Caribbean Princess 5-28 to 6-4.

Every year I do a post of our cruise here, for what it's worth, to
assist people in making decisions on what cruise might be right for
them. We all spend a lot of hard earned money and it does help to read
opinions and experiences. Over time you get pretty good at seeing what
is PR and what is accurate. All of the other posters have helped me in
the past and I want to return the favor.

Ok, this is a tough one because it's a first time experience with
Princess and I really, really wanted to like this ship. I've been on
over 10 cruises, split pretty evenly between Carnival, Norwegian and
Royal Caribbean. I tend to pick either an interesting itinerary or a
ship that intrigues our family, and then keep and open mind and hope for
the best.

I have to say I, and my family, were very disappointed in certain
aspects of the Caribbean Princess, but for the price we paid and the
stops which we enjoyed, it wasn't a total disaster. For those who don't
want to read the whole post, I'm giving it a 2 star out of 5.

The theme of this post is going to be about some inherent issues that
are just part of the mega ship phenomenon, and others just poor
management oversight of staff. We chose Princess as a "move up" in class
over Carnival and Norwegian, and because Royal Caribbean didn't have a
Southern Cal cruise out of LA this summer.

First, family demographics. Married couple, mid 40s, 4 sons, ages 12,
19, 21 and 23. 10 Cruises, travel extensively, very easy to please in
most regards and just happy to be on a ship somewhere doing something.
Live in an affluent tourist area and my wife is a former pastry chef, so
she appreciates the work it takes to pull off feeding 3000+ people many
times a day, and is pretty forgiving about what comes out of the kitchen
under those circumstances.

Flew into Port Everglades. Nice airport, close to the port, $12 cab to
our hotel, the Marriott Marina. Was pleasantly surprised at the Marriott
as we got a $118 rate that included breakfast for two, and the breakfast
was excellent. Sad to say far better then anything I got on the cruise.
Nice location, boats tied up, very close to the cruise port. Don't
believe those who say it's close enough to walk. Good 800 yards in heat
dragging bags over a container ship yard is no way to start a cruise.
Take the shuttle. I'd say 3.5 star hotel in a 4 star location.

Left for the ship at 1 pm, as we had to be out of the rooms. Joined a
LONG line out in the sun, around the buses probably 500 people long.
Everyone was in good spirits, moved quickly and got on the ship at 2 pm.
No problems and very professional.

The rooms were nice, stylish, very clean and well laid out. We had two
balcony rooms on the Caribe deck, port side, one on Aloha starboard
stern area. No complaints at all about the rooms, exceptionally quiet,
and my kids told me the best on board TV and movie choices of any of the
prior cruises.

This is a LONG ship, lots of walking, but I've been on the Carnival
Pride and Voyager of the Seas so the size wasn't unexpected or over
whelming. The public spaces, atrium, theater, hallways, etc, were
generally under whelming. Nice, but not exceptional. Only thing I can
really remark on was the ship was generally spotless and kept clean in
all areas, the one area I would say Princess was above the other lines
we have been on.

We chose anytime dining as we tend to enjoy staying late in port, taking
naps, plus coming from the west coast you don't feel like eating a big
meal at what would be 3pm our time. I can't express enough our
disappointment with the dining rooms. I went to the Coral most nights,
the Palm another, but after generally luke warm reviews, passed on
Sabatini's and the steak house. No one I talked to felt either of them
was worthy of extra charge, and the comment was typically, "it's the
kind of service that we SHOULD be getting in the dinning room."

I always reserved tables, highly recommended as I saw people turned away
at 8 or 8:30 some nights and told to wait 30 minutes. We had some nights
it took us 2+ hours to get served, 20 minutes to get water and bread, if
you asked for anything extra it was met with rolled eyes, or not
brought. Honestly I have never had such lousy service on any cruise or
encountered such indifferent and poor attitudes among the staff. We
toughed it out for the first two nights but then I called the concierge.
I explained my issue, they said they would tell the head waiter and he
would get us a good table and server. That night we were at a good
table, very, very average service, but not once did the head waiter ask
if we were pleased. In fact at no time did I ever see the head waiters
even walk the floor or speak to anyone in the dinning room. After that
evening the pace of service slowed each night until the last night it
took 2.5 hours to have dinner, with a waiter and assistant working just
three tables total.

