Even if you love Princess, help them with ideas to improve

[spongerob]

Cheerleader or not, you probably have some ideas about things that can be improved. Let's give the higher-ups some constructive ideas to improve the line.

 

I'll start.

 

Get rid of the tacky Wal-Mart balcony furniture and put something a little more attractive out there. Carnival has wooden furniture, or at least something that looks like teak from a distance.

[Pam in CA]

Here are some things I'd like to see:

 

* Enforce the policies that are already in place! Otherwise, why even have the policy?

 

* Auto-open doors to the deck rather than push/pull.

 

* "Clam shell" shower enclosures that take up less space when not in use but give you more space when in the shower.

 

* Along with spongerob's suggestion, Promenade deck furniture with cushions.

 

I'll think of more later. :)

[KAJOKG]

Cheerleader or not, you probably have some ideas about things that can be improved. Let's give the higher-ups some constructive ideas to improve the line.

 

I'll start.

 

Get rid of the tacky Wal-Mart balcony furniture and put something a little more attractive out there. Carnival has wooden furniture, or at least something that looks like teak from a distance.

That furniture always startles me!! And I always ask for arm chairs with cushions to replace the junky plastics.

I do not mind being on a cruise with children, but Princess is so lax in keeping them well occupied and never use any control when the kids are wrestling in the elevator corridors or blocking the stair cases. In spite of the reputation for being and old folks cruise line, HAL has great kids programs

[MaryPoppinz]

Here are some things I'd like to see:

* Auto-open doors to the deck rather than push/pull.

 

I have wondered about this so many times! How are you supposed to get into the buffet for sides and desserts when both hands are full of pizza, burgers and soda??? :)

[Tarheelbelle]

I would like to see a little more variety and new dishes on the dinner menus. After a certain number of Princess Cruises, my travel companion and I just look at each other and say--"Yes I had that dish 4 times!" or "Same Thanksgiving menu as every year!" Even on the Alaska cruises they have the same menus except for the one Alaska Dinner night.

[jnc411]

Hi, don't get me wrong we love to cruise Princess have one scheduled for March 2006 . BUT there are one or two minor things:

1.Enforce the chair hog policy. My pet peeve :)

2.On the smaller ships like the Regal when they have a Captians Welcome party or Champagne waterfall event , etc. Then hold it in one of the large lounges because the pubic space in the boutique, pursers desk area on different deck just is too too too small with people hanging over the railing trying to see with no where to stand let alone sit, we managed to snag a stone flower box around a corner last time. You can't see anything, and you feel like sardines in a tin :) , it just isn't a good time. All logistics it seems.

Just my thought,and this being said,these are minor annoyances that won't keep me from cruising with Princess.

It will be interesting to see the other comments on this thread.

Cori

[BigTimeCruiser]

##On the CB, provide B2B passengers a Questionnaire/Evaluation at the end of each week. They currently only provide this at the end of the last cruise.

 

##Reduce the announcements by not announcing things that are in the Princess Patter.

 

##On the CB--Provide an IT person in the Internet Cafe during more of the time so terminals that go down can be rebooted and made operational. Or at least do this remotely.

 

##Look at some new technology to tie Cruise Card to all photos taken, so you can bring your photos up on your stateroom TV and order. Also, make these photos available on Princess.com for 30 days after your cruise so you may order prints, calendars, etc...

 

##Provide your onboard account information on the stateroom TV.

 

##Hold a public drawing on the last day of Questionnaires/Evaluations and announce the winners. Currently on the CB this is done in the Administrative Offices and no announcement of winners is made.

 

##Enforcement of dress codes would be welcome. It's not too enjoyable to be in the Horizon Court with someone barefooted, no shirt, and only wearing swimming trunks. I have seen more of this type of dress over the past 2 weeks on the CB than I have ever seen. At least ask some of the folks to dress like you would at any port side eating establishment.

 

##Offer more exotic itineraries.

[bdjam]

Right – enforce the guidelines that are currently in place. Some of us choose Princess because we want a cruise product that includes the things that are stated in those guidelines. It’s not nice to buy something and then get what you’re not expecting.

 

Stop building ships with gimmicks – concentrate on a high quality cruise product rather than something that occupies short-term attention spans. Remember that this is a ship at sea, not a land-based theme park/resort. As a side note, I have to admit that the RCI commercial for the surfing gimmick on Freedom of the Seas is pretty neat! JUST the commercial...!

 

Stop building ships with room for more than 2000 passengers. I have read almost no negative comments about Coral or Island Princess. That should tell Princess something.

 

Continue to offer unique and itineraries with a good number of sea days.

 

Continue to find ways to reward loyal repeat customers so that they feel that their patronage is appreciated and they can find little reason to sail other cruise lines. Remember that one of those draws has always been the way the crew interacts with the passengers – in order to retain that level of interaction, ships need to be properly staffed.

 

And...I reserve the right to add to my list as I think of more...

[Druke I]

Build some more ships in the 60,000GRT, 1200 to 1500 PAX range - allows more ports and closer in docking.

 

Smaller ships greatly enhance the "exotics" itineraries.

[jbrambach]

I would like Princess to have a little more variety of beer or if they do not carry the type of beer that you like they should allow you to bring some on board. BTW, not trying to promote people bring beer or alcohol that the cruise line carries or cannot substitute, just rare and obscure stuff.

[virgenia]

My pet peeve is the enforced shopping stop on the shore excursions offered by Princess. I resent paying money for an excursion only to have 45 minutes or more taken up with a stop at a cameo factory, pottery shop, jewelery shop, or whatever. I realize Princess probably gets kick backs from these shops, but it is a thing that makes me more annoyed on each excursion.

