Ok. I will admit to having sailed on more than a few cruise lines. Also have sailed in various classes of cabins. As a result I have to keep reminding myself that I am not on _______ whatever.
Princess- food has been good. They automatically put a note in the daily bulletin about knitters group every sea day (I don’t have to either organize or inform). They have a serious amount of lounge space for the number of passengers, multiple pools (including enclosed area), a manned internet area and more non-pay eating venues.
The cabins are the smallest if any cruise line I have been on. You don’t even get a seating area in the cabin till you are at the mini-suite level (which are about the same size as the midrange balconies on Royal, NCL, Costa, MSC ). They certainly are not comparable to Royals Junior Suites. They don’t have a suites lounge, or dedicated concierge. Similar to Celebrity, the loyalty club ambassador doubles as a concierge for the Elite members. Otherwise you just ask
The front desk. The dedicated dining area is only for breakfast and not early enough on port days.
There are more than enough
Bars. There are always enough bars. For those who are not familiar with Captains Circle (loyalty club) nights/cruises do combine with P&O. Levels are reached by number of cruises (regardless of length) or number of nights (which count singly regardless of cabin class. The way to progress would be to stack 3-5 day cruises in a suite (counts double for number of cruises but not for bed nights)
Now that I have you completely confused (grin). I wouldn’t hesitate to take Princess again, in spite of having to haul life jackets to the muster drill. Especially for a last minute cheap deal out of SF. The passengers are an interesting, nice mix. It would not be my preference over Royal or NCL. Partly based on loyalty club status and partly on familiarity. I would take them over Celebrity ( I just don’t like plastic shiny hotel lobbies) and definitely over Costa (Atlantica is a great ship) or MSC
That’s my story and I am sticking to it!
Interesting info. We are doing a short Princess Cruise next month, one of those last minute long weekend sailings from LA to Vancouver. Regent is my favorite so far, though I’ve only been on a few different cruise lines.
My take any more is that it all depends on how you want to be treated and how much you want to spend. I am happy traveling in a nicer class of cabin on the mid-range lines than I would in steerage on the more expensive lines. Haven’t cruised with Regent, but my experience with the other high end lines is that the staff was terrific and the passengers weren’t! (present parties excluded of course!)