Princess VS Carnival

[LHP]

Just wanted to thank everyone for the replies....

 

we have friends that cruise most of the major cruise lines, but want us to go on the Emerald Princess next October.

 

IF our son (with Autism) is up for the change (not their favorite thing)....this could be a first for us !!!

 

This helps me help HIM know what to expect.....

[Umbarger]

Princess now has free soft serve ice cream for most of the day.

 

Yes, but it tastes awful in my opinion. :eek:

[Astro Flyer]

Yes, but it tastes awful in my opinion. :eek:

Tastes like regular soft serve ice cream to me & isn't meant to be a premium ice cream like Baskin-Robbins.

 

The same way I wouldn't compare their burgers with In-n-Out.

 

Opinions will vary but thought I'd share my opinion that it's just fine for soft serve ice cream. :rolleyes:

[CrusinAgain]

If you dont bring a full suit and evening gown on formal nite,your not really welcomed ay any of the venus that nite.

 

Really? And what happened for you to say this. That is simply not true and lets just say by stretching it out that on your cruise only it happened, are you saying you are not welcomed at the casual buffet or the grill or the pizza?:rolleyes:

[Wishing on a star]

Have been on both lines more than once.Enjoyed them all.Will go on both lines again:).The biggest differance we have noticed between the two lines are the people.The princess crowd is a bit older and come across as thinking they are better.

 

While I know that this is the Princess Board, and this will be flamed as BLASPHEMY... for the most part I agree with this.

 

Now, we would consider Princess again.

They have an Alaska itinerary that we would love.

And, we are Platinum.

 

However, the only 'genuine' smile I think we saw on that boat was our room steward. (she, and her service, were GREAT!)

 

Passengers often talk about different cruises and lines... and YES, we saw the, nose-in-the-air, "I would NEVER cruise with....".

 

Most all service in dining and beverage, we found to be downright rude. I've never heard 'no' and/or excuses that many times....

 

In my trip report, I had posted something close to the following....

We are from the south where the people are friendly and the food is good... After being on that ship, it almost brought tears to my eyes, when back home, to be served a big plate of hot quality food, and be left with a genuine smile and a friendly 'Have a nice Christmas'.

 

We ran into two or three other cruisers who mirrored the same sentiment re: the attitude and the food service.

[Toto2Kansas]

While I know that this is the Princess Board, and this will be flamed as BLASPHEMY... for the most part I agree with this.

 

Now, we would consider Princess again.

They have an Alaska itinerary that we would love.

And, we are Platinum.

 

However, the only 'genuine' smile I think we saw on that boat was our room steward. (she, and her service, were GREAT!)

 

Passengers often talk about different cruises and lines... and YES, we saw the, nose-in-the-air, "I would NEVER cruise with....".

 

Most all service in dining and beverage, we found to be downright rude. I've never heard 'no' and/or excuses that many times....

 

In my trip report, I had posted something close to the following....

We are from the south where the people are friendly and the food is good... After being on that ship, it almost brought tears to my eyes, when back home, to be served a big plate of hot quality food, and be left with a genuine smile and a friendly 'Have a nice Christmas'.

 

We ran into two or three other cruisers who mirrored the same sentiment re: the attitude and the food service.

 

I think some mistake rude comments about Carnival as passengers who think they are 'too good' to sail on that line, which in many cases I don't feel is true. I would guess many of those that seem to make rude comments have actually tried Carnival (and many more than once) to find it a less than great cruising experience. For us, it is quite different. We have sailed on Carnival numerous times in the past, but had problems with each cruise that seemed to get worse and worse with each experience. We finally gave up. It wasn't just the passenger make up we witnessed, it was the cheap decor onboard, very rude staff, and the carnival type of atmosphere that didn't agree with us. For some, this type of ship is exactly what they are looking for though. Just as some prefer the Mall/amusement park type experience that RCI provides. While there are others, like us, that actually prefer the cruising experience and a little more elegance, which we feel we have found on Princess.

