Royal Caribbean vs. Princess?

[Aquahound]

I think on Royal Caribbean, two guests aren't allowed to book a D1, they're saved for 3+ passengers.

 

Yeah, they can. in fact, I think it's safe to say that most D1s are occupied by couples.

[tingyyy]

my 2c worth:

 

Laundry - Important when on longer cruises. Princess has self service coin laundries on most (if not all) cabin decks and the laundry rooms each have an iron as well. Royal has no self service laundry or ironing facilities and I remember the cost of Royal's laundry and ironing services to be so high that I never considered it.

 

Room size - Agree with the comments above about the size of Princess' balcony rooms vs Royal's. My observation is that Princess' and Royal's balcony rooms are usually priced quite similarly and to get a sofa in your room on Princess, you need to get a mini suite which is priced one notch up.

 

Balcony - In all my time on CC (which admittedly isn't very long) I've never seen comments on this before so I wonder if the problem is actually mine - but I do like that the Princess balcony has just one row of vertical glass panes. Royal's balcony has vertical panes coming up from the floor, then around waist level there is a small gap then another row of slightly angled panes which are sort of jutting out towards the sea. It makes no difference when you're standing, but when you're sitting in the chairs and looking out to sea the jutting out part distorts your view quite a bit.

 

Buffet - Food and layout wise, I think Royal wins hands down. I do wish Royal's buffet has beef hash like Princess' does though.

 

Coffee - I liked the Princess coffee card which worked for my consumption pattern (lots of coffee, but no soft drinks or alcohol) On Royal there is no dedicated speciality coffee package. speciality coffee was lumped together with soft drinks and beer in a package that if I remember correctly was $50+? a day

[denatravels]

 

 

 

Coffee - I liked the Princess coffee card which worked for my consumption pattern (lots of coffee, but no soft drinks or alcohol) On Royal there is no dedicated speciality coffee package. speciality coffee was lumped together with soft drinks and beer in a package that if I remember correctly was $50+? a day

 

 

The "coffee" package includes soda, fresh and bottled juice, coffee, bottled still and sparkling water, and mocktails for $22 per day. Yes, it's more $$ than the princess version (I guess the closest is soda and more), but also includes a lot more.

[ready2cruzagain]

Thanks OP for posting this. I love Princess but just booked our first RCCL cruise. I will be reading extensively to find out every thing I can.

 

Disappointing to hear about the pizza.

 

Lots of talk about balcony cabins but we booked an inside cabin and the dimensions are scary. Looks to be super tiny.

[Baseball fan]

Thanks Stef. :) But I gotta say, if you look at my picture compared to that Princess rendering, I'd say Princess exaggerated a little. ;)

 

 

Yes it is. I was on princess a couple years ago. I could not believe how small the balcony cabins were (previously had a mini suite). But we were on the Caribe deck so had the huge balcony.

 

I prefer RCCL as they have more to do and I like their public spaces better.

[brillohead]

Lots of talk about balcony cabins but we booked an inside cabin and the dimensions are scary. Looks to be super tiny.

 

I typically book an inside room, and it's never been a problem, because I'm not the kind of person who spends time in the room. I use it to sleep, shower, and change clothes. It doesn't need to be big to do those things.

 

Some people do spend time in their room, and that's great for them, there's nothing wrong with it at all!

 

But I take a cruise to be out on a ship, out meeting people, out dancing, out feeding my face, out soaking in a hot tub, out reading a book on a lounger in the Solarium (which generally turns into out taking a nap on a lounger in the Solarium), etc.

 

It's all about what your personal priorities are. I read here this week that someone said they'd rather cruise less often in order to be able to afford a balcony room every time, because the balcony and larger room is that important to them. I'm the exact opposite -- I'd rather cruise twice as often in an inside cabin, because the balcony isn't a priority for me personally.

 

I have a friend who used to only get balconies until he saw an inside and then experienced it for himself. He usually travels solo, and he realized that he is rarely ever in his room, b/c he's always out and about meeting people. Now he cruises several times a year in an inside and is happy as can be.

 

Try not to get too hung up on dimensions -- you get access to the entire huge cruise ship, not just your own stateroom! :)

[CrusinAgain]

The beds are not comfortable on Princess and that includes the new ones. Always need to ask for an egg crate.

 

The coffee is very bad and both the bed issues and the coffee issues are always talked about on the Princess forum.

 

I like Princess privacy factor with the closet blocking the bedroom but you do not get a sofa unless you book that mini suite.

 

With Platinum on Princess you get free internet but its dial-up speed and not unlimited time.

 

As you can see from my sig I sailed on Princess alot until I grew quite fond to Royal.

 

Shows are so much better on Royal than Princess unless its a comedian or magician. In my opinion small things like hard rolls with cold butter on Princess is a negative and on Royal its soft rolls with spreadable butter. Layout of buffet so much better on Royal. Love Royals customer service both on ship and off.

 

Just wished Royal went to Glacier Bay in Alaska because we will have to take Princess next time we go since we tried HAL and that one is out.

[wblynch]

Slept like a dream on the Ruby Princess. Very comfortable.

 

One thing better on Princess is they can open the partition between balconies so if you're sailing with friends or family you can share balconies.

[pixiestyx]

I haven't been on princess yet (booked in February), but just got off the adventure of the seas and that thing I slept on couldn't even be called a mattress with a straight face. My sail last year on Indy wasn't much better.

 

From reading this boards it really seems like regardless of the line beds are hit and miss ship by ship and even cabin by cabin.

Edited December 5, 2015 by pixiestyx

[tingyyy]

 

Just wished Royal went to Glacier Bay in Alaska because we will have to take Princess next time we go since we tried HAL and that one is out.

