Considering Several Princess Cruises

[sharhu22]

We last sailed on Princess about 15 years ago at least.  Since then we have sailed a lot of Carnival (because other people we were sailing with chose it) and several Celebrity and one Royal Caribbean.  We were originally sailing on Carnival out of Galveston in January but there are mechanical issues being fixed during our cure necessitating a change in itinerary and we were offered the chance to get refund if we wished to cancel which several of our traveling companions decided to do.  We are considering switching to the Ruby Princess which has the same itinerary as the Vista, where we had Havana cabins booked, which was was fine with us but we thought this gave us a chance to try Princess again.  We are also looking at switching from Carnival Miracle cruise to Hawaii Oct 2023 and going with the Sapphire Princess to Hawaii instead.  All would be in Club suites with premier option as we are splurging for out 50th anniversary with a bunch of cruises  My concern is that it seems there have been a lot of negative reviews recently for Princess for these ships.  I usually take reviews with a grain of salt and I know there have been a lot of complaints about Carnival as well cutting back and blaming post covid issues on a lot of it too but it seems like more issues/complaints  with Princess.  Am I really seeing the true picture.  Has Princess really gotten that bad lately?  Especially to the point I should stick with Carnival after all?  We have already booked the Caribbean Princess for next August to Greenland, just hoping we didn’t make a mistake.

[NownZen]

Unhappy people are the most active in posting so it is expected that it appears that there are a lot of problems. We have cruised twice this year and have had a wonderful time on each cruise. We will be on a longer cruise (on the Sapphire) in December.  Sapphire has not cruised since the shutdown and its first cruise starts this saturday.  We clearly have no issues with Princess. 

[dolphfan]

We have sailed our last 19 cruises on Carnival. We booked Sky Princess for January, and I am really excited!! Looking forward to reading comments on this thread.

[Sea Hag]

I like the Ruby. We sailed on her in the fall last year and again in April of this year. She's a great ship.

[cr8tiv1]

I can chime in on the Hawaii cruise.  Not sure what your time frame is, but for me, the best cruise would be on the Crown Princess with Hawaiian Cultural Ambassadors ELUA out of San Pedro this fall.  Can't speak for San Francisco, Sapphire, or Royal Princess.

 

Princess does an excellent jot with the Hawaii cruises with lots of activities.  I've does this crossing many times.  I have also done a few post-covid cruises and have enjoyed all of my Princess cruises.

 

I am a bit confused about your "Club suites".  Not sure if you are referring to Club Class Mini-suites or Full suites.  Club Class main perk is a special area in the Main Dining Room.  It does not include any of the suite perks that come with a full suite.

 

49 minutes ago, sharhu22 said:

We are also looking at switching from Carnival Miracle cruise to Hawaii Oct 2023 and going with the Sapphire Princess to Hawaii instead.  All would be in Club suites with premier option as we are splurging for out 50th anniversary with a bunch of cruises  My concern is that it seems there have been a lot of negative reviews recently for Princess for these ships.  I usually take reviews with a grain of salt and I know there have been a lot of complaints about Carnival as well cutting back and blaming post covid issues on a lot of it too but it seems like more issues/complaints  with Princess.  Am I really seeing the true picture.  Has Princess really gotten that bad lately?  Especially to the point I should stick with Carnival after all?  We have already booked the Caribbean Princess for next August to Greenland, just hoping we didn’t make a mistake.

 

[Kay S]

If you haven't done Princess, try it and see how you like it.  I loved pre-covid Princess (26 cruises worth.)  My problem now is that things have changed so much, traditional things disappeared or scaled back, endless problem with the technology, on board and off.  If you didn't know old Princess, new Princess might be a good fit for you.  I agree that Ruby is a great ship, and if you can book on her, you will increase your chances of having a great time.  

[Mike45LC]

The fight mobs on Carnival concern me.  As far as I know, Princess has not had this problem.

 

[sewgood]

3 hours ago, sharhu22 said:

All would be in Club suites

 

3 hours ago, sharhu22 said:

Has Princess really gotten that bad lately?

We sailed on the Coral Princess in Club class last month and although we noticed some cutbacks such as no chocolates or pens in the room we had a wonderful cruise, the cutbacks in no way impacted our enjoyment of the cruise. 

The waiters were terrific and the food was great, no complaints here.

The entertainment staff went over the top in entertaining us, there was plenty to see and do onboard.

