Should I go back to Princess?

[RAPM5856]

Just back from a cruise on the Caribbean Princess and did see some maintenance items that were long overdue. Saw rust peaking through in many places on most decks. All the cabin balcony handrails badly needed varnishing. We did have a great cruise and had the best service from all the staff.

[TheBestIsYetToCome]

For some strange reason, they quit adding flour to the parmesan bowl that holds the Fettucine Alfredo. The result is that the bowl is now kind of bland and soggy, rather than the tasty, crispy bowl we have enjoyed for years.

 

I know this because I so love the parmesan bowl that I often order it without the Fettucine Alfredo and sprinkle it on my salad, etc. Well it doesn't sprinkle any more. :( This baffles me as I am sure the cheese costs far more than the flour. Why would they do this?

 

I make parmesan bowls or crisps regularly and never use anything but cheese, so I hope it was just a chef who boffed the bowls on that particular voyage! :eek:

[Hlitner]

Just a few thoughts about the OPs comments because we are essentially in the same "boat." We are also Elite with Princess (and also Elite with X, 4 Star Mariners with HA, etc etc) and have not been on Princess in about 3 years (and we cruise over 70 days a year). Regarding the specific comments in the post, HA also has major problems with the upkeep of some of their ships (just read some of the recent threads on the HA board) and have cut-back in several areas including entertainment and cuisine. We strongly agree that the Horizon Court (Princess) is a terrible design on most of their ships. Celebrity has really done a great job refining the lido buffet design (they have very few lines and no problem with traffic flow) and perhaps Princess needs to study the layout on the Celebrity S-Class ships. The Princess Horizon Court seems to be designed to throttle large crowds into a very confined space...and this is not a good thing. That being said, we used to generally avoid the Horizon Court problems by trying to eat at other then prime time. Another issue with Princess had been their ice cream station (Horizon Court) where we have been amazed to discover that cruisers are willing to stand in line for more then 20 min to simply get an ice cream cone (and the ice cream is not even particularly good). They used to open the ice cream station for a short period of time in mid-afternoon and it was often a zoo. Celebrity, where they make all their own fresh ice cream onboard, avoids this problem by keeping their ice cream station open all day.

 

Another Princess issue are the many discussions (here on CC and elsewhere) about their beds and bedding. While competitors such as HA and Celebrity have installed wonderful thick bedding (often with fine Egyptian cotton sheets) Princess beds are a constant issue of some irritation. Many long time Princess cruisers will often, soon after boarding, quickly ask their steward for eggcrate mattress covers before they are all gone. There is no need for those things on Celebrity of HA.

 

Hank

[Toddy709]

The tone of your post seems as if you are trying to talk yourself out of trying Princess again. And perhaps it's be best for you to stay away, because I suspect you'd be looking for negatives throughout the cruise, which could certainly result in a negative cruise experience.

I am not saying this to be snarky .... just voicing my interpretation of your post.

 

I agree 100% with flamomo. It sounds as if you're so pleased with HAL and Celebrity that you won't be able to help being let down by Princess. I, too, am not being snarky, just expressing my opinion from your original post.

[PescadoAmarillo]

I could make the same list of things we enjoy about HAL and Celebrity and it doesn't preclude us from loving Princess. I think a lot of people could do the same.

[Griller]

We are Elite with Princess and the last but one time we cruised Princess was on Caribbean Princess this fall.

The least good of any of the Princess ships I have cruised in nearly 20 years.

Too crowded. Too affected by wind. Boring buffet. Poor Dinner menus. Didn't have a good cabin steward. Uncomfortable bed. Cabin stained and worn.

 

Then last month I was on Golden Princess. Buffet and Dinner menus were the same as on Caribbean P. but the whole ship was less crowded and friendlier, not worn out in appearance, the crew seemed happy and it was a great cruise.

 

We were booked on Crown Princess next month Transatlantic but decided after our poor experience on Caribbean P. , and with some trepidation, to change to a Transatlantic on Carnival Breeze.

 

Excellent and friendly cabin and dining room service, comfortable beds, wonderful buffet with many different types of ethnic food as well, main dining room menus more interesting than Princess.

We didn't think the entertainment was as good as Princess however, even with the fantastic LED screen backdrops in the theater.

 

But even allowing for the lost perks and lost OBC etc it still cost us HALF of what it would have on Princess.

 

So we are now abandoning Princess if we can find equivalent sailings elsewhere at a better price. If Princess still offered us a better product we would gladly pay more. But overall they do not.

