Think I have fallen out of love with Princess

[caribill]

2 minutes ago, MissP22 said:

Once again, it's only my take on the subject, but letting people reserve a dining time doesn't mean the minute you arrive (especially at the busiest time) guarantee that you'll be seated the moment you walk through the door.  

I see their reservation system as only a request for a dining time which cannot be guaranteed but they'll do their best to fulfill.

 

And that is why DMW cannot possibly replicate the previous Traditional Dining experience.

o Traditional had two times and 100% certainty your table was ready when you arrived.

o Having the same table every evening meant that after the first evening you could go directly to your table without having to wait to check in and be guided to the table you would have that evening.

[Esprit]

10 hours ago, MustangGT said:

Winston is a rock star!  Our dining experience was awesome on our B2B in January!

He was such an engaging personable guy. We looked forward more to seeing him than going to Sabatini's and the Crown grill second time around.

[puggleperson]

16 hours ago, Happiest when cruising said:

I don’t know about Mary Sunshine, but more time spent enjoying your cruise, instead of looking for problems might help. Stop reminding yourself about what went wrong last time, and just staying in the moment should also help. Of course, we have had mishaps over the years, like a backed up toilet, but I don’t go on vacation to just to see if it will happen again, or remind myself of negative memories… 

I hope you find the right cruise line that suits your needs better, and brings you happiness. 
I also hope your last cruise with Princess is an enjoyable experience for you, and your family,  if you travel with one. 
 

Hi Tracy & Brad 👋 ~shawna 

[windsurferfirst]

18 hours ago, Wishing on a star said:

I have seen staff remove 'stuff' from loungers.  This in particular was at the Retreat pool on the Regal.

That should be done, all the time, on all ships!

It was in the retreat where I saw the loungers being reserved in lines of 6 4's and 2's. from 7am until 5.30.pm

[SargassoPirate]

23 hours ago, MissP22 said:

So you don't attend any production shows, eat any dinner meals in the DR and avoid using the pools.

Why bother to cruise at all? 

 

If you've been following this thread, you can see that I'm not the only one who avoids the MDR in the evening, the over-amplified production shows, and the Melanoma Deck. There is a plethora of reasons to cruise and a plethora of other ways to amuse oneself other than the three you mentioned.

 

However, I am tickled that the majority of the sheeple think those things are obligatory because it frees up other areas for uncrowded enjoyment such as those I expressed in my original post:

 

"For me, once the ship pushes away from the dock, I leave the world behind.  An early morning coffee to watch the sunrise, breakfast and lunch in the MDR, a good book and a shady spot on the promenade, a wee dram or three in the evening and I'm good. " 

 

 

 

 

[Steelers36]

4 hours ago, MissP22 said:

Once again, it's only my take on the subject, but letting people reserve a dining time doesn't mean the minute you arrive (especially at the busiest time) guarantee that you'll be seated the moment you walk through the door.  

I see their reservation system as only a request for a dining time which cannot be guaranteed but they'll do their best to fulfill. Unlike a land based restaurant who will hold a table empty, the ships tables are in use prior to you arriving & considering the number of people eating there every night makes it impossible to hold empty.

 

4 hours ago, caribill said:

 

And that is why DMW cannot possibly replicate the previous Traditional Dining experience.

o Traditional had two times and 100% certainty your table was ready when you arrived.

o Having the same table every evening meant that after the first evening you could go directly to your table without having to wait to check in and be guided to the table you would have that evening.

When I show up at a restaurant for a 6pm res and they opened at 5pm, there aren't people seated at "our table" and I have to wait for them to finish their meals.  IDK why they would program DMW to fill any possible time slot.  Clearly they have some limits as certain timeslots do get filled and become unavailable.  What DMW cannot do is keep a random group of folks together at same table and does not actually block the same table every night.  I don't see why DMW couldn't be doing a better job, but it is impossible to replicate TD since guests are dynamically booking table space and TD needs to be done just prior to sailing after compiling all requests.  It's a manual exercise and well beyond anything they might have attempted to program.

[cruising deacon]

22 hours ago, CineGraphic said:

 

Welcome to the club.

We have one booking left with Princess, as we weren't about to walk away from some hefty future cruise credits.

If the on board experience is anything like our sailing last April, this could very well be the last time we sail with Princess until things change.

 

The Little Mary Sunshines should be around any second to tell you how fabulous everything is when they sail. Don't let them get to you, they are in their own little world.

I am in the same boat, I have more than enough FCC to take a free cruise, maybe even 2.  But if we take it at all, it will definitely be our LAST with Princess.  If we go, it will be our 40th cruise with Princess.  We started with Princess in 1995 and they have steadily gone downhill, but for us they have hit the bottom.  We enjoy other cruise lines far better these days.

[windsurferfirst]

5 hours ago, caribill said:

 

Don't know if OP had made a reservation with DMW or not, but DMW does not appear to work for everyone . If showing up for a reservation and finding there will be a wait, then showing up at the same time without a reservation definitely means there will be a wait.

Because the medallion app didn't work for me on this cruise I was unable to pre book dining. Its always worked before and made things much easier. The  future cruise credit guy on Sky in April changed the booking to a mini suite and completely messed it up. The computer never ever recognised the booking hence a 2.5 hour wait at checkin. A fact I told Princess at least 4 times before sailing and they ignored.

[MissP22]

2 hours ago, SargassoPirate said:

 

If you've been following this thread, you can see that I'm not the only one who avoids the MDR in the evening, the over-amplified production shows, and the Melanoma Deck. There is a plethora of reasons to cruise and a plethora of other ways to amuse oneself other than the three you mentioned.

