Star Princess a major disappointment.

Hi everyone, new to the site and I'm kind of embarassed that my first post here has such a negative connotation, but my husband and I really want our story told! Cruise Lines are such a big business, and we want people to be aware of what our experience was like with Princess Cruises before they make an investment like we did. We were married in September and postponed the honeymoon (we were on the Star Princess December 16th -23rd), and had high hopes for a relaxing week, good food, and friendly service. Instead it turned out to be mediocre at best, and incredibly disappointing in other aspects. I'm just going to be lazy and copy and paste the letter we are sending to the cruise line. Sorry for the long read! :p

The first major disappointment was before we even embarked. We stood waiting in a humid, airless room in Ft. Lauderdale packed in among hundreds of other people for over an hour, waiting to check in. There were attendants at the little check in booths, but the lines didn’t seem to be moving. When we finally got on the ship, what we encountered set the tone for the rest of the cruise, though we were unaware of it at the time. On the Lido deck during the sail-away party, we were immediately struck with an odor of raw sewage. We noticed other people on the deck commenting on it, but we didn’t say anything to any crew members, hoping that it was just a temporary thing, or maybe a Ft. Lauderdale thing. It wasn’t. The terrible odor persisted for the entire cruise, and each day it was so overwhelming that we couldn’t even enjoy the balcony on our stateroom that we paid extra for. Often, we could even smell it inside the ship’s lounges when doors to the outside of the deck were opened. When we would tender back from shore excursions, we could smell the Star Princess hundreds of yards away from it. It only intensified over the course of the cruise. Smelling over two-thousand other people’s waste products on a daily basis was definitely a damper on the beauty of the Caribbean. When we addressed the smell with a deck crew member, he replied to me in very poor English something about it being “normal”.

During the sailing party we were also literally bombarded with crew members bearing forced smiles and drinks. When we declined one, two seconds later a new person took their place. This set the tone of “sell, sell, sell!” for the rest of the cruise. Crew members always seemed to always be trying to sell us something. Coffee cards, Coke plan, photos, art auction, art auction, art auction, drinks. We even made the mistake of asking one of the young ladies at the photo desk about some pictures that were taken of us during our snorkeling excursion in Cozumel, and without even taking a breath (or answering our question!) she turned it into a sales pitch for the Princess souvenir DVD. When we kept trying to get our question across, she merrily went along with her sales pitch about how we should watch the DVD and what a great purchase it was. We ended up simply having to walk away.

The smell of cigar and cigarette smoke in the designated non-smoking areas was a great disappointment as well. We were also unable to enjoy our balcony most of the time because of a cigar smoker in one of the cabins adjacent to ours (added to the sewage smell, this was nauseating). On our first morning of the cruise, which was a day at sea, we awoke to wet, soggy cigarette butts and other assorted litter on our balcony. Apparently the admonition to “not throw cigarettes and trash over the side” of the ship is simply that; a suggestion, but not something to be enforced. Had it not rained that first night, would we have had burning cigarette butts on our balcony?

Our dining room experience was perhaps the biggest disappointment of all. We chose Princess because our AAA travel agent advised that the food was superior and the “Personal Choice Dining” would be great for us since we wanted some privacy on our honeymoon. The food was decent only two nights in the dining rooms, and the other nights some of the dishes were downright tasteless, certainly not the “highest quality cuisine” that Princess advertises. I have honestly had better seafood in Lean Cuisine frozen dinners. The soups were bland and gritty, the desserts seemed to be straight out of a mass-produced pre-frozen pacakage, and the salad dressings seemed to be watered down. Food was only occasionally warmer than room temperature by the time it reached us. As I mentioned before, one of the reasons we chose Princess for our honeymoon was because we were told that we could sit together, alone. However, each night when we arrived at the dining room, the first thing out of the hostesses’ mouths was always “Is it okay to share a table?”, and when we replied that we would rather sit alone, we were treated like it was an inconvenience, and we were rudely handed an Applebee’s-style pager and told to wait. The rudeness from the hostesses was only the beginning of the negative interactions in the dining rooms. The waiters were universally surly, unprofessional, and impolite, with many of them speaking almost unrecognizable English. (The two exceptions to this were Cesar and Mongkhol – both wonderful, friendly gentlemen and great crewmembers.) On our second-to-last night on the cruise, our waiter, without even greeting us, literally banged down our water glasses so hard on the table that some water sloshed out of the glasses. We immediately got up and left for the other dining room. Daily, we found ourselves looking forward to the buffet because we knew we didn’t have to interact with any crew members (except the sour-faced attendants that cleared off tables in the Horizon court area; are interpersonal communication skills even a requirement for these positions? Crew members here rarely even made eye contact, and the ones that did never smiled).

