Carnival Diamond Cruiser tries Princess for the 1st Time

[shortstop95]

After wanting to try Princess Cruise Lines for several years we finally embarked on our inaugural Princess cruise aboard the Royal Princess to celebrate my wife's birthday. We chose the 5 day leaving Fort Lauderdale on 10/22 (her actual birthday). We are 49 and now- 56 - cruise regularly but have built our loyalty through Carnival and enjoy the perks as returning cruisers.

 

We knew there would be no perks as first time cruisers. Embarkation was a snarled mess as the Royal Princess had just returned to the states from the summer in Europe. Added inspections and safety drills delayed boarding by several hours. Frustrating, but certainly no ones fault, just the reality of the situation.

 

The ship is beautiful. Entering into the ground level of the piazza you are immediately met with the grandness and the beauty of the Royal Princess. One of our favorite hangouts during the trip was the Bellini bar located on deck 6 which opened to the piazza and was near Alfredo's and the casino. Special mention to Nemo and Julio who were pleasant and kept our glasses filled throughout the cruise.

 

Here is where my praise ends for there was very little that impressed us with either the Royal Princess or Princess Cruise Lines overall.

 

After hearing and reading many reviews on Princess we were optimistic. Generally we found the service to be below what we traditionally receive on Carnival. We ate in the Allegro dining room early seating. Our booking documentation stated 6:00pm but when we arrived, our cards stated 5:30 pm. When we asked for clarification, we were told -"oh the doors open at 5:30, but you can come at 6:00pm. We had signed up for a table of 10 as we like to meet new people and looked for further clarification on when would our table mates arrive so that we wouldn't be waiting or keep others waiting. A clear answer was not received. Despite requesting 6:00 pm dining and being assured that's what we had- each night when we showed up well before 6:00 - we were always the last to arrive with everyone else already have ordered.

 

Service was abysmal. Our waiter was little assistance throughout the cruise. The first night we were only a group of 6 having arrived well before 6. Our orders were not complicated or difficult merely including appetizers, salads, entrees and coffee/dessert. Pretty standard. At approximately 7:50 the maitre de approached our table and asked us politely to leave so that the table could be turned for the late seating. I certainly understand - but in nearly 50 cruises on many different lines - this has NEVER happened to us. Having ordered the beverage package we were drinking wine by the glass during dinner. Another couple at the table had ordered a nice bottle of wine that they stated they could enjoy on multiple nights. After a very long period with an empty glass my wife inquired of our waiter where our refills were. Out table mate graciously offered my wife some from their bottle. The waiter quickly poured it for her. When I stated that I would prefer to wait for the glass I had ordered- he protested why didn't I just drink theirs? Once again I have NEVER experienced anything like this. We are easy-going folks, who are polite and congenial with the utmost respect for the hard-working staff and crew aboard cruise ships. We have reasonable expectations - but have never had such slow, sub-standard experience in a main dining room. As for the food, the menus were interesting with nice options and choices. The food however was no better than any other cruise line we have experienced. We had heard often times that food on Princess was superior to that of Carnival and other lines. This was not our perception at all. We ate daily at the Horizon Court for breakfast, enjoyed Alfredo's and the Wheelhouse each one day for lunch and the main dining room for dinner. To celebrate my wife's birthday, we did enjoy the Ultimate Balcony Dinner one evening. It turned out unfortunately to be a windy/stormy evening - so much so that the deck party planned for later on was moved inside while we were setting up. The wind on the balcony and gusting through the cabin each time they opened the door was an unfortunate distraction. Beyond anyone's control - but nonetheless impacting the experience.

