Princess...whats the deal??

[Philip217]

Princess..whats the deal?

OK here's what I don't get. Princess is owned by Carnival, right? Its more expensive..so one would assume that means its a more "upscale" or "upgraded" experience, right? I mean, its the same parent company and its more money.

 

But everything I'm reading is saying that Carnival has better food...bigger cabins..and just as good service. If thats the case, why does Princess exist for one, and charge more for two? Just because its decor is more "Understated"???

 

Please educate me....

 

I am posting this on Carnival and Princess boards, just to see what everyone says. Please chime in!

 

I believe that you pretty much answered your own questions.

 

1. If what you are reading is true, why did over 1 Million people last year - mostly Americans - pay more money to sail on Princess when they could have paid less and had a better time on Carnival? Is the American public really that stupid? You need to answer that question.

 

2. Why would EVERY Princess Ship be fully booked for EVERY cruise - most with waiting lists - if the product was not worth the money?

 

3. If the people who are writing "everthing you are reading" about Carnival being so much better than Princess (for less money), you have to ask yourself, "If they are so enamoured of Carnival at lower prices - why oh why would they pay far more to leave Carnival and try another line?"

 

4. If "everything you are reading" is telling you that Carnival is better than Princess, you might think about changing your reading habits and materials.

[Cruiser from MS]

I believe that you pretty much answered your own questions.

 

1. If what you are reading is true, why did over 1 Million people last year - mostly Americans - pay more money to sail on Princess when they could have paid less and had a better time on Carnival? Is the American public really that stupid? You need to answer that question.

 

2. Why would EVERY Princess Ship be fully booked for EVERY cruise - most with waiting lists - if the product was not worth the money?

 

3. If the people who are writing "everthing you are reading" about Carnival being so much better than Princess (for less money), you have to ask yourself, "If they are so enamoured of Carnival at lower prices - why oh why would they pay far more to leave Carnival and try another line?"

 

4. If "everything you are reading" is telling you that Carnival is better than Princess, you might think about changing your reading habits and materials.

 

 

Basically I think it boils down to personal likes and dislikes. I have cruised Carnival and loved it. I have not yet cruised Princes but I know I will love it also. So far Carnival has fit the bill for us and Princess fits the bill for my next cruise. I think it basically depends on your own personal likes and dislikes.

[CanTex]

I believe that you pretty much answered your own questions.

 

1. If what you are reading is true, why did over 1 Million people last year - mostly Americans - pay more money to sail on Princess when they could have paid less and had a better time on Carnival? Is the American public really that stupid? You need to answer that question.

 

2. Why would EVERY Princess Ship be fully booked for EVERY cruise - most with waiting lists - if the product was not worth the money?

 

3. If the people who are writing "everthing you are reading" about Carnival being so much better than Princess (for less money), you have to ask yourself, "If they are so enamoured of Carnival at lower prices - why oh why would they pay far more to leave Carnival and try another line?"

 

4. If "everything you are reading" is telling you that Carnival is better than Princess, you might think about changing your reading habits and materials.

Clearly both lines are successul at what they're each doing -- as far as I know, none of their ships sail below capacity.

 

Carnival was obviously successful enough to be able to acquire Princess and add it to their wide portfolio of options available to us. No need to have ill will either way.

[shark_bait]

Our main reason's we prefer Princess over Carnival are:

 

Fresh Water Pools

Anytime Dining

Ship Decor

Much Quicker Embarkation Process

 

Any of these reason's would be enough for me to pay extra with Princess. All of them makes it a No Brainer.

[WISH84]

Personally, to us there is absolutely no comparison between Princess and Carnival. Princess Cruises 21 times, Carnival Cruises 5 times. Apples and Oranges, both fruits but with a totally different taste. ;)

 

This one is spot on!! Couldn't have said it better.

[agabbymama]

From a little bitty 2 ship company to --

 

Carnival Cruise Lines, Holland America Line, Princess Cruises and Seabourn Cruise Line in North America; P&O Cruises, Cunard Line and Ocean Village in the United Kingdom; AIDA in Germany; Costa Cruises in southern Europe; Iberocruceros in Spain; and P&O Cruises in Australia.

