JeffT237

Oops. edit is already disabled, obviously I meant "Crew Members"! My bad

I've often heard the "above and beyond" argument made as to why or how someone tips or gives additional tips. In all of our cruises we've never really received poor service. Maybe some was slightly better than others, but despite how we tip we've always received great & friendly service. It makes me wonder what other passengers are expecting, I'm interested in what some of the responses will be. I realize how busy most of these screw members are so if my water glass at the MDR isn't constantly filled, or my drink preference isn't automatically waiting for me at my favorite bar or a crew member doesn't address me by name on ship of thousands of passengers I don't equate this to poor service. I agree, and I'll also add from the days of the cash tip in envelopes to the auto gratuities I've always been more than satisfied with the service. Across 3 lines it has always been wonderful.

The Salty Dog Gastro Pub was open on the Discovery on our October Discovery cruise. When we were on the Crown in May it was also closed, it was just the Wheelhouse bar, not sure if after dry dock they converted it to another venue.

I've never understood this either. Advising through ones real experiences as to the difference in brands is helpful to this community. Or any other review site. I visited the Princess board often before our first Princess cruise in May for information. Discussing the differences in ship decor, food, amenities, service, entertainment and itineraries etc is great and helpful. But making generalizations about people or your perceptions of people I think is a bit uncalled for. It probably says more about you than the people you judge. I know I'm not solving this issue, just adding my opinion to the discussion.

On the Discovery last month we found plenty of staff available, and going to the bar, flagging down a server or ordering from the app was quick and efficient. For us it depended on the venue on how we ordered, we mostly enjoyed our pool days at the retreat and having the bar close by made it easier to just walk up and get a drink. I will say ordering from a hot tub on the main pool deck through the app while watching the Chiefs Bills game was pretty awesome. When we did utilize the app it worked well for us.

We just sailed on the Discovery in October on the California Coastal itinerary. We really liked the ship, the service was great as well as the food. We don't typically eat at the buffet but we has a few lunches and breakfasts there and thought the quality was good. We typically sail on cruise lines newer ships and the Discovery did not disappoint. We have not sailed this route however and keep in mind it's other cruisers opinions, many seem to not favor the Royal class ships for Alaska. The reason I'm told is they are too big to do the true inside passage which is east of Vancouver Island. Another common complaint I hear for the Royal class ships is the lack of a wrap around promenade deck and other viewing areas for Alaska. After sailing the Discovery I could see the argument. My personal opinion only, as much as I enjoyed the Discovery on the CA Coastal I probably would not sail it to Alaska. There is another itinerary map on the Princess web site that specifically shows the route of the Royal class ships out of Vancouver that indicate they go west of Vancouver Island. Our next Alaska cruise we're planning for 2024 we are looking at only ships on princess and other lines that travel the true inside passage. This does limit us to older smaller ships but the trade off for the scenery is what is important to us. We did sail the Crown to Alaska last May and Princess did have the rangers on board, an Alaska specific dining menu as well as the puppies in the Piazza program. We did not attend any lectures but they were scheduled. As far as a comparison we found Princess and RCI to be very similar as far as food, service, staff, fellow passengers etc. We prefer the entertainment on RCI over Princess but not sure it really makes a difference on an Alaskan cruise. We really liked the Princess Plus program, great value for everything you get as opposed to RCI's prices for beverage package, wifi, etc. Also I liked how Princess has set pricing for add ons as opposed to RCI's dynamic pricing. Hope that helps, enjoy!

I've read many threads over the years that are very critical of Carnival cruise passengers, or at least the perception of those who cruise Carnival. We've taken several cruises on Carnival, RCI and our last recent 2 cruises were with Princess. We are not loyal to any brand at this point, maybe some day we will be. What exactly is it about Carnival passengers that elicits so much criticism? I hear things like "unrefined" "uncivilized" "Walmart of the Seas" "trailer park trash" or "I've seen some Carnival passengers in port. I'm glad I'm not on their cruise". What exactly is it? People post and make these general statements but what is it you mean? If what you see on YouTube or other social media is your barometer to judge an entire group of people, brand or industry I'd say you probably need to expand your horizon just a bit. You can find anything you want on YouTube and it's easy to assign that to the behavior of just about anything, I've found most of the time it's the exception, not the rule. I'm not calling out anyone poster in particular, as these opinions have always existed and exist on other boards. Our first cruise on Princess was in May on the Crown, it's been documented many times on CC the Crown issues, which led to some of the most rude and abusive behavior towards the crew and other passengers I have ever seen on a cruise. I'm glad I didn't let our first bad Princess experience as well as some of the rude Princess passengers ruin our experience at the time as well as leaving me biased against the brand. We just returned from the Discovery and had an awesome time on a great ship and met many friendly Princess passengers, and in conversation some have even sailed Carnival. Imagine that?