In addition to the unbearable smell of human waste that was ever-present on the outer decks, it was also impossible to even find a place to sit and enjoy the sunshine. My husband and I fantasized about spending hours in the Caribbean sun on our days at sea, catching up on reading and relaxing. Rather, trying to find a place to sit on deck was consistently a nightmare, and as un-relaxing as it could have been. Another admonition (in addition to the cigarette butt one) that everyone was given was to not “save seats” on deck, but it was never enforced. There was even one occasion where a man was saving TEN seats on deck for people in his party, and there were crew members helping him arrange them around him! At that time, there were at least that many other people roaming the deck looking for seats. When I asked the man when his party was arriving, he said it would be thirty minutes from then. I originally intended to take two of the seats from him, but by that point we had been roaming the deck for twenty minutes and I was so angry that I left him to it.

Other issues include: The crew at the purser’s desk were generally ill-mannered and unfriendly, and we even witnessed one elderly lady being quite literally yelled at by a male crew member at the purser’s desk. I have no idea what the issue was about, but it was incredibly unprofessional and left a very bad impression. The high prices of drinks and water on the ship were a big problem (don’t you think people would be more likely to purchase things in greater quantities if the prices were lower? “Everyone make sure to drink plenty of water in the 80-degree Caribbean heat on your shore excursions, but here, we’re going to charge you $3 a bottle for it before you disembark!”). It was also almost impossible to reach room service or cabin stewards by phone.

There were a few positive things that we encountered on the cruise; the shows were outstanding, and Sabatini’s and Tequila’s had very good food (we don’t, however, include these in our assessment of the cruise dining experience, because we had to pay extra for these!). Our cabin steward, Rodel, kept our room immaculate the entire trip, and we were never without fresh towels or a made-up bed. And as I mentioned before, Cesar and Mongkhol in the Anytime Dining rooms were the only truly nice people we encountered in there for the entire seven days. Unfortunately, these few things aren’t enough to make us want to cruise with Princess again, and we will definitely be recommending the other, superior cruise lines we have sailed with to our friends and family.

I am so sorry that you and your spouse had a negative experience. My family sailed with Princess on the Golden over Christimas and had a wonderful cruise. Other than one surly bartender, all of the crew we encountered were very polite and friendly. Our personal choice dining experiences were always pleasant and the food was great.

Best wishes for your next vacation.

Sorry you had a bad honeymoon. I am one who wished Princess would enforce it's own rules. My review of our Sun Princess cruise last month included a reference to chair hogs and people smoking where they shouldn't (and kids jumping in the pools). I wish crew members would step up and take care of things before they get out of hand. Because if you have trouble finding a chair, you're more likely to become a chair hog once you have one.

On our cruise, I finally managed to find a chair in the shade on the Promenade Deck. The couple next to me left a few minutes later and left their towels and books. My partner came over and sat down, prepared to move when they came back in a few minutes. They were gone at least 90 minutes.

One correction to your post about smoking: it is allowed on cabin balconies.

We have had "Personal Choice" dining on just one of our Princess cruises. What we found is that when there is a wait team you like, start requesting them each night. You could have sat in Cesar and Mongkhol's section every night once you discovered they were good.

