In my many years as an avid cruiser, I’ve been lucky enough to step aboard cruise ships from both Princess Cruises and Carnival Cruise Line.
My first Princess cruise was many years ago, when I was just a kid, but I was most recently onboard Regal Princess for a British Isles sailing in 2023, and even on the new Star Princess.
Even more recently, I hosted my bachelorette party onboard Carnival Radiance in 2024.
With these cruise vacations in mind, I compared the differences between the two cruise lines so you can pick the right brand for you and your travel group – and read until the end to discover my personal favorite!
In This Article:
Princess Cruises vs Carnival Cruise Line Statistics
These cruise lines exist under the same parent company, which is Carnival Corporation, but the experience onboard is very different. Even the composition and size of their fleets vary.
With the debut of the new Star Princess set for November of 2025, there are now 17 ships in the Princess Cruises fleet.
These vessels fall into four main classes: Sphere (the newest class that started with Sun Princess in 2024), Royal, Grand, and Coral.
But Carnival Cruise Line has this beat with 29 ships in service, with five more new additions coming between 2027 and 2033.
These ships are divided between ten classes, which is more than double the number in the Princess fleet. These classes are Excel, Vista, Dream, Sunshine, Conquest, Spirit, Fantasy, Venice, Adventure, and Splendor.
The new ships arriving in 2027 and 2028, Carnival Festivale and Carnival Tropicale, will be part of the newer Excel class.
Carnival’s ships also tend to have a higher guest capacity than Princess’s vessels, so guests will have to think about what ship size is right for them.
| Cruise Line | Year Founded | Ships in Service | Class With Largest Ships | Class With Smallest Ships |
| Carnival Cruise Line | 1972 | 29 | Excel Class | Fantasy Class |
| Princess Cruises | 1965 | 17 | Sphere Class | Coral Class |
Interestingly, Princess Cruises was founded first in 1965 by Canadian Businessman Stanley McDonald and wasn’t acquired by the Carnival brand until 2003.
Carnival Cruise Line was founded in 1972 in Miami, Florida, which is the “Cruise Capital of the World.”
The Vibe Onboard
The atmosphere onboard is probably the biggest determining factor when trying to decide if a cruise line will offer the experience you are looking for or not.
The Atmosphere on Princess Cruise Ships
In my experience, Princess Cruises seems to attract a more upscale, older crowd of cruisers who are looking for a relaxing and luxurious cruise vacation.
Most of the passengers I met were older than me (I am in my late 20s), and I didn’t see too many kids.
Whenever I board a Princess ship, I’m always impressed by the elegance in the interior design onboard. I don’t feel like I’m in the central hub of a cruise ship, but rather a luxury mansion or a five star hotel.
Princess ships are known for their lighter color palettes and marble work, and always let in plenty of sunshine.
The Atmosphere on Carnival Cruise Ships
Meanwhile, the atrium on Carnival ships often do feature impressive artwork and chandeliers. But especially on the older ships in the fleet, the decor feels more Las Vegas or 80s-inspired with lots of bright lights.
The brand, however, attracts more families and cruisers looking to party on a quick getaway.
In general, the atmosphere is much more lively and the party feel was evident from the moment I stepped onboard.
The Carnival ships I’ve been on had bars in their atriums, whereas the Princess vessels I’ve sailed with had more upscale, quiet lounges.
On Carnival Radiance, I could also smell smoke from cigarettes wafting from the casino into the main atrium immediately upon boarding, which I didn’t appreciate as a non-smoker.
I have not had this issue with Princess ships, most of which do have casinos that allow smoking in designated areas.
Food & Dining
Both cruise lines offer fixed-time dining and anytime dining options, room service to your current location (through Carnival’s Hub App and Princess’s medallions), and a variety of specialty dining and quick service options.
While there is no shortage of food and dining from either brand, I personally enjoyed the dining experience more from Princess.
When I’m on vacation, I like to live large. I try to make reservations at as many specialty restaurants as I possibly can, and I really loved the variety of options and the flavors onboard Princess cruise ships.
