Trying RCCL instead of DCL

Why Princess? Looking at their ships, they seem to offer fewer on-board activities. Is it the food and service?
If by "on-board activities" you mean waterslides and rock climbing walls, then yes.

If you mean live music all over the ship, lots of game show type activities ("Yes/No" on Princess has become one of our favorite activities), naturalists, etc, then there is plenty to do. Now, if you want an amusement park at sea, that is not what Princess is. Princess (and you can throw in Celebrity here as well) is a more "classic" cruise experience. That being said, you may be surprised that our DD, who is 16, says Princess is her favorite line after DCL. She likes how the kids club gets all the kids to know each other the first few days, then has activities where they can all just do a few things and "hang out" (this is from her, so much gets lost in translation as I can't even quite figure out why that is different on Princess, but I digress).

I'd say RCCL (or Carnival) is like a Van Halen concert whereas Princess is like a Jimmy Buffett concert. I like both, but you have a different vibe at each show...

There are things I like about all of the lines, but since you asked, here are some of the reasons why I like Princess...
  • Room Service is included at no extra charge with the exception of just a couple of items (they don't do free pizza delivery, for instance)
  • I never feel as though I need to go to an upcharge restaurant to get a wide variety of decent food and on many ships, a number of the alternative eating places (like Alfredo's) are included. Plus, if you do want to do the steakhouse or the other one on the ship (usually, Sabatini's, an Italian) it's in the $20-$29 range
  • Not that I spend a ton of time in the room, but I love the big TV's with a large selection of TV shows and Movies at no charge (RCCL, for instance, charges something like $7 for a movie - on Princess, if they show it at Movies Under the Stars or in the lounge, they'll put it on the OnDemand on your stateroom TV afterwards, gratis!)
  • If you are on the new Royal class of ships (Royal, Regal, Sky, Majestic), they have IMHO, the best buffet at sea
  • Poolside grill (something we REALLY missed on Serenade OTS - ETA: I think that Carnival actually has this category won between Guy's and Blue Iguana)...
  • Freshwater pools (not a big issue, but something we notice) and large enough to not be "people soup" (looking at you, Goofy Pool!). I also really like that most ships have a pool on the rear of the ship...
  • Kids clubs seem to do a much better job with organized activities. They have some kind of partnership with Discovery Channel and do a number of things that relate to Shark Week/Mythbusters, that kind of thing. When we were in Alaska, one of the Iditarod competitors brought some of the dogs on the ship ("Puppies in the Piazza") and the various kids groups could meet with them separately after the main presentation to get up close and personal (if they wanted to). Some of the other kids in our group got to cook in the galley with one of the chefs. In other words, it seemed as though they actually had activities that the kids wanted to go to (if that makes sense).
  • Also, on the Medallion class Princess ships, there is some kind of interactive thing the kids can do with all of the video screens around the ships (some sort of video games, etc. Not exactly sure what it was, but we saw a number of kids having a blast with it). I only figured out how to do the trivia game, so I'd play that if I was waiting for an elevator...
  • On at least 1 sea day, they do a complementary British Pub lunch in the steakhouse
  • Food available 24/7 in the International Cafe (complimentary) ...
  • Sports deck (at least on the Regal) had a golf driving net with a full set of clubs in addition to the traditional basketball court. Hadn't seen that before and I used it more than I'd care to admit...
  • Service... Some examples
    • We were in Grand Cayman and when we came back to the tender location, the line wrapped around hundreds of people deep, standing out in the open sun as the line moved SLOWLY along... Then, we realized that was the tender line for the Carnival Vista. They said, "no, your line is over there"! So, we walked past all of these poor folks around the left side, right through the gate where the attendants handed us all a chilled towel, followed by a glass of citrus (or plain, if you wanted) infused water, put us right on the tender and we were back on the boat... Oh the stares we got from the poor folks on the Vista!
    • In Alaska, we met people that had done a salmon fishing expedition earlier in the day. They had brought back their catch and the Maitre'd cooked their salmon table-side for them that night...
    • There is no checking in/out of towels. They just have them all rolled up, sitting out on the deck and you can just grab what you need. They also have clean towels in a bin at disembarkation so you can just grab what you need as you go off. Similarly, you can just toss them back into another "dirty towel" bin when you get back, but you don't have to do any "accounting"...
    • Room is ready when you board the ship (or at least it always has been on our Princess Cruises)...
    • In the buffet, there are wait staff there to get your drinks for you. You do not have to get them yourself.
    • IMHO, Anytime Dining works much better than what we experienced in "MyTime" dining on Serenade. On Serenade, we were hounded to make a reservation time (now that I think about it, it's one of the things that bugged me the most about RCCL, they wanted me to make a reservation for everything) and if we just showed up, we sometimes had long waits whereas on Princess, we just show up when we want to eat and they pretty much get us in fairly quickly. (ETA: That could have been a symptom just of the Serenade OTS, not RCCL in general)
So, to sum it up, I think that Princess does all of the little things really well. That being said, it is more of the classic cruise experience, so if you want go karts, ropes courses, laser tag, rock walls, water parks, and flow riders, it may not be for you. But, if you want to relax with excellent food (that is mostly all included), be entertained by a number of different and variety of acts (our favorite on the last cruise was the rock band made up of Princess Crew Members -It was their hobby, but the ship let them put on a show - All of their practice, etc., was done on their own time), then Princess is great. We have family members that have sailed Celebrity and they say that is similar as well to Princess.
 
