Need help choosing cruise/ship.

[SumoCitrus]

Hi y'all,

 

Former HAL cruiser here and we are looking to take a Princess Cruise in December. I know nothing about these ports or these ships and thought I'd get your opinions on both the itineraries and ships. Looking forward to booking soon!

 

Regal Princess

Date	Port	Arrive	Depart
Sunday, December 18	Fort Lauderdale, FL		4:00pm
Monday, December 19	At Sea
Tuesday, December 20	At Sea
Wednesday, December 21	St. Maarten	8:00am	6:00pm
Thursday, December 22	St. Kitts	7:00am	5:00pm
Friday, December 23	San Juan, Puerto Rico	7:00am	5:00pm
Saturday, December 24	Grand Turk, Turks and Caicos Islands	Noon	7:00pm
Sunday, December 25	At Sea
Monday, December 26	Fort Lauderdale, FL	6:00am

 

 

Sky Princess

Date	Port	Arrive	Depart
Saturday, December 17	Fort Lauderdale, FL		4:00pm
Sunday, December 18	Princess Cays, Bahamas	9:00am	4:00pm
Monday, December 19	At Sea
Tuesday, December 20	St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands	9:00am	5:00pm
Wednesday, December 21	Dominica	9:00am	6:00pm
Thursday, December 22	Grenada	7:00am	2:00pm
Friday, December 23	Bonaire	Noon	8:00pm
Saturday, December 24	Curacao	7:00am	5:00pm
Sunday, December 25	At Sea
Monday, December 26	At Sea
Tuesday, December 27	Fort Lauderdale, FL	6:00am

[Ptroxx]

Personally I like the first cruise.  It is shorter. But the ports are great.     
and all have great at port times.   

[skynight]

They are all nice ports. I would take the Sky cruise, but nothing to do with the ports. It is because the cruise is 2 says longer and Christmas is not the last day of the cruise where you would be packing up to leave. If you select the Sky cruise look up Bonaire Cruisers golf cart rental. It's a great private way to visit the island's south end.

Edited August 18, 2022 by skynight

[waltd]

Both are beautiful ships.  You can't go wrong with either ship.

[Steelers36]

6 minutes ago, skynight said:

They are all nice ports. I would take the Sky cruise, but nothing to do with the ports. It is because the cruise is 2 says longer and Christmas is not the last day of the cruise where you would be packing up to leave. If you select the Sky cruise look up Bonaire Cruisers golf cart rental. It's a great private way to visit the island's south end.

I agree, but also add that I prefer the extra sea days at the end of the voyage.

[roxievegas]

If you don't have to fly take the cheapest one

[Thrak]

1 hour ago, skynight said:

They are all nice ports. I would take the Sky cruise, but nothing to do with the ports. It is because the cruise is 2 says longer and Christmas is not the last day of the cruise where you would be packing up to leave. If you select the Sky cruise look up Bonaire Cruisers golf cart rental. It's a great private way to visit the island's south end.

 

1 hour ago, Steelers36 said:

I agree, but also add that I prefer the extra sea days at the end of the voyage.

 

I've never sailed either of these ships but totally agree with the comments above.

[Wishing on a star]

Go by the ports and itineraries, then factor in the ship.

I do not know about all of the ports.   I notice that the first one visits Princess private island beach.  Most would give that up for different ports.  But, that is personal preference.  

You know which ports interest you the most!  Just do a little research on each one.  Look at the Princess excursions listed for each Port.  This will give you a feel for each port when you look at that.

 

As far as the ships...  I, for myself, like the Regal.

The regal has Crooners at the Piazza, which adds to the Piazza.  Sky, does not.

The Regal has an open Retreat pool area with more seating.  The Sky has enclosed the sides of the Retreat pool area with additional cabins.

Both have the AFT wake-view pool and bar.

All of these are good for a warm weather cruise.

Both have the Standard Sabatini's and Crown Grill specialty specialty uncharge restaurants.

Sky has Bistro Sur La Mer, the additional upcharge specialty restaurant.