If I had to summarize the entire dinning staff experience, and this goes
for the Carribe and Horizon court as well, it would be one of they were
doing us a favor by letting us dine there, and would you hurry up and
finish so I can not work so hard. It was really appalling and I heard
from no less then 25 other shipmates almost identical comments. I'm sure
there were some who got good service, I just didn't happen to speak with
any of them. It was the rare server with a smile who just did their job.

The food at all levels and locations was easily the worst we have had on
any cruise. My wife always railed against Norwegian and what lousy food
they had, but she had to admit by the end of this cruise that this ship
was just about as bad. No imagination, bland, excessively recycled from
one meal to the next. My father was a naval cook and quartermaster and I
totally get the concept of using food and not wasting stuff at sea, but
on a cruise I'm a little tired of seeing the same dish show up three
times in three different meals. Baked potato becomes mashed becomes home
fries. It tasted it. Was it horrible, no. Was it what you'd expect from
a line that positions itself as mid premium, not at all. Huge let down.

Another HUGE issue. The air conditioning. What in the world was going on
with the AC in public spots the first few days was incredible. The
Caribe dining area was like a sauna, Horizon barely better, and the
casino and some of the clubs were awful. I read how the ship was
basically expanded past it's initial design to handle more rooms and I
really wonder if they don't have the capacity to actually cool all the
rooms at capacity. I've never seen anything like it on any other ship.
Again, everyone was commenting on it, so it wasn't just me. Are they
dealing with some environmental restriction on how much fuel they can
use to get the AC done? It was really odd and VERY uncomfortable. We
fortunately hit some relatively cool nights or we would have been toast
after 7 days.

Shows and cruise staff. Good to very good. I thought they were making a
good effort, the theater was nice, but WAY too small for a full ship of
this size. They did movies in the afternoons, something other lines need
to pick up on, as they are great for days at sea. Good variety of
entertainment.

The Captain. Outstanding. Probably my favorite. Out and about with the
guests, always spending time, explaining his career, what was happening
with the ship. Probably one of the better captains I've seen as far as
being engaged with the guests.

Deck layout. Very good. lots of chairs, good division of kid areas and
pools. Nice upper deck. The movies at sea was very good, nice variety
and never seemed unavailable to watch. Bar service was exceptionally
slow, rude and lazy. Unlike others where they hustle this group acted
like bringing you a drink was doing you a favor.

Casino. Good, not great. Very green staff of dealers on most games and
shut down early some nights. I enjoyed it but it wasn't well run and it
amazes me how when people stand and play for hours they won't buy a
drink for anyone. I"m not talking me but the big players. Norwegian
always brought out a little buffet about 10 pm each night in the casino
and also would buy you a drink if you were playing for a long time.
Little thing but it went a long way.

Ports. I personally enjoyed St. Thomas and St. Marten. I always just get
a cab, tell the driver to take us to a good beach and get a price for
him to wait. Just so you know, despite what some say, EVERY beach on St.
Marten is basically topless/European, some more then others, so if that
shocks or offends be prepared. I heard a few that weren't quite
expecting it.

Princess Cays was a bit of a let down. Not the best water, although the
set up was nice and the tenders weren't bad, except the crowded trips
back were pretty sweaty, or so my kids told me. I came back on an
earlier less crowded tender. Not a bad stop but another day in a real
port would be preferable to me. I'm sure others might feel differently.

Photographers. Surly, humorless fellows. We actually had one guy say he
can't do a picture with more then 4 people in it as it took too long to
pose us. We bought a few as we do every year, but in general a negative
due again to the attitudes and lack of customer first on the part of the
staff. These guys HATE their jobs.

Cabin attendants. Good to excellent. Room was kept clean, on time, never
intrusive. Any requests were handled quickly.

