We're another family that only sails in suites or Concierge class. We often sail as a party of five, with us, our two children and my mother. We planned to try the NCL Haven for the first time this summer, but for various reasons, ended up in two Penthouse suites on Princess instead. We've only sailed in the Royal Suites on DCL, which probably colors our experiences someone. (We've had a Royal on both the Magic and the Wonder, and currently have one booked again on the Wonder for our December cruise.) We've also had a Royal Family suite on RCCL many times.
Honestly, there were things I loved about concierge class on all the lines. We didn't always get suites when we were younger, but that's almost all we've gotten for the last decade.
Princess is freshest in my mind, since we were just onboard in August. We had two penthouse suites across the aft of the ship. The rooms themselves were not particularly impressive, but the balconies were. Plus, they opened the balcony doors between them (across the vent) for us, so we basically had almost 2/3s of the aft of the ship with very deep balconies for our Alaska cruise. It was mind-blowing. We were completely sheltered from the wind on the aft, and the weather was good. There were a couple of days we just ordered room service and spent 4 hours on our balconies. DH and I wanted to do the (one time only) Ultimate Ship Tour and the (one night only) Chef's Table, and had no trouble booking them, although we understand they are much in demand and sometimes participants are chosen by lottery. They gave back to us my husband's confiscated power strip when they found out we were in the two suites. We got to have breakfast every morning in Sabatini's, one of the specialty restaurants, which was lovely, (but sometimes slow, so we didn't actually use it every morning.) We also got dinner there the first night, which was very nice. We got fresh red rose corsages and boutonnieres on the first formal night. We got expanded room service menus for meals, which we used constantly. We were still charged for room service pizza, which my kids wanted all the time, which was really annoying. We were given the contents of the minibar for free, which included alcohol, sodas, and bottled water. (We got most of the contents of both minibars, since my mom only wanted the bottled water and a couple of the drinks.) All of this was very nice. However, Princess suites don't have a concierge or concierge lounge. There is a dedicated line at guest services that never had more than one or two people ahead of us, but we'd gotten somewhat spoiled by having a concierge, an actual person who got to know you, on DCL and RCCL. We did not get any free internet. We did not get reserved seating for any shows. We got assigned a terrible boarding group for disembarkation, but we were able to move it after standing in line at guest services. Now that I think about it, embarkation theoretically was supposed to be a shorter line, but we so quickly got funneled into the main line onto the ship that it really didn't matter, and we ended up standing a long time.
Ok, that ended up being longer than I meant it to be, I just hadn't seen anyone else commenting on the Princess suite experience.
RCCL - We like the Concierge Lounges in general, but we got tired of people frowning at us for allowing our kids in with us, even though the kids were behaving. We liked the concierge lounge coffee maker a lot. We liked having the reserved seating at shows. I REALLY missed it on DCL. We also liked having the option of being escorted off the ship first with a concierge led group, which we also missed on DCL. (Admittedly, they did help with that a little on our most recent DCL cruise.)
So, straight comparing RCCL, DCL, and Princess -
Room Service - expanded menu on all lines. Princess charged for pizza. DCL let us get Palo and special off menu items. Winner - DCL.
Shows - RCCL has reserved seating for suite guests. Neither Princess nor DCL do. Winner - RCCL.
Ticketed/Small Group onboard activities - DCCL - tickets to tea with Alice/Princesses. Princess - we got tickets for Chef's Table and Ultimate Ship Tour, but don't know what criteria they used to choose. RCCL - we were able to sign up for all the special wine dinners we wanted; again, don't know what criteria they used to choose. Winner - No clear winner. We got whatever tickets we wanted on all 3.
Shore Excursions - We got exactly what we wanted on all lines. No clear winner.
Concierge - Princess - None, just dedicated line. DCL (we've only been on the classic ships) - there was at least one completely outstanding Concierge on each ship. Once it was the one assigned to us, once it was the "other" but that was the one who always ended up helping us. RCCL - yes, they were there, they were helpful, and friendly. But I wasn't blown away the way I was with DCL, both times. Winner - DCL, clear winner.
Concierge Lounge - Ok, this is a trick comparison so to speak. Princess - None, but you get the contents of your minibar. DCL - Classic ships so far, none. Although a couple of times they took over a lounge, including for a more private character meet/cocktail party, which was nice. RCCL - decent, but crowded. Winner - well, RCCL, although for just free drinks, our Princess minibar cocktails out on our balcony was pretty amazing.
Food - DCL - Palo or custom vegetarian plates delivered to our room. We had special meals made for us in the main dining room as well. (My mom is basically vegetarian, and on both ships, they would make her or our table special entrees with advance notice.) RCCL - Um, I can't remember anything special for being in a suite. Princess - Sabatini's every morning and the first night. Winner - DCL, because of their willingness to cater to my mom's whims and make her special off-menu meals, but Princess also did a lovely job. (On a side note, we had generally excellent food on Princess, but we did a lot of specialty meals.)
Internet - We got unlimited internet in the Royal on DCL. Clear Winner.
Little touches - Loved the fresh red rose corsages on Princess. I thought it would be a silly touch when I read it listed as a perk, but my daughter and I wore red for the first formal night, and we really loved our corsages and the men's boutonnieres, and they look gorgeous in the photos from that night. I loved the little presents that DCL gave us - like arcade cards for the kids, and lithographs on the last day. Winner - DCL, but we did love the Princess corsages.
Ok, this has gotten really long. But, basically, no line, not even DCL when you are in the Royal Suite, provides what I think of as a perfect set of perks. There is something each of these lines does a little differently that I like, and we would do any of them again.
