Royal Caribbean or Princess, help

[vinniega64]

Looking at two cruises, one a 14 night Caribbean cruise with Princess, sailing from Fort Lauderdale, flying from Edinburgh, one night stay at a hotel, pre cruise ..... £6300

 

the other a 9 night Caribbean cruise, sailing from New York, flying again from Edinburgh, 1 night pre cruise in hotel ....... £5000

 

both balcony's

 

trying to work out the pros and cons

 

Royal Caribbean Pros..... Better Ship, St Maarten always wanted to see the planes on that beach, night in New York, times Square etc etc

 

Princess pros .. 5 more nights

 

 

cant make up my mind aaaarrrrrggggghhhhhh

[janetz]

Looking at two cruises, one a 14 night Caribbean cruise with Princess, sailing from Fort Lauderdale, flying from Edinburgh, one night stay at a hotel, pre cruise ..... £6300

 

the other a 9 night Caribbean cruise, sailing from New York, flying again from Edinburgh, 1 night pre cruise in hotel ....... £5000

 

both balcony's

 

trying to work out the pros and cons

 

Royal Caribbean Pros..... Better Ship, St Maarten always wanted to see the planes on that beach, night in New York, times Square etc etc

 

Princess pros .. 5 more nights

 

 

cant make up my mind aaaarrrrrggggghhhhhh

 

 

Which ships? Coming as far as you are, 9 vs 14...Go 14 :)

[CVU]

Princess has no smoking on the balconies. As of right now, RCL allows it.

[vinniega64]

ships are Explorer Of The Seas or Caribbean Princess

[Llmtax2000]

The 14 day on Princess will be without many children on board, in our experience.

[Alphadah]

Its so hard to have to make these decisions! :) Of course you will have to look at the itineraries but I would also suggest that you take a good look at the deck plans for these ships. Having been on Voyager class and Caribbean Princess, I will tell you that they are very different ships. Pay particular attention to bars/lounges, entertainment options and public spaces and thoroughfares.

One night in NYC is really not enough to see or do much of anything. Why not do the shorter cruise out of NY and use the difference in fare to have a few days in the city and sight see.

[Tapi]

That means:

 

£555 per day for the 9 night on Royal

£450 per day for the 14 night on Princess

 

Considering that a) you'll be traveling a long distance for this cruise, b) the cost per day is lower for the 14 night, and c) sailing from Ft. Lauderdale means spending less time getting to/from the warm Caribbean waters (usually the 1st and last day of New York sailings tend to be on the chilly side), I'd go with the 14 night on Princess.

 

By the way, although going to Maho Beach in St. Maarten and watching the airplanes is a neat experience, don't make that a deciding factor. We couldn't even go to Maho Beach last time we were in St. Maarten. It was a rainy day and the beach was eroded due to a storm a few weeks prior. It would've been very dissapointing if going to Maho had been the deciding factor to take that cruise...

[Alphadah]

One more thing. If you decide to go with Princess avoid cabin class BC on Deck 15/Lido. These cabins are immediately forward of the pool area and there is a lot of noise and many, many people passing by your cabin to get to the elevators. We booked a guarantee and were assigned L312 (couldn't get it changed) and it was by far the worst cruise experience we've ever had.

[vinniega64]

great reply's, thanks for them, hard choices in life, ha ha

[uksimonusa]

Doesn't the Explorer still do the 9 night followed by the 5 night to Bermuda, stay on board and make it a fortnights cruise, the same as Princess.

[justluv2cruisewithhubby]

I would go with the Princess one, more days on vacation. They have happy hour every night in one of the lounges on Princess. Small differences but they matter.

 

I would also echo what the previous CC mentioned, compare ship decks and entertainment on the ship. It will all make a difference.

[Kamloops50]

Looking at two cruises, one a 14 night Caribbean cruise with Princess, sailing from Fort Lauderdale, flying from Edinburgh, one night stay at a hotel, pre cruise ..... £6300

 

the other a 9 night Caribbean cruise, sailing from New York, flying again from Edinburgh, 1 night pre cruise in hotel ....... £5000

 

both balcony's

 

trying to work out the pros and cons

 

Royal Caribbean Pros..... Better Ship, St Maarten always wanted to see the planes on that beach, night in New York, times Square etc etc

 

Princess pros .. 5 more nights

 

 

cant make up my mind aaaarrrrrggggghhhhhh

Keep in mind that first and last day from New York will be on chilly and cloudy side . If you can afford it , take the 14 day cruise.

[janetz]

ships are Explorer Of The Seas or Caribbean Princess

 

We have sailed the Caribbean Princess

twice. She is a great ship!

[Aquahound]

I'm curious about the Princess cruise. I know some cruise lines market B2B 7 nighters as a 14 night cruise when the two 7 night itineraries are different. Is that the case here? :confused:

 

BTW, I wish RCI did that. Explorer, with its alternating 5 and 9 night itineraries would be perfect or it.

[A&L_Ont]

I'm curious about the Princess cruise. I know some cruise lines market B2B 7 nighters as a 14 night cruise when the two 7 night itineraries are different. Is that the case here? :confused:

 

BTW, I wish RCI did that. Explorer, with its alternating 5 and 9 night itineraries would be perfect or it.

 

Yes, Princess has been doing that as of late.

[DonnaK]

I have been on both ships, several times. The Caribbean Princess may lack the WOW factor of Explorer, however it is still a lovely ship. It is our opinion that Princess and RCI provide a relatively equivalent cruising experience. The are not equal...there are some things that we like better on Princess, and some that we like better on RCI.

