Comparing Princess to P&O.

[Interestedcruisefan]

On 5/9/2024 at 7:53 PM, terrierjohn said:

There are enough cocktails available at under $15.00 to keep me happy, but I am no great connoisseur.

We actually won Premier plus whilst watching a talk on why to upgrade to plus  or premium plus

 

We would have paid anyway as just for wifi and tips it was going to cost 45 dollars each per night (both included with plus and premium plus)

 

Plus was 60 dollars  and premium plus 80 dollars  per night

 

There's a 19 us dollars premium cocktail I fancied (a watermelon salted margarita) plus you get unlimited fitness classes and 2 speciality meals each plus other stuff in premium plus. Including premium desserts. So we were about to pay 80 us each when they drew our name out the hat and we won for free!! Lol

 

Anyway I'm glad it's free. They've got no watermelon in any of the bars all week for the Cocktail and I can't be bothered to queue for the premium desserts 

 

One extra bonus of the medallion is you can link  to shipmates and know where they are on the ship at any time so you can find each other

[Interestedcruisefan]

You can't order everything to be delivered to you on the ship. Just some things. And it's the things you can't order where the queues seem to be

 

Im wondering if too many staff are involved now in taking stuff to people all over the boat. Hence places are understaffed and the queues 

 

Basically I can order a drink or food on my phone from the list to be brought to me in any location on the ship. Ie a sunbed, my cabin, any location. And I can order a drink from any bar brought to me as well. Not just the bar I'm sitting in.

 

They then find you with your medallion

 

No charge for doing that on Premier plus

Edited May 18 by Interestedcruisefan

[john watson]

1 minute ago, Interestedcruisefan said:

 

 

Basically I can order a drink or food to be brought to me in any location on the ship. Ie a sunbed, my cabin. And I can order a drink from any bar brought to me as well. Not just the bar I'm in.

 

They find you with your medallion

This is not true, my daughter and I were in a bar on Sky Princess and we ordered from our alcoholic drinks packages a drink each.  Mine arrived in a relatively speedy manner.  However my daughter's drink seemed to be taking ages.  Eventually she made a complaint to the drinks waiter who confirmed what she had ordered and said her drink had been delivered to our cabin. Ergo one must conclude that they do not bring your drinks to you.  They take them to the location of your medallion which in this case had inadvertently been left in the cabin.

 

Regards John

[Interestedcruisefan]

Just now, john watson said:

This is not true, my daughter and I were in a bar on Sky Princess and we ordered from our alcoholic drinks packages a drink each.  Mine arrived in a relatively speedy manner.  However my daughter's drink seemed to be taking ages.  Eventually she made a complaint to the drinks waiter who confirmed what she had ordered and said her drink had been delivered to our cabin. Ergo one must conclude that they do not bring your drinks to you.  They take them to the location of your medallion which in this case had inadvertently been left in the cabin.

 

Regards John

Yes of course.

 

It does require you are wearing the medallion

 

What I mean is you order from anywhere and they bring it to you. So if I'm on a sunbed they bring it to me. And if I were to move after I ordered as long as my medallion is round my neck they will still locate me.

 

They also know your name when you approach any till etc as the medallion brings tha faces and names of all the people up on the tills that are nearby 

 

They just ask you to confirm cabin number  and they click on your face to process the order and say your name

 

Clever stuff

 

Like I say though it's not been a good cruise in terms of queues and quality so far

 

Activities and speakers amazing. Scenery amazing and being  with our daughter amazing 

Edited May 18 by Interestedcruisefan

[john watson]

2 minutes ago, Interestedcruisefan said:

 

 

They also know your name when you approach any till etc as the medallion brings the faces of all the people up on the tills that are nearby 

 

Clever stuff

 

 

 

I think a lot more information comes up at the tills than you not just your name, they know the drinks you have etc.  I remember walking past a bar on Sky Princess very late around three to four am helping my daughter get back to the cabin.  I don't drink alcohol but she has trouble staying under the maximum fifteen/sixteen and therefore needs a bit of help walking.  I am thinking as we go past the bar that I am certain they can work out we come from the same cabin.  Otherwise it looks like I have attemted to pull a girl half my age back to my cabin.  So extra security there.

