I can't imagine the circumstance where we will sail Princess again

[dd likes to cruise]

I totally agree with the original poster, we are elite and sailed over 26 cruises and are going on the Ruby Jan. 31 for three back to backs, I will totally agree to all of the posters comments been there and done that, and am getting tired of everyone who seems to be happy with sailing on Princess, and yes we have the same concerns about the original poster. My opinion is that so many people posting on here are full of it

 

If you have the same concerns as the OP, why in the world are you doing 3 back to backs on a cruiseline you are concerned about?

[geoherb]

I agree with the OP about the scheduling of the game shows/night-time trivias. We usually have second seating traditional dining and never can make it to them. We go to the late shows in the theater to avoid the crowds.

 

On the Royal Princess last month, we had anytime (Club Class) and finally got to see (and take part in) the game shows/night-time trivias we'd been missing. It was fun, but we're going back to second seating next month on the Regal. With Club Class dining, we only had to wait once (when we were eating with four others). Service in that section was also better than we've seen recently on other ships.

[Birdieman1]

And why not, just like to tell it like it is, and you’ve never had any problems on the Princess ships, I’ve got big shoulders and just see it as it is, keep cruising and just suck it up

[GUT2407]

It used to be simple.

 

Two seatings, two shows ATD really complicated it.

[GUT2407]

If you have the same concerns as the OP, why in the world are you doing 3 back to backs on a cruiseline you are concerned about?

 

 

Thanks I was wondering the same thing.

[Kingofcool1947]

Thanks I was wondering the same thing.

 

Same here. Wondering the same thing. Comments made no sense.

[west coast cruiser]

(y)(y)

Totally agree - we are elite on Princess - have cruised other lines and find that Princess is the very BEST - this person should not cruise on Princess ...more room for those of us that love it!!!

[TubT]

If I were going to book a cruise today, and had my choice of any of the common lines, it would probably be on Princess. That said, I HAVE seen ships that had problems. And I don't mean just Princess. It is possible to build or modify almost any ship, using the best of designs and designers, and still come up with a dud. For us, the "thud" ship in all of our cruising was the old Holland America Westerdam. The stretch on it very adversely affected the traffic flow and seaworthiness of the ship. Did it make us swear off HAL? Nope. It just made us determine to do a little more research. And just in passing, I learned very long ago that whenever a person complains about the people around them, they are almost universally guilty of the same thing. Takes one to know one, and all that.

[frugaltravel]

Also, for those of you who love Princess, we were repeatedly told that this particular cruise was NOT THE NORM for Princess. Princess elite cruisers repeatedly told us, "We ADORE Princess, but not this ship."

 

They added 100 cabins in Dry Dock and took away space. It is difficult to get directly from Stern to Bow nowadays. There are issues with the Island Princess that Princess devotees repeated throughout the cruise.

It is certainly possible that other Princess cruises are better than the non-Princess cruises that I've been on. I sailed on Princes in the 1980's and had a great time!

 

I can only speak for myself. I've sailed multiple lines, multiple times, in recent years - and this was not a good cruise.

 

The response to my complaints - two specialty dinners and a bottle of wine on a future cruise? It felt like an insult.

 

So sorry about your issues. Unfortunately you will encounter mostly Princess apologists on this forum so take it in stride. For most of them, Princess can do no wrong!

 

I was on the Island Princess last February. It was my first time on that ship though I had cruised on Princess multiple times before that. For me, I would never sail on the Island again for the reasons you stated above. It all has to do with adding all those cabins and taking out the large lounge.

 

 

I like Anytime Dining because then I am not put into a set time to eat when I might want to stay longer in a port. But ATD on the Island was Long Time Wait for Dining.

 

 

Sorry you won't cruise on Princess again, but I feel that most of your issues were specific to the Island and not to Princess cruises in general.

[SnowLadyD]

Seating for dinner, Anytime Dining (Symphony) was never a problem because if you showed up and there was no room in "that" dining room, the staff will take you to the "reserved" area upstairs (Concerto). We never had to wait.

 

 

 

We always book traditional dining. We just finished a Christmas cruise on Crown Princess and there were several nights when we saw tables which were filled by passengers other than the ones originally there. I quickly figured out that they were filling empty tables with the overflow from anytime dining. Saw the same thing a couple months ago on Oasis of the Seas. Pretty smart move by the cruise lines. And makes perfect sense.

