Chairs removed to make more room?

[Ep010835]

7 minutes ago, dchip said:

Suggestions are don’t stay in your cabin!

 

With the not so subtle subtext of, GET OUT THERE WHERE YOU BELONG AND SPEND THAT MONEY!!

[omc329]

45 minutes ago, Loreni said:

You may not find what you are looking for on Celebrity.  Do some reading on what is going on with the Edge cabin and “balcony” furniture.  We are also unhappy with the chair removal, but Celebrity doesn’t look like a good fit.

 

For those of of you who are considering leaving Princess, what type of vacations do you enjoy when not cruising.  Or put another way, what is it about cruising that you enjoy most and how much of this can be replicated on a land-based vacation.  

 

The sad truth is that DH and I, any many of you, fit into a category that the cruise lines are trying to shed.  The marketing departments want to boast attractive cabins, balconies, and room service.  But management doesn’t really want you using these...and if you try to, you will be punished with uncomfortable furniture, absent furniture, limited room service menus, and possibly even fees for room service.  For this strategy to work it has to subtle, the passenger has to think he choosing not to be in his cabin or on his balcony.  Otherwise, it is disrespectful and offensive.  But there is a category of passengers that they frankly don’t mind offending.

 

I usually don’t go where I’m not wanted, and it might be possible to have a better vacation at a resort or somewhere.   I was thinking about all the things I like about cruising and how they are getting harder to enjoy.  Remember being able to walk laps on a shaded outdoor promenade deck?  Or being able to lounge on a steamer chair on the promenade deck?  Having a reclining lounge chair on your balcony and a table suitable for dining? An oceanfront resort could offer some of this, and I have enjoyed resort vacations.  Ideally, I would love to find a small, pedestrian-only, seafront village.  I tried Mackinac Island, it was just OK.  Any other ideas?

 

What kind of vacation do I like?

 

I like when we can sit on a balcony with wine and enjoy the sound and feel of the ocean while we gaze at stars. I like long conversations with family as we enjoy a sea breeze. Dh likes naps in the afternoon. Sometimes we like to take time out and watch a movie in our cabin together or go up top and soak in the whirlpool.

 

I like walking the promenade and chatting with my son. I like dancing in the evening and ports during the days, doing the things that dh is beginning to slow down on. I'm too restless for a resort, though it might be ideal for dh. Cruising fits us because we are aging at different paces and it allows for family friendly activities for all ages. I like cruising because I can see the world. One of our X cruises is for Japan. Dh is staying home on that one, sis and son are coming though and who knows if other family will pipe in. Brother is thinking it over. I can hardly wait for that one, though it isn't until '21.

 

I was careful in choosing my balconies on X too, nice large ones. 🙂 AND, they have couches inside and a chair we can drag outside, and I'll ask my steward for another deck chair if needed, because we will have the space for it!

 

Will I like X? I don't know. I never will know if I don't try them. If I don't, I still don't see us at a resort. I would go bonkers. There is lots of time for the industry to make changes and for us to look further if needed. I'm sure there's a fit out there for us somewhere, and we'll just keep looking til we find it.

[voljeep]

if Stewart won't / can't get you a chair - just go to the lido deck and grab one of the plastic chairs with arms and take it back to your cabin ...grab a cushion somewhere ... problem solved ...

[dchip]

4 minutes ago, Ep010835 said:

 

With the not so subtle subtext of, GET OUT THERE WHERE YOU BELONG AND SPEND THAT MONEY!!

 

If they looked at our account, they could see we are out spending money. Crown Grill, Winemakers Dinner, cocktails each evening before dinner and Princess shore excursions. BUT we still want to spend time by ourselves in our cabin. 😳

 

After 22 years and 30 Princess Cruises, we are ready to stay with HAL. Our next two cruises are booked with them. 

 

Denise 

[dchip]

2 minutes ago, voljeep said:

if Stewart won't / can't get you a chair - just go to the lido deck and grab one of the plastic chairs with arms and take it back to your cabin ...grab a cushion somewhere ... problem solved ...

 

After spending a considerable amount of money for this cruise, I’m not going to drag a chair through the halls and down eight decks. 😜. I brought in our balcony chair. 

 

Denise 

[richsea]

5 minutes ago, voljeep said:

if Stewart won't / can't get you a chair - just go to the lido deck and grab one of the plastic chairs with arms and take it back to your cabin ...grab a cushion somewhere ... problem solved ...

Surely you jest.

[voljeep]

3 minutes ago, richsea said:

Surely you jest.

not at all, if it's that important if you don't have that chair to cancel a cruise and change cruise lines ...

