nevada1

We just found out through CC that our April 10, 2022 Caribbean Princess cruise has been cancelled.

They have not notified us as of yet. It was a pre-TA cruise for us on the Emerald.

Seeing the drydock schedules, now we know why--I guess.

We were on the B2B that included the mess at Le Harve.

Here's what I wrote about Princess in the British Isles blog:

We agree with you on many points. We are Elite with Princess and have reservations on four future cruises with them including the 60 night North Pacific Rim. However...

It was our first cruise on the Royal or any in its class. First the positive. The crew, although over worked, always had a smile and friendly greeting. In addition, the ship was very clean and was continually being cleaned. The enrichment speaker was very good and very interesting. Lots of nice folks aboard; friendly and willing to talk with you.

The negatives: Speaking with other passengers with numerous Princess cruises under their belts, we all felt the quality of the entire experience is slowly being eroded by cost-cutting so as to ensure more profit on each cruise we take with them. This includes the food, its preparation and the time it took to get it to the table. We think there are several reasons for this. The waiters now have more tables to wait on; the quality of the food is not what it used to be nor the selection. On one evening my wife ordered prime rib rare. Some sort of something came out on her plate that was slathered in some sort of a brown gravy that none of us at the table could identify and the waiter had no idea what it was either. One of their "signature dishes" is supposedly the Fettuccini Alfredo. We ordered it several times during the two cruises and it was NEVER the same. One night it would be swimming in sauce, another time it would be dry and burned and another time it would be fine. One never knew. In addition, there's the Club Class dining area that takes waiters away from main dining with less diners. We've done Club Class once and never will again. It's a complete rip-off and the subject of a different review. These are all driven by profit motives.

The ship was too large for us. The crowd problems at the ports were horrible. On the British Isles cruise on our back to back, we looked back as passengers were coming ashore and it looked like the ship was vomiting passengers and once they got ashore, they couldn't move anywhere. Very disorganized.

Speaking of coming ashore, how did everyone like the 45 degree angle on the gangway? Or was that just on the British Isles section? When we disembarked the ship in Southampton, the gangway was at an angle of over 45 degrees. It was a long gangway and the steps were hardly pronounced and so it was like going down a ramp. I honestly don't know how some folks were able to use it.

We ate early and were able to get to a few shows which we walked out of. The Irish comedian was horrible and he was on three or four times on the BI portion.

How about Zoomba in the Atrium? Did you all enjoy that? The International Cafe is one of our favorite sections of the ship and each morning at sea, it became uninhabitable when Zoomba started at 120 decibels. We realize the weather was the main cause of this but it could have been held on the stage of the theater or somewhere else. Oh, we forgot, they've eliminated some of those spaces.

Obviously, Princess has problems and is cutting corners trying to attract more passengers. Those of us who've sailed with the line for a long time hate to see it happening. We could go on and on as well regarding the small things but we can also list a lot of reasons we still sail Princess. Itineraries, Elite comps, friendly folks and the like.

Steve and Judy

And since we weren't involved in the fiasco at Le Harve I didn't cover it but listed to many folks very put off at Princess, and deservedly so.

We are Elite with Princess and always sail mid-ship mini-suites or the mini-suite directly adjacent to to the mid-ship area if mid-ship is all Club Class. To us, Club Class was not at all worth the extra money. Yes, the dining service is great and you sit in a special area of the main dining room but in actuality, all you receive for the extra money are two small bottles of wine. The one time we took Club Class we ate alone most nights because people trickled in at diner and sat by themselves as well. The most people for dinner at one time were usually less than 25 each night. Everything else is exactly the same as a mini-suite.

We are sailing the Royal in April for 28 days and are right next to the Club Class for a whole lot less money. We are sailing the Coral in September for 60 nights and the Club Class mini-suite right next to us costs thousands of dollars more for those two half bottles of wine. Same thing on the Coral next year for 19 nights and the Sapphire for 27 nights. We get the welcoming champagne and all the other benefits that Club Class gets except the wine and small dining area.

We are seasoned Princess cruisers and everyone enjoys different things. We feel Club Class is not worth the extra money.

Steve and Judy

We are Elite with Princess and always sail mid-ship mini-suites or the mini-suite directly adjacent to to the mid-ship area if mid-ship is all Club Class. To us, Club Class was not at all worth the extra money. Yes, the dining service is great and you sit in a special area of the main dining room but in actuality, all you receive for the extra money are two small bottles of wine. The one time we took Club Class we ate alone most nights because people trickled in at diner and sat by themselves as well. The most people for dinner at one time were usually less than 25 each night. Everything else is exactly the same as a mini-suite.

We are sailing the Royal in April for 28 days and are right next to the Club Class for a whole lot less money. We are sailing the Coral in September for 60 nights and the Club Class mini-suite right next to us costs thousands of dollars more for those two half bottles of wine. Same thing on the Coral next year for 19 nights and the Sapphire for 27 nights. We get the welcoming champagne and all the other benefits that Club Class gets except the wine and small dining area.

We are seasoned Princess cruisers and everyone enjoys different things. We feel Club Class is not worth the extra money.

Steve and Judy