 

Would we ever sail on Carnival again? Actually no, we wouldn't even consider it, but that is just from past experiences onboard their ships. I don't look down on those who enjoy it though, it all has to do with the atmostphere and type of cruising experience one is look for. Isn't it nice there are so many choices out there? ;)

[AmberTeka]

We have sailed on NCL..3 times..HAL...3 times..Celebrity..1 time and Carnival ...8 times...most since 2005. Never on Princess. We keep going back to Carnival because of BIG cabins. I like having a sofa in my cabin. My DH likes a balcony. Prices for what we want are usually..but not so much these days..better on Carnival. We are not night time folks..we donate to the casino..see the early shows.GREAT Production numbers..then .go to bed. BUT I love the ALIVENESS of Carnival. It throbs. It is always busy, busy somewhere. BUT we NEVER cruse Carnival when school is OUT..nor during Holdiays. I also like the food. Celebrity..LOVED the activities and Activities staff...disliked the food. Lovely crew. NCL....not enough activities. Liked the food. We ate in all of the Speciality REstaurants except the Jappanese Steak House...all very good. Loved meeting the Brit and Scotch passengers. Really liked their snack area...The Blue Lagoon. Best hamburger I have ever had at sea. The SHOWS were fantastic. HAL..we are often bored . Yet..we are always very sad at having to leave. It is often like being the only people on the ship. The food is EXCELLENT. The service is divine. The ships have lovely fresh flowers...I grow to love HAL more and more each time we cruise. There is just something about it. NOW PRINCESS? I can hardly wait to find out..and I bet I will LOVE it too!!!!!:)

[CrusinAgain]

We have sailed on NCL..3 times..HAL...3 times..Celebrity..1 time and Carnival ...8 times...most since 2005. Never on Princess. We keep going back to Carnival because of BIG cabins. I like having a sofa in my cabin. My DH likes a balcony. Prices for what we want are usually..but not so much these days..better on Carnival. We are not night time folks..we donate to the casino..see the early shows.GREAT Production numbers..then .go to bed. BUT I love the ALIVENESS of Carnival. It throbs. It is always busy, busy somewhere. BUT we NEVER cruse Carnival when school is OUT..nor during Holdiays. I also like the food. Celebrity..LOVED the activities and Activities staff...disliked the food. Lovely crew. NCL....not enough activities. Liked the food. We ate in all of the Speciality REstaurants except the Jappanese Steak House...all very good. Loved meeting the Brit and Scotch passengers. Really liked their snack area...The Blue Lagoon. Best hamburger I have ever had at sea. The SHOWS were fantastic. HAL..we are often bored . Yet..we are always very sad at having to leave. It is often like being the only people on the ship. The food is EXCELLENT. The service is divine. The ships have lovely fresh flowers...I grow to love HAL more and more each time we cruise. There is just something about it. NOW PRINCESS? I can hardly wait to find out..and I bet I will LOVE it too!!!!!:)

 

I don't have a problem with Carnival at all except they need more itineraries and need to expand on the days in the U.S. Love their beds, their food was fine as well as their service. They could show movies in their theater though since there are folks who can't sit by the pool as much as others. We are giving Hal a try next.

[Wishing on a star]

Thanks Toto!

 

Don't mean to hijack this thread anymore. But I just wanted to say that my post was not in any way a comparison to Carnival in particular. (would probably tend to agree with you about Carnival)

 

My comments were, very much, my personal observations and experience based on our last Princess cruise. I had just wanted to weigh in after reading the one poster's comments, because I really had never seen so many noses-in-the-air.

 

Lots of little things too...

Nothing seemed passenger friendly or fun.

On previous cruises, the wait staff seemed to care about their jobs... offer a rundown on the menu options, offer the standard recommendations... NOT SO AT ALL on this Princess Cruise.

[cruisenuts4life]

I have only been on Carnival Pride,dont think I will go back on it again.Went on Princess in April on the Ruby and fell in love with the ship,didnt feel like people thought they were better at all.I am totally sold on Princess,staff,food entertainment was great!!Might pay a little more but much worth it.I just cant say enough about Princess.:)

[shepp]

We are from the south where the people are friendly and the food is good...

 

Well, I guess that explains why I like Princess: I'm from San Francisco, where the people are hostile and the food sucks.

[JustinPlusLauren]

In response to the person who wrote about towel animals not being as available as much on Princess - on all 3 of our Princess cruises, our steward has made towel animals for us each night :)

 

We love Princess cruises and it would only take an amazing itinerary elsewhere to entice us to go with a different cruiseline! We've had such awesome experiences with Princess that we don't want to switch! Keep in mind as well that we are a couple in our late 20s :)

[oratheeexplorer]

Have been on both lines more than once.Enjoyed them all.Will go on both lines again:).The biggest differance we have noticed between the two lines are the people.The princess crowd is a bit older and come across as thinking they are better than you.Not really a big deal to us-just need to be aware of this.If you dont bring a full suit and evening gown on formal nite,your not really welcomed ay any of the venus that nite.Now dont get me wrong-we like princess and are booking them again for our next cruise.Just be aware it's not the same crowd your used to cruising with on carnival.

