We're planning on comparing John Padgett's way of thinking with Richard Branson's.

[sloopsailor]

On 7/10/2022 at 1:42 PM, CineGraphic said:

 

.....The rep stated that in her 16 years, she's never seen it so bad.

 

 

 

I find it humorous that some people claim the staff complains to them about things. If I were an employer, that staff member would be on her way down the gangplank at the next port. Employees are supposed to be focused on assisting the passengers, not complaining about their job to them. But, then again, the vast majority of your posts are negative, so I will take it with a grain of salt like I do most of the rest. 

[CineGraphic]

7 minutes ago, sloopsailor said:

But, then again, the vast majority of your posts are negative, so I will take it with a grain of salt like I do most of the rest. 

 

"Vast majority"??? You assume way too much.

 We've been accused of being blind Princess loyalists on this very same forum many times, because folks thought we always were defending Princess and their service standards.

We didn't change, the service did.

 

[CineGraphic]

12 minutes ago, sloopsailor said:

I find it humorous that some people claim the staff complains to them about things. If I were an employer, that staff member would be on her way down the gangplank at the next port.

 

As a human being, she was commiserating with us. Something CS reps do when the company they work for screws-up. They were attached to the executive team, and no lackey. I'm sure they're there for good reasons.

[CineGraphic]

35 minutes ago, LACruiser88 said:

The matching loyalty perk is definitely a nice touch.  For us, the short itineraries would be something difficult to overcome.  Since retiring, our typical cruise is at least 30 days long.  When we do a cruise of 15 days or less, it is always out of our LA homeport. 

 

Maybe they'll deploy a ship on the west coast to give us west coasters a shot at trying them?  

 

 

 

 

More ships are on the way, and I'm sure they'll eventually get into longer itineraries.

They are just in their first year, and seemingly doing a great job.

[CineGraphic]

59 minutes ago, Tedferg said:

Could you be more specific please. Whenever I do quick comparisons, Oceania is very much higher than Princess.

 

I was referring to a sale prince I saw for Virgin.

Yes, Oceania costs more per day than both Princess and Virgin.

[fpsphil]

Padgett is too busy out playing with his new Princess race car to really care

 

[loge23]

On 7/9/2022 at 2:04 PM, isosika said:

I'm not a big fan of what's happening to Princess under John Padgett, so if we don't like what we get in November, we can always cancel the other cruises and see what's available.

That's where we're at as well.

We have another booking for next July after our upcoming month-long Regal cruise. We really want to get a sense of what's going on before - or if - we switch the July one out. 

We do cruise from time to time on other lines and just from that we see that Princess has been kind of stagnating, if not regressing. We're long-time Princess fans, but not fanatics - we just preferred the Princess way of cruising. Loyalty is for marriages and dogs, not stuff that we pay for. 

Someone mentioned the Princess itineraries and that is a main draw for us. They still do have very good cruise itineraries, particularly combined ones. 

To be fair, Sir Richard owns the venture, while Mr. Padgett is essentially a corporate yes man. 

[Thrak]

3 hours ago, CineGraphic said:

49 days until we sail, and Virgin has just introduced it's loyalty program.

They status match, so for our very 1st cruise with Virgin, we'll be entitled to the following:

 

 

I just checked the Virgin site and they don't include Princess in their status matching program. There is a form to submit as proof of your current status and the drop down list doesn't include Princess cruises. We have no status on other cruise lines so the status match won't work for us.

[CineGraphic]

2 minutes ago, Thrak said:

 

I just checked the Virgin site and they don't include Princess in their status matching program. There is a form to submit as proof of your current status and the drop down list doesn't include Princess cruises. We have no status on other cruise lines so the status match won't work for us.

 

 

They do match Princess, it's just not currently in the drop down menu, and they have been made aware of the omission.

 

Edited August 31, 2022 by CineGraphic

[suzyed]

On 7/8/2022 at 6:12 PM, CineGraphic said:

 

Doesn't matter unless you drink 15 drinks a day, which we don't.

 

Cost-wise, Virgin is more, but we caught a good sale to help lessen the price spread. We don't mind spending more if it's warranted.

 

As for itinerary, the ship is our destination. That and their private resort which from the looks of it, makes Princess Cays look old & tired.

https://youtu.be/F0Tjxk8vdpU

 

Please let us know how you like it after you sail with them!

