blueseas4me2

I understand that they are sending all their ships elsewhere. I just find this very strange. I've been on several spring cruises with Princess. I can't believe they are simply skipping the Caribbean during one of my favorite times to cruise.

I just hopped on to price a cruise for May and I was surprised to see no Caribbean options. Any idea why?

I purchased a pass for this 2 yrs ago and I liked so much about the Enclave. The pool is AMAZING....however, the water beds and the stone loungers are not heated. I asked for them to be turned on and was given several answers, but they were never warmed. So, I declined a purchase to the Enclave on my last cruise.

We were on the same cruise. Our room steward was...tired? I suspect he was overwhelmed and wondered how many rooms he is responsible for. We gave him a few 'days off" where we simply asked for new towels and refused any service. He seemed to really appreciate that. It was his last cruise and after 8 months he was set to head home for a 3 month break.

I can't imagine doing their job. I worked in hotel housekeeping for 3 months when I was much younger. It was hard work. I'd never want to do it again.

I'm not suggesting that we shouldn't expect good service and a clean room. I just try to weigh it all out and be as fair as I can. I would be aggravated if I had to wait 3 days for a robe.

It could account for more people being dressed up. People who prefer traditional usually like the old style of cruising along with the formal attire.

I sat for the later seating with the other Anytime Diners.

I was on the same cruise. I ate in the dining room 5 out of 7 nights. I completely disagree with your assessment. Perhaps you were looking at a different dining room?

I can only speak for the Concerto. I noted lots of lovely dresses and some that were even a bit over the top. Beautiful! I was one of 7 in our party and we all dressed very nicely every night. The women wore dresses and the men wore either polo shirts and slacks or full suits.

I am a people watcher and I enjoyed seeing how people dressed for the cruise. Overall, I thought people looked great.

LOL - I have you all beat. Our first visit to what would eventually be known as Princess Cay was back in 1990 on a ship from a cruise line that P&O later bought out. It was listed in our daily planner as an opportunity to visit a deserted tropical beach (the day was listed as a sea day on the itinerary).

 

We were bought ashore in open tenders (the old style life boats on the ship) and had to go over the side and wade ashore. Only about 75 of us took advantage of the

 

The only thing on the island was the pit privy (still there) that was built for locals using the beach. No tiki huts, lounge chairs or other unneeded items for a day at the beach.

 

There were no palm trees, only the scrub that is native to the island.

 

The beach was wide and sandy and sloped down into the water. The erosion caused by jetties, channel dredging, and sea walls was still far in the future.

 

Sea shells were abundant and there was a thriving population of sand dollars.

 

The ship staff bought ashore charcoal grills and made hot dogs and hamburgers with a side of potato chips. Water was the only beverage for drinking.

 

It was a wonderful four hours.

That sounds perfect!

The irony is that each clam shell (except for the first line before the water) have their view of the water blocked as well.

That's a great point. How are clamshells better than umbrellas? It makes no sense at all.

We used to love this island and it was a favorite part of our cruise. After last week's nightmare of a visit, it's unlikely we will ever return.

The clamshells are hideous and they block the view of the beautiful water. It's also hard to walk around the beach because you have to weave in and out of them.

More than an hour in the tender line sealed it for us. I have no idea why they were not docking tenders on both docks or why they thought people should stand in the hot sun (with no available water) for over an hour.

The old days:

And now:

I don't know if its all profit.... Is there a particular reason why some should have a "clamshell" and others not? Maybe they should only be sold to the first 25 elites so that all the underlings don't interfere with those important folks beach day experience...............

I'm not sure I understand your comment. Should I be reading it as sarcasm?

Properly spacing the ugly things would help solve part of the problem. Eliminating them and instead using umbrellas would completely solve it.

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Thanks to the OP for posting the picture of the clamshells. Being an Alaskan, I'be had no idea what they were when mentioned on these boards. The set up on the beach looks hideous.

Yes- it IS hideous. Simple umbrellas would provide shade without causing such a terrible view.

