RCCL VS PRINCESS

[papillons4u]

Any views on the above. We sailed on the Raidance this past March. We are looking to book for next March, but would like to try another cruise line and the Island Princess with Princess Cruise Lines has caught our eye. Anybody been on both? We are looking on doing Hawaii and RCCL is very limited.

Joyce

[img]http://escati.linkopp.net/cgi-bin/countdown.cgi?trgb=000000&srgb=00ff00&prgb=111111&cdt=2004;2;29;17;00;00&timezone=GMT-0500[/img]

[Cindi314]

My first cruise was on the Grand Princess, and it was absolutely wonderful. If there are no children going, I would say that Princess and Royal Caribbean are comparable. If there are children - one might be better than the other depending on the ages. If it is just adults, I believe you will have just as great a time on Princess as you did on RCCL.

Grand Princess - 4/00
Voyager of the Seas - 4/02
Serenade of the Seas - 8/03
Brilliance of the Seas 7/11/05

[Tra4]

We travelled with kids and they definately preferred RCCL over Princess.

Without kids, RCCL has Princess beat in:
(this is just my opinion BTW) [img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif[/img]
Entertainment
Activities (rock climbing, poolside horseraces, (Princess has them inside)
Overall beauty of the ships
Cruise Director
Layout of the ship
Cabin Layout

And Princess wins on:
Fresh water pools
Food - Esp. pasta dishes
Dining Staff

Both ships are wonderful, but the Radiance is one of the most beautiful ships afloat. Nothing will compare. However, Princess has wonderful food. I guess its all in what you are looking for. I prefer RCCL overall.

Tracey

Until we cruise again. . . . . .

[img]http://escati.linkopp.net/cgi-bin/countdown.cgi?trgb=000000&srgb=00ff00&prgb=228b22&cdt=2004;6;13;17;0;00&timezone=GMT-0500[/img]
Premier Oceanic-Bahamas, 2/89
Rhapsody-East. Carib. 12/97
Grand Princess-East. Car. 5/00
Radiance-Hawaii,10/2001
Adventure-South. Car. 7/2002
Brilliance-Panama Canal 12/2003 "Happy New Year!"
Mariner-East. Carib. 6/2004

[London, Canada]

We took our first cruise on AOS in February 2002, then in February 2004 we booked on Princess. We found so much difference...there was no comparison with the ship, service, food, things to do, etc. Our experience with Princess was not a good one and we will never cruise with them again. One of the engines on the Dawn apparently blew up and we could not go any faster than 12 to 13 knots..now that is slow. We never made it Aruba but they certainly made sure we got to San Juan 9 hours early..so we could float around the island for that long...we understand that mechincal things can not be controlled but they didn't do enough to stop the chatter about missing Aruba, they gave each passenger a $100 cabin credit and never mentioned it again. We and many other passengers felt that the cruise director should had done something...a little party, something...not asking for free anything but a picker upper. This also would have helped being 2 hours late getting into Grenada and sailing with no stabilizers. The staff at the bars were even really grumpy after the port was missed...they were probably sick of hearing about not making Aruba...they had nothing to do with it...but this experience gave us a sour taste in our mouth and will not sail with them again...

[ERsecurity]

I have found both Princess and RCL to be fine lines. Each has its own reasons to be sailed.

I was on the Island Princess last week and found the food quality in the dining room to be less than expected. The ship was selling at rock bottom prices and that may have had something with it.

Good luck on your choice.

