Loyal Royal books Princess

[Janet524]

We are seasoned cruisers who have done more RCCL cruises than I can count. We have always talked about trying Princess, but when friends booked an anniversary cruise on Caribbean Princess and invited us to come along, we took the plunge. For those who have experience with both lines, can we expect about the same experience? Dress codes for MDR? Formal nights?

 

Also, I tried to find information about Princess's passenger loyalty program (Captain's Circle?) on their website but couldn't seem to locate it. Could someone perhaps give me a link to it. I'm interested in seeing how their benefits compare with Royal Caribbean.

 

Thanks for your help.

[JF - retired RRT]

Can't do a comparison, never been on Royal.

We're Elite on Princess and the perks make it hard to leave.

https://book.princess.com/captaincircle/membershipBenefits.page

 

In addition, we get Veteran's OBC ($50-250), Shareholder's OBC ($50-250) and Future Cruise Deposit OBC ($15-150).

[Janet524]

Can't do a comparison, never been on Royal.

We're Elite on Princess and the perks make it hard to leave.

https://book.princess.com/captaincircle/membershipBenefits.page

 

In addition, we get Veteran's OBC ($50-250), Shareholder's OBC ($50-250) and Future Cruise Deposit OBC ($15-150).

 

Thank you for the link to benefits. I understand about perks making it hard to leave. We are Diamond Plus on RCCL and enjoy the perks. Have to admit it will be hard to forego them, but we are looking forward to sailing on Caribbean Princess.

[Lucky TGO]

Can't do a comparison, never been on Royal.

We're Elite on Princess and the perks make it hard to leave.

https://book.princess.com/captaincircle/membershipBenefits.page

 

In addition, we get Veteran's OBC ($50-250), Shareholder's OBC ($50-250) and Future Cruise Deposit OBC ($15-150).

I agree with you all the perks are great. :)

Tony

[satxdiver]

I have only been on voyager class ships so far.

 

Dress codes are more strictly followed on Princess than what I saw on RCCL. However Princess has been getting more lenient as time progresses. Formal night on Princess for men can be anything from a tux to a suit to sport coat to no coat all with or without a tie. Dress pants (e.g. dockers) and a long sleeved shirt (some reports of a short sleeved allowed) will bet you entrance into the MDR on formal nights. They do enforce no shorts or hats in the MDR at night for adults. Jeans are allowed on non-formal nights along with a shirt with collar but again I have seen tshirts worn.

 

The HC (buffet) is open continually from 6 AM to 11 PM with food available according to the time of day. The pizzeria and grill are located next to the main pool and are open 11 AM to 11 PM. The center of the ship is open to decks 5, 6 and 7 in an area know as the piazza where events happen during the day and evening. It has the 24 hour IC which is somewhat like the cafe promenade only better IMO. This contrasts to the royal promenade.

 

There is a giant video screen mounted above the main pool on the lido deck called MUTS (movies under the stars) which has different presentations during the day like concerts etc and a movie at night with popcorn of course. The loungers are rearranged to face the screen with pads and blankets if needed. Movies are later shown the next day on cabin TVs.

 

Debarking you will be assigned to a location like theater, lounge etc to wait until your number and color is called. Princess generally waits until the last group has left the ship, found their luggage and started through the immigration & customs line so that there is not a mass of humanity trying to get out of the terminal. The groups are small and are called about every 10 or 15 minutes. This policy includes the walk offs with their own luggage divided into groups.

[satxdiver]

Perk wise Princess allows pax to stack their OBC. If you are or were military and have a DD214, Princess will give you a generous OBC of $50-$250 depending on the length of the cruise. Everyone that qualifies gets it so if a couple are both military, both get it. If you qualify, apply for it! This is the only OBC that Princess awards that is refundable if not used.

 

Princess sells a FCD (was FCC) on board for future unnamed cruises that is good for 2 years and carries a $15-$150 OBC depending on room type and length. It is good for 2 years and will be refunded if not used in that time frame.

 

Carnival Corp has a shareholder OBC like RCCL that is $50-$250 depending on length of cruise.

 

I get all three OBC which is very nice indeed while RCCL will not allow stacking and the FCC is non-refundable.

Edited August 10, 2016 by satxdiver

[BILL-WI]

I am also D+ on Royal and tried Princess about 5 years ago and loved it! In fairness, I have never been on a ship that I did not enjoy.

 

I am now Elite on Princess and I also still cruise on Royal. Both lines are very much alike in many ways and very different in others. Overall the experience on either Royal or Princess is excellent.

 

One word of warning about Princess....not all decks on Princess go all the way from the front to the aft.:eek: In some cases you have to go up, to go down! Takes a bit of getting used to for a Royal veteran.

 

Enjoy your first Princess cruise!:):)

 

BILL

Edited August 10, 2016 by BILL-WI

[satxdiver]

For the wine lovers, Princess allows pax to being on any reasonable amount of wine in 750 ml bottles. The first bottle per 21+ pax will be allowed free for consuming in your cabin. The rest are charged a $15 corking fee and can be consumed anywhere on the ship suck as the MDR etc. For wine lovers like us this is a real nice arrangement.