[jmkennett]

The tone of your post seems as if you are trying to talk yourself out of trying Princess again. And perhaps it's be best for you to stay away, because I suspect you'd be looking for negatives throughout the cruise, which could certainly result in a negative cruise experience.

I am not saying this to be snarky .... just voicing my interpretation of your post.

 

Understand. I'm not looking for negatives, just have heard many negatives over the past few years. I have always loved Princess. Wouldn't be Elite if I didn't. I would hate to see the line I love go downhill. Had a great experience on HAL and Celebrity. Those two lines seem to have many more of the high rated, positive reviews than Princess lately. I probably will go on the Caribbean Princess, but just wanted to hear from other experiences.

[caribill]

We are also Elite with Princess and have not been on Princess in about 3 years....We strongly agree that the Horizon Court (Princess) is a terrible design on most of their ships....The Princess Horizon Court seems to be designed to throttle large crowds into a very confined space...and this is not a good thing.

 

Having not been on a Princess ship in three years, you have not experienced the revised Horizon Court on several of their ships. This includes wider aisles, same food available from two directions, and moving of breakfast toast/bagels/pastries/waffles and lunch/dinner desserts to a new stard outside the previous serving area.

 

Another issue with Princess had been their ice cream station (Horizon Court) where we have been amazed to discover that cruisers are willing to stand in line for more then 20 min to simply get an ice cream cone (and the ice cream is not even particularly good). They used to open the ice cream station for a short period of time in mid-afternoon and it was often a zoo. Celebrity, where they make all their own fresh ice cream onboard, avoids this problem by keeping their ice cream station open all day.

 

Obviously different cruise lines do some things differently and Princess in the past chose to restrict ice cream (outside of the dining room at meal hours) to an hour in the afternoon in the buffet area. However, the ice cream is made onboard daily and many consider the flavers offered to be good ones. But, due to many pasengers who complained that other cruise lines had free soft servce all day, Princess started offereing that on the ships with an ine cream stand and discountinued the hour of ice cream in the buffet on those ships.

 

 

 

 

See above in red.

[romnan]

Hi. We our Elite level on Princess, but have not cruised with them since 2006. I have always enjoyed Princess but over the last several years we have gone on HAL and Celebrity and loved both lines. We didn't choose to steer away from Princess for any particular reason, we just wanted to try some other lines with some different itineraries.

 

Now, I'm looking at sailing on the Caribbean Princess, at Spring Break, but have heard some very mixed reviews, both online and from people I know about this class of ship (extra deck) and it's condition. I've not sailed on the larger class ship. Sailing on HAL and Celebrity, I have seen some improvements over Princess.

 

In particular, I've heard a lot of criticism about the Horizon Court as compared with other lines and the crowding there, and around the pools, due to the extra deck of passengers. I realize all cruise lines are crowded around the pools and buffet at Spring Break, but I will say that the HAL and Celebrity handled it very well. I've never seen a better buffet than Celebrity.

 

A few examples. HAL and Celebrity provide many options for free drinks in their buffets (Lemonade, Fruit Punch, Apple Juice, OJ, Tea, etc.) and this is all day, from early morning to late night. I've read that Princess only provides tea, coffee, and water and sometimes Lemonade at lunch.

 

Celebrity serves pizza, pasta and, other snacks until very late at night. Has a sushi bar, afternoon tea, and the best variety at breakfast that I've seen. HAL has Asian stations, crepes, fresh OJ, fresh eggs Benedict, etc. There was a buffet on deck almost every other night. I've heard Princess has cut back on a lot of choices in the Horizon and there are constant lines, due to the setup.

 

I've seen a lot of the "little things" still on HAL and Celebrity. Returning to the ship in ports, they give ice towels and lemonade. Announcements are kept to a minimum. During our Med cruise on the Nieuw Amsterdam last July, there were maybe two announcements the entire day, plus the captain's noon report.

 

The staterooms on Celebrity and HAL are great. HAL has the best beds of any cruise line and Celebrity is a close second. Last time on Princess, the beds were like sleeping on a board. Terrible. I've heard this has not changed. Celebrity has modern staterooms with beautiful bathrooms and showers with glass doors. HAL has tubs & DVD players. Furniture on the balconies was very nice. Last time I was on Princess, we had plastic chairs.

