Vikings are Back

Although I've been a big fan of Princess, we didn't care for our cruise
on the Caribbean Princess. We must have encountered the same surly
staff that you had on the Crown Princess. I was not used to that kind
of treatment on Princess. Prior to that cruise, we had always had
exceptional service. We had Personal Choice dining and the food was
mediocre at best, and the service was terrible. I never considered
that traditional would be better, but some of you have brought up some
very good points which make sense. We had a maitre de who was very
nasty on that sailing, and one of our waiters actually yelled at me. I
had ordered a pasta as a starter dish, as well as an appetizer. He
kept telling me I had already ordered an appetizer, why would I also
want a pasta. After bickering back and forth, I wasn't sure I was
going to get my fruit appetizer. He brought my pasta first, while
everyone else had their fruit (I just thought it would make more sense
to serve the fruit before the pasta, but what do I know). Anyway,
figuring he wasn't going to bring the fruit, I took a taste of my
friend's. Well, the waiter came scurrying over and yelled at me that
my order would be coming and I should be patient. He said it in a very
nasty, loud, condescending manner. I was completely embarrassed. I
don't know why I didn't report him. To this day I could kick myself
for letting it slide.

I want to try Princess again; I'm hoping that particular sailing was
just a fluke. In our future we'd love to do the 15 day RT from LA to
Hawaii. Anybody have any comments about that?

Jo-Ann


Cal Ford wrote:
You are absolutely correct Sheree. We have noticed from our numerous cruises on
the Dawn out here on the Left Out Coast that the food for "Anytime" is cokked
and left in a Warming Oven until someone orders it. That is why some Entree
items are good during Traditional and not so good during Anytime.

Point however, if you go to Anytime early in the evening the food is much
better.

Overall however we still prefer Late Traditional Dining.

Cal Ford
Lido Deck Cruises



In article , sheree says...

hardly sounds like the same ship that we were on in august!! the food was
excellent as was the service. i really think tradition vs anytime is the
issue. as for food quality with traditional it's done at a certain time and
served, with anytime it's just sitting around.
service too seems to change wtih the type of dining.
as for the layout i didn't find it confusing as much as huge!! always found
my way (which is a shock unto itself as my sense of direction is lousy!!)
very few crowds, friendly staff etc.
i wonder what has changed
sheree

"Tom K" wrote in message
...
The Vikings are back home after a week on the Crown Princess. Had a nice
week with the group, and a new itinerary for me that included Bonaire,
Aruba, Grenada, and St. Kitts.

Loved Bonaire. Liked Aruba. Grenada was rather different from the
typical Caribbean port. I liked it. Didn't care for St. Kitts. Went to
Trunk Bay in St. John, which I love.

The ship? Not my cup of tea by any means. Most confusing layout I've
ever seen. Pretty ship. I like the very restrictive smoking policy.
Ship in perfect condition since it's brand new.

Service? We had a table full of people one night with dinners that went
un-eaten because they were so bad, and the head waiter Antonio came
proudly and asked how our dinner was. When we said "Not Good"... he got
into a fight with us. When Susette said the food wasn't very good... he
jumped all over her and told her that it was "only her opinion". That
sure made the comment card.

I've never had a crew member get into a fight with someone before.

Overall much of the crew seemed.... maybe I'll use the term "surly". Not
happy. Interaction of crew with passengers wasn't good.

Dining room waitress was excellent. As was my cabin steward.

Anytime dining? I hate it. Because of it, our group couldn't all be
seated in one dining room. It definitely didn't work for us.

Food? IMO... now pretty much worse than both RCI and NCL food, which I
don't care for. Lots of really weird items on the buffets and dinner
menus. Lots of scallops, muscles, etc. Not my cup of tea. Steaks sent
back. Fish that smelled "fishy". Beef tenderloin that didn't even taste
like beef (I just ate the veggies that night). Excellent pizza. Excellent
cold seafood buffet the first evening. Lobster seemed OK. Not crisp, but
not mushy either. Veal chop in Sabbitinis that was fatty. Fillet in
Crown Grill that came out overcooked (ordered medium, came out well done)
but still tender. Neither specialty restaurant seemed worth the money.

Overall, fun week, but many in the group said they won't go on Princess
again. I most likely only would if it was an unusual itinerary, that did
something like Iceland or Norway's North Cape.

