Just off Caribbean Princess 5/27, another wonderful cruise!!

[lolane1]

I was on the 5/27 sailing too. I saw the dog - the first time I've ever seen anything like this but I don't see how it was Princess's fault. It seemed to me that someone was taking advantage of Princess's policy for accessibility to handicapped people, and so what was she thinking letting the dog in the pool? The pool was closed after that. (The incident occurred at the MUTS pool - fondly referred to by us as the "mutts pool" after that.)

 

"The Mutts Pool" - Hysterical!

 

I'll remember that one, just like I can't forget RCI having problems with LOTS of luggage going overboard a few years ago. People on this board renamed that ship "Luggage of the Seas."

 

BTW, lines at horizon are a definite problem. This will be my fourth sailing on the CB coming up next month. I happen to like Princess a lot but for those of you who haven't experienced the crowds at the buffet, you just don't show up at peak times. You cannot say it doesn't exist because it really does. However, there are ways around everything. Dining rooms, showing up at off peak times, walking to another area of the ship with your food, bringing your plates to your own balcony (if you have one), ordering room service etc. are definite solutions. There are options.

 

Being a problem solver or not trying to control things out of your control will result in a better experience Roll with the waves, or abandon ship.

Which brings up ALSC.

 

ALSC, because a situation happened once, try not to assume that all Princess personnel react in the same fashion. A previous poster proved that not to be true, as she received help on the pier from Princess staff. It not simply black and white.

 

I am sure that people on this board won't change your mind and you may never give Princess another shot. However, I would think a letter to coporate may be in order, for nothing else, but to notify them of the issues you bring up. Perhaps by using your experiences in a postive fashion rather than just complaining about it, you might be able to initiate some change. Happy sailing wherever you land up. :p

[emily rose]

I was on the cb may 27, I also experience the staff less then friendly. I also felt that the bathrooms near the muts pool were esp. unkept. This was very surprising as most cruise ships are kept very clean.I also had some kind of insect in my porridge one morning. I did however enjoy my cruise but there was nothing spectacluar about this cruise. I was on the emerald princess in 2008 and loved the ship, the staff and the cleanliness.The service on the emerald was second to none.If the cb was my first cruise I would have been concern about booking another princess but emerald cruise was one of my favorites.

[Maraprince]

First of all Funinla, How do you KNOW that everyone else enjoyed their cruise? We did a "GO PRINCESS" when a couple of women at our table one night, didn't get their bottle of wine from the night before for an hour or so, because they were told they drank it. When the big boss finally found it, his response was, and I quote: "This is why you should always finish the bottle" The poor women were mortified. The Maitre'd was completely out of line.

 

By the way, I am the true ASLC, my wife comes on here now and again to post. Just kinda keeps you guessing if it's a guy or a girl doesn't it? Not that it should matter.

 

OK, here is my impression of Princess - they obviously have a huge problem with staff. No one is happy unless they are leaving - meaning the crew, if it is the end of their contract.

 

Don't who you were speaking to, but almost all the staff we met were very happy to be working for Princess and said that they were well treated by Princess and would not think of switching to another line -- lots of husbands/wives.

For all the cheerleaders out there I will give you a first hand account of my last cruise. Don't whine and say it was because this or that, just hear me out.

 

An elderly lady fell and cut her head. We came across her and her Granddaughter standing in front of the elevator, trying to get to deck 4 for medical attention - the elevators in this area did not go to deck 4.

 

Several and I mean SEVERAL staff passed us by with this poor woman trying to sop up the blood coming out of her head. We asked a member of the staff to go get a wheelchair to move the lady midship to an elevator that would access the infirmary.

 

Other than Medically trained personnel, no one else is supposed to touch an injured passenger. We had a man fall in the main showroom on the Crown Princess and myself and another person ran to assist him. One of us stayed with him and the other went to find a house phone to call for a doctor. After some reluctance to take the call from me since I was not a Staff member, a nurse was dispatched with a wheelchair. Turns out the other person's husband who ran to assist along with me was a trained EMS. Unfortunately, he was off doing laundry. Quite surprising, we both work for the same company! Our company has the same policy -- even if you know the person, you cannot interfer once the medical personnel are on the scene. Neither of us attempted to touch the individual -- only assure him that help was on the way and to keep him talking so he did not fall asleep.

 

As I went to get the lady a glass of ice water, my wife went over to two staff bingo card sellers and explained the situation. She politely asked for one of their chairs, only to be told, and I quote: "tell her to go sit over there"

 

When my wife said " she can't go sit over there," the wonderful cruise member said and I quote: "Well I ain't givin up MY seat"

 

GO PRINCESS!!!

