cheezenip

9 hours ago, Cruise Raider said:

These were the differences I noticed:

 

The cabins on Celebrity kick butt but I do love the open closet design on Princess.  The beds are also somewhat more comfortable on Princess.  

Agreedwith this observation

9 hours ago, Cruise Raider said:

The buffet on the Royal Class ships are far superior to those on Celebrity .. on the Grand class ships, the complete opposite is true.  

I'm glad someone else is able to notice this. Though the layout is slightly better (IMHO) with Celebrity's buffet, they "cheat" and serve the same foods most of the time each day at lunch and dinner for the entire week.  Princess Royal Class buffets provide more variety since they change it up daily for the most part.

9 hours ago, Cruise Raider said:

The biggest difference was the entertainment, activities and events.  We met several others that did the same side by side cruises and the consensus was, Celebrity was just kind of boring.  There was always something fun to participate in on Princess.  And if you felt like just relaxing with some quiet time, there was that, too!  

I am quite critical of the entertainment on Princess compared to RCL, NCL, and even CCL. However, I have to agree completely on your statement. Unless you are a drinker (I am not) and like to socialize at the bars, the activities are sparse compare tp Princess.

9 hours ago, Cruise Raider said:

 

We didn’t have a bad time on Celebrity, far from it … it’s just that Princess suited us so much better.  Again, it’s not always been like that, as Celebrity really was our favorite in the past.  And there were things about Celebrity that we liked so much more.  This comes from a frequent standard balcony cruiser so, that may make a difference.  We are not demanding but do love decent to great wine.  We are not foodies but can tell if it is just not great food.  

 

 

As much as I am unhappy with the decline in the food quality with Princess (although I am hopeful that Rudi Sodamin can reverse this trend and bring some of food quality from HAL over to PCL but unsure what type of food budget he has to work with and being under the management of John Padgett I'm not that optimistic), I think Celebrity's food quality is over-rated in the MDR and buffet (I don't do specialty dining).

Thank you for sharing your thoughts!!

1 hour ago, Jeter02 said:

The drills on princess are so easy You literally check in at your mustard station with your medallion and then you can either watch your safety drill either on your stateroom TV or on your mobile device.

@Jeter02 How early can you check into your mustard station (want to beat the crowds) before going back to the stateroom to watch the drill?

On 7/31/2023 at 8:17 AM, Jeter02 said:

Lunch on embarkation day in the main dining room started at 11:30 a.m. Some other options you do have is you do have for a bite to eat is Gigi's which opens at 11am, as well as international cafe and the buffet on the widow which is always readily available once on board. On embarkation day I always prefer to eat in the MDR where I had a lovely lunch. I had the amazing beef tenderloin which simply melted in your mouth and was so well to seasoned.

@Jeter02 We too will be doing a B2B and enjoy eating at the MDR on embarkation. With in-transit privileges, did you find you could enter the MDR earlier than 11:30am on your 2nd week or were they firm on the 11:30 am starting time? Also, did you have to do the fire drill requirements the 2nd week?

On 8/12/2023 at 3:48 PM, Jeter02 said:

I can let you know the service and the main dining room has been fabulous for breakfast lunch and dinner. As always for those who have traveled recently on Princess I know some people have concerns when it comes to the reservations. I am a very early diner so I tend to always wait at the dining room like 30-20 minutes prior to opening. For dinner I always eat at 5:00 or 5:30 whichever one is the earliest. On this ship and itinerary it is 5:00 for dinner. So if you don't have a reservation or if you're traveling with a large group that's always the best time as 6:00 is always peak time with people coming in for dinner. 

Is there a waiter / waitress you can recommend booking an entire cruise in the dining room (s) you ate at? We also like to eat early and want to have the old mdr experience where the mdr team knows our preferences. I know times have changed but we can still try.

1 hour ago, Steelers36 said:

Perhaps Princess Legal should sue them for poor sampling and what use is a survey from almost 10 months ago.

Please don't give Princess Management any NEW ideas for cutting costs. It will be their new excuse for making further cuts. "We are diverting operational funds to protect the interests <<translation: reputation>> of Princess Cruises. We apologize in advance to our loyal customers that we will have to cut back in XXX, YYY, and ZZZ ..."