 

I think it is safe to say that Carnival Corporation has planned and done something right over the years. I believe I read somewhere that they are the largest cruise company in the World.

 

I haven't traveled Princess yet, but I have been on Carnival and HAL. Carnival does still tout themselves as the "fun ship". While I think Princess and HAL are a step above as far as ambiance and service, there are a lot of folks that love Carnival. The sales pitches (hawking anything and everything) on HAL, Princess and Carnival are all comparable, so maybe the Carnivalization comments come from that.

 

As for affordability, for my upcoming cruise to the Med, I checked Carnival and they were only about $100 cheaper than the Grand Princess I decided to book. I mainly check for itinerary, and none of the others included all the ports I found on Grand Princess.

 

So you ultimately have to make your own decision. Find a ship that goes where you want to go, for the price you want to pay and go for it.

[pynnkar]

Princess..whats the deal?

 

But everything I'm reading is saying that Carnival has better food...bigger cabins..and just as good service. If thats the case, why does Princess exist for one, and charge more for two? Just because its decor is more "Understated"???

 

We have sailed Carnival several times - price was definitely the deciding factor. We've also sailed Celebrity, Royal Caribbean and last week our first Princess ship. In my opinion, there is no question the Princess experience is more upscale than Carnival. Carnival's motto "the Fun Ship" is exactly what you get - younger crowds, more drinking, loud people in the hallways late at night. I'm not a big fan of the Carnival waiters line-dancing in the dining room every night to Macarana, YMCA, etc. It takes away from the elegance of the dining room! I also find there are multitudes of announcements on Carnival attempting to sell jewellery, liquor, bingo, etc. while other cruise lines are more discreet about this. The newer Carnival ships are quite nice and their food is good. We were impressed with the quantity of different entertainment options each night and the quality of the entertainers on the Caribbean Princess.

[DeRon]

Where have you read this?

I have never heard that before. :confused:

Fodor's Best of Cruises Rankings Out

 

Travel publisher Fodor's new book, "The Complete Guide to European Cruises", includes a special section highlighting the best cruise lines in a number of categories. The following are some of the highlights:

 

Best regular dining room cuisine

• Carnival Cruise Lines – Believe it or not, Carnival offers the most-improved dining experience at sea. Chef George Blanc's signature selections make the food tastier, better portioned and nicely presented.
  
• Celebrity Cruises – Food and service aboard Celebrity ships has historically been a cut above the rest. Each guest is treated as if they are the ship's VIP that night at dinner.
  
• Regent Seven Seas Cruises – Creative dishes spiced just right and wines that complement all menus are a hallmark of Radisson ships. The service is attentive, but not intrusive.
  
• SeaDream Yacht Club – A true gourmet meal can indeed be found at sea, thanks to SeaDream. Every dinner is individually prepared.

Best beds

• Holland America Line – The Mariner's Dream Bed features a Sealy 9-inch innerspring mattress. Hypoallergenic poly or goose-down pillows and a cuddly down blanket are covered in 300-count sheeting.
  
• Carnival Cruise Lines – The Carnival Comfort Bed features an 8-inch spring mattress, downlike no allergenic pillow and a 100 percent no allergenic down duvet covered by an ultrafine, cotton blend dust cover.
  
• Oceania Cruises – Instigator of the "bed wars", Oceania offers its Tranquility Bed with a high-quality mattress, 350-count Egyptian cotton linens and goose-down pillows.
  
• Royal Caribbean Line – A 9-inch spring mattress with 2-inch microfiber pillow accompanies 200-count cotton blend sheets and cushy microfiber pillows.

[Lovely Cruise]

Keep reading reviews on the ships that you are interested in. Some people will hate or love a "cruise line" based upon a "ship" that they sailed on.

 

EX: bad time on an "older" cruise ship and they will report that they HATE the entire cruise line!

[bdjam]

Princess is owned by Carnival, right?