Kids camp. Our 12 year old really liked it, had no complaints and had
fun. They did a good job, and while I'm on the subject they have guys in
yellow shirts called teen security, that walk the ship and make sure
there is no under age drinking, kept out of casinos, out of control
behavior curtailed before it's an issue. Not heavy handed, but they kept
things very under control, and this was a cruise with over 700 kids
under 18 on it according to the staff at the camp. A very solid plus in
that regard.

The odor. My son's in the aft cabin on two occasions at the end of the
cruise, late in the evening, were literally forced from their room by a
disgusting fecal or sewage smell. It literally fogged the windows and
mirrors. I strongly suspect it was when the ship was discharging
effluent, but it seemed to exhaust out through the vents. I have no idea
if other cabins got it, and our cabins up front had no hint of odor and
were as I said before spotless, but I'll toss it out there to see if we
are the only ones who experienced this. They called the desk, got a " we
will call and check response" and then no follow up.

Front desk and staff, also known as the "we can't do that, your out of
luck and we will look at you like your crazy" vibe. On two occasions we
noted with the front desk, the concierge and with the head waiter,
that we were celebrating a son's graduation and our anniversary. On
neither night, despite my reminding the head waiter AND SEEING IT ON THE
PRINT OUT AT THE WAITER STATION, did a cake, a waiter, any staff,
anything show up at our table. Once is a mistake, Twice is just terrible
service.

My wife and I are exceptionally easy going and we shrugged it off at
that point, but I did make a long note to the cruise director and hotel
staff about the issues. After 28 years you expect a few mistakes along
the way.

Ok, summary time plus a question for Princess fans.

We liked the cruise, because any cruise is better then working. Nice
ports, good weather, calm seas, family together and nice rooms and
balconies. This cruise was close to being a really good cruise, but I'm
afraid I would never use Princess again after seeing the lack of joy and
courtesy on the staff. The competence and professionalism of the
Captain, his crew and the cruise director just don't make the leap to
the rank and file that are the heart and soul of the ship. I was never
greeted with a smile or hello by staff, generally made to feel like a
pain in the rear with any question, no matter how simple. The food
service at every level was just awful, and I feel bad saying that
because I really wanted to like this ship and this cruise line. Which
brings me to my question for you Princess people.

Is this an abberation due to the size of the ship and the young, largely
eastern European crew that acted like they were still in the Soviet
Union, or are the other smaller Princess ships as good as I've heard.
Quite frankly I got far better service on every other line, even one
that gets bashed like Norwegian. I can't believe this is the standard of
this company, or have they slipped under new ownership. I have no basis
of comparison beyond this cruise but I really do want to give them
another shot on a different ship.

I hope this was helpful, sorry for the negative tone you Princess fans.
I had my heart set on becoming one of you but they really dropped the
ball on the three most crucial elements of a cruise for me. Food
quality, dedicated service and ability to solve problems and make guests
feel special when the inevitable mistakes occur.

large guy wrote:

We chose anytime dining as we tend to enjoy staying late in port, taking
naps, plus coming from the west coast you don't feel like eating a big
meal at what would be 3pm our time.

You're not the only one to mention the time change-meal issue, but I
guess I just don't get it. I'm from the east coast, and I just cruised
a Mexican Riviera itinerary this past March. We dealt with a little
time change adjustment maybe for the first 36 hours or so, but our 8:30
dining time didn't feel like 11:30. Especially on a ship, when there
always seems to be food available, you could always grab a snack at
3:00 (your west coast dining time) and then eat your full meal at east
coast dining time.

I don't mean to pick on you. I guess I just don't get how time change
and dining times are that much of an issue that one can't adjust to on
a cruise.

Your point about stayin late in port makes more sense to me. That's why
we always try to get late seating on cruises - time for that post-port,
pre-dinner nap.

After that
evening the pace of service slowed each night until the last night it
took 2.5 hours to have dinner, with a waiter and assistant working just
three tables total.