Ordering from the app did not work at all on the Crown in May, however on our recent Discovery cruise it worked flawlessly and really enjoyed the feature.

Now if RCI would only make that pricing mistake on the Deluxe Beverage Package again, $18 was a deal!

The first time we ate at 150 CP they brought out the bread with unsalted butter and an assortment of 6 different salts in a dish with little serving spoons. The server would give an explanation of each salt and we tried them all and enjoyed that part of the meal. They were no longer doing it the last time we ate at 150 CP in 2019.

We were on the May 7th Crown, we were notified the week prior to our sailing of the issue and first itinerary change. We were notified the night before of the second itinerary change, once on board a letter was in our cabin of the third change. The Captain made an announcement during our first dinner of the fourth itinerary change. On our last night we were notified that we would be late getting into Victoria. I think every subsequent cruise after had different experiences with notifications and itinerary changes. Later in the season I think people had a better idea. As far as an "out" we tried to change to the Discovery that left the next day but were told we could but since we were outside of the cancellation period we'd incur all of the financial penalties and pay the new higher fare. I think I got bad info or should have pushed it, I believe others were allowed to switch with no penalty. We just returned from the October 15th Discovery on the California Coastal, wonderful cruise we enjoyed the ship and the service was great. Really had a great cruise. We were told that this was the first Discovery cruise with the crew given the option of removing their masks. Most did, and the crew we spoke to all appreciated it. Very few remained in masks. We had no problem with it but I can see someone's point of view especially if they have health issues. If they booked thinking the protocols in place made them safer and comfortable to cruise than they were taken away without notification then I can see their argument. Not sure if this even addressed in the cruise contract or health advisories.

Just off the Discovery and our room was open for us to drop off our carry ons but not ready for us to occupy or unpack at 11:30. Watched the safety video on our phones, had lunch and explored the ship and when we returned in the afternoon room was ready, and bags had arrived. We were in a regular balcony and not Elites. Embarkation day for us was quick and easy.

I thought the Royal class Princess ships travel west of Vancouver Island, my reference was to the older smaller ships that travel the inside passage east of Vancouver Island which from what I have read is the more scenic route and what many who have cruised this route consider the true inside passage. Not trying to spread misleading info but please correct if wrong.

I think you need to look at Alaska itineraries first and ask yourself what's most important. Our next Alaska cruise will more than likely be out of Vancouver and specifically on a ship that sails east of Vancouver Island through the true inside passage. We will not do a Seattle roundtrip again, too much time at sea with minimal scenery. We missed or had very little time in Alaska on the Crown due to its issues so scenery will be most important to us. So with that it leaves us with an older smaller ship, we are also looking at competitors lines and reading a lot of reviews to see if we can find a ship that we're comfortable with. Like you we prefer newer ships but for Alaska on the itinerary we want it looks like an older vessel. Keep in mind the Crown is currently in dry dock to repair what I'd assume are the generator, propulsion and plumbing issues. On our cruise we did feel that she looked tired, old furnishings, cabin needed updating, carpet issues, gym equipment out of service etc. Will all of those issues be addressed? Who knows. I'm guessing these are the reviews you've read: We experienced one of these Crown cruises but also many of these reviews people were venting so take that into consideration. It was an overall disappointing experience, but the consistent thing was the crew and staff were great. Many of these reviews do talk about the overall condition of the Crown. https://www.cruisecritic.com/princess-crown-princess-alaska-cruises_cl28-sh347-de115/mra/

We sailed on our first Princess cruise on the Crown Princess this past May and after that experience we would be very hesitant to cruise on an older Princess ship. We were surprised as were many other passengers we spoke with (both first timers and experienced Princess cruisers) on the overall condition of the Crown. The propulsion, plumbing and generator issues were discussed at length on CC, but there were several other maintenance issues. I know it made it through the Alaska season and it is now in dry dock so hopefully all of the issues are addressed. Since this was our first Princess cruise we have nothing to compare it to, on the other lines we have cruised we typically sail the newer ships. My comments are meant to be objective based on our experience, not to unfairly criticize Princess. We set sail soon on the Discovery and expect a great cruise.

