Favorite Princess Ship?

[RLK33853]

Lucky TGO has the attitude that everyone should subscribe to.

 

That said, almost all of the points have been made - Sapphire is one of the most opulent with tons of public spaces, Royal Class ships have the World Fresh Marketplace instead of the Horizon Court (huge improvement), but has the tiny balconies, etc, etc, etc.

 

So we take all these points into consideration when booking, along with port selection, and timing when making our choice.  There is one thing though that Princess never tells you, which also would affect our choice if known - the crew and managers.  Department Heads  like Maitre D's, Captains, and Entertainment Directors make your experience once on board.  Pay attention next time and you will see crew members happy on some ships, and less so on others.  This usually correlates back to who is running the various departments.  Unfortunately Princess never lets us know who is running the show until you are cruising.  Luckily, Cruise Critic reviews and personal relationships with some crew members can give you a glimpse.

 

Either way - enjoy your cruise whenever you can get back on board!

[USCcruisecrazy]

Emerald holds a soft spot in my heart because our son and daughter in law were married on her...but I would probably go with the Regal as our favorite.  Sky would have been a consideration except for lack of a Crooner's lounge!  But any ship I could be on would be my favorite at that moment in time.  🙂

[cruisequeen4ever]

The Regal and Royal tie as my favorites. I love the wide variety of buffet options, the decor, and my favorite area is the aft Lido deck. The Regal has a little pool aft, too. If you like afternoon tea and want an extra special one, go to International Cafe or Vines (depending on which is in charge on your cruise), and sign up for the Royal Tea. It’s a special treat and is only available on the Royal class ships. 

[Cruzinnana47]

Have only sailed on 4 Princess ships--while all were nice in their own way, we would have to say the Coral was our favorite so far.  Loved the back and forward viewing areas during our Panama Canal cruise and the overall vibe.

[sunviking82]

I personally love the Grand for it's size, layout and features, followed by the Diamond and Sapphire (would have included Star and Golden but those ships have "sailed" to P&O Aus). Love the covered pools on all three, wish Princess was adding that to it's new builds.

 

Second is the new Royal class, great layout and flow, newer amenities, but not thrilled with the spa/gym separation and no free steam rooms on board. 

 

Third but most sailed on by us are the Caribbean and Crown.  They are similar to the Grand except with more cabin and almost the same amount of public space. Seem crowded at certain times, but have sailed 6 of our 17 cruises on them so. . . .

 

Overall, the Princess service, food and the general consistency of the ships designs keeps us coming back time and time again.  Just cover a few more pools and add back free steam rooms and you'd have zero complaints from me.

[Thrak]

On 12/28/2020 at 2:10 PM, CruzerDeb said:

Hmm, CB?

 

This is the list I have:

 

Princess Ship Abbreviations

CB - Caribbean Princess
CO - Coral Princess
KP - Crown Princess
DP - Dawn Princess
DI - Diamond Princess

XP – Discovery Princess
EP - Emerald Princess

EX – Enchanted Princess
NP - Golden Princess
AP - Grand Princess
IP - Island Princess
GP - Regal Princess
RP - Royal Princess
RU - Ruby Princess
SA - Sapphire Princess
CP - Sea Princess
TP - Star Princess
SP - Sun Princess

MJ – Majestic Princess
YP – Sky Princess

PA - Pacific Princess

Edited December 30, 2020 by Thrak

[Thrak]

12 hours ago, RLK33853 said:

There is one thing though that Princess never tells you, which also would affect our choice if known - the crew and managers.  Department Heads  like Maitre D's, Captains, and Entertainment Directors make your experience once on board. 

 

So true. Worst cruise we have been on was due to a poor cruise director and an absolutely horrible assistant cruise director. Trivia and other games weren't worth attending due to this clown. He was rude and I spoke with a number of passengers who really didn't like him at all. My wife and I were shocked as we have always had good experiences with Princess staff. (We did experience one other CD who wasn't very "warm" but nothing like the Assistant CD on this particular cruise.)