 

The condition of the HAL and Celebrity ships were almost perfect. I've heard the Caribbean Princess has some wear and tear. A friend was on it last year and said his cabin had stains and tears on the carpet and furniture and the overall cabin was not in great condition. I watched the Island Princess sail out of Port Everglades on the webcam in the Spring and there was rust all over the bow. Didn't look like anybody cared about the appearance, especially when they have sat in port all day and had time to paint it. You never see that on a Celebrity or HAL ship. First impressions are everything! No excuse for that.

 

So, these are just some small examples of what I've experienced on other lines and what I've heard recently about Princess. Since I'm on the Princess board, I anticipate I'll get favorable opinions, but please convince me one way or the other.

 

On 43 cruise, I've never had a bad one and am probably the least picky person you will find, so please take my examples as observations and not complaints. I just want the best experience for my money and some of the rumors about Princess are making me think twice about the line that I have cruised on and loved the most.

I must totally agree with you. My wife and I went back to Princess to dp our Alaskan Cruise and it was by no means what thier brochures and on line advertising depicts,for us is was a very expensive disappointment

[Griller]

I must totally agree with you. My wife and I went back to Princess to dp our Alaskan Cruise and it was by no means what thier brochures and on line advertising depicts,for us is was a very expensive disappointment

 

If you want real disappointment read Cunard's ultra expensive glossy brochure and then go on the cruise with them.

 

If Cunard spent half as much money providing what they promise as they do on producing the brochure the world would be a better place.

 

Personally I never read the brochures any more, just book an inexpensive lastminute firesale special cruise and its amazing how tolerant I become of any shortcomings.

[tarheelmjfan]

Hi. We our Elite level on Princess, but have not cruised with them since 2006. I have always enjoyed Princess but over the last several years we have gone on HAL and Celebrity and loved both lines. We didn't choose to steer away from Princess for any particular reason, we just wanted to try some other lines with some different itineraries.

 

Now, I'm looking at sailing on the Caribbean Princess, at Spring Break, but have heard some very mixed reviews, both online and from people I know about this class of ship (extra deck) and it's condition. I've not sailed on the larger class ship. Sailing on HAL and Celebrity, I have seen some improvements over Princess.

 

In particular, I've heard a lot of criticism about the Horizon Court as compared with other lines and the crowding there, and around the pools, due to the extra deck of passengers. I realize all cruise lines are crowded around the pools and buffet at Spring Break, but I will say that the HAL and Celebrity handled it very well. I've never seen a better buffet than Celebrity.

 

We've only taken one Princess cruise on Island. I can tell you Horizon Court had a very limited selection compared to Celebrity. We mostly walked through & walked out. Most things didn't look appetizing to us. One day we stayed for a snack & once we took a sandwich & potato salad back to the cabin. We usually only take advantage of the buffet for lunch or an afternoon snack. This cruise we didn't even do that.

 

A few examples. HAL and Celebrity provide many options for free drinks in their buffets (Lemonade, Fruit Punch, Apple Juice, OJ, Tea, etc.) and this is all day, from early morning to late night. I've read that Princess only provides tea, coffee, and water and sometimes Lemonade at lunch.

The drink selection was more limited. Considering the fact we only wanted iced tea at lunch we were fine with what Island offered.

 

Celebrity serves pizza, pasta and, other snacks until very late at night. Has a sushi bar, afternoon tea, and the best variety at breakfast that I've seen. HAL has Asian stations, crepes, fresh OJ, fresh eggs Benedict, etc. There was a buffet on deck almost every other night. I've heard Princess has cut back on a lot of choices in the Horizon and there are constant lines, due to the setup.

 

Princess had afternoon tea every day. We were surprised to see the same things that were in the buffet throughout the cruise, so we only went once. The scones were very nice though. It wasn't as good as Celebrity's tea, but it was offered more often.

 

I've seen a lot of the "little things" still on HAL and Celebrity. Returning to the ship in ports, they give ice towels and lemonade. Announcements are kept to a minimum. During our Med cruise on the Nieuw Amsterdam last July, there were maybe two announcements the entire day, plus the captain's noon report.

 

Island did have cold towels & water waiting for us at the ports.

 

The staterooms on Celebrity and HAL are great. HAL has the best beds of any cruise line and Celebrity is a close second. Last time on Princess, the beds were like sleeping on a board. Terrible. I've heard this has not changed. Celebrity has modern staterooms with beautiful bathrooms and showers with glass doors. HAL has tubs & DVD players. Furniture on the balconies was very nice. Last time I was on Princess, we had plastic chairs.

