Never again!!

[LovetheSea]

My hubby and I go back and forth from Princess to Celebrity. I find Celebrity food to be better. But some of the changes they have made to be more HIP.  I didn't like. But still my favorites. RCCL, Holland, Norwegean and Carnival are other lines we have been on. 

[GonzoWCS]

21 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. 

Sorry to hear this.

[CalLuvsCrusingToo]

People sailing out of Seattle to Alaska this season have a choice of

Crown or Discovery.

Discovery is new.  Why in the world pick Crown?  Unless you have No clue

or don't do any looking.... or believe a TA who maybe makes more when

they steer guests to Crown?  I don't know....

 

I am in the process of rebooking our AK cruise, and are definately

choosing Discovery over Crown.

 

I feel sorry for those stuck with their Crown choice, for whatever reason.

Agree, it should be taken out of service Now.

 

 

[karatemom2]

5 minutes ago, CalLuvsCrusingToo said:

People sailing out of Seattle to Alaska this season have a choice of

Crown or Discovery.

Discovery is new.  Why in the world pick Crown?  Unless you have No clue

or don't do any looking.... or believe a TA who maybe makes more when

they steer guests to Crown?  I don't know....

 

I am in the process of rebooking our AK cruise, and are definately

choosing Discovery over Crown.

 

I feel sorry for those stuck with their Crown choice, for whatever reason.

Agree, it should be taken out of service Now.

 

 

 

Seems like the main reason I have seen for people sticking with Crown is that the itinerary includes Glacier Bay, which I understand because it is something not to be missed. But given the current situation, I don't think even Glacier Bay would convince me to stick. I would move over and enjoy Tracy Arm Fjord or Endicott instead.

[Guest ldtr]

17 hours ago, Coral said:

Celebrity had some really bad years in Alaska (and elsewhere) with their Azipod issues with the Millennium class ships once upon time. They had ships that just stopped in the middle of the trip in Alaska. This went on for years. And they don't go to Glacier Bay.

Yep one year they had a problem that impacted cruisers much like the Crown.  Missed ports, late arrivals.  Then at one point they canceled the rest of a cruise, mid-cruise and several cruises after that point.

[ImperialLady]

9 minutes ago, CalLuvsCrusingToo said:

People sailing out of Seattle to Alaska this season have a choice of

Crown or Discovery.

Discovery is new.  Why in the world pick Crown?  Unless you have No clue

or don't do any looking.... or believe a TA who maybe makes more when

they steer guests to Crown?  I don't know....

 

I am in the process of rebooking our AK cruise, and are definately

choosing Discovery over Crown.

 

I feel sorry for those stuck with their Crown choice, for whatever reason.

Agree, it should be taken out of service Now.

 

 

Why did we pick the Crown..because it went to Glacier Bay. Because it coincided with my husband and son time off, We booked before the first sailing. New doesn't always mean better. We sailed the Ruby 4 years ago and it was wonderful! I read some really good reviews  re the CROWN before Covid.

So do I have no clue or didn't do any looking?? Don't feel sorry for me. I was one of the lucky ones who was able to change my booking AFTER final payment to the Discovery. However I will NOT get to see Glacier Bay.

Edited June 21, 2022 by ImperialLady

[Coral]

11 minutes ago, ldtr said:

Yep one year they had a problem that impacted cruisers much like the Crown.  Missed ports, late arrivals.  Then at one point they canceled the rest of a cruise, mid-cruise and several cruises after that point.

It was several years and several ships that had the azipod issue on Celebrity (M Class ships). Eventually the ship builder was able to find a solution but it took several years and many impacted cruises that were cancelled or had to limp along until they could cancel cruises. I remember being in Alaska and one of the ships was stranded in the water for a day or two until they could figure out how to get to port.

[REEtired]

On 6/20/2022 at 6:43 PM, Bgwest said:

A $100 OBC for the havoc they've caused a bunch of paying customers? Big damned deal. I feel your pain. 

 

While it may feel good to vent on CC to what is a very limited slice of the totality of present and potential PCL customers, it's numbers that matter to the bean counters. My suggestion would be to hit them hard on social media. Give them a deservedly strong thrashing on Twitter, FB or wherever the consumer masses hang out these days. 

 

If everyone made their feelings known to a wider audience, not just the comparative few here on CC, perhaps even the bean counters might notice. 

 

As an aside, we just booked our first Celebrity cruise for this August. 

