pcsunlover

The one thing that we were disappointed with on Royal Princess over New Year was the very poor entertainment. The first comic was simply apalling, and many walked out, and so many of the shows were really low-key with absolutely no innovations whatsoever. The shows we saw were almost exactly the same as we would have seen 10 or 15 years ago. They mainly consisted of a random selection of songs, with a few high kicks, and on one show there was not even a change of costume!

 

We have never sailed on a ship where the 'Love and Marriage Game Show,' for example, was at 9.15 pm! We missed it as it was during our dinner, so we had to watch it on the TV. It can be highly amusing, and is normally a late night show as it can get quite risque, but having it at 9.15 it was mediocre and not amusing at all.

 

We have sailed on Oasis and Allure several times, but of course we were not expecting anything like the amazingly innovative shows on offer, but Princess really ought to be able to offer something a little more interesting than songs and dancing.

 

Princess offer a wonderful product, especially on Royal, and we had a fantastic time, but they really do need to move into the 21st Century with their entertainment. The theatre is very 'low-tech' and they could so easily have made a fantastic comedy club out of Princess Live. It was a very poor venue for Trivia quizzes but would have been ideal for a late night comedy club. They are really missing a trick.

 

Although our cruise on NCL's Jade left much to be desired, their entertainment was outstanding. Innovative, varied, and first class. If NCL can do it then Princess really need to start looking at modernising their shows.

Yes, I felt the same way about Princess Live. I thought it was a very poor venue for the Trivia and the game shows. There were no tables to place a drink or to write answers. Trying to form teams was ridiculous. We were really excited when we saw that they were trying to implement the Quest game like they have on RCCL, but it was at 9pm in Princess Live. Only around 10 people showed up. so disappointing. :( On RCCL, I remember it being more of an adult game that took place late at night. It was risque, but very funny!

The Allure and Oasis offer the best shows at sea and they have so many different entertainment options. :)

We've thought about trying one of them just for that reason. But I've heard so much about how they feel more like a floating mall/resort than a ship. I don't want to lose that open air relaxing feeling we enjoy during the days outside on the Princess ships.

I second this! We will be joining you on 3/14 Caribbean Princess!

Maybe we could start a petition! :D

My favorite entertainment is watching the world pass by from the promenade deck :)

 

Overall best entertainment inside the ship was on the Grand Princess back in 2000 when she first came out. Loved the "Rhythums of the City" big production show and the other acts were all fantastic. This was back when you could attend a big show in the main theatre, then work your way aft as the night progressed and see three new shows every night. Could be big production shows, singers magicians, comedians, hyptnotists or jugglers. This was all in addition to the theme nights and game shows etc.

 

Now we get one show and maybe something else, and are lucky if the next night isn't a repeat. I wish they would go back to at least two new shows every night, plus the stuff hosted by the cruise staff. These should not replace regular performers but be in addition to.

I agree!

Comedy act

 

http://www.alfredandseymour.us/

Wish I had seen them on at least one of my cruises! I don't know how many more jokes about dropping the soap in small showers I can take. :rolleyes:

Princess, if you're reading this, how about booking Alfred and Seymour on the 3/14/2015 Caribbean Princess? :D

Seymour and Alfred - they are fantastic.

What kind of act are they, and what ship?

We are currently booked on the Caribbean Princess this March. It will be our 8th Princess cruise. Although we love Princess during the day, for the past couple of cruises we have found ourselves feeling less than enthusiastic about the entertainment at night (with the exception of Ye Olde Pub Night and the Beatlemaniacs on our Royal cruise). I realize that entertainment is subjective, but I am going to have a hard time convincing my husband to book another cruise on Princess unless something changes. Maybe it's partially our fault for sticking with one cruiseline for so long, but I think after 8 years (of our cruising with them) Princess could start to think outside of the box a little and come up with something other than the same old entertainment menu of production show, comedian, or magician.

The entertainment that is most memorable to me was on our very first cruise which was in 2006 with Royal Caribbean on the Radiance of the Seas. One night in the theater they had an act with the most unique entertainers we have ever seen. They were gauchos using whips, lassos and boleadoros in an act that was exciting and almost dangerous, yet very humorous at times. We walked out of the theater thinking "wow!" there's something you don't see often, if ever!

