Cruise advice...need help choosing btwn Princess & Royal Caribbean

[JUSTUSTWO]

I'm thinking of going on a cruise either in April or May of this year and I'm having trouble deciding on 2 possible cruises & was hoping for some help.

 

I've been on Carnival (Destiny) & Royal Caribbean (Mariner of the Seas) before but haven't been on Princess.

I'm trying to figure out if I should expand my horizons & try Princess or stick with what I know & go with RC.

 

Right now my choices are Adventure of the Seas or Serenade of the Seas on Royal Carib.

And Caribbean Princess on the Princess line.

 

Has anyone had experience on both cruise lines or cruised on either ship before? If so, which would you recommend & why?

 

Courtney posted a similar thread sometime ago which was very informative but I was just wondering about these 2 cruise lines in particular:

http://bestdestinationwedding.com/forum/t24265

 

Thanks!

[TA Dina]

Caribbean Princess and Adv of the Seas will be similar ships. Lots of activities to do day/night. Larger ships (more passengers). Serenade of the Seas is not as large and it a little bit more laid back. Little more "elegant" looking ship. Still the normal RC activities, just slightly different than the Adv of Seas. The Adv will be very similar to the Mariner.

 

Both lines are similar in terms of dining (food is about equal altho personally I think Princess squeaks out just a little bit better). I also think they (Prncess) are a little better in the onboard service dept. Not that service on any of those ships would be lacking, but I've done both so it's easier for me to compare. As far as other passengers, on some Princess itins I agree, the clientele is a little older. But for the Caribbean itins I've not experienced that myself.

 

I don't think you can go wrong with either line. Are the itineraries the same? That would be how I'd decide. My vote is Princess (for all that's worth in your decision making

[JUSTUSTWO]

Quote:

Originally Posted by TA Maureen I have not personally been on both of these cruise lines. However, I have clients that have. I try to gather feedback from all my clients. So here's what I will tell you in my opinion, stick with RC. Everybody always loves RC. In my professional experience Princess is a great cruise line but it tends to be older couples. RC tends to draw a younger more fun crowd and vibe. That being said I always recomend going with a newer ship no matter what the cruise line is.

Thanks for your advice Mo!!! Although I know its always good to try new things, I've been leaning towards RC just because my experience has been so good.

Quote:

Originally Posted by TA Dina Caribbean Princess and Adv of the Seas will be similar ships. Lots of activities to do day/night. Larger ships (more passengers). Serenade of the Seas is not as large and it a little bit more laid back. Little more "elegant" looking ship. Still the normal RC activities, just slightly different than the Adv of Seas. The Adv will be very similar to the Mariner. Both lines are similar in terms of dining (food is about equal altho personally I think Princess squeaks out just a little bit better). I also think they (Prncess) are a little better in the onboard service dept. Not that service on any of those ships would be lacking, but I've done both so it's easier for me to compare. As far as other passengers, on some Princess itins I agree, the clientele is a little older. But for the Caribbean itins I've not experienced that myself. I don't think you can go wrong with either line. Are the itineraries the same? That would be how I'd decide. My vote is Princess (for all that's worth in your decision making

Their itineraries are very similar, nearly identical & are as follows:

RC Adventure:
San Juan, At Sea, Barbados, St.Lucia, Antigua, St.Maarten, US Virgin Islands, San Juan.

RC Serenade:
San Juan, St.Thomas, St.Maarten, Antigua, St.Lucia, Barbados, At Sea, San Juan.

Princess:
San Juan, At Sea, Barbados, St.Lucia, Antigua & Barbuda, British Virgin Islands, St.Thomas, San Juan.

Out of all of those places, the only places that I haven't been to are St.Lucia, Antigua, & the Virgin Islands/St.Croix.

And I do appreciate your advice!!!

[boscobel]

Ohhhh, this is a good thread at the perfect time! I want to go on a cruise for our 1 year anni in May. Yolanda - what site did you use to find these? Everything I found yesterday when I searched was crappy. Do you have the links?

[YoursTruly]

Hey there-----I have a buddy that is a Cruise &hore!!!! They RAVE about Royal caribbean and I have only been on Carnival myself. But compared to the three--Royal Caribbean all the way. They have had some issues with some of the Northern cruises and with older ships so like Maureen said--go with the newer ships. You will have a blast!!!

[JUSTUSTWO]

Quote:

Originally Posted by carly Ohhhh, this is a good thread at the perfect time! I want to go on a cruise for our 1 year anni in May. Yolanda - what site did you use to find these? Everything I found yesterday when I searched was crappy. Do you have the links?

Carly, this is the exact thing that I'm thinking, this is gonna be our anniv trip. Even tho its a month late, I thought it was still a good idea & a good value.
I went to each individual website & found GREAT deals. RC is even having a sale right now & have reduced their deposit from $250 p/p to $125 p/p. I even got specials based on the fact that we reside in NY!

Here's the link for Adventure of the Seas itinerary:
Cruise Details - Royal Caribbean International=

Here's for Serenade:
Cruise Details - Royal Caribbean International=

And here's Princess:
Princess Cruises : Classic Southern Caribbean - Roundtrip San Juan : Details & Availability=

When you go onto the sites, definitely change the state that you reside in & see if the prices go down. And also look at the "hot deals". The price that I had gotten for Princess was absolutely surprising. It was for a mini-suite & it was like $899 or $999...something like that.

[JUSTUSTWO]

Quote:

Originally Posted by YoursTruly Hey there-----I have a buddy that is a Cruise &hore!!!! They RAVE about Royal caribbean and I have only been on Carnival myself. But compared to the three--Royal Caribbean all the way. They have had some issues with some of the Northern cruises and with older ships so like Maureen said--go with the newer ships. You will have a blast!!!

Cool! Thanks!!!
I did Carnival & think that RC is better. But then it all depends what you're looking for. Carnival is exactly what it is, a Fun Ship! We had a blast at each port, but the daily activities that they had on the ship, on deck & by the pool were a bit too much for us.
I know it's probably not by much but we even thought that the cabins were a tad bigger on RC...again, not by much but we thought it was noticeable. I also thought that the food was better on RC.

I've just always been into trying new things...I mean how can you ever compare if you haven't tried something new? This is why this is such a hard decision. And you know when you're traveling with other people & they book based on your recommendation, you definitely want a good time to be had by all! Thats why I'm thinking of playing it safe & sticking to what I know in this case. But I will definitely try other cruise lines in the future.

[Banana11]

I've only been on Carnival but chose RCCL for our wedding cruise. It's so fun to hear all of this great stuff about RCCL because we are sailing with them in 3 weeks!!!

[boscobel]

Oh cool, thanks! I was googling things, so sometimes I forget that you can go right to the source.

[JUSTUSTWO]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ~Andrea~ I've only been on Carnival but chose RCCL for our wedding cruise. It's so fun to hear all of this great stuff about RCCL because we are sailing with them in 3 weeks!!!

We did the Western Caribb itinerary too on RC. Went to Cozumel, Grand Cayman, Ocho Rios & one other place. We loved our short time in Ocho Rios so much that thats how we decided to have our DW in Jamaica.