Carnival VS Princess

[bxh165]

Hi fellow cruise critic members, I am an avid carnival person, 9 carnival cruises later, I am thinking about jumping ship to Princess. Not because we are not happy with Carnival, but we have seen all the ports they are offering on all the cruise linesin the Carribean. We are looking at doing Southern Carribean 14 days out of Fort Lauderdale. Please give any siuggestions or comments for this cruise.....good and bad. Thanks again:):confused:

[katisdale]

I've not been on Carnival (yet) but I am an itinerary cruiser and Princess does a good job in providing ports I am interested in visiting, particularly in Europe. Next I want to experience Asia and Australia. I also like that I can choose between large and small ships. I like the food and the entertainment as well.

[ssbeagle]

You won't find the Carnival atmosphere on Princess but you should still have a very enjoyable cruise. When you get on board I recommend signing up for the Chef's Table for a wonderful dining experience. You didn't say which ship you are going on but you should enjoy the food, ports and ship.

[Stevesan]

Hi fellow cruise critic members, I am an avid carnival person, 9 carnival cruises later, I am thinking about jumping ship to Princess. Not because we are not happy with Carnival, but we have seen all the ports they are offering on all the cruise linesin the Carribean. We are looking at doing Southern Carribean 14 days out of Fort Lauderdale. Please give any siuggestions or comments for this cruise.....good and bad. Thanks again:):confused:

 

You'll miss the frequent and LOUD PA announcements disguised as information, but 90% promotions.:p

 

Having said that, I enjoyed my recent cruise on Conquest and posted a very positive review. The main difference is Princess is a bit lower key for activities and the cabins are smaller. Since the S. Carib cruise is all about water sports, that won't change. Go ahead and book it. There's really nothing to dislike about Princess. You won't regret it.

I went from HAL's much smaller ships and MUCH lower keyed atmosphere and enjoyed the heck out of Princess. I wrote a glowing review about that experience, too. I'm big on writing reviews. :p

 

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=9813

 

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=71866

[AZaTaz]

We have been on 7 carnival cruises an 2 princess cruises with the 3rd princess trip in two months. You will find princess a little more low key as others have said. Princess's cabins are smaller and the showers are much smaller. Princess's beds are not as comfy. The food on both are good but princess buffet has more choices and better food. We think the staff are friendlier on Princess.

Bottom line we enjoy both lines and our choice will be made on itinerary.

[highflyingrealtor]

After 2 Carnival & 5 Princess, we prefer Princess. Only way to find out is to try it. Worst case is that you'll still have a blast! :D

[BoPippy]

The same,but different.Carnival to me was always a younger crowd,more activities day and night,Princess more laid back,refined,mature and better food.To me a cruise is a cruise,you really cannot go wrong with any unless u r the type that finds fault with everything.:)

[Whimsy]

4 Princess and 2 Carnival cruises. Our first and last cruise were both Carnival. We find we like the activities on Princess better than Carnival. Food is more to our liking on Princess but we will miss that warm chocolate melting cake on Carnival. Carnival was good and in all fairness we have only done an older ship and shorter cruises on Carnival. Would sail with Carnival again but like Princess and after this upcoming cruise will be Plantinum and will enjoy the extra perks.

[cruzmax]

We have cruised with Royal, Celebrity, Carnival and Princess (all on newer ships) - loved them all. To me, the main difference between Carnival and Princess - Princess is quieter, and no water slide. Food is great on both, dining room a little nicer experience on Princess. We do miss the Mongolian Grill and Deli on Carnival. We are a couple in our 50's (young), and will cruise on either again - love them both!

Pam in KY

[bxh165]

We are in our 50`s as well and enjoy cruising. We are thinking about the Grand Princess. I think that may be one of the older cruise lines. We have been sailing on all of Carnival`s newest ships. We are not hard to please and like relaxing, seeing some shows and enjoying the casino at the end of the night. I know that we reach vip status on Carnival after this May cruise, but I would like to visit some different ports, so I think that we will be doing the 14 day Grand Princess April 2012. Thanks again for all the help.:)

[cherrypop]

We are both in our 50's, well hubby is almost there! The two of us have done together 2 Carnival Cruises and one Princess as well as a few other cruise lines. We found our Carnival cruises, both which were from Hawaii to be the best. The food by far was much better on Carnival than any other cruise line we have been on, the worst being Holland. We found Princess was a quiet cruise, that being said we will be trying Princess once again in just a few weeks. We have found that alot depends on the itinerary of the cruise as to the average age of the people onboard, on our Hawaii cruise we were the average age, the caribbean tends to be younger.

[Essiesmom]

I am 66 and platinum on Carnival and Princess. The beds are much more comfortable on Carnival (and HAL) and I did not think the food was as good on Princess. I just returned from a week on Emerald Princess, and the one big difference that I used to enjoy on Princess/HAL/Celebrity as opposed to Carnival was the enrichment lecturer...but there was not one on Emerald. Nor was there a jigsaw puzzle table. Nicely stocked library, but a bit claustrophobic. Princess has managed to build ships with nice theaters...not nearly as many bad seats. If you are accustomed to finding your way around Carnival ships, you will quickly adapt to Princess. EM