Princess Cruises
CRUISE CATEGORIES:
Ship Category: Large Ships up to 4000 Passengers
Capacity: 2000 to 4300 Passengers
Ships: 16
Customers: Adults, Retirees, Families
Description and Background:
Princess Cruises is a well-established cruise line that has been traveling the world since 1965. One of its ships served as the model for the Love Boat television series which promoted cruising to Americans as a pleasant alternative vacation rather than just an ocean crossing adventure. Now owned by the Carnival Cruise group, Princess has a large and modern fleet of 16 ships which includes 6 Royal class ships with a capacity of 3600 passengers and the new Sun Princess with additional enhancements and a capacity for 4300 passengers. Since all Princess ships hold over 2000 passengers, the ships have enough room to offer specialty restaurants, stage shows, outdoor activities and lots of comfortable lounges and other venues to just relax in. The newer Princess class ships feature state of the art technology enhancements, a sleeker design, and exclusive access areas while retaining many traditional Princess features.
Princess offers cruises to Asia and Australia, the Caribbean, the Mediterranean and other locations around the world. Although its ships lack the amusement park features of the mega vessels, Princess has enough amenities and interesting destinations to attract a wide following that includes retirees, middle-aged couples, and families.
Notable features of Princess Ships:
Princess ships are designed so that savvy cruisers can enjoy the voyage and avoid the crowds. It is easy to find a lounge chair or a bar stool during sea days either on the Sun Deck or for an additional fee in a special cabana area known as the Sanctuary. Princess vessels have ample swimming options to handle the passengers including two pools with six Jacuzzis on the Lido and Sun Decks, a deep pool at the rear of the ship called the Wake View Pool, and an adult only pool usually located either by the Sanctuary or in the spa area at the front of the ship. Most ships also have a sports court on the Sky Deck with basketball, pickleball, and soccer equipment, shuffleboard, and a golf and miniature golf area.
Within the larger ships, there are multiple areas set aside for relaxing with friends, reading, watching entertainers or having a drink such as the Vista Lounge, Princess Live! Cafe, and Bellini's Bar on Deck 7, and Crooner's Lounge on Deck 6. Most ships also have a youth center, teen lounge and a jacuzzi tucked away on the Sun Deck which provide great hangouts for teenagers and preteens, and a casino on Deck 6 to use as an adult hangout.
Staterooms:
Staterooms on Princess ships are decent sized except that the interior rooms and ocean view rooms can be less than 160 square feet in some locations. The balcony rooms and mini suites are large, well-appointed rooms with soft tones, comfortable furnishings, and an adequate bathroom. The Royal class ships offer many more rooms with verandas including a deluxe balcony stateroom which provides larger living space to move around and comfortable bathrooms. The newest ships include an exclusive Sky Deck area of suites with their own balcony area at the top of the ship.These larger rooms are worth considering for a longer voyage.
Dining:
Princess has maintained a reputation for providing excellent food over the years at all levels of the operation. The pizza slices at the Pizzeria and the grill entrees at the pool are a cut above most cruise line cuisine. Princess was also one of the first cruise lines to introduce a Dining My Way feature which allows passengers to pick their own seating times and dining rooms for each night of the voyage. It can still get crowded on nights when there is a major entertainment event going on since passengers try to crowd into the time slots before and after the shows. There are usually one or two formal nights on cruises.
The main choices for meals and snacks on Princess ships include:
Main dining rooms on decks five and six which offer both fixed seating times and anytime dining for dinner and some breakfast meals.
Several specialty restaurants on each ship. The new class of ships has expanded Princess' offerings to include fine dining at Sabatini’s Italian Trattoria, the Crown Grille Steakhouse, The Catch seafood offerings, the Chef’s Table Lumiere, and sometimes a French bistro called Sur La Mer. Other specialty restaurants found on some individual ships include Gigi's Pizzeria, Kai Sushi, O'Malley's Irish Pub, and 360.
The World Fresh Marketplace buffet style dining area on the Lido Deck features serving stations and occasionally an additional special restaurant will be added there for dinner.
On Deck 5, there is an excellent and always busy cafe featuring specialty coffees, prepared light fare, and desserts throughout the day, along with a Gelateria.
The Salty Dog Grill and a Slice Pizzeria at poolside.
The Princess fee structure charges extra for many items including visits to the specialty restaurants except for certain suite customers receive additional offerings and promotions offering providing two nights of specialty dining. The only beverages provided without charge are water, tea, coffee, and juices at the buffet. There are numerous packages available for beverages, special coffees, and drinks.
