Interestedcruisefan

Cunard can have Camilla

Useful to know for next time we cruise

Princess of Wales for this ship

Yes but surely we are picking best bits for the perfect ship?

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c722518vxwlo

Also Infinity pool at the back from either Iona or Arvia Automated toilet doors from Arvia and Iona Water drink dispensers from arvia and iona Limelight club from Britannia (its smaller and more intimate)

Things that are must haves to add I feel: Swim up bar from Arvia 710 club from Arvia or Iona Sindhu from one of the early ships that had it (when quality was higher) Green and Co from Arvia Mizhuama from Arvia Big TVS from Arvia or Iona Mini Golf and High Ropes from Arvia Golf Nets from any ship that has them Escape Room from Arvia Need a sportsbar for watching sport? And a casino? The Acadia Theatre needs the big screens at back and sides from Arvia And Godmother has to be Dame Darcey Also needs a captain? Entertainment it needs: Prime Roy Walker and prime Bernie Flint

The 7 nights we have on here the only options for pre-booking MDRs (now we are on the ship) have been sharing tables only. And they have only been available on a couple of nights. I didn't think pre booking MDR tables for early slots would be an issue and needed doing before we boarded as early tables have always been so easy to get on previous cruises Speciality wise I wasn't even planning to book those. And it's only because we ended up premium plus that we had 2 nights to book speciality for Heading to Sabatinis for the second time tonight as Crown Grill is sold out all week

Yes Normally get directed to do that as well

You do still have to go and get scanned off at the muster point though To show you know where it is

We are looking to mainly cruise further afield for a while And can't justify the extra cost plus tips not included for Princess for cruises closer to home I don't think If I'm going to spend more than P and O prices I want to see something back that justifies the extra spend Don't think Princess is the answer for that I do accept this cruise possibly a bad example of what they can offer

I know better now of course should I ever cruise with P and O again Early dining has always been very easy for us on P and O Not having to share a table equally easy for us on P and O

On Princess in Alaska Trousers and a shirt with collar would put you in the top 20 per cent for smartness! Lol Even on formal nights Definitely don't need ties and jackets for any restaurants for any nights on here

I came on board expecting Princess to be a whole level above P and O I will leave very unlikely (unless there's zero alternative) to cruise with them again If I do cruise with them again I will at least be better prepared for what to expect The modern, larger P and O ships are so far ahead of what I've experienced in terms or systems, organisation and choice The customer mix on our Alaskan cruise is US, Canadian, Australian and Asian. Brits very much in the minority. They all must have much lower expectations and demands than the Brits I think most on this forum would love Alaska but most (including you John) would not love the cruise experience Princess gives here Standards are lowest I've experienced on a cruise by some way on here

Totally agree P and O booking system and ability to virtual queue is vastly superior to what I'm experiencing with Princess We dont even have handheld buzzers to be given out on Ruby either It's just physical queues. I can't even pre-book anything Lots more people sharing on here as well because if you aren't prepared to share you just queue even longer First night we shared in MDR (when I was able to pre-book a shared table) we then had to wait 10 mins on the table before more people joined us. Despite there being a queue behind us.

The breakfast on Ruby Princess mirrors this Really really poor quality. Everything overcooked. Very low quality sausages and bacon Tasteless cheap and nasty pastries

