Are Princess always THIS bad?!

[Sea Green]

I've seen a good priced cruise to Iceland on Sky Princess next year, but after a very disappointing British Isles cruise on the Emerald in May (my first on Princess) I'm reluctant to risk another go.

 

The inside cabin was fine. I liked the medallion. There were no 'major' issues. But ship seemed to be very understaffed with no direction (longest embarkation ever, no-one mustering the lifts when we managed to get on,  food very variable and delays of 1 hour between courses, activities cancelled or changed last minute, tenders breaking down and drifting for two hours.) 

 

What I really didn't like was the entertainment. Daily activities were minimal and mostly a hard sell. Little options of evening entertainment other than the main theatre show and those were not good, old fashioned, cheesy and amateurish. And don't mention Fortuna Luck! 

 

I'm hoping that this is down to Covid and I was just unlucky with that particular cruise.  However I sailed on P&O and Cunard in full lockdown, and they managed to cope without similar issues. Also the Sky seems to be newer and bigger than the Emerald. But there will be quite a few sea days and I don't want to be bored or stuck for something to do.

 

Should I give Princess another chance? Are they usually this bad?

Edited August 25, 2022 by Sea Green
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[dides]

Well yes, activities have been limited post-Covid but they are gradually coming back. e.g. saw a post recently from one of the Assistant Cruise Directors about plans to bring back the Pop Choir.  But depends what you are looking for. We've been on 3 cruises out of Southampton this summer on Royal-class ships and never had an issue.  I've just posted a couple of patters from our June Sky Princess cruise here so see if it looks any different to what you experienced.

[leck57]

10 minutes ago, Sea Green said:

I've seen a good priced cruise to Iceland on Sky Princess next year, but after a very disappointing British Isles cruise on the Emerald in May (my first on Princess) I'm reluctant to risk another go.

 

The inside cabin was fine. I liked the medallion. There were no 'major' issues. But ship seemed to be very understaffed with no direction (longest embarkation ever, no-one mustering the lifts when we managed to get on,  food very variable and delays of 1 hour between courses, activities cancelled or changed last minute, tenders breaking down and drifting for two hours.) 

 

What I really didn't like was the entertainment. Daily activities were minimal and mostly a hard sell. Little options of evening entertainment other than the main theatre show and those were not good, old fashioned, cheesy and amateurish. And don't mention Fortuna Luck! 

 

 

I was on Emerald in May (the 9th May departure) and had an entirely different experience. Had no issues at all with any of the things you mentioned above, although thought the theatre shows were pretty average.

[Wishing on a star]

It seems that Princess, like some other lines, has had some struggles with returning to more full capacity. And this sounds like what you might have experienced.

And, I hate to say this, as it is just a perception,  but it seems that maybe Emerald Princess sometimes doesn't live up to the highest Expectations.

There is the thought that they might be limiting some capacity because of staffing limitations.

I hope, and believe, that Princess will get all of this ironed out!

 

I would hope that by the time you travel, the newer SKY Princess would be a better experience!

 

[wowzz]

All I can say is that in the last 6 months we have cruised on P&O and Princess, and the P&O experience was awful.

On Prindess we never had to wait between courses. No idea what lift mustering means. Embarkation is dependent on Southampton staff, not Princess.

If you want, I can give you a long list as to why our P&O cruise was awful.

I just think you have unrealistic expectations.

Edited August 25, 2022 by wowzz

[JimmyVWine]

1 hour ago, Sea Green said:

after a very disappointing British Isles cruise on the Emerald in May

This Trip Report paints a rather different picture.

 

 

[wowzz]

1 minute ago, JimmyVWine said:

This Trip Report paints a rather different picture.

 

 

Interesting !

I think some people just have an agenda. 

[GOLDENBONNY]

2 hours ago, Sea Green said:

no-one mustering the lifts

Am I the only one who has no clue that someone suppose to muster it?

 

[SunshineCoast]

9 hours ago, GOLDENBONNY said:

Am I the only one who has no clue that someone suppose to muster it?

 

My gosh - why the ‘bitchy’ answers to a polite posting from Sea Green.  Have you not stopped to think how this might affect this person.  

 

In respect of ‘muster the lifts’ - the wrong terminology may have been used but if you have sailed regularly you must have done at least one cruise where there is at least 1 member of staff in the lift area to ensure passengers are coping ok and nobody ‘pushes past’ those who have been waiting longer and with special care given to those in wheelchairs and their carers.  Having experienced several really busy times of boarding and especially when ‘cabins opened’ announced - the process does work more smoothly with a member of staff being present to help.