 

I wouldn't hesitate to sail on either ship again, and I would recommend both of them to my friends. Pick the one that's most cost effective (to be honest, I would pick the longer cruise that originates in Florida)

 

You can click on the link in my signature to my Caribbean Princess reviews for my comparison between that ship and RCI's Voyager-class ships (Explorer is a Voyager class ship).

[Cruzman]

For me, this is a no brainer. Take the longer cruise!

[Luvadayatsea]

Vinnie,

 

I think Caribbean Princess is the better choice for the following reasons. I have been on the Explorer 3 times (twice out of Bayonne in 2012 & 2011) and Caribbean Princess 2 times (including April of this year).

 

You list the Explorer ship as a pro versus Caribbean. I think Caribbean is the better ship. The Explorer is in need of a rehab. Plus it and the Voyager were built with the older balcony design where the balconies are built into the superstructure rather than built onto the exterior of the ship. All royal ships built after Explorer, as well as ships built by other lines are designed with the balconies built onto the ship. The result is that Explorers balconies feel like a cave - there is more steel bordering the top, sides, and bottom so there is less open space from which to view.

 

As other have noted, Royal ships have more of a wow factor associated with the way they look, but I don't think it's compelling enough the justify choosing Explorer over Caribbean.

 

Caribbean has movies under the stars (MUTS), which I really enjoy. Concerts and fun family movies during the day and first run/recent movies at night with free popcorn.

 

As others have noted, if you are sailing in the colder months of November through March (even October and April), then your first day and a half down and your last day and a half back will be too cold to be outside. So plan on 3 days of your cruise not being in warm weather. Plus that means all guests will be inside, so it can get crowded.

 

Royal no longer offers the buffet after 9:00. Which means the only free food source is the Promenade Cafe (or room service) which has the same limited offerings each night. Caribbean has the International Cafe, which has more variety than the Promenade Cafe. Also Caribbean keeps their buffet open later and transforms the back of the buffet into the Cafe Caribe, which offers an interesting variety each night.

 

One night I discovered a section offering cheese, crackers, nuts, and dates. I filled a plate, got a glass of wine and enjoyed MUTS while munching on my plate of goodies.

 

Depending on when you are sailing, and depending on whether the Caribbean cruise is a 14 night or back-to-back seven nighters as others have commented, you could have a different demographic of passengers. On Explorer during a non-school break week, you'll tend to get an older passenger demographic because of the longer itinerary. I found this to be true during both of my Explorer Bayonne cruises (Jan. & Feb.). And it felt like nightlife was quite limited and there was little activity after 10:00 or 11:00 at night. If the Caribbean itinerary is a 14 day, then you'll encounter the same. If it's two 7-night back-to-back cruises, then you'll likely get more of a mixed deomographic.

 

As others have mentioned, Royal still allows smoking on balconies, whereas Princess does not. If you are a smoker, then Explorer may appeal to you. If you are a non-smoker, Princess has a real advantage here. It's very frustrating to pay for a balcony and be smoked out by inconsiderate neighbors.

 

These are just some notable differences I expereinced between the two ships. You'll have a great time on either ship. I did.

 

But I agree with the others, go for the maximum cruise days over the chance to see NYC. You will not regret cruising for 5 extra days.

 

Good luck and enjoy.

[Robinola]

Longer is Better every single solitary time!

[CruisesOnMyMind]

Been on both ships......... 5 nights longer is better especially coming from over the pond.

 

Princess has a lot to offer.

 

Caveat........If Times Square and St Maarten are on your bucket list that you know you will never get another chance to do........then stick with RCCL

[Hlitner]

We are not big fans of the Princess 14 night Caribbean cruises since they are now essentially back to back 7 day cruises (an entirely different atmosphere then a true 14 day cruise). We would recommend looking at Celebrity where they still do a true 14 day Caribbean Cruise (often on the Eclipse).

 

Hank

[Kamloops50]

We are not big fans of the Princess 14 night Caribbean cruises since they are now essentially back to back 7 day cruises (an entirely different atmosphere then a true 14 day cruise). We would recommend looking at Celebrity where they still do a true 14 day Caribbean Cruise (often on the Eclipse).

 

Hank

 

I personally like the 20 day cruise on Princess. I know it's two 10 day B2B.

 

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[A2Mich]

I personally would take the longer cruise. I've been to NYC before - once was enough for me. Don't care for the big cities much or the "I LOVE NY" mentality. I'd rather spend a few more days at sea. JMHO:D

[The Big Booper]

If all things were the same or similar I would always take a Voyager class ship over one of the 4 super-grand Princess ships if for no other reason then the far superior passenger space ratio of the Voyagers compared to a super-grand ship such as the CB.

 

However in this case, considering that you are coming into the US using expensive airfare (maybe a once-in-a lifetime trip), I would go for the Florida trip and 14 nights in warm weather rather then the 9 night trip with 3 colder days and no dome over the pool.

 

Before we moved to Florida in July we had done 6 cruises to the Caribbean out of beautiful-downtown-Bayonne, 4 on the EX and two on =X=, and weather was always a factor. We looked forward to the rugged conditions the first and last day out but we could always sail again, booking late when prices were low and there was no air involved.

 

And I personally can't stand MUTS blasting all day long.

[jagsfan]

I love both cruiselines for different reasons. I would go for the longer cruise and the warm weather that goes with the cruise out of Florida.