Cruise lines
 

I know everyone has their favorite cruise line as I have but due to my favorite not going to ports I would like to visit I was wondering if anyone has cruised Enchanted Princess. I have never cruised on Princess and would like your opinion. Cruising is nothing like it was years ago I understand that just an overall opinion on this particular ship

We normally cruise on Norwegian but have done a Princess Cruise once. We enjoyed it and it compared favorably with Norwegian. We shopped and just not found another Princess trip that had the destinations or dates we were looking for.

Never cruised with Princess: loyal Royal Caribbean customer.

Size matters.

For most people I should think that the size of the ship is a major consideration. Some prefer >3,000 whereas others like <2,000.

We have cruised Princess once - just after Covid so it was only half full - but usually go with Cunard or Holland America.

We have cruised on the Enchanted right at the end of COVID. It was only half full. It is a beautiful mid size ship. We have cruised on Princess many times and have for the most part been very satisfied, but if you have cruised enough you know every cruise is different, even if you are on the same ship. You can IM me if you want specific info.

We were on the Enchanted last Nov for 26 days.

Ship and experience was fine. Ship was at capacity and did not feel overly crowded

I would love to get my wife on a cruise, but she is concerned about being seasick. Can anyone give advice concerning the minimum sized ship to avoid that concern?

Get a balcony room, preferrable in the middle of the ship. The windows or balcony doors will help as they will let you see the horizon. If you generally have motion sickness, be proactive and bring your medications and take them, don't wait until you start to feel sick.

Unless you are in really rough seas, you really don't get a lot of motion on the newer ships. The only other time I felt the sea is when the captain had to hightail it back to port of a passenger having a medical emergency. That was at the end of the cruise, thankfully.

Mid ship is correct but a lower deck will have less movement

We've cruised, multiple times on Royal Caribbean/Celebrity. Never had a bad experience.

Once on Norwegian, which was fine and once on Carnival, (their original ship, named "Carnival") on our honeymoon, 4sink at the foot of the bed. We had one of only 3 cabins with a double (not queen) bed. The rest were single beds, bolted to the walls... Still, we had a great time, along with the other 30 some odd honeymoon couples on board...

A word of warning... NEVER sail on Costa (an Italian line). They couldn't have screwed up our trip any more if they tried...

Edit to add: I just remembered, we did a Princess cruise for my in-laws 50th wedding anniversary. They wanted to take the entire family. We wound up taking a 5 day cruise (due to my pain in the @ss brother in law, who screwed everything up), on an older ship, that was just "meh". It was small and needed to be refurbished... But the food and service was top notch.

I won't hold that trip against Princess. I've had friends who have gone on 7-10 day Princess cruises who absolutely loved them...

We totally agree about Costa cruise lines. Our trip on the Costa Classica was a total turn-off and we haven't cruised since.

Recommended cruise lines are Holland American and Royal Caribbean.

As far as managing sea sickness, take a half meclizine tablet every day and the dose may be increased if necessary. Read the package for complete instructions but it really works.

NCL or Celebrity for us. NCL is cheaper but Celebrity has slightly better food selections.

Won't Cruise on Princess, but I LOVE CELEBRITY!
 

l LOVE Celebrity!!!
Yes, especially their new ships on the Edge Class
Edge, Beyond, Ascent, Apex, and the Xcel is coming soon!

The stage entertainment is excellent, and the Martini bar is to die for
Excellent food and service! you pay for what you get!

Princess is a very nice cruise line. We only go on the Royal Caribbean ships now because of the flowrider, no other cruise line has them.
The bigger the ship the better. The ships that have 7500 people plus another 2500 staff have been the best ships for entertainment, food, and adult privacy sections.

If you get sick, get in the middle of the ship, it doesn’t matter which floor. The ship moves the same if you are on the 4th floor or on the 18th floor, the floors are not on springs or hydraulics so 1 floor doesn’t move any differently from the floor directly beneath you or directly above you. If you are on the bottom floors, you will see the rushing water and the big splashes of the larger swells, which might trigger sea sickness

Avoiding sea sickness
 

Good advice. If you tend to get motion sickness, start taking the meclizine 3 days before your trip. Take 25-50 mg the first day, then take 12.5 - 25mg thru the trip. Meclizine is an antihistamine so you may be drowsy. Try it before you go on a local trip or flight so you do not ruin your cruise (over the counter as 'Bonine').

Scopolamine patches (an anticholinergic) are also helpful. But you need to get these from your Doctor.

