What are the "little things" the accountants think we'll never miss when they're gone

[Shogun]

Hi Mr Man

 

I though the demographics was the world had an ageing population,

 

and it was the older generations that had the highest disposable income .

 

With the younger generations worried about job security, debt and lack of

 

pensions.

 

yours Shogun

[Pushka]

Its interesting. I would miss none of these things. Having cruised on Celebrity and Cunard as well as Princess for me it is all about clean and comfortable cabins, pleasant crew, nice but not exceptional food, and great itinerary. I rarely watch shows and get a bit fidgety after 30 minutes. Makes it pretty simple really.

[BarbaraP]

Hi All

 

Printed TV guide

Flower guy gone, have to order from book at front desk, expect next step no flowers

 

 

yours Shogun

 

 

 

That was my pet peeve on our last cruise 2 weeks ago. How much money can that save Princess.:(

Edited November 10, 2015 by BarbaraP

[Nezmo]

I have not cruised Princess just yet so I'm coming from a different perspective. However, I think if you keep focusing on what's missing then you'll just find more things to get upset about and you risk having a less-than-great time. There's so much to be happy about on a cruise I personally am not worried about missing chocs on my pillow at night, as an example (a constant complaint now from Carnival passengers but akin to some of things mentioned here).

 

Princess is a business. They have to make money so you can have a good vacation. It's a constant balancing act for them so while they may seem to be penny-pinching in one area, they are probably making subtle positive changes elsewhere. Do I ever make comments like "I wish they still did x or y"? Sure I do, but I don't let it get in the way of a good time.

[cantwaitfornextcruise]

I would challenge this group to ask if all the "little" items are things anyone under 50 would want. This is the generation Princess has to attract to survive. I suspect this demographic never even considers picking a cruise for bridge, captain circle nibbles, on board florist etc. In fact they don't want traditional dinning, would rather go to a specialty restaurant or gastropub than sitting with the same people at the same time every day, etc. It's a different world out there for the good or bad, but this is the future and woe to those businesses who ignore it. Especially if this is the group that pays for the ancillary revenue generating activities, bars, casinos, specialty restaurants, excursions etc.

 

MrMan - YOU ARE SO RIGHT - this is me clapping you :cool: I hadn't thought about it in that way, we have cruised with our son & DI they loved the cruise with us ( Dad picked up the tab lol) but found another line more fun then we took our Son DIL and Grandson again they loved the cruise with us but prefer another line. Last year we suggested another cruise the comment was Yes but not on Princess, now they are paying they felt they could be honest.

They had great family time but found Princess, stuffy and stuck in a time warp. Please don't flame me but I think MrMann has hit the nail on the head, hence so many 7 day itinaries.

[mncruizr]

I agree with MrMan - Cruise lines are trying to appeal to the masses and the masses are no longer the same masses they used to be - if that makes sense:). I'm a religious guy but church is on the downslide along with bridge, ballroom dancing and while there are lots of seasoned cruisers that like them, they don't appeal to the new target market - millenials. That group likes craft beers, bourbon, wine bars, poker tournaments, fun restaurants, sports bars, and I'm sure more than I can think of (I'm a boomer, so what would I know!!).

[cr8tiv1]

Just off the Star Princess.

 

 

Elite amenities came in netted baggie.

Chocolate covered Strawberries and other can be ordered free of charge on formal night if Elite.

No shortage of nuts etc. during Captain Circle night.

Yes for shorter shows and yes there are more single entertainers.

 

Theo

 

I was on the Crown in October. I was told the Strawberries came with a charge. I did not receive a card and called Room Service directly. The Profiteroles were not on the door knob card, but they agreed to send it complimentary.

 

Thanks for your confirmations.

[Linerguy]

As for a non-denominational church service versus a Catholic mass its understandable why a non-Catholic would equate them. Ask a Catholic about the difference (real presence) that may not be apparent to some.

 

• Our last 2 cruises chocolate covered strawberries were not on the list of canapes on formal night.
  
• Forgot to list the absence of a sommelier.
  

 

No Chocolate covered strawberries? Damn them all to hell!

 

I think I know where the missing nuts from the Captain's Circle party went to.

[TracieABD]

Princess still hold an allure for me...

And no matter what is on anybodies list, there are others who have no interest in that.

 

When Princess stops working for us, I guess we will move on, but for today, it is our cruise line of preferance.

[minabruuke]

Conditioner!!! I am actually happy that Princess has gone with the more environmentally friendly option of shampoo and body wash dispensers but conditioning shampoo is not a functional substitute for my long(ish) hair. I really liked their old products but they can save so much plastic with the dispensers. Granted, we have only been cruising for about 5 years but the lack of conditioner is the only amenity that I've seen go away that irks me. I don't like that I have to remember to bring my own. Conditioner is something you tend to find in most 2.5* hotels and I would consider Princess hotel services to be nicer than your average 2.5* hotel and thus I expect their amenities to reflect that. But, it is what it is and it certainly won't stop me from sailing Princess.

