Was anyone else underwhelmed by Princess?

[iamadoorknob]

Hi all, this is my first time posting here after lurking these forums for a couple of years.

 

We recently took our second cruise; our first was a 7 day Alaska cruise with NCL, this time we did a 7 day Mexico cruise with Princess. We thought the budget cruiselines (NCL, Princess, and Carnival) would all be more or less the same, but we were super disappointed by our experience onboard the Ruby Princess.

 

On our first cruise, aboard the Norwegian Pearl, every member of the crew was super friendly. On Princess, most of the crew looked really unhappy overall and they all just seemed to tolerate the passengers. On NCL, it seems like every crew member had a smile on. They would move to the side if we were walking down a hall and greet us. Aboard Princess, they basically just ignored us, and they usually expected us to get out of their way in the halls. They wouldn't even acknowledge us unless we initiated, and most of the time we were met with a tone of apathy, like they were just tolerating us. There were a few exceptions, for example our room steward was very cheerful and polite, but the vast majority just seemed to not be very happy or friendly. We havent read anything about NCL crew being happier or nicer than Princess crew, so I'm wondering if anyone else has noticed this. In some ways I might just chalk it up to the fact that maybe we had a newer crew on the NCL cruise and the crew on this Princess one had just been on board too long, but I'm hoping to get some opinions.

 

We also liked that Norwegian would have someone standing at the entrance to the buffet to spray people's hands with sanitizer. They were very adamant about hygiene, which is great because there are a lot of disgusting people out there, and a thousand unwashed hands all touching the same buffet tongs is a great way to spread disease. Princess had a sanitizer dispenser, but hardly anyone used it. Neither of us got sick on the NCL cruise, and we both caught a stomach flu AND a cold on this Princess one. I'm betting we wouldn't have gotten sick if they sprayed people's hands.

 

We liked that Norwegian had tables for two right next to the windows in the main dining rooms. Princess put tables for 6 or 8 next to the windows, which are round tables, which means the person closest to the window has their back to it, and no one else can see out because that one person is blocking it. One of our favorite parts of NCL was looking out at the ocean during every meal, and on Princess that was just not possible. 

 

Our Princess ship also had nowhere to sit down and play board games; we had to snag seats in the noisy buffet area. Our NCL ship had a nice, quiet gaming room to relax in. The Princess ship had a room for games, but it consisted of a single long table with a big divider separating it lengthwise, so you cant sit across from anyone, and it was located directly outside the lobby; one of the noisiest parts of the ship most of the time.

 

We also felt that the activities were lackluster. The shows were fine, but everything else was pretty boring. We went to one activity hosted by our cruise director that was just everyone playing the game "Buzz Words", you scored yourself, and won nothing if you got the highest score. There was another one that was basically just True or False trivia, again self-scoring, and you won nothing. 

 

Yeah, in some ways I'm just venting. Overall we did have a nice time, but we probably wouldn't do Princess again. We paid extra for Princess because we thought it would be a big step up over Carnival (we aren't into the party/drinking scene) but I think in the future I'd just look for one that NCL is doing. At the end of the day, our actual big gripe was the crew, and if they were friendlier I probably wouldn't be complaining. I'm keen to hear about any else's experiences.

Edited January 31, 2019 by iamadoorknob

[XBGuy]

Welcome to the active side of Cruise Critic DK.  Thank you for taking the time to lay out your thoughts so clearly.

 

I was on the Ruby Princess a month ago, and, like you, I was very disappointed that there was no enforcement of sanitizer usage at the buffet,  That is the first time I'd ever seen that on Princess. It is unfortunate that you became ill.

 

You might consider posting your comments over on the Princess board,  There may be more interest, over there.

[Ashland]

I will always continue to miss RCI here on the west coast.

[Nic6318]

Hi Doorknob

 

I think you had it pretty much right with your thought that these cruise lines are more similar than different. 

 

The fact that you preferred one cruise line over the other is good. You got to try something different and you saw a difference. Now you can try something different again or stick with NCL. I have only been on NCL 3 or 4 times, I certainly wouldn't say they were "better" than any cruise line. The more you cruise, the more you will find small things that you enjoy about any given cruise line and other things you don't. Pick your cruises based on itinerary, price, ship's amenities, and how it works with your schedule. I would not stick with any given cruise line until you have had a little more varied experience. Of course if NCL fills your requirements, then go for it, until it doesn't. It will happen. The food won't seem as good. As you saw on Princess, some crew members won't be as happy as you remember. The shows will seem repetitive. Whatever. 

 

Just to point out. I do believe the Ruby Princess has a library. That would normally be a more appropriate place to play games than the buffet areas.

