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XP: Royal Caribbean vs. Princess

BMoreBride6BMoreBride6 member
500 Love Its 500 Comments Second Anniversary Name Dropper
in Luxury Weddings
Hi everyone...I don't know that I consider my wedding a Luxury wedding but thought you ladies might have some insight! 
We have 2 very similar options for our honeymoon planned for July/August 2014.  They are both Mediterranean cruises with very similar itineraries.  For the just about the same price we could either go on a Royal Caribbean ship (Serenade of the Seas) with a balcony room or on a Princess Cruises ship (Regal Princess) with an interior room.  The RC ship is a bit smaller and older whereas the Princess cruise will be brand new (only sailing for about a month before our trip) and apparently higher end.  I've only ever sailed RC, but we originally planned on booking the Princess Cruise but I'm starting to wonder if I'm going to really regret getting an interior room.  Does anyone have experience cruising the Greek Isles/Med. on either of these cruise lines?  Which way would you go?  Balcony room on a less high end ship or interior on an interior room on a high end?  Thank you! 
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Re: XP: Royal Caribbean vs. Princess

  • AJuliaNJAJuliaNJ member
    Knottie Warrior 1000 Comments 250 Love Its Combo Breaker
    I've been to the Greek Isles, and I've been on a Princess cruise, but they were separate trips. I personally wouldn't regret getting an interior room. I was barely in the room on either of the cruises I've taken. There is just so much to do. For me, food would be the deciding factor. The food on the Princess cruise was amazing. I haven't been on Royal Caribbean. 
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  • BMoreBride6BMoreBride6 member
    500 Love Its 500 Comments Second Anniversary Name Dropper
    AJuliaNJ said:
    I've been to the Greek Isles, and I've been on a Princess cruise, but they were separate trips. I personally wouldn't regret getting an interior room. I was barely in the room on either of the cruises I've taken. There is just so much to do. For me, food would be the deciding factor. The food on the Princess cruise was amazing. I haven't been on Royal Caribbean. 
    I have heard the food is the biggest upgrade on Princess vs. RC.  The upgraded room is $1,000 p/person which personally I'd rather spent going on some amazing excursions...thanks! 
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  • mmm4763mmm4763 member
    Tenth Anniversary 100 Comments 25 Love Its Name Dropper
    Hey--I know this is not automatic by any means, but we sailed Princess a few years ago (to Alaska) and booked an interior room. Less than a week before our trip we got an email from Princess telling us that we had received a free upgrade to a balcony room in the center of the ship. From reading message boards prior to our trip the "upgrade fairy" seemed to be fairly common with first time cruisers on the line (which we were). The balcony certainly was awesome especially with all the scenery but there was so much public deck space that we were never hurting for a view (and were in our room very little)
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  • BMoreBride6BMoreBride6 member
    500 Love Its 500 Comments Second Anniversary Name Dropper
    mmm4763 said:
    Hey--I know this is not automatic by any means, but we sailed Princess a few years ago (to Alaska) and booked an interior room. Less than a week before our trip we got an email from Princess telling us that we had received a free upgrade to a balcony room in the center of the ship. From reading message boards prior to our trip the "upgrade fairy" seemed to be fairly common with first time cruisers on the line (which we were). The balcony certainly was awesome especially with all the scenery but there was so much public deck space that we were never hurting for a view (and were in our room very little)
    Yes our TA said there is a possibility of this and since she has us down and first time cruisers and honeymooners she's hoping we might get one...fingers crossed! 
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  • Lauderdale PinkLauderdale Pink member
    250 Love Its 500 Comments Second Anniversary First Answer
    I will NEVER EVER again sail with Princess.  After 5 cruises (I am a slow learner) I finally got the clue that they don't care about anyone or anything on the last days of the cruise, which are typically "days at sea".  Halfway through one cruise, they offloaded the entire casino in Aruba because the ship was going into dry dock for refurbishing, but they gave passengers zero notice.  Last day entertainment was sparse and good luck finding a server for drinks.  I could go on and on, but Princess will never see a penny of my vacation money again.
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  • jenfromjerseyjenfromjersey member
    100 Comments First Anniversary Name Dropper 5 Love Its
    I have sailed both and will NEVER sail Princess again.  The customer service on Princess was horrific.  We will be sailing Royal Caribbean for our honeymoon.
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  • BMoreBride6BMoreBride6 member
    500 Love Its 500 Comments Second Anniversary Name Dropper
    jenfromjersey said:
    I have sailed both and will NEVER sail Princess again.  The customer service on Princess was horrific.  We will be sailing Royal Caribbean for our honeymoon.
    would you mind elaborating? I appreciate it! 
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  • jenfromjerseyjenfromjersey member
    100 Comments First Anniversary Name Dropper 5 Love Its
    My grandmother paid for the whole family to go on a cruise, so there was 16 of us in total. We ended up with their Any Time dining, and they were constantly rushing us.  One night there was 10 of us at dinner together, they couldn't accommodate all of us at one table, so my brother and two younger cousins were at a small table right next to us.  They tried to get them to leave when our table wasn't done yet because they wanted to turn the table over.  Super rude about it too.  The food was lackluster as well.  It was the 4th cruise I had been on and it was the first time that I was constantly feeling the boat move.  There were several nights that I just went to bed instead of going to dinner because it was so rocky in the dining room that it made me ill :(
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  • JoanE2012JoanE2012 member
    5000 Comments 500 Love Its Fourth Anniversary 5 Answers
    jenfromjersey said:
    My grandmother paid for the whole family to go on a cruise, so there was 16 of us in total. We ended up with their Any Time dining, and they were constantly rushing us.  One night there was 10 of us at dinner together, they couldn't accommodate all of us at one table, so my brother and two younger cousins were at a small table right next to us.  They tried to get them to leave when our table wasn't done yet because they wanted to turn the table over.  Super rude about it too.  The food was lackluster as well.  It was the 4th cruise I had been on and it was the first time that I was constantly feeling the boat move.  There were several nights that I just went to bed instead of going to dinner because it was so rocky in the dining room that it made me ill :(
    I think adjacent tables are fine when needed and you don't want to wait.  I wouldn't expect a cruise ship to have huge tables for large parties available, especially on AnyTime dining.  A 10 person table seems more reasonable though, but maybe they don't have many??  (I usually do 2 person tables, so I can't remember what the usual size is)  I do think it was rude that they rushed you though.  And the part about the boat rocking though.....that happens quite often, no matter what cruise line you pick.  :D
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  • jenfromjerseyjenfromjersey member
    100 Comments First Anniversary Name Dropper 5 Love Its
    I had never felt a boat move as much as that one did.  The rest of my family agreed and none of us were new to cruising.  Service all around was below par for what we expect on a cruise.
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  • Tulips29Tulips29 member
    100 Comments Second Anniversary 5 Love Its Name Dropper
    I've been on a few Royal Caribbean cruises before and they were all great! The best one was the Oasis, so I definitely recommend it. The service was great, food was also very good, I had no complaints. 
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  • JoanE2012JoanE2012 member
    5000 Comments 500 Love Its Fourth Anniversary 5 Answers
    jenfromjersey said:
    I had never felt a boat move as much as that one did.  The rest of my family agreed and none of us were new to cruising.  Service all around was below par for what we expect on a cruise.


