Princess (and Cruise Critic) aren't as good as they used to

[dbeckett]

I'll start with the Princess App.  I've had it on phone for some time and loved the fact it would count down the days to the next cruise but no more.   According to the App (it has been like this for over a week) it will say good evening regardless of the time of day and then show we  have 106 days, 11 hours and 52minutes before the next cruise.   When it got stuck on 111days I thought it must be counting down by weeks but why have it on the App if it is no longer a daily count down.  There were issues with the App last time we were on (failed to order drinkw when we were at the pool) so to see this happen when we aren't on board makes me seriously think of deleting the App.

 

Now Cruise Critic.  I first started using CC when I was living in Canada.  Now if I want to go to CruiseCritic.com as it says I can and always has done in the past,  it goes to an external page (flightsand packages.com) which is not what I want.  So I am also thinking I will stop using this previously excelllent website.

 

It appears that the sites think they are improving the experince by doing updates but I have yet to find this the case

[katmu]

For Princess, I would delete the app and reinstall it and see if that fixes your issue.  I had a similar issue with the Princess app.

 

For cruise critic, how are you navigating to the site? On your phone or computer?  And with what browser - Chrome, Safari, etc.?

[david63]

7 minutes ago, katmu said:

I would delete the app and reinstall it

That is a bit drastic - I have found closing and reloading the app resolves most problems.

[katmu]

7 minutes ago, david63 said:

That is a bit drastic - I have found closing and reloading the app resolves most problems.

It sounds like she has closed and reloaded the app multiple times already and is still having issues.  Deleting and reloading an app is not “drastic” says an IT manager with 30 years of experience.

[eclue]

Delete and reinstall is the best solution to medallion issues. I have done this successfully several times.

[Paula_MacFan]

I have CC bookmarked and it comes up to the forum page. Are you typing in 'cruisecritic.com' every time you want to access the page? Just save it as a favorite to whatever pages you most frequent.

 

Maybe I'm not understanding your problem correctly.

[david63]

26 minutes ago, katmu said:

 Deleting and reloading an app is not “drastic” says an IT manager with 30 years of experience.

What is it that you are suggesting? Deleting and reinstalling, or closing and reloading - you seem to have the two confused as they are not the same.

 

(p.s. I too have over 30 years IT experience)

[Parrottdizes]

Do you regularly clear your cache on your phone? If you haven't done that; your phone maybe pulling up a old page.    

[Bgwest]

and the drama begins...............

[katmu]

29 minutes ago, david63 said:

What is it that you are suggesting? Deleting and reinstalling, or closing and reloading - you seem to have the two confused as they are not the same.

 

(p.s. I too have over 30 years IT experience)

 

I am neither “confused” nor “drastic” but since you obviously know what I mean better than I do from thousands of miles away, I’m done with trying to be helpful on this thread.

[Guest ldtr]

1 hour ago, dbeckett said:

I'll start with the Princess App.  I've had it on phone for some time and loved the fact it would count down the days to the next cruise but no more.   According to the App (it has been like this for over a week) it will say good evening regardless of the time of day and then show we  have 106 days, 11 hours and 52minutes before the next cruise.   When it got stuck on 111days I thought it must be counting down by weeks but why have it on the App if it is no longer a daily count down.  There were issues with the App last time we were on (failed to order drinkw when we were at the pool) so to see this happen when we aren't on board makes me seriously think of deleting the App.

 

Now Cruise Critic.  I first started using CC when I was living in Canada.  Now if I want to go to CruiseCritic.com as it says I can and always has done in the past,  it goes to an external page (flightsand packages.com) which is not what I want.  So I am also thinking I will stop using this previously excelllent website.

 

It appears that the sites think they are improving the experince by doing updates but I have yet to find this the case

How old is your phone?  How much free memory (ram not total storage)? The App does require a fair amount of cpu and memory resources. It also requires a good network connection. If any of those are limited it can result in the problems  you described.

Edited July 10, 2023 by ldtr

[dreaminofcruisin]

My days are counting down correctly.

You could try signing off and on before reinstalling the app.

 

Also, wondering if the "Good Evening" is relative to the location where the cruise departs from instead of the location you are in....just a guess.... (tacky yes, but....)

[Host CJSKIDS]

I'm sorry that you feel that Cruise Critic isn't as good as they used to be.  I've been a member since 2003 and still find the boards extremely useful. 

 

Please try typing in boards.cruisecritic.com into your browser and it should bring you to these boards.  I'm not a computer tech as others are, however I don't have any issues on any of my devices going to these pages without getting flights and packages even if I got to crusiecritic.com

 

If you do have issues using the boards, please go to our help thread and the information and help is there as well as how to email cruise critic. 

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/859-need-help-using-the-forums-check-here/

[txjim09]

1 hour ago, david63 said:

What is it that you are suggesting? Deleting and reinstalling, or closing and reloading - you seem to have the two confused as they are not the same.

 

(p.s. I too have over 30 years IT experience)

Design engineer of 45 years and person who has written apps here.  Deleting cleans up behind-the-scenes corruption. 

[tserface]

1 hour ago, david63 said:

That is a bit drastic - I have found closing and reloading the app resolves most problems.

