Carnival Dad thinking of Sapphire Princess for Spring Break, bad idea?

[dadof2boys]

My family and I have enjoyed over 12 carnival cruises. Our two boys (4,6) absolutely love Carnival and the whole cruise experience. We are booked for a short 4 day over Spring. Break.

 

I just received an email from Princess offering a similar cruise for a similar price. My DW and I checked it out online and are thinking that it might be fun to try something new.

 

However, we are afraid that the boys won't enjoy their experience. Has anyone taken children on a Princess cruise? How's the kids club?

 

Also, we are both 33 and are a little concerned about the age range for adults on the cruise.

 

Bottom line, has any other loyal Carnival cruiser tried and enjoyed Princess?

[k2excursion]

I've been on Ruby Princess following my 13th Carnival cruise aboard the Breeze. While I was disappointed in some things on the Breeze and impressed with some things on Ruby Princess, I came away still feeling like the Breeze (and Carnival) was better suited to me. The demographic on Ruby was not nearly as seasoned as I thought it would be, although certainly older than on Carnival. I'm around your age, and there were plenty of people on Ruby that looked to be about our age. Only a very small handful of kids though. I don't know how their kids program is. That Ruby sailing was a 7-day to St Thomas, St Maarten, Nassau in April. My Breeze sailing the week before had tons of kids & teens, but only a few on Ruby. Princess does have more live music and better shows, but no waterslides and fewer kids. But since you are cruising on Spring Break (my experience wasn't: it was April 21), there would certainly be more kids on board than a normal Princess sailing. I probably didn't help you much here. I can see why this would be a tough call. If it was just you & the wife, I would say to go with Princess.

Edited January 8, 2014 by k2excursion

[SadieN]

Have sailed many cruises out of Long Beach, mostly 3 & 4 dayers including last year's Spring Break cruise.

 

Princess doesn't have that vibe that Carnival has. More 'light opera' than 'disco'. I sailed on the Golden (same class as the Sapphire) on a 3day M-W cruise last October and it dragged a bit for me compared to other mid week cruises.

 

No piano bar, Very good comedy, lousy production shows.

 

The food was OK in the MDR, good in the buffet and speciality MDRs.

No Deli, just wrapped, premade sandwiches. Pizza very similar to Carnival's new pizza. Great cheese display at the buffet at night.

At the buffet Princess has many staff pushing drink (water, tea) carts so you don't have to get your own. No hot chocolate, no self serve ice cream. Only room service is 24/7.

 

Cabins are smaller on Princess than on Carnival. Insides and OV are puny. Balconies feel tighter also. Good closet but puny shower. Makes the Carnival showers, especially those on the Fantasy class downright spacious.

Mini suites do have bathtubs.

 

They do ATD differently on Princess. On Carnival if you miss your assigned time it's 'we have the buffet or room service'. On Princess the pax who miss their assigned dining times are invited to go to the ATD venues.

 

That being said we are going on a 4 day on the Imagination soon and a 10 day on the Sapphire in March.

 

Ask on the Princess and Family boards about the Princess kids clubs.

 

**

A bonus-- parking in San Pedro is only $12/day.

Edited January 8, 2014 by SadieN

[azlefty]

My wife and I took the Grand Princess 10 years ago for our honeymoon, when we were 30 and 31 and we really enjoyed it, even though we now usually opt for Carnival (although that may change with 2.0 as I don't appreciate the direction they are heading with that). That said, just because we liked it doesn't mean everyone in that age range would. Our biggest disappointment was that we would linger with other people at our table at the late dinner seating and pretty much miss the evening entertainment. Everything except the discotheque pretty much rolled up around 11 pm, whereas Carnival seems to go much later, which we love. I would say the food is better on Princess, but entertainment is more extensive and a little rowdier (not necessarily a bad thing) on Carnival. Can't comment on the kids club- the Princess cruise was before they were born and I think Camp Carnival is pretty hard to beat - but I'm sure you can find out more on the Princess board if you haven't already.

Edited January 8, 2014 by azlefty

[janetz]

You should give princess a try. Just for a change. The boys, being young will still have a great time on any ship. As long as it has a kids club and a pool! :D

[Mysticks1]

You should give princess a try. Just for a change. The boys, being young will still have a great time on any ship. As long as it has a kids club and a pool! :D

 

I agree, you can ask on message boards and get lots of different answers but until you try it with your family you will never know how you will like a different line. I have sailed on 4 different ones so far and are looking at Princess as our 5th for an Alaskan cruise in 2015. I have enjoyed every one of them and would sail on any of them again if the itinerary and ship fit what I am looking for.

[MCC retired]

Don't get hung up on any one cruise line .

Sure you are happy with CCL but other cruise lines may offer an experience

that you may prefer or at least make you appreciate CCL even more ?

Also Princess still allows TA's to discount their rates .

[Midwestgal]

Be open and give it a try.....your never going to know until you try.

How bad of a time could you kids possible have, their on a Caribbean vacation, if its not the most exciting for them the'll survive and you will know for the next time.