 

As far as Sea Green’s other comments - they are all valid.  We all know from experience and CC postings that Princess (and I am not saying they are the only ones) are very much under-staffed since they have gone from partially full Cruises to nearly full.  Even Princess themselves ‘own up’ to that.  Wait lines for the main Dining Room and service once seated has been a long drawn out process unless you are Suite guests or dine at 17.30 (which time does not suit many UK guests) and is totally unacceptable and not a case of ‘unrealistic expectations.  On our last Princess cruise a few weeks ago it was taking 2.5 hours from joining the long queue to being served a 2 course evening meal.  (Please no comments about adjusting the time to go as we went the time we had reservations made via the App prior to boarding.  After 4 nights of this we adjusted our evening meal arrangements - should we have to have done this -  ‘No’.)

 

So my comment Sea Green is ‘no’ Princess were not bad prior to Covid.  Will things improve as far as sufficiently staffed - I am sure they will do their best but unfortunately it seems there is a big problem with staff shortage in many industries at the moment so it is difficult to tell what next year will bring.  Will Princess go back to less passengers if unable to adequately staff - I very much doubt it as  they have a lot of lost revenue to recoup.  

 

Do we have to lower our expectations - yes I expect we will if we want to carry on cruising - but this doesn’t make it right or acceptable - especially to new cruisers and those who are not CC members and are therefore unaware that the ships are currently under-staffed.  They have paid good money and look forward to a relaxing holiday and due to the staff shortages may not get this and therefore it does come as a shock and of course they will be disgruntled - especially for those where it is their only holiday per year and they have ‘saved’ hard for it as apposed to those of us who are fortunate enough to take more than one holiday a year.

 

Please - when a person posts a question - if you cannot answer politely then do not reply.  It is good to hear when people have had positive Cruises with no problems but this doesn’t mean that somebody else on the same cruise has been fortunate enough to have the same experience and it doesn’t mean their expectations were too high.  

 

 

[Ombud]

14 hours ago, Sea Green said:

longest embarkation ever, no-one mustering the lifts when we managed to get on,  food very variable and delays of 1 hour between courses,

Never experienced any staff mustering the lifts. Just not a Princess thing

1 hour ago, SunshineCoast said:

Wait lines for the main Dining Room and service once seated has been a long drawn out process unless you are Suite guests or dine at 17.30

Yes. That was my experience at 1st dinner on the Ruby Princess out of San Francisco April 23rd. Although I got on rather quickly, others waited hours. Even worse in Seattle June 30th. But that was the ports issue. No excuse for that April 23rd dinner. After 1.5 hrs I left the dining room. I had bread. Saw the show and went back to mid ship dining room where there wasn't an issue. Continued there for the rest of the cruise and always had the same table / wait staff.

 

Ignored DMW for upcoming cruise. 

[wowzz]

13 minutes ago, Ombud said:

Never experienced any staff mustering the lifts. Just not a Princess thing

And of course nowadays,  you can go to your muster station at leisure, anytime prior to the ship leaving.

[Esprit]

14 hours ago, Sea Green said:

 

 

Should I give Princess another chance? Are they usually this bad?

The Royal class ships are so much better then the Grand class ships so I think you should give Princess another chance. 

I'd choose Princess over P&O everytime too. They are a 3+ star cruise line whereas Princess is 4.

[Coral]

I know some who just got off the Emerald Princess and thought the cruise was amazing, especially the crew.

[JF - retired RRT]

3 hours ago, SunshineCoast said:

So my comment Sea Green is ‘no’ Princess were not bad prior to Covid.  Will things improve as far as sufficiently staffed - I am sure they will do their best but unfortunately it seems there is a big problem with staff shortage in many industries at the moment so it is difficult to tell what next year will bring.  Will Princess go back to less passengers if unable to adequately staff - I very much doubt it as  they have a lot of lost revenue to recoup.  

 

Do we have to lower our expectations - yes I expect we will if we want to carry on cruising - but this doesn’t make it right or acceptable - especially to new cruisers and those who are not CC members and are therefore unaware that the ships are currently under-staffed.  They have paid good money and look forward to a relaxing holiday and due to the staff shortages may not get this and therefore it does come as a shock and of course they will be disgruntled - especially for those where it is their only holiday per year and they have ‘saved’ hard for it as opposed to those of us who are fortunate enough to take more than one holiday a year.

Excellent reply.

(shortened for brevity, but all valid points)

[JimmyVWine]

9 hours ago, SunshineCoast said:

Please - when a person posts a question - if you cannot answer politely then do not reply.

You do know what a rhetorical question is, right?  "Are Princess always THIS bad" [sic] is not a valid question.  It assumes facts not in evidence.  Maybe the better question would be: "Was MY EXPERIENCE on Princess representative of what Princess now offers?"  The question as originally posed assumes that the entire cruise was an abject failure for all on board and did not take the first person experience into account.  I'm sorry, but the following responses are all polite and valid in response to the question as framed:

21 hours ago, dides said:

We've been on 3 cruises out of Southampton this summer on Royal-class ships and never had an issue.

