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19 minutes ago, JimmyVWine said:

Serious question (to the extent that the subject matter itself can be considered serious).  One of the gripes listed that has people heading for the exits is the elimination of the pillow chocolates. So…which of the following is true of Princess’ mass market competitors?

1—They provided pillow chocolates and still do;

2—The used to provide pillow chocolates and have now stopped; or

3—They never provided pillow chocolates and still don’t?

 

If the answer is either 2 or 3, how is quitting Princess and moving to another cruise line where one has no loyalty level benefits a positive move?

Carnival never did, to my knowledge.  Royal Caribbean stopped some ten or eleven years ago.  HAL was still giving them out before COVID, but I haven't sailed recently.  Celebrity was still giving them when we sailed last year.

2 hours ago, ldtr said:

I had a recent cruise on the Crown.  The shortage of staff for the buffet was very noticeable, as was the check in process for the MDR, by far the worst of any of the 6 Princess ships I have been on in the last year.  I was able to work around both issues and after the first night had a table assigned for hte rest of the cruise that I could just go to directly without having to check in (we dine MDR so we can catch all of the evening entertainment). It also depend upon which dining room.  The stern dining rooms seem to have the most problems. The mid-ship dining rooms seem to do better.

 

On the other hand the Buffet on Discovery Princess, which we got off of today, was the best I have ever seen on a Princess ship and the MDR check in process was pretty smooth.  Pretty much everything was pretty much back to pre-Covid (entertainment, operations, etc).  The only area I would comment on in my survey is that MDR service speed would get slow once a waiter's service area got totally filled, so out first courses would go very quickly but dessert would take as long as the earlier courses.  They need either smaller areas ro go back to the main and asst waiter model.

 

As the ships get back to full capacity staffing and services are returning.

I'd be interested in knowing how you managed to get that permanent table assignment!

Otherwise, I find your post very encouraging.  We aren't particularly loyal to a single line, but Princess was hitherto on the short list of those we have preferred.  Our conversations with other passengers led us to suspect the issues we were experiencing were due more to problems on the Crown than problems fleet-wide.

I think it is possible we were on the Crown at the same time as the OP.  Although we weren't bothered by some of what he mentions, there were definitely some serious problems, seemingly due to being understaffed.  This showed up most in the food service, of course.

It was rare for more than one Buffet line to be open.  Even on Embarkation Day, only one line was open for Lunch.  The rear stations in the Caribe Cafe were never opened for the entire cruise.

For at least the first three days, the dinner reservation times were fiction.  For example, on Day 2 we had a 7:20 reservation, got in the line at 7:05, and at 7:30 when the length of the line indicated we would probably be there another hour, we managed to grab a reservation at Sabatini's.

On Day 4 things started improving, noticably.  We happened to be waiting to board our excursion bus in one port when I was able to count 27 new crew members coming on board.

We were able to talk to several who had cruised other Princess ships within the past six weeks or so, and they indicated the problems were unusual.

So will we cruise Princess again?  I'm sure we will, but I am not sure that is the answer I would have given on Day 2 or 3.

One of the things the Captain mentioned at the forum on Thursday was that what caused the azipod problem was that "one of the electric motors short-circuited".  I pulled out my phone to make a note of his exact phrasing.  He also told us this precise problem had never happened before on any of the ships using azipods.

We are also on the ship--we've enjoyed the cruise, and weren't as disappointed as some by the itinerary change as we'd never been to St. Croix.

Dinner table conversation with the small sample to which we've been exposed leads me to believe people were less perturbed by the itinerary change than by the fact we'd been on the ship about an hour before it was announced.  

Given that excursion tickets for St. Martin were not in our room when we boarded, it's clear somebody already knew well before the passengers did.

I usually find the production shows at their best to be below professional land productions, but a notch above a good university theatre department. Performers are talented, but haven’t polished their skills to the point where they can reliably bring it night after night. The more a line spends on entertainment, the better the performers.

The talent-type shows like the Voice of the Seas auditions are very cheap to produce. You aren’t paying the bulk of the people doing the performing.

We can’t wait to get on the Star in October, and we’ll go and probably enjoy every show. Overall, though, I have found Princess entertainment in the main theatre to be noticeably inferior to RCL. I love Princess for other reasons, but not because of their entertainment offerings.

So far, it would have to be our Alaska cruise on the Emerald. It was a beautiful ship, the lecturers were wonderful, and the destination was all we could have wished--lots of sunshine and very little rain.

That was our last Princess Cruise, so kudos to the person who said “the last one and the next one”. We are off to Hawaii on the Star in 85 days. I think there is a better than 50% chance it will supplant the Alaska cruise.

