Enjoyable vacation on Caribbean Princes (but last with Princess)

[chisoxfan]

We just returned from The Caribbean Princess 10 day Panamatrip and wanted to record our impressions. We have been on Golden ,Sapphire,and Grand previously and were excited to return to Princes as we had a positiveview of this line. My wife in particular was a fan. We had just taken an 11night X cruise and HAL Eurodam in 2017 so had current comparisons in hand.

 

I realize some of these ‘complaints’ may be viewed as minor.Fair enough- but they still registered with us negatively and constituted more areas of 'complaint' than we have ever voiced. We have jointly decided to forgo Princess in the future and will cancel a January 2019 cruise. We feel X and HAL present such better options for us.

 

The positives:

 

- beautiful weather and seas, well furnished cabin (new large screen tv, bed, copious closet space. Salty Dog poolside food. Excellent International Café with great pastries. Sanctuary.

 

The negatives:

 

-horrid Panama Canal info/prep. We expected some lectures onboard with a destination expert. Instead all I could find was a tv presentation of approximately ½ hour which was house produced and very poor quality. I would have been much happier to have some of the excellent documentaries available shown.

We were instructed that a cruise expert would comment on the crossing available on cabin tv channel 21 or 24 that nobody seemed to get. When I asked about this at service desk they said to watch channel 7 (the ship camera which did not have any additional info). So they could not figure out how to have this basic info available in room? Timing was also poorly communicated. I understood that Panama Canal entrance time needs to be flexible but there was no real info on this. I heard the Captain mention that we would be near Colon around 5 AM- I awoke at 5:30 in the dark and saw we were already making way to canal entrance. Some fellow passenger commented they had missed initial lock because they were confused on timing.

We had a small ship excursion which included the old locks.When I inquired on this at the excursion desk they were unable to supply clearinfo. The excursion was great except last boarders (us included) had no optionsto sit in shade. Even our guide prior toboard stated ‘ some people like to sit in front in the sun but I think that iscrazy’. A start in the hot Panama sun made us realize this was not an option.We wound up sitting on the last row of the open bow area where we could extracta sliver of shade for our heads. We were fortunate that we could achieve agreat view and squeeze some limited shade but there should have been betteroptions on this relatively expensive tour. Some burned arms and knees resulted( we should have perhaps been better prepared but we assumed some seating inshade would be available).

 

-first morning repeated wake up calls at 6AM in error.

 

-wine selection- am not a snob and we had drink package butthere was really limited nicer wines available. Clos duBois Chardonnay waspretty much the universal Chardonnay choice everywhere.

 

Dining- long waits for anytime dining (particularly early).We called to make reservations but found none available most evenings. I guess I don’t understand the anytime diningconcept when it apparently is clogged up with people making advance reservationsand tables not available (understand this is not only a Princess problem). Foodquality in our mind was questionable. Menu choices seldom appealed to us. Weate a lot of Fettucine Alfredo and Caesar salads.

 

-Crown Steak House- we ate there twice but found experiencenot equal to X and HAL top specialty restaurants . In fairness X charges 50dollars per person vs 29.

 

-Entertainment- (I know a matter of opinion) found theentertainment generally very poor. Additionally we were often turned away fromthe Princess theater when we tried to see a show within 15-20 minutes of start.Obviously the theater does not have adequate capacity for the PAX level.

One evening we went to bar specifically to see a duo. We satand had drinks for an hour waiting for the entertainment as they wereapparently working on equipment. They never performed but a simple announcementas to what was happening and the delay would have been appreciated.

 

 

- first port day everyone waited in Princess Theater for over 1/2 hour to leave for excursions. On return long lines in hot sun (20 minutes plus) to board ship. Seeing the long waits it would have been nice to allow older and handicapped people to board and perhaps pass out some water. Feeling of disorganization overall.

 

-was surprised that paper toweling was used in all publicrestrooms- our X cruises always had cloth towels and often time attendants

 

-entering the buffet area I thought I had made an incorrectturn as I was faced with two industrial looking large sinks. Apparently allowsfor washing of hands but not conducive to our appetite or décor we want to seein dining area.

