by Ronald Epstein
This is going to be as comprehensive a review that I can provide for my
first Princess cruise aboard their Golden Princess vessel. The review will also compare my Princess
experience against past experiences aboard Royal Caribbean.
My Background
I am a male, 41 years of age. I have been an avid cruise
enthusiast for the past 3-4 years. I have sailed exclusively
with Royal Caribbean and have become highly satisfied with their ships and service.
With no less than 5 past RCCL sailings under my belt, I decided to try Princess Cruises. To be honest, the only reason
I chose Princess was because my girlfriend and I had some extra vacation time this year and the Golden Princess
cruise
sailing from San Juan to New York City was VERY cheap.
I expected to go into this Princess cruise hating it. My expectations
were very low. Boy was I surprised! The cruise was fantastic and
Princess was
just awesome!
Read on as I compare the Princess against the Royal Caribbean cruise experience.
Arriving & Boarding
This was not a pleasant experience.
We arrived at San Juan airport at 11am. My impressions of San
Juan airport is that it is absolutely horrific. Once you arrive there is an extremely long walk to the baggage claim carousel.
Since there are many different airlines represented here, finding your
specific baggage area can be difficult as signs are not clearly
marked. Even worse, once you do reach your specific airline baggage area there are no signs or monitors indicating
which carousel will be dumping out which flight's baggage. There is
nothing like being amongst a large crowd of passengers who
have no clue where their baggage is to appear only to race in a
mad rush to the nearest carousel that starts dumping out baggage.
Furthermore, there are no self-serve carriages to put your luggage
on to tote across the airport. You must depend on porters to help
you and there were difficulties finding them.
I would hesitate ever flying into San Juan again.
A 15-20 minute taxi ride (cost $35 for 5 persons) brought us to
the ship pier around 11:45am. Upon arrival we were greeted with
a HUGE line of passengers waiting to board. There must have
been a few hundred people ahead of us who had been waiting in
line for an hour or more before we arrived. Our luggage was given
to a loud, pushy porter who had his hands filled with money as if
to indicate you better tip him if you want your luggage properly loaded
onboard.
We got on the line, and waited an additional hour. We watched
as hundreds of more travelers arrived stretching the line across the
parking lot and around the outer fence. These poor people were
waiting in the 90-degree beating sun waiting to get on the ship.
Princess provided no refreshments or snacks to these people
waiting on line. Royal Caribbean boardings have always been
speedy with no lines and refreshments/fluids available for consumption.
I must say that once the line did begin moving shortly before 1:00pm,
it moved rather fast. We were pulled into a holding room, given a
health questionnaire to fill out, and then directed to a check-in line
according to cabin location. The check-in process took no more than
5 minutes and we were ready to go up the gangplank.
Another problem we found with Princess was the manner
in which they conducted WELCOME pictures while boarding. The
line was at a standstill because a photographer was stopping everyone
as pictures were taken. There was not enough room to get around
this. On Royal Caribbean they have two lines, making those
who don't want their picture taken to board much faster.
A major PLUS that we immediately discovered with Princess
was that they had staff members on every cabin level waiting outside the elevators,
directing you to your rooms. On all the past
Royal Caribbean sailings I have made, there was never any
staff member around to guide you to your cabin. They basically made
you find it on your own. Way to go Princess!
Initial Impressions
Being a past Royal Caribbean traveler, I am used to the
glitzy neon-lit decor inside their ships. There was actually a time
that I enjoyed that type of decor... that is, until I walked around
Princess.
The Golden Princess was beautiful. She didn't have the glitzy promenade
that RCCL is famous for -- but its absence was what made me fall in love
with this ship. The Princess ship had a more "classy" feel to it. Her
surroundings were more subdued, with emphasis put on her polished
brass. Even the elevators managed to impress me with
their expensive-looking golden decor and heavy push-buttons that had
a look of elegance to them. Nothing like the Royal Caribbean
decor that looked a bit more cheap. There was far more elegance to
be found on Princess.
Another major plus for Princess is the design of its ship
and the manner in which they divide up the dining rooms and pools
on different levels so that the guests don't all congregate in the same
area. Our ship was sold out and yet you never got the feeling that any
particular area of the ship was overcrowded. Try walking down the
Royal Caribbean promenade on a sold-out ship and you find
yourself shoulder-to-shoulder with your fellow passenger.
Our Cabin
When I sail on Royal Caribbean I always get a junior suite
or higher. I like my room and balconies BIG and I like the concierge
service that RCCL offers.
The Princess cruise was a "cheapie" for us. It cost only $900 for 7
days and we got a simple balcony cabin. I feared the worst because I
knew I would be staying in a tiny room with a tiny bathroom and shower.