 

I suppose the beds on Princess are hard, but we like hard beds. We've never had a problem with Princess or X beds. Our cabin was fine. We were happy with it. The bathroom was small, but you probably already know Princess has smaller bathrooms than X.

 

The condition of the HAL and Celebrity ships were almost perfect. I've heard the Caribbean Princess has some wear and tear. A friend was on it last year and said his cabin had stains and tears on the carpet and furniture and the overall cabin was not in great condition. I watched the Island Princess sail out of Port Everglades on the webcam in the Spring and there was rust all over the bow. Didn't look like anybody cared about the appearance, especially when they have sat in port all day and had time to paint it. You never see that on a Celebrity or HAL ship. First impressions are everything! No excuse for that.

 

Our balcony had a rusted light. There was a split in the cover from rust. We acknowledged it once, then moved on. It really didn't affect our cruise experience.

 

So, these are just some small examples of what I've experienced on other lines and what I've heard recently about Princess. Since I'm on the Princess board, I anticipate I'll get favorable opinions, but please convince me one way or the other.

 

On 43 cruise, I've never had a bad one and am probably the least picky person you will find, so please take my examples as observations and not complaints. I just want the best experience for my money and some of the rumors about Princess are making me think twice about the line that I have cruised on and loved the most.

The bulk of our cruises have been on Celebrity. Our first choice would still be X. We did have a great time on our Island cruise & wouldn't hesitate to take another Princess cruise under the right circumstances. If you're looking at an itinerary that only Princess offers, I'd book it. If X offered the same itinerary for a few $100 more, I'd stay with what you know you'll enjoy. We haven't sailed on a HAL ship yet, so I can't offer a comparison.

[YaddaBest]

If you want real disappointment read Cunard's ultra expensive glossy brochure and then go on the cruise with them.

 

If Cunard spent half as much money providing what they promise as they do on producing the brochure the world would be a better place.

 

Personally I never read the brochures any more, just book an inexpensive lastminute firesale special cruise and its amazing how tolerant I become of any shortcomings.

 

I agree with your philosophy of booking last second. Especially on transatlantics which always seem to be available. Get a deal and you can put up with some things not being and meeting expectations. If you paid top dollar makes it harder to swallow.

[Hlitner]

Caribill, We appreciate your comments (above). Yes, we are aware the Princess has revised some of the traffic flow in the Horizon Court....but its only on a few ships. The design of the Horizon Court precludes an efficient open design (like Celebrity has on the S class ships) and we can hope that Princess fixes the problem on newer ships (if and when they build more ships). As to ice cream, they had already started to increase the ice cream hours on our last Princess cruise.....but not sure why they do not simply keep the ice cream bar open all day.

 

There are some great things on Princess and we will certainly return when we find an itinerary of interest (we still have future cruise credits). But (and this is a big but) we will bring some kind of noise cancelling headphones so we can avoid the noise during the day at the pool deck from MUTS (which has changed from Movies Under the Stars to Movies and Noise All Day Long)! We were big fans of the MUTS concept when it started....but after they decided to blast out noise all day long we became big critics.

 

We do appreciate some cruise lines (such as Celebrity and Cunard) that limit daytime noise be it from MUTS or those darn PA announcents. Kudos to the cruise director on the Celebrity Silhouette (hi Lisa) who limited her annoucements to no more then twice a day.

 

Hank

[Griller]

I agree with your philosophy of booking last second. Especially on transatlantics which always seem to be available. Get a deal and you can put up with some things not being and meeting expectations. If you paid top dollar makes it harder to swallow.

Just had a great 15 day transatlantic on the newest cruiseship afloat, Carnival Breeze, excellent ship for comfort service and food, $504 each inc taxes and we still got our $250 stockholder OBC.

I could live on a ship if thats what it cost every time...............unfortunately Princess is about double.

[Coral]

Princess has changed quite a bit since 2006. I would suggest staying with Celebrity and HAL if you are happy with them.

 

I personally have been disappointed with a lot of the changes Princess has made the past several years.

[flamomo]

As much as I love many things about Princess, have 19 cruises on the books with them, and another one coming up in a few months ... and have no plans to change cruiselines, I have to agree with the post that commented about "MUTS" having become Movies And Noise All Day Long ("MANADL" ... LOL!).