On P and O we book 710 club as soon as we get on several times

So there's 2 showtimes on Princess Either 7.30pm or 9.30pm We like early shows and early dining So for that to work we need to be in MDR by 6pm otherwise it's hit and miss whether we can finish the meal by 7.30pm We were originally going to do buffet tonight because it's formal night. But realised trousers and a shirt IS classed as formal on here. You don't need ties. And ive got plenty of nice trousers and shirts with me But all the pre bookings for all restaurants tonight were full regardless of how early you tried to book. So we headed to MDR at 6pm as walk ups thinking that should work as its early They have a pre reservations queue and a no reservations queue there There were 8 people in the reservations queue and 30 people approx in the no reservations queue already at 6pm Not one male in either queue was in formal dinner suit attire. I think a couple of males were wearing jackets. A couple of the ladies were in dresses. The rest didn't appear to have made any effort to look smart at all. Just all looked casual to me. Anyway after 10 minutes queuing only 2 people from our queue had been let in and 4 from the reservation queue. You could tell we weren't going to get in quickly so we headed to the buffet instead to give us chance of making the theatre for 7.30pm Buffet wasn't overly busy. No queues. Decent options including nicely cooked whole salmon. My wife had a glass of champagne. 80 per cent of the champagnes she's had have been served in normal round wine glasses. Rather than champagne flute glasses which spoils the effect. Same tonight. Went to the show - was a good magician/comedian. Then met up with our daughter and her boyfriend who were watching a Mr and Mrs Show which we wouldn't normally watch but was so so funny. One thing we've noticed is how enthusiastic the US and Canadian guests are for all the entertainment. They love it and really get involved. The cruise director on here is also really good. Very very funny guy. Could be a stand up comedian. Wasnt sure about him at first. But he's great once you've seen him a few times Bear in mind it's not school holidays. There are kids on board but mostly pre school kids and not loads of them. But the systems on this ship to manage logistics are so poor compared to the big P and O ships. And yet the medallions are so good Ive come to realise people just expect and accept queues on here. And just get on with it. What I think is unacceptable others including management just think is normal There's a burger and hot dog bar next to the pool. Someone takes the order and then it's kind of made to order by 2 chefs Arvia and Iona there's a well drilled team of chefs and fast moving orders ready to go. Fast burgers and decent quality. It's like the old days here Everything slow and disorganised Surprised the Canadian and US guests just accept it We are trying to picture my parents on ths ship and can't imagine them enjoying it This can't be the norm they experience on Princess cruises In the theatre I reckon less than 5 per cent of the guests were wearing jackets tonight. Less than 2 per cent wearing dinner jackets. The theatre was full for 7.30pm show On formal nights theres no vouchers for everyone for complimentary fizz like on P and O We get turndown but no chocolates

Yep The premium dessert cakes aren't much better either tbh. Just bigger Premium dessert ice cream sundaes look great but be prepared to queue then wait for those They cost 12 US dollars if not on premium plus

Ruby Princess Alaska This has been happening all day today both sides of the ship First time I've ever seen whales in real life VID-20240518-WA0006.mp4

