How much are you willing to let slide?

[donaldsc]

36 minutes ago, Sunwanabe said:

In summary very little. We are paying for the full meal deal and the PC promoted wonderful experience so that's what I expect. For our upcoming July cruise, looking for great service, memorable moments and a fun time.                

 

You are an optimist.  I am a pessimist.  Based on Princess' recent performance I think that pessimism will prevail.

 

DON

[CatDi]

I live on the Kitsap Peninsula so I have actually though about taking the Crown because it is less expensive and I really don't get off the ship.  I travel solo and just relax mostly.  I was on the Discovery last month and had a good time.   

 

In the end I don't think the issues Crown is having would apply to my type of travel. However, I can see how one would avoid this ship all together. 

Edited June 20, 2022 by CatDi

[startedwithamouse]

On 6/19/2022 at 12:45 AM, caribill said:

 

Certainly not on my Ruby cruise this December where balcony cabins start at $190/day/person plus taxes + gratuities. (Admittedly an inside cabin starts at just under $100/day/person + taxes+ gratuities.)

 

Or on my Island Princess cruise next spring where balcony cabins start at $186/day/person + taxes+gratuities. (Inside cabin starts at $124/day/person + taxes + gratuities.)

We don't book the expensive ones...

[caribill]

11 hours ago, SargassoPirate said:

“The bitterness of poor quality remains long after the sweetness of low price is forgotten.”

― Benjamin Franklin

 

Don't forget when there is poor quality combined with high prices and high expectations.

 

Many are paying significantly more than $100/day/person for a cruise that features missed ports from the original itinerary, worst Internet at sea, and significant lines and waits to get seated for dining at a time you had reserved in advance.

[Guest ldtr]

33 minutes ago, caribill said:

 

Don't forget when there is poor quality combined with high prices and high expectations.

 

Many are paying significantly more than $100/day/person for a cruise that features missed ports from the original itinerary, worst Internet at sea, and significant lines and waits to get seated for dining at a time you had reserved in advance.

Then it sounds like your answer is clear.  do something other than book Princess.

[caribill]

5 minutes ago, ldtr said:

Then it sounds like your answer is clear.  do something other than book Princess.

 

And that, according to many posts on a number of threads, is what both first time Princess customers and long term Princess customers (once FCCs from cancelled cruises are used up) plan to do.

[AnyMajorCruiseDude]

4 minutes ago, caribill said:

 

And that, according to many posts on a number of threads, is what both first time Princess customers and long term Princess customers (once FCCs from cancelled cruises are used up) plan to do.

Exactly so.  In fact, many of these same posters have claimed to abandon Princess for many years, but are still cruising on Princess.  Odd.

[suzyed]

6 minutes ago, AnyMajorCruiseDude said:

Exactly so.  In fact, many of these same posters have claimed to abandon Princess for many years, but are still cruising on Princess.  Odd.

I do enjoy the Princess product and we have sailed them almost exclusively for the last 10+ years. We have FCCs that we want to use this year until they are gone.  We have two additional sailings. I'm not going to say we will never sail Princess again, but I think it's time to start  considering other lines again.  This whole Crown debacle is leaving a bad taste in our mouths. We're not breaking up...just taking a brake

[suzyed]

14 minutes ago, AnyMajorCruiseDude said:

Exactly so.  In fact, many of these same posters have claimed to abandon Princess for many years, but are still cruising on Princess.  Odd.

 

• St. Augustine, FL

• #101   

Posted just now

 

I do enjoy the Princess product and we have sailed them almost exclusively for the last 10+ years. We have FCCs that we want to use this year until they are gone.  We have two additional sailings. I'm not going to say we will never sail Princess again, but I think it's time to start  considering other lines again.  This whole Crown debacle is leaving a bad taste in our mouths. We're not breaking up...just taking a brake

[cr8tiv1]

13 hours ago, Keksie said:

We took a land trip this spring to Tennessee and were pleasantly surprised.  We were expecting short staff and activities limited but really wanted to get away.  The hotel had daily cleaning of rooms, the restaurants were staffed and service was great.  We got to do everything we wanted to do, in fact we want to go back because there was so much more we didn't have time for.  On top of that there were no masks, no testing and if we had gotten ill there would have been no quarantine in a lesser then paid for room.  I know in the tourist part of my area the restaurants seem to have a higher level of staffing compared to earlier in the year. 

