swomom

I am a long time Princess cruiser and it has been my choice and enjoyed every minute. I am, however, bothered by some of the subtle but persistent changes being made. Because I am “elite” I am told I get 50% off internet cost……but….with a caveat. I have to pay the full price and am then given the other 50% in onboard credit. Maybe I’m the only one who feels this is just not cool.  My gratuities are already covered by existing credit and I don’t drink alcohol ( my choice). Why don’t I get to choose how and where I spend my money? Their new marketing phrase is “save on the things you’re gonna do anyway”. Really, Princess? Gonna?

Gonna? Okay, I’m done. You might notice a recurring theme here.  “My Choice” …..Thanks for letting me vent. JN

Folks, this has nothing to do with SF traffic. I boarded the Ruby on 3/27 and finally got off on 4/11.  This. Is. Covid. Princess has no idea how to handle all the quarantined passengers. Please read PescadoAmarillo’s posts…..she experienced it all.  Of the 9 people in my travel group, 6….yes 6! ended up with Covid. There is no way people are going to get tested onboard knowing that you are going to get locked into a cabin for 10 days. And to tell us that it is computer problems? Oh, please

I just got off the Ruby on Monday in SF. I snapped a quick pic as my bus was pulling out of that dreadful old terminal….and it made me so sad to see all of you standing in that endless line as I did on 3/27. It had taken me about 2.5 hours of waiting to get off the ship. I was so glad that I was headed home. You were out in the cold and wind. Things at Princess seem to have declined rapidly...I do know now, that of the 9 people in my travel group, 6 tested positive for Covid and one is seriously ill in the hospital. On embarkation day (3/27) we received no information, no signage, no water, no reps from the ship itself, and locked portapotties…..not a word then or later from Princess.

My best guess (and it’s not really a guess at all) is that they are overwhelmed with Covid and of course will never tell us. I have cancelled all future cruises and tossed my black medallion in the garbage. I sincerely hope your cruise improves and you end up having a great time…..take pleasure in the small things🙂

My apologies. I absolutely did not mean to hijack this thread……just wanted to underscore the realities about how Princess is dropping the ball in so many areas. I do hope J & G are doing well. I can’t imagine how dreadful it would be to be thrust into quarantine alone. Room service was virtually unattainable. I wanted a glass of milk one night and knew I could never make it to Horizon Court and back on the bouncing ship. I called RS off and on for 2.5 hours and never got through. 

We were never told about the reason for the delay. I think this is one of the many reasons passengers are feeling so…..so…..so ignored? frustrated? undervalued?

I just got off the Ruby Princess yesterday. It is an understatement to say disembarkation was awful. People needing assistance getting off the ship sat in the Vines area and it was freezing cold. This desert rat didn’t even have a sweater (my fault)…my time was scheduled for 10:00….I got off the ship about 12:15. It took almost 45 minutes to locate my luggage and get to my bus. So grateful it had waited and that I had a late flight. I traveled with 4 friends who all tested positive for Covid….one in the hospital now. I am negative.

Pulling out onto Embarcadero was deja vu all over again. I will try to post a few shots that I took out of the bus window. We were in the “old” terminal because the Majestic was in the new one. You can’t get much perspective from the photo of how long the line was. It looked liked it was all the way down to Fisherman’s Wharf.

I have already cancelled my future Princess cruises. 

I was on the Grand in November.....they now have brand new bedside lamps with a usb plug. I also like to use my phone as my alarm. It probably is a ship-by-ship issue of which ones now have the new lamps. But I always travel with a short extension cord and a usb multi-plug. I take the cord because sometimes the outlet access is too cramped for the plug. No surge protectors allowed, though.

Of course it is your money, but inside to balcony for 14 nights? I would jump on that! 

Is Stanley hiding behind some Vera Bradley? Excellent taste!

Hey Scott and Melissa......loving your “live” reviews......wish I were along!

5 minutes ago, Colo Cruiser said:

You sure speak for a lot of people. 

A lot of people who apparently all have a balcony.

4 hours ago, floridalover5623 said:

It's obvious that they're catering to the newer cruising generation who doesn't spend any time in the cabins. They're out spending money, not sitting there reading or watching TV. 😉

The checkout generation is beginning to dwindle and Princess has to look to the future in order to stay afloat.   

 

The “checkout generation”??? Really?? 🤨

A question comes to my mind regarding the idea that chairs were removed because of passengers complaints......if those were communicated by whatever means available, such as after cruise surveys. I always take the time to fill them out....it’s usually in my email by the time I get to the airport. I do all the ratings and highlight those whose service was above and beyond.

