Live from Sky Princess 6 May

[KmomChicago]

4 hours ago, antsp said:

Ship is just out of dry dock, never ideal sailing after drydock

 

Unless of course you determine that close examination / experience of the logistics is part of the fun.  Plenty to complain about, you know.  

 

Would not enjoy the long waits for services, though, or the app issues.  

 

We do usually skip MDR first night on any cruise as the hordes seem to check it out before fanning out to the buffet or specialties on subsequent evenings, and thus it always seems especially crowded and backed up on night 1.  Not saying anyone should "have" to make that choice but have found it to work a bit better for us.

 

Was there any welcome aboard show / decent entertainment last night after your (subpar) dinner?  Any good trivia or other daytime activities?  Weather / views / condition of the vessel / decor / stateroom okay?  Hopefully there are positives somewhere so far and that things smooth out soon.

[david63]

I don't know if it is still a problem but last year Carnival in Southampton were having major supply chain issues.

[lucas34]

2 hours ago, Eglesbrech said:

Sitting out on the balcony in the sunshine which is lovely.

 

Not  impressed with the cruise one little bit so far. From my own experiences

 

Slow service everywhere (2 hours 20 mins for dinner last night). Queue for breakfast.

Cold food in the MDR (the herb butter was still solid on the top of the cold strip steak)

Missing drinks eg fresh orange juice (still not here), many beers, any of the premium European wines, ask for champagne and get palmed off with Prosecco unless you actually see the bottle, ingredients not available for the more expensive cocktails eg salted caramel watermelon martini in a bar with it clearly listed on the menu.

 

From others

 

App not working, our neighbours anxious as tried room service repeatedly as failing to register - over $400 bill as it charged each time! Currently remonstrating with reception.

Long wait to get off and massive queue to get back on tenders from Guernsey.

Limited speciality restaurant bookings available due to lack of staff.

 

This is a shake down cruise by any other name but they have charged full price for it. They don’t have enough staff, they don’t have proper stock, basically using us as crash text dummies. The staff are lovely and trying so hard but simply not enough of them.

 

I have registered my comments so they have an opportunity to improve. If it doesn’t I’ll be cancelling my next Princess cruises, yes it’s that bad.

 

For those coming after us I’m sure it will be very much better as lots of passenger complaints and it is only day 2. Hopefully they will be addressed before you arrive.

 

 

 

 

So sorry for your bad dinner experience. Do you know how is the Food & Beverage Manager and the Executive Chef now on board?

Did you miss any shows due to slow service? No any orange juice for breakfast?

[GonzoWCS]

Yikes!  Hang in there.

 

Cheers

[Rick&Jeannie]

Have you seen any evidence that Starlink was installed?

[gah_cruise]

1 minute ago, Rick&Jeannie said:

Have you seen any evidence that Starlink was installed?

This was posted on FB earlier today

[Kay S]

Let's hope things improve before June.  Staff shortages and supply issues seem to be industry wide.  That app is a Princess responsibility, and I am not surprised a bad product is still behaving badly.

 

Great thread!  We are all thankful!

[emmak8]

Are there any positives to report? Sounds like the ship is filled to capacity. I hope things improve. Thank you so much for taking the time to post.

[antsp]

Just now, himan said:

That's good to know as when we were on last year Rock Opera was cancelled which was a bit of a let down. I also love sausage rolls! 

Nice to see that they adjust menus for uk passengers

[Kay S]

3 minutes ago, antsp said:

Nice to see that they adjust menus for uk passengers

I’m hoping for full English at the morning buffet. Even better if they did it in the MDR.  

[antsp]

1 minute ago, Kay S said:

I’m hoping for full English at the morning buffet. Even better if they did it in the MDR.  

English bacon and black pudding is available on current sailing 

[wowzz]

1 minute ago, Kay S said:

I’m hoping for full English at the morning buffet. Even better if they did it in the MDR.  

The MDR will do a full English. But, the service can be leisurely! 

[antsp]

Just now, antsp said:

English bacon and black pudding is available on current sailing 

I will report back on the Dining room 

[himan]

7 minutes ago, antsp said:

Nice to see that they adjust menus for uk passengers

Exactly. I like the fact that they adjust the menus to cater for the areas of the world they are sailing in as that gives everyone a chance to try other dishes. Personally, I love the Indian curries on the cruise ships as I feel that they taste so much better than what we get at home from the local restaurants.

[Eglesbrech]

Dinner was better tonight and served hot. Still took a while to come but at least enjoyable when it did. They served Coronation Quiche which was actually very nice.

 

Rock Opera was excellent this evening. A very good guest tenor along with a strong cast. The theatre was full to the extent that people were standing down the side aisles against the wall (2nd show).

