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I've cancelled my Crown Princess cruise

chloe45

By chloe45,
in Princess Cruises

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chloe45

chloe45

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DH and I have soured on the Princess brand. We've notice over the last couple of years that the Princess product has gone downhill. We've cruised Princess 20+ times. We used to book suites the last few years I was working but I retired early so we had booked a mini on the Crown in December. We don't care for the MDR because it takes too long. We planned on using the buffet and what I've heard lately doesn't sound good. The same food being served over and over again. Then I heard about what they did to the buffet on the Caribbean Princess on the last refurbishment and couldn't believe it. Hope this isn't a new trend. Peanut Butter and Jelly station and breakfast for dinner. You have got to be kidding me!

 

I suspect that this decline comes on the heels of the $40 million dollar judgement. Somebody has to pay for it and it's the loyal Princess passengers that will bear the brunt.

 

I'm not saying we are totally done with Princess but will wait and see if they clean up there act in the future.

 

Giving NCL a try. Have a transatlantic booked for next April. I know NCL is not considered a premium line but Princess isn't anymore either in our opinion.

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MCC retired

MCC retired

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DH and I have soured on the Princess brand. We've notice over the last couple of years that the Princess product has gone downhill. We've cruised Princess 20+ times. We used to book suites the last few years I was working but I retired early so we had booked a mini on the Crown in December. We don't care for the MDR because it takes too long. We planned on using the buffet and what I've heard lately doesn't sound good. The same food being served over and over again. Then I heard about what they did to the buffet on the Caribbean Princess on the last refurbishment and couldn't believe it. Hope this isn't a new trend. Peanut Butter and Jelly station and breakfast for dinner. You have got to be kidding me!

 

I suspect that this decline comes on the heels of the $40 million dollar judgement. Somebody has to pay for it and it's the loyal Princess passengers that will bear the brunt.

 

I'm not saying we are totally done with Princess but will wait and see if they clean up there act in the future.

 

Giving NCL a try. Have a transatlantic booked for next April. I know NCL is not considered a premium line but Princess isn't anymore either in our opinion.

 

How can OP be so disappointed in what they heard or suspected without actual experiencing ?

Going from a Suite to a Mini can be disappointing , but whose fault is that?

 

Choosing the buffet over MDR due to speed of service ? What is the rush ?

 

$40 million judgement ? CCL stock price and dividends has never been higher .

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Kamloops50

Kamloops50

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Food is a very subjective thing. I've heard that complaint about every mainstream cruise line.

If you want to cancel because someone didn't like it , that's up to you.

If you want faster service in the MDR get a table for two and your our in about an hour.

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workstocruise

workstocruise

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We used to sail Princess fairly often. We thought it was a small step up from RCI which used to be our cruise line of choice. But after a cruise on the Sapphire was pretty disappointing, we stepped up to Celebrity which we love. However, we just booked a cruise on the Regal over New Years and I admit I am hesitant about going, especially because we have 2 cruises booked on Oceania right before the Regal cruise. 2 concerns I have with Princess are the food and formal nights. Princess seems to be the last cruise line to still do formal nights and I'm not sure why. Oceania is country club casual everywhere and Celebrity is now Evening Chic. Of course if you want to dress up you can, but it's your choice and no one minds if you do or don't. And as everyone on these boards says, you can always eat in the buffet, but on Princess their buffet food is not the best and the food in the MDR on formal nights is usually good so who wants to miss that. I agree with the OP, while I like peanut butter and jelly, who wants to eat that on a cruise?

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huskerdan25

huskerdan25

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It's interesting my thoughts after reading the OP post. We had about 6 or 7 cruises with Princess and felt that things were heading downhill so we decided to take a couple of cruises with Celebrity in hopes of getting an improvement over our cruise experiences on Princess. Well, believe it or not, doing so helped us to realize that even with the changes to the Princess product (some good and some bad), Princess was still the experience we enjoyed the most. We were actually disappointed in our experiences with Celebrity. No, we didn't have a bad cruise experience by any means because we have control over how we respond to the experiences but there were things that Princess did that we loved that weren't there on Celebrity or were but weren't done as well. Sailing on another cruise line that we thought was supposed to be an upgrade but instead in some cases was a downgrade helped us to remember what we appreciate most about Princess and why she is still our first love.

 

I hope NCL gives you the experience you are seeking but for us, if we truly become so disappointed that we would cancel a booked cruise on Princess, we would look to a truly more luxurious cruise line like Oceania or Crystal. Wouldn't even consider doing an NCL cruise.

