Anyone with experience on Princess?

[Dug720]

We have sailed on the Ruby. We enjoyed their Las Vegas type shows and thought they were good. My DH loved the comedian they had. He was funny- he made fun of HAL passengers a lot. All in good fun. Way different clientele then Disney, which I'm sure you figured. We sailed on her to Alaska, we are in our 40s and I felt young I definitely didn't take the different clientele as a bad thing at all. The staff is all very nice. Their dining room staff was VERY quick. My only complaint was they had the same menu in their main dining room every single night. And I always read people talking about their great buffets, my personal opinion was that Disney's buffet was way better. Just many more choices. We didn't eat at any pay restaurants so I can't comment on that. I loved the milk shakes and the pizza!! They also had cookies and milk served for their movie that played on the deck in the evening which was nice. I did the afternoon tea with my mother-in-law and she thought that was great. I'm not much of a tea person but still enjoyed the company
They never had out the mini golf clubs?? We always had to go around asking staff where to find them and it always seemed to be a big production.
We stayed in a mini suite and it was very nice, very spacious.
Good luck with your decision!

ETA: I don't know if you have children but my daughter who was six at the time loved their kids club. She hates Disney's -way too many kids, way too busy. The Ruby's does shut down periodically throughout the day which was never a problem for us but I just found it interesting how much she loved their kids club. Way smaller and by the end of the cruise all the kids knew each other and were friends.

Thanks! Good to hear for the most part. I'm solo and mid-40s and not into the party scene, so it feels like it would potentially be a good fit.

 

[quickcat]

Since you'll be a solo traveler, I have to say on princess people were very friendly. It's not the same vibe as Disney - people aren't as tense trying to find their kids, trying to get to the show, trying to get to dinner, it's much more relaxed and I've had many more conversations on the one princess cruise with people I don't know than in my 12 with Disney. People would just strike up a conversation with me. It makes me think of pictures that we have from one of the tours that we went on with princess. There was a lady traveling by herself and we started talking on the bus and we hung out the whole rest of the time with her and my family. I still smile when I look at the pictures because she's in them with my family and we had a great time together! So in a long winded answer, I do think princess is a very friendly line for solo travelers

 

[ImDMous]

We went to Ensenada on a DCL cruise and while the city is not much to look at, there is a wine region east called Guadalupe Valley that is very nice. We did an excursion with the cruise line and visited 3 wineries out there that were all great. If you're into that.. Wine was super cheap, came back with about 10 bottles.

 

[Dug720]

We went to Ensenada on a DCL cruise and while the city is not much to look at, there is a wine region east called Guadalupe Valley that is very nice. We did an excursion with the cruise line and visited 3 wineries out there that were all great. If you're into that.. Wine was super cheap, came back with about 10 bottles.

Yeah - that much I know. They have a 2-winery tour that I would do.

 

[dmunsil]

We just took this cruise a few weeks ago. It was nice, overall. Some things we liked, some not so much.

Liked:
- The big show on the Ruby is the "Magic To Do" stage show that was created in collaboration with Stephen Schwartz (Wicked, Pippin, Godspell, etc.). It's a "best of Stephen Schwartz" cabaret show with a lot of magic tricks integrated into it. The singers were generally good, and the magic was actually really solid (the magic was all designed by Jim Steinmeyer, probably the best illusion designer in the modern era). The "plot" such as it is was about as complex as a Cirque Du Soleil show. Something about love, and magic, and I don't really know. However, because they're hyping it to the max, you have to show up a good 30 minutes early to snag a seat for the first performance. We came 20 minutes early and couldn't find any seats at all. So for the second performance we arrived 30 minutes early and had no trouble, but as it turns out the second performance wasn't completely full. Nearly full, but not totally.

- The international cafe on the bottom of the atrium has coffee and snacks available 24 hours, and in general everything I had from there was good. During meal times they tend to have some more substantial sandwiches and so forth, and the rest of the time they have mostly pastries and cookies. There's also a gelato counter there, and the gelato is good (it's an extra charge, but minimal - like $2 for a ton of gelato).

