opinions please
 

I have cruised with RCCL, NCL, Celebrity, HAL, and Crystal.

Never with Princess.

Am more interested in having a comfortable, safe hotel/resatauant on water type vacation as I visit various ports in that area. Less interested in playtime activities on board. I notice that lots of illness incidents reported on other Princess ships.
Need help deciding if a Med. Cruise on Grand Princess next fall would be pleasant. I am concerned about level of parties, type of passengers, dining service, cabin service, cleanliness, safety, service from crew, treatment of crew by cruise line. Anybody know?

I've cruised only with Princess and have never been disappointed. Let me make a suggestion: go to www.cruisecritic.com and post your question on the message boards there. There are literally thousands of members who post there and who have cruised on the various lines and can compare them for you. I love Princess, but I don't have the experience with the other lines to make a fair comparison. I've cruised the Grand, and while it is a very large ship, we were extremely pleased with the food, service, etc. But do visit cruisecritic; you will get more input there than you'll find here.

I cruised with Princess once. The staff seemed well-treated and the ship was very well maintained and cleaned. Safety was well addressed. Service was very good. However, I found the food to be fair at best - menus were middle of the road and execution was passable. The other passengers ranged from good salt-of-the-earth types to middle level professionals. Most were from North America. There were LOTS of children. I felt a lot of my ticket price went on the 'playtime' activities (great phrase!) that were of no interest to me.

After Princess, I sailed with Seabourn. All the things I liked about Princess were surpassed by Seabourn, and most of what I did not like was absent (including glitz, 'playtime' and kids). In addition, the Seabourn menus were exquisite and creative, and the execution was excellent. I also liked the fact that once having paid one's fare, that was it - no need to sign chits for champagne, soft drinks,or special requests (spa, photos, tours are, of course, extra).

In summary, the difference between Princess and Seabourn is one of mass market premium v. upscale. Youg get what you pay for.

Hope this helps.

Thank you both.
I know I would like Seabourn, But can't afford the cost. I do know how to avoid the "playtime" activities, whether adult or child oriented. I seldom have more than a glass of wine at dinner, so the costs of extra beverages doesn't bother me. Ditto for photos, BINGO, gambling etc. Basically, as a single woman, I'm wanting a safe, comfortable hotel/ restaurant that will deliver me to interesting destinations. As a traveller I do want to try to patronize businesses that deliver these services ethically with regard to their employees and their treatment of the environment. I'm starting to fear that this is an oxymoron when referring to the cruise industry.

For single travellers, Seabourn might be more affordable than you think.

Compared to other lines, Seabourn's single supplements are quite low (starting often at 25%). For this reason, a lot of singles travel Seabourn (there was a very informative thread on this recently on the Seabourn board at www.cruisecritic.com).

In addition, the line makes enormous efforts to ensure all pax get to meet each other in comfortable social settings. By the end of a trip, it's like being with extended family.

Granted, you will never get cruises at bargain basement rates at Seabourn, but if you search around, you will find itineraries with fares that work out to $250-300 per day per person (double occupancy)including airfare - you'd rarely get a 6 star hotel for that!

As for avoiding the cost of playtime activities on other lines, yes one can avoid the direct costs...but one is are still paying for the capital sunk into the basketball court, the rockclimbing wall, the enormous casino, etc., even if one never uses them.