[suzyed]

On 7/8/2022 at 6:27 PM, JimmyVWine said:

Personally, I think that Virgin's cabin set-up as "living room by day, bedroom by night" is genius and the way forward for all cruise lines eventually.  Not saying that their current execution is perfect.  But the idea of having a convertible cabin with a seating area during the day instead of a queen-sized bed taking up all the space is brilliant.  In the afternoon I'd much rather have a living room than a bedroom.  Especially if you want to congregate with others.   

Believe it or not on our very first cruise on Cunard, that is what they had.  The couch flipped over and then was made into a bed if I am recalling this correctly.. It was in 1980 on the Cunard Countess.

[suzyed]

On 7/8/2022 at 7:14 PM, CineGraphic said:

 

An officer I'm friends with was looking to switch to Virgin as well, but decided on Viking Ocean instead.

The starting salary was more than double of what they were making after many years with Princess.

Not surprising as Viking rates are double what Princess' is...at least that is the way it was.
 

Just an aside, when we sailed on the MSC Seaside, we ran into several crew who had switched from other cruise lines and were very unhappy that they did....our room steward, one of the restaurant managers in charge of several restaurants, room service delivery people, etc  were the ones telling us how unhappy they were.  I would say almost every American on the ship who we spoke to said "never again".  
I guess the grass is not always greener on the other side, but I guess you will never know unless you try it.
MSC status matches with most if not all cruise lines and when we sailed with them for the first time, we were Black status which was the highest at the time.  Their shows are wonderful and the best we have ever seen. There were many pluses but there were minus' too...but you get that with any line.

Edited August 31, 2022 by suzyed

[suzyed]

1 hour ago, loge23 said:

That's where we're at as well.

We have another booking for next July after our upcoming month-long Regal cruise. We really want to get a sense of what's going on before - or if - we switch the July one out. 

We do cruise from time to time on other lines and just from that we see that Princess has been kind of stagnating, if not regressing. We're long-time Princess fans, but not fanatics - we just preferred the Princess way of cruising. Loyalty is for marriages and dogs, not stuff that we pay for. 

Someone mentioned the Princess itineraries and that is a main draw for us. They still do have very good cruise itineraries, particularly combined ones. 

To be fair, Sir Richard owns the venture, while Mr. Padgett is essentially a corporate yes man. 

We're with you.  Besides Princess we have sailed, on Carnival, Royal, Cunard, Celebrity, MSC and really just prefer Princess at this point in time for the itineraries, the ships, price point and the product offered. After all our FCCs are used up we may venture out again and try some others.

[bmc alabama]

We've been on Scarlet Lady twice and have had a blast both times.  It's a very different experience, but one we very much enjoyed.  That said, we are not really beholden to one cruise line or another.  This year, we've cruised with Disney, Virgin, Princess, Royal, and Carnival, and for the most part we've enjoyed all of these cruises.  

 

Strangely enough, our Princess cruise was on Crown Princess and we were kind of approaching that one with dread with all that was going on with that ship, but were very pleasantly surprised about how good our cruise actually was, once we went on it.  To top it off, they gave us a 50% FCC for the missed ports issue.  Also, for whatever reason, our App experience worked pretty flawlessly (thanks, in part, to the Medallion desk on Crown that adjusted a few settings on my iPhone).  So, unlike many here, we've actually booked a few more Princess Cruises and look forward to doing so in the future.  Also, after being on so many different lines this year, I know this sounds corny, but being on a Princess ship, it just feels like home.  Maybe the best way to put it is that perhaps it isn't the best at any one specific thing, but it seems to do everything well, or at least it did on our cruise.  For instance, the food maybe isn't what you get on Virgin (or maybe Disney), but I can always find something I like to eat (that is complimentary, mind you).  But it was way better than what we had on Royal.  Likewise, there may not be some grand production (Disney or RCCL, though I would consider "Cats" as a big negative there 🙂 ), but we always found something to keep us entertained.  Don't know, it's like that suit that just fits right.  Maybe just my opinion...

 

As to the others...

 

Scarlet Lady has amazing food.  Hands down best we've had at sea.  Also, it's a very upscale, relaxing ship, which surprised us a bit (we thought it might be a "Tattoo parlor at sea").  The Duel Reality show is amazing and there are just lots of little nooks on the ship to relax.  And loved the hammock, way more than I thought we would.  That's exactly how I would describe it.  Relaxing.  Will definitely do more VV in the future.