- We thought Share by Curtis Stone (their fancy upcharge restaurant) was the second best meal we've had on a cruise ship (first would be dinner at Remy). We booked it a second time and enjoyed it almost as much. The food the second time was just as good, but our server wasn't quite as great.

- The Crown Grill was very good; typical steakhouse fare. We think Pinnacle Grill on HAL is better, but only by a tad.

- The MDR food was overall pretty good, with some standouts and some that weren't so great. Overall I liked it better than Disney and not quite as much as HAL.

- Their pool-deck pizza was generally very good. They make their own dough and make fresh thin crust pizza all day long. You have a choice of about three pies at any one time - margherita (really, just cheese), pepperoni, and a rotating third. The day I tried it, the third was prosciutto and mushroom.

- The soft-serve ice cream they use for their pool deck ice cream kiosk is a cut above average. Much better than Disney, which is icy.


Didn't like as much:
- Disembarkation was not handled super well. We didn't have much luggage, so we just rolled ourselves off, but it was clear the lounges were way overfull. They just don't have enough space to handle all the people waiting for their luggage number to be called. To be fair, we experienced the same thing on Disney a couple times. Holland America's disembarkation, by contrast, is a thing of amazing beauty.

- The service all over the ship was perfectly fine, but it wasn't always the kind of super friendly service you tend to encounter on cruises. No one was rude or mean, they just sort of got to it without a lot of fuss or extra happy talk. I don't know if that's a Princess style or just this ship, or maybe just the specific staff members we encountered. It wasn't across the board; I encountered some very friendly staff members as well.

- Buffet was so-so. Nothing awful, nothing great.

- The pool deck burgers are perfectly conventional.

- Ensenada was kind of 50/50 for us. La Bufadora was meh and a long bus trip out and back, plus the tour company stayed there about an hour longer than we would have preferred, largely in the hope that we would support the local economy by buying tourist crap and cheap prescription drugs. In our case, those hopes were dashed, but we did spend a little time having guacamole and margaritas at a fairly nice (though touristy) restaurant there called "Habana Banana". On the other hand, on the recommendation of a friend we went to a little ceviche stand near the center of town (La Guerrerense) and had some ceviche tostadas that were amazing. Seriously, fantastic stuff, and each tostada was $1.25. We should have had lunch there, but by the time we got there we'd had lunch and only had room for a little snack. Apparently this stand is semi-famous and has been on TV several times, and various celebrity chefs have made pilgrimages. If we ever go back to Ensenada, we're going to walk over to La Guerrerense, eat until we can't any more, and then walk back to the ship.

That Doubletree San Pedro near the port is perfectly fine, but nothing to write home about. I don't think there's really any nicer hotel near the port, so it's a good choice. There's a nice little marina there you can walk around. It's not far from the tourist stuff in Long Beach like the Queen Mary and so forth.

Overall, we liked Princess fine, and would take another Princess cruise if the itinerary worked for us.

 

[Bsmitty]

I have sailed both Princess (my first cruise) & DCL (my second cruise). I much prefer DCL, but would still possibly sail Princess for the price for a suite or a specific itinerary. They have SO many itineraries. But I did prefer DCL for sure after comparing. Cons on princess compared were truly feeling like you were being herded with cattle at many different parts throughout the ship, the shows, & all of the upcharges for things.

 

[MousseauMob]

Thanks so much for posting this. I just booked this 2018 cruise a week ago. Having never sailed Princess I was wondering the same.

 

[Dug720]

Thanks so much for posting this. I just booked this 2018 cruise a week ago. Having never sailed Princess I was wondering the same.

You're welcome! I think I am pulling the trigger on the 3/31 cruise today!

 

[dmunsil]

Here's the yelp entry for La Guerrerense (LAH GAIR-air-EN-say, with rolled r's) in Ensenada:

https://www.yelp.com/biz/la-guerrerense-ensenada

It really is a must-visit, if you like ceviche. It's just a small cart with about 3 people working at it. You order the tostadas you want, eat them, and then pay. Watch out for the sauces; some of them are fiery. And no one there spoke much English, but it wasn't a problem; the menu had the names of things in English and Spanish. They took US$ and gave us as much US change as they could.