 

Curious (and digressing a little), why is HAL out for you? DBF has never gone on a cruise to Alaska and if i do plan one for us Glacier Bay is a must we will have to choose between Princess and HAL.

[pinkrosesdeb]

Someone in an earlier post stated that the Princess website includes the balcony sq footage in their cabin total where Royal lists them separately maybe this is the confusion. We have never sailed Princess so I am not sure just going by what has been previously posted. I can say we have loved our cruises on the Navigator!

[denatravels]

Curious (and digressing a little), why is HAL out for you? DBF has never gone on a cruise to Alaska and if i do plan one for us Glacier Bay is a must we will have to choose between Princess and HAL.

 

 

Anxiously awaiting this info, too.

[Clarea]

Slept like a dream on the Ruby Princess. Very comfortable.

 

One thing better on Princess is they can open the partition between balconies so if you're sailing with friends or family you can share balconies.

Balcony partitions can be opened on Freedom class, Oasis class, Quantum class, and two of the Voyager class ships.

[Aquahound]

Curious (and digressing a little), why is HAL out for you? DBF has never gone on a cruise to Alaska and if i do plan one for us Glacier Bay is a must we will have to choose between Princess and HAL.

 

I've cruise HAL a few times in the past few years, including an Alaskan cruise to Glacier Bay. I'm certainly not saying never again, but I can see how others don't enjoy them. Their entertainment is the worst of the 5 lines I've sailed. The ship falls asleep very early, and they are the only major line that still allows balcony smoking, including cigars.

 

That said, for a Glacier Bay cruise, I would recommend HAL over Princess. HAL ships are far less crowded and the views from their lounges and outside decks are less obstructed than Princess ships.

 

Someone in an earlier post stated that the Princess website includes the balcony sq footage in their cabin total where Royal lists them separately maybe this is the confusion.

 

That's got to be right because there is no way Princess standard balcony rooms are larger. No way.

Edited December 5, 2015 by Aquahound

[wblynch]

We cruised HAL once

 

once....

[Dezertbear]

It's one of the area's where RCCL IMO, does more with less. RCCL's cabins are much more efficiently laid out IMO. Princess wastes a lot of square footage in the closet and the hall to the closet, and the bathroom is also not as efficient. Where as RCCL has a much tighter and more efficient closet and bathroom, which allows more room in the stateroom.

 

The furniture in the diagram is way undersized!

 

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[Aquahound]

The furniture in the diagram is way undersized!

 

That was exactly my point earlier. Look at all that space between the bed and the wall.

 

 

Now tell me, does the actual room look anywhere near as roomy as that drawing...

 

Edited December 5, 2015 by Aquahound

[brillohead]

That was exactly my point earlier. Look at all that space between the bed and the wall.

 

 

Now tell me, does the actual room look anywhere near as roomy as that drawing...

 

Maybe the graphic designer had been sampling the unlimited booze package? ;)

[rubrrick]

Paul is correct that the balcony cabins on Princess are indeed smaller than the counterpart balcony cabins on Royal Caribbean.

 

Royal Caribbean's ships are much better laid out, and easier to navigate, as well as the lines of the ship from a distance are much more pleasing to the eye.

 

One thing we really enjoy on Princess, besides their pizza, is Sabatini's Restaurant for breakfast when cruising in a full suite. They have incredible hollandaise sauce, and some special dishes.

 

We now cruise almost as much on Princess and Royal Caribbean, because Princess continues to run out of the West Coast, which is close to where we live. And Royal Caribbean is not coming back to the West Coast on a full time basis, according to their executives.

 

Rick

[wblynch]

...And Royal Caribbean is not coming back to the West Coast on a full time basis, according to their executives.

 

Which is exactly why, differences aside, we will surely be back on Princess soon

[CanadaRob]

Latest CC news notes Primcess ongoing commitment to their chocolate experience with different chocolate cakes every day, hmmmm chocolate might be enough to have me try princess.

[CrusinAgain]

Curious (and digressing a little), why is HAL out for you? DBF has never gone on a cruise to Alaska and if i do plan one for us Glacier Bay is a must we will have to choose between Princess and HAL.

 

We have been several times to Alaska two on Princess and one on HAL. Always wanted to try HAL.

 

1) The food even admitted by the HAL loyalists is bought from big box stores and not freshly prepared. They proudly presented the boxes of pasta we buy at the store at the pasta station at their buffet. We were 3 sisters traveling in a suite (in our 60's) and all of us lost weight due to the lack of taste in their bland food.

 

2) The liquor was the cheap stuff for the same price as Royal, e.g., Monarch brand. The bartenders claimed it didn't matter after you added the tonic, soda or whatever.

 

3) The choices to eat was only the dining room, buffet and fee restaurants.

 

4) The shows were just plain awful as well as the daily and night activities. And they do not do much after the dinner show since I guess it is their routine. Royal would just be beginning their night when HAL is tucking everyone into bed.

 

Both Princess and HAL present Alaska Glacier Bay nicely so which ever one would take would not be disappointed but we did spend more time at Marjorie Glacier on Princess.

 

So we do plan on taking Princess in 2017 to Alaska for in celebration of my sister's retirement but we wished Royal went to Glacier Bay because this is the only glacier that calved and that didn't happen last May but it happened alot in August.

[pinkrosesdeb]

We also cruised HAL ONCE...would not go back! We did love our staff, they were some of the best. The rest of the cruise lacked all the way around. As said by others, shows were "let's get out of here" bad. When we left dinner it felt like a ghost ship, no one to be seen anywhere and we are not really late night people but we felt super young on that cruise and we were in our 60s. Have not tried Princess but would not rule them out.