Princess Suite Observations

[rsato]

I am currently enjoying a third night in an Island Princess PS Suite, heading toward the Panama Canal. I thought I would pass along some observations along with some comparisons to our recent stay in a Courtyard Suite on NCL in a Mediterranean cruise.

 

 

1. The spacious double balcony is the best feature of the nicely designed and equipped PS suite. If you are expecting a suite that equals the amazing NCL Courtyard suites, you will be disappointed.

 

2. I am traveling with the residents of another PS suite in another area of the ship. Our cabin stewards, while courteous and attentive, are hardly exceptional so I don't think the comments about having better stewards near the suites holds true. The cabin steward took my shoes for shining before formal night and didn't bring them back - two pages later, no shoes. Only by calling the front desk to intervene brought my shoes just in time for dinner.

 

3. The lack of dedicated stewards or butler/concierge means many of the "perks" are not explained.

 

4. I did request the in room dinner menu tonite for suite room service and the steward gave my tonite's main dining room menu, so as far as I know I can still get anything I want from the dining room served in my room. Princess does a good job of giving suite residents priority in dinner reservations and we haven't had to wait in the anytime dining room.

 

5. The Sabatini breakfast perk is nice, although I wasn't all that impressed in the service - the servers have made mistakes in orders & served the food cold. But it is early in the cruise, so maybe it will improve.

6. The unlimited internet is probably the best perk of the suite for us, it really is free and works reasonably well.

 

 

It will be interesting to see if things improve later in the cruise....

[spirit rev]

I'll be interested in your further observations and comparisons as your cruise continues. We'll be on the Coral in January (LA to FLL). We have also been spoiled with the NCL suite although not the Courtyard now Haven ones.

 

I think I did read early in my research that it is sometimes difficult to receive all the suite perks on Princess without being very forceful yourself.

[MHMarkL]

We were in a suite for a three day cruise and we were disappointed that it was so difficult to actually get all the suite perks as advertised. Even after requesting them, they seemed difficult to come by. We have a 14 day coming up in March 2012 and have decided against the suite after our last suite experience. Its just not worth the extra money. I think it would be worth it if they just gave the extra effort expected for a suite.

[Working 2 Cruise]

Enjoy while you Still can.

[Woobstr112G]

I Think that. nil might brad better suited for you. You Must be feeling really special. .. Hopefully you will not tune out of money like most of us are

would you care to given to the not so lucky? With everything going on i cannot believe the give Me mentality. good luck with that.

 

Huh......???

 

Bob

[rsato]

Some more random observations about our Panama Canal Cruise (not necessarily having to do with suites):

 

1. The port lecturer, Ken Williams, is excellent and gives a great introduction to each port / Panama Canal.

2. I don't think it is possible to build a ship with enough aerobic gym equipment to meet the needs of people 08:00-10:00, but outside that time I don't find it hard to get equipment.

3. You can run on Deck 7 - 2.8 laps = 1 mile. You do have to avoid walkers but it is manageable as long as you don't go during the peak after breakfast time.

4. The elevators on the Island Princess are much more efficient (perhaps more in number?) vs our experiences on the NCL Jade / HAL Rotterdam.

5. I agree with other posters, the Pizza is excellent! In general, we think the dining room food is a bit better than the Jade. Neither the Jade nor the Island Princess can compare with HAL for consistency & quality of service in the dining rooms.

6. Both pools on the Island Princess are quite deep - 5'3", not good for kids.

7. I really like the glass covered climate controlled (cooled) deck area around the "adult" pool, although we haven't really had any oppressive heat yet. It is just like a much bigger version of the NCL courtyard areas, but available for everyone to use.

8. The ice cream shop is "free" but it is just a bunch of soft serve dispensers.

 

Let me know if anyone has any questions they want answered - I really like this free internet (we watched yesterday's ALCS game on my slingbox courtesy of this free Princess internet) so this is one perk we are certainly taking advantage of.

[Caribensun]

Glad you are able to get dining room menu and order. Is the water warmer than outdoor pools in the indoor pool? Love the way Princess does the canal. Enjoy your trip. Is your suite balcony covered?

[2little time]

I am currently enjoying a third night in an Island Princess PS Suite, heading toward the Panama Canal. I thought I would pass along some observations along with some comparisons to our recent stay in a Courtyard Suite on NCL in a Mediterranean cruise.

 

 

1. The spacious double balcony is the best feature of the nicely designed and equipped PS suite. If you are expecting a suite that equals the amazing NCL Courtyard suites, you will be disappointed.

 

2. I am traveling with the residents of another PS suite in another area of the ship. Our cabin stewards, while courteous and attentive, are hardly exceptional so I don't think the comments about having better stewards near the suites holds true. The cabin steward took my shoes for shining before formal night and didn't bring them back - two pages later, no shoes. Only by calling the front desk to intervene brought my shoes just in time for dinner.

 

3. The lack of dedicated stewards or butler/concierge means many of the "perks" are not explained.

 

4. I did request the in room dinner menu tonite for suite room service and the steward gave my tonite's main dining room menu, so as far as I know I can still get anything I want from the dining room served in my room. Princess does a good job of giving suite residents priority in dinner reservations and we haven't had to wait in the anytime dining room.

 

5. The Sabatini breakfast perk is nice, although I wasn't all that impressed in the service - the servers have made mistakes in orders & served the food cold. But it is early in the cruise, so maybe it will improve.

6. The unlimited internet is probably the best perk of the suite for us, it really is free and works reasonably well.

 

 

It will be interesting to see if things improve later in the cruise....

Wow! We recently had a suite on the Island and had a wonderful experience. That being said, I can't say the suite perks were explained to us. I just knew about them from CC. We had Brando as a room steward and he was wonderful. The only glitch we had was with the MDR room service menu in that we were only given the page that had the "everyday" items and not the true daily menu. I hope things get better for you.

[xavier]

Glad you are able to get dining room menu and order. Is the water warmer than outdoor pools in the indoor pool? Love the way Princess does the canal. Enjoy your trip. Is your suite balcony covered?

 

On the Island/Coral the PS suite balconies are half covered half not.

[highheel girl]

So sorry your cruise is so disappointing,

We have sailed on the Island Princess many times, both in a suite and balcony cabins. Have always had excellent service everywhere onboard. :)

[rsato]

Glad you are able to get dining room menu and order. Is the water warmer than outdoor pools in the indoor pool? Love the way Princess does the canal. Enjoy your trip. Is your suite balcony covered?

 

I do use the pools early in the morning after running, and don't find a difference in temperature between them. I am in Caribe 702 so it is 3/4 covered. I am not a warm weather person (am from Seattle) and have been pleasantly surprised that the temperature in Aruba and Cartagena weren't terribly oppressive. I am looking forward to the Panama Canal tomorrow....

[rsato]

I don't want to get into the fight over whether should be a dress code, but wanted to pass along a first hand observation. On the first formal night, people in the Bordeaux dining room wore khakis and Tommy Bahama shirts, dress shirts with no tie & no jacket....it wasn't quite a free for all but a long way away from the formal dress code requested.