 

We wanted to have a night cap after the show but no seats. The ship is just too full in my humble opinion. I don’t like having to shlep round bars to track down a table, I may just be old and grumpy but so be it.

 

Yes orange at breakfast in the restaurant, they are gradually stocking up the bars as well and that’s according to a bar manager I spoke to, not just my opinion.

I forgot to mention that I found the juice bar which is in the cake area of the buffet. They did fresh vegetable juice which was really refreshing.

 

[SCX22]

@Eglesbrech

Was on the the Sky for the 2nd to last cruise before this year's drydock.  

 

See if you can track down a waitress by the name of Maricar.  For the aforementioned, cruise she worked in the Cielo Dining Room and waitressed tables 444 to 449.  She's a seasoned veteran and despite the crowds is able to push along a meal.

 

Not sure what happened after drydock, but I didn't experience this many problems onboard the Sky for my cruise.  Sad that you're not experience isn't the best.

 

[wowzz]

5 minutes ago, SCX22 said:

Not sure what happened after drydock, but I didn't experience this many problems onboard the Sky for my cruise.  Sad that you're not experience isn't the best.

I would second that.

We were on Sky in early April,  and had no issues,  although it could be  difficult finding spare seats in a bar after 22:00. 

[Jeter02]

7 minutes ago, SCX22 said:

@Eglesbrech

Was on the the Sky for the 2nd to last cruise before this year's drydock.  

 

See if you can track down a waitress by the name of Maricar.  For the aforementioned, cruise she worked in the Cielo Dining Room and waitressed tables 444 to 449.  She's a seasoned veteran and despite the crowds is able to push along a meal.

 

Not sure what happened after drydock, but I didn't experience this many problems onboard the Sky for my cruise.  Sad that you're not experience isn't the best.

 

Same here. Was on the sky multiple times from November through March. Typically when a ship repositions it tends to be The end of a group of crew members contracts. Therefore seasoned and new crew members just take a little bit of time to get there feet back on the ground

[wowzz]

16 minutes ago, Jeter02 said:

The end of a group of crew members contracts. Therefore seasoned and new crew members just take a little bit of time to get there feet back on the ground

Actually, I don't think that is the case, as all crew members are on different contracts. There is no way that Princess would rotate out 700 crew members from one ship.

We became friendly with a several crew members on Sky in April, and when we said that we were back on Sky in July,  they all said that they would still be on board.

Edited May 7, 2023 by wowzz

[Jeter02]

1 minute ago, wowzz said:

Actually, I don't think that is the case, as all crew members are on different contracts. 

We became friendly with a several crew members in April, and when we said that we were back on Sky in July,  they all said that they would still be in board.

You are absolutely correct. It's funny because a lot of my favorite crew that I checked with as I'm back on the sky next month they were all getting ready to go home right before and right after the repositioning.

[Jeter02]

Can someone who's currently onboard, kindly find out how long the cruise director Paul will be on board until. Thank you.

[Eglesbrech]

@Jeter02 @wowzz @SCX22 Yes we have also had some really lovely previous cruises on Sky too with none of these hiccups.
 

Im hoping that things will settle down as the week goes on service wise but the ship will still be very full regardless so the issues with seats etc won’t go away I suspect. 

 

Unfortunately 2 of the 3 other ports require a shuttle so there will no doubt be queues for that, thankfully we have trips booked so can avoid them.

 

I suppose it depends on how full a ship is to an extent, the experience level of the crew as you have mentioned, any logistical issues (our late departure was all about loading). So the cruise experience can vary from one month to another. 

 

It is also down to personal tolerance and I freely admit I don’t like luke warm food, queues, waiting too long for something or having to hunt for a seat. Others may be able to go more with the flow so don’t see it as an issue. If they only drink one thing and it’s available they just won’t see the problem if something else is not in stock. 

[Senga]

26 minutes ago, Eglesbrech said:

It is also down to personal tolerance and I freely admit I don’t like luke warm food, queues, waiting too long for something or having to hunt for a seat.

I’m with you!  Lukewarm food would be sent back.  Fortunately we don’t drink alcohol and don’t go to any of the bars/entertainment venues so, hopefully, we won’t be impacted too badly with crowds.  Sounds like there HAS been improvement in other areas so hope you are enjoying yourself.  Thanks so much for taking the time to inform us.  👏🏻

[antsp]

Seats at bars can be an issue ex Southampton, with the main Ratio of brits onboard, and consuming alcohol higher than usa passengers it can cause issues at bars, especially on shorter cruises

[nini]

3 minutes ago, antsp said:

Seats at bars can be an issue ex Southampton, with the main Ratio of brits onboard, and consuming alcohol higher than usa passengers it can cause issues at bars, especially on shorter cruises

 

Fun fact. I did not know that.