You will most undoubtedly enjoy your Celebrity cruise. We were long time loyal Princess cruisers, until Carnival acquired them. Saw the difference almost immediately. Tried Celebrity and have never looked back!  

[geoherb]

2 hours ago, REEtired said:

You will most undoubtedly enjoy your Celebrity cruise. We were long time loyal Princess cruisers, until Carnival acquired them. Saw the difference almost immediately. Tried Celebrity and have never looked back!  

 

Does that mean it's been nearly 20 years since you've sailed on Princess? 

[CACruiser1973]

19 hours ago, MrBreeze said:

What Princess is doing concerning the Crown Princess is bordering on Fraud. They knew well before the start of the Alaska season that there were serious issues with the engines on the Crown and has done nothing to repair them. Yet Princess continues to sail this broken ship, cancels ports and excursions, and is still booking passengers for it while NOT informing them of the engine issues. Princess cares more about money than it does its passengers or guests. Shame on Princess!

I feel terrible for the OP and similarly situated passengers.  I also am nervous as all get out for myself and the rest of us that have been given the Crown for our sailings to Hawaii out of LA later this year.  Fingers crossed they come to their senses and swap out the Crown on the TransPacific sailings - or else I doubt we will make it to Hawaii at all. 

[cr8tiv1]

10 minutes ago, CACruiser1973 said:

I feel terrible for the OP and similarly situated passengers.  I also am nervous as all get out for myself and the rest of us that have been given the Crown for our sailings to Hawaii out of LA later this year.  Fingers crossed they come to their senses and swap out the Crown on the TransPacific sailings - or else I doubt we will make it to Hawaii at all. 

 

Voyages on the Grand to Hawaii have already been swapped out to the Crown 2022.  For your sake, I hope that the dry dock/repairs in October will ease your mind.  It's a long way to get a tow.  I remember a Carnival ship that was stuck and they had to drop pallets of SPAM to feed their passengers.  

[caribill]

19 hours ago, ontheweb said:

I think the question should be do they believe the feedback from passengers who say the will never come back.

 

I think they can believe that in the case of first time Princess cruisers who say they will never be back.

[AF-1]

one good thing about Cruise Critic forums;  you learn a lot about the cruise lines and also the cruise ships.  I will come to this website when I get ready to book my next cruise; so I can see the ship I want to cruise is seaworthy.  Everyone have a great week

Edited June 22, 2022 by AF-1

[OKCruiseMan]

We did the Crown on the 28th.

After following the boards on the problems the previous few weeks we were expecting issues but did not want to miss GB.

We were disappointed that we were not able to get the itinerary we had first been sold. Very sad we lost our Sea Plane excursion to Taku Lodge. Very pleased with the beautiful blue skies and perfect weather. Met several nice and interesting people at dinner.  Great staff support. 

Not happy with how Princess handled the communication of the problem. Instead of trying to get ahead of the problem and keep customers in the loop, I felt they waited until the last minute to tell us things. I was pretty sure our Taku Lodge excursion would be canceled but kept being told it would be rescheduled. Not until we got to our cabin did they leave us a letter saying it was canceled. Although I expected the letter it was disappointing that on several calls to Princess they kept saying don't worry. Had the same problem with ISP. They kept the stop on the itinerary long enough for us to book an excursion then canceled the stop. Still waiting for a refund.

[hapster85]

On 6/20/2022 at 4:19 PM, Astro Flyer said:

Sapphire was scheduled to sail from LA this summer but shortly after announcing them all of those cruises were cancelled without explanation until late September. This wonderful ship has spent most of this year in the eastern Med & anchored off Cyprus with crew only…why hasn’t it been deployed to replace the unreliable Crown. All cruise lines are experiencing crew & supply shortages but being on a ship not working properly is inexcusable to me.

 

 

Yeah, that really makes no sense. Why leave one ship idle, while continuing to operate one that's not up to the task? Sapphire could've been moved into position weeks ago. Smh 

[toofewcruises]

On 6/20/2022 at 1:51 PM, neverbeenhere said:

Holland America and Royal Caribbean sail some very nice ships to Alaska.

And have some of the same issues!

[oskidunker]

On 6/20/2022 at 4:44 PM, deliver42 said:

Once you're on Celebrity, you won't go back to Princess. I speak from experience.