We have experienced many 2.5 hour meals in the dining room - and it's
been the prefect length, so I guess it's an opinion thing. We like a
relaxed pace, time to enjoy a cocktail, a bottle of wine, then a glass
of port with the "cheese plate" after dessert. And, the conversation
at our tables is usually lively enough that the time seems to fly. I
haven't sailed Princess since it switched to personal choice, so I
don't know how they pace a dining room - with traditional, the whole
dining room is kind of on the same schedule. So, with personal choice,
can you specify that you'd like a quicker meal? Perhaps the waitstaff
is trained to pace the meal at a more leisurely speed than you're
comfortable with? I don't know how PC works, but a 2.5 hour meal
doesn't sound like a bad thing to me.

Casino. Good, not great. Very green staff of dealers on most games

On my last cruise, there was one dealer who made mistakes - a lot!
Every time she came to a table I was seated at, I left. It was
ridiculous. Not sure if she was green, not too smart or just lazy (or
trying to make the casino a few extra bucks), but it was not good.

it
amazes me how when people stand and play for hours they won't buy a
drink for anyone. I"m not talking me but the big players. Norwegian
always brought out a little buffet about 10 pm each night in the casino
and also would buy you a drink if you were playing for a long time.
Little thing but it went a long way.

HAL often has some late night snacks in the casino, but I've never seen
free drinks in a cruise ship casino, ever. That's amazing to me that
NCL does this. There have been nights where I've played for several
hours (heck, if I'm winning, I'm not about to stand up) and have never
been offered a drink (perhaps because I was winning rather than paying
the casino?). If you want to drink for free at a gaming table, go to
Vegas.

Ports. I personally enjoyed St. Thomas and St. Marten. I always just get
a cab, tell the driver to take us to a good beach and get a price for
him to wait.

What if you were to just ask him to come back for you? Wouldn't that be
less expensive than having him wait? How long do you spend at the
beach? If I was a cab driver, I think I'd prefer to come back for you,
and in the meantime take care of other fares. Unless you're paying very
well...

Not a bad stop but another day in a real
port would be preferable to me. I'm sure others might feel differently.

Yeah. I do. I LOVE private island days, when there's nothing to do but
relax on a beach, swim, read, have a few frozen tropical something or
others, etc. These are days when I can really relax (like sea days).
When we're in port, I have more of a go-go-go mentality. Gotta see,
gotta do, can't waste the visit. On the private islands, it's all about
kicking back - true relaxation.

Front desk and staff, also known as the "we can't do that, your out of
luck and we will look at you like your crazy" vibe.

I've found, on all my cruises, that the front desk staff could
universally use some customer service/people skill training. There have
been a few helpful assistant pursers, but for the most part, I, too,
get the vibe of not wanting to be bothered, or just surly attitudes.

I hope this was helpful, sorry for the negative tone you Princess fans.

Very helpful. I've only been on Princess once, before personal choice.
I've hesitated to go back, because I prefer traditional. My Princess
cruise was exceptional, so I find it very sad when I read so much
negative stuff. I won't defend Princess - if the product has slipped,
it's a shame. I'm sure all your complaints were well founded.

A very well balanced, informative review. Thanks.

Lee

I've cruised Princess twice, and both times found everything to be
exceptional. I haven't cruised the CP yet, but I'm very disappionted
to hear how dismal the service and food was.

I do have a question...while I feel you gave a very fair review of your
experience, one thing I didn't understand. You said the dining staff
made you feel like you had to hurry up and eat so they could finish up
and not have to bother with you any more (sorry, I'm not quoting you
exactly). But then on the other hand you said that service was very
slow. Actually, I don't mind a dinner that takes 2 to 2/12 hours. I
prefer not to be rushed, so that pace is fine for me.

And to the other poster, Lee, who said he hasn't been back to Princess
because of personal choice dining, you can stipulate you want to stay
with Traditional. They have an early and late traditional seating, as
well as PC dining.

We are hoping to cruise the CP this Fall, so I hope things pick up a
bit.

