HELP! Cruise to Caribbean- Royal Caribbean vs. Princess

Hi!
I am thinking of taking a cruise this summer to the Caribbean. i am
trying to select a cruise line that is fun (it would be my first
cruise). Someone told me taht both the Princess cruise lines and the
Royal Caribbean are nice. i have looked at a cruise on the Caribbean
Princess versus the RCCL Explorer of the Seas (apparently this is the
name of the Royal Caribbean vessel!). any thoughts on which is better?
i love food, so that would be a selling point for me. the RCCL is
about 300$ more per ticket - but that seems negligible. any help
picking one versus the other would be greatly appreciated. Regards,
Harry

"Harry in Montreal" wrote in message
ups.com...
Hi!
I am thinking of taking a cruise this summer to the Caribbean. i am
trying to select a cruise line that is fun (it would be my first
cruise). Someone told me taht both the Princess cruise lines and the
Royal Caribbean are nice. i have looked at a cruise on the Caribbean
Princess versus the RCCL Explorer of the Seas (apparently this is the
name of the Royal Caribbean vessel!). any thoughts on which is better?
i love food, so that would be a selling point for me. the RCCL is
about 300$ more per ticket - but that seems negligible. any help
picking one versus the other would be greatly appreciated. Regards,
Harry


Both are good choices IMO.

Princess is a bit more elegant in terms of cruise experience. Explorer is
one of the Voyager class ships which are the most popular ships these days
(inside promenade, rock climbing wall, ice skating rink). So from the
cruise experience I'd go Princess. From the perspective of the ship and
activities, I'd go Explorer. I was on Grand Princess, which is a "cousin"
ship to Caribbean Princess, and didn't care for it very much. I found the
balcony design to funnel cigarette/cigar smoke all around, so anyone outside
who's smoking... you could smell the smoke on your balcony. Unless you
smoke, if you get a balcony on Caribbean Princess, make sure you get one way
up front. Princess has fresh water pools which is nice.

You could also look at Navigator of the Seas, which is a newer sister ship
to Explorer. She sails on Saturdays.

--Tom

If you love food, go Princess. Much better than Royal Caribbean.

Arlene

Harry in Montreal wrote:

Hi!
I am thinking of taking a cruise this summer to the Caribbean. i am
trying to select a cruise line that is fun (it would be my first
cruise). Someone told me taht both the Princess cruise lines and the
Royal Caribbean are nice. i have looked at a cruise on the Caribbean
Princess versus the RCCL Explorer of the Seas (apparently this is the
name of the Royal Caribbean vessel!). any thoughts on which is better?
i love food, so that would be a selling point for me. the RCCL is
about 300$ more per ticket - but that seems negligible. any help
picking one versus the other would be greatly appreciated. Regards,
Harry

a cruise line that is fun

Fun can encompass so many things. What kind of fun things appeal most to
you? We have some clients in their late 20's - early 30's who enjoy
shipboard lectures on archaeology. We clients in their late 60's and older
who haven't had fun if their shoes aren't smoking when they leave the disco.
)

Explorer (or any of the Voyager class ships) offer an onboard product unique
to the family. If rock climbing, basketball, inline skating, ice skating,
and that sort of thing fit the fun definition, the choice is simple. If
none of these appeal to you, the decision process may be more involved.

Share some thoughts here or with a local T/A WHO WILL LISTEN TO YOUR
EXPECTATIONS and you'll get great input.

--
Charlie Funk
Just Cruisin' Plus
800 888-0922
615 833-0922
www.justcruisinplus.com
We prefer the MasterCard card
"Harry in Montreal" wrote in message
ups.com...
Hi!
I am thinking of taking a cruise this summer to the Caribbean. i am
trying to select a cruise line that is fun (it would be my first
cruise). Someone told me taht both the Princess cruise lines and the
Royal Caribbean are nice. i have looked at a cruise on the Caribbean
Princess versus the RCCL Explorer of the Seas (apparently this is the
name of the Royal Caribbean vessel!). any thoughts on which is better?
i love food, so that would be a selling point for me. the RCCL is
about 300$ more per ticket - but that seems negligible. any help
picking one versus the other would be greatly appreciated. Regards,
Harry

Harry, We just got off the Caribbean Princess on March 5. Loved the
cruise (our 5th). Only negative for us was the smoke, as another poster
pointed out. We HATE smoke and could smell it whenever our mid-ships
balcony was open. However, smoke was not a problem anywhere else. As
for food, we thought it was pretty good. Never been on RCCL but I have
frequently read other posts saying Princess has better food. If you
have additional questions I can answer, just ask! Hope you have a
great first cruise. Helen

Harry in Montreal wrote:

Hi!
I am thinking of taking a cruise this summer to the Caribbean. i am
trying to select a cruise line that is fun (it would be my first
cruise). Someone told me taht both the Princess cruise lines and the
Royal Caribbean are nice.