So I'm curious, what is the most memorable entertainment you have seen onboard one of your cruises, whether it was with Princess or not?

We choose ATD on all of our cruises. We typically eat between 6 and 6:30. We always say we will sit with others so we have never had to wait longer than a few minutes for a table. Dinner has always been interesting to say the least - we have met really fun people and a few who made us go "hmmm"! :D

The nice thing is that every dinner experience is different.

That's what I thought the answer would be, but was hoping otherwise. Thank you for your response! :)

Thank you so much for posting this comparison! Does the Breakaway have a MUTS type movie screen?

Can you buy a Future Cruise Credit for someone who is not sailing with you at the time? For example, on our upcoming cruise in March, my husband and I want to buy an FCC for a cruise in 2016. Could we also purchase a FCC for 2 family members who will not be on the cruise in March, but would like to join us on the cruise in 2016?

Good to hear! I wasn't impressed with the cleanliness of our balcony in December, but didn't notice "dirtiness" anywhere else, just a little wear which is to be expected. We are looking forward to our next cruise on CB in March.

The Calypso pools are not "adult only". At least they weren't on any of my cruises over the past 7 years.

I just returned from a 3/4 day B2B - I encountered for the first time, unpleasant bar staff, a massive lack of waiters, both around pools, in crooners, club fusion and explorers. I have always waited for drink orders to be taken and drinks brought to me at those venues, on this cruise often no more than 1 waiter seen and had to go to bar to order & collect drinks.

The toilets were often closed for maintenance, some not being opened at any time for both cruises. Also often found toilets not cleaned with paper all over the place.

Definitely drop in service levels and standards.

I have to agree with you on the lack of waiters. We didn't have anyone ever come to see if we wanted anything to drink at the pools (and we were there all afternoon every day) or in the Princess Theater. That's never happened in the past. I didn't find the bar staff around the pools unpleasant, just indifferent.

I'm also not one to nitpick or look for things that are wrong, but the walls of our balcony looked like they had had some type of brown liquid dripping down them and the rail was so sticky and dirty that I had to change my shirt after I leaned against it. It didn't stop us from using it, it just seemed unusual from what we've experienced in the past. This was also the first cruise where I never saw anyone cleaning rails or wiping things down around the pool areas. MUTS had blank spots on the screen which was really noticeable when watching movies at night. By the last night maintenance had finally fixed that. I'm really hoping some of the older ships will get nice new screens like they have on the Royal and Regal soon.

Obviously none of this impacted our enjoyment of the overall cruise, but we did notice that it didn't seem up to par with the quality of our previous Princess cruises. And we are pretty laid back, go with the flow kind of people when we cruise.

It's still not comparable to a Caribe balcony on the CB where you can actually eat a meal.

I guess I'm not following you:confused:, our balcony on the Royal was just as big as our Caribe balcony. We were in the "bump" out midship under the Seaview bar. Great balcony and location. A410 with an extended balcony. We had plenty of room to eat a meal and were able to fully recline with footstools with room to spare. I would book it again in a heartbeat.

We haven't been on the Regal yet, but we really liked our cruise on her sister ship the Royal Princess last March. The food was great and so was the service. We had heard that the balconies were small, so we opted for a mid-ship minisuite at the bump out to get a bigger balcony. That cabin was wonderful - I think it was A410.

Check out the deluxe balcony cabins midship on the Dolphin deck. i beleive those have bigger balconies.

I have Caribe balcony cabin 706 on an upcoming sailing. I hope the plumbing problems were resolved! I'm also trying a Caribe corner aft balcony this February to see why so many like aft balconies. Otherwise, the low 700's are ideal with no inside cabins across which makes for a quieter cabin.

Just had C706 a month ago. No plumbing problems, although the people next door in C704 had them. There was no wifi service and we did notice much more noise too from people entering the hallway from the elevator area. That could be because there were several families in the cabins surrounding us. Other than that, it was a great location.

Just an FYI - people standing waiting for an elevator can see directly into the cabin when the door is opened!

Wasn't it great to have a balcony like that compared to the the one you had on the Royal. :D You could actually have a meal served it was so large.