I was on the Star Princess last fall doing the British Isles and Trans Atlantic. Now some things I did not like, [Too Crowded], BUT this I had expected, since the ship was larger than I normally sail on. I will stay with smaller ones in the future.

Food? I was none too happy with it, BUT, most of the other passengers, from other cruise lines, told me that the food was better than they had had in the past.

Staff? Here I thought that once again Princess came through with flying colours, they were all great, and most of them were tired, having been aboard for some months. The odd person may have appeared 'out of sorts' but only once, but hey, we are all human, not polite robots! The staff in my opinion is one of Princesses strong points, better than other lines that I have been on.

I did do a review, but it was on Roll Call, for my friends Coral, Panama Canal April 28 2007.

No, I would not sail Star again, BUT, this is because I favour the smaller ships.

john

I am so sorry that your belated honeymoon cruise was not a terrific experience. Sorry to hear about the smell, it wasn't present anywhere in March and I wonder if something went on when they rebuilt the ship.

I just wanted to comment on the water and drink prices, they have always seemed incredibly fair to me and seem to be on par if not less than most other cruise lines and resorts. Sorry this was something that bothered you, but when traveling this is about the bottom of the price range that I've encountered.

Write Princess a letter detailing the ever present smell and how you were not able to use your balcony. Do not put it about the smoking, because it's allowed and there is nothing they will do about it. Taste of food is also very subjective, so don't bother with that. Stick to the details about your balcony and the smell that permeated your cabin the entire time and the service you had on the ship. Maybe if more people let them know about their disappointment Princess will do something to rectify the situation regarding the "sewage" smell once and for all.

Hopefully you were able to walk away from the cruise with some wonderful memories of your honeymoon together. I know it sounds like a big cliche, but try and look on the positive and not the negatives and you may just end up having some fond memories of the cruise. I did this with our Star cruise after the fire and now look back on it as one of the best cruises we had prior to the incident and have many great memories from it.

Just a quick question to help me understand better, if the boat is moving and it is very windy, how do you smell the sewage "everywhere?" I would imagine the front of the ship should have had some seating where you wouldn't have smelled it.

I am not saying you did but sometimes being rude to the staff tends to make them rude back. Maybe without realizing it you copped an attitude?

I hate the smell of cigars too and wouldnt have been happy with someone smoking right next to me but instead of whining about it I would just wait till he is done. How long does a cigar last? Maybe if you lighten up a bit, take breath, and just enjoy what is right you will have a much better experience next time.

Is your waterglass half empty or half full?

When did the price of a bottle of water go up to $3? Is that for a large or small bottle?

When did the price of a bottle of water go up to $3? Is that for a large or small bottle?

Sorry for your bad experience, but honestly, $3.00 isn't HORRIBLE for a bottle of water. I've paid $5 for a small bottle of water at a movie theater. Honestly, I expect to pay higher prices in certain areas--including cruise ships.

I definitely agree with you about the cigeratte smoke. I am allergic to the smoke and break out in hives and get a NASTY cold in my chest. I would LOVE for people to STOP smoking, but it isn't going to happen.

As for food, we have good experiences and bad. We basically decided that we would treat the cruise ship like we treat any other restaurant. Some nights are good and others aren't. Overall though, I would eat what I liked or request something else and Princess was always super nice about it.

Once again, sorry you had such a bad time!!

Another thought that just came to me is that you don't need to buy bottled water all the time. Just buy (or bring with you) one bottle each and then refill them. The tap water on ships is fine for drinking.