So, that is good if the additional dining is a big thing on your cruising checklist.

Sky has more cabins with larger extended balconies, forward and aft on Dolphin deck.

The standard balconies on these ships are small, and so this makes it easier to find a larger balcony on the Sky.

 

: )

[SantaFeFan]

All are good ports. Never been on either ships, but I would do the Sky. The two sea days at the end are more enjoyable than at the beginning. It gives you a chance to relax and get rested after a port intensive cruise before heading home. Plus, it's two more days on a cruise. More days - more fun!  LOL!

[cr8tiv1]

@SumoCitrusJust out of curiosity, why did you have a disclaimer "former HAL" cruiser?

 

My disclaimers:

I have not sailed on a Royal Class ship (and have purposely stayed away).

It has been a really long time since I've been to any of these ports.

 

If you don't have to fly, I would use those transportation dollars to cruise longer.  Princess Cays is not very exciting unless you crave a beach.  I like having more ports 4 vs 5.  Same amount of sea days.  You have very different ports to choose from.  Which one (1) are you most interested in visiting?

 

 

[SantaFeFan]

32 minutes ago, cr8tiv1 said:

@SumoCitrusJust out of curiosity, why did you have a disclaimer "former HAL" cruiser?

 

I think it helps to know the OPs cruising experience to help make better recommendations. 

[capriccio]

We've been to all the ports except San Juan, some multiple times.  We like the second itinerary.  In fact that was our itinerary on the Enchanted (a sister ship to the Sky) this past March.  We greatly enjoyed it and, as others have said, it was nice to have two sea days returning to Fort Lauderdale.

[candy4040]

Regarding Regal cruise - airport travel the day after Christmas is probably not the best.

[SumoCitrus]

3 hours ago, cr8tiv1 said:

@SumoCitrusJust out of curiosity, why did you have a disclaimer "former HAL" cruiser?

 

 

 

 

Just to explain why I am asking... I have no idea about Princess or their ships other than some recommendations. I've heard that HAL's quality has taken a nose dive over the last few years. Hoping Princess has not.

[cr8tiv1]

1 hour ago, SumoCitrus said:

 

Just to explain why I am asking... I have no idea about Princess or their ships other than some recommendations. I've heard that HAL's quality has taken a nose dive over the last few years. Hoping Princess has not.

Thank you for your response.  My sister is an avid HAL cruiser.  She was supposed to join me on a cruise.  It took a lot to convince her to try Princess.  Finally talked her into the cruise, but she had to cancel for an emergency.  She hated the Medallion Class app (pre-web based).  Claiming insurance wasn’t so difficult but the time it took was beyond anyone’s patience.  She didn’t want Future Cruise Credits.  It will take a tractor to get her to cruise on Princess with me again.  

 

I have been on 4 restart cruises, all on the same smaller ship.  I see Princess very differently.  The crew is so happy to be back on a ship.  They are overworked and sometimes stressed but I have not seen that impact the way they treat the passengers.  I liked the musical venues on HAL.  Princess, in my opinion, does not match their quality. I like the food and tea service on Princess more than the one short trip I did on  HAL.

 

Cruise with an open mind. Definitely things have changed as ships struggle to find themselves again.  Not making excuses for Princess since they’ve had months to get it together.  
 

Love  cruising.  Enjoy yours. 

Edited August 19, 2022 by cr8tiv1

[o2bretired]

Looking at 2 different Princess cruises from Ft. Lauderdale in spring of 23 - both go to Princess Cays but one goes to St. Thomas & St Maarten & the other to St. Thomas & St Kitts.  Looking for recommendation - which is better St.Maarten or St Kitts.  We have sailed on Princess several times but this would be our first to Eastern Caribbean.  Thx for any input or suggestions.

[jp2746]

13 minutes ago, o2bretired said:

Looking at 2 different Princess cruises from Ft. Lauderdale in spring of 23 - both go to Princess Cays but one goes to St. Thomas & St Maarten & the other to St. Thomas & St Kitts.  Looking for recommendation - which is better St.Maarten or St Kitts.  We have sailed on Princess several times but this would be our first to Eastern Caribbean.  Thx for any input or suggestions.