If you want to take a cruise, Princess and Royal Caribbean are a good
place to start. I like both of these cruise lines. You will find more
toddlers and children cruising on Royal Caribbean.

My favorite Princess ships are the Grand class; Caribbean Princess,
Diamond Princess, Golden Princess, Grand Princess, Sapphire Princess,
Star Princess.

My favorite Royal Caribbean ships are the Voyager class ships; Adventure
Of The Seas, Explorer Of The Seas, Mariner Of The Seas,
Navigator Of The Seas, Voyager Of The Seas. I enjoyed the Radiance
class ships, but these ships have one tiny hot tub in the Solarium, this
is why I will avoid cruising on the Radiance class ships. The Voyager
class ships have two very large hot tubs in the Solarium.

You mentioned enjoying food, so maybe you should lean towards cruising
on Princess. The food is fine on Royal Caribbean, but the food is a
little better on Princess, IMO.

Both of these cruise lines have activities to keep you busy, but the
Royal Caribbean ships have a few activities I am not interested in
doing, such as rock climbing, inline skating, ice skating.

Last week I cruised on the Grand Princess and they had plenty of
activities to keep me busy. I enjoyed the Movies Under The Stars, which
was not on the Grand the last time I cruised on that ship.

If you have any other questions, feel free to ask.

Becca -----I hope you enjoy cruising as much as I do...

"Becca" wrote
| Last week I cruised on the Grand Princess and they had plenty of
| activities to keep me busy. I enjoyed the Movies Under The Stars, which
| was not on the Grand the last time I cruised on that ship.
|
| If you have any other questions, feel free to ask.
|
| Becca -----I hope you enjoy cruising as much as I do...

Becca,

Who was the CD on the Grand last week? Was it Tim Donavon? He left the day
we got off the Grand in December, but I've since heard he's back. I'll be on
the Grand again in 3 weeks, and we're really excited!
Wish I had known you were going I would have sent you a few names to look
out for, for me, so I could tell my friends if our favorite crew were still
there or not.

Who's the new Assistant Cruise Director? Tyrone left last month (or maybe in
January) so I know he's not there anymore.

LES!

I don't know if this is any help in your decision making as the Grand
Princess has been our only cruise, but I can't imagine having a better time
on any ship. I know there are some more elegant and perhaps better food,
but we have NO COMPLAINTS. Everyone one and everything thing was perfect
(and I'm a tad persnickety g) After answering the Cruise Wizard questions
about what our likes and dislikes were, Princess was one that was suggested
for us. A little more on the elegant side but not stuffy, large ship,
leaning more towards formal wear rather than casual and less kid oriented.
Monica

Cruise Wizard:
http://www.02cruise.com/LineSearch/index.asp
"LES!" wrote in message
...

"Becca" wrote
| Last week I cruised on the Grand Princess and they had plenty of
| activities to keep me busy. I enjoyed the Movies Under The Stars, which
| was not on the Grand the last time I cruised on that ship.
|
| If you have any other questions, feel free to ask.
|
| Becca -----I hope you enjoy cruising as much as I do...

Becca,

Who was the CD on the Grand last week? Was it Tim Donavon? He left the day
we got off the Grand in December, but I've since heard he's back. I'll be
on
the Grand again in 3 weeks, and we're really excited!
Wish I had known you were going I would have sent you a few names to look
out for, for me, so I could tell my friends if our favorite crew were
still
there or not.

Who's the new Assistant Cruise Director? Tyrone left last month (or maybe
in
January) so I know he's not there anymore.

LES!

I've been on both Criuse lines and have sailed on the Golden Princess
and the Explorer (3 times).
They are both excellent but each offer a different atmosphere.
I prefer the RCCL Explorer because it it an amazing ship.
The ice skating shows, the nightly parades down the promanade, the
champaign bar, the two optional dining choices (one a steak house as
good as Morton's, the other Italian) at an extra cost are terrific and
even Johnny Rockets is great fun.
Princess is excellent but I will not travel on it again because for me I
prefer a more casual, active cruise experience.

If you have children going with you go Royal Caribbean. We just returned
from a cruise on Star Princess and my children sometimes got bored.
Saying that, they did not go to the teen center or other organized
activities the ship offered. Perhaps if they did they would of had more
fun. The food on Princess is very good, better than Royal Caribbean, so
if food is more important between the 2 cruise lines go with Princess.

DaFlaBear wrote:
I've been on both Criuse lines and have sailed on the Golden Princess
and the Explorer (3 times).
They are both excellent but each offer a different atmosphere.
I prefer the RCCL Explorer because it it an amazing ship.
The ice skating shows, the nightly parades down the promanade, the
champaign bar, the two optional dining choices (one a steak house as
good as Morton's, the other Italian) at an extra cost are terrific and
even Johnny Rockets is great fun.
Princess is excellent but I will not travel on it again because for me I
prefer a more casual, active cruise experience.