Generally the larger the ship, the less the motion. We cruised on the Majesty of the Seas (since retired) and you could feel the motion continually: I didn't mind it at all (actually like it) but on one moderately rough day there were barf bags hung at the bottom of each stairwell. Conversely, on Harmony and Oasis, there was very little sensation of motion even when in rough(er) seas: Sitting in "Central Park" there is nothing really to even remind you that you are on a ship: you can't see the water from there and no perceptible sensation of motion of any kind.

Also, stabilizer technology improves over time: a newer ship will have better stabilization technology.

So--biggest and newest.

Ships movement
 

Correction to movement on ship.
The higher up you go especially towards the front the more movement that will be felt. Low and center is best for stability.

First, have you looked at the age distribution of any given cruise line. Holland America average age is older so has very few kids. Viking also does not cater to kids. Carnival is the opposite with many other cruise lines falling in between.

Second, the center of the ship lower floors moves the least. Take a rectangle, rock it back and forth. You will see that the ends move the most and the mid top will move more than the mid center. I agree with the previous posts on taking medicine. You can pick up Bonine at Walmart which works.

Finally, if you decide to purchase travel insurance, seriously consider a larger 3rd party company such as Allianz and purchase the premium policy. Last year, Vantage travel went bankrupt and owed a hundred million to customers. While another company bought the ships and offered passengers to use the credits towards one of their cruises, you could only use the credits for up to 50% of the cruise cost.

I’ve been on over 30 cruises, and have cruised most major lines. I’ve settled in with Holland America the last ten or so years, but still cruise occasionally on Princess and Celebrity. It really comes down to what is most important to you on a cruise as to what line you would most be happy with. For me, food and service and a relaxing environment trumps a loud “party” atmosphere. I don’t need carnival-type rides, or the big mega-ships that to me feel like a floating shopping mall. I like the mid-sized ships, where you actually “feel” more like you’re at sea. If you don’t need water slides, rock-climbing walls and glitzy, non-stop “Vegas” type atmosphere , then you’ll appreciate Princess.

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I literally get seasick on an float in a pool. I got sick on a fishing trip and did not go on any type of boat for 25 years so your wife's concern is real! The doctor can give her a patch and it works great! You shouldn't drink alcohol on it, which I don't . It does make you thirsty. The lower the deck, the less the sway plus being in the middle of the boat as much as possible is best. But I have gone on upper decks and had no issue, I live in the Boston area and people take cruises out of there but I would never cruise the Atlantic. You can take 3 day cruises out of Ft. Lauderdale or Miami to try it out.

My wife and I have sailed 2x in the last 5 months on the Enchanted Princess (eastern Caribbean and Western Caribbean; both from Fort Lauderdale) - we have only positive comments to make about this ship and Princess Cruises. Ship is relatively new and immaculately maintained. Food is fine throughout the ship; entertainment was superb, all brought to life by an extraordinary Cruise Director. We have been to most ports in the Western Caribbean, so we decided to stay on board in some of them since we consider the ship the primary destination. The "Medallion" system on the Princess ship worked best of all the Princess ships we have sailed.

I’ve cruised on Princess 19 times. They are my favorite cruise line. The Enchanted Princess is spectacular and you will love it.

I’ve never cruised Princess and don’t know what your favorite line is. I sail mostly Celebrity and Holland America. Enchanted Princess is one of the “favorite” ships and I’ve never met anyone who’s had negative things to say about Princess. I’ve met quite a few people who often sail Princess along with the other 2 I mentioned. If it’s an itinerary you want and the price is right, you should do it.

I get motion sickness in cars and rides etc but never on cruise ships. Get a cabin on a lower deck in the middle of the ship. I’ve never really encountered anyone who’s been seasick on a cruise ( except for rough weather on crossings etc). Those patches and wrist bands seem to work for the people who wear them. I’d tell her not to worry and try a 4-7 day cruise to start with.

You can get a patch to wear behind your ear from the doctor for sea sickness.

I've sailed with Princess 7 times. I've also sailed with Royal Caribbean, Carnival and Margaritaville at Sea. We loved Princess in the beginning but the last two times we left disappointed. The ships are generally beautiful but the entertainment - especially since covid - is greatly lacking. Now, keep in mind that this is subjective and everyone has their own opinion. If you like a quieter atmosphere then Princess and certainly Holland America would be a good choice for you. We have another Margaritaville at Sea cruise coming up in October and we will be on Oasis of the Seas in January - can't wait!

I cruised on Ruby Princess in January. The food was about the same quality as the FMK-run country-club restaurants we have here in TV. Their specialty restaurants were not us good as the higher-end restaurants we have in TV. I was very disappointed.

The entertainment was very weak compared to other ships I’ve been on. There were very few options.

There were very few children on the late-January cruise (I saw maybe 10) and they were very young. I guess that’s because schools were in session.