Maybe it’s the Italian in me, but my family went to Sabatini’s Italian Trattoria three times when we were onboard Regal Princess in 2023.
Meanwhile, I’ve had a lot of bad luck in the main dining rooms onboard Carnival Cruise Line.
When I was most recently onboard Carnival Radiance, my friends and I found the portion sizes to be small and the food to be flavorless – and even the soft serve ice cream was somehow both crunchy and too liquified at the same time.
We ended up only eating at the specialty dining restaurants – and we loved the Fahrenheit 555 Steakhouse and Cucina Del Capitano – because we couldn’t stomach the food in the main dining room.
While Princess turned up the heat when it came to the variety of specialty dining onboard, Carnival thrived more in the small snacks and casual dining department.
We did like the burgers from Guy’s Burger Joint, and enjoyed ordering room service snacks like chicken fingers and pizza directly to our lounge chairs on the Serenity Deck.
The Thrills
Most Princess cruise ships have at least two or three swimming pools and plenty of Jacuzzis, but these vessels are designed to prioritize relaxation. You likely won’t be able to find any waterslides or thrill rides.
Sun Princess, which launched in 2024, was meant to debut an area called Park19 that would have had waterslides, a ropes course, and a roller glider – but it never opened due to safety reasons.
Carnival Cruise Line is where the thrills are at, often making it a better choice for families with energetic children.
In addition to waterslides, select Fun Ships feature attractions like the SkyRide bike experience (on Vista-class ships), the SkyZone Trampoline park (on Carnival Panorama), and the BOLT: Ultimate Sea Coaster (on Mardi Gras, Carnival Celebration, and Carnival Jubilee).
The Entertainment
Both cruise brands offer production shows, along with entertainment like trivia and popular game shows like “Love and Marriage,” which is usually hosted by the cruise director.
It’s also not uncommon to find comedy or magic acts onboard ships from either brand, and comedy is always a given in Carnival’s Punchliner Comedy Clubs.
While both brands offer concert and variety-show type productions from talented mainstage casts, some Princess ships take theater to the next level through a partnership with Stephen Schwartz, the writer and composer of famous musicals like “Wicked,” “Pippin” and “Godspell.”
Select ships have a made-for-Princess theater show that Schwartz helped create, and as a theater buff, I am obsessed.
Carnival ships take a more family friendly approach, and feature a variety of Dr. Seuss entertainment at sea for kids, including story times in the main theaters, movie screenings, and a costume parade.
And on the topic of families, Carnival has a more involved kids’ club program and a teens only spa, called ZSPA, onboard select ships.
But Princess Cruises does have three kids’ clubs for smaller kids, tweens, and teens, which I personally attended and loved as a child many years ago – mainly because I loved the kind “counselors” who supervised us.
The Cruise Cabins
Both cruise lines offer a wide variety of cruise cabin types to choose from, ranging from basic interior staterooms to luxury suites.
In my experience, ships from both brands offered staterooms that were spacious enough and comfortable enough to fit my needs.
The biggest difference I noticed between the cruise lines is that the Princess cabins were cleaner and more sound proof.
On embarkation day for my Carnival Radiance sailing last year, we walked into our cruise cabin to find a stranger’s smelly, dirty sock on one of our beds, and had repeated issues with our toilet not functioning correctly.
To their credit, our room steward did remove the sock immediately and replaced our bedding.
I also was woken up throughout the night from passengers running and screaming their way down the corridors and because I could hear the music blasting from parties held elsewhere on the ship in areas we were not actually very close to.
Meanwhile, I didn’t hear as much from the outside world inside my Princess cabins, and certainly did not find any dirty socks (at least that didn’t belong to me).
The Cost
One important factor to consider is if a cruise line fits into your budget, and cruise fares vary based on time of year, the cruise ship, when you are booking, and the itinerary.
That said, Carnival does have a reputation for being more budget-friendly, especially for shorter voyages.