Wow, I just got off the Sar on the 16th and except for the smell on our balcony B235 had none of the problems you had. I reported the smell once when it was really bad in our room and asked to have the room aired, but after that we just gave up and joked about it reminding us of home, we live in the country and there are pig farms that vent in the evening and farmers spread liquid waste on their fields so I guess we are used to it. Brought our own soda and water. Never had any hard sells, in fact we were hardly asked at all. Don't like the pool on ships, that's why we have a balcony to sit on, have a pool at home in our yard. Loved anytime dining and thought the food was great, never had to wait for a table. Liked sitting with different people each night. Only had a table for 2 on 3 nights and 2 of those were in the buffet because we didn't do formal. We never had a rude or nasty CM or at the Pursers desk either. Guess we are very easy going, the price of cruising now is very low so I really don't expect a 5 star hotel or dining experience. They forgot the decorations on our door for our 40th anniversary, but I didn't even say anything about that. Someone else posted that they spent the entire cruise running around to get a piece of paper and a few baloons on their door. What does upset me is people who come back from cruises and not everything was 100% the way they thought it should be, probably had the same services as I had, and keep hounding the cruise lines for money back. Sometimes you have to make lemonade out of lemons and go with the flow, just chill out and remember a bad day on vacation is better then a good day at work!

Wow, I just got off the Sar on the 16th and except for the smell on our balcony B235 had none of the problems you had. I reported the smell once when it was really bad in our room and asked to have the room aired, but after that we just gave up and joked about it reminding us of home, we live in the country and there are pig farms that vent in the evening and farmers spread liquid waste on their fields so I guess we are used to it. Brought our own soda and water. Never had any hard sells, in fact we were hardly asked at all. Don't like the pool on ships, that's why we have a balcony to sit on, have a pool at home in our yard. Loved anytime dining and thought the food was great, never had to wait for a table. Liked sitting with different people each night. Only had a table for 2 on 3 nights and 2 of those were in the buffet because we didn't do formal. We never had a rude or nasty CM or at the Pursers desk either. Guess we are very easy going, the price of cruising now is very low so I really don't expect a 5 star hotel or dining experience. They forgot the decorations on our door for our 40th anniversary, but I didn't even say anything about that. Someone else posted that they spent the entire cruise running around to get a piece of paper and a few baloons on their door. What does upset me is people who come back from cruises and not everything was 100% the way they thought it should be, probably had the same services as I had, and keep hounding the cruise lines for money back. Sometimes you have to make lemonade out of lemons and go with the flow, just chill out and remember a bad day on vacation is better then a good day at work!

I don't agree with a bad day on vacation is better than a good day at work, I just don't. Yes the prices of cruising has gone down, but no mattter what we pay for a cruise (and some pay a lot more than others on each cruise) we should have some expectations of a nice vacation.

Things go wrong on every vacation, whether it's a 5 Star resort like the Ritz Carlton or Four Seasons or a cruise on any cruise line. I for one hope that it doesn't get to the point where we have to set the bar so low that we're willing to except anything that goes on. Nothing is going to be 100%, but we do have a right to have certain things on our vacations.

You use the example of the "sewage smell" and how you laughed and said that to you it smells like home since you live in the country near pig farms. I do not and would not be willing to except having to smell that in my stateroom and on my balcony for the entire length of my cruise. I understand that smell is on every cruise ship, (I've smelt it myself!), but having a clean comfortable cabin and being able to use a balcony (weather permitting) that I've paid for is something that I do expect.

We also do have the right to expect any cruise line to somewhat enforce their set of "rules". There is nothing that we can do about the rudeness of our fellow passengers, but certainly the cruiselines need to start enforcing their "rules" that they put into our documents to make it a more enjoyable time for all. I have to say that one area Disney seems to excel in is the enforcement of their guidelines, especially when it comes to the kids not being allowed in certain places and it's one thing about them that I do enjoy. Wouldn't it be a great place if everyone was simply thoughtful enough of their fellow passengers that we all just followed the guidelines set forth?!

I don't think that Princess should start doling out money simply because one's vacation did not live up to someone's exact expectations and everyone does need to keep their expectations in check, but we do have a right to have some expectations and maybe even"escape completely" as Princess states.

i belive its your first cruise,so simply cruising is just not for you:cool:

Try land vacation next time. I have one question :Princess has free dinning now?how come you did not had your own table for the cruise?