 

-Superbowl- we have been on these (Superbowl) cruises and theyusually have large screen tvs showing the event with a great party atmoshere.They did show the game on the outdoor MUTS and I don’t know how that worked.Our plan was to see things at the Fusion lounge which was minimally decoratedand had only banks of small tv’s. We did not stay as we chose to watch on ourlarger cabin tv. Comments from otherpassengers regarding Fusion small tv’s and food selection that we picked up onwere negative.

 

-Sanctuary- was great although price has gone up appreciably since our last cruise several years ago. I was somewhat surprised that muchtime on boarding was spent with the manager by people selecting spots for one or two mornings or afternoons of use. I felt that they would be better served booking full cruise users initially and then attending to morning and afternoon patrons.

Our decision to book the Sanctuary was made in part by the spa pool directly adjacent. The pool was netted for our first day at sea and was being filled that evening. When we left the Sanctuary were told we could use the next day. That next day we found to our surprise that the pool was being painted! It eventually opened but also closed when seas were not ideal (even though main pools were open). We love access to this pool and it was a compelling reason for us to book the Sanctuary but it was not open for half thecruise. Why not paint the pool while in port to allow later usage. Filling it up one evening and then painting the next day seems to make no sense or shows poor planning,

Still the Sanctuary remains a great venue with very friendly and attentive service.

 

Cabin- while cabin was very nice the balcony was sparse witha few chairs and a small table. Not practical for any outside dining. The rubber flooring mat (I had forgotten about this) is apparently a Princess staple but not very attractive.

 

Port times- we were informed early on regarding the revised CB port times due to propulsion problems. Much has been made of this and I waseven a Princess defender regarding this situation. That said, we realized that the very short times in several ports were not optimal.

Additionally, we were in Grand Cayman on a Sunday whichpretty much took away much of the excellent shopping here. Long story short we did not appreciate how the limited port time impacted our ability to enjoythem.

 

Again, I hope to be fair in our evaluation. Frankly, itseemed that the more issues brought up the more you focused on the negatives. In past cruises a few things might bother us but as you can see our list was long.

 

 

We tried to remain positive (and did). Sitting in a hot tub on a beautiful February day after eaving the Sanctuary and sipping a drink was not hard time. The Panama canal experience was unique in that we got to see old and new canals. At no time were we sorry we had taken thiscruise. However, as we compared to what we have experienced on other cruiselines (and this was our most expensive cruise to date) we were underwhelmed and dissapointed. Overall the deficiencies we saw were not inherent to the ship but in execution and planning. JMHO.

Edited February 8, 2018 by chisoxfan
spacing

[sprint180]

Sorry you didn't have a great time. I understand. I just went on Allure and was not at all impressed.

I am glad to hear there are sinks to wash your hands at the buffet though. I prefer washing hands to the sprays and anti bacterial gels they want you to use.

Hopefully your next line will be a fit for you. We figured out that my husbands is Princess and mine is NCL

[chisoxfan]

Sorry you didn't have a great time. I understand. I just went on Allure and was not at all impressed.

I am glad to hear there are sinks to wash your hands at the buffet though. I prefer washing hands to the sprays and anti bacterial gels they want you to use.

Hopefully your next line will be a fit for you. We figured out that my husbands is Princess and mine is NCL

 

Thanks for the comments. I wanted to be clear we did overall have an enjoyable vacation and seeing old and new canals was a treat. Being healthy and having good weather was a great blessing. Unfortunately, we found just so many little things that were disappointing and poorly executed. My wife really enjoyed our last Princess cruises and Princess had a special place with her since our first cruise (after the Norway) was an anniversary cruise on the Golden. This cruise really made me believe in the adage 'no cruise is a bad cruise' (but we will gravitate to those lines that can help us experience a great cruise).

[Omega1]

We were on the same cruise and the one before it. We too thought that the 'destination expert' was anything but. Her lectures were dull - reading in a monotone from notes that seemed to have been downloaded from the internet. She couldn't correctly pronounce many of the places to see nor the names of people who had shaped the local history.