 

[sharhu22]

5 hours ago, cr8tiv1 said:

I can chime in on the Hawaii cruise.  Not sure what your time frame is, but for me, the best cruise would be on the Crown Princess with Hawaiian Cultural Ambassadors ELUA out of San Pedro this fall.  Can't speak for San Francisco, Sapphire, or Royal Princess.

 

Princess does an excellent jot with the Hawaii cruises with lots of activities.  I've does this crossing many times.  I have also done a few post-covid cruises and have enjoyed all of my Princess cruises.

 

I am a bit confused about your "Club suites".  Not sure if you are referring to Club Class Mini-suites or Full suites.  Club Class main perk is a special area in the Main Dining Room.  It does not include any of the suite perks that come with a full suite.

 

 

Yes it is a club class mini suite we are considering. 

[Honolulu Blue]

7 hours ago, sharhu22 said:

We last sailed on Princess about 15 years ago at least.  Since then we have sailed a lot of Carnival (because other people we were sailing with chose it) and several Celebrity and one Royal Caribbean.  We were originally sailing on Carnival out of Galveston in January but there are mechanical issues being fixed during our cure necessitating a change in itinerary and we were offered the chance to get refund if we wished to cancel which several of our traveling companions decided to do.  We are considering switching to the Ruby Princess which has the same itinerary as the Vista, where we had Havana cabins booked, which was was fine with us but we thought this gave us a chance to try Princess again.  We are also looking at switching from Carnival Miracle cruise to Hawaii Oct 2023 and going with the Sapphire Princess to Hawaii instead.  All would be in Club suites with premier option as we are splurging for out 50th anniversary with a bunch of cruises  My concern is that it seems there have been a lot of negative reviews recently for Princess for these ships.  I usually take reviews with a grain of salt and I know there have been a lot of complaints about Carnival as well cutting back and blaming post covid issues on a lot of it too but it seems like more issues/complaints  with Princess.  Am I really seeing the true picture.  Has Princess really gotten that bad lately?  Especially to the point I should stick with Carnival after all?  We have already booked the Caribbean Princess for next August to Greenland, just hoping we didn’t make a mistake.

 

I'm a latecomer to the Princess party, having sailed on my first one only last year (I had one scheduled back in 2020, but that one didn't go... long story).  Since then, I sailed on another one in April and have one scheduled for next April.  I guess they're doing something right.  🙂

 

My summary opinion of Princess is that they're all right.  They do some things well, IMHO.  The vibe is different than Carnival.

 

4 hours ago, Mike45LC said:

The fight mobs on Carnival concern me.  As far as I know, Princess has not had this problem.

The typical passenger on Princess has put their fighting days well behind them, and they're not too interested in nightclubbing either.

[ghstudio]

Yes, princess has changed...and gone in the wrong direction.  We are just off the Sky....it was a nice cruise because it was Norway and scenery is beautiful.  The personel on the ship were wonderful...very efficient and pleasant.....tables in the buffet area were cleaned almost immediately, they brought whatever you wanted to drink to you in the buffet, etc.  But all was not wonderful.  The Medallion application is terrible....difficult to use, hangs up, has wrong information....the only value in the physicsal medallion is that it unlocks your doorand makes getting on/off at ports very easy.....that part works..  The application needs to be rewritten or fixed.  Food is always subjective, but the meals iin the main dining room (we were M1 club class) lacked seasoning and were generally dull....the added dish for club class was nothing more than one more dull dish...no tableside service, no flare.  The only advantage of club class is that there never was a wait for a table....we would not pay more for an M1 cabin again....waste of money.  Entertainment was not great...but of course that's subjective too and with 3600 passengers, it's hard to find a seat after dinner.  The layout of the Sky is poor for any sightseeing cruise...there is no place to sit with a drink and view the front of the ship...unless you pay extra for the Sanctuary which is rediculous.   All the venues are inside and have no view of the water.  I miss that from the older Celebrity ships (we haven't been on the Apex or others with the "infiniity cabins" and won't.....I don't llike french balconies....we use our balcony...but I digress).  Internet service on our cruise was terrible, but we were pretty far north, so it may have been positional. I would definitely pick Princess over Carnival....but I'd really look for other options if it's a royal class ship you are considering.

Edited September 23, 2022 by ghstudio

[cruzin4us]

I sailed the on Ruby in June and am going to be on her again in November to Hawaii.

Have 2 bookings on the Sapphire in January.

 

Personally for me, any Princess ship is better than Carnival....but that's just my opinion.

