Friday Morning Rant

[bmweezer]

I check these boards nearly every day thanks to having 2 Princess cruises scheduled in the next nine months. As someone who has never cruised with Princess before (but have with RCCL), coming here often and reading about everything gets my wife and I excited about our next trip. However, I got to tell you: from what I read, Princess is either the worse cruise line in the world, or many people are simply #1 complainers. I truly believe it is PEOPLE ARE COMPLAINERS. :)

 

As the saying goes, a 'bad' day on vacation is always better than a good day at work. A lot of these posters need to get a grip and just weigh and pros and cons associated with MOST cruise lines and continue with their day.

 

Comments from me about many comments on these boards:

1. Food: If you order something that isn't to your liking, it doesn't make Princess food terrible, rather it makes the choice you've made the wrong one. Order something else.

2. Cost of ice cream, the Sanctuary, specialty restaurants, etc. If you don't like what the company has chosen to charge you on something, don't buy it. Same goes with alcohol purchases. If a 15 percent tip is unacceptable to you, drink water.

3. Embarkation. It sucks, on each cruise line. It has been my experience (again, talking about RCCL here), that from about 3 p.m. on on the day before you leave the ship, the feelings onboard changes and it does look like the crew is 'moving on' to the next group of people coming. Expect it and relax.

4. Animal towels. Princess doesn't do it. They don't. Grow up.

 

Just a few rants. I'm looking forward to our upcoming trips on the Crown and the Caribbean, and the good and the bad that will surely come with it.

[RealDeal]

HIP HIP HOORAY

Couldn't have said it better!

[Co. Cruisers]

You're right, osme people are just habitual complainers - thanks for your insight! My wife and I have been on 7 Princess cruises and have enjoyed each and every one. We are now booked on the Emerald 11/26 - 12/06. Really looking forward to it! The main complaint re: Princess has very little to do with the ship, rather it's the landbased customer service. They need to learn and understand what customer service is all about! There's a message board with the title - "what I like about cruising; what I like about Princess" very nice and refreshing to read! We're cruising!

[RealDeal]

I mean, animal towels??? Seriously!!!

[Co. Cruisers]

Ps - A Big Welcome To Princess!!

[Sea and Me]

Couldn't have said it better:) Our 5th Princess cruise will be in Jan. on the Coral. We have experienced a lot of friendly, accomodating crew who do a great job.

[mii]

I check these boards nearly every day thanks to having 2 Princess cruises scheduled in the next nine months. As someone who has never cruised with Princess before (but have with RCCL), coming here often and reading about everything gets my wife and I excited about our next trip. However, I got to tell you: from what I read, Princess is either the worse cruise line in the world, or many people are simply #1 complainers. I truly believe it is PEOPLE ARE COMPLAINERS. :)

 

As the saying goes, a 'bad' day on vacation is always better than a good day at work. A lot of these posters need to get a grip and just weigh and pros and cons associated with MOST cruise lines and continue with their day.

 

Comments from me about many comments on these boards:

1. Food: If you order something that isn't to your liking, it doesn't make Princess food terrible, rather it makes the choice you've made the wrong one. Order something else.

2. Cost of ice cream, the Sanctuary, specialty restaurants, etc. If you don't like what the company has chosen to charge you on something, don't buy it. Same goes with alcohol purchases. If a 15 percent tip is unacceptable to you, drink water.

3. Embarkation. It sucks, on each cruise line. It has been my experience (again, talking about RCCL here), that from about 3 p.m. on on the day before you leave the ship, the feelings onboard changes and it does look like the crew is 'moving on' to the next group of people coming. Expect it and relax.

4. Animal towels. Princess doesn't do it. They don't. Grow up.

 

Just a few rants. I'm looking forward to our upcoming trips on the Crown and the Caribbean, and the good and the bad that will surely come with it.

 

Welcome to Princess. Trust me not all of us who are on the Princess board are like that. Now you have to admit even RCCL has had some problem whiny cruisers. I have sailed on Celebrity and Princess but once in awhile I go around and look at the other cruiselines to see what subjects they have. All cruiselines have the same BASIC problems. Formal wear, smoking, tipping, will never sail on ......cruiseline again. So in my opinion all of the cruiselines have their problem cruisers.

 

Again welcome to Princess.

 

Marilyn

[bmweezer]

I agree ALL cruise lines have similar problems, that's for sure. I guess that was the main reason for my post. Problems happen, everywhere.

[prarie cruiser]

I am a Princess lover (but also love RCL except for the forced traditional dining). You make some great points! Taking my 9th Princess cruise in around another month and can't wait!