Also, on the Medallion class Princess ships, there is some kind of interactive thing the kids can do with all of the video screens around the ships (some sort of video games, etc. Not exactly sure what it was, but we saw a number of kids having a blast with it). I only figured out how to do the trivia game, so I'd play that if I was waiting for an elevator...
I've been reading that this is something that Royal is trying to integrate into their App. But given how, ahem, deliberate they are with app rollout, we'll be getting these VR games about 10 years after everyone else has moved on from them.

I'll probably be going back on Princess in the next 2-3 years. They don't seem to be a great fit for the Under 3 crowd, and once my nephews cross that age, we'll probably do a generational cruise with them.
 
If by "on-board activities" you mean waterslides and rock climbing walls, then yes.

If you mean live music all over the ship, lots of game show type activities ("Yes/No" on Princess has become one of our favorite activities), naturalists, etc, then there is plenty to do. Now, if you want an amusement park at sea, that is not what Princess is. Princess (and you can throw in Celebrity here as well) is a more "classic" cruise experience. That being said, you may be surprised that our DD, who is 16, says Princess is her favorite line after DCL. She likes how the kids club gets all the kids to know each other the first few days, then has activities where they can all just do a few things and "hang out" (this is from her, so much gets lost in translation as I can't even quite figure out why that is different on Princess, but I digress).

I'd say RCCL (or Carnival) is like a Van Halen concert whereas Princess is like a Jimmy Buffett concert. I like both, but you have a different vibe at each show...

