4cats4me

BTW, I have never had a problem boarding either, but I have not been on nearly as many cruises as some of you have. I just find it hard to believe that there was not some problems that Princess was trying to solve by instigating this process. I also believe that if this creates more problems than it solves, it will go away soon. Princess is not stupid.

 

Also, It seems, like someone else mentioned, that those that like to get there early so that they can be the first to book up the Sanctuary and have lunch in the MDR are the ones that object the loudest. Perhaps some of them objected loudly to the early long lines I have heard about. If so, perhaps they created this?

Princess has made quite a few changes in the last year, some popular some not so popular, but this one most will agree is not a good one. Having sailed with Princess many, many times we have earned an early boarding privilege. Sorry to those of you on your first Princess cruise, but several of us have shown loyalty to the line and it's a small perk to board early, that is nice to have. Under the staggered boarding system, we would now be forfeiting one of the most important perks. It's kind of like the airlines where you have earned the frequent traveler privilege and you get to use the shorter line. You are being rewarded for your loyalty to the line.

It's not good enough to me that you may now board by priority within the scheduled category. In fact, the system they've set up makes absolutely no sense at all, arbitrarily choosing which decks go first, which decks go last. Last year it was not a mandatory staggered boarding, it was suggested. But lately it sounds as if it's mandatory on paper but not adhered to once you get to the port, depending on the sailing, and on other sailings it sounds mandatory on paper and actually IS enforced at the port.

As for myself, I DON'T board early so that I can book sanctuary, chef's dinner or any of the many things that some early boarders like to do, but I would like to see the frequent cruiser perk of priority boarding remain intact.

Princess, you mess with the balcony furniture on Caribe and decided to reverse yourselves. Please rethink this, too.

The entire tone of this discussion simply blows my mind. Take a moment and really give it some thought. Then answer the following questions.

1. Why would Princess do this?

2. Is it for their benefit?

3. Is is for the benefit of their passengers?

4. Was it designed to eliminate a problem or create one?

5. Was there a problem there before?

6. If it turns out to create more problems then it solves, do you think it will be continued?

7. What about continuing with some modification?

 

Now my answers;

1. To make the boarding process smoother with less standing in line waiting.

2. To make for fewer impatient upset customers who complain loudly.

3. Same as 2.

4. Defiunately to eliminate a problem, as there is no cost benefit.

5. Not always or in all locations, but sometimes yes there was.

6. Absolutely not, since the only benefit is to the customers, if it does not provide a benefit, why would they continue it?

7. Perhaps, I believe it is still a work in progress.

 

Any good company is always trying to make things better for their customers, especially in the competitive marketplace. If there was never a problem, this process would never have been attempted. Princess is not a company known for making stupid decisions.

 

IMHO this is much todo about nothing.

The system was not broken to begin with and now that they're attempting to fix an unbroken problem, it really is breaking down it seems.:rolleyes:

It could be much ado about nothing if you aren't the one experiencing long unnecessary waits that would not have otherwise existed BUT for the new, improved staggered boarding. I can't even begin to imagine how much fun it will be if staggered boarding is adhered to in Seattle, having been to that port just last year and know from personal experience that there is nowhere to hang out after droppingn off your luggage, except under the corrugated awning to protect you from the rain. Why, there isn't even a Starbucks at that cruise terminal, yet there is a Starbucks on every corner everywhere else in that city.:eek:

When we sailed out of Seattle last June the lines were terrible. I thought it was one of the more disorganized embarkation ports I have been to.

When we sailed out of Seattle last July, the check-in process was very quick. We arrived around 10:45, I believe, and it was a very simple process to drop off our luggage. Once inside the terminal it was very quick. The odd thing was, though, they hadn't called of Plat or Elite boarding when we noticed a whole bunch of people lining up and then the employees proceeded to open up the doors, letting everyone go as if it were a free-for-all, so I approached and asked him about Platinum boarding and he seemed to not be aware of it, so he got a supervisor, and she was really nice and escorted us, along with a few others to the front of the line behind those in wheelchairs, of course. The employees were so very nice in Seattle but really seemed rather clueless as to the order or embarkation until we happened to mention it. We did notice quite a line around 1 p.m. though, waiting to get into the terminal as we peered over the side of the ship.:eek:

El Mejor margarita and Appletinis and Cosmos!:D

The cruise director never seems to make or break any of our cruises. David Cole did seem like a personal fellow, however.

boat (bt)

n. 1. a. A relatively small, usually open craft of a size that might be carried aboard a ship.

b. An inland vessel of any size.

c. A ship :rolleyes:or submarine.

