How would you rate Princess?

[athena86]

Well, I may open up a can of worms here, but...

Does anyone have an opinion on Princess versus other cruise lines? We are planning to be on the Star Princess May 1 to May 15.

Comments, thoughts, feelings....anyone?

Thanks!

:huh:

[DaCruzNut]

IMHO, Princess is among the best of the cruise lines. I have sailed on most of the major cruise lines, most of them several times, including many which are no longer around, and Princess ranks among my three favorites. In fact, after 58 sailings, my cruise aboard the Grand Princess was one of the best!

I think that it is almost the equal of Celebrity, my #1 favorite, and it surpasses Celebrity in some areas.

I thought the food aboard Costa was terrible, and that Royal Caribbean wasn't a heck of a lot better. HAL is a little to "quiet" for me, and lacks any decent "late night" activities, since it's geared to an "older crowd." NCL used to be a favorite, but has fallen out of my graces since it was taken over by Star. When I'm in the mood to abandon myself, and just have fun, I like Carnival.

[TheSkipper]

I totally agree with Jeff and put Princess right up at the top of my list of the best "mainline" cruise lines in a price range that most of us can afford.

We have cruised Princess 16 times and will embark on the Diamond Princess on Saturday!

They have by far the best Captain's Club perks for regulars. Their "Elite" perks are the best in the industry including unlimited free internet usage, free laundry and dry cleaning, stocked bar and a whole buch of other little goodies.

Celebrity has a few little things that We like better that Princess, but on the whole I thin, Princess has taken the number one spot for us.

Have not sailed on the "Star" but have sailed on the "Sun" which is a sister-ship in that class and I'm sure you will have a great cruise. :wink:

[rogue]

On the 5 cruises that we have done, Princess haqs been the best of all so far. The others that I'm comparing it to is RCI and Carnival, so tak it for what it's worth. :wink:

Howard

[fcowher]

Princess is a good but not great mass market cruise line. I think RCI is slightly better than Princees in terms of food and service and Celebrity and HAL are better than RCI. But I think Princess provides better food and service than Carnival and NCL. So I would rank them bottem to top NCL, Carnival, Princess, RCI, HAL, Celebrity. These rankings are only for the mass market lines.

[krisp]

Our first cruise was on the Island Princess (Panama Canal Cruise). We loved it. Everything was first class all the way. With nothing to compare against, we decided to go back to them this time around. We sail on the Caribbean Princess in March.

Good luck!

Kris

[Dan]

Skipper, I'm sure it was just an oversight, but the Star is Grand-class, not Sun-class. :wink:

We don't have the experience as most others here, with 1 HAL, 1 Princess, and 2 Carnival. We loved HAL, and think they had the best service and food of all of them. But, it was also our first cruise, and 4 years until our next, and first cruises always have a special place. But we did the 2 Carnival trips within 2 years of being on Princess, and these left us uninterested in Carnival again (unless, you know, it was free, including air LOL).

We had such good memories of Princess, that we've been planning to go with them again, and likely will next January, with another couple we met on the Grand Princess. That couple, incidentally, also went on Carnival after Princess, and said this time it was Princess all the way. Even after I suggested we give RCI a try.

[Charlene]

I think its a personal thing such as, we are all so different in our thoughts and needs! I also think its a matter of what you want out of a cruise.

To us we love people of all ages, shapes, sizes and race. And Princess gives us our every need.

It has good Itineraries, great shore excursions, and a wide varierty of good food, something for everyone. Granted its not quality food, but if I was serving that many people everyday I don't think my food would be quality either!!

The entertainment is what we enjoy, and we find that Princess has the best of shows.

We also love to dance, and Princess also offers a wide variety of music to dance to.

We have sailed on Princess 7 times out of 12 cruises, and we will never leave Princess!!! :wink:

[TheSkipper]

Dan,

You are, of course, correct! Star is a "Grand" class, so I guess I've been on two of her sisters, the Grand Princess and the Golden Princess, both great ships IMHO. :grin:

[ABoatNerd]

:cool: HOW WOULD YOU RATE PRINCESS?

Answer - Princess is at the top end of the mass market lines together with than Celebrity - they offer somewhat different, but equivilant products.

Here is one example that distinguishes the two lines............

At the casual food area on pool deck - Celebrity provides trays with cloth napkins with staff taking the tray for female guests. Princess provides NO trays and no staff help. Depends which experience you want.....................

For the benefit of the poster ATHENA86, an assessment of a cruise line depends upon what you are looking for in product, service and ship board culture.

I have cruised all mass lines repeatedly starting in 1989. My work mates also cruise extensively, so I benefit from alot of lunches comparing cruises - with all our cruising we are able to keep track of the variances between the lines.

Here goes:

If you prefer...

A) MORE TRADITIONAL, HIGHER LEVEL OF FORMALITY (ie european service), HIGH LEVEL OF MASS PRODUCED FOOD AND LESS INTRUSIVE SERVICE, QUIETER SHIP EXPERIENCE, MORE ADULT FOCUS, AND LESS IN YOUR FACE ENTERTAINMENT AND SHIP ANNOUNCEMENTS = CELEBRITY

B) MORE FLEXIBILITY, LESS FORMALITY (more chatty staff), BROAD RANGE OF PASSENGER, GOOD MASS FOOD AND SERVICE, VERY EXTENSIVE ENTERTAINMENT = PRINCESS.

Regarding RCL = focus on nuclear family with entertainment and the poorest food of any mass cruise line. All cruisers in my office refuse to patronize RCL as they attract too many out of control kids

Regarding Carnival = attempting a change in their product offering away from the "fun ship" to more like RCL and Princess - food quality has surpassed RCL and approaching Princess

Regarding HAL = OK, but trying to broaden their market (away from seniors - which is the growth demographic of the future) to include families (the declining demographic) which may not turn out too well. In the past known for excellent service, bland but good food, quiet ship experience

I prefer Celebrity because I desire the formality, I require the best food and the more adult environment is a must. Princess is excellent if you want a less formal, more flexible cruise with excellent food.

______________________

In monitoring many cruise boards, the BIG issue with reviews is because:

<]People do not know what they want, they usually buy on price and or have not been served by a cruise savy travel agent.

There is a greater than ever mismatch between the cruise line product offering and the passenger aboard which = greater dissatisfaction = cruise reviews where one person loved it and another did not.

Trust this helps

ABoatNerd