There are things I like about all of the lines, but since you asked, here are some of the reasons why I like Princess...
  • Room Service is included at no extra charge with the exception of just a couple of items (they don't do free pizza delivery, for instance)
  • I never feel as though I need to go to an upcharge restaurant to get a wide variety of decent food and on many ships, a number of the alternative eating places (like Alfredo's) are included. Plus, if you do want to do the steakhouse or the other one on the ship (usually, Sabatini's, an Italian) it's in the $20-$29 range
  • Not that I spend a ton of time in the room, but I love the big TV's with a large selection of TV shows and Movies at no charge (RCCL, for instance, charges something like $7 for a movie - on Princess, if they show it at Movies Under the Stars or in the lounge, they'll put it on the OnDemand on your stateroom TV afterwards, gratis!)
  • If you are on the new Royal class of ships (Royal, Regal, Sky, Majestic), they have IMHO, the best buffet at sea
  • Poolside grill (something we REALLY missed on Serenade OTS - ETA: I think that Carnival actually has this category won between Guy's and Blue Iguana)...
  • Freshwater pools (not a big issue, but something we notice) and large enough to not be "people soup" (looking at you, Goofy Pool!). I also really like that most ships have a pool on the rear of the ship...
  • Kids clubs seem to do a much better job with organized activities. They have some kind of partnership with Discovery Channel and do a number of things that relate to Shark Week/Mythbusters, that kind of thing. When we were in Alaska, one of the Iditarod competitors brought some of the dogs on the ship ("Puppies in the Piazza") and the various kids groups could meet with them separately after the main presentation to get up close and personal (if they wanted to). Some of the other kids in our group got to cook in the galley with one of the chefs. In other words, it seemed as though they actually had activities that the kids wanted to go to (if that makes sense).
  • Also, on the Medallion class Princess ships, there is some kind of interactive thing the kids can do with all of the video screens around the ships (some sort of video games, etc. Not exactly sure what it was, but we saw a number of kids having a blast with it). I only figured out how to do the trivia game, so I'd play that if I was waiting for an elevator...
  • On at least 1 sea day, they do a complementary British Pub lunch in the steakhouse
  • Food available 24/7 in the International Cafe (complimentary) ...
  • Sports deck (at least on the Regal) had a golf driving net with a full set of clubs in addition to the traditional basketball court. Hadn't seen that before and I used it more than I'd care to admit...
  • Service... Some examples
    • We were in Grand Cayman and when we came back to the tender location, the line wrapped around hundreds of people deep, standing out in the open sun as the line moved SLOWLY along... Then, we realized that was the tender line for the Carnival Vista. They said, "no, your line is over there"! So, we walked past all of these poor folks around the left side, right through the gate where the attendants handed us all a chilled towel, followed by a glass of citrus (or plain, if you wanted) infused water, put us right on the tender and we were back on the boat... Oh the stares we got from the poor folks on the Vista!
    • In Alaska, we met people that had done a salmon fishing expedition earlier in the day. They had brought back their catch and the Maitre'd cooked their salmon table-side for them that night...
    • There is no checking in/out of towels. They just have them all rolled up, sitting out on the deck and you can just grab what you need. They also have clean towels in a bin at disembarkation so you can just grab what you need as you go off. Similarly, you can just toss them back into another "dirty towel" bin when you get back, but you don't have to do any "accounting"...
    • Room is ready when you board the ship (or at least it always has been on our Princess Cruises)...
    • In the buffet, there are wait staff there to get your drinks for you. You do not have to get them yourself.
    • IMHO, Anytime Dining works much better than what we experienced in "MyTime" dining on Serenade. On Serenade, we were hounded to make a reservation time (now that I think about it, it's one of the things that bugged me the most about RCCL, they wanted me to make a reservation for everything) and if we just showed up, we sometimes had long waits whereas on Princess, we just show up when we want to eat and they pretty much get us in fairly quickly. (ETA: That could have been a symptom just of the Serenade OTS, not RCCL in general)
So, to sum it up, I think that Princess does all of the little things really well. That being said, it is more of the classic cruise experience, so if you want go karts, ropes courses, laser tag, rock walls, water parks, and flow riders, it may not be for you. But, if you want to relax with excellent food (that is mostly all included), be entertained by a number of different and variety of acts (our favorite on the last cruise was the rock band made up of Princess Crew Members -It was their hobby, but the ship let them put on a show - All of their practice, etc., was done on their own time), then Princess is great. We have family members that have sailed Celebrity and they say that is similar as well to Princess.
Wow I didn't expect such a thorough response. Thanks!
 
We usually don't get upsell pitches. I attribute this to demeanour (acting like we've been here before) and avoiding the people that are clearly pitching the upsells.
We only got one, in the Windjammer. The woman asked us if we would like to do some type of brunch. We said no and she told us to have a wonderful time and went on her merry way. No one tried to sell anything to us after that one encounter.
 


We usually don't get upsell pitches. I attribute this to demeanour (acting like we've been here before) and avoiding the people that are clearly pitching the upsells.

I have to agree with this. We've been on 4 or 5 RCCL cruises and I can't remember getting directly approached for upsells. I remember seeing tables set up where you could do it and maybe someone standing in the Promenade that could do it for you, but I can't remember any over aggressive pitch.
 