I saw the same term, “Dress to Impress”, used on our last cruise with RCI. It was on a 6 night cruise which normally wouldn’t have a formal night, but still had a night for all the photographers to flog their wares. The menu was a cut above, and it was really more of a formal night without the formal. A lot of people did make extra effort, but there were very few tuxes. Sports jackets and business suits were not rare, though.

I think formal nights were doomed when airlines started charging for baggage. We examine the dress code for whichever line we are sailing on and make certain we can dress accordingly, but I no longer take the tux if a sports jacket is permitted. Taking an extra bag now means paying for it.

In some ways, I’m sad to see them change. There are plenty of lines where one never has to bother, but the numbers of people dressing up always made it feel a little more special. There was a nice energy to all the entertainment that is just not there on more casual nights.

I travel a lot for my work, and I can pack for a week away in 15 minutes on Sunday night because I’ve done it so often.

However, that has nothing to do with the way I pack for a cruise... I have a file folder of checklists from all our cruises, with notes about what we didn’t use. I have the new list compiled and printed out with the valises on the dining room table four weeks before we leave. I’ll put a few things in every weekend, though obviously a lot of things can’t go in until the weekend before. There are always things for the very last minute--making certain we have phone chargers, that sort of thing. I’ll look at the passports 6 times between the house and the airport.

I haven’t really thought about it, but I suppose I do that because it makes the upcoming fun seem more real. I’ll put cruise videos on Youtube and start gathering stuff...It helps build the anticipation.

Not sure if you’re on the same date we are, but this is our next cruise and we are really looking forward to it. It will be more sea days than we’ve had in a row before, but we usually like sea days so we haven’t been too concerned. We also like to read, so the Kindles will be loaded.

We usually find too many port days in a row wear us out, so we expect the sea days on the way back to be a time to recover!

When we first started cruising, we always took ship tours. There is a peace of mind that comes with it, but it also has a cost. The same excursions are almost always available--sometimes from the same tour companies--at a significantly reduced price. (We find that ship excursions tend to cost 10-40 percent more, depending on the excursion and its price point).

We do a mix now--I realized how relaxed I had become about the whole thing when we went to Cuba for the first time a short while ago and did a private tour. We had our tour guide to ourselves, and had a six hour walking/driving tour (in a vintage automobile) for less than half the price the cruise line was asking. We were also able to tailor it to our interests and stamina. On the other hand, we went to Alaska a year ago and booked most of the tours through the line because there weren’t really any significant savings to be had.

The Cruise Critic port boards are a great resource. You’ll find out who is dependable and offers something out of the ordinary. The ship excursions simply can’t offer the same level of personalization. That’s not to say that every port is going to have something wonderful that can only be seen in a private excursion, but the best excursions we’ve had over the last decade were all private. I’m glad we became a little more adventurous.

We just came back from a 6-night cruise on Empress. There is no formal Formal Night, but our first day was a sea day and was listed as “Dress to Impress”. There was a decent MDR menu and the photographers were out in force. If you would miss dressing up, this would be the night to do it. If you want to judge others for not following the posted dress code, it’s not going to be nearly as satisfying as a true formal night... It reminded me more of the “Elegant Evening” that the Carnival ships were using on our last cruise with them.

Our final night’s dress code was “Smart Casual”, but they brought out the ubiquitous lobster tails and Prime Rib on the MDR menu.

So many of the individual elements are still there for those who might otherwise miss them, but they aren’t quite as...um...formalized.

We just got back from the Empress last Friday. We thoroughly enjoyed the ship. Just a few thoughts from the top of my head:

1. Be prepared. The rooms are small, because that’s the way they built them in the early 1990s. It’s also why the ship can go to Havana, and literally dock right at one of the old squares.

2. The water, as we’ve found on older ships of several different lines, has a slight iron/rust taste. It’s not at “mineral springs” level and after 6 days we noticed it much less, but it’s there when you brush your teeth.

3. The ship’s band and the production shows are amazingly good. The amount of money RC spends on entertainment over other lines shows even on this, their oldest and smallest ship.

4. Our cruise director was Hugo. We don’t normally worry too much about who the cruise director is, but he is remarkably good and very well matched for the itinerary and the passengers who take the Cuba cruises. He presents a Havana Q&A program which should not be missed--it was EXTREMELY helpful for knowing what was going on as we went through immigration. I can still hear him saying “HELLO, my Beautiful People!!!”

