7-day Caribbean Princess vrs. 4-day Wonder

[dawne577]

Please share your advice - I am taking my family of 14 on a 4-day Wonder cruise in August, 2005. After doing some research, I have found a 7-day eastern on the Carribbean Princess(Princess cruise lines) for the same price!!! The only ones in our family that have cruised(Disney) before are my DH, my oldest daughter and the grandchildren - we are bona fide, certifiably, Disney nuts Everyone else in the family range from 19 - 30 and may enjoy the Mouse but certainly don't understand their mothers' obsession.
I need some unbaised opinions about which cruise to choose(maybe I haven't come to the right place.
P.S. If I'm swayed to move the summer cruise over to Princess I'll have to book another Disney cruise for Jan, 2006. When would they be releasing prices for those dates?

 

[bostonlass]

Well........I did the 4 day Wonder cruise and am booked on the Caribbean Princess for October for 7 days. The Disney cruise was great, don't get me wrong, but I'd have to go with the 7 day if you have the option.

What made the Disney cruise so great for me, aside from the magic of having the characters onboard, was the fact that we were on a cruise and were pampered 24/7. If you book with a cruise line that is reputable and has good reviews in that respect then you'll enjoy yourself the same, but for 3 more days!!!

I guess it all depends on what your priorities are.....having a Disney experience with the characters and the Disney oriented theme or just relaxing and being pampered. You can relax and be pampered on both so in that case I'd go for the 7 day cruise. You don't get the "magic" though on both so if that is the priority go with the Wonder.

Hope I didn't confuse you more!!

 

[outahere]

You might want to take a look at this thread:

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=533205

It seems that both Princess and their parent company, Carnival, have unsatisfactory ratings with the Better Business Bureau.

 

[Greysword]

The cruise itself on Princess is probably quite good, as several people have mentioned they had a wonderful time.

The Carnival Corporation, which owns Princess now, is not so good.

Their BBB file can be found at:
http://www.labbb.org/scripts/cgiip....fault.htm?hCompID=38000445&hAKAID=1&hAddrID=4

If you have any issues, they seem to respond with a % off future cruises with them, if you get anything at all. As smjj has found in the thread psoted above, you should NOT buy their travel insurance, but instead get a 3rd party to insure the trip. This should protect your investment to a degree. Also, but your own airline tickets, as smjj report their airfare was book as a Princess package. The refund smjj fought hard for and was sent by US Air was kept by Princess.

The cruise itself is probably pretty good, but if you have a glitch, you may be hosed if you go with Princess.

Sorry...

 

[wide awake]

You may want to research the Princess ship you're thinking of sailing on...several CruiseCritic reviews have reported that the newest Princess ships have uncovered balconies...in other words you're sitting on your balcony and everyone above you has a clear view of you in your robe/swimsuit/towel, whatever. You might as well sit on deck.

 

[mrsfuzzmo]

Absolutely go with Princess. Princess is a teriffic line and company and I know many people that have cruised Princess without a hitch. With a group of folks in their early adulthood, (19-30's) definitley Princess will give you more bang for your buck. We just returned from our first DCL cruise (12th cruise all together) and found there really wasn't much for us kidless adults to do. The 19-30 yr olds will definitely fare better on Princess (or RCCL, or NCL, or Carnival for that matter) than on DCL. We enjoyed our DCL cruise, BUT, the big BUT factor, was that is was no better, no worse than any other line we were on.......but twice the price for what you get. Definitely go with the 7 day!

Mrsfuzzmo

 

[Pixie Mom 3]

DCL---- of course I am THE Oldest daughter with the grandchildren..... And yes I am a Disney NUT....

You know we love you know matter what you would choose...
It's all about Family....

Hugs and kisses from Chris, Katie, and Nick..

 

[Pixie Mom 3]

any other advise on this subject?

 

[mmouse37]

I am totally a Disney nut sailing DCL 10 times but for more bang for your buck go with the 7 Day Princess sailing....I have sailed Princess before and the experience was wonderful.....with the ages you described....I also think Princess would be the way to go. DCL is great....I love it.....but even I would rather cruise 7 days on another line than just 4 on DCL for the same money.


MJ

 

[outahere]

the newest Princess ships have uncovered balconies...in other words you're sitting on your balcony and everyone above you has a clear view of you in your robe/swimsuit/towel, whatever. You might as well sit on deck.

I noticed that when we were docked beside the Golden Princess in St. Maarten 3 weeks ago, even pointed it out to DW.

It looked like the balconies were terraced, with the lower ones in full view of those above. No thanks.............