Not quite - I think it was more of a merge.

[royalcruz]

To answer the original question, I pay more for Princess because that is what is costs, and I prefer the experience (it's quieter, the staff don't encourage cheering in the dining room). It's like this: If the same exact fettucine alfredo was served at both a chain restaurant and a fine restaurant, and you preferred fine dining, you would eat there and pay more. You would expect to get good service at both restaurants. Or perhaps you love Big Macs, but today you would prefer to eat a burger at the local diner, even though it costs twice as much and you are expected to leave a tip, just because you like it there.

[tvaud]

Princess..whats the deal?

OK here's what I don't get. Princess is owned by Carnival, right?

 

Not quite - I think it was more of a merge.

 

Princess is owned by Carnival Corporation, which also owns Carnival Cruise Lines, HAL, Costa, Cunard, Seabourn, P&O, etc.

[mrmac]

We have been on both Carnival and Princess many times. We do prefer Princess overall but Carnival is excellent value for money and excells in many areas. The reasons we prefer Princess are:

 

Superior Large Ships - classy understated decor and fantastic facilities.

Carnival ships are very good, just not as good as Princess. And they still have tacky areas, especially some of the dining rooms.

 

Heated Fresh Water Pools - Carnival has heated salt water pools. Princess has more pools and more hot tubs.

 

Superior Entertainment with more venues and variety than anyone - stage shows have 4 lead singers to Carnival's 2. Recent Caribbean Princess cruise had 7 things going on at once all over the ship. No one else does this. Princess has multiple dance bands in 3 locations. Carnival many times will only have one, sometimes a duo, plus a jazz band and a classical group.

 

Superior Children's Program and facilities - Carnival always touts their program but Princess wins going away. Princess facilities are far larger, easier to check kids in and out of and the activities are excellent.

 

Demographic - in general Princess passengers are more upscale than Carnival's. Depends on what floats your boat. On our last Carnival cruise people wore t-shirts, football jerseys, jeans and hats in the dining room, with no word from the head waiter. Cruises are priced now so that just about anyone can go. And anyone does.

 

Carnival does get a lot of things right. And we will cruise on them again. Their buffets are the best and most varied that we've seen across all the mainstream lines. Their beds, bathrooms and cabin sizes are superior to Princess although we love the large open closets on Princess. And many times the service and dining room food is on par with Princess. But not always. And they always have lemonade or fruit punch available in the buffet and by the pool, which Princess just can't seem to figure out.

 

So yes, I do think Princess is worth an extra $100 per person. The real question is why aren't they charging as much as Royal Caribbean, which many times will be at least $200 more per person than a similar Princess cruise. Of course, we love those Voyager class ships too.

[billie5]

Don't know if this will help you, but this is how Frommer's rates Princess and Carnival:

Carnival Princess

Dining good good

Activities good excellent

Entertainment good excellent

Service good excellent

Worth the money excellent excellent

 

We've sailed Princess many times, Carnival a few times. I believe Frommer considers entertainment just the main evening show, and all the rest activities. If that is the case, this agrees very much with our experience, except I believe he is wrong about activities, which for young people certainly seems better on Carnival. Reading the boards is tough. It is not clear which groups of clients are more likely to avail themselves of Cruise Critic. Princess, Celebrity and Hal, possibly RCCL also, are considered the elite of the mainstream cruise lines and more likely to get more upscale clients. The demographics of the cruise line certainly will affect who uses CC, and but how this will affect opinions I can not imagine.

 

Here is my conjecture. Many more first time cruisers on Carnival, and definitely more who are less accustomed to intensive service venues (very upscale restaurants, etc), therefore more likely to be impressed with any cruise line environment. More seasoned cruisers on Princess, more used to service venues, who would be more likely to complain if some aspect of the cruise did not meet their satisfaction. But, hey, don't flame me. Just a conjecture.

 

We sailed NCL Spirit in January and Dawn Princess in March. The biggest differences were the shows and the service, both far better on Princess. On the other hand, we did not find all that much difference in the food, except that NCL has just recently gone to smaller portions -- I mean much smaller portions -- but I actually find that to be a good thing. You can always order more, and I find myself less likely to overeat and less food wasted.