 

I've got 10 Princess cruises on the books so obviously I enjoy sailing with Princess 🙂

 

[PacnGoNow]

11 hours ago, sharhu22 said:

We last sailed on Princess about 15 years ago at least.  Since then we have sailed a lot of Carnival (because other people we were sailing with chose it) and several Celebrity and one Royal Caribbean.  We were originally sailing on Carnival out of Galveston in January but there are mechanical issues being fixed during our cure necessitating a change in itinerary and we were offered the chance to get refund if we wished to cancel which several of our traveling companions decided to do.  We are considering switching to the Ruby Princess which has the same itinerary as the Vista, where we had Havana cabins booked, which was was fine with us but we thought this gave us a chance to try Princess again.  We are also looking at switching from Carnival Miracle cruise to Hawaii Oct 2023 and going with the Sapphire Princess to Hawaii instead.  All would be in Club suites with premier option as we are splurging for out 50th anniversary with a bunch of cruises  My concern is that it seems there have been a lot of negative reviews recently for Princess for these ships.  I usually take reviews with a grain of salt and I know there have been a lot of complaints about Carnival as well cutting back and blaming post covid issues on a lot of it too but it seems like more issues/complaints  with Princess.  Am I really seeing the true picture.  Has Princess really gotten that bad lately?  Especially to the point I should stick with Carnival after all?  We have already booked the Caribbean Princess for next August to Greenland, just hoping we didn’t make a mistake.

We have status with Princess, Carnival and Royal.  We much prefer Princess.

We’ve had great cruises on all of them, but prefer the laid back feel and the “vibe” of Princess.

 

They have made changes that we don’t necessarily like, but nothing major IMO. 

They all need new avenues of revenue to thrive in this market now.  Similar to the airlines comeback after 9/11.  It was a tremendous struggle for a few years. Still seeing the effects of shortages as are cruise lines.
 

Don’t think for one moment that the other lines are struggling to get back to pre pandemic…because they all are.  I have a lot of family and friends out there on the other lines and they all complain about changes.  Read some of the roll calls, you’ll see.

 

The biggest issue I have seen is with the App. It is a lot better now than a year ago.  Hopefully, they will keep making improvements.  I love the concept and I have only minor issues.  I do like it on the ship.  
 

So, we will keep sailing Princess.  No one can beat their crew!  They have been amazing through all of this.

[geoherb]

I had a great time on the Caribbean Princess last month on my cruise to Greenland. We missed Nuuk due to rough seas. I'd consider taking this cruise again. My advice is to get up early on the days the ship is tendering to ports if you have not purchased a shore excursion through Princess. The wait for tenders for passengers who did not have priority tendering was up to three hours. The towns don't have the infrastructure to allow them to tender more efficiently. 

 

I thought the food on the ship was very good to excellent. I loved all the days at sea, and the Caribbean Princess is great for them because it has a walkable outside Promenade Deck. Entertainment wasn't that great. One of the problems was that missing Nuuk meant that we kept on the same guest entertainers on board until we got to Nanortalik. They improvised with a variety show that featured three of them doing shortened sets. 

[mtnesterz]

We cruised Princess once since restart. There were noticable changes and cutting corners, but still distinctively Princess. If you like Princess, you will enjoy your cruise. If you prefer the liveliness of Carnival, you will be disappointed. And, over the 15 years you mention, consider that you too have changed in tastes as much as the line has changed.

The only thing you might have trouble with is the Medallion App. Perhaps it will be fixed, but we had an awful time with it. Avoid using it to the extent possible.

 

[MsTabbyKats]

I'm also thinking about Princess for next Sept.

 

We just got off CCL Magic...and although DH and I had a great time, I doubt I'll go on Carnival again in the foreseeable future.

 

My issue (yes, out of NY....but my fellow passengers came from everywhere but NY) was just that it was "low class".  Although nobody starved, the food was nothing more than ok.  Same for the entertainment.

 

My husband (talking about cutbacks) likes to buy golf shirts as gifts and give them in the cruiseline bags (those plastic bags).  They no longer include a bag with your purchase.  

 

For the record, I'm a regular on NCL and I also really like MSC.

[sharhu22]

Thank you all for your responses. We have decided to stick with Vista we gad already booked for January out of Galveston basically because another couple we were sailing with  decided to stay with Vista for that cruise as well and we do have Havana Cabins booked for that.  We did however decide  to change our Carnival Miracle cruise next October to Sapphire Princess and splurge with club class mini suite and premium package since it is one of several 50th anniversary cruises we are doing next year, we are also going to definitely stay with our Caribbean Princess to Greenland in a mini club suite next August as well.