    Blame the weather for the movement.....the cruise line can't control that.  That's like me blaming United for hitting bad turbulance on a cross country flight.  Most of my flights are generally smooth, but every once in awhile I get a really rough one.  That's not United's fault.

    Service is a valid complaint though.  Sorry to hear you had such a poor experience.

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  • JoanE2012JoanE2012 member
    5000 Comments 500 Love Its Fourth Anniversary 5 Answers
    Tulips29 said:
    I've been on a few Royal Caribbean cruises before and they were all great! The best one was the Oasis, so I definitely recommend it. The service was great, food was also very good, I had no complaints. 

    I loved the Oasis too!  I'm afraid I won't be able to go on a "normal-sized" cruise ship again!  Only thing that will bring me back to the regular ships is the variety of ports that are lacking with the big ships.
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  • Tulips29Tulips29 member
    100 Comments Second Anniversary 5 Love Its Name Dropper
    JoanE2012 said:
    Tulips29 said:
    I've been on a few Royal Caribbean cruises before and they were all great! The best one was the Oasis, so I definitely recommend it. The service was great, food was also very good, I had no complaints. 

    I loved the Oasis too!  I'm afraid I won't be able to go on a "normal-sized" cruise ship again!  Only thing that will bring me back to the regular ships is the variety of ports that are lacking with the big ships.
    Same here. Guess they'll just have to keep making them bigger and better =)
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