switching from Princess to Royal Carribbean

[here2cruise]

Has anyone here ever been on both lines? we are wondering if this will be a good move for us and don't really know much about RCI. from what i can tell there seems to be more restaurants and things to do then on Princess ships. can anyone share their thoughts? thanks!

[nanfromatlanta]

Has anyone here ever been on both lines? we are wondering if this will be a good move for us and don't really know much about RCI. from what i can tell there seems to be more restaurants and things to do then on Princess ships. can anyone share their thoughts? thanks!

 

Welcome to our world. :D :D I have cruised on both Princess as well as Royal, and have found that the ships on Royal are more beautiful, and easier to navigate, there is much more to do, the staff and crew are always very helpful and friendly, the food is good and plentiful, the shows are great. I could go on and on.

 

One thing I do miss on Princess is the all you can eat seafood buffet in Cafe' Caribe. My son says that Princess pizza is the best he has had on any ship.

 

You will find many new friends on this board who are always willing to answer any questions you may have. :)

[tugboat]

I have crusied both, you will like RCCl better, enjoy your cruise.:)

[MariaoftheSeas]

You will love RCCL! What ship are you considering?

[satxdiver]

I have cruised on both cruiseships. I prefer the Princess but they pulled out of my favorite port, Galveston. So now I am back on RCI. The RCI ships are bigger and flashier but I have found the crew on both to be very hospitable and friendly. I just prefer the smaller Princess ships and the overall policies on board. RCI is okay and I have fun onboard but just prefer the Princess as a personal preference.

 

Princess come back to Galveston!

[Hypo]

We have cruised both, and prefer RCCL. Much better past passenger benefits (Crown & Anchor Society).

 

We were not happy with anytime dining on Princess, and were forced into using anytime, there were no options available for fixed seating dining.

 

RCCL ships are somewhat more attractive to us, and easy to navigate.

 

Chops and Portofino are better than Sabatini's (in our opinion).

 

Try a cruise on RCCL, you will probably like it.

 

Hypo

[rubrrick]

I too, have cruised on both lines. Our last cruise with Princess a few years ago.........was on the Golden Princess..........and my DW and I both thought that the service was terrible compared to RCCL.

 

We would go back to try there ships again........if the itinerary were just what we were looking for.

 

We have a certain comfort level with RCCL...........they do make us feel "at home". :)

 

Rick

[bigsky]

We've cruised both. Was on the Caribbean Princess vs the Mariner. (twice)

Princess was very nice, but just like the feel of Royal better....a better feel.

 

Princess did have more of an older group and less kids. Didn't like our cabin on Princess compared to Royal. Not sure of sq footage, but has a lg walk in closet so you lose a lot of space. Royal you have a nice couch to lounge on. Bathrooms are smaller or seem so on Princess.

It was a beautiful ship though. Liked the aft adult only pool area. Enjoyed the outside movie theatre. I also like the itineraries better on Princess.

 

I think they're more alike than different, but still enjoy Royal more.

You'll have a great time!

 

If you're taking kids, the Voyager and Freedom class is the way to go!

[cruisePRN]

Princess and RCL are more alike then different. If you like one you'll like the other.

[Jaxsonbrownie]

We have cruised both. Our first was on the Grand Princess. We really loved that ship.The food was great.The shows were great. We then sailed on the Mariner, by default I guess. We were booked on the Star Princess, but the tragic fire happened 1 month before our sailing, so we rebooked on the Mariner. Absolutely loved it! The ships decor and the Royal Promenade was beautiful. We also thought the food was much better, and the shows were better. Went to the Ice show, that was great! Overall service was better on RCCL. We tried the Caribbean Princess this past April. We did like the MUTS screen out by the pool, but overall, thought RCCL was the better choice. The rooms are bigger, the Dragon's Lair was alot of fun on RCCL. The clubs on Princess were more subdued.I am now anxiously awaiting to book the Oasis, we decided to go back to RCCL.:) Jax

[lv2cruisgrl]

We cruised once on Princess and didnt like it, have stayed only with RCL since. We like the layout of the ships better on RCL.

[COCKYMARK]

I have either talked to people who have cruised other lines and i have done three different myself...no line can touch rcl for quality and beauty of ships the entertainment is the best and the biggest factor rcl has by far the most activities!!!

[vmom]

I have been on both Princess and RCCL. I really enjoy both lines equally.

 

If you go to the RCCL boards, many will say RCCL is the better line and if you go to the Princess boards, many will say Princess is the better line. I think they are very similiar. If you like Princess, then you will enjoy RCCL.