 

One comment I have about the food is that even McDonald's does not satisfy everyone! I will take Princess food any day of the week!

[Efrain]

Having never cruised previously, I have no basis for comparison, but as a "new guy" and having read these threads for awhile, I will agree that there seems to be an inordinate amount of complaining, not only about Princess, but mostly about other Princess passengers. Granted, I have yet to cruise, but I really don't think I'm going to be offended by whatever anybody else is wearing on formal nights or at any other time (within limits of course.)

[Momma Donna]

My only complaint is Sept 6 is not coming sooner. My son is going with me for his first cruise...he was a little worried about the weather. I gave him the same line a bad day on a cruise is better than a good day at work. I was on the Crown last October...I fell in love with this ship. I can't imagine trying to please 3,000 people...can you? :rolleyes:

[JimmyDon]

Can't agree more! Well said and I concur with everything you've stated. My wife and I have cruised just two times - both on Princess. We're leaving on October 4 for Hawaii on the Diamond and we can't wait.

 

Imagine owning a business where you have a confined space, 2,500 to 3,000 thousand customers in that confinded space and 1,000 employees. If you've owned a business whether you have 10 employees or 10,000, there will be employees who know how to give good service, excellent service, and those who don't understand what "customer service" is. I think it is commendable how many things go right and a relatively low number of things that go wrong.

 

Customers (read that cruisers in this instance) cause a majority of their own problems by acting like jerks with their high demands and impatience. I really believe there are few crew members who wake up in the morning and say to themselves, "What can I do to screw up a cruiser's day?" If you hired a 1,000employees, would you get a thousand 100%ers? NO. If you hire 10, you're lucky to get 1-100%er. I always marvel at the fact that cruise ship employees work many months at a time, face direct customer contact for 10 to 12 hours per day, and repeat the same processes and procedures days at a time with little relaxation. And, they do it with smiles, "yes/no, sir/ma'am" while dealing with wonderful and difficult people all day and night. Could these "complainers" handle even a limited exposure to the same elements?

 

If you're on vacation and something goes wrong, just remain calm, ask for assistance politely, and things pretty much take care of themselves. If you're not satisfied, go up line to the next level in a calm and respectful manner - it does wonders!

 

Sorry to ramble on, but it just galls me that people are so rude and selfish. Enjoy the experience and thank your lucky stars that you can afford a small lap of luxury. Revel in the atmosphere that few people in this world will ever experience.

 

Jim

[quincytoo]

I mean, animal towels??? Seriously!!!

 

We were on the Diamond Princess last Nov and LOVED it!! Service, crew, ports, food, fellow cruisers, weather everything was top notch :)

 

Little did I realize that because of NOT having these animal towels it really was a BAD cruise....;)

 

I travel a great deal for work but must admit was clueless to what an animal towel even was.....

 

This feb we were at the Iberostar Del Mar and guess what ??? YUPPERS...animal towels..... while it was fun coming in each night and seeing what new animal was in our room, it certainly didn't make or break a wonderful holiday.

 

 

 

If I had to pick between a Iberostar holiday or a Princess cruise I'd be on the Princess cruise :)

[Lucky 13]

BEAUTIFUL!!!

You couldn't have put that any better and I couldn't agree with anything more!!

 

:)

[qsuzi]

Thanks for your comments bmweezer.:) Sometimes it's hard to read a slew of negative posts or from those who over-react. Positive criticism and differing opinions are valid and to be expected. However, some just seem to like to argue among themselves and get so uptight:rolleyes:

Have a great time on the Crown and Caribbean Princess. :D

[stired]

We took our 1st Princess cruise to Alaska this year on the Coral and had a fantastic time. Our only other cruise was on RCCL a few years' ago. We thought the cabin, service, food, decor, etc. were all wonderful on Princess.

 

The ONLY thing that bothered us was hearing other passengers whine. In the dining room each night we would hear folks complain about the most ridiculous "stuff" - one passenger even going so far as to bang their shoe on the table! :confused: We felt so sorry for the wait staff, who were bending over backwards to try to accommodate the requests of this person, to no avail. We couldn't understand it at all because the service we had was always wonderful. Several times in the lounges and restaurant I wanted to tell people that if they were so unhappy, they should not cruise again. These were very spoiled folks!

 

We did not miss the midnight buffet (we were already stuffed!) or towel animals (geez!).

 

We were so happy to be on vacation, to be pampered, fed, and taken care of. What's not to like???;)

[2 to cruise]

Have to agree with previous posters, couldn't have said it better myself!! We personally love Princess and are looking forward to our next cruise in December.