 

I spent 19 days on the Ruby in October, and the audio from the outddor movies/videos of concerts was so darn loud that it was very noticeable while sitting in the other pool area, the one where MUTS is NOT located. I do not understand why it is necessary to have the audio that loud. It is absolutely blasted on the loudspeakers, to the extent that it is very annoying just walking through the area, let alone considering sitting there but not watching whatever is playing on the screen.

 

I wish Princess would go back to the system they used to have where they provided earbuds that received the audio to those watching whatever is playing on the movie screen, and it was not broadcast at ear ringing levels to the whole area.

[baldercash]

Regarding mattresses, I am currently on the Emerald for awhile and had to specifically request a new mattress, which is heavenly, but, oh my, the sheets are quite full of holes which are great toe catchers in the middle of the night. I expect that they start as the same little holes that frequently appear in our ship-laundered clothes but they expand over time.

 

We recently did Emerald and the mattress was horrendous, I wish I had thought to complain and ask for a new one. First time I have slept in a bed and had my shoulders and upper back ache in the morning. We commented to others on the worn condition of the sheets and duvets as well should have complained to our steward instead.

 

We had not cruised Princess for 4 years and the wife booked the cruise so as not to lose the deposit which was expiring, we have cruised a lot of Celebrity in the past 4 years and were not over whelmed by our Princess experience, we had a long list deficiencies nothing that was a deal breaker but when added up not an impressive cruise.

 

We did leave deposits for future cruise and would cruise Princess again only for a great itinerary and really amazing price.

We did get a itinerary that was on the wife's bucket list and by booking just 2 weeks out the price was ridiculous. So considering the price and itinerary we were pleased with the cruise but disappointed in the ship and amenities.

 

We tend to observe and move on and not complain. Next time we encounter something like the mattress I will be more vocal.

 

We left 4 deposits so we could do back to backs and were considering doing a south Pacific cruise on Princess next fall with friends. However we are now looking at the Millennium next October which will be going from Hawaii to Australia 17 days & Australia to Singapore 18 days instead.

There is no Princess ship that in our opinion can compare with the solsticed Millennium, we enjoyed it a few times before it was refurbished and it will be a great ship to be on with all the sea days.

 

We will be back on Princess but likely not until our deposits are about to expire, they are only good for 2 years now.

[Coral]

 

We will be back on Princess but likely not until our deposits are about to expire, they are only good for 2 years now.

 

The deposits are fully refundable on Princess so if you can't use them, they will refund them.

[Coral]

As much as I love many things about Princess, have 19 cruises on the books with them, and another one coming up in a few months ... and have no plans to change cruiselines, I have to agree with the post that commented about "MUTS" having become Movies And Noise All Day Long ("MANADL" ... LOL!).

 

.

 

I really wish there was someone from the Cruise Director's staff out by the pool on my last cruise the morning I was out there. It was a gorgeous day and bunch of us were reading out by the pool with MUTS. MUTS was playing some sea music with sea life on the screen. It was pleasant. Then, out of the speakers on either side of the deck, came loud music. About 50 people out by the pool left. I stayed and asked someone if they could turn it down. Whoever I asked probably had no power. The music eventually stopped and then MUTS screen started again with a Tina Turner concert. At that point, anyone still at the pool now left and went some where else. Really, a Tina Turner concert :mad: So here there was a decent use of MUTS and people were enjoying it playing some calming sea music and then within 15 minutes, everyone cleared the area.

 

Though I am in your camp - keep MUTS for night.

[baldercash]

Coral;36170227] That was one of the things on our list, we like going up at night and watching a movie, snuggling up in the blankets but it drove us away during the day.

Though if they were putting on a big game during the day I wouldn't complain but others likely would like my wife : )

 

We know the deposits will be returned but my wife considers it as found money as it has already been paid and she gets more on board credit. As I said she likes to spend at sea!

She actually did not want to leave deposits but it was one of my few wins. We had been invited to do a B to B on Princess in Feb from Argentina to LA with friends who had already booked. After discussing it they canceled as they had not been on Princess for a number of years as well, they will be doing the pacific cruise with us likely on X now.

Now I get I told you so: }

[caribill]

We will be back on Princess but likely not until our deposits are about to expire, they are only good for 2 years now.

 

Word is that if you have not used them and the two year limit is approaching, you can call Princess and get them extended for two more years.

[baldercash]

Word is that if you have not used them and the two year limit is approaching, you can call Princess and get them extended for two more years.

 

Thank you that is valuable information, so many cruises and line and so little time.

Cheers

[KKB]

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