Edited December 30, 2020 by Thrak

[Lucky TGO]

4 hours ago, Thrak said:

 

This is the list I have:

 

Princess Ship Abbreviations

CB - Caribbean Princess
CO - Coral Princess
KP - Crown Princess
DP - Dawn Princess
DI - Diamond Princess

 

XP – Discovery Princess
EP - Emerald Princess

 

EX – Enchanted Princess
NP - Golden Princess
AP - Grand Princess
IP - Island Princess
GP - Regal Princess
RP - Royal Princess
RU - Ruby Princess
SA - Sapphire Princess
CP - Sea Princess
TP - Star Princess
SP - Sun Princess

 

MJ – Majestic Princess
YP – Sky Princess

 

PA - Pacific Princess

 

Thrak are they all the ships you like the best? If so I agree with you. 😁
Tony

 

Edited December 30, 2020 by Lucky TGO

[wolft927]

I have sailed twice on the Grand Princess and once on the Regal Princess and booked for Sky Princess in December 2021. I must say i do have a soft spot for the Grand, but i do prefer the Royal Class Ships.  

[donswife]

Caribbean Princess, if I want to cruise with DH, as he has decided he will only sail in a window suite. Even minisuite are too small for him and other full suites are too expensive. Otherwise, any grand class or smaller. We did a 3 day on the Royal, and I am not a fan of the bigger ships. Even the buffet was overwhelming!

[Ombud]

My favorite ship depends on whether I'm more interested in sea days or ports. I'm also fortunate that I don't have to worry about getting a tender

 

Sea Days & Beaches - Royal class ships. More to do onboard. Regal / Royal are extremely similar. I love High Tea in the Piazza while listening to the musicians. Also don't pass up Alfredos. Free Sabatinis-lite. Love their minnestrone, salads, eggplant parmesan, apple tart .... there's a complete menu / it's not just pizza (that's good too -- done to my specifications). Also the 'Art Gallery' is hidden 👍

 

Port Intensive  - Sapphire. I'll be on it 12/2021. On Caribbean Princess it took a little longer to get back via tender as it holds more people but it was okay. Heard it's same layout as Ruby & I hope so because I've got 2 booked on Ruby. Love going up to Skywalkers in the morning with a latte & yogurt parfait just to watch the wake show. Nice quiet spot (I've never booked a balcony at the back of the ship so Skywalkers does the trick)

[nimiq]

I use to like the Grand Class ships but unfortunately I gang them a bit outdated now. Although I still enjoy them Princess has not done a great job when refurbishing them. The Royal class has now become our favorite for the same reasons that lots of people have pointed out here already. Now can’t wait to try the Majestic, Sky, Enchanted and Discovery. 
 

Whatever ship you select you’re in good hand with Princess.

 

Sea Ya 

Eric

[richsea]

We’ve sailed Crown, Emerald, Star, Caribbean, Royal & Regal. I like Royal & Regal best, despite the smaller balconies. Their Piazza is most impressive, & the Retreat Pool is our favorite. We also like Princess Live, even with its cramped seating. We were looking forward to Sky’s improved Princess Live, but not so much her reduced sized Retreat Pool, but they switched our sailing on her to Caribbean Princess. Royal class buffets are tons better than the closed in Horizon Court offerings on their other ships.

I’d love to try Coral, the same size as Celebrity’s M class ships. Great size!

 

Bottom line; it’s great to have different designs, rather than cookie cutter ships.

[nini]

The Golden, but alas she is no longer with the fleet.

A few others have posted the Golden as well.

 

So then I would say the Regal. We had such a great time with my DS

and BIL! The Piazza was our gathering place with cards, food and drinks.

And we loved doing the same on the aft outdoor Horizon Court.

 

But, we have not been on as many Princess ships as so many others have.

2020 interfered with our experience on the Sky and Royal.

[BarbinMich]

We did 31 cruises on 13 Princess ships, starting on the Dawn in 2000 and ending with the CB in 2017 (our 3rd time on her).  Unfortunately, after that cruise my DH's health started to quickly decline.  Once cruising starts up again I hope to return to the sea.  My favorite ships were the Crown class.  Only was able to do 2 cruises on the "new" Royal and it was certainly glitzy, but I prefer the Crown class for many reasons.  One thing I can't understand about the Royal (and I assume the Regal) is their crummy casino--way too small with tables and slots crammed together.  Since presumably ship casinos are big money-makers on a ship, it made no sense to make the new ones so inhospitable IMHO.

[Northumberland]

On 12/29/2020 at 6:03 AM, paul929207 said:

Lovee them all, but best is the Pacific Princess and her departed sisters the middle Royal and the Ocean. They can go to so many fabulous places that the bigger ships can not get too.