We booked a balcony cabin, Aloha deck, A719 (near the terrace pool).
You know what? The room wasn't that tiny. It was more than adequate
for the two of us. While the bathroom and shower were very small, it
wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be. Even our balcony was the
perfect size for just the two of us.
I learned a very important lesson on this trip...
You don't necessarily have to get the biggest cabins on Princess to
feel pampered. We were so happy that we saved $700 and went with a
standard balcony over a Junior suite.
My first surprise about our Princess cabin was that a
bathrobe was made available to me. On Royal Caribbean
they won't even consider giving you a bathrobe unless you book
a suite or have higher member status.
In fact, unlike RCCL, Princess gives you a form to fill out
from their website prior to travel where you can indicate what
you would like added to your room at no extra charge. These items
include a bathrobe, added egg-crate foam mattress support and
specific sodas in your minibar.
Another HUGE service that Princess offers over RCCL is
self-laundry service. I was shocked to see laundry rooms with
washers, dryers, and a row of ironing boards with irons on top so
your clothes always look perfect. Royal Caribbean charges
extra for this service and you can't do it on your own.
The Food
Princess scores slightly higher on food over Royal
Caribbean. Upon arrival we ate at the Horizon Court buffet on deck 14. Lunch
was fairly tasty with a nice selection of hot and cold items. They have
a salad bar that blows RCCL Windjammer buffet out of the water.
For breakfast, I had mixed feelings about eating at the Horizon
Court. Their eggs and pancakes were horrific. Scrambled eggs were
obviously powdered, not fresh. Pancakes were often hard, and you
had to use some effort to scrape them off the serving plate. Bacon,
sausage, hash browns and corn-beef hash were always available
as well as a selection of cereals, rolls, bagels and fruit. My favorite
item was EGGS BENEDICT, which they only served twice during the
entire trip.
Royal Caribbean Windjammer buffet breakfast was usually
equally bad, so those wanting a better breakfast should head to the
dining rooms.
For lunch I always hit the GRILL adjacent to the Dolphin pool midship
on Deck 14. They serve 3 different types of pizza daily as well as burgers,
hot dogs and french fries. Being an avid New York pizza lover (which is
the best Pizza in the world), I was quite surprised by the quality of the
pizza. It was actually well above average. I also loved the fact that burgers
and fries were often cooked fresh when there was a crowd at the pool.
We opted to buy Ice Cream at the Sundae bar one day. BIG MISTAKE!
It cost approximately $3.95 per person for a Sundae concoction. My
girlfriend and I each ordered a "death by chocolate." We watched as the
girl dumped heaping scoops into a mixing bowl -- adding brownies,
chocolate chips, oreo cookies and syrup. We each received (and I am
not exaggerating) a humungous bowl of ice cream that could easily
feed 2 people. While I applaud Princess for the portions (and it is
easily worth the price charged), I caution people that you will not be
able to finish what you are served. Again, I applaud Princess for the
portion size for the price.
Now the best part... dinner!
5 of our 7 nights we ate in the dining room. On Royal Caribbean
their dining room is one huge area, 3 levels high. Princess divides
their dining areas into three separate restaurants, which makes eating
a little more intimate. The service and quality of food aboard Princess
was very, very good.
Princess offers Personal Choice dining, an option I was
quite skeptical about at first. Unlike Royal Caribbean where
you have an assigned table and company every night, the Personal
Choice
experience lets you eat in any of the dining rooms whenever YOU want.
We were with friends--a total of 5 persons. On many evenings we
strutted in that dining room at a different time of our choosing and never
waited more than 15 minutes for a table of our own. In fact, most nights
there was no wait. The bad part of Freestyle is that you never have
the same waiter, thus, they never learn your names or eating habits.
Still, I would go Personal Choice over traditional anytime.
The dining room staff were exceptional. They had a terrific sense
of humor and they were very attentive to our needs. A friend of mine
who loves shrimp cocktail asked for 4 orders every night and never
was refused. Sometimes I ordered two steaks without a flinch from
the waiter. We were with a 9 year-old boy who the staff was very good
to. He had a homework assignment where he had to collect seeds
from various fruits and vegetables. When the staff learned of this, the
head chef came out with a whole red and green pepper so that seeds
could be scooped out for his collection.
The only problem we had was that with all the nights that little boy
ate in the dining room, he was never made aware that there was a
kids menu available (with chicken fingers, onion rings, etc.) until the
very last night of the voyage.
As I stated, food was very good and prepared exactly to our likening.
Portions were plentiful and if there was always something on the menu
that catered to a variety of tastes.
