dckmusic

I've been on Carribean twice, Crown and Ruby and we're booked for Ruby again in a few months. The occasional maintenance issues that have cropped up haven't really impacted our enjoyment and we were even credited some OBC for a couple issues that really didn't bother us.

Of course we have to "let it go" and not be bitter or angry about it, but we can't just "let it go" without letting the powers-that-be know we are unhappy with what they've done.  If nobody complains about an unfair practice and just keeps handing money over to them, what is the logical conclusion?  They will just keep taking.  Businesses need to be held accountable.  NCL needed to be held accountable for the disaster of starting major renovations while paying customers were still trying to enjoy a vacation.  

I don't believe we are doing anyone any good by just biting our tongue and forgetting about it.  Complaining on these boards also is rather useless if that's all you do.  You need to contact the company (as I believe the OP has done) and voice your displeasure.  I, personally, have only good things to say about our Princess experiences, but if I think they've gone back on their word on something,, no matter what it states in the contract, I will let them know and judge them on their response.

Well, I'll have to keep an eye out for Florence on future cruises.  This type of review is far more interesting than ones I have done.  I'll have to pick up my act.

10 minutes ago, SquishTheWhale said:

We are new to Princess, and I've been reading this thread with some concern/interest throughout the last few days.

 

First, I am shocked that some people book TD and then think they can use ATD as well! That seems very selfish to me. We aren't hugely experienced cruisers by any means, but I have never heard of this happening on any other line. I really hope they do start enforcing the choice that people made when they booked the cruise to ensure it's fair for all. Who knew that you CAN eat your cake and have it too!

 

Secondly, our first Princess cruise is in December and we have booked ATD as fixed dining does not work for us at all. The one time we had fixed dining on MSC we only went 2 nights as we were never ready to eat at that time (we were supposed to have flexible dining but they took it away after we booked!). We have no objection to a reasonable wait for a table, as we only like tables for 2 and understand they are in limited supply. But if the dining situation is an absolute cluster with long long waits then it will probably be a one-and-done for us on Princess. Which is a shame, but other lines manage to run ATD properly so we'll look elsewhere.

 

Don't take this thread as the norm - I think this is more case specific times certain people have experienced.  It's just blown up because a few see their TD booking differently than it was intended.  I've only been on Princess twice, but both times, they check your card at the MDR door to see whether you are ATD or TD and direct you from there.  We went to the wrong dining room once (forgot which deck we were on) and they directed us back to our ATD dining room.  Go in with an open mind.  You almost certainly won't find it a problem.  Yes, if you go at peak times, you will wait sometimes.  That's just how it goes.  We only ever waited more than 5-10 minutes once in 17 days of cruising.

3 hours ago, Daniel A said:

 

You can show up at the buffet and not find a table either.  I think you have made the point here.  If you cannot make the seating for some reason, why should you go hungry? 

 

I recently saw a posting for a man who is taking a 46 day cruise.  Does he need to adhere to a strict schedule for a month and a half or is he an evil person because some nights he wants to eat at a different time?  Of course, he should not be allowed in a MDR strictly reserved for the elite ATD cruisers - he must eat hamburgers or buffet food.

Um, "elite ATD cruisers?"  Let's summarize - you make a choice when you book to choose TD or ATD.  ATD people are absolutely not allowed in the TD dining room and are subject to waiting when times are busy in their dining room.  That's a choice they make.  The TD always gets to walk in to their table at their time without waiting.  But if the TD diners decide they want to go to ATD, there is no issue with that?  So, really, what you are saying is that TD diners are the "elite" because they get to pick whatever they want, but ATD can only wait in line for their dining room while TD'ers decide they want to eat at a different time.  Are you telling me that if you came to your TD time and they told you you have to wait for 30 minutes because a bunch of ATDers came to your dining room that you wouldn't be up in arms?

You CHOOSE which dining option you want when you book in.  If I chose TD, I'd either eat at my TD spot, or I'd go to the buffet or specialty restaurant (or eat in port).  I wouldn't even consider that I can flip over to ATD whenever I felt like it because I made the choice when I booked.

There is definitely ballroom dancing, at least last time we sailed in January on the Caribbean Princess.  My wife is looking forward to doing some again this January on the Ruby.

1 minute ago, Woobstr112G said:

Why is it right to make standing reservations in ATD?  This is also a big problem.....

 

Bob

I haven't seen or heard of this happening on the two CB cruises we were on.  

For me, I'd have taken the cards and tried to use them after they dried out.  If they still weren't taking them, I'd send a letter to Princess directly and state my disappointment and their response would dictate my next move.  If they apologized and provided some sort of credit, I'd be forgiving as things can happen.  If they responded (as a certain American Airline did many years ago) with a "sorry, that's just the way it is" I would respond by switching to a different cruise line.  

The idea that a card that clearly states it can be used on future cruises is no longer valid because of the rules at the new booking time is farcical.  When we change laws, we don't go back and arrest people for breaking the law before the law came into effect.  The card should be honored.  It is the principal of the thing, and while I might have done things a bit differently than the OP, I do agree with ethical argument.  And, really, they are risking losing what sounds like a long-term customer over $30 in coffee cards (of which the actual cost to Princess is less than $10)?  I'm sorry, but that is insane.

I like Anytime Dining because we never know what we plan to do each day and don't want to lock into a TD time.  And, I don't think it's right for us to book into TD and then go to ATD when we want a different time.  To me, if you pick TD and don't like the time for you on a particular day, go to the buffet or specialty restaurant.  It just seems like courtesy to me.  

With my wife's dietary requirements now, we pretty much have to pick a dining room and go to the same one each time so the head waiter can ensure she has her special order.  It worked very well last time and we only stood waiting for a table once, for about 20 minutes.  All other times were less than 5 minutes, and this was eating between 6 and 7:30.  