We had David Cole on the Golden to Alaska this past week. He seems to really love what he does! Very nice guy.

Hi, Dave. We have heard so many wonderful things about you and will be on board the Golden P in only 5 DAYS celebrating our wedding anniversary. We look forward to meeting you:D

Dana and Eldred

Ms. Janet, your review is one of my all-time favorites! I love the Carnival pictures. They are so funny. We're going on the Golden in two weeks and your pre-cruise info as well as post-cruise info has helped me greatly.

Thanks to your review, I will be participating in luggage express so that I don't have to deal with trying to find a porter post-cruise.

I would like to be able to get off the ship very early as our flight leaves at 11:30 a.m. What was the earliest group to disembark? I'm assume Express walk-off? And if so, what time was the first express walk-off goup allowed to leave the ship, if you know? We really don't feel like taking a Princess bus and would prefer to cab it to the airport.

Had the same cabin on the Sapphire as well. We heard no noise from Club

Fusion.

;) Me too! LOL!

Not a word from Princess! They don't even bother to return our calls! I'm not letting this go. I never want this to happen to anyone else. It could have been much worse. Happy cruising! :D

I once took part in a trial [i'm wasn't an attorney but a court employee] where people were suing for hundreds of thousands

of dollars because they were in an elevator that suddenly dropped,

which caused them to fall and injure their backs. Sadly, the jury

awarded them nothing because of pre-exising injuries. That was back

in 1992.

Good luck to you ... so sorry this happened to you and I hope you feel

better soon. The impact of anything like you encountered can be

life changing. Make sure to get the proper physical therapy too.

I have thoroughly enjoyed your review too.

A comment on the drink servers in the Horizon court: They never used to

have to serve drinks to passengers. ;)It was something Princess started

doing a few years ago on certain ships. Although it's a nice gesture,

I prefer to get my own drinks most of the time, and I do. They don't

care if you get your own. Our buffet stewards were overly efficient,

snatching our plates when we still had one dessert left, or a roll and some

salad left -- a little too eager. LOL

You never saw dirty dishes left for very long, as has been my experience

on all Princess cruises.

Can't wait for my cruise on the Golden in 3 months.

FYI - Those kids are not allowed in the hot tubs under the age of 11 or

12 AND if they are in the tubs they need to be supervised by their parents.

We encountered this same scenario last week on theSapphire, and one

kid was taking dives from the side of the hot tub while his parents just

looked on from their lounge chairs. The pool attendants were USELESS!!!

PRINCESS -- ENFORCE YOUR RULES PLEASE! WHY SHOULD WE PASSENGERS HAVE TO SUFFER THE BRUNDT OF YOUR INABILITY TO

ENFORCE YOUR OWN RULES????

Other than that, the kids were all fantastic!:D

Love your review! Now I'm regretting that we didn't order all the foods

that you've pictured!

What is the punchline on your hubby's shirt that starts: "What? I can't

hear you over the ..."

I would like to know . LOL

It sounds like you guys certainly enjoyed your cruise immensely:D

If you are looking for food AND alcohol San Pedro Brewing Company has free wi-fi as well as the Crowne Plaza Hotel. Sacred Grounds coffee shop and Mishi's Strudel have free wi-fi as well.

We ate at Mishi's Streudle 3 months ago and can't wait to go back next

month! Wonderful, wonderful streudle

Scored two rooms on Priceline last night for the Crowne Plaza San Pedro,

Ca for 3/18/11 for $65 each. I bid 60, the computer countered with $75.

I tried to add $3, it said, not it wanted $75, so I used a free rebid by

adding Long Beach [as I did not care if I ended up in Long Beach, but

don't add long beach zone if you do not want Long Beach]

AND I increase bid to $65 and bid was accepted. It's a 3.5 star range.

