Royal Caribbean or Princess for Canada/New England Cruise?

[storkington]

Hi All,

 

We are looking at a Canada/New England cruise for this September and have narrowed it down to either Liberty of the Seas (9 days) with Royal Caribbean or Emerald Princess with Princess (7 days). Having read different reviews etc, we are not sure which is the better ship.

 

We have never cruised on either line, having only done 2 cruises on HAL so far. We are 2 adults in their early 50s and this time it just came down to the itinerary and the sail dates (due to DHs work schedule). On Liberty we would be booking a spacious ocean view balcony whereas on Emerald we would book a standard balcony. 

 

I have read different reviews that say that the buffet on Emerald was nothing to write home about, haven't really seen much on this topic for the Liberty. We prefer the buffet, and while we know it is mass catering and you cannot expect 5 stars, a rubbish buffet would somewhat ruin it for my DH.

 

Entertainment, daily programming etc is not that important to us, but quality of food and service is.

 

Any help in guiding our decision would be greatly appreciated!

[crystalspin]

22 minutes ago, storkington said:

We have never cruised on either line, having only done 2 cruises on HAL so far. We are 2 adults in their early 50s and this time it just came down to the itinerary and the sail dates (due to DHs work schedule). On Liberty we would be booking a spacious ocean view balcony whereas on Emerald we would book a standard balcony. 

...

Entertainment, daily programming etc is not that important to us, but quality of food and service is.

Any help in guiding our decision would be greatly appreciated!

My background is nine cruises on HAL, one on RCI, several cancellations on Princess. We found RCI more like HAL than different! Excellent service. Only had breakfast in the buffet, it was fine. MDR food and service were very good! (This was before the shut-down so reading more recent reports on the RCCL board would be a thing to do.) 

 

I would definitely favor Liberty OTS: both for the two additional days and for seating in your cabin other than the bed and one desk/vanity chair. You have to upgrade to at least a mini-suite on Princess to get sofa or loveseat! People say "Never in cabin but to shower and sleep"; Princess makes sure that is so.

[bonsai3s]

Agree with Crystalspin.

 

We sailed on the Liberty of the Seas last year and sailed on Emerald Princess pre-pandemic. We loved both ships...but if price is almost the same, we would choose the longer cruise in a bigger cabin. Another vote for Liberty.

[Aquahound]

I've sailed on Liberty a few times and on sister ships to Emerald.  Hands down, I prefer Liberty.  It's an awesome ship with great entertainment.  Liberty has shows in the ice rink, and they run a live production of Saturday Night Fever.

 

Balcony rooms on Liberty are much nicer than on Emerald.  Like crystalspin said, you'd have to book a mini suite on Emerald to get a room comparable to that spacious balcony on Liberty.