Talk to me about Princess Cruises

[Carohs]

There are 4 of us that would be sailing, ages 42, 37, 11, and 9 at the time of departure. We have tried NCL (didn't hate it, more plusses than negatives) and CCL (was disappointed in one trip but the other was fabulous), but we love cruising Disney most of all. For what would be our 5th cruise on DCL, I booked us a 3N cruise out of San Diego during spring break. Category 10A, $3590. Unfortunately, I didn't have a placeholder to use on that one, and I keep second guessing if we really want to spend over $1000/day just to sail DCL again.

I could book a 7N on Discovery Princess, balcony cabin with Princess Plus included for $700 less. But we haven't sailed Princess before. Besides the casino, smoking, and drinking from other passengers, what are some pros/cons to switching cruises? Anyone that has sailed Princess with kids this age, did they enjoy the kids club? How was capacity over spring break? Looking to get some experiences from other Disney loving cruisers.

 

[jimmymc]

I've never sailed them with kids, but I've heard great reviews about the kid's clubs from others. The actual spaces aren't anything special, but the counselors do a really good job of letting kids meet each other and make friends.

Food is pretty good, I'd say similar quality to the Disney rotational restaurants but in a plain dining room setting. Formal nights are taken seriously, and the entertainment is still very old-school cruiseline, where four singers will just play hits of the 50s to 70s for an hour instead of doing a real musical. Not as much late night entertainment, but one club will usually be open til midnight, even if it's empty. Smoke will leak out of the casinos, which can be annoying when you're walking by or if the main dining room is close. It usually doesn't get into the dining room, but you can smell it when waiting to be seated.

Princess plus is a pretty great deal; I would recommend it if you were getting a drink package anyway. Overall, I think a spring break princess cruise will have enough for the adults and kids in the group, minus the big shows that Disney or NCL put on.

 

[LAS2AMS]

Discovery Princess is a beautiful ship, currently the lines' newest and flagship. Spring break will draw lots of kids on pretty much any cruise, but Princess attracts less kids in general as most of its voyages are extended and the ships lack many amenities kids desire like waterparks (that will change later this year when they take delivery of their newest ship).

Food quality is excellent, you will find more premium options than Disney, especially in seafood. Princess Plus soda is canned, which is another plus for those of us that dislike fountain soda.

That said... if you're looking for Disney ambiance, stick with Disney

 

[tidefan]

We’ve been on 10 Princess cruises and enjoyed them all.

 

[auntlynne]

What is the itinerary for the Princess? Lots of time in ports or mainly Sea Days? That can make a difference. That said, how do you feel about the itinerary on Disney? Would you just stay onboard if you go to Ensenada?

This link will show you Daily Patters from an April 2022 California Coastal Sailing. That’s probably after Spring Break - and I don’t see listings for Kids’ Clubs, so that might be found elsewhere.

https://www.alannazingano.com/video...-patter-classic-california-coast-april-3-2022

I have sailed Princess - primarily in AK - thanks to the advice of a Disney cruising mom of 7. Her kids were happy with the kids program, but also seemed to be happy anywhere. And with AK, you spend a lot of time in ports.

 

[Carohs]

Smoke will leak out of the casinos, which can be annoying when you're walking by or if the main dining room is close. It usually doesn't get into the dining room, but you can smell it when waiting to be seated.

Yeah this is true almost any other ship on another line. Looking at Discovery deck plan the casino is adjacent to the lower floor of the main theater. I don't want to be smelling the smoke in there, I wonder how bad the smoking smell will extend beyond the casino on the Princess ship.

 

[jimmymc]

Yeah this is true almost any other ship on another line. Looking at Discovery deck plan the casino is adjacent to the lower floor of the main theater. I don't want to be smelling the smoke in there, I wonder how bad the smoking smell will extend beyond the casino on the Princess ship.

The newest ships are getting better. I was on NCL Encore, which has an enclosed smoking section of the casino. The smell would leak into the non-smoking park of the casino, but not out into the atrium or bars next door. But this is pretty new, and any ship built before the mid-2010s will have smoke problems.

 

[RedHead0186]

I've done 2 Princess cruises, one being a 14-night Panama Canal cruise this past January. Very different vibe from DCL, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. I agree with others, the entertainment is very old school, though at least on the Island Princess they had Movies Under the Stars, where they'd put cushions on the pool deck chairs and show movies at night (with popcorn and blankets!) They also showed concerts (Adele, Katy Perry, etc.) in the afternoon.

Food was good; I enjoyed DCL's better overall, but Princess also had good options. Not a lot of kids, though that might have been more a result of it being a longer cruise than Princess itself.

On our ship, they only allowed smoking at a couple of the slot machines, and I think they were in the corner. I was in the casino a couple of times and never really smelled the smoke.

 

[LAS2AMS]

Yeah this is true almost any other ship on another line. Looking at Discovery deck plan the casino is adjacent to the lower floor of the main theater. I don't want to be smelling the smoke in there, I wonder how bad the smoking smell will extend beyond the casino on the Princess ship.

There's a large space between the casino floor and theater. I've sensitive to cigarette smoke (we even sold a condo with shared walls years ago due to a neighbor who smoked) but I've never smelled cigarette smoke anywhere outside the casino and designated smoking areas on any ship I've been on, unless somebody was smoking where they weren't suppose to (which happens even on Disney). Just another fallacy the hardcore Disney fans use to justify why they only cruise Disney.

 

[Carohs]

There's a large space between the casino floor and theater. I've sensitive to cigarette smoke (we even sold a condo with shared walls years ago due to a neighbor who smoked) but I've never smelled cigarette smoke anywhere outside the casino and designated smoking areas on any ship I've been on, unless somebody was smoking where they weren't suppose to (which happens even on Disney). Just another fallacy the hardcore Disney fans use to justify why they only cruise Disney.

On CCL Spirit we smelled it on Lido, the smoking area being between the two pools near the bar. But it wasn't too bad from the Casino even walking through it. On the NCL Jewel I smelled it in the theater. It was faint but definitely there, even when I tried to see if it was maybe from someone sitting nearby or just left over from having walked through it. It wasn't as bad on the second level of the theater but you really had to get away from the casino to avoid it. I guess it depends on layout and # of people actively smoking, but the scent of the smoke isn't always contained to the designated areas.

 

[Carohs]

What is the itinerary for the Princess? Lots of time in ports or mainly Sea Days? That can make a difference. That said, how do you feel about the itinerary in Disney? Would you just stay onboard if you go to Ensenada?

Mexican Riviera, 3 port days, 3 sea days, skipping Ensenada. If we went on Disney we would for sure skip Ensenada, opting to make the most of the time we have onboard the ship.

 

[LAS2AMS]

On CCL Spirit we smelled it on Lido, the smoking area being between the two pools near the bar. But it wasn't too bad from the Casino even walking through it. On the NCL Jewel I smelled it in the theater. It was faint but definitely there, even when I tried to see if it was maybe from someone sitting nearby or just left over from having walked through it. It wasn't as bad on the second level of the theater but you really had to get away from the casino to avoid it. I guess it depends on layout and # of people actively smoking, but the scent of the smoke isn't always contained to the designated areas.

I think the bigger issue is the people who want to smoke, are going to smoke, and the smell trails them. Unfortunately it's common for people to smoke in non-designated areas, or for the fresh smell of smoke to follow them into the theater after they enjoyed an after dinner smoke.

My city has a citywide smoking ban -- you're allowed to smoke only in your private residence or vehicle. And yet I smell cigarette and marijuana smoke almost every day.