Our Anytime dining was more positive - we reserved a table for two for 7pm every evening - this was done through the dining room manager rather than the dining reservation line. It worked out great, especially as they were flexible with the timing (anything between 6.45 and 7.15 was acceptable).

With only one or two exceptions, we also thoroughly enjoyed our menu choices. We only ate dinner in the MDR so can't comment on breakfast and lunch. We thought the layout and food choices in the rebranded and redesigned buffet were excellent. The new wash stations in the buffet are a great idea and we used them all the time, but I'm not sure they were well used generally. Whether this will have a negative impact on general health, given the 'enforced' hand sanitizer at the entrance to the buffet has gone, only time will tell.

Our only speciality restaurant experience was Steamers which, again, was excellent. So overall, no complaints about the food, but it is a very personal matter.

Panama Canal - we too were a little surprised to get on deck for 6.15am to find we were already entering the first lock - ahead of the stated schedule. However, it was stated that precise timings were at the discretion of the canal authorities.

We chose the gold wine package and were very happy with our wine choices - especially the Simi Chardonnay.

We didn't get into the Princess Theatre for same reason as you - we weren't prepared to stand in line 45 minutes before showtime to guarantee a seat. We weren't too disappointed as we have seen most of the production shows before.

We did watch some shows in the overflow live screening (Explorers Lounge) but it wasn't a great experience. Sound and action weren't synced in the video link and some people thought it was acceptable to talk loudly throughout the show - even though bar staff had asked them to be quiet.

Agree that the changes to port times limited the possibilities of what could be done. Having said that it was nice wander round Cartagena early in the morning before it got busy and hot.

Overall, we thoroughly enjoyed the cruise(s) and wouldn't let the minor niggles put us off sailing with Princess again.

Edited February 8, 2018 by Omega1

[moki'smommy]

Were the shows something new that caused them to be so popular? What ever happened to the Stephen Schwartz Magic at Sea series that Princess was so heavily advertising a couple years ago? It hasn't been on any ship that we've cruised.

[floridalover5623]

Oh well. I guess they can't please everyone. :)

Good luck on HAX or X.

[Thrak]

Were the shows something new that caused them to be so popular? What ever happened to the Stephen Schwartz Magic at Sea series that Princess was so heavily advertising a couple years ago? It hasn't been on any ship that we've cruised.

 

Magic To Do was on Emerald Princess when we sailed in October. Unfortunately a bad cold was going around the ship and my wife hid in the cabin for two days as she was ill. Not only did she feel bad and wanted to sleep a lot to get better but she didn't see any reason to spread it around more than necessary. Magic To Do happened during that time and we missed it. I was bummed as it's a show we haven't seen before.

 

As for waiting in line for a show... We never waited in line on our last cruise. We did miss Magic To Do but saw a number of other shows as it was a 28 day cruise. No, one couldn't show up "on time" and get a decent seat. You might not get a seat at all. We would just grab a drink and go early and read peacefully for a while before the show. It wasn't ideal but wasn't really much of a hardship and we never encountered a line. Even when the show was full and people turned away (on their own - nobody was turning them away) we didn't see a line.

[paul929207]

We were with OP for the superbowl cruise and also on the one before it. We ate dinner about7;15 every night. The first 3 or 4 days, my wife called and made reservations. After that, the head waiter arranged a table for 2 for us every night at that time. We just walked in and sat down every night.

[chisoxfan]

We were on the same cruise and the one before it. We too thought that the 'destination expert' was anything but. Her lectures were dull - reading in a monotone from notes that seemed to have been downloaded from the internet. She couldn't correctly pronounce many of the places to see nor the names of people who had shaped the local history.

Our Anytime dining was more positive - we reserved a table for two for 7pm every evening - this was done through the dining room manager rather than the dining reservation line. It worked out great, especially as they were flexible with the timing (anything between 6.45 and 7.15 was acceptable).

With only one or two exceptions, we also thoroughly enjoyed our menu choices. We only ate dinner in the MDR so can't comment on breakfast and lunch. We thought the layout and food choices in the rebranded and redesigned buffet were excellent. The new wash stations in the buffet are a great idea and we used them all the time, but I'm not sure they were well used generally. Whether this will have a negative impact on general health, given the 'enforced' hand sanitizer at the entrance to the buffet has gone, only time will tell.