 

 

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[Birdieman1]

Come on what’s the matter with going to the Dining room and standing in line for 20 minutes then be given a pager and wait another 20 minutes, I see nothing wrong with that, that’s what most posters would want you to say, Princess is doing the best they can. Then the Head Waiter says, sorry, we didn’t think we would have this many passengers waiting for Dining, guess they forgot there were 3500 passengers onboard, but don’t complain, be quiet, Princess is doing the best they can

[capriccio]

We always book traditional dining. We just finished a Christmas cruise on Crown Princess and there were several nights when we saw tables which were filled by passengers other than the ones originally there. I quickly figured out that they were filling empty tables with the overflow from anytime dining. Saw the same thing a couple months ago on Oasis of the Seas. Pretty smart move by the cruise lines. And makes perfect sense.

 

 

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They were doing the same on the Royal Princess TA in October/November. We were a group of 6 with anytime dining and usually went to dinner between 6 and 6:15 and were always escorted immediately to a table usually in the traditional MDR. As we were waiting to come to the head of the line I don't remember seeing any beepers being handed out even to smaller parties so it appeared to be working well (at least at that hour). We easily made a number of 8 or 8:15 shows in the theater.

[Whirlybird]

Wow, sorry you had such a dissatisfying cruise. On the anytime dining, I agree wait times can be longer than expected. What I do is review the patter in the evening for next days shows that I want to see, then next morning, the dining reservation line opens at 8am, so I call early and reserve a table for two so DW and I can have dinner in the MDR but still have time for the shows we want to see. Never a wait to be seated with a reservation in anytime dining room.

 

 

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[GUT2407]

We always book traditional dining. We just finished a Christmas cruise on Crown Princess and there were several nights when we saw tables which were filled by passengers other than the ones originally there. I quickly figured out that they were filling empty tables with the overflow from anytime dining. Saw the same thing a couple months ago on Oasis of the Seas. Pretty smart move by the cruise lines. And makes perfect sense.

 

 

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Same thing happened on Emerald.

 

But never had an issue on Diamond.

[PhD-iva]

I stopped reading responses after about 2 pages, but i want to apologize to the OP for the unnecessarily snarky remarks many Princess cheerleaders have made. CC exists to provide an exchange of information, including the OP’s opinions and impressions of her cruise.

I want to thank the OP for posting her review, and wish them many happy cruises in future.

 

 

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[mnocket]

I was on the Coral ...same itinerary, same dates except the Coral left Dec 6th from LA went through the Canal (full transit) and arrived in Fort Lauderdale on Dec. 21st.

 

I had a fabulous cruise, but agree on several points. Frankly if you cruise as often as you say you do, you should have expected some of the issues you complained about.

 

Cruise was 15 days, with boarding on a Wed.(12/6) and 15 days later, ending on a Thursday (12/21) . Being that it was a 15 day cruise and with the dates it meant that almost everyone had to be retired to go on this cruise or be able to take off 3 weeks off from work. hence...older passengers.

I'm taking my first Princess Cruise on the Coral in 2 weeks. My wife and I like to see the show before dinner. That means early show and late dinner (we have anytime).

 

Demographics were older than any cruise I have ever been on before. Many many wheelchairs and scooters. Very few people under 65 years with most over 70.

 

Frankly I am very surprised that you didn't anticipate this. You can not judge Princess demographics by this particular cruise.

 

That said, I had a fantastic time even tho I was one of the younger passengers on board. Most of the fellow passengers were well traveled and very interesting. Loved many of the stories and humor.

 

Ok...with an older passenger base, there is consequently a greater demand for early seating and early show. I agree that for the first show at 7:30, you had to be at the theater 30 minutes early. I also agree that there was a long line to get into the dining room early. Pagers were passed out by around 5:40 or so.

 

However...we adapted by going to the later show at 9:30. There were many seats available right up until show time. You could have walked in at 9:31 and found seats together.

 

We found that there were plenty of seats available in the dining room by around 7:00-7:15 so we adjusted and went to the dining room at 7:15. We were always out by 8:30 in time to make the trivia games and then went to the later show in the theater.

 

All that said, I think the Island's issues are exasperated by the lack of the Universe Lounge. The Coral still has the Universe Lounge and there were often shows in that lounge, thus spreading out the number of passengers in any one area looking for entertainment.

 

I would suggest any future cruises you decide to take, you try out one of the other ships that handles the movements of the crowds better. Maybe the Royal or Regal?

We board the Coral for our first Princess cruise in 2 weeks. My wife and I prefer to see the show before dinner. That means early show and late (we're anytime) dinner. I was saddened to read your post advising against this timing. Then I read Hlitner's post two below yours and he advised just the opposite. So I guess we'll have to play it by ear. For what it's worth.... on my last two Celebrity cruises (2017) they had a bar set up just inside the entry to the theater. My wife and I would wonder in 5-10 mins before show time, get a drink and have no problem finding a seat. Perhaps Celebrity's shows are less attended because, in all honestly, they aren't very good - although the theater is huge. I'm hoping Princess has better shows, but if you have to show up 1/2 hour early to get a seat, I doubt we'll bother.