We just booked a cruise today on the Royal for next January. The only thing that we are a bit apprehensive about is all the negative comments about the teeny weenie balconies. Our favorite thing to do on a cruise is spend time on our balcony, reading, enjoying wine and cheese etc. Now I'm wondering if we will even be able to use the balcony with all the negative comment about how small they are!

Anyone?? :eek:

We are huge lovers of our balcony. We enjoyed both the Royal and Regal balconies. It's perfect for reading and relaxing. We also sat out there with glasses of wine in the evening. It's small but sufficient.

We were on the same cruise. The Royal was the largest ship we have ever been on. We found the ship quite beautiful, and the staff was so friendly. We too, were in the HUGE line exiting Princess Cay. I was thinking the same thing, why not have more tenders......Thanks for posting your thoughts on the cruise. I hope to have a review up later in the week.........

Thanks for speaking up, especially about the long tender line. I don't understand why they were not running a tender from both docks. We were let off on the right side but for some reason they only ran tenders from the left. I've been to Princess Cays many times. In fact, I was there while on the Royal and it was a Spring Break cruise. I've never seen a line as long as this one.

I also agree that the staff did a wonderful job considering how taxing their job must be.

That sounds promising... hope we feel the same after our cruise, a TA in 2017.... very happy with the old Grand actually, love the Ruby.

 

Miss the main deck on the Royal.... we have cruised Celebrity... very disappointing even with all the fancy modern touches... not like Princess, hope the Royal is not like Celebrity newer ships.

 

We are elite on both Princess and Celebrity by the way.

I hope I didn't make it sound as though the Regal isn't a lovely ship. Other than the missing full promenade, I think the ship is lovely. The Atrium is breathtaking.

It seems your complaints are with fellow cruisers and not the Royal class of ship and as far as the layout goes you should of learned it after your first cruise.

Other than the talking during the movie- what complaints did I have about fellow passengers? I clearly said that everyone was GREAT.

Since your own reading comprehension is in question, I don't think you've earned the right to criticize how quickly I learn the layout of a really large ship. :rolleyes:

I'm JEALOUS!! That's a great cabin!

Note: My avatar pic was taken on B749 of the Caribbean Princess.

Forgot to say that I also miss the larger balconies available on Grand Class ships, especially on the Caribe deck.

The Regal is a beautiful ship overall.

The staff is wonderful.

The beds were comfortable.

The food is varied and delicious.

The buffet is AMAZING.

LOVED the 3:00 happy hour at Crooners.

*NOTE: Happy Hour rules have changed. You are no longer allowed to purchase a beer for now and another for later. They won't give you and unopened beer.

We will probably cruise the Royal class again but it won't be during Spring break. (Which is too bad since I'm a teacher.) The issues on Princess Cays are caused by having a lot of people in a small space and trying to please everyone. My friends were with us and it was their first visit to the island. They were completely disappointed in how 'commercial' it feels. I tried to describe how it used to look:

Cay is pronounced as key.

http://www.learnersdictionary.com/definition/cay

 

 

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THANK YOU! That's what I thought and how I've always pronounced it. Some staff on board told us it was KAY. I disagreed but had no way to 'prove' it. :)

Responding to a couple of the comments:

- I did not complain about the cost of the clam shells. $30 is peanuts. I complained about the horrible view it creates for anyone who didn't get onto the first couple tenders to get to the island.

- We got to the island as early as possible with a group of 7 people.

- I cruised the Royal during spring break 2 yrs ago. This cruise (and Princess Cays) felt much for confined. Princess Cays has changed and we miss the old days.

I'm not certain why I was criticized/chastised for sharing my thoughts. We will be platinum on our next cruise. We love Princess. We are just not fans of these huge ships. Maybe a cruise that's not on Spring break will be better.

They were unheated on the Royal and I asked 3 times about this. I received three separate answers. One person said that people complained that they were too hot.