 

Still, the difference between all of these mainstream lines I find far less important than the itineraries (which for us is always the determining factor), the particular ship, and the passengers who just happen to be on our sailing.

 

Bill

[billie5]

Sorry. CC didn't keep my spacing. Let's see if this works. This is Frommer's rating

 

*************CARNIVAL***********PRINCESS

Dining**********good**************good

Activities********good**************excellent

Entertainment****good**************excellent

Service*********good**************excellent

Worth the money**excellent***********excellent

 

Bill

[shark_bait]

Quote: "from a little bitty 2 ship compnay to"

 

Yep, the largest Cruiseline in the world. I read a book where it had said that those little bitty 2 ship's that Old Man Arison started Carnival with were paid for by 2 million dollars that he embezzled from NCL while he was running that Cruiseline.

 

Book also said that Carnival was able to go on their aqcuisition spree with the influx of cash that came when they went public with their stock. RCL was a little too late in going public with their stock and couldn't compete with Carnival's deep pocket's on the Princess deal. RCL had a deal all but signed with Princess and was doing eveything in their power to keep this deal quiet. Word got out to Carnival which came in with a higher offer that RCL could not afford at the time.

 

Not really pertinent to the thread, but interesting none the less.

[SoFloDeb]

We have cruised both Carnival and Princess. Had a great time on Carnival, but prefer Princess. For us it has to do with the feeling you get when on a Princess ship. We find it warm, welcoming and just plain relaxing. We love the food (dessert soufles, the varieties of bread, the chilled soups, most of the entrees). We are not "show" people, so we don't go to the shows often, maybe once or twice a cruise. We have really enjoyed the personalities of most of the bar staff. At this point in our lives, we cruise for the ship, more than for the itinerary. Living in South Florida gives us plenty of opportunity to see and play on the beach.

 

Once again, for us, it is the warm and gracious feeling we get whenever we are on a Princess ship.

[blindrid]

I believe that you pretty much answered your own questions.

 

1. If what you are reading is true, why did over 1 Million people last year - mostly Americans - pay more money to sail on Princess when they could have paid less and had a better time on Carnival? Is the American public really that stupid? You need to answer that question.

 

2. Why would EVERY Princess Ship be fully booked for EVERY cruise - most with waiting lists - if the product was not worth the money?

 

3. If the people who are writing "everthing you are reading" about Carnival being so much better than Princess (for less money), you have to ask yourself, "If they are so enamoured of Carnival at lower prices - why oh why would they pay far more to leave Carnival and try another line?"

 

4. If "everything you are reading" is telling you that Carnival is better than Princess, you might think about changing your reading habits and materials.

 

The last cruise I booked, Princess was about 15% cheaper. Not sure where you are getting the why people are paying more. I view Princess and the others about the same as I can't say one is superior, just different.

[bdjam]

Quote: "from a little bitty 2 ship compnay to"

 

Yep, the largest Cruiseline in the world. I read a book where it had said that those little bitty 2 ship's that Old Man Arison started Carnival with were paid for by 2 million dollars that he embezzled from NCL while he was running that Cruiseline.

 

Book also said that Carnival was able to go on their aqcuisition spree with the influx of cash that came when they went public with their stock. RCL was a little too late in going public with their stock and couldn't compete with Carnival's deep pocket's on the Princess deal. RCL had a deal all but signed with Princess and was doing eveything in their power to keep this deal quiet. Word got out to Carnival which came in with a higher offer that RCL could not afford at the time.

 

Not really pertinent to the thread, but interesting none the less.

Could you tell us more about this “embezzlement?” I’m not sure that I’ve heard of it before. Arison was part of the original NCL group, but I don’t know of any untoward behavior around that.