 

My other large complaint came from Passenger Services. I am a long time Carnival Corporation stockholder. As such I've always enjoyed the onboard credit given to shareholders. In over 40+ sailings with Carnival, I've never once had a single issue receiving the credit. I did not receive the credit on Princess. I submitted my forms and supporting documentation well in advance of the cruise. I received an updated booking showing the credit on my account. The credit then dropped off. I spoke early on in the cruise to representatives at Passenger Services and provided copies of the documentation showing the credit on my account. All I received in return were excuses and platitudes about how they would look into it. Daily visits to Passenger Services yielded no results- just more attempts to "assure me they were looking into it." This coupled with $100 credit on my booking summary that I was told would be applied to my shipboard account which wasn't - made it clear that Princess is not ethical when dealing with its passengers. I am a financial professional in my career and understand financial institutions and their attempts to explain to a finance professional why they couldn't credit my account were patronizing and insulting.

 

We are friendly folks and chatted many people up during our 5 day cruise. Several times the conversation would turn to discussing the cruise itself. When we expressed our disappointment over service issues and our general lack of enthusiasm for Princess, we were surprised how dismissive folks would be when we said we still prefer Carnival. I understand brand loyalty - but we were careful not to knock down or criticize Princess, but more suggest Carnival met our needs better. Several times we were met with attitude that was just not necessary or appropriate.

 

Did we have a good cruise? Of course we did. Beautiful ship, great ports and pleasant weather. Will we try Princess again? Probably not.

 

I'm glad we gave it a try and glad too that we have confirmed what aspects are important to us.

 

I'll be glad to answer questions about the ship or our experience if anyone is interested.

Edited November 1, 2016 by LauraS
employee name

[WupperAV]

OOOOHHH! I'd have been in someone with "bars on his shoulders" face! That is uncalled for and doesn't sound like corporate.

[xeroxme]

Hmmm. Sorry that was your experience. I have only sailed princess 4 times but every cruise was great and I felt better than Carnival except for live entertainment on Carnival is better and nightclubs. Maybe you just picked the short straw with this one. 5 day cruise are truly short for Princess.. better luck next time whoever you sail with.

 

 

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[muggo11]

Well I am so sorry you had a bad Princess experience. We are platinum on Carnival and just got to platinum on Princess. We use both interchangeably depending on itinerary and price. No major complaints about either but have experienced bureaucratic snafus and occasional bad service on both. But nothing that would put us off either line. Just for a lark we used the platinum status on Princess to get a matched-status promo on MSC for a European itinerary next year. Curious to try another line myself.

 

I would urge persistence with customer service. I once expressed serious concern about an ill-informed port lecturer and was linked directly to the entertainment folks.

 

I would suggest trying one of the smaller ships, perhaps even Pacific Princess (my personal favorite). It is an intimate ship with great service.

 

Yes, people can get too brand-loyal and snobby. Don't let it get to you! We are such a flawed species! And keep on sailing.

 

 

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[Sillyjilly]

Make sure you feel out your survey! The service you received is not the norm! Sorry you had to deal with it.

[Murphey]

Regarding shareholder credit, very strange that we had the exact opposite experience earlier this year on our Victory cruise. Never did get our credit. For the most part, I liked the cabins on Carnival, but I feel the service is more personal on Princess, and more smiling crew members. Food on Carnival was much better than I expected. Toss up, but prefer the itineraries on Princess.

[jennybenny]

Sorry to hear that the cruise did not live up to your expectations. That sucks.

 

When we were young, we cruised Carnival. When we started with Princess again we were pleasantly surprised and made the switch. We are loyal to Princess now. However for my mother in law's 70th birthday she wanted to do a short cruise and that left Carnival as our only choice. We loved it. I was pleasantly surprised. My cousin who joined us preferred it to Princess (we had just been on a cruise in April).

Carnival was nice.

I think variety is good.

 

Sorry you had a less than perfect cruise, but hopefully you will remain open to other opportunities, with Princess or other lines, or not. :)

Happy cruising!

[geoherb]

Thanks for posting about your experience. Sorry it did not work out. The service on short cruises does suffer. We've done four cruises on Princess that were less than a week long. My understanding is that sometimes the demand for early seating is so much that they have a 5:30 seating and a 6:00 one. In spite of what you were told, there's really not a 30-minute leeway in showing up to your assigned time. The fact that you came late--after the others at your table had ordered--would throw off service.

