4 Ship Comparison Review

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My latest cruise was on the Grand Princess. After cruising on Carnival and RCCL I wanted to see what else was available. I have falling in love with cruising and I don’t want to miss a beat. It’s kind of like going to your favorite restaurant but still wanting to see if there’s anything out there that can beat it. I now have 4 cruises under my belt with 3 different cruise lines – Grand Princess, Carnival Ecstasy, RCCL’s Navigator of the Seas and Voyager of the Seas. My favorite hands down are the NOS or VOS (both of these are RCCL’s Voyager class ships). It’s something about RCCL’s Voyager class ships that I absolutely love. Below I’m going to do a comparison review of the four to give everyone a glimpse into these 4 ships. Except for the VOS and NOS these are three totally different class ships. You can’t compare apples to apples. While they’re all fruit you have an avocado, a peach and two pineapples.

 

SIZE OF THE SHIP

Ecstasy is the smallest ship of the three classes. The next size is the Grand Princess and lastly the mega sized ships, RCCL’s Voyager class ships. Ecstasy is a great ship for first timers IMO. Not large but big enough where you’re not crowded. Excellent for a 3 or 4 night cruise to get your feet wet. After that you will probably won’t a larger more classy ship. Grand Princess was a nice size ship for families with young children or the elderly. This ship allowed you to spread out if you wanted to do a 7 night cruise or longer. It’s elegant and is great overall. It had more balcony rooms than the Ecstasy but not quite as many as the NOS/VOS. The NOS/VOS I think is a great size ship for active families and any type of group cruise.

 

DISEMBARKATION/EMBARKATION – Galveston vs. Miami

Hands down Miami Port. They just do it better. Although Galveston is a smaller port it takes longer to board every time. Last time (July 2005) it took about 45 minutes from dropping off luggage until I was in my stateroom and this time (Nov. 2006) about 1 hour. Miami 30 minutes or less both times (March 2001 and March 2004). Picking up your luggage is a nightmare in Galveston. They need the luggage carousels like Miami. It just works better for me. I love the walk off express at Galveston. Especially since I walk off and head straight to my car for the drive back to Dallas. Will I stop cruising out of Galveston? NO! It’s 5 hour drive from my front door and a 30 minute plane ride on Southwest airlines. But hopefully in a few years they will make the necessary improvements so that it will be on par with Miami.

 

STATEROOMS

I usually book a balcony cabin, however for my Ecstasy cruise I booked an inside room. That’s what I love about these short cruises out of Galveston. For $400 or $500 you have a long weekend getaway. You can’t beat the price for what you receive. The inside cabin served the purpose for two occupants for 3 nights. Nothing more nothing less. Ecstasy had the best bed. They used these big comfy down comforters and the bed was quite plush and comfortable. Was it dark? Yes. Did I awake and was clueless as to the time? Yes. Will I book another inside? I don’t want to but for a weekend getaway? Yes. Do I prefer balconies? Yes. Now to compare the balcony cabins. I’m comparing the lowest balcony staterooms for both the VOS/NOS and the Grand. The balcony staterooms on the VOS/NOS are larger than the balcony staterooms on the Grand. I noticed the NOS/VOS rooms had a sitting area which had a love seat & table and a desk area with a chair. The Grand only had the desk and chair and then another chair with a small round end table placed in the middle of the floor. I didn’t understand that concept. It was in the way most of the time. Ecstasy didn’t have a refrigerator and the Grand’s refrigerator took forever to get a bottle of water cold. I did like the fact that the Grand placed all their ‘extra’s’ (bottled water, soda, candy) on the counter and NOT in the refrigerator so you didn’t have to ask them to remove the items out of the fridge. VOS/NOS had a stocked refrigerator. VOS/NOS hands down wins on the TV. RCCL has the best interactive TV system on the high seas. You don’t have to stand in line for your account balance and you can see the dinner menu and order excursions on your online via your TV. NO LINES!! Talk about convenience. I love this feature. But I do have to give the Grand their props for carrying the Cowboy’s game on MUTS Thanksgiving Day and the TX vs. A&M game on that Friday. Gotta love those ‘Boys! I think the VOS/NOS had the largest closet but all the closets were large enough and had enough hangers for clothes for two and ample drawer space. The desk/vanity area on the VOS/NOS was the best. It housed the TV, refrigerator, drawers and mirror. There were also extra shelves on both sides of the mirror. The presentation and design worked better for me. The VOS/NOS bathroom design worked best for me. I like the tubular shower and it alleviated getting water on the floor from the shower curtains. I still don’t understand why Carnival and Princess won’t invest in the sturdy shower curtains. You can purchase them all day long at Walmart for $3.97. All bathrooms had shelves along the side of the mirrors for your toiletries. VOS/NOS had shampoo dispensers in the shower and Ecstasy and Grand had shampoo, conditioner and soap samples in a bowl on the vanity. The balconies were the same to me. No major differences maybe the size. I was aware of the size difference and covered or not on the Grand so it wasn’t a big deal to me. Overall cabin preference goes to VOS/NOS.