[Kingofcool1947]

We board the Coral for our first Princess cruise in 2 weeks. My wife and I prefer to see the show before dinner. That means early show and late (we're anytime) dinner. I was saddened to read your post advising against this timing. Then I read Hlitner's post two below yours and he advised just the opposite. So I guess we'll have to play it by ear. For what it's worth.... on my last two Celebrity cruises (2017) they had a bar set up just inside the entry to the theater. My wife and I would wonder in 5-10 mins before show time, get a drink and have no problem finding a seat. Perhaps Celebrity's shows are less attended because, in all honestly, they aren't very good - although the theater is huge. I'm hoping Princess has better shows, but if you have to show up 1/2 hour early to get a seat, I doubt we'll bother.

 

Wow! Interesting perspective regarding your experience sailing on Princess and Celebrity.

But, I don’t understand what were you two wondering about for 5-10 minutes before show time. Were you two wondering about the performance, or getting two seats together in the theater?

Thank you. And enjoy your cruise. :)

Edited January 4, 2018 by Kingofcool1947

[barbaraanne]

I stopped reading responses after about 2 pages, but i want to apologize to the OP for the unnecessarily snarky remarks many Princess cheerleaders have made. CC exists to provide an exchange of information, including the OP’s opinions and impressions of her cruise.

I want to thank the OP for posting her review, and wish them many happy cruises in future.

 

I agree with you 100%! This is supposed to be a forum to help people who may want to hear about problems on certain ships so they can make educated choices about what may be best for them when they choose a ship. Just telling the OP off does no one any good, and I think that those Princess apologists were the rude ones here.

[earlydiner]

My wife and I have been on 21 cruises and have never had a bad one. However, some are better than others. I am so thankful that everyone in the world hasn't fallen in love with the same ship. It would be so very crowded wouldn't it.

I would agree with the OP that Princess doesn't have it all together with ATD. Would have to give the "got ATD all together" trophy to RCL. We just did the Panama cruise on the Coral, used ATD (yes waited in line). A couple of nights, after visiting in line with another couple, we decided to eat together and get better acquainted.

Generally we prefer Princess if it is just the two of us, but RCL with the kids and grands. But give me any boat, and you can bet we will have a great time.

[Keith1010]

Thank you for sharing your thoughts.

Keith

[oh4nono]

I think The OP was stating her disappointment in the cruise and is entitled to that with out having to defend it. I am never expecting when I go on vacation whether it is cruise or land. I am in charge of my enjoyment and I make the best of what I paid for. With 3000 or more people all try to dine and enjoy their vacations why does one expect the ship to make sure they are happy or doing everything they plan to do. 3000 people are all doing about the same thing. Make the best of it expect nothing and you will never be disappointed.

[CU64]

We live in So Calif & therefore, cruise Princess frequently to avoid flying. I have cruised RCL, HAL, Celebrity, Carnival, NCL, recently QM2.

As we get older, I find we all are less flexible. Nevertheless, we are use to adapting & therefore, have enjoyed all cruises. I find patience & persistence works for something really important.

 

No, never again ATD on Princess. Lately, I find myself craving the experience of different lines but my practicality inhibits as does my DH. He really liked the Oasis & I know how to navigate away from crowds.

 

I have never cruised on Island & do not intend to.....

The shows are not a problem for us; I go just after it starts, second floor, see if I like, look around for seat,

always find one if I want. I think all the “ seat saving” should be more carefully monitored. First come, first served.

 

I have learned much valuable info on CC....cabin selections, hotels, port info, details, details, details,

Pays off.....keeps me happy & I know what to expect😎

Thank you all for taking the time to write.

[Rigby the Dog]

Nice Manifesto. (Manifesto writing is required by CC when not happy with a particular cruise line, it is illegal just to start cruising on other lines without first writing and posting a Manifesto)

 

 

I hope to one day write my own Manifesto.

Haha

 

It's amazing, isn't it? On the plus side, it would seem that there was enough butter and properly dressed passengers on formal night.

[emmak8]

Thank you for posting, OP! You bring up many valid points.

[dd likes to cruise]

Come on what’s the matter with going to the Dining room and standing in line for 20 minutes then be given a pager and wait another 20 minutes, I see nothing wrong with that, that’s what most posters would want you to say, Princess is doing the best they can. Then the Head Waiter says, sorry, we didn’t think we would have this many passengers waiting for Dining, guess they forgot there were 3500 passengers onboard, but don’t complain, be quiet, Princess is doing the best they can

 

Not anyone on this thread said anything near what you are claiming. They are telling their experiences and it was more like a 5 minute wait. Just because folks disagree with the OP doesn't make them Princess cheerleaders.