 

We sailed Carnival Mardi Gras.  Yes, I know what many people think when you say Carnival, but it was an absolutely great cruise.  We loved the ship and all of the included food options.  We came to the conclusion that Carnival has great "quick service" food (Shaq's Big Chicken... Yum), and the fact that they are currently including two of their normal upcharge places (Cucina del Capitano and ChiBang) gratis didn't hurt either.  We actually never ate in the main dining room.  Really enjoyed this class of Carnival ship.  It is definitely a different mix of passengers (with a LOT more kids), but very enjoyable and a very fun vibe.  Not sure I'd sail one of the older ships, but definitely impressed by Mardi Gras.

 

We also sailed Disney Magic to the Greek Isles and did the Maiden Voyage of the Disney Wish.  The Disney Magic cruise was amazing.  Maybe the best one we've ever done.  As to the Disney Wish, well, go look on DCL sites and you'll see that many opinions about how the direction that is going in sort of reflects what you see on this thread.  We actually ended up liking the ship (had really good food), but definitely prefer the 4 original DCL ships.  Honestly, if $$ didn't matter, being the Disney fans we are, we'd sail them all the time...  but $$ does matter.

 

As to Royal, we've sailed Oasis and Independence this year.  On Oasis, we were bored.  I know that sounds crazy, but it was in January and there were only 2,400 people on the ship (out of 6,000).  Seemed empty and because of that, many things, like the Solarium Bistro were closed.  Also, I noticed that most of the restaurants on RCCL are the upcharge places.  The buffet was OK, but very heavily influenced by Indian dishes, which are fine, but not what I want everyday.  It also bothers me that the RCCL ships don't have an included poolside grill, which most of the others seem to have.  Did not care for the Burger or Dog that was stashed under the heat lamp in the buffet.  Yuck.  You could get Johnny Rockets, but it was $15 per person.  And why the checking out of towels???  It also bothered me that the soft serve ice cream shut down at 5:30pm, but they left the extra charge ice cream place open until 10pm.  I did enjoy the shows not named "Cats", especially Aqua80, but on the whole, it didn't live up to our expectations (like everyone we talked to talked about how wonderful the Oasis class ships were... we just didn't see it, of course, we don't do rock walls, or zip lines, or flow riders, etc., so not sure that ship is geared towards us..).  And as we found Oasis to be sort of, "meh", we just didn't care for Independence outright.  The lack of included food options being the main issue.  Last comment about RCCL is how their "Cafe Promenade" just really lacks when I could compare it to say the International Cafe.  The pastries were terrible and the sandwiches were a joke.  Never found anything in there I cared for...

Edited August 31, 2022 by bmc alabama

[CineGraphic]

7 minutes ago, bmc alabama said:

I know this sounds corny, but being on a Princess ship, it just feels like home.

 

Not corny at all.

We felt that Princess was "home" for us as well, but after a bad experience on the Regal in February, and the Ruby in April, we had 2nd thoughts about making our final payment for our two weeks aboard the Caribbean Princess in October.

I even reached out to guest relations with our concerns, and they couldn't assure me that things would be any better.

Knowing full well that they are short-staffed, why do they fill up ships with more people than they can possibly take good care of? (Money's the answer. It's more important to them than actual hospitality)

 

Virgin is keeping numbers low. I honestly don't think I've seen a service related complaint about Virgin posted anywhere. Maybe @Thrak will find a few, and share them here.

[LACruiser88]

49 minutes ago, bmc alabama said:

Also, after being on so many different lines this year, I know this sounds corny, but being on a Princess ship, it just feels like home.  Maybe the best way to put it is that perhaps it isn't the best at any one specific thing, but it seems to do everything well,

Ditto for us!

[LibrarianMonroe]

3 hours ago, CineGraphic said:

Virgin is keeping numbers low. I honestly don't think I've seen a service related complaint about Virgin posted anywhere. Maybe @Thrak will find a few, and share them here.

The *only* complaint I have about Virgin after our cruise on the line is that some of their venues have odd hours, but that's okay, as long as you pay attention schedules.  And its a minor quibble at best.

[Thrak]

4 hours ago, CineGraphic said:

Virgin is keeping numbers low. I honestly don't think I've seen a service related complaint about Virgin posted anywhere. Maybe @Thrak will find a few, and share them here.