 

Have fun on your next cruise:o

 

 

 

We went on our very first cruise, Emerald Princess, this past February. We did not feel that the people thought they were better than you. My husband wore khaki pants, dress shirt and sport coat and I wore a nice skirt/top outfit on formal nights and did not have any problems with feeling we weren't dressed good enough. Just our experience.....

[oratheeexplorer]

Thanks for all the replies. It sounds like it may be worth a try, I have found several carrib trips that sound good and are better ports. We love a balcony room and like sitting out there in the morning with coffee and the evening with drinks. One other question is since we are Platinum on carnival do they have the same perks on Princess I have been told yes but I would like to hear it from those who have the same status. thanks again and keep them comming

 

 

Just thought I'd let you know about the balconies on Princess......all of Caribe deck has larger balconies than all other decks......Caribe deck balconies are 4 feet deeper than all other deck's balconies.....same width, just deeper......also, they are half covered and half not covered.......balconies above Caribe deck are completely covered, so more private, but smaller than Caribe balconies......

[cynbar]

We have been on 9 Princess cruises, Carnival 3 times, NCL 4 times, and Celebrity 3 times, so we do have some basis for comparison. In our experience, no one line is perfect in every way, so we try to go in appreciating the strengths of each. We find Princess very friendly, have never seen a "I'm better than you" attitude, but I do understand that people's experiences can vary from ship to ship, cruise to cruise. You asked about dancing, and I think you will find that is available. The disco will vary its offerings according to the crowd. There will be an on-deck, island party night with plenty of music, also a 50's hop and a country-western night, probably in Club Fusion. The Windjammer usually has a group with "quieter" dancing in the evenings. And although it's not dancing, the piano bar in Crooner's can be a lot of fun. Also, Movies Under the Stars (MUTS) is a lot of fun, especially on a lovely Caribbean night. We enjoy Princess for the anytime dining, expanded buffets, International Cafe, freshwater pools, and elegant but more subdued decor. I say, give it a try, and then you can make your own judgment!

[Madison3]

We have sailed mostly HAL prior to trying Princess. Did one Carnival, a short 4 day Mexican cruise that had too many unsupervised children for our taste. We were wary about trying Princess since we love HAL, but the price for our 14 day Hawaiian cruise with Princess was far cheaper and got a mini-suite instead of a veranda with HAL. The first day's food was disappointing, but after that seemed very good. Stayed away from the prime rib. Had a funny taste. HAL has the best beef. The only other negative was that the Princess bed felt like we were sleeping on a bag of socks. The HAL beds are exceptional. That being said, we loved Princess. Had probably the BEST service in the dining room of any cruise ever. We chose personal choice dining, but had a standing reservation at the same table every night. We are going with Princess again this January to SA/Antarctica for 17 days and really looking forward to it.

[avalong]

Have been on both lines more than once.Enjoyed them all.Will go on both lines again:).The biggest differance we have noticed between the two lines are the people.The princess crowd is a bit older and come across as thinking they are better than you.Not really a big deal to us-just need to be aware of this.If you dont bring a full suit and evening gown on formal nite,your not really welcomed ay any of the venus that nite.Now dont get me wrong-we like princess and are booking them again for our next cruise.Just be aware it's not the same crowd your used to cruising with on carnival.

 

So, reading between the lines, I'm guessing you showed up inappropriately dressed for formal night and got the stink-eye from other passengers.

[KevinR]

Have been on both lines more than once.Enjoyed them all.Will go on both lines again:).The biggest differance we have noticed between the two lines are the people.The princess crowd is a bit older and come across as thinking they are better than you.Not really a big deal to us-just need to be aware of this.If you dont bring a full suit and evening gown on formal nite,your not really welcomed ay any of the venus that nite.Now dont get me wrong-we like princess and are booking them again for our next cruise.Just be aware it's not the same crowd your used to cruising with on carnival.

 

So, reading between the lines, I'm guessing you showed up inappropriately dressed for formal night and got the stink-eye from other passengers.

 

Which would be reason enough for me to have that belief.

 

Beating a dead horse, I know... but why others are worried about something as trivial as the way someone else is dressed while on vacation, is beyond me.

 

BTW... we always "dress up" for formal nights. That said... I'd hate to be the person caught giving the "stink eye" to me or my wife. ;)