22 Cruises on Princess. Took Celebrity to Alaska. Was wonderful.Better food, better service and better itinarys.  More port days. Princess  seems to have taken away port daysvto save money. Plus the elimination of fixed dining was the final straw.. not even mentioning no chair to sit on in standard balcony cabins. Somehow X gets a sofa in those rooms!  Booked on Oceania in Sept. anxious to see how that is. 
 

we do miss the formal nights b

[CruiseNYC]

We have one more Princess cruise booked for this November and after that, we've solely booked on Celebrity.

We enjoyed a B2B on Celebrity this past December and that was all we needed to convince us that the Celebrity life is for us.  Our Elite status on Princess doesn't do much when the rest of the experience is so lacking.

 

[MissP22]

53 minutes ago, oskidunker said:

22 Cruises on Princess. Took Celebrity to Alaska. Was wonderful.Better food, better service and better itinarys.  More port days. Princess  seems to have taken away port daysvto save money. Plus the elimination of fixed dining was the final straw.. not even mentioning no chair to sit on in standard balcony cabins. Somehow X gets a sofa in those rooms!  Booked on Oceania in Sept. anxious to see how that is. 
 

we do miss the formal nights b

The items you listed are our least concern except for the food and that's subjective to each individual. 

Good luck on Celebrity, not that they're that bad either. 

[Bgwest]

Hey Princess, are you hearing the pax angst and taking note of all of those jumping ship to Celebrity??

[cruzin4us]

I'm so sorry about your cruise.   If you've been reading these boards for the past 3 months you'd have noticed this ongoing issue, thus most of us aren't shocked by your post. 

 

I might have cancelled just based on the prior cruises.   But then again, I just got back from Alaska and only got off in Ketchikan (well that's not true.....I went on a walking mission in Juneau to find fish & chips (they were all closed).    I was just happy cruising to Alaska......that's me however.

 

At this point you can make the best of a bad situation or you can ruin the rest of your trip.    I'd choose the first option personally.

 

[PrincessPatti]

On 6/21/2022 at 1:41 PM, CalLuvsCrusingToo said:

People sailing out of Seattle to Alaska this season have a choice of

Crown or Discovery.

Discovery is new.  Why in the world pick Crown?  Unless you have No clue

or don't do any looking.... or believe a TA who maybe makes more when

they steer guests to Crown?  I don't know....

 

I am in the process of rebooking our AK cruise, and are definately

choosing Discovery over Crown.

 

I feel sorry for those stuck with their Crown choice, for whatever reason.

Agree, it should be taken out of service Now.

 

 

When we originally booked our cruise, it was the Emerald and, for some unknown reason, Princess changed it to the Crown April of last year.

[Guest ldtr]

3 hours ago, Bgwest said:

Hey Princess, are you hearing the pax angst and taking note of all of those jumping ship to Celebrity??

The grass is always greener.

[Guest ldtr]

3 hours ago, cruzin4us said:

I'm so sorry about your cruise.   If you've been reading these boards for the past 3 months you'd have noticed this ongoing issue, thus most of us aren't shocked by your post. 

 

I might have cancelled just based on the prior cruises.   But then again, I just got back from Alaska and only got off in Ketchikan (well that's not true.....I went on a walking mission in Juneau to find fish & chips (they were all closed).    I was just happy cruising to Alaska......that's me however.

 

At this point you can make the best of a bad situation or you can ruin the rest of your trip.    I'd choose the first option personally.

 

I like cruising to Alaska. Doing the 11th (princess) and 12th (Hal) this summer.

 

However the experience in the main ports is not what it used to be.

 

The main ports are way over crowded most days during cruise season. The local shops and resturaunts have pretty much been replaced with businesses focused on the cruise business.

[LovetheSea]

On 6/21/2022 at 10:41 AM, CalLuvsCrusingToo said:

People sailing out of Seattle to Alaska this season have a choice of

Crown or Discovery.

Discovery is new.  Why in the world pick Crown?  Unless you have No clue

or don't do any looking.... or believe a TA who maybe makes more when

they steer guests to Crown?  I don't know....

 

I am in the process of rebooking our AK cruise, and are definately

choosing Discovery over Crown.

 

I feel sorry for those stuck with their Crown choice, for whatever reason.

Agree, it should be taken out of service Now.

 

 

We chose the Crown because they go to Glacier Bay. Discovery does not. After all the information we have gotten since and hearing from people on the ship and their problems, we moved over to the Discovery one day after our initial date. I will be sad not to go to Glacier Bay. I have been there a few times and it was always my favorite thing about an Alaska cruise