 

As far as activites, alot depends on what type of activities you enjoy. We found the Princess had more activities of the type we enjoyed than RCCL. RCCL has rock climbing, ice skating, etc, but those aren't activities we are interested in. Princess had more trivia, games other than bingo, speaker type talks, etc.

 

Both have nice rooms. Princess has better closets where as all RCCL cabins have a at least a small loveseat in each cabin.

 

Princess has better food, RCCL has prettier more spectacular dining rooms. I liked the buffet food better on Princess but liked the layout of the buffet better on RCCL. Choice of dining venues are about generally equal on the same size ships. Obviously you can't compare a small ship on one line with a large ship on the other line.

 

Entertainment was about equal and can also be a matter of who is booked for entertainment on any particular sailing. For the most part we have enjoyed the entertainment on each but have also been to a few shows that we were dissapointed in on both lines.

 

I like that the RCCL ships have much bigger theaters and its easier to get a seat. Princess on its Grand class ships has at least 2 differenct shows going on for each night, one in the theater and one in the Explorer's lounge, where as RCCL has one show choice only. I liked the dancing on RCCL better.

 

As for the general decor of the ship. Both lines have beautiful ships. RCCL Voyager class and Freedom class ships have more of a wow feeling when you first get on board because of the large artium area that looks like a steet with shops and such along it. I would say that RCCL ships have a more wow factor where as Princess has a more elegant feel.

 

I found the service on both lines to be outstanding. Of course on any sailing and on any cruise line its possible to come across a crew member that isn't perfoming up to what they should be or is having a bad day, but as a general rule I found the crew to be great and very friendly on both lines.

 

Some like the perks on RCCL for past passengers but I prefer the past passenger perks on Princess. I think it depends on what type of perks you are interested in. I like that Princess allows discounting on prices and typically offers a good past passenger discount on cruises after your first cruise with them.

 

Frankly I enjoy sailing both lines and I encourage you to give RCCL a try.

[bjenkins322]

We've cruised both Princess and RCL, also Celebrity and Carnival. Last year was the first time with RCL and while we were still on board we booked for Sept. on the Mariner. In our opinion, RCL was just that good. When comparing to Princess we felt that the ship was much nicer, the staff went over and above to please you and the shows were better. Now I've never had a bad cruise, loved every one of them, but RCL was just the best one yet.

[vmom]

I have either talked to people who have cruised other lines and i have done three different myself...no line can touch rcl for quality and beauty of ships the entertainment is the best and the biggest factor rcl has by far the most activities!!!

 

I have to respectfully disagree with this.

 

It all comes down to personal choice as to what type of activites you enjoy. I loved my RCCL cruises, and have an RCCL cruise scheduled for this winter.

 

That said, we didn't find as many activities that interested us on RCCL. There's alot of active type activites as I said in my previous post such as rock climbing, ice skating, a roller rink area and activites that you have to pay for such as bingo and spa type activities. There's also "activities" (and I use that term loosely) that involve intro type sessions to give you info on paid services in the spa area. I actually found myself looking for something to do during sea days on RCCL with not alot that interested me. It all comes down to what sort of activities you and your family are interested in.

 

To say "rcl has by far the most activities" is not an accurate statement. Depends on what types of activities you are looking at.

[alwayshappytocruise]

For a few years Princess was our cruise line of choice. It seemed to us once it came under Carnival's leadership the quality went downhill. The RCCL ships are just plain ol' more fun with lots more things to do, esp. if you have children. We don't but often cruise with our nephews (8 and 15) and they both have a great time. I can't give you a tangible explanation it's just a feeling DH and I share, we would choose RCCL over Princess every time.

[CallieS]

I have been on both Princess and RCCL. I really enjoy both lines equally.

 

If you go to the RCCL boards, many will say RCCL is the better line and if you go to the Princess boards, many will say Princess is the better line. I think they are very similiar. If you like Princess, then you will enjoy RCCL.

 

As far as activites, alot depends on what type of activities you enjoy. We found the Princess had more activities of the type we enjoyed than RCCL. RCCL has rock climbing, ice skating, etc, but those aren't activities we are interested in. Princess had more trivia, games other than bingo, speaker type talks, etc.

 

Both have nice rooms. Princess has better closets where as all RCCL cabins have a at least a small loveseat in each cabin.

 

Princess has better food, RCCL has prettier more spectacular dining rooms. I liked the buffet food better on Princess but liked the layout of the buffet better on RCCL. Choice of dining venues are about generally equal on the same size ships. Obviously you can't compare a small ship on one line with a large ship on the other line.

 

Entertainment was about equal and can also be a matter of who is booked for entertainment on any particular sailing. For the most part we have enjoyed the entertainment on each but have also been to a few shows that we were dissapointed in on both lines.