John

Royal Caribbean - Platinum
Princess - Platinum
Celebrity - Classic
HAL - 50 Days
Others - Yes
Delta - Million Miler

[Hlitner]

We have 13 RCI cuises and 9 with Princess (many of these more than 7 days). We enjoy both cruise lines and feel they are comparable in the "mass market" category. There are pros and cons to both. Bottom line is that we would cruise with either line at any time. When it comes to travel I think there are whiners and winners. The difference is usually attitude! The winners learn to "roll with the punches" and look for the good rather than the negative. The whiners are usually complaining about everything, and are often quite miserable. Each to their own, but we prefer to enjoy ourselves and try to minimize the litttle negative things.
Hank

[cruisnfool]

I have sailed RCI, Princess, NCL, Carnival, Costa and Celebrity 23 in all because I wanted to see for myself which line I liked best.
I have enjoyed every one of them. Were they perfect no, could I find likes and dislikes about all of them, absolutely!....You need to try differant lines to see for yourself. There are positives about Princess like fresh water pools, personal choice dining, many nights there are two shows to pick from...Rci has very beautifull ships and the Voyager class with ice rink and promenade ets are hard to compete with.
I think given a good attitude you can have a great time on any ship.
When serious problems happen like engine failure or whatever it does put a damper on your vacation but I wouldn't count the line out because of a single incident that could happen on any line,
Go and try Princess and when you come back look at Celebrity or another line.....its all good!

[img]http://escati.linkopp.net/cgi-bin/countdown.cgi?trgb=000000&srgb=00ff00&prgb=8b0000&cdt=2004;10;2;19;0;00&timezone=GMT+0100[/img]
First ever European adventure on Splendour of Seas

[BLUEICE]

I also sailed with both RCCL and Princess.

My only question is how can you not enjoy a cruise with any of the cruise lines?

There are things on RCCL that I prefer over Princess and also the other way around.

I found the staff on both ships to be excellent and more than willing to help.

A hard choice to pick one of the lines. I would try another one and then you can compare them later.

Again, how can you not enjoy a cruise regardless of the cruise line.

Grand Princess - Sept 2002
Voyager - Sept 2003
Explorer [img]http://escati.linkopp.net/cgi-bin/countdown.cgi?trgb=000000&srgb=00ff00&prgb=9400d3&cdt=2004;09;19;17;00;00&timezone=GMT-0500[/img]
until EOS with friends from the VOS
- Sept 2004

[cruiserforlife]

I agree,how could anyone not be happy with any cruise?

But,in this every-changing climate we live in in regards to cruiselines,what was the standard last year,last month,or last week,may not be the case next week when you cruise again.

The cost of cruising has never been cheaper so keep that in mind when at sea.To keep afloat(pardon the pun!),cruiselines must now cut corners and eliminate or charge extra for those little things that were once all-inclusive.

Is cruising still an excellent value in vacationing:ABSOLUTELY!

Should we still expect to be waited on hand and foot and be pampered like it was 10-20 years ago:PROBABLY NOT.Check out what the cost of that cruise was compared to today and I think you'll see my point.

If you go into it with these expectations,you will probably NOT be disapointed and should still have the great cruise experience we all hope for.

I will not comment on which cruiseline is better since it's all too subjective and subject to change by next week anyhow.

"a bad day at sea is better than a great day at work and a lousy day at sea is still pretty damn good!"

[kbt2]

I like the "whiners and winners" scenerio. I agree with this! You can't go wrong, in my opinion, with RCI or Princess. Enjoy and don't sweat it!

Kim
Dawn Princess
Regal Princess
Grand Princess
Mercury - Celebrity
Windward - NCL
Monarch of the Seas
Voyager of the Seas

[img]http://escati.linkopp.net/cgi-bin/countdown.cgi?trgb=000000&srgb=00ff00&prgb=ff00ff&cdt=2004;5;7;17;00;00&timezone=GMT-0500[/img]

[Paula H]

We've done 11 cruises with RCCL and our next one is in June.
We tried a 7 day Mexico cruise on Princess 2 years ago since it was available (we live near enough to drive to San Diego). Positives were beauty and care of the ship, food in the buffet area, some lavish productions, and we did have an enjoyable experience. However, it was not as family-oriented and laid back as RCCL. Seemed like a richer, older clientele. We're sticking with RCCL!