Reflections on Princess Cruise after taking a few years off......

I have sailed mostly Royal Caribbean and Celebrity - with a little Carnival, NCL and MSC thrown in - and I'm trying Princess (Star out of LA) for the first time in October. The prices are actually about the same as my Dec 2017 Celebrity Eclipse cruise so I'm looking forward to comparing "apples to apples."

Hi,

Thanks for posting your review. I agree that the standards of the major cruise lines have declined over the past few years, but I still enjoy cruises with Princess. I think Princess is a good value for the money and the ships are run very well. During the past few years, I have taken Princess cruises in Australia, Japan, the Mediterranean, and Scandinavia/Russia. I did some incredible and very memorable shore excursions in a variety of wonderful ports. Also, I think Princess has an excellent program for past passengers.

Chuck

I have sailed mostly Royal Caribbean and Celebrity - with a little Carnival, NCL and MSC thrown in - and I'm trying Princess (Star out of LA) for the first time in October. The prices are actually about the same as my Dec 2017 Celebrity Eclipse cruise so I'm looking forward to comparing "apples to apples."

One thing that I will say about Princess is they beat X and RCI by light years in the land base customer service and web site workings.

I noticed all the stacked deck chairs on the Ruby Princess as well. I thought it was odd, since it was a sunny, warm, non windy sea day:

I too appreciated the OP's forthright review. I have been concerned about both a drop in food quality and service by reduction in DR staff it seems. That said, service still seems good in general. As we are about to head off for 60 nights on a new ship for us, I am trying to remain positive that we will find things not changed much since we last cruised (it was on Regal) just over two years ago. So, it's hope for the best, but be prepared for some disappointment. I know I am a broken record on this, but Princess should maintain the standard and pass on necessary price increases not sell me the same product with no price increase and then reduce standards to make up the difference.

We shall see for ourselves in less than a week.

I know I am a broken record on this, but Princess should maintain the standard and pass on necessary price increases not sell me the same product with no price increase and then reduce standards to make up the difference.

Unfortunately the trend is to have both price increases accompanied by a reduction in the quality of the product.

Thank you for taking the time to give us your impression of Ruby. I believe she will be heading down under in a couple of years so it's good to hear the pros and cons.

BTW I'm another person who didn't particularly like the Royal buffet. I soon learnt how to get reasonably hot food at breakfast but lunch or dinner was a challenge. Nice seating though, it doesn't have quite the cafeteria feel that some other ships do.

Unfortunately the trend is to have both price increases accompanied by a reduction in the quality of the product.

Totally agree...but my view is the newbies are willing to pay more, for less.....I am talking about society in general and my 20 something off-springs.

This is nothing more than a casual observation, but it seems like the "lack of waiters, servers, etc" is merely that Princess - like other entities- pays their employees little. Is the idea of traveling, and working on a cruise ship appealing to you? It certainly isn't to me. I wouldn't do their jobs at three times the pay. Then, you have Princess (most likely) cutting staff wherever they can - and raising prices at will. I would imagine that the old adage of "raise prices until they quit coming- then have a sale!"

Not really a great business model - but they will undoubtedly figure that out when folks stop booking cruises.

That's one of the prime reasons that DW and myself "usually" go straight to the vacation destination, grab a hotel room and enjoy ourselves. Just did a return trip to England, Ireland, Wales and Scotland. Here's the kicker - it was a great deal cheaper than the cruise lines. We are, however, sailing on the Ruby in August to fulfill my DW's "bucket wish" to visit Alaska.

We'll see how the food is on the Ruby and how the staff is. I don't usually expect "SUPERIOR" service anywhere. I've eaten at 4 and 5 star restaurants in Europe and America many, many times. Still, to this day - I prefer a Cheeseburger and fries - just me, I guess.So it's not as though my "standards" (of which there are few) are any big deal. We booked the Crown Grill (love me some steak!) and I have plans on "tearing up" the buffet and the MDR (anytime dining). If the food is "low-quality" - you will hear it from me here - just like the OP's review.

Reviews such as the OP are one way to affect change with these businesses. If they aren't living up to the standards that long time cruisers are used to - raise hell with them. Unfortunately, standards are a "funny thing" these days. I mean, when you see shorts and ball caps on formal nights - well.........

On my last few Princess cruises, I was very disappointed with crowds and waits. Long lines to get into the Anytime Dining room, and then slow service because as hard as they worked, the waiters simply have too many tables to wait on. The theater was completely filled 50 minutes before showtime. The theater was even filled 30 minutes before port lectures, so either you had to stand, or you didn't get to hear the port presentation. No seats at all in the evening in some of the lounges, and difficulty getting a seat to eat your International Cafe goodies.