 

I recently did a one night stay in a Waikiki Hotel, using a free reward incentive.  This was my experience (compared to yours).

 

1.  I was able to check in early so had a full 24 hours in the room.

2.  Signs everywhere that rooms would not be serviced for any where from 3-4 days per stay.

3.  There was a resort fee of $40/night.

4.  Parking was $45/night

5.  No meals were included.  

6.  Resort activities were scaled back to once every few days (so I missed many activities at the hotel).

7.  Coffee machine was in the room along with 2 bottles of water and an empty refrigerator.

8.  I was upgraded to a view of the pool and a sliver of Waikiki Beach/Diamond Head.

9.  My "dinner" that night was a $10 banana split with hot fudge...been craving that for a while. 

10.  Drinks by the pool ran around $9 for a generous glass of wine (entertainment was a guitarist).

11.  Masks were suggested and I did wear one.

 

It did not include airfare/gratuities but wi-fi was part of the resort fee.  In fact, they provided a hot spot to be used anywhere on the island.

 

Would I do it again?  Yes.  WIll I cruise on Princess again?  Probably.

[Guest ldtr]

1 hour ago, cr8tiv1 said:

 

I recently did a one night stay in a Waikiki Hotel, using a free reward incentive.  This was my experience (compared to yours).

 

1.  I was able to check in early so had a full 24 hours in the room.

2.  Signs everywhere that rooms would not be serviced for any where from 3-4 days per stay.

3.  There was a resort fee of $40/night.

4.  Parking was $45/night

5.  No meals were included.  

6.  Resort activities were scaled back to once every few days (so I missed many activities at the hotel).

7.  Coffee machine was in the room along with 2 bottles of water and an empty refrigerator.

8.  I was upgraded to a view of the pool and a sliver of Waikiki Beach/Diamond Head.

9.  My "dinner" that night was a $10 banana split with hot fudge...been craving that for a while. 

10.  Drinks by the pool ran around $9 for a generous glass of wine (entertainment was a guitarist).

11.  Masks were suggested and I did wear one.

 

It did not include airfare/gratuities but wi-fi was part of the resort fee.  In fact, they provided a hot spot to be used anywhere on the island.

 

Would I do it again?  Yes.  WIll I cruise on Princess again?  Probably.

Hilton at least covers the resort fee when booking with points.

 

Over the last year I have stayed at IHG, Hilton, Marriot, Out Rigger, and Hyatt properties. The only hotels that I found near normal services, including daily room service, was a Hyatt Ziva all inclusive hotel near Cabo, and the Intercontinental Moana Bora Bora hotel.  

 

Which property did you stay at?  Have a trip to Waikiki in September and will be staying at Westin Moana Surf rider.  A property that usually does well.

Edited June 21, 2022 by ldtr

[geoherb]

7 hours ago, CatDi said:

I live on the Kitsap Peninsula so I have actually though about taking the Crown because it is less expensive and I really don't get off the ship.  I travel solo and just relax mostly.  I was on the Discovery last month and had a good time.   

 

In the end I don't think the issues Crown is having would apply to my type of travel. However, I can see how one would avoid this ship all together. 

 

If the price of airfare would come down, I'd consider taking a cruise on the Crown this summer--or even back-to-back cruises on the Crown one week and Discovery the next. But right now, airfare would cost me more than two weeks on the ships.

[caribill]

5 hours ago, caribill said:

 

And that, according to many posts on a number of threads, is what both first time Princess customers and long term Princess customers (once FCCs from cancelled cruises are used up) plan to do.