2 hours ago, hogwildcruzers said:

I won't trust or believe any poll that has Carnival ahead of Princess!

 

<<post deleted by user>>

1 minute ago, luvtravel said:

In May we’re on the Celebrity Solstice in Alaska - first cruise post pandemic. In July we were on the Island Princess in Iceland/Norway.  To us the experience totally different - Celebrity is much better.  The staff on each did a good job but the food, the ship, entertainment, the activities - so much better on Celebrity.  We are elite on Princess.  We did like the medallion device for opening doors and tracking drinks - we did not use it to order anything. We found the Island Princess depressing. The cabin was ok but the speciality restaurants had few if any in them. They looked so outdated esp. compared to Celebrity.   

Your comments match my experiences on both Celebrity and Holland America but I used Ruby and I too am elite w/ Princess. Princess has definitely fallen behind the competition due to CEO John Padgett's cost cutting strategies. Every cruise line has taken cost cutting measures but in the end it's the experience "after the cost-cutting" that matters. I encourage everyone that is dissatisfied w/ Princess to try other lines and then make your decision afterwards. For me, I want to try Discovery Princess in January and see how it compares with my recent non-Princess cruises.

6 minutes ago, Jeter02 said:

I'm doing great, and having a ball! I decided I'm going to write a whole daily review with each of the ports after I disembark tomorrow. As always I'll have all the patters included, menus, excursions, and lots of pictures Figured I'll have the time as I wait for time to pass by in the airport. I apologize for all the suspense and for being so quiet on here. This has been such a fabulous cruise onboard with such an amazing group of crew.

No need to apologize...glad you had such a great time. I'll be especially interested in your food comments in the MDR (service speed also) and the buffet as well as music activities around the ship both day and night (I'll be going in Jan for 2 weeks and the family is concerned with enough music around the ship both day / night when we are in Mexico). Have a safe trip home!!

40 minutes ago, gottagoacruzn said:

Hey Jeter, you're lettin us down again. Know you're havin fun, but think about us, we're choppin at the bit to learn what you're doin.

On vacation and enjoying himself, COVID or other health problems....??? Just let us know you are ok with a status update and your thoughts of the Discovery Princess (so good that you are ignoring the cruise critic world...LOL??)

30 minutes ago, cavecreekguy said:

I'd find such a list interesting, but as a solo cruiser, I don't see the value in it. When I search for a cruise I look for the itinerary I want, then the price. If it's a price I'm willing to pay I go with it. Doesn't really matter to me what the single supplement % is. Am I missing something?

Not everyone has the luxury of having the "doesn't matter to me what the single supplement is" attitude you possess. Economics for some solos is a significant factor when cruising.

I can no longer pin point that exact year (failing memory) but at least approximately 2-4 years prior to COVID, Princess had switched beef suppliers and the quality had declined noticeably since the switch. Perhaps someone who keeps up with PCL's operations more closely can shed more light.

<<post removed by user>>

On 6/20/2023 at 7:30 AM, gilboman said:

can consider HAL? princess food imo was never that good even precovid.  I've done a few HAL cruises post pandemic and find it much better than celebrity or princess even precovid especially buffet and other venues too 

Agree with the comments about the food quality on HAL. I actually think they are under-rated. Some cruising friends have remarked that HAL is "almost" on par with Oceana which surprises me but I haven't tried that cruiseline yet to provide an opinion.

On 5/23/2023 at 1:32 PM, AtlantaCruiser72 said:

@mamamusings it seems many of your concerns stem from use of the medallion app and related medallion technology.  Unfortunately this is one are where Princess consistently over promises and SIGNIFICANTLY underdelivers.  The expectations you had pre-cruise based on their marketing are not meeting the reality of what is being delivered onboard.  Some of this is down to staff not fully embracing the technology on top of a buggy tech platform.  You are justified in your disappointment.

 

I do find the amount of daily activities and entertainment offerings to be on par with what I expect from Princess.  Comparing to NCL mostly illustrates that the NCL offerings better suit your preferences for future travel.  The two brands are designed to appeal to different market segments.