 

As for the decreased show times, my husband and I both prefer the shorter shows.

[Bimmer09]

I imagine that the accountants have noticed that we've noticed that those little niceties are gone but they're not going to come back-because they were niceties.

They've gone and saved some money. The pillow chocolates should be next.

3500 chocks on the Regal X 10 cents =$350 a night X 365...what's that $127,750 a year on just the Regal? If you think the chocs are worth 1 cent then divide by 10.

 

I gave two towels to the room steward when I boarded the Emerald recently.

Threads hanging off them and the light showing through. That bothered me in that the laundry should have tossed them into the "Engineer's rags" bin.

A towel is not a nicety.

 

The Somelier is something I haven't seen on Princess and I have been sailing since August 2011. I had waiters on the Emerald who had a hard time telling a bottle of red from a bottle of white-and I'd already paid for them. A Somelier pays his keep by making suggestions and focusing just on the wine. How many would they need per ship? 3 dining rooms so 6 to 9 of those. So they have to be saving a lot of money by not paying 18 ships X 6-9 people...108 to 162 staff positions eliminated.

 

You'll still sail if there are no mints and no somelier and no florist man-and the accountants figure that.

 

I can live without any of the niceties that have been mentioned so far-some I didn't even know had existed.

 

I want a clean ship that sails on time and gets me to where it says on the ticket.

I want a dining room crew that acts like they didn't step on a rake before their shift

I want officers that do their job and get the best from their crew

I want hotel quality towels and bedding

I want bars that stay open until their closing time

I want no mail from the Lotus Spa in my mailbox-ever.

I want Princess to stop making dumb mistakes (like the charging for room service nonsense) and then having to retract. Those kind of things don't give me the warm fuzzies. Houston was another blunder.

I want to order a rum and coke and not get a coke with a hint of rum

I want the chair hog rules enforced, the MDR dress code on Formal Nights enforced (or done away with.)

I want real champagne used in the waterfall (who are we kidding?)

I want the promotion of Diamonds International during port talks to cease-tonight

I want the Tiger head paintings removed from the art gallery and their potential buyers interviewed by a team of psychiatrists/art lovers

I want the Princess theater to have drinks tables on the armrests again

I want Neville Saldanha to teach all the other Maitre 'ds

I want Dino Sagani to be cloned

I want the Diamond or Sapphire back here by tomorrow morning

 

That's my list as it stands right now...

 

In other news, Shogun (Steve) a loyalist to PCL is missing the wow factor and a lot of people are saying the same. I think Princess is a very good cruise line and have no major complaints (except the above) and will continue to cruise with them.

 

However I am sailing X in less than 70 days and hope to add another line just for the sake of variety.

 

I'll let you know how that pans out in late January. If there are no pillow mints-I'll know we're doomed.

 

Norris

[capriccio]

A related question: Almost everyone is out to pay the lowest fare possible so if you miss something how much more are you willing to pay to have it offered again?

 

We've only been cruising since 2007 - all on Princess (plus 2 cruises in the late 1990s and 2001 on other lines) and everything I have read is that cruising now is much less costly than it was 15 or 25 years ago. We think we get good value for the money and when we no longer think so, we'll look at the more expensive cruise lines.

[MrMan]

Hi Mr Man

 

I though the demographics was the world had an ageing population,

 

and it was the older generations that had the highest disposable income .

 

With the younger generations worried about job security, debt and lack of

 

pensions.

 

yours Shogun

 

I am a management consultant and live this stuff. Yes the older generation has more disposable income, but thats short term and they don't tend to spend cash on high profit items, casinos, booze, food. More importantly Princess needs to get Millennials on board to lock in brand loyalty. Businesses should be looking 20 years out and marketing to today to catch brand loyalty for the future. And 'kids' today are not looking at same thing as groups four generations ago are. Notice with the exception of pharma, most advertising on the tele is geared to 20-50 year olds for this same reason.

[Shogun]

Hi All

 

Things no longer available,

 

cyber golf,

 

or wii sports area,

 

 

yours Shogun

[GUT2407]

Hi All

 

Printed TV guide,

 

Flower guy gone, have to order from book at front desk, expect next step no flowers

 

 

yours Shogun

 

Flower guy is on our cruise at the moment on Diamond.

[GUT2407]

Its interesting. I would miss none of these things. Having cruised on Celebrity and Cunard as well as Princess for me it is all about clean and comfortable cabins, pleasant crew, nice but not exceptional food, and great itinerary. I rarely watch shows and get a bit fidgety after 30 minutes. Makes it pretty simple really.

