Comparing Cruise Lines
I just cruised on Royal Caribbean in November 2023. This had been my second cruise on Royal Caribbean, but I do not remember much from my first cruise, as it had been when I was in middle school. I also recently cruised on Princess in May 2019 and June 2022. So when I was cruising in November 2023, I could not help but compare Royal Caribbean to my two recent cruises on Princess.
I think the exercise programs are better on Princess. The Zumba instructors, line dance instructors, etc. on Princess do a better job, and I think a lot has to do with the equipment and space they are provided. The instructors on Princess get a hands free microphone, and they are put into an area of the ship that has a large dance floor to accommodate many people. Also, on Princess, the instructors are up on a substantial stage. If you cannot see them, then you can just watch one of the TV monitors near by which shows the instructor.
On Royal Caribbean, the instructors had to hold a microphone as they were moving. Also, they were put into the most inconvenient locations on the ship. For the morning stretches, they were held in the Centrum on deck 4 which was a small circular area. It became crowded quite fast. The Zumba was held on the pool deck, which was outside on deck 11. One day, it was quite windy, and the other day was very sunny. It was a small space, and we could not use the entire space, because the edge of it was near the pool, and the instructor did not want us to get too close to the pool because the deck could be slippery there. Furthermore, the instructor was on a short stage and it was hard to see her.
There seemed to be more children on the Royal Caribbean cruise. Do not get me wrong — I do not hate children, but I would rather be on a vacation with few children. We would go to the performances in the theater, and there would be children sitting behind us kicking the backs of our chairs. On Princess, I do not remember many children on either cruise. There might not have been many children on the Princess cruise in June 2022 because it was close to the end of the pandemic, and families may not have been eager to travel at that time.
The service seemed to be better on the Princess cruises. When I was at dinner on a Princess cruise, I did not remember ever having to ask for my glass to be refilled with water. Also, when I was at the buffet for breakfast on Princess, I was constantly asked if I wanted coffee. However, on the Royal Caribbean cruise, I had to routinely ask for more water, and I was only asked if I wanted coffee once.
On Princess Cruises, my room was cleaned twice a day — once during breakfast and once during dinner. Each time, my bed would be made, trash would be removed, and dirty towels were replaced with fresh ones. On Royal Caribbean, our room was only cleaned once a day during the morning. I was fine with it being cleaned just once a day, but it was nice on Princess to have your bed made twice each day in case you took an afternoon nap!
I felt the areas on the Princess ships were more spacious, and the ships seemed to be better laid out. On Royal Caribbean, there was a specialty restaurant that was only accessible by going outside on deck 13. You could not get to it from the inside of the ship. So if it was raining, you had to go outside to get to the restaurant and get wet! Also, there was no restroom inside the restaurant. Also, there was a bar on the Royal Caribbean’s Radiance of the Seas ship called The Colony Club, which I found to be a bit politically inconsiderate.
The performances on Princess were so much better than the performances held on Royal Caribbean. The singers were so loud on Royal Caribbean. On our recent cruise, my in-laws had an app on their phone that determined the decibel level of sounds, and their app registered sounds at over 80 decibels for most of one of the performances! In case you did not know, “Noise above 70 dB over a prolonged period of time may start to damage your hearing.” This is according to the CDC, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Also, the costumes that the singers and dancers were wearing on Royal Caribbean appeared cheap. I was not impressed. However, I was impressed with the magician they brought on board, Bill Cook. I did not like how he made fun of his weight and how Chicago was known for its gun violence.
The excursions seemed to be run better on Princess Cruises. For Royal Caribbean, we had to wait in the theater at least 20 minutes after our scheduled meeting time to be let off the ship. Then, we had to wait on a bus and then fill out a waiver. Why couldn’t we be emailed the waiver ahead of time? Why couldn’t we have filled out the waiver while we waiting in the theater? Our bus left over an hour after our scheduled meeting time!
Moreover, the televisions in the staterooms on the Princess ships had better offerings. You could even watch Disney movies in your stateroom! On my solo cruise in the summer of 2022, I watched two Disney movies: Raya and the Last Dragon and Soul. I really liked the Raya movie! On Royal Caribbean, the TV barely had any channels. I selected a channel that played music videos, and it would cut out and show a black screen for about 30 seconds every 10 minutes or so.
The dinner times were also different between Princess and Royal Caribbean. On Princess Cruises, you could go to the main dining room instead of the buffet whenever you wanted to. However, on Royal Caribbean, you either had to select a time or a time was given to you. We ended up getting the 5:15 pm slot. I would prefer to not have a specific time for dinner. I would rather go whenever I was hungry or whenever it fit into my schedule between trivia games, performances, etc.
Overall, I found Princess Cruises to be more appealing and better than Royal Caribbean. I do not intend to cruise on Royal Caribbean again. I have heard that Celebrity Cruises which is run by the same company as Royal Caribbean is better, so I will have to look into that cruise line. The only other cruise line that I have traveled on was Norwegian Cruise Line when I went with my family on a Mediterranean Sea cruise. It was years ago, so I do not remember much about the service on that line. I do remember I enjoyed it, so I would not mind trying that cruise line again. Which cruise line do you prefer to travel on?
