking at booking a March 2019 back to back out of Galveston on the Liberty. Prior cruises have all been with Princess. I have a few questions.

 

Can you bring your own pop/water with you? With Princess I have been able to put a 6 back of Pepsi or water in my carry-on with no problem.

Does RC have self serve laudromats onboard? We usually do laundry mid-way on a 14 day.

Does RC ever offer free gratuity promotions? On Princess these are usually bundled with their "3 for free" promotions.

 

Would love to hear of any differences between the two that others who have cruised both might want to post.

Thank you!

We've cruised on both Princess and Royal Caribbean equally. Royal doesn't have self service laundry but they usually have a special in the middle of the cruise for 30.00 for a bag of laundry. We've found that water, soft drinks and alcohol are higher on RCI. We've never had free gratuities on RCI, only on Princess. We've also never been given an upgrade on RCI but have gotten several on Princess, on more than one occasion we've gone from an inside to a balcony. In our experience, we've had better luck with Princess, but we choose a cruise for the itinerary, date and price, so whichever cruise line you choose, just enjoy, after all you're on a cruise.

We've cruised on both Princess and Royal Caribbean equally. Royal doesn't have self service laundry but they usually have a special in the middle of the cruise for 30.00 for a bag of laundry. We've found that water, soft drinks and alcohol are higher on RCI. We've never had free gratuities on RCI, only on Princess. We've also never been given an upgrade on RCI but have gotten several on Princess, on more than one occasion we've gone from an inside to a balcony. In our experience, we've had better luck with Princess, but we choose a cruise for the itinerary, date and price, so whichever cruise line you choose, just enjoy, after all you're on a cruise.

I forgot to add that RCI has a charge for room service now.

I’ve cruised on Princess several times but prefer Royal Caribbean. There appear to be more daily activities on RCI which is important to us. The casino, which is also very important to me, is usually smaller on Princess.

I do agree that the food in the MDR is usually better on Princess.

We've cruised on both Princess and Royal Caribbean equally. Royal doesn't have self service laundry but they usually have a special in the middle of the cruise for 30.00 for a bag of laundry. We've found that water, soft drinks and alcohol are higher on RCI. We've never had free gratuities on RCI, only on Princess. We've also never been given an upgrade on RCI but have gotten several on Princess, on more than one occasion we've gone from an inside to a balcony. In our experience, we've had better luck with Princess, but we choose a cruise for the itinerary, date and price, so whichever cruise line you choose, just enjoy, after all you're on a cruise.

Looks like the bottled water is much more expensive than on Princess.

Yes, I think the price for bottled water onboard is ridiculous.

A little tip for those doing a Princess cruise, we were able to order bottled water ON LINE ONLY prior to the cruise, available as 12 packs, we bought 24 bottles for $13.26, that is a real bargain! Wish we had ordered 36!!

And yes the bottled water on the ship is very expensive!

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Haven't cruised Princess in a few years, but on RC you must ask your steward for ice delivery and tell him/her how often you would like it.

Sometimes there is a note telling you about this, sometimes not.

Before the loyalists get all up in arms about how simple this request is to do, please know that most lines still bring ice automatically after AM and PM service, no need to ask.

You can also get free gratuities on RCL if you book with certain online travel agents