 

I was pleasantly surprised by the food on our Carnival cruise. It was better than I remembered.

 

The Ultimate Balcony Dinner is my favorite way to celebrate an occasion. I've read that some people have moved it inside when the weather wasn't great. Too bad your servers did not think to suggest that.

[Micahs Grandad]

Sorry for your experience

 

We are Diamond on CCL and have done three cruises on Princess in past two years and have loved it.

 

First cruise was on Royal and we were blown away

 

Service in DR was much better than Carnival and they even brushed away our crumbs at the end of dinner.

 

Horizon Court buffet substantially better than what we have seen on CCL.

[TracieABD]

I was on the same cruise. I thought it was a lovely little vacation. However, I think short cruises stress the staff terribly. Also, there was the the Coast Guard briefing and the extensive immigration process that every crew had to participate in. I think this contributed to the exhaustion of the crew. I noticed some fatigue with our cabin steward. This was definately different from other cruises we have been on.

 

I do hope the OP will try Princess again, but if they have found their "cruise home" on Carnival- Mazel Tov!

 

Please, keep us posted on your cruising experiences!

[caribill]

 

 

After hearing and reading many reviews on Princess we were optimistic. Generally we found the service to be below what we traditionally receive on Carnival. We ate in the Allegro dining room early seating. Our booking documentation stated 6:00pm but when we arrived, our cards stated 5:30 pm. This has been a common complaint lately. The booking information is basically a place holder for early or late seating. The actual time is set by the ship and is not known months aheah of time when a booking is made. This is a very valid complaint of yours.

 

Service was abysmal. our waiter was little assistance throughout the cruise. The first night we were only a group of 6 having arrived well before 6. Our orders were not complicated or difficult merely including appetizers, salads, entrees and coffee/dessert. Pretty standard. At approximately 7:50 the maitre de approached our table and asked us politely to leave so that the table could be turned for the late seating. I certainly understand - but in nearly 50 cruises on many different lines - this has NEVER happened to us. That would have been a good time to tell the Maitre d' about the poor service you were getting. Having ordered the beverage package we were drinking wine by the glass during dinner. Another couple at the table had ordered a nice bottle of wine that they stated they could enjoy on multiple nights. After a very long period with an empty glass my wife inquired of our waiter where our refills were. Out table mate graciously offered my wife some from their bottle. The waiter quickly poured it for her. When I stated that I would prefer to wait for the glass I had ordered- he protested why didn't I just drink theirs? This was another thing to talk to the Maitre d' about. I hope you did. Once again I have NEVER experienced anything like this. We are easy-going folks, who are polite and congenial with the utmost respect for the hard-working staff and crew aboard cruise ships. We have reasonable expectations - but have never had such slow, sub-standard experience in a main dining room. ..... To celebrate my wife's birthday, we did enjoy the Ultimate Balcony Dinner one evening. It turned out unfortunately to be a windy/stormy evening - so much so that the deck party planned for later on was moved inside while we were setting up. The wind on the balcony and gusting through the cabin each time they opened the door was an unfortunate distraction. Beyond anyone's control - but nonetheless impacting the experience. I am, surprised the waitstaff did not suggest having the meal inside instead of on the balcony. Not as romantic, but a better experience than outside in a storm.

 

My other large complaint came from Passenger Services. I am a long time Carnival Corporation stockholder. As such I've always enjoyed the onboard credit given to shareholders. In over 40+ sailings with Carnival, I've never once had a single issue receiving the credit. I did not receive the credit on Princess. I submitted my forms and supporting documentation well in advance of the cruise. I received an updated booking showing the credit on my account. The credit then dropped off. If you saw it had dropped off before the cruise, did you contact Princess to ask about it? I spoke early on in the cruise to representatives at Passenger Services and provided copies of the documentation showing the credit on my account. All I received in return were excuses and platitudes about how they would look into it. Daily visits to Passenger Services yielded no results- just more attempts to "assure me they were looking into it." This coupled with $100 credit on my booking summary that I was told would be applied to my shipboard account which wasn't - made it clear that Princess is not ethical when dealing with its passengers. The Passenger Services staff is not allowed to apply the credit without authorization from HQ. But they certainly should have gotton back to you in a timely manner. I am a financial professional in my career and understand financial institutions and their attempts to explain to a finance professional why they couldn't credit my account were patronizing and insulting.