[internetwhiz]

Does everyone know that MSC loyalty matches your RC or other line status. Not sure of their product, but that part is nice

 

We have booked our first non-RC cruise in May. The perks were amazing.

[skynight]

Regarding OBC. If you are an active or discharged vet, check out Princess' Military Benefit OBC. If you own at least 100 shares of Carnival Corp. Stock check out the Carnival Shareholder Benefit. All OBC's on Princess are stackable, you don't have to choose. If you want the All Inclusive Beverage Package @ $56.35/pp/day it includes all alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages priced under $10 which is almost every drink on the ship. If you enjoy espresso drinks check out the Cafe Selects Card. Unused punches never expire and can be used on future Princess cruises.

Edited August 10, 2016 by sknight

[jackyfromwyk]

We have been on two RCCL cruises as well as six Princess cruises.

Here is our impression between the two:

The quality of the food on the Oasis was comparable to Princess cruises, however the food on the Brilliance was of MUCH lower quality than any Princess cruise we have been on.

The availability of food is much better on Princess than the RCCL cruises we were on. The buffet on Princess is open for most of the day and the International cafe is open 24 hours. Plus there is the pizza and hamburger venues open for long hours. We found the buffet hours on the RCCL ships very limited with other food venues also keeping very limited hours.

The dress code on both cruise lines is about the same.

The entertainment on the Oasis was slightly better and the entertainment on the Brilliance was much worse than any Princess cruise we have been on.

[Janet524]

Thanks to all for the great info.

[pris993]

We started cruising with RCCL, first cruise on the Song of America l982... somewhere in the late l980s, RCCL started o build bigger ships and the cabins got smaller, we visited a ship in port to check it out, you could do that way back when with a TA pass. We were disappointed in the new RCCL ship and never went back.

 

Over the years we have cruised on 9 different lines: Princess, Holland America, Crystal, NCL, Sitmar which became Princess, Royal Cruise line, Cunard, and Celebrity, plus RCCL. So we have a lot of experience more than 50 cruises.

 

We are elite on Princess and Celebrity... by far the best repeat passenger benefits for us is Princess.

 

All of thee lines are very similar in many ways... NCL is on the low end; Princess, HAL, and Cunard on the high end for us.

 

Try Princess only can decide what works best for you. Happy cruising.

[critterchick]

Princess and RCI are more alike than different. We find the crew on RCI to be friendlier and more outgoing while the crew on Princess is a tad more formal and less likely to smile at you unless you do it first.

 

MDR food is better on Princess, buffet better on RCI. Princess pizza blows RCI's out of the water, as does Crown Grill vs. chops. I prefer Giovanni's Table on RCI to Sabatini's on Princess.

 

The production shows on Princess are mediocre, about the same as the tired old shows on the older RCI ships (City of Dreams, Piano Man, etc.). The entertainment on Oasis class ships is outstanding, but they are built for it.

 

For Alaska and the West Coast, attire is pretty casual, but you'll see more tuxes and long dresses on Princess. We haven't sailed on Princess off the West Coast, so don't know about other locations.

 

In the JS, balcony and lower cabins, I prefer the RCI layout. You can't get a loveseat on Princess until you book a minisuite (I prefer a JS layout to a minsuite, but some people love having 2 TVs in the minisuite). Princess hairdryers are horrid, RCI's are ok (I bring my own on Princess)

 

Full suites on Princess are nice, but I've only seen the lowest categories so can't compare the really pricey digs. The Window Suites (CB has them) are fabulous - usually priced like a mini, no balcony, but have a great layout and come with full suite perks. RCI recently upped their full suite perks and the free Internet might make me like those better than Princess' free laundry - it costs me less to send out cleaning that to pay for Internet access.

 

We're Pinnacle Club on RCI and Elite on Princess - Elite perks are equivalent IMO, but offer different stuff. Limited free Internet, unlimited free laundry and a drink setup that you can customize. No Concierge Lounge, but a happy hour with reduced price drinks for Platinum, Elite and Suite guests. I've never seen it crowded.

 

Drink prices are more reasonable on Princess, package or no. Wines are more fairly priced, too.

 

We sailed both lines and then just got RCI inertia. But we've gotten back into sailing on Princess a few times a year and really like it. They just don't feel like "home."

[riclop]

We are seasoned cruisers who have done more RCCL cruises than I can count. We have always talked about trying Princess, but when friends booked an anniversary cruise on Caribbean Princess and invited us to come along, we took the plunge. For those who have experience with both lines, can we expect about the same experience? Dress codes for MDR? Formal nights?

 

Also, I tried to find information about Princess's passenger loyalty program (Captain's Circle?) on their website but couldn't seem to locate it. Could someone perhaps give me a link to it. I'm interested in seeing how their benefits compare with Royal Caribbean.

 

Thanks for your help.

 

It's more formal on Princess.

[OCruisers]

We've cruised on RCCL many times over the years but WAY MORE on Princess.

Princess is a better fit for us.

Look forward to giving Princess a try! :)

[easyboy]

We're Elite on Princess and the perks make it hard to leave.

Ditto.