Our only speciality restaurant experience was Steamers which, again, was excellent. So overall, no complaints about the food, but it is a very personal matter.

Panama Canal - we too were a little surprised to get on deck for 6.15am to find we were already entering the first lock - ahead of the stated schedule. However, it was stated that precise timings were at the discretion of the canal authorities.

We chose the gold wine package and were very happy with our wine choices - especially the Simi Chardonnay.

We didn't get into the Princess Theatre for same reason as you - we weren't prepared to stand in line 45 minutes before showtime to guarantee a seat. We weren't too disappointed as we have seen most of the production shows before.

We did watch some shows in the overflow live screening (Explorers Lounge) but it wasn't a great experience. Sound and action weren't synced in the video link and some people thought it was acceptable to talk loudly throughout the show - even though bar staff had asked them to be quiet.

Agree that the changes to port times limited the possibilities of what could be done. Having said that it was nice wander round Cartagena early in the morning before it got busy and hot.

Overall, we thoroughly enjoyed the cruise(s) and wouldn't let the minor niggles put us off sailing with Princess again.

 

Thanks for your input since you were on the same cruise and shared some of the same concerns.

I consider myself a savvy cruiser but guess I have not focused on the reservation 'thing', I keep reading about (not only on Princess) people with anytime who reserve tables at a certain time for the whole cruise. Maybe we will need to be more aggressive regarding this on future cruises. After our wait on the first evening we called down for reservations but were always told none were available. We always secured a table for two with mixed quality of location. Despite my 'complaining' we try to be undemanding as far as table is concerned figuring some days will be good and some not so good. Breakfast was one meal we did enjoy to be fair although our dining room breakfasts were multiplied because of what we felt was poor room service.

 

I wish we would have tried Steamers as it looked like a good option although seemed to just be a venue 'tacked on' to the buffet.

 

I agree that any of these complaints isolated could be expected on most cruises. Our disappointment was on how many things seemed to be off for us.

[chisoxfan]

Oh well. I guess they can't please everyone. :)

Good luck on HAX or X.

 

We had been well pleased with Princess before which is the reason we were so disappointed. We did speak to several Princess cruisers who seemed let down with the line. One woman started a litany of Princess 'issues' she had experienced recently (a very frequent cruiser) and kind of shrugged her shoulders and said it was like a marriage and she takes the good with the bad but doesn't leave.

 

Anyway prior to the cruise I would have said that HAL, X, and Princess are essentially equal lines with their own good and bad points. We just don't feel that way anymore.

[floridalover5623]

We had been well pleased with Princess before which is the reason we were so disappointed. We did speak to several Princess cruisers who seemed let down with the line. One woman started a litany of Princess 'issues' she had experienced recently (a very frequent cruiser) and kind of shrugged her shoulders and said it was like a marriage and she takes the good with the bad but doesn't leave.

 

Anyway prior to the cruise I would have said that HAL, X, and Princess are essentially equal lines with their own good and bad points. We just don't feel that way anymore.

We've seen changes over the years but nothing on Princess that would turn us off completely- at least not at this point.

Sure you can get better accommodation, food & entertainment on other cruise lines but at a price to match.

We're happy with a Princess product that's a good overall value for our undemanding tastes.

[chisoxfan]

We've seen changes over the years but nothing on Princess that would turn us off completely- at least not at this point.

Sure you can get better accommodation, food & entertainment on other cruise lines but at a price to match.

We're happy with a Princess product that's a good overall value for our undemanding tastes.

 

Interesting comment in that a primary reason we had gravitated from Princess after our previous cruise on the Grand was that we saw price points for Princess that were not competitive with X and HAL. Princess was always in our 'mix' as we looked at cruises the last few years but seemed more expensive on a value basis to us. Part of this may be our interest in having a drink package which x promotes freely, HAL offers sometime, as does Princess. We had the drink package on Princess this cruise and it was great since it covers (I believe up to 12 dollars ) which is generous. It was a catch 22 though as a wine drinker since the wine list was so limited and only relatively low cost wines were listed.