 

However, I am tickled that the majority of the sheeple think those things are obligatory because it frees up other areas for uncrowded enjoyment such as those I expressed in my original post:

 

"For me, once the ship pushes away from the dock, I leave the world behind.  An early morning coffee to watch the sunrise, breakfast and lunch in the MDR, a good book and a shady spot on the promenade, a wee dram or three in the evening and I'm good. " 

 

 

 

 

Oh, we pick and choose our events also, skipping some of the main shows that we think are annoying as well as sitting in the sun for 8 hours every day.

Everyone to their own thing but we won't miss out on the dinner meal in the DR. We always manage to avoid the peak dining times. 

[caribill]

3 hours ago, SargassoPirate said:

 

"For me, once the ship pushes away from the dock, I leave the world behind.  An early morning coffee to watch the sunrise, breakfast and lunch in the MDR, a good book and a shady spot on the promenade, a wee dram or three in the evening and I'm good. " 

 

 

Agree, but good luck finding one on the Royal class ships.

[jwattle]

8 hours ago, MissP22 said:

I'm sure you do but isn't that a very limited view of the ship in general? 

We don't normally hang around the main pool are either but do so on occasion when we find others to talk to. It's to noisy most of the time for our liking. There can be a big difference among the different ships. 

 

Although the food is usually pretty good on all the ships it can vary tremendously from ship to ship.

For us, the day can be passed enjoying the different activities from the Cruise staff, including Bingo, games, lectures, etc; we love our balcony; stopping in at various venues like the International Cafe for a quick nosh; maybe a bit of window (or real) shopping; up top for a quick round of golf for a great prize (winner picks the prize😄🥂).

The evenings we start in the Concierge Lounge, then mosey off to supper in either a specialty restaurant or Club Class (no wait and wonderful service) and for entertainment either a series of the fun shows in the smaller lounges or the performances by the entertainers.

All in all, Princess suits us quite well.🥰

[prmssk]

8 hours ago, caribill said:

 

Don't know if OP had made a reservation with DMW or not, but DMW does not appear to work for everyone . If showing up for a reservation and finding there will be a wait, then showing up at the same time without a reservation definitely means there will be a wait.

My experience this year was the opposite which was so frustrating.  The line and wait for those with reservations (especially on the Caribbean Princess in June) was very long each night.  The line for those without reservations was very short and they were usually seated quickly.  My experience with DMW is that it depends significantly on how well the Maitre'D runs that particular MDR.  

[MissP22]

3 minutes ago, jwattle said:

For us, the day can be passed enjoying the different activities from the Cruise staff, including Bingo, games, lectures, etc;

We find that the lectures on Princess tend to be repetitive & from what I hear from friends they don't compare to those on HAL or Celebrity. The only time they are of real interest is in the Panama canal or Alaska, otherwise we have to keep up our drinking in order to hit our 15 drink max at the trivia and games events. 🤪

[jwattle]

32 minutes ago, MissP22 said:

We find that the lectures on Princess tend to be repetitive & from what I hear from friends they don't compare to those on HAL or Celebrity. The only time they are of real interest is in the Panama canal or Alaska, otherwise we have to keep up our drinking in order to hit our 15 drink max at the trivia and games events. 🤪

We all have our druthers

[Bgwest]

4 hours ago, cruising deacon said:

I am in the same boat, I have more than enough FCC to take a free cruise, maybe even 2.  But if we take it at all, it will definitely be our LAST with Princess.  If we go, it will be our 40th cruise with Princess.  We started with Princess in 1995 and they have steadily gone downhill, but for us they have hit the bottom.  We enjoy other cruise lines far better these days.

I'm certain that you and others of "like" mind will have success in finding other cruise lines that work better for you. Good luck!

[SargassoPirate]

On 8/23/2022 at 11:19 AM, caribill said:

 

Agree, but good luck finding one on the Royal class ships.

You got that right, which is why I won't cruise on a ship without a full promenade.  Fool me once, shame on you.  Fool me twice, shame on me.

[latserrof]

On 8/23/2022 at 6:16 AM, cruising deacon said:

  We enjoy other cruise lines far better these days.

Which ones, please?

[richsea]

On 8/22/2022 at 9:34 AM, disneyochem said:

…..The nice thing about cruising?  Different strokes for different folks. What works for you may not work for me on a cruise!  To each her/his/their own!  

That says it perfectly!

[richsea]

On 8/22/2022 at 11:58 AM, MissP22 said:

It cheaper to stay home and take a land vacation. 

Sorry, but not so.

[bmc alabama]

3 hours ago, SargassoPirate said:

You got that right, which is why I won't cruise on a ship without a full promenade.  Fool me once, shame on you.  Fool me twice, shame on me.

I had to laugh at this a bit because this particular thing has been a HUGE point of discussion with Disney Cruise fans with the new Wish that doesn't have a full promenade (among other things that have caused quite a bit of discussion that people don't particularly care for on that ship)...

 

It is an unfortunate trend among most lines these days...

Edited August 26, 2022 by bmc alabama

[Happiest when cruising]

On 8/23/2022 at 1:27 AM, puggleperson said:

Hi Tracy & Brad 👋 ~shawna 

Well, hello! I see you are going on the Discovery shortly after we get off. 
I hope you are doing well and enjoying life. Maybe we will meet up again soon. 

Edited August 27, 2022 by Happiest when cruising