Is there a 'golden age' for switching kids over to RCCL? I know some kids prefer some kids clubs over others. My kids are young and still very much into the Disney characters. Plus they couldn't take advantage of some of the fun things on the RCCL like rock climbing, bigger slides, etc.
Not sure but I think I only saw one response on this so just adding some detail. Our son did his first Royal cruise when he was 9, and another one at 11. In between he did a couple more DCL. Whatever ship he just disembarked was his “new” favorite. There were pluses and minuses to each of the kids clubs for us and for him.

The smaller age groupings on Royal seemed to be better in our view. Since the program is changing and on the Oasis they are closer to DCL with something like a 6-11 y.o. it doesn’t seem so different.
 
Oh, that's pretty close to DCL. I thought it was wildly different based on some of the posts here. Thanks
It's not wildly different - but different enough sometimes. We are not into booze, so the included sodas and carry-on water allowance means we have pretty much all our drinks included with an occasional upcharge here and there.

Compare this with our 14-night Celebrity holiday cruise - which we otherwise loved - a month ago. The price of their non-alcoholic beverage package came out to be more than $1K for our family.
 


It's not wildly different - but different enough sometimes. We are not into booze, so the included sodas and carry-on water allowance means we have pretty much all our drinks included with an occasional upcharge here and there.

Compare this with our 14-night Celebrity holiday cruise - which we otherwise loved - a month ago. The price of their non-alcoholic beverage package came out to be more than $1K for our family.

Do they charge more onboard, or did you just have a large family group? I don't recall ever seeing it for over $10/day. Even their premium packages with specialty coffee drinks, mocktails, and the super fancy water is only $18 - $22/day. Every time we've priced Celebrity though, it's been during their all-inclusive sales with gratuities, drinks, WiFi, etc. Included for free.
 
Do they charge more onboard, or did you just have a large family group? I don't recall ever seeing it for over $10/day. Even their premium packages with specialty coffee drinks, mocktails, and the super fancy water is only $18 - $22/day. Every time we've priced Celebrity though, it's been during their all-inclusive sales with gratuities, drinks, WiFi, etc. Included for free.
Yes, their premium non-alcoholic beverage is $22/person/day, so for a party of four for 14 nights, that's $1,200 right there. We also had everything included in our package, but I knew how much it added to the bill compared to, say, if we had picked just one perk.
 
If by "on-board activities" you mean waterslides and rock climbing walls, then yes.

If you mean live music all over the ship, lots of game show type activities ("Yes/No" on Princess has become one of our favorite activities), naturalists, etc, then there is plenty to do. Now, if you want an amusement park at sea, that is not what Princess is. Princess (and you can throw in Celebrity here as well) is a more "classic" cruise experience. That being said, you may be surprised that our DD, who is 16, says Princess is her favorite line after DCL. She likes how the kids club gets all the kids to know each other the first few days, then has activities where they can all just do a few things and "hang out" (this is from her, so much gets lost in translation as I can't even quite figure out why that is different on Princess, but I digress).

I'd say RCCL (or Carnival) is like a Van Halen concert whereas Princess is like a Jimmy Buffett concert. I like both, but you have a different vibe at each show...

