Filthy Casual for Life

I have been blessed enough to be able to sail on three different ships: Discovery Princess, Regal Princess and Wonder of the Seas.

I am not here to give any advice. Rather, I wanted to give my opinion regarding the ships that I have been on.

DISCLAIMER: Not all Princess and/or Royal Caribbean ships are the same. I know that. Take my opinion with a grain of salt as it only pertains to the ships I have been on.

BUFFET

The buffet is the heart of the ship. It’s where thousands of hungry passengers go to satiate their hunger and quench their thirst. For me, there was a clear-cut winner.

Winner: Princess

I was surprisingly disappointed with the food on Royal Caribbean’s Wonder of the Seas. I have never had such bland breads, pastries, pancakes, waffles, and french toast in my life. No amount of syrup or sugary toppings made them any better.

There wasn’t a lot of variety at Royal Caribbean’s Windjammer compared to Princess’ Horizon Court/WorldFresh Marketplace. Royal Caribbean’s Windjammer had the same exact offerings every night. Princess, on the other hand, had themed nights and rotated their menu fairly well. There was always something new to try. Not so much at the Windjammer.

To be fair, Wonder of the Seas is HUGE. It can house over 6,000 people. When preparing that much food, I imagine quantity wins over quality. I wonder whether quality changes with Royal Caribbean’s smaller class ships.

ENTERTAINMENT

What is a cruise ship without entertainment? Entertainment is what makes or breaks a cruise ship. Guests need something to do on those long sea days.

Winner: Royal Caribbean

Royal Caribbean’s Wonder of the Seas has entertainment down. Wonder of the Seas boasts an aqua theater, ice skating rink, water slides, zip line, pools, whirlpools, comedy shows, a theater show, and the normal offerings such as trivia and bingo.

Princess has some of the same events such as trivia and bingo, but the Princess ships I’ve been on lack the impressive shows.

DRINK PACKAGE

People drink A LOT on a cruise. While I do not drink alcohol much (I am diabetic and also take a bunch of medications), drink packages might be a must for you. While we did not buy an alcohol package, we did purchase the soda/refreshment package on both cruise lines.

Winner: Royal Caribbean

Princess cannot compete. Wonder of the Seas has Freestyle Coke machines around the ship. If you purchase Royal’s soda/refreshment package, you get a special cup that unlocks the ability to dispense as much soda as you can drink.

MEDALLION OR SEAPASS

Princess uses a medallion to access rooms and to keep a tab on the ship. It’s used for everything. Royal, on the other hand, uses a card.

Winner: Princess

The Medallion is far superior to the SeaPass. The Medallion can be worn in numerous ways. We always choose to buy a watch band that makes it simple to use. The SeaPass is outdated. No one wants to carry around a card anymore. While lanyards make it easier to keep track of, wearing your pass around your wrist not having to worry about whether you’re forgetting it is nice.

CREW

What is a ship without its crew? We found a major difference between the Princess and Royal Caribbean.

Winner: Princess

Again, I am going off of my personal observations and experience. I felt like the crew on Wonder of the Seas didn’t have the opportunity to interact with guests as much as Princess cruises. I felt they kept their head down and focused on the job on hand. On the other hand, we got to know so many of our crew members on our Princess cruises.

I THINK we had a cruise director on Wonder of the Seas? The truth is, their programs on the television weren’t near as polished as Princess cruises. Princess depends on their “morning show” to highlight the day’s activities. It’s nice. You can watch it while you get ready for the day. Wonder of the Seas sort of had that, but they depended more on announcements during the day.

TOWEL POLICY

Yes. Both cruise lines have a different towel policy and it was worth mentioning.

Winner: Princess

On both cruise lines, you are offered dry towels for the pool areas. However, Princess does not charge you to use towels. Royal does. In fact, if you don’t bring the towels back, Royal will charge you $25 per towel. We had a bad experience with this policy. Upon our return from the cruise, they tried to charge us $100. We dutifully scanned our SeaPass when we turned in towels. They even have an attendant there watching to make sure your SeaPass scanned. However, we were surprised to see the charge. Then, they acted like they were doing us a favor when we disputed the charge with their customer service.

CONCLUSION

I choose Princess over Royal Caribbean and so does my husband.

Why?

My husband and I agree that Princess is a more “adult” experience. If you have a family, Royal Caribbean might be more your speed. It all depends on what you want to get out of your cruise. If you are bringing children, Royal Caribbean has the family vibe down. If you’re in your 40s like us and are empty nesters, Princess might be a better choice.

I enjoy the cruise director feel. It was nice to see the same face around the ship greeting people. If Wonder of the Seas had a cruise director, it wasn’t very apparent to us.

Royal Caribbean seemed less personal. As I mentioned, the crew on a Princess cruise actually has time to learn your name and stop and talk to you. I just didn’t get that vibe on Wonder of the Seas.

Lastly, the stupid towel policy. $25.00 a towel? How many people want to steal a $5 Walmart towel?

Anyhow, this is just my opinion. If you’re planning on going on a cruise, do your research. Don’t take one person’s experience as your potential experience. It is important to find the right cruise line for you. They’re all different and serve different purposes.