5. In our early cruising days we always took ship tours, but have become more adventurous as we become more seasoned. IF you are interested in independent tours in Havana, look up Blexie-Havana on Facebook or Trip Advisor. He is a local tour guide who taught English at the University before becoming a guide so he could make more money. He gives some real insight as to what life is like in Havana--both the good and the bad. He’s good about replying to email when he gets it, but it’s important to remember that the internet in Cuba is not like the internet in the US. After a day of giving a tour, he has to go to a park for WiFi in order to correspond. There are times emails seem to be in limbo for several days if you check the time stamps, so if this sounds like something you want to do don’t try to set it up three days before you sail. He has a loyal following, though, and has clients booked as far in the future as February 2019.

6. In Costa Maya we went with an independent tour company called “The Native Choice”. It was another great tour. Take the tour that gives you lunch in the Mayan Village.

Numbers 1 and 2 above are really the most negative things I can think to say about our experience, and we understood why things were the way they were. RC has spent a lot of time and money on larger ships, and they do a very good job on Empress of trying to give the Royal experience on a smaller ship. Almost everyone on our cruise, though, was there for one reason--Cuba. If I’d been going for Cozumel or Costa Maya, I’d have been on a different ship but I’d do Empress to Cuba again in a heartbeat. Not everyone is comfortable taking independent tours, and the ship offers an impressive array of options. They will cost a little more, but everyone should do what they are comfortable doing.

We just got off the Pride today, and in general had a wonderful time. I noticed, though, that when it came time to reset a table in the Normandie Restaurant that any glassware or silverware that hadn't been used by the previous guest would be left in place, and the setting made complete before the next guests were sat. This wasn't just a case of a setting not used on a larger table; I observed wine glasses and knives in particular left when a booth was bussed and incorporated with new napkins and place settings.

It didn't upset me enough to stay out of the restaurant, but we did start checking our settings and watching enough to see that it was done across several nights by all the teams we had a chance to observe. We did discover one of our wine glasses had missed the inspection...

I suppose it's because clearing all that unused glass and dishware makes for a lot of backbreaking hauling of the bus tubs, but I'd rather they just didn't bring stuff to the table until they knew we needed it.

It's quite possible this has been going on on every cruise I've been on, but this was certainly the first time I've noticed it. Overall, I still think the restaurant is more hygenic than any self-serve buffet.

3 days until we board the Pride. 1 1/2 more business days until vacation starts, which is just as exciting right now. I’ve already packed everything that can be packed before the morning we fly out. (We still need those phone chargers...)

Carnival isn’t our “favorite” line, I suppose, but I’m looking forward to getting on the Pride in 9 days and I know it isn’t likely to be my last Carnival cruise. We chose this cruise because we liked where it’s going (provided the weather cooperates) and we really liked the price. I do get a sense sometimes that Carnival is positioning itself as the Motel 6 of cruise lines, but they still have interesting itineraries and we still like being on a cruise ship--even when the food isn’t what it used to be, we have yet to lose weight on a cruise. So we check the dress code for whatever the line asks and pack accordingly. Carnival has the lowest requirements short of Norwegian. We will meet it, but it will be nice not to have to pack the extra clothes. I’ll enjoy not dressing up on this Carnival cruise, and I’ll enjoy dressing a little better when we take Princess to Hawaii next year.

As you can tell from my signature, I haven’t cruised on the Crown since 2010 so I’m somewhat hesitant to post--things can change a lot in seven years. Nonetheless, it was our first Princess Cruise and we enjoyed the staff and the ship immensely. We certainly wouldn’t hesitate to book it again if it were doing an itinerary we wanted.

Oh, I certainly don't expect to go hungry. I've yet to lose weight on a cruise!

As you can tell in my signature I’ve not been particularly loyal to any one line. I’m starting to have a few “theories” about cruise food:

1. If your food arrives fresh from the kitchen, it’s more likely to be good. If it sits on the waiter’s station while you or someone at your table is finishing a course, or because the two large tables next to you are being served, the quality will suffer. My main complaint about the “New American Table” on Carnival is that it seems designed to allow them to serve in the dining room with a smaller staff. That just exacerbates this problem. If you find a waiter who can give you prompt service each night, you’ll probably be happier.

2. The food will never again be like what I keep hearing it was in the 1980s, because the lines won’t spend the money on it.

3. There seems to be as much variation in quality between the ships of a given line as there is between the various lines, so I’m becoming less convinced that, overall, any mass-market line has “better” food than another. I’d be more tempted to ask what the food is like on a particular ship.

So if anyone has any tips or reports for dining on the Carnival Pride, I’d like to hear it because I’ll be there in October. I would be highly surprised if it’s quite as good as on the newer flagships, though, so I don’t expect the Pride to have great food just because the Dream does.