Right!  You use your room key to get tokens.  But again, bring your own detergent and save time and hassle.

When we were on in January, you still needed coins.  But the biggest issue we had was getting the soap out of the machine.  It kept jamming and they kept having to come back and unjam it.  I complained because so many people were having to stand around and wait for quite some time for them to come and fix the machine.  I've never complained about anything, but we were all so frustrated.  It would have been cheaper for them to just provide free laundry soap.  Next time, I'm bringing a package of my own.

We went the other way, being from Canada, it was super cheap for us to fly into Vancouver and take the train down to Seattle for our cruise.  It is a lovely trip and we quite enjoyed ourselves coming down.  However, we learned we were fairly lucky to be on time coming into Seattle, especially when we were delayed about 2.5 hours (if I recall correctly) returning to Vancouver after the cruise.  We finally got to our Vancouver Airport Hotel just after 1am and had to be up at 4:30am for the flight home.  So, if you do the train, don't schedule anything too tightly with the timeline as delays are very common.  It is a very nice ride, though.

Glad to hear it all went smoothly.

Can I ask what the rate was for the shuttle per person?  We're making our final plans for our trip in January and looking at shuttle options from the ship.  I can book with Princess, but they tend to be a fair bit more money.

Assuming you get to downtown Seattle, it would only be a quick cab ride from there to King Street Station.  I think downtown cabs is flat rate $6 (at least it was 3 years ago when we were there).  We took the train from Vancouver to Seattle before sailing out of Seattle and it was a very nice trip, but like all train travel (it seems) these days, can be delayed by several hours due to freight traffic.

By the way, that "other" cruise line was Norwegian.  I would hope that every cruise line learned a lesson after that fiasco.

Be warned, though, when tenders are used.  The cranes to lower them are right beside you and you not only hear, but feel it at 5:00am or whatever time they begin.  It was annoying for a few minutes, but it didn't ruin the cabin for me.

I have to say, when I first saw how long the posts were, I was going to move on, but I'm glad I read it all the way through.  I can't wait for more.

The whole premise of this is that Princess should conform to what others are doing to be "edgy" or "game changing." Seems actually counter-intuitive to copy what others are doing to be game changing. The bottom line is, there is a variety from many different cruise lines - pick what you like and go on that cruise line. Bellyaching about a particular cruise line not being as good as another one is silly. If you like the other cruise line better, sail on it. Lots of us prefer Princess for what it is - a more traditional cruise experience that doesn't feel like a theme park.

Yeah, they aren't permanently Elite, just for that cruise. I don't really see what the problem with that is.

We were also on this cruise. My wife had dietary restrictions so we ate nearly exclusively at the Coral for breakfast lunch and dinner, with a few exceptions. My mom and sister ate a lot more at WFM and found that they could generally find seating pretty easy in Planks or Steamers at breakfast and lunch time but supper was a bit more challenging with Steamers and Planks not available.

I found the pizza just fine. Wasn't my favourite, but wasn't terrible, either. I never actually ate a burger on board this time, but did try the veggie burger which I thought was pretty decent in spite of the many negative reviews. But we all loved it. The kitchen and wait staff were amazing at accommodating my wife's quite restrictive diet she was put on a month before the cruise. Antonio (the headwaiter) made sure she had dessert most nights, as well as special bread without yeast, egg, dairy or sugar at each meal.

Nice to see that others enjoyed the cruise as much as we did.

My wife LOVED the duvet. My compromise was to have the AC set well enough that I was comfortable through the night.

OK, we're back so, as promised, I'm providing our experience with this on the Caribbean Princess. In a word, they were simply OUTSTANDING at accommodating my wife's allergies. We did anytime dining because we never know when we're going to eat based on the days activities, but we always ate breakfast and supper in the Coral dining room (except one night at the Crown Grill) and all but two days for lunch where my wife found something in the Marketplace so I could eat pizza and try the Salty Dog outlet.

The headwaiter, Antonio, met my wife the first day and had her review the menus for the next day. They'd discuss what could be done and he would take her order and any special instructions and then she would provide her cabin number at the meals and her food would come with the rest of us. This was great in and of itself, but Antonio and staff didn't stop there.

My wife loves bread (toast) for breakfast and a bun with dinner, but she has an allergy to yeast, sugar, dairy, eggs and soy (among a few other things). She has not found anywhere in our city to buy bread or buns that are free of all these ingredients, so she has made her own bread at home. She asked if it would be possible if they could treat her with a loaf or some buns once or twice during the cruise, but that wasn't good enough for Antonio. He made sure she had two warm buns at every dinner and two slices of toast at breakfast. Even when we ate supper at the Crown Grill, he made sure there were buns for her there.

But again, Antonio and the staff weren't satisfied with that. He noted the first couple of days that there were no desserts my wife could have, which we fully expected. No sugar, eggs or milk make it very challenging for dessert. But day three, Antonio brought her a special dessert prepared by the pastry chefs. And each night from then on, he had a special dessert for her. Admittedly, not all were to her liking, but we very much appreciated the efforts and she did enjoy almost all of them.

In short, the effort and lengths they went to to accomodate her food allergies was beyond our wildest expectations. Our only disappointment is that we did not have as much cash as we would have liked to provide the tip, though we did leave more than we ever have. If you have food allergies, I hope you get the same level of service we did and don't be afraid to ask.

I actually had a WiFi access point in my cabin behind the TV, so good signal in my cabin, but the actual speed was not great at certain times of the day. And let's face it, it was never all that fast, but usable. Just don't expect to stream videos very well.

Thank you, Howard!

Thanks again for doing this. This has been invaluable for us as we prepare for our cruise in a couple weeks.