Have cruised
DCL a ton. In excess of 20 times.
Have cruised Princess once.
Breakfasts. Cabanas. Fine for me but I’ve learned to just have different cheeses, smoked salmon, melon nuts. Every day I eat that as it’s impossible to be anything other than to my taste. On the very odd day I’ll get a freshly made cheese and onion omelette.
Princess breakfast better hot food not so good a selection of cold in the buffet.
With Princess we had a drinks package so had beautiful coffee for breakfast and sometimes yogurt berries etc. Really enjoyed that.
Pools. Princess wins that hands down for the variety and size.
Food around the pool again Princess wins as their counter service food was freshly cooked to order and hot!! My pet hate is cold food. The pool burgers were amazing.
Daytime entertainment DCL for the prize.
Lunch buffets similar. However, in Cabanas I’ll choose the peel and eat shrimps and some salad which is delicious and maybe a few fries. If there is Indian food I’ll take a tiny bit and see if it’s hot enough and if it is I’ll choose a portion of that too. Princess didn’t have shrimp but the selection was reasonable.
MDR on both cruises. Princess wins. Food was similar quality but Princess the food was hot without having to send it back over and over as I have to on DCL.
Speciality dining Palo I think gets my vote.
Brunch and dinner.
Entertainment.
Shows DCL by a huge margin.
Adult entertainment used to be DCL when they had great club hosts and outside premium entertainers. Not sure if these hafe returned yet. The adult entertainment on the staycations was pitiful. But there is a caveat to the evening entertainment Princess had masses of different bars and areas which had violinists, singers, pianists, duos and because of the drinks package they were lively and fun. I don’t mean drunken lively just lots of people enjoying themselves.
Of course the missing ingredient for Disney fans and families with kiddies is that DCL has the characters and that special something that you can’t put your finger on!
So despite loving my Princess cruise I’ve gone back to DCL but absolutely wouldn’t hesitate to return to Princess which actually did give me the confidence to try other lines if the itinerary works. Pre covid I was taking two DCL cruises per year. Now I think I might take one DCL cruise if I have the young family with me and one alternative cruise line if I don’t per year.