First post-COVID observations

[Fishboy1947]

Just returned from Caribbean Princess Western Caribbean multigenerational cruise. The precruise COVID testing for our 12 person, 3family group was nerve racking.

 

Boarding was a mess unless Platinum/Elite. DD & family had early boarding and sat for 2 hrs before boarding.

 

We had used the Medallion on 2 prior cruises and loved it. Little problem using it precruise. On cruise it was a mess. Good for ordering drinks but little else. Luckily I wrote down our dinner times since I was able to access Dine My Way only twice during the week.

 

the internet was reasonably good for half the cruise then almost worthless.

 

We almost never book Princess excursions but thankfully did last week. The shuttle service was horrible. Lost hours of beach time on both shuttle ports. Can’t imagine when nonPrincess excursions got off the ship.

 

we all thought that the food was excellent in the main dining room and Crown and good in buffet. But quite a come down from the Horizon Court buffet on Regal class

 

Several of us complained about smelling smoke in several areas of the ship, even in one of the cabins. Smoking on the promenade seemed ironic with the health walkers

 

We expected less than preCOVID service after what we had read but found the service to be outstanding throughout the ship. Always with a big smile. We found most of the staff to be very personable 

 

Overall a wonderful week and a lifetime of memories

[Cruise Raider]

We've been cruising since the restart and just can't seem to stop from booking more cruises.  I think everything has greatly improved.  Just my opinion!   

 

We loved the limited capacity.  Since earlier this year, that was pretty much over.  I'm actually happy that the cruiselines are starting (hopefully) to make some profits.  

 

I actually happier with the smaller portions in all dining venues.  I also love the decrease in sending out paper advertisements for everything under the sun.  

 

I'm ok with no gold bag for elite status passengers and even ok with no blue bags.   I didn't even mind the once a day service for our cabin.  Sometimes, they would just make it up at night anyway, even though we said morning only was fine with us.  

 

Our service has been outstanding, the food has been anything from good to excellent.  

 

The entertainment has been great .. even when some of the entertainers have been in quarantine.   The CD or entertainment director has always filled it in with something else.  

 

I'm glad they opened up the third dining room on our most recent cruise. 

Making reservations for the dining in the app has been a little hit or miss but, we were always satisfied once talking to the Maitre'd, now called something else ????  

 

The app????  It's been both great and not good at all.  But, I still love the idea of it.  The WiFi is not very good lately.  It worked much better when there weren't so many passengers onboard.  

 

 

 

[LACruiser88]

36 minutes ago, Cruise Raider said:

we were always satisfied once talking to the Maitre'd, now called something else ????  

Director of Restaurant Operations

[KKB]

1 hour ago, Cruise Raider said:

We've been cruising since the restart and just can't seem to stop from booking more cruises.  I think everything has greatly improved.  Just my opinion!   

 

We loved the limited capacity.  Since earlier this year, that was pretty much over.  I'm actually happy that the cruiselines are starting (hopefully) to make some profits.  

 

I actually happier with the smaller portions in all dining venues.  I also love the decrease in sending out paper advertisements for everything under the sun.  

 

The app????  It's been both great and not good at all.  But, I still love the idea of it.  The WiFi is not very good lately.  It worked much better when there weren't so many passengers onboard.  

 

 

 

ALL OF THIS.

Glad we sailed when passenger load was low--it was a treat we likely won't see again.

 

The app--who cares? We never had cruiseline apps until a few years ago. 

Nothing on it I can't do in person or with paper.

Internet? One thing I LOVED about crappy internet in the early days was the ability to be disconnected.

But DF is now in assisted living & fragile & I need to be connected--do they have an upgraded streaming service?

Edited July 3, 2022 by KKB

[Cruise Raider]

2 minutes ago, KKB said:

ALL OF THIS.

Glad we sailed when passenger load was low--it was a treat we likely won't see again.

 

The app--who cares? We never had cruiseline apps until a few years ago. 

Nothing on it I can't do in person or with paper.

Internet? One thing I LOVED about crappy internet in the early days was the ability to be disconnected.

But DF is now in assisted living & fragile & I need to be connected--do they have an upgraded streaming service?

 

No upgraded streaming service but there is decent connectivity in some of the port cities.  I was almost always able to text back and forth all throughout the cruise.  

And yes, we cruised an average of once a month in the last year.  It was a treat at a time that I knew we'd likely never see again.  It was so lovely while it lasted.  We were so spoiled!!!  

 

[Adventures ahead]

Sounds like a pretty good cruise overall. A friend told me there's no such thing as a bad one... she just liked some better than others!

 

I called Princess last week. They said they were still booking at 75% capacity. Hope that's still true in Aug in the UK.

[Ombud]

On 7/3/2022 at 2:38 PM, Adventures ahead said:

Sounds like a pretty good cruise overall. A friend told me there's no such thing as a bad one... she just liked some better than others!

 

I called Princess last week. They said they were still booking at 75% capacity. Hope that's still true in Aug in the UK.

Discovery Princess holds 3660 and had 3460 onboard last week so 95% capacity. 

 

 

Edited July 5, 2022 by Ombud

[AF-1]

Glad your family had a good time.  All the best for your future cruises

[Adventures ahead]

2 hours ago, Ombud said:

Discovery Princess holds 3660 and had 3460 onboard last week so 95% capacity. 

 

 

Reduced capacity is one of the things that gave us 'confidence' to book.

We haven't had covid and are double-boosted.

Princess updated their CruiseHealth FAQ June 28 and July 1. Health protocols are still strong. 👍