I feel that Princess (and other cruise lines, too) are putting too many staterooms on ships without increasing the size of public spaces such as dining room, theater, and bars. This REALLY impacts my enjoyment of a cruise. Princess has always been my first choice cruise line, and I'm pretty sure I'll probably some day book another Princess cruise. But for now, I want to try some other lines. The OP mentioned Oceania. What other cruise lines might be a little more upscale (especially in terms of crowds and waits)? I'm willing to pay a little more, but can't afford a lot more. Does anyone have any other suggestions for me for other lines to try?

Enjoyed your comments.

One thing that I will say about Princess is they beat X and RCI by light years in the land base customer service and web site workings.

Yes, I’d definitely agree with you ;).

Well said! I like Princess, we’re elite so I am saddened by the decline in this product. On the other hand the Carnival product continues to improve, go figure. We sailed out of Galveston with family, not expecting much but quite the opposite, great food, excellent customer service ,ship amenities were top notch. The cost for an aft balcony half of a Princess or RCL cabin. The cruise director was the best ,most visible we have ever experienced. Leading and organizing activities including disembarkation. Having said all that I have three Princess cruises booked.

I too appreciated the OP's forthright review. I have been concerned about both a drop in food quality and service by reduction in DR staff it seems. That said, service still seems good in general. As we are about to head off for 60 nights on a new ship for us, I am trying to remain positive that we will find things not changed much since we last cruised (it was on Regal) just over two years ago. So, it's hope for the best, but be prepared for some disappointment. I know I am a broken record on this, but Princess should maintain the standard and pass on necessary price increases not sell me the same product with no price increase and then reduce standards to make up the difference.

We shall see for ourselves in less than a week.

If you are doing the 60-day Island Princess South America run, you are very lucky. Arny G will be the piano entertainer in Crooners for that cruise, and he is the best Crooners entertainer on any ship! In fact he is our favorite entertainer at any venue on any ship!

This is nothing more than a casual observation, but it seems like the "lack of waiters, servers, etc" is merely that Princess - like other entities- pays their employees little. Is the idea of traveling, and working on a cruise ship appealing to you? It certainly isn't to me. I wouldn't do their jobs at three times the pay. Then, you have Princess (most likely) cutting staff wherever they can - and raising prices at will. I would imagine that the old adage of "raise prices until they quit coming- then have a sale!"

 

I disagree. These positions on cruise ships earn the people significantly more than they could earn in their home countries. (Of course for many on the staff, this includes the gratuities.)

Any positions eliminated does save Princess $$$. They do not have to provide room and board and transportation from and to the employee's home for each employee they no longer need.

Princess (and other Carnival Corp brands) feel their main competition is land-based vacations. As long as the cost of a Princess cruise is less than a similar length land-based vacation, cruise prices will continue to rise.

Thank you for taking the time to give us your impression of Ruby. I believe she will be heading down under in a couple of years so it's good to hear the pros and cons.

 

BTW I'm another person who didn't particularly like the Royal buffet. I soon learnt how to get reasonably hot food at breakfast but lunch or dinner was a challenge. Nice seating though, it doesn't have quite the cafeteria feel that some other ships do.

Where'd you hear that the Ruby will be coming downunder?

answering Daisyrose re: which lines are a step above - I think it is pretty much Oceania and Azamara and IMO they are usually quite a bit more. I read both the Princess and Celebrity boards and that would seem to be where usually folks step up to. And we have tried both but unless you are booking suites on Princess and X, then the step up costs quite a bit more.

I also think land trips (thinking mostly Europe) can be cheaper but no way you can cover the same amount of territory or have the same inclusions - entertainment, transportation, buffet breakfasts and lunches. But if you want to have a more in depth experience in a more limited area, then a land trip can actually more enjoyable IMO. At one point I has said no more cruises but now we are alternating crusing with land trips.

I was on the regal, my first Princess cruise.I can agree with the OP's post, even on this ship. By the way, here's the second person who hated the Horizon Court and Bistro, because it's confusing and limited compared to other cruise lines.The food was nothing to write about, either there or the MDR. They had a great band, Xcite, but they didn't have a lounge to hear any band, except Club6, which was mostly DJ.Xcite pretty much stayed in the Piazza or at the pool deck. My forst and last on Princess.

My wife and I cruise a good bit and I read CC fairly often but seldom post. I am often amazed how personally folks react to criticism of their favorite ship, cruise line or whatever. Given that opinions are like anatomical parts (that is everyone has one or more) I try to take opinions, including my own, with a grain of salt. Having said this I thought I would share some observations that we made as a result of our recent Mexico cruise on the Ruby.

We have been cruising for decades and are Elite level on four or so lines including Princess. It has been a few years since we have cruised with Princess so we decided to see what is happening on a line that once was our default. Our more recent cruises have been on smaller ships (Azamara, Oceania, Paul Gauguin etc.) although we have also been on a number of Celebrity ships.