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Pickels

Pickels

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We booked a cruise on the Crown for next March, but...after reading too many negatives, we changed over to the Regal. I know there will be both positive and negative reviews on a ship, (sometimes from people who were on the same ship/cruise) but the Crown had too many negatives. This will be our first Princess cruise, hope they don't disappoint!

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DrivesLikeMario

DrivesLikeMario

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It's interesting my thoughts after reading the OP post. We had about 6 or 7 cruises with Princess and felt that things were heading downhill so we decided to take a couple of cruises with Celebrity in hopes of getting an improvement over our cruise experiences on Princess. Well, believe it or not, doing so helped us to realize that even with the changes to the Princess product (some good and some bad), Princess was still the experience we enjoyed the most. We were actually disappointed in our experiences with Celebrity. No, we didn't have a bad cruise experience by any means because we have control over how we respond to the experiences but there were things that Princess did that we loved that weren't there on Celebrity or were but weren't done as well. Sailing on another cruise line that we thought was supposed to be an upgrade but instead in some cases was a downgrade helped us to remember what we appreciate most about Princess and why she is still our first love.

 

I hope NCL gives you the experience you are seeking but for us, if we truly become so disappointed that we would cancel a booked cruise on Princess, we would look to a truly more luxurious cruise line like Oceania or Crystal. Wouldn't even consider doing an NCL cruise.

 

My sentiments EXACTLY. Why go even further downhill with NCL? Or as the OP suggests, sideways to NCL? If you want a better experience, expect to pay a whole lot more on a premium line. Try Azamara where everything (just about) is included. Balcony price for a week in the Med. is roughly $7000 vs. $4000 for Princess. You get what you pay for. :)

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Poulsbo Cruisers

Poulsbo Cruisers

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Different opinion here, I won't sail on the Royal or Regal again, didn't like the size and crowds on these 2 massive ships.

 

I can't tell by your wording rather or not you have sailed on Regal or Royal. We sailed the Regal two years ago and didn't find it crowded at all. We have an upcoming cruise on the Royal. These ships are very well laid out IMHO. The buffets and atrium are very large. I waited in longer lines on the Grand class ships than I did on the Regal.

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CineGraphic "Live from...." Rare

CineGraphic

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Please keep trashing the Crown. I'm sailing her in December and hopefully all this kvetching and cancelling of reservations will cause them to make drastic changes and reduce prices. I can't wait to re-fare!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

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chloe45

chloe45

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If I based my decisions on what I heard about a cruise line, NCL would be one of my last choices. I hope you enjoy it though.

 

Doing NCL because we joined our friends on a TA who are big NCL cruiser. They get back and forth from Europe each year on cruise ships instead of flying. Almost cheaper to do it that way. We joined them back in 2008 on TA with another couple on the Celebrity Century. Had a blast. They search for the cheapest cruise. That same other couple that sailed with us in 2008 are joining us along with another couple. Should be a hoot. I'm just up for something different. Got a great deal which also included the Beverage package, a dinner package (4 nights) and some OBC's.

 

I realize you get what you pay for. Just burned out on Princess. We have been sailing them almost exclusively for 18 years.

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geoherb "Live from...." Rare

geoherb

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We're loyal to Princess--but not so loyal that we don't stray from time to time. Most recently, it was a Holland America cruise in February to the Panama Canal. We'll be on the Caribbean next month--our first cruise on the CB since the drydock changes. From what I saw on our December cruise, the buffet had some nice looking items to choose from at dinner--many of the same ones that were on the main dining room menu that night.

 

While I would not choose NCL, our friends did recently and had a great time. It helped that they were in whatever NCL calls its first class suites, with a separate dining area and all sorts of other perks.

 

If I were spending what Princess charges for suites, I'd consider trying out Oceania, Silversea, and Cunard.

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ellie1145

ellie1145

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Different opinion here, I won't sail on the Royal or Regal again, didn't like the size and crowds on these 2 massive ships.

 

We have done over 55 cruises, (on a variety of cruise lines) 4 on Royal Class ships and love them. We sailed on Regal in January and Royal in May.

 

The food was superb and the buffet a sight to behold. Service was excellent and our cabin was immaculate. The staff were friendly as usual, and couldn't do enough for us.

 

As for crowds, well we didn't notice them, apart from embarkation day. In May on Royal we frequently walked around an empty ship, especially on port days. Why do people go on a cruise and expect to be protected from seeing other people? Hire a private villa if you want privacy.

 

In actual fact there is more square footage per passenger on larger ships than there is on a smaller ship. It's a mental illusion that smaller ships are less crowded. Unless maybe you pay a fortune to be on a premium ship.

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