has anyone been on a princess cruise ship before?

Answer 1

Hi:
My wife and I went on a Princess cruise on the Grand Princess last March. We have previously been on 2 Royal Caribbean and 2 Carnival cruises. Princess is similar to Royal Caribbean (RC) in several ways, subdued and elegant decor, fine service, and more expensive compared to Carnival. The service on Princess is excellent, everything is always clean, they clean off the tables in the buffet as soon as people leave. The food is very good, and the shows were good as well. The rooms were nicely appointed, but actually a little smaller than our Carnival room.
Although the ship was very nice, it was very compartmentalized compared to the RC or Carnival ships we've been on. There was no large multi story atrium, and the main stairway abruptly came to an end a couple of floors above the dining rooms, and you had to go forward or aft to another stairway to go up. The elevators went all the way, but there was usually a wait for them. There were 4 pools, but all had small areas around them for chairs, and except for the indoor pool, all were crowded on sea days. We did not have that problem on the RC or Carnival ships, there was always a place to lay or sit, and the main pool area was very large, and the place to be with a band, contests, and lots going all on sea days.
If you are a fan of traditioinal seating for dinner, where you sit with the same people each night in the dining room, Princess only has limited traditional seating. In the other dining rooms, you either make a reservation, or wait in line, sign up, and are called when a table is ready like a restaraunt at home. You can call and make a reservation in the same area of the dining room if you like the waitstaff there, but it is not guaranteed.
Again, Princess is a fine cruise line, with beatiful ships, excellent service, great crew (we were on the Grand Princess out of Galveston when two people fell overboard. The Captain stopped the ship, mounted a search, and after almost 5 hours in the middle of the night with 6-8 foot seas, found them both and recovered them safely) and very good food. You get what you pay for. But don't discount any other cruise line if you can get a good deal. Even Carnival has some good food and very nice rooms at about 1/2 to 1/3 of the price of a Princess cruise if you search around.
For specific ships and cruises, check out cruisecritic.com, they have lots of reviews, but take some of them with a grain of salt, some people are not happy no matter what you do for them, and look at vacationstogo.com for some good deals. But we've found that a travel agent will normally get you the best deal on any cruise

Answer 2

My husband, son and I did the one way from Vancouver to Juneau last year (I think it was the Diamond Princess but many of the ships are the same). Overall it was a great trip, but here are some high points and low points: 1. We spent a couple of extra days in Vancouver - and it was worth it - beautiful city - lots of outdoor activities (Stanley Park is beautiful, and a easy bike riding afternoon) and good food. 2. The cruise was ok, not as nice as some of the European ones, but ok. Don't be expecting marvelous food - it's ok but not anything to really get excited about. According to one industry 'insider' we talked to, all the cruise lines have overbuilt, and so their goal now is to fill cabins - this means the prices are pretty good, but to pay for it, they have cut the goodies. No more nightly lobster and Baked Alaska. There were some reasonably good nightly shows and music - at least two competing 'events' were going on each night, and there was always dancing. The good news is that with the lower costs, the passengers were relatively young for a cruise, which should be good for you, travelling single - there were many fun guys hanging out in the hot tub on the Lido deck (ok, so I'm married, don't sue me for flirting a little!). Many of the longer, more expensive cruises are full of people who are REALLY old. Most of the towns on the cruise were small and not very interesting - the outdoorsy tours were much better. 3. Some great activities - do take one of the seaplane flights to see the Bears and the salmon hatchery - this was a great trip. We also heard that the glacier trip was great (didn't do this one). The steam train trip up to the Yukon was also very picturesque and interesting. And we did see seals, dolphins and whales, - right next to the boat! on our whale watching excursion. 4. Do take the associated Princess train trip - although if I were going to do it over again, I would start with the train and THEN do the cruise (do what we did but in reverse) - more relaxing that way. 5. There are two hotels at Denali - one at the north end and one at the south - I'm sorry I don't remember the names, but you should be able to see in the brochure which is which. Do NOT miss the one at the south end - the hotel location is absolutely gorgeous and there are a lot of neat activities here. The lake kayaking trip is great- you're out kayaking on this absolutely pristine lake and there is NOBODY else around. Also good horseback riding, if you are into that sort of thing. The second Princess hotel at the north end (where the Federal park is) was a complete bust. The ambience of a strip mall. The tour to Denali park is on a SCHOOL bus and you have to commit all day to it - people said the wildlife was amazing but honestly, 7 hours on a school bus? We did go rafting here - but even with 'dry suits' the water was so ice cold (and the wind too... it was late August and we got snowed on) we were absolutely miserable. Sorry, I rambled. Hope this helps.

Answer 3

I worked on the Coral princess and have been on both the Diamond/Sapphire princess...so I'm a bit biased. Their fleet ranges a lot, you can travel with as little as 900 people or up to nearly 4000. The mid - range of 1,970 people is good - many people I met said they enjoyed the feel of that many people - not too many, not too little. And remember each ship is designed differently - so the atriums are different sizes depending on the # of people. One thing that I always noticed is that the staff always keeps it sparkling clean! The employees are always very nice and willing to help! If you go you will truly enjoy it. It is a ship with an older demographic (most passengers are age 55+) but again you won't get that crazy drunk person staggering the halls at 4 in the morning. If you want that go on a carnival cruise to ensenada and call it a day.

As far as people getting sick, it's Norwalk Virus...it happens on all ships and it's usually because one person didn't wash their hands and spread it around.

Answer 4

As with any other vehicle newer is better. The Crown Princess is fabulous. Great deals in September and the Emerald Princess will come over from Europe this fall. The older ships are not as good. The Sapphire Princess is starting to look worn and it is only a few years old. The Sun Princess is now an antique. Check the prices from many sources--look for on board credits and think NEW.

Answer 5

Yes, to the Eastern Caribbean, Alaska, and the Panama Canal itinerary. The ships are staterooms are lovely. The food is great . The entertainment was as good as you will get on any ship. The passengers tend to be older, like mostly 50 and above but everyone has a great time, just like the younger set. You definitely don't have passengers staggering drunk in the hallways and around the pool.

I would go on their ships again in a minute.

Answer 6

Princess is one of the mainstream cruise lines. There ships are built for entertainment and alot of people. They're owned by Carnival but Carnival keeps this line separate from their party cruise line of the same name.

You can get more info from their website www.princess.com or check out www.cruisecritic.com to get more opinions of the cruise line as well as on specific ships.

Answer 7

Yes and hated it. The Caribbean Princess is way too large a ship without enough guest space. Every venue was PACKED. Princess added an entire deck, thus adding more people, but didn't add more common areas.

Answer 8

yes, went on the diamond princess to Mexico. Had an awesome holiday!

Answer 9

Yes, I've been on Princess several times. And your question would be what?

Answer 10

I doubt if I'll be on a cruise ship anytime soon. I keep reading how everyone comes back sick from a germ. I would be benefit you to investigate this before planning one. They are always being contained for disinfection purposes.