 

 

Sorry for the far-from-usual cruising experience that we usually get on Princess. Please see my comments above in red.

 

I hope that you filled out the post-cruise survey that should have been e-mailed to you after the cruise.

 

Also, I would continue to pursue getting the stockholder's credit. If you used a travel agent for this booking, ask the TA to do battle for you.

Edited November 1, 2016 by LauraS

[shortstop95]

We are pretty easy going folks particularly on a cruise and very seldom complain about service and on the rare occasion that we do - it's more in hopes of providing a learning opportunity for those involved. We have respect and admiration for how hard the staff and crew work aboard ships, so always try to let service issues have some leeway. Having cruised often we know sometimes it's the luck of the draw and as someone stated- you sometimes get the short straw.

 

We did not mention our service issues as this was our first cruise aboard Princess and in the one case our first night in the main dining room -therefore we had no baseline expectation. Service was slow all nights we attended the Allegro Dining Room. We typically build a nice connection with our servers over the course of the cruise. This just did not happen this trip. Several staff did make positive impressions including the bartenders at Bellini's, our waitstaff at Alfredo's and the hostess in Horizon Court at breakfast. Overall however, we have found the crew in Carnival to be far more friendly with just as good if not better service.

 

These are only our opinions and respect that others feel differently. I have tried to give specific examples to back up our opinions, but realize some will still disagree.

 

It would seem picking a shorter cruise as our introduction was a mistake. Length of cruise should not impact the service, but appears in this instance it may have.

Edited October 30, 2016 by shortstop95

[cherylandtk]

Shortstop, I think part of the problem may also have been the timing of the short cruise; immediately after the Transatlantic there is usually high staff turnover. Not everyone, but more than in the middle of a season. But that still does not justify what happened to you. I'm sure Princess is sorry they failed to impress you with their product. Their loss.

[shredie]

Make sure you feel out your survey! The service you received is not the norm! Sorry you had to deal with it.

 

Haha, Jill! That business of saying dinner is at 6 and then changing it once on the ship is highly annoying. I complain about that on every survey.

 

I do think the nature of the short cruise contributed to the service issues. I have noticed that on short Carnival cruises, the same applies. The service is much better on a longer cruise.

[Steelers0854]

I think they may have changed the dining listing recently. Our Feb cruise on the Royal listed it as 8:15 dining. However our Feb 2018 on the Diamond lists it as early traditional. So hopefully that helps with confusion going forward unfortunately it doesn't help with the past cruise.

 

As others pointed out for some reason the dining times can vary by as much as 30 minutes between the ships that we have seen.

[iriemon]

I think it is the Royal ship. I have been on many Princess cruises and the only ship I had problems on was the Royal. The sister ship Regal is wonderful. When I got home I wrote a letter to corporate with specific details. I did get a phone call and follow up letter

[framer]

I'm not going to comment on the specifics of the issues but just comment on how I've dealt with the front desk in the past. If I have an issue that does not get resolved with a fast face to face. I get the name of Head Purser, go back to my room and spend a few minutes writing a note to them. I have never failed to get a phone call to discuss the problem. In all cases things got resolved quickly and several times been comp'd a free specialty diner for the both of us.

 

Dealing with the front desk can be a losing proposition IMHO.

 

80% of my cruises have no surprises, meet or exceed my expectations. You do run into a few small issues from time to time but that's the adventure in cruising, pack your sense of humor and plan "B".

 

framer

Edited November 1, 2016 by framer