BTW, was the Captain's names Guiseppe Romano? We had him on the Grand
Princess, and he was fabulous.

Jo-Ann

LeeNY wrote:
large guy wrote:

We chose anytime dining as we tend to enjoy staying late in port, taking
naps, plus coming from the west coast you don't feel like eating a big
meal at what would be 3pm our time.

You're not the only one to mention the time change-meal issue, but I
guess I just don't get it. I'm from the east coast, and I just cruised
a Mexican Riviera itinerary this past March. We dealt with a little
time change adjustment maybe for the first 36 hours or so, but our 8:30
dining time didn't feel like 11:30. Especially on a ship, when there
always seems to be food available, you could always grab a snack at
3:00 (your west coast dining time) and then eat your full meal at east
coast dining time.

I don't mean to pick on you. I guess I just don't get how time change
and dining times are that much of an issue that one can't adjust to on
a cruise.

Your point about stayin late in port makes more sense to me. That's why
we always try to get late seating on cruises - time for that post-port,
pre-dinner nap.

After that
evening the pace of service slowed each night until the last night it
took 2.5 hours to have dinner, with a waiter and assistant working just
three tables total.

We have experienced many 2.5 hour meals in the dining room - and it's
been the prefect length, so I guess it's an opinion thing. We like a
relaxed pace, time to enjoy a cocktail, a bottle of wine, then a glass
of port with the "cheese plate" after dessert. And, the conversation
at our tables is usually lively enough that the time seems to fly. I
haven't sailed Princess since it switched to personal choice, so I
don't know how they pace a dining room - with traditional, the whole
dining room is kind of on the same schedule. So, with personal choice,
can you specify that you'd like a quicker meal? Perhaps the waitstaff
is trained to pace the meal at a more leisurely speed than you're
comfortable with? I don't know how PC works, but a 2.5 hour meal
doesn't sound like a bad thing to me.

Casino. Good, not great. Very green staff of dealers on most games

On my last cruise, there was one dealer who made mistakes - a lot!
Every time she came to a table I was seated at, I left. It was
ridiculous. Not sure if she was green, not too smart or just lazy (or
trying to make the casino a few extra bucks), but it was not good.

it
amazes me how when people stand and play for hours they won't buy a
drink for anyone. I"m not talking me but the big players. Norwegian
always brought out a little buffet about 10 pm each night in the casino
and also would buy you a drink if you were playing for a long time.
Little thing but it went a long way.

HAL often has some late night snacks in the casino, but I've never seen
free drinks in a cruise ship casino, ever. That's amazing to me that
NCL does this. There have been nights where I've played for several
hours (heck, if I'm winning, I'm not about to stand up) and have never
been offered a drink (perhaps because I was winning rather than paying
the casino?). If you want to drink for free at a gaming table, go to
Vegas.

Ports. I personally enjoyed St. Thomas and St. Marten. I always just get
a cab, tell the driver to take us to a good beach and get a price for
him to wait.

What if you were to just ask him to come back for you? Wouldn't that be
less expensive than having him wait? How long do you spend at the
beach? If I was a cab driver, I think I'd prefer to come back for you,
and in the meantime take care of other fares. Unless you're paying very
well...

Not a bad stop but another day in a real
port would be preferable to me. I'm sure others might feel differently.

Yeah. I do. I LOVE private island days, when there's nothing to do but
relax on a beach, swim, read, have a few frozen tropical something or
others, etc. These are days when I can really relax (like sea days).
When we're in port, I have more of a go-go-go mentality. Gotta see,
gotta do, can't waste the visit. On the private islands, it's all about
kicking back - true relaxation.

Front desk and staff, also known as the "we can't do that, your out of
luck and we will look at you like your crazy" vibe.

I've found, on all my cruises, that the front desk staff could
universally use some customer service/people skill training. There have
been a few helpful assistant pursers, but for the most part, I, too,
get the vibe of not wanting to be bothered, or just surly attitudes.

I hope this was helpful, sorry for the negative tone you Princess fans.

