Mixed experience on return to cruising

[Runaways]

Hi all. We returned 10 days ago from our first cruise in 3 years 7 months - Coral Princess to PNG, Brisbane return. This was only our second cruise with Princess  and a repeat destination to wonderful PNG. We've cruised extensively, but only experienced this itinerary with Princess on the old ships they use (Golden Princess 5 years ago, and Coral Princess this time). The destination was great, as was the weather and calm seas.  We found the crew to be generally excellent again but this old ship and our Club Mini Suite were not that great for the hefty price paid. We love this ship size, but thought there would have been lots of time to get rid of obvious rust on lots of external and some internal surfaces, recarpet and replace a mismatched, very uncomfortable sofa in our stateroom. Likewise, the balcony glass & metal hadn't been well cleaned for ages and the old balcony furnuture had drops of paint on it. Window sills in the Club Suite Diningroom had ugly rusty surfaces where the glass met the sill - large very noticable areas. However, the FABULOUS staff in that diningroom made up for it. They were consistently wonderful, and made the cruise. Another big plus was the Sanctuary. A thoroughly enjoyable, well priced and beautifully serviced area by great staff.  During the boarding process, we were shocked not to be asked by Brisbane Terminal check-in staff to see our negative, ID'd & dated Rapid Antigen Tests. Not only was there no request to sight it, but not even a question asked if we had done it! Our Vaccination Certificates were sighted, but nothing else. Unsurprisingly, we believe there was Covid on board. I did not see a lot of 'enforcement' of hand sanitiser use either, except at entry to the Horizon Court buffet. Our experience with Celebrity, even prior to the pandemic, is that hand sanitising is always facilitated at many positions on board, and when returning to the ship, unlike Princess. We're not particularly concerned about CV (had it, and luckily no issues for us). However, follow through on Princess's own rules is expected - or don't bother with the rules.  Better information would have been very useful regarding the desirability to use Kina not A$ on Kiriwina (as the local people have no bank & can't change A$s unless another passenger can do it or when the next ship arrives many months out. We knew this as our second visit, but many had no idea)) and that NO cash is accepted at beautiful Conflict Island - credit card ONLY at the souvenir shop & bar area!  This might sound like a big moan but not really as we loved being at sea again and many aspects of our holiday. But we also noticed cost cutting (like no pen or notepaper in our suite, no toothpicks in dining venues!, a very limited, but reasonable quality, wine selection in our package, truly bad icecream and quite a few food fails: However some dishes were excellent, to be fair): And very noticable was the ship's aged condition & old fashioned decor.  It will be interesting to see how Celebrity Eclipse compares in a few months time re general ambiance, service and value for money. These comments are meant to be informative and useful, not to spoil anyone's excitement about their upcoming holiday. We're certainly glad we went, even if all was not quite as expected. Happy sailing!

[Runaways]

Sorry guys, my Coral Princess sofa &  Conflict Island photos loaded upside down and can't find edit icon! Please ignore.

[Runaways]

Just now, Runaways said:

Sorry guys, my Coral Princess sofa &  Conflict Island photos loaded upside down and can't find edit icon! Please ignore.

 

[VibeGuy]

The amount of surface rust that accumulated while running skeleton crews in relatively warm saltwater environments is mindboggling.   Only the most minimal preservation work was done onboard during the shutdown and certainly none of it to softgoods/carpet.   Corporate’s priorities were to save cash at all costs and do as little as possible until paying passengers were at least covering the costs of operations.   So there’s going to be fairly obvious corrosion in some spots until the next graving. . 
 

 

[cruiser3775]

2 hours ago, Runaways said:

We returned 10 days ago from our first cruise in 3 years 7 months - Coral Princess to PNG, Brisbane return.

I was on the same cruise and didn't particularly notice rust or aged furniture.  I was very happy with Coral Princess generally.  I don't see the need for everything on the ship to be upgraded if it is comfortable and it works. If passengers expect everything to be brand new on older ships, then they would have to expect the prices to go up.

[caribill]

2 hours ago, Runaways said:

But we also noticed cost cutting (like no pen or notepaper in our suite, no toothpicks in dining venues!

 

 

I do not think this was cost cutting.

 

Princess removed those items to help stop the spread of Covid since at the start of the pandemic it was unknown if the virus could easily be transmitted by people touching those items.

[Runaways]

45 minutes ago, cruiser3775 said:

I was on the same cruise and didn't particularly notice rust or aged furniture.  I was very happy with Coral Princess generally.  I don't see the need for everything on the ship to be upgraded if it is comfortable and it works. If passengers expect everything to be brand new on older ships, then they would hmatave to expect the prices to go up.

Maybe your Club Mini Suite sofa and stateroom carpet were in good condition - ours was not.  Looking up at the underside of curved balcony overhangs showed wide, very bad bands of rust. Likewise smaller areas were visible around our balcony. Glad you were very satisfied with your accommodations etc though. We still enjoyed the cruise.