 

I like that the RCCL ships have much bigger theaters and its easier to get a seat. Princess on its Grand class ships has at least 2 differenct shows going on for each night, one in the theater and one in the Explorer's lounge, where as RCCL has one show choice only. I liked the dancing on RCCL better.

 

As for the general decor of the ship. Both lines have beautiful ships. RCCL Voyager class and Freedom class ships have more of a wow feeling when you first get on board because of the large artium area that looks like a steet with shops and such along it. I would say that RCCL ships have a more wow factor where as Princess has a more elegant feel.

 

I found the service on both lines to be outstanding. Of course on any sailing and on any cruise line its possible to come across a crew member that isn't perfoming up to what they should be or is having a bad day, but as a general rule I found the crew to be great and very friendly on both lines.

 

Some like the perks on RCCL for past passengers but I prefer the past passenger perks on Princess. I think it depends on what type of perks you are interested in. I like that Princess allows discounting on prices and typically offers a good past passenger discount on cruises after your first cruise with them.

 

Frankly I enjoy sailing both lines and I encourage you to give RCCL a try.

 

I'm glad you did all the typing because I was going to say everything you said :)

 

Both cruise lines have something better than the other. It just depends on what you like. I like Princess buffet and dining room food. I also prefer the variety of Princess' nightly entertainment. It seems that on RCI, the only entertainment was the big production show and some musicians in the lounges. And you really can't beat the closets on Princess - but who cruises for closets :p

 

RCI ships are beautiful and RCI has better daytime entertainment and activities. RCI's cabins are nicer in my opinion.

 

I think that trying different cruise lines is a good idea. There's really no bad choice between the two.

[Shelli]

We were not happy with anytime dining on Princess, and were forced into using anytime, there were no options available for fixed seating dining.

 

Princess has both traditional dining and Anytime dining. On our last Princess cruise, we originally chose traditional, but found that there were too many activities we wanted to partake in that we'd miss if we stayed with it, so we switched to Anytime the 2nd day. Generally speaking, though, I prefer traditional.

 

That said, you will find many more similarities than differences between Royal Caribbean and Princess. They're both great!

[skandls]

We are mostly RCCL cruisers. But this July we did an Alaska cruisetour on Princess (Island). The deal was great - a big box store special and we had friends who wanted to go to Alaska. The entertainment was great - we like comedians and so we had a lot of good laughs. But we were on the Diamond and found the entertainment to be very mediocre.

 

Ship - RC ships are easier to 'navigate' especially the ships with the Royal Promenade. I kept getting turned around on the Island because of the inability to get thru the middle of the ship on certain floors. We also found this on the Diamond Princess.

 

Cabins - RC gets my vote - I prefer the sq footage in the cabin area. The closet area on the Princess was huge.

 

Food - Dining room and Buffet pretty comparable. I think it depends on the chef and the suppliers. Pizza - Princess all the way. But the Freedom class has great snacky places.

 

Specialty Restaurants - Both do a good job in this area.

 

Service - this is hard to judge as I think the cruiselines are cutting their costs including making room attendants responsible for more cabins.

 

Smiling staff - Royal Caribbean has no competition.

 

Choose the cruises that fit your needs. We love the Royal Caribbean for the style of cruise and of course the Diamond C&A benefits.

[maitaiguy]

Both lines are doing a great job at pleasing the vast majority of their guests. RCI is better for families cruising together--many fewer kids on Princess.

 

We booked over six months in advance for Caribbean Princess and we still could not get assigned dining. The waiting list for their one dining room was hundreds of names long already. It is just my opinion but I think you get much better service in the dining room when the staff knows you will be there every day for the next 7 days (or whatever). Anytime dining was just okay in my opinion. (Our best waiters have all been on Royal Caribbean ships). I have mentioned our fantastic waiter on Monarch earlier this year...his name is Cristavo....and he was unbelievably great and funny. That's a winning combination for great service IMO.

 

I would not hesitate to go on Princess again (especially with their delicious pizza) but I think my next 2 or three cruises will be on RCI. Our next cruise will be my wife's fifth on Royal (my fourth) and we'll be Platinum status. (Balcony discounts are coming!!!!)

 

A friend was asking about a 7 day Mexican Riv cruise for next year and asked for a recommendation. I told him all about Mariner (and I didn't really mention any other ships by name). I told him that there were some 'other options' going out of LA but he really wanted to take his kids on Mariner.:D

 

I did mention that I'd go on Princess again, just for the pizza....right?

 

We also liked MUTS and Cafe Caribe and the adult pool and the spa adult pool and the pizza and Princess Cay and the pizza......