Very helpful. I've only been on Princess once, before personal choice.
I've hesitated to go back, because I prefer traditional. My Princess
cruise was exceptional, so I find it very sad when I read so much
negative stuff. I won't defend Princess - if the product has slipped,
it's a shame. I'm sure all your complaints were well founded.

A very well balanced, informative review. Thanks.

Lee

On 6 Jun 2005 09:02:46 -0700, wrote:

I haven't cruised the CP yet, but I'm very disappionted
to hear how dismal the service and food was.

Hi Everyone,

FWIW, my son and daughter-in-law were on the same sailing as the
original poster. They gave me a report that was exactly the opposite
of the OP. They did have traditional dining so that may have made
some difference but they did find the crew and staff exceptional. I
have clients on this ship just about every week and none have reported
any major deficiencies. If they had, I would not have recommended
this ship to my son and bride. ;+)

Best regards,
Ray
LIGHTHOUSE TRAVEL
800-719-9917 or 805-566-3905
http://www.lighthousetravel.com

wrote:

And to the other poster, Lee, who said he hasn't been back to Princess
because of personal choice dining, you can stipulate you want to stay
with Traditional. They have an early and late traditional seating, as
well as PC dining.

I'm aware of that. However, I've also heard, too often in fact, that
even when one requests traditional, they end up with PC because
traditional is maxed out. There's still enough to choose from out there
in big ship cruising that I don't have to take the chance of getting
stuck with PC. To me, having to negotiate for a table each evening
would definitely detract from the cruising experience.

Lee

We sailed on the Island Princess, after the Personal Choice dining was in
place. We were told that, unlike NCL's "Freestyle" with no set dining times
or tables, you had a "Personal Choice" of dining. That meant that you could
choose to have either assigned seating, or anytime dining.

We chose to have traditional, early seating but when our docs came they
indicated "Personal Choice". When we got onboard, we went to the DR
immediately, and asked if we could have a regular table, and wait staff. We
were assigned to a regular table, and time, however, our table companions,
although assigned to our table, rarely showed up for dinner.

We prefer a set time for dinner, really like the split time assignments on
HAL though. They have choice of 5:45, 6:15, and I think 8:15 and 8:45. We
chose the 6:15 on the Statendam and were delighted.

Tobieon an Island in the Pacific


And to the other poster, Lee, who said he hasn't been back to Princess
because of personal choice dining, you can stipulate you want to stay
with Traditional. They have an early and late traditional seating, as
well as PC dining.

large guy wrote:
We chose Princess as a "move up" in class
over Carnival and Norwegian, and because Royal Caribbean didn't have a
Southern Cal cruise out of LA this summer edit
Was it what you'd expect from
a line that positions itself as mid premium, not at all. Huge let down..

I've cruised on Princess for about 20 years now, maybe a dozen cruises,
starting with the old Island Princess (600 pax), last two were on the
Diamond Princess (2600 pax). The ships are a lot bigger now, the labor
pool has shifted to young Eastern Europeans with little service
experience, and automatic tipping/pooled gratuities are now standard.
All these things have taken their toll on the former high standards of
service. IMHO, Princess has been moving toward mass market--the
equivalent of RCI/Carnival/NCL--for the last few years. The old
reputation lingers, but it just ain't so. On its "Grand Class" ships, I
don't see Princess as a step up in class from the rest.

This cruise was close to being a really good cruise, but I'm
afraid I would never use Princess again after seeing the lack of joy and
courtesy on the staff. edit I was never
greeted with a smile or hello by staff, generally made to feel like a
pain in the rear with any question, no matter how simple.

I found this to be true on the Diamond Princess last month. I assumed
it was because it was a repositioning cruise, new crew, or something
like that. Another poster here noticed the same thing, as well as the
"invisible" deck service attendants you mentioned.

I can't believe this is the standard of
this company, or have they slipped under new ownership. I have no basis
of comparison beyond this cruise but I really do want to give them
another shot on a different ship.