If you are going with kids make sure you check beaches on St. Maarten before planning an excursion. I almost planned something at a topless beach with four teenage boys and my father in law.    

[KeepCalmBearOn]

I like the Regal Princess better as a ship, but I really like the itinerary of the Sky Princess cruise. That one would get the nod from me.

[NavyVeteran]

7 minutes ago, jp2746 said:

If you are going with kids make sure you check beaches on St. Maarten before planning an excursion. I almost planned something at a topless beach with four teenage boys and my father in law.    

I don't believe St. Maartan (the Dutch half of the island) has any topless beaches. I believe the topless beaches are in St. Martin (the French half of the island).

[jp2746]

Just now, NavyVeteran said:

I don't believe St. Maartan (the Dutch half of the island) has any topless beaches. I believe the topless beaches are in St. Martin (the French half of the island).

You are right.  

[NavyVeteran]

That's one advantage of visiting St. Maartan / St. Martin. You get to visit two different countries on one port day.

[cr8tiv1]

12 minutes ago, NavyVeteran said:

I don't believe St. Maartan (the Dutch half of the island) has any topless beaches. I believe the topless beaches are in St. Martin (the French half of the island).

 

"don't believe" or through experience?  

[harryfat1]

5 minutes ago, cr8tiv1 said:

 

"don't believe" or through experience?  

I have been to St. Maarten couple times before and I have only heard of the Orient Beach (French side) being clothing optional.

 

Unless something has changed recently since this article was published:

 

https://www.sint-maarten.net/place/beach/nude

 

 

[harryfat1]

On 8/18/2022 at 2:03 PM, SumoCitrus said:

Hi y'all,

 

Former HAL cruiser here and we are looking to take a Princess Cruise in December. I know nothing about these ports or these ships and thought I'd get your opinions on both the itineraries and ships. Looking forward to booking soon!

 

Regal Princess

Date	Port	Arrive	Depart
Sunday, December 18	Fort Lauderdale, FL		4:00pm
Monday, December 19	At Sea
Tuesday, December 20	At Sea
Wednesday, December 21	St. Maarten	8:00am	6:00pm
Thursday, December 22	St. Kitts	7:00am	5:00pm
Friday, December 23	San Juan, Puerto Rico	7:00am	5:00pm
Saturday, December 24	Grand Turk, Turks and Caicos Islands	Noon	7:00pm
Sunday, December 25	At Sea
Monday, December 26	Fort Lauderdale, FL	6:00am

 

 

Sky Princess

Date	Port	Arrive	Depart
Saturday, December 17	Fort Lauderdale, FL		4:00pm
Sunday, December 18	Princess Cays, Bahamas	9:00am	4:00pm
Monday, December 19	At Sea
Tuesday, December 20	St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands	9:00am	5:00pm
Wednesday, December 21	Dominica	9:00am	6:00pm
Thursday, December 22	Grenada	7:00am	2:00pm
Friday, December 23	Bonaire	Noon	8:00pm
Saturday, December 24	Curacao	7:00am	5:00pm
Sunday, December 25	At Sea
Monday, December 26	At Sea
Tuesday, December 27	Fort Lauderdale, FL	6:00am

Ship wise, they are both Royal class ships so you really don't have that much of a difference in terms of size.

 

You are basically deciding between itinerary of #1 being more of a classic Eastern Caribbean cruise or #2 being Southern Caribbean.  If you have the time and the budget allows, I would do #2 as you would be going to "BC" portion of the "ABC" islands. Those can't be reached in a regular 7 day cruise from Fort Lauderdale. 

 

#1 seems to be more generic Eastern Caribbean cruise you can take any time of the year (maybe minus 1 port on the list as it'll be 7 days), 

 

 

 

[MustangGT]

If you are into snorkeling, Bonaire can’t be beat between these 2 options.  I also agree that 2 sea days at the end would be ideal!