There are things I like about all of the lines, but since you asked, here are some of the reasons why I like Princess...
  • Room Service is included at no extra charge with the exception of just a couple of items (they don't do free pizza delivery, for instance)
  • I never feel as though I need to go to an upcharge restaurant to get a wide variety of decent food and on many ships, a number of the alternative eating places (like Alfredo's) are included. Plus, if you do want to do the steakhouse or the other one on the ship (usually, Sabatini's, an Italian) it's in the $20-$29 range
  • Not that I spend a ton of time in the room, but I love the big TV's with a large selection of TV shows and Movies at no charge (RCCL, for instance, charges something like $7 for a movie - on Princess, if they show it at Movies Under the Stars or in the lounge, they'll put it on the OnDemand on your stateroom TV afterwards, gratis!)
  • If you are on the new Royal class of ships (Royal, Regal, Sky, Majestic), they have IMHO, the best buffet at sea
  • Poolside grill (something we REALLY missed on Serenade OTS - ETA: I think that Carnival actually has this category won between Guy's and Blue Iguana)...
  • Freshwater pools (not a big issue, but something we notice) and large enough to not be "people soup" (looking at you, Goofy Pool!). I also really like that most ships have a pool on the rear of the ship...
  • Kids clubs seem to do a much better job with organized activities. They have some kind of partnership with Discovery Channel and do a number of things that relate to Shark Week/Mythbusters, that kind of thing. When we were in Alaska, one of the Iditarod competitors brought some of the dogs on the ship ("Puppies in the Piazza") and the various kids groups could meet with them separately after the main presentation to get up close and personal (if they wanted to). Some of the other kids in our group got to cook in the galley with one of the chefs. In other words, it seemed as though they actually had activities that the kids wanted to go to (if that makes sense).
  • Also, on the Medallion class Princess ships, there is some kind of interactive thing the kids can do with all of the video screens around the ships (some sort of video games, etc. Not exactly sure what it was, but we saw a number of kids having a blast with it). I only figured out how to do the trivia game, so I'd play that if I was waiting for an elevator...
  • On at least 1 sea day, they do a complementary British Pub lunch in the steakhouse
  • Food available 24/7 in the International Cafe (complimentary) ...
  • Sports deck (at least on the Regal) had a golf driving net with a full set of clubs in addition to the traditional basketball court. Hadn't seen that before and I used it more than I'd care to admit...
  • Service... Some examples
    • We were in Grand Cayman and when we came back to the tender location, the line wrapped around hundreds of people deep, standing out in the open sun as the line moved SLOWLY along... Then, we realized that was the tender line for the Carnival Vista. They said, "no, your line is over there"! So, we walked past all of these poor folks around the left side, right through the gate where the attendants handed us all a chilled towel, followed by a glass of citrus (or plain, if you wanted) infused water, put us right on the tender and we were back on the boat... Oh the stares we got from the poor folks on the Vista!
    • In Alaska, we met people that had done a salmon fishing expedition earlier in the day. They had brought back their catch and the Maitre'd cooked their salmon table-side for them that night...
    • There is no checking in/out of towels. They just have them all rolled up, sitting out on the deck and you can just grab what you need. They also have clean towels in a bin at disembarkation so you can just grab what you need as you go off. Similarly, you can just toss them back into another "dirty towel" bin when you get back, but you don't have to do any "accounting"...
    • Room is ready when you board the ship (or at least it always has been on our Princess Cruises)...
    • In the buffet, there are wait staff there to get your drinks for you. You do not have to get them yourself.
    • IMHO, Anytime Dining works much better than what we experienced in "MyTime" dining on Serenade. On Serenade, we were hounded to make a reservation time (now that I think about it, it's one of the things that bugged me the most about RCCL, they wanted me to make a reservation for everything) and if we just showed up, we sometimes had long waits whereas on Princess, we just show up when we want to eat and they pretty much get us in fairly quickly. (ETA: That could have been a symptom just of the Serenade OTS, not RCCL in general)
So, to sum it up, I think that Princess does all of the little things really well. That being said, it is more of the classic cruise experience, so if you want go karts, ropes courses, laser tag, rock walls, water parks, and flow riders, it may not be for you. But, if you want to relax with excellent food (that is mostly all included), be entertained by a number of different and variety of acts (our favorite on the last cruise was the rock band made up of Princess Crew Members -It was their hobby, but the ship let them put on a show - All of their practice, etc., was done on their own time), then Princess is great. We have family members that have sailed Celebrity and they say that is similar as well to Princess.

@tidefan - I just wanted to let you know that based on your description, I booked my first Princess cruise! We got the Free Premium Drinks/Wi-Fi/Gratuities for a great price over New Years Eve. I have sailed Royal, Carnival and MSC previously but I am always up for trying new lines! I can't wait to see what it's like. Thanks!
 
@tidefan - I just wanted to let you know that based on your description, I booked my first Princess cruise! We got the Free Premium Drinks/Wi-Fi/Gratuities for a great price over New Years Eve. I have sailed Royal, Carnival and MSC previously but I am always up for trying new lines! I can't wait to see what it's like. Thanks!
Awesome! Which ship will you be on?
 