Carnival’s cruise fare includes the main dining room and the Lido Marketplace Buffet onboard, as well as most of the alternative restaurants on each ship (i.e., Guy’s Burger Joint and the BlueIguana Cantina).
Princess Cruises are a bit more expensive, but are still in line with industry averages and sales are offered all the time.
Their pricing includes about one-third to one-half of the restaurants onboard, including the main dining rooms, depending on the ship.
To illustrate the difference in cost, I looked up Mediterranean sailings on our Cruise Hive booking feature to compare prices.
The cheapest Mediterranean sailing I could find from Princess Cruises started at $1,449 per person.
Meanwhile, Mediterranean sailings from Carnival that were the same or similar lengths averaged $1,074 dollars – which is a $375 difference.
Working Add-Ons Into the Budget
Keep in mind that the cruise fare also isn’t your only expense. Guests also need to factor in the costs for add-ons, like drink and Wi-Fi packages.
Carnival Packages
Carnival’s Cheers! drink package is very popular and costs $69.95 per person, per day, while the new Cheers! Zero Proof package costs $29.99 per person, per day.
Carnival’s Wi-Fi packages range from $18.70 per person, per day, for the most basic package to $84 per day for up to four devices with Premium Wi-Fi.
Gratuities for the hard-working crew members are also paid separately at guests’ discretion, or can be pre-paid at a daily rate of $16 per person for standard cruise cabins or $18 per person for suite guests.
Princess Packages
Meanwhile, Princess Cruises offers convenient inclusive packages that are of particularly good value for what is included in the price.
There are two different levels of these packages, which are called Princess Premier and Princess Plus and vary in cost based on just how much is included.
Princess Premier costs $100 to $105 per person, per day, and includes unlimited drinks, unlimited casual specialty meals, unlimited formal specialty dining, Wi-Fi for multiple devices, gratuities, reserved theater seating, and more.
Princess Plus costs $65 to $70 per person, per day, and also includes Wi-Fi for one device, 15 drinks per day, gratuities for the crew, and casual dining.
I personally prefer these all-inclusive packages for convenience because you really only need to make one purchase (aside from actually booking your cruise) and your onboard experience is set and ready to go.
The Itineraries
Both Princess Cruises and Carnival sail all over the world. And though deployments can (and do) change all the time, this is how things currently stand.
Princess is famous for offering one of the largest Alaska dockets in the cruise industry from ports like Seattle, Vancouver, San Francisco, and Los Angeles.
In addition to Alaska, the cruise line sails to destinations along the US Pacific Coast, Mexico, the Bahamas, and Hawaii. Japan has long been an important market for the cruise line, as well, with ships such as the Diamond Princess.
Sailings throughout Europe and the Mediterranean are offered for about 75% of the year.
Read Also: When Is the Best Time to Go on a Cruise for Each Region?
Carnival, meanwhile, has a stronger North American presence, sailing regularly from 16 separate cruise ports in the US and homeporting year-round in Galveston, New Orleans, Port Canaveral, Baltimore, Norfolk, and Mobile.
While the Fun Ships do operate some European, Alaska, and Hawaiian itineraries, the brand is more concentrated on destinations throughout Bermuda, the Caribbean, Mexico, and the Bahamas.
Carnival also operates four ships in Australia, including Carnival Splendor, Carnival Luminosa, Carnival Encounter, and Carnival Adventure.
Which Cruise Line Would I Choose?
You may have been able to guess by now, that between the two brands, Princess Cruises is my personal favorite.
As a childless adult who prefers a more low-key atmosphere, loves fine dining, and doesn’t have the energy for partying, Princess Cruises is simply a better fit for me.
However, someone looking to let loose into the wee hours of the morning or thrill-seeking families may prefer the Carnival experience – and that’s great, too.
Every cruiser and travel group is different, and both Carnival Cruise Line and Princess Cruises have incredible amenities and entertainment to offer.
Deciding which one is right for you really comes down to the type of cruise experience you personally want.
