Sell Me on Proncess

[Woobstr112G]

Good info, sounds like mostly good experiences on Princess. So what are the newest ships, I was a big fan of the Silhouette last year but I should probably be open to trying smaller ships too. The biggest thing that has me looking outside of Celebrity is their very limited itineraries, Princess and HAL seem to definitely have Celebrity beat there. So are Princess and HAL part of the same line? I started looking at HAL and the cabins / layout seem very similar to Princess. How do HAL and Princess compare?

 

Princess launched the Royal last June. Her sister ship the Regal launches this June. These two ships were quite a change from the Grand/Crown class ships. The are much bigger. There are many positive and negative reviews of the new builds so you will have to do a bit of reading and/or asking around. If certain things are important to you you may not like them. IMHO you have to at least cruise on them once to see for yourself. HAL and Princess are owned by Carnival Corporation. Their brands include Carnival, Aida, P&O, Seabourn, Ibera, Princess, Costa, P&O Australia, Cunard, and HAL....:):):)

 

Bob

Edited February 5, 2014 by Woobstr112G

[Lightngsvt]

Oh wow, Carnival has Cunard too? Who'da guessed that? :) Some of the Around the world cruises on Cunard look very nice though!

[OCruisers]

So all you Princess fans, please sell me on why I should choose Princess for our next cruise?

 

Last March my wife and I went on our first cruise together on Celebrity Silhouette for our 10th anniversary. We've talking about another late march sailing this year (yep, getting to be last minute!) for our anniversary. To be honest I loved our trip on Celebrity, but was checking out Princess and the itineraries seems a bit better and the rates a bit lower. Consensus seems to be that the 2 lines are equals.

 

I really dont know much about Princess, the ships or what makes them unique but Id love to learn. We like the more upscale atmosphere and more adults than children that we had on our last cruise. Cabins are important too, we need a couch as well as a decent veranda. Breakfast on the veranda every morning was incredible!

 

No way would I ever try to sell anyone on a cruise line.

While we prefer Princess, we also like Celebrity very much.

It's fun to "sleep around" on different cruise lines every once and a while. :D

 

LuLu

~~~

[RetiredNTraveling]

The best way to avoid Spring Break is to take a cruise longer than 7 days. The Princess partial Panama Canal itinerary (11 days out of FLL) should be safe at any time and it's a great cruise.

 

Our 14 Day cruise to Hawaii last spring, coincided with California schools 2 week spring break! :eek: So length of cruise was not a guarantee of no kids or college students. But we enjoyed it anyway and would do it again if we get the chance.:D

[Shake]

Although it is true that Celebrity has more newer builds than Princess, it should be noted that based on your list of past cruises the newest Princess ship you have sailed (Caribbean Princess) was built in 2004. You haven't experienced any of the newer ships. I think they are beautiful and refined.

 

What newer ships in the Princess fleet are you referring to? Not much difference between a 8 or 9 year old ship.

 

Princess has (1) new ship, Royal just rolled out.

[silver wedding]

The Grand class ships may be getting old but since refits they tick all my boxes. Don't look at the age of the hull but when the ship was last refitted. The super structure isn't what you go on a cruise for but what's inside it.

[LewesBeach]

Planning eastern this year, Princess's itineraries do seem more interesting, but seems like the Solstice class ships, cabins in particular, are a little nicer is that true? What are the standard balcony cabins like on Princess? We did spend time in our cabin so it is important.

 

As noted, Celebrity decor is more sleek & modern, whereas Princess is more old world elegance - both very beautiful. If you spend time in the cabin, a standard room may not be for you. Not a lot of room to walk around and 1chair, no sofa. A mini-suite is a larger room with a full sofa. The Royal & Regal do have a deluxe balcony category, (larger than standard room, not as big as a mini suite) with a love seat not full sofa.

Another consideration is balcony size. Depending on the ship, an aft cabin or one on a lower deck such as Caribe can be twice the size of a regular balcony. And on the Royal/Regal, with a few exceptions (suites, & those under the Seawalk), all balconies are small. It depends on what is important to you. Check the deck plans of your ship & Good luck!