jacketwatch

Whenever a loss of life occurs in extreme circumstances such as this it's pretty standard to retain a lawyer.

 

I'd be willing to bet the person that is still alive would rather have their spouse back than any amount of monetary compensation.

 

Regardless of opinions, the victims family deserves to be told the truth after an investigation is completed by professionals. What we have seen on this forum and new stories / videos is only part of the story. We were not there. We should not pass judgment one way or another until facts come to light. Of course you are allowed your opinions and feelings. It is MY opinion that I prefer to have the facts before judging one way or another. I have not said it is the cruise lines fault. I have not stated he was or was not harassed. I simply said an investigation has to occur first. And it will.

That is sensible. I once, about a yr. ago actually was selected to serve on a federal jury in Chicago. It was a great experience in that you learn a lot. The initial presentation of the case gave you one impression but by the time all the evidence was shown that presentation fell apart. Yes you have to examine everything. There is no way we know enough now even if you think you do. Yes, look at everything first.

I do feel sad for the victim and his friends and family.

How did you determine "cut and dry"? You were there????? :rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes: Give us all the details from your first hand witness of the event.

Amen to that!

Lets get all the facts.

Hi All

 

I knew it would happen one day my next cruise would not be a Princess one, but I am rather sad that it has happened, you see its not because another cruise line has produced a better product than Princess, its more a case that the Princess offering has gone down hill to the point that other offerings look more interesting.

 

If l look back Princess, was not my first cruise line or even my second but my third, why did I even pick Princess who were not known in the UK at that time, very simple we saw a the Golden Princess as she was docked next to my little ship. At that time there was wow factor

the size, the look of skywalkers, the brochure looked good so we booked.

 

Now in those days Princess used charter flights, in flight service was very good.

 

At Barbados we would land and be met on the runway by a bus that took us straight to the ship, no customs etc, our bags were handled by Princess on the way home you put your bag out as normal last night with flight info on it and you saw it again back home at your local airport. All this has gone.

 

True 14 day cruises made up of 12 ports of call around the Caribbean have gone, ports such as Martinique, Guadaloupe or Tobago are rarely visited if at all.

 

If we returned to Ft L Princess used to take us to a hotel then to a mall, feed us then take us to the airport all free and part of the service, then the charged for the last day now it to has gone,

 

In Europe we could spend our last day onboard the ship or even go ashore if we had late flights, before being taken to the airport, leaving the ship an hour before sailing, now we are off before 10.00am

 

Flights were chartered jumbos from Qantas to do short hop with Captain saying sorry in flight movies longer than the flight, or even private airlines used by sports teams and vips with real

food and china cups etc all gone.

 

Onboard we liked the original skywalkers, it was a great viewing place and had an unique feel to it going up the travelator to it,

 

The original Sabatini's menu to much food but it was a special, we liked the restaurant location , it was romantic.

 

Even the golf area or the wii sports past a few hours on a sea day, all now part of history.

 

The Royal class ships did away with features that we like, places to sit and view the world sail by, in fact our time on the Royal made us cancel two cruises and not only look at other lines, but at land based cruises.

 

If it had not been for a cheap cruise we might not have gone back to Princess but this cheap cruise turned out to have a large number of crew that we knew well and turned out to be one of our best ever, so we stayed with Princess.

 

So our cruise on the Emerald last month was nice, but I want more than nice I wanted to be excited about my next vacation I want to be on a ship with wow factor, this could come from its design, service levels, entertainment,food in fact anything that makes up a cruise, I also want lots of ports.

 

Will l cruise with Princess again yes, but only because of low fares, very low fares, I will give other cruise lines more money because I expect to have a better vacation experience than just nice, I want good may be one day I can afford amazing, but I have had amazing cruise vacations but these were years ago with Princess, my advise to Princess is to raise fares and offer better.

 

Will I find better value I do not know but HAL and Celebrity can match Princess prices, so will try them. Azamara costs more but product looks interesting.

 

yours Shogun

Well good luck. I don't think the grass is greener on the other side so to speak but it seems like you need to find out for yourself. personally our last Princess cruise was last yr. out of Yokohama and it was or first with Princess in 5 yrs. and 5th. overall and the service was as I remember it to be. we just got off the oasis and wow what a ship and all was well. The ship was amazing but service and food were on a par with Princess IMO. We are due to cruise on the Sapphire in feb. so hopefully the service and food will be as before though I know the ship will be nothing like the Oasis.

Happy sailings sir!!

its not just Princess Shuttles. We recently got off the oasis and purchased shuttle service from FLL to MIA and the co. RCI used was terrible too. I even called RCI from the bus to say if we miss our flight because of this co. then RCI has to pay for any airfare costs we may incur. My TA told me after I returned to never use the cruise line shuttle as they are often shoddy.

Last yr. we used the Princess shuttle from Yokohama to NRT and that went well though I wonder if the Japanese work ethic and value for customer service made that so.

The Miami terminal crew basically stunk from onset to disembarkation.

Even if you booked through Princess instead of a TA (and that's a completely separate debate), you could have used a different insurance company that might not have been so restrictive in payment options. There are lots of tools for comparing, e.g., https://tripinsurancestore.com/ and http://www.insuremytrip.com/ that you might consider next time. Glad this trip was short enough self-insuring didn't hurt too badly.

I'm in complete agreement here. Also can call Allianz too for their rates.

We will be on the Saphire in March and not much info came out of it so far. I think someone told me it's because it has been chartered for the Asians but now it not chartered anymore so we should be seeing reviews and more.

