ScottsSweetie

Lee is awesome.

We recently tried Princess for the first time out of Los Angeles, and thought I would contrast and compare here for you.

Food/Drink - Princess DR food was excellent. Their buffet was horrible. Their pizza is great. Their burgers at the grill were not good. I give the food edge to Carnival because there are just so many options available. Also, dining reservation have to be made ahead of time (and we waited between 15 and 46 minutes each night after our reserved time for a table). Much prefer the Carnival system of YTD. Also, almost no draft beer on the ship.

Entertainment - The production shows that we saw on Princess were arguably the best we have ever seen at sea. There was comedy only the first two nights (7 night cruise), and we do enjoy the comedy clubs all week on Carnival. We felt like there were not a lot of options for activities after 9:00pm or so, and we like to be out and about, so for us Carnival takes the edge there.

Other Activities - DH enjoyed a couple of the enrichment talks (which I refused to attend, as it was about SHARKS). They have a Captain's talk with the Captain and one of his first officers which is very entertaining. 

General - Discovery Princess is a beautiful ship and the largest I have ever sailed on. Despite having around 3900 passengers on this week the ship never really felt crowded, unlike some Carnival ships close to capacity. Lots of families on this particular sailing. I kept looking around for all the old people that are supposed to be on Princess - DH said if I couldn't find any then we must be them, lol. Their public area restrooms are much roomier than Carnival's. Overall we enjoyed our cruise but I don't think Princess is our new line.

After many cruises finally found the right opportunity to try Princess! Here you'll find my impressions and thoughts as an experienced cruiser but a Princess newbie!

We booked this cruise less than a month out. I booked an inside guaranty - we were assigned (48 hours before the cruise) E110, which is an obstructed balcony room. Score!! Embark seemed to go smoothly - arrived at 1:00pm and on the ship in no time at all. Checked in at muster station and watched safety video on cabin television - easy peasy. DH receives a phone call while in our room from Anita at San Pedro Port Security (please be sure you have luggage tags with phone numbers attached!). Our bags have been left "unattended" and are just sitting on the sidewalk. WTH?? We checked our two bags with a porter and gave him $5.00 for said bags but apparently he never put them on a cart. She said she would speak to the head porter to "see if he could get our bags on board". DH decided to get off the ship and he found her right outside - she told us our bags had been handled. Obviously we were on edge until they actually showed up, which they did in a timely fashion. Crisis averted!

Medallion App - we tried ordering drinks from our chairs on embark day - worked like a charm! We tried it the second day and our drinks showed as delivered but were not delivered to us. That was the last time we used that service - if we have to go to the bar to complain that we didn't get out drinks we'd rather just go there to start with.

Food / Drink - Everything we ordered in the Dining Room for dinner was very good. Hot food was all served hot. The buffet food, quite frankly, was terrible. We rarely eat at the buffet on Carnival because there are so many other options, but we both got several buffet items that we did not finish eating - I refuse to use calories on food that is just not good. The burger from the grill was also not cooked well. The pizza, both from Slice and GiGi's was extremely good. We were quite disappointed that there is no draft beer to speak of on the ship. The Salty Dog bar had 4 taps - three of which had no beer the week we were on, the 4th was a cider. When comparing this ship to the Panorama, which is our other option for this route, Carnival has a brewery on board with lots of draft options. This is a biggie for DH, as he does love a good draft beer. Then, the biggest issue in dining is the reservation system. I made reservations for the entire week before we left home, so that was handled. However, I have no idea what they are doing in seating people. On Monday night, our reservations were for 7:20. We got to the DR and got in the back of the very looooong line - we were seated at 8:06. On Wednesday, reservation at 7:40 - we entered the DR at 8:00. This was consistent every night but the first. 

Entertainment - Both production shows we saw were stellar - the best we have ever seen on a cruise! We also saw a Michael Buble tribute and an illusionist - all were entertaining. No problem finding seats when arriving 10-15 mins before showtime.

Ports - In your room you will find a slip of paper notifying you that the Medallion App can be used for payment at certain restaurants and establishments in both Puerto Vallarta and Cabo (and the charges simply added to your onboard account). Don't believe it. We tried to use it at several places in PV - they will say "the device doesn't work". Don't even bother. This would have been great if it worked as advertised. We did not try it in Cabo. On Cabo day, just as an FYI, we received tender ticket numbers 702/703 around 8:30. Our numbers were called before 9:00am.