Never, in all these years have I ever made a comment something like this:  WOW! Thanks for the awesome chair!  (Or toilet tissue, t.v., sheets, hot water, breakfast room service menu, hangers, life jackets....yes, I could go on but I won’t.).  See where I’m going with this?

I am pretty sure that for every complaint that is made there are hundreds of, for lack of a better term....”non-complaints”. Yes, I too have been reading CC for many years and have never read about rampant dissatisfaction with the chair.  I opened my post alluding to asking a question...so, why did they do it?  It seems that it has not “brought joy” to many (Got organization?) just a little humor there🙂 

17 minutes ago, richsea said:

Yet everyday there are more people posting that they contacted Princess expressing their displeasure about the loss of the chair. That means that more are learning of the problem by reading this thread. More prople commplaining only helps the decision to be reversed. 

If you or anyone else thinks it has run its course, simply bypass this thread. It’s that simple.

Absolutely! This will have run its course when Princess reverses this decision.

32 minutes ago, TanglewoodTootsie said:

I received a call from Princess yesterday.  Reiterated all the points that I put in the e-mail to them.  Audrey was very polite and listened to all my comments but in the end the only response is that the chairs are gone and I can ask my room steward to get one for me.  When I said that I understood that this had been done on several ships and more often than not no chairs were available, she had no  comment.  When I said I would be bringing in a balcony chair, again, no comment.  No apology, no other solutions, only that PCL is monitoring the complaints and concerns.  Unless there is very widespread discontent, not just in this forum, but widespread and perhaps lower bookings, it doesn't sound like they are going to do anything about it.  I made suggestions such as all rooms having a chair with the proviso that it can be removed on request, she said that was too much work for the room steward.  I said more room makes sense if people have 3 or 4 people to a stateroom, but not for two people who either have mobility issues or who enjoy spending some time either eating, reading or relaxing in the stateroom that they paid good money for.  No comment.  I hope they are recording the discussions that people are having on the phone calls.  Lobby, lobby, lobby, people.  I will be on the Emerald in a couple of weeks and I will be visiting the Passenger Services Desk and the Captain's Circle Desk with my concerns. 

Well, I too got a call today from Audrey. Unfortunately I wasn’t home. But my message was almost word-for-word like this one.  All chairs are gone except in minis and full suites. In my case since I travel alone as economically as possible, I don’t even have the option of pulling in a balcony chair. I have one more cruise with my kids this summer on Princess...then that may be it for me with P. I have a Christmas cruise on the QM2 already booked...desk chair and loveseat! I don’t want to admit defeat yet, but I think this is what Princess is counting on......we can yammer away and go to another line, but we will just be replaced by more first-timers and they will just continue to quote the “approved script for dealing with those pesky passengers asking about chairs.”

This decision to just remove the chair is such a mystery to me. I find it incredible that a few comments suggesting the chair is in the way would precipitate such a huge knee jerk reaction from Princess. I don’t care for raw onions....from what I observe, I am in the minority. If I complain, then no one gets onions?😢 This decision affects many, many people. Is this really going to create a huge financial boost for them?  And why in the name of all that makes sense won’t they just tell passengers the truth? This is not rocket science....they could have put a modest increase into fares and we would still have bogos, eucalyptus toiletries, sommeliers, beef medallions, etc., and CHAIRS.  Costs go up....I think we all get that.  I would rather have half gallon of good ice cream that costs a bit more than change the package to 1.5 quarts. Like nobody would even notice? We are all pretty savvy consumers and know what is happening.  But right now I just feel disappointed in them. 

What should speak volumes and volumes to them are all the photos and affirmations of the comfortable seating available on almost every other cruise line.

Question: How do two people sit down in a Princess cabin?

Answer: One at a time.

7 minutes ago, Astro Flyer said:

I am only aware about this bad change because I regularly participate on this forum.  Searching online I wasn’t able to locate any other coverage about this change so it appears that not many people are aware of it which likely includes many travel agents.

 

Thus I informed my TA about the reasons why I’m unhappy about having 1 chair in lower priced cabins that accommodate up to 4 passengers.  I did this in case their agency has passengers who are considering a Princess cruise to not be surprised to discover only a single desk chair...it’s definitely something I would want to know about before deciding about what cruise to book.  Hopefully TAs will become aware of the reduction & will share this information to not have upset clients discover upon boarding the lack of sufficient seating in the overwhelming majority of the Princess cabins.

 

Based on the CC review of the Crown there are 1,560 cabins...only 12.4% are minisuites/suites.  There’s no number shown for Premium Balcony cabins which are also said to have 2 chairs.  Add a couple of percents to that number & that’s probably over 80% of the cabins that will have only 1 chair.