Royal Caribbean only exceeds in this area when it comes
to its staff performing songs or having someone walk around and talk
with the dining travelers. On RCCL there was a very humorous Indian
guy that would walk around, answer questions, ask how your meal
was and interject humor. The staff would get dressed in costume and
sing/dance. There was even the flaming baked Alaska that was
noticeably absent aboard this Princess vessel.
Royal Caribbean has a larger selection of desserts over
Princess hands down! There were always a variety of
different cakes, pies, cookies and puddings available on RCCL
on a daily basis--even in the Windjammer buffet. You got actual
huge portions of whatever you wanted. On Princess the
dessert selection was always limited and there were only dinky
pastries and cakes available at the buffet.
Oh, one note that I should make on behalf of my very picky friend
who was traveling with me... he loved the fact that Princess
has shaped butter in a bowl at the tables over the square wrapped
blocks that Royal Caribbean offers. He feels that it is more
classy, and I am inclined to agree with him.
Specialty Restaurants
As with everyone else that goes on a cruise where your food is
included in the price--a question is brought up to why one should
pay $15-$20 extra to eat at a specialty restaurant?
The answer is simple: you get what you pay for.
On Royal Caribbean my girlfriend and I became avid
fans of their Portofino restaurant. The quality of food and service
were far better than what you would get in the dining room.
When we boarded Princess we immediately signed
up for a night at Sabatini's trattoria and Desert Rose southwestern
restaurant.
I only somewhat enjoyed Sabatinis only because of the manner in
which they served the food. They serve you with a 16-course meal,
coming to your table and giving you a slice of meat, followed by a
few crab cakes, followed by a few pieces of pasta, a slice of specialty
pizza, soup, etc. All this leads up to your main course. I had lobster
tail which was quite good and plentiful. I dunno -- the overall serving
process was slow. Dinner took 2.5 hours to complete and it just
wasn't a highly enjoyable experience. I will say that even though you
got snippets of food throughout the 2.5 hours, the wait between courses
caused your stomach to feel filled up. Cover charge: $20 per person.
The Desert Rose was an AWESOME experience. We ate there twice.
For appetizers we had shrimp cocktail. The shrimp was huge! We also
enjoyed clam chowder out of a bread bowl. But the absolute highlight?
You got to choose from at least 7 different types of steak cooked to
perfection. I had the 20-ounce porterhouse steak. It was awesome!
Cover charge: $15 per person
The Pool
Here is where I immediately fell in love with Princess!
I hate salt water pools. I hate swimming on Royal Caribbean
ships for the fact that their pools are salt water. Who wants to taste
salt in their mouth and get sting in their eyes, not to mention the fact
you have to wash yourself down with fresh water the second you get
out of the pool?
Golden Princess has four pools, including one swim-against-the
current pool. The pools are filled with (OH YES!) fresh water. I spent a
lot of time enjoying myself in the pool. If you get outside by 8:30am you
can grab a prime spot and have the pool to yourself. An hour later the
pool gets VERY crowded. Despite the fact there are 3 main pools, most
people opt for the outside pool. Water temperature was about 84 degrees.
It could have been a little warmer.
There is an ADULT ONLY pool at the rear of the ship, deck 12. Nobody
really used it as quite frankly it is a bit of a joke. The pool is not only tiny,
but because it sits at the stern of the ship, the water is always rough.
Another PLUS for Princess is that it seems they keep their pools
open 24 hours a day. On Royal Caribbean I could swear their
pools were not open all night.
Here's an interesting thing that Princess can fix...
their poolside
and ship music.
Sit out at the pool or inside at the bar and you will hear a selection
of
current and oldies pop music being played. Problem is, the music is
on an endless loop so you hear the same damn songs day after day.
Don't get me wrong -- the selection of music was great -- but it became
tiresome very quickly.
The Internet
Here is where Princess loses a lot of points.
I am self-employed and in constant need of Internet access --
even (unfortunately) when I vacation.
I imagine that most people need to check their emails daily.
Princess has an Internet Cafe, but unless you are Platinum
member, you are going to pay through the nose to use it at about $.35
per minute. There seems to be at least 15-20 computers available.
Their computers, however, are painfully slow. Expect your Internet
access to be slower than dial-up. You read right! I used their cafe
for just two days and I had to stop from frustration of waiting minutes
to see pages load -- even when I was the only person using the computer.
Fortunately I brought my laptop and took advantage of their
WI-FI
access. That's very expensive at $10.50 for 30 minutes. Even worse,
you have to continually go to the Purser's desk to buy a new access
card when your current minutes are up. I suggest heavy users buy a
few access cards at once after you determine your laptop works. The
WI-FI access is noticeably faster as it depends more on the speed of
your computer. Unfortunately, access is only available in the Atrium
area on Deck 5.