Don't be This Person - On Thanksgiving night (which also was Dress to Impress night for us), we observed the waiter visiting the table next to us advising an elderly gentleman that they had no dark meat to serve him (menu read "turkey breast"). This man begins to verbally abuse the wait staff. The manager is called - he advises that he will send someone to the buffet to see if dark meat is available there. Also asks what he would like if no dark meat available - he advises nothing at all. The man continues to talk to his table mates about how ridiculous that they ran out of dark meat, so anyone dining after 8:00pm was not able to have dark meat. If the captain wanted dark meat would they tell him no? And just on and on. The DR Manager returns and reports that there is no dark meat to be had on the ship - only breasts were ordered so they never had any dark meat. The man gets out of his seat and storms off yelling, "you have lost a customer, this is ridiculous". Turns out that the man cruises all of the time, the DR Manager has known him for years, and the couple who had been sitting with him had apparently just met him that day somewhere in the exclusive suite areas. The couple was very upset on his behalf, but the DR Manager said he'll get over it. We saw him at dinner the next night and, if I heard correctly, he told someone that it was his 17th cruise this year. 

General Thoughts - On Cabo day (Thursday) it was announced that the ship was experiencing an outbreak of a "gastrointestinal virus". On Friday it was announced that the numbers were increasing. Welcome back, Norovirus! I visited several public restrooms on the ship and they are much roomier than the same on Carnival. The ship was beautiful and we enjoyed our upgraded balcony. Lots of families on this cruise (including multi-generations). I kept looking around for all the old people that are supposed to be on Princess - DH said if I couldn't find any then we must be them, lol. We were told around 3900 passengers on board for the week.

We will definitely sail Princess again, but will be picky about the route. We felt like there were not a lot of activities after the production show ended (and we always attended the last one). Carnival has much more options and is a more lively ship after 9:00pm and we enjoy it a lot more. I would definitely sail Princess on a port intensive route, and am planning on Princess for my 10 day cruise/land Alaska trip, but I don't think they are our new cruise line just yet.

Happy to answer any questions.

As promised, I am reporting back after my Thanksgiving week cruise. We cruised out of San Pedro on Saturday, 11/16 (arrival time at the port 1:00pm). I had a bottle of wine and a bottle of sparkling rose in a beach bag carried on my shoulder, and we had an 8 pack of Bubbly and 6 loose cans of coke in our carry on. 

After going through the x-ray machine, no other inspection was taken on any of these things. No one asked to see the bottles or cans to verify contents.

3 hours ago, sabreline said:

Had to laugh at formal night 2 nights ago. In the elevator with a guy in a tux and his wife in a ball gown, 2 couples in pants and shirts and 2 in shorts and tees!

I love to people watch on formal (or whatever they are called on each line) nights. My favorites are the couples where the woman is decked out in a long formal gown and her guy is next to her in a short sleeved polo and jeans.

6 hours ago, MichiganFisherman said:

Took my teenage girls to Vegas Las year for 8 days. 4 days at the Mirage and 4 at Mandalay Bay. It was an amazing family vacation.  Saw lots of shows, great dining, great shopping, pools and water parks, roller coasters, arcades, went to Valley of Fire tours, Grand Canyon tours from Vegas, Hoover Dam .... Great time with the teens. 

I'm not advocating for or against taking kids - just telling you what their current advertising is.

3 hours ago, MichiganFisherman said:

. . .  Look at Vegas, it has become a family destination..... 

3 hours ago, Princessfan20 said:

 

Las Vegas in the 1990's did try to attract families and they did succeed in attracting families.  However, they soon learned that kids do not drink, gamble and caused their parents to spend more time with the kids and not visit the casinos.  When they did gamble kids were often left alone which created another whole set of problems.  Las Vegas has gone back to its' roots of Sin City and has been averaging 1.3 billion dollars a month in gambling revenue on the Strip the last 18 months.  

 

 

 

Have you seen their newest advertisement campaign on tv ads? The new ads are literally saying don't bring the kids to Vegas. I guess they've decided it's not family friendly after all. 