[MichTraveler]

How about a free cold beverage other than iced tea, such as lemonade?

 

(You know life is good when your biggest complaint is no lemonade :p )

[mr green]

Princess should ALWAYS let you select your own cabin rather than giving a so called 'guarantee', at some later date. Cabin selection is paramount if you are not as mobile as you once were. It was not until I told Princess to cancel my booking, that I got the location that I required on my upcoming cruise. john

[coiran]

I have wondered about this so many times! How are you supposed to get into the buffet for sides and desserts when both hands are full of pizza, burgers and soda??? :)

 

You are supposed to eat the pizza, burgers, soda first, then go back with empty hands for desert - that's why Princess has it set up in islands dedicated to different courses. It actually works quite well when everyone uses it as it was designed.

Ron

[Pam in CA]

Princess should ALWAYS let you select your own cabin rather than giving a so called 'guarantee', at some later date. Cabin selection is paramount if you are not as mobile as you once were. It was not until I told Princess to cancel my booking, that I got the location that I required on my upcoming cruise. john

I'm confused... Princess does ALWAYS allow you to select your own cabin. The only time you'd book a guarantee is if all of the cabins in Category you want to book are not available or you're willing to take a chance. A"GTY" booking is when you don't care where a cabin is and are willing to take whatever is available in your desired Category or better. I think you should have a good talk with your TA as soon as possible.

[Pam in CA]

Here's another one for the list that's one of my pet peeves. I've completed 109 days on Princess with another 34 booked and I still have several more cruises beyond those to get to Elite status.

 

Platinum and Elite Captain's Circle should be based on the # of days cruised, not the number of cruises. Most of my cruises are 14 - 21 days (they average out to 11 days/cruise) and are they counted as only 1. The Captain's Circle reward system doesn't seem quite fair since someone could take 3 or 4 coastal cruises to my one cruise.

[OCruisers]

Cheerleader or not, you probably have some ideas about things that can be improved. Let's give the higher-ups some constructive ideas to improve the line.

 

Oh, spongerob, my comments would not really help because I just want Princess back to "the way it use to be" .... :o

 

Happy Sailing! OCruisers :)

[CanTex]

Get rid of the tacky Wal-Mart balcony furniture and put something a little more attractive out there. Carnival has wooden furniture, or at least something that looks like teak from a distance.

 

Sorry, what you see on Carnival isn't really much better. At least on the ships I've been on, it is actually just the same tacky balcony furniture except in a brown that is close to the color of wood.

[Ula]

My only wish for Princess and we love the line. I wish they had a juice card. We do not drink soda. I am also not fond of bringing on Kool Aide or punch packets. I am not a fan of those either. I like juice on ice. But a very minor thing.

[CanTex]

One thing I really missed from other cruise lines: interactive TV that allows you to review your account statement, book excursions, etc.

 

Fewer announcements, at least certainly less hype about bingo, art auctions and the like.

 

Get over the fact that you are now part of the CCL corporate family and try to work together in harmony / build synergies. Last week I couldn't believe hearing the CD (James Lay) taking cheap shots at Carnival (multiple times he made jokes about the Poor People on the "rinky dink" ships with us in Cozumel one day). As a CCL shareholder and sometimes Carnival cruiser, I was incensed that he would make such destructively stupid comments in front of a thousand passengers.

[DesrtDrmr]

I agree about the balcony furniture.

I would like to see handicapped cabins offered in ALL categories. Sun category ships do not have any H/C cabins in the Balcony category. They do have H/C minisuite cat., but those are tons more money than a balcony cabin. Grand class ships and Island/Coral do not have any H/C mini suites. Those that need assistance enjoy different categories.

I dont like the island set up in Horizon Court either...........people approach from both directions, cut in front of whoever is there, and the crossing of many people in the middle makes things very chaotic.

Also, I would wish for the auto doors also...........not only at Horizon Court, but at least one onto each outside deck space.

At least one non-caffeine containing drink offered free, instead of just coffee, tea, and iced tea. Lemonade, punch, something.............

[JohnLauben]

1) Do something about the PHOTO displays. These impede traffic flow to/from certain venues. They seem to have gotten it right on the SUN-series of ships. I guess they think that they'll sell more photos by forcing everyone to navigate their way around those milling around the photo displays!

2) With alternate dining venues on most ships, how about someone (in the kitchen) that knows American tastes? A couple of examples:

a) Brown gravy served on prime rib ... this should be au jus, or, at least a choice of the two

b) Cheeseburgers where the cold/unmelted cheese is served on the bun, not melted a bit on the burger

3) I'm sure that they can make better use of the closed-circuit in-cabin television system. Sure, it's limited to what they can get via satellite, but there's also plenty of DVDs which could be broadcast, instead of repeating the same thing over and over again all cruise (especially longer cruises).

4) Don't schedule events (such as trivia, name that tune, etc.) during dinner hours. At least wait until those on second sitting have finished dinner, so we can participate, too.

5) Hasn't anybody there heard of PIE for dessert? Sure, apple might show up once a cruise, but, (I think) this is easy! Sometimes, PRINCESS just tries to be too fancy, and fails in the process.

[beachlovergirl]

"At least one non-caffeine containing drink offered free, instead of just coffee, tea, and iced tea. Lemonade, punch, something............."

 

Yes, please add lemonade or punch !

[DonLou]

No public address announcements. Except "We're here. You can get off now." and "We're leaving. Hope you're all on board!"

[cynbar]

Trays in the Horizon Court -- and next to the grill and pizzeria, as well. Also, why can't they have towels by the pool, instead of the one per person in your cabin practive which you have to cart back and forth????