Actually, we had a really nice balcony on the Royal. We booked one of the mid- ship mini suites with the larger balcony! :D

Our cruise was a 4-day that departed on Dec. 4th. It was our 1st experience on a cruise shorter than 7 days and I was a little leery about it becoming a huge party boat. But, I really need a break, the price was right, and we had the time for a weekend cruise.

My observations:

The ship seemed "empty". We never had a problem finding prime seats at either Lido pool at any time of the day, never had to wait for a table in ATD, open seats were plentiful in the theater for the shows. We laughed because 9 out of 10 times had an elevator all to ourselves, even during peak times. Big plus.

We felt short changed on entertainment. Unless you wanted to spend your evening in the smoky casino or hear piano playing every night, there didn't seem to be much going on. Big minus

Passenger demographic seemed a little more mixed. The average age seemed much younger and we noticed many different ethnicities than we have seen on previous sailings. Plus

More families which was nice to see if the children were being supervised. When they weren't, we noticed much more noise in the hallway outside of our cabin.

Plus & minus

We noticed a few more adults than usual who were obviously enjoying a drink package. But, they looked like they were having fun and no one was overly obnoxious so didn't impact us at all. Neither plus nor minus

Other than those few things, we didn't notice much difference and would consider another short cruise if the price was right, and if we only wanted relaxation, not entertainment.

The only thing I would be concerned about is being in a cabin under the pool area. We had a balcony cabin there once and could hear the lounge chairs scraping overhead as they were put out very early every morning.

Are the TV's the old bulky kind, and not a flat screen?? We've got 2 upcoming cruises booked on the Caribbean Princess so would like to know what to expect.

Ours was a small flat screen. It was up on a shelf close to the ceiling. I found it awkward changing the channel while laying in bed because I had to hold the remote up over my head to get it to work. I think we were spoiled by the large, interactive tvs on the Royal that were mounted on the wall directly in front of the bed.

I'm sure you can have a have a good time on your cruise. :) I have another cruise in March on this ship which I wouldn't have booked if we hadn't had a nice time. the weather was good, as was the company, service, and food. Nothing I found wrong with the CB was significant enough to us to not sail on her again but I did notice that she is looking a little worn in places.

I have another cruise scheduled on the CB in March even though it isn't my favorite ship because I like the itinerary and I don't want to cruise out of Houston. I thought the service and food was good, but I found the entertainment to be lacking (in my opinion), and internet service was nonexistent in our cabin.

I've thought about whether or not my opinion was skewed because we had just been on the Royal 6 months previously and everything there was fresh and brand spanking new, but I really don't feel that's the case. People have been commenting about the uncomfortable old beds and less than exciting entertainment on Princess on these boards for several years now. I think some of these older ships need some serious updates, especially when Princess is trying to command close to the same pricing for them as the newer ships. Ours was a 4 day cruise, but why should we expect less of an experience because of that? It still cost a nice chunk of change even with the low prices after figuring in airfare and hotel.

Have never had a problem at either airport security or cruise port security with medications not being in their original bottles. But I could not speak for outside of North America. It might be tougher in Europe or Asia.

Same here. I take several different pills that I keep in a daily pill box. I just take that with me in my carryon bag. I do not carry any of the prescription information with the exception of that of an injectable medication that I have to send through the scanners separately at the airport. I've never had a problem with security at the airport or cruiseport.

I was just in 706 on the Caribe deck last month. If internet access is important to you, I would not book this cabin. However, the balcony was great as was the location, except at times we could hear some of the more noisy passengers at the elevators.

We booked again for March on the Caribe deck, but closer to the middle this time rather than aft. Keeping our fingers crossed for better internet service this time around.

I was on the ship early in December. I have to agree with your opinion of the condition of the MUTS screen - it was pretty bad. Our balcony was filthy, although the rest of the cabin was clean, just a little worn. Cabin tv was old and the internet was non-existent. I didn't notice stains anywhere else, but I wasn't actively looking either.

We booked her again for March because the itinerary is right, but for the first time in our cruising history, I'm not excited about the ship at all. I really hope Princess isn't focusing so much on the new ships that they are neglecting updating the older ones.