We were on the Ocean Princess when she was brand new. (Our first cruise) More recently we went on the Royal Princess. We loved the size of the Ocean Princess and the Royal was a nice ship, but we've booked a 2022 cruise on the Sapphire Princess. So, we'll see which of the 3 classes we prefer.

[mevs904]

Although we’ve loved the buffets on the Royal and Regal our all time favorite is the Coral.  We’ve sailed on her to Alaska and the Panama Canal and had reservations on her for the early March 2021 South America/Antarctica cruise before Covid ended that plan.  We love the full promenade and fore and aft viewing areas on the Coral.  After the Coral our next favorite ship would probably be the Crown.  We love being at sea and a full promenade is very important to us.  SinbadTheSailor stated it perfectly.  Big ships without a promenade seem more like a hotel rather than a ship.

[SoBaycruiser]

We have loved the R-ships and the only one left is the Pacific Princess.  If you are going anywhere scenic (not just every day in port), then I suggest the Pacific Princess because of its forward facing lounge.  Unfortunately Princess has followed the recent trend to put all the lounges in the bowels of the ship.  The Pacific Princess has a large forward facing lounge on deck ten.  It’s great for Alaska, Norwegian fjords or anywhere that the scenery is beautiful.  ...that and I love the intimacy of a smaller ship.

[moodyb1]

I like the Majestic Princess because of the Hollywood Pool and Conservatory.

 

Arlene

[CruzerDeb]

8 hours ago, SoBaycruiser said:

We have loved the R-ships and the only one left is the Pacific Princess.  If you are going anywhere scenic (not just every day in port), then I suggest the Pacific Princess because of its forward facing lounge.  Unfortunately Princess has followed the recent trend to put all the lounges in the bowels of the ship.  The Pacific Princess has a large forward facing lounge on deck ten.  It’s great for Alaska, Norwegian fjords or anywhere that the scenery is beautiful.  ...that and I love the intimacy of a smaller ship.

The forward-facing lounge sounds amazing!

[generichandle]

My favorite Princess ship is now the Sirena, now belonging to an upscale line. There was great reason they wanted it. It was twin to the Pacific Princess, which I have yet to get on. The Ocean Princess was beautiful, with paneling of lush dark wood. It had the best library [my natural habitat], large, complete, and very comfortable. I think I met every person onboard on our 16-day 'Midnight Sun' cruise. There are few 'intimate' cruise ships left in the affordable [for us] range. So sorry it was sold. 

 

Next is surely Coral, always [been on 4 times] great service above and beyond. She never seems crowded, and has all I want in a long cruise environment. 

 

Princess has been great, I pray she survives and flourishes beyond this pandemic. 

[beg3yrs]

14 hours ago, CruzerDeb said:

The forward-facing lounge sounds amazing!

It is a wonderful lounge plus, from there it's easy to go out the exit directly to the outside deck/walking/jogging/running track in case you want to see more of something you just passed. Once outside you can also take the stairs to deck 11 for more direct viewing. No elevator to deck 11 though.

Edited January 10, 2021 by beg3yrs

[RNCheryl]

My Princess sailings have been on the Coral (x2) and the Regal.  Favorite by far is Coral.  Easy to find your way around, Crooners, very friendly staff, and just a general atmosphere that you want while cruising.

[DVC Calif]

We have sailed on the Diamond (1x), Golden (2x), Island (2x), Crown (2x), Grand (2x), Star (2x), Ruby (2x),  Regal (1x), and Sky Princess (2x).

 

And after experience the Royal class (Regal and Sky), we are in love with that class. The World Market Buffet, Enclave Spa, and the comfortable Princess theater (with good nightlines and no columns) are our favorite features.

[nimiq]

On 1/12/2021 at 5:08 PM, DVC Calif said:

We have sailed on the Diamond (1x), Golden (2x), Island (2x), Crown (2x), Grand (2x), Star (2x), Ruby (2x),  Regal (1x), and Sky Princess (2x).

 

And after experience the Royal class (Regal and Sky), we are in love with that class. The World Market Buffet, Enclave Spa, and the comfortable Princess theater (with good nightlines and no columns) are our favorite features.

Having done the Regal and the Royal twice each how would you compare the Sky ? 
 

Thanks

Sea ya 

Eric