 

Regards John

[Interestedcruisefan]

To summarize:

 

My daughter's boyfriend (age 26) from UK has never cruised before

 

He was taken aback in the terminal by the relentless queues for 2.5 hrs (Vancouver)

 

I can't call it chaos because to be fair the queues were very organised

 

It was just how each one was draining (all 4 of them) one at a time

 

But whilst queuing I said to him

 

"Don't worry. Once we actually get on the ship it's nothing like this. Everything is so smooth and organised on cruise ships. They are like well oiled machines"

 

(It hasn't been). But he's not really noticed. 

 

Good example of how people new to cruising have lower expectations perhaps and are more easily please?

 

My daughter (age 24) has cruised before many times with us upto the age of 18 ish with us

 

RCL, Carnival and P and O. All a few times.

 

She said to us yesterday. 

 

"Maybe it's me and I just had lower expectations when I was younger. But does the quality of the food seem worse to you on this ship than in the past?"

 

She's a chef herself

 

Personally I think MDR the food quality is ok.  But we've had to share tables to avoid queues so far. Which isn't what we want really. The standard was certainly as good if not better than P and O MDR. 

 

Speciality definitely no better than P and O for sure

 

Options far less to dine as well 

 

Buffet

MDR

 

2 specialities 

Crown Grill fully booked 

Sabatinis. Where despite having 35 us dollar charge (included with Premier plus) I had to pay a further 5 us dollars for smoked salmon started and a further 15 us dollars upgrade for fillet steak last night (all included on P and O in the cover charge). Fillet steak only came with a garlic type butter. No sauce. Smoked salmon was pretty plain. Just served with grapefruit segments and bit of salad.

 

2 casual dining (with a cost) -

 

A gastropub with very limited choices. Burgers mainly. Wouldn't go back. That costs 14.99 us dollars per head (included on Premier plus)

 

And Vines which is basically a wine bar that serves charcuterie with the wine they serve (at a cost) I believe. Not somewhere for a full meal. 

 

However, the boyfriend is a first time cruiser is very happy as he has nothing better to compare it to. And would happily eat the buffet every mealtime if needed. He's into quantity not quality. 

 

I can honestly say I've never had a cruise before where a queue for ice cream (there's only one place to get it) has stopped me wanting to have it

 

It's ok saying ice cream is free but when there's only one place for all the guests to get it and they serve it to you

 

And it's the same queue for the ice cream as the premier desserts.

 

And the people in that queue are also mixed in  with people queuing for pizza it's just not worth the hassle

 

Everyone in the queues are constantly having to check who's already ordered and who's still queuing as well

 

There's also a third queue for coffees at the same place albeit that ones at the end

 

It's like Motorway service takeaway type of vibe there

 

The premium cocktail I wanted not available all week so I'm on normal margaritas and daquiris and mojitos. All of which fall under plus rather than premium anyway 

 

My wife mainly drinking glasses of champagne on premium although she could have had Prosecco on plus and sometimes has it as she kind of prefers it to the champagne

 

She like the coffees but not the queues

 

They also promote that premium includes unlimited juices as a big added bonus

 

We thought there must be a juice bar but if there is we haven't found one. All the juices we've had haven't been freshly made so far at all the places we've tried. 

 

There's a load of free cakes next to the Piazza. The usual kind. Once you get to the front of the queue to order them they serve you at once. Albeit you've queued a bit. 

 

The Premier cakes. You have to queue in the coffee queue for them. You then have to order it and then wait til someone else comes out to cut and serve it to you despite the fact they are in the same cold shelves as the free ones which get served instantly  Yesterday it was another 10 minutes waiting at the counter for that to happen whilst people ordering the free ones from the same counter were just talking away with theirs when they got to the front of their queue.

 

Exact same with Premier dessert sundaes. It's way quicker and easier to have a standard plain ice cream once you get to the front of the ice cream queue. You can't order til you get to the front of the queue so the one girl who makes the sundaes (which she takes the order for and then walks back into the kitchen to make) never makes more than one order at a time

 

There's some weird stuff happening in that respect

 

There's nowhere I've seen yet where there's any real effort going into making real quality cocktails

 

Good Spirits sounds like it would be the place but it's not.  Although apparently they do a demo cocktail every afternoon at 5pm but that doesn't fit in with our timings 

 

Princess (in Canada at least) is not great.