Actually, on my iPhone, it takes less than a minute to do this and there's no loss of data since it just sucks the data from the Princess website.  It's a great way to clear up problems.  Also, I bookmark the pages I use in CC and it always goes directly to them.  You can bookmark threads, roll calls, pages, etc.  For this page, for example, I use:

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=197

[txjim09]

So, getting back to the topic of this thread....

Yes, the app is sometimes problematic but my experience on-board is enhanced by it's use.  I don't expect perfect delivery of drinks in  crowded environments and there are times when an order seemed to be delivered to another ship but, all-in-all, the benefits outweigh the negatives for my usage.  I suppose that being involved in technology from the days of punch-cards to retirement gives me a greater appreciation of what Princess is trying to attempt although I do wish they would hire better test engineers.

 

As far as cruise critic goes, my main concern is that people don't seem to know that they don't have to jump into a thread they don't want to read!  Really, no need to belittle the poster by saying "it's been discussed to death, look it up!"  If someone feels compelled to do this, why not provide a helpful link?

 

In another board I follow, there is a rule "attack the post, not the poster."  I wish this was a rule here.  Of course, the #1 rule was "Don't be a jerk!"

[voljeep]

I just do a complete shutdown of my iphone 4s, err 10xr - complete turn off - wait 10-15 minutes, then reboot - clears up most problems - if it doesn't, meh...  smell the roses, blow out the candles.

[eclue]

9 minutes ago, tserface said:

Actually, on my iPhone, it takes less than a minute to do this and there's no loss of data since it just sucks the data from the Princess website.  It's a great way to clear up problems.  Also, I bookmark the pages I use in CC and it always goes directly to them.  You can bookmark threads, roll calls, pages, etc.  For this page, for example, I use:

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=197

I agree - entire process of deleting and reinstalling takes about a minute.....problem solved....why does it have to be so difficult?

 

[memoak]

I just boot my phone and the countdown corrects itself

[Guest ldtr]

44 minutes ago, txjim09 said:

Design engineer of 45 years and person who has written apps here.  Deleting cleans up behind-the-scenes corruption. 

as well as to make sure you have the latest version.

[Rick&Jeannie]

3 hours ago, dbeckett said:

Now Cruise Critic.  I first started using CC when I was living in Canada.  Now if I want to go to CruiseCritic.com as it says I can and always has done in the past,  it goes to an external page (flightsand packages.com) which is not what I want. 

Very slight possibility that the DNS server you are using has a corrupted entry for CruiseCritic.  I know it's a bit of a long shot but I have experienced this first-hand (not with CruiseCritic).  You could always try using the Google DNS at 8.8.8.8.  This has cleared up various problems for me in the past.

[ldubs]

6 hours ago, txjim09 said:

So, getting back to the topic of this thread....

Yes, the app is sometimes problematic but my experience on-board is enhanced by it's use.  I don't expect perfect delivery of drinks in  crowded environments and there are times when an order seemed to be delivered to another ship but, all-in-all, the benefits outweigh the negatives for my usage.  I suppose that being involved in technology from the days of punch-cards to retirement gives me a greater appreciation of what Princess is trying to attempt although I do wish they would hire better test engineers.

 

As far as cruise critic goes, my main concern is that people don't seem to know that they don't have to jump into a thread they don't want to read!  Really, no need to belittle the poster by saying "it's been discussed to death, look it up!"  If someone feels compelled to do this, why not provide a helpful link?

 

In another board I follow, there is a rule "attack the post, not the poster."  I wish this was a rule here.  Of course, the #1 rule was "Don't be a jerk!"

 

I belong to another not cruise related forum that has a rule against telling people to "look it up".  Instead, either answer, give a link, or stay silent. 

[xamsx]

I must say the Princess app sucks. I wish they’d let me book everything from my browser (looking at you dining reservations). I thought the Celebrity app was bad, but the Princess app makes that one look good as it is simply dreadful pre-cruise.  Glitchy, slow, difficult to sign into - I have four Princess cruises booked (two back to back), and it makes me want to cancel. I won’t, but the app is frustrating, to say the least. 

[ldubs]

9 minutes ago, xamsx said:

I must say the Princess app sucks. I wish they’d let me book everything from my browser (looking at you dining reservations). I thought the Celebrity app was bad, but the Princess app makes that one look good as it is simply dreadful pre-cruise.  Glitchy, slow, difficult to sign into - I have four Princess cruises booked (two back to back), and it makes me want to cancel. I won’t, but the app is frustrating, to say the least. 

 

I wonder why experiences differ so much.  We have been on three Princess cruises within the past 12 months and did not experience any issues with the app.  To be fair, I never used the app to order something from a remote location. That seems to be a common area of complaint.   

[brisalta]

12 minutes ago, xamsx said:

I must say the Princess app sucks. I wish they’d let me book everything from my browser (looking at you dining reservations). I thought the Celebrity app was bad, but the Princess app makes that one look good as it is simply dreadful pre-cruise.  Glitchy, slow, difficult to sign into - I have four Princess cruises booked (two back to back), and it makes me want to cancel. I won’t, but the app is frustrating, to say the least. 

 

There is a web version of the app that has a better interface for booking dining reservations.