@tidefan - I just wanted to let you know that based on your description, I booked my first Princess cruise! We got the Free Premium Drinks/Wi-Fi/Gratuities for a great price over New Years Eve. I have sailed Royal, Carnival and MSC previously but I am always up for trying new lines! I can't wait to see what it's like. Thanks!
Before pouring thousands of dollars into a vacation with Princess, do take a moment to look up their terrible ocean-polluting history:

2016: https://www.theguardian.com/environ...ises-given-record-fine-for-dumping-oil-at-sea

2019: https://www.narcity.com/news/ca/bc/...llar20-million-for-dumping-garbage-into-ocean

Many don't care, while others find it a complete turnoff.
 
Before pouring thousands of dollars into a vacation with Princess, do take a moment to look up their terrible ocean-polluting history:

2016: https://www.theguardian.com/environ...ises-given-record-fine-for-dumping-oil-at-sea

2019: https://www.narcity.com/news/ca/bc/...llar20-million-for-dumping-garbage-into-ocean

Many don't care, while others find it a complete turnoff.
This has happened with many cruise lines:

https://www.theguardian.com/world/1999/jul/22/janemartinson
https://www.theguardian.com/environ...ise-ship-and-its-supersized-pollution-problem
Also, if you bother to read the 2019 report, a number of the "garbage dumping" cited was Princess self-reporting overboard discharge from passengers, which they were required to report until the prior settlement (my favorite is that somehow, a passenger got a chair over his balcony). This is now why we have those terrible plastic straws on all of the ships...
 
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@tidefan - I just wanted to let you know that based on your description, I booked my first Princess cruise! We got the Free Premium Drinks/Wi-Fi/Gratuities for a great price over New Years Eve. I have sailed Royal, Carnival and MSC previously but I am always up for trying new lines! I can't wait to see what it's like. Thanks!

We try to seek out the aspects which set each cruise line apart. I highly recommend the educational seminars on Princess. The navigation talk from one of the engineers onboard was so cool! Similar to Celebrity, they brought in experts on the different countries and cultures and really felt these were light years beyond what was on most other cruise lines. Entertaining and informative, don't skip these thinking it's going to be just another port shopping talk!
 
This has happened with many cruise lines:
Not many. Just one. RCCL in 1999, and apparently they learned the lesson. (That second article is about general cruise pollution.)

Princess, on the other hand, dumped in Alaskan protected waters while on probation. First In 2016 and then again in 2019.
 
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Awesome! Which ship will you be on?

Caribbean Princess...East Coast girl here!

Many don't care, while others find it a complete turnoff.

Thanks for sharing.

We try to seek out the aspects which set each cruise line apart. I highly recommend the educational seminars on Princess. The navigation talk from one of the engineers onboard was so cool! Similar to Celebrity, they brought in experts on the different countries and cultures and really felt these were light years beyond what was on most other cruise lines. Entertaining and informative, don't skip these thinking it's going to be just another port shopping talk!

Thanks for the tip! I will certainly check it out. I was already intrigued by the Discovery Channel excursions and the Animal Planet Kids Club activities.
 
My family has been on 4 Disney cruises and they're getting so expensive that we've decided to try something different. My wife and I cruised with RCCL many years ago but a lot has changed. We're thinking about a November cruise out of Galveston on the Adventure of the Seas but I have a couple of questions: Does RCCL offer a shuttle service from Houston Hobby airport that is pretty dependable and what are the seating arrangement like in the MDR's? Is it assigned seating or open seating?

When we took a cruise out of Galveston, we used Luxor Limo (see contact info below). They were excellent. A clean, new Mercedes van with a real professional driver. We were a party of 11 so we had a van. Luxor was also by far the cheapest. Good Luck, I am sure you will have a good cruise.

Joe

Luxor Limousine
Ph:281-493-5600
Fax:281-492-0996
www.Luxorlimousines.com
 
We switched our DCL booking to a RCI about two months ago. The more we research and watch videos, the more excited we are to try Royal! We're booked on Harmony of the Seas, which has amazing reviews. We've got three kids, and we saved about $3000USD (we are Canadian) by making the switch. We'll now have to pay for our soda, but it certainly won't total anywhere near $3000 ;) Cannot wait!!
 

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