 

As far as Carnival goes, I enjoy Carnival. Partying and drinking is how some people enjoy themselves. If you don't drink or like partying, there is no requirement for you to participate. I don't drink, I still can enjoy myself on a Carnival ship. My endorsement shouldn't make a difference to you, so I would suggest that you base your impressions on your experience. If everyone you met had told you what a great cruise line Princess was, would that have changed your opinion of your last cruise? You will see that each cruise will be different. Don't try so hard to compare each one, just try to enjoy each one. 

[Heidi13]

I spent almost 35 years both working for and cruising with Princess. I recall when they were a premium cruise line, but since being purchased by Carnival, the standards have dropped considerably. Our last cruise with them was the 2015 World Cruise.

 

Princess no longer meets our expectations and obviously not yours, but many cruisers do find their standards acceptable.  My suggestion is to try other cruise line and/or return to NCL. The cruise industry has a cruise line/ship to meet the expectations of the vast majority of cruisers.

 

With respect to the crew, the senior on-board staff set the tone in managing the crew. It starts with the Captain and progresses down through the Department Heads. Where the odd crew member is bad, it can be an isolated case, but when a large percentage of the crew is poor, the root cause usually starts at the top.

 

Ruby Princess is in a sub-class of the excellent Grand class of ships. The early ships were excellent, but starting with Caribbean Princess they added an entire extra deck of cabins (500 pax) to exactly the same hull. The Ruby is one of these Super-Grands, which we find way too crowded.

 

To date, you have only experienced mainstream cruise lines, if you are looking for more space, less crowding, better food & service, etc you may want to check out the premium and luxury cruise lines. The base fares are more expensive, but being more inclusive, we find minimal difference to the total spend.

[Itchy&Scratchy]

15 hours ago, iamadoorknob said:

Neither of us got sick on the NCL cruise, and we both caught a stomach flu AND a cold on this Princess one. I'm betting we wouldn't have gotten sick if they sprayed people's hands.

lol, my DH caught a cold on Norwegian Getaway last December, even though the washy-washy girl was omnipresent and sprayed all of our hands religiously.

Also, don't judge the whole line by one ship. We've enjoyed sailing on Regal and Caribbean Princesses. We definitely find Princess to be more upscale than NCL, however, we are not loyal to any one line, and so far have enjoyed RCI, Princess and NCL. We did enjoy them for completely different reasons, though.

We choose a cruise based on price, itinerary and the age of the ship.

Edited February 1, 2019 by Itchy&Scratchy

[cruiseaholic777]

I agree with itchy. I think Princess ships are much higher quality than NCL. But i have had a couple complaints with both. Over all i have never had a bad cruise. Try the Caribbean Princess next time. Have a great day and keep cruising.

[cruising cockroach]

It may depend on when you cruise, what ship and where it came from.

 

Sailed on Island Princess from San Pedro to Vancouver a few years ago and it was good (1st cruise in decades).  Nothing bad.  Certainly would consider sailing on Princess again.

 

Did the same itinerary 4 years later on the Star Princess on the same itinerary.  Chaos and disorganisation.  Hotel crew managers and supervisors would do their level best not to look you in the eye so they don't make eye contact with you.

 

Differences may have been, second cruise was sold out (cabins being blown out at ~$160 for 4 nts inside and outside, $10 more for veranda if you had sailed with Princess before).  First one didn't seem to be.  First cruise had repo'd from Florida so crew wasn't given the twice over by INS, and no DOT (or whatever) twice over.   The Star Princess had come up from South America so got the full crew twice over by INS and they also had to prepare for DOT inspection.

 

This second sailing disimpressed us enough to avoid sailing with Princess ever again.  Standing 1 hr in line to check in at San Pedro didn't help.

 

 

[Itchy&Scratchy]

3 hours ago, cruising cockroach said:

First cruise had repo'd from Florida so crew wasn't given the twice over by INS, and no DOT (or whatever) twice over.   The Star Princess had come up from South America so got the full crew twice over by INS and they also had to prepare for DOT inspection.

pssst, they aren't called INS anymore. INS has been USCIS for years and years now, and the crew may have been checked by ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement), not USCIS.

[cruising cockroach]

I'm old school and you're wrong at any rate.  The frontline is CBP that deals with people wanting to cross into the U.S..  ICE investigates.  INS was the old agency that does the immigration function of what CBP does today. 

 

https://help.cbp.gov/app/answers/detail/a_id/1040/~/difference-between-u.s.-customs-and-border-protection-(cbp)%2C-u.s.-citizenship