Tomcruise92

I don't disagree with you, I was generalising 😂. Of course both lines I think are very good solid products. I find the base prices are often similar but once the packages are added (and Celebrity gratuity etc), it just seems to come out more costly to sail X than Princess. I also quite enjoy the Princess 'quirks' (Love Boat, gameshows etc). I personally find the two lines very similar. That said, I'd love to try the retreat or new Sun suite... Maybe one day!

How I see it, Celebrity is now significantly more expensive than Princess, and not significantly better. There are strengths to each line, but they are overall similar. Princess packages are also awesome in my opinion.

I think the sun looks very stylish overall. What's everyone's thoughts on the new style Piazza? To me, it is the one thing I've seen on the ship that I think looks really tacky! Hoping Princess scraps the awful blue strobe lights and huge screen!!

It is not a case of not accepting it... I am merely curious how it is working on board the Sun... It is an interesting move returning part of the MDR to a fully fixed area. Dine My Way is generally good too. I did find it more of a struggle on Caribbean Princess than recent Regal and Sky cruises though.

Yes same on some cruises. However the fundamental difference on Sun is that the dining room on one level does not have Dine My Way. It is totally different and a fixed time dining venue only.

I agree! Maybe just one dining room at the aft of all ships could be fixed.

Yes usually on Dine My Way, but if they are doing set tables on the lower level with fixed dining on Sun, I wondered if it is operating differently?

This is interesting. I wonder if Princess will look for this to return to other ships? Unlikely but who knows?! How do you choose the set dining time? On board?

Hi all, After watching some vlogs on the new Sun Princess, it seems Princess has reintroduced fixed set dining times in the MDR on one level. How is this working? Can you chose a table size and time prior to boarding? This is such an exciting development as we absolutely love having the same waiter for the duration of the cruise. I know you can request this on other ships but after spending the last 2 weeks on Caribbean Princess, this was not possible.

Thank you for the kind message. First time to the Caribbean and first time on Caribbean Princess 😊

Thank you - this is really reassuring. It is a healing slowly but steadily. Deep but small! I think we will likely take the same approach 😊

Thank you all for the replies and advice, it is very much appreciated. I will give my insurance company a call. As I'm from the UK and cruising to the Caribbean, I think I definitely need to know where I stand.

Hi all I am supposed to embark a Princess Cruise in about 2 weeks time. About 4 weeks ago, I had an emergency abscess surgery which left an open wound. The wound needs to be 'packed' daily. They predicted it would take a month or so to heal. Alas, I am still basically no further forward. I currently visit my local GP (doctors office) every day to see a nurse to change the packing and manage the wound. They have indicated my partner may be able to take this over on the ship if necessary. I am worried as being away from home for over 2 weeks still with a deep wound seems a little unsettling. Do you think I could book a few nurse appointments on the ship for them to 'check' the wound and dress it for me? Does anyone have any idea how much this will cost? I have insurance but I don't think they will cover me for the wound itself. I am sorry for the graphic detail, just feeling a little sad at this stage at the prospect of having to cancel.

Yes I agree, the other areas of the ship look beautiful but what have they done to the wonderful piazza? I'm hoping the first is just a bad picture. But those hideous screens need to go!

Not sure when you're travelling but we also had this. The issue for us was that for speciality dining, we had to wait until 30 days before embarkation. It then recognised the Premier package.

I have not personally found this. Dine My Way is super simple and means once I board I know where I am. For me, the P&O free-for-all and inconsistency between ships is terrible.

Would a system like Princess or HAL be better where you can just pre-book on an app and adjust during the cruise as needed? You can either select a fixed time for the duration of the cruise or individual times and choose from a shared or private table? This could be fleet wide and make it much simpler!

That's completely understandable, I'm not saying it's bad at all and I'm glad you are happy with the service. All I'm saying is, if P&O up their prices again to similar prices to competitors/other lines in the premium line category, they should reflect that by upping their product to match. If you can pay the same and get more elsewhere, they may start to lose business. Ps. I'm in my 30s so I too have no idea about the good old days, my only comparison is with other lines.

If P&O increase their prices to pre pandemic levels, fine that's their choice. However, they really must then return to the premium cruise lines category and improve their service (dining, evening turndown, coffee with room service breakfast (baffling), a proper app, ability to pre-book a table in the MDR and generally be a little more consistent across the line). Some of the new cruises are the same prices as Princess, HAL and Celebrity, yet with a significantly lower category product.

I found this comment really useful... particularly with the Celebrity running circa 50% higher in cost than Princess but certainly not 50% improvement! I have sailed Sky a few times and think it's a tricky ship for the fleet as it overall has less bar space (no crooners) and slightly more passengers which makes for an extremely busy piazza. It also seems to have a nearly all relatively new crew compared to others in the fleet. To the OP, sorry to hear it was not a great cruise. It's a shame as Princess is generally so much better than this.

Usually the aft dining room has slightly better service in my opinion. The Allegro Dining Room on Regal Princess is our favourite.

Couldn't agree more. Princess seem to, on the whole, have sorted themselves out a bit. It felt so much better. I know the package changes are annoying people but in terms of the ship service and feel itself, there has been a definite recent improvement in the second half of 2023. I wonder if it is fleet wide? Ps. Agree... cruising to Norway almost makes you instantly feel amazing!

Honestly you'll have a great time. In our experience, it is very relaxing and overall really great service, food and entertainment. The staff are absolutely delightful. You'll be singing The Love Boat during and after the cruise, as my partner and I do every time we embark and disembark Princess!! 😂

Hi all Thought I'd post some of the positive improvements. I sailed on the same ship earlier in the year. Although minor, some of these just made the experience feel much better: 1. Return of separate dessert and after dinner menus. 2. Printed and bound menus throughout most venues, including the piazza. 3. The internet quality has significantly improved. 4. Dinner service was excellent. 5. MDR food quality has significantly improved in my opinion since earlier in the year. Some of the best meals we've had on a cruise. 6. The new robes ordered to the stateroom. These were significantly better than last time. 7. The quality of room service food. 8. The quality of desserts were significantly better. I know these are small but I feel Princess is getting a lot of bad press recently so always good to mention small things that are better. Overall the cruise was fantastic and crew were exceptional.

Hi all, I've only cruised so far on the royal class ships, and found them to be generally spacious. Then I went on Sky Princess over Easter... the Piazza and bars were constantly full and we were unable to get a seat. This was my first 'colder' cruise (it wasn't a cold cruise but the weather was variable). Are all Princess ships as crammed as Sky for colder cruises, or are things like the lack of Crooners/large photo area to blame on this particular ship? Are other ships in the fleet better? Regal didn't seem to have this problem. I would like to book a winter cruise with Princess but am a little reluctant to do so if I am to have a similar experience. I love Princess but I think a good amount of seating is a pretty basic requirement for a ship and they may need to have a rethink. If anyone has any other experiences it would be great to get some other perspectives.