On many Royal Caribbean ships you can get dial-up access
in your stateroom for about $100 for a 7-day cruise. This access is
UNLIMITED so you can stay online all day long. The access speed is
around 40K compared to the much slower speeds with Princess.
Princess needs to make a concerned effort to offer cabins with
unlimited Internet access at a rate that is somewhat affordable.
Liquor - on board and self-supplied
I talk to many people who cruise. I have loads of friends who take
several cruises a year, and I listen to fellow cruise mates who sail
with me regarding their experiences.
You know why many people enjoy sailing Royal Caribbean
and Princess? These lines don't make a huge deal about
bringing your own liquor aboard. I think these lines realize how
important this plays a part in people deciding who to cruise with.
Take for example NCL Cruise Lines. Do you realize they
hire a staff just to scour your luggage and confiscate liquor when you
board? I know so many people who have sailed with NCL only to
have their liquor confiscated. While Princess and Royal Caribbean have policies
against bringing liquor aboard, they are rather lax about enforcing it
as long as you don't blatantly bring it aboard in boxes. Stash it in
your checked luggage and it will arrive to your cabin without incident.
The liquor on Princess is far cheaper than RCCL. Their
drinks are about $3-$5, far cheaper than Royal Caribbean.
There was a 5-bottle deal for Dos Equis Beer on ice for $5. How
can you beat that? Bottles of liquor ordered in advance can be
delivered to your stateroom at reasonable prices.
Cleanliness and Appearance
Again, Princess excels here.
The Royal Caribbean fleet looks a little worn these days.
I see wear and tear on those ships all the time. On Golden Princess
I was amazed at the amount of polishing, carpet replacing, and overall
cleaning being done on a daily basis.
There is also a great emphasis put on sanitizing hands with dispensed
lotion available at every bathroom and buffet station. You never
see this kind of emphasis when sailing with Royal Caribbean.
Entertainment
Royal Caribbean excels here by a mile!
RCCL puts so much money into their entertainment. Their shows
are huge--almost Broadway caliber. They have an onboard ice rink
that offers an amazing show.
I was very disappointed with Princess shows. They mainly
have comedians, singers and jugglers. Their shows are "okay" and
rarely memorable.
A nice touch was the movies they showed in the Princess Theater
where a great view was to be had anywhere you sat thanks to the fact
there are no pillars blocking view. We watched fairly current Hollywood
fare that is just about due for DVD release.
A major PLUS for Princess is that while their onboard
selection of in-cabin TV channels is greatly limited, they don't douse
you with promotional commercials.
Princess had a much better in-cabin movie selection than RCCL.
Royal Caribbean offers a wider selection of channel choices
(including network channels on occasion) but, my God, they hit you
with those damn "Lust for Life" commercials at every turn. By the end
of the week after sailing RCCL you hear those damn "Boom Boom Boom"
theme music drums in your head. For God's sake RCCL--cut it out!
Disembarkation
Princess again wins here... sort of.
Disembarkation could have been handled a little better
for the fact that the gangway area was overly crowded and
Princess added to the problem by not allowing one
color code area to fully disembark before calling the next.
Luggage was handled VERY well. Bags were neatly lined
in on the dock according to color code. A Princess rep was
there to help people find their luggage.
Ever claim luggage with Royal Caribbean? It is
the most frustrating experience you will ever endure. Bags
are tossed on a moving carousel with no order to them
whatsoever. There are no ship reps around to help with
luggage that can't be found. One recent Hawaiian cruise
RCCL dumped all the luggage in a warehouse in a highly
disorganized fashion.
Conclusion
You also probably noticed that I made no mention of Islands we
visited. First, I wanted to concentrate on giving you details about Golden Princess
vs. Royal Caribbean. I also
have to be quite frank in saying that after sailing in the Caribbean
all this time, the islands really suck for people who don't go on
excursions. You get dropped off in a tourist shopping area and
on many islands the natives hassle you for taxi rides, timeshare
offers and shopping discounts. St. Martin, Antigua and Cozumel
are amongst the worst spots in the Caribbean to be dropped off.
For me, I enjoy the ship. I cruise to the same destinations more
than once just because the days at sea are more important than
where we go. On Island days I may get off to shop and be hassled
by natives, but quickly get back on the ship and enjoy the pool before
anyone gets back.
Both Princess and Royal Caribbean seem to be the
most popular cruise lines for mid-budget cruisers. They give you the
best bang for the buck without having to stoop to Carnival level or
exceed to Crystal level.
In actuality, both lines receive high marks for what they are. In
all honesty, both are very close to each other in plus and minus
departments. If I had a choice whom to sail with again, Princess
would have been that choice.
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