 

Yep and time with DW.

[StLouisCruisers]

Norris, I'm sorry to tell you on my first Celebrity cruise in Nov. 2014 the only pillow chocolate we received was on the first formal night. According to our steward that is the policy now. Pillow chocolates were sorely missed!

 

We don't plan on taking any more Celebrity cruises in the future - not because of chocolate. We just didn't care for that line.

[GUT2407]

Princess still hold an allure for me...

And no matter what is on anybodies list, there are others who have no interest in that.

 

When Princess stops working for us, I guess we will move on, but for today, it is our cruise line of preferance.

 

Hit the nail on the head, there are so many choices, if Princess is too OLD go RCI or whatever, idiots to informal go Cunard or whatever.

 

There is something that will suit prett much everyone.

[chamima]

One more thing to mention

Get rid of the all day MUTS and in warm weather go back to the live deck bands.

 

Yes to the above.

Also, no one has mentioned the dining room preparation (which used to be tableside :( ) of things like Bananas Foster , Cherries Jubilee and Pasta Arrabbiata .

That is a little touch that we always loved!

[Thrak]

In regard to the lack of a Catholic priest onboard:

 

I'm not what one would call a religious guy but, if one wanted to commune with their god, why not just go up on the upper deck and look out at the awesome sea or do it at night and look up at the awesome sky. I would feel more "close to god" in a redwood forest or out to sea than inside a chapel.

 

I'm not trying to make issues here. This is just the way I feel. I've been to Catholic services in churches. I've been to Pentecostal services in churches. I prefer the great outdoors. It makes me feel small and humble.

[seapals2]

Not sure about the little things ... but ..

The new ships have lost mini suites as found on Dawn Princess ... been replaced with longer balcony cabins.

Balcony in general .. replaced with a shelf.

Staircases .. replaced with .. nothing ...

 

Space ... used to be quite a lot of it I remember ...

[suzyed]

"30 min. shows, woefully too short"

 

Make that, "mercifully" short.

 

I'm with you, Linerguy! The only shows we enjoyed on our 29 day cruise was the local dancers, the cooking show by the Chef and the funny cruise director staff show (although its usually pretty much the same show).

 

One show we went to on the Crown had a woman singer who was so full of herself, she was hard to take....then she came out in the audience and scolded some man for having his feet on the railing. UGH!

[suzyed]

If someone is so religious that they feel the need to have a priest around during Christmas or Easter, one has to ask why they are sailing during such holy days. :D

 

They sail because it is fun to do as a family and that's when they kids have off from school.

It's not about "feeling the need", it's a nice touch and one that is much appreciated. And why couldn't they also have a minister and a rabbi? We have been on ships that had Saturday services for the Jewish people on board. I don't begrudge them that...good for them.

Edited November 11, 2015 by suzyed

[suzyed]

I'm surprised no one has caught yet that Princess' accountants are in Santa Clarita, not Santa Clara. Don't blame NorCal for what goes on in LaLa Land. :D

 

But the corporate accountants are not to blame for shipboard policies--it is the members of the applicable department on board (hotel, F&B, entertainment) that decide how their budget is best applied. Take the souvenir wine glasses which everyone seems to hold so dear: with the number of Elites growing, thus a smaller and smaller percentage of passengers who attend actually paying the $9.50 for the wine tasting, a way has to be found to either shrink the cost to keep it roughly equal to the revenue or allocate funds for it from another part of the dining budget. (It seems like a lot of Elites would be happy if Princess skipped the actual wine tasting and just sent the glass to their cabins).

 

And I'm sorry but it is quite unreasonable for the OP to ask for "no value judgments" and then proffer religion as a topic. So here's mine: the free-cabins-for-clergy is a SCAM that has long run its course and should have been stopped years ago. When HAL tried to put an end to it they found themselves subject to a smear campaign from the giant tax-free political machine known as the Roman Catholic Church. And that's a fact, not a judgement (meaning the smear campaign). So they kowtowed and reinstated the priests.

 

Princess now has a clear policy to not tacitly endorse one denomination over another by remaining clergy free (thank God :rolleyes:). And while the bean counters in Santa Clarita are probably applauding, this is one cut for which they previously sat on their hands too long. One less freebie cabin taken out of revenue service should keep them from shrinking or eliminating such essential services as the chocolate on our pillows every night. (Read the threads from the lines where that has occurred--talk about a bloodbath...)

 

If you don't want clergy to have a free cabin...that's your right.

 

I resent you comments on the Catholic Church however. Unnecessary and inappropriate in this forum.

[Mommypig]

They are definitely saving money by having kleenex that has the texture of sandpaper in the staterooms. If nobody uses it they don't have to replace it.