 

21 hours ago, leck57 said:

I was on Emerald in May (the 9th May departure) and had an entirely different experience.

 

21 hours ago, Wishing on a star said:

It seems that Princess, like some other lines, has had some struggles with returning to more full capacity. And this sounds like what you might have experienced.

 

20 hours ago, wowzz said:

All I can say is that in the last 6 months we have cruised on P&O and Princess, and the P&O experience was awful....

I just think you have unrealistic expectations.

 

20 hours ago, JimmyVWine said:

This Trip Report paints a rather different picture.

 

6 hours ago, Esprit said:

The Royal class ships are so much better then the Grand class ships so I think you should give Princess another chance. 

I'd choose Princess over P&O everytime too. They are a 3+ star cruise line whereas Princess is 4.

I don't think any of these responses is even close to being "bitchy" or impolite. 

[SunshineCoast]

I’m not going to get into a ‘you said, she said, I said’ on this but it is a really sad situation if everyone who wants to make a posting has got to have an accurate command of English grammar.  It almost makes me ‘afraid’ to post a reply (note - almost).

I agree with you that none of the ‘responses’ you quoted are ‘bitchy’ or impolite but if you re-read all the responses you will find a couple are.  

Disagree with a post by all means; give examples of different experiences certainly - but I cannot see why statements such as ‘some people just have an agenda’ and being obtuse about the wrong terminology in respect of the lifts being ‘supervised’ are necessary or helpful.  

[Roberto256]

8 hours ago, Ombud said:

Never experienced any staff mustering the lifts. Just not a Princess thing

 

 

I have seen this many, many times on princess.

 

During embarcation, some of the elevators are taken out of normal service.

They are then run by an attendant, taking passengers to each requested floor;

and then returning directly to what ever deck passengers are entering the ship on,

and repeat.

 

Sometimes, but not always ... there is a crew member in the elevator lobbies

directing passengers coming out of the elevators to their cabins.

 

 

[Sea Green]

23 hours ago, JimmyVWine said:

This Trip Report paints a rather different picture.

 

 

Yes. It paints a picture of a different cruise to the one I was one, by someone who mostly wrote  about the ports and avoided the shipboard entertainment - the thing I was asking about?

 

This is the cruise I was on.... 

 

"06/01/2022 at 10:27pm docerman wrote -

So lucky you are...i was on the trans atlantic and then the may 1-9 version in spite of being super cautious tested positive covid on may 2 so was quarantined on deck 12 with lots of others and missed every single port on the second leg.  There were a lot of covid cases ; masks were few and far between on passengers on May 1 sailing with busloads of people having to further quarantine  May 9 and up to a week or so in London before flying back to usa...not a lot of fun...more like the cruise from hell

 

glad your's worked out"

[Sea Green]

On 8/25/2022 at 10:31 PM, dides said:

Well yes, activities have been limited post-Covid but they are gradually coming back. e.g. saw a post recently from one of the Assistant Cruise Directors about plans to bring back the Pop Choir.  But depends what you are looking for. We've been on 3 cruises out of Southampton this summer on Royal-class ships and never had an issue.  I've just posted a couple of patters from our June Sky Princess cruise here so see if it looks any different to what you experienced.

Thank you these made interesting reading. Im glad to see the Insights lecture - were there many talks / presentations throughout the cruise?   

[Bgwest]

5 minutes ago, Sea Green said:

Yes. It paints a picture of a different cruise to the one I was one, by someone who mostly wrote  about the ports and avoided the shipboard entertainment - the thing I was asking about?

 

This is the cruise I was on.... 

 

"06/01/2022 at 10:27pm docerman wrote -

So lucky you are...i was on the trans atlantic and then the may 1-9 version in spite of being super cautious tested positive covid on may 2 so was quarantined on deck 12 with lots of others and missed every single port on the second leg.  There were a lot of covid cases ; masks were few and far between on passengers on May 1 sailing with busloads of people having to further quarantine  May 9 and up to a week or so in London before flying back to usa...not a lot of fun...more like the cruise from hell

 

glad your's worked out"

Wife and I were on the PE to Southampton segment (first part of what was to have been a B2B for us) that docked on 5.1. Wife contracted the C virus mid cruise so we were involuntarily disembarked at Southampton on 5.1 anong with bus loads of other folks. We witnessed hundreds, literally.  Princess put us up and paid for a hotel in the LHR area. Given the state of the infections that were surely still on board, I cannot image that the remaining 9 days that we missed were anything but miserable. Being involuntarily disembarked in Southampton and allowed to enjoy London (at that particular moment in time, masking and other C virus measure had already been abandoned in London) at our leisure was a godsend. 