I had a great cruise on the Sea Princess a few years ago. Their "Sun
Class" ships are smaller, and the service on the Sea was outstanding in
every way. Unfortunately, Sun Class ships no longer do the mainstream
seven-day cruise routes, they tend to do longer and/or more expensive
itineraries. It's my feeling, based on talking to various staff members
over the last few years, that the more experienced staff prefer to work
on the smaller ships.

I found your review to be very fair, thanks for posting it.

How B

LeeNY wrote:

wrote:
They have an early and late traditional seating, as
well as PC dining.

I'm aware of that. However, I've also heard, too often in fact, that
even when one requests traditional, they end up with PC because
traditional is maxed out. There's still enough to choose from out there
in big ship cruising that I don't have to take the chance of getting
stuck with PC. To me, having to negotiate for a table each evening
would definitely detract from the cruising experience.

True, and well said.

How B

I've done at least 6 cruises with Personal Choice on the Grand, Golden and
Caribbean Princess and without exception found the service to be excellent.
Even better than traditional dining on previous Princess cruises (with
perhaps the exception of the Pacific Princess). And as far as pacing the
dinner, we have at times informed the wait staff that we were in a hurry to
make a show AND other times requested a more relaxed meal. These requests
were always carried out with friendly responses. NOTE that you can't really
change the timing much in traditional dining except for lingering at the end
of a meal on second sitting ONLY.

BTW, maybe I'm just lucky, but I've always had very friendly and helpful
service at the purser's desk. Even when I had a dispute with my bill.

--
Greg
lid
(Remove the '.invalid' twice to send Email)


wrote in message
oups.com...
I've cruised Princess twice, and both times found everything to be
exceptional. I haven't cruised the CP yet, but I'm very disappionted
to hear how dismal the service and food was.

I do have a question...while I feel you gave a very fair review of your
experience, one thing I didn't understand. You said the dining staff
made you feel like you had to hurry up and eat so they could finish up
and not have to bother with you any more (sorry, I'm not quoting you
exactly). But then on the other hand you said that service was very
slow. Actually, I don't mind a dinner that takes 2 to 2/12 hours. I
prefer not to be rushed, so that pace is fine for me.

And to the other poster, Lee, who said he hasn't been back to Princess
because of personal choice dining, you can stipulate you want to stay
with Traditional. They have an early and late traditional seating, as
well as PC dining.

We are hoping to cruise the CP this Fall, so I hope things pick up a
bit.

BTW, was the Captain's names Guiseppe Romano? We had him on the Grand
Princess, and he was fabulous.

Jo-Ann

wrote:
I've cruised Princess twice, and both times found everything to be
exceptional. I haven't cruised the CP yet, but I'm very disappionted
to hear how dismal the service and food was.

I do have a question...while I feel you gave a very fair review of your
experience, one thing I didn't understand. You said the dining staff
made you feel like you had to hurry up and eat so they could finish up
and not have to bother with you any more (sorry, I'm not quoting you
exactly). But then on the other hand you said that service was very
slow. Actually, I don't mind a dinner that takes 2 to 2/12 hours. I
prefer not to be rushed, so that pace is fine for me.

And to the other poster, Lee, who said he hasn't been back to Princess
because of personal choice dining, you can stipulate you want to stay
with Traditional. They have an early and late traditional seating, as
well as PC dining.

We are hoping to cruise the CP this Fall, so I hope things pick up a
bit.

BTW, was the Captain's names Guiseppe Romano? We had him on the Grand
Princess, and he was fabulous.

Jo-Ann

LeeNY wrote:

large guy wrote:


We chose anytime dining as we tend to enjoy staying late in port, taking
naps, plus coming from the west coast you don't feel like eating a big
meal at what would be 3pm our time.

You're not the only one to mention the time change-meal issue, but I
guess I just don't get it. I'm from the east coast, and I just cruised
a Mexican Riviera itinerary this past March. We dealt with a little
time change adjustment maybe for the first 36 hours or so, but our 8:30
dining time didn't feel like 11:30. Especially on a ship, when there
always seems to be food available, you could always grab a snack at
3:00 (your west coast dining time) and then eat your full meal at east
coast dining time.