If you want a free rebid for San Pedro and wish to end up in San Pedro,

I believe you need to add the Long Beach AIRPORT zone, since there

aren't any 3.5 star hotels out there.

Just won Crowne Plaza in San Pedro on 9/25 for $85 bid ($104 total). My bids of $65 and $75 were rejected, I assume its due to short notice (5 weeks away). So bid early!

I have a brother that used to live in Thornton! he now lives in North Glenn.

Are you going on the Sapphire on the 26th, because we are!

we had that very cabin, E731 on the Sapphire a few years ago. i wasn't

overly impressed with the balcony, however. Yes, it's much larger than

the other balconies, but I also felt the wind much more back there for some

reason compared to the other balconies next to it. For our next trip

on the Sapphire we have a mini just a few doors up from E731.

If you like lots of extra balcony room, then great. Neither my husband

nor myself were very thrilled about that particular balcony, however, and

wouldn't book it again. Just our opinion.

But I would choose C753 over E731 if given the chance. C753 [at least

on the Emerald ]is not a mini suite, however, it is a regular cabin with a

fantastic balcony which is shielded from all the elements.

It's a corner balcony. wonderful, wonderful cabin.

this thread has been around for awhile now, and I decided to click on

it and have learned a lot about Tim Tam's. Went to Cost Plus 2 miles

from my house and found them under the Arnott's name. They look

good, but unfortunately I'm on a diet....

Bid on the Westin in Long Beach today and got it on my first try

for $54. Total with taxes.....$69.

It's a great property and an excellent rate!!!:)

I forgot to post the date: 9/25/09 1 night

Bid on the Westin in Long Beach today and got it on my first try

for $54. Total with taxes.....$69.

It's a great property and an excellent rate!!!:)

That helps a lot Flvol77. Thanks!

Windango,

I love your kitty!:D

Also, OP, thank you for this wonderful reference. We've had VS D737 and VSE732 before, and your photos show how

very different the decks are on E deck compared to D deck which has deeper decks. Although we had noticed this before,

the size difference is quite significant compared to what we remembered.

We just got back from the Emerald and had C753 which is

a corner aft one deck below Baja. We felt significant pronounced movement in this cabin more so than with any other aft on the other

Princess ships. Not sure why, and there was a lot of creaking in the

cabin -- but we'd still book this again in a flash -- loved the location

and didn't mind the "head to toe" rocking at all, but Betty Cruiser is

correct, lots of vibration back there.

it is lonely back there LOL but a wonderful, quiet location.

If you don't get seasick then this is the cabin for you!

I've had this cabin twice and actually embrace the beam since I can

pull my lounger behind it and avoid the sun in my eyes at certain times of

the day:D

Definitely not a big issue for me.

Hello everyone!

We just booked D736 on the CB for next summer.

Any photo's of the suite would be appreciated!!!!

This is our first Princess cruise (we are HAL sailers) so looking forward to this sailing! A few qustions if I could - is the thermal suite included - meaning complimentary for suite passengers? and wht is the deal with the free mini bar set-up? and last but not least priority preferred seating? we are a party of four traveling with another family of 3 - so because we are in a suite we would receive priority seating reservations?

 

thanks all....

 

Bob

We had D-737 on the Golden P a few months ago. It was our second time

in a full suite. Truthfully, I don't feel it's worth the extra money and

we are now going back to a regular cabin.

The location was wonderful if you like privacy and the balcony was

enormous. But forget about the priorty reservations. Someone

posted a link recently about priority suite dining reservations and

just about all of us said the same thing, no one got "priority" anything:eek:

In fact, I had the hardest time getting ANY kind of reservation.

Out of seven Princess cruises, this last time in the suite was the

worst situation to try to dine. It really all depends on which ship and

who's running the dining rooms. yOu can also just reserve a table

for your party for the whole week. Make sure you do that on the first

night though.

It will be bumpier in the back of the ship, but other than that, the

suite experience is nice, but it's not the be-all end-all on Princess. You

really don't get extra special attention or anything like you do on Celebrity.