[Runaways]

36 minutes ago, caribill said:

 

I do not think this was cost cutting.

 

Princess removed those items to help stop the spread of Covid since at the start of the pandemic it was unknown if the virus could easily be transmitted by people touching those items.

The staff in the diningroom said the words 'cost cutting'.  Normal covered toothpicks and one use note pads & pencils could/should be returned now. If Proncess don't even bother to sight/ask about 'mandatory' 24 hour-prior-to-boarding RATs, then don't know why they'd be concerned about single use items.

[Runaways]

53 minutes ago, cruiser3775 said:

I was on the same cruise and didn't particularly notice rust or aged furniture.  I was very happy with Coral Princess generally.  I don't see the need for everything on the ship to be upgraded if it is comfortable and it works. If passengers expect everything to be brand new on older ships, then they would have to expect the prices to go up.

Fair enough - if the furniture was in fact comfortable and working well, but not the case. The cruise cost was high enough to expect a decent standard of stateroom fixtures, etc.

[Ramblergirl]

I was on the same cruise and also noticed the cost cutting efforts and some rust here and there. My main disappointment was the MDR menu. You really have to go to the speciality restaurant to receive prime meat or meals made of more expensive ingredients.  There was no lobster tails offered, or not even the last night's Bombe Alaska party. 

Our next door neighbours were in isolation due to Covid but it didn't seem to be any problem to anyone (including us). We are all adults and we should take care of our health ourselves and not only wait for Princess to police and mandate everything. Anaways, we had a great time and this cruise compared totally with Celebrity Equinox which we had sailed on previously.  

 

 

[Creekside89]

We were in a Club Class mini suite as well. Yes we noticed the rust around the windows but didn’t bother us. Yes the staff were FABULOUS. Far better than Sabatini’s for our complimentary dinner and was mentioned to the head Maître D when we spoke to him the next night. Never saw someone take notes and move so fast.

 

When returning to the ship there was hand sanitiser stations on the dock and on the ship upon passing through security. 
 

Dont get me started on the check in staff at Brisbane. Rude, arrogant and don’t know what they are doing. Also what is the point of doing the RAT test if no one is going to check it. Also what is the point of having check in times when no one follows it and check in staff don’t care.

 

We were happy with our price as we booked it over 3 years ago and has been cancelled a few times. 

 

I believe the ship is going for a dry dock in 2024.

 

Anyway we had a great cruise.

[SargassoPirate]

2 hours ago, caribill said:

 

I do not think this was cost cutting.

 

Princess removed those items to help stop the spread of Covid since at the start of the pandemic it was unknown if the virus could easily be transmitted by people touching those items.

And what are the chances that things removed "due to covid" will return.

 

BTW, I couldn't care less about handwashing enforcement.  I take care of myself with rigorous handwashing, and sanitizing after touching common surfaces.  I depend upon me to keep me healthy.

 

 

[ontheweb]

50 minutes ago, SargassoPirate said:

And what are the chances that things removed "due to covid" will return.

 

 

 

Slim to none,

with none being a big favorite to win out.

 

[SargassoPirate]

1 hour ago, ontheweb said:

Slim to none,

with none being a big favorite to win out.

 

I usually bet fat or slim when it comes to chances. Fat being my big favorite to win out.

 

When I was traveling during covid and saw things in hotels disappearing - such as my complimentary morning paper "due to covid" I always pushed back and asked how many cases of covid were attributed to newspapers.

 

Didn't help, but made me feel better - just like asking food servers why they are wearing plastic gloves and when did they last change them?

[Itchy&Scratchy]

I've never noticed toothpicks on any of the cruises we've been on. Not that I want anyone to use them in the MDR. Yuck.

 

The tests and any other reqs were completely abandoned by the time we cruised 2 weeks ago here in the US.... We last cruised on the Allure in June 2022, and despite vaccination and testing requirements, there were so MANY sick people on board. We wore masks all the time when indoors unless actively eating, and we still got covid. We didn't get it this time, probably because there are fewer people on Enchanted compared to Allure, and shows were shorter.

 

Allure was also showing her age, despite being much younger than Coral. Heck, Caribbean Princess is younger than Coral, but in 2016 she looked very old to us.

[caribill]

3 hours ago, SargassoPirate said:

And what are the chances that things removed "due to covid" will return.

 

Princess used to also have a couple of magazines/books in the cabin which were really advertising.

 

I suspect these also have not come back after the restart.

[caribill]

50 minutes ago, Itchy&Scratchy said:

I've never noticed toothpicks on any of the cruises we've been on. Not that I want anyone to use them in the MDR. Yuck.

 

 

They were usually on a small stand inside the dining room by the doors when you exited after your meal.

 

Sometimes there were some mints there also.