I liked that I could use their app to order food/drink and the medallions we wore would lead them right to me—even at the pool. Very convenient.

I used their WiFi, which used SpaceX’s StarLink and, although very slow compared to home internet, was good enough to stream video. But, I waited days for a 1 GB file to download and finally cancelled the download. Best ship WiFi I’ve ever had.

I have no desire to cruise on Princess again. My favorites are Celebrity and Holland America. I’ve also cruised on Royal Caribbean, Viking, Disney (a nightmare!), and Hurtigruten.

I'm currently on a 27 night European cruise in the Caribbean Princess. It's my 8th cruise on this ship and my 16th cruise on Princess.
As others have said, it is very subjective when it comes to rating a cruise. We enjoy Princess because it's not a party ship or children's playground. The food in the dinning room is good, not great. After the 3rd week it seems to be repeating the menu. Princess still services the staterooms twice a day, while several of the other cruise lines have gone to only once a day. They don't charge if you want an extra meal at dinner, something some other cruise lines are now doing. The cruising now is different than it was before COVID. The Cruise lines lost billions of dollars and their stock still hasn't recovered. I guess it's understandable that they have to recoup their losses some way.
If food is important than Celebrity is a good choice. Their Edge class ships are amazing. If your a true foody, Oceania is a great choice.
Virgin is unique in that everything except booze is included in the price. That includes gratitites, internet, specialty dining and some physical fitness classes. They are adult only. Don't let the hype fool you. The average age of people on my cruise were more over 50 than under. They don't have formal dining rooms. All their restaurants are specially restaurants. Everything from Italian, Mexican, Seafood, Steak, even Vegetarian/Vegan. We found every meal to be outstanding.
As you can see there are many things that makeup a cruise. I've only touched on a few of them.

A “Princess” cruise was our first cruise, and still our favorite. Albeit that was 18 years ago and a dozen cruises since. Things change. We prefer smaller ships. They used to have old re-runs of “The Love Boat” playing on one of the TV channels which we found fun (filmed on Princess).

We cruise NCL & Princess (15 cruises); We prefer Princess for ambiance & staff but Princess for cabins and amenities (on ship laundry facilities especially on a recent 34 day cruise). I prefer NCL entertainment and food.

Some ships are better than others.

Motion sickness tablets (Bonine comes to mind) are OTC. Scopalimine patches are prescription only. Ginger (at the bars or sushi places) or even ginger hard candies are helpful.

Bon voyage!

Smaller is Better
 

I agree. I loved the cruise we took on the "Tahitian Princess" in French Polynesia in 2004. It had around 660 passengers, I think. Small and elegant. It was one of the ships that Princess bought from the defunct Renaissance line. Same class ship as the "Love Boat," I believe.

I am booked on the Enchanted Princess in August, however I am on the Emerald Princess right now, which I believe is the sister ship to Enchanted. It is built in 2007 and staring to show its age however it is still a nice ship. IMHO service on princess is above average, while the food and entertainment are just average for a luxury cruise line. I like Princess overall but I prefer Celebrity.

Emerald is not a sister ship to Enchanted. First of that class was Royal which is about 10 years old

Cruise Lines
 

We prefer the smaller ships, and our favorites are Seabourn, Viking and Regent Seven Seas Cruises (RSSC). RSSC’s fares include Business Class air, which is important on a transcontinental cruise. Anything less is “Greyhound of the Skies.” These lines typically have no small children, and they offer immersive cultural experiences. Whatever you do, use a travel agent. It costs you nothing, and they provide invaluable services. See your physician for sea sickness meds, and be sure you try them out beforehand. Have a wonderful time!

Sailed Princess, Carnival, NCL, Royal Caribbean among others.

Carnival started out selling to first time cruisers - still is a party ship, Princess and NCL were disappointments compared to RCL - very consistent, good crew, entertainment, food and cabins (we always get a balcony). Holland American has always catered to the older crowd so if you like a quiet cruise line that's HA.

My favorite ship - The Rhapsody with Paquet French Lines.

So you look down on those of us that cruise the Greyhound of the Skies.

Did you even read the post? The op said they have their favorite and wanted information on the Enchanted Princess. They didn’t ask how much money you think is worth spending on a ship. I also have money and have zero interest in any of the cruise lines you mentioned. All larger ships are better with way more variety and they all have high end areas on the ships. Like Celebrity has The Retreat, NCL has Haven and so on. As for business class flights, unless they’re international and you have a bed/suite who cares. As someone who has to be flown first/business for my job, within the US it may as well be coach. But it’s nice to get off the plane first I suppose.

Well, I for one, am surprised you didn't mention Cunard...