Princess Cruise Line?

[anny_c_99]

Hello to All!

I really hope that I don't get slammed for asking this question, but I know you guys will be honest with me..I have been reading these boards for the past 2years now, since our last Disney Cruise in 2002.

We are wanting to do another cruise this June or July. Our last cruise, (which was our first cruise) was the 3 day on the Wonder. We had a blast, a little tired from being at Disney for 4 days, but wonderful to say the least..

Now for the question... We are looking at Princess Cruise Lines. Our travel agent (AAA) suggested since we are not traveling with any darling teenagers this time, to consider this cruise line...We are not interested in RCCL, or Carnival. We like the idea of having a larger stateroom, and quite frankly, why settle for less after cruising Disney...Reason for her recommending Princess. She said the standards are equal to Disney..

Any one cruised this ship before? (Carribbean Princess)..

Any suggestions or comments would be so appreciated...I have such high regards for you cruising veterans out there.. Maybe some day I can be a cruising veteran too... But till then,,,lots of questions..

Anny

 

[Lloyd Dobler]

I don't think the Caribbean Princess is actually sailing yet (I believe it will be delivered in April), but I have sailed both Golden and Star Princess, which are sister ships.

I enjoyed both of these cruises a lot. We had a balcony room both times. The rooms are about the same size as a category 5/6/7 on DCL, maybe a shade smaller (the brouchures say 214 sq. ft. for Princess, 268 for Disney).

I liked these ships a lot. With Golden, we went to St. Maarten, St. Thomas, and Princess Cays. With Star, we went from LA to Mazatlan, Cabo, and Acapulco. I would say that the service was every bit as good as DCL. The food was maybe a little better, the entertainment, probably not as good. There's a casino on board, and plenty of night life. The Princess ships tend to stay up later than DCL.

However, I would not discount DCL just because you won't be sailing with kids. My wife and I have taken many DCL cruises without kids (our cruise this year will be our first with a child), and we woud still give DCL the nod over Princess. I think the DCL does the best job of keeping the adults-only areas kids-free, and I've never felt overrun by kids on a DCL cruise.

 

[disneymom3]

We sailed on Princess about three years ago, but have not sailed on Disney (yet) to compare. Overall we were very satisfied but did not feel that their service was quite as good as Norwegian which we had sailed on two years before. It was our dining room staff and our cabin steward who were mediocre. They all seemed to do what was needed but never anything above and beyond. No fun towel shapes, no napkin tricks or knowing our drinks before we sat down, that kind of thing that just makes it that much more special. I know however, that others on the cruise felt their dining room staff were extremely good.

The main complaint we had was that if you had the late seating for dinner, there was almost NOTHING to do between about 4:30 and dinner time. You did not have the shows, or entertainment in lounges or anything. Everything started after the first dinner seating. Even for the main shows, you went after dinner whether you were first or second seating. We found that odd.

The cabins were excellent and the extra service personnel on the rest of the ship were really good. One night we were in one of the lounges and ordered a drink. I tried one I had not had before and didn't like it so when we left to go somewhere else, I left it there. The bar waiter came to find us and asked what was wrong with my drink. I just said I was trying something new and hadn't cared for it. He absolutely insisted on bringing me another drink. We also had a guy who worked out on the pool deck that was absolutely incredible. He would come by and check if you liked your drink, how you were doing etc and then on following days would ask if you wanted the same thing you had the day before or if you were going to try something new. I had him surprise me a couple of times and he always brought back something I liked. We turned in a note for him at the end of the cruise praising his great service and saying we thought he should be in the dining room!

 

[anny_c_99]

With speaking only briefly to AAA, she didn't mention that Carribbean Princess has not sailed yet. Thanks for the info you provided Lloyd. Sounds like you had a good time.

We haven't disgarded a Disney Cruise yet, still trying to make up our minds..

Any one else have any comments?

Thanks,
Anny

 

[Lloyd Dobler]

anny,

I just pointed that out so you wouldn't worry that you didn't hear any reviews of Caribbean Princess. Sorry, I didn't mean that as a flame.

I wouldn't worry about it, though. Princess has plenty of experience launching ships, and from what I understand, they usually move some of their crew from existing ships so that the launch and first few months go smoothly. They have three other "grand" class ships, so there's plenty of experience with this model.

disneymom,

Interesting that you don't like the show after the late dinner. That's the main reason I do not go with late seating on DCL. We almost always go late on other lines. The time when everyone is getting ready for the early seating is when we hang out by the pool or in the spa, at least when it's still light out, that is. My biggest beef with DCL is that when you have late dinner, you still have to get ready for the show at 6:30, so it really doesn't give you much more time during the day.

 

[gizfish]

After cruising DCL, we were sure we could never find anything to compare. Our next cruise was on the Grand Princess and we were pleasantly surprised. It was indeed on par with Disney. Disney would score a 9.9 for artistic merit while The Grand would score 9.9 for technical skills. The food was better and more varied on Princess (although DCL has changed menus and enhanced food opportunities since then), the level of service was equal. You can't overlook cost though, and DCL is expensive. Also, don't discount Carnival because of their "Wal-mart" reputation. The new Spirit class ships are amazing to look at, with pretty good to excellent service and vast amounts of dining options. No cruise line in its class has the attention to detail that Disney has, but that is a premium that makes a Disney cruise cost much more than the industry standard.

 

[tammy bell]

Anny, my parents always cruise the Princess line and they LOVE it! In fact, I had a hard time convincing my Dad that Disney can do it just as good, if not better (I hope I'm right). You should have a great time with Princess.

 

[anny_c_99]

Fory your comments. Now I guess we just have to make up our minds. Big Decision!!

Disneymom,
How lucky you were to have towel animals in your room. I guess our room steward didn't know how to make them. But we still had a wonderful cruise...

Thanks again all!

 

[KennyK]

Hi Anny,

My wife and I cruised the Grand Princess 2 yrs ago. It was our first cruise. Since it was our first, we were unsure about alot of things and didn't have the DIS boards to refer to and ask questions.

We have a balcony room at I really enjoyed it. Princess balconies are larger than Disneys. The rooms them selves are smaller thou and even tthough we were by ourselves, we felt cramped. Also you only have one bathroom compared to most staterooms on a Disney ship.

I really didn't care for the Dining experience on the Prinicess ship. We ate in different restaurants each night, no assigned table, and really didn't get to know our servers or table mates. We did go to the shows, did the excursions and some of the other things on board.

But since cruising on a Disney ship, have done a 4 and 3 dayer and scheduled for a 7 in 46 more days, I would never change. We are truly hooked on Disney. We have had a Cat 4, Cat 10 and the 7 dayer will be a Cat 6.

Good luck on your decision.


Kennyk

 

[gizfish]

Keep in mind that Princess offeres "personal choice" dining. That means you can dine the old fashioned way, same table, same tablemates, servers and time or you can go to dinner when and where you want. Your travel agent should ask you which you prefer.

 

[Jules1]

Princess is our favorite cruise line - great food, great service and great entertainment.