[Pstcrik]

As others have stated, I also sent an email to J.Swartz and got a phone call from Corp. Customer relations (no idea if they are any more informed than regular customer relations) but anyways It was confirmed no barrel chair but that if I was quick enough I may get one when I board.  I suggested that that should not have to be done and that my answer though a little inconvenient will be to haul a deck chair in and out.  I also suggested that taking this chair away will cause more people to sit on the edge of the beds and this is very bad for the mattress (breaks the edge down quicker) thus less life and more cost and especially when they have just laid out thousands on new mattresses.  This was not a great thought when they did this.

[Pstcrik]

5 minutes ago, richsea said:

Surely you jest.

Actually a nice leather chair from the Wheelhouse bar would be nice....

[Happy2cruise]

48 minutes ago, voljeep said:

if Stewart won't / can't get you a chair - just go to the lido deck and grab one of the plastic chairs with arms and take it back to your cabin ...grab a cushion somewhere ... problem solved ...

or bring in a chair from the balcony

[richsea]

47 minutes ago, voljeep said:

not at all, if it's that important if you don't have that chair to cancel a cruise and change cruise lines ...

Yep, just what I look forward to doing on day one of my cruise; go and steal a chair from a public venue to sneak back to my room. Great idea! Thanks!

[NoWhiners]

2 hours ago, Happy2cruise said:

or bring in a chair from the balcony

 

That's my plan. I can only hope that the cabin steward (does anyone else hate it when people call them 'stewarts' and it isn't a typo??  ) doesn't keep putting it back outside. Our last cruise, on the Royal, was a TA and it was very windy and salt water kept blowing up on our balcony furniture. I kept turning the chairs towards the cabin and folding the top down, so the seats wouldn't get all salty. Every day, never failed, he would turn them back around, facing the ocean, and open them up all the way.  Go figure 

[bemis12]

2 minutes ago, NoWhiners said:

 

does anyone else hate it when people call them 'stewarts' and it isn't a typo??

 

No

[Pierlesscruisers]

18 minutes ago, NoWhiners said:

I kept turning the chairs towards the cabin and folding the top down, so the seats wouldn't get all salty. Every day, never failed, he would turn them back around, facing the ocean, and open them up all the way.  Go figure 

 

 

Did you ever think of telling him why you were doing that and asking him not to turn them around? Very likely his changing them around was part of his standard procedure. That way he wouldn't have to try and read your mind!

 

Tom

[getting older slowly]

From a different prospective  .....

 

What is Chair worth ?? to you ???...

 

After a quick look at prices   standard balcony about $250 per day ( premium balcony $300 per day )

 

A mini suite -- ( with chair etc ( sofa )  about $300 per day )

 

So is sitting worth $100 per couple per day......  where a barrel chair was free ??

 

In the big picture a mini suite would be nicer than a balcony particularly if your cabin is important to you....

 

I understand the up roar of the chair removal... ( I don't agree with it either )

 

To us the cabin is very important to the enjoyment of our cruises which generally have many sea days.....

 

So we pay more to enjoy our cabin.. and have a place to retreat to....

 

Cheers Don.....

 

back on board tomorrow,,, with chairs and a sofa  .

[southerngoose]

1 hour ago, getting older slowly said:

From a different prospective  .....

 

What is Chair worth ?? to you ???...

 

If we were talking $500 for a 12 day trip, no problem, I'm paying for the sofa.  It wasn't $500...it was $5000 to upgrade to the first cabin level with a sofa!    I can't get the Sanctuary for Alaska.   The other thing...I can pay a similar cruise fee on 3 other cruise lines and get a sofa in my preferred inside room.    I don't prefer "inside" because it's cheap.   I get sick looking at the ocean moving against an ocean view porthole...therefore, I would cover it and not have it.    I'm not terribly excited by a balcony because I don't want to fall off.    I think I could be ok in an upper class room, but frankly, the cost difference is so high that I'd rather go on 2 cruises in an inside room vs one in a suite.  

 

Now, if there weren't other cruise lines with a sofa in an inside room, and they all required suites to get my beloved sofa, well, after going to see the Panama Canal, my cruise life would be over.   I might do one more...but the cost of cruising would be too much to make me happy.     That's when we start talking about all the other cost cutting in cruising and at $5k-$10k for 2 weeks, I want better food, better entertainment etc.   At that price, I can spend 1-2+ weeks in Las Vegas and choose which shows I want to see.   I probably could get room service too.   And my room would have sofa.   AND go somewhere else with the same amenities.   I could fly business class to Europe or Asia.   