I did not book the Enclave for our Regal cruise last week because without the heated stone loungers I could not justify the cost.

I miss the Grand Class ships. Spent a week on the Royal and a week on the Regal...I'm not sure bigger is better.

Overall, the cruise was GOOD. Weather (not that the cruiseline is responsible) was perfect but a little windy. Food was plentiful and I have no complaints. Everything was delicious.

However, I disembarked with a very...perplexed feeling. :rolleyes:

It was my second cruise on a Royal class ship. Even so, I never got the hang of the layout. I still accidentally took the aft elevator to the dead end spot by the dining room and I wondered for the 14th time why the elevator doesn't simply LABEL this button as being for that dining room. Seems like it would be an easy fix.

I realize it was Spring Break and I have no complaints about the fellow passengers. There were a lot of us. The ship was bursting at the seams and the staff was taxed to their max. Honestly, everyone was great. It was just a lot of people. 4000 people is a lot any way you slice it. For example, it was impossible to be in the pool without someone physically touching you here and there because there's only so much space and, as I said, 4000 people is a lot.

I was looking forward to Movies Under the Stars. It was very windy the first few nights. The fountain show got a bunch of chairs (and people) very wet. I can't say anyone was enjoying the show and I wonder why the crew didn't skip it considering the conditions.

I guess I did have one fellow passenger complaint. Isn't it common sense to be quiet when others are watching a movie? Shouldn't the parents instruct their children to be respectful? My husband had to go ask a group to please stop talking so loudly.

Midway through the week I realized that maybe Royal Class is not for us. I was missing the Grand class ships and wondering why it's a good idea to double the amount of passengers who go on vacation with me.

Our visit to Princess Cays ...(for the love of God, is it KEYS or KAYS?)...our day there sealed the deal for us. Oh...MY...GOD. What has Princess done to that island? It used to be our favorite stop. We loved a simple, no-fuss, beach day with lunch provided for us. Now it's just like going to a cheap amusement park with a wave pool.

The STAFF for the rental equipment was rude to everyone. Are they employees of Princess? They were consistently awful. Here's how my conversation went:

"Do you have floating chairs to rent?"

"$9.95. Fill this out."

I filled out the form and gave my room key. She handed it back.

"Ova there." She nodded her head toward the side of the building.

I walked around and see chairs. "Do I take one of these?"

She grunted something at me.

I saw similar exchanges except one lady who wanted two chairs. She asked if she could pay cash and handed the girl $20. No paperwork was filled out for that rental. (hmmmm)

The restrooms each had an attendant at the door but they appeared to do nothing. Stalls went without toilet paper and nothing was cleaned while we were there.

Sitting on my chair, I was unable to see the water because my view consisted of endless blue clam shells.

I wonder if the $30 Princess is making for each shell is worth spoiling the overall experience of being at a Caribbean beach? They ought to be limiting the number of shells rented and they should be staggered in placement.

Then we endured the nightmare of tendering back to the ship. 4000 people and they decided it was a good idea to use only a couple tenders? I've never seen a tender line as long as this one. We got in line just before 2:00 and it was after 3:00 when we boarded. The sun was hot, there was no shade or water in sight. I was concerned for the elderly and for those with young babies. I'm shocked that Princess thinks this is acceptable.

Safe to say we will never visit Princess Cays again.

I don't think Regal class is for us. It's just too many people and it taxes all the resources. I feel badly for the staff who are working so hard to make the experience good for all these people. By the last day I was yearning for a trip on the Caribbean Princess....sigh.

I saw the post about two more Royal class ships and I was sad. We might cruise one of those again...maybe. But it's not our first choice.

One more thing: We had a LOVELY dinner at the Crown grill.

I LOVE THIS BOARD!!

Crown Grill- HERE WE COME!!!!!!!!!

Last night as we were getting into bed, my husband said, "Let's do a specialty restaurant to celebrate our anniversary." I like the idea so I'm asking anyone who has been on the Regal-- WHICH ONE?

Side note- we eat very little pasta.