 

Alaska is amazing though

 

Saw black bears and whales from the ship today plus a glacier. Was a sea day

 

 

Edited May 19 by Interestedcruisefan

[Interestedcruisefan]

On 5/14/2024 at 6:53 PM, david63 said:

You may want to pass on those (I have seen them!)

Yep

 

The premium dessert cakes aren't much better either tbh. Just bigger

 

Premium dessert ice cream sundaes look great but be prepared to queue then wait for those

 

They cost 12 US dollars if not on premium plus

Edited May 19 by Interestedcruisefan

[Interestedcruisefan]

So there's 2 showtimes on Princess 

 

Either 7.30pm or 9.30pm

 

We like early shows and early dining

 

So for that to work we need to be in MDR by 6pm otherwise it's hit and miss whether we can finish the meal by 7.30pm

 

We were originally going to do buffet tonight because it's formal night. But realised trousers and a shirt IS classed as formal on here. You don't need ties.

 

And ive got plenty of nice trousers and shirts with me

 

But all the pre bookings for all restaurants tonight were full regardless of how early you tried to book. 

 

So we headed to MDR at 6pm as walk ups thinking that should work as its early 

 

They have a pre reservations queue and a no reservations queue there

 

There were 8 people in the reservations queue and 30 people approx in the no reservations queue already at 6pm

 

Not one male in either queue was in formal dinner suit attire. I think a couple of males were wearing jackets. A couple of the ladies were in dresses. The rest didn't appear to have made any effort to look smart at all. Just all looked casual to me. 

 

Anyway after 10 minutes queuing only 2 people from our queue had been let in and 4 from the reservation queue. 

 

You could tell we weren't going to get in quickly so we headed to the buffet instead to give us chance of making the theatre for 7.30pm

 

Buffet wasn't overly busy. No queues. Decent options including nicely cooked whole salmon. 

 

My wife had a glass of champagne. 80 per cent of the champagnes she's had have been served in normal round wine glasses. Rather than champagne flute glasses which spoils the effect. Same tonight. 

 

Went to the show - was a good magician/comedian.  Then met up with our daughter and her boyfriend who were watching a Mr and Mrs Show which we wouldn't normally watch but was so so funny. One thing we've noticed is how enthusiastic the US and Canadian guests are for all the entertainment. They love it and really get involved. 

 

The cruise director on here is also really good. Very very funny guy. Could be a stand up comedian. Wasnt sure about him at first. But he's great once you've seen him a few times

 

Bear in mind it's not school holidays. There are kids on board but mostly pre school kids and not loads of them. 

 

But the systems on this ship to manage logistics are so poor compared to the big P and O ships. And yet the medallions are so good

 

Ive come to realise people just expect and accept queues on here. And just get on with it. What I think is unacceptable others including management just think is normal

 

There's a burger and hot dog bar next to the pool. Someone takes the order and then it's kind of made to order by 2 chefs

 

Arvia and Iona there's a well drilled team of chefs and fast moving orders ready to go. Fast burgers and decent quality.

 

It's like the old days here 

 

Everything slow and disorganised 

 

Surprised the Canadian and US guests just accept it

 

We are trying to picture my parents on ths ship and can't imagine them enjoying it

 

This can't be the norm they experience on Princess cruises

 

In the theatre I reckon less than 5 per cent of the guests were wearing jackets tonight. Less than 2 per cent wearing dinner jackets.

 

The theatre was full for 7.30pm show 

 

On formal nights theres no vouchers for everyone for complimentary fizz like on P and O

 

We get turndown but no chocolates

 

 

 

 

Edited May 19 by Interestedcruisefan

[Megabear2]

43 minutes ago, Interestedcruisefan said:

So there's 2 showtimes on Princess 

 

Either 7.30pm or 9.30pm

 

We like early shows and early dining

 

So for that to work we need to be in MDR by 6pm otherwise it's hit and miss whether we can finish the meal by 7.30pm

 

We were originally going to do buffet tonight because it's formal night. But realised trousers and a shirt IS classed as formal on here. You don't need ties.