RCI did have a deal signed with P&O/Princess and it included an approximate $65 million penalty if one of the parties backed out of the deal…and yet the stockholders still voted to take the Carnival deal over RCI. Given what RCI did to Celebrity (until they realized they were ruining the line’s reputation and changed their operating policies) I’m glad Princess didn’t go to RCI. It would have never been the same.

As for Carnival vs. Princess, while individual areas may rank close to each other in quality, the experience is NOT the same.

[shark_bait]

Could you tell us more about this “embezzlement?” I’m not sure that I’ve heard of it before. Arison was part of the original NCL group, but I don’t know of any untoward behavior around that.

 

RCI did have a deal signed with P&O/Princess and it included an approximate $65 million penalty if one of the parties backed out of the deal…and yet the stockholders still voted to take the Carnival deal over RCI. Given what RCI did to Celebrity (until they realized they were ruining the line’s reputation and changed their operating policies) I’m glad Princess didn’t go to RCI. It would have never been the same.

 

As for Carnival vs. Princess, while individual areas may rank close to each other in quality, the experience is NOT the same.

 

It was a couple of years ago that I read this book, but I think the name was "Devil's of the Deep Blue Sea" or something along that lines. I believe the $2 million amount is about right and am positive that the book stated that Carnival was started with money "taken" from NCl by Mr Arison. Very interesting read.

 

According to the book, the timing of Carnival making their stock public was brilliant and put them ahead of RCI in the race to be the largest cruiseline in the world. These guys do not like each other and those feelings go all the way back to the begining's of "Cruising in the Caribbean". Again, according to the book.

[karatemom2]

We have cruised both Carnival and Princess. Had a great time on Carnival, but prefer Princess. For us it has to do with the feeling you get when on a Princess ship. We find it warm, welcoming and just plain relaxing. We love the food (dessert soufles, the varieties of bread, the chilled soups, most of the entrees). We are not "show" people, so we don't go to the shows often, maybe once or twice a cruise. We have really enjoyed the personalities of most of the bar staff. At this point in our lives, we cruise for the ship, more than for the itinerary. Living in South Florida gives us plenty of opportunity to see and play on the beach.

 

Once again, for us, it is the warm and gracious feeling we get whenever we are on a Princess ship.

 

I agree. Very nicely put!!

[mrmac]

It was a couple of years ago that I read this book, but I think the name was "Devil's of the Deep Blue Sea" or something along that lines. I believe the $2 million amount is about right and am positive that the book stated that Carnival was started with money "taken" from NCl by Mr Arison. Very interesting read.

 

According to the book, the timing of Carnival making their stock public was brilliant and put them ahead of RCI in the race to be the largest cruiseline in the world. These guys do not like each other and those feelings go all the way back to the begining's of "Cruising in the Caribbean". Again, according to the book.

 

I read this book too and the money for the first ships came from the float - the time between collecting deposits and payments and the time Arison had to pay it to NCL. It was an accounting issue and NCL felt Arison was making money off the float when maybe he wasn't supposed to. But the book explains it better.

[Crown Prince]

I also read it about 3 or so years ago.

 

Devils on the Deep Blue Sea: The Dreams, Schemes, and Showdowns That Built America's Cruise-Ship Empires by Kristoffer A. Garin

 

Really neat history on the early days of cruising. Yes, Micki Arison & Family are really very clever.

 

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_b?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=devils+in+the+deep+blue+sea

[pekachryn]

You'll see a lot more lobster tails and crab legs on Princess! I won't go on Carnival again, and stick to Princess or HAL (though would go on Celebrity, Crystal or others like Seabourn). I think it depends on your age group, too.

[shark_bait]

I also read it about 3 or so years ago.

 

Devils on the Deep Blue Sea: The Dreams, Schemes, and Showdowns That Built America's Cruise-Ship Empires by Kristoffer A. Garin

 

Really neat history on the early days of cruising. Yes, Micki Arison & Family are really very clever.

 

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_b?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=devils+in+the+deep+blue+sea

 

Yeah, that's it.:) Any of you cruiser's out there that are interested in the history of the cruise industry(at least in the Caribbean) should get this book. Especially fun to read while on a cruise.