 

If it's towel animals and midnight buffets you want, try another cruise line! As far as towel animals are concerned, yeah they are cute but they sure don't make or break our cruise!! Your vacation is what you make of it!

[Kellie in Texas]

I can eat ice cream at home - what I CAN'T do at home is eat scrumptious Love Boat Dream chocolate mousse dessert, have a rum punch while standing on the 17th deck of a ship on the beautiful Caribbean ocean, and what do I care about towel animals -- all I'm going to do is unfold it to wipe my sweaty face off!

 

I think that a lot of the complainers on these boards have only themselves to blame because they have not done the research ahead of time. Like in the other thread about the couple missing the ship when they had Princess Air and they thought the ship would wait for them . . . the answer is -- as many people have posted on these boards -- fly in the day before. Just makes sense, especially with the state of air travel these days.

[B40 Tha Cruisa]

I gotta say, I really enjoyed that, my sentiments exactly.

[Coolmama_1]

I check these boards nearly every day thanks to having 2 Princess cruises scheduled in the next nine months. As someone who has never cruised with Princess before (but have with RCCL), coming here often and reading about everything gets my wife and I excited about our next trip. However, I got to tell you: from what I read, Princess is either the worse cruise line in the world, or many people are simply #1 complainers. I truly believe it is PEOPLE ARE COMPLAINERS. :)

 

As the saying goes, a 'bad' day on vacation is always better than a good day at work. A lot of these posters need to get a grip and just weigh and pros and cons associated with MOST cruise lines and continue with their day.

 

Comments from me about many comments on these boards:

1. Food: If you order something that isn't to your liking, it doesn't make Princess food terrible, rather it makes the choice you've made the wrong one. Order something else.

2. Cost of ice cream, the Sanctuary, specialty restaurants, etc. If you don't like what the company has chosen to charge you on something, don't buy it. Same goes with alcohol purchases. If a 15 percent tip is unacceptable to you, drink water.

3. Embarkation. It sucks, on each cruise line. It has been my experience (again, talking about RCCL here), that from about 3 p.m. on on the day before you leave the ship, the feelings onboard changes and it does look like the crew is 'moving on' to the next group of people coming. Expect it and relax.

4. Animal towels. Princess doesn't do it. They don't. Grow up.

 

Just a few rants. I'm looking forward to our upcoming trips on the Crown and the Caribbean, and the good and the bad that will surely come with it.

 

 

I love it!:)

[Esprit]

I'm not happy!

 

I've only put on 5 lbs and now wish I had eaten more.

 

I blame the Cruise Director James Ley for putting on all those dance classes that lead to an excellent dance competition on the last formal night. The various dance venues around the ship didn't help either. I've never felt so fit after a cruise!

 

I so wanted to put on half a stone too. I think I'll have to seek compensation.

 

{;o(-[---<

[morriscats]

Can you imagine getting on a ship - any ship - with its beautiful interior, a large theater to entertain us, a beautiful dining room to feed us till we can't walk, someone to clean our rooms the moment we leave them, deck chairs to lay on all day if we want to do absolutely nothing, and different places to see when we do hit land - can you imagine complaining about anything? I know we appreciate all the services we receive onboard. Sometimes it is great, sometimes not as great, but it is still "a day on the ocean being catered to" and we love it.

[gipper77]

September 30 ,2007 Dawn Princess - Mexican Rivera

October 27, 2007 Golden Princess - Mexican Rivera

May 3, 2008 Golden Princess - Costal Cruise

September 5, 2008 Pacific Princess - Holy Land

 

Over 40 cruises on Princess. Yes I can understand a couple of your complaints . All in all we have been very happy to cruise with Princess.:)

[Shogun]

Hi There,

 

Just wait until you have done your required number of cruises to get to go in to the line with no que at check in, to walk past 1000s, get on board and look down from upon high with a cool drink, makes you feel very sorry for all those still waiting to board, but after spending so many hours waiting in line, on your first few cruises, it is the least that they can do for regular cruisers is give them express check in.

 

Have a great cruise, take things as they come, and be happy.

 

yours Shogun

[micki69]

Do you think people complain about this because there cruise is over and they are already thinking about having to go back to work and any little delay gets them ticked off because they know they have to unpack when they get home, check the answering machine, go through there e-mails, put a couple loads of wash in the machine, feed the cat get the dog out of the shelter, pay the bills that came in the mail, and generally get back to the same ole routine??