However, each night when we arrived at the dining room, the first thing out of the hostesses’ mouths was always “Is it okay to share a table?”, and when we replied that we would rather sit alone, we were treated like it was an inconvenience, and we were rudely handed an Applebee’s-style pager and told to wait.

I dont even know where to start, but on the side of Princess, we also had anytime dining and knew from the start if we wanted to sit alone the procedure was to call AHEAD OF TIME to make a reservation for two. Sounds like you never made reservations, and assumed you had the right to walk in anytime and be immediately seated even though that is not what anytime dining means.

On the other hand I can understand you had very high expectations which were not meet and some times I have heard there is a smell, that usually is not the fault of Princess, its the fault of some passenger who flushed stuff down their toilets to stop them up. Just like you are blaming Princess because you got butts from a passenger who was misbehaving.

Im sorry you were so unhappy on your honeymoon. hugs.

I dont even know where to start, but on the side of Princess, we also had anytime dining and knew from the start if we wanted to sit alone the procedure was to call AHEAD OF TIME to make a reservation for two. Sounds like you never made reservations, and assumed you had the right to walk in anytime and be immediately seated even though that is not what anytime dining means.

 

On the other hand I can understand you had very high expectations which were not meet and some times I have heard there is a smell, that usually is not the fault of Princess, its the fault of some passenger who flushed stuff down their toilets to stop them up. Just like you are blaming Princess because you got butts from a passenger who was misbehaving.

 

Im sorry you were so unhappy on your honeymoon. hugs.

We've never had to call ahead of time to make reservations for 2, I guess we've always been lucky. Sometimes we've had to wait, but that is to be expected when you have special requests like a table for 2, guess the OP didn't know that. Anytime dining is a tricky thing to understand, if you look at it as face value, it says anytime dining so you may think that's exactly what it means. I really only knew exactly what to expect because of these boards so it was never a disappointment to us and actually is one of the things I love about Princess.

I don't believe that the smell is due to anyone flushing anything down their toilets, the Star appears to be having issues with this and it's more than something this simple. I thought I had read here what one of the reasons were, but don't remember what is was. There have been a few complaints on here from people lately so it doesn't appear to be an isolated incident.

I was also on the Star 12/16-12/23. I am sorry you did not have a goodtime. I did happen to have a good time. The smell was there but not very much (and I am very sensitive to smells), I had no one asking me to purchase anything, my waiter was fairly good (I do agree about the employees in the buffet area), I had no problem finding a chair out on deck (there are a lot of places around the ship to sit and I always found one that was quiet and near a pool), I did not encounter any staff yelling at anyone or being rude, and the food was good (but not 5 star, and I don't expect it to be 5 star). Most of the people that I know that were on this cruise had a great experience. It was too bad you did not. I think you will find that a lot of your issues would occur on other cruise lines (chair hogs, smoking, water prices). If you write to Princess you should talk about the smell and what you perceived as unfriendly staff; every thing else should be left out. Hopefully they will compensate you for not being able to use your balcony.

What a Bummer that you had a bad experience on your cruise, and I can sure empathise with you about your disappointment. I think that perhaps your expectations may have been a little high.

Examples:

An hour waiting for embarkment is comparable to going through security lines at many large airports, just a sign of the times I guess.

Decent Food - this is always subjective, I realize that the food aboard a ship that has to prepare over 2,500 dinners each night will not be on a par with, Todd English's "Olives", Bobby Flay's Mesa Grill, or Diva at the Met in Vancouver. I can only describe the food aboard Princess as High End banquet type food, although the Pasta is great.

Smoking - Carnival started an experimental Non-Smoking ship that utterly failed and was a commercial flop. Many people from different parts of the world, Europe, Asia, South America are terrible chain smokers, as are many who call the Caribbean home who are big Cigar smokers etc.