 

FOOD

I think everyone can improve in this area. Ecstasy receives 5 out of ten (dining room was horrible) and Grand and VOS/NOS both a 6. However, Ecstasy hands down has the best grill for hot dogs and hamburgers w/ a drink station out on the pool deck. VOS/NOS did not have this feature and when I was on the Ecstasy my 3rd cruise after VOS/NOS I absolutely loved grabbing a hot dog and fries and not having to get dress to go inside to get a snack. The Grand has this too but I liked Ecstasy better. What is it with Princess not having free lemonade/fruit punch? They only have water, tea or coffee and in the morning various juices and milk. This was a huge strike against the Grand. And then to make matters worst the tea wasn’t even that great. So needless to say I drank a lot of water and hot orange spice tea. The best pizza was on the Ecstasy as well. None of the pizzas were a ten or a seven for that matter but if I had to select the best it would be Ecstasy. They also have calzones. Nothing beats the hot fresh cookies, sandwiches and desserts at the little bistro on the Promenade deck on the VOS/NOS. 24/7 what more could a girl want and 24 hour ice cream. I was quite disappointed in Princess. 1 hour for free ice cream. Give me a break. Ok so VOS/NOS and Ecstasy serve ice milk but at least they offer it all day every day. Something cold and refreshing beats nothing at all. Another big strike against the Grand. Buffets – setup and organization goes to the Grand. Selection and variety goes to VOS/NOS. Everyone had the same basic things for breakfast however on the Ecstasy and VOS/NOS they had omelet stations where you could select what you wanted on your omelet and have it made fresh for you. Princess didn’t have this but they had a different omelet available each day. The more variety and separate stations on the VOS/NOS lead to setup and organization issues. Princess had a better layout and you just walked around the circle to see all the selections. They also used hand sanitizer at every restaurant/buffet which I thought was impressive. The Grand did not serve any KEY LIME pie. I was quite disappointed in this only because it’s one of my favorites. Hands down VOS/NOS have the best Dining rooms afloat. The two deck dining room is awesome with the grand stair case. Now that’s a dining room. In the Ecstasy dining room I always felt like the ceiling would fall on me at any minute. LOL! I didn’t care for the service on Grand for the anytime dining. I’m quite sure this is a direct effect because the servers know they will receive a tip. I think they should have the server swipe your ship card for when they serve you so you can adjust your tip accordingly. This system would link back to your servers for that day. This way they are still held accountable for their service to you. The service wasn’t horrible but you could tell they were comfortable and slow because they knew it didn’t matter. O, one more thing – the first night we said a large table not knowing that they would not serve us until the table was full. YIKES!! After about 20 minutes of our table for 8 only half full they began serving us. Then another couple was placed at our table after we had already begun eating. The waiters tried to slow our eating so they could catch up the last couple. Lesson learned so we tried a table for two. Well they had 4 tables for two in a row and we basically were a table for eight. So we couldn’t win for losing. Next time I’ll just stick with Traditional Dining unless it’s a group and we can fill a table for 6 or 8.

 

POOLS

The Ecstasy had the fun pool with the waterslide. That was entertaining. The indoor pool on the Grand was nice. The Grand and VOS/NOS both had adult only pools however the Grand charged a per day fee. They all had kiddie pools which were nice for families with young children. The Grand put some thought into the layout of their pools, a plus. If you didn’t want to be at the main pool you had several other options even one that was indoors.

 

ENTERTAINMENT

All the ships had the Broadway type shows, comedian and then something a little different. On the Grand it was the Hypnotist. Absolutely phenomenal. A must see. VOS/NOS has the ice skating which should not be missed. I don’t recall anything spectacular on the Ecstasy. The VOS/NOS have the best theater. Nearly every seat is a good seat. Princess held some of its main events in the Princess lounge. I did not care for that setup at all. There were poles blocking the stage. The seating was not conducive for viewing the stage. VOS/NOS hands down have enough to keep a small village busy for a few weeks. Like I mentioned earlier this class of ships are definitely for the active however there’s enough nooks and crannies for the laid back type as well. VOS/NOS have it all, a rock climbing wall, ice and roller skating, miniature golf, basketball, volleyball, etc.

 

 

PROMENADE

VOS/NOS have a great promenade deck. Their promenade deck which goes the length of the ship on VOS/NOS is extraordinary. The VOS/NOS were my 1st and 2nd cruise I just assumed that all ships had this. NOT! Ecstasy and the Grand can’t compare. Kudos to RCCL for this great idea! This is a must if you have never seen it.

 

ODDS AND ENDS

Customer service across all three lines was the same. 95% of the staff was excellent while you always had that 5% that should find another job. I didn’t mention excursions or ports of call because they were all different. We all know that the cruise excursions are the most expensive. I recommend private tours with reputable companies. Always seek references and recommendations. All the room service menus were limited but most would bring you what was on the menu for dinner in the dining room if you asked. However Grand would not.

 

IN CONCLUSION

This report is geared towards those who have thought about branching out and trying a different line. After trying these four cruises, RCCL is still my favorite. However, I still want to try Disney and NCL and then maybe go with a luxury cruise to see what other lines have to offer. So for right now, odd years RCCL and even years I’ll experiment.

 

Happy Sailing

[High C's]

POOLS

The Grand and VOS/NOS both had adult only pools however the Grand charged a per day fee.

 

Good review - thanks for taking the time. I'm just curious about the charge you refer to on the Grand Princess for utilizing the adult only pool. I've been on the Grand twice now, as well as her sisters the Golden and the Caribbean (most recently 2 months ago) and have NEVER been charged a fee to use the adult pool. I know there is an area on the newer Crown Princess that is available for a fee (sorry - I forget what it is called), but I was not aware this was now the case on the Grand??????:confused: