Sky Princess 12/16-12/23 Review -- First (and Likely Last) Time on Princess

[cr8tiv1]

I will look into to the loyalty option with HAL.  Thank you.

 

I have sailed on Carnival several times. Been there, dine that.  Not again, unless…..
 

 

2 hours ago, mtnesterz said:

This is where we are exactly. Might interest you to know HAL offers Star Mariner for your Princess loyalty. San Diego pier is walking distance from the train station.  On price and location, Carnival sails out of nearby Long Beach.

 

[Wishing on a star]

Hello Dog!   Yes, we did notice these things...  But, know that we still very much enjoyed our cruise!

I do think that one should lower high expectations a bit.   With almost everyone having a package,  and the order by phone on the Princess Medallion App...  yes, there is waiting time....  

We were very pleasantly surprised by most of the food onboard!!!   ( the Executive Chef and head of dining and beverage are KEY)

We love the Princess 'thing' with the Piazza and and the Sanctuary.

Perhaps there will be a more dynamic Princess House (party) band onboard, as well.

We do love the Regal...  But, as mentioned, it seems the service standards have dropped...  Just have realistic expectations.  And, know, also as mentioned, that each cruise can be different.   Different people in charge.. problems with staffing being short due to any bug going around, etc...

ENJOY!!!!!

 

I am curious, what deck and area is your cabin?

I would be interested to know if you have a cabin on a lower deck.. Deck 8 for sure.

[PacnGoNow]

1 hour ago, Sox Fan Cruiser said:

I have 35 Princess cruises in my history and I'm ready to drop Princess too.  

 

Just heard in the Sun Princess thread that a bunch of folks from the Sky are moving to the Sun after the current cruise!  The running joke on our Dec 2nd Sky cruise was "all of the good ones must have already moved to the Sun!".  Now I'm worried about the "Signature" service on the Sun.  I hope Princess hires some new folks to teach them about "service" or I'm done.  I'm paying a lot to travel in a suite and will expect A LOT better service in the private dinning room, lounge and pool deck then what they give today!

Most of our inaugural sailings, the cruise lines have taken their MOST experienced crew members throughout different departments.  So, you should have great service.  
 

Because they are new ships, there will be a learning curve due to the huge differences in the ship layout, etc.

 

Some ships sail pre inaugural with corporate employees, press, etc and practice on them first.  IDk if this will happen with the Sun.

[dog]

BW- Emerald, extended balcony, midship. No upgrades this cruise. Had this cabin type on Sky and was pleased with it.

[voljeep]

33 minutes ago, PacnGoNow said:

Most of our inaugural sailings, the cruise lines have taken their MOST experienced crew members throughout different departments.  So, you should have great service.  
 

Because they are new ships, there will be a learning curve due to the huge differences in the ship layout, etc.

 

Some ships sail pre inaugural with corporate employees, press, etc and practice on them first.  IDk if this will happen with the Sun.

they can bring over the 'rock stars' ... but until P decides to 'crew up' in the bars and prep areas - drink service is going to be slow in some areas - 

 

1-2 bartenders in Vines and service is amazing

1-2 bartenders in Crooners - "Service is so terrible, I'm never sailing P again!!"

[nini]

5 hours ago, Lady Arwen said:

We’ve been cruising with Celebrity since the 90’s and never, ever, not once experienced anything remotely like what you describe.  M class, S class and Edge class.  Celebrity would not be as popular and successful as it is if this happened.  This must have been a once in a lifetime occurrence that you experienced.  You certainly cannot rate a cruiseline by a one and done.

 

We have been through this before. We can definitely agree that it may not be wise to choose a cruise line by a "One and Done". This had been our 2nd cruise with Celebrity and we were shocked.

Our experiences are all different. I posted my example to indicate to the OP that possible a "One and Done" may not be of benefit in this case.

[Sox Fan Cruiser]

4 hours ago, dog said:

I know what you mean.

Does your suite DMW show Signature or Reserve Collection.?

Head over to the Sun Princess thread to keep up with your upcoming new experience.  We talked about it there.  Yes on DMW it shows Reserve Collection when I was expected Signature Collection.  But so is everyone else.  They just don't have it in the system yet.  That's what they call the Suite and "Club Class" experience on the current ships.  Haven't made the change to "Signature" yet.

[Sox Fan Cruiser]

4 hours ago, Iamcruzin said:

Celebrity is out of control with pricing which is why I turned back to Princess. I booked an 11day Southern Caribbean cruise for half the price my friend booked on Celebrity for an 8 day similar itinerary and balcony room. My room is in a better location.

A perfect example of you get what you pay for.  Suites are WAY better and the service is too.  Celebrity is slipping a little bit in service but I'm almost over Princess.  The Sun is really going to decide for us if we close our account and walk away.

[cjpj]

We just got off a 14 day cruise on the Emerald and it is the first time in 20 cruises that we did not tip extra to our dining room staff, steward or any other staff for that matter. With the exception of a couple of bartenders, everyone was just doing their job and ONLY their job. Nothing extra. Have one cruised booked for Dec 2024. Hope things turn around d by then or we'll be looking for another line.

[nini]

1 minute ago, cjpj said:

We just got off a 14 day cruise on the Emerald and it is the first time in 20 cruises that we did not tip extra to our dining room staff, steward or any other staff for that matter. With the exception of a couple of bartenders, everyone was just doing their job and ONLY their job. Nothing extra. Have one cruised booked for Dec 2024. Hope things turn around d by then or we'll be looking for another line.

 

Please know that the only "on the negative" side experience we have had with Princess was on the Emerald in May 2022. The crew was grumpy, one snapped at us, and overall non-dazzling personalities. We did tip our steward a bit extra though.

 

The Grand in September 2022 restored our faith as did the Sky (crazy, right?) in June 2023. Both were fabulous!

[xamsx]

On 12/27/2023 at 4:46 AM, SCX22 said:

Service was subpar on the Caribbean Princess to Canada/New England this past summer as well.

 

We just got off the Caribbean Princess yesterday. That was much better than the Sky for bar service, but still slow. I think Princess needs more staff at the bars and buffet.

[xamsx]

6 hours ago, Iamcruzin said:

Celebrity is out of control with pricing which is why I turned back to Princess. I booked an 11day Southern Caribbean cruise for half the price my friend booked on Celebrity for an 8 day similar itinerary and balcony room. My room is in a better location.

This was why we tried Princess again.  Celebrity instituted cuts and raised prices. We decided to go down (Princess), the same (Oceania), and up (Seabourn, Regent) and see what the value of the product was for the cost paid in our search for a "new favorite."

We have two more Princess cruises next year. We hated the Sky experience (truly awful, regardless of the cheerleaders telling me I must be mistaken) and really enjoyed the Caribbean Princess (we just got off yesterday). Yes, the Caribbean Princess is older and tired (and we had one major snafu that took days to resolve), but the crew seemed much happier, everyone was friendlier, and the service was better overall.

From our experiences the last three weeks, where we went on two cruises (Sky and Caribbean), I would say Princess needs more and better-trained staff. That would go a long way to resolving many of their issues.

[bosswench]

3 hours ago, nini said:

 

Please know that the only "on the negative" side experience we have had with Princess was on the Emerald in May 2022. The crew was grumpy, one snapped at us, and overall non-dazzling personalities. We did tip our steward a bit extra though.

 

The Grand in September 2022 restored our faith as did the Sky (crazy, right?) in June 2023. Both were fabulous!

Well that's concerning. Taking my first Princess cruise in 20 years on the Emerald in April (I am a cruise line agnostic cruiser). This is a 15 day special event sailing, almost sold out at a hefty premium price . My traveling companions are not very experienced cruisers so I hope the crew will be in a better mood. 

[Iamcruzin]

1 hour ago, xamsx said:

This was why we tried Princess again.  Celebrity instituted cuts and raised prices. We decided to go down (Princess), the same (Oceania), and up (Seabourn, Regent) and see what the value of the product was for the cost paid in our search for a "new favorite."

We have two more Princess cruises next year. We hated the Sky experience (truly awful, regardless of the cheerleaders telling me I must be mistaken) and really enjoyed the Caribbean Princess (we just got off yesterday). Yes, the Caribbean Princess is older and tired (and we had one major snafu that took days to resolve), but the crew seemed much happier, everyone was friendlier, and the service was better overall.

From our experiences the last three weeks, where we went on two cruises (Sky and Caribbean), I would say Princess needs more and better-trained staff. That would go a long way to resolving many of their issues.

I really don't like the new larger class ships on any of the lines. I most of my Princess cruises have been on the Caribbean Princess which was too large for me back then. This was the Crown class ship that they added 500 more rooms to but no additional common space. Lounges are too small for that ship. My favorite ship was the Celebrity Summit and it was long in the tooth when we sailed on her. It was renovated so it looked good. I'm actually looking forward to sailing on the Island Princess. I have never sailed on a smaller Princess ship. The older ships have the best itineraries. They are small enough to visit smaller ports. All these larger ships do is transport  more people and the ports are just too over crowded now and they don't have enough staff handle the crowd on board.

[Iamcruzin]

3 hours ago, Sox Fan Cruiser said:

A perfect example of you get what you pay for.  Suites are WAY better and the service is too.  Celebrity is slipping a little bit in service but I'm almost over Princess.  The Sun is really going to decide for us if we close our account and walk away.

I only book balcony or concierge but even the inside staterooms on old ships are better than Princess. Sadly I can only afford an ocean view on Celebrity now. Since covid I refuse to sail in anything less than a balcony even if it means not cruising at all. 

[nini]

54 minutes ago, bosswench said:

Well that's concerning. Taking my first Princess cruise in 20 years on the Emerald in April (I am a cruise line agnostic cruiser). This is a 15 day special event sailing, almost sold out at a hefty premium price . My traveling companions are not very experienced cruisers so I hope the crew will be in a better mood. 

 

I have been reading quite a few posts regarding the Emerald. Hopefully, things have changed.

[chill6x6]

Wow....All these comments certainly does give one pause for up coming cruises.It's not JUST the OP but the post after post in pretty much full agreement with the assessment.  I have my longest cruise ever, a 10 day on Enchanted booked for 2024 which is my first Princess cruise since 2012.  Princess had the itinerary and the price so I booked an S3. I know exactly what I'm getting with Royal, Celebrity, and HA.  The "Carnival of the Premium Cruise Lines" comment above kinda hits home! LOL.  

[PacnGoNow]

17 minutes ago, chill6x6 said:

Wow....All these comments certainly does give one pause for up coming cruises.It's not JUST the OP but the post after post in pretty much full agreement with the assessment.  I have my longest cruise ever, a 10 day on Enchanted booked for 2024 which is my first Princess cruise since 2012.  Princess had the itinerary and the price so I booked an S3. I know exactly what I'm getting with Royal, Celebrity, and HA.  The "Carnival of the Premium Cruise Lines" comment above kinda hits home! LOL.  

We did 20 nights on Enchanted in March and loved it.  Beautiful ship and the crew was outstanding.  Hope you have a great cruise.

[Jakdgr]

OP - thanks for your review of your Sky experience.  I don’t post often but do read these boards a LOT - everyone can have a different experience even on same ship same time - it helps me read the plus/deltas to form my expectations.  
 

Like @PacnGoNow we did Enchanted too - 21 days in August - great ports, food was good (loved Catch); staff were so friendly and helpful. Newer ship so everything sparkled. First time in Reserve Mini Suite (DH loves full suites so this was a test😁).

We were a little concerned before we went after reading many reviews of Princess changes leading up to departing (we are long term Princess cruisers but it was our first cruise since the world shut down) as our departure was Day 1 of THE major package changes … next trip is on CP in Sept 24 and I’m seeing mixed comments about ship due to age but that staff are fantastic. 
Agree with lots here that cruise industry is not what it was pre 2020 -…. but cruising is my happy place and maybe I might try other lines depending on experience and itinerary 🤷‍♀️
 

 

Edited December 29, 2023 by Jakdgr

[SKCruiser007]

2 hours ago, chill6x6 said:

Wow....All these comments certainly does give one pause for up coming cruises.It's not JUST the OP but the post after post in pretty much full agreement with the assessment.  I have my longest cruise ever, a 10 day on Enchanted booked for 2024 which is my first Princess cruise since 2012.  Princess had the itinerary and the price so I booked an S3. I know exactly what I'm getting with Royal, Celebrity, and HA.  The "Carnival of the Premium Cruise Lines" comment above kinda hits home! LOL.  