 

You see...when we start talking about financial value, we have to compare cruising to other options.   Clearly, everyone cruises for different reasons.    I want someone to take care of my needs (cooking, cleaning) and provide me some comfort (sofa!) and entertainment.   As the cost of that rises, I start having other valid alternatives.   I actually considered Las Vegas to see my magic shows, comedians etc.   It would have taken 2 weeks to see it "all" and I decided to get one of my bucket list items done instead.    Starting to regret that choice...

[caribill]

17 hours ago, kb4683 said:

Should Lorna's email address also be @princesscruises.com?

yes

[geocruiser]

For me no matter what the price of a cruise is there should be two chairs in a cabin.  A cruise is all about comfort, relaxation.  What is next, only one chair on the balcony?  Talk about a small space, The new class ship balcony's are tiny.  So, Princess only want to make space inside the cabin, while the balcony has no space!   And then there is the bathroom.  What about space in there too!  Get my drift. 

[deliver42]

Celebrity S or M Class has everything you are looking for. Nice balconies and sofas and chairs inside.

[southerngoose]

1 hour ago, geocruiser said:

For me no matter what the price of a cruise is there should be two chairs in a cabin.  A cruise is all about comfort, relaxation.  What is next, only one chair on the balcony?  Talk about a small space, The new class ship balcony's are tiny.  So, Princess only want to make space inside the cabin, while the balcony has no space!   And then there is the bathroom.  What about space in there too!  Get my drift. 

Don't give them ideas...next they'll want us to use the communal bathroom down the hall.  

[maggie777]

On 2/18/2019 at 9:21 PM, TriumphGuy said:

Never even considered room service because no place to sit other than the balcony. We did still have the table though, just no chair. Crown February 5-15, 2019.

Princess has made a serious mistake that will cost them many loyal customers. Let's see if they make any effort to correct this blunder. We expect an apology and a speedy replacement of a basic item....CHAIR!

[Reader0108598]

22 minutes ago, maggie777 said:

Princess has made a serious mistake that will cost them many loyal customers. Let's see if they make any effort to correct this blunder. We expect an apology and a speedy replacement of a basic item....CHAIR!

They don't care they get new cruisers everyday that buy all the extra crap!

 

Edited February 24, 2019 by Reader0108598

[geocruiser]

46 minutes ago, Reader0108598 said:

They don't care they get new cruisers everyday that buy all the extra crap!

 

I agree, they get new cruisers everyday.  But they do also have a base of regulars.  Even new cruisers would want to be able to sit in their cabin.  A large portion of cruisers are older and sitting on a bed is not comfortable for them.  (like me).

For us now, we have changed our way of looking at what new cruise we want to take.  I have started to look at more upscale lines now.  Because if I have to pay more on Princess, I might add more money to it and go on a better cruise line.

It is a shame, because Princess has been my go to cruise line the past 5 years or so.  We have taken 3 to 5 Princess cruises each winter.  I hope that they give us back the chair, so I don't have to go some where else.  

 

Edited February 24, 2019 by geocruiser

[Reader0108598]

19 minutes ago, geocruiser said:

I agree, they get new cruisers everyday.  But they do also have a base of regulars.  Even new cruisers would want to be able to sit in their cabin.  A large portion of cruisers are older and sitting on a bed is not comfortable for them.  (like me).

For us now, we have changed our way of looking at what new cruise we want to take.  I have started to look at more upscale lines now.  Because if I have to pay more on Princess, I might add more money to it and go on a better cruise line.

It is a shame, because Princess has been my go to cruise line the past 5 years or so.  We have taken 3 to 5 Princess cruises each winter.  I hope that they give us back the chair, so I don't have to go some where else.  

 

I hear you I am an older cruiser also ..Elite. I think they are trying to get rid of the older cruisers. New ones won't care they don't know what they are missing! 

 

Edited February 24, 2019 by Reader0108598

[richsea]

I am also disturbed about the removal of the barrel chair, but don’t see it as a cutback. What savings are they getting? They already own the chairs. While we will miss the chairs, in fairness we always thought that they were always in the way, either blocking the fridge or access to the balcony. But we also realized that you still need someplace to sit besides the bed, so just moved the chair around accordingly. I wouldn’t be surprised if they were removed because people complained they were in the way. The rooms have a basic design flaw in that they should have at the least a love seat like most every other cruise line. 

We also sent an email to complain and received the standard message via voicemail in response.

I wouldn’t be surprised if this decision is reversed based upon the feedback they are receiving. Fingers crossed.