For our upcoming second cruise with Princess we are again purchasing the Plus as we had it on our first Princess Cruise. Great value for us even at the now $50pp per day, we always purchase Wi Fi and pre-pay gratuities anyways so although we don't drink a lot of alcohol we found with the bottled water, coffees and a few drinks a day it worked out in our favor. Compared to what other lines charge for drink packages we find the Princess Plus bundled with tips, wi-fi and most drinks a real bargain.

@cruzin4us Again thanks for your posts, do you know what dining options were open for lunch on embarkation day? I know one dining room and the buffet but what about the Salty Dog Gastropub and Gigi’s Pizzeria? Thanks again!

Yes lesson learned, we booked the Seattle roundtrip last minute, seemed less logistics than the one way that ended in Whittier. We will not make that mistake again, we will only look for cruises out of Vancouver for the scenery. Ironically we chose the May 7th Crown specifically because it was it's return to service cruise, I mistakenly assumed having a small crew onboard for 2 years that the ship would have addressed any maintenance and mechanical issues especially on an older ship and the likely hood of a major mechanical issue would be less likely. Epic fail. We both agreed for our first Princess cruise we did not receive the true experience, in fact we cruise soon on the Discovery and are excited for the upcoming trip. As far as competitors, we've sailed both Carnival and RCI, and for our Alaska re-do we are considering both HAL and RCI. We also chose Princess because of their Alaska reputation and Glacier Bay but we really saw very little enhanced Alaska experiences onboard. The Alaska specific menu had very little to offer and besides the ranger presentation at GB we didn't really notice much. We did not attend any of the presentations in the theaters. We've cruised RCI several times so if we do chose them we're confident on what to expect.

I am looking at the Konningham out of Vancouver as well, we plan on doing our second Alaska cruise but not until 2024 and the schedules are not out yet. Our May 2022 Alaska cruise on the Crown Princess was such a disappointment and we really want to see all that we missed. We will be doing a true inside passage out of Vancouver it just comes down to what ship and cruise line. Since we already have done Glacier Bay we feel we have more options to chose from. RCI does an 8 day out of Vancouver that we're considering (doesn't go to GB) as well as the Konningham. Although we prefer the newer ships like you, I feel Alaska is the exception. Sounds like you found the right cruise, CC is a great resource for planning, enjoy!

Have a wonderful cruise, I know organizing a multigenerational cruise can be stressful, you want everything to be perfect. I'm doing the same right now for a Hawaii trip for my Dad's 80th birthday. In the end the memories with the family and the experience will be what everyone remembers and enjoys over what ship and what route. They all have their pros and cons anyways. I must say this has been a great thread, lots of good input. Enjoy your cruise!

Do you receive a notification if your bid is not accepted?

Yes it is the same card system on the Allure.

We dined there a few years ago on the Allure, I don't recall it taking an unusual amount of time. No longer than any other venue. It was not very crowded on the evening we ate there. You help yourself to the sides and salads that are in the center of the restaurant buffet style and the servers continually bring by the different meats. So depending on how hungry you are and if you want to try them all will impact the total time as well.

@cruzin4us Thanks for taking the time to post from the Discovery. We will be sailing soon on the Discovery and your posts have been helpful! Do you know if they have had the Chef's table available for this cruise? Thanks

Keep in mind the Majestic I believe does not sail east of Vancouver Island, which many experienced Alaska cruisers says is the far superior route. It is more of the true inside passage experience. From my understanding the cruise lines older smaller ships are the ones that sail this route. We are facing the same dilemma for our next Alaska cruise, we always book the newer ships over older ships so it comes down to do we want the nicer ship or the nicer views? Our only Alaska experience was last May on the Crown Princess which is similar in age to the Sapphire. The ship that was definitely showing her age. You can read the reviews, we had mechanical and maintenance issues which led to many disappointments, most of all we had very little time in Alaska and a lot of open ocean sailing. We're very hesitant to book an older Princess ship because of this. Our day in Glacier Bay was beautiful, the highlight of the cruise. This was round trip out of Seattle and our next Alaska cruise will definitely be a northbound out of Vancouver. Too much open ocean sailing on the Seattle roundtrips in my opinion. Good luck with whatever you decide.