To summarize: My daughter's boyfriend (age 26) from UK has never cruised before He was taken aback in the terminal by the relentless queues for 2.5 hrs (Vancouver) I can't call it chaos because to be fair the queues were very organised It was just how each one was draining (all 4 of them) one at a time But whilst queuing I said to him "Don't worry. Once we actually get on the ship it's nothing like this. Everything is so smooth and organised on cruise ships. They are like well oiled machines" (It hasn't been). But he's not really noticed. Good example of how people new to cruising have lower expectations perhaps and are more easily please? My daughter (age 24) has cruised before many times with us upto the age of 18 ish with us RCL, Carnival and P and O. All a few times. She said to us yesterday. "Maybe it's me and I just had lower expectations when I was younger. But does the quality of the food seem worse to you on this ship than in the past?" She's a chef herself Personally I think MDR the food quality is ok. But we've had to share tables to avoid queues so far. Which isn't what we want really. The standard was certainly as good if not better than P and O MDR. Speciality definitely no better than P and O for sure Options far less to dine as well Buffet MDR 2 specialities Crown Grill fully booked Sabatinis. Where despite having 35 us dollar charge (included with Premier plus) I had to pay a further 5 us dollars for smoked salmon started and a further 15 us dollars upgrade for fillet steak last night (all included on P and O in the cover charge). Fillet steak only came with a garlic type butter. No sauce. Smoked salmon was pretty plain. Just served with grapefruit segments and bit of salad. 2 casual dining (with a cost) - A gastropub with very limited choices. Burgers mainly. Wouldn't go back. That costs 14.99 us dollars per head (included on Premier plus) And Vines which is basically a wine bar that serves charcuterie with the wine they serve (at a cost) I believe. Not somewhere for a full meal. However, the boyfriend is a first time cruiser is very happy as he has nothing better to compare it to. And would happily eat the buffet every mealtime if needed. He's into quantity not quality. I can honestly say I've never had a cruise before where a queue for ice cream (there's only one place to get it) has stopped me wanting to have it It's ok saying ice cream is free but when there's only one place for all the guests to get it and they serve it to you And it's the same queue for the ice cream as the premier desserts. And the people in that queue are also mixed in with people queuing for pizza it's just not worth the hassle Everyone in the queues are constantly having to check who's already ordered and who's still queuing as well There's also a third queue for coffees at the same place albeit that ones at the end It's like Motorway service takeaway type of vibe there The premium cocktail I wanted not available all week so I'm on normal margaritas and daquiris and mojitos. All of which fall under plus rather than premium anyway My wife mainly drinking glasses of champagne on premium although she could have had Prosecco on plus and sometimes has it as she kind of prefers it to the champagne She like the coffees but not the queues They also promote that premium includes unlimited juices as a big added bonus We thought there must be a juice bar but if there is we haven't found one. All the juices we've had haven't been freshly made so far at all the places we've tried. There's a load of free cakes next to the Piazza. The usual kind. Once you get to the front of the queue to order them they serve you at once. Albeit you've queued a bit. The Premier cakes. You have to queue in the coffee queue for them. You then have to order it and then wait til someone else comes out to cut and serve it to you despite the fact they are in the same cold shelves as the free ones which get served instantly Yesterday it was another 10 minutes waiting at the counter for that to happen whilst people ordering the free ones from the same counter were just talking away with theirs when they got to the front of their queue. Exact same with Premier dessert sundaes. It's way quicker and easier to have a standard plain ice cream once you get to the front of the ice cream queue. You can't order til you get to the front of the queue so the one girl who makes the sundaes (which she takes the order for and then walks back into the kitchen to make) never makes more than one order at a time There's some weird stuff happening in that respect There's nowhere I've seen yet where there's any real effort going into making real quality cocktails Good Spirits sounds like it would be the place but it's not. Although apparently they do a demo cocktail every afternoon at 5pm but that doesn't fit in with our timings Princess (in Canada at least) is not great. Alaska is amazing though Saw black bears and whales from the ship today plus a glacier. Was a sea day

You can also put bridge cam on and they are so big even in an inside cabin it's like having an outside cabin Or a virtual view!! Lol

Yes of course. It does require you are wearing the medallion What I mean is you order from anywhere and they bring it to you. So if I'm on a sunbed they bring it to me. And if I were to move after I ordered as long as my medallion is round my neck they will still locate me. They also know your name when you approach any till etc as the medallion brings tha faces and names of all the people up on the tills that are nearby They just ask you to confirm cabin number and they click on your face to process the order and say your name Clever stuff Like I say though it's not been a good cruise in terms of queues and quality so far Activities and speakers amazing. Scenery amazing and being with our daughter amazing

You can't order everything to be delivered to you on the ship. Just some things. And it's the things you can't order where the queues seem to be Im wondering if too many staff are involved now in taking stuff to people all over the boat. Hence places are understaffed and the queues Basically I can order a drink or food on my phone from the list to be brought to me in any location on the ship. Ie a sunbed, my cabin, any location. And I can order a drink from any bar brought to me as well. Not just the bar I'm sitting in. They then find you with your medallion No charge for doing that on Premier plus

We actually won Premier plus whilst watching a talk on why to upgrade to plus or premium plus We would have paid anyway as just for wifi and tips it was going to cost 45 dollars each per night (both included with plus and premium plus) Plus was 60 dollars and premium plus 80 dollars per night There's a 19 us dollars premium cocktail I fancied (a watermelon salted margarita) plus you get unlimited fitness classes and 2 speciality meals each plus other stuff in premium plus. Including premium desserts. So we were about to pay 80 us each when they drew our name out the hat and we won for free!! Lol Anyway I'm glad it's free. They've got no watermelon in any of the bars all week for the Cocktail and I can't be bothered to queue for the premium desserts One extra bonus of the medallion is you can link to shipmates and know where they are on the ship at any time so you can find each other