 

And ive got plenty of nice trousers and shirts with me

 

But all the pre bookings for all restaurants tonight were full regardless of how early you tried to book. 

 

So we headed to MDR at 6pm as walk ups thinking that should work as its early 

 

They have a pre reservations queue and a no reservations queue there

 

There were 8 people in the reservations queue and 30 people approx in the no reservations queue already at 6pm

 

Not one male in either queue was in formal dinner suit attire. I think a couple of males were wearing jackets. A couple of the ladies were in dresses. The rest didn't appear to have made any effort to look smart at all. Just all looked casual to me. 

 

Anyway after 10 minutes queuing only 2 people from our queue had been let in and 4 from the reservation queue. 

 

You could tell we weren't going to get in quickly so we headed to the buffet instead to give us chance of making the theatre for 7.30pm

 

Buffet wasn't overly busy. No queues. Decent options including nicely cooked whole salmon. 

 

My wife had a glass of champagne. 80 per cent of the champagnes she's had have been served in normal round wine glasses. Rather than champagne flute glasses which spoils the effect. Same tonight. 

 

Went to the show - was a good magician/comedian.  Then met up with our daughter and her boyfriend who were watching a Mr and Mrs Show which we wouldn't normally watch but was so so funny. One thing we've noticed is how enthusiastic the US and Canadian guests are for all the entertainment. They love it and really get involved. 

 

The cruise director on here is also really good. Very very funny guy. Could be a stand up comedian. Wasnt sure about him at first. But he's great once you've seen him a few times

 

Bear in mind it's not school holidays. There are kids on board but mostly pre school kids and not loads of them. 

 

But the systems on this ship to manage logistics are so poor compared to the big P and O ships. And yet the medallions are so good

 

Ive come to realise people just expect and accept queues on here. And just get on with it. What I think is unacceptable others including management just think is normal

 

There's a burger and hot dog bar next to the pool. Someone takes the order and then it's kind of made to order by 2 chefs

 

Arvia and Iona there's a well drilled team of chefs and fast moving orders ready to go. Fast burgers and decent quality.

 

It's like the old days here 

 

Everything slow and disorganised 

 

Surprised the Canadian and US guests just accept it

 

We are trying to picture my parents on ths ship and can't imagine them enjoying it

 

This can't be the norm they experience on Princess cruises

 

In the theatre I reckon less than 5 per cent of the guests were wearing jackets tonight. Less than 2 per cent wearing dinner jackets.

 

The theatre was full for 7.30pm show 

 

On formal nights theres no vouchers for everyone for complimentary fizz like on P and O

 

We get turndown but no chocolates

 

 

 

 

Cruising in Alaska on any line is normally very relaxed hence the lack of formal wear. There are even discussions on the Cunard board about how dressed down people can be, shock horror.

 

The queues look pretty dreadful sorry you're having to deal with all that. From my nightmare Arvia experience last year you have every bit of my sympathy!  I do not understand how the management of these ships think this is acceptable and rather than just treating it as the norm should at least acknowledge their existence and apologise.

 

Personally I've always found Princess very formulaic, ie every ship has the same vibe and entertainment etc.  Americans in particular seem to like that, familiarity making them comfortable. 

 

Clearly your inner David Attenborough is getting another great treat with the whales.  After the white rhino sighting in Africa in January could I suggest you book a cruise taking in India in an effort to add a Bengal tiger to your list of rare animal sightings?

 

I'm glad that the wonders of Alaska and Canada are offering you a sight of someone other than the backs and behinds of the US residents onboard !

Edited May 19 by Megabear2

[Josy1953]

 

 

1 hour ago, Interestedcruisefan said:

So there's 2 showtimes on Princess 

 

Either 7.30pm or 9.30pm

 

We like early shows and early dining

 

So for that to work we need to be in MDR by 6pm otherwise it's hit and miss whether we can finish the meal by 7.30pm

 

We were originally going to do buffet tonight because it's formal night. But realised trousers and a shirt IS classed as formal on here. You don't need ties.