--Tom

"Nonnymus" wrote in message
...
Any deck with a railing is a bathroom.


As are all snorkeling excursions.

Most of us were in traditional, not personal choice dining.

Don't make the assumption that traditional dining will be better. That's
what we had. Our complaints are about traditional dining and the buffets.

--Tom

wrote in message
ups.com...
Although I've been a big fan of Princess, we didn't care for our cruise
on the Caribbean Princess. We must have encountered the same surly
staff that you had on the Crown Princess. I was not used to that kind
of treatment on Princess. Prior to that cruise, we had always had
exceptional service. We had Personal Choice dining and the food was
mediocre at best, and the service was terrible. I never considered
that traditional would be better, but some of you have brought up some
very good points which make sense. We had a maitre de who was very
nasty on that sailing, and one of our waiters actually yelled at me. I
had ordered a pasta as a starter dish, as well as an appetizer. He
kept telling me I had already ordered an appetizer, why would I also
want a pasta. After bickering back and forth, I wasn't sure I was
going to get my fruit appetizer. He brought my pasta first, while
everyone else had their fruit (I just thought it would make more sense
to serve the fruit before the pasta, but what do I know). Anyway,
figuring he wasn't going to bring the fruit, I took a taste of my
friend's. Well, the waiter came scurrying over and yelled at me that
my order would be coming and I should be patient. He said it in a very
nasty, loud, condescending manner. I was completely embarrassed. I
don't know why I didn't report him. To this day I could kick myself
for letting it slide.

I want to try Princess again; I'm hoping that particular sailing was
just a fluke. In our future we'd love to do the 15 day RT from LA to
Hawaii. Anybody have any comments about that?

Jo-Ann


Cal Ford wrote:
You are absolutely correct Sheree. We have noticed from our numerous
cruises on
the Dawn out here on the Left Out Coast that the food for "Anytime" is
cokked
and left in a Warming Oven until someone orders it. That is why some
Entree
items are good during Traditional and not so good during Anytime.

Point however, if you go to Anytime early in the evening the food is much
better.

Overall however we still prefer Late Traditional Dining.

Cal Ford
Lido Deck Cruises



In article , sheree says...

hardly sounds like the same ship that we were on in august!! the food
was
excellent as was the service. i really think tradition vs anytime is
the
issue. as for food quality with traditional it's done at a certain time
and
served, with anytime it's just sitting around.
service too seems to change wtih the type of dining.
as for the layout i didn't find it confusing as much as huge!! always
found
my way (which is a shock unto itself as my sense of direction is
lousy!!)
very few crowds, friendly staff etc.
i wonder what has changed
sheree

"Tom K" wrote in message
...
The Vikings are back home after a week on the Crown Princess. Had a
nice
week with the group, and a new itinerary for me that included Bonaire,
Aruba, Grenada, and St. Kitts.

Loved Bonaire. Liked Aruba. Grenada was rather different from the
typical Caribbean port. I liked it. Didn't care for St. Kitts. Went
to
Trunk Bay in St. John, which I love.

The ship? Not my cup of tea by any means. Most confusing layout I've
ever seen. Pretty ship. I like the very restrictive smoking policy.
Ship in perfect condition since it's brand new.

Service? We had a table full of people one night with dinners that
went
un-eaten because they were so bad, and the head waiter Antonio came
proudly and asked how our dinner was. When we said "Not Good"... he
got
into a fight with us. When Susette said the food wasn't very good...
he
jumped all over her and told her that it was "only her opinion". That
sure made the comment card.

I've never had a crew member get into a fight with someone before.

Overall much of the crew seemed.... maybe I'll use the term "surly".
Not
happy. Interaction of crew with passengers wasn't good.

Dining room waitress was excellent. As was my cabin steward.

Anytime dining? I hate it. Because of it, our group couldn't all be
seated in one dining room. It definitely didn't work for us.

Food? IMO... now pretty much worse than both RCI and NCL food, which
I
don't care for. Lots of really weird items on the buffets and dinner
menus. Lots of scallops, muscles, etc. Not my cup of tea. Steaks
sent
back. Fish that smelled "fishy". Beef tenderloin that didn't even
taste
like beef (I just ate the veggies that night). Excellent pizza.
Excellent
cold seafood buffet the first evening. Lobster seemed OK. Not crisp,
but
not mushy either. Veal chop in Sabbitinis that was fatty. Fillet in
Crown Grill that came out overcooked (ordered medium, came out well
done)
but still tender. Neither specialty restaurant seemed worth the money.