Rules Enforcement - There are commercials on TV that emphasize NOT enforcing any rules or schedules aboard Cruises, so we cannot expect the regimented strict rules enforcement but are dependent on each other to have respect and consideration for your fellow passengers.

Finally - Perhaps Cruising is not your cup-of-tea, It certainly is not for everyone, and you find that most people on this board are addicted cruisers, but perhaps a different type of experience is more toward your individual tastes.

Happy Cruising

BAI@bay

What a Bummer that you had a bad experience on your cruise, and I can sure empathise with you about your disappointment. I think that perhaps your expectations may have been a little high.

Examples:

An hour waiting for embarkment is comparable to going through security lines at many large airports, just a sign of the times I guess.

Decent Food - this is always subjective, I realize that the food aboard a ship that has to prepare over 2,500 dinners each night will not be on a par with, Todd English's "Olives", Bobby Flay's Mesa Grill, or Diva at the Met in Vancouver. I can only describe the food aboard Princess as High End banquet type food, although the Pasta is great.

Smoking - Carnival started an experimental Non-Smoking ship that utterly failed and was a commercial flop. Many people from different parts of the world, Europe, Asia, South America are terrible chain smokers, as are many who call the Caribbean home who are big Cigar smokers etc.

Rules Enforcement - There are commercials on TV that emphasize NOT enforcing any rules or schedules aboard Cruises, so we cannot expect the regimented strict rules enforcement but are dependent on each other to have respect and consideration for your fellow passengers.

Finally - Perhaps Cruising is not your cup-of-tea, It certainly is not for everyone, and you find that most people on this board are addicted cruisers, but perhaps a different type of experience is more toward your individual tastes.

Happy Cruising

BAI@bay

What a Bummer that you had a bad experience on your cruise, and I can sure empathise with you about your disappointment. I think that perhaps your expectations may have been a little high.

Examples:

An hour waiting for embarkment is comparable to going through security lines at many large airports, just a sign of the times I guess.

Decent Food - this is always subjective, I realize that the food aboard a ship that has to prepare over 2,500 dinners each night will not be on a par with, Todd English's "Olives", Bobby Flay's Mesa Grill, or Diva at the Met in Vancouver. I can only describe the food aboard Princess as High End banquet type food, although the Pasta is great.

Smoking - Carnival started an experimental Non-Smoking ship that utterly failed and was a commercial flop. Many people from different parts of the world, Europe, Asia, South America are terrible chain smokers, as are many who call the Caribbean home who are big Cigar smokers etc.

Rules Enforcement - There are commercials on TV that emphasize NOT enforcing any rules or schedules aboard Cruises, so we cannot expect the regimented strict rules enforcement but are dependent on each other to have respect and consideration for your fellow passengers.

Finally - Perhaps Cruising is not your cup-of-tea, It certainly is not for everyone, and you find that most people on this board are addicted cruisers, but perhaps a different type of experience is more toward your individual tastes.

Happy Cruising

BAI@bay

What a Bummer that you had a bad experience on your cruise, and I can sure empathise with you about your disappointment. I think that perhaps your expectations may have been a little high.

Examples:

An hour waiting for embarkment is comparable to going through security lines at many large airports, just a sign of the times I guess.

Decent Food - this is always subjective, I realize that the food aboard a ship that has to prepare over 2,500 dinners each night will not be on a par with, Todd English's "Olives", Bobby Flay's Mesa Grill, or Diva at the Met in Vancouver. I can only describe the food aboard Princess as High End banquet type food, although the Pasta is great.

Smoking - Carnival started an experimental Non-Smoking ship that utterly failed and was a commercial flop. Many people from different parts of the world, Europe, Asia, South America are terrible chain smokers, as are many who call the Caribbean home who are big Cigar smokers etc.

Rules Enforcement - There are commercials on TV that emphasize NOT enforcing any rules or schedules aboard Cruises, so we cannot expect the regimented strict rules enforcement but are dependent on each other to have respect and consideration for your fellow passengers.