My guess is that you are going to have a wonderful time on Enchanted Princess. I do hope all these comments, including my own, don't detract from the fun and anticipation of preparing for a cruise for you and others. On the ship, the cruise will be what you and others make of it.

 

Despite the common issues we encountered on Sky Princess earlier this month, we still had a great time...different from what we've encountered on other Princess sailings, but it was still better than being home.

 

I'm the kind of girl who upon seeing a pile of manure gets excited because I figure there must be a pony nearby. I bet most everybody here can make their own happiness given a boat, some sun, and the sound of gentle waves around them.

[chill6x6]

7 minutes ago, SKCruiser007 said:

My guess is that you are going to have a wonderful time on Enchanted Princess. I do hope all these comments, including my own, don't detract from the fun and anticipation of preparing for a cruise for you and others. On the ship, the cruise will be what you and others make of it.

 

Despite the common issues we encountered on Sky Princess earlier this month, we still had a great time...different from what we've encountered on other Princess sailings, but it was still better than being home.

 

I'm the kind of girl who upon seeing a pile of manure gets excited because I figure there must be a pony nearby. I bet most everybody here can make their own happiness given a boat, some sun, and the sound of gentle waves around them.

Of course we are the same! I've read hundreds of negative reviews that completely did not apply to us.  Like everyone, I've had GREAT cruises and some good cruises but never one I'd call less than good.  

[Kmkub]

3 hours ago, chill6x6 said:

Wow....All these comments certainly does give one pause for up coming cruises.It's not JUST the OP but the post after post in pretty much full agreement with the assessment.  I have my longest cruise ever, a 10 day on Enchanted booked for 2024 which is my first Princess cruise since 2012.  Princess had the itinerary and the price so I booked an S3. I know exactly what I'm getting with Royal, Celebrity, and HA.  The "Carnival of the Premium Cruise Lines" comment above kinda hits home! LOL.  

My review of Enchanted earlier this month wasn’t overly negative. While there were certainly negative points, like the noisy Piazza and bad buffet food, overall, it was a fantastic cruise and we’ve already booked another cruise with Princess for a few months from now.

 

I predict you will have a fabulous time. Where we find challenges, we seek workarounds. Nothing was insurmountable.

 

Have fun! Please come back and tell us about your cruise.

[Mary Ellen1]

On 12/27/2023 at 12:25 AM, PacnGoNow said:

The Enchanted does NOT have to start at 9 am with dance lessons, line dancing and exercise classes.  Have them in the Vista lounge. Plenty of room there.

 

Exercise? Go to the fitness center on 17.

This is the CD’s fault.  

 

That, and the extremely loud games are what makes the noise so bad.

The Sky seems to be worse than the Enchanted

from comments being posted.

 

 

They were literally holding exercise classes in the atrium though...  That was my experience on the Majestic back in September. Loud morning exercise classes down on the lower level, with people joining in from the railings on all the upper levels, and spilling over into the elevator lobbies on several of the decks. Very crowded and irritating if you were just trying to get to an elevator. 

[Kmkub]

7 minutes ago, Mary Ellen1 said:

They were literally holding exercise classes in the atrium though...  That was my experience on the Majestic back in September. Loud morning exercise classes down on the lower level, with people joining in from the railings on all the upper levels, and spilling over into the elevator lobbies on several of the decks. Very crowded and irritating if you were just trying to get to an elevator. 

The people exercising and line dancing from decks 6 & 7 was probably my biggest annoyance. We really didn’t spend much time in the Piazza on our last cruise. The Lido deck used to be the noisiest place on the ship, but not anymore.

[Fearless one]

We too would agree with your review of Princess cruises. We cruised on Island Princess and Enchanted Princess  in 2023 and felt the overall experience was lacking to the point if we could receive a refund for the cruise we have already booked for 2024 we would of cancelled it. Let's hope that Coral Princess can lift its game.