Overall, fun week, but many in the group said they won't go on
Princess
again. I most likely only would if it was an unusual itinerary, that
did
something like Iceland or Norway's North Cape.

--Tom

Tom K wrote:
"Charles" wrote in message
d...

In article . com,
" wrote:


Wow, it's hard to believe that so much has changed in three short
months since the SGC. We had wonderful food and great service and
didn't find any surly crew. I'm curious as to why a large group would
have chosed Personal Choice dining, I think you might have been better
to chose a traditional seating. It's too bad you didn't have Sergio in
the DaVinci dining room, he would have taken better care of you than
your Head Waiter.

Most of the group did have Traditional dining including Tom and myself.
Some of the group did not. The reason is that some booked later.


Yes they booked later... but that was mid summer. Just not as early as we
did last XMAS.

To not be able to accoomodate them with is is simply not acceptible IMO.
Not when they have 6 months notice.

This is the problem with having both Traditional and Anytime dining.
We have heard many people here say that they didn't get what they
requested.

sue

I hope princess is not changing for the worse because CARNIVAL is now
running the show


cruise lover

NONNY,not all people can use any deck,only you males


cruise lover

Thanks Kerry, if Susette doesn't post the info., I know where to find
her.

sue

kerry ambler wrote:

sue, susette has the contact info for the aruba tour company. i just
talked to her on the phone and told her she better get over here and post.
someone who had been to aruba earlier this year said she could not believe
and the building that has gone on there. completely different than it was.
it was my first time there and i liked everything.
"Sue and Kevin Mullen" wrote in message
...


Charles wrote:

The tour
of Aruba with ER tours was very good too.

We will be going to Aruba in Jan. on the Volendam. Could you tell us more
about this tour and maybe a link for ER tours. The one time we were in
Aruba(long time ago), we were not impressed.

sue

"Sue and Kevin Mullen" wrote in message
...


Charles wrote:
The tour
of Aruba with ER tours was very good too.

We will be going to Aruba in Jan. on the Volendam. Could you tell us more
about this tour and maybe a link for ER tours. The one time we were in
Aruba(long time ago), we were not impressed.

sue

I thought Aruba was OK... but liked Bonaire MUCH more.

--Tom

kerry ambler wrote:

just like their lack of public bathrooms
cannot be changed. some are there but are hidden.

I think there were enough public bathrooms on the Crown, just that
they were well hidden.lol Once you found them, they were in very
convenient placesd.

and speaking of hidden
(secrets), princess has many secrets. like the free ice crean (everyday)
at 3:30 pm in the horizon court (on the closed side). 4 flavours and even
the staff laughs. why is it secret? who knows, it's a big joke. the
suitcases on the last night should be out before dinner (or so the patters
say) but after midnight is okay (said my room steward) that is another
secret the staff laughs about.

Sheree and Charles found the hidden ice cream for us.lol We had first
seating for dinner and I laughed when I read that my suitcases should
be out before dinner. No Way and no problem.

there was no more laughing from the staff. i never such such a group of
miserable people. the pursers desk was abominable. mean to pax and cruel.
yelling and telling the pax they were terrible. no smiling crew here.

This is such a shame and a huge change since the SGC. There were
several times we dealt with the pursers desk and the staff was very
helpful and pleasant.

i had the veal chop in sabatini's and it was very good. crown grill was
fabulous and everything from service to food was great.

Glad you enjoyed sabatini's and crown grill, they were excellant on
our cruise. I am still a bit shocked over the changes in the dining
room, food and service, since our august sailing.

sue

Tom K wrote:

"Sue and Kevin Mullen" wrote in message
...


Charles wrote:

The tour
of Aruba with ER tours was very good too.

We will be going to Aruba in Jan. on the Volendam. Could you tell us more
about this tour and maybe a link for ER tours. The one time we were in
Aruba(long time ago), we were not impressed.

sue


I thought Aruba was OK... but liked Bonaire MUCH more.

On this cruise you went to a lot of ports we have not been to and
Bonaire is one of them. Only problem is that the southern cruises are
too port intensive for us.

I am waiting to hear about the tour you did in Aruba!

sue