 

Does anyone believe that the primary reason is to provide more cabin space for passengers & not about the savings to Princess by eliminating the second chair in over 80% of their cabins.

Nope.

1 hour ago, RMMariner said:

 

I agree. The cutbacks are not just happening on Princess. All the popular lines are looking at cutting costs, and as a result, the nickel and diming is everywhere.

 

Jump ship if you want, but don't be surprised to find the grass just looked greener. Cruise costs are ridiculously low, the lines are competing to keep their prices low, and any line that does not make cuts, but keeps their fares up instantly is at a disadvantage to other lines.

 

I cruised on Oceania last year, and people were complaining about the cutbacks there as well. Same for Celebrity and Holland America. Who knows, there is probably some guy complaining on Seven Seas Mariner because he is no longer serenaded around the boat while rose petals are strewn in front of him while he drinks Cristal out of a diamond studded Riedel Vinum wine glass, and he now has to be content with inferior non-Beluga caviar.

 

* Note the last line was a joke. If you cruise Seven Seas please do not be offended. I just wanted to illuminate how privileged we all are, and how most of the cuts are relatively minor. Although, I will admit at times, it does feel a little like death by a thousand cuts.

Cutbacks are one thing—-taking out the one comfortable chair and ruining the beds by forcing people to sit on them......that does not sound like a win for P....or for the passengers. I doubt that even Candace Olson (sp) and the back doctor can design a bed that can withstand constant sitting on the edge. Pretty soon the beds will become a danger because people roll off the sides!

The suggestion to just pull in a balcony chair only works for some.  What about all the people who don’t have that option? No chair for them?

4 minutes ago, caribill said:

 

If the chairs still existed, trhey might have backtracked. But you can be sure almost all removed chairs no longer exist at Princess and it is very doubtful they would spend the $$$ to purchase news ones across the fleet.

Sadly enough, I am sure you’re right....they are gone.

4 minutes ago, oskidunker said:

True. Are most people new cruisers?

Just scope out the color of the tags on the mailboxes as you wander down the p-way.  Especially on Alaskan cruises there are tons of blue tags.

Please know that I am not being argumentative......but....it is rather hollow victory If I go to another cruise line.  I can do that. I can feel very smug about my decision. But it will not make one smidge of difference to Princess....they will go on without me. My question is....how do we get the chairs back?

Hi folks, I have already posted once here about my October cruise on the Grand to Hawaii.....had the small table, but no barrel chair.  I have emailed Ms. Swartz....got a courteous call back essentially saying I was mistaken, cabins in categories less than minis had never had the chairs😲.  And was told that on my future cruises there would be no chair. I am now a widow and pay exactly two times as much...and get even less.  Since that time I have emailed Ms. Swartz again, as well as sent paper copies of screenshots of actual comments here on CC as well as photos of insides and ocean views all showing said chair.....and a count of views and posts here on CC.  Silence from corporate.

I need your help.....how do we make our voices heard?  This is not some whimsical complaint.  This is very real, but I’m afraid that they will assume this will all blow over and we will be forced to accept it just like we accepted the 5:00 early traditional dining (which, btw, we apparently demanded.....we did? I didn’t!).  You probably can figure out that I don’t post on here very often....even though I have lots of Princess cruises under my belt. I would say this is because I am usually a happy camper (uh, cruiser) and for many years I have considered Princess my go-to line.....like an old friend.  I am rethinking the friendship.

This is soooo interesting. I sailed on the Grand to Hawaii in October and the first thing I noticed when I entered the room was no little “barrel” chair. I called the PSD and was told that the chair had been removed for my “safety”.  Really?  My friends and I love to get together sometimes just to have a drink or play games.....always using both the extra chair and little round table.  Also, Princess has got to be smart enough to know that having a couple chairs saves wear and tear on the beds.  Their highly touted new beds are already breaking down badly......because people have no option but to flop on the bed.  I mentioned it in my post-cruise survey, of course.  I also emailed Ms. Swartz with my comments and was pleasantly surprised to get a personal phone call from a young lady in her office.  What she said was the part that really disturbed me.  She told me that there has never been a second chair in any cabin category lower than a balcony. Sorry, I hit some button and now can’t get rid of the italics😲.  It took me all of about 5 minutes to look on the internet and find dozens of cabin pics showing the little round-back chair...which I promptly sent on directly to her.  The thing that really upset me is that they were in essence telling me that it was actually my fault.....I was just imagining the chair.  Again, really?  I guess a whole lot of other people imagined the chair too.........