Saturday, December 8, 2012

Ahhh, home sweet home!


It was a truly lovely cruise, ten days of mostly heavenly things.  Here are some comparisons:

Embarkation:  Princess - Ft. Lauderdale - I dislike this terminal, the way they operate, most all of it.    But having said that you can go straight to your cabins.
Carnival:  Miami is much better, the people are nicer, the terminal more comfortable, the entire process is better.

Shows:  Princess - nice costumes, lovely theatre, poor singing and dancing, much less in the way of production shows.  Only one comedian and it was in the theatre also instead of a show.
Carnival - fabulous production shows, great costumes, singing, dancing.  Comedy clubs most nights also.  Much better.  The seats in the theatre are more comfortable on Princess.

Food - Both delicious.  Both have cut back but there is still plenty and it's all still great.  

Room service - here Princess is far better, you can have hot meals, soups, pizza, all sorts of things sent to your room.
Carnival is good but very limited.

Pizza-  Princess wins this hands down with their hand tossed pizzas.  Wonderful.  Carnival pizza is more card-boardy.

Towels - beach-  Carnival towels are much nicer but you have to keep up with it, Princess lets you have as many as you want and no threat of having to pay for a lost one.

Bathroom amenities - both have the same layout and small showers.  Princess has lotion, shampoo, and conditioner in bottles and nice soaps too.  Carnival has hit and miss things but they do have the shampoo dispenser and body wash dispenser in the showers.  No conditioner though.

Staff - both fabulous but Carnival wins because they all know your name, I don't know how they do it but they do!

Shops onboard - the same

Beds - I like the bedding on Princess better but had to get a foam topper because the bed was too hard without it.  Both are nice.

Cabin - Carnival cabins are larger but not the balconies.  Both are very nice.

Ports - When you come back on Princess they are out there with chilled wash cloths before you board the ship, when you are hot and tired and ready to drop this is VERY nice and costs almost nothing.

MUTS (movies under the stars) - Princess wins this hands down.  They come around bringing you blankets, popcorn, pizza, warm cookies and cold milk and padded lounge chairs.  VERY nice.

Casino - the same but Princess had one completely non smoking night and every table was filled with people all night long.  

Guest services - Carnival wins hands down.  Princess needs retraining here, and lots of it.

Final morning Carnival wins for several reasons.  One, you can get room service and not have to brave the elevators full of people with suitcases to have your coffee and roll or whatever, Princess stops room service the evening before.  Also Miami is SO much better than Ft. Lauderdale here again.  They have luggage carousels in Miami where Ft. Lauderdale just lines up the 5000 suitcases and you have to go find yours in that mess.

If I have forgotten anything just ask and I'll let you know.  Would I cruise Princess again?  Probably not.  I just like Carnival better.

17 comments:

  1. JAXPort terminal is like that... very small terminal and it seemed like acres of suitcases to look through but they are in an assigned zone and I did find ours right away. The terminal folks were very nice about helping me with MotherDear. Way better than not cruising, for sure.

    I ordered Papa Johns pizza the other night, and leftovers for lunch. Then out to dinner with Al & Barbara. I had MD's pasta for 2 nights earlier in the week. My scale shows it this morning, too! Oh, well, right back on the bandwagon! I know this will also happen over Christmas. And I'll get right back on again then, too!

    Glad you're back. Even though you clearly prefer Carnival, I'm glad you had a wonderful time with your cruise buddy!

    big hugs xoxo

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  2. Glad you're home safely. Although I've never cruised (well, except in high school), I found your comparisons interesting. Customer Service will always make a huge difference for me, too!
    The picture of you in the blue and white striped outfit is the BEST ever! You look mahvelous!
    Wondering if your abode was torn up or if the painter got it done after all. You always give me something to wonder about...
    ~~~Blessings~~~

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  3. Glad you're home safely. Although I've never cruised (well, except in high school), I found your comparisons interesting. Customer Service will always make a huge difference for me, too!
    The picture of you in the blue and white striped outfit is the BEST ever! You look mahvelous!
    Wondering if your abode was torn up or if the painter got it done after all. You always give me something to wonder about...
    ~~~Blessings~~~

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  4. Glad to hear you had a good time. I am sure every cruise line has things they do extremely well and things that need to be improved, but most importantly, you had a good time.

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  5. Glad you had fun. Rccl's terminal in Ft laud is light years better than theirs in Miami. When we went on Oasis , embarkation and debarkation were so quick which was amazing given the amount of passengers. I went on a few princess cruises and my favorite thing was MUTS. So fun. Welcome home

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  6. Thanks for the review, I've been interested and waiting for it. We last sailed on Oasis in Sept. and I can't wait to do that one again. It is a gorgeous ship.

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  7. Welcome home! Carnival is still our #1 cruise line.

    Big hugs, honey...

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  8. Hubby and I were talking about cruising last evening. He said he could take it or leave it as he only went for me. I didn't know that. I can so relate to customer service. In Miami you have it and then some. In San Diego it's non existent when you are boarding or debarking. Awful. Every time I think about that trip I vow I'll never get on a cruise ship again. It's a shame too because it's just not that difficult to make sure that people get what they paid for.

    Thanks for the rundown as I've been waiting to hear what you had to say. I'm sure there will be more about the cruise.

    Welcome home. Have a terrific day. Big hugs from cold California. :)

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  9. Rosemary here:
    I just found you
    yay, and bonks from the boys
    I am never online much but it certainly is so good to know where you are <3

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  10. Wellcome home!!!

    Interesting what you consider about both companies...I felt that your judice would have been pro Carnival!!!

    Have a great Sunday, here is holyday, but the snow has not permitted to go out!

    Big hugs, honey!!!

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  11. I love the outfit you're wearing in the picture above. That is just over the top cute! What an interesting comparison. I would think the service would be better. Let them know that they need some training (I am sure you did). Have a great day back...

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  12. Welcome home! I am glad that over all you enjoyed the cruise. Even though we nearly always sail with Princess I do agree with you about the entertainment. We rarely go to the shows. Mostly the costumes are good but the cast are not. Even the guest acts never seem to be very inspiring. We prefer to spend our evenings in the casino. I am sorry that you had problems with passenger relations. We have only had problems with a "couldn't care" attitude on 2 cruises and Ivor made sure he got to see the Hotel General Manager and things were sorted out. We have got to know quite a few HGMs over the years and they all have said they are always available when not in port. It all boils down to front desk staff and how helpful they are. I agree with you also about Fort Lauderdale cruise terminal. It can be a nightmare and is so disorganised.

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  13. I definitely will now know you when we see each other on the Breeze. It will be that hot momma walking towards me. You look great Bee. Cruising definitely likes you.
    Yes, I was shocked when I found out my friend had passed away. At that moment I was confused how to feel because we were at a Christmas party where my mother loves. I will prayer for him.
    Now for us, our cruise is coming up. The Carnival Breeze. Here we go my lovely friend. See you then.

    Paul

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  14. and you are lookin pretty boob-a-licious here!

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  15. So glad you're home and had a great cruise.

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