Princess Or Rccl

[MDBOUTTE]

We have cruised Carnival (2) and RCCL (1) and want to go on a cruise to New England/Canada in 9-07. Both have ships sailing and are fairly new. How do you determine which line to go on? We are a group of 48-51 year olds and want to go on a fun ship. We're thinking of Crown Princess or RCCL Jewel of the Seas. Please give me some insite.

[gracee]

I hope some one answers soon--I want to know too! Thanks for posting.

[caviargal]

Crown is much larger with more passengers and is an atrium design.

 

Jewel is somewhat smaller with about 1/3 less passengers, and is designed around a beautiful, all glass Centrum. I am a fan of the smaller ships, personally. Pools are salt, not fresh.

 

I have not been on Crown so cannot comment based on personal experience but I can say that Radiance class ships are just beautiful!

 

The balconies are mostly uncovered on Crown so lack of privacy is an issue for some. They offer Personal CHoice dining if you do not like fixed seating (I do). You can bring your own wine on Crown, RCI has been cracking down on that.

 

The cabins are also smaller on Crown based on the info provided and the pics on their site. D1s on Jewel are great cabins and you have to buy a mini suite on Crown to get that much space.

 

Bedding on Crown is only upgraded in minis and above; on Jewel all cabins will have new premium bedding which is wonderful IME.

 

Read all the reviews you can to feel for the ships and the passengers each line attracts. You need to prioritize what is most important to you and go from there, IMO.

 

I would opt for Jewel simply because I think the Radiance class are the best ships in RCI's fleet.

[MDBOUTTE]

Thanks for the info. I was leaning that way.

[momofmeg]

well I am going onm the Caribbean Princess this fall and Jewel of the Seas next summer-so if this was a year from now I could be better help.

 

I do understand the Grand class ships can be a little congested but I have heard the worst problems are embarkation, debarkation, the theater only holds 750 pople and if you try to have dinner at 7pm-you will wait in line-so go to dinner before 6 or wait until after 8. If you do these things I understand the grand class ships are pretty good.

 

but I am really looking forward to being on the Jewel of the Seas also!-I haven't been any help have I?

 

Have fun-no matter what you do!

[critterchick]

I'd go with the Jewel, based on having sailed 2 Grand class (Star & Diamond) and 2 Radiance class (Radiance & Brilliance) ships. As Caviargal said, they ships are gorgeous, and Radiance had one of the best crews we've encountered - I've read similar praise of Jewel and Brilliance (we sailed B after an absolute disaster during disembarkation on the prior cruise, so the crew pretty much had the stuffing knocked out them, that's a whole 'nother story that's not relevant here). 500-600 fewer passengers will make a difference, too.

 

I'm firmly of the opinion that you can make your own fun no matter what ship you cruise on. Having said that, I've always found that there are lots of activities that we enjoy on an RCI or a Princess ship, so I don't think you can go wrong with either. But based on the class of ship, I'd go w/Jewel.

[05mak05]

As a rule, we have no preference between Princess and Royal Caribbean. However, for the Canada/New England itinerary, I think that by far Princess has the better itineraries. I'd take a hard look at the ports first and not put quite as much emphasis on the ship. If you miss Quebec City, you've missed the highlight of the cruise. We flew into New York City and were there for 2 days before boarding the Royal Princess. Fabulous! We loved each and every one of the ports - 8 in 12 days. For this particular cruise, it's really handy to have the Princess laundry facilities onboard as you can wash & wear as you go allowing you to pack lighter. (If you go in the Fall, you'll need clothes for both warm and colder climates.) On top of having washers, dryers, ironing boards & irons, Princess usually has a $15 laundry special where they will launder everything you can stuff in a sack. I don't know if they still do that or not but it sure comes in handy. If you've been to both Quebec City and New York City, then it's probably a toss up.

[wrp96]

The Crown Princess does not go to Quebec City on its Canada/New England cruises in September 2007. It does a 7-night Round Trip out of New York hitting Halifax, Nova Scotia, St. John, New Brunswick, Bar Harbor, Maine, Boston, Mass., and Newport, Rhode Island.

 

The Jewel of the Seas does a 7-night Round Trip out of Boston, going to Martha's Vineyard, Bar Harbor, Maine, Halifax, Nova Scotia, St. John, New Brunswick, and Portland, Maine.

[Kanukkacruise]

The Grand Princess and the Sea Princess hit both Quebec City and New York City. Have you checked out the Sea Princess repositioning cruise from on October 28, 2006? You'd have to book this cruise the minute it opens it opens to avoid such high prices.

[momofmeg]

As a rule, we have no preference between Princess and Royal Caribbean. However, for the Canada/New England itinerary, I think that by far Princess has the better itineraries. I'd take a hard look at the ports first and not put quite as much emphasis on the ship. If you miss Quebec City, you've missed the highlight of the cruise. We flew into New York City and were there for 2 days before boarding the Royal Princess. Fabulous! We loved each and every one of the ports - 8 in 12 days. For this particular cruise, it's really handy to have the Princess laundry facilities onboard as you can wash & wear as you go allowing you to pack lighter. (If you go in the Fall, you'll need clothes for both warm and colder climates.) On top of having washers, dryers, ironing boards & irons, Princess usually has a $15 laundry special where they will launder everything you can stuff in a sack. I don't know if they still do that or not but it sure comes in handy. If you've been to both Quebec City and New York City, then it's probably a toss up.

 

 

I remember a thread back about a month ago that a person was doing Celebrity Constelliation for this cruise ittenary. It was an 11 day and pricy but she picked it because she wanted to go to Quebec.