 

And ive got plenty of nice trousers and shirts with me

 

But all the pre bookings for all restaurants tonight were full regardless of how early you tried to book. 

 

So we headed to MDR at 6pm as walk ups thinking that should work as its early 

 

They have a pre reservations queue and a no reservations queue there

 

There were 8 people in the reservations queue and 30 people approx in the no reservations queue already at 6pm

 

Not one male in either queue was in formal dinner suit attire. I think a couple of males were wearing jackets. A couple of the ladies were in dresses. The rest didn't appear to have made any effort to look smart at all. Just all looked casual to me. 

 

Anyway after 10 minutes queuing only 2 people from our queue had been let in and 4 from the reservation queue. 

 

You could tell we weren't going to get in quickly so we headed to the buffet instead to give us chance of making the theatre for 7.30pm

 

Buffet wasn't overly busy. No queues. Decent options including nicely cooked whole salmon. 

 

My wife had a glass of champagne. 80 per cent of the champagnes she's had have been served in normal round wine glasses. Rather than champagne flute glasses which spoils the effect. Same tonight. 

 

Went to the show - was a good magician/comedian.  Then met up with our daughter and her boyfriend who were watching a Mr and Mrs Show which we wouldn't normally watch but was so so funny. One thing we've noticed is how enthusiastic the US and Canadian guests are for all the entertainment. They love it and really get involved. 

 

The cruise director on here is also really good. Very very funny guy. Could be a stand up comedian. Wasnt sure about him at first. But he's great once you've seen him a few times

 

Bear in mind it's not school holidays. There are kids on board but mostly pre school kids and not loads of them. 

 

But the systems on this ship to manage logistics are so poor compared to the big P and O ships. And yet the medallions are so good

 

Ive come to realise people just expect and accept queues on here. And just get on with it. What I think is unacceptable others including management just think is normal

 

There's a burger and hot dog bar next to the pool. Someone takes the order and then it's kind of made to order by 2 chefs

 

Arvia and Iona there's a well drilled team of chefs and fast moving orders ready to go. Fast burgers and decent quality.

 

It's like the old days here 

 

Everything slow and disorganised 

 

Surprised the Canadian and US guests just accept it

 

We are trying to picture my parents on ths ship and can't imagine them enjoying it

 

This can't be the norm they experience on Princess cruises

 

In the theatre I reckon less than 5 per cent of the guests were wearing jackets tonight. Less than 2 per cent wearing dinner jackets.

 

The theatre was full for 7.30pm show 

 

On formal nights theres no vouchers for everyone for complimentary fizz like on P and O

 

We get turndown but no chocolates

 

 

 

 

We have cruised mainly on Princess and I think that it is really targeted at the North American market even when sailing out of European ports.  Having spent a lot in time working in Canada and USA I find that I tend to notice when things are Americanised far less than DH does.

The problem for UK passengers going on Princess is that some are not used to Americanisation and find the entertainment poor because it is US centric.

Americans, once you get out of the big cities are quite accepting of slow service and on holiday even more so.  My first work trip to South Carolina was a real eye-opener for me because my perception of the USA was from what I had seen films with pushy people rushing around.

My B-I-L lives in Tenessee and he was surprised when he came back to the UK to visit a few years ago and saw how everyone seemed to be in a hurry now.

[brian1]

Shame how things have changed.I remember on a repo from Alaska to FL with Coral Princess King crab legs and local wild salmon in the buffet and MDR with no queues anywhere.

[Gettingwarmer]

Ruby Princess is quite an old Princess ship of the Grand class, queues not good. You can book dining times for every night once you have paid final balance, earlier if you are Elite. But if you want to decide each day it could mean walk ups.

Princess are changing there dining from June(I think) to one dining room Club(two seatings), second booked tables and third walk ups. This will make a big difference. 

Edited May 19 by Gettingwarmer

[Josy1953]

1 minute ago, Gettingwarmer said:

Ruby Princess is quite an old Princess ship of the Grand class, queues not good. You can book dining times for every night once you have paid final balance, earlier if you are Elite. But if you want to decide each day it could mean walk ups.

