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Princess Vs. Other Cruise Lines

Netnurse31

By Netnurse31,
in Princess Cruises

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Netnurse31

Netnurse31

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We will be sailing with Princess for the first time in August on the new Crown Princess departing from NY. I've sailed on 2 other lines and realize that each line has it's good and bad points.

 

For those of you that have sailed other lines, NCL is our most recent experience, what does Princess offer that makes this line more attractive than the others?

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PescadoAmarillo "Live from...." Rare

PescadoAmarillo

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These are the areas in which we rate Princess as our first choice:

-The best itineraries, especially for Exotic (Far East) and Australia/New Zealand itineraries

-Alcoholic beverages in different sizes

-A reasonably priced soda card (at least it used to be)

-Dining alternatives (esp. Anytime Dining and a 24 hour buffet)

-Freshwater pools and hot tubs open 24 hours a day

-No "Informal" dress code (meaning we don't have to pack a sport coat for my husband, just a tux and Dockers/Golf Shirts)

-Self serve washers and dryers

-We personally enjoy their entertainment the most of the cruise lines we've sailed on, but this is very subjective

 

There are other areas in which we rank Celebrity or Royal Caribbean as our first choice. I think you'll be very happy, especially if you go on your cruise expecting that all cruise lines are different.

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Genessa

Genessa

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While we haven't been on NCL yet(so far, only Princess, Carnival, and the long gone Home Lines), my in-laws recently cruised with us on Princess and they have gone twice on Holland America, once on NCL, once on Carnival.

 

My m-i-l loved Princess, wants to go when we book our next Princess cruise, and is in the process of booking another cruise with HAL, but refuses to ever set foot on another NCL again.

 

According to her, the service was better on Princess, HAL, and Carnival, the atmosphere more relaxing on Princess and HAL (partially due to many less children).

 

To me, any cruise is a good cruise, but we feel the most "at home" on Princess. Despite that, we have two cruises booked for the future (one on NCL, one on Costa). Hey, I'll try almost anything, once.

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Netnurse31

Netnurse31

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Thanks for the reply everyone. We enjoyed our cruise on NCL Dawn this past August. We were not enamored with the food unfortunately. I'm hoping the food is better on Princess. My daughter will enjoy the fresh water in the pools, she was not crazy about salt water swimming.

 

How is the staff on Princess? One of the things we enjoyed most was the quality of service on NCL.

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kristikae

kristikae

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Overall ship decor - 1 Princess, 2 RCI, 3 Carnival

 

Cabin size - 1 Carnival, 2 Princess, 3 RCI

Carnival definately has the biggest cabins. Princess comes in ahead of RCI for me because of their great closet area and storage.

 

Dining room food - 1 Carnival, tie between Princess and RCI

I've just found Carnival's dining room to be consistantly better. It seemed kind of hit and miss with both Princess and RCI.

 

Buffets - 1 Princess, 2 Carnival, 3 RCI

Princess had the best buffets though I wasn't happy with beverage service in this area. I ate every breakfast, lunch and several dinners here and not one time in the whole week was I ever offered a beverage. I prefer Carnival's self service beverage stations. At least I could get a drink if I wanted one!

 

Room service - 1 RCI, tie between Princess and Carnival

I love the fact that you can get hot food off the room service menu on RCI. I don't know why the other lines won't do this.

 

Pools - 1 Princess, 2 Carnival, 3 RCI

You just can't beat the freshwater pools!

 

Nightlife - 1 Carnival, 2 Princess, 3 RCI

On our cruise on the Mariner there was absolutely nothing going on after 11 pm.

 

Staff - 1 Princess, 2 Carnival, 3 RCI

I didn't walk past a single ship employee on Princess that didn't stop to say hi. It was a nice change!

 

Embarkation - 1 Princess, 2 RCI, 3 Carnival

Princess definately has this down. From the time the line started moving, it didn't stop until I stepped on the ship!

 

Debarkation - 1 RCI, tie between Carnival and Princess

 

I don't gamble or go to the ships entertainment so I can't rate those.

 

In the end I have been happy with all of my cruises. The three lines are basically identical passenger demographics and each one does some things better than others.

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daninnyc

daninnyc

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The best thing I can say about Princess is they are truly a gimick free cruise line. Carnival is the fun ship, Royal Carribean has that action thing going, Celebrity wants you to know very badly how elegant they are and NCL is all about freedom (whatever that means). Although Princess claims they are the love boat (do they still use that term) I have found them to be a cruis line that serves food and treats passengers fairly well. There is nothing they try to prove. The servces and fascilities are fine for large ship cruises and I am sure with a New York crowd you will have a good time.

 

Dan

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DrivesLikeMario

DrivesLikeMario

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I'd have to agree with Daninnyc and Kristikae's assessments. HAL seems to be just a step above, or equal to, Princess. RCI we love for it's upbeat crew, traditional dining and ships that are incredibly beautiful. Carnival, well, we call it "Carnivore" for a reason, but if the itinerary is good, we'll go for a Carnival cruise.

 

Princess seems to have a quiet elegance that is unique.

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S.S.Oceanlover

S.S.Oceanlover

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These are the areas in which we rate Princess as our first choice:

-The best itineraries, especially for Exotic (Far East) and Australia/New Zealand itineraries

-Alcoholic beverages in different sizes

-A reasonably priced soda card (at least it used to be)

-Dining alternatives (esp. Anytime Dining and a 24 hour buffet)

-Freshwater pools and hot tubs open 24 hours a day

-No "Informal" dress code (meaning we don't have to pack a sport coat for my husband, just a tux and Dockers/Golf Shirts)

-Self serve washers and dryers

-We personally enjoy their entertainment the most of the cruise lines we've sailed on, but this is very subjective

 

There are other areas in which we rank Celebrity or Royal Caribbean as our first choice. I think you'll be very happy, especially if you go on your cruise expecting that all cruise lines are different.

 

 

Not sure what the pool policy is going to be on the Crown but on the Caribbean Princess the pool where MUTS is located closes at 5:30pm and the others at midnight.

 

Bill

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Netnurse31

Netnurse31

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Wow, thanks for all the great information everyone! We enjoy cruising and consider it our vacation of choice now. As I said before, I realize that all lines have their good and bad points. I'm looking foward to sailing on ALL the lines so I can form my own opinion.

 

NCL had terrific customer service. I'm not sure if it was because we stayed in a high end suite but I must say, our needs were always met immediately and then some. There was only one pool servicing over 2,500 passengers which I thought was somewhat bizzare. The food was sub par in my opinion except for the specialty restaurants. I prefer traditional dining and I'm glad that Princess offers it. We currently are confirmed for the early seating.

 

Keep the comparisons coming! I'm enjoying reading everyones opinions on the different lines.

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