 

I didn't mean for this to be a review, but since I'm in so deep, I will say that the breakfast buffet is unbelievable. It only took us, and I kid you not, 15 - 30 minutes to find a table!! GO PRINCESS!!

 

Food: IMHO? - Walmart. (Does Walmart even serve food?)

 

If you want bad food, go on NCL! If you didn't like something in the MDR, you only had to ask your wait staff for another selection which would have been gladly brought to you. You could have any combination or sized portion of anything on the menu. The buffets offered the most selections of any that I have seen on other lines -- with very little repeat items. Mini Belgium waffles were offered 2 times a day.

The International Cafe's offerings were all free of charge with lightly marinated medium sized shrimp offered daily. Their tomatoe and mozzarella standwich on a whole wheat roll was just delish! Their sandwiches were not just one bite like on RCCL. There was an afternoon snack that had almost as many choices as lunch!

Pizza was not mini slices as on other lines. Veggie burgers and chicken sandwiches were made up as they were ordered and not lying around by the poolside buffet. Both soft serve and hard ice cream were offered at Scoops at no cost.

Are you sure you were on this sailing?

Entertainment - Only went to the Hypnotist show - that WAS good!

 

If you didn't go to the shows, how can you make an accessment of them? You missed 2 great production shows -- your loss.

 

Excitque had a big following wherever they were scheduled. They drew passengers at all age levels. There were 2 big parties held in the Piazza area that really drew the crowds. People were dancing where they stood and participated in the fun.

Cabins - Lido deck are great, HUGE walk in closet.

 

MUTS - Loved that.

 

GO PRINCESS!!

 

 

You missed a great cruise!

2 negatives -- the weather and the fact that 9 days just flew by!

MARAPRINCE

[Maraprince]

I was on the 5/27 sailing too. I saw the dog - the first time I've ever seen anything like this but I don't see how it was Princess's fault. It seemed to me that someone was taking advantage of Princess's policy for accessibility to handicapped people, and so what was she thinking letting the dog in the pool? The pool was closed after that. (The incident occurred at the MUTS pool - fondly referred to by us as the "mutts pool" after that.)

At least Princess has lots of pools so when stupid things like this happen, it's not a disaster.

 

 

[i don't remember Sports Deck being closed, my daughter sunned herself on the lounges there on the two days we had sun. Or are you referring to the sports court on the Sky Deck?

 

BTW, we had 6 in our group and surprisingly didn't have too hard of a time getting a large table at the Horizon Court, but sometimes we sat in the Cafe Caribe. It's right next door but I don't think people think to go there. Also we noticed that when one side of Horizon was very busy, the opposite side was usually (relatively) empty.

 

And we were able to buy a day pass for the ferry/bus in Bermuda right at a visitors desk in the security building you pass through to get outside.

 

Sue

 

 

We spent quite a bit of time speaking with the dog's owner since my cabinmate is a diabetic and wanted to find out about the whole process. Any size/type of dog can qualify as a service dog. This dog saved the owner's life on more than one occassion by providing an alert in sufficient time to warn her that her blood sugar was dropping. This allowed her to take her medication or to call for help. She lives and travels alone. Without the dog, she would not be able to do either. The dog can sense the change in her body odor when her sugar level is dropping. The woman gave us info on the website that matches dogs to people.

One of my former co-workers had his dog certified as a therapy dog and visited patients in the hospital.

While it was not an ideal situation with the pool, at least it was closed off.

We were once on a sailing on another line that had 10 seeing eye dogs on board. The dogs were given a special area on one of the decks to use as a bathroom. These dogs were large and didn't fit in your purse!

MARAPRINCE

[Maraprince]

For breakfast, I always find a table before going to get my food. It can be crowded, but I never spent more than a couple of minutes looking before I found one and there was always waitstaff around to clean and reset the table while my husband and I took turns going to get our food.

 

 

Really? I should have hung around you - never ever found a seat without looking around for at least 15 minutes. On the first morning, by the time I found a table, my breakfast was cold. They did re-heat it and brought back my sunny side up eggs rock hard and the ketchup splattered all over the plate as if it had been nuked for 15 minutes.

 

 

As stated, get a seat/table BEFORE you head off for your food. Get the hot stuff last so it stays hot. Get all the cold stuff first. While one person is off getting food, the one at the table should be asking for coffee/tea, juice, water, etc.

 

We always try to share if possible so we do not have a long wait to find a seat.

 

Many of the problems/situations you recounted could have been easily resolved. If you look for problems, you will find them whether on land or sea. It's my vacation so I put a lot of effort into enjoying it and not looking for bad things to bring me down. I can stay home for that!

 

 

MARAPRINCE