Princess are changing there dining from June(I think) to one dining room Club, second booked tables and third walk ups. This will make a big difference. 

I hadn't realised that the dining times were available earlier for elite, I have just gone on and booked as soon as I have booked the cruise.

Where has it been announced that they are changing to having one dining room Club, second booked tables and third walk ups ?

We are going on Princess in June and I have already booked our dining and have not been notified that anything is changing.  These are screen shots from the app showing what we have booked and also what is available for us to book should we wish to change our current bookings.  We have booked Cielo because it is at the back of the ship and we always have an aft cabin.

[Gettingwarmer]

42 minutes ago, Josy1953 said:

1 hour ago, Gettingwarmer said:

I hadn't realised that the dining times were available earlier for elite, I have just gone on and booked as soon as I have booked the cruise.

Where has it been announced that they are changing to having one dining room Club, second booked tables and third walk ups ?

We are going on Princess in June and I have already booked our dining and have not been notified that anything is changing. 

Sorry I got it wrong, it changes in September. See below on Princess boards

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/3003226-41324-princess-rolls-out-fleetwide-dining-revolution/

 

[yorkshirephil]

47 minutes ago, Gettingwarmer said:

Sorry I got it wrong, it changes in September. See below on Princess boards

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/3003226-41324-princess-rolls-out-fleetwide-dining-revolution/

 

We have been made aware that there is a change, I think we may be on one of the first cruises where the new process comes into play in September. I had already booked our dinner times as we have elite status, the email states that all my  will be cancelled. We will however be able to re-book from June. It is ironic how Princess has been virtually any time dining for years and now reverting back to fixed dining plus anytime.

[Interestedcruisefan]

On 5/7/2024 at 1:50 PM, terrierjohn said:

Our first 2 days have shown a lowering of standards in the breakfasts in the buffet. Too many items are just not hot enough, the english bacon is very inferior to P&Os, and there is no sign of sunny side up soft yolk fried eggs, most are too overcooked.

The conserves eg marmalade, honey and the nuts and other toppings for cereals etc, are now in too smallish containers, and far too often empty,  and the staff have to leave the toast machines to search for replacements.

All minor 3rd world complaints but can be annoying as you struggle to balance several plates.

The breakfast on Ruby Princess mirrors this

 

Really really poor quality. Everything overcooked. Very low quality sausages and bacon

 

Tasteless cheap and nasty pastries 

[Interestedcruisefan]

On 5/6/2024 at 12:22 PM, terrierjohn said:

Despite having pre booked a shared table for 18:40 in the Estrella MDR,  there were lengthy first night queues, and we were not seated until after 19:00., in this procedure the P&O virtual queue system, if most passengers were to use it, is superior

Totally agree 

 

P and O booking system and ability to virtual queue is vastly superior to what I'm experiencing with Princess 

 

We dont even have handheld buzzers to be given out on Ruby either

 

It's just physical queues. I can't even pre-book anything

 

Lots more people sharing on here as well because if you aren't prepared to share you just queue even longer

 

First night we shared in MDR (when I was able to pre-book a shared table) we then had to wait 10 mins on the table before more people joined us. Despite there being a queue behind us. 

 

 

[Interestedcruisefan]

On 5/13/2024 at 1:40 PM, terrierjohn said:

 

 

15 hours ago, terrierjohn said:

 

You will have gathered from my posts that I am far more impressed with Princess service and food quality standards than with P&O, but rather than bore everyone with a final update, I will be happy to answer any specific points you might have.

 

I came on board expecting Princess to be a whole level above P and O

 

I will leave very unlikely (unless there's zero alternative) to cruise with them again

 

If I do cruise with them again I will at least be better prepared for what to expect

 

The modern, larger P and O ships are so far ahead of what I've experienced in terms or systems, organisation and choice 

 

The customer mix on our Alaskan cruise is US, Canadian, Australian and Asian. Brits very much in the minority.