[Sea Green]

12 hours ago, SunshineCoast said:

In respect of ‘muster the lifts’ - the wrong terminology may have been used but if you have sailed regularly you must have done at least one cruise where there is at least 1 member of staff in the lift area to ensure passengers are coping ok and nobody ‘pushes past’ those who have been waiting longer and with special care given to those in wheelchairs and their carers.  Having experienced several really busy times of boarding and especially when ‘cabins opened’ announced - the process does work more smoothly with a member of staff being present to help.

Yes this is exactly it - muster / marshal, whatever term is right. Normally on every cruise I have been on. Princess did, however, manage to have a photographer standing right in front of the main lifts getting in everyones way. 

 

SunshineCoast, thank you for your long, considerate reply.  🙂

[In Toronto]

12 hours ago, SunshineCoast said:

My gosh - why the ‘bitchy’ answers to a polite posting from Sea Green.  Have you not stopped to think how this might affect this person.  

 

In respect of ‘muster the lifts’ - the wrong terminology may have been used but if you have sailed regularly you must have done at least one cruise where there is at least 1 member of staff in the lift area to ensure passengers are coping ok and nobody ‘pushes past’ those who have been waiting longer and with special care given to those in wheelchairs and their carers.  Having experienced several really busy times of boarding and especially when ‘cabins opened’ announced - the process does work more smoothly with a member of staff being present to help.

 

As far as Sea Green’s other comments - they are all valid.  We all know from experience and CC postings that Princess (and I am not saying they are the only ones) are very much under-staffed since they have gone from partially full Cruises to nearly full.  Even Princess themselves ‘own up’ to that.  Wait lines for the main Dining Room and service once seated has been a long drawn out process unless you are Suite guests or dine at 17.30 (which time does not suit many UK guests) and is totally unacceptable and not a case of ‘unrealistic expectations.  On our last Princess cruise a few weeks ago it was taking 2.5 hours from joining the long queue to being served a 2 course evening meal.  (Please no comments about adjusting the time to go as we went the time we had reservations made via the App prior to boarding.  After 4 nights of this we adjusted our evening meal arrangements - should we have to have done this -  ‘No’.)

 

So my comment Sea Green is ‘no’ Princess were not bad prior to Covid.  Will things improve as far as sufficiently staffed - I am sure they will do their best but unfortunately it seems there is a big problem with staff shortage in many industries at the moment so it is difficult to tell what next year will bring.  Will Princess go back to less passengers if unable to adequately staff - I very much doubt it as  they have a lot of lost revenue to recoup.  

 

Do we have to lower our expectations - yes I expect we will if we want to carry on cruising - but this doesn’t make it right or acceptable - especially to new cruisers and those who are not CC members and are therefore unaware that the ships are currently under-staffed.  They have paid good money and look forward to a relaxing holiday and due to the staff shortages may not get this and therefore it does come as a shock and of course they will be disgruntled - especially for those where it is their only holiday per year and they have ‘saved’ hard for it as apposed to those of us who are fortunate enough to take more than one holiday a year.

 

Please - when a person posts a question - if you cannot answer politely then do not reply.  It is good to hear when people have had positive Cruises with no problems but this doesn’t mean that somebody else on the same cruise has been fortunate enough to have the same experience and it doesn’t mean their expectations were too high.  

 

 

I like this!  Because you don't agree, does not give you the right to put down someone else's experience.. Thank you SunshineCoast.

[Sea Green]

23 hours ago, wowzz said:

Interesting !

I think some people just have an agenda. 

My 'agenda' is to find out if its s good idea to drop £1000+ and two weeks leave with Princess.  

[wowzz]

2 minutes ago, Sea Green said:

My 'agenda' is to find out if its s good idea to drop £1000+ and two weeks leave with Princess.  

£1000 for a two week cruise ! 

You should be so lucky! 

[Sea Green]

13 minutes ago, Bgwest said:

Wife and I were on the PE to Southampton segment (first part of what was to have been a B2B for us) that docked on 5.1. Wife contracted the C virus mid cruise so we were involuntarily disembarked at Southampton on 5.1 anong with bus loads of other folks. We witnessed hundreds, literally.  Princess put us up and paid for a hotel in the LHR area. Given the state of the infections that were surely still on board, I cannot image that the remaining 9 days that we missed were anything but miserable. Being involuntarily disembarked in Southampton and allowed to enjoy London (at that particular moment in time, masking and other C virus measure had already been abandoned in London) at our leisure was a godsend. 

Yes  That was the one. Rumers about infections started spreading as the days went by. I was lucky enough not to get it, especially as we had family visits planned in the port stops.