That's good to know. Thank you.

There will usually be at least two shows each evening, one scheduled so that early traditional diners can attend and one so the late traditional diners can attend.

 

Depending on what other activities are scheduled, the one for the late seating might be before dinner (around 7 PM) or might be after dinner (around 10 PM).

 

The Welcome Aboard show the first evening is often only presented only one time at a time the late seating passengers cannot attend.

Thank you.

OK so I am back and yes I did try the steak in the MDR, the one w/o an extra fee and overall it wasn't bad. The steak at Giovannis was better but neither were as good as one I had recently at a nice restaurant in Chicago. Now that one, at a place called Formentos on Randolph St. was wonderful!:D All were filets BTW.

Princess has never had reservations for shows.

Do you know if they have shows after each dinner seating? NCL and RCI had shows at set times, about 4-5 for a 1 week cruise so that is why you had to plan dinner around them and it was best to reserve the show whereas I am used to Princess and CCL having shows after traditional dinner seating, usually 2 per night so yes there is no need to reserve a show, just go after dinner.

Thank you.

Robes are free to use on the ship. They only charge if you try and take it home with you.;)

Correctomundo!! :D

Hello. We are scheduled for the Sapphire out of Singapore in Feb. and I would like to know how the shows are scheduled. We just had cruises on the NCL Getaway and RCI's Oasis of the Seas where shows could be reserved. I am wondering if shows on the Sapphire will be more traditional like one after each dinner seating. We have traditional dining, 1st. seating.

Thank you. Larry :)

I think you will be OK and here is a link to our first NCL cruise last May on the Getaway.

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=503435

NCL has improved a lot over the yrs. but as for customer service I think they are a notch below Princess but gaining.

Even if the cab is $15.00 so what. You're on vacation. Splurge. :D

It worked for me. Please keep us updated and good luck.

I'm quite confused as to what you mean. There are no venues reserved for fixed time passengers. Perhaps you mean the other levels of the dining room? They have different names for each floor but it is all the same venue.

On the Oasis American Icon was use for MTD passengers. When you got there there were two lines, one for people with reservations and one for without and signs for each. As I mentioned we had procured a reservation for early fixed dining once on board. That was to be at Silk MDR. When we went past Silk one night we saw so signs like we saw at American Icon so it seemed that Silk and Grande were used for fixed dining passengers. Actually venues for fixed dining have to be assigned like what we got at Silk once onboard. We were assigned it and a table.

Should fit without any issues

Ours are 28-29 and fit.

So one the flip side where have you met the most polite passengers. For us clearly it was last yr. on a cruise out of Japan. Most passengers were Aussies and a large number were Japanese and I have to say how poilte they were. We spent three days in Toyko pre cruise and had all Japanese ports except one and we were treated very well. I would go to Japan again in a heartbeat.

I am sailing on the Harmony in July of 2016 and when we booked all that was left was My Time Dining.

With this selection is there any difference besides not having a set time between this and a regular selection for dining? We would still be able to eat at all the other complimentary restaurants correct?

 

Just a little confused and have heard different opinions of it and was trying to get my facts straight.

We had MTD for the Oasis earlier this month. I reserved on line times which were between 1745-1800. Once on board I requested a fixed seating early and that was granted for day two. Then we met a nice couple on day one and we actually got our own table with them for MTD at 1730 every day. We did not have to wait as the Maitre'd knew us and our arrangement.

Can you go to the other dining venues? On the Oasis those were for fixed dining passengers so I am not sure if you can with MTD.

I'm in the market for a new suitcase since a wheel on my last one was hopelessly mangled during my last flight.

 

I'm considering trying a hard-side suitcase this time (24-25in), but I'm wondering if it's going to fit under the bed for cruising.

 

Does anyone cruise with hard-side luggage?

Our large Samsonite bags fit just fine under the bed.

I really hate to use the term "told ya so"!! :p I'm just glad it worked out and to your advantage. The only way to fix a problem to to know that it exists.

Laura actually thanked me for pointing this out and I emailed Laly to say how happy we were with the outcome. Laly responded quickly and said my email "made her day" so it seems she is pretty special.

Bad manners is seen in all cultures and countries . However I think most people on cruises as they are on vacation are having a good time and are very nice . And they'll always be exceptions to this . We were on the oasis of the seas earlier this month and had a great time but there was one lady who jumped 3 people in line at the guest relations desk so sadly yes you will see rude people .

They are usually on sea days and on the oasis earlier this month the 1st one was on a Sunday actually and the second was I think on Thursday.

Good review! Glad you resolved your problem with C&A!

Thank you. I called "Laly" who was referred to me here on another thread and so did C and A and her rep called me today. She was wonderful and really understood and on top of that gave us a bottle of wine and a meal for two at any speciality restaurant on our Ovation cruise Nov. 2016 so I am not only very pleased but feel like someone cared. It's all good now. :)

Much quicker than doing snail mail. If anybody can do it, someone on Laly's team can.:D

 

Seems that you were really taken care of which is a wonderful sign of good customer relations. Enjoy your cruise.

Well she made me a believer :)

I'm glad to hear you had a great time overall. Good advice - stay away from the group shuttles if possible. From port everglades to FLL the cab cost is only a couple dollars more than the jammed up shuttles. 14 dollar cab ride I believe.

If I book a late flight home its very easy to rent a car with the savings and extend your vacation! You can drop the car at MIA for about $25 This provides additional flight options.

Good advice. I don't for see us using the shuttle again.