 

They all must have much lower expectations and demands than the Brits

 

I think most on this forum would love Alaska but most (including you John) would not love the cruise experience Princess gives here

 

Standards are lowest I've experienced on a cruise by some way on here

 

 

Edited May 19 by Interestedcruisefan

[Interestedcruisefan]

On 5/13/2024 at 6:30 AM, TRLD said:

Actually on Princess you do not need a tie. Shirt with collar considered acceptable by the cruise line for MDR. Has been that way for several years, including cruises out of Southampton.

On Princess in Alaska 

 

Trousers and a shirt with collar would put you in the top 20 per cent for smartness!

 

Lol

 

Even on formal nights

 

Definitely don't need ties and jackets for any restaurants for any nights on here

[Gettingwarmer]

46 minutes ago, Interestedcruisefan said:

I can't even pre-book anything

 

You prebook MDR before the cruise, in my sense preferable. I know when I want to eat, not worried about shows.

if you wait till on board less choice for dining times. This will change in September when there will be a dedicated MDRfor walk ins. 

[Gettingwarmer]

38 minutes ago, Interestedcruisefan said:

 

I came on board expecting Princess to be a whole level above P and O

 

I will leave very unlikely (unless there's zero alternative) to cruise with them again

 

If I do cruise with them again I will at least be better prepared for what to expect

 

The modern, larger P and O ships are so far ahead of what I've experienced in terms or systems, organisation and choice 

 

The customer mix on our Alaskan cruise is US, Canadian, Australian and Asian. Brits very much in the minority.

 

They all must have much lower expectations and demands than the Brits

 

I think most on this forum would love Alaska but most (including you John) would not love the cruise experience Princess gives here

 

Standards are lowest I've experienced on a cruise by some way on here

 

 

It would be much different on a more modern ships in a different locality. 
You keep saying try the huge Iona and Arvia again, try the larger Princess ships from UK or Med

[Interestedcruisefan]

Just now, Gettingwarmer said:

You prebook MDR before the cruise, in my sense preferable. I know when I want to eat, not worried about shows.

if you wait till on board less choice for dining times. This will change in September when there will be a dedicated MDRfor walk ins. 

 

I know better now of course should I ever cruise with P and O again

 

Early dining has always been very easy for us on P and O

 

Not having to share a table equally easy for us on P and O

 

 

 

[Interestedcruisefan]

Just now, Gettingwarmer said:

It would be much different on a more modern ships in a different locality. 
You keep saying try the huge Iona and Arvia again, try the larger Princess ships from UK or Med

We are looking to mainly cruise further afield for a while 

 

And can't justify the extra cost plus tips not included for Princess for cruises closer to home

 

I don't think 

 

If I'm going to spend more than P and O prices I want to see something back that justifies the extra spend

 

Don't think Princess is the answer for that

 

I do accept this cruise possibly a bad example of what they can offer

Edited May 19 by Interestedcruisefan

[Gettingwarmer]

31 minutes ago, Interestedcruisefan said:

 

I know better now of course should I ever cruise with P and O again

I presume you meant Princess

32 minutes ago, Interestedcruisefan said:

 

 

If I'm going to spend more than P and O prices I want to see something back that justifies the extra spend

 

Don't think Princess is the answer for that

 

I do accept this cruise possibly a bad example of what they can offer

You haven’t really been on the right ship for you. 

[terrierjohn]

14 hours ago, Gettingwarmer said:

Ruby Princess is quite an old Princess ship of the Grand class, queues not good. You can book dining times for every night once you have paid final balance, earlier if you are Elite. But if you want to decide each day it could mean walk ups.

Princess are changing there dining from June(I think) to one dining room Club(two seatings), second booked tables and third walk ups. This will make a big difference. 

I did book our MDR evening dining well in advance but the latest time I could book a sharing table was 18:40, and I booked all our meals in the same MDR and all at 18:40.

However our MDR host quickly recognised us (maybe because of my wifes wheelchair )and without arranging it, we were able to arrive at any time within an hour of that, and still receive prompt service.

Interestingly we again found most couples were pushed towards tables for two, which I think Princess are finding enables them to seat more passengers. The 2 tops seemed to be turned round 3 and sometimes 4 times, where some sharing tables were only used  once, presumably as passengers enjoyed the congeniality, and stayed well beyond the recomended 2 hour dinin time.