Disappointment is good for kids to experience from time to time:p

[FKSNIU2014]

My family switches up between Princess and Carnival all the time. My sister and I were similar ages when we went on our first princess cruise and we loved it! The kids club was a lot of fun and the pools are fresh water with chlorine. I think I swam more on Princess as a kid than Carnival and we did Carnival cruises much more often. The entertainment was also fun and the shows were a little more family friendly. Also, Princess has "island night". That is something I really wish Carnival had as well. The fruit carvings, buffets, dancing and games were really fun and very appropriate. My last Princess cruise was a few years ago but even then, I really enjoyed it and it seems to be very similar! It was even on Princess that I got to go on a free tour of the bridge with the kid's club and meet the Captain. Not sure if they still do that for safety concerns, but man it was cool! Either way, I'm sure your kids will love it. The pools were a big deal to me as a kid, so if your kids like to swim, I'd say consider Princess :D

 

We also did most of our cruises on Spring Break, and there were plenty of kids! (And this was even on 10 day cruises which often have an older demographic, 4 days should be even better!) The whole age of the cruisers in general seemed younger than my family expected. I'm a college senior now and I would even say that Princess is my preference. It's fun, but not too wild.

Edited January 8, 2014 by FKSNIU2014

[RuthlessBoss]

Be open and give it a try.....your never going to know until you try.

How bad of a time could you kids possible have, their on a Caribbean vacation, if its not the most exciting for them the'll survive and you will know for the next time.

Disappointment is good for kids to experience from time to time:p

 

This is my line of thinking too. It sounds like you are ready for a change and change is good, especially for you. Just emphasize it might be a little different, but it's a good thing. You might be surprised and they'll like it more than you think.

[Linerguy]

Shorter cruises generally bring out more families, so, as a change of pace, the SAPPHIRE PRINCESS cruise might be a good choice – the ship does have a nice Youth Center at the end of Deck 15. There's also a splash pool and an outdoor play area.

 

We sailed on SAPPHIRE PRINCESS last year, but we did the 7nt West Coast itinerary. The ship is beautiful and service was excellent throughout. Food was hit or miss. Entertainment was very good and, despite what another member has said, SAPPHIRE does have a piano bar (Crooner's Bar off the Piazza).

 

SAPPHIRE PRINCESS, as a ship, is 10 times the ship that IMAGINATION and INSPIRATION are.....but I agree that the vibe is going to be different on Princess. I have never seen so many walkers, electric wheelchairs, canes, etc. than I did on the SAPPHIRE. At night, almost every stairwell looked like a used scooter lot. I'm not saying that it was a problem, it was just an observation. As I said, shorter cruises draw more families, so you might not encounter such a sedate atmosphere.

 

If someone gave me the option of a 3 or 4 night on Carnival, or a 3 or 4 night the SAPPHIRE, I'd choose the Princess ship; hands-down. But I also wouldn't expect the fun-in-your-face atmosphere that a short Carnival cruise would provide.

 

One other thing: while Princess likes to lump a lot of their ships into the "Grand Class" category, fact is, many of them are different. GOLDEN PRINCESS is not the same as SAPPHIRE PRINCESS. One advantage that SAPPHIRE has over GOLDEN (as well as the two Carnival ships) is that she has four different "anytime" dining rooms. She also has the very cool Wake View Bar at the back of the ship....GOLDEN doesn't.

[Topo Gigio]

Just go for it. Try something different. Like someone said if there is a kids club and a pool, the kids will have a blast.

 

See my past cruises. I have been on 7 different cruise lines. I just like to have a bit of variety.

[Aggiebuttercup]

Our biggest disappointment was that we would linger with other people at our table at the late dinner seating and pretty much miss the evening entertainment. Everything except the discotheque pretty much rolled up around 11 pm, whereas Carnival seems to go much later, which we love.

 

I was on Sapphire Princess in 2011 and this is still the case. There was very little to do in the late evenings, and by 11 everything was pretty much shut down.

 

I didn't take my kids on my Princess cruise. It was an Alaskan itinerary, so the demographic is expected to be older...but I was surprised at how few people under 40 were on that ship. It may be different in the Caribbean, but I think it will still skew older.

 

I'm planning Carnival for my kids' next cruise.

[guxu]

We started cruising with Princess. Our kids love it (they love Carnival too).

[dadof2boys]

I just want to say thank you for all of the replies. We booked the Sapphire and after all of these responses I have to say that my wife and I are actually looking forward to this little getaway.

 

That may sound strange, as if we weren't looking forward to the Inspiration, but we've just done that so many times it was hard to drum up the excitement.

 

Anyhow, thanks again everyone.

[tonit964]

My DD was 8 at the time we did our Thanksgiving cruise on the Sapphire and she loved the kid's club. I think at that age age they don't really notice any difference as long as they have fun activities, which Princess does.

 

You should give it a try. I think you will enjoy Princess and the Sapphire is a beautiful ship with wonderful crew!

 

Enjoy your family cruise.

[victory2020]

I've sailed both ships & I think you will have a great time on the Sapphire. When is your Spring Break?

[dadof2boys]

My spring break is March 24-April 4th. We leave on the cruise March 23.