 

As far as food, NCL does the "food thing" in a vastly superior way overall, especially on their newest ships like the Bliss.  Princess has always been ho-hum in this area and travelling on an older ship design like Emerald will only highlight the differences between the brands.  Again - different products aimed at different market segments.

 

Please try to enjoy the rest of your cruise, and maybe avoiding using the app will improve your experience.  Since it seems you now know that Princess is not the right "fit" for you I hope you are able to continue cruising on a line, like NCL, that seems to better suit your preferences.  The marvelous thing is that we as consumers have choices.

A well written post!!

4 minutes ago, Coral said:

And their stock is doing so well compared to the competitors, right???? 😈

CCL is lucky they haven't had to dissolve some of their brands yet. If they don't turn their ship around (pun intended), bad for the entire industry.

1 hour ago, voljeep said:

ships sailing at full capacity, increased rates, and fewer benefits? Isn't that their jobs to shareholders?

As a shareholder of CCL myself, you have partially proved my point.

23 hours ago, Coral said:

I actually want Jan gone. I saw more decline under her leadership.

I’m glad someone else feels the same way. I never could understand the appeal of her except for public relations type activities . Operationally, she and Padgett have damaged the Princess brand to its current state of affairs.

On 4/11/2023 at 4:11 PM, Rick&amp;Jeannie said:

Interesting...now, when can we expect a similar announcement for John Padgett?

One could only hope. I'll take one for the team and ask Santa if I could have an EARLY Christmas present this year!! 😇

12 hours ago, Ombud said:

No. On Dec 8-18 voyage I was charged for each pot of tea as tea was no longer in the T&C Zre: Coffee pkg. However I used this pic to get it refunded each time. This discrepancy needs to be resolved at corp level

Thank you..I will do the same thing as you. In the meantime, I am highlighting another area that proves tea should be included:

On 12/27/2022 at 10:32 AM, Ombud said:

All coffee choices but tea & cocoa have changed. Tea (despite listed on sales pg) omitted and cocoa only in bars & select restaurants.  I had my daily tea refunded by Director of Guest Services who stated she was bringing it to corps attn

Can I assume non-specialty teas are unlimited at the International Cafe with the Coffee package?

I wanted to alert people to what I discovered (your cruise and prices may be different depending on destination / cabin selection):

I received the email link for the special pricing a few minutes ago and compared the "special offering" to what the Love Boat promotion that occurred last month: After the "promo discount", the prices were actually higher than before (when comparing the whole package). I'm disappointed but I accepted the risk of not booking earlier. The current promo is still better than current regular fares so you can take the positive out of that. Just compare your previous pricing with the First Responder promo and see which works out better for you.

Happy cruising!!

Today is the day!! Last time, people were receiving them at random times (some later in the week). Perhaps we could let others know in this thread when we receive our offer.

Me too..going to wait and see but I'm aliitle unclear:

"This offer is based on discounts to Princess Standard fares"

What exactly constitute Standard Fares? I view prices on PCL's website and they vary all the time. Hopefully, the % discounts are NOT based on some artificially high "standard" fare.

Thank you for sharing. If my memory served, the promotion seemed to be better the last time they offered it; however, you really don't know for sure til they reveal the prices for selected sailings. Difficult decision for us as there's a great balcony price for a January Mexican cruise with the Love Boat promo...kind of a roll the dice if this new promo will be better or not.

5 hours ago, Kineticoh20 said:

The only cut backs we care about are culinary. We found food on the Majestic in Dec to be sub standard in fact it was the worst we ever encountered, this was true in all specialty restaurants. We are booked in April on the Discovery and June on the Caribbean. If the food is still not to our liking we will move on from Princess. Other than food other cutbacks don’t bother us at all.

We had started cutting back on Princess pre-COVID because of this. Although we don't expect the food quality to be on par with the upscale lines,  the deterioration of the food  through the years have been frustrating. One glimmer of hope is the decision of bringing Rudi Sodamin from Holland America to oversea Princess food operations. From out recent experiences (pre-COVID), HAL's food quality is much better. We'll give him 1 year to see if any improvements have been made (he came over this year).