I have cruised often but never on Princess (first time next week). I can assure you that the advertisement depicted above with all of the young people with kids has not been my perception of the typical Princess passenger. I think the current TV show is also trying to convince us that there are lots of young people on the ships. It will be interesting to see what changes Princess makes going forward to capture a new (or expanded) clientele.

Thanks for all the responses! I have not been able to procure a boarding time (have read the threads here with instructions but I don't have those options available on this awesome, wonderful app 😏). We don't plan on showing up to the port until 12:00-12:30 so hopefully the rush will be over. We will definitely have all paperwork including passports, medallions and luggage tags.

I have filled out all my information on the app. Both profile pictures show a checkmark and reflect that we are in the Green Lane. All required information has been filled out. How do I get the QR code that is mentioned for boarding? And, under the "suggested" area on Wellness Check, am I still required to upload a copy of my covid vaccination record even though that requirement has been dropped?  Or is it possible that I won't get a QR code until I have a room assignment?

If I can't figure this out I can just show up for boarding on Saturday with all my paperwork, right?

15 hours ago, startedwithamouse said:

Discovery is oversold for Thanksgiving week too. 

I noticed it was sold out a few weeks ago, but now the Princess website is showing rooms in inside, ocean view and balcony categories. It would make sense that they are still selling rooms because I still don't have my room assignment!

One more question please - as there is no Vines on Discovery, where would be the next best place to get a great glass of wine? I believe some have mentioned the bar at the Crown Grill? Will different bars have different wine lists?

We are frequent cruisers but this will be our first time on Princess. We are cruising Discovery next week and I have a few questions.

1. What time are rooms ready on the ship?

2. Is there any beer on tap on the Discovery (or on any Princess ship, for future knowledge).

3. I have read lots of info on the "Fastest Internet at Sea" 🙄. We did not purchase a cruise-long internet package. Does Princess sell internet by the day (and is that a 24 hour version)? We have a need to pull email and be able to respond. 

4. When does Princess do room assignments? We sail on Saturday and have no room assigned yet (booked an inside guaranty).

5. Will there be a Thanksgiving dinner served on Thursday? That happens to be our 2nd formal night so I'm curious how that will work. Would there typically be Thanksgiving type offerings in the buffet during lunch?

6. We are in the "green lane" on the app and have received our medallions in the mail. From reading threads here, it looks like people acquire boarding times but they aren't really observed or required? How do I get a boarding time?

7. I have made our dinner reservations on the app for each night. Is there anything else I need to do pre-boarding? 

Thanks to anyone who can help!!

I definitely prefer the new way to the old way, but there is a lot to be said about the "muscle memory" for crew members to participate in an actual muster. Also, no one knows how one will react in an actual emergency, no matter how many times it is practiced. I say this from personal experience. While working in a preschool we practiced tornado drills many times (when I lived in Georgia). Once, during a warning and having touchdowns very near our location, some of those teachers went absolutely cuckoo. They had no idea what to do with themselves or the children they were responsible for. Some of them were freaking out to the point that they had to be removed from the area with the children to avoid upsetting them.

I always listen very carefully to all muster instructions on the ship. I also listen every time on an airplane, because my safety is ultimately up to me. That ship employee assigned to my muster station may be no help at all. Different people have different capability levels during an emergency and the ship staff are no different. Practicing often should be helpful for them, but I'm not sure the current system really gives them a realistic scenario.

28 minutes ago, ShakyBeef said:

 

So, I take it you missed this post:

 

 

This thread was not started by someone trying to skirt a rule, and the vast majority of the discussion has been on the topic of wine / wine cocktails. Of course there is one in every bunch. What I should have said is that no one here is advocating that someone else should try to smuggle something not allowed.

5 minutes ago, Sailin_Pirate said:

. . . 

 

We all know what Carnival means by wine. And they don't mean wine cocktails.

 

We all know what Carnival means with any of their rules. It means maybe they'll enforce it, but probably not.

27 minutes ago, PinkSand26 said:

Good call. Also, can you pack the wine you bring or do you have to carry it on?

Wine must be in your carryon.

I would also carry on all electronics.

On 11/11/2022 at 10:09 PM, Sailin_Pirate said:

There'll always be the "I got it on" crowd. Just means the person checking wasn't doing their job or just didn't care. 