We had the bacalao and the pescado. Both were very good, but the pescado was the bomb diggity. The peanut sauce is dynamite. Crunchy roasted peanuts in a mildly spicy oil. Really works great with the tangy ceviche.

It's an easy maybe 4-5 block walk from the cruise ship dock. If you've got Google Maps you should have no trouble. They've been in that same spot since 1960.

 

[Dug720]

Here's the yelp entry for La Guerrerense (LAH GAIR-air-EN-say, with rolled r's) in Ensenada:

https://www.yelp.com/biz/la-guerrerense-ensenada

It really is a must-visit, if you like ceviche. It's just a small cart with about 3 people working at it. You order the tostadas you want, eat them, and then pay. Watch out for the sauces; some of them are fiery. And no one there spoke much English, but it wasn't a problem; the menu had the names of things in English and Spanish. They took US$ and gave us as much US change as they could.

We had the bacalao and the pescado. Both were very good, but the pescado was the bomb diggity. The peanut sauce is dynamite. Crunchy roasted peanuts in a mildly spicy oil. Really works great with the tangy ceviche.

Thanks for the info. Probably a skip for me as I am allergic to peanuts and not really into fish... But good info!

 

[dmunsil]

Thanks for the info. Probably a skip for me as I am allergic to peanuts and not really into fish... But good info!

Well, the peanut sauce is optional (they just have a bunch of sauces there and you spoon whatever you want on your ceviche), but yeah, if you don't like fish, this might not be for you.

The other thing we were thinking we might do (but didn't) is go to Hussong's Cantina where they supposedly invented the margarita, and have some margaritas. Can't say if it's worth it, but it is something semi-famous about Ensenada.

 

[Dug720]

Well, the peanut sauce is optional (they just have a bunch of sauces there and you spoon whatever you want on your ceviche), but yeah, if you don't like fish, this might not be for you.

The other thing we were thinking we might do (but didn't) is go to Hussong's Cantina where they supposedly invented the margarita, and have some margaritas. Can't say if it's worth it, but it is something semi-famous about Ensenada.

Awesome! Thanks!

As evidenced by the signature, trigger is officially pulled!

 

[dani24]

It's funny how subjective it all is. We've sailed out of San Pedro on Princess cruises a couple of times. We stayed at, I think, the Crowne Plaza near the port. It was clean and nice. Sure the area isn't exactly tourist central, but for an overnight pre-cruise stay, it was perfect.

Hermosa Beach is actually a nice area to stay. My husband and I did our babymoon there several years ago. We stayed at a hotel right on the beach. You can walk along The Strand and check out all the gorgeous multi-million dollar beach front homes (and daydream about winning the lottery and which one you'd buy -- at least that's what we did). It was a rainy weekend when we went, but we had some periods of sun and enjoyed walking along the beach. We also found several really great restaurants in the area.

As for Princess, we have sailed with them 4 times -- two 7 nights to the Mexican Riviera, one 10 night RT Alaska from SF, and one 12 night Mediterranean for our honeymoon. We love Princess and would absolutely sail them again. We've always found the food to be very good, and the menus always changed every night (not sure why some experienced otherwise). We always make sure to do their specialty dining (we had one of the best steaks there -- and we love to eat at very high end, Michelin rated places from time to time). We also love their balcony dining. And our last two or three cruises we made it a point to sign up for the Chef's Table experience as soon as we boarded -- it was such a great experience. And we love anytime dining.

Yes the crowd trends a bit older, but not geriatric. We did our first cruise at 25 with them, and we found plenty of other young couples on the ship, and many people around our parents age that were delightful to get to know as well. Same with our other sailings. We've always found people our own age, and people older that we enjoyed mingling with. We've also seen plenty of families with kids on board, but never so much that it felt like it detracted from our experience. The kids always seemed well entertained, and I can't recall any issues with kids being a nuisance. The parents always seemed to be of the respectable sort that minded their kids.