 

I don't see us ever offering loyalty to only one cruise line as we do seek value and to date several lines have filled our needs adequately. It is also nice to try new ships, venues, etc.

 

Anyway, I think we all can agree that there is no one size fits all cruise line and cruises have a varied list of what 'floats their boat'.

[happy cruzer]

Thanks for the report. My personal opinion on drink packages is that they are not suited to mainly wine drinkers; seems better for spirits and cocktail drinkers. I found Celebrity's (a line you are favoring) Classic and Premium packages very frustrating to get good wine by the glass. Wine by the glass selections are typically limited everywhere even in land based bars and restaurants. By the bottle wine packages or carry on with corkage works better for us.

 

We have picked a traditional dining reservation when we want to dine early because we found that anytime dining on any line works better for dining later than 8:00. True anytime dining is hard to do since most want 7:00 JMHO.

 

 

Again thanks for the details report, lets us set expectations.

[BarbinMich]

I'm sorry to hear you didn't enjoy your cruise.

 

We've done both east- and west-bound full transits as well at least one of these 10-day partial transits. We will be doing this CB cruise at the end of the month. Our schedule shows us entering the new lock at 5:00 a.m. and I would assume that yours did as well, so that should have not been a surprise. As I'm not an early riser, I plan to wait to actively watch the transit on the way out. I think only our full transits provided a lecturer re the history of the canal, etc. It sounds like you experienced a "port lecturer" and, unfortunately, we've always found these folks underwhelming, no matter what the itinerary. We've done a lot of transatlantics on Princess and there have always been at least 1, if not more, lecturer on a variety of topics. So I think that pax will only find truly fine lecturers on longer-than-10-day cruises. Crowding in the theater has always been a problem, even on the Royal/Regal, especially for the earlier show(s). I don't know if Princess still offers 3 shows a night or not, but we always found it a lot easier to find seats at the 10 or 10:30 show. And even at the earliest show (7?), it was easier to get a seat if you went 15 min before. The middle show is usually the most popular (i.e. way too many people want to go to that one as it's convenient for the earlier fixed dining time folks). We always do anytime dining and usually eat in the buffet which gives us more flexibility than eating in the dining rooms. Our last TA (last spring) was on the HAL Zuiderdam and I think it's difficult to compare that ship to most of the Princess ships as it's so much smaller, the pax are generally older (casino never crowded after the show), etc. We were on the X Eclipse a few years ago and were very disappointed with our balcony cabin. Loved the buffet, they had a great lecturer (this was a Med cruise RT out of Southampton), loved the layout of their theater, loved the "lawn" (esp. the few pre-dinner events up there). But casino seemed like an afterthought (very tight-space wise). Bottom line, Princess suits us best and usually has the best (i.e. lowest) prices.

[chisoxfan]

Thanks for the report. My personal opinion on drink packages is that they are not suited to mainly wine drinkers; seems better for spirits and cocktail drinkers. I found Celebrity's (a line you are favoring) Classic and Premium packages very frustrating to get good wine by the glass. Wine by the glass selections are typically limited everywhere even in land based bars and restaurants. By the bottle wine packages or carry on with corkage works better for us.

 

We have picked a traditional dining reservation when we want to dine early because we found that anytime dining on any line works better for dining later than 8:00. True anytime dining is hard to do since most want 7:00 JMHO.

 

 

Again thanks for the details report, lets us set expectations.

 

 

Appreciate your comments and agree- in fairness we usually upgrade to the X premium package (around 200 a week). I noted that CC posters had recently complained of X wine selection which wasn't ever a problem for me. Not that price is indicative of quality but X typically offered some (maybe 1 or 2 9-12 dollar glasses of wine and several Chardonnays in this price range (premium X was up to 12 with customer paying difference for more expensive wines). I was pleased that Princess included drinks up to 12 and thought this would give some higher end wine choices also but the highest (price)Chardonnay I found was Clos du Bois listed at 7 bucks glass. This was in most venues. We used to buy bottles but as the drink packages flourished and since my wife is not a wine drinker I usually live with what is covered in the packages, X premium packages allow some choice of higher end waters and 1.5 L bottles but we certainly survived on the Niagara small bottles provided with the Princess Package.