 

The threads when Carnival removes wine as a carry on will be fun.

I'm not reading this thread as anyone trying to do something that's unallowed. Flavored wine is still wine - not liquor. No one is advocating filling up a wine bottle with liquor.

On 11/12/2022 at 5:24 AM, cruisemom67 said:

We have cruised 4 times in the last year. Different ports. Every time they have told us to go to the wine table to have our wine inspected. 

Interesting. I'll be cruising Thanksgiving week out of Long Beach - I'll see what happens then. 

3 minutes ago, ShakyBeef said:

 

That is weirdly interesting, how different our experiences have been.  Maybe it's a port-specific protocol, and you and I have never cruised out of the same ports?

Perhaps, but I'm sure some have overlapped. I lived on the East coast up until two years ago and sailed out of most of the ones on that side of the country. I'm not saying my bags have never been inspected, but I cannot remember a specific time pre-Covid. Since the restart we've cruised 3 times from Long Beach and once from Seattle - sometimes with two carry-ons and sometimes with one. I am positive that those carry-ons were never inspected.

1 minute ago, ShakyBeef said:

 

Every single cruise I have ever been on, over 17 years, out of several ports, on 4 different cruiselines, I have always had my carry-on luggage opened and manually inspected, including my wine bottles.

I cannot remember the last time I was asked to open my carry-on when boarding a cruise. And I know for sure it has not been any of the four cruises since the restart after Covid.

7 hours ago, 1025cruise said:

These are not being allowed on board.

3 hours ago, Joe817 said:

That's  what my wife drinks, and was planning to take a bottle on board on our Dream cruise last Sept. 26, but alas someone DID try to take it on board just before our sailing and they announced that it was confiscated at port check in. So we didn't even attempt it. 

I'm curious as to how they (security) knew what you were bringing. We put our wine in our carry-on suitcase, which of course goes through the x-ray machine where they can see the bottles. We have never been asked to open the suitcase and show the bottles. These bottles are the same shapes - are they now asking to open suitcases and look at the bottles?

2 hours ago, DrSea said:

. . . 

Morale of the story: Let people look down on you. Who cares? You have to give consent to allow others to make you feel bad about yourself. So don't give it to them. And so what if you live in a trailer? What's so terrible about living a trailer?

I will certainly not feel bad about who I am - I was really just trying to make a point. I have no problem owning the fact that I am a Carnival cruiser. And while I don't happen to live in a trailer, there is absolutely nothing wrong with living in one. But the people on this thread calling them "trailer trash" don't agree with us.

Dare I tell anyone on Princess that I am a Carnival cruiser? Wonder what they will be thinking. "I better stay away from that couple - they'll probably start a fight."  "I wonder how big their trailer is." "I wonder how they could afford Princess."

The smug is palpable. I'm so hoping I haven't made a mistake in booking Princess.

On 10/26/2022 at 10:25 AM, BlerkOne said:

Who else allows cruisers to pre-order bottles?

Princess offers bottles for sale at quite a reasonable price. And for those of us who don't drink enough to break even on a package and don't need internet, it's appreciated.

Everyone thinks the drink packages are the bomb, but for a lot of us they just aren't a great deal.

38 minutes ago, Kay S said:

 . . .

 

There's a tinge of financial snobbery is this, too, IMO.  The Target shoppers looking down on the WalMart shoppers without looking up to see who is looking down on them.

Perfectly stated. 

5 hours ago, DallasGuy75219 said:

 

Except that Carnival needs every penny at this point.  The dispensers are a capital expenditure (albeit small), and the easier they make it to fill your own bottle the less water (which they just doubled the price by the case) people buy. 

 

Again, Carnival caring about the environment only when it's in their financial interest.

I understand the convenience of water bottles on the ship - I've purchased them in the past. I also purchase them from time to time at home to keep on hand.

But, let's be honest here - people upset about not being able to buy plastic bottles of water aren't all that "caring about the environment". Water bottle dispensers (like in the airport) would be amazing. In this case, if Carnival only cares about the environment "only when it's in their financial interest", then I would posit that Carnival's passengers only care about the environment when it's convenient. And please refer to my first paragraph when I state that I also purchase bottled water from time to time. You can't slam Carnival for not caring when their passengers are like-minded, in my opinion.