 

I think the following post from another thread gives a great summary of the situation.

 

10 hours ago, glm77777 said:

So we are currently on the Crown Princess to Alaska and they have just cancelled ANOTHER shore excursion!! No whale watch in Juneau now. We were notified at approx 10 am that the excursion at 4pm had been cancelled due to trouble with the propulsion system! So initially we had 4 excursions booked-we are now down to 2.  This ship should not be in service since apparently this issue has been ongoing. Our first port/excursion was cancelled due to there being an issue that limited the speed of the ship so we had to skip a port. Then our whale watching excursion was changed 4 times and finally just cancelled 😡. The entire ship is abuzz with pissed off people. And the only thing we are hearing is

“ all we can do is give you onboard credit and a free tram ride in Juneau.” Of course-every other excursion is sold out.

I will never sail with Princess again. This entire once in a lifetime cruise, except for the lovely crew members, has been a disaster. 

 

[cr8tiv1]

2 hours ago, ldtr said:

Hilton at least covers the resort fee when booking with points.

 

Over the last year I have stayed at IHG, Hilton, Marriott, Outrigger, and Hyatt properties. The only hotels that I found near normal services, including daily room service, was a Hyatt Ziva all inclusive hotel near Cabo, and the Intercontinental Moana Bora Bora hotel.  

 

Which property did you stay at?  Have a trip to Waikiki in September and will be staying at Westin Moana Surfrider.  A property that usually does well.

 

Princess Kaiulani is a nice hotel but even with my reward  (yearly) certificate, I still had to shell out a few more thousand points.   Moana wanted 25,000 points above certificate.  Wasn't worth it for one night (I live only 5 miles away).  I don't need to be at water's edge.  I had an enjoyable stay.  This is the ONLY way you would get me into Waikiki.  I would still prefer to take a cruise over a land vacation.  

 

 

 

Edited June 21, 2022 by cr8tiv1

[ontheweb]

11 hours ago, caribill said:

 

Don't forget when there is poor quality combined with high prices and high expectations.

 

Many are paying significantly more than $100/day/person for a cruise that features missed ports from the original itinerary, worst Internet at sea, and significant lines and waits to get seated for dining at a time you had reserved in advance.

But if you read the brochures they send out in the mail, you do have the greatest invention since the wheel, the Medallion.

[caribill]

3 hours ago, ontheweb said:

But if you read the brochures they send out in the mail, you do have the greatest invention since the wheel, the Medallion.

Or the TV ad currently running in the Houston market: with the Medallion "your favorite drinks are finding you."  (One recent post said how they saw the drinks they ordered being delivered to someone else and that someone else was very confused getting drinks they had not ordered.)

 

(Ruby will be in Galveston in December, but the scenes shown are of a Royal class ship)

[rabin1]

This addresses the marketing Princess is doing. I own an advertising agency. The one thing that could be done is IF someone wanted to find a lawyer is file a class action suit for false advertising. Princess would have to send a letter to all who have sailed I am not sure within a certain amount of time once it is filed to either opt in or out. Then comes proving it which most people probably could. The point I would see happening is one of two things. It would take years and would it really be worth what and if the suit would win? The amount each person would receive would probably be very small. It could be the final straw for CCL the negative publicity the suit would bring & the suit itself.

 

Bottom line is as many of you have said we can complain and moan probably to no avail or move on to another line. Personally I for the time being am staying with Princess.

Kathy.

[Guest ldtr]

12 minutes ago, caribill said:

Or the TV ad currently running in the Houston market: with the Medallion "your favorite drinks are finding you."  (One recent post said how they saw the drinks they ordered being delivered to someone else and that someone else was very confused getting drinks they had not ordered.)