We aren't wild partiers, so the Carnival-style booze cruise just doesn't appeal. We like going to shows (which have always been good on Princess), hitting the spa (which we also enjoy on Princess), afternoon tea, playing Bingo, some light gambling, movies under the stars, trivia games, etc. We've never been bored on the ships. And the service has always been amazing on Princess. In fact, I keep hearing people tell me that the service on DCL will be "better". Given our experience with service on Princess, I'm expecting DCL to wipe my behind for me... I mean, I can't imagine how much better it can get. We've never wanted for anything, and have even (very politely) made special requests and pretty much always had them honored.

We've been on a variety of their ships -- from a brand new one, to one of their oldest. And we've always been impressed with the upkeep and polish. The aesthetics are very classy. You feel like you're traveling in First Class vs. on a Greyhound bus. We've seen crew cleaning and repainting and varnishing areas on our trips. Especially on their oldest ship there were some signs of age... but I felt like it was in way better condition than I was expecting given that the ship was like 15 years old at that point.

 

[RedSox68]

Contemplating a California Coast cruise on the Ruby Princess out of LA (hits San Francisco, Monterrey, and somewhere that starts with an E in Mexico. (I'm not home right now to look at it directly.)

Pics of the ship look beautiful. And at least looking at videos and websites, Princess looks much closer to DCL than some other lines. Just curious for experiences...

We did the 12-night British Isles on the Royal Princess. Our first and only Princess cruise so far. We loved it -- a classy experience but cheaper than Disney, the food was the best we've had on any line and by far the best buffet all around, and we loved the crew and staterooms. I'd love to go back on one of their other ships.

 

[dani24]

I have sailed both Princess (my first cruise) & DCL (my second cruise). I much prefer DCL, but would still possibly sail Princess for the price for a suite or a specific itinerary. They have SO many itineraries. But I did prefer DCL for sure after comparing. Cons on princess compared were truly feeling like you were being herded with cattle at many different parts throughout the ship, the shows, & all of the upcharges for things.

I keep seeing people mention Princess having a lot of upcharges. In the four sailings we did I can't recall them ever charging us for anything ridiculous. In fact, I feel like I'm being far more nickle-and-dimed (and at a much greater cost) by the Disney cruise we just booked than I ever did on Princess. The only thing DCL seems to have "free" that Princess didn't was the sodas. And we don't drink sodas (and we're paying double for a DCL cruise vs a Princess cruise, so I hardly feel that's worth it). Popcorn was free on Princess, but a charge on DCL. I don't recall any upcharge items on the Princess room service menu, but there are on DCL. Stuff like specialty restaurants, photos, spa, alcohol, shore excursions are upcharges on both -- but Princess is actually a cheaper upcharge for many of these things than Disney.

 

[RedSox68]

I keep seeing people mention Princess having a lot of upcharges. In the four sailings we did I can't recall them ever charging us for anything ridiculous. In fact, I feel like I'm being far more nickle-and-dimed (and at a much greater cost) by the Disney cruise we just booked than I ever did on Princess. The only thing DCL seems to have "free" that Princess didn't was the sodas. And we don't drink sodas (and we're paying double for a DCL cruise vs a Princess cruise, so I hardly feel that's worth it). Popcorn was free on Princess, but a charge on DCL. I don't recall any upcharge items on the Princess room service menu, but there are on DCL. Stuff like specialty restaurants, photos, spa, alcohol, shore excursions are upcharges on both -- but Princess is actually a cheaper upcharge for many of these things than Disney.

Yes, Princess had plenty of free popcorn every night (forgot about that treat) and their breakfast room service included hot items like eggs, bacon and pancakes. DCL has never had hot breakfast items. You're right though, I don't remember any up charges. Whereas on NCL I felt like I was constantly being hit with new dos and don'ts and extra fees.