Finally - Perhaps Cruising is not your cup-of-tea, It certainly is not for everyone, and you find that most people on this board are addicted cruisers, but perhaps a different type of experience is more toward your individual tastes.

Happy Cruising

BAI@bay

Wonder if Princess will hear.... Seems to be a recurring theme of the same complaints....

Long embarkation lines (this is probably common to all lines)

Star odor (they need to fix it)

Ciggarette / Cigar smokers (they probably won't fix it)

Sell, Sell, Sell (now part of all non-upscale lines... some probably worst than others)

Bland Food (this is subjective and can vary in opinion....)

Surley crew (should never be excused... except when there are surley passengers)(note:I am not saying you were)

Chair Hogs (they probably won't fix it either)

Except for Star odor, they could be levied against a lot of other lines. ;) .. But not excusing.......Sorry to hear you ran into all of them.:(

Sorry about that the key stuck open

Boy am I embarrased

Wonder if Princess will hear.... Seems to be a recurring theme of the same complaints....

Long embarkation lines (this is probably common to all lines)

Star odor (they need to fix it)

Ciggarette / Cigar smokers (they probably won't fix it)

Sell, Sell, Sell (now part of all non-upscale lines... some probably worst than others)

Bland Food (this is subjective and can vary in opinion....)

Surley crew (should never be excused... except when there are surley passengers)(note:I am not saying you were)

Chair Hogs (they probably won't fix it either)

Except for Star odor, they could be levied again a lot of other lines. ;) Sorry to hear you ran into all of them.:(

2 questions

If the oder was so bad on deck,

1) why were the chairs all full and

2) why were you still out there trying to find one?

Rob

I don't agree with a bad day on vacation is better than a good day at work, I just don't. Yes the prices of cruising has gone down, but no mattter what we pay for a cruise (and some pay a lot more than others on each cruise) we should have some expectations of a nice vacation.

 

Things go wrong on every vacation, whether it's a 5 Star resort like the Ritz Carlton or Four Seasons or a cruise on any cruise line. I for one hope that it doesn't get to the point where we have to set the bar so low that we're willing to except anything that goes on. Nothing is going to be 100%, but we do have a right to have certain things on our vacations.

 

I completely agree. I totally get focusing on the positive, a vacation is what you make it (to a degree), and glass being half full. I've always had great cruises. But it seems some people are willing to justify any kind of terrible service, dirty, smelly, or crummy accomodations, etc. with that perky old adage "Even a bad day on a cruise is better than a day at work!" I love my job, so I would rather be at work making a decent salary than paying for sub par anything, particularly considering how much we look forward to our vacations.

I think we are all entitled to the best any cruise line can give us for our hard earned dollars and much anticipated vacations. Expecting perfection is one thing. Praising and happily accepting a poor product is another thing entirely.

It is interesting that this is the posters first post EVER at CC, and no mention of any other cruise....

Certainly appears to be a half-empty personality. I find it hard to believe that there were SO many problems. I have been on vacations to destinations that I have no desire to return to, yet NONE of them was HORRID from start to finish. In fact, every trip I have taken was a good one--but there are places I have no desire to return to.

Have never had a perfect trip, either. Hey, we have stayed at Pebble Beach...5 STAR...I personally did not find it to be SOOOO much better than our first trip to Vegas at the Sahara (1 1/2 stars, I'm sure!!!!).

Consider myself a foodie. Find Spago in Vegas to be VERY average food...several chains consistently beat that quality. PALO on DCL is one of the best dining experiences I have ever had. Personally found the Star to have good to very good dining room food. Beat DCL out.

Funny, we NEVER had a problem finding chairs quite near the pool in the sun, around noon.

I realize that situations can vary even between passengers on the same cruise...SO sorry yours was so horrid. You did mention a few positives...but they seem to pale in comparison to the LONG list of horrendous experiences for you. Perhaps another vacation experience would be better for you.