 

(Ruby will be in Galveston in December, but the scenes shown are of a Royal class ship)

On the Grand the system placed an order on its own in the Wheelhouse bar for a drink I never order as I was walking by on my way back to my room.  I would say the system worked to some degree in that they actually traced me back to my room and tried to deliver it to me there.

 

Some times it works very well sometimes not so well.  On the Majestic it worked very well, on the Grand not so much.  For example on the Majestic we could take a seat in the piazza and order our morning coffee using it and the servers from the International Cafe delivered it promptly. On the Grand trying to do the same thing had the orders go to room service, who then delivered them taking much much longer.

 

On the Majestic we used the system quite often and it worked very well.

[Guest ldtr]

9 hours ago, cr8tiv1 said:

 

Princess Kaiulani is a nice hotel but even with my reward  (yearly) certificate, I still had to shell out a few more thousand points.   Moana wanted 25,000 points above certificate.  Wasn't worth it for one night (I live only 5 miles away).  I don't need to be at water's edge.  I had an enjoyable stay.  This is the ONLY way you would get me into Waikiki.  I would still prefer to take a cruise over a land vacation.  

 

 

 

Ah right across the street.  We had booked their last year but canceled the 5 days in Honolulu when the Governor requested that people not come during one of the spikes.  We did do the Kona portion of the trip which was not having as many problems.

 

Bonvoy is the one major hotel loyalty program that I do not belong to.

[1980dory]

On 6/18/2022 at 10:13 AM, Dar & Bob said:

We are booked on Princess in July going to Alaska.  We were on the Regal in the Caribbean in January and were in Club Class mini suites with 3 other couples.  We had a great time but found the food very mediocre with the exception of Alfredo's and Crown.  The ship was understaffed even though at less than half capacity.  

We did a cruise on Celebrity and granted it was a little more $$ but it was much more elevated.  That said we were looking for a cruise to the ABC islands for January and Princess (which only included 2 of the 3 islands) was more money than Celebrity.  So we booked with Celebrity.  

We are waiting to see what the service, food etc is like on our July cruise but Princess may be losing our business especially since most of the cruises we are pricing are comparable. 

One last item, Princess holding off releasing their late 2023 and 2024 cruises when the other lines have been out for a while is also losing them business.  

Likewise.  Going back to Celebrity.  Princess has burned their bridges. Enough is enough.

[1980dory]

On 6/18/2022 at 12:36 PM, suzyed said:

We've done many different cruise lines and there are always some disappointments.  Our goal in choosing who we sail with is who disappoints us the least.  What problems can we over look? And for 12+ years that has been Princess. We love the Princess product....loveED.  What they are doing now cannot be overlooked at least not by us.

Same here!  The honeymoon is OVER.

[MissP22]

With all these people leaving Princess, it looks like the ships will be sailing near empty very shortly.

🙄

[1980dory]

On 6/19/2022 at 7:50 AM, phonejock said:

I just want to say that I have really appreciated Everyone’s reports and opinions about current conditions/procedures on Princess ships.  I am living vicariously through you all.😊 Although there is nothing I would like more  than to be sitting at a IC, sipping a coffee and looking out the window , I realize we need to wait till things get back to more of the experience we have had in the past. Hopefully over the next year, the quarantining will go away, the problems with the App, Medallion, dining room reservations will be resolved, Princess customer service will improve, and the the airlines will get their act together.  ( Hey, a girl can dream)

And do you still believe in Santa and the Tooth Fairy, etc.?  I do believe you really ARE dreaming.

[1980dory]

18 minutes ago, MissP22 said:

With all these people leaving Princess, it looks like the ships will be sailing near empty very shortly.

🙄

Certainly.  And MAYBE they will adequate staff.

[mtnesterz]

24 minutes ago, MissP22 said:

With all these people leaving Princess, it looks like the ships will be sailing near empty veryshortly.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but don't all the FCC from Covid cancellations expire at the end of this year?

Whenever that happens the truth will come out about bookings.

The chickens came home to roost.  You can't leave ships unmaintained for two years.