 

[FairestOfThemAll37]

I keep seeing people mention Princess having a lot of upcharges. In the four sailings we did I can't recall them ever charging us for anything ridiculous. In fact, I feel like I'm being far more nickle-and-dimed (and at a much greater cost) by the Disney cruise we just booked than I ever did on Princess. The only thing DCL seems to have "free" that Princess didn't was the sodas. And we don't drink sodas (and we're paying double for a DCL cruise vs a Princess cruise, so I hardly feel that's worth it). Popcorn was free on Princess, but a charge on DCL. I don't recall any upcharge items on the Princess room service menu, but there are on DCL. Stuff like specialty restaurants, photos, spa, alcohol, shore excursions are upcharges on both -- but Princess is actually a cheaper upcharge for many of these things than Disney.

This is how I feel. There are upcharge restaurants like every line and fancy coffee and booze. Soda is the only thing that I can ever think of that's free on DCL that isn't elsewhere. I just can't figure out the nickel and dining comments.

 

[cruisehopeful]

As evidenced by the signature, trigger is officially pulled!

Congrats, I think you will have a great time. I haven't been on the Ruby, but recently took a 4 nighter out of San Pedro on Star Princess. It was enjoyable enough that I am rebooked with Princess and purchased an additional prebooking certificate to add another if I can swing it. I also have 2 short Disney cruises coming up. If Princess had the exact same itinerary as one of my Disney cruises, I would cancel DCL and go with Princess.

Princess wasn't as glamorous and Disney, but the service was on par and even better in some areas. I found the food to be much better on Princess, which can be a bad thing because then I overeat. There seemed to be much more to do for adults on Princess, probably because it wasn't catering to children and families as much.

I keep seeing people mention Princess having a lot of upcharges. In the four sailings we did I can't recall them ever charging us for anything ridiculous. In fact, I feel like I'm being far more nickle-and-dimed (and at a much greater cost) by the Disney cruise we just booked than I ever did on Princess. The only thing DCL seems to have "free" that Princess didn't was the sodas. And we don't drink sodas (and we're paying double for a DCL cruise vs a Princess cruise, so I hardly feel that's worth it). Popcorn was free on Princess, but a charge on DCL. I don't recall any upcharge items on the Princess room service menu, but there are on DCL. Stuff like specialty restaurants, photos, spa, alcohol, shore excursions are upcharges on both -- but Princess is actually a cheaper upcharge for many of these things than Disne

I had the same experience. I get upsold much more in Disney than I did on my Princess cruise. I also do not drink soda. FWIW, there seemed to be lemonade and iced tea out at the buffet during the day. Breakfast has free juice. The buffet seemed to have coffee and tea all day and night like Disney.

Overall, Princess is a lot less expensive while on board. The spa treatments were similar to what I pay at home for similar services, while on DCL, the prices seemed to be very inflated.

My dinner servers were much more relaxed on Princess. They weren't worried about giving excellent service. They just gave me excellent service and gave us whatever we needed. My drink server saw me at the breakfast buffet one morning and ran over to say hello and get my drinks for me. It was a pleasant surprise after being told for years that Disney has the best service. Disney has the classiest looking ships, but their service is no better than Princess.

 

[RedSox68]

This is how I feel. There are upcharge restaurants like every line and fancy coffee and booze. Soda is the only thing that I can ever think of that's free on DCL that isn't elsewhere. I just can't figure out the nickel and dining comments.

Yes, Disney has free soda, but they never (that I have seen) offered drink packages for alcohol at the bars like other cruise lines offer. I don't think DCl "nickel and dimes" as much as NCL does. Carnival was pretty fair and Princess and HAL are the best for not feeling that.

 

[Sanchez]

This is how I feel. There are upcharge restaurants like every line and fancy coffee and booze. Soda is the only thing that I can ever think of that's free on DCL that isn't elsewhere. I just can't figure out the nickel and dining comments.

I can't figure it out either. I will say that on RCCL Oasis the sales pitches were generally a bit more aggressive - and I am sure there are other lines out there that take the same approach. But that was not the case on Princess. I do not recall any hard sell attempts on any of our Princess cruises.

DCL, while not necessarily aggressive, is ubiquitous. Future cruises, timeshares, photos (especially at meal times) and the like. If "nickel and diming" is the standard DCL is far worse than Princess.