 

Nope. I sincerely doubt we will sail with Virgin. I checked their site and they seem to do mostly short voyages. We tend not to book anything less than 10 days at the least - unless it is a short cruise that flows right into a longer one. I have a 16 day booked in December, a 32 day B2B2B booked for fall of 2023, and a 12 day Mexico Solar Eclipse cruise booked for April of 2024. All are with Princess. We've only done one cruise since the restart and that was a 12 day Alaska cruise in May on Royal Princess. I actually prefer older ships like Emerald Princess but we were fine on Royal despite having 3 excursions messed up. As usual, the crew was outstanding.

Edited September 1, 2022 by Thrak

[suzyed]

7 hours ago, bmc alabama said:

 Also, after being on so many different lines this year, I know this sounds corny, but being on a Princess ship, it just feels like home.  Maybe the best way to put it is that perhaps it isn't the best at any one specific thing, but it seems to do everything well, or at least it did on our cruise.

I feel the same way...just didn't know how to describe it...you did a good job doing so....esp. the "feels like home" part. 😊

[suzyed]

On 8/31/2022 at 2:55 PM, sloopsailor said:

 

I find it humorous that some people claim the staff complains to them about things. If I were an employer, that staff member would be on her way down the gangplank at the next port. Employees are supposed to be focused on assisting the passengers, not complaining about their job to them. But, then again, the vast majority of your posts are negative, so I will take it with a grain of salt like I do most of the rest. 

Unless they are so unhappy or regretting switching cruise lines...I felt bad for them.

[Steelers36]

23 hours ago, suzyed said:

Believe it or not on our very first cruise on Cunard, that is what they had.  The couch flipped over and then was made into a bed if I am recalling this correctly.. It was in 1980 on the Cunard Countess.

We were on that ship too in the early 80's and the little I can recall seems like the dark ages compared to ships today.

[Wildcatllamas]

CineGraphic I so enjoyed my B2B cruises on Virgin. I haven't been on Princess since April of 2019 but will be on the Discovery in October. It will really give me a chance to compare.

 

But overall if I could get decent airfare from Colorado to Miami I would be the most loyal Virgin fan you would find. There was just a feel about everything there that made it so amazing. And then the food - well normally I don't gain any weight on a cruise because I walk a lot onboard and off. Yeah, that didn't work on Virgin.

[llarsen]

On 7/8/2022 at 7:18 PM, Astro Flyer said:

We’ve been Princess loyalists for nearly 35 years & have canceled our future cruises and booked Oceania which friends who also sail on PCL rave about the O life. It’s on a previous Renaissance ship like the most recent Pacific Princess which we never had the opportunity to sail. Our disappointment in the Padgett management is the primary reason we’re leaving Princess. When considering what the O price includes it’s not much more than on PCL for our 2023 Regatta cruise.

 

I believe you will love Oceania! We haven't sailed with them in 5 years (due to land trips to Italy instead of cruising) but we have been on the Regatta twice. We really enjoyed the smaller ship and that you can be anyplace in just a couple minutes. 

We have also sailed on the Marina and Sirena twice each and they are absolutely beautiful and not much bigger. 

The food is outstanding, no other cruise line we have ever been on can begin to compare to Oceania's dining rooms and food experience.

The ONLY thing I do not care for on Oceania is their night time entertainment. But to be honest, we really don't go to many of the shows on other cruise lines anyway.

I hope you enjoy cruising with Oceania as much as we have! 

[KeepCalmBearOn]

6 hours ago, Wildcatllamas said:

CineGraphic I so enjoyed my B2B cruises on Virgin. I haven't been on Princess since April of 2019 but will be on the Discovery in October. It will really give me a chance to compare.

 

Compare what? I've looked at Virgin to see if there is a reason I'd want to try them, based either on itinerary or ship and neither appealed to me and I am pretty sure Princess and Virgin are targeting very different audiences.

 

The prices for Virgin were no bargain compared to Princess, NCL, RCL or Celebrity. They aren't as high as Oceania or Seabourn, but the itineraries aren't as good or as long.

 

I don't get it.

[suzyed]

23 minutes ago, scottca075 said:

 

Compare what? I've looked at Virgin to see if there is a reason I'd want to try them, based either on itinerary or ship and neither appealed to me and I am pretty sure Princess and Virgin are targeting very different audiences.

 

The prices for Virgin were no bargain compared to Princess, NCL, RCL or Celebrity. They aren't as high as Oceania or Seabourn, but the itineraries aren't as good or as long.

 

I don't get it.

I agree on the targeting very different audiences.  And there was nothing special as far as itineraries that I could see.  I like the hammock idea though. 😉