I have both knees replaced. If the airport has one of the full body scanners open, ask to go through that. I’ve never had anything further required anywhere that used those. I have set off every metal detector I walk through except at one foreign airport. If they don’t have a full body scanner, they will have to pat you down at the airport when you set off the metal detector. They’ve always been courteous to me, and I do tell them beforehand so they don’t make me check my pockets again. It has yet to add more than 5 minutes to my trip to the gate.

The ship scanners are less sensitive, but I almost always set them off. Again, telling the crew member running the scanner before I walk through means I am quickly waved to the side and scanned with a wand. I don’t think I’ve ever lost more than three minutes at the detector.

We just came off of the Royal; it was only our second Princess Cruise but overall (for the things we enjoy doing) we greatly preferred our cruise on the Crown Princess.

The Royal interior spaces are stunningly beautiful, and the Piazza is gorgeous. The size probably comes from the fact that Princess has placed almost everything around the Piazza on three decks. That’s also part of the problem; there are few places on the ship to get away from the noise of activity and just quietly read a book while looking out at the ocean from time to time.

The staff and service were always very good, and we had no complaints. I thought the buffet at HC was one of the best organized I’ve ever seen at sea.

It’s not just the central bank of elevators that are on split control systems; there are only four cars in the aft bank, yet it is on two systems. Of course, this means a car will often stop on a floor after someone has already boarded another elevator.

We were dining with a number of people who had mini-suites who were appalled by how tiny the balconies were. We were in an interior, so I can’t really say. Most of the balconies aren’t particularly private; the seawalk allows one to look down into most of the balconies along the side of the ship, and anyone on the Horizon Terrace can see down into the aft balconies.

The theatre struck us as small for so large a ship, but we never found it crowded for the early or late show. We were usually dining during the middle show, so I can’t say how that would be.

We definitely missed the covered Promenade--usually our favorite place to sit--and it was clear a lot of lot of loyal Princess cruisers did too.

I would go on the Royal again if the price or itinerary were right, but I also know it will never become a “favorite”. On the other hand, our 10-day cruise was completely sold out. As a Carnival Corp. stockholder, I will be very happy with the Royal if she can continue that--I’ll just try personally to sail on some of Princess’s other ships.

We came off the Royal last Wednesday. I can’t say about the dining room, but we saw grounds being used daily in the HC and HTerrace. The coffee in the dining room was better than we found it on the Crown Princess a few years ago. We brought a coffee card with a few punches, but mostly used them at Gelato’s.

It's true I've had toilets stop up, but I've certainly never been required to stay in the room for the service people to come fix them. The service people usually don't NEED to be in your room; all the clean-outs are accessible from the hallway.

If our toilet was plugged and we needed to go, we'd use one of the public rooms just like we do when we're 7 decks away from our stateroom.

I'm about to go on my second Princess cruise (not soon enough, but soon). You can see from the cruise history in my signature that Princess probably isn't my very favoritest line ever, but there are things here which seem to have been gilded a bit with the hope of getting refund/new cruise/whatever.

Perhaps someone more acquainted with the ways of CC can tell me: is it possible to change your screen name? and would that then reset your post count? The biggest red flag to me is that he has been on CC since 2012, but this is his first post--and his screen name seems chosen to reflect the experience on this cruise. On most of the bulletin boards I frequent, that would raise a big collective eyebrow. It's the ONLY thing that makes me wonder about the OPs veracity--I've met people on ships before who don't seem to be having the same cruise I am.

I'll admit that in the world today I have a difficult time telling the difference between a troll and a genuinely upset customer.

The fact that this is the first post from a screen name that joined in 2012 gives me pause, however.

I've taken a 9' cord on my last three cruises (which was when I began using the CPAP). Given that my CPAP also has 9' of cord, it has always been more than sufficient. Of course, we've never been in anything larger than a standard balcony room--if you're in the Royal Suite your butler can undoubtedly find something for you once you arrive. I do unplug it every morning and roll it up; that gives the steward the room he or she needs to do the job without tripping over it.

As for water, I usually use the ship's tap water. It's purified by Reverse Osmosis (though I believe they add certain elements back in--RO water does not taste very good). I do let it run a bit, but I've never had any problem--and I've never had any deposits in my humidifier reservoir afterwards. Industrial RO membranes are extremely good at removing pathogens.

In fact, we make about 40-50 gallons of RO/DI water a week at home to use with our reef tank. It is one of the medical standards for CPAP in some countries, and it's free since I have it in the house already.