[chisoxfan]

I'm sorry to hear you didn't enjoy your cruise.

 

We've done both east- and west-bound full transits as well at least one of these 10-day partial transits. We will be doing this CB cruise at the end of the month. Our schedule shows us entering the new lock at 5:00 a.m. and I would assume that yours did as well, so that should have not been a surprise. As I'm not an early riser, I plan to wait to actively watch the transit on the way out. I think only our full transits provided a lecturer re the history of the canal, etc. It sounds like you experienced a "port lecturer" and, unfortunately, we've always found these folks underwhelming, no matter what the itinerary. We've done a lot of transatlantics on Princess and there have always been at least 1, if not more, lecturer on a variety of topics. So I think that pax will only find truly fine lecturers on longer-than-10-day cruises. Crowding in the theater has always been a problem, even on the Royal/Regal, especially for the earlier show(s). I don't know if Princess still offers 3 shows a night or not, but we always found it a lot easier to find seats at the 10 or 10:30 show. And even at the earliest show (7?), it was easier to get a seat if you went 15 min before. The middle show is usually the most popular (i.e. way too many people want to go to that one as it's convenient for the earlier fixed dining time folks). We always do anytime dining and usually eat in the buffet which gives us more flexibility than eating in the dining rooms. Our last TA (last spring) was on the HAL Zuiderdam and I think it's difficult to compare that ship to most of the Princess ships as it's so much smaller, the pax are generally older (casino never crowded after the show), etc. We were on the X Eclipse a few years ago and were very disappointed with our balcony cabin. Loved the buffet, they had a great lecturer (this was a Med cruise RT out of Southampton), loved the layout of their theater, loved the "lawn" (esp. the few pre-dinner events up there). But casino seemed like an afterthought (very tight-space wise). Bottom line, Princess suits us best and usually has the best (i.e. lowest) prices.

 

Hello and appreciate your comments. I am surprised you did not like your Eclipse Balcony. I would not place it (personally) over the CB we had with new large tv and bedding but we do like the glass shower doors and bed located near the balcony with a sofa, The balcony seating was also much friendlier IMHO.

 

We are used to going to shows 15 to 20 minutes before and had no issue the first night and then were turned away at both seating times in the next evenings. We went 40 minutes early to one show and found seats with some difficulty -unfortunately it was a comic/ musician that we were not crazy about. So bottom line we went to 2 shows in 10 nights. Not a huge deal but not ideal.

 

I looked at our Panama itinerary and it showed 6AM for Canal. Frankly (and I really made an effort to keep track of this) there was no communication that I found regarding the transit time. We had an excursion that picked us up in Gatun Lake and this was suggested around 8:30 or so. As I indicated the only thing that made me aware that things might be happening earlier was the Captain's message the previous day where he suggested we would be at Colon around 5:00 AM. The bottom line is if the Canal transit info/ expert was announcing on the suggested channel that was in the Patter's

etc. this could have been coordinated better. We were also instructed to listen to this channel for info on when to meet for this excursion and it came up rather abruptly as I heard it in a public area a way from my cabin. Had to dash back for the wife and forgot some things when we grabbed our stuf (not blaming Princess) to leave.

[chisoxfan]

As a follow up we had written Princess Customer Service immediately after our cruise outlining our cruise concerns without response for ten days.

I e-mailed Lisa Black subsequently and received a call from a customer service person several days afterwards which was a 'sorry you didn't like the cruise' waste of time.

It would have been nice to have some direct response to our issues and we did not need the hollow apologies.

Anyway we will vote with our feet and cancel our upcoming (Jan.) Princess cruise. I have never sent a letter to a cruise line (or really had an unsatisfactory cruise) after a dozen cruises so I do not feel I am an unreasonable passenger. If they would have said 'sorry we understand that some things in our control were not handled correctly and we will buy you a beer on your next cruise', I would have given Princess another shot.

I did not need to hear our concerns minimized with comments like 'maybe it will change it on the next cruise'.

