Are rooms ready at boarding time?

[LMaxwell]

I have two prior experiences with Princess and in both cases when boarding just before noon, rooms were ready for use. That means the rooms were cleaned/stocked/no stewards or carts clogging halls, doors locked and secured.

 

I'd like Royal Caribbean to do the same thing and I suggested as much on that forum and a handful of people keep stating that Princess rooms are NOT ready for use at boarding. I was onboard Caribbean Princess 9/1/14 and the room most certainly was ready when we boarded at 11:55AM and the door was not open or the room unclean.

 

What is the official Princess policy on this or the experience of long time Princess cruisers?

[Mom33]

Ten cruises on Princess and all cabins were ready at boarding.

 

 

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[RickEk]

I have two prior experiences with Princess and in both cases when boarding just before noon, rooms were ready for use. That means the rooms were cleaned/stocked/no stewards or carts clogging halls, doors locked and secured.

 

I'd like Royal Caribbean to do the same thing and I suggested as much on that forum and a handful of people keep stating that Princess rooms are NOT ready for use at boarding. I was onboard Caribbean Princess 9/1/14 and the room most certainly was ready when we boarded at 11:55AM and the door was not open or the room unclean.

 

What is the official Princess policy on this or the experience of long time Princess cruisers?

 

Princess cabins, in my experience (18 cruises), are always ready when boarding begins.

Edited October 2, 2014 by RickEk

[bhopal21]

We are always among the first to board being elite and staying in a suite and we have never found our cabin to not be complete and ready for occupancy.

 

Princess does not begin the boarding process until the cabins are ready.

 

Mike:)

[paul929207]

32 Princess cruises and the cabin was ready everytime. We usually board at noon or earlier

[LMaxwell]

Thank you. My brother will be doing his first Princess cruise in 5 weeks and I told him rooms were ready (my experience) and I didn't want to tell him otherwise! And I still think RCI should follow the Princess example.

[erber]

We have been on 16 Princess cruises and our rooms have ALWAYS been ready upon boarding. We are going on our first Royal Caribbean cruise tomorrow (a short 3 day cruise to Nassau) and we understand rooms are not ready until 1:00 so we don't plan to be at the port until 1:00.

[LMaxwell]

We have been on 16 Princess cruises and our rooms have ALWAYS been ready upon boarding. We are going on our first Royal Caribbean cruise tomorrow (a short 3 day cruise to Nassau) and we understand rooms are not ready until 1:00 so we don't plan to be at the port until 1:00.

 

If you are on Majesty be sure not to miss Compass Deli on top of Windjammer; great crepes made to order and free of charge. Only ship in the fleet with this feature!

[redtogo]

On all of our Princess cruises, our room has always been ready when we board the ship. Unlike some of the other cruise lines, on which, we had to wait in the common area, atrium, until 1:00 PM waiting for the rooms to be readied for us.

[Pam in CA]

Whoever posted that Princess cabins aren't ready on boarding is just plain wrong or deliberately lying. :( I've cruised Princess since the early 90's and cabins have always been ready.

[dplusd]

Princess cabins have always been available upon boarding. We are usually on board by noon. It's very nice to be able to drop your carry-on bags in your room. I wish Royal did this too...picture the crazy boarding day buffet with all that carry on luggage! Ughh!

[Cruisin' Chick]

Odds are, no one will be posting otherwise...and odds are, it would be the very rare exception with a likely reason. Another reason to like Princess!:)

 

I seem to remember that on our Carnival cruises (between 1994 and 2002), our cabins have always been ready, but I'm guessing that may have changed.

[Kenswing]

That's why on Princess you have to vacate your room by 8:00 on debarkation day, so they can get it ready for the next batch of cruisers.

[paul929207]

Odds are' date=' no one will be posting otherwise...and odds are, it would be the very rare exception with a likely reason. Another reason to like Princess!:)

 

I seem to remember that on our Carnival cruises (between 1994 and 2002), our cabins have always been ready, but I'm guessing that may have changed.[/quote']

Carnival has the cabin ready about 1 or 1:30 UNLESS you pay them extra for early boarding.