Again, the following are merely OPINIONS and are not meant to offend anyone. My only hope is this might be helpful for folks who have not sailed with Princess or people like us who have been away for a couple of years.

Embarkation

We left from San Pedro and Princess did a really good job. They were well organized and kept everyone informed about the procedure. Since we were in the first boarding group we were on the ship no more than five minutes after the procedure began. Upon boarding we were directed to our cabin which was the first time I can remember that happening. Princess gets very high marks for the beginning of the journey.

Cabin

We have had everything from ocean view to owner's suites. On this journey we chose a balcony and were quite satisfied with our accommodations. The design is a bit dated but the cabin was well maintained and clean. We were recently in Aqua Class on Celebrity and I have to say that the Ruby cabin was larger and had much better closet and storage space.

Ship

It has been a while since we were last on a Princess ship and we have not sailed on the newer ships so we don't have anything other than our past experience on which to rely. The Ruby is an older design but to Princess' credit, it was well kempt and maintained. The attention to detail on the ship was good, but we were reminded rather immediately of some design problems. There are a number of smaller public spaces (piazza etc.) that simply could not handle the number of passengers. There were several evenings when we wanted to listen to the Mariachis (who were Great!) when there was literally nowhere to sit on any of several floors overlooking the space. In general (again my opinion) Princess is far behind other large ship lines in providing comfortable places for people who want to read or just relax. It seemed that Princess wanted us to do or buy something and it just did not feel at all oriented to those who wanted to relax.

It is important for me to note that I walked at least five miles everyday and simply missed nice places with comfortable chairs where we could read and listen to music. Also in my younger days I played for fifteen years in a rock band, and my activity level is no different now than it was then. I add this personal note so that a reader wouldn't think that I am some old cranky guy!

Food

This is where I was most surprised, and unfortunately not in a good way. We travel extensively and enjoy all types of food. I am however, not a food snob and what I generally like is quality, well prepared and timely served food. Breakfast and lunch at the Horizon Court were problematic at least to us for the entire cruise. The space was always crowded (we went at different times) and the layout of the food court was like human bumper cars. There was no flow and it was at best confusing. The choices were limited (I think because of the small size of the area) and in my opinion it just wasn't very good. One of the hallmarks of our past Princess cruises was the quality of the food, but this was not a high point on this one. We ate a couple of night meals at the Horizon and I have to say the quality was better. It was less crowded than during the day, but still had more folks than I can ever remember on any cruise line.

We had early seating and we ended up dining there only once. It took over two hours to be served and the food was often stacked up and not immediately served and as a result was not very hot. It is really important to note that it was not the fault of the waitstaff; they really tried. The problem in the dining room was the problem all over the ship which was a lack of staff. Our hard working waiter had six or seven tables and very little help. There is no way that any staff member could have served adaquately the numbers they were assigned. We passed by the anytime dining line on several occasions and it seemed exceptionally long. We ended up dining in the Crowne Grill three times and found the food, service and ambiance to be outstanding. I realize one pays extra for this experience, but the differences shouldn't be as enormous as they seemed to us.

Other Observations and Other Stuff

All cruise lines want to sell you stuff; photos, jewelry, spa etc. Princess, really, really wants to sell you stuff and are very aggressive about it. We had photographers often block egress and badger us when we politely told them we were not interested. The "sale" level on the ship seemed exceptionally high.

An example of our overall experience can be found on a couple of sea days when we went in search of a deck chair. I honestly don't get involved in the "chair hog" discussion because I have usually been able to find a place be. On several occasions during this cruise we went to a couple of the large upper decks where we found all but six or eight deck chairs stacked and stored. On each occasion we found a deck hand and were amazingly told that they had been instructed not to put the chairs out and even more amazingly we were told that they really did not want us to use these large normally well used spaces. I asked a supervisor and was told that the reason for this was "complicated." It was incredibly strange and something we have never experienced.

The Bottom Line (remembering that this is just one person's opinion)

Princess seems to have made some intentional changes to its corporate identity. I don't exactly know where they want to fit in the rapidly expanding cruise industry but it felt different to us than did our past many cruises. Again, this is not necessarily a bad thing. I guess what felt the most different aspect of our cruise was the cut back in service. The ship seemed to be always crowded and waiting in line for everything took a bit of getting used to.

In the end, we actually had a good time on this cruise. Our cabin steward was great and we enjoyed the Crown Grill immensely. This cruise on Princess probably will, however, be our last. There are fortunately many cruise choices these days and I feel that there are other lines that fit us better. Again my intention in writing this is not to offend or unduly influence potential travelers. Cruise lines are, like every other business, profit oriented and I am not one who pines for the "old days." Everything and everyone changes, and moving on in sometimes a good thing. We honestly enjoyed our decades of cruising on Princess and made some lasting memories for which we are grateful.