I don't mean to pick on you. I guess I just don't get how time change
and dining times are that much of an issue that one can't adjust to on
a cruise.

Your point about stayin late in port makes more sense to me. That's why
we always try to get late seating on cruises - time for that post-port,
pre-dinner nap.

After that

evening the pace of service slowed each night until the last night it
took 2.5 hours to have dinner, with a waiter and assistant working just
three tables total.

We have experienced many 2.5 hour meals in the dining room - and it's
been the prefect length, so I guess it's an opinion thing. We like a
relaxed pace, time to enjoy a cocktail, a bottle of wine, then a glass
of port with the "cheese plate" after dessert. And, the conversation
at our tables is usually lively enough that the time seems to fly. I
haven't sailed Princess since it switched to personal choice, so I
don't know how they pace a dining room - with traditional, the whole
dining room is kind of on the same schedule. So, with personal choice,
can you specify that you'd like a quicker meal? Perhaps the waitstaff
is trained to pace the meal at a more leisurely speed than you're
comfortable with? I don't know how PC works, but a 2.5 hour meal
doesn't sound like a bad thing to me.


Casino. Good, not great. Very green staff of dealers on most games

On my last cruise, there was one dealer who made mistakes - a lot!
Every time she came to a table I was seated at, I left. It was
ridiculous. Not sure if she was green, not too smart or just lazy (or
trying to make the casino a few extra bucks), but it was not good.


it
amazes me how when people stand and play for hours they won't buy a
drink for anyone. I"m not talking me but the big players. Norwegian
always brought out a little buffet about 10 pm each night in the casino
and also would buy you a drink if you were playing for a long time.
Little thing but it went a long way.

HAL often has some late night snacks in the casino, but I've never seen
free drinks in a cruise ship casino, ever. That's amazing to me that
NCL does this. There have been nights where I've played for several
hours (heck, if I'm winning, I'm not about to stand up) and have never
been offered a drink (perhaps because I was winning rather than paying
the casino?). If you want to drink for free at a gaming table, go to
Vegas.


Ports. I personally enjoyed St. Thomas and St. Marten. I always just get
a cab, tell the driver to take us to a good beach and get a price for
him to wait.

What if you were to just ask him to come back for you? Wouldn't that be
less expensive than having him wait? How long do you spend at the
beach? If I was a cab driver, I think I'd prefer to come back for you,
and in the meantime take care of other fares. Unless you're paying very
well...


Not a bad stop but another day in a real
port would be preferable to me. I'm sure others might feel differently.

Yeah. I do. I LOVE private island days, when there's nothing to do but
relax on a beach, swim, read, have a few frozen tropical something or
others, etc. These are days when I can really relax (like sea days).
When we're in port, I have more of a go-go-go mentality. Gotta see,
gotta do, can't waste the visit. On the private islands, it's all about
kicking back - true relaxation.


Front desk and staff, also known as the "we can't do that, your out of
luck and we will look at you like your crazy" vibe.

I've found, on all my cruises, that the front desk staff could
universally use some customer service/people skill training. There have
been a few helpful assistant pursers, but for the most part, I, too,
get the vibe of not wanting to be bothered, or just surly attitudes.


I hope this was helpful, sorry for the negative tone you Princess fans.

Very helpful. I've only been on Princess once, before personal choice.
I've hesitated to go back, because I prefer traditional. My Princess
cruise was exceptional, so I find it very sad when I read so much
negative stuff. I won't defend Princess - if the product has slipped,
it's a shame. I'm sure all your complaints were well founded.

A very well balanced, informative review. Thanks.

Lee


I should have been more clear on the dining issue. The first two nights
it was like a fire drill with food showing up before we had finished two
bites of the item we had in front of us, other nights long, long, long,
waits between courses, and trust me it wasn't because he was trying to
pace the meal. I guess the best description is it was very uneven and
had not flow to it at all.

As for the Captain, it was Captain Romano. I agree, just a fabulous
captain who really went out of his way to make it special.