We are truly disappointed that a cruise line we had regarded so highly has caused us to remove them from future consideration.

[geoherb]

Sorry you did not have a fully enjoyable cruise. We took our last partial Panama Canal cruise on a HAL ship a year ago. It was good, but I missed many things about Princess. Our last Celebrity cruise was not that good. I'm willing to give X another shot if we ever find a competitive price for a cruise. They always seem to be more than Princess and HAL, especially considering we get the shareholder credit on those two.

[dickinson]

I'm sorry that not only did this cruise not live up to expectations but that customer service (or was it customer relations?) did not either. Over my many years of reading CC, working in customer service (not Princess), and also taking cruises I have determined that one cruise does not make a cruise line. Too many times I have read of people who never had a problem and loved Princess but then had a bad cruise so they said bye bye. Why should this one cruise negate the good times you had on other Princess ships?

 

Why should one person in customer service (who should have empathized and apologized even if they couldn't do anything for you) turn you off of Princess? We had an incident on Carnival that I was absolutely floored by how they handled it. They refunded us 50% of the cruise. I would have been happy with $50 OBC. However, I bet if the situation happened to someone else with different people running the show at Passenger Services things would have been a lot different.

 

It is always a good idea to try other lines. No line is perfect. I hope that sometime in the future you will give Princess another chance but if you find another line that fits you... then continue on with them. Happy cruising!

[voljeep]

with Princess basically closing out their 4-5 day cruises from PE/FLL,:( we may unfortunately be done with Princess after our upcoming cruise in March...

 

we've enjoyed very much our only 12 cruises on Princess and hope they rethink those type of cruises in the future...:)

[chisoxfan]

Thanks for the comments ( I appreciate no, 'don't let the cabin door hit you when you leave' posts). Deep down I know Princess has many good qualities and it is still my belief X, HAL, Princess are overall close in quality. However when you are on a cruise (this was overall the most expensive we have taken) when many manageable items seem so poorly executed, and the cruise line doesn't seem to acknowledge these, it seems logical to not give them your hard earned dollars in the future.

 

I am sure Princess will do fine and their executives will remain highly compensated. I am sure we will not show up on the annual report with a footnote but we do hope (God willing) to be very active cruisers for the next decades and I remain surprised how little effort is made on their part to retain our goodwill.

[Lucky TGO]

Thanks for sharing. I hope things go better for you on your cruise.

Tony

[TW6cruiser]

We had been well pleased with Princess before which is the reason we were so disappointed. We did speak to several Princess cruisers who seemed let down with the line. One woman started a litany of Princess 'issues' she had experienced recently (a very frequent cruiser) and kind of shrugged her shoulders and said it was like a marriage and she takes the good with the bad but doesn't leave.

 

 

 

Anyway prior to the cruise I would have said that HAL, X, and Princess are essentially equal lines with their own good and bad points. We just don't feel that way anymore.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[geoherb]

I'm not sure of the OP's letter to Princess that elicited such a poor response. What I've found works is that Princess responds better when you suggest what would make you happy. For instance, the problem with the excursion in the canal should have been dealt with onboard the ship with the excursions desk. Speaking with a head waiter or the maître d' about the unacceptable wait times can get you better service on subsequent nights. We have never eaten in the anytime dining rooms. We like late seating. The same thing with shows: we don't have a problem getting a seat for the late show in the theater.

 

Do you want some onboard credit for the next cruise? Do you want a free dinner in a specialty restaurant? Etc. Listing a long bevy of complaints without saying what would make it better for you doesn't get you much.

[susancruzs]

Excellent points, Geoherb. I'm a big picture person, can't see the show seats as an issue, you are traveling with several thousand people. Popular shows, things scheduled on the ship fill up, I would never consider it a deal breaker.

 

All my cruises are expensive, sailing as a single, paying for a double, never cruise for less than 14 days. I think dealing with things as they happen, maybe writing a constructive letter to Princess about some things they could look at would be my style.

 

One to has to look at the huge volume here, how many ships, thousand and thousands of passengers, I wonder how many letters they receive on a daily basis.