[jsiegel]

Twice the cabins were not available upon boarding on two of my Princess cruises . One time was due to a unscheduled Coast Guard inspection. We were asked to go to lunch first and not go to our cabin until after 2 p.m. The second time was due to the ship AND the terminal being disinfected due to a noro outbreak on the previous cruises. Both times were understandable and no big deal. I felt really sorry for the poor crew who had to really hustle to get everything ready, especially after the disinfection. All the other times, cabins ready, stocked and welcoming.

 

Jackie

[Vexorg]

I've had my room ready on embarkation every time I've sailed on Princess. From what I understand, the tradeoff is having to be out of your room by 8am on disembarkation day where other lines will generally let you stay in your room until you disembark, but then won't have them ready until after you board.

[pocketfulofsunshine]

I've sailed twice on Princess and both times the cabin was prepped for occupancy.

[elliair]

Carnival has the cabin ready about 1 or 1:30 UNLESS you pay them extra for early boarding.

 

Platinum on Carnival as well as elite and suite passengers, cabins are ready. All others must wait except paying $50 for FTTF. They also board after Diamond and Platinum passengers.

[islandatsea]

Our Princess cabins have always been ready upon boarding & we get to the Port early since we are Platinum and can be some of the first to board.

 

 

 

Platinum on Carnival as well as elite and suite passengers, cabins are ready. All others must wait except paying $50 for FTTF. They also board after Diamond and Platinum passengers.

 

This statement true about Carnival. Being Platinum on Carnival also, our cabins always have been ready. As noted above, passengers will need to wait until about 1pm or so to get into their cabins if you are not in the above mentioned groups.

[Luckiest Dog]

It is always amazing to me how they can turn a ship around so quickly and not just the rooms. With all the passengers getting off, new passengers getting on, folio payments, customs, food loading, food preparation, baggage, fuel, employee scheduling and more. They certainly have it down to a science with minimal inconvenience to passengers.

My preference is to start the cruise with availability to the room and end the cruise having to vacate early.

[Cruzin-K]

Whoever posted that Princess cabins aren't ready on boarding is just plain wrong or deliberately lying. :( I've cruised Princess since the early 90's and cabins have always been ready.

 

The cabin has been ready on all four of my Princess cruises as well, but that doesn't mean the poster over on the RCI board was lying. That particular poster seems to me to be quite reliable with her comments. She didn't say she couldn't get into her cabin, just that the steward hadn't finished cleaning it yet.

 

The trade off on three out of four of my Princess cruises is that we weren't allowed to board until 12:30 or so.

[piper28]

The only time the cabin hasn't been ready for me was on the Amazon cruise I took, and that wasn't really a normal boarding process. We were on the charter flight in, and were taken directly from the flight to the ship, and I honestly couldn't tell you what time it actually was at the time we got to the ship, but they had us wait in the lounge for a while before we could go to the rooms. They'd actually told us aproximately how long it was going to be, but it ended up being a much shorter period of time than they'd told us.

 

So not exactly a normal experience.

[AKman2495]

The cabin has been ready on all four of my Princess cruises as well, but that doesn't mean the poster over on the RCI board was lying. That particular poster seems to me to be quite reliable with her comments. She didn't say she couldn't get into her cabin, just that the steward hadn't finished cleaning it yet.

 

The trade off on three out of four of my Princess cruises is that we weren't allowed to board until 12:30 or so.

 

Well, there is a big difference between the steward hadn't finished cleaning a room and a statement that the rooms are not ready at boarding.

 

I have cruised 6 times and they have always been ready for us.

[Cruzin-K]

Well, there is a big difference between the steward hadn't finished cleaning a room and a statement that the rooms are not ready at boarding.

 

I have cruised 6 times and they have always been ready for us.

 

Well, the person who posted over on the RCI board stated that the sheets hadn't been changed yet. That to me is "not ready", even if you can go to the room and leave your luggage.

[PenguinLife]

One Princess cruise so far, steward was in the cabin prepping it when we arrived at the cabin.