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Just off the Emerald, going around SA, Buenos Aires to Santiago. 14 days. 50+ cruises, many lines. Same impression: Princess has changed & is looking for a new niche. Customer service has slipped. Horizon Buffet is "human bumper cars" (love your description). Big staff focus on enforcing the Rules vs problem solving! We think they are still tops in Alaska but very average elsewhere. 3 Princess cruises in past 7 months. No more planned. Have seen big improvement on NCL in past 2-3 years. Two scheduled in '18.. And we LOVE Azamara! Two more in '19.

 

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So did u have good weather and make all your ports?......We did an MR on Emerald prior to her move to SA. I know nothing about NCL.. but an Azamara ship with 690 pax of course they r gng to shine.....

I disagree. These positions on cruise ships earn the people significantly more than they could earn in their home countries. (Of course for many on the staff, this includes the gratuities.)

 

Any positions eliminated does save Princess $$$. They do not have to provide room and board and transportation from and to the employee's home for each employee they no longer need.

 

Princess (and other Carnival Corp brands) feel their main competition is land-based vacations. As long as the cost of a Princess cruise is less than a similar length land-based vacation, cruise prices will continue to rise.

Well, (and I am not disagreeing here) consider this: If the employees of Princess are paid that well (and certainly more than they would probably make in their home countries) then we can only logically blame the cruise line itself, right?

Apparently they have some corporate "genius" that has figured out that each ship can get by with half the servers (example) and still provide, what is in their mind, superior service, then he is getting a HUGE bonus at the end of the fiscal year.

Again, the problem with that is that customers will, at some point, go to other cruise lines. So Princess is gambling that with the changing customer base (younger and more "relaxed") that they won't mind. Sooner or later, customers will realize that the slogan "Come back new" is nonsense and will figure out that they (Princess) is nothing more than a 1 week, 2 week or whatever vacation that we all remember - come home from vacation and need a vacation.

Just one mans $.02

Totally agree...but my view is the newbies are willing to pay more, for less.....I am talking about society in general and my 20 something off-springs.

Had to smile at this one, it seems that most of the five star ratings for Princess are from newbies -- first or second time cruisers that are delighted with everything! Those of us that have cruised a lot seem to have a different view, unfortunately it seems we might have experienced the best that Princess and similar lines have had to offer, and it may be all downhill from now on. We keep hoping it isn't so, but times change and so do cruise lines.

suec12, thanks for your response regarding which lines might be a step up in service times, crowding, and wait times. I'll look into Oceania and Azamara.

I am one of the former Celebrity (1992-2015) patrons that is now thrilled with Oceania.

I left Celebrity due to downgrading, shrilling for sales, fake coffee creamers, constant nickle and diming, fixation on booze, bundled pricing when I want nothing of it and very reduced staffing.

Oceania is a totally different product with frankly very different patrons. It is about service, food, wine, afternoon tea, educational speakers, classy music (no techno) and quiet enjoyment. It is very "classy".

Also, guests are treated much more equally than on the mass lines with their fixation on suites and ignoring non suite class. This was a main driver to leave Celebrity. On Oceania, Marina, guests all mingled at lounges and in restaurants - no dedicated restaurants for "classes".

The food is a big step up from the mass lines and the service is beyond anything I ever experienced on Celebrity.

The ships are much smaller, no crowds, no hassal. They are however quieter in the evening vs the mass lines.

Yes, it can cost more. You would be purchasing from a smaller provider who does not have the economies of scale of RCL. The cruise inputs are all of higher quality.

For example, at night, our room attendant put a white towel on the floor on each side of the bed. Our slippers were there. We did not have to put our bare feet on the carpet getting into bed.

Going to smaller ports in the Baltic in September like Skagen, the local business board came aboard and set up a table with 2 people and lots of information.

Oceania, and I believe Azamara, are totally different from the mass lines.

ABoatNerd, thanks for the additional information. I am also getting away from Celebrity, but for other reasons. I really don't like that they now have "non refundable" deposits ($500 for my most recent cruise, even with a future cruise credit), and though you can still get refundable deposits, they charge more for the cruise then. I also don't like their future cruise deposit program; they don't offer the flexibility of the Princess future cruise credits; they want you to deposit on any old cruise, and then just change to the cruise you really want when you find it. Problem is, that creates havoc with purchasing insurance, because the date of initial deposit is the date you deposited that "temporary" booking. So, hard to get reasonably priced insurance when you decide on your cruise, and to get a policy with a pre-existing condition waiver.

Oceania sounds like it might just be the right line for me to try. Thanks for the info about it. Willing to pay a little more for a better experience; will probably wind up cruising a little less often to make up for the price difference. I am also going to try Holland America. I've heard mixed reactions, but most of their ships (the older ones) are quite a bit smaller, so I'm hoping for shorter lines for dining room, and easier to get seats in lounges and in show room. We'll see!