Ships Activities:
Ship activities for adults and older children are one of the strong points on Princess Cruises. Princess excels in four areas. First, the open atrium area in the center of decks, 5, 6 and 7 is a hub of activity all day and during late evening hours. There are plenty of tables on those floors where people gather to have coffee, drinks, snacks, and listen to a rotating group of musicians and occasional contests and games. This area offers a relaxing alternative to the music stage and pool contests on deck. Second, the shows on the main stage are generally better than the entertainment available on premium cruise lines because of the large size of the theater and the production quality. The “Magic to Do” Broadway themed productions introduced by Princess a decade ago based on songs by Steven Schwartz raised the bar for cruise shows. However, according to some Princess customers the newer productions have not been as consistent in quality and interest. Nevertheless, the comedy shows, music based contests, and quality karaoke shows available nightly in the Vista Lounge, Princess Live! and the main stage draw enthusiastic crowds.
A third strength of Princess is the Movies under the Stars features which have been offered on every Princess ship for over a dozen years. With a large screen, an excellent sound system and comfortable lounge chairs, it is a wonderful way for people to watch a football game on deck or spend some time as a family in the evening. Another strength of the Princess ships is the service at the Lotus Spa. My wife enjoys their spa treatments more than any other cruise line and my routine on board usually includes a workout in the ample fitness center prior to dinner followed by a swim or relaxation in the adult pool area. The newer ships have expanded the spa area to include a private indoor retreat called The Enclave which is enjoyable but smaller than needed for large ships.
Several other areas in which Princess has launched shipboard initiatives include the Discovery at Sea experience, which offers game shows and activities based on Discovery Channel programs, and improved technology offerings on board. The Wi-Fi system allows up to four devices to be used for a reasonable fee but requires some technological dexterity to connect to when at sea or in certain ports. The Ocean Medallion device is an effective tool for paying for everything on board, ordering services and entering your room though a small pendant worn around the neck.
Itineraries and Excursions:
Princess Cruises offers numerous cruise destinations around the world that provide more than enough choices for most cruisers. The company has excellent stops along the entire West Coast of North America all the way up to Alaska, and on the East Coast all the way up to Quebec. They also have multiple cruises which travel across the Atlantic to out of the way places like Greenland, Iceland, and Scandinavia. Princess stops at dozens of ports throughout the Mediterranean, East Asia and far away destinations in Australia and Oceania. For more adventurous travelers, however, the Princess offerings in places like South America, the Middle East, Africa, and India are not particularly appealing. Similarly, the world cruises and transcontinental cruise offerings are full of sea days and rush through many regions they pass through.
Excursions off the ship on Princess are solid and the company does an excellent job on its website describing accurately what you are going to see, the travel time involved, and the highlights of each stop. The few disappointing tours are usually the result of a poor selection of the port to begin with rather than a lack of execution by Princess and its affiliated companies.
Editor's Personal Observations:
Princess has found a nice balance between the needs and interests of retirees and older couples who want a comfortable and reasonably priced cruise experience with good food and an opportunity to see some new places, with the priorities of families and younger travelers in their 30s and 40s who want to step out a little. We have traveled extensively on Princess over the past 20 years and our family had some excellent experiences on Princess seeing different parts of Europe for the first time and relaxing in the Caribbean. However, the demography of Princess passengers can be dramatically different depending upon whether you are traveling during the summer, spring vacation time or to the Caribbean, as opposed to cruising to Southeast Asia or the Panama Canal in February.
One trend on Princess ships is that newer vessels have created secluded areas for premium suite passengers and provided them with enhanced access to certain services, pools, and spa areas. This is similar to the Haven area on some Norwegian ships and the Retreat and Aqua Class rooms on Celebrity. This trend could be attractive to passengers who want all the options that a larger ship offers while retaining a place to retreat to on sea days and relaxation times. However, the ship within a ship concept could prove to be detrimental to the Princess brand if it results in the elimination of some common areas and amenities previously enjoyed by all passengers.
Princess offers a less frantic and less crowded alternative to the large ship sailings of Norwegian, Royal Caribbean, Carnival, and MSC. The company attracts a more diverse group of passengers than Holland America, Disney and Cunard do, while offering a wider range of ship activities and more common space at a lower price than the premium cruise lines. As a result, Princess competes effectively for customers on price and services with Celebrity Cruises and the mid-sized Norwegian ships.
Average Daily Price Per Person excluding Airfare for Basic Veranda Stateroom and Meals:
Over $500 ___ $350 to $500 ____ $200 to $350 _X__ Under $200 ____
Services Provided without Additional Charge for Cruise Only Fare
Coffee, tea, water, and juices in the dining rooms.
Entertainment and Destination Talks
Youth Center activities
Entertainment on the ship's stage and lounges
Editor’s Overall Rating of Cruise Line Quality and Value- 4.0
4.5 to 5.0 is Outstanding / 4.0 to 4.5 is Very Good / 3.5 to 4.0 is Acceptable / 2.5 to 3.5 is Fair / Less than 2.5 is Poor
This profile is based on information published by the cruise line or gathered from other published sources. Other information listed in the